An analysis, of the outcome of the 2014 independence referendum suggests that Alex Salmond employed the wrong strategy.
He should have insisted that any unitary council area that voted “Yes” to independence would be permitted to leave the UK.
In other words, the secession movement should have been decentralist and piecemeal.
Consider the following:
The referendum question posed to voters was: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
The term “Scotland” was defined to include the existing Scottish territorial and maritime boundaries.
The final vote result was “Yes” at 44.7%, and “No” at 55.3% with 3.6 million votes cast.
As required by the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013, those votes were cast and counted within 32 unitary council areas around Scotland.
With all 32 of 32 council areas declared, the results showed that four council areas (Glasgow, Dundee City, North Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire) voted for independence.
Voter turnout in those three areas ranged from 75% to 88%.
The “No” vote prevailed in eight other council areas with slim majorities that ranged from 51% to 54%.
Voter turnout in those eight areas ranged from 84 per cent. to 89 per cent.
The final vote results revealed the impossibility for “Yes” Scotland to obtain a majority vote for independence from 3.6 million voters spread across all of Scotland, and illustrates why the push should have been for the secession of Scottish cities/territories. A situation that remains unchanged in 2024.
But there is a way to employ progressive secession that ensures success and minimises conflict with the Westminster government. Alba and “Yes” Scotland should adopt a strategy which:
Recognizes the fact that the potential for a “Yes” vote for unitary independence is distributed unevenly across Scotland. A piecemeal strategy renders secession less threatening politically, socially and economically.
Pursuing this strategy at several locations throughout Scotland would render it difficult for the Westminster Government to organise public opinion to oppose popular support for the committed secessionists.
Implementation of “free territories” would be negotiated with the Westminster Government and whilst its right to future taxation and legislation concerning anyone and anything within this territory would be removed it would be assured of its property rights over its buildings, land, etc.
The authorities of the newly formed “free territories” would inform their voters about the economic success histories of small and independent city-states like Hong Kong, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino and others which adopted free-trade policies to thrive.
Summary
De-centralized and localized secession would bring far greater prospects for both political and economic success throughout Scotland, both in the short term and long term.
9 February 2008: Former spy in line for top Scottish Tory job
Former high ranking MI6 intelligence officer, Prof Andrew Fulton. A spy who served behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War is in line to become chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party in a surprise move agreed by David Cameron and Annabel Goldie, the Scottish leader.
Fulton, whose last posting was “head of station” in Washington, has emerged as one of the favourites for the post that fell vacant when Peter Duncan, the former MP for Dumfries, stood down last summer.
The appointment of the former intelligence officer, will be seen as an attempt by senior Tories to inject fresh blood and new thinking into the Scottish party, which has struggled to recover from its 1997 wipe-out when it lost all its Scottish MPs.
Last year, he became the first high-profile former spy to join a listed British company when he was appointed as an adviser to the Armor Group, a firm that provides security services to national governments and large corporations. Its non-executive chairman is the Tory grandee Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
He was unmasked as a former spy in 2000 when he was forced to step down as a member of the Lockerbie Trial Briefing Unit which provided media briefings on the trial in Holland of the two Libyans accused of the Lockerbie bombing. His cover was blown soon after he was included in a list of 116 MI6 officers published on the internet by a disaffected agent in 1999. The revelation raised concerns that he may have been in a position to influence the way the Lockerbie trial was being reported to ensure the minimum of criticism of the British and American intelligence services.
In his MI6 days, Fulton reportedly had been posted in East Berlin, Saigon, and New York. He had served as “head of station” in Washington, D.C., and at the peak of his career he was the sixth-most powerful official in the organization. In 1992, Fulton became the security officer who headed up European operations: “He was one of the MI6 chiefs handed the plans to kill Serb President Slobodan Milosevic.”
After-note: In 2008 the growth in nationalist support in Scotland alarmed the US and Westminster. The Labour Party was in meltdown and it was entirely possible an SNP government would be in place in 2009.
This would bring with it calls for Scottish independence and a referendum. There were also on-going problems within the Scottish Tory Party, which had suffered yet another bad election defeat.
Voices within the Party in Scotland had begun to raise the spectre of a split from Westminster control so that the Party in Scotland would be able to decide upon policy. A strategy, designed to deal with the potential problems would need to be put in place.
Fulton was identified as the most effective “agent for change” available and it was agreed he would apply himself and his extensive resources to the tasks of completing a root and branch reorganisation of the party in Scotland, removing any person, (no matter how senior) who did not fully commit to Westminster Party ideals.
He would also design a long term strategy undermining the SNP government ensuring any referendum for independence would fail. It was believed that the SNP would fall apart in the aftermath of a failure to gain independence.
About Andrew Fulton
Born in Glasgow in 1944, Andrew Fulton grew up on the Isle of Bute and attended Rothesay Academy Rothesay. He went on to study Law at the Glasgow University, graduating MA, LLB (1962–1967).
Employment history:
Diplomat: HM Diplomatic Service: (MI6) July 1968 – January 1999 (30 years 7 months): postings in Saigon, Rome, East Berlin, Oslo, the United Nations in New York and finally Washington DC.
President, (Founding Chairman): Scottish North American Business Council, (part of the British American Business network): January 1999 – Present (17 years 4 months)
Chairman: Global Scot World Wide Network (GPW): January 2001 – Present (16 years 4 months): global leaders in business intelligence, corporate investigations, dispute resolution, support and political risk management.
Senior Non Executive Director, IndigoVision: January 2011 – Present (5 years 4 months): United Kingdom based company engaged in the design, development, manufacture and sale of networked video security systems. The Company’s segments include Europe, the Middle East and Africa; North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Its cameras, encoders, network video recorders and software are designed both internally and with technology partners and manufactured in Asia and Europe. The Company’s end to end Internet protocol (IP) video security systems allow full motion video to be transmitted around the world, in real time, with digital quality and security, over local or other area networks, wireless links or the Internet, using market compression technology to minimize the usage of network bandwidth.
Senior adviser (All-Party Parliamentary MENA* Group at Westminster): 2013 – Present: *The term MENA is an English-language acronym referring to an extensive region, extending from Morocco to Iran, including all Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries.
There is of course a very long history of ‘ex’ (but are they really ever, ‘ex’?) intelligence officers and associated assets moving into overt, democratic politics. Apart from Paddy Ashdown, it also has been alleged that Andrew Fulton, Margaret (‘Meta’) Ramsey and Pauline Neville-Jones were SIS officers, to name but three of the more prominent contemporary figures who hold or have held key positions of influence/ gate-keeping in major political parties and national institutions (eg. the BBC).
24 June 2009: Is Andrew Fulton, Tory Chairman still an MI6 Spy or Asset?
Let’s remember the Tories, in particular MI6 Station Chief, currently Chairman of the Tories in Scotland, Andrew Fulton. Fulton is also involved in the Scottish North American Business Council and listed as an advisor to various organisations involved in intelligence matters.
Fulton was placed in the Glasgow University Lockerbie Briefing Unit until his cover was blown. His title of Visiting Professor was allowed to be given to him by then Glasgow University Principal Graeme Davis, Davis was also a member of the Scottish North American Business Council (SNABC).*
The unusual thing about Fulton’s Professorship was that he had never worked in the legal profession in any capacity, had never taught classes and did no research at Glasgow University. So how was he suitable to be a Visiting Professor of Law? It is probable that Graham Davis permitted MI6 to plant Fulton in the Media unit.
The American ambassador Philip Lader was also a member of the (SNABC) at the same time. So this may have been used as a front organisation to allow Fulton and Lader to meet without drawing attention to them and talk about Lockerbie and how to handle the press to steer them away from the Americans.
http://glasgowunihumanrights.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/is-andrew-fulton-tory-chairman-still.html * The (SNABC) is a little known but well connected Atlanticist body aimed at fostering closer relations between business in Scotland and the US. It is the Scottish chapter of the British-American Business Council. It has interesting intelligence connections. The current Chairman is former MI6 man Andrew Fulton, who was exposed as having been a former MI6 agent whilst working inside Glasgow University based Lockerbie Commission. The former US ambassador to the UK Philip Lader (also chair of the board of spin conglomerate WPP) is also on board. The Council retains Media House International for PR and its executive chairman Jack Irvine is a former board member.
This Involved the theft of US$ 230 million from the Russian Treasury and is one of the largest tax fraud cases in Putin’s Russia. The crime was uncovered in 2007 by Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was working for Hermitage Capital Management, then the biggest foreign investor in Russia.
Magnitsky was arrested by the same police officers whom he accused of covering up the fraud. He was thrown into jail, where he died of mistreatment and inadequate medical care. Despite his death, the government of Russia continued to prosecute him.
2012: The United States passed legislation named for the dead tax attorney that cited the “Magnitsky List” of implicated Russian state officials.
Until the Ukraine and Syria crises, even during the so-called reset period, the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act constituted the Putin government’s single biggest grievance with Washington.
