Dear All
Having completely failed to garner support
with their “positive” campaign, the pro-independence Yes Scotland group has
turned to playing the Scottish National Party’s age old game of grudge,
grievance and malcontent.
The SNP has already lost the argument for
Scottish independence quite some considerable time ago, now they are focusing
on Conservative-led austerity measures as part of a patchwork of complaints to
try and scrap together a vote.
Austerity hurts but we should also remember;
that the Scottish National Party cannot even get its own members to come and
campaign for them.
Austerity isn’t just confined to money.
The basic cost of living has soared by 25%
since the economic slump began in 2008; one of the reasons is that there are
too many people in Britain. We have lost control of our borders and the
political class is seeing the rise of people power in such parties as UKIP.
Social policy think-tank the Joseph
Rowntree Foundation says families are facing an "unprecedented erosion of
household living standards" because of rising inflation and flat lining
wages.
In an independent Scotland, the Scottish
National Party plan to allow mass immigration, will that make living standards
better or worse for ordinary Scots?
It will make their living standards worse
and condemn a generation of young Scots to poverty and a lack of a future.
Yes Scotland say that they will distribute
about half a million leaflets to highlight what policies that “Scotland” has
opposed but Westminster has pushed forward. When Yes Scotland talk about “Scotland”,
they are talking about the SNP, and they don’t speak for Scotland.
The Yes Campaign is a failure, it is badly
thought-out and knee jerk, and this tactic is said to be "third key
strand" of its campaign.
One of the things which I find laughable
and used by the Yes Scotland group is that a majority of Scottish MPs opposed
the Chancellor's austerity cuts, higher VAT rate, welfare cuts and the bedroom
tax.
The Labour Party isn’t in power so
naturally they oppose the cuts, however, it should be mentioned that the Labour
Party leadership is committed to continuing with austerity in the event of them
gaining power in 2015 Westminster election.
Katie Schmuecker, the Rowntree foundation's
policy and research manager, said:
"Our research shows the spiralling
cost of essentials is hurting low-income families and damaging living
standards. The public have told us their everyday costs have soared above wage
levels, driving up the amount they need to make ends meet."
Having a taste of what the unemployed
suffer apparently doesn’t appeal to them.
Peter Kelly, chairman of the Poverty
Alliance added:
"Combined with cuts in benefits and
frozen pay for many, it is little wonder so many Scots are turning to food
banks or payday lenders. Such a situation is both unacceptable and unnecessary.
When the Chancellor turns the screw on those living on benefits or working in low-paid
jobs he is doing nothing to help them or the economy. There is a need for an
urgent rethink on welfare policy in the UK. But there is also a need for more
to be done to help those on the lowest incomes in Scotland right now."
One of my new ideas is for there to be a separate
Scottish DWP autonomous of English system but still linked in, to change welfare.
I do not advocate the Scottish DWP being
under the control of Holyrood. The Scottish system would run slightly
differently, with emphasis on ‘a hand up as well as a hand out’. Years ago I
wrote the DWP doesn’t work properly; it doesn’t help the very people it is
supposed to, Iain Duncan Smith promised much, and spectacularly failed to
deliver on all of it.
Another part of the problem is social
mobility, this has various factors which affect it, however, lack of education
is a real problem for many at the bottom of society; therefore I would open up
schools to create a network of community colleges, run by councils and bringing
in strands of funding from various sources, DWP, higher education and business.
Councils would play a big part in providing
training opportunities so that unemployed people could find the vocations that
best suits their talents.
And then there is the issue of the ‘underclass’,
special measures would be put in place to help them get back into society in a
meaningful way.
If you are under the impression that
because the SNP/Yes Scotland are going to be out this weekend delivering
500,000 leaflets and that represents a big deal, it doesn’t, 200 Yes Branches, say
10 people turn up.
They are handing out 250 leaflets each.
Will the “third strand” work?
No!
Complaining without providing solutions is
meaningless, people tune out.
These people are so short sighted and stupid
that they just lurch from knee jerk reaction to knee jerk reaction, another fail, how many more before Alex Salmond gets the message, the answer is No!
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow
University
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