The SNP's ever-growing list of failures in government, and its all-consuming obsession with separation
and the destruction of the Union, need to be exposed for what they are: the on-going betrayal of the people of Scotland by an incompetent SNP incapable of making good decisions or exercising good governance.
On this page you will find a selection of the great swathe of SNP failures, reminders of how the tired and increasingly incoherent SNP government continues to dodge doing the day job. Instead, the SNP would rather pursue its destructive obsession with separation - despite the clear and once in a generation democratic decision of you, the Scottish People, to back the Union and reject the core Nationalist policy.
Occasionally we will also include examples of why Labour - now in the grip of a marxist cabal with a flip-flopping "leader" incapable of making a decision - is not to be trusted with anything, and certainly not anything as important as Scotland.
15 November 2019
Nicola Sturgeon’s health secretary did not tell the public about an infection-linked death at Glasgow’s new super-hospital.
Embattled Jeane Freeman admitted yesterday that she learned about the death of a child at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in September, but kept it secret.
The information only came to light thanks to a whistleblower, who revealed that there were 26 cases of water supply infections in the cancer wards in 2017.
The most shocking thing about this latest SNP cover-up is that allegedly even the parents of the child who died were not told about the link to contaminated water.
It’s the latest development in a string of infections at the hospital since it opened, possibly liked to a contaminated water supply.
Patients and the public deserve answers. Nicola Sturgeon should drop her constitutional obsession and sort out our hospitals.
13 November 2019
On the same day that it was revealed that unemployment has increased in Scotland, the UK Statistics Authority announced it will investigate Sturgeon’s government over misleading jobs stats.
Yesterday, not only was it revealed that employment had fallen by 43,000 and unemployment had increased by 8,000 in Scotland, it was also announced that the UK Statistics Authority is investigating social media claims from the Scottish Government that youth unemployment was falling when it was actually rising. The respected Fraser of Allander Institute described the use of the stats as “truly shocking”.
Coming just days after it was revealed that Sturgeon has been destroying her instructions to the civil service, this is just another example of the SNP’s misinformation campaign to create a secret Scotland.
It is bad enough that the SNP is failing Scotland at every turn. To try to cover up the failures is unacceptable.
7 November 2019
Scottish Conservatives force the evasive SNP to admit that their school curriculum is failing.
Sturgeon’s shambolic “Government” has been shamed into conceding that the SNP’s new curriculum has had a ‘significant negative impact’ on the attainment of pupils.
Education expert Professor Jim Scott published research showing course passes had dropped and subject choice was narrowing. Article.
Floundering SNP MSPs were forced to back the Scottish Conservative motion in the Scottish Parliament which said that pupils from the most disadvantaged backgrounds were being failed the most.
If the destruction of opportunity under the incompetent SNP was not bad enough, the attempts at a cover-up absolutely stink. SNP ministers have been accused of misleading the Scottish Parliament, with allegations abounding in the national press after FOI requests uncovered a clear 20% fall in National-level course entries - despite Scottish Ministers denying reduction of choice.
Children used to be taught in school and at home that honesty is the best policy, but it seems that the SNP has forgotten this lesson. It could be honest about the many challenges facing Scottish education that its own ill-considered policies have caused, but Sturgeon and Swinney would rather try to change the subject and just shout about separation.
The failing SNP is destroying the Scottish Education system at an alarming and increasing rate.
Nicola Sturgeon is failing our children because her top priority is indyref2, not schools.
Time is running out to save Scottish Education from the failing SNP.
5 November 2019
Nicola Sturgeon is failing our children - again and again.
According to research by the respected and leading education expert Professor Jim Scott, pupils who were already struggling are now faring even worse since the SNP introduced its failed new curriculum in 2013.
The SNP promised to close the attainment gap between the richest and poorest pupils, but things are actually getting worse – much, much worse for many.
Scottish Government figures show that prior to the SNP’s botched introduction of the so-called “curriculum for excellence”, the proportion of pupils leaving school with no qualifications was falling.
But since the chaotic and chronically-underfunded reform, the rates of “no award” have been rising steadily, and in some local authority areas have trebled.
This disaster for our least advantaged children comes on top of the other consequences of SNP mismanagement of Scottish Education, not least the rapid decline in qualifications being taken and passed, and the sharp reduction in subject choices available in S4.
