Milton view Toy appeal thank you
Dear Editor, Would you be so kind to pass on our appreciation and thanks to your very generous and selfless readers who contributed to such wonderful toys and gifts to the social work department for underprivileged children throughout South Lanarkshire.
Our social work staff assessed children and families who were in need of support during the Christmas period and the toys and gifts were delivered to the appropriate families by social work staff.
We at social work resources can very much confirm that the fabulous toys and gifts donated helped make many of the children and young people’s Christmas extra special.
Margo Gemmell Social work assistant Dear Editor,
John L Rimmer (sen) had another diatribe against the SNP last week.
Is Mr Rimmer really unaware of what the “significant and material change in circumstances” are that have seen Nicola Sturgeon announce plans for a second independence referendum? I think most primary school children would be able to tell him – Brexit! The game’s a bogey because of it. 62% of his fellow Scots voted to Remain in the EU but the democratic deficit that exists in the UK means that, once again, Scots votes don’t really count.
Since the Second World War, Scotland’s votes have only influenced the outcome of a UK General Election on three occasions –1964, 1974 and 2010. Every other election would have seen the same party take power even with all the Scottish votes removed.
Mr Rimmer expects First Minister Nicola Sturgeon “will seek support from the sychophantic Green Party”. The Greens are pro-independence. That means there is a proindependence majority in Holyrood. It’s how democracy works.
The SNP did indeed sweep to power in 2007 with the promise of replacing the Council Tax and they did try to replace it with a local Income Tax but as a minority government they couldn’t get enough support from the other parties for the proposal. Mindful of their promise, they did at least freeze the tax until this year.
As for the Police Scotland computer deal collapsing, he has a point – although no money was lost to the public purse. The UK government has blown an eye watering amount in recent years over similar failed computer upgrades. One such case was the Firecontrol scheme, which wasted £469m of taxpayers money. There are many more.
On his point about the set up of Police Scotland attracting VAT, the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour both supported the formation of a single force. Sir Stephen House, the former chief constable, said in 2014 that he found it “bewildering” that they were charged VAT when the single Police Service of Northern Ireland don’t pay any nor do the National Crime Agency.
The Curriculum for Excellence is far from a disaster, not that everything is perfect with it, far from it. However, last year’s Higher passes saw the number exceed 150,000 for only the second time.
The Scottish NHS is not “rapidly collapsing”. Our A&E waiting times are consistently the best in the UK. The figure for January was 91.8%. The target of 95% was missed, understandable perhaps during the winter months. The English NHS reported a record low of just 85.1%, and more alarmingly, the number of patients waiting more than twelve hours on a trolley has risen by six times since the previous January (from 158 to 988). Something else probably not reported in the Unionist press – 90% of patients in the Scottish NHS rated their care and treatment as good or excellent, the highest rating since the inpatient survey began in 2010.
As for his claim that Scotland is the highest taxed part of the UK, maybe technically true, but look at the benefits we get that the rest of the UK does not. Not passing on the cut the Tories gave the higher earners in RUK means a small percentage of Scots will pay £7.70 a week more than down south. To put this in some perspective, the cost of a single prescription in England has just risen to £8.60. Scots get them free of course, thanks to the SNP. Then there’s the abolishment of bridge tolls on the Forth and Tay crossings, the scrapping of parking charges at all Nhs-run hospitals, children in primaries 1 to 3 receiving free school meals, no tuition fees, free personal care for the over 65s. There are more examples of the successes of the SNP in government if Mr Rimmer cares to research it.
You can certainly get a skewed view of Scotland politically if you only ever hear one side of the story.
Scott Harrison Hamilton
MSP FOR RUTHERGLEN