We've had 'ripped-off Glasgow' from Scottish Labour, the claim that Glasgow does not get its fair share even though it receives more money per head than anywhere else in mainland Scotland.
Well, incredibly, it seems a 'ripped-off Aberdeen' campaign could be getting off the ground.
Aberdeenshire Council has been campaigning for more money from the Scottish Government. It is their right and in their interests to do so, so who can blame them. Brian Adam, a North East MSP, has also called for extra money for his region. Of course, given that the SNP form part of the SNP/Lib Dem administration, this has been seized on as the apocalypse for the Nationalists, the party riven in two which, needless to say, is nonsense.
Labour's local government spokesman, Michael McMahon, said: "The SNP's internal discipline is crumbling before our eyes. Their chief whip, Brian Adam, is absolutely right to be bitterly disappointed by his government's treatment of Scottish local authorities."
So Labour appear to think both Aberdeen and Glasgow are under-funded; no doubt other towns and cities will be added to the list and we'll end up with the crazy solution that Scotland is being under-funded by, em, Scotland. I wonder where the finger of blame will point then?
All councils are struggling and Swinney has achieved some very impressive efficiency savings already. I think any calls for extra cash from here on in must be matched with a detailed explanation of what would be cut to pay for it, otherwise it's just empty rhetoric.
Incidentally, did anyone note any Scottish bloggers from Labour, Lib Dems and/or Tories staunchly defending their party's positions on minimum alcohol pricing yesterday? Tellingly quiet as far as I can see...
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28 comments:
Jeff,
Is this not a tad inevitable? I am a Glaswegian first, the GNP party appeals to me, but it is frankly ridiculous to see GARL as anything much more than a political ping pong ball.
It is obvious, is it not, that local politicians will claim discrimination by anyone slightly higher up the food chain?
So, in a mood of perfect harmony, are you getting your second Forth Road Bridge, and how are your trams coming along?
Douglas, I would say that to claim inevitability is to give in to the political 'game' too cheaply. We're pulling ourselves apart more than we are pulling together to make things better and for what? For parties to win 1 or 2 extra councillors just to do it again?
Is having MSPs and councillors that can look at Scotland as a whole while understanding give and take too much to hope for?
As for minimum pricing - I did!
Hooray! Nice one Kez, looking forward to reading your thoughts in a mo.
The budget is an excellent time for the other parties to put forward alternative suggestions that they see as 'fairer'.
But they won't.
Because they're unable to do a better job than John.
Kezia, perhaps I'm being a bit dim (it is early in the morning after all), but I can't see your post on minimum pricing? I only checked this month though; is it older?
Jeff,
"Douglas, I would say that to claim inevitability is to give in to the political 'game' too cheaply. We're pulling ourselves apart more than we are pulling together to make things better and for what? For parties to win 1 or 2 extra councillors just to do it again?"
Sadly, I think it is. The political 'game' is just as dirty as you describe. And local politics are the dirtiest. We might not exactly be in a US pork barrel political milleau, at least I hope not, but there has always been a tendancy for the local politician to, what, over argue his or her case.
Which is what I see with GARL.
Frankly, I don't care one way or the other about it. I'd kind of expect hardly any other Glaswegian, bar a briefing on it, would care either.
But that will not stop local politicians making a meal of it.
I was, sort of, joking, when I said:
"So, in a mood of perfect harmony, are you getting your second Forth Road Bridge, and how are your trams coming along?"
Frankly, infrastructure projects that have obvious benefits to us all are to be desired.
But you ought to recognise the potential damage of an Edinburgh-centric policy. The bulk of voters lie somewhat to the West of you. It is them you have to engage with if you really want to see independence.
Just saying....
If we did pork barrel spending, then surely the money would all be spent in Gordon, Banff, Buchan, Gordon, etc? But Aberdeenshire has the lowest spending per head!
As for trams, I think everyone knows the SNP were, and are, against them.
More to the point, who cares about independence when you can't even enable the html "blockquote" convention?
I think your readers ought to know.
:-)
We should be asking first why it is that Glasgow which has only 12% of Scotland's population receives 22% of government spending in Scotland.
Am I missing something Kez, your blog looks minimum pricing free to me...
Grogipher
Bloody hell, have I got your name right?
Why exactly were we against the tramcars?
Was it the cost, or summat else?
On the general question of the pork barrel, it has to become irrelevant on any sort of larger scale, does it not?
It becomes difficult to see how, beyond a very localist level, it would work. I could agree, I think, that a local Councillor that had access to funds could buy votes. I do no not exactly see how that transfers to neighbouring areas.
Though, you might have a point, if we take it that there is a greater conspiracy.
Douglas, fair point about an Edinburgh-centric policy.
I would say that the bridge will serve not just Ed but Fife, NE and even Aberdeen. Also, i don't think anyone can blame the SNP for the trams!
There's another argument that as Scotland's Capital and main breadwinner, Ed (and Aberdeen) should get a little more.
But yes, there is, as we've seen, a political risk there.
Sensible people - and that is the majority of voters - recognise that playing one part of the country off against another serves no-one.