It seems that the claims made by the floundering Education minister John Swinney about the benefits of the Pupil Equity Fund are just not stacking up – and it also seems that he has no idea how to fix the mess the SNP created.
Meanwhile our children are being robbed of opportunity by SNP incompetence - and those least able to cope are suffering most.
Nicola Sturgeon needs to drop her plans for indyref2 and focus on the things that matter – like restoring standards in our schools.
The SNP has dismantled local policing.
Dozens of police stations in the North East and across Scotland have shut in the last few years due to SNP cuts.
Since Police Scotland was founded, a total of 125 police stations and offices have been shut down throughout the country.
A visible police presence is vital to combat rising violent crime on our streets and a lifeline for our communities.
When the Scottish Police Federation is telling us that the SNP has “given up on policing” and committed “an act of policing vandalism”, you would think that the First Minister would take notice, and look at how to fix the mess her incompetent government has created.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for that: Sturgeon’s only priority is the destruction of the Union, not keeping the people of Scotland safe and putting enough police onto our streets.
1 November 2019
Scotland’s NHS is in crisis - thanks to the incompetent SNP.
More than 3.5 million working hours have been lost to the NHS as a result of stress and mental health problems.
NHS staff are facing burnout as treatment times soar and the number of people waiting more than 4 hours in A&E is up by nearly 20 per cent.
The failing SNP has been running Scotland’s NHS for more than 12 years now: it has run out of excuses, and must stop running down the our NHS.
Staff and patients deserve better. Our NHS is suffering thanks to Sturgeon’s obsession with separation and destruction of the Union.
The SNP is still failing Scotland’s children.
A survey by Scotland’s teaching unions showed almost one in three headteachers believe that the SNP’s plan to raise attainment is failing.
Two years after the SNP promised schools would get more money under the ‘pupil equity fund’ scheme, a massive £40 million is still to be spent, and the attainment gap is only getting wider as SNP policies continue to unravel.
Our children are being failed by the SNP because Nicola Sturgeon has taken her eye off the ball.
31 October 2019
The SNP Lord Provost of Glasgow has resigned in disgrace after claiming an incredible £8000 in expenses for shoes and clothes.
Eva Bolander should have realised right away that charging the public for designer clothes and 23 pairs of shoes was just not sensible.
And she should have resigned when this news first broke, not waited for an election to highlight her behaviour and embarrass the SNP beyond what it it could endure.
Nicola Sturgeon now looks even more foolish for defending the ex-Provost to the hilt when everyone in Glasgow could see her expenses claims were beyond a joke.
This has been embarrassing for the SNP from start to finish - and just more evidence that the SNP is unfit to govern at any level.
Yet again, more faults have been uncovered at the delayed Sick Kids Hospital.
A review discovered failings in the building’s fire and electrical systems.
The failure to properly install fire systems, electrical systems and medical gas installations raises real concerns around the safety of patients and staff at the new hospital site.
These remedial works must be carried out comprehensively and full transparency given to the public so that they can be confident in the new hospital when it finally opens.
Nicola Sturgeon’s top priority has always been another independence referendum - rather than making sure vital hospitals are delivered on time and are fit for purpose.
It’s time for the SNP to come clean, stop hiding behind officials, and actually hold someone elected responsible for this mess.
28 October 2019
The SNP has wasted £55 million that could have been spent improving our schools and hospitals.
This shows the scale of Sturgeon’s shambolic mismanagement of our public services.
The SNP has made such a mess of running things that Scotland’s NHS is paying tens of millions to mistreated patients, and the Scottish Prison Service is having to pay shocking sums of compensation to both prison officers and prisoners.
Meanwhile, as if the scandal of compensation payments running unchecked under SNP rule was not bad enough, an Audit Scotland report has revealed that Scotland’s NHS will have a deficit of more than £207 million within two years.
The bulk of that money comes from the scandal-hit Sick Kids hospital that is disastrously behind schedule, the blame for which SNP MSPs are trying to pass on to anyone but themselves.
But ever since Nicola Sturgeon was health secretary back in 2011, the hallmarks of SNP mismanagement - financial black holes and missed targets - have become an almost daily feature of our Scottish NHS and other public services.
None of this is the fault of overworked NHS staff or under-threat prison officers.
It is the fault of a distracted and incompetent SNP Government obsessed with getting another referendum at all costs, no matter who suffers the consequences.
