‘Annual report’ sent by Sarwar has numerous glaring omissions
NOT only as a WASPI woman have I been lucky enough to enjoy “respect” from the Labour Party this past week (although I’m not sure how to use it to heat my home), I have also been the lucky recipient, as have many in my area, of Anas Sarwar’s “Annual Report”.
Apparently we have an NHS emergency. It is the Scottish Government’s fault and he is going to solve it with a proper workforce plan and by investing more in social care. There are no details about how the funding is going to be secured to support these actions but ... there you have it.
In addition we have a cost of living crisis. This time the government to blame is unspecified. Either way, apparently he has no plan to offer for this at all.
And, finally, once you skim past the two-page spread of photos taken of him out and about, we read that a ceasefire “now” in Gaza has his full support, in keeping with the Scottish Parliament.
What of course he fails to mention is that funding to Scotland is controlled by Westminster because Scotland isn’t independent.
What of course he fails to mention is the contribution of Brexit to the UK’s catastrophic cost of living crisis and that Scotland “Brexited” as well because Scotland isn’t independent.
And as for Gaza, what he fails to mention is that Scotland’s view is frequently overridden by Unionist media and politicians because Scotland isn’t independent.
Therefore, with gaslighting the political norm, how delightful to see Humza Yousaf praised for his integrity and humanity and I too would like to add my support for his first year as FM.
Now get us out of here, Humza, because Scotland isn’t independent ... and we need to be.
I Easton
Glasgow
MUCH is being debated about whether the WASPI women are/are not deserving of compensation, but perhaps there is one simple, incontrovertible consideration.
Unless informed otherwise by government, these women paid National Insurance (NI) in expectation of receiving a state pension between age 60 and 65. Without that notification, they found themselves deprived of that pension but still paying NI. They would not have been eligible for a pension but would have had income from continuing to work. What they were deprived of in financial terms, therefore, was the amount of the NI deducted during those five years.
It may well be that, in these circumstances, some actually benefitted financially from earning more than the pension would have been, but others on lower rates of pay lost out. What is indisputable is that none would have paid those extra NI contributions had they retired at 60. So surely the absolute minimum compensation should equate to the total of those contributions. Thereafter perhaps an element could be considered and added to ensure that, during those five years, none was left with a lower income than the expected pension would have provided.
P Davidson
Falkirk
DURING the first indyref campaign it was appalling to see Labour Party members – and their fellow BritNat Unionists – scaring pensioners by telling them they would lose their pension if Scotland voted for independence. Utter claptrap from the BritNats of course, but isn’t it interesting that another figure in the BritNat camp – Sam Taylor of the UltraBritNat group These Islands – is now saying that the WASPI women don’t deserve compensation!
According to him, the WASPI women were too feckless to look up their own pension age! Even though report after report has highlighted multiple failures from successive Westminster governments for changing pension plans without informing the women affected, this ultra-yoon goon seeks to put the blame on the WASPI women.
If anything, this comment, along with the Tory government dragging its heels on the issue and the Labour Party refusing to even stick to their previous promises on supporting the WASPI campaign, further highlights that the Westminster system is failing the WASPI women.
Mr Taylor’s comments should be front and centre of everyone’s minds
when it comes to the next General Election – here’s hoping the WASPI women won’t be too feckless to turn their backs on Labour and their Unionist pals.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren Paisley
CAMPAIGNER Feargal Sharkey has been eloquent and passionate in his condemnation of the incompetence of Ofwat and the devastation wrought by the privatisation of the water “industry”.
He is particularly fervent concerning the vast flow of profit out to shareholders parallel to the lack of infrastructure investment over many decades.
Sadly this model can be applied to any of the industries privatised since Thatcher. Public money (yours and mine) in; eye-watering profits out. Money gushes to shareholders and in wages and bonuses to chief execs while the infrastructure has been left to rot. The most direct parallel being the rail system. Regulation is pathetically weak, ineffectual, often with a revolving door between the regulator and the industry. Water leaks out through failing systems. Sewage ends up where it should not. Profits leak out to the wealthy. Profiteers ooze in, as they always have in these circumstances. And to make up for all this mess, the public pay more.
If you’re as old as me you’ll recall being told that competition would keep prices down, when all that once belonged to US was handed over to THEM.
I hope Scots are listening to Feargal Sharkey and really taking in just another horror of unfettered Westminster.
Amanda Baker Edinburgh