It would be as foolish for people in Glasgow to complain about people in Fife and Edinburgh getting a new Forth Crossing as it would be for people in Edinburgh and Fife to complain about Glasgow having the Kingston Bridge or the M74 extension.
Regarding local funding - Glasgow needs more than Aberdeen because of higher levels of poverty, poor health, poor housing and so on. It is not objectionable that Labour MSPs and councillors wish to protect this spending for as long as it is needed. What is objectionable is their apparent assumption that it will always be needed.
Hi Jeff,
You're right to point this out. They'll do it though while they get away with it and that is the what Labour learned from Glasgow North-East. The SNP must get stuck in about bankrupt Britain..
Piling the pressure on Brown the money-printer etc. Remember John McFall and the BoE MPC have admitted that Britain's financial sector is insolvent. That's down to Brown.
Now his bail-out and QE are destroying the real economy, causing massive debt and unemployment.
Independence is the way out of bankrupt Britain.
This message will shut them up on the economy which is really tanking! This is not propaganda.
Oh no. I wrote it late last night and then put a post date on for this morning so people didn't think I'd been up all night writing it like a proverbial cybernat.
Not sure I can fix this from my blackberry but will do when I get near a computer. Apologies
I blog on the the Glasgow stop on the rip-off tour a wee while ago..
http://fredbarboo.blogspot.com/2009/11/death-row-vs-bad-boy.html
Labours position on this minimum pricing is plain stupid.
The proposal is not a solution (what is?) but it goes some way towards developing one.
As to the spending between east and west, surely we shouldn't repeat the syphon of the London centric approach in Scotland.
It's ultimately unbalanced and divisive.
Surely I'm not reading SNP leaning people getting annoyed about a political party playing one part of the country off against another am I?
"As to the spending between east and west, surely we shouldn't repeat the syphon of the London centric approach in Scotland."
We don't. Glasgow gets much more than Edinburgh and Aberdeen because the allocation is needs based.
Labour have been playing a really stupid game with this and it is clearly causing ruffled feathers. It seems the Lib Dem elements of both Edinburgh and Aberdeen councils are now threatening to pull out of COSLA and the Concordat because the Scottish Government is spending too much in Glasgow and too little on their cities.
This is what happens when you start playing these games.
The SNP is of course a National Party.
As history has taught us, Scotland has a narcissistic tendency to tear itself apart.
Adverserial, divisive, cynical, partisan, and yes, sectarian, are the common themes in Scotland's political scene.
I heard it today on BT's hour-long Radio Scotland discussion where Gray and Russell were knocking chunks out of one another in some frankly rude and embarrasing exchanges. We've seen the same childish behaviour with GARL, with the recent by-election, with minimum pricing, with numbers of police, numbers of teachers, class sizes, Megrahi, and with absolutely everything that crosses the path of these so-called politicians.
The pride I felt in 1999 when Scotland's own Parliament was opened, is slowly being replaced with frustration, exasperation and occasional disgust at the antics of our elected representatives. The fact that we have a very democratic system of election through PR is lost on this bunch, who are unable to grasp the fact that collaboration, compromise & respect is required to operate in a PR Parliament. But do we witness this? Not very often, and it seems to be getting worse.
Debate, discuss, argue, say what you wish but damn well get on with it and stop wasting taxpayers time and money over petty squabbling.
Jeff I see your "pal" Malcolm Chisholm is accusing the SNP Govt of "ripping-off" Edinburgh. Where will all this ripping-off end?
Don't think he'll be welcome to join the SNP now!
Kezia, rattling off the cliches like a proverbial cyberbrit.
"Well, incredibly, it seems a 'ripped-off Aberdeen' campaign could be getting off the ground."
Not incredible at all if you have been following the money trail over recent months....
Smart move politically in light of that.
The question might be is this apparent Labour 'insurgency' (a word used by Mandelson) about to beach itself?
How many cities can claim to be 'ripped off' before some serious questions must surely be asked of Labour about where the funding is coming from?
Promising the world in Scotland whilst cutting the block grant demonstrates a classic opposition party in operation, I doubt it can survive the rigour of a general election analysis.
"As history has taught us, Scotland has a narcissistic tendency to tear itself apart."
Nonsense. Scotland has no more "narcissistic tendency" to do so than any other country. Ever heard of the US Civil War, the War of the Roses, France's Reign of Terror, etc., etc, etc.? People with a historical bent will point out the Comyn/Bruce feud as proof of Scottish in-fighting while ignoring that about the same time a certain ENGLISH king was deposed and probably murdered.
That is nothing but the usual "Scots are too stupid to run their own affairs" BS that has been being sold to Scots for centuries and ALL TOO OFTEN Scots seem to buy into.
There are always fights between competing needs in any country and there CERTAINLY will be in a nation like Scotland that doesn't even control its own money or its own affairs.
There is nothing wrong with you Scots, my friends, except THINKING there is something wrong.
Jeanne Tomlin,
Well, I completely agree with you. Though I suspect we are growing up a bit, these days.
Haha, back of the net with that one Adopted Domain.
I could try to craft an unlikely comeback but instead I'll just say touche.
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