Jedi2

So in summary...Labour 'charlatans, liars and thieves'..don't expect them to do anything they say. ....start implementing the Manifesto pledges within the first week.. aye, but what about Health, Education and Housing in Scotland..er, these are all fully devolved. Aye...so they have let Scotland down (again)...expect a comfortable SNP win in 2026 as a result

'He'll say one thing to get elected, it'll be another thing once he's in office'...not quite sure how that squares with making strides in the first week to start implementing the Manifesto they were elected on. You will also find @Granny Dangerand others consistently suggested 'none' of the Manifesto would happen. Of course Teachers, NHS, Planning changes for Housing etc are all fully devolved as we know and therefore Labour WM have no say at present in how these services are delivered in Scotland...that's the beauty of Devolution.What we do also know however is that any increased WM spend in these areas also leads to increased funding for Scotland...what happens to that funding is still entirely up to.....the SNP. Norway Wealth Fund..yes 35 years ago...over the past 35 years the Tories have been in power for 22 of them, so not quite entirely 'it's 'only' taken (Labour) that long to move on it)

Less than a week in, and already delivering.. National Wealth Fund set up with £7.8 billion of public money going in, and having the banks on board already to aim for £3 private for every £1 of public investment for ports, gigafactories, Windfall Tax on oil and gas started. GB Energy Investment to start in the next few days Onshore Windfarms ban by the Tories overturned, opening up new Green Energy potential New house planning and building targets started and a recruitment of 300 local planning officers 6500 Teachers: Recruitment boost underway with an expansion of adverts, vacancies and online targeting for recruitment. Rwanda Scheme Scrapped and Border Security Command Force set up to tackle the criminal gangs behind people smuggling. Audit of NHS finances started, and working in partnership with health officials to best target finance. We were told that 'none' of the Manifesto would be enacted... Of course it will take time to see the effects of the numbers on teachers, houses, waiting lists etc, but doing what they said they would do right away, and the difference being a large number of Scottish WM MPs are part of making these decisions

Keir Starmer is the Prime Minister.....LIE!!!

The usual level of arrogance..it enters your head, ergo 'it's correct' and anyone with an opposing view is wrong. One govt, in power for 17 years, has a flawless record, another in power for 4 days is shambolic

I would rather think that 'right-wing' applies to heavy acceptance of Corporate Lobbying with govt ministers using public money to line their own pockets. The election may be 'over' but the cycle until the next one has already started with (some) writing off a new govt after 4 days.

The 'report' from the National about Jackie Baillie or the matters of public record about SNP ministers anf private interests?

Sanjeev Gupta, as it happens, has paid just just £5 (five pounds) towards the acquisition of a Highlands smelting plant – with taxpayers financing the rest of the £330 million deal. The research also found that: Let’s just think about this. The First Minister announces a National Energy Company in 2017. Nothing happens. Then, in 2021, SNP members want to raise the issue again to add some urgency to the plan. They vote overwhelmingly for the policy at their conference. Again, nothing happens. At the same time government ministers were having meetings, outside of the public record, with big businesses seeking to cash in on Scotland’s renewables industry. Before we know it, the Scottish Government launches a “green investment portfolio” worth £3 Billion of Scottish green assets. This package, a substantial component of Scotland’s economic future, is to be bought up by private and foreign capital. As we know, ScotWind has already seen large tracts of renewable wind energy sold, cheaply, to the likes of British Petroleum. Meanwhile, Scotland’s six offshore wind farms have paid a derisory £150,000 to nearby communities in the last 12 months “Freeports” are bound up with the Tory incarnation of Brexit. The are special zones that, as the TUC report, “sit outside the UK’s main tax and tariff rules, with lower regulations to attract investment and business.” This means that once again the dice are loaded in favour of big business and against workers and local communities. They are also loaded against SNP conference decisions which are effectively superfluous to events, as the SNP Trade Union Group noted in relation to the “green freeports.” While the behind the scenes lobbying runs like a well oiled machine, there are occasions when the Scottish Government will be very upfront about whose interests they are loyal to. Naturally, the Growth Commission, the George Osborne variant of “independence,” was brought together by Scotland’s premier corporate lobbying firm, Charlotte Street Partners, while the trade unions were excluded. The “Economic Recovery Group” set up during the pandemic, was led by the former CEO of Tesco bank, Benny Higgins, who is now Chairman of the estate of Scotland’s largest feudal landowner, the Duke of Buccleuch. The council to advise on a ten year plan for Scotland to “unleash entrepreneurial potential and grow Scotland’s competitive business base,” included Sir Nick Macpherson, a former Treasury permanent secretary who advised George Osborne to reject a currency union during the 2014 referendum campaign. The hotchpotch of word salad this apparently chaotic group arrived at, known as “Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation” has so far produced a couple of events which the press were excluded from, and the formation of a new post known as Scotland’s “Chief Entrepreneur” who is to be paid a salary of £192,000 for working just 8 days a month. Then we can come to the so-called National Care Service (NCS). The design for this has been contracted to multinational consultancy firms PriceWaterhouseCoopers and KPMG. Incidentally, KPMG have recently been fined £18.4m for deliberately misleading regulators. In addition, “four of its senior staff have been banned from the accountancy profession, over the firm’s botched audits of collapsed outsourcing company Carillion.” As Lilian Macer, convener of Unison Scotland, said of the NCS contracts: In 2021 Kate Forbes set up something called the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review. It was led by Mark Logan. As ever, the process was outsourced. This time a contract worth £100,000 went to a private business called Ipso Facto Ltd. Mark Logan is the co-founder of Ipso Facto. He is also a Director of, drum roll, Travelnest Ltd. All of this fits neatly into the system of patronage set up around the leadership of the Scottish Government sprawling beyond the corporate sector and into wider parts of public life. Thus, the Chair of the Economic Recovery Group, is also the Chair of Buccleuch Estates and is also Chair of the National Galleries of Scotland board, alongside Andrew Wilson of Charlotte Street Partners who is also the author of the Growth Commission, alongside Willie Watt who is also the inaugural chair of the Scottish National Investment bank. While the corporate lobby exercises a hundred times more power and influence than the SNP membership, the party hierarchy also comes down hard whenever the working class start to mobilise in their own interests. They have shown they are willing to utilise Tory anti-trade union laws against striking cleansing workers in Glasgow. Indeed, Susan Aitken, who wins the award for reintroducing the word “ned” into public discourse, is driving an agenda in Scotland’s largest “Yes” city based on a programme of massive privatisation. If John Swinney really did cut and paste Osborne’s business rate proposals for his conference speech in 2015, then Susan Aitken is a dead ringer for David Cameron. If you really want to talk about lobbying by Private interests to line their own pockets, the SNP sure have some record, and these examples are the tip of the iceberg: snouts in the trough at every opportunity. https:/jonathonshafi.substack.com/p/the-snp-and-the-corporate-lobby