More diplomatic energy was spent by Moscow on efforts to block or penalize passage of the bill than on any other part of bilateral relations with the United States. Russia, for instance, passed its own “counter-Magnitsky” suite of sanctions on U.S. officials. But the core of the Putin strategy was to shift the blame completely. The Kremlin accused Browder of orchestrating both the tax fraud and Magnitsky’s murder.
In “The Browder Effect” film, Browder is depicted as no longer just a cynical accomplice to a crime against the Russian people, but now a shadowy agent of Cold War-style intrigue, and it would seem to be the CIA, rather than Russian authorities, that somehow denied Magnitsky life-saving medical treatment in prison.
Of course, this stands in marked contrast to what Russia’s own Presidential Council on Human Rights concluded. But the Rossiya-1 documentary is not bothered by such details. The human-rights group wrote that Magnitsky’s “requests for the routine physician’s visit were denied; medications delivered by Magnitsky’s mother were not accepted or even sent to another cell. These and many other facts discovered by the public inquiry suggest not only the negligence of medical personnel of the Butyrka prison, but criminal failure to provide aid to the detainee, i.e., violation of the right to life.”
The film also contained the accusation that, Browder, codenamed “Solomon,” had been working for MI6 since 1995.
In 2006, he supposedly recruited Navalny, codenamed “Freedom,” and proceeded to disburse upwards of $1.5 million to him.
With that slush fund, Navalny was supposed to engage in minority shareholder activism to expose graft in state-owned companies such as the energy giant Gazprom.
Navalny was also supposed to focus on Russian officials, such as General Prosecutor Yuri Chaika.
Towards this, Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation had suggested, in a “YouTube” video exposé that went viral that the General Prosecutor had accumulated a vast family fortune.
William Browder (CEO Hermitage Hedge Fund Capital)
5 January 2016: He once was a leading spymaster in MI6, Britain’s foreign intelligence service. But Andrew Fulton has new clients.
He Works for Team Putin and a Mobbed-Up Russian Lawyer
A Russian prime time news programme presented by the senior journalist of Russia’s informational broadcasting resources, Dmitry Kiselyov, showed excerpts from a documentary film about Alexey Navalny and his mentor, or handler, William F. Browder:
The film, entitled “The Browder Effect,” was assembled by the channel’s investigative reporter and presenter in his own right, Yevgeni Popov.
The full version of “The Browder Effect” was aired on Russia’s flagship network, Pervyi Kanal. It was sensational material .
It claimed that William Browder, (the CEO of Hermitage Hedge Fund) had been recruited by MI6 in 1995. His long-term mission was to destabilize the Russian government.
Navalny came to the attention of MI6 because Browder determined he was “the most suitable candidate for future political leader” given his creativity, new media mastery and speaking skills on politics, law and economics. Navalny was subsequently recruited to MI6 in 2006.
Alexey Navalny (elected, Russian Progress Party Chairman)
That’s where Fulton comes on stage:
In the film “The Browder Effect” the key source lending ostensible credibility to the allegations is named as Andrew Fulton, a former high-ranking MI6 spy once implicated in a plot to assassinate Slobodan Milosevic.
His opinion was presented on air as that of an independent analyst who verified the authenticity of these dubious documents.
In fact, email correspondence leaked online and independently verified, shows that Fulton had been working as a private investigator for Andrey Pavlov, the lawyer for the alleged Russian mafia types accused of committing the crimes the television channel is trying to pin on U.S. and British intelligence.
“So that you understand,” Sokolov says about an hour into a panel discussion following the showing of “The Browder Effect” documentary, “We have a forensic study… that was performed for me by an agency headed by Andrew Fulton.
He is a well-known British specialist who for a long time headed the analytical department of MI6. This person, more professionally than you or me, knows how documents are written. I have a written study report signed personally by him that the documents are authentic.” Fulton currently chairs GPW & Co., a private investigations firm based in London.
Unmentioned by Sokolov or any other media outlets covering The Browder Effect is the fact that GPW & Co. also has been subcontracted by the American white-shoe law firm Debevoise & Plimpton on behalf of its client Andrey Pavlov.
Pavlov is none other than the lawyer of the Klyuev Group. He has spent a small fortune in the United Kingdom waging a PR counter offensive against accusations made by Browder against him, mainly to keep his name off any impending Magnitsky legislation in Europe.
So far, he’s had little success: a non-binding European parliamentary resolution, urging the EU’s Council of Minister—the policy-making body in Brussels—to sanction Klyuev Group members including Pavlov, was passed in April 2014.
Email correspondence between Pavlov and Debevoise, which was leaked on the Internet, contains a “letter of engagement” between GPW and the London office of the U.S. law firm.
It is dated Sept. 26, 2014, and signed by Andrew Wordsworth, a founding partner of GPW. “We will need to conduct an in-depth investigation of the schemes, the legal proceedings surrounding [the allegations made against Pavlov] and the involvement and make-up of the so-called ‘Klyuev Organised Criminal Group,’ of which your client is accused of being a part,” Wordsworth writes.
He further explains that he will oversee the Pavlov investigation while also drawing on “the experience of my Partners and Chairman Andrew Fulton.”
To date, Fulton has not publicly acknowledged any role whatsoever in vetting or confirming Sokolov’s documents, nor has Fulton made it clear whether this was in conjunction with his compensated work on behalf of Pavlov.
When reached for comment he replied “Thank you very much for your questions. It is not our policy to comment on speculation regarding the identity of our clients, or our projects. I’m sorry not to be more helpful.”
Nicola Sturgeon and Claire Mitchell established a friendship while studying law at the University of Glasgow School of Law. Both successfully graduated and went on to gainful employment in the legal field. Sturgeon’s career was not successful and she abandoned the profession taking up politics with the SNP.
Mitchell found it hard to gain an opening but persevered and triumphed over adversity when she was appointed a King’s Counsel. She has been instructed in many first-instance trials over the past 10 years and has a particular interest in health and safety cases. She has built up a strong Appeal Court practice, with an emphasis on constitutional, human rights and sentencing questions. She has attended the Privy Council and Supreme Court on several occasions about cases of general public importance to the law of Scotland. At the 2013 Law Awards of Scotland, she received a “Special Recognition Award” for her contribution to legal thinking over the past decade.
27 Nov 2023: Witches of Scotland Legislation Put on Hold
The witch-hunting craze in Scotland, fueled by the 1563 act, peaked in 1590 and saw approximately 4,000 Scots, mainly women, accused of conspiring with the “Devil.” and being tortured and executed. Various factors, including the widespread use of judicial torture, contributed to the witch hunts, which finally came to an end in 1736 with the repeal of the Witchcraft Act.
SNP MSP Natalie Don, introduced a private member’s bill in 2022 aimed at pardoning all individuals convicted under the Witchcraft Act 1563 and had the support of feminist groups and the Scottish government.
Following Don’s appointment as minister for children in Humza Yousaf’s administration, and voter concerns about different priorities and taxpayer expenditure the bill quietly fell and the Scottish government, indicated no plans to legislate. Supporters of the bill would need to be satisfied with Sturgeon’s apology to the women accused of witchcraft, acknowledging the historic injustice driven by misogyny.
The Scottish Women’s Rights Centre emphasized the importance of public understanding to combat present-day misogyny and applauded the symbolic act of pardon.
Claire Mitchell KC leader of the Witches of Scotland campaign, which received cross-party support for the legislation, is actively seeking a new sponsor for the bill.
The UK Supreme Court and Indyref2 – UK – V- Scottish Government
The dispute settled on a case that could allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for another independence referendum. UK law officers argued that the constitution was reserved for Westminster. The Scottish Government argued that the referendum would be “advisory” and have no legal effect on the union.
In seeking to refer the question of the Scottish Parliament’s competence to hold a referendum to the Supreme Court, the Scottish Government’s Lord Advocate advanced arguments both for and against. But her submission omitted the most powerful and most obvious arguments.
The SNP had to intervene and supplement Bain’s pathetic unionist-biased drivel with a proper brief. Quoting a rule of the court, which states that “any official body or non-governmental organisation seeking to make submissions in the public interest” may apply to intervene the SNP, presented its case to the court through Claire Mitchell KC who argued that – as a public body – it would be “fair, just and reasonable” for the SNP to make arguments to the Court. Her submission raised genuine, powerful and internationally accepted legal arguments which Bain had omitted, including the party’s past manifesto commitments, which were made before the elections which it won. It also argued the right to self-determination was “fundamental and inalienable”.
“The right to self-determination emerges again in Bain’s conclusion. Here she makes her view crystal clear, that self-determination is part of the “political context” and not a legal matter, it has no legal effect.”
This explains why Bain nowhere mentions self-determination as a legal argument justifying Scotland’s right to hold a referendum.
An explanation: The Independence of a country is not a matter of domestic law it is a matter of international law. The right of the Scottish Parliament to declare Independence may not be restricted by UK domestic law or by purported limitations on the powers of the Scottish Parliament. The legal position is set out very clearly here:
5.5 Consistent with this general approach, international law has not treated the legality of the act of secession under the internal law of the predecessor State as determining the effect of that act on the international plane. In most cases of secession, of course, the predecessor State”s law will not have been complied with: that is true almost as a matter of definition.
