Richard Leonard – MUNGUIN'S NEW REPUBLIC

RANDOM THOUGHTS

ajcon — At least when he’s sleeping he’s not havering more of his right-wing crud.

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Should Scotland be an independent country? (STV/IPSOS March 2018)

16-24 YES 58% NO 42%

25-34 YES 61% NO 39%

35-54 YES 51% NO 49%

55+ YES 36% NO 64%

ALL Yes 48% No 52%

OK, 16 to 54-year-olds… it’s down to you to get out, vote and free us from this crap.

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Just because you see them doing something halfway human, don’t assume that they are actually humans. They aren’t.

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!gav

Gavin: “See you Russians? You should go away… and shut up…

Or I’ll tell my dad.”

Dad: Gavin, take the flags out of your head. You’re supposed to be a big boy now.

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aadvanced — Nine out of ten of them, small European nations.

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ripthepissruth

Interesting that both Ruth and whatsisname (who I assume is a caretaker Labour leader. Come on, he makes Willie Rennie look good!) asked the First Minister to comment on matters which are outwith the competence of the Scottish government today.

Ruth went with the Russians. Not entirely sure that was wise. Firstly because what Russians do in Salisbury, in England has absolutely NOTHING to do with our first minister or our parliament… and, in any case, Ruth appears to have accepted a donation of £15,000 for a Russian to have dinner with her. (It must rile Ruth that a mate of Putin’s paid £30,000 to have dinner with Gavin “go away and shut up” Williamson.)

Mr Leopard, an associate of Keir Hardy, asked Nicola what would have been a reasonable question had employment law been in the purview of the Scottish parliament and government, about the pay conditions of people working on an ex-Carillion government project (which, incidentally, she said she would be happy to look into if he would share the details with her). She invited him to join her in trying to get employment law devolved to Scotland.

They really should be asking questions that have to do with the Scottish parliament. That’s what FMQs is about. Presiding Officer take note.

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!dicks — Just for a laugh, imagine dressing up **AND GOING OUT** looking like that. What a bloody state!

STOP CARRYING ON DICK

‏Verified account @LabourRichard

Today’s homelessness figures are a devastating reminder of the impact austerity has had on so many lives. There should be no excuse for failing to end homelessness in Scotland. This should be a priority for the Scottish Government, as it is for @scottishlabour.

It seems to me that Richard Leonard is as calamity prone as Theresa Maybot. And that’s saying something.

Of course, Mr Leonard is quite right to be concerned about homelessness but his concern mixed with implied criticism of the government would have been more credible and believable if these uncomfortable facts hadn’t been immediately to hand.

%reid

Rottweiler Reid, as Tweeter, Tradasro said, might like to put some of them up at his £3 million house.

The there’s this embarrassment for the party of the people:

%austere

Yes, there probably wouldn’t be nearly as many homeless people on the streets and in friends’ and relatives’ houses or bed and breakfasts, if only Labour hadn’t voted with the Tories for cuts of £75 million, as Deryck de Rokesburge pointed out.

And, during the time that Labour and Liberal Democrats formed the government, they built somewhere around 6 council houses.

Perhaps if they had made that 60, or 600, or better still 6,000, there would be fewer people without a home?

sarwar

I really thought that Labour was wise to elect Mr Leonard. I knew absolutely nothing about him; had never seen him or heard him… or even heard OF him, but I reckoned he would be better for the country than Anas Sarwar, whom I had seen a few times in the London parliament. A less articulate or impressive speaker would be hard to find, I thought! However bad he was, Mr Leonard had to be better, thought I!

But since the first hour of his election victory when he hot-footed across the country for a photo opportunity with some workers at Bi-Fab whose jobs the government had just saved, and tried to take credit for it… although the unions and the Greens were tweeting their thanks to Nicola Sturgeon, he has made mess after mess of his attacks on Nicola.

Now, I support the SNP, but I don’t believe that they get everything right all the time. So I would like to see a largely constructive opposition, which, in a minority government, is something you really need.

Of course, it takes an intelligent and mature opposition party, and party leader, to manage that. To an extent, Annabel Goldie was such a leader. Although I profoundly disagreed with her politics, she was sensible and intelligent enough to realise that the way to get things done was to accept that not everything that Alex Salmond’s government did was necessarily wrong. To criticise where criticism was due (I saw her do that at FMQs) and to encourage and enable by working together, when there was a good idea. (Incidentally, I met her once at parliament and she was utterly charming.)

ruth£

Unfortunately, the quality of leadership of the main opposition parties, Tory and Labour alike, have since these days, deteriorated drastically.

