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The Herald Scotland
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
If we want better public services, the NHS will have to take a hit
Undeterred, spinners claimed that tough decisions had created the fiscal headroom to restore the payment – despite the arithmetic suggesting otherwise. Removing the benefit may have been economically sound, if politically naïve; restoring it is undoubtedly the opposite. Defence was always going to be a 'winner', as Donald Trump's jaggy stick on the need to up the shekels is being felt in Whitehall, as it is in all other Nato nations. And the predictable sacred cow of the NHS was also on the positive side of the messaging as there is no sum of money big enough to be poured into this national institution, regardless of the actual cost of doing so. As with all things Treasury, there are consequentials for Scotland – and the scale of these demands a whole new set of messages. You can guarantee that whatever colour the UK government happens to be, it will hammer home the 'record settlement and the biggest of the devolved era' set of soundbites – knowing full well that an increase of a mere pound would sustain that argument. The more careful analysts take time to scrutinise the numbers against previous promises, inflation, and projected income prior to the Chancellor taking to her feet. Read more by Calum Steele In this case – as indeed in so many of the recent past – the SNP has legitimate cause to cry foul. Respected independent bodies like the Fraser of Allander Institute, which are equally capable of causing headaches for the SNP as they are of giving power to their arguments, set their boffins on to Rachel Reeves's sums and found they didn't quite add up in the way they were packaged. The trouble the Scottish Government now faces is a direct contradiction of the one faced by Rachel Reeves: it is much more economic than presentational. It can be certain that in the areas the UK Government has decided to prioritise, it will face almost unanimous calls to match the funding for relevant departments here in Scotland. On top of that, it will face the generic 'record funding' heckle from opponents demanding support for the areas ignored by the occupant of No 11 Downing Street. With an election less than 12 months away, it may be tempting for the SNP to follow suit with the increase in funding for the NHS (defence doesn't deliver any Barnett bonus) and hope that framing cuts elsewhere as the result of Westminster-imposed austerity carries the day. Despite having been found to be strategically wanting in the recent Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election, it's difficult to imagine the SNP has much appetite for a wholesale change of direction. If it – and indeed any of the main parties – is serious about tackling the challenges facing this country, it will need to swallow hard and be prepared to take a pound of flesh from the sacred cow all parties have hitherto revered: the NHS. Now, I'm not suggesting for a minute that Scotland should go it alone and abandon one of our most beloved institutions – for even in the most pragmatic of worlds, even I can see that's a stonewall vote loser. But – and bear with me here – if we look at the consequential impact of the singularly unique protection afforded to the NHS by consecutive governments (United Kingdom and devolved), we can see that the effect of doing so on the other services we need for a functioning, harmonious, and prosperous society has been catastrophic. Everyone loves the feel-good factor of announcing more money, doctors, nurses, and midwives. Everyone loves to celebrate pay settlements when they trump those of our neighbours, and everyone throws their arms up to praise the NHS gods whenever an extra pound goes into it. And if the NHS existed in splendid isolation, I'm pretty sure I would be among the loudest voices doing so. But it doesn't. The slow strangulation of local government and services on both sides of the border – particularly since the 2008–09 financial crisis – has been a direct consequence of the refusal to share austerity pain across departments. As all parts of the public sector grew in the good times, they should have equally shared the burden of cuts in the bad. Rachel Reeves delivers her Government's spending review to MPs last Wednesday (Image: PA) While the NHS has hardly glistened, its position is far better than those of local services like housing, education, social care, and policing. As a result, it has largely escaped structural reform and grown into a bloated, managerial-heavy behemoth that consumes all before it. By comparison, local government has taken a scythe to essential services, causing almost irreparable harm to those who rely on them. It is almost unarguable that the dogma surrounding NHS funding has actually made us all unhealthier – as the local services we all need have declined to such an extent as to render those NHS headlines irrelevant. The increase in societal tensions has its roots firmly embedded in the scunner factor associated with that decline, and the loss of trust in both the institutions themselves and the governments who indirectly oversee them can hardly be a price worth paying. We can have cleaner pavements, better roads, schools, child and social services – along with a police service that actually investigates crime, and a legal, court, and penal system that works – as well as money for infrastructure and investment. Or we can keep pouring money into an NHS monolith. But we can't have both. The question for the SNP is the same as the one for us all. When do we accept that fact and do something about it? Calum Steele is a former General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, and former general secretary of the International Council of Police Representative Associations. He remains an advisor to both.