5.6 Nor is compliance with the law of the predecessor State a condition for the declaration of independence to be recognised by third States if other conditions for recognition are fulfilled. The conditions do not include compliance with the internal legal requirements of the predecessor State. Otherwise, the international legality of secession would be predetermined by the very system of internal law called into question by the circumstances in which the secession is occurring.
5.7 For the same reason, the constitutional authority of the seceding entity to proclaim independence within the predecessor State is not determined as a matter of international law. In most cases, provincial or regional authorities will lack the constitutional authority to secede. The act of secession is not thereby excluded. Moreover, representative institutions may legitimately act, and seek to reflect the views of their constituents, beyond the scope of already conferred power.
That is a commendably concise and accurate description of the legal position. Of major relevance, it is the legal opinion of the Government of the United Kingdom, as submitted to the International Court of Justice in the Kosovo case. The International Court of Justice endorsed this view, so it is both established law and follows from the stated legal opinion of the British Government that the Scottish Government has the right to declare Independence without the agreement or permission of London and completely irrespective of the London Supreme Court.
The SNP brief argues as Bain failed to argue, that:
“The right to self-determination is a fundamental and inalienable right, among the most fundamental of all rights.”
The SNP brief used many of the same sources in its argument – the UN judgement, the UK submission to the International Court of Justice on Kosovo, and the Supreme Court of Canada on Quebec – that Craig used in his article and has been using to argue the case for the last ten years.
The SNP brief and Claire Mitchell KC did not use the same arguments and even the same sources that Craig used because they were following him, or because he is especially brilliant. The fact is that any experienced diplomat and any public international lawyer would be expected to know exactly the law, arguments and cases which apply.
What Claire Mitchell KC produced for the SNP is precisely what any decent lawyer or any good diplomat would produce to support the case for Scotland’s self-determination.
So why did Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain fail to produce it? Well, there are several possibilities. Dorothy Bain could be a truly, spectacularly, ignorant, stupid and incompetent lawyer. Or, she could have been cleverly and deliberately failing the Scottish Government on whose behalf she was supposed to be acting, which would be an act of dreadful professional wrongdoing. Or she could have been asked by Sturgeon to present a case to the Supreme Court that was sure to fail.
Questions arise. Namely:
The Lord Advocate is a ministerial position in Scotland which makes it a political appointment. Why did Nicola Sturgeon appoint the unionist Dorothy Bain to the position?
At the time of her appointment last year, it was already known that the certification of the Referendum Bill as legal would be a crucial task for the new Lord Advocate.
Nicola Sturgeon’s failure to appoint a nationalist-leaning person provides evidence that she was much more interested in identity politics than in Independence.
Bain’s mission is to guide the justice system through the under noted changes all of which are the highest priority on Sturgeon’s agenda:
1) Abolition of jury trials in sex assault cases 2) Establishment of misogyny as a hate crime and prosecution of sexist speech as a criminal offence 3) Reform of the Gender Recognition Act 4) Abolition of “Not proven” verdict and conforming Scottish system to the English model 5) Continued clampdown prosecutions on “extremist” independence supporters and republicans, using a breach of the peace, harassment, threatening communication, contempt etc etc.
The second question is how it happened that the SNP came to decide to put in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court to try to make up for Bain’s glaring omissions. Here there are reasons to be a little hopeful. Some worms are finally turning. Senior lawyers in the SNP were outraged at Bain’s fake attempt, and there was a near-open revolt among some Westminster MPs. At least 20 were outraged.
It is possibly not chance that the only senior SNP figure who put out the SNP’s brief to the public was Joanna Cherry. It is still her pinned tweet. This revolt caused angst in Casa Murrell. For once Sturgeon was forced to give some ground.
The compromise agreed upon was that Sturgeon accepted that the SNP could submit a brief arguing for the universal right of self-determination, but Sturgeon only agreed on the condition that it was made explicit the SNP was not arguing that Scotland could secede without Westminster’s permission. The SNP brief therefore contained this disclaimer:
2.3. The Intervener emphasises that it is not advocating for a direct exercise or implementation of the right to self-determination in these proceedings.
Notes the “emphasises”. This is daft because it contradicts the entire meaning of the Kosovo and Chagos judgments which it goes on to quote. Nicola Sturgeon’s position remains however that Scotland can only become independent with Westminster agreement.
Sturgeon’s representative on earth is her election agent, constituency minder and long-term confidante Mhairi Hunter who recently spelt the position out very clearly indeed:
This gives an absolute and unequivocal veto to Westminster on Scottish independence and reveals Sturgeon’s “plebiscitary election” as a total fraud.
It explains why Bain submitted her reference to the Supreme Court dismissing Scotland’s international right to self-determination as of no legal force, and why the SNP brief undermines all the sources it quotes by stating it is not making a case for the right to implement self-determination.
The British Establishment will never willingly surrender Scotland’s massive resources. Those who believe Westminster should have a veto, are against Independence, whatever lies they spout.
Scottish COVID Inquiry
A statutory inquiry chaired by Lord Brailsford is investigating the devolved Scottish government’s strategic response to the pandemic.
The Scottish Covid Bereaved (SCB) group, is represented by lead solicitors Aamer Anwar and Dr Claire Mitchell KC who attend all evidence sessions and actively participate in proceedings asking questions, and raising matters directly related to their remit.
One such question was asked of Humza Yousaf by Claire Mitchell KC, who referred to a document which highlighted excessive care home transmission during the pandemic and asked him to identify when he knew a symptomatic transfer of COVID was possible.
Answering Yousaf said it was known as a possibility early on from international academic journals and he believed that testing of those going from hospital into care homes should have started earlier. A damming admission which might yet lead to criminal charges of corporate manslaughter.
Was first registered on 23 August 2012 by its sole director Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp. It was registered as a private, limited by guarantee, company, with no shareholdings.
It spent £143,027 campaigning at the independence referendum making it the largest spender of all the registered participant groups.
After the referendum, it was revealed that Business for Scotland received a £100,000 donation from Stagecoach founder Brain Souter.
Many people in Scotland believed that the “Business for Scotland ” group was an independent politically neutral organisation and could be trusted to publish unbiased articles. However, it was exposed by the media as a propaganda front for the SNP.
Gordon McIntyre Kemp, its chief executive and founder with a background in marketing was gifted with the ability to sell ice cream to the Eskimos, the hard sell, an ideal person to front the SNP campaign.
But he failed to inspire success and the SNP lost the 2014 independence referendum. (Intelligise Limited), his registered business was wound up in February 2016 when it became insolvent with net assets under £600 and liabilities well in excess of that figure.
The Herald commented: Gordon Macintyre-Kemp, who still calls himself @theintelligiser on Twitter, told The Herald:
“I decided to change my career from running Intelligise to becoming a full-time campaigner for independence, and as a direct result of that the business did not carry on. Asked if the Intelligise losses undermined his credibility to speak for business, he said: No. Had I not switched to Business for Scotland, I don’t believe there would have been any issues. I would probably still be running Intelligise, and it would still be trading just now. If I were to look at how much I lost, in terms of moving from being a consultant to running this, then it would be a significant amount of money, but I don’t regret it one little bit. We continue to be an influential and important business network and a key participant in the “Business for Scotland Indyref2 Crowdfunder campaign for a second referendum.
Afternote: The crowdfunding raised approximately £16000 but there was no second referendum. What happened to the finance collected for the specific purpose of a second Independence referendum?
Claims of impartiality and independence from other campaigning groups is nonsense – The SNP ran the show – A few members and their fate
Ian Blackford: became an MP in the 2015 GE, (http://ianblackford.com). He was criticised in the media after it emerged his financial Interests outside Westminster showed the then SNP Westminster leader received £270,735 from outside earnings since he was elected to Westminster.
Richard Arkless: became an MP in the 2015 GE. He lost his seat in the 2017 GE to Alistair Jack and failed to be elected, again running and failing against Jack in 2019. He then retired from politics. Of note was his action adding his wife, who was at the time a full-time director of a warehousing company, to the Westminster payroll as his Office assistant. Busy lady.
Ivan McKee: who was a senior post holder became an MSP in the Holyrood elections in May 2016.
Millionaire Tony Banks: who was a senior post holder, is chairman and founder of Balhousie Care Group, Scotland’s largest private residential care home provider.
What happened next?
Kemp, founded a new independence campaign group “Believe in Scotland” (BiS), and with the backing of the SNP Party and Government expanded its reach by recruiting SNP branch members and many LGBTQ activists.
Group executives arrange campaigns and public rallies on dates conflicting with arrangements put in place beforehand by other longer-established independence campaigning groups which weakens the efforts of all since division fosters failure. More on Kemp’s new group in my next blog.
A bit off-topic but the address of the Scottish Labour Party (Sycamore House, 290 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JR) is also where Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp’s Believe in Scotland, Business for Scotland and several others are registered
Scotland in Union is a private limited company registered office address 272 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4JR. It is valued at around £ 1.5 million and is reputedly heavily financed by wealthy Unionist supporters based in England.