The growing and serious shortage of GPs has been exposed once again as the SNP fails to get a handle on NHS staffing.
The Scotsman reports that a resident at a Glasgow care home lay dead for 24 hours in the home because the chronic shortage of out-of-hours doctors meant no-one was available to certify the cause of death.
The case, which happened earlier in the year, was revealed as Scottish doctors warned that the GP service is failing due to a lack of staff.
The incompetent SNP has created a staffing crisis in the NHS, leaving staff stretched, patients at risk, and even the dignity of the dead compromised.
Nicola Sturgeon’s obsession with breaking up the UK is hurting our NHS and the services that we all rely on in times of crisis.
The SNP needs to come clean on Shetland by-election spending.
The SNP has real questions to answer about by-election spending following another example of its bad record on transparency (news article).
The SNP declared spending just under the £100,000 limit - yet failed to declare the full cost of rental properties that were used throughout the election campaign.
It is also an extraordinary situation that the SNP spent more on one Holyrood by-election (and still lost) than it did on its entire Brexit referendum campaign.
The SNP seems happy to throw huge sums of money at any opportunity to further its obsession with breaking up the Union; at least for once we have to be thankful that it was not taxpayers’ money.
25 October 2019
A medical expert has issued a stark warning about patient safety under the SNP.
Professor Derek Bell OBE, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, has been reported as saying that ignoring the concerns raised by junior doctors will have a negative impact on morale – making the situation even worse.
Junior doctors have spoken out about their unmanageable workloads due to rota gaps, unfilled posts and high levels of sickness absence.
As a vital part of the future of the NHS, it is essential that junior doctors are listened to and valued at work. The SNP has been in charge of our Scottish NHS for a decade and is entirely to blame for the workforce crisis in hospitals across the country.
Meanwhile, the SNP is happy to waste £millions more of your money on gimmicks like its new citizens’ assembly talking shop, sending another £1.4 million down the drain – money that could have been used to pay for more junior doctors.
Nicola Sturgeon’s priorities are separation and division. The SNP doesn’t care what else it breaks just as long as it gets to break up the UK.
23 October 2019
Support for Sturgeon’s separation plans is on the slide
A poll carried out by a pro-independence group has shown that 1 in 4 of those who voted Yes in 2014 have now changed their minds.
Far from building momentum for separation as the SNP endlessly claims, it now seems that Nicola Sturgeon’s failing regime is losing the argument as the facts of 2019 – like the SNP’s £1 billion tax black hole - replace the fantasy forecast figures spouted by the SNP in 2014.
This poll shows, yet again, that more Scots want to remain in the UK than want to leave it – but don’t expect the indyref extremists in the SNP to pay any heed to either the facts or what you think.
Scottish Labour is once again at war with itself.
The Herald reports that Trade union allies of comrade Corbyn have voted against Edinburgh South MP Ian Murray to trigger a selection battle in his seat.
The Unite leadership is trying to remove Ian Murray – apparently because he has been one of the most vocal critics of Corbyn’s hard-left “leadership”. How sad to see that when the country needs decisive action to get Brexit done, and take the UK forward to a bright future under the Conservatives, Scottish Labour would rather focus on 1970’s style purges and infighting and leave the SNP an open goal.
It just proves that the Scottish Conservatives are the only party who can stand up to the SNP.
21 October 2019
Panicking SNP wants to force through separation vote in as little as two months.
SNP Brexit secretary, Mike Russell, has told MSPs he hopes to force through all stages of the Referendums Bill by the end of next month.
This would empower the SNP government to call a separation vote without parliamentary scrutiny - and then hold that vote only 10 and a half weeks later.
First the SNP tried to avoid the Electoral Commission testing the question, now it is trying to dodge the Scottish Parliament and rush a campaign.
But why the SNP panic?
It is an open secret in Holyrood that the SNP leadership fears 2020 – so what new financial disaster or scandal does that SNP leadership know is coming down the tracks in 2020?
What further SNP failings will be exposed to public view?
While the SNP grandstands on the constitution, Scotland's schools, hospitals, and public services suffer.
Nicola Sturgeon needs to end her separation obsession and get back to the day job – if she still wants the job.
17 October 2019
The Scottish Conservatives have called for Sturgeon to release all her private emails related to her role as First Minister.