Scotsman
5 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
Readers Letters: Believe carbon capture project support when we see it
Chancellor Rachel Reeves says financial backing for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project is coming… but when, asks reader Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... More smoke and mirrors from the Labour Party and the UK Government. From my recollection this is the third time the UK Government has proclaimed financial backing for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project (proposed 20 years ago) but there is still no money on the table. While tens of billions of pounds continue to flow into projects south of the Border, Scotland is supposed to be grateful for the UK Government now declaring financial support for the Edinburgh exascale supercomputer a year after it cancelled funding. Increased public spending commitments have been cynically hailed by Labour Party politicians without reference to projected inflation increases or different spending choices made north and south of the Border. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To cap it all, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray now hypocritically says that the Scottish Government did not spend last year's Budget increase 'wisely' when much of it was spent on increased public sector wages, while the Scottish Government also continued to mitigate the effects of Westminster-imposed austerity. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves leaves from 11 Downing Street on Wednesday before heading to Parliament to present her Spending Review (Picture: Henry Nicholls/AFP) Or has the 'Governor' now abandoned the last vestiges of socialist principles he presumably once held and if that is the case why are Scottish trade unions still supporting a Labour Party that in government continues to betray the poor and disadvantaged in Scotland while being complicit in the continuing slaughter and devastation in Gaza? Stan Grodynski, Longniddry, East Lothian Power play It's good that Edinburgh is to be blessed with the UK's most powerful supercomputer, but what about the considerable electricity required to support it? Is there now to be a new power station built? For surely our creaking National Grid system will either need to be upgraded or a dedicated and separately managed power station will have to be built to service it. Elizabeth Marshall, Edinburgh Privacy paramount Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Jane Lax (Letters, 12 June) says the police are recording people's sex wrongly. She writes, 'The law is the law', but her description of the law on this is incorrect. The Supreme Court was clear that its recent judgment on the meaning of trans people's sex applies only to the Equality Act. For other law, it remains the case that a gender recognition certificate changes a trans person's legal sex 'for all purposes' (to directly quote the legislation). The Court also said that discrimination against trans people continues to be unlawful under the Equality Act. For the police to ask victims, witnesses or suspects whether they are trans, as a matter of course, would very likely be unlawful indirect discrimination, undermining trans people's right to privacy. The law allows an exception on a case-by-case basis: when asking is necessary and for a legitimate reason. There will be good reason to record that a suspect or victim of crime is trans in some cases where it is relevant to the nature of the crime, or where an accused person is remanded in custody. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But for the large majority of offences with non-custodial outcomes – theft, vandalism, speeding, and many more – whether anyone involved as victim, witness or suspect is trans will be completely irrelevant to the offence, and should not be asked or recorded. Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh Driving forces Harald Tobermann (Letters, 12 June) wants even 'more buses to ensure balance and harmony on our roads'. Actually we need fewer buses driving around with few passengers in them. Far too much taxpayers' money is spent on public transport and far too little on maintaining and improving public roads. The chaotic Edinburgh tram project cost £1 billion for eight miles and because it was years late and grossly over budget there was a public inquiry into its failings, which cost £13m. Meanwhile, Edinburgh has been turned into an anti-car city with bottlenecks caused by bus lanes, lack of parking, congestion, potholes, and more patches than Windows Vista. While Newcastle has a three-lane city bypass Edinburgh has a two-lane one which is often at a standstill. Sheriffhall roundabout was supposed to be replaced by a flyover with construction beginning this year. What happened to that? The fact is that road users – commercial and private – are being robbed by central government and mostly ignored by local government in favour of subsidised buses and mass travel. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Take, for example, road fund licence, or vehicle tax as the DVLA now styles it. This is £195 for 12 months for a car with a list price under £40,000, but £620 for the first five years if it is over £40,000. A £40,000 car will trouser the government £8,000 in vat. All this largesse doesn't go back into the road system, it goes straight into Rachel Reeves's piggy bank. A new road construction programme would boost economic development, as would reducing taxes on owning and driving cars, vans and lorries. William Loneskie, Oxton, Lauder, Berwickshire Sick society? Who will win a Scotsman Health Hero award ? Despite the nice picture of him on the front of The Scotsman of 11 June, is SNP health minister Neil Gray really in the running? Our NHS is floundering in a sea of crises, the latest being the recent sharp rise in drug deaths. This is even more awful given the SNP's 'clean' drug usage programme at the Thistle in Glasgow which was meant to really help. It is rumoured that John Swinney is considering a cabinet reshuffle. If Mr Gray goes, who can possibly replace him? This is not because Mr Gray is irreplaceable, more to do with the question as to whether anyone in the SNP is able to do the job following a long line of failures, including Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf. Mr Gray ought to have been a certainty for a hero award. The likelihood he is highly unlikely to get one speaks volumes. Gerald Edwards, Glasgow Fly high Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Lt Cdr Lester May raises an interesting opinion (Letters, 10 June), but I regret to inform him that he is almost a whole century out of date (and more so in the UK context). Military aviation has become acknowledged worldwide as the primary armed force, without which a modern-day army and navy simply could not function. Postulating that a ship-borne or army-ancilliary alternative to an Air Force could ever work is, frankly, farcical. I could refer him to the many studies from the early 1930s onwards, but I think that the current UK perception as encompassed by the Chiefs of Staff Commitee is sufficient to vindicate a tri-service policy. Iain Masterton, Kirknewton, West Lothian Lines of sadness Former Makar Kathleen Jamie this week, commenting on the unveiling of her words on the Canongate wall at Holyrood, said: 'Poetry is democratic. It's available to anybody – through libraries, through memory.' How right she is. I was reminded of a beautiful poem of hers, 'Lochan', which ends with this line: 'underneath a rowan, a white boat waits'. This poem captures my sadness at the growing evidence of a crisis in democracy in Scotland. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Yes, a white boat waits for us all: possibly beside a flamingo or near a needless wind turbine. Let's hope there are some rowans left when our time comes. Mary Howley, Dunoon, Argyll Ferry tale It is somewhat ironic that EU rules put the final voyage of the Hebridean Isles ferry on hold, given the EU funded its construction (your report, 11 June). A grant from the European Regional Development Fund enabled financing of the project and a senior Director-General from the European Commission attended its launch by the Duchess of Kent at Selby on 4 July 1985. Stephen Fox, Edinburgh Lights out In all my years of attending art galleries and museums, I have never encountered such crass irresponsibility as that of Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art, which clearly think nothing of putting visitors' safety at the height of the tourist season in jeopardy. The ground floor main gallery 'film installation' exhibition for John Akomfrah's Mimesis: African Soldier is in pitch blackness – apart from the small video screens – and near to its only entrance, hidden in perfect darkness, are two large concrete pillars, impossible to see until one literally walks painfully into them, and particularly hazardous to those coming in from the street whose eyes have had no chance to adjust so as to have the remotest chance of spotting the pillars in time. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad When I pointed this out to a staff member, their response was to shrug their shoulders and laugh. There's a twisted irony that this touchy feely, sensitivity training obsessed art gallery eschews basic common sense, never mind basic health and safety training that would never have allowed this dangerous state of affairs to have arisen, unless Glasgow Life (the city council's deniable asset Culture and Sport wing) are determined to bankrupt themselves in a litany of injury claims. Mark Boyle, Johnstone, Renfrewshire Mystery moon On Tuesday night I looked out to the south from my bedroom window and saw the moon, very full and riding high over the Pentlands, but to my amazement, it was bright red! Can anybody tell me, is this a natural phenomenon or is it a celestial forecast of impending doom? Enlightenment please. Sandy Macpherson, Edinburgh Write to The Scotsman
Epoch Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Hamilton By-election Could Be Litmus Test for Scotland's Shifting Political Allegiances
The upcoming by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse—where the Scottish National Party (SNP), Labour, and Reform UK are each hoping to boost their standing—is expected to offer a glimpse into voter sentiment ahead of the 2026 Holyrood elections. The seat, long held by the SNP since its inception in 2011, was vacated following the death of veteran MSP Christina McKelvie. In the 2021 Holyrood election, McKelvie secured a 4,582-vote lead over Labour, capturing 46.2 percent of the vote. Yet Labour's 4.1-point gain in vote share signalled a modest resurgence and could give Anas Sarwar's party a plausible chance of reclaiming the seat. While First Minister John Swinney has declared the by-election Yet it is Reform that could deliver the true upset. Nigel Farage's party is If Reform were to win the seat, it would be their first MSP and a symbolic breakthrough less than a year ahead of the 2026 Holyrood elections. The Candidates As the campaign enters its final stretch, all candidates have focused on issues familiar to many across Scotland: NHS waiting lists, declining town centres, cuts to pensioner benefits, and the spiralling cost of living. Related Stories 2/3/2025 2/1/2025 The SNP's candidate, South Lanarkshire Councillor Katy Loudon, has pledged to defend public services and oppose what she describes as Westminster-imposed austerity. 'Take the issue of rising energy bills: under Labour, pensioners are being hit hard with cuts to winter fuel payments. The SNP is committed to bringing these payments back, to help those most in need,' she said. Loudon has previously contested the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election in 2023 and the Rutherglen seat in the 2024 general election, both times unsuccessfully. Labour's candidate, Davy Russell, is a businessman and political newcomer who has drawn Despite the controversy, Russell has stressed his local roots—he was born in Quarter and attended school in Hamilton—and pledged to put Reform candidate in the Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse by-election Ross Lambie and Councillor Thomas Kerr attend a party event in Hamilton, Scotland, on May 31, 2025. JeffReform's Ross Lambie, a former Conservative councillor from a South Lanarkshire mining village, is campaigning as a voice for voters disillusioned with both Holyrood and Westminster. 'We don't need to spend years of debate and millions of taxpayers' cash on court cases to establish what a woman is. No we don't,' he said. He has also criticised energy imports as driving up bills and called illegal immigration 'obvious' misuse of the system. Blame, Brexit, and Backlash The However, voter dissatisfaction with devolved SNP governance remains in key areas like health, education, and transport—areas where the party has full responsibility. Reform, for its part, has focused on what it calls systemic mismanagement by the political establishment. Farage, speaking to reporters in Aberdeen on Monday, He pointed to Reform's performance in the May local elections as proof of what the party can accomplish in Labour-leaning areas in Scotland. The campaign has not been without controversy. Reform came under fire for a party advertisement suggesting Labour leader Anas Sarwar would 'prioritise the Pakistani community' in Scotland. In response, Farage The dispute comes shortly after Swinney hosted a Reform supporters condemned their exclusion, calling it 'unjustified.' With days to go before ballots are cast, Hamilton, Larkhall, and Stonehouse has become more than a local race, it is a litmus test for shifting loyalties, voter frustration, and the future direction of Scottish politics. PA Media contributed to this report.
