General Politics Thread

[Brother Blades]

2 minutes ago, 101 said:

Only places in Scotland that appear to have been "leveled up" seems to be the Tory seats along the northern coast at Moray.

Fishing / farming c***s. 

[Salt n Vinegar]

11 minutes ago, 101 said:

Only places in Scotland that appear to have been "leveled up" seems to be the Tory seats along the northern coast at Moray.

The only thing that's surprising about this news is that anybody might be surprised by it. 

It would be front page news if the situation was the other way round!

Edited January 25, 2023 by Salt n Vinegar

[coprolite]

On 13/01/2023 at 16:35, WATTOO said:

Not sure where people stand on the "freeports", however as someone who lives in North Ayrshire and sees the high levels of deprivation and lack of decent jobs throughout the whole area of Ayrshire and Inverclyde, I can only feel that this is going to create much animosity and disillusionment throughout the areas that have missed out, especially as these "lucky" areas are going to draw the little investment there is further East, same as everything else in the past 30 years.

I've been saying for the past few years now that the policies which are promoting Edinburgh and the surrounds as a "hub" is doing nothing other than turning it into the London of the North where all the life is being sucked from the rest of the country.

It's all very well slaughtering the UK GOV for their pathetic policies and their joke of "levelling up", however the Scottish Government appear to be completely complicit in the freeports and the awarding of the status / investment to the areas awarded, as such they're in danger of alienating many voters in the West and other areas which are unlikely to see any benefit at all, and indeed are likely to see job losses as both a direct and indirect result.

Being clear, I don't agree with the freeport model at all, however the only saving grace would be to award the most deprived areas the status in order to try and create jobs and a  better standard of living where it's most required but despite the rhetoric from both Governments, actions tend to speak much louder than words.....

I think that the freeports come with bribes/funding from the UK government, which probably explains why there are any at all. 

The old freeports and enterprise zones generally didn't increase overall economic activity, just moved it around. Your concerns about them sucking in investment that may have gone elsewhere are well founded, although there's nothing to suggest that there was a load of investment heading your way otherwise. 

The criteria for the locations are that there should be industries that can benefit from the status. They're not meant to generate economic activity from scratch and probably wouldn't. So it makes sense to not put them in areas with little industry. 

What more deprived areas need is something else. It's difficult to say whether Scotland having freeports affects the ability of the government to provide that something else one way or the other. But the freeports themselves wouldn't help Ayrshire. 

[scottsdad]

On 13/01/2023 at 16:35, WATTOO said:

Not sure where people stand on the "freeports", however as someone who lives in North Ayrshire and sees the high levels of deprivation and lack of decent jobs throughout the whole area of Ayrshire and Inverclyde, I can only feel that this is going to create much animosity and disillusionment throughout the areas that have missed out, especially as these "lucky" areas are going to draw the little investment there is further East, same as everything else in the past 30 years.

I've been saying for the past few years now that the policies which are promoting Edinburgh and the surrounds as a "hub" is doing nothing other than turning it into the London of the North where all the life is being sucked from the rest of the country.

It's all very well slaughtering the UK GOV for their pathetic policies and their joke of "levelling up", however the Scottish Government appear to be completely complicit in the freeports and the awarding of the status / investment to the areas awarded, as such they're in danger of alienating many voters in the West and other areas which are unlikely to see any benefit at all, and indeed are likely to see job losses as both a direct and indirect result.

Being clear, I don't agree with the freeport model at all, however the only saving grace would be to award the most deprived areas the status in order to try and create jobs and a  better standard of living where it's most required but despite the rhetoric from both Governments, actions tend to speak much louder than words.....

I joined the civil service in 2006, based in Edinburgh. There was a policy at the time that any new civil service jobs created or headquarters should be outside of Edinburgh. Scottish Natural Heritage's headquarters moved to Inverness for example. There were a lot of worried civil servants that they might get relocated to the far flung reaches of the country like, say, Stirling (which was always used as the example for some reason). But the idea was simple - decentralise the government. Also it was cheaper - a big new headquarters in Edinburgh costs more than the same building elsewhere. 

When the SNP came to power they dropped the policy. 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

I joined the civil service in 2006, based in Edinburgh. There was a policy at the time that any new civil service jobs created or headquarters should be outside of Edinburgh. Scottish Natural Heritage's headquarters moved to Inverness for example. There were a lot of worried civil servants that they might get relocated to the far flung reaches of the country like, say, Stirling (which was always used as the example for some reason). But the idea was simple - decentralise the government. Also it was cheaper - a big new headquarters in Edinburgh costs more than the same building elsewhere. 