For years Sturgeon has been using a private political email account to conduct government business - despite strict rules that say party and government work must be kept separate.
In 2015 top civil servants were ordered to direct urgent matters to her SNP email account at weekends or in the evening.
Sturgeon cannot hide behind civil servants and avoid scrutiny any longer.
This raises very serious issues of government transparency and begs the question: just what exactly is she hiding - and why?
Cash-strapped councils are struggling to provide key services.
Research has revealed a gulf in the quality of schools, housing and roads across Scotland’s local authorities.
The research pointed to a wide range of problems: schools struggling due to teacher shortages; council homes below acceptable standards; and every local authority failing to hit recycling targets.
The SNP needs to stop wasting taxpayers’ money on pursuing separation and start to properly fund our Councils, so that they can deliver vital local services and undo years of damage caused by incompetent SNP government.
16 October 2019
Joanna Cherry praises Alex Salmond – and distances herself from Nicola Sturgeon.
The prominent SNP MP Joanna Cherry has been quoted in a press article as saying ‘I’m not Nicola’s best mate’ and describing Alex Salmond as a ‘friend’.
Cherry said Salmond - who has been charged with sex crimes and faces trial in 2020 - was ‘the greatest leader the party’s ever had’.
The ambitious Cherry, who has taken every opportunity to hog the limelight in recent weeks, has not tried to hide her growing dissatisfaction with Sturgeon: according to the press article she apparently 'liked' a tweet commenting on another newspaper article that suggested that the First Minister's "days are numbered".
Cherry has also refused to rule herself out of the running to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader, and described herself as ‘popular with the party membership’.
It seems that the SNP like their cherries more Machiavelli than Maraschino.
When even Nicola Sturgeon’s own MPs think she has run out of steam, why should anyone else think she is up to the job?
Yet again, Nicola Sturgeon has shown that her only priority is separatism.
In 2016 Sturgeon claimed that education would be the ‘number one priority’ of her government.
We all know now how that has worked out, as standards decline and teacher shortages - shortages that the SNP government caused and has done almost nothing to solve - continue to affect hundreds of thousands of Scottish pupils.
During her 45 minute speech to SNP Conference this week, Sturgeon predictably failed to set out how she would reverse the declining standards in our schools or the NHS.
Instead she shamelessly tried to exploit Brexit to push for further division and feed her obsession with breaking up the UK.
This bluster came despite the simple fact that the SNP’s economic case for separation has never been weaker.
Nicola Sturgeon has no answers on how she would replace the pound, or how she would plug the £12 billion gap in an independent Scotland’s finances.
And now she has been forced to admit that under her separation plans there could be a hard border between Scotland and the rest of the UK, splitting up our internal market – on which the prosperity of Scotland depends - and potentially costing thousands of people their jobs.
The SNP will happily steer Scotland onto the rocks in pursuit of its ideological obsessions. Only the Scottish Conservatives will get us back to the things that matter – like schools, hospitals and growing the economy.
September 2019
A respected police chaplain has hit out at the SNP’s underfunding of our police force.
Reverend Neil Galbraith, chaplain for Police Scotland, has raised ‘deep concerns’ that officers in his pastoral care are tired, frustrated, and even depressed. In a letter to the SNP Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, Rev Galbraith said “our officers are under-equipped, require more resources, and are being asked to face too many challenges”.
He detailed how riot cops have had to wear the same soiled gear day after day, and that officers are getting soaked at crime scenes because they didn’t have time to collect waterproofs.
Nicola Sturgeon cares more about wasting scarce resources on her separation obsession than backing our Police Officers on the ground. The Scottish Conservatives would restore frontline, local policing to our communities.
The list of broken SNP promises gets ever longer.
After 12 years in power, Nicola Sturgeon’s tired government has outlined its Programme for the coming year. But the litany of 30 delayed, dropped or undelivered flagship SNP pledges shows that whatever Sturgeon promises should be taken with a bucketful of salt.
This sorry list of disasters and fudge includes:
Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to close the gap between how well the richest and poorest school students perform.
Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to deliver £500 million of Growth Scheme funding on time.
Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to give victims and their families more say before criminals are released from prison.
It just goes to show that you cannot trust anything the SNP promises, except to try to break up the UK.
The dispute over the SNP’s handling of the Ferguson Marine shipyard rumbles on.
