Nicola Sturgeon’s Massive Cuts Agenda; SNP's independence blueprint is a plan which 'would have seen public spending slashed by £60bn', the damage to Scotland would be incalculable but the SNP acknowledge, independence means cuts on a scale never seen in Scotland, damaging every hospital, every school and every public service in this country, Scotland deserves so much better

Dear All

The ‘white paper’ which the SNP delivered on the 26th November 2013, I remember that date well as I was a guest on a BBC radio programme, other guests were Professor Sir John Curtice and ex SNP MP Natalie McGarry.

The BBC broadcast was held in a coffee shop next door to the Holyrood Parliament. In the summing up at the end, I said that the reason why Scottish independence would fail was because there was an issue of trust in Alex Salmond. The viewers were then treated to Natalie McGarry trying to defend against that statement and failing miserably.

You see when you speak the truth; you are armed with the most powerful weapon in debating.

The ‘white paper’ was a sham, 650 pages described by Joan McAlpine as a document more substantial than the American Declaration of Independence. The US document signed by the 13 colonies was signed in 1776, great minds had written that document; the same couldn’t be said of the SNP ‘white paper’.

The ‘white paper’ was a 650 page con trick, there was no critical thinking, and wild assumptions were made which had no basis on facts. In order to attempt to deceive people, the SNP made claims about how rich the people would be post independence, when the opposite was true.

The SNP were not even guaranteeing people’s pensions.

Now, in 2018, we have the next piece of junk, outsource to what is laughingly called the party’s Growth Commission. In an analysis of the report, These Islands, a pro-UK think tank says that spending on public services would have been slashed by around £60 billion if it had applied over the last decade. In case you don’t know what that means, our education system would suffer even more than it already has, and our health service would have been so badly damaged by severe underfunding that innocent people would die.

You have to ask yourself, what kind of person would inflict such a catastrophic disaster on its own people; let me introduce you to the ‘real’ Nicola Sturgeon, not the fake PR version of the child hugging and LGBT friendly leader.

Nicola Sturgeon may think she is on a journey but the reality is that the rest of Scotland won’t join her on it, she isn’t a leader of men.

Scotland moved passed Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP on referendum night 14^th September 2014.     

These Islands, the pro-UK think tank has a number of leading economists including Glasgow 

University professors Ronald MacDonald and Jim Gallagher, Strathclyde’s Professor Brian Ashcroft and Brian Quinn, the former acting deputy governor of the Bank of England as part of their organisation. 

Their analysis says that the SNP’s Growth Commission has actually strengthened the economic case for Scotland remaining in the union. After waiting such a long time for the report, it seems that the effect has been what the SNP intended when people look at the fine detail.

And details count, when you are risking the future of your home, your job, your pension and your kids future!

Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon tried to win the referendum by trying to generate an 'emotional vote' based on hatred and fear of the UK Conservative Government, but people in Scotland saw beyond that, beyond the emotional spin. 

Now, we have ‘white paper two’, the agenda of the left has been replaced by an agenda of the right. This is quite a difference, which begs the question, either we are being lied to now, or we were lied to in 2014.

Which is it?

The SNP’s Growth Commission report claims living standards in Scotland could "equal the best small countries in the world" within a generation of independence. The word in that sentence top home in on is ‘could’, in other words, no guarantee and this is a guess. Interesting the key recommendations included cutting the country's deficit and keeping the pound for at least a decade are both disastrous. Cutting the country's deficit means destroying public services, and the idea of keeping the pound for a decade is a complete non starter.

For example, one of the SNP’s pet projects is to rejoin the EU, to join, a country needs to have its own currency, own central banks and balance the book. You can’t get membership of the EU using someone else’s currency; the EU rules don’t permit it. 

So if the SNP keep the pound for 10 years, then they dump the pound to set up their own currency, and you add in 3  years post dumping there (that’s being charitable), you are talking 13/ 14 years minimum wait to join the EU. Interestingly the Growth Commission report avoids discussing how or when an independent Scotland might qualify for EU membership.

But my view is that given the SNP leadership have been unable to tell the truth to the people before and actively deceived them in the past, the SNP leadership isn’t worth listening too.

Which is why Scotland has moved passed them.

Nicola Sturgeon wants Scottish independence at any cost, and is willing to accept the current austerity policies of the UK Government and then max that out even to achieve its goal. If the SNP believe that the current austerity policies of the UK Government are so bad; and the SNP claims to reject them, how can they argue for even worse under their regime?

Scottish Conservative shadow finance secretary Murdo Fraser said the analysis showed the SNP “is now making even wilder claims about secession than Alex Salmond did prior to the referendum”.

He added:

“Quite simply, they are making it up as they go along. As everyone apart from the SNP acknowledges, independence would mean cuts on a scale never seen in Scotland – damaging every hospital, school and public service in the country.”

When Scotland rejected the SNP claim that we could be like Norway, the SNP is now back with a new country, we could be like New Zealand, or would a better definition be that we could be like Nigeria.

Anyone know how to tie two plastic bottles to your feet to use as shoes…… asking for a friend!

Shadow Scottish Secretary Lesley Laird said it was now “abundantly clear that the SNP’s plans for an independent Scotland would result in austerity cuts that not even former Tory Chancellor George Osborne would have dared to implement”.

And George wasn’t exactly seen as people friendly by many.

She added:

“If these proposals were put into practice Scotland’s already under pressure public services would be devastated, with spending slashed on the NHS, schools, and on other vital areas.”

Finally, it seems the SNP will say anything to trick the people of Scotland, they certainly don’t care what harm they would inflict on organisations like Scotland’s NHS. When I fought in the 2014 referendum, one of my primary motives was to protect our NHS; ironically I was to fight for an organisation which in the same year was to save me from death.  

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University