GIVEN your report of £1.3 billion Labour cut to sickness benefits, where is the “change” that Labour promised us in return for electing them?
How is it “change” to do precisely what the deselected party did, and which voters showed at the polls they clearly didn’t support or want?
How do Labour get away with saying they would do things differently and then doing precisely the same? What is the difference between this Labour austerity and the austerity the electors showed in the election they were sick fed up of?
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How can any party based on working-class roots possibly pretend to be the party of ordinary folks when they deliberately target the weak and vulnerable in society through withdrawal of the essential winter fuel payment at at time of a serious hike in energy prices, refusing to take children out of poverty by removing the two-child benefit cap and attacking those on the sickness benefits on which many have to depend on because 14 years of austerity has destroyed the public services they need to repair their over-worked bodies and make them fit to work again.
It always amazes me that the capitalist class and their Tory and Labour sycophantic administrators don’t understand that if you want to profit from the labours of the working class then you need to provide the means to keep them fit and healthy to exploit them. Isn’t is simple economics and sound business practice, despicable as it is?
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I feared a Labour election victory. I banked on them having the shred of decency to take the sting out of austerity that would persuade naturally conservative Scots (with a small c) to give them the chance to see whether they could make a better fist of things. In their haste to ditch the Tories, Scots were lulled by claims of “change” by Labour; they saw them as the best option to be free of the Tories and took it. I thought that could put indy on the back burner forever.
I was wrong. Labour being elected as a continuation of the Tories, pushing the same Tory agenda, shows Scots that Westminster is irredeemable. Westminster is an English parliament, pushing whatever the “Stepford” English are prepared to be conned into. And they are are easily conned.
And that is directly contrary to the needs and aspirations of Scots and those who choose to live with us.
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We now know Westminster has nothing to offer us. 2026 offers us the best chance to show the only route to prosperity is independence.
In that case, I implore, plead with the independence movement to galvanise in unity of purpose. Put aside petty differences, declare now and commence campaigning for the super-majority in Holyrood, and use that not to negotiate independence, but to demand and seize it with the zeal that our future deserves, whatever conflict is necessary to achieve it.
SNP 1, Alba 2. Two parties with independence at their heart. A clear way forward for all Scots.
Let’s get it done. And, please, BEFORE my maker plucks me from this life!
Jim Taylor
Scotland
WATCHING and waiting patiently for the SNP juggernaut to burst into action and drive the supporters of independence and those waiting to be convinced towards our country’s exit from this totally broken UK, I look around me, as we are about to enter 2025, and I remain in total despair.
The General Election “wake-up call” of July and the catastrophic result that ensued has not delivered radical change within the SNP party structures yet here we are almost in November 2024. The SNP leadership have no clear strategy for the crucial 18-month period before the Holyrood election.
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The FM rightly has the focus of wrestling with a minority government and all the difficulties it brings on a daily basis. Yet in his role of party leader I see and hear little other than “activists in the branches need to get out there and knock on doors”. Once again the foot soldiers have to bear the responsibility of delivering SNP success! Sadly the number of activists on the ground is diminishing exponentially due to age, disillusionment and falling membership within the branches. Branches at present are communicating to SNP HQ the need for change, the need to focus on independence and the identification of an individual at the top who can energise and drive our independence aspirations.
Who? I have repeatedly suggested that SNP governmental responsibilities should not interfere with our drive for independence. The issues of government too often override our independence strategy. Too often our FMs , Cabinet ministers, MPs, MSPs and elected members generally seem afraid to repeatedly push independence and ensure it is at the forefront of every speech and every communication they make on a daily basis. This attitude will need to change dramatically over the period to the 2026 Holyrood election.
To effect change the SNP should create an Independence Unit within its party structure, independent but of course reporting to the FM, headed up by a real “firebrand” who will not only revitalise party membership and activists going forward but will create a momentum for independence and bring on board the Yes movement whoever and wherever they are.
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Right now there are many former politicians and MPs and experts in the SNP at every level who would be willing to get our SNP juggernaut moving forward. Right now is the time for radical thinking, shaking ourselves into action and bringing together all those in the Yes movement who are desperately trying to increase the momentum on independence.
There is no time left to simply ponder and vacillate and just “keep calm and carry on”; it is a time for real action and resolve. Failure to do so will deliver a post-Holyrood 2026 political landscape not seen since the beginning of this century and a Unionist-dominated Holyrood parliament.
Dan Wood
Kirriemuir
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