The SNP not only mislead the Scottish people, but it continues to distract attention from the issues that matter. 

In a powerful article in the Scotsman, Jim Gallagher highlights the revelations of former SNP policy advisor Alex Bell who tells us that SNP leaders deliberately obfuscated the tax and spend realities of independence. He said:

“These were the actions of a government, not starry-eyed amateurs. Ministers with access to all the data, and civil service advice, chose deliberately to obscure the truth, over the biggest decision in the country’s history. It was in substance a strategy to mislead the poorest in the country into supporting independence as an escape from poverty.”
Important though the past is, his focus is on the future. He said:
“A party whose only purpose is hanging on to power substitutes populism for policy-making. Populism thrives on demonising the other: so in time of trouble Westminster can always be blamed. Politics becomes a Potemkin village – a façade of self-serving rhetoric. Witness the SNP res­ponse to poor Mr Bell – “we must be right because people vote for us”. What suffers is public policy. The symptoms of that disease are glaring already. The NHS is struggling; educational inequalities are moving in the wrong direction; the wheels are coming off Police Scotland, and more.”
Brian Wilson makes some similar points in his typically acerbic way.
Jenny Hjul takes up the theme in The Herald with a cutting analysis of the failures of the SNP ministerial team.
Angela Constance at Education has been dubbed the Minister for Gobbledegook for her inability to express herself in plain language. Ministerial press releases about improving English standards in the classroom have been easy-to-mock exercises in illiteracy, which is unhelpful for a government’s head of learning.
She was taken to task about the SNP’s ambitious childcare promises when she couldn’t answer simple questions put to her by campaigners. The Fair Funding for our Kids, left a meeting "frustrated and angry" after she was unable to tell them how many new nursery buildings were required, or how many extra training places and modern apprenticeships will be needed to ensure the right number of staff are available to work in the new nurseries.
Next there is health led by Shona Robison. On her watch, there has been a crisis in GP recruitment that has led to dozens of surgeries being taken over by health boards and primary health care targets being missed. Accident and emergency targets have also been missed every week for six years, with Glasgow’s flagship £842 million Queen Elizabeth University Hospital delivering the worst performance in the country.
Then the long-serving Richard Lochhead at Rural Affairs. Farmers have been waiting weeks to hear from the Government about their Common Agricultural Policy subsidies and the fishing industry has lost faith in the minister over his "effective abandonment" of them in new conservation measures. 
The above tells a picture of a government with limited ministerial talent below the First Minister and her Deputy. A government that has run out of steam and ideas. A government that blames anyone and everybody other than themselves for their failures. Scotland deserves better.

​Scottish Labour Party this year was held in Perth. Here are some of the highlights:

• Scottish Labour’s plan to restore the money Scottish families stand to lose from tax credit cuts, paid for by scrapping the SNP plan to cut the Air Passenger Duty and the Tory plan to cut taxes for those on the higher rate. Labour stands for #familiesnotflights.
• A Fair Start Fund to give every primary pupil from a poorer background £1000 which their school can invest in closing the gap between the richest and the rest, paid for by asking those lucky enough to earn over £150,000 to pay a 50p rate of tax.
• We will give full grant support worth £6,000 a year for every looked after child who wants to go onto higher education.
• We will guarantee a real Living Wage for care workers

The issues debated on Members Sunday were decided by a priority ballot of unions and CLPs. As it turned out both had the same priorities - the Trade Union Bill and Trident. As a consequence TTIP and Housing were also debated. Conference voted to oppose the TU Bill, against the replacement of Trident and outright opposition to TTIP.

Local Labour parties take the TU Bill campaign to the streets today across Scotland. There has been a great response from the public to the Scottish Labour petition. 

