Tag: politics

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Do Scotland’s Labour candidates support their leader’s laughing at child poverty and leaving thousands of them in it?

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Here’s Sir Keir, tin-eared and clearly complacent about poverty, laughing at a wee girl talking about her family’s fuel poverty: What kind of people are the Labour candidates in Scotland, if they can keep going behind this horrible man? And, do the Labour candidates in Scotland accept his views on the two child benefit cap? See this from the Canary, today: The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimates that the two child benefit cap impacts 1.5 million children, including 1.1 million children in poverty. Abolishing the cap, CPAG states, would lift 250,000 children out of poverty. And it would improve even worse poverty for … Continue reading Do Scotland’s Labour candidates support their leader’s laughing at child poverty and leaving thousands of them in it?

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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?

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‘Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak’s and Starmer’s credibility on public services’.

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By stewartb “I think Rishi Sunak’s credibility is completely destroyed ….” – there is a lot of this ‘credibility destroying’ about! From the Institute for Government (6 June 2024): ‘Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak’s and Starmer’s credibility on public services’. This London-based, establishment-endorsed, centrist think tank states (with my emphasis): ‘… the promises on tax (coupled with promises to limit borrowing and debt) imply tight limits on public spending. It is not plausible to think that the next government can address existing major problems in public services without spending more than is currently pencilled in – or announcing cuts to some … Continue reading ‘Ruling out tax rises undermines Sunak’s and Starmer’s credibility on public services’.

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Will these Labour candidates in Ayrshire admit that they plan to support £18 billion in cuts to vital public services and to make child poverty even worse?

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Both of the above have been happy recently to accuse the SNP of a failure to eradicate child poverty in Ayrshire, regardless of the unique Child Payment in Scotland and the significantly lower rate of child poverty in Scotland than in England or Wales. In February 2024, The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) reported: The Autumn Statement forecasts were predicated on a fresh round of spending cuts. Public sector investment is planned to be frozen in cash terms, whereas maintaining investment (net of depreciation) at its current share of national income in 2028–29 would require an additional £20 billion of spending. … Continue reading Will these Labour candidates in Ayrshire admit that they plan to support £18 billion in cuts to vital public services and to make child poverty even worse?

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Will Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Reform candidate condemn his deputy leader’s liking and sharing of holocaust denial, Hitler admiration and the Royal Family are lizards theory?

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Andrew Russell, Reform candidate for the Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock constituency. Today, the Ferret factchecker has revealed: This is not a spoof. Continue reading Will Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Reform candidate condemn his deputy leader’s liking and sharing of holocaust denial, Hitler admiration and the Royal Family are lizards theory?

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Scottish Labour virus in YouTube!

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By NMRN BBC Website Scotland page: There is now only one story in the top section of this page re the nasty political episode we recently witnessed with Dross U turning on his former decision on standing as an MP and choosing the seat of a sick colleague who himself stated he wanted to still stand as the chosen Tory candidate for that seat…..this story is the fifth story in their top section of stories (Soon I am sure to descend even lower as a story before it disappears completely)……..compare and contrast with the multitude of stories on Michael Mathieson which lasted for days/weeks which as headlines were all ‘attacks’ on Mr Mathieson and not as a story one that very quickly became a story via his colleagues defending him that was headlined as such by the BBC … Continue reading Scottish Labour virus in YouTube!

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As social rent homes in England fall by more than quarter of a million in a decade, Scotland builds 6 times as many

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By Professor John Robertson ‘Affordable’ rent can, be at a rate up to 80% of the market rent for the same property and so, in some places, is far from affordable. ‘Social rent’ is linked to local incomes and thus is truly affordable. In the Guardian, today: More than a quarter of a million social rent homes in England have been lost in the last decade, according to analysis of government statistics. Between April 2013 and April 2023, the number of social housing homes owned by local authorities and housing associations in England fell by 260,464 units, according to the … Continue reading As social rent homes in England fall by more than quarter of a million in a decade, Scotland builds 6 times as many

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Labour in Starmer’s various speeches morph from the country being England…to Britain….to Wales….to Scotland….

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By NMRN So today I just got some election bumf through my door , in an envelope, addressed to me from the Labour party…..this is about the 5th piece of propaganda I have had from them. My area is the SNP Tommy Sheppard’s constituency Edinburgh East & Musselburgh and this is one of the seats that I think Labour are targeting really hard to win…..also I have had three sets of Labour canvassers at my door……so far……… that is…….. At the top of the letter was their empty slogan “Change” with a red background but neither a Union jack border nor … Continue reading Labour in Starmer’s various speeches morph from the country being England…to Britain….to Wales….to Scotland….

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Child poverty – Loughborough researchers being used by Scottish media to misinform audiences

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In the Guardian today: Local child poverty rates across the UK correlate very strongly with the percentage of families affected by the two-child benefit cap, research has found, indicating that the controversial policy is a key factor behind children growing up in deprivation. The study, carried out by Loughborough University for the End Child Poverty Coalition, will heap pressure on Labour over the party’s refusal to abolish the cap, which limits universal credit and child tax credit to a family’s first two children, if they come into power. The limit can cost families more than £3,000 a year for each additional child, with … Continue reading Child poverty – Loughborough researchers being used by Scottish media to misinform audiences

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Sir Keir Starmer u-turns on his mum’s love of freedom

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In 2023, Starmer wrote: This year, I braved the British summer and holidayed at home in the Lake District. I’ve always felt it’s the perfect place for a family holiday and so it proved. From boating on Windermere to scrambling up the crags of the Langdale Pikes, lakeside fish and chips or simply drinks in the beer garden — soggy or sunny, there really is something there for everyone. Taking my kids to the Lakes provided a special rush of nostalgia, because I went there every summer as a child. My mum adored it, she thrived in the open air … Continue reading Sir Keir Starmer u-turns on his mum’s love of freedom