Posts

Glasgow is suffering because SNP council leader won’t stand up to Nicola Sturgeon – The Scotsman

/in , , , , , /by

Please click the link below to read more:

Home to around one-fifth of the nation’s population and sustaining hundreds of thousands of jobs, the city will shape Scotland’s economic performance in the years ahead.

This week, the 23rd annual State of the City Economy Conference will be held in Glasgow and hear about the opportunities for growth. The city has a chance to transform into a green powerhouse and take advantage of new industries such as digital tech.

We have the people and we have the talent. But this transformation will also require ambition for Glasgow. And that is sadly lacking in the current SNP administration in the City Chambers. With Susan Aitken in charge, we do not have a champion for our city.

Instead we have someone who refuses to take responsibility and blames the residents of Glasgow for its current challenges – wrapped up in rhetoric that would make Margaret Thatcher blush.

It’s just a “spruce up” that the city needs, she told STV in a car-crash interview. It’s “wee neds” to blame for the state of the city, she told the BBC in another attempt at deflection.

Rubbish piling up on the streets? People need to take more responsibility for cleanliness in their communities, according to Councillor Aitken. Every single time, whatever the problem, there is always someone else to blame for the SNP.

For education news, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/education-matters/

Leaked SNP document dubbed ‘pathetic’ and ’embarrassing’ by critics – Daily Record

/in , , , , /by

Please click the image below to read more:

The SNP has been accused of serving up a “pathetic” briefing parroting “scripted lines” to party MSPs on the ferries crisis.

In the document, leaked to the Record, the Nationalists went back sixteen years to point the finger at the Labour administration under Jack McConnell.

Labour MSP Neil Bibby said: “It is frankly embarrassing for the SNP MSPs expected to wheel out this nonsense in defence of the indefensible.”

The Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow was saved by the SNP Government in 2019 after collapsing into administration, but the rescue deal laid bare a number of issues which would cause multi-year delays to two key vessels under construction.

The decision of Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) – the body tasked with procuring Scotland’s ferries – to invite four foreign yards to tender for two ferries to serve Islay and Jura also created huge anger last week.

Nicola Sturgeon’s Government has been dogged by criticism over Ferguson Marine and Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has said she is “monitoring” the yard’s leadership.

The SNP has now been criticised for circulating what critics believe is a tame briefing to MSPs which does not criticise the Government.

Produced on September 17, researchers said the SNP Government had been clear with Ferguson’s management on the need to get the yard “into shape”.

Click here for transport news: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/transport-matters/

Poll: Majority of Scots opposed to second independence referendum in 2023 – Holyrood Magazine

/in , /by

Please click the image below to read more:

Just over a third of voters are in favour of a second independence referendum within the next two years, a poll has found.

The Survation poll carried out for the pro-UK campaign group Scotland in Union found only 38 per cent of those surveyed want a second vote during the timetable set out by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Just over half (52 per cent) said there should not be a referendum in the next two years, while 10 per cent said they didn’t know.

Setting out the Scottish Government’s programme for government on Tuesday, Sturgeon said she had instructed civil servants to begin work on a “detailed prospectus” for independence, with the aim of holding a second vote – nine years since the last – by the end of 2023.

The Survation poll also found that 57 per cent of people in Scotland would vote to “remain” part of the United Kingdom in a referendum – with only 43 per cent in favour of “leaving” the UK.

Among those who voted SNP in the 2021 Holyrood election, 20 per cent would vote to remain part of the UK, and 24 per cent do not believe there should be a referendum on independence within the next two years.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: “This poll confirms that Nicola Sturgeon is out of touch with the people of Scotland.

“A majority of voters oppose her plans for a divisive second referendum within the next two years, and she should listen to what people are telling her.

