Latest news with #Lambie
The Herald Scotland
16 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
STV by-election debate made me uncomfortable. Here's why
Hopes were not high for the live debate, aired on STV's Scotland Tonight. How could it be? Colin Mackay kicked off the programme referring to it as a 'political showdown' – one where only two candidates had bothered to show up. Mackay – STV political editor – told the audience that six candidates, from the SNP, Reform UK, Scottish Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems and the Greens – had been given the opportunity to 'defend themselves and question their opponents'. Only the SNP's Katy Loudon and Reform's Ross Lambie were willing to 'cross swords' as Mackay put it. Loudon launched her segment taking aim at winter fuel payments, announced by Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year. There is immediately a slight glimmer of consensus between the two despite their blatantly obvious disagreements on politics. Read more by-election coverage: Voters are 'scunnered', they both agreed, but Lambie brings an abrupt end to consensus as he blames the SNP of being part of the political establishment that has caused a 'lost generation'. Cross examination allows Loudon to ask the Reform candidate whether he agrees with Nigel Farage on scrapping free tuition and prescriptions. Fair play to Lambie on this. We get a straight answer. 'No, I don't think so,' he said. ''In Scotland, we have a devolved administration, our manifesto in Scotland will not be scrapping anything along those lines.' When it comes to Mr Lambie's cross examination on Ms Loudon, he goes straight to a local issue: Wishaw's neonatal unit, raising concerns about plans to centralise the specialist care to a facility in Glasgow. Ms Loudon's response won't sit well with locals. She said her background is in teaching, adding: 'I'm not a nurse, I'm not a doctor, I'm not a clinician.' That, I would say, is a point to Lambie. But where he falters, instead of pushing Loudon on the local issues, he gives her a free shot to criticise Labour by asking her about cuts to winter fuel payments. It's not the strongest attack from Lambie. An absolutely brutal watch. — Rebecca McCurdy (@_RebeccaMcCurdy) June 2, 2025 Lambie then, bizarrely, accuses Loudon of being 'snobby' against football fans after John Swinney ruled out reintroducing alcohol in Scottish football stadiums. Lambie said: 'Don't you realise for local teams, like Hamilton Accies, you're putting a strain on their local finances.' Loudon seemed a bit perplexed by the accusation, but lumps her response in with the question on the NHS. She said: 'This is about taking expert opinion.' Loudon also faced tough questioning from Mackay, who pressed her on whether she would apologise to Lanarkshire residents, the region where waiting times in hospitals are amongst the worst. She did not directly answer, but said: 'I'm not going to sit here and pretend things are perfect,' but added the SNP was 'listening'. Lambie also did not come out of the debate well as her was quizzed on the Reform adverts using a speech from Anas Sarwar, accusing Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar of stating he wanted to 'prioritise the Pakistani community' – which he did not say. He refused to be drawn on whether it was racist and rejected that Mr Sarwar was misquoted. Look, the whole debate was pretty uncomfortable to watch. But it only got worse when Davy Russell, the Labour candidate, entered the frame. Read more: Russell said he would not attend the live debate because he would be out chapping the doors of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, but he told Mackay in a sit-down interview that he stopped door-knocking at 8.30pm, giving him ample time to appear at STV studios for the 10.40pm broadcast. So why wasn't he there? 'In a debate you can't listen,' he said, oddly, given if elected to Holyrood he would be expected to do just that three days a week. More uncomfortable viewing followed. Russell, while stating Scottish Labour opposed policies like the two-child benefit cap and the winter fuel payment, he would not answer the whether the UK Government was wrong. Mackay asks almost 10 times if he backed the Chancellor. Brutal. There hasn't been much press for the Scottish Tory candidate Richard Nelson, with the party widely expected to come fourth in the by-election. Attending the debate would have been a significant opportunity to boost his platform but instead, his small segment seen him argue the NHS was in crisis. But there is a trend here: there were no solutions offered. He was also keen to dismiss any concerns around his membership with the Orange Order. Lib Dem candidate Aisha Mir came across as a strong debater but did not seem confident on whether she could actually win, while the Greens completely declined to have any part in the debate. Was there a winner of the debate? I do not think so. Loudon was clearly the most competent on camera, but this is not her first by-election and she should have done better given that. The losers are obvious: the constituents in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse who were not given a competent debate they deserved.