A Herald Article reports that Kevin Hobbs, the boss of the company that owns CalMac ferries, has blasted the ‘design flaws’ in two overdue ferries being built by Ferguson Marine.
Nicola Sturgeon’s Government rushed to nationalise the Ferguson shipyard, despite Finance Secretary Derek Mackay admitting he has no idea how much it will cost the taxpayer.
Meanwhile businessman Jim McColl – who saved the yard in 2014 and still sits on Sturgeon’s council of economic advisers – accused the SNP government of a ‘circus’ and ‘appalling behaviour’ for failing to resolve the dispute.
This is a shambles and island communities are still waiting for these ferries. Sturgeon must get back to the day job and order a full inquiry into the whole fiasco. But we all know that she would rather waste time and money on her constitutional obsession and leave the things that matter – like schools, hospitals and jobs – to her incompetent colleagues.
SNP hypocrisy: a new art-form?
The hypocrisy of SNP posturing in Westminster about treating Parliament with respect is reaching new heights, as illustrated by the Scottish Government’s total disdain for Holyrood, amply demonstrated by the disrespect shown to MSPs looking into the Salmond fiasco: Herald Article.
Scottish Labour (remember them?) are feuding yet again - it must be a full moon.
Labour “leader” Richard Leonard has sacked his finance spokesperson James Kelly, demoting him to Justice to replace Daniel Johnson – who resigned months ago in protest at the leadership.
Shambolic Scottish Labour spends more time attacking itself than it does holding the SNP to account - and is treated with contempt by the Corbyn cabal. What is the point of Scottish Labour?
August 2019
The SNP has missed another hat-trick of key health targets.
New figures show that Nicola Sturgeon's NHS A&E “treatment guarantee” has been broken more than 100,000 times under her latest Health Minister. Worse still, the number of patients waiting over 12 hours has more than tripled in the last year.
The Nationalists have been in charge of Scotland’s health service for 12 years, and the blame for this failure lies squarely at their door. Telegraph Article, Scottish Sun Article.
Just imagine the carnage that another five years of SNP incompetence and failure would inflict upon the NHS in Scotland if the SNP remains in government after the next Holyrood election.
The simple fact is that any “guarantee” you hear coming from the SNP is worthless.
Sturgeon’s “Citizens’ Assembly” is just a talking shop for independence.
This assembly is supposed to be considering options to improve Scotland’s future. But because of Sturgeon’s one-track indy-obsession it is not considering the really important things - like how to improve our schools and hospitals and deal with the drug-related deaths crisis: it is only considering the destruction of the Union. Times Article
This is just the latest SNP attempt to push for another referendum and divide Scotland all over again. And of course you are paying for that: this latest SNP gimmick has already racked up a bill of almost £500,000 that could have been spent on closing the attainment gap or increasing subject choice in schools.
The SNP is still failing rural communities at every turn.
On the same day that new figures from the British Medical Association reveal that rural communities don’t have enough GPs, and as the GP recruitment crisis continues, Nicola Sturgeon tried to deflect the bad news by making more empty promises on 5G coverage: P&J Article
No surprise that an increasingly out-of-touch Sturgeon chose to promote 5G when, thanks to her party, much of rural Scotland still lacks 4G, not to mention decent broadband (or decent roads, schools, bus services...........).
Nicola Sturgeon is breaking her promises on childcare.
There is just a year left for the SNP to meet its own target of 1,140 hours of childcare for 3 and 4 year-olds. But more than 700 of the new facilities needed have not even begun construction, and a Government report has revealed that not enough nursery staff have been recruited. Scotsman Article
Worse still, the impact of the changes on independent childminders has been ignored, threatening many with having to pull out of the role entirely, meaning that the gap between 1140 hours provision and the real full-time cover that many working parents need cannot be filled in many areas.
As ever, when it comes to the details, the incompetent SNP has been found wanting yet again. How much longer can Scotland take this failure?
The SNP must scrap Sturgeon’s sinister “Named Person” scheme.
Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to appoint a state guardian for every child has already been struck down in the courts. Now the SNP Government’s own advisory panel has said the new version would be too complicated for public bodies to follow. Times Article, Scottish Sun Article.
This unnecessary and Orwellian scheme has been unworkable and unpopular from the start. Nicola Sturgeon should drop it and focus on the things that matter.
Jeremy Corbyn has surrendered to Nicola Sturgeon’s demands for indyref2.
The Labour leader has confirmed he would not try to stop the SNP holding a second divisive referendum on breaking up the UK. This cynical move is a complete betrayal of the Labour voters in Scotland who support the Union. Telegraph Article, Herald Article
Comrade Corbyn’s increasingly hard-left Labour cannot be trusted to protect either the Union or the Nation, and the Scottish Labour “leader” has been left totally exposed and isolated by his Islington puppet-master.
Alex Salmond will receive over £500,000 of Scottish taxpayers’ money because of the serious flaws in the SNP Government’s investigation into the allegations about him.
It is outrageous that over half a million pounds has been wasted by the botched handling of this investigation – and you have to wonder how much more the Scottish taxpayer - you - will have to pay out before this scandal finally reaches an end. BBC Report
Worst of all, the people who made these complaints against Salmond have been badly let down by the SNP.
Sturgeon must explain why she wasted taxpayers’ money when the glaring flaws in the Scottish Government’s investigation were so apparent from the very start.
Eventually the truth will out, but expect the SNP to do all it can to prevent the Scottish people knowing the details before the next Holyrood election.
Scottish students are losing out on university places to English and non-EU students.
The SNP’s cap on student places means that Scottish students can only access half the number of courses at Scottish universities as candidates from south of the border. Scotsman Article
There are places on 1000 courses for Scottish students available through UCAS clearing, but more than 2000 courses on offer for English, Welsh, NI and non-EU students. Clearly the SNP thinks it is OK to limit Scottish candidates unfairly despite its endless rhetoric about improving education and opportunity.
Sturgeon’s student cap unfairly discriminates against Scottish pupils, holding them back from achieving their full potential.
SNP blunders are to blame for Ferguson shipyard going into administration.
Scottish taxpayers are facing a massive bill because of the incompetent SNP’s reckless mismanagement of the Ferguson Marine ferries contract. Herald Article
Nicola Sturgeon’s own economic adviser Jim McColl says there is “no economic sense” behind the SNP’s decision and has accused the SNP of ‘abusing their power’. Times Article
He said: ‘We get soundbites from ministers, tweeting about finishing the ferries and saving the jobs in the yard. It’s all PR. There’s no economic sense behind what they’re doing…The way they are acting right now is economically damaging for the local area, and for Scotland.’ Daily Record Article Telegraph Article
SNP Ministers have spent years ducking questions and wasting public money without securing jobs or protecting the future of the yard.
Sturgeon must get back to the day job, fix this mess and order a full parliamentary inquiry.
The SNP has now admitted the Sick Kids hospital might not open before 2021.
Sturgeon and her increasingly-beleaguered health secretary Jeane Freeman have been unable to provide even the most basic information to families and NHS staff on the scale of the problems at the new Edinburgh hospital. Scotsman Article
Despite the delayed opening of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children and warnings from Union officials that the new building could have to be 'ripped down', Jeane Freeman has refused to resign. This comes as it was revealed that NHS Lothian hands over £1.4m every month for a hospital that is not yet operational. The safety of patients, visitors and staff is of primary concern, and it is staggering that these issues have been overlooked. Clinicians pressured to sign off flawed hospital plan - The Herald
Meanwhile, the bill for the delayed hospital is to be at least £90m more than planned, according to an Audit Scotland report . The NHS Lothian hospital has been mired in controversy since dangers to patients and staff were identified before it opened – and the total cost of the new hospital could be up to £500m. BBC Report, The Scotsman
Despite the attempts to evade its responsibility for the failure, the SNP cannot say it was not warned well in advance. A senior architect involved in the project has said he raised concerns over design flaws two years ago - but believes meeting deadlines was prioritised over patient safety due to political pressure. Times Article
The SNP needs to take responsibility for its repeated failings in supporting Scotland’s hospitals – but get ready for the SNP to find someone else to blame for its own incompetence, just as it always does. Scotland needs a First Minister focused on hospitals and schools – not separation.
Labour still cannot make its mind up on independence.
Labour’s infighting continues: the Scottish party has gone to war with the UK party leadership over its backing for indyref2. John McDonnell has insisted that a Labour government would not block a second referendum on independence. This is despite the Labour “leader” in Scotland, Richard Leonard, repeatedly saying that his party would not grant a Section 30 order to allow a referendum to be held.
The Scottish parliamentary Labour party released a statement condemning John McDonnell and Jeremy Corbyn for seeking to ‘undermine’ Richard Leonard. Minutes later, Neil Findlay tweeted that he did not support the statement from his colleagues, and hit out at Jackie Baillie for abusing her power. Meanwhile Labour MP Paul Sweeney had come out in favour of federalism, saying that a second referendum should have not just two, but three choices on the ballot paper – The Herald
It is hardly surprising that Comrade Corbyn and his extreme-left power-base feel that they can treat Scottish Labour with contempt: former Labour MSP Margaret Curran has said Scottish Labour is ‘now a small party in Scotland’ and ‘we are not terribly relevant.’ Herald Article
Unlike Labour’s ever-changing position, the real choice is clear: the chaos of Nicola Sturgeon and Comrade Corbyn trying to engineer years of yet more division; or the pragmatism of the Scottish Conservatives supporting the Union and getting back to the things that really matter to people. In 2014 the Scottish people said no, and we meant it: but you simply can’t trust Labour with the Union – or anything else for that matter.
Senior police officers have slammed an SNP minister for bragging about police numbers.
Community Safety minister Ash Denham claimed on Twitter that the SNP had put more officers on the beat. But Calum Steele, General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation and his Deputy, David Hamilton responded with fury. The Herald
Steele said ‘the SNP has been underfunding the service to the point we are heading to headcount lower than a decade ago’, while Hamilton pointed out that deeper cuts to the frontline are on the way due to Police Scotland’s budget mess.
Can you trust SNP claims about Police numbers? Not really: as usual with any SNP claim, truth is the first casualty - but make up your own mind after taking a look at an independent assessment: Channel 4 News
Our poorest students are being let down by the SNP.
Despite Nicola Sturgeon staking her reputation (such as it is) on driving down the education attainment gap, in reality since 2018 the attainment gap has actually widened - despite slightly more students from deprived backgrounds making it to university. The Scotsman
School standards are slipping rapidly under the SNP. Pass rates are now at record lows since the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) was introduced. The Telegraph
SNP cuts to teacher numbers and their cap on higher education places is holding Scottish pupils back from achieving their full potential. John Swinney has repeatedly failed to listen to teachers, parents and young people.
The incompetent SNP is failing on education - just like it is failing on health, policing and reducing drug-related deaths. Only the Scottish Conservatives will restore our schools to their rightful place among the best in the world.
July 2019
The number of Scottish businesses on the brink of collapse is soaring under the SNP
New figures show an 18% rise in the number of companies in Scotland in serious ‘distress’ compared to the same period of 2018. Herald Article
The number of businesses in severe financial trouble is growing at more than three times the rate of that in the rest of the UK. This increase of firms on the brink of collapse should be a sharp wake-up call for the SNP: it needs to stop strangling innovation and must abandon its anti-business mindset.
Only the Scottish Conservatives have the ideas and determination to support Scottish businesses and grow the economy.
The Scottish Policy Authority has been operating behind closed doors – again.
The Scottish Policy Authority has been criticised for holding meetings in secret on issues including health and safety and a £42 million shortfall. The SNP promised that under new management the SPA would operate in an open and transparent manner. But it seems the SNP is happy to let the SPA operate behind closed doors.
What exactly is the SNP trying to hide from us all, and why? This is the SNP’s secret Scotland – and it stinks.
The SNP needs to get its story straight on indyref2.
The SNP’s deputy leader has insisted that he had never claimed the independence referendum was a once in a generation vote. However, it has emerged that ahead of the 2014 vote he claimed the referendum was a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’.
A generation is generally accepted as being about 30 years, and even allowing for improvements in life expectancy in Scotland having stalled under the SNP’s mismanagement (BBC News), on average you can still expect to live to well over 75. So clearly the Deputy FM thought that the 2014 referendum was a once in two generations opportunity - and not something we should revisit until at least 2075 or so!
Instead of struggling with selective memories, SNP ministers should take the threat of separation off the able completely. We said no and we meant it: the failing SNP needs to and get back to the day job of improving our economy, schools and NHS.
The SNP has the Union to thank for saving Scottish services after the SNP’s £1 billion tax black hole was exposed.
