When Sarwar was questioned on Monday by STV’s Colin Mackay, his solution to improving Scotland’s NHS (which is performing considerably better overall than the NHS in Labour-run Wales) was to call for a cut in the number of bureaucrats and making greater use of the private healthcare sector. In other words, Sarwar offers the same solution as Farage, which will effectively result in completing the Thatcher-Blair project of privatising the UK’s health service, including Scotland’s NHS.
Of course the core ruse of these charlatans is to misleadingly cast blame for the mire of a dysfunctional Union – in which most (except the already wealthy) are suffering the regressive consequences of failed UK Government policies – on to others. While Sarwar points his disingenuous finger at the SNP for all of the UK’s ills as manifest in Scotland, Farage, as he did before Brexit, seeks to focus everyone’s attention on innocent immigrants.
There’s only a relatively tiny number of what are portrayed as “illegal immigrants” entering the UK, and most of those have legitimate reasons to be here. The root cause of the UK’s problems is not the few immigrants whose stays in the UK are not warranted, but the massive under-investment, over decades, in public services and infrastructure throughout Britain. This predicament has been heinously exacerbated by the insidious dissolution of Britain’s social fabric by successive Tory UK governments (which Labour governments have failed to counter). If all so-called illegal immigrants, including women and children, were to be callously deported tomorrow, that deplorable action would not begin to reverse Britain’s sad decline.
Neither Sarwar nor Farage offer real change or a true way forward for Scotland.
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
THE reaction to my recent letters has been telling. Instead of engaging with what I actually wrote – about broken trust, hollowed-out services, and the way silence creates space for the far right – some replies have chosen to attack a version of me they’ve invented.
I take that as proof of the point I’ve been making all along: that when you discuss difficult issues plainly, the response is often to deny, deflect, or attack, rather than to grapple with what’s actually being said. It’s easier to fight a caricature than to face hard truths.
What strikes me most is the hypocrisy of it. The same people who talk about “free speech”, “honest debate” and “listening to communities” are the first to try to shout you down the moment you say something that doesn’t fit their script. They don’t want a debate; they want a monologue where everyone nods along. And if you won’t nod, they’ll brand you with whatever label is most convenient – racist, bigot, reactionary – anything to avoid addressing the substance of what you’ve said.
The truth is, communities don’t need any more of that. They don’t need lectures or purity tests. They need someone – anyone – willing to talk honestly about what’s going wrong and what it will take to fix it. Because while the self-appointed referees of the debate are busy policing tone, people are still waiting months for GP appointments. Families are still being priced out of their own towns. Whole areas have been left to manage change with no support and no investment.
And into that vacuum step the voices most willing to exploit it. The ones who don’t care about solutions, only about anger. Every time we dodge the hard conversations, we hand them another inch. Every time we sneer instead of engage, we push more people into their arms.
So no, I won’t be dragged into personal back-and-forths that go nowhere. My focus has always been – and will stay – on the issues that actually matter. If others want to keep shadowboxing, they can do it without me.
The noise will keep coming. But the noise only proves the point.
James Murphy
Bute
I FEEL the need to interject as regards this fixation of Jeremy Corbyn and his hitherto unnamed party. If you are a supporter of Scottish independence, you need to steer as far away from this man as possible.
“Why?” I hear you ask. Well, my friends and fellow independence supporters, this man is first and foremost a Unionist. Forget about any noises he might make about second referendum. He will no doubt be told by the Westminster masters that it will never be allowed to happen!
We all need to get our heads out of the sand and realise that the absolute priority next May is to vote SNP 1 and if possible Alba or Green 2. These charlatans like Farage and Corbyn are the epitome of Westminster with bells on.
Meanwhile there appears to be a race on to see who has the most Union flags and St George flags and any other paraphernalia you can think of! This all just goes to show how far these Unionists are prepared to go to foist upon us their doctrine. It is bad enough when a bag of Angus Maris Piper potatoes is wrapped in the Union flag, but it is now getting out of control.
The Scottish Government appear to be asleep at the wheel regarding the promotion of Scotland. We can all see it happening before our very eyes. Next May we all have a patriotic duty to return an independence party into Holyrood, whether we like it or not. As the FM is unwilling to change course we, the people, will have to take matters into our own hands. If the Unionists take charge in 2026 then John Swinney will be history anyway, but we can’t let them in just to get rid of him. At some point the will of the people will have to be listened to. Let us make sure that it is an SNP-led Scottish Government that is in power.
