Anonymous
Go onto the BBC website Scotland and Scottish Politics pages and try and find a story on the Labour party . There are currently none.
Then look for stories about the Scottish government/SNP.
You will find plenty and all are either negative or are presenting them, the Scottish government/SNP, as somehow struggling to cope with a situation.
The top story on both their BBC Scotland page and their Scottish politics page is:
“Scottish Horizon victims still waiting for exoneration letters”
The UK Horizon post office scandal that has nowt to do with the SNP/Scottish government but it does have UK Labour, the UK Tory party & the UK Lid Dems complicity/Involvement in it as a scandal.
In that none of them , as UK politicians, acted compassionately and promptly on behalf of all of those postmasters & postmistresses who were impacted by this UK scandal.
Firstly the incompetent and unsympathetic UK politicians did not believe the Postmasters/mistresses and instead they chose to believe the management of the PO
Then when the truth came out they failed, as UK politicians, to act quickly to resolve the situations for those Postmasters/Mistresses who were involved.
Had the Postmasters/Mistresses been believed at first by UK politicians then they all, as PO employees, would not have needed to have gone through so much suffering , hardship and also personal financial and reputational damage.
That is the real truth of this particular scandal and not this supposed top story the BBC have chosen to put on their Scotland pages sourced by them , as once again, they , the BBC here, look for dirt that they can throw upon the Scottish government/SNP ( as yet another FOI request has been sought by them).
So the BBC being the BBC has to drag in the SNP as the Scottish government to also somehow be culpable and negligent for that which they had no involvement in initially creating as per yet another UK generated scandal.
As this top story on their Scottish pages of their website was prompted by a “Freedom of Information request” by the BBC (another one by them) where they state in this article that:
“People caught up in the Post Office Horizon scandal are still waiting for letters from the Scottish government about whether their convictions have been quashed”
“When legislation automatically exonerating victims came into force in June the justice secretary said they had “waited too long for justice” and she would write to those affected”
So once more the SNP gets dragged into another UK mess that has been generated by a UK government/politicians .
Then they, the SNP as Scottish government, are expected to clean up yet another UK generated mess promptly .
If they do not do so then the BBC here, via information sourced from their FOI request, will lay blame at their , SNP/Scottish government’s door, where in this instance, Scots who have been affected by this UK scandal have not , as yet, received their letter from our government exonerating them from their wrongful convictions.
For the BBC Scotland this is then yet another job done in their ongoing campaign to oust the SNP as Scottish government and replace them, in this instance, with the Labour party (UK one as Sarwar is but a “puppet” controlled by the UK Labour party via the UK Labour PM).
Talking-up Scotland 
Yes, twist a story to enable the BBC And, probably, STV, the Daily Ranger et al to copy it.
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Just to say BBC will never give credit to the SNP Government as like all Unionist parties they are ruled from London.
John, Below is part of a letter from a rabid hater of the SNP who writes in the Tory P@J letter pages.
The SNP diehards continue to be the “useful Idiots” for the leaders of the SNP
I like many others are a diehard who only wants my country to be independent so be it I am useful idiot
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O/T apologies
I cannot keep up with the (bad) behaviour of the current Labour UK government.
Read this today on social media via MSM Monitor twitter (‘X’) account:
Apparently “Keir Starmer has promised more cash for the Welsh NHS although how much is unclear ”
(However I noted that the media reported this extra money can be spent how they, the Welsh government , likes though the media said the aim would be to try and bring down Welsh NHS waiting lists !)
While the same Keir Starmer is content that Scotland’s government will be bypassed for funding (with £150 million) going directly to the Labour Scottish SOS, Ian Murray , who will then pass it onto local authorities (Labour ones by chance ?) .
Which as an action, is contrary to how devolution should work ,as in the same devolution that Keir Starmer said that he, as PM, would strengthen if Labour were elected as the next UK government. (just not for Scotland it appears)
Also the same Scotland that Keir Starmer said was at the “heart of his government”. (obviously not actually Scotland as a country at the “heart of his government but he instead was obviously referring to some of the newly elected lacky Labour MP’s in Scotland , to include chief lacky Ian Murray , as some have been appointed to government positions within the new Labour government).
So Wales (who also have a Labour devolved government) are in line for more cash for their NHS (or whatever they decide to do with the money) which as money, is apparently going directly to the Welsh devolved government and NOT, like Scotland, going to the UK Labour Welsh government SOS, Jo Stevens, for her to then allocate directly to Welsh local authorities.