When the SNP came to power they dropped the policy. 

Both UK and Scottish Govs seem culpable in this regard, I'd also say that it makes even less sense in this day and age where there's no real requirement to personally visit an office with all the conference call / Teams facilities and so many also working from home. That said, I suppose with the increase of WFH positions, it now makes little difference where you actually reside, assuming you're permitted to work either completely or mostly from home.

I suppose the thing that worries me most is that Edinburgh and the surrounds are in danger of becoming the London of the North where it's draining almost everything from Government to the Arts, to Tourism, Finance, Business and Logistics when we've got many other areas who are being denied the investment in infrastructure and inward investment.

Maybe Edinburgh is just marketed better but in order to have a happy and prosperous country we really need to ensure that the wealth is being spread around, otherwise it only leads to disillusionment, disenchantment and ultimately anger from many other areas.

It's obviously not the fault of anyone living in the East and there are still as many poor areas there as there are elsewhere but I really think the country as a whole needs a sustainable long term plan that will see every area of the country prosper.

[oneteaminglasgow]

The vast majority of Scottish government jobs are officially location neutral with home working btw. 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

2 hours ago, WATTOO said:

Both UK and Scottish Govs seem culpable in this regard, I'd also say that it makes even less sense in this day and age where there's no real requirement to personally visit an office with all the conference call / Teams facilities and so many also working from home. That said, I suppose with the increase of WFH positions, it now makes little difference where you actually reside, assuming you're permitted to work either completely or mostly from home.

I suppose the thing that worries me most is that Edinburgh and the surrounds are in danger of becoming the London of the North where it's draining almost everything from Government to the Arts, to Tourism, Finance, Business and Logistics when we've got many other areas who are being denied the investment in infrastructure and inward investment.

Maybe Edinburgh is just marketed better but in order to have a happy and prosperous country we really need to ensure that the wealth is being spread around, otherwise it only leads to disillusionment, disenchantment and ultimately anger from many other areas.

It's obviously not the fault of anyone living in the East and there are still as many poor areas there as there are elsewhere but I really think the country as a whole needs a sustainable long term plan that will see every area of the country prosper.

There is no 'in danger of' aspect to it; Edinburgh is long already the London Of The North, and if you want an indicator check out the grotesque imbalance in the percentage of privately-educated kids there with the rest of Scotland.  That comes from an embedded wealth disproportionate with Scotland generally.

[Aufc]

On 13/01/2023 at 16:35, WATTOO said:

Not sure where people stand on the "freeports", however as someone who lives in North Ayrshire and sees the high levels of deprivation and lack of decent jobs throughout the whole area of Ayrshire and Inverclyde, I can only feel that this is going to create much animosity and disillusionment throughout the areas that have missed out, especially as these "lucky" areas are going to draw the little investment there is further East, same as everything else in the past 30 years.

I've been saying for the past few years now that the policies which are promoting Edinburgh and the surrounds as a "hub" is doing nothing other than turning it into the London of the North where all the life is being sucked from the rest of the country.

It's all very well slaughtering the UK GOV for their pathetic policies and their joke of "levelling up", however the Scottish Government appear to be completely complicit in the freeports and the awarding of the status / investment to the areas awarded, as such they're in danger of alienating many voters in the West and other areas which are unlikely to see any benefit at all, and indeed are likely to see job losses as both a direct and indirect result.

Being clear, I don't agree with the freeport model at all, however the only saving grace would be to award the most deprived areas the status in order to try and create jobs and a  better standard of living where it's most required but despite the rhetoric from both Governments, actions tend to speak much louder than words.....

Aberdeen should probably feel aggrieved to miss out as they are being hammered at the moment with the oil and gas industry taking a battering and now this

[Suspect Device]

MPs deserve a medal. Apparently.

MPs should get medals and bigger payoffs, says report | The Independent

Their payoffs are lower than comparable countries as well. The poor things.  

Maybe they can have similar payoffs when we have similar pensions to comparable countries.

[coprolite]

30 minutes ago, Suspect Device said:

MPs deserve a medal. Apparently.

MPs should get medals and bigger payoffs, says report | The Independent

Their payoffs are lower than comparable countries as well. The poor things.  

Maybe they can have similar payoffs when we have similar pensions to comparable countries.