For more news on Scottish politics, click here: https://www.scotlandmatters.co.uk/politics-matters/

Sturgeon pushes for independence (again) – The Spectator

/in , , /by

Please click the image below to read more:

t’s Groundhog Day in Holyrood. Amid criticisms about her administration’s underwhelming ‘Programme for Government,’ Nicola Sturgeon has returned to her favourite hobby house: Scottish independence. Much like ABBA’s reunion, the First Minister combined some new tunes with her greatest hits, declaring that May’s election was an ‘undeniable’ mandate for such a plebiscite by the end of 2023 ‘once the Covid-19 crisis is passed’.

Steerpike is not surprised at Sturgeon’s choice of priorities, preferring to have her civil servants devote their energies to indyref2 rather than letting Scots take their masks off when sat on a train. The SNP and its acolytes have had no compunction in undermining the Union at every opportunity throughout the pandemic; a strategy that has been great for poll numbers but has led to almost half of Europe’s top 20 Covid-19 hotspots being located in Scotland.

Much more noteworthy is the lack of interest in Sturgeon’s announcement. Westminster was admittedly distracted with Boris Johnson’s tax shenanigans but even north of the border there was a far more muted reaction to the First Minister’s pronouncements then her previous statements. The Scottish editions of both the Times and Daily Telegraph for instance relegated the news on their front to a nib; BBC Scotland similarly buried the announcement on its homepage.

Scottish government asked for urgent clarification over Greens’ ‘racist Zionism’ policy – Jewish Chronicle

/in /by

Please click the image below to read more:

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is being urged to clarify her government’s position on antisemitism after it emerged Holyrood’s power-sharing partners believe Zionism is a “racist ideology”.

In 2015 the Scottish Greens approved a motion that declared Hamas was not a terrorist organisation while branding Israel an “apartheid state”.

Antisemitism campaigners voiced concerns the party was now in power in Scotland while Scottish Conservatives called for the First Minister to condemn the “shameful stance”.

The Scottish government adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism in full in 2018 but the policy of its new junior partner appears to be a clear breach of that definition.

Policy Motion 2, voted through by Scottish Greens in 2015, has never been rescinded. It was debated and voted on at conference on a Saturday, excluding participation by observant Jews.

It condemns Israel’s claim to be the “Jewish state” and brands Zionism a “racist ideology based on Jewish supremacy in Palestine”. It accuses Israel of being an “unacceptable” “apartheid” state.

It goes on to demand Israel repeal its law of return for Jews, while backing the right of return for all Palestinian Arabs and their descendants.

It declares that Hamas should no longer be designated as a terrorist organisation and offers its support for the anti-Israel BDS boycott movement.

Jackson Carlaw, whose Eastwood constituency is home to a sizeable Jewish population, branded the Greens’ position “a disgrace”.

The Conservative MSP said: “They have backed positions that appear to be contrary to the IHRA definition.  Nicola Sturgeon has to distance her Government from this shameful stance. This kind of outrageous rhetoric from the Greens has no place in 21st Century Scotland. It doesn’t belong anywhere near the Scottish Government and should be stamped out.

“Scotland’s Jewish community needs to hear an unequivocal condemnation of the Greens’ position and assurances that the Government does not support these extreme views.”

The historic cooperation agreement between the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Greens ensures two ministerial roles for the junior party and bolsters the First Minister’s case for independence.

Leaving Union would be Brexit times ten, says Sturgeon adviser – The Times

/in , /by

Please click the image below to read more:

A leading economist appointed to Nicola Sturgeon’s panel of advisers has warned that the damage from tearing up the 300-year-old Union between Scotland and England risks being equivalent of “Brexit times ten”.

Mark Blyth, professor of international economics at the Watson Institute of Brown University in Rhode Island, was announced as a member of Sturgeon’s council of economic advisers in July amid claims that it would “bring forward bold ideas that will transform the economy”.

Nicola Sturgeon accused of breaking promises over draft indyref2 proposals – The Scotsman

/in , , , , /by

Click the image below to read more:

No wonder Nicola Sturgeon bangs on about independence – everything else the SNP controls is a mess – The Telegraph

/in , , /by

Click the image below to read more: