Dear All
In case it escaped your attention things are bad.
But the good news; is that there is no good news but as bad as things are they are going to get much worse.
Unemployment in Scotland has risen again.
The total number of jobless people now stands at a whopping 234,000.
As further austerity bites, budgets are cut and the public sector sheds jobs that number will continue to rise.
As unemployment rises so will crime as people try to survive, social tensions and discontent against the Government will rise as well.
We will see the return of protests to the streets of Scotland.
The unemployment rate for Scotland is higher than that for the UK as a whole.
Current figures have the rate at 8.7 per cent north of the border compared to 8.4 per cent.
So, what has gone badly wrong in Scotland?
The problem is in part how the SNP Government is managing Scotland, poor choices and lack of vision coupled with paralysis caused by the independence referendum have brought the reform agenda to a dead stop.
In a recent speech to party delegates in Glasgow, the SNP Deputy Leader Nicola Sturgeon stated that an independent Scotland would put an end to poverty and deprivation.
It is a vacuous claim, good for rabble rousing the troops but can it be done?
No!
And importantly, she didn't lay out a road map of how this would be achieved, she just made the claim.
If we buy into such a fantastic pledge as being possible, we are forced to ask why the SNP are delaying the independence referendum.
Why do the SNP believe that people should endure continual poverty and deprivation for years?
There are many reasons for the delay; all of them have nothing to with ending poverty and deprivation.
Firstly, Alex Salmond has no one to work for him, this is because the party is clique orientated, it is bad for the party and bad for Scotland.
Secondly, the SNP have set too many tasks that few among their ranks are capable or qualified to do.
Thirdly, and importantly, the real work of chapter and verse of how a new Scotland would like hasn’t been done.
Alex Salmond cannot tell you how a new Scotland would look beyond platitudes; this is a major mistake in SNP logic.
He can’t answer major policy questions because he doesn’t know, hasn't asked the questions and never entered into real discussions with the EU and UK Governments.
Years ago when the SNP first proposed the referendum they wanted to have it in the first term while minority government, they withdrew the bill.
At the time I opined that the SNP needed to complete two full terms of government before bring forward their referendum so that people could accurately judge whether there exists competence.
Alex Salmond has done well, but Alex Salmond has been buffered by the tail end of the financial bubble and by bringing forward capital.
Now, is the test, things are going to be bad, local government reform which should have been the agenda of the second term has been shelved to beyond the referendum at which point, he enters a Westminster contest.
In order to keep his dream alive he needs to win a landslide victory at the council elections, if that fails to be achieved in places such as Glasgow, it puts in doubt the indy win.
If he fails to win indy, he will crushed at the Westminster election of 2015.
This would be a continuation of a losing streak that started at the council elections. In a recent SNP Council election video, the presenter said SNP, one two three.
She may be talking inadvertently about possible future losses.
Glasgow, Indy and Westminster!
As unemployment rises, people become fearful for their welfare and that of their families, in such cases better the devil you know is the maxim.
If Alex Salmond wants an independence Scotland he better start listening to his members on a whole raft of issues.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
No comments:
Post a Comment