They seem to have one policy between them. And that is SNP BAAAAAD.

So if Dick wants to carry on any longer than the average for a Labour leader (around 2.5 years), maybe he should sit down with his team of advisors and think before he blasts off in the SNP BAAAAAAAAD mode.

The SNP may be imperfect, but it would take some doing the beat the hypocrisy and lack of policies from this rump of a party.

I’ll let John have the final word…

‏ @jscottebo

Replying to @LabourRichard @scottishlabour

Give us policy detail or are you just carping on again from the sidelines?

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CARRY ON, DICK

Erm, nice scarf.

The hapless Richard Leonard, seemingly always trying to get one over on the SNP, took to Twitter to elicit stories about NHSS.

Richard Leonard‏Verified account @LabourRichard

The NHS crisis dominated #FMQs today, I would like to hear your stories: good, bad or indifferent of the experience you, or a loved one, had with the NHS over winter. #ShareYourStories

Good bad or indifferent, he said, but it seemed to me that he was probably looking for bad stories, the better to beat Nicola Sturgeon around the head with.

And he got lots of comments.

But, as they say, one should always be a little careful what one wishes for. Because his very first reply was from Joe Kane:

joe kane 🇷🇺 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿‏ @joe90kane

Replying to @LabourRichard

I’ve a real shocker for you Richard. It’s difficult to imagine such exploitation in a modern health service, but Scottish Labour used the #SNHS to line the pockets of rich tory #PFI shareholders. I’m sure you’ll mention it at the next #FMQshttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/wishaw-general-set-cost-taxpayers-7895927 …#ShareYourStories

One of the reasons that the health service in our country is short of money is that we are paying for the hideously expensive PFI contracts signed by his predecessors. Joe pointed this out, as did several other people.

Wishaw hospital, for example, would have cost around £100 million bought and paid for, but thanks to Labour’s financing schemes, it will cost £800 million. And who is pocketing the £700 million extra?

These contracts were repeated all over the country, and not just for NHSS facilities. (We know about the PFI schools so badly built that they fell down!)

Richard wasn’t any luckier with his second respondent.

Hwmffra OMB‏ @GriffBed

Replying to @LabourRichard

We had a terrible time in A&E in October with my sister’s knee injury, after the initial triage we waited SEVEN hours, although the target is to be seen within 4. She was in a lot of pain, it was awful. This was in Wales. You’re lucky that you live in Scotland. #ShareYourStories

12:50 PM – 11 Jan 2018

He must have been salivating as he read the first couple of lines. Then smack! The punchline hit him The guy who was talking about poor treatment was actually from Wales, and he was referring to treatment his sister received at the hands of NHSW.

Of course, there were good news stories too.

Kenny Downes‏ @downes_kenny

Replying to @LabourRichard

Virus affected my asthma, got emergency appointment with GP same day. Antibiotics and referral for X-ray. Seen at Wishaw General within 1/2 hour. Back to GP for results the next week. Great service, but hey, that’s not what you’re want to hear, is it Richard?

No, probably not, but he did ask!

Big Jim‏ @jimboscotland67

Replying to @LabourRichard

Cardiology appt today 11:30am seen immediately and out 15 mins later ,Dr couldn’t have been better #shareyourstories#ambulancechaser

And…

Mostafa Yan‏ @yan_mostafa

Replying to @LabourRichard

Phoned surgery AM, got appoint AM, seen by Doctor on time, walked to Chemist got my FREE prescription all before 11.30am. Excellent Service, love my Scottish NHS.

And…

A.M.MacJ‏ @ammacj

Replying to @LabourRichard

Three family experiences in last three weeks. One at A&E. all excellent experiences. I hope you read this out at FMQs.

Not to mention…

Scott Bremner‏ @itscottyb

Replying to @LabourRichard

#ShareYourStories Vascular ward at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary absolutely first class over winter including Christmas Day. Staff from all over the world contributing. I wish your party would stand up for them or there will be a real crisis.

Or…

Cankert Callan‏ @CankertCallan

@LabourRichard#shareyourstories Called GP first thing, hurt knee, couldn’t walk. Was collected that afternoon, seen, diagnosed and offered to be taken home, via chemist (for my free prescription). 5

In the hashtag, as far as I read down, I couldn’t find one critical comment of NHSS.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have its faults and that there won;t be some negative comments as the day goes on. It would be weird if there were not.

Indeed the FM has accepted and apologised for delays.

My own family’s experience this winter has been, as most of you will know, the absolutely first class treatment my mother received at Ninewells in Dundee. Also, another family member had a baby in the same hospital just after Christmas, and again they reported nothing but total satisfaction with the way they were treated at the time and in the aftermath.

The UK’s health services are short of cash and they are short of staff. Scotland’s may be less so than the others, but it is a UK wide issue.

As well as the massive repayments of PFI debt that Mr Leonard’s party left us with, as a union we spend a good deal less than we should on health.

!NS

I remember somewhere back in the early part of this century, that Tony Blair promised to bring UK spending on health, as a percentage of GDP, up to the EU average. (I thought it strange, given how superior Britain thinks itself, that it wasn’t the other way round.)

Whilst progress has been made, we still fall behind most other G7 countries and much of the EU.

Brexit, as in so many other areas, must take some responsibility here too. European doctors, nurses and other staff are unsure of their careers in the UK. Recruitment from the 27 is sharply down and some people are returning home as they doubt the stability of their future here. They may be allowed to stay after Brexit, but as aliens, with no rights. People don’t want to do that on a long-term basis, and certainly not as they settle down, buy houses and have children.

An ageing population means that there is more need for hospital treatment, and people may need to stay longer in hospital. Sad truth is it takes longer for older pople to recover than for younger. This was something which could easily have been planned for. All these older people didn’t suddenly appear out of the blue, after all.

Of course, throughout the UK, this winter has seen a particularly virulent flu virus which has doubled the numbers of people requiring beds.

No one pretends that it’s easy to run a health service. Not here, not in England or Northern Ireland, Wales or indeed anywhere else. But with limited funds, Scotland is doing better than most, and certainly all the other UK health services.

I suspect that Richard Leonard wanted to pick some choice complaints for next week’s First Minister’s Questions and for any interviews he might be able to give to the Press or TV in the meantime. And he may yet get some.

But I trust that any comments he makes in the chamber next Thursday will reflect the stories, good and bad, he is getting about the current situation, along with criticism of the utter waste of money that was and still is, PFI.

Feel free to share your stories, good or bad, with Mr Leonard, or with Munguin.

CORBYN AND LEONARD NEED A COURSE ON SCOTLAND AND SCOTTISH POWERS

£1£

When Mr Corbyn came to Scotland to welcome yet another new incumbent to the leadership of the Scottish Branch of the British Labour Party, both of them talked, frankly, a load of guff about ‘a far away country full of people about whom they apparently knew nothing’ to paraphrase Mr Chamberlain.

The massive clanger, of course, was the demand from Mr Leonard that the Scottish government must take back Scottish Water into public ownership. To do that of course, the Scottish government would first have to sell it off to private enterprise, something that wasn’t done before.

A common theme from Labour is that the Scottish government has done nothing to alleviate the effects of austerity imposed on the poor (but not the rich), by the British Tories [a party of government (in the UK) and opposition (in Scotland) you’d have been excused for thinking that two supposedly left wingers would have been anxious to ridicule, particularly given that they ARE ridiculous].

I’ve always excused Corbyn’s ignorance of Scotland (he didn’t for example, know that there was such a thing as Scots Law), because he is a London MP who has always been just that: a back-bencher mainly concerned with his London constituents (and from what a hear, a damned good one too).

On the other hand, although Mr Leonard is an Englishman, he has been resident in Scotland for some time. He has been a member of the Scottish parliament for a couple of years now and he has just become the leader of Labour’s Scottish branch. It would be reasonable to expect him to know something of what’s going on here.

Perhaps Mr Corbyn and Mr Leonard might like to take a look at what Scotland has done with its limited powers and compare them with what the Welsh LABOUR government has done with their, albeit more limited, powers.

£as

And remember that the government here had to fight for the power to use money to help the poor. It didn’t just happen.

Justified opposition to government policy is essential, wherever it is from: Labour, Tory or Greens. Carping for the sake of carping is no substitute for it. Corbyn, at least, we know, is better than that. And the public deserves better than the current state of affairs.

Democratic governance works when a government is held to account by oppositions attempting to get the best for the country, rather than trying to score cheap political points, especially with incorrect information and lies.

I’m sure they don’t lie on purpose. They just seem not to know.

aleonardjoke

A course of instruction from someone who does know how things work in this country and is aware of what has been done with the powers we have and what will be done with the powers we are yet to get, might be a good idea, because, at the moment, it looks like the blind are leading the blind and it’s more than a little laughable.