Current Directors: CAMERON, Alastair James: b1970. From 28 Nov 2014. Management Consultant CANNELL, Sheila Elizabeth: b1951. From 20 Jul 2015. Librarian, Edinburgh University. Retired FORD, Carole Louise: July 1953. From 20 Jan 2020. Retired HARKNESS, Patrick, Dr: 1980. From 27 Sep 2016. Ulster born: Lecturer. Glasgow University MCNEILL, James Walker: b1952. From 22 Mar 2023. Retired BAXTER, Johanna: b1979. From 21 Apr 2020. Nominated as Labour’s candidate for Paisley and Renfrewshire South. She is a member of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) and served as NEC chair from 2022 to 2023. She also sits on Labour’s Scottish executive committee. She serves as UNISON Scotland’s head of local government.
Former Directors: KANE, Felicity: From 28 Nov 2014 to 13 Jan 2015. Accountant PEARSON, Graeme James: From 14 Aug 2017 to 17 Jun 2019. Retired SANDS, David: From 3 Dec 2019 to 15 Dec 2022. Entrepreneur SKINNER, Andrew: From 28 Nov 2014 to 14 Jan 2015. Student? YOUNG, Jennifer: From 7 Jul 2015 to 6 Nov 2017. Freelance Writer
Mary’s civil service career began in 1993 when she joined the then-Scottish Office. has developed across a range of areas. Her first post was in health where she was involved in the market reforms of the early 1990s moving thereafter to food safety and the creation of the Food Standards Agency.
Since the 1998 Scotland Act and Devolution Mary has worked in rural affairs (including the 2001 Foot and Mouth Outbreak), business and economic development, public service reform, fisheries management, HR and organisational development as well as the Principal Private Secretary to the the First Minister. Her annual salary is around £120,000.
She is married to SNP activist, Biggar resident and retired policeman, Ian McAllan. They have three daughters: Mairi: An excellent Scottish songstress. A Cabinet member of the SNP Scottish Government. Kathryn: Recently completed her MA (Hons) in Fine Art at Edinburgh University. A gifted artist she was selected by the Federation of British Artists (FBA) to exhibit her work at the Mall Galleries, London. Eilidh: Talented photographer. She is attending Glasgow University.
After retiring from the police force Ian worked for Clydesdale MSP, Aileen Campbell who was to become involved in a resignation controversy when the MSP and cabinet minister took a new post as Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Women’s Football in July 2021 and received a £75,000 “golden goodbye” from her MSP role to help adjust to life after politics despite already lining up a new job while still in government. She was also paid a resettlement grant of £64,470 after quitting as an MSP, plus £12,112 for the loss of her ministerial office.
Ian was appointed Provost of South Lanarkshire Council SNP-led administration, shortly after his election as a councillor in 2017. In 2022, despite having again been returned as the largest party, the outgoing SNP administration was replaced by a coalition of Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent councillors, with Conservative support. Outgoing Provost Ian McAllan stood down but retained his Councillor post.
The estimated gross annual expenditure charged to the Scottish taxpayer for supporting the McAllans is between £450,000 – £500,000.
The many roles of Senior Civil Servant Mary McAllan
Glasgow Community Planning Partners Group – Mary McAllan – SG
Partners in Glasgow have a shared responsibility to deliver on the Single Outcome Agreement. Partners aim to improve outcomes by focusing on prevention, better targeting of resources, and joint working
Public Service Reform Directorate – Mary McAllan – SG.
Responsible for Covid Recovery Strategy development and implementation, alongside public service reform.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Learning and Evaluation Oversight Group – Mary McAllan SG. (Closed).
The overarching aim of the group is to bring together evidence to inform Scotland’s recovery from COVID-19. The group will run for two years and includes a mix of internal and external members.
Scottish Health and Industry Partnership Group (SHIP) – Mary McAllan SG. (Closed)
Strengthening Scotland’s innovation activities in health and social care to solve real problems and improve the quality, efficiency and sustainability of healthcare.
26 Dec 2023: Ferries ‘failure’ as compensation pay outs increase to more than £450,000
Under the operator’s passenger rights commitment, CalMac can reimburse food costs, provide overnight accommodation, cover mileage if passengers have to travel to arrive at another port or provide compensation for a delay or cancellation relating to a technical fault. Ferry compensation pay outs have increased almost eightfold in the past six years. Government-owned CalMac paid out £454,165 in 2022-23. The figure has increased from £57,822 – almost eight times less – since 2017-18.
Islands spokeswoman Rhoda Grant said: “Islanders are being failed by the SNP and taxpayers are footing the bill. “Years of failed planning and disastrous delays under the SNP has left us with a ferry fleet too old to function – and now islanders are stuck with chaos, cancellations and delays while taxpayers foot the bill. The SNP has no answers to the immediate crisis and no long-term plan to fix this shambles. We need urgent action to get services up and running again, and a national ferry building programme to support Scotland’s shipbuilding industry and deliver the ferries we need.”
The Lochaber Debacle – Correspondence regarding Mary McAllan the Director of Economic Development.
Information requested: Correspondence, including emails, letters, text messages, WhatsApp messages and internal memos sent or received or included via ‘cc’ing’ Mary McAllan, Director of Economic Development to or from Deloitte or employees of Deloitte and GFG Alliance or its subsidiaries.
The value of Scottish taxpayers’ guarantee to metal magnate Gupta is £586 million
The F.T. reported the Scottish Government provided a guarantee of £586 million to Sanjeev Gupta’s company GFG Alliance as part of the company’s purchase of the Lochaber smelter.
The figure was made public for the first time after a two-year transparency battle.
The Scottish Government now estimates the net present value of the remaining guaranteed payments at £285.9m.
The revelation comes after ministers were slapped on the wrist for withholding the information from the public, with opposition leaders labelling it a “dodgy deal” and claiming the SNP was “desperate to avoid scrutiny”.
Concerns over the deal were raised after meetings between then-rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing and GFG Alliance figures came to light.
The agreement saw the Scottish Government guarantee 25 years of power purchases by Mr Gupta’s company from another business owned by his father, with the guarantee funding the purchase of the aluminium smelter.
The guarantee allowed Greensill Capital to transform the guarantee into nearly £300m of debt with a credit rating equivalent to UK sovereign bonds to be created, funding the purchase.
The deal with the Scottish Government was provided when the smelter in Lochaber was purchased by GFG Alliance alongside two hydropower plants from Rio Tinto in 2016.
GFG Alliance also promised the construction of an alloy wheels factory near the smelter, which was scrapped last year in favour of a £94m recycled aluminium factory, which could have created 2,000 jobs. Earlier this year the government admitted just 50 additional jobs had been created by the deal.
Gupta’s company hit financial difficulty earlier this year due to the collapse of Greensill Capital, which was partially blamed as Gupta’s company began to default on the more than $5bn (£3.7bn) of debt GFG Alliance had borrowed from Greensill.
The guarantee was reportedly provided, covering annual amounts between £14m and £32m, in return for a fee initially valued at £21.4m, but later written down to zero with a £33m provision due to the potential exposure of the deal.
GFG Alliance said: “The Lochaber aluminium smelter is a profitable operation, and GFG Alliance’s commitment to invest in a new recycling and aluminium billet plant there will secure the future of the operations, create new high-quality employment in the area and provide opportunities for the local supply chain.”
Ministers were also criticised by Scotland’s information watchdog for failing to release the total value of the deal after they claimed their commercial interests would be harmed by its release.
In a decision notice published in mid-October, Scottish Information Commissioner Daren Fitzhenry criticised the use of commercial interest as a defence, saying it was unlikely the release of the information would prejudice the negotiation of future guarantees. He said:
“The ministers do not, in general, operate in a commercial environment and the commissioner does not consider them to be doing so simply because they are providing funding to, or guaranteeing the liabilities of, business.
“They do not undertake such activities as participants in the market with the businesses concerned, in pursuit of profit, but rather to promote the economic and social well-being of the country, or parts of it, in furtherance of the wider public good.”
“Nothing in the submissions offered here persuades the commissioner that the ministers’ interests should be regarded as especially ‘commercial’ here.
“There might be prejudice to the public purse if the guarantee were to be called up, and disclosure might (although the commissioner considers this less likely) prejudice the negotiation of future guarantees, but neither of these considerations suggests an interest that should properly be considered commercial (as opposed to more widely economic, or social).”.
A summary of an August 2017 meeting between First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Ewing, and Mary McAllan, the government’s director of economic development, warned the government had “reached the very limits of what was possible”.
The briefing also noted “the potential to be overexposed to one company – a company that we know is on an aggressive expansion drive elsewhere”.
Lobbying records also show Mr Ewing and representatives from GFG Alliance discussed the possibility of upsizing the projected output of GFG’s never-to-be-built alloy wheel factory from two million wheels a year to three million at a dinner in March 2018.
