10 000 NHS care appointments saved in days before election by Matheson’s efforts

By Professor John Robertson

In the Guardian today:

Up to 100,000 patients in England face having their NHS care cancelled days before the general election after junior doctors announced a fresh wave of strike action, with Rishi Sunak saying it appeared to be politically motivated.

Health leaders expressed alarm, warning the five-day strike would jeopardise efforts to tackle the record waiting list and “hit patients hard”.

That means around 10 000 appointments have been saved from cancellation in Scotland.

Why? Junior doctors have never withdrawn their labour in Scotland.

Why is that?

Junior doctors in Scotland have accepted a pay offer that includes a commitment from the devolved government to work towards pay restoration as doctors in Wales move towards an industrial action ballot.  

The agreement in Scotland is for a 12.4 per cent pay increase for junior doctors in training for 2023-24 together. Following the 4.5 per cent uplift for 2022–23, this equates to a total increase of 17.5 per cent over two years. 

Dr Smith said the Scottish government’s commitment to long-term pay restoration is ‘key’ to the offer and ‘sets it apart from what is happening elsewhere in the UK’. He warned the SJDC ‘will not hesitate to ballot our members again’ if commitments are not upheld.  

Scottish health secretary Michael Matheson said the £61.3m deal is the ‘single biggest investment in junior doctor pay since devolution’ and praised the ‘meaningful engagement’ with the BMA that has averted strikes in Scotland.  

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/29/junior-doctors-strike-england-june

https://www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opinion/junior-doctors-in-scotland-accept-pay-offer#:~:text=Scottish%20health%20secretary%20Michael%20Matheson,has%20averted%20strikes%20in%20Scotland.

24 thoughts on “10 000 NHS care appointments saved in days before election by Matheson’s efforts”

  1. Instead of being lauded for keeping NHS Scotland strike free Michael Matheson has been pilloried over a balls up over ludicrously high roaming charges.

    I would like to know if the situation could have arisen if Michael Matheson had not been using a device that had updated software?

    I would have thought that the users of roaming enabled devices issued to MSPs would have at least received warnings if the volume or cost of the data that they were using exceeded preset amounts.

    Perhaps the parliament needs to spend some time discussing how its IT devices can be kept up to date so that users can be confident that they will not be caught be unexpected charges.

    For example, why isn’t the default setting “No roaming”?

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    1. Yes and who controls the these Government dsitributed tech devices and security of such devices…and why was there no alert when the amount was in excess of what was allowed?? Is it civil servants who hand out the devices? Looks like Matheson could even have been set up when someone saw the bill was going to be excessive…who knows, but it all stinks to high heaven and all very convenient in the BritNat states’ dirty tactics to keep Scotland shackled to their dreadful, dysfunctional ever more far right so called UK.

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  2. Never a mention in the UK (sic ) media of the differences in the approach to the NHS strikes in Scotland . No strikes – but no credit given to the SNP Government . I hope this is front and centre during the Scottish debates – the Branch managers from Labour and Tory and Libdumb will not mention it – will the host ?

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  3. So Michael Mathieson who was a Scottish government minister (SNP) who was actually effective and did something that neither the Labour Welsh or the Tory English Health Ministers could do….that is stop the Junior Doctors striking …..now I see why the opposition parties and the BBC here needed him to be gone and thus why both of these opponents, political & media, have made such a concerted effort to tarnish his reputation and ensure he was punished…..via what has been called “a record ban” and one of the toughest punishments given in the Scottish parliament that just so happens to be , as a harsh punishment, against a SNP politician !…..colour me surprised……so now that his fate has been decided via this punishment…will that then be an end to this….nope not for the opposition parties or I suspect the BBC either…..this BritNat generated soap opera will continue….with other SNP characters also added as the new ‘Villains’ via other #SNPBAD ‘storylines’ via the usual suspects….as in the BBC and also opposition parties in Holyrood…..

