if he misses the Government’s child poverty reduction target. The Scottish Government is publishing its ‘Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for the next five years. Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the Government’s plans will focus on ‘tackling the root causes of child poverty. Anti-poverty charities say progress ahs been made but there is still significant distance between where we are now and targets which are meant to be met by 2030.
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BBC Reporting Scotland in the BBC Breakfast insert this morning flying solo once more with a negative take on a story not covered in depth on their website and, thus, not telling us who the ‘Anti-poverty charities are.
I’m guessing they might include the Aberlour Trust and their CEO Sally Anne Kelly, below left meeting with no Scottish Government representative but one from Labour, far right.
Here’s the report:
On Friday 24th March 2024, Aberlour hosted an event for Debt Awareness Week – ‘Giving with One Hand, Taking Away with the Other’ – to highlight the impact of public debt on low income families and the role it plays in trapping families in poverty.
We finished the day with a discussion featuring our expert panel, which included Dr Jim McCormick (CEO, The Robertson Trust), Emma Jackson (National Director Scotland, Christians Against Poverty (CAP), Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP (Scottish Labour spokesperson for (Social Justice and Social Security), alongside SallyAnn Kelly and Professor Treanor. https://www.aberlour.org.uk/news-item/giving-with-one-hand-taking-away-with-the-other
The Aberlour Trust Head, Sally Ann Kelly (above left) is in the Herald with ‘Swinney warned child poverty inaction is ‘deliberate act of state harm.’ She has aimed the same accusation at the SNP before. Kelly got an OBE from the Conservative Government in 2022.
Has she forgotten the above event with Duncan-Glancy in attendance?
That was before Duncan-Glancy’s party in government was to launch its cruel austerity programme but surely, today, she might have wanted to aim her fire more strongly at the UK Labour Government and remind Duncan-Glancy of her sickening hypocrisy, like this.
Kelly attacked the SNP again in September 2025:
Under shamefully exploitative imagery of sad children, the Herald had:
A “new honesty” is needed to transform the lives and futures of Scotland’s poorest children, according to a leading charity. SallyAnn Kelly, chief executive of Aberlour Children’s Charity, has called for a greater culture of cooperation across public, private and third sectors in Scotland to improve the lives and life chances of children growing up in poverty.
and:
You see that ‘exactly the same damage‘ as 150 years ago and ‘doing the same things?‘
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Astonishingly, the Herald seems to have forgotten its own 29 January 2025 piece, telling us:
Scotland is the only part of the UK likely to see child poverty rates fall by 2029, according to a new analysis from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The charity says this is largely down to the Scottish Child Payment and the SNP’s commitment to reverse the two-child limit from 2026.
Why is Kelly ignoring the above in her Herald comments today?
As she retires to wait for a predictable honours do, with King Charles III, I feel Pam Duncan-Glancy is already pushing her for a big one. Why?
On Friday 24th March 2024, Aberlour hosted an event for Debt Awareness Week – ‘Giving with One Hand, Taking Away with the Other’ – to highlight the impact of public debt on low income families and the role it plays in trapping families in poverty.
We finished the day with a discussion featuring our expert panel, which included Dr Jim McCormick (CEO, The Robertson Trust), Emma Jackson (National Director Scotland, Christians Against Poverty (CAP), Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP (Scottish Labour spokesperson for (Social Justice and Social Security), alongside SallyAnn Kelly and Professor Treanor. https://www.aberlour.org.uk/news-item/giving-with-one-hand-taking-away-with-the-other
On 5 May 2025, the Aberlour Trust Head, Sally Ann Kelly was in the Herald with ‘Swinney warned child poverty inaction is ‘deliberate act of state harm.’ She has aimed the same accusation at the SNP before.
Had she forgotten the above event with Duncan-Glancy in attendance?
That was before Duncan-Glancy’s party in government was to launch its cruel austerity programme but surely, today, she might have wanted to aim her fire more strongly at the UK Labour Government and remind Duncan-Glancy of her sickening hypocrisy, like this in June 2025:
Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP ‘over the moon’ at King’s MBE honour https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj095rvy12yo
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Talking-up Scotland 
He does not need to tell us we have long know this.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tim-davie-bbc-idf-us-capitol-richard-osman-b2936861.html
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You state “BBC Reporting Scotland in the BBC Breakfast insert this morning flying solo once more with a negative take on a story not covered in depth on their website and, thus, not telling us who the ‘Anti-poverty charities are”
Is it not always the same ones, as in the usual suspects, who are always platformed by the BBC.
Also where the BBC are supposedly citing these accusations as having been said, but not specifically naming who made these negative comments .
That is this time they are only referred to as being “Anti-poverty charities” , but the BBC are not actually specifying who these charities (plural ?) all are ?
Well that is almost akin to hearsay surely.
As surely naming the actual charity or charities adds more substance and so then also adds some credibility to this BBC report.
No names means this report is questionable as to the motivation behind it , as it could be mostly political (bias) , based upon their past support for, or association with, other political parties (other than the SNP).
So your speculation is 100% justified .
As all you can go by , in this instance, is who it possibly could be from an “Anti poverty charity” (or charities) who has attacked the Scottish government , based purely upon who , from a charity(charities), has previous form in attacking the Scottish government this way on this very same subject.
See that’s what happens when a media outlet , like the BBC ,fails to name it’s source or sources , a failure that is often linked to the media here within Scotland who think it is sufficient to just state “some critics say” or “opposition parties say” and then now this, “Anti poverty charities” say…….what ?
#SNPBAD ?
Yet again we , as citizens of Scotland, are caught between either screaming , raging or just ignoring the blatant politicisation of everything that happens within Scotland.
That is mostly politicised by our media but also by the usual suspects too, whose (bad) habit is in them always ignoring everything positive that is being done by the Scottish government to try to help various people within Scotland ,including those people in poverty.
That is now becoming, as a (bad) habit, very embarrassing and also seemingly very partisan in nature (via them as a media and also as the usual suspects that the media always seeks an opinion from upon Scottish politics, though mostly opinions that are against the SNP).
Meanwhile does the media here within Scotland and also all of the usual suspects who constantly attack the Scottish government , all think that the various UK governments have themselves, as UK governments, performed better than or performed worse than our Scottish government ?
Surely by now , we and also they, all know that the various UK governments that we have all had to endure for far too many years have all failed to alleviate poverty, indeed they, the various UK governments, have made it far worse and also they have tried to make it much harder for poorer and vulnerable people to live within their UK, including making it harder to live for all of the poorer and vulnerable people within Scotland.
Austerity policies from former Tory UK governments and now a Labour UK government who are attacking and stigmatising people on benefits and stating that “some people on benefits are “taking the mickey” or are choosing not to work” as in stating it is apparently a “lifestyle choice”.
So how about all of these “Anti poverty charities” focusing and targeting more upon all of the various past and current UK governments, mostly for their lack of action, their despicable words and their (bad) habit in always blaming the poor (who are on benefits) for all of the mess that they, as UK governments, have made with their UK economy.
So then do they all , as anti poverty charities , think that the various past and the present UK governments, deserve to either be ignored for their many failings on poverty and so then be considered as what ?
Being better on poverty than the Scottish government ?
I think not……….surely……file that under parallel universe propaganda.
Liz S
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Independence will end poverty.
No more illegal wars, Trident, nuclear, Brexit. Scotland in surplus in fuel and energy pays more. Scotlands revenues and resources wasted by Westminster. Scotland pays too much for the military. £1Billion over. 180,000 military personnel. 10,000 based in Scotland. Scotland has lower unemployment.
The UK the most unequal place in the world.
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“Independence will end poverty”
Independence for Scotland can in the future, with the right government, at least hopefully be able to prioritise ordinary people over other supposed priorities that both the current and the past UK governments have spent way too much time , energy and money upon.
Indeed these other priorities do little to help people in the here and now, as instead they actually do the opposite.
Nuclear weapons are not a deterrent but they are a threat….to all humanity (and also to all other beings who share this planet).
Unfortunately we have UK governments, as well as some other rogue governments within the world , all trying to convince their citizens that war is peace , freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength.
Reality is , that for most normal people all they want is just to live their lives in peace, to be happy and healthy, to have a degree of freedom to do what they want and go where they want, then to also try to achieve a decent standard of education that then enables them to at least always make an informed and educated decision , especially on who they decide to vote for in all elections within the UK State.
Alas that, I suspect, is not compatible as a sustained position, for any of the past UK governments , the current UK government , and I am also very sure that it will not be the preferred position for any future UK government , that is, none of them want a see a far better educated, and so then a far better informed British people.
So far in the UK we have seen UK governments actively try to suppress voting in elections in placing obstacles that “disproportionately impact various voter groups, including those in areas with lower educational access”
They, UK governments, have also sought to marginalise people, such as Asylum seekers, that involves them creating a “hostile environment” both in the past , as a former UK government, but also with future intentions from this current UK government to seek to implement a “systemic exclusion from rights, resources, and opportunities (e.g., housing, employment, healthcare)” for immigrants who come to the UK State.
Then of course we have seen with the former Tory UK government and now with the current Labour UK government a clamp down on the right to protest and to hold marches. Where the government decides what we, their citizens, can and cannot protest against.
Of course Scotland’s citizens need not experience all of that as a long term endurance in their future, if that is , we could only have even more citizens within Scotland finally ‘waking up and smelling the Coffee’……….also known as a long overdue Scottish epiphany.
I know that am, if nothing else, a broken record upon this maytter , but really what the ****
Liz S
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*I know that am, if nothing else, a broken record upon this maytter , but really what the ****
*matter
So passionate am I, that I am even creating my own exotic versions of the most ordinary words Ha Ha
Liz S
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