Labour's 'sunlight of hope' is now the darkness of despair

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

Well, a lot of things were supposed to be different under Labour; the problem is though that they are not. Voters who were promised "Change" are increasingly feeling conned. The "sunlight of hope" which the Prime Minister promised in his General Election victory speech has become the darkness of despair, and anyone hoping that Sir Keir Starmer might show some respect for the voters of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse and turn up to explain himself will be sadly disappointed, with Labour's own sources admitting that the Prime Minister is "not playing well on the doorsteps and is not considered an asset at this point in the electoral cycle". And those are the truest words we've heard from Labour for a long time.
Ruth Marr, Stirling.
An electoral disaster beckons
The way things are going, it does not look as though Labour could win a second term in office.
It came in with big ideas about growth and investment to rescue the UK from the yawning chasm of inequality only to find that there was a shortage of funds despite the highest level of taxation for eons.
Out of fear of catastrophic headlines, Labour tied its own hands by ruling out increasing taxation in important areas, thus leaving itself little wriggle room for its manoeuvres.
In its desperation to show that it could be steely in its determination, it hit targets which were clearly going to provoke vociferous public outcry destined to damage its standing in opinion polls and to test the strength of its resolve.
The reduction in numbers of those eligible for the winter fuel allowance has left an indelible imprint in the minds of many voters which will backfire on Labour at the next election while the National Insurance increase on employers' contributions has put a squeeze on Labour's much-vaunted ambition to boost business growth.
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Labour must have hoped that the electorate would understand that Labour's project to reform the economy would take time, but it had not factored in the the fragmentation of society where individual groups and institutions do not see themselves as members of the larger national community but are interested only in protecting their own members' interests and devil take the hindmost.
Where Labour needs every business, public service and trade union to realise that a sinking ship needs all hands to the pumps, it faces demands from all sides for a restoration of parity with the economy prior to 2010 and additional funds to put into operation the about-turn Labour advocates for the economic betterment of the UK.
Unless patience and belief in the efforts of community action replace the selfishness and impatience of individual entitlement, Labour will be in the position of Sisyphus, condemned never to succeed in the task it has taken on.
That will just spell out electoral disaster when the burden of blame rests elsewhere.
Denis Bruce, Bishopbriggs.
By-election opportunity
For the last few weeks, the environment in the UK has been particularly stressful: widespread anti-government protests have swept the country, whereas the approval ratings of Sir Keir Starmer have hit a record low of 22%. Such an outcome is a response of the population against rising taxes, withholding social safety net programmes and healthcare reform. But despite the growing frustration of the public, the PM has been building up multi-billion aid to Ukraine from already shaky budgets with no concern about internal problems.
Taking into account the reluctance of the Government to scale back its ambitions that are affecting the population, the victory of Reform UK in the English local elections seems to be no surprise. Even Nigel Farage is regarded as a worthier candidate than any member of the Conservative or Labour parties that left the public disappointed with their unpopular policies. As people didn't manage to get through to the Government by ordinary means, they resorted to drastic measures. 'Change your political course, otherwise we'll replace you with the opposition' – that's what the population wanted to say by voting for the right.
The by-election in Scotland on Thursday is one more opportunity to show the Government that Reform UK's big win in local elections was no accident. People can't put up with the fact that their problems are being put on the back burner, they are now in a serious mood to struggle for their welfare. And in this struggle every single voice is badly needed.
Iain Brocklebank, Glasgow.
• The Hamilton by-election seems to be an opportunity for all mass media outlets to be showing images of Nigel Farage grinning. This is a little disturbing because of the uncanny resemblance between Mr Farage and Joe E Brown, the actor who stole scene after scene from Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, as the useless millionaire Osgood Fielding III in Some Like it Hot, Billy Wilder's 1959 smash-hit comedy.
Given that the film's two male actors pretended to be women throughout and the trouble we're having in Scotland with the issues of gender identity, seeing the final scene in which Joe E Brown, with his trademark wide, wide grin announces that "Nobody's perfect" is quite comforting. Nobody is, but I still can't quite imagine Nigel Farage adopting such a magnanimous position – on anything.
AJ Clarence, Prestwick.
Joe E Brown and Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot (Image: United Artists)
Existential crisis for the NHS
I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed by Dr Andrew Docherty (Letters, May 29) regarding the parlous state of the NHS.
It is perhaps going too far to say that the NHS, which is supposed to protect us from danger, has become the danger in the same way as Frankenstein's monster turned on its creator, but long waiting lists and lack of adequate resource (both human and material) mean that people are dying needlessly.
The truth of the matter is that the NHS has become a huge, bloated, costly monster with an insatiable appetite for cash on which it gorges but with no consequent improvement in patient outcomes.
This is hard to accept as it goes against everything we have been taught as believers in the 'national religion' and the myth of the NHS's saintliness.
I would emphasise that this assessment does not apply to the doctors, nurses and other medical support staff who are generally excellent, but the organisation they work for, which is well past its sell-by date.
The problem is simple but difficult. Unlike most other business entities, the NHS does not exist to make money. It exists to spend it and so, because it is taxpayers' money it is spending it has to be monitored by a committee to ensure there are no financial shenanigans going on behind the scenes. As that committee is a public body it has to be monitored to ensure it meets all its sustainability and diversity targets. Then the body set up to do that will need an HR department to ensure that the mental health issues are being properly addressed.
Then all these bodies, panels and committees will need to be housed in offices which will have to be financed.
Then suddenly there is a need for a CEO who will need some supporting staff, and they will need an HR department too, which means a private finance operation will have to be started which will in turn need an oversight committee which will need another HR department.
And then from way down the food chain a doctor will say that he could do with some new PPE and there will be a massive outcry about buying medical supplies.
This means a procurement committee will be necessary and the Chancellor will announce she is spending enough already so Labour will be accused of underfunding the NHS.
No private company would allow this to happen. It would concentrate on the core business and house the HR department in a Portakabin in the car park. Private companies exist to make money, not to waste it on meeting mindless irrelevant targets
Of course, you can't just shut the NHS down for six months to do the required reforming and restructuring followed by a grand reopening ceremony but accountability and good governance completely focused on patient outcomes is the only way out of this existential crisis.
Keith Swinley, Ayr.