The National
18 hours ago
- Business
- The National
Reform UK Anas Sarwar advert now seen a million times
The advert – which Reform have spent between £15,000 and £20,000 on – falsely claims Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar would 'prioritise the Pakistani community' and includes selected clips from a video spread by far and alt-right agitators on social media in a bid to claim that Europe was under threat from 'multiculturalism' and mass immigration, specifically of Muslims. The total spend on the advert only last week was listed as between £10,000 and £15,000, and this now appears to have risen several thousand pounds according to statistics. Ross Lambie – who is hoping to claim the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Scottish Parliament seat for Reform this week – was grilled during an STV hustings by host Colin Mackay and SNP candidate Katy Loudon about the advert. READ MORE: No independence referendum while I am PM, says Keir Starmer He doubled down on defending it insisting the party had not misquoted Sarwar despite telling the BBC last week the claim that Sarwar will 'prioritise' the Pakistani community was 'a quote from us'. He criticised the BBC, suggesting the broadcaster had got facts wrong, and said he 'looked forward to their apology', adding that his party had 'nothing to apologise for'. (Image: STV) Asked by Mackay if he was embarrassed by the advert, Lambie (above) said: 'Anas Sarwar is a man who wants to be the first minister for the whole of Scotland and I think it's quite right the things he says, the speeches he gives, is held up to the highest scrutiny. 'We've done that, we've given our view on it.' Asked if he owed Sarwar an apology for misquoting him, Lambie then said: 'We never misquoted him at all. The title of it was our opinion of it, it was not in quotations.' He was then asked if he believed his party had anything to apologise for to which he said "absolutely not". When it was put to Lambie by both Loudon and Mackay that he had previously said they were not Sarwar's words, Lambie went on: 'We didn't portray them as his words. The BBC were incorrect about the quotations, and we look forward to their apology.' Loudon then asked him to clarify whether they were not Sarwar's words and instead Reform UK's opinion to which Lambie replied: 'Yes, correct.' Last week, Sarwar called Farage a 'pathetic, poisonous little man who wants to use divisive rhetoric to spread fear and division for his own political gain'. READ MORE: Scottish Labour councillor defects to Reform UK The Labour MSP further challenged the Reform UK MP to a debate at 'any time, any place', adding: 'He can challenge me on my views, I'll challenge him on his, and I am confident that the people of Scotland will reject him.' He said the Clacton MP did not know about, or care for, the people in the area, saying Farage "thinks Hamilton is some kind of show on the West End of London". Reform UK are not expected to be able to win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, but some pollsters have projected that they could push Labour into third place, which would send shockwaves through Scottish politics. The debate on STV was only attended by two candidates – Lambie and Loudon – despite four others contesting the seat on Thursday having been invited to go on the programme. Scottish Labour's candidate Davy Russell floundered in an accompanying interview after failing to answer a question 11 times. Russell previously said he would not be attending the debate because he would rather be "knocking on doors" – despite the fact that the event is scheduled for 10.40pm. In the individual interview he had with Mackay, he then struggled to answer when asked about the failings of the current Labour Government. Mackay asked Russell a total of 11 times whether the UK Government was right to scrap the Winter Fuel Payment. The Scottish Labour candidate did not answer and instead insisted that he wasn't involved in the decision and that he was running for a Holyrood election rather than Westminster.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
‘Money back': Lambie's rogue reply to US demand
Australia should be looking to cut 'waste' in the Australian Defence Force before looking to pump more cash into it, independent senator Jacqui Lambie says. Senator Lambie on Monday reacted to the Trump administration calling on Canberra to boost the defence budget amid increased Chinese aggression the Indo-Pacific. A veteran and fierce advocate for the ADF, Senator Lambie quipped that the Albanese government should 'just ask Donald Trump to give us their money back for our submarines mate'. Senator Jacqui Lambie says Australia should cut ADF 'waste' before boosting the defence budget. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia 'It'd be nice to lift our defence spending – there is no doubt about that,' she told Sky News. 'Things are pretty tough out there at the moment, but I think it's more the waste. 'We waste so much money in defence procurement, and that's where we should be looking.' Senator Lambie pointed to the drawn-out build timelines for the AUKUS submarines. Under the trilateral defence pact, Australia is set to build five of the nuclear-powered boats in South Australia. The first is expected to be finished by the early 2040s. 'You've only got to see those submarines,' Senator Lambie said. 