Unity Matters
ALL political parties that remain in power for too long suffer the same inevitable fate. They run out of ideas. They become tired and drained of energy, floundering around in a hotbed of incompetence, sleaze and scandal, trying to cling on to power by passing bad legislation. Convinced after years in office of their sole right to rule, they display arrogance and contempt for the parliamentary process. Is all of this familiar? You need look no further than the SNP government at Holyrood. Their 14 years in power descended into a chaotic storm of vicious infighting within their own ranks. Scotland’s economy now faces post-pandemic meltdown and yet the SNP government’s focus is on holding another independence referendum, while the First Minister and her immediate predecessor continue to tear lumps out of each other.
It is not only the people of Scotland who should witness this spectacle with fear and trepidation. Joe Biden must be pacing the Oval Office in alarm. If the SNP gets its way and succeeds in breaking up the United Kingdom, it would be a geopolitical catastrophe, not only for Scotland and the UK, but also for the United States. The SNP would destroy, at a stroke, the UK’s diplomatic and military capability in the international arena, depriving the US of one of its most important and long-standing allies.
The UK vaccine rollout has been in the world’s top five. And for all its recent troubles, AstraZeneca has shown in real-world tests to be every bit as effective as suggested in trials.
Britain is a model to the world of a successful multi-ethnic society, a major review concluded last night.
It found no evidence the UK is institutionally racist – in a rejection of the common view among some activists – although there is evidence that ‘overt’ prejudice exists.
The Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, set up by Boris Johnson in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, concluded that although Britain is not yet a ‘post-racial society’, its success should be a model for white-majority countries.
The Scottish government’s funding per person is almost 30% higher than the English equivalent, a leading economic research group has said.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said this was mostly due to the Barnett Formula.
It also found the Scottish government had used temporary coronavirus funding to pay for some permanent policies.
But excluding pandemic funding, the IFS said Scotland has 2% less spending per person in 2021-22 compared to 2010-11.
The findings were published in the IFS’s first briefing note ahead of the Holyrood election, focusing on how funding has changed in recent years.
A large chunk of the Scottish budget comes from the block grant – a share of the UK-wide budget as calculated via the Barnett Formula – but tax revenues raised in Scotland have played an increasingly large role in recent years.
Scottish income tax will contribute 27% and other Scottish taxes 5.5%, with borrowing contributing the remaining 0.5%.
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted Scotland must prioritise coronavirus recovery ahead of anything else.
Speaking ahead of a visit to Scotland later today the Labour Party leader said he wanted a ‘national recovery’ from the pandemic that has killed more than 126,000 people across the country.
The Labour MP will visit Edinburgh today and Glasgow tomorrow where he will face questions about his party’s stance on Scottish independence.
He will be joined by the new Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar as they pay tribute to frontline NHS workers in Scotland.
In his first major speech as the new Labour leader in Scotland Sarwar revealed he will prioritise “unity over division”.
A multi-million pound investment plan for southern Scotland and northern England is set to be officially agreed.
The Scottish and UK governments have confirmed £350m towards the Borderlands growth deal.
Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria and Carlisle City councils and other local partners will add in more than £100m.
They are carrying out an online signing of the deal which it is hoped can deliver more than 5,000 jobs.
But where will the investment be made?
