Humza Yousaf is taking Scotland for a ride
Families who paid £65 for a Glasgow ‘Willy Wonka’ experience feel cheated. They are not the only ones
The rip off endured by families on both sides of the border, after they fell for the exaggerated promises of a bunch of chancers who promised their children a magical trip to something resembling Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, was obviously a nasty experience.
It turned out to resemble nothing more than a partly disguised empty warehouse in Glasgow – which is what it actually was. The price for this less-than-amazing family day out? A cool £35 per head or a bargain offer of £65 for two adults and two children.
It’s sad but true that there are always people determined to use children’s favourites, such as the Willy Wonka saga, to deprive families of their hard-earned cash. The organisers promise refunds will be paid – but in a country where even some of the best regarded names on Britain’s high streets seem to think that they can hang on to our money as long as possible even when they admit they’ve sold us shoddy goods, they could have a long wait.
If ever a group of people should think twice about believing promises that cost them money it’s voters.
They’re constantly let down and generally misled by their politicians. But in Scotland, and especially under successive SNP governments, this has become something of an art form.
Humza Yousaf ’s ill-starred administration makes pledges and promises all the time.
But just as that Glasgow warehouse had a few cheap gimmicks dotted around the place to fool customers into believing they were having a “magical” experience, so he and his ministers try to con the public about their governance of Scotland.
Instead of the promised enchanted garden with giant sweets, the weekend event headlined “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” had only a few plastic props and a tiny bouncy castle to con unsuspecting families. They were furious and for a time the police were called to calm the situation.
In the SNP’S case, promises of a better NHS, the closing of the educational attainment gap between better off and poorer schoolchildren, and a better economy have still not been honoured.
In their place have been longer waiting times in accident and emergency departments, no improvement in the attainment levels of disadvantaged children, and a stagnant economy.
Recent independent reports from Scotland’s auditor general and from the Institute for Fiscal Studies both voiced worrying criticism about the behaviour of the SNP government – alleging a lack of political leadership and challenging ministerial claims about increases in NHS spending.
Ministers claim that they’ve settled NHS strikes quicker than England with higher awards – but is this a reason for a two-year moratorium on all health service infrastructure spending? There is a serious stand-off between the SNP government and council chiefs over the former’s demand that council taxes be frozen.
In Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka promised a free tour of his factory and free chocolate for life to the five people who discover a golden ticket in the bars they buy.
Is there a similar prize in Scotland? Maybe. Whenever he’s criticised, the current First Minister echoes Nicola Sturgeon, his predecessor and mentor, pointing to the fact that the SNP have abolished tuition fees for all domiciled Scots at Scottish universities.
They also point to issues like free prescriptions, eye tests and bus passes – all much more generous in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
Yousaf claims this is why higher paid Scots have no reason to desert their homeland now that personal taxes are higher in Scotland than anywhere else in Britain. They may pay more tax but they get more benefits in kind is his answer to complaints from the more affluent.
Free tuition fees are a huge perk and Scotland’s middle classes haven’t been slow to fill their boots with it.
But it has led to Scottish universities being “capped” as to how many Scottish students they can accept and also to claims that many are now favouring English or foreign students, rather than Scots, because they pay higher fees.
Free tuition and other nationalist bribes may well be the SNP’S answer to that golden ticket. But while the unfortunates who were ripped off in that weekend warehouse racket have at least a chance of a refund, there’s no hope for the voters. Except at the next election, of course.