'Four billion dollars so far – we haven't got one scrap of bloody steel sitting in a harbour yet ready to go. 'I mean, that is just disgusting waste at its best.' Washington's call for Australia to step up military spending came from a bilateral meeting between Defence Minister Richard Marles and his US defence counterpart Pete Hegseth. The two senior officials met over the weekend on the sidelines of the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore over the weekend. In a read out, the US Embassy said the two senior officials 'discussed aligning investment to the security environment in the Indo-Pacific, accelerating US force posture initiatives in Australia, advancing defence industrial base co-operation, and creating supply chain resilience'. 'On defence spending, Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of its GDP as soon as possible,' the embassy said. Mr Hegseth used his address at the Shangri La Dialogue to warn of an 'imminent' threat from China, saying Beijing could invade Taiwan as early as 2027. Such a move would deal a major blow to global supply of semiconductors and likely massively disrupt vital trade routes. 'Let me be clear, any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,' Mr Hegseth told the conference. 'There's no reason to sugar-coat it. The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent. 'We hope not but certainly could be.' China has criticised the United States for inciting tensions at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This comes after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned allies at the summit that any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan would result in devastating consequences. A Chinese spokesperson responded to this, saying Beijing would continue to seek dialogue – however, Mr Hegseth's comments were inciting division and would destabilise the region. Asked what Australia could do in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Senator Lambie replied: 'I don't know, have you seen the size of the Chinese army? 'That's the first thing, and the second thing is this – have you seen the condition that ours is in?' 'We have a personnel crisis in our military, and something needs to be done. 'The only way young people are going to go and join is when people in that uniform go out there and brag how great that job (is).' She said the recruitment crisis was 'the biggest problem you have with our national security right now'. 'People do not want to join defence, and people do not want to stay in,' Senator Lambie said. She also said Australian troops were 'not in the condition to being in a war zone'. Labor has pushed back against Mr Hegseth's call to lift the defence budget, with Anthony Albanese saying his government was already spending record amounts on the military. Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite on Monday echoed the Prime Minister. 'We are increasing our defence spending over the course of the next three years,' Mr Thistlethwaite told Sky News. 'Defence spending increases by about 10½ billion dollars and about $50bn over the course of the next decade.' Mr Thistlethwaite added that the Albanese government was increasing defence spending to '2½ per cent of GDP', including through AUKUS. The Trump administration's demand came just days after a leading defence think tank said Australia must bolster its immediate readiness to go to war or risk having a 'paper ADF'. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute warned that while Labor was spending on longer-term projects it was not pumping nearly enough cash into keeping Australia combat-ready in the near term.
West Australian
2 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Australian Defence Force needs ‘waste' cuts, not more cash: Jacqui Lambie
Australia should be looking to cut 'waste' in the Australian Defence Force before looking to pump more cash into it, independent senator Jacqui Lambie says. Senator Lambie on Monday reacted to the Trump administration calling on Canberra to boost the defence budget amid increased Chinese aggression the Indo-Pacific. A veteran and fierce advocate for the ADF, Senator Lambie quipped that the Albanese government should 'just ask Donald Trump to give us their money back for our submarines mate'. 'It'd be nice to lift our defence spending – there is no doubt about that,' she told Sky News. 'Things are pretty tough out there at the moment, but I think it's more the waste. 'We waste so much money in defence procurement, and that's where we should be looking.' Senator Lambie pointed to the drawn-out build timelines for the AUKUS submarines. Under the trilateral defence pact, Australia is set to build five of the nuclear-powered boats in South Australia. The first is expected to be finished by the early 2040s. 'You've only got to see those submarines,' Senator Lambie said. 'Four billion dollars so far – we haven't got one scrap of bloody steel sitting in a harbour yet ready to go. 'I mean, that is just disgusting waste at its best.' Washington's call for Australia to step up military spending came from a bilateral meeting between Defence Minister Richard Marles and his US defence counterpart Pete Hegseth. The two senior officials met over the weekend on the sidelines of the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore over the weekend. In a read out, the US Embassy said the two senior officials 'discussed aligning investment to the security environment in the Indo-Pacific, accelerating US force posture initiatives in Australia, advancing defence industrial base co-operation, and creating supply chain resilience'. 