    Meanwhile the same BBC have invited (again) one Nigel Farage onto their BBC QT programme tonight…..obviously they hope that in raising his profile on a MSM show that perhaps then he could gain some seats in the next GE so they, the BBC, are doing their bit yet again for his new(est) party……I mean look how effective BBC QT was prior to Brexit in their repeatedly inviting him on….and also inviting ‘special’ kinds of audiences on too who mostly seemed to be uber anti EU that is Pro Brexit….so they, BBC QT, could take some credit for helping many within their UK vote for Brexit……jus as they hope to raise Reform UK party’s profile via inviting both Farage and Richard Tice onto BBC QT’s panels….and also onto other BBC political shows too…..but in the BBC’s eyes the apparent real bad boys of UK politics aka the SNP MP’s are given minimum coverage and that coverage is usually negative or an ambush via a larger Pro UK contingent on a panel of a BBC debate or a BBC political programme……so transparent are they it is embarrassing.

    Farage , a GB News presenter, is one of the BBC’s biggest critics….and in 2019 Farage vowed to Boycott the BBC…..however as someone known to be a BIG hypocrite, who always looks to find some opportunity to tout his trashy politics, he has now obviously decided that his BBC Boycott is no longer valid.….however as per he is his usual ungracious self and he has tweeted this “I’m looking forward to appearing on BBC Question Time, but I won’t be signing up to their woke Diversity & Inclusion monitoring”!……the BBC are fine with that though…..as this will be his 37th appearance…..and he himself is not personally standing for election in any area in this GE………he is the Honorary President of Reform UK….”Honorary President”….WTF is that ?…..nothing that’s what it is but it’s enough for the right wing Biased Broadcasting Corporation to invite him onto their supposed Politics debate show….time and time again……for obvious reasons !

    The BBC always happy to oblige the extreme right wing political agitators….whether that be pseudo politicians like Farage or inviting current presenters from GB News & Talk TV onto their BBC QT programme as panel members…..(Piers Morgan is also on tonight….he has now left Talk TV….but while a presenter on Talk TV he was also invited onto the panel of a BBC QT episode in 2024) .

    BBC QT…..just consider who they choose to be on their panel of peeps so in 2024 who are not elected politicians……Fraser Nelson (The Spectator), Camilla Tominey (GB News presenter and ex Torygraph and Sunday Express Churnalist), Tim Stanley (Daily Torygraph), Guto Hari ( former BBC Journalist then Downing street Director of communications as appointed by Boris Johnson), Melanie Phillips (written for The Spectator and currently writes for the “Times of London”), Rod Liddle (associate Editor of The Spectator and he too was formerly an employee of BBC via BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme where he was an Editor), Charles Moore (given a peerage by Boris Johnson and was a former Editor of the Torygraph and the Spectator), Iain Dale (Tory supporter and now former LBC Presenter but now he is standing for the Tory party in this GE….and he for some obscure reason was a guest on a recent Scottish episode of QT…..,) Tim Montgomerie (former speech writer for Tory party and in 2019 he was briefly a special advisor to Boris Johnson…….

    So one gets a kind of pattern here in who and what the BBC via this supposed political debate programme is desperately trying to do…..in who they invite onto their panel and also why they are invited on….and in 2023 we had GB News presenter Tom Harwood, Tom Newton Dunn (former Sun Journalist and former Talk TV presenter), Kate Andrews (Spectator and formerly with right wing Think Tank), Andrew Neil (former BBC Employee and former GB News Chairman also Chairman of The Spectator)…..so the BBC QT does have form in inviting an excessive amount of right wing non politicians onto their panels where some are currently employed by a TV channel in opposition to the BBC (in more ways than one)…….and prior to the formation of GB News & Talk TV we saw that BBC QT had many of these same Journo types on, and and others too as in Julie Hartley- Brewer, Isabel Oakeshott, Kelvin McKenzie, Louise Mensch, David Starkey, Camilla Long, Alex Massie, Douglas Murray, Rachel Johnson, Mark Littlewood, Alison Pearson etc etc etc…..

