WE are poised to hear the outcome of the Grenfell report, following an inquiry into the fire that ravaged a tower block in one of London’s most wealthy districts seven years ago.
I predict there will be some sophisticated obfuscation of blame and no allocation of corporate guilt.
At the time there was some publicity about the numbers of private and public-sector buildings across the UK that had similarly flammable panels which required expensive replacement. I suspect many of them have not been replaced, although their annual insurance payments have no doubt rocketed.
READ MORE: Shona Robison announces £500 million of Scottish Government cuts
There were many contributors to the disaster that was Grenfell – not least the ghost of Thatcher, whose spirit continues to haunt Westminster political parties of all persuasions. The mantra of “cutting bureaucracy” contributed to the diminution of health and safety inspections and numbers and quality of fire doors and external building panels.
Grenfell has become in my mind a metaphor for a failing, post-imperial Britain that lives high on rhetoric and fails working-class people at every step.
The great days of the the Attlee government of post-war Britain showed what can really be achieved in a short period of time in a bankrupted, war-damaged country. But the ruling class could not allow that to persist, and used their strength and invisible power to bring it to an end. What we witness now is a Starmer-led Labour Party that has been almost completely absorbed by Westminster ruling-class ideology.
READ MORE: Labour have 'done nothing less than cut pensions', policy expert says
I note that Eton has proposed a rise of £10,000 a year per pupil to offset the Labour Party’s VAT proposals but I have no doubt that the upper-class parents who cough up these astronomical sums of money will consider it money worth paying for the entry fee to wealthy, corrupt, immoral Britain.
What we need is to acknowledge is the extent to which the propaganda machine of imperial Britain has stolen the courage of the political leadership of Scotland’s independence movement. This is urgent and requires immediate attention!
Maggie Chetty
Glasgow
THERE has been much discussion in The National about the economic illiteracy of claiming that the Winter Fuel Payment had been withdrawn for the majority of pensioners as part of a master plan that will eliminate the risk of a run on the pound.
The tale becomes even more ludicrous when laid alongside the response that the UK Government is launching a campaign to have all of those eligible for Pension Credit register in order to ensure that those in direst need of the Winter Fuel Payment continue to receive it.
READ MORE: How to create a more powerful anti-austerity message
By all accounts, if the campaign is 100% successful the cost to the government will be roughly twice what they saved by cancelling the payment.
Obviously the campaign is unlikely to reach the 100% mark, but even if it is moderately successful the overall saving to the Exchequer will be roughly nothing.
While attempting to ensure all those who qualify for Pension Credit actually claim it would on its own be a positive move, it completely undermines the pronouncements by various Labour ministers that the overall policy will in some inexplicable way help to prevent an economic catastrophe.
The only possible conclusion from this farce is that we have “changed” from one bunch of economic dunces to another.
Cameron Crawford
Rothesay
ON the grounds that Anas Sarwar said it was wrong for millionaire state pensioners to receive the Winter Fuel Payment, given the percentage of MPs who are millionaires is likely to be higher than the percentage of those on state pension who are millionaires, why are MPs allowed to claim utility bills for their second home on top of a salary that is far more generous than the state pension at this time of enforced austerity?
Ian Waugh
Dumfries and Galloway Indy Hub
I NEED help. I am constantly told, by more learned contributors to the letters pages than I am, that the SNP should reform taxes such as council tax and land tax. This, we all know, will help fund vital services in Scotland while Labour ignore us and shift the blame.
Can someone please explain to me why the SNP seem to be avoiding the subject of tax reform? I presume this has been discussed at conferences more than once. If so, why are the public kept in the dark? If these changes are a non-starter – why? Surely we can explain to the public how this would benefit our society, or not. If we want people on our side we have to treat them like adults and explain the nuts and bolts of the options available to us and the reasons why they should be adopted as we head towards an independent state.
Shona Robison must be looking at tax reform and yet she seems unwilling to even mention this in interviews. We always seem to be caught on the back foot when the BBC or STV grill us.
Keith Taylor
via email
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