And I think we can guess what Keir Hardie would have thought of the Bill on KeirHardie100

Scottish Labour is leading the way in opposing the Tory plans to attack the rights of working people with their Trade Union Bill. There will be a ‘Week of Action’ against the Tory Trade Union Bill between Saturday 26th September and Saturday 3rd October. The Scottish Labour Campaign Pack will include a local press release, a petition template, guidance on holding public meetings, and a step by step guide for CLPs on how to engage with new affiliated supporters. There will also be a leaflet on the TU Bill to use locally.

Labour councils across Scotland will oppose the Tories’ Trade Union Bill. Labour-led councils including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Fife and Renfrewshire are all ready to use the powers of local government to protect the rights of workers. The Leader of Scotland's largest council says Glasgow will defy the Bill in the Daily Record.

Labour has also called upon the SNP government in Edinburgh to use the powers of devolution to protect working people in Scotland from the Tories' attack on workers’ rights.  Neil Findlay MSP asked the First Minister if the SNP Government would commit to the same opposition as Scottish Labour in refusing to cooperate with the UK trade union bill on changes to check off and facility time. 

Patrick Maguire from Thompsons Solicitors says opposition from the Scottish Government has to be more than words.

In a desperate distraction strategy SNP activists tried to claim some Labour MPs abstained during the Bill's second reading. No Labour MP abstained.

Scottish Labour have also produced a “Stop the Tory TU Bill” twibbon for use on social media please encourage others to use and share it by clicking here

Labour councils in Scotland are showing the way by setting out clearly why the Trade Union Bill is not wanted here.

This is the Renfrewshire Motion for Council Meeting 24 September 2015

“Council notes the Conservative Government are proposing a Trade Union Bill that will restrict the ability of this council to engage in good industrial relations practices with our workforce and their representatives.  Council believes the collection of union dues through the check-off arrangement, from which the council receives income, is part of our collective and contractual arrangements with the trades unions and one which we will defend and support.  Council commits not to use agency staff to break or weaken industrial action and to continue to support arrangements that afford trade union representatives sufficient resources to enable them to carry out their functions to ensure the continuation of  good industrial relations.  The Leader of the Council commits to writing to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills stating council’s opposition to this Bill and our resolve not to co-operate with any attacks on facility time or check off and to write to the First Minister calling on the Scottish Government to stand with Renfrewshire and other local authorities in opposing the proposals in this Bill.” 


In similar vein, this is the City of Glasgow Council motion.

"Council stands united with organised labour in opposing the UK Government's planned changes to Trade Union legislation; specifically the introduction of ballot turnout thresholds on all strike ballots, use of agency workers to replace striking staff, criminalisation of striking workers on the picket line and the proposal to place demands upon unions to publish their plans; believes that the changes are a politically motivated attack on the rights of working people and their fundamental right to withdraw their labour; is deeply concerned about the potentially damaging impact the proposals will have on workers, employers and Trade Unions in Glasgow and across the UK; believes that the Trade Union movement has been at the forefront of progressive social change, in securing both improved employment rights and in tackling poverty and inequality; and resolves to work with the Scottish Trade Union Congress and individual unions to stand up for the rights of workers."

Labour in Wales has also shown how devolved administrations can take a stand against the Bill by insisting on legislative consent. In a statement First Minister Carwyn Jones said:

"Initial correspondence received from UK Government Ministers asserts that the Bill relates to a non-devolved matter and no Legislative Consent Motion is required in the National Assembly for Wales.  It is clear, however, that significant elements of the Bill relate specifically to public services which in Wales are unambiguously devolved responsibilities.  I therefore do not accept the suggestion that the Bill must be regarded as concerned exclusively with non-devolved issues."


Scottish Labour Leader, Kezia Dugdale, made similar points in the Scottish Parliament and reiterated her position at a meeting with STULP on Friday.

The new UK Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has also been unequivocal in his opposition to the Bill.

Scottish Labour Leader, Kezia Dugdale's response to the Scottish Government's legislative programme.

"I hope that her government will also turn their attention to the Tory Government’s Trade Union bill.