'On defence spending, Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of its GDP as soon as possible,' the embassy said. Mr Hegseth used his address at the Shangri La Dialogue to warn of an 'imminent' threat from China, saying Beijing could invade Taiwan as early as 2027. Such a move would deal a major blow to global supply of semiconductors and likely massively disrupt vital trade routes. 'Let me be clear, any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,' Mr Hegseth told the conference. 'There's no reason to sugar-coat it. The threat China poses is real and it could be imminent. 'We hope not but certainly could be.' China has criticised the United States for inciting tensions at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. This comes after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warned allies at the summit that any attempt by China to conquer Taiwan would result in devastating consequences. A Chinese spokesperson responded to this, saying Beijing would continue to seek dialogue – however, Mr Hegseth's comments were inciting division and would destabilise the region. Asked what Australia could do in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Senator Lambie replied: 'I don't know, have you seen the size of the Chinese army? 'That's the first thing, and the second thing is this – have you seen the condition that ours is in?' 'We have a personnel crisis in our military, and something needs to be done. 'The only way young people are going to go and join is when people in that uniform go out there and brag how great that job (is).' She said the recruitment crisis was 'the biggest problem you have with our national security right now'. 'People do not want to join defence, and people do not want to stay in,' Senator Lambie said. She also said Australian troops were 'not in the condition to being in a war zone'. Labor has pushed back against Mr Hegseth's call to lift the defence budget, with Anthony Albanese saying his government was already spending record amounts on the military. Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite on Monday echoed the Prime Minister. 'We are increasing our defence spending over the course of the next three years,' Mr Thistlethwaite told Sky News. 'Defence spending increases by about 10½ billion dollars and about $50bn over the course of the next decade.' Mr Thistlethwaite added that the Albanese government was increasing defence spending to '2½ per cent of GDP', including through AUKUS. The Trump administration's demand came just days after a leading defence think tank said Australia must bolster its immediate readiness to go to war or risk having a 'paper ADF'. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute warned that while Labor was spending on longer-term projects it was not pumping nearly enough cash into keeping Australia combat-ready in the near term.
Sky News AU
2 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Jacqui Lambie lashes US defence spend request and points to ADF ‘personnel crisis' as primary national security concern
Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie has hit out at the US President and his Defence Secretary's request to Australia for additional military spending and pointed to the Australian Defence Force's 'personnel crisis' as the country's main national security issue. Defence Minister Richard Marles met with US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth on the sidelines of the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore last week to discuss the key priorities of the US-Australia alliance in the face of a potential Chinese offensive in Taiwan within the next two years. The figure of 3.5 per cent of GDP was revealed by a US Department of Defence readout released on Sunday as the amount requested for Australia to increase its spending to, a major increase from the Albanese government's prospect of 2.33 per cent. Speaking to Sky News on Monday morning, Ms Lambie said the additional funding would be a 'disgusting waste' of money. Senator Jacqui Lambie has hit out at US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's request for additional military spending and pointed to the ADF 'personnel crisis' as Australia's primary national security concern. Picture: NewsWire/ David Clark 'Just ask Donald Trump to give us our money back for our submarines, mate,' Ms Lambie said. 'But look, now it'd be nice to lift our defence spending, there is no doubt about that, things are pretty tough out there at the moment but … we waste so much money in defence procurement and that's where we should be looking. 'You've only got to see those submarines, mate. Four billion dollars so far and we haven't got one scrap of bloody steel sitting in a harbour yet ready to go. I mean, that is just disgusting waste at its best.' Ms Lambie said there was a 'personnel crisis' with hiring and retention in the ADF which the Tasmanian MP considered the 'biggest problem' concerning Australia's national security. Asked what Australia should do about China's potential invasion of Taiwan by 2027, and whether Hegseth's request from Australia was justified, Ms Lambie compared the Australian army with China's PLA. 'I don't know, have you seen the size of the Chinese army? That's the first thing. And the second thing is this, have you seen the condition that ours is in?' she said. 