£850 million in Scotland (so far) shuffled into Private Provision, and as said, Neil Gray wants 'more'. Returns to the point: Govt funds for Private use in the NHS by the SNP=good. Any such provision by Labour (and again they can only do it in England and Wales, not Scotland)=Baaadd

Always useful to cite what Jackie Baillie 'actually' said of course, quoted from the same National Article. Robertson said: “It’s not just about using the private sector in terms of private beds to bring down waiting lists, there are other ways the private sector can be involved and already are involved in the health service in England. Are you saying no to that happening in Scotland?” Baillie replied: “No, I mean the private sector is already involved in the health service in Scotland but it simply does not have the capacity it does in England. So there needs to be different solution in Scotland that suits our circumstances.” So, in short, Private Sector already used in Scottish Healthcare by the SNP as we already knew with Neil Gray saying that he wants to 'go further', and of course he is the only person in place to make such decisions on a fully devolved service in Scotland Jackie Baillie saying that the English model of private use 'wouldn't work in Scotland in any case, so not actually repeating Wes 'the NHS would be privatised over my dead body (his words) Streeting's 'plans'.

Inevitable response Beholden to private healthcare...er no, not anymore than Scotland is anyway, sleaze..after 4 days in govt? On the question of will the Left Alliance be able to enact their programme in France. Possibly parts of it, others will no doubt be blocked by Macron's group. It will be a case of compromise and working together to sideline Le Pen.

Massive relief about the French result, good news coming out of Iran...just need to get the Democrats to get their act together in the good old US of A now

Obvious relief to see the Left Alliance of Socialists, Communists, Greens, come out on top. A programme which includes a 14% increase in the minimum wage, proper funding for public services, a Retirement age of 60, freezing prices on food and energy, a wealth tax on the richest, Green Energy expansion, continued military support for Ukraine, recognise Palestine as a state, two state solution, ceasefire and release of hostages. Probably have to do a deal with Macron and his centrist, but with more seats should be calling the shots, and most importantly can keep Le Pen and Co, out.

Is there a chance of the SNP running on an 'over 50% of the Constituency vote in 2026' and we start Independence negotiations..no Referendum, straight to division of assets etc? (As WM will just refuse any further Ref) The positive of that strategy would be to try and get 'all' Indy supporters to back them. If they fall short of 50% it probably wouldn't be by much which would still give them most Constituency seats and still be in govt. They would need to run a campaign which was 2 parts..here is how Indy will work and 'Plan B' here is what we will do at Holyrood for the next 5 years if it's less than 50%. I agree with your analysis that they would be better served by campaigning for incremental increase of powers (which would close Labour off in that area), and play a long game, but wonder of they will choose the 'all out' strategy suggested above.

Don't disagree that the actions of the Israeli govt are indefensible (and they are). The current situation has also led to a rise of anti-semitism though.Always important to separate the Israeli govt from the Jewish people, and it is the case (for some) that Gaza is the most 'important' issue in the world because of this. Yes, it should be important, and yes there absolutely should be an end to it and Netanyahu and his govt held to international account for it, but so should the actions of others in different parts ofbthe world as well.

