Tag: labour-party

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Why is this British state, tax-payer-funded public service broadcaster only telling you how to get free voter-ID when it’s too late?

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registration certificate, as long as you are registered to vote. You can see those details on the BBC website on the Electoral Commission website. Presenter says ‘Good advice!’ At the website: Conspiracy or c***up? Those less likely to have bank cards, driving licences etc, the poor, are also more likely to vote for leftist parties. The SNP is clearly the only larger left-of-centre party known to be working to reduce poverty. Evidence from Alan Dorans, SNP candidate for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, in the National, January 2024: This matters for all of us but matters more for the SNP than … Continue reading Why is this British state, tax-payer-funded public service broadcaster only telling you how to get free voter-ID when it’s too late?

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Labour’s GB Energy policy merits so much more objective appraisal than it has received from the media

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By stewartb The chameleon that has been the Labour Party’s GB Energy policy merits so much more objective appraisal than it has received from the media. This deficit in critical assessment is important – is to be deprecated – given that GB Energy (GBE), and the location of its HQ, is clearly being pushed by Labour as its big inducement to voters in Scotland. IMHO GB Energy is the GREAT OBFUSCATION! What follows is just one example of the gushing, uncritical reporting that may well prove successful in seducing some voters in Scotland: ‘Thousands of Scottish jobs’ created by Labour’s … Continue reading Labour’s GB Energy policy merits so much more objective appraisal than it has received from the media

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Labour’s GB Energy has been a bit of a shapeshifter

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By stewartb It’s not often that I’m inclined to write anything positive about a BBC Scotland journalist’s contribution. But here goes! The BBC’s ‘Business and Economy Editor, Scotland’, Douglas Fraser had an article (24 June) in the Scotland Business section of the BBC News website under this headline: ‘What would ‘GB Energy’ mean for Scotland’s green economy?’ (See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cyxxxljq070o ) (Never unalloyed reaction to BBC Scotland tho’! Curiously, this article which attempts a critical appraisal did NOT appear in the Scotland Politics section despite this being six lines in: ‘Labour makes a big play of setting up GB Energy.’) – (my emphasis). We … Continue reading Labour’s GB Energy has been a bit of a shapeshifter

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Labour candidates forced to stay away or ‘rewrite the Labour manifesto’ as they face the public in hustings across Scotland

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At a hustings in Ayr last night, a source said of the troubled Labour candidate for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Elaine Stewart : The Labour candidate rewrote the Labour manifesto. She claims Labour support settling with the WASPI women. Also she had a great line when she said” that once Labour have established the financial position they will increase taxes, if needed. Another told us she expressed support for putting an end to the House of Lords. These are all expressions of support quite contrary to the Labour manifesto and reveal deep contradictions in the Labour campaign here. Recently, on … Continue reading Labour candidates forced to stay away or ‘rewrite the Labour manifesto’ as they face the public in hustings across Scotland

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Major fixes are required for a failing UK state but the two main parties are in denial for partisan electoral reasons

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From stewartb There have been some escoriating assessments of the Tory and Labour manifestos for the upcoming General Election. They include the one below from the establishment-revered Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). When reading the extracts, written from a London/England-centric UK perspective, reflect on just how ‘distant’ – how lacking in effective agency — Scotland’s electorate and government are in all of this! The IFS is essentially arguing that major fixes are required for a failing UK state but that the two main parties are in denial for partisan electoral reasons. Within this Union, Scotland’s ability to influence the nature … Continue reading Major fixes are required for a failing UK state but the two main parties are in denial for partisan electoral reasons

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Making sure Labour get full credit for the PFI disaster costing Scots £30 billion

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By Professor John Robertson Deep into today’s BBC Northamptonshire, not BBC Scotland, of course, we read The NHS is currently grappling with the detrimental effects of inefficient Public-Private Partnerships (PFI) introduced by New Labour, which are siphoning off essential funds from patient care. How much? From SNP Media, in March 2023: From SNP Media today: The price of the biggest scandal of the Devolution era – Scottish Labour’s PFI catastrophe – continues to increase after it was revealed the cost to the public purse ballooned by an extra £1million every week in just the last year alone. In response to … Continue reading Making sure Labour get full credit for the PFI disaster costing Scots £30 billion

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Researchers reveal Labour will spend even less than the Tories on the NHS

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From the Observer, today, based on analysis by leading experts at the Nuffield Trust: Labour and the Conservatives would both leave the NHS with lower spending increases than during the years of Tory austerity, according to an independent analysis of their manifestos by a leading health thinktank. The assessment by the respected Nuffield Trust of the costed NHS policies of both parties, announced in their manifestos last week, says the level of funding increases would leave them struggling to pay existing staff costs, let alone the bill for massive planned increases in doctors, nurses and other staff in the long-term workforce plan agreed last … Continue reading Researchers reveal Labour will spend even less than the Tories on the NHS

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In NHS England, you’re almost TWICE as likely to have to wait more than 12 hours in A&E

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By stewartb Yet another ‘credible’ health body takes aim at Labour’s manifesto! In two recent press statements on A&E waiting times performance, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) noted: In May 2024, 10% of patients attending A&E in England spent 12 hour or longer there = 145,094 patients (statement issued on 13 June) In April 2024, 5.7% of patients attending A&E in Scotland spent 12 hours or more there = 6,412 patients (statement issued on 4 June). This marked difference in the percentage of patients experiencing long stays in A&E – demonstrating the much better (whilst still not good enough) situation in Scotland … Continue reading In NHS England, you’re almost TWICE as likely to have to wait more than 12 hours in A&E

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An enlarged and compliant group of Labour MPs is the last thing Scotland’s public services need in the face of damning assessments of their manifesto

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“The Labour Party has not set out an overall spending plan for health and social care in England. This makes it impossible to judge the plausibility of the party’s plans” (Institute for Fiscal Studies, June 13, 2024) – so why waste a vote in Scotland on Labour? By stewartb – a long read In the next UK parliament when all roads are STILL leading back to Westminster what can we expect from a Labour government of benefit to health and social care in Scotland? With Labour’s manifesto now published, It’s worth taking a look at reactions to its policy pledges. … Continue reading An enlarged and compliant group of Labour MPs is the last thing Scotland’s public services need in the face of damning assessments of their manifesto

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Will Central Ayrshire Labour candidate condemn his leader’s hypocritical use of a private jets funded by country where abuse of workers and women is rife?

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From the Irvine Times, today: Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds joined his party’s candidate for Central Ayrshire on a visit to Prestwick’s GE Caledonian site at the weekend. Mr Reynolds and candidate Alan Gemmell [OBE] were exploring the potential for future investment and jobs in Prestwick’s aerospace sector. From the Guardian on 31st May:: Keir Starmer has admitted travelling via ‘efficient’ private jet to Scotland ‘in the middle of a very busy general election campaign’, despite Labour having previously criticised Rishi Sunak for using aircraft to get around the country. Starmer was in Glasgow to talk about the party’s Great … Continue reading Will Central Ayrshire Labour candidate condemn his leader’s hypocritical use of a private jets funded by country where abuse of workers and women is rife?