None of us in this Scottish Parliament should be in any doubt.

This Tory Bill, supported by Ruth Davidson, has one intention and one intention only and that is to undermine the rights and ability of working people to organise for better wages, terms and conditions in the workplace.

The withdrawal of a person’s Labour is the most basic right that working people have and its effective use over time has resulted in better wages, better health and safety standards, pensions and as a result better public services and a better society.

This ideologically driven Bill is an attack on these hard won rights. It must be resisted and it must be stopped.

As such I want, on behalf of my party, to make it clear to the Scottish Government. They will have our full support to do everything we can together to stop this bill.

Over the summer I heard Rosanna Cunningham say it’s the 'prerogative' of Scottish Ministers to decide on issues like check off and facility time. She’s right.

The Tories arguments against check off and facility time are rooted in logistics, practicalities and costs – they are issues of public administration not industrial relations and are therefore clearly devolved.

So the Government will have our full support in saying No to the Trade Union Bill.

Likewise the Government would have our support for demanding a legislative consent motion. That way the Tories would need approval from this Parliament to act. Approval that they’ll not get from these benches.

We don't want to just support her government's rhetoric on the TU Bill, we want to support some real action."

The election of a majority Tory UK government is a stark reminder for trade union members in Scotland of why we need a Labour Party that listens to working people.

While we can debate the causes, the outcome of the 2015 General Election is a Tory government committed to cutting public services and attacks on trade unions, far more extreme than even Margaret Thatcher’s legislation.

They have decided to cut a further £3bn from this year’s UK departmental budgets. This means another £107m cut from Scottish public services. However, this is only a warm up for the emergency summer budget on 8 July. On current plans the UK government will slash a further £30bn, with the biggest cuts in 2016 and 2017. The Barnett consequentials for Scotland could be as much as £2bn. That’s a further 30,000 job losses.

The planned thresholds for industrial action make the last resort of industrial action by workers to these cuts even more difficult. That means if we are going to bring about change or simply defend the interests of working people, unions will need to look to direct political action.

The Tories want to shackle trade union political influence as well, with legislation on political funds. Unsurprisingly, there are no plans to limit the hedge funds and tax dodgers that fund the Tories.

One way trade union members can strengthen their political voice is by signing up to be an Affiliated Supporter of the Labour Party. It costs nothing extra because you already pay a political levy. It will give union members a direct voice in elections for both the UK and Scottish Labour Party leadership elections.

That’s important because we need leaders that reflect the views of working people, rather than the political bubble. We understand this all too well in Scotland, when Scottish Labour ignored trade union warnings over issues like austerity, the second referendum question and campaigning with the Tories in ‘Better Together’.

Trade unions will maintain a constructive relationship with the Scottish Government and make common cause on issues we agree on, including opposing austerity. However, the SNP is a broad coalition and that constrains them from taking bold action on big issues like inequality. Their limited commitments on zero-hours contracts during the election, illustrates the influence of the business lobby in their party.

Trade union members in Scotland need a Scottish Labour Party that speaks up for working people. It’s a party that needs to make radical changes and it needs union members to be part of that new direction. By signing up as an Affiliated Supporter you can be a bigger part of that process.

The outcome of tomorrow’s election could not be more important for workers in Scotland.

You often hear members say ‘they are all the same’. Well in this election that simply isn’t true.

We know what the Tories have planned. Another £30bn of cuts at UK level, which probably means about £2bn of further cuts to the Scottish budget. That’s another 30,000 public sector job losses. £12bn of welfare cuts that will mostly hit those at work. And another attack on employment rights to undermine trade union resistance to austerity.

Labour is offering to end Tory austerity and as the IFS have shown, Labour has the best spending plan for doing that. Not all we would want, but a costed plan that, as Gordon Brown set out during the campaign, would bring £800m of spending to relieve our hard pressed public services.