    All of this absolute S**** (rhymes with Plight) that we, the public, have to put up with via BBC HQ while they, the BBC in Scotland , do their bit for BBC HQ in their relentless and ruthless coordinated operation, together with parties in opposition to the SNP, to try to ‘Destroy and bring down the SNP’……while holding the ‘Door open’ to those in their UK who agitate to incite rage and opposition and who only want to see the worse possible change happen in their UK politics….where these absolute Jeremy Hunts are given a far more prominent platform than they deserve to try and win over gullible (or in some cases like minded peeps) minds to vote for extremely suspect pseudo political parties in elections…..but never forget that both Farage and Tice were formerly Tory supporters (Tice was also a donor to the Tory party too) …..and I suspect with the kind of Tory leader that they both want to see leading the party….they will then once again support the Tory party……

    BBC BBC you can stick your licence Fee…….as all I want is my country, Scotland , to be Free.….(I’m a poet and I know it)

    NMRN

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  4. It’s sad that the jackal pack pack got their head on a plate – It’s been atrocious treatment of Mathieson since the story broke, all for a lapse of judgement/procedure over a SIM card.

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      1. Hmm I’m not so sure it matters – Accidents happen no matter how careful you are, and Mathieson was no slouch over being careful – Only the ‘scandal’ of the selected few gets amplified and extended for months on end by BBC Scotland with suspiciously coordinated opposition parties all singing from the same hymn sheet about the public being up in arms when few in reality gave a toss…

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        1. If you tell the masses that it’s important (even if, in reality, it isn’t), they don’t dig down to find out that it isn’t and they start to buy into it all.
          I cannot think of a media source in Scotland who has the SG’s back like MSM does for the union.
          There needs to be a coordinated change in rebuffing their bluster and going on the front foot in attacking the hypocrisy.
          What and how that’s achieved, I don’t have the skills to say.
          I do know that the status quo will button down the independence cause semi-permanently.

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          1. No offence intended, but I suggest the Scottish public are nowhere near so gullible as James Cook et al would prefer them to be – The blinkers began falling off post 2014, and Dolby BBC use has gone through the roof… Those in the political/media bubble have been left increasingly talking to themselves knowing indy support is Indy is firmly in the majority and continuing to increase……

            Cast your mind back to any of the ‘crises’ portrayed by the BBC over the last decade, and name a single one where a public demonstration or march against SG or SNP resulted, QEUH, Covid, Ferries, Mathieson ? Where is this ‘widespread public disapproval’ they all cite from the same script ?

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            1. No offense taken. 🙂

              I Don’t think they’re all (that) gullible but indifferent to the mess of the UK and a desire to change things for the better.

              some may even be insane repeating the same mistakes and hoping for a different result.

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    2. Indeed Bob, in fact there was a far more serious ‘lapse of judgement’ via Dross failing to declare an amount far in excess of the amount via Michael Mathieson and the iPad matter …..as in Dross failed to declare thousands of pounds of income via his MSP salary and his Referee work in the WM’s ‘Register of financial interests’ which MP’s must ensure they advise it ….with an up to date position on their income outwith their MP salary…..but there was no sanction or punishment applied by the Standards Commission at WM upon Dross…….as they accepted that he, Dross, had not apparently deliberately attempted to deceive them……how long did this go on for this undeclared income…..well in November 2021 he reported himself to Standards Commission for :

      1) a total of 16 matches from November 2020 to January 2021 were not registered

      2) Dross as part of his submission to Standards Commission in November 2021 stated in relation to his undeclared MSP income that he found that he should have been declaring that ,as a Member of the Scottish Parliament, he received a salary for this since his election (unopposed leadership win of Scottish branch office and thus top on TORY LIST MSP’s for Holyrood) to the Scottish Parliament in May of this year (2021)….

      Rules for Tories and rules for the SNP…..so far is that gap it is embarrassing and an insult to anyone’s intelligence to think it is, politically, a level playing field….

      Dross adheres to punishment only for the SNP in always being within the realm of ‘Hell and Damnation’ TerriTORY.….as he, Dross, is always ready to cast the first stone against the SNP while knowing only too well that politically he and his party are drowning in the political sins that they have committed and thus are very very very much guilty of………for sure !

      Dross is a Class A hypocrite……and a political ‘Lightweight’……but he does try to ‘pull his weight’ for his party and for his S**** (rhymes with PLIGHT) UK state…..a waste of energy and time I think…..as I think Dross is more of a burden than an asset to both his party and his UK state…..but then Dross does not have much leverage with either of them and the bulk of his contributions seems to be #SNPBAD and also a recurring #IndependenceBad…..

      Vote SNP in the GE……if nothing else to STFU people like Dross…..(and others cut from the same cloth as he politically)

      NMRN

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        1. And where were these facts laid out to the general Scottish public who can barely be bothered to look up from their phones?