'This is a problem that we've had … We have a personnel crisis in our military and something needs to be done. 'The only way young people are gonna go and join is when people in that uniform go out there and brag how great that job is. And right now, until you get the right mentoring, and you get right leadership in our defence, that is not going to turn around tomorrow.' Ms Lambie said there was a 'personnel crisis' with hiring and retention in the ADF which the Tasmanian MP considered the 'biggest problem' concerning Australia's national security. Picture: Annette Dew Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said the Australian government was increasing its defence spend by $50 billion over the decade, which included the AUKUS agreement. Pictured is US nuclear-powered submarine USS Minnesota in Darwin Harbour. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin Hegseth nudged Australia over the weekend to boost funding to 3.5 per cent of GDP and warned China could make a move on Taiwan by 2027 – a timeline Sky News considered in its documentary Are We Ready For War? In his address at the summit, Mr Hegseth echoed the Trump administration's motto of maintaining 'peace through strength' and stressed the importance of restoring the 'warrior ethos'. "There's no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent," Mr Hegseth said, in some of his strongest comments on the Communist nation since he took office in January. Asked what help Australia could give to the US, Ms Lambie said she did not believe there was 'much'. 'We are absolutely exhausted. 20 years we followed them into the Middle East. We are still picking up the pieces from that and we will be picking that up, I reckon, for the next five years, without doubt,' she said. 'Right now, our troops are not in the condition to be in a war zone. Okay, maybe peacekeeping, but sure as hell not in a War Zone, mate. No way in hell.' Assistant Foreign Minister Matt Thistlethwaite joined Sky News and said the Australian government was increasing its defence spend over the next three years by $10.5 billion and $50 billion over the decade, which included the AUKUS agreement. 'We'll make decisions based on what we believe is in Australia's best interest. But we're doing that in partnership with our most important strategic allies. And that includes the United States and the UK,' he said. In response, Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes said 3.5 per cent was a 'considerable jump' in defence spending but argued that she did not think Australians could currently put their hand on their hearts and 'feel confident'. 'This is a government who had absolutely no idea that China was performing live fire exercises off our coast or having spy ships circumnavigate around our nation. The federal government has two roles, keeping the national economy strong and keeping Australians safe,' she said. 'The reality, is our part of the world, Indo-Pacific, is where there is a lot of action, a lot of concerns and a lot of muscling up by China.' Ms Hughes said the Prime Minister 'might like being Beijing's handsome boy' but he needed to 'stand up for Australians' and ensure defence was prepared for the worst. 'The Prime Minister is more interested in removing HECS debt to buy votes as opposed to investing in our nation's future,' she said. 'I think this government needs to have a serious look at what its priorities are to keep Australians safe, both economically and strategically in defence.' Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) defence strategy senior analyst Malcolm Davis said Mr Hegseth's intervention in Australia's military budget benchmark was 'perfectly correct' and referenced his organisation's report which suggested making 3 per cent the minimum. Mr Davis said the Defence Secretary's call to increase defence spending 'as soon as possible' was due to the 'dire' strategic circumstances Australia faced. 'We can't afford to say, 'oh, well, we'll get to 3 or 3. 5 per cent in 10 years'. No, it's got to be in the year or so, because the strategic circumstances that we're facing are so dire, so dangerous, that we cannot afford a leisurely rise up to 2.33 per cent, which is what the government's talking about, let alone anything more,' he said. Dr Davis said China was 'deadly serious' about moving on Taiwan as its military has undergone rapid modernisation, rehearsals for blockading Taiwan, as well as President Xi Jinping telling the People's Liberation Army it needed to 'be ready to invade' by 2027. In light of Ms Lambie's comments, that the ADF was depleted in personnel and resources, the ASPI defence strategy expert said Australia could still do an 'awful lot' if China jumped on Taiwan and the US asked for help. 'We can offer Australian military bases for the US and its allies to operate from. We're going to have US submarines operating out of Fremantle as part of Submarine Rotation Force-West under AUKUS. We can boost our investment in the guided weapons and explosive ordnance enterprise to start producing munitions at a much more rapid rate than what is currently planned for. 'And we can actually operate alongside in a combat role with certain types of military forces that we already have in terms of air power, strike operations and special forces. 'There's an awful lot that we can do that I think would be valuable to the US.'
