SNP shenanigans continued…

[TheBelmont]

A follow on to…
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/scotsnet/4778465-sturgeons-husband-arrested

Thought I’d get a new thread going as we are perilously close to filling the last and I for one am enjoying watching events unfold in your good company!

buckle up…it’s gonna be a bumpy ride….😁

DH and I were looking into moving back to England (lived majority of adult life so far in Scotland) we did factor this into the pro/cons list despite it being a long way off for our children.

I see Humza wants to increase tax again and bring in another bracket but not said the level does he not realise that people will just put more into pensions or reduce hours??? I know I will be as I already pay a lot more then English based colleagues.

I'm all for taxes helping people but I'm not a Scottish govt cash cow and I live in a 2 bed cottage with a 2nd hand car so hardly the champagne lifestyle as it goes on nursery fees!

I suspect that they’ll so just about anything to avoid reintroducing university fees of any kind. It is something that keeps families who might otherwise move within the UK in Scotland, and it would involve such a huge climb down.

And… it would most alienate younger people. The SNP (and the greens) are very heavily reliant on them. And even more so on the perception of being much more in tune with younger generations than all those stuffy UK parties.

Free prescriptions may matter less to the young (except the kind of unfashionably disabled younger people that ‘social justice’ movements don’t seem all that keen on) than to older voters (including the sort of middle aged voters who are having to deal with care issues in their parents, as well as their own children).

Both prescriptions and free school meals are probably quite easy to frame as ‘well it was just benefitting the middle classes anyway, so it’s much more progressive to stop doing that. Here’s something shiny and on-the-surface social justicey instead’.

I agree. I suspect that discovering that half the adult population are diabetic/prediabetic/have heart disease etc etc would tip the NHS over the edge though. You have to have some plan in place to deal with what you discover and wasn't the SNP plan always to get rid of older voters as they were less likely to vote for independence?

Speaking of which, not a specific crack at the SNP or Scotland here, but has anyone been looking at excess death data currently? I understand figures are through the roof but very little reporting.

Not through the roof, although elevated in some months.

Article in the Herald about Scotland up to end of February 2023 here https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/23392494.covid-scotland-excess-death-rates-really-soaring/

and up to 21 April in England and Wales here
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1131428/excess-deaths-in-england-and-wales/

Do you think the Scottish child payment will go?
That's probably more costly than either free prescriptions or free school meals.

I hope that doesn’t go, it seems to be the one thing that otherwise critical commentators are observing as NS legacy

But yes, massively costly

It's not just free university education. The interest rate on the maintenance loan is far lower than in England. I do think that the very high interest rate in England is really unjust, and it affects middle of the road students far more than rich students.

I’m labour come up with a sensible revision on tuition fees that may even get adopted here - I would much rather see the money spent elsewhere in a fairer way, and personally, without any flags and such like many Scottish parents are going to end up paying for uni in any case.

I so hope they don't introduce tuition fees here - I've several DC to get through Uni. I do hope though that the baby box scheme is amended so they only go to people that need them and that free school meals are changed. My DC inform me that the food is not tasty and they'd rather have packed lunches. I think the problem is underfunding which means the meals aren't as good as they could be. I'd rather target the money to families who really need it and increase the quality. I'd also like to see the free bus pass linked to retirement age. It doesn't make sense to me that we are giving free transport to people who are still working full time.

The baby boxes and school meals are optional though, as well as a good few things that can be bought rather than put on prescription.

is there a sense of entitlement to stuff just “cos it’s free”?

Over 40s health check is a postcode lottery in Scotland

The free buses for kids is another daft one. It would make more sense to have half price buses and trains to 18, or even extend the half price to 21 to cover kids at college and uni.

Where I am they dropped the baby 6 week check along with the weight clinics - those should be reintroduced.

I do think their are heck of a lot better ways to spend money than the way SNP seem to do it

Definitely.

The SNP has been highly effective at signalling their priorities and policies but have been incredibly poor at the heavy lifting involved in implementing them in a fiscally responsible manner and in assessing the societal consequences and the (both intended and unintended) results of these measures eg ‘free’ tuition fees and the cap on Scottish students.

It sounds as if Humza has finally had a reality check on the economic situation both within the SNP and Scotland.
Neither a political party, nor a country can be run legally, effectively or morally without rigorous financial controls and audit.

We’re back to the importance of sound project management, talent, credibility, ability and humility.
All of which have been in short supply within the SNP.

The Scottish electorate must become more savvy though.
Nothing is for free.

Former SNP spin doctor makes statement full of spin…no shit.

I think the Scottish child payment is a long term poverty trap.
My sister receives a small amount of universal credit as divorced from a high earning husband. Owns her house outright and only works two days a week.
The payment for three kids is considerably more than she'd earn upping her hours in a basic job (which she could easily as all secondary age). But it's bad for her long term prospects and pension and is stopping her from applying for better jobs or using her degree because for now she'd be worse off. If you are just within the UC threshold there have been extra cost of living payments too.

Don't know what the better solution is but I do worry lots of women in particular are setting themselves up to be poor pensioners as a result.

The farce continues! Razors?!?!

twitter.com/nightmaree94/status/1654232419447316482?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

A WOMMENS RAZOR AND A WHEELBARROW
A HAWK AND A HANDSAW

I mean… razors and a wheelbarrow are some pretty fertile ground for ridiculous speculation.

Maybe she’s been kidnapping sheep from local farms, transporting them back to her shed in the wheelbarrow and shaving pro-indie slogans into their fleece.

She always wanted rid of Alex Salmond…

@Calmdown14 I know exactly what you mean. I know a woman in a very similar position. Works a couple of days a week.
Her DS is secondary age. I've tried to convince her for years to go to college and get some qualifications.

You can see it coming once her DS is out of school her benefits and maintenance money will drop and she'll struggle to get back into full-time work.

The bit that really doesn't make sense is housing is much cheaper in Scotland than most of England so why to people up here need more benefits than people in the South?

The bribery policies, the fuck ups and cover ups should be enough to finish these fools. I'm not believing snp membership has increased and let's face it the snp are ecomical with the truth when simple arithmetic is involved on any given financial fuck up.

• economical.