          Attack the hypocrisy as soon as they start their ‘wailing’.

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      2. I don’t think that Douglas Ross should be drawing a salary as for his contributions to the Scottish Parliament. Party HQ chooses the subjects that he addresses and write his scripts.

        Michael Matheson is now a back bencher, the home grown Toris don’t realise that their obsession with regard to removing him from Holyrood is generated by Party HQ to save it the bother of having to find policies for Scotland and hope that it does some damage to the SNP vote as well.

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  5. As I am currently abroad, I can see BBC.com rather than .co.uk

    Can anyone confirm that this article is identical in Beebscotland:

    “Only SNP offering route back to EU – McAllan”

    The SNP is the only party offering Scotland a route back into the European Union, Energy Secretary Mairi McAllan has claimed.She accused the Conservatives and Labour of having “utterly abandoned Scotland’s European future” at a general election campaign event with First Minister John Swinney.Mr Swinney said a generation of young people had been “robbed of opportunity” by Westminster, citing Brexit, austerity and the cost of living crisis.Election manifestos are yet to be published, but the Scottish Greens also support Scotland rejoining the EU.

    The Liberal Democrats, who vehemently opposed Brexit before and after the 2016 referendum, have refused to confirm their manifesto would include a commitment to seek EU membership.Ms McAllan, during a visit to the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, echoed Mr Swinney’s comments, saying a “generation of young people are being let down by Westminster policies”.On the EU membership, the SNP minister told BBC Scotland News: “We are now the only party who is looking to return Scotland to the EU, who values our position in the EU and values everything that that brings to people in Scotland and young people.”One of the SNP’s central aims is for Scotland to rejoin the EU as an independent nation.Ms McAllan said that while that was not “going to happen tomorrow”, it would benefit Scotland financial and culturally.She added that she benefited from the Erasmus scheme while she was at university, which allows students to study in other EU countries.”It breaks my heart that young people don’t have that opportunity now,” Ms McAllan said.”We’re the only party who is offering a route back to the EU.”’Stand firmly against austerity’Both the Conservatives and Labour remain opposed to the UK rejoining the EU, and have also rejected the possibility of a youth mobility scheme between the EU and UK.”

    HERE IS THE BIG ONE:

    “The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that Brexit, under the current trade arrangements, will reduce long-run productivity in the UK by 4% compared to if it remained in the EU.The Scottish government says that equates to £3bn a year in lost public revenues north of the border.Ms McAllan, 31, said people about her age had lived their “entire adult life under Westminster austerity”.”We are the only party who stand firmly against austerity,” she added, pointing to the Scottish government’s “progressive” tax regime which sees the country have six tax bands while the rest of the UK has three.”

    The Scottish Fiscal Commission has estimated the changes would raise about £1.5bn more than if Scotland still had UK income tax rates.Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems have all ruled out raising value added tax (VAT) if they win the general election.”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd11l9jg4x7o

    The OBR’s estimate for Brexit damage wasn’t widely broadcast, was it?

    Are they trying to show the world how unbiased they are but keeping this off their pages in Scotland?

    Please let me know if this story appears and if it is the same, back home.

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      1. “Everyone needs to start shouting out that Brexit bonus”

        Indeed groaver….where the duck is it ????…or when is it coming ??????……I suspect that will be……………NEVER.

        Since this is a UK GE….when are we going to get Keir Starmer highlighting, via a speech, what his party will do and how they will do it re ‘Making Brexit work’ ?

        Is no Ian Dunt (rhyming slang) from the MSM going to interrogate Keir Starmer on Labour’s BREXIT plans/strategy prior to July 4th….are we seriously going to go through this whole election campaign with a media and public not quizzing Starmer or any Labour politician on Labour’s BREXIT……

        Now is the Time …..that he, Starmer, should set out Labour’s stall on a Labour Brexit….to not do so tells us a huge amount…..as in they Labour, like the Tories, have not got a Scooby Doo what to do.…..

        Bobby Dancers…..strike again.

