Information request
Readers may well recall some very recent analysis we undertook on the Scottish Government’s investment in promoting Scotland abroad, and the huge returns it generated in jobs and tourism. They may also remember that the opposition parties in Holyrood, led by Labour, were incandescent with rage at the “waste” of around £500,000 of taxpayers’ money spent on sending government delegations numbering dozens of people to the USA to undertake the work.
Given the recent revelations that almost half as large a sum – £232,708 – was unnecessarily awarded by Glasgow Labour councillors to a Labour crony who formerly headed a charitable body (over and above a severance pay-off which was already mind-bogglingly generous at £240,000), we wonder if anyone could help us with some info on how many tens of millions of pounds and/or hundreds of jobs the Labour-run council’s expenditure has delivered to Scotland? We can’t seem to find anything.
More to the point, why isn’t this printed up and delivered through every letterbox in Glasgow for starters? Oh I forgot – we’ve to be “positive”. There are times when you’ve got to go for the jugular.
I would rather fight a positive campaign Dave then god willing after Indy conduct a wholesale exposure of any wrong doing perpetrated.
If those involved have done no wrong then they have nothing to fear.
Perhaps we could then place something in the written constitution to prevent it happening again going forward?
A helpful reader suggested there might be something here:
http://gamesmonitor2014.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/dodgy-land-deals-in-dalmarnock/
But sadly no luck. Man!
Glasgow City Council is currently conducting another voluntary redundancy review (the last one cost around £30m), again it seems to be mainly stripping out middle management with larger slaries, and concomitantly generous severance packages. There certainly seem to have been tons of jobs ‘created’ during the New Labour boom years. One wonders if they now realise that they can manage with the frontline indians, how many of the chiefs were needed in the first place.
Meanwhile, more ‘savings’:
TEACHING unions have attacked proposals by Scotland’s largest local authority to slash £15 million from its education budget
http://tinyurl.com/a3em86k
I’m sure a GCC press release blaming it on the SNP is being thrown together as I speak.
Aye I know, Rabb. Maybe I’m just too easily wound up by these appalling wastes of money that I know will never be mentioned in the MSM or the BBC and the injustice of that really gets to me. However, I don’t see what’s wrong with things like this being casually referred to when an SG minister is receiving the usual “polite questioning” in an interview.
‘Telling it how it is’ is not necessarily a negative campaign. We hear AS in Holyrood most weeks having a go at other parties/politicians for their failings.
Keeping it positive with regard to a future independent Scotland is obviously a good move, after that I don’t see any harm in pointing out the negative issues, as long as they are factual.
With such a long time to go to the actual referendum I’d be happy to see the independence movement stay as it is with it’s message, and see what happens to the No campaign during this year with it’s scare mongering. From what I can see, indications are that people are beginning to get fed up with it. Plenty of time to adjust tactics yet.
Of course, there is nothing to stop a group of like minded Glasgow citizens taking it upon themselves to print out some cheap leaflets and deliver or hand them out to the public. It’s nothing to do with independence, it’s to do with the shocking corruption within local government.
I agree with tartanfever that there is nothing wrong in pointing out obvious exaggerations, misinformation, lies etc. Doing nothing is no longer an option.
What should be done about the outrageous comments during the last two day’s “debate” in Westminster? With only a handful of exceptions, the opportunity was taken to denigrate Scotland and the Scots. Usually the most offensive coming from Scotland’s “own”. A depressing thought that there remains many people in Scotland who support and vote for these people.
This particular story does seem to be covered by the Daily Record, who, to be fair, quite often cover council misdemeanours!
Labour and their “friends” disgust me. I lived in Dalmarnock for a time, and despite the horror stories told to me of the area, I found a great many ordinary people just trying to survive, with a fairly good community spirit in some parts.
Glasgow council failed Dalmarnock, and so many other parts of the country. I’m glad that these crooks are being exposed, many more I hope!
And it’s not as if they haven’t availed themselves of the opportunity of foreign travel.
Why are all old Herald stories about politics filed under Sport>SPL>Aberdeen?
Why are all old Herald stories about politics filed under Sport>SPL>Aberdeen?
Possibly because Pittodrie means ‘pile of dung’ in Gaelic.
There is quite a tangled web of patronage and nepotism in Glasgow that needs to be exposed.
For example I was reading, without surprise, in Private Eye the other day that Jack McConnell’s wife is on the well-salaried board of one of GCC’s arms length development companies, and of course Johann Lamont’s husband, whatever his name is, is on the Commonwealth Games company board (he is a Councillor). I’m sure he’s highly qualified.
As for the connections between Labour, the BBC, ‘invited experts’ and ‘think tanks’ that is another can o’ worms.
Regarding foreign travel, a while ago I was part of team tendering for some mundane infrastructure work in Dalmarnock (drainage I think it was) and they had all treated themselves to a trip to Stockholm or somewhere to see how sustainable surface water management should be done.
The sooner the stones are turned over to reveal that squirming mass of self-serving criminals, the better.
Talking of “scummy” Labour peeps, bet you wondered what T.Blair was up to?
Seems that Mr Blair is opening up a trading desk at his Mayfair headquarters.
How the other half live!!
http://t.co/aw0rIBTS
If anyone else else is as furious as I am regarding the pay out to Ronnie Saez I would urge them to read, sign and share this petition.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/akkfgt5
Please also consider contacting your regional and constituency MSPs as there is still more that can be done to hold the trustees responsible to account. At the very least they should be removed from the boards of the charitable trusts they currently sit on.