(Lucky Wales though not really as this is only happening because they are a LABOUR devolved government in Wales).
Also reported yesterday that :
“A dockyard has been transformed into a “world-class centre” for wind, wave and tidal power projects following a £60m upgrade.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner visited the revamped Pembroke Port for its official opening later on Wednesday (today) , ahead of what has been described as a “pivotal year” for marine energy in Wales.
It is hoped the changes – including a new “supersized slipway” – will attract renewable energy firms and create up to 1,800 new jobs”.
(So much for GB Energy HQ in Scotland as it seems more like Wales , as one of the devolved nations within the UK currently run by Labour , are the nation (as well as England I am sure) at the heart of Keir Starmer’s current Labour UK government as too are the rewards and benefits via Labour’s GB Energy Ltd ).
On the 19 August Keir Starmer tweeted:
“Working together, Westminster and Wales will deliver change”
While his, Starmer’s, message to Scotland from Westminster is that there will be no working together between his WM and our country Scotland and so for us in Scotland no “Change” there then as far as Labour are concerned.
Instead Labour UK will allow the Labour Scottish SOS Ian Murray to be the official UK controller in Scotland to remind Scotland of who the boss is in their UK.
I say keep an eye on UK Labour’s future funding, their government projects and contracts, the locations of job allocations mostly going to Wales (and England) more than to Scotland in the coming months.
Then watch how Labour and the UK media will promote that Scotland are behind both of these nations (if indeed that will be the case) as if our government loses out in direct funding, investments , jobs , government projects/contracts etc then that will see our performance in Scotland suffer via our NHS and probably other public services and also will see our economy in Scotland suffer too compared to other nations within the UK.
Watch this space.
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The Post Office is run by Westminster. UK Gov ministers are responsible for appointing the Head and dismissing people. Nothing to do with the Scottish Gov. The UK Gov ministers have been criticised for not listening to complaints made by the post office employees. Post Offices are subsidised by public monies. They used to get £30K. Now they get £10K depending on size, as an essential service.
Bank branches are being closed. People can use the post office to pay in and withdraw money. RBS. They need a pay-in book issued by the Bank.
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Because of Scotland’s separate legal system would any prosecutions of postmasters and mistresses in Scotland have to be done under the law of Scotland? So, would any ‘quashing’ of convictions in Scotland have to be done by Scotland’s law officers?.
However, the Post Office is a UK government owned body and has powers to prosecute. I do not know if these powers apply in Scotland. If they do, then can they be ‘quashed’ by other than the prosecuting body?
However, BBC Scotland could not give a monkey’s about such things if they can present the Scottish Government in a bad light.
Alasdair Macdonald
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Not just a scandal it’s utterly criminal what took place at the hands of the English ‘UK’ government and their staff at the top of the post office business. Some people died while never being exonerated having been completely innocent of any wrong doing, how dreadful.
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To be perfectly fair the FOI request related to the Justice Minister’s promised personal letters to the victims 2 months after legislation exonerating them was enacted – The greater question is why BBC Scotland are so interested in progress on “letters” now, when they as a public service broadcaster had essentially ignored the scandal brewing over many many years ?
Yet if you read Katie Hunter’s article, the bulk of the piece centres on a ‘post-office worker’ expected to be exonerated under legislation yet to be enacted, NOT the ‘sub-postmaster’ legislation enacted in June, so personal letters have nothing whatever to do with it.
The smoke and mirrors deployed in HMG to bury the Post-Office fiasco over many years was scandalous – Running in parallel was BBC Scotland seeking to misinform the scottish public for political propaganda purposes – It’s pretty obvious which one continues to this day….
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O/T
“Douglas Ross hits out at ‘calculating’ Tory colleagues”
This from the same Douglas Ross who was shown to be not so very averse himself to being extremely ‘calculating’ in him trying to steal not one, but two, of his “Tory colleagues” seats in the recent GE.
He succeeded in stealing one, as in David Duguid’s seat , where Karma dictated that his own ‘calculating’ ways proved to be pointless , in that he did not win that seat in the GE.
So karma has now visited Mr Ross , long overdue I say, and we now witness his political career prospects are seemingly on a downward spiral.