Data Delivery Group (DDG) – Mary McAllan – Director of Business – SG. (Closed)
Oversee the development, evolution and delivery of a high-level delivery plan for our data vision for Scotland that reflects the work being taken forward by partners across the country.
Care and Wellbeing Portfolio Board-Mary McAllan – Covid Recovery Strategy – SG.
Provide oversight and strategic direction to the delivery of the Care and Wellbeing Portfolio. lead the initiation, mobilisation and delivery of the SG’s ambitious Portfolio of Health and Social Care reform.
Open Government Partnership Steering Group (OGPSG) – Mary McAllan SG.
The Partnership brings together governments and civil society organisations as partners at both the national and international levels. The steering group provides governance and a mechanism for ongoing dialogue and collaboration between civil society and government representatives.
European Structural and Investment Funds – Programme Monitoring Committee (PMC) -Mary McAllan – SG. (Closed)
Responsible for ensuring EU-funded activity contributed to equality and sustainability and recommended changes to Operational Programmes where required.
Ocean Energy Forum – Finance Committee – Mary McAllan – SG.
Responsible for The Crown Estate’s Ocean Energy portfolio, comprising all the wave and tidal developments in UK waters. Also leads the Energy and Infrastructure portfolio in Scotland.
The Scottish Enterprise Board – Mary McAllan – SG.
Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’s national economic development agency and a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It is tasked to deliver a significant, lasting effect on the Scottish economy, working with partners in the public and private sectors to find and exploit the best opportunities.
The quango increased spending on external business consultants by almost 1000 per cent to £1.7million of taxpayers’ money before running out of funds.
Scottish Enterprise (SE) hiked its outlay on international advisers Deloitte from £151,124 to £1,657,566 between 2018 and last year.
The bill emerged months before its chief executive Steve Dunlop was forced to admit the Scottish Government-funded organisation faced a humiliating financial crisis.
SE, which is supposed to help businesses manage their cashflows, said Deloitte was hired to provide advice on a range of services including “business modelling” and “due diligence reviews”.
The Bank has so far made just a 2% return on the £460 million of taxpayers’ money that it has invested. Given that commercial banks are currently offering savings rates of 5% or more, this means the SNIB would have achieved stronger returns by simply leaving the cash in a bank account.
The Bank has been on a public relations blitz in a bid to repair its image in light of all these failures – a blitz that taxpayers are also paying for. Taxpayers are set to pick up a bill of £360,000 as the Bank seeks to hire a public relations firm “to build the reputation of the Bank” after a year of scrutiny. Whether these efforts will prove to be successful as we head into the New Year is, of course, another question…Another no-mates Sturgeon brainwave and another an abject failure. Needs to be a public enquiry to find out where the money went. (Harry Clynch)
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has criticised the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB) and other Scottish development agencies for “holding back the Scottish economy.”
In a speech in Edinburgh, Brown noted that the multitude of regional development agencies that now operate in Scotland, as well financial institutions such as Scottish Enterprise and the SNIB, are replicating structures that already exist at a UK level. The lack of cooperation between Edinburgh and London could be costing the country up to £4 billion, he claimed.
“It’s no wonder that businesses are confused – if you look at what needs to be done, we need coordination and cooperation, we need it at the regional as well as the national level,” Brown added.
The network of different agencies which all have similar aims “is holding back the Scottish economy, because we don’t have people sitting around the table looking at these same issues in a way that uses funds to best effect.”
Brown’s intervention comes at a time when the SNIB is coming under increased scrutiny in Holyrood over its handling of conflicts of interest and its lack of a legally mandated advisory board. (Harry Clynch)
The cost of running the Scottish Government and its various quangos has increased by 60 per cent in just six years as questions are asked surrounding the value for money.
Scotland’s faceless civil service costs taxpayers £1.6bn, a huge 60 per cent rise in seven years. New figures revealed that the cost to run Scotland’s bloated government rose from an estimated £1.010bn in 2016 to £1.623bn in 2023.
This cost includes the staff salaries from the Scottish Government and the majority of quangos in the country. It includes spin doctors, with Humza Yousaf’s team of press officers reaching a record £3.7m in October last year.
In terms of solely impartial bureaucrats within the SNP/Green executive, the cost has doubled from £126.32m to £270.29m since 2016, and this rose by just over £23m in the last year from £247.27m.
Staffing numbers have soared by almost 70 per cent in the same timeframe, from 5,380 to 9,175. This excludes agencies such as Scottish Enterprise and Transport Scotland.
Over the last year, there has been a 4.75 per cent rise in civil servants employed across quangos (2,475) while the headcount within the Scottish Government increased by 325 (3.67 per cent). This rise was criticised by the TaxPayer’s Alliance who pointed out that publicly-funded jobs should be falling sharply due to the end of Brexit negotiations and the Covid pandemic.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told the Herald: “With the tax burden at near-record levels, Scots are paying through the nose for the boom in public sector employment. What’s more, there is a growing sense that public services in Scotland are worse than before the hiring spree, not better.
“Only once Holyrood is honest about what the state can reasonably be expected to do can we wind down functions and scrap unnecessary jobs.”
The SNP were previously criticised for hiring a growing army of spin doctors with the cost of press officers at Holyrood doubled from £1.8m to £3.7m since the nationalists seized power in 2007.
Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson described this cost as “proof positive that the SNP is more interested in laundering its reputation than delivering for the people of Scotland.”
We previously revealed that the taxpayer forked out more than £12m in three years to pay the wages of highly paid “chief” civil servants. These included the director general of health and social care Caroline Lamb who pocketed £192,500 a year, permanent secretary John-Paul Marks on £167,500 and corporate director general Lesley Fraser who made £127,500.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government continually monitors the cost of its operations through effective vacancy management and recruitment controls. Pay and workforce issues will continue to be linked to both the delivery of the Government’s agenda, fiscal sustainability and reform to secure the delivery of effective public services over the medium term.
“Historically, the growth in Scottish Government workforce numbers reflects factors including the addition of new powers and the need to address external challenges such as EU exit, the Covid pandemic and the Ukraine response. Our approach to public sector pay is fair and progressive with specific controls for higher earners, to help ensure that public sector pay remains affordable and delivers value for money.
“Public bodies are best placed to assess both the opportunities and action that must be taken to ensure fiscal sustainability, with budgetary allocations providing the parameters for this. In doing so, public bodies should prioritise delivering efficiency and managing pay sustainably.”
30 April 2021: Pandemic levels had fallen, and stringent COVID-19 lockdown regulations, first introduced in March 2020, had been eased to “step two” rules. Indoor socialising was still banned, with exceptions for events “reasonably necessary” for work purposes, and where “the gathering is reasonably necessary for campaigning in an election”. The government had also issued guidance, for election campaigning said “You should not meet with other campaigners indoors.” Restaurants were only permitted to serve food outdoors for groups of up to six people or up to two households, and indoor service was not allowed.
30 April 2021: Shortly before the Hartlepool by-election and local elections Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Deputy Leader Angela Rayner together with 15 other Party supporters used the offices of MP Mary Foy for a meeting. Around 10 pm, a passerby filmed a 34-second video through the office window shortly after 10 pm which showed Starmer and some of the group, drinking beer and eating. The video was passed to the “Reclaim” Party leader Laurence Fox who uploaded it to his Twitter account.
1 May 2021: The Sun used a picture from the video, showing Starmer with a beer, in a brief story it put online later that day which included the statement that “people would be asking questions about Starmer’s involvement, and Labour’s rebuttal that it was a permissible work event, and the pictures from the video were out of context.
2 May 2021: the “Sun on Sunday” published the story on page 2 of its print edition, a placement usually used for political stories that are not expected to be widely read and in a further development confirmation of the accuracy of Labour’s rebuttal was provided in documents and a time-stamped video sent to “The Guardian” which showed Starmer actively engaged with other participants, between 10:41 and 11:19 pm discussing and editing a video to be used in an International Workers’ Day message. An aide who had been with Starmer then sent the final edit at 1:56 am, possibly after returning to their hotel. The Sun dropped the story.
January 2022: In his response to Partygate allegations Prime Minister Boris Johnson referred to the Durham event in his less than sincere apology to Parliament for attending a “socially distanced drinks” gathering, saying he had believed it was a work event. Starmer said Johnson had breached the Ministerial Code by misleading Parliament, and asked him to resign. The Tories called Starmer a hypocrite, alleging that he had similarly breached lockdown rules.
7 February 2022: Durham Constabulary cleared Starmer over the allegation saying they had reviewed the video and did not believe an offence had been established, so would take no further action.
12 April 2022: Johnson was given a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for breaching COVID-19 regulations. Starmer again said Johnson should resign. In response, the Tories demanded a formal investigation of the 30 April 2021, events in Durham.
22 April 2022: Tory MP Richard Holden wrote to Durham Constabulary saying “In light of the tests applied by Metropolitan Police for the level of a Covid regulations brief, I believe there is a strong public interest in Durham Constabulary reviewing its decision not to investigate the Starmer incident further.”