There's an argument for bigger pay offs to guard against them setting up their own contingency plans by cosying up to business or other vested interests. 

On the other hand a majority have spent their careers making redundancies easier and cheaper for businesses. 

If we need to have a flexible and efficient labour market, then i'm afraid these chaps will just have to do their bit. 

I'm in favour of medals. One or two for actual achievements and a whole load of shitey campaign medals. Maybe a special medal for trying extra hard for the likes of Truss. 

[Suspect Device]

There seems to be a lot of MPs standing down at the next elections. Mad Nad being the latest. Rumours surround that she's making way for Boris to be airlifted into her safe seat in return for a seat in the Lords.

Seems a lot of Tories. Including DRoss. He says to concentrate on the MSP job but I think he might be a bit worried about losing his seat.

The MPs who have announced they are standing down at the next general election | Politics News | Sky News

Although it's not an unusually high number apparently. 

How does the number of MPs planning to step down compare to previous years? | Politics News | Sky News

(An interesting side note from the 2nd report is that Douglas Alexander is thinking about standing again. Wonder if it'll be against Black?)

Edited February 10, 2023 by Suspect Device

[RedEd]

13 minutes ago, Suspect Device said:

 

How does the number of MPs planning to step down compare to previous years? | Politics News | Sky News

(An interesting side note from the 2nd report is that Douglas Alexander is thinking about standing again. Wonder if it'll be against Black?)

He'll be nowhere near Paisley. He is hoping to stand in East Lothian.

[RH33]

6 hours ago, Suspect Device said:

There seems to be a lot of MPs standing down at the next elections. Mad Nad being the latest. Rumours surround that she's making way for Boris to be airlifted into her safe seat in return for a seat in the Lords.

Seems a lot of Tories. Including DRoss. He says to concentrate on the MSP job but I think he might be a bit worried about losing his seat.

The MPs who have announced they are standing down at the next general election | Politics News | Sky News

Although it's not an unusually high number apparently. 

How does the number of MPs planning to step down compare to previous years? | Politics News | Sky News

(An interesting side note from the 2nd report is that Douglas Alexander is thinking about standing again. Wonder if it'll be against Black?)

There's a lot of long standing MP's who are heading towards retirement age. I wonder how many of the older Tories are chucking it because a) party is a shambles and b) know they'll loose seat.

 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

51 minutes ago, RH33 said:

There's a lot of long standing MP's who are heading towards retirement age. I wonder how many of the older Tories are chucking it because a) party is a shambles and b) know they'll loose seat.

 

A bit of both, plus many of them have trousered Knighthoods and other "honours" so will file into the HoL for an easy life. 

[RH33]

5 minutes ago, Benjamin_Nevis said:

A bit of both, plus many of them have trousered Knighthoods and other "honours" so will file into the HoL for an easy life. 

Well yes there is the HoL element too. Mad Nad being the obvious one. 

[Trogdor]

Not sure if this is the correct thread but I was reading yesterday that MSP's pensions accrue at 1/40th of final salary. Is that actually right?

With defined benefit pensions disappearing or benefits being diluted considerably, an accrual at 1/40th is ridiculously generous. 

[Billy Jean King]

2 hours ago, Trogdor said:

Not sure if this is the correct thread but I was reading yesterday that MSP's pensions accrue at 1/40th of final salary. Is that actually right?

With defined benefit pensions disappearing or benefits being diluted considerably, an accrual at 1/40th is ridiculously generous. 

There are two schemes one at 1/40th and one at 1/50th. It's one of those schemes where the benefits seem to take into account that the average length of service is comparatively short and hence actual annual pensions are on average not massive. That said if you manage to serve 20 years plus you are on a decent enough pension but that is unlikely to be the norm hence it can afford 40ths and 50ths

[invergowrie arab]

I see Moscow Murray is after pro NATO MPs again. I miss Detournement 

[DeeTillEhDeh]

16 hours ago, Trogdor said:

Not sure if this is the correct thread but I was reading yesterday that MSP's pensions accrue at 1/40th of final salary. Is that actually right?

With defined benefit pensions disappearing or benefits being diluted considerably, an accrual at 1/40th is ridiculously generous. 

In comparison, teachers in Scotland are on 1/80ths - I think it will be similar in other public sector pension schemes.

[Billy Jean King]

14 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

I see Moscow Murray is after pro NATO MPs again. I miss Detournement 

An utter kunt of a human being. Hopefully this latest "acquisition" earns him a further jail term.