        NMRN

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  6. A lot of people online are mentioning the fact that STV having a ‘Leaders’ debate in Scotland….in a UK GE…..with the ‘Leaders’ of Labour/Tory/Lib Dem only actually being the Branch office managers is that…..their only relevance in the capacity of being ‘Leaders’ is in the SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS…..and not in this UK GE…..as in a UK GE it is their HQ leaders who are the only ‘Leaders’ that are relevant for pro UK parties…..and also it is the HQ parties who will sit in WM as either the new/next UK government or as the official opposition party …..or in the case of the Lib Dems….neither of these two options unless they decide to unite (again) in a coalition with either the Tories (the Lib Dems favourite partners) or the Labour party…..

    John Swinney as FM deserves better than to debate with the minions of Pro UK parties…..as the SNP are constantly attacked by all of the parties in the branch offices of different respective parties in Scotland and also they are always attacked by the HQ parties and their leaders as well………..thus our FM deserves a space to be reserved for him in the REAL leaders debate…..

    (If all HQ leaders from respective HQ parties never ever commentated on (attacked & criticised) either the SNP, the Scottish government or the various Scottish FM’s then I would say ….OK….you three Mugs aka HQ Leaders from Labour/Tory/Lib Dem can slug it out in a debate between you three in your UK GE campaign as to who is going to be the next UK government….but that is NOT the case…..what we have is Starmer, Davey & Sunak all coming up to Scotland and slating the SNP or them going onto TV or Radio to do it or even doing it in the HOC….so I say that they can all (and their UK TV companies) get to duck….with their UK GE so called Leaders debate….as they are not my ducking leaders !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

    Saw a Tweet from Johnny Dundee Twitter account on this:

    “Again, obvious reason STV’s ‘Leaders Debate’ between SNP leader & 3 MSPs from Lab/Tories+LibDems is a fiasco is that John Swinney won’t be debating anyone in charge of those parties policy making, so they can just say stuff with no intention of it being policy. STV *knows* this”

    Indeed the branch office managers are not in charge of these parties on a UK level….which is relevant here as this is a UK GE….so yes they all, as branch office managers, “can just say stuff” and will more than likely fight and argue this UK wide General election on the basis of the SNP as the Scottish government and too their, SNP, performance as the Scottish devolved government….while promisingthe public that their respective parties will do this, that and every bloody thing…..while Dross will be ignoring the Tories poor performance in both the UK & England on public services and Sarwar will be ignoring Labour’s poor performance in Wales on public services (behind Scotland’s under the SNP)…..and the Lib Dems just being generally a party that jumps on any bandwagon to get votes…..

    Waste of bloody time………as when tis a UK GE then John Swinney should be up against UK HQ leaders….in other words he should be ‘allowed’ to be on the same stage as the political Pro UK Organ Grinders and not be confined to being on the same stage as the three unwise Monkeys….who collectively in respect to their own HQ parties adopt a see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil….though really is EVEL as far as their UK HQ’s are concerned.

    UK stitch up….Starmer does not want to hear home truths from Mr Swinney as he is one who , like the Tories, denies real democracy in Scotland as our votes on a UK level are lumped in with his homeland where we seem to be very much two separate nations that currently are miles apart, not just in physical distance, but very much in thoughts, politics and also our future direction……

    I am so angry….it’s getting to be a habit…..in that Scotland are not “allowed” this nor “allowed” that (in sense of doing something or getting something) but instead we have to bow down to what we are expected to regard as the superior political parties, as in those who sit in so called superior UK Parliament as in WM, and who only fight as political parties for their UK-Not-Okay…..which many a time gets confused, both deliberately and accidentally, as being synonymous with England………….

    Vote SNP in GE……then work, via campaigning for and then voting for Scottish independence……then we can work to get an honest media (long overdue) and get rid of dishonest politicians.(also long overdue)………..simples….tis only the dishonest media and dishonest politicians who pretend that Scottish independence is too complicated….but we know it is they themselves who complicate it with their lies and duplicity……….and do so to try and save their UK state………

    I surely cannot be alone, as one of many people, wondering how our blood vessels have not spontaneously combusted with the amount of S**** (rhymes with FIGHT) that we all in Scotland are subjected to via both the rubbish we watch, read & hear from a rogue media and too via rogue politicians who are all supportive of the rogue state called the UK…………….but as that has not happened…..as in blood vessels so far intact and unburst LOL…….then I will continue to happily add comments onto Pro Indy blogs….hoping that some random visitors to the blog read my and others comments…..but more importantly Prof J Robertson’s articles…..which then may persuade them to see the light…….(as opposed to the dark on offer by UK media and UK politicians..LOL)