27 April 2022: Holden tweeted “Durham Police leave the door open to re-examining as Durham Deputy Chief Constable to ‘make enquiries’ with investigation team against Starmer”, with a copy of the police letter stating “I will make inquiries with the investigation team and will update you at the point at which I have been able to conclude those inquiries.” Labour said Holden had wrongly characterised the letter, the police stated “As a courtesy, we have replied to Mr Holden to confirm we have received that letter and will consider its contents before responding in due course.”
4 May 2022: Starmer was interviewed on Good Morning Britain by Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid. He said: ” a takeaway was ordered, after the participants and myself had finished doing “pieces to camera”, “clearing documents” and “preparing for the next day” of campaigning. Restaurants and pubs were closed, and takeaways were really the only way we could eat. We picked up plates of food from the kitchen got on with the work”. It would be quite wrong to describe anything that happened as socialising. “The Times” reported later that it had been told by Labour sources that Starmer had the beer at 10 pm because of a delay due to the takeaway being delivered an hour late.
5 May 2022: The day of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections, Starmer said he had not had any contact from Durham Constabulary.
6 May 2022: Durham police stated that “following the receipt of significant new information over recent days”, an investigation “into potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations relating to this gathering” was being conducted. Durham police did not indicate how this compared to the stringent thresholds the Met had set for opening investigations into allegations. The Guardian said that “the news is deeply uncomfortable for the Labour Party leader, who had called for Boris Johnson to resign when he was investigated for a breach of the law”. In a media interview, Starmer said, “We were working in the office, we stopped for something to eat. No party, no breach of the rules,” and, “The police have got their job to do, we should let them get on it. But I’m confident that no rules were broken.”
7 May 2022: Diane Abbott, Shadow Home Secretary under the previous Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, expressed her view that Starmer should “consider his position” if he were to receive an FPN from the police, but did not believe that he would get one.
9 May 2022: Starmer announced that he would resign as leader of the opposition if he were to receive an FPN for a breach of COVID-19 regulations. Rayner also said that she would resign if she were to receive an FPN. Starmer stated his intent to demonstrate “different principles to the prime minister” (who had already been given an FPN for a breach at Downing Street), and said, “The idea that I would casually break the rules is wrong. I don’t think those who are accusing me of it believe it themselves … They are trying to say all politicians are the same. If the police decide to issue me with an FPN, I would of course do the right thing and step down, The British public deserve politicians who think the rules apply to them.” Replying to a media question about the possibility that the police might say there could have been a breach of rules but not issue an FPN, he said, “The penalty for a Covid breach is a fixed-penalty notice. That’s a matter of law. And I’ve set out what my position is about that.”
10 May 2022: A Government source suggested Durham Constabulary could be under “undue pressure” to clear Starmer or refrain from fining him noting that the media editorial comment said, “Superficially of course, he appears to be doing the decent thing, though frankly, he didn’t have much choice.” Starmer supporters were of the view that Durham police would be reluctant to give him an FPN because they concluded that in May 2021 Dominic Cummings had committed a minor breach of lockdown rules at Barnard Castle but that no action had been taken against him. The Durham police would be aware of political fallout if they appeared to be treating Starmer more leniently than the Met had treated Johnson. Policing minister Kit Malthouse said Durham police would “operate professionally to the high standards we expect of them, irrespective of any alleged pressure.”
14 May 2022: At a Darlington Borough Council meeting, a Councillor referred to the Metropolitan Police. and said: ” That force has issued more than 100 fines in its investigation into possible lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street and across Whitehall following the “partygate” scandal. Whereas Durham Police previously stated it would not give retrospective fixed penalties for breaching Covid restrictions at the time of Dominic Cummings’ infamous trip to Barnard Castle as it would be unfair to treat him differently. Is it a fixed policy for Durham police that they will not issue retrospective fixed penalties or will they review this, and who will decide this and how will they account for this decision?”
Nigel Bryson, The Deputy police crime commissioner of Durham responded: “I expect the Keir Starmer “beer gate” investigation will lead to discussions over police policy. But it is the Chief Constable’s operational responsibility. I believe the investigation will be reopened based on new evidence relating to a high-profile politician from the Labour Party. We’ll have to wait until they’ve done their investigation. Once the investigation is concluded and the results are public, then it can be an issue of whether we think there was an inconsistency of policy or an inconsistency of approach.”
A second Councillor referred to Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Joy Allen’s known friendship and her membership of the Labour Party and asked how the PCC would hold Chief Constable and the force to account regarding the investigation into Keir Starmer. She said: “My concern is… if you’re of the same party as the person that your force is investigating, you are undoubtedly compromised and cannot be effective in that role and hold the police accountable for their investigation.”
Nigel Bryson responded: “The commissioner cannot direct operations of the police because the Chief Constable is responsible for the operational side of policing and until we get some kind of result we’re not in a position, whoever it is, to be able to pre-judge. If we intervene, that will be seen as political interference with the process. So we have to go through the process and then see what the investigation comes out with. It’s not up to the Commissioner to interfere with the investigation. Whenever the investigation comes out, we will be looking at whether their approach across the board has been consistent, whether there needs to be any change in policy. But we can’t get there until that investigation is completed. I understand what it looks like… but that’s the system. We’re all, I think, waiting for the results of that investigation. And then we’ll see what we need to do.”
31 May 2022: Starmer and Rayner received police questionnaires which they returned to Durham police on 17 June.
17 June 2022: Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has extended Durham Constabulary’s Chief Constable Jo Farrell’s contract by three years. The Chief Constable’s current contract was due to expire on June 9, 2024, but has since been extended until June 9, 2027. Commissioner Joy Allen said: “I extended the contract to ensure continuity of leadership in what is a challenging period for policing. Jo has been an inspirational leader of Durham Constabulary since taking up the role in 2019 during which time the force has faced several challenges, including policing the Pandemic and the changing face of criminality. I’m delighted that she has agreed to this contract extension. It removes uncertainty, brings continuity of leadership in times of challenge and change and enables future planning to be undertaken with confidence. Jo is quite frankly an inspirational Chief Constable, respected throughout the force, my own office, our many partners and indeed across the whole force area. Since my election, she has demonstrated exceptional leadership abilities, evidenced by the positive outcome of the recent inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS); progress of the new investigative hub which will give improved investigative performance and long-term estate resilience, and ongoing practical demonstration of the Force’s values. Her commitment to the delivery of my Police and Crime Plan will bring sustainable benefits to communities across the area, already we are witnessing service improvements and greater visibility. I am delighted that she has agreed to this contract extension which is good news for the entire workforce and the wider community.”
Jo Farrell added: “It is a privilege to serve as Chief Constable of Durham and I would like to thank the PCC for the opportunity to continue the work which we have started and see through those changes which will make County Durham and Darlington a safer place for all.”
When she was promoted to the role of Chief Constable in June 2019, Jo Farrell became the first woman to hold the post in the force’s 180-year history. Within months she was faced with steering the force’s response to the unprecedented challenge of policing the pandemic and protecting the public through the most testing of times.
7 July 2022: Boris Johnson announced his resignation.
8 July 2022: Starmer and Rayner were cleared. Durham Police issued a statement: “Following the emergence of significant new information, an investigation was launched by Durham constabulary into a gathering at the Miners’ Hall, in Redhills, Durham on 30 April 2021. That investigation has now concluded and all attendees to the meeting have been cleared of any wrongdoing. The finding was that: ” due to the application of an approved exception, the meeting was considered to be categorised as reasonably necessary work.”
8 July 2022: Concerns surface that Starmer’s connections to Labour’s Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham influenced the decision not to issue an FPN.
13 July 2022: Skwawkbox’s questions to Durham police go unanswered after sources close to the matter provide new information
Keir Starmer and his supporters have used the decision of Durham Constabulary not to fine him over his ‘beergate’ gathering to claim that there was never any question that he had done anything illegal – and his allies have attacked reports on Skwawkbox and in other media that he had received a fine. However, information provided by sources close to events in Durham indicates that the police investigators recommended fines for Starmer’s ‘dinner’, as his agenda for the day described it – but that fines were withdrawn after the force’s leadership was pressured. Skwawkbox reported last week that Starmer had received a fine and that the Labour leader had twice failed to deny that one had been issued. According to sources in Durham, the force’s investigation concluded that the law had been broken and that fixed penalty notices should be handed out. However, senior figures then withdrew the fines.
Skwawkbox sent the following questions to Durham Constabulary’s press office:
Who was the investigating officer? The investigation report recommended fines, according to sources – who made the decision not to impose them? Why is the force insisting on an FOI request to release the investigation report, rather than release it on request for transparency? The Met handles all issues relating to the ‘work’ of the opposition leader. Why did Durham retain this decision if it didn’t think it was a social event? Starmer’s own office’s agenda for the day included ‘dinner’ in Durham, not a working snack. Why was this disregarded? Why wasn’t the CPS brought in to decide when the Durham force accepted the event was a breach, before applying an exemption? Who made the decision not to involve the CPS? Were any face-to-face interviews conducted? Why were people asked to be witnesses?
