Monday 10th August
PATRONAGE CIRCUS CONTINUES AT WESTMINSTER WITH KNIGHTOODS FOR DEFEATED MPS
LUCRATIVE GONGS WILL OPEN DOORS FOR THE TORIES’ LIB DEM HELPERS
There are reports that a number of Liberal Democrat MPs who lost their seats at the election in May are to be rewarded with peerages and knighthoods – despite being comprehensively rejected by the electorate. The LibDems have now just one MP in Scotland but look certain to add to their tally at Westminster with the imminent creation of another 50 or so peers – to add to the cronies and party funders who make up Westminster’s second chamber. It now seems likely that in addition to the new peers, a number of ex-MPs will be awarded knighthoods.
Pete Wishart, SNP MP and Shadow Leader of the House, commented:
“Not content with stuffing the absurd House of Lords even more with his cronies and donors, the Prime Minister now feels obliged to reward his former LibDem helpers with gongs. Knighthoods are not just a consolation prize, though. They are a lucrative reward for these failed politicians which will doubtless open many a boardroom door.
“The suggestion that Danny Alexander is to receive a Tory-nominated knighthood – despite being comprehensively rejected by voters in the Highlands – simply underlines what is wrong with the whole system.
“The people of Scotland will be observing this circus with growing contempt – the whole Lords, Ladies, Knights, patronage nonsense is becoming something they see as beyond ridiculous. Yet we will soon have almost a thousand unelected Peers, which just highlights the profoundly undemocratic nature of the House of Lords and the need to scrap it, given the ludicrous waste of public money involved.”
Monday 10th August 2015
ROBERTSON DEMANDS ANSWERS ON TAXPAYER-FUNDED ANTI-SNP PROPAGANDA CAMPAIGN
SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson has today written to the Secretary of State for Scotland following the revelation that £2.5 million of public spending was approved shortly before the General Election for an anti-SNP propaganda campaign.
According to Cabinet Office transparency documents, £2.5 million was set aside in January for a publicity campaign for the UK Government’s limited devolution proposals – five times as much as they planned to spend on maximising voter registration. The UK Government has since confirmed that almost £800,000 was spent on the campaign.
Angus Robertson MP, the SNP’s Leader at Westminster, said:
“These figures show that the UK Government were prepared to spend £2.5m of public cash for what was essentially anti-SNP electioneering.
“It is also astonishing that they set aside five times as much on propaganda north of the border compared to what they did on a campaign to maximise voter registration – despite being just weeks before a general election. This perhaps says it all about the priorities of the UK Government.
“As Alistair Carmichael was then Secretary of State for Scotland, this raises further questions about the conduct of the Scotland Office while he was at the helm.”
As reported in Monday’s Scottish Sun: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/scottishpolitics/6582579/800k-devo-driver-blast.html
Cabinet Office spend approvals January to March 2015: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/446502/Q4_14-15_Advertising_and_Marketing_spend_approvals.csv/preview
Angus Robertson MP’s letter to the Secretary of State for Scotland: https://gallery.mailchimp.com/4fae14f57a18ee08253ffc251/files/scan0001.pdf
Skye Hospital redesign consultation progresses
Dave Thompson SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch yesterday (Mon 10th Aug) had a very positive meeting with Gill McVicar, Tracy Ligema and Maimie Thompson of NHS Highland to discuss progress on the redesign of NHS service delivery in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross.
Mr Thompson said,
“This was a very positive meeting. Ms McVicar outlined how the steering group meeting in Portree went on Tuesday last week (4th) where the process for the proposed Initial Agreement Document for the service redesign was presented. As part of the ongoing requirement for engagement we agreed that, as the redesign proposals take shape, it would make sense that an Open Event be scheduled for November in Portree which will be attended by myself and Ian Blackford MP, who could not be at the meeting yesterday. The Open event will probably run from mid-morning to mid afternoon and have a number of information points detailing proposed services for all of the various care areas e.g. one for Out of Hours, another for step up/step down, another for dementia where questions will be answered by the relevant professionals. The event will conclude with an open discussion to which all will be invited. Mrs McVicar also confirmed that she would be very happy for the group recently established to support the development of the services in the North to help shape the event.
Mr Thompson further welcomed the NHS Highland Board approval of the Initial Agreement Document (IAD) this Morning (11th Aug).
He went on,
“The IAD will now go to the Scottish Government Investment Group where this project will be “bundled” with the redesign programme in Badenoch and Strathspey. This will mean both projects progressing together to ensure best value for money.