    NMRN

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  7. A wee bit o/t …..yesterday bbc started their election update with “the three main parties” these according to bbc is Tory, blue Tory, and the nonsense libs. Tonight STV stated the exact same thing…….now as far as I was aware the order of the three main parties before the dissolution of their parliament today was Tory 345 mps, bluetory 206 mps and SNP 43 making the libs with 15 equal to the independent mps at 15 thus making THE SNP the THIRD LARGEST PARTY IN WESTMINSTER…..so why the complete fake propaganda?

    VOTE SNP AND STOP THE MEDIA LIES ABOUT SCOTLAND

    JB

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  8. Don’t know about anybody else but I just cannot keep up with mess and chaos Labour are in with this GE campaign…..

    Channel Four news reporting on Diane Abbot mess via Labour party…..with Deputy Labour leader defending her Diane Abbott………plus……….

    The Canary reporting this :

    “In the last few days, the Labour party has deselected Faiza Shaheen and Diane Abbott, suspended Lloyd Russell-Moyle, and are set to also deselect Apsana Begum”.

    “Meanwhile, the NEC have selected self-confessed ‘Zionist shitlord’ Luke Akehurst to stand in Durham North – a Labour safe seat”. (“Shitlord” is Canary article word not mine….LOL)……

    “Similarly, Paul Waugh too – an ex Huff Post journalist who spent his career slagging off Corbyn and blocking Canary Journalists”

    “People on X were quick to point out that a pattern was emerging. Prospective MP’s from minority backgrounds aren’t welcome. At least not unless you support genocide or are spewing hatred and/or gender critical……The party are making it clear, that– they, the Labour Party, is then no longer for you”

    “Faiza Shaheen was deselected yesterday due to tweets she liked as far back as 2014. The Labour Party also used her tweets accounting her personal experiences of Islamophobia against her”

    “Meanwhile, this shit, (their word, as in The Canary, for Paul Waugh) who repeatedly tried to derail Jeremy Corbyn is standing for Labour – a former Huffington Post stenographer, no less”

    “It says a lot about someone’s sense of self-importance when they put their own words in quotes. An example of the endless blurred lines between our corporate media and our supposed politicians. No longer are they in bed with them. They are literally the same people”

    “Waugh previously made unsubstantiated accusations of antisemitism. How convenient now he has carved his own path into standing as an MP. His tweets also suggest, incorrectly – that Labour Party members were given a choice in who the candidate would be”

    “Israel’s main man inside Labour”

    “On the same day, Labour announced an even bigger shit is also standing in Durham North”…..Luke Akehurst” (“Shit” once again Canary’s word…LOL)

    “The very man who the Israeli embassy named as Israel’s main man inside Labour. That tells you everything you need to know about the direction of the party”

    “Labour apparently deselected Faiza Shaheen due to old tweets she had liked – not tweeted herself. Funnily enough, Akehurst has recently deleted a lot of his own tweets. That’s definitely not sus”…..(Canary then showed a tweet by Alex Tiffen in May 2024 that stated “Luke Akehurst has deleted over 1500 tweets in the run up to being announced as Labour PCC. Fortunately a way back machine exists and has them archived”)…..LOL…..

    “Luckily for us, once something is online the chances are, someone smarter than Akehurst has saved a copy. Based on the racist remarks he made in the following video, Labour should also deselect Akehurst”……

    I personally cannot link their (Canary article) video onto here but in it he, Akehurst, said that a Jewish black activist had “inner conflict” and is “not celebrating her heritage” so as a non Jewish man, what right did he, Akehurst, have to comment on this while Faiza Shaheen was not allowed, by Labour party, to tweet about Islamaphobia ?????

    “Labour is purging the party of anything like left wing politics. There is no space for minority groups. So if you don’t look like them, sound like them, and toe the party line, it’s time to find a new hymn sheet to sing from”

    So I say…..as well as the problems we see here with Labour in Scotland with their selection of candidates…..ranging from Dinosaurs like Nash and Alexander to Councillors from England to sit in Scottish seats as Labour candidates…..it seems that The Canary also sees through Starmer’s actual NON CHANGED Labour party…..as in they, as a party, will never CHANGE…..or be a UK government that implements any CHANGE whatsoever for us here in Scotland…….for sure !