In response, the force simply re-sent its original 8 July statement that it had decided not to fine Starmer and others. Skwawkbox pointed out that its questions all arose after the issuance of that statement and asked for a substantive response. No reply had been received by the time of publication some eight hours after the deadline, leaving questions about the process and who was involved in the decision-making unanswered.
During an earlier telephone call, the force responded to Skwawkbox’s request for a copy of the investigation report by saying that it would have to be done via a Freedom of Investigation Act request (FOIA) – confirming in the process that a report exists. Public bodies have obligations under the FOIA – but are not required to receive one to disclose information to journalists for the sake of transparency. FOIA requests can take many months to complete if the responding organisation disputes its obligation to disclose and the requester is forced to appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
According to parliamentary figures spoken to by Skwawkbox, the Metropolitan Police handle any investigations relating to the leader of the opposition at work, requiring the matter to be handed to the Met as soon as Durham Constabulary began to consider categorising Starmer’s ‘dinner’ – as described in the agenda for the day that his office sent to attendees, contrary to later claims that the get-together was just grabbing food and drinks as part of a meeting – as a work event.
Some three weeks before the force published its decision, Durham’s Labour Police and Crime Commissioner gave Durham’s Chief Constable a contract extension worth some £550,000, despite criticism of the force’s performance.
It should not be lost to readers that any investigation of the leader of the opposition should have been conducted by the Metropolitan Police in the first instance, not the Durham Chief Constable. This is particularly relevant since Starmer was accompanied by 2 armed police officers and 2 close protection officers throughout his stay in Durham and it would be for them to report any incident to their supervising officer at the Metropolitan Police
Keir Starmer was asked on two separate occasions to comment on reports that he had received a fine which was withdrawn and did not deny it.
Summary of a report written by Hannah Rodger, Sunday Mail, Chief Reporter
Not including Scotland’s 32 local authorities, 14 health boards, police, fire and ambulance services, Scottish taxpayers are picking up a £22million annual bill for the salaries of chief executives and committee members of almost 100 public bodies, (quangos) including some people don‘t even know exist:
Scotland’s Water Quangos: Four quangos manage elements of Scotland’s water systems.
Former Scottish Water CEO Douglas Millican who departed in May 2023, received £520,000 in payments in 2022. This included a salary of £270,000, a long-term incentive payment of £160,000 and a bonus of £80,000. Disasters under his watch include sewage spills directly into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas and a heavy fine imposed on it in May 2023 for releasing chemicals into a Fife river that killed hundreds of salmon and trout in October 2018. His successor, Alex Plant, was awarded an even higher annual salary of £295,000.
Alex Sutherland, CEO of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS), on an annual salary and incentives exceeding £400.000 was sacked at the beginning of December 2023 following revelations of financial irregularities. See the 2022/23 audit of the Water Industry Commission for Scotland. The annual salary and incentives of the CEOs of the other two quangos including, the Scottish Canals, Drinking Water Quality Regulator for Scotland is around £400,000.
The Scottish Advisory Committee on Distinction Awards (SACDA) – is supposed to decide which NHS dentists and consultants should receive awards for outstanding work but have not granted any since 2010 when the Scottish Government froze the awards budget. With no real work done in the past year, more than £100,000 has been spent keeping them running.
The School Closure Review Panel (SCRP) is supposed to examine any school closures by councils which are later called in by Scottish ministers but there have been no refferals since 2021. Despite this, SCRP incurred running costs of £76,000 last year.
The Forestry Commission, which managed forests in Scotland, England and Wales, stopped taking responsibility for Scottish and Welsh sites in 2019. The Welsh government merged the work with other organisations to form one new body.
But the Scottish Government formed two bodies to replace it – Forestry And Land Scotland and Scottish Forestry. They each have a chief executive paid up to £115,000 and £90,000 plus incentives annually. A Scottish Forestry spokesperson said: “Scottish Forestry regulates and supports the whole forest industry, including the private sector, whilst Forestry and Land Scotland directly manages the 650,000 hectares of national forests to provide multiple benefits for Scotland’s people. The agencies were set up five years ago as part of fully devolving forestry to Scotland. Before this, both bodies already existed, but in slightly different forms. The Scottish Parliament unanimously agreed that it was necessary to establish two separate forestry agencies to carry out the entirely different functions. The salaries of both Chief Executives are part of the standard civil service senior management grades.”
Ferry chiefs who presided over the scandal of delayed contracts and broken-down boats were paid well over the odds to manage their organisations. Tim Hair, the turn-around director at Ferguson Marine, was given a £591,232 plus incentives fee for his work while Robbie Drummond, CEO of Calmac was paid around £156,000 plus incentives. He stated that: “CalMac is not a quango, it is a private company delivering contracts secured competitively. We compete in the private sector to attract staff and recruit staff from some of the best maritime, vessel management and transport companies in the UK, and to do this CalMac must pay its team competitively. David MacBrayne Ltd’s Duncan Mackison, who left last year and was not replaced, was on as much as £190,000 plus incentives annually while Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) director Kevin Hobbs was paid £148,127 plus incentives, last year.
The Scottish Trades Union commented: “The STUC has always argued for directly democratically accountable bodies to run our public affairs and that position has not changed. It’s intensely curious, if not blatantly hypocritical, that governments are calling for wage restraint and turning their fire on low-paid public sector workers who have had their wages cut in real terms, yet this standard doesn’t seem to apply further up the career ladder. It’s not too much to ask that each and every organisation undertaking a public function is fit for purpose and delivers high-quality services, including sufficient pay for those at the bottom too. Workers deserve nothing less. The SNP are presiding over an increasingly bloated number of quangos rather than delivering the best value for money for taxpayers. Given these quangos are linked to many of their huge failures – including the ongoing ferries scandal – there are serious questions for ministers to answer as to why costs are threatening to spiral out of control.”
Redress Scotland commented: “A serious review is needed to decide how many of these organisations are needed in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis when our NHS, our schools and hundreds of Scots are struggling just to get by.”
Political opponents commented: “When the SNP came into power, they promised the ‘bonfire of the quangos’ but under their leadership the amount of public money being used to support quangos and spin has swelled year upon year. At the same time as local government has seen its budgets slashed, the SNP has elected to pour more and more money on arms-length bodies that fail to deliver value for money.”
December 2023: A row broke out after it emerged the SNP-led Government appointments committee had nominated Michael Russell to be chair of the Scottish Land Commission SLC Quango on a split decision. Russell had stood down as SNP President in anticipation of being appointed to the near £400,000 annual salary and incentives post. A full vote of MSP’s will now consider the appointment at Holyrood.
Former Green MSP Andy Wightman, a land reform expert and probably the best qualified person for the post, tweeted: “Depressing that the vote as to whether to recommend Mike Russell as Chair of Scottish Land Commission broke along party lines. Decisions like this should not be political but, in the circumstances, it is perhaps not surprising that the SNP & Greens didn’t want any scrutiny.”
13 January 13, 2002: The NHS can be saved says health minister Malcolm Chisholm: The new year has started as the last one ended for new health minister Malcolm Chisholm – in crisis. The hepatitis C compensation row will be followed next week by two tricky announcements about long-term care of the elderly, in which it seems certain the Executive will admit to a (pounds) 23 million hole in its budget and not enough care home beds to deliver on its promises. And don’t bet on good statistics on bed-blocking, or delayed discharge as the minister prefers it to be known.
25 January 2002: Hospital trust ‘is unmanageable’; Staff grievances come to a head at North Glasgow in a devastating letter to the NHS board: Hard on the heels of the crisis at the Beatson Cancer Centre, which led to its management being wrested from the hands of the trust. Next week the Glasgow area will face the most far-reaching decisions about its health services since the formation of the NHS. The new shape of acute hospital services throughout the city, probably involving some closures, and certainly some new buildings, will be determined at a day-long meeting of the Greater Glasgow NHS Board. However, the past three months have already ensured that life at Scotland’s biggest hospital trust – North Glasgow – will never be the same again.
26 January 2002: Squalor and filth patients must face daily in the flagship infirmary: An inspection team discovered shocking scenes of squalor at Scotland’s largest hospital. At Glasgow Royal Infirmary, bloody surgical scrubs are dumped in a cockroach-infested lift used to carry patients’ meals. Infectious waste lies mixed with other linen. Piles of waste in tunnels below the Victorian-era hospital have created fire traps. Staff have to wash in a stinking bathroom with piles of filth on the floor and damaged brickwork that could harbour germs. The images have been released after the joint management and union team found filthy conditions throughout the infirmary, the mainstay of health bosses’ plans for a £550m shake-up of hospital services.
19 April 2002: No Mercy If NHS Spending Fails: Severe political embarrassment could be the eventual outcome of First Minister Jack McConnell’s spending spree on health. Yesterday he announced that every penny of Scotland’s bonus from the Budget would be spent on the National Health Service. That is a considerable hostage to fortune. The Government is promoting the claim that higher taxation is a moral imperative to fund the NHS. That notion is based on the presumption that all that is wrong with our health service is lack of money. Most informed observers believe that the underlying problem is the inflexible structure of this ailing State monopoly. It is neither callous nor socially irresponsible to suggest that part of Scotland’s Budget nest egg should have been devoted to other vital services, such as education, transport and law enforcement.