In contrast to the other parties, Labour has a manifesto for work that will deliver real improvements for workers.

It’s not just the legislative changes that matter. Having a Labour government that listens to and understands the problems facing working people is absolutely vital. Scottish Labour MP’s in government are also much more effective than those who will just shout from the sidelines.

The SNP have offered plenty of glib soundbites and slogans in this election. However, their spending plans are not only less effective than Labour, but their Full Fiscal Autonomy plan would deliver Tory austerity all over again.

It is simply a fact that only Labour can get rid of the Tories. But to do that you have to vote Labour. Don’t gamble on a coalition deal you can’t vote for and wake up on Friday to Cameron and Clegg in the No10 rose garden planning five more years of austerity

As far as this blog is concerned the Tory party never really lost the ‘nasty party’ tag ... there are a number of reasons for that. But the vindictive attitude towards workplace rights is probably the most obvious one.

If they get back into Government have much wickedness planned.  We won’t dwell on that right now, partly because if we get a Labour Government we won’t have to endure them,  mostly because we want to look at one of call me Dave’s  recent acts of viciousness.  One aimed at keeping the likes of us in our place and bad bosses laughing all the way to bank.

 In a move that there was no real demand for (not even from big business to any great extent, although they were certainly pleased) the Con Dems brought in fees for Employment Tribunals. 

This isn’t about efficiency or streamlining, it’s about pricing people out of Justice.

It’s not exactly rocket science to work out that people who want to make a claim about (say) unpaid wages or unfair dismissal might just have a bit of bother finding the cash. But that isn’t the end of the unfairness.  If people know that they won’t be able to afford to take a case to a tribunal , they may just decide to put up with whatever they are suffering in the workplace...making it seem acceptable. That’s not a deterrent to bad bosses – quite the reverse.

By enabling bad bosses and encouraging bosses to be bad, Employment Tribunal fees don’t just harm those affected, they are bad for all of us.  

Labour are quite clear.  Labour will scrap Employment Tribunal fees.

 The SNP in an 56 page manifesto can’t find the space for the single sentence it would take to do the same.  The SNP often talk the language of partnership when it comes to industrial relations... this is one of those indications of whom they see the senior partner being. Check their policy on  Zero hours contracts for proof of that.

 It’s all the more serious because the operation of the Employment Tribunal system will at some point be devolved. So there is a real chance that, unlike many things they have opinions about, the SNP will be in charge of this. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that their silence on this is deliberate. 

So while we don’t know what the SNP are going to do about another Indyref  we do know what they intend to do about Employment Tribunal Fees - nothing.

 If we are going to see an end to the price on Justice we need to make sure Labour win. We can only do that by voting Labour. 

There was a suggestion that we might have been exaggerating the impact of the SNP's Full Fiscal Autonomy, or 'Responsibility' as it has now been rebranded. 

We originally said the gap caused by the collapsing oil price was £6bn. However, the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies said it was actually £7.6bn.

First the SNP hinted that they might want a transitional period. Then their leader said in a televised debate she would vote for it this year. Now, their manifesto says it "would take a number of years". This makes Kenny Dalglish look decisive, or more accurately, they are just making it up as they go along. 

In the referendum campaign they said that independence was achievable by 2016 - so why is something short of that going to take longer?

So, would a transitional period make any difference? Back to the IFS who say:

"the gap between Scotland’s deficit and that of the UK as a whole would, if anything, grow somewhat larger in the years ahead, reaching £9.7bn in 2019–20 (equivalent to £8.9 billion in today’s prices)."

But of course Labour are just 'Red Tories' campaigning for 'austerity lite'. What we need are lots of SNP MPs to keep them on the right track to end austerity. 

Again the IFS have added up the numbers and found:

"There is a considerable disconnect between [the SNP’s] rhetoric and their stated plans for total spending, which imply a lower level of spending by 2019–20 than Labour’s plans."

As this chart shows.