    Please all Scots….and others who choose to live in Scotland….help me have my faith restored in humanity by not being suckered by either the media or the Labour party into voting for Labour in Scotland in this GE or EVER……as in you assuming or believing that they , Labour, are either the best and only option to vote for to either get rid of Tories or to see any real, or indeed even, any “Change”………..as that could not be further away from the truth for Scotland with the Labour party…………they have form in lying to Scotland.

    VOTE SNP to see a start to some REAL CHANGE as that will eventually be the BEST and ONLY CHANGE for Scotland…..that is firstly a majority of us voting SNP always……and then a majority voting for Scottish independence………….then see how Labour like THAT “Change”……LOL

    NMRN

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  9. Commenting at a tangent but

    Completely O/T but

    Donald Trump’s been found guilty on all 34 felony charges..

    Makes those (repaid) roaming charges look a bit weedy, doesn’t it?

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  10. As Starmer comes to Scotland today to launch GB Energy (window dressing) via what is now a massively reduced budget compared to what he, Keir Starmer, initially proposed for this ……..one wonders if BBC Scotland will report what is in The Guardian newspaper today……as in…..

    “Leading Black figures criticise Labour’s ‘disgraceful’ treatment of Diane Abbott Open letter says party’s inability to make a decision on Abbott’s future is example of systemic racism“

    This is reminiscent of some of the findings in The Forde Report where “.He , Mr Forde, echoed his previous comments that complaints made by black and Asian members were not being treated as seriously as those related to anti-Semitism“…this report was commissioned by Keir Starmer….however post it’s findings being published…..Keir Starmer seemed to be disinterested in acknowledging it’s findings or addressing the serious issues within the Labour party that Martin Forde QC discovered…..indeed he, Martin Forde, stated Keir Starmer had not even engaged with him after he, Forde, published the report to discuss his, Forde’s, recommendations further…..however…………..

    What we will witness today in Scotland is Keir Starmer & Anas Sarwar playing politics in pretending that the Labour party are part of a big united ‘Happy Family”……but the truth is…. that is, as a current position, most definitely not the case….there is dissent and a sense that Keir Starmer is losing control in recklessly purging anyone to the Left of Labour….and also there are Q’s in who is being chosen as Labour candidates for this forthcoming GE…..which seem to be less of those from a minority background indeed the purging of existing Labour MP’s such as Faiza Shaheen (Deselected) , Diane Abbott (blocked from standing for Labour party) and Apsana Begum (rumoured to be next to be deselected)…..in favour of some candidates who are Pro Israel….and also most definitely NOT Left wing…………also Keir Starmer has also made it clear that Labour’s ‘Doors are wide open’ to any Tory MP who wants to defect to his, Starmer’s, new Tory party aka the Labour party……..given Labour are now becoming the NEW Tories at WM and within the UK. (obviously this is backed up as a fact by some Tory MP’s now defecting to Labour….they would hardly defect to Labour if they did not see Starmer channelling his inner Tory…..and thus his party also turning a shade of BLUE)……….

    So one can laugh at the ‘media’ (lack of balance) coverage that will be given to Starmer in Scotland today….with Sarwar his pet poodle at his side ………and we can expect much #SNPBAD via Starmer…..same Starmer that wanted our FM barred from the Leader’s debate yet he has the brass neck in assuming that he also then has the right to slate the FM & the SNP…..GTF seems apt to use for him…..

