Lib Dem leader, Alec Cole-Hamilton reveals yesterday that like Boris, he too has the wrong skill set to lead even the smallest of projects.
Was being different from Boris during the pandemic a justifiable aim?
If it meant saving lives? Yes, see this from May 2020 only months after Nicola Sturgeon’s government took over responsibility for pandemic management:
19 days ago, the FT based on extrapolated ONS figures, estimated the true total of coronavirus deaths in the UK to be ‘as many as 41 000.
At that time the UK Government figure was 17 337 but did not include deaths outside of hospitals.
On the 6th May SKWAKBOX applied the same reasoning to the current figure of 32 065 to estimate a true figure of more than 60 000.
The total deaths in Scotland including those outside of hospital is 1862. https://www.travellingtabby.com/scotland-coronavirus-tracker/
The UK population is 12.6 times greater than that of Scotland so, pro rata, the UK deaths might be expected to be around 23 000 but, based on the above is nearer to 64 000, nearly three times more.
These figures can be challenged but given the nature of this UK government, does anyone doubt they are doing their best to conceal the awful truth of the consequences of their arrogance and stupidity?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
If there is a mouth that requires a foot in it it is invariably Cole-Hamilton’s .
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“Did those life and death judgements ever hinge around Nicola Sturgeon’s desire just to be different from Boris”
Does Alex ‘F*** you Maree’ Cole Hamilton’s political “life hinge around” his constant bad “judgement” in him seeking to be the exact SAME as the likes of “Boris” in trying to score petty political points against the SNP and former FM which then makes him NO “different” from “Boris”…..I mean is his “desire” not the same as “Boris” in keeping Scotland within his UK……two cheeks…same A***……though others fill those cheeks also.
I think it’s TOO obvious WHERE the combined Pro UK narrative is heading….as in down the SAME road as all of their other #SNPBAD narratives….where they hope to communicate and convince voters that there was no distinction between how the UK and Scottish governments both handled the pandemic…….as in both were bad…..though I remember at the time public opinion did NOT conclude this….indeed the FM was praised by the public in Scotland (and elsewhere in the UK) on how she handled the pandemic ……ACH may see it as her trying to be “different” for the sake of it……however the public at the time saw it as her being more COMPETENT than Boris in making the RIGHT decisions as opposed to Boris’s making the many WRONG decisions and too her communication skills being far BETTER than his (Boris)…….where his confused messaging and late decisions cost lives…….in fact someone highlighted recently how some opposition politicians stated at the time that Scotland should FOLLOW the UK government in timing via their decisions and too the rules in England during Covid……….I think the current inquiry upon Covid and revelations upon the UK government’s actions and words (to include those revelations made AGAINST Boris) reveal how that would have been a catastrophic strategy for Scotland to adopt ……but then Health and our survival was secondary to the real motivation of their wanting us to do the same as England via the UK government……as is all of their comments NOW.
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Upon the subject of being (NO) ‘Different’……Scottish Labour’s newest MP, Michael Shanks, has expressed his support for Keir Starmer over Anas Sarwar in the row over the conflict in Gaza and Sarwar’s (late to the table) call for a ceasefire……as in Sarwar has (finally) realised the potential damaging political consequences for his party in Scotland via Starmer’s disgraceful comments in his, Starmer’s, uber support for Israel in him trying to justify what Israel has done in Gaza as being the right action for them…..which could prove to alienate both Muslims here and also many in Scotland who stand with the Palestinians people’s plight .
Just as we predicted Shanks is NOT in fact his OWN man but instead is OWNED by New New Labour HQ and their leader Starmer……expect more of the same to follow via him…..as like Ian Murray he will always bow down to HQ first and foremost and thus do their dirty work irrespective of who or what is impacted negatively via the resulting consequences………..indeed Starmer is proving, if nothing else, that he will indeed be but a bad substitute as the potential supposed next PM in comparison to all of those Tory PM’s we have had to tolerate in Scotland within the UK pre and since 2014 (including Tony Blair)…..that’s what you get when you put your party up for sale to those many wealthy donors and media barons…..”If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas”………and I am sure in stating this that I am only ‘scratching’ the surface.