5 games in and they haven't played well in 1 of them, yet get a draw of Slovakia, Switzerland and know no doubt Turkey. Surely luck can only last so long

An estimated 62000 Christians massacred in a continuing genocide in Nigeria by Islamist groups as well. No-one on the streets over that one.

Ceasefire, Aid and a two state solution...'indefensible'..okay. What is your position on Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Turkish Kurds, Ukraine, and China...or do none of these 'matter'?

Labour's position on Gaza is a ceasefire, aid getting through properly to those who most need it, and a two state solution. No question that they took time to get there, but I'm not sure what else they could say other than the above. There are of course other conflicts and oppression of minorities going on around the world...things have gone very quiet on Ukraine recently for instance yet it is still very much rumbling on. There are major conflicts in Yemen, Sudan and Syria which we hear next to nothing about and where a lot of people are still dying There are what are cited as genocides happening in Afghanistan and the Turkish treatment of Kurds. Why weren't there 'Independent' electio candidates to campaign about these? At some point there will be an end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza..hopefully very soon, so that a process of rebuilding in the region can start and people lives can start to be rebuilt as well. We now have a party in govt whose stance on Gaza is, as far as I can see, the same as the SNP. Once the situation improves don't see how Starmer still has to be held to 'account' for this. Of major concern coming up is, is Trump pulling US military aid out of Ukraine which will clearly embolden Putin and weaken NATO (which Trump also plans to do).

The SNP have an easy attack line pre-Holyrood which has already started..'Labour threaten free prescriptions, dental care, tuition fees' etc, which is why Labour should close that down quickly. No question that the Constitutional Paper was very vague and not radical but that was before a large WM majority which offers the chance to be bolder..again would be madness to miss the chance. The SNP are also asking for what would be 24 years in power at Holyrood..that is an astonishing length of time for any party to be in govt, anywhere. Agree with @DeeTillEhDeh that they need to break away from the Sturgeon cabal control of the leadership before then.. at the moment the offer on the table is Swinney as FM for (from now) 7 years. That might not be the most appealing choice for voters.

They also have 2 years not to do anything particularly controversial while (probably) slowly starting to makes things better. A great unknown is of course 'events'. Looks like the nightmare of a Trump Presidency, European countries going more far-right, who knows what Putin will be be up to by then etc. All of these will have an impact on the UK and Labour's foreign policy choices. But, again...domestically, don't do anything stupid, and don't get caught up in any madness led by Trump. Meanwhile, the SNP would need to also be demonstrating an 'improved' performance going towards the Holyrood elections.

I genuinely don't take any pleasure in seeing the SNP where they found themselves this morning Obviously I am pleased (to say the least) about the return of a Labour govt, the back of the Tories at last, and a good Labour performance in Scotland after a long 10 years. However the SNP were a formidable election winning machine, based largely on being 'different' from the others with their discipline. While I obviously didn't agree with their political choices I could still admire and hand it to them on their activism. It is therefore sad to watch the Murrel situation, Mattheson etc as it is such a departure from what they had before. As said previously the great energy produced in 2014, came not from the SNP themselves but the grassroots movements which sprung up around it . These folk are scunnered but they (rightly) haven't gone away. Neither have folk who vote Labour and Lib Dem but who would vote Yes in a Referendum. There is still a chance to build that support in opinion polls over the next few years, decoupled from SNP 'success' or not, at the ballot box. The day will come when it reaches around 60% and will hold there..it might take a few years, but it will happen. Hopefully by that time Devolution will have been enhanced to the point that a next step seems only natural.

It's been a long road back to today from Jim Murphy's Irn Bru crates and the banter years of Dugdale and Leonard. No question that, as we saw in 2011, that folk can switch their votes from WM to Holyrood, but as said, to not take this chance to build on 30+ MPs would be criminal

For Holyrood Labour should also get in early to stress that they would keep free prescriptions, dental care, and no tuition fees for domestic students. In addition they have to come up with an offer of Devolving full taxation powers (including NI), Broadcasting, and parts of Immigration law. With a big majority at WM they have the opportunity to do this. Basically strengthening Devolution. Barnett should also be increasing from the current £41 billion. Have to answer the question of 'what can Labour do for Scotland', with WM Labour showing that they can make a genuine difference if both administrations are Labour. Can't and must not, just be rhetoric. Presumably the SNP will go with a 'pro-Indy majority' is a Referendum. Again, Labour can and should say that, while not agreeing that a Ref is necessary that they would 'recognise' that result and grant one, while offering enhanced Devolution and protection of SNP measures which are popular. They have a great opportunity from today to show that Scotland is important to them, and again of they fail to capitalise on that from this position, they would deserve the SNP to win again. They have to be 'serious' about resetting the relationship between WM and Holyrood now and be different from the Tories. Won't get a better chance.