The SNP can’t go on in power forever. No party ever does. But the chronic lack of talent, ability and know how in the current Labour Party leaves us with the horrifying prospect that, when that time comes, it may be the Tories that replace the SNP. A fate to be avoided at any cost.

Lest you should be in any doubt about that, I leave you with this:

ruth£

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Richard Leonard For Scottish Labour Leader Campaign

Munguin would like to point out that he doesn’t give a twopenny damn what football team Richard Leonard supports.

Admittedly, if Leonard were Scottish First Minister it might be rather embarrassing for him to attend an international and support the away side, but, let’s be honest, he’s pretty unlikely to ever be in that situation…and he can cross that bridge when (or rather if) he comes to it.

akez

None of us at Munguin Towers can understand why Kezia Dugdale decided to join the H-list celebrities in the jungle. It seems a really weird thing to do, and she’s likely to make a fool of herself..but it’s a matter for her and the Labour Party to sort out (and they seem to have agreed to do what London said, which was ‘no suspension’).

She’s a list MSP so other people can cover her duties, and as long as she isn’t being paid, I really don’t care, although I’m intrigued to know what would happen to the average public employee who just took time off to play. I imagine that she won’t stand again for parliament or at least she will not be selected for the list. I don’t know what future she has planned for herself, but whatever it is, I hope it will make her happier than she has been as a politician.

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a animals1

At present under EU law, animals are considered to be sentient beings. It is acknowledged that they can feel pain, experience fear, discomfort…and joy.

During the transfer of EU law into the various legal systems in the UK countries, all being overseen by the “capable” hands of Westminster, the clause recognising this fact seems to have been left out.

It appears that there will be no obligation in our new Britain, once we have taken back control, to treat animals as sentient beings. Of course, many people will, but it may not be illegal NOT to.

a animals

I’ve signed this petition to try to get the government to reconsider, but they have little in the way of feelings for other humans, so I’m not holding out much hope. It’s a pity Scotland couldn’t make its own laws on these matters.

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a lion

Robert Mugabe has resigned, at long last. Let’s hope his successor is less inclined to let people shoot all the Zimbabwean wildlife while there still is some!

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a a PoppyScotland3423423

Bruce Crawford criticised the tweet. He tweeted back: “This being done for political purposes is beneath you, John – only hope a staffer posted this.”

Lamont later deleted the offending tweet and said that he acknowledged that PoppyScotland was not a political organisation. However, it is interesting that Poppy Scotland’s Chief Exec, who also absolutely denies that he is political, is also a Director of Scotland in Union.

Odd that!

a lady haig3423423

Late to the party, Aberdeen South MP, Ross Thomson, posted “UK government will be supporting the Lady Haig Poppy Factory with £2.5m which not only makes poppies but provides employment to our veterans. A clear example of Scottish Conservative MPs delivering for Scotland at the heart of government.. and showing how positive and constructive engagement with the UK government gets better results than nationalist grievance.”

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CONGRATULATIONS…

…to Richard Leonard

aal

I really know nothing about him. In fact, I’d never heard of him before this year’s contest.

I read that he is genuinely in the Corbyn Camp (unlike Kezia and Anas, who just said they were when Corbyn was on the up, and said they weren’t when he was on the down). If he takes the party to the left, it will be a new experience for the SNP to have an ally on many of the social justice questions. It will also, of course, create competition for the left vote. That could damage the SNP and it might boost the Tory vote as Blairite voters melt away from a Leonard-led Labour Party.

It will be interesting to see what his view on Europe turns out to be, and how likely he is to want to work with Carwyn Jones and Nicola Sturgeon to stop Scotland and Wales being dragged into a disastrous hard Brexit.

aan

The contest was apparently divisive and accusations of cheating and talking “pish” abounded. Of course, people always say that it is all behind them as the loser swears allegiance to the winner… but it never REALLY is behind them, so Leonard will have to watch his back. Jackie Baillie may be a figure of fun, but I suspect she could still be a dangerous enemy. One of his first jobs will be to unite a parliamentary party that may largely have voted for his opponent.

He takes power at a difficult time in any case. At the same time as learning his new job, he will have to manage the fall out from the Alex Rowley business ensuring above all that Mr Rowley gets a fair hearing. We must be mindful that lack of opportunity to clear his name may have contributed to the death of an AM in Wales.

And, it can’t help that one of his MSPs has decided to absent herself for a month or so to take part in reality tv in Australia. People might ask, which other public servants could simply decide to do that all by themselves… teachers, doctors, rent rebate clerks, social workers?