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It’s a sad state of affairs when even if Nicola is found to have led the best possible response to Covid, ACG, Dross and Anas Sarwar plus the BBC will still manage to somehow distort the facts with their smears and innuendo. How desperate is it to ignore the chaos in Westminster and only see a desire to be different, rather than a genuine attempt to do the right thing, , what a sorry mindset to cling to
The UK Covid inquiry is giving us all a rare chance to see the work of Westminster in some detail, Setting aside the possibly petty minded glee in hearing just how dysfunctional, incompetent and deluded the actions of BJ and cabinet really were, it is showing up some real concerns about how government functions and few a lack of a written constitution enables ministers to push through bad decisions and undermine devolved governments, So far it also clearly shows how desperate they w##ere not to allow Scotland in particular any say in UK wide decisions and were willing to sacrifice the public rather than lose face (as they seem to see it)I can only hope that
I can only hope that a_ Nicola wipes the floor with then when her turn comes to give evidence and b) that she is given the credit she deserves at least from fair minded critics. The rest can just keep selling their souls and any political reputation they have left with their spiteful accusations safe in the knowledge the BBC Scotland team are on side
brobb
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Candidly, it’s hard to deny that anyone who states what Cole-Hamilton just has – and in this of all weeks when the UK Covid Inquiry is laying bare just how dysfunctional the centre of UK government was during the pandemic emergency – is simply a ‘fool’!
And it’s notable – and worryingly so – that the elite of the UK Civil Service; the considerable power and influence of the senior and no doubt ‘patriotic’ members of the Tory 1922 Committee; the institutions of the ‘Mother of all Parliaments’, with its array of noble lords and ladies; and the head of state all appear to have been unaware, powerless to act and/or complicit in one way or another.
And what about the English/British political journalists – Peston, Robinson, Kuenssberg and the rest with preferential access to the centre of government? Missing in action, maintaining their access and/or not upsetting their networks?
Better together?
A Scottish Government that had failed to act differently on behalf of the people of Scotland – if just a fraction of the mess at the hearts of Westminster government had been evident – would have been in dereliction of its duties to us all.
But we should be aware that matters could well have been different. The Westminster government chose NOT to enable its actions during the pandemic through the use of existing UK-wide emergency powers – specifically the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. As I understand it (and I’m no expert) that course of action would have resulted in much more limited room for divergence: it would have afforded the devolved governments much less agency.
I recall comments from senior Tories during the pandemic reflecting on that decision as a serious political error, one not to be repeated!
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She wanted to be different from the corrupt, incompetent PM? The only response that comes to mind is No shit, Sherlock. and Thank God for that!
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A Report from Gordon Brown’s think tank argues that Scotland has had “too much politics”.
This has the same kind of vibe as the wee wifie in the 2014 BT advert…….but this time tis Scots as a whole who apparently are finding it what ?……too complicated , stressful or none of our business…… are our wee brains not able or willing to cope with all of this politics malarkey…….instead we should leave it all to the BIG GUNS down south ……I mean are we then prohibited from voting in elections if we have “had too much politics”…….should we just disengage from politics and then what……hope for the best but prepare for the worst (like say New New Labour winning in all elections)…..so has the rest of the UK also “had too much politics”…..my guess is yes …..but only because of UK politicians and their respective parties……including very much Gordon Brown and his Labour party…..as in he and them playing (BAD) politics which as an act is very much endorsed by the likes of sad old has beens like Gordon Brown.
I would argue that we in Scotland have had way way way TOO much of Gordon Brown……including his so called Think tank that obviously is yet another partisan operation masquerading as what ???……a Think tank…..same one whose thinking is tanking with many in Scotland especially when we get a statement that states we in Scotland have had too much politics and yet it fails to conclude the same for England and Wales….for reasons too obvious to note……..is he having a Giraffe ???
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ACH-him is cynically seeking to exploit the media created furore over deleted messages at SG the week before, itself a cynical diversion to expectation this very issue expected to surface at the UK Covid Inquiry.
The problem with ACH-him’s gambit of “we may never know” is that the public DO know, and the Inquiry will eventually validate it.
SG’s handling of the Covid crisis was seen across the entire UK as infinitely preferable to that of HMG, the clarity and focus of NS despite a torrid media campaign to undermine it, widely appreciated.
On the relative number of deaths – Given what is unfolding at the Inquiry over Hancock’s blatant lying to Cabinet and the public, it is inconceivable the official death toll will not be examined in very close detail indeed – This will bring sharply into focus the different criteria used by Scotland and England and by whom and how the figures could be ‘fiddled’.
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Well said Bob.
“The problem with ACH-him’s gambit of “we may never know” is that the public DO know, and the Inquiry will eventually validate it.”
Aye and we all remember the then leader of the Lib Dems, one Willie Rennie also knowns as Edna , being one of the BBC favoured ones in that the BBC Scotland ‘news’ team gave him and other opposition politicians a platform to punt his grievance mongering tuppence worth of NON helpful and NON informative partisan opinion about how WRONG and BAD both the FM and too the Scottish government were in all they did and said during the pandemic……and where the public begged to differ ……….mind you it’s hardly a revelation is it ‘political opponent OPPOSES a political opponent’……not a hold the front page NEWS story is it…..though funnily enough it is promoted that way in Scotland….for reasons all to obvious etc etc
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