    GB Energy……just another cover up (window dressing) from another UK party as the potential next UK government stealing more of Scotland’s precious resources for their whole UK…..while the token gesture, via them , is that the supposed HQ of this GB Energy is to be in Scotland (Thanks for NOTHING)…..tis a nameplate exercise…..where all control and benefits will be outwith Scotland’s control and not solely for Scotland’s benefit alone……instead it will be controlled by a Labour UK government…..for their UK……and obvs will only be promoted as an asset if for the UK…..an independent Scotland controlling the capacity & potential of Scotland’s renewables for Scotland alone….will be downgraded to a burden (just like our OIL was in 2014 via these same UK politicians that now seek to fund much of their projects and public services via a windfall tax on Oil and Gas…..same Oil that they said would run out in 2019……lying S***** (rhymes with MINES) that they are)

    GB Energy…thousands of jobs says Starmer (however Sarwar was recently unable to verify amount of jobs FOR Scotland via this)……….so who will FILL these supposed thousands of jobs in Scotland (or in the UK ?)……will it be JOBS for those who LIVE in Scotland or JOBS for those who do NOT live in Scotland but come from elsewhere in the UK…..there is the rub…..as in BRITISH jobs for BRITISH people….we need that detail verified….perhaps today…Hmm…any media want to check that today.

    As per with Labour the devil is in the detail…..and one thing I have noticed with Labour is that they are very active in announcing a series of steps-pledges-lists under various headers….however they fail to communicate the actual detail in how these various Labour plans will be achieved and via what funding ?…………also is there any chance that prior to July 4th (GE day) that Labour, via Starmer, could elaborate on how he will “Make Brexit work”…..asking for thousands of people like me…..as it would be a sad omission for no one , via either the public or media, to not push Labour on how and what they will do via this very TORY policy……….we need another Labour launch on BREXIT plans…..after all as Labour (and the media) slate the SNP in respect to wanting Scottish independence so then fair’s fair the SNP (and the media) should be able to slate Labour in respect to them adopting Tory Brexit for whole UK (even parts like Scotland & NI who voted against it)….surely ?

    GB Energy BTW is being touted as publicly owned…………but with contributions from private investment so perhaps someone in the media needs to ask Starmer to elaborate on the detail of how that works….as tis a tad illogical…..private investments means returns on investments are expected……..and we all know what happens when private enterprises (companies) get involved …..S**** (rhymes with PLIGHT) happens (like literally S**** in water….in England that is )…….

    NMRN

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  11. If anything confirms how little the BBC (and most media) and opposition parties have…in way of a variety of topics with which to attack the SNP with….then think how often many of their chosen attacks are based on regurgitated political news stories.

    Ferries….Michael Mathieson…..over and over again…….these political news stories just will not DIE.…….yet many of us have witnessed hugely damaging issues/flaws/failures connected to other political parties that have somehow either been ignored entirely by the media or if noted once by the media are then never again recalled/mentioned or highlighted as significant in way of proof of them, as other political parties, being rightly called out as being #BAD.

    The opposition parties keeps these #SNPBAD political news stories alive by introducing new complaints that they connect to them……which then allows the BBC in Scotland to headline , that is focus upon , yet another new aspect of these same political stories that are only being kept ‘alive’ solely to try and damage the SNP……as obviously there is an actual real shortage of other real and more serious issues/political stories that they, the opposition and media , can credibly connect to and present as #SNPBAD……. so the same subject matters (attacks) are repeated and thus they drag on and on and on….. for ages………..

    This , as a strategy, also works to the oppositions advantage in this GE campaign….as it keeps the media’s negative focus upon the SNP alone in Scotland.……..so as their UK media counterparts are highlighting negatives connected to other political parties via their respective HQ’s…….audiences in Scotland find these same negatives related to HQ parties are being ignored by our supposed media here in favour of duplicated subjects with attacks upon the SNP………..which as subjects that are being repeatedly attacked/noted then they seem to be ‘stuck in a media loop’ of #SNPBAD.

    Double standards by political parties in the UK and too by the UK media is what we are living through in Scotland……and alas in Scotland we see that the majority of the media are not those who support or identify as being truly Scottish media taht fights only Scotland’s corner….but they, as a UK media, are here in Scotland to ensure that we remain loyal only to their UK and also that parties ,like the SNP, are and always will be their main target and focus for any and all of their #BAD media coverage………

    Of course what really matters is who in Scotland will be taken in by this and who will see it for what is….propaganda orchestrated to advantage Pro UK political parties while simultanously hoping to disadvantage the SNP ……..

    If the SNP were to lose badly in this GE then we in Scotland can kiss goodbye to getting anything tangible that will enrich or benefit us in Scotland….as our message to whichever Pro UK party gets our votes will be…..’Do what you will….as we as a people will not oppose you’……and they will too……..

    NMRN

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