As now he, Mr Ross, based on what he promised prior to the GE, also has to stand down as Tory leader at Holyrood.
Yet still he is in full #SNPBAD mode while simultanously playing the victim at the hands of his own party.
I am sure Jackson Carlaw has waited for this moment for a long time and his revenge will be a dish that may be served cold but will still be enjoyable to serve up to the colleague who effectively also stole his, Carlaw’s, position as Tory leader at Holyrood.
(None of us bought the false tale of Carlaw resigning after such a short period as Tory leader. Also we were all aware of the plotting between Mr Ross and Ruth Davidson – behind Mr Carlaw’s back)
So as the Tories lose the UK we now see their ‘leader’ (in title only) in Scotland also lose his position which was totally of his own making based on his own arrogance and sense of entitlement that has proven to be misplaced aka wrong.
So he has indeed proven to be a “lightweight” as a politician. (JR Mogg was right)
One down which leaves how many to go ?
I say this as a firm believer in Karma which one can savour with no guilt when one sees who it is that Karma visits.
I am sure those who currently are seen to be gloating will also be confronted one day by Karma , and I and many of others will enjoy that moment , which we will also see as being so well deserved and also long overdue !
(I would draw up a list of names but that would be pointless as I am more than aware many on here would already know to whom I refer to in respect to Karma calling at their doors).
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However, when the latest data on drugs related deaths in Scotland were issued, BBC Scotland sought a quote from Douglas Ross.
Alasdair Macdonald
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John,Oh dear GESE pass rates are down again in E,W,NI I thought Scotland was the worst for pass rates not gloating just wonder if we will hear about it from BBC Scotland.
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O/T
Who would like to revisit an example of some Tory nostalgia but this time with the Labour party ?
“Minister defends Labour donor’s civil service job”
(This headline is reminiscent of similar headlines when the Tories were in power as the UK government as in we often saw “(Tory) Minister defends TORY donor’s – fill in the blanks – but it could be either defending the awarding of a peerage, awarding of a government contract to or gaining a ministerial position in the Tory government post being awarded a peerage- like say for example Malcom Offord).
“Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme that appointing Ian Corfield as director of investment at the Treasury was “perfectly appropriate” and “it’s good to bring in external expertise”.
Correct me if I am wrong but was this not one of the actions that the Labour party and also Keir Starmer criticised the Tories for often doing ?
Apparently yes .
As it has been reported that the Tories based on this news responded by stating that:
“Labour often accused the Conservatives of “cronyism” in appointing political allies to public bodies”.
Though to be fair (not as in being fair to Labour but just to verify truth) that is what the Tories did do when in power.
However two wrongs do not make a right no matter how much Labour try to spin this news as being appropriate and that ‘no rules have been broken’.
“Mr Corfield, a former banker who has donated a total of £20,000 to Labour MPs including £5,000 to now-Chancellor Rachel Reeves in 2023, was brought in to help deliver an international investment summit in October”
So , pre the GE, many on here predicted that for your donation to the Labour party, there would be a return for you as a donor , by the Labour party for your donation to them.
In this particular case a position of influence and power and also a financial return for this particular donor (would that financial return for him exceed that which he donated to Labour ?).
Remember the civil service that serves the government is supposed to be ‘neutral’ though I am sure in his post this former Labour donor will always try his best to adhere to that objective.
However it does not stop there as also reported:
“As well as Mr Corfield, the government has faced questions about another individual linked to previous donations to the Labour Party being appointed to a senior civil service role.
“Emily Middleton was named a director general in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), where the secretary of state is Peter Kyle”.
“She was previously a partner at consultancy firm Public Digital, which paid for her secondment to Mr Kyle’s office in opposition – a donation in kind of more than £65,000. She was also seconded to Labour Together”.
“A government spokesperson said Ms Middleton’s appointment was made “in line with the civil service rules on recruitment”.
It seems nothing will “Change” with this new UK government in comparison to identical actions that we saw with the previous UK government (Tories) which may confirm that both seem to indeed be cheeks of the same proverbial A**e .
Also appropriate to note that any and all criticism on this particular subject that is being directed at the Labour party falls under the category of:
‘If the Cap fits’ (wear it).
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I’m just glad the Titanic wasn’t built on the Clyde, meanwhile,
https://www.islandecho.co.uk/cross-solent-cancellations-on-both-wightlink-and-red-funnel-services/
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Thanks
Will use later
John
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