Only An SNP Excuse, failed and incapable SNP Minister Shona Robison says that Brexit will leave Scottish NHS in ruins, too late, Nicola Sturgeon managed that prior to leaving the post under Alex Salmond, 2018 is the year of continuation of fake news over Brexit, if concern is needed why not have an inquiry in unsustainable staff levels by management?

Dear All

First, happy New Year to you, hope 2018 is good to you, and you prosper, 2017 was the year that fake news made it into the public consciousness, it was also a year where denial was still rife after the historic decision to leave the EU.

Although some people rose in the year, others came crashing down to earth with a rather nasty bump, they saw the Westminster expenses tap turned off and the tube removed from them. We had highs and lows, and some humour, who can forget those in the SNP who were dumped onto the pavement by the people of Scotland.

Brexit is still the number one political concern this year, although the process is still moving forwards, those in denial just can’t stop thinking that there will be a ten to midnight event which stops it.

There won’t, the people of the UK have made a decision, direct democracy won over fear. I have to say that although I have done a fair bit on the campaigning front, the Brexit campaign was special because it was a people’s campaign. In contrast, the 2014 referendum was all about lies and deceit, a rather ugly affair full of hate and menace, when the SNP lost that one, justice was surely done.

In Scotland until we get rid of them, the SNP control the reins of power of the Scottish government. We are a good while away from any attempt to send them down the road. In the meantime, the SNP are doing dog whistle politics, where fake concern over Brexit is the guise to push for control over immigration. As a tactic, it is rather stupid, but no one can really be in any doubt that under unpopular Nicola Sturgeon, the ‘brains’ have left the building!

When Sturgeon took over from Salmond, who left in the huff, Sturgeon cleared out some of his ‘pals’ and replaced them with her ‘pals’ which is why we ended up with Shona Robison who at that point was part of the ‘Golden couple’ with her husband Stewart Hosie.

Robison took over a failing health service, rather than fix it, she is clueless; Robison started playing the blame game; if the service couldn’t cope it was because sick people were using it. This year, she explains her failure away by saying ‘black ice’ is the problem. Shona Robison has an answer for everything….. its someone else’s fault, never her.

Brexit is pushing on and that in time will mean changes, technical changes as regard immigration from the EU, but it isn’t an ‘iron curtain’ or an ‘Atlantic wall’, it is wait for it…… some form filling re employment.        

2017 was the year of fake news breakout but 2018 is the continuation of what is sheer nonsense, which is why we get Scotland’s NHS is facing ruin because of Brexit. The thing about the concept of the ‘big lie’ is that you have to keep repeating it and hope that no one will challenge it. Brexit is a convenient hook to scaremonger and use attempt to use fear to change public opinion towards people backing a separate Scottish immigration policy.

It won’t wash, not with the public and certainly not with the UK Government, contray to what the SNP are selling, foreign doctors and nurses, and other professionals are still very much welcome to come here to practice and for training. Medicine is a profession by its very nature that see people travel because it is interlinked with education. If you understand how Universities work, you will understand how stupid the claims of Shona Robison actually are.

No government, especially a UK government is going to restrict medical professionals coming here, even after the end of the UK membership, we have foreign doctors working here before we entered the EU back in 1973, and we will have foreign doctors working here post Brexit. Another aspect of the lie being sold is to create fear to seek to stay in what is termed the ‘single market’. The single market allows free movement of Labour which the UK government has ruled out and rightly so.

Robison has stated that leaving the single market would harm the recruitment and retention of medics from other EU nations.

How?

Robison has made the claim, isn’t it time that she justify it; is it because they would have to apply for a work visa, is that the ‘hardship’ they would have to endure?

As the NHS prepares to mark its 70th anniversary, the people of Scotland are seeing a service which they have run for 10 years decline, it has declined through mismanagement and more importantly neglect. It is a bit rich that Shona Robison and the SNP have suddenly become concerned about the Scottish NHS.

Dr Peter Bennie, chair of BMA Scotland has joined Robison by taking up the same chant saying Brexit “poses a substantial and serious threat to the future of the NHS workforce”.

Imagine a world in which the SNP have to train up more Scots to work in our health service that means they would have to go head to head with universities who have steadily pushed Scots out in favour of getting big fees from foreign students.

Robison has highlighted how around 1-in-20 of Scotland’s doctors come from other parts of Europe, guess what, post Brexit they will be allowed to stay, the fact that Robison wants a guarantee off the UK government is meaningless because some other group would then be seized on for their guarantee.

Robison said:

“2018 will be the 70th anniversary of our National Health Service. It has continued to evolve over that time, but here in Scotland it has been kept to Nye Bevan’s founding principles of being publicly-owned, publicly-run, and free at the point of need. It has endured thanks to the care, compassion, and professionalism of NHS staff as the beating heart of the service.”

Meaningless pap, it is the same in the rest of the UK which incidentally the SNP Government have had to ship Scots off for treatment, some Scots get their ‘free at the point of need’ in England because the SNP can’t provide it.

A Scottish Tory spokesman has echoed other opposition parties and accused the SNP of mismanaging the NHS during its time in power.

A party spokesman said:

“Instead of constantly pointing the finger, Shona Robison should take responsibility for the mess her own party has made of the NHS over the last decade."

A UK Government spokesperson added:

"We will also put in place an immigration system that works in the national interest and will allow us to continue to attract brightest and best, like those working in our NHS."

Finally, since Shona Robison apparently ‘cares’ about staff in the Scottish NHS, she should order an external inquiry and review the staffing levels that the management are imposing, these levels are unsustainable leading to staff being overworked and stressed out.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University