After overall tax revenue in Scotland fell £941 million short of SNP forecasts, the UK Government has stepped in to provide an extra £737 million in next year’s block grant and prevent drastic cuts to vital services in Scotland. This exposes the cost of having an under-performing SNP government which is overseeing sluggish growth, doing nothing to improve poor productivity, and failing to understand that punitive tax rates drive down the overall tax-take. Herald Article.
Delivering more fiscal powers to the Scottish Parliament should have been a huge opportunity for ministers to boost our economic fortunes; instead, the incompetent and economically-illiterate SNP has squandered the opportunity for narrow ideological reasons. Fortunately for the people of Scotland, the benefits of still being part of the UK mean that this disastrous underperformance by the SNP can be compensated for by Westminster.
The SNP needs to end its referendum obsession and concentrate on sorting out its disastrous economic policies.
The SNP is shamelessly politicising Scotland’s drugs-deaths crisis.
Almost 1,200 people died from drug consumption in Scotland last year – a 27% rise year-on-year. This is almost three times the rate of the UK as a whole and the highest rate in the EU. The SNP has had control over health and justice for 12 years; yet it has not dealt with this problem. ‘Call for treatment ‘culture change’ as drug death figures soar 27%’
In their desperation, the Nationalists are now pinning their hopes on drug consumption rooms because they know the UK Government does not agree with them. The SNP Government should be focusing its efforts on rehabilitation and abstinence-based recovery, the very services the SNP chose to cut to the bone.
But to do that the SNP Ministers would have to admit to making a mistake – not something the SNP will ever do voluntarily: much better to blame someone or something else. So after this week’s shocking drugs deaths statistics, former SNP minister Kenny MacAskill claimed that independence is necessary to combat the crisis. The SNP has been in power since 2007 and, on its watch, the number of fatalities has doubled, but rather than take an honest look at the problem, it prefers to politicise the crisis to distract from yet another catastrophic SNP failure.
When will the SNP admit that the only answer to SNP failure is not indyref2, but a change of Scottish Government? When will the SNP abandon its ideological obsession and end its constitutional grandstanding? Don't hold your breath.
Police chiefs say the SNP’s Car Park Tax puts front-line officers at risk
A letter from the Scottish Police Federation to the SNP government has been published, saying:
The car park tax could increase the chance of police officers’ homes being targeted.
The levy would be a “bureaucratic nightmare” for Police Scotland.
Police officers using public transport “along fixed routes at fixed times” would be vulnerable to attacks from criminals they’d brought to justice.
With elevated terror levels police who could no longer use their cars were even more at risk given “a specific terror threat” had been identified against them.
The Scottish Conservatives tabled a series of amendments to the car park tax legislation, which would have exempted a number of groups – including police, teachers and people on benefits – but those were rejected by other political parties. Police officers are just one of many groups who are vehemently opposed to the SNP’s car park tax plans. This explosive letter shows not only their anger about it, but the very real risks they could face as a consequence.
The SNP government should pay attention to what police are saying - and drop these plans altogether.
The SNP should stop using trips abroad to promote its attempts to break up the UK.
Just a few weeks after the First Minister was hob-nobbing with the EU Elites, Fiona Hyslop, the Culture Secretary, has also been to Brussels: once again we have a senior member of the SNP taking needless trips to talk up separation. Their motives are totally transparent: yet another excuse for them to try and create artificial divisions between Scotland and the rest of the UK. Rather than wasting time and hard-pressed taxpayers’ money on these self-indulgent excursions, the SNP should be concentrating on improving its desperately poor record of governance of Scotland, for example by getting a grip on our crumbling education system, a task that seems beyond the competence of the floundering Deputy First Minister. Scotsman Article
The SNP should drop the games, and get back to the day job.
Senior SNP figures propose declaring independence - without a referendum.
Angus MacNeil, a senior MP, and Chris McEleny, a former SNP deputy leadership contender, have drafted a motion for the SNP’s autumn conference. It proposes that the SNP’s next manifesto should promise that a ‘pro-independence electoral victory’ would lead to an immediate start of talks to break up Britain. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/independence-without-a-second-vote-is-proposed-7mcwpx6tl
So having had independence rejected by a substantial margin in a democratic referendum only five years ago, and knowing that every sign points to it losing another referendum, the SNP is now trying to find another way to push its endless constitutional grievance, if necessary by twisting democracy to breaking point.