22 June 2002: Chisholm Vow to Halve NHS Waiting Times Is Attacked as ‘Unrealistic’: Patients will wait no longer than six months for hospital treatment by 2005, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said yesterday. This would halve the present 12-month period which the NHS sets down as the longest a patient should wait between seeing a consultant and receiving treatment. The move follows last week’s announcement that ministers have bought the HCI private hospital in Clydebank, near Glasgow, which Mr Chisholm claims will remove 5,000 patients a year from the waiting list. But last night critics dismissed yesterday’s targets as unrealistic and warned the much-trumpeted purchase of HCI alone could not solve Scotland’s health service woes.
18 July 2002: Unhappy history of executive who drank from the poisoned chalice; Problems of North Glasgow Hospitals Trust led to chief’s departure: IT was widely suspected to be a poisoned chalice, but, for Maggie Boyle, there was little reason to believe she could not handle the job. She had risen swiftly through the health service ranks from the job of auxiliary nurse, and in 1998, after 23 years in the NHS, was ready to take on her biggest challenge yet – the chief executive’s post at the new North Glasgow Acute Hospitals Trust. She was acting chief executive of West Glasgow Hospitals University Trust at the time, and her decision to take up the post added the Royal Infirmary, Stobhill Trusts, and the Glasgow Dental Hospital to what was already a heavy responsibility. The decision to amalgamate the hospitals under one trust and place Miss Boyle in charge also made her one of the most powerful women in the Scottish health service, on a huge six-figure salary.
22 August 2002: Health minister calls for end to spin as colleague bids hasty exit from key meeting on Glasgow hospital closures; Row as Chisholm cuts waiting lists: The executive yesterday tried to draw the sting from one of the opposition’s most potent issues by abolishing the highly controversial deferred hospital waiting lists. Malcolm Chisholm, health minister, claimed the move, which will result in a single type of waiting list for hospital treatment, was being done in the interests of openness and transparency. He made a candid statement about the need to end government spin, saying: “If problems are more obvious, it is better to face up to that. The public is sick and fed up with the traditional point of view, which is just to put the best gloss on things. “Let the truth out and deal with things as they exist.
28 August 2002: Minister’s U-Turn Adds 25,000 to the NHS Waiting List: The controversial deferred waiting list for NHS patients is to be scrapped. Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said all patients would now be put on a single list with a guarantee of treatment in 12 months, falling to six months by 2005. Critics had alleged that the deferred list, which contains patients whose planned hospital treatment has been postponed, kept thousands off the main list, allowing the Scottish Executive to falsely claim improvements in waiting times. The move effectively adds 25,270 people from the deferred list to the main NHS waiting list in Scotland. Between 1993 and 2002 the main list fell from 84,521 to 71,965 – a drop of 12,556 – but during the same period, the deferred list grew by 11,819 from 13,451 to 25,270.
27 September 2002: NHS board crisis team: Trouble-shooters have been sent in to sort out the struggling NHS board in Argyll and Clyde. Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm wants them to solve “long-standing managerial problems”. No details of the difficulties were given but they are thought to involve clashes between senior staff and budget problems.
8 October 2002: We Were So Niave to Be Taken in by New Labour’s Chicanery … All of Their Attempts to Save the NHS Have Proved Disastrous; A Retired GP and Former Labour Supporter on Why She Will Stand against the Party over Its Health Policy: When Labour won power in 1997, there was a tremendous sense of optimism among members of the medical profession in Scotland. We genuinely felt, on that glorious summer day five years ago when Tony Blair became Prime Minister, that things would change. After so many years of Tory rule, everyone agreed there was an overwhelming need for reform in the Health Service and that it was a time for universal celebration. Similarly, when devolution became a reality, its supporters – and I was among them – saw the Scottish parliament as a symbol of the country’s great potential. Now, in 2002, two years after I retired as a GP, I feel stupid – and deeply embarrassed – that we were all so naive and that my colleagues and I were effectively taken in by New Labour’s chicanery. I feel ashamed of my support for Labour and for devolution because all the attempts to save the NHS and turn around its fortunes have proved utterly disastrous. For many, the ‘reorganisation’ of Glasgow’s hospital services has come to symbolise Labour’s intense arrogance.
12 November 2002: Hospitals remain in grip of strike action: The wildcat strikes that have taken hold at hospitals across Glasgow showed no sign of abating yesterday, leading to fears that operations could be cancelled by the end of the week. Nearly 400 administration staff at six sites controlled by North Glasgow University NHS Hospitals Trust failed to show up for work yesterday while the trust held an emergency meeting to plan for the weeks ahead. Health managers say they will be able to continue all routine and emergency work at the hospitals this week, but fear some elective operations will have to be cancelled after Friday if the dispute goes on. A spokeswoman said: “The staff who have walked out deal with patients’ records and these have already been prepared for clinics and all operations for the next week.
17 December 2002: NHS board cash crisis: Watchdogs have slammed a health board which faces a massive budget shortfall. In a bombshell report, the troubled Argyll and Clyde NHS Board was criticised for poor management which has created a “dire” financial crisis. The contents were so damning that four top-level health managers resigned before publication. Investigators hit out at the “dysfunctional and inappropriate management culture” for creating “financial instability” within the Board. Up to 100 angry NHS staff and patients packed an extraordinary board meeting to discuss the report’s findings at Dykebar Hospital in Paisley last night.
30 January 2003: Hepatitis Patients to Get £15m but Only If Westminster Agrees; Chisholm Admits Scottish Parliament Could Be Overruled: Patients in Scotland who contracted hepatitis C during NHS treatment could share a £15m compensation package, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm said yesterday. But the move can only go ahead if the Westminster Government agrees the Scottish parliament has the power to implement the deal. Mr Chisholm yesterday unveiled his proposals for a long-awaited compensation scheme for around 570 patients who caught the deadly liver virus through blood transfusions or other treatment during the 1970s and 1980s. He said all patients who caught hepatitis C from infected blood should receive £20,000 and those who went on to develop life-threatening complications would be awarded an extra £25,000.
5 March 2003: NHS reform in Scotland hinges on nurse numbers: new White Paper will fail to improve care unless shortages are tackled, warns RCN: Proposals to reform the NHS in Scotland will fail to deliver their objective of improving patient care unless nurse shortages are tackled, the RCN has warned. A White Paper, Partnership for Care, was launched at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary last week by Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm. It promises nurses that the NHS in Scotland will become an `exemplary employer’ with a culture of lifelong learning. Staff will be entitled to receive continuing professional development, appraisals and personal development plans, the White Paper says. It also reveals plans to invest in a network of one-stop occupational health centres at NHS workplaces that will provide a fast-track rehabilitation service for staff.
17 June 2003: GPs oppose the closure of A&E: Executives of Argyll and Clyde NHS Board face the wrath of GPs and their patients from north of the Clyde tonight at a public meeting over the planned closure of accident and emergency services at Vale of Leven Hospital. However, the public’s view was already clear last night after a grassroots meeting in Dumbarton, attended by about 300 people, at which the decision was roundly attacked amid calls for a steering committee to be set up to take the campaign against the closure further. Every GP practice in Dumbarton, Alexandria, and Helensburgh signed a letter published in The Herald today expressing no confidence in the NHS board, which lost four executives last year in a purge by the Scottish Executive.
30 August 2004: Hospital technicians secretly removed body parts from corpses: Technicians at three Scottish hospitals were paid £1 a time to remove glands from the brains of corpses without the permission of relatives. The payments were made by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which used the pituitary glands to manufacture human growth hormones for treating children with growth disorders. Now organ retention campaigners have demanded an inquiry into the unauthorised procedure during post-mortem examinations at the Western Infirmary, the Royal Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow. An inquiry in 2001 found that the hospitals, along with Gartnavel General, had a store of almost 4,500 organs – the second biggest in Britain behind Alder Hey in Liverpool. Organs were routinely removed from dead patients without relatives’ permission but the inquiry was never told that technicians at the hospitals received payment until the mid-1980s for removing the organs.
7 September 2004: Labour MSPs turn up the heat on Chisholm over hospital reforms: Pressure was mounting on Malcolm Chisholm, the health minister, from inside his party last night to step in and halt plans to centralise hospital services across Scotland. He was given a torrid time by Labour MSPs at a private group meeting last week over moves by health boards to rationalise services and close key departments at local hospitals. Many MSPs, particularly those in the west of Scotland, have been inundated with letters of protest from constituents unhappy with their health board’s plans to reorganise services in their area. They have passed on these concerns to Mr Chisholm in an increasingly vocal manner, letting the minister know that the protests will get worse unless he is seen to intervene against the health boards.
9 September 2004: Time to act on NHS cutbacks; Call for ‘clear national strategy’ in health service: Jack McConnell suffered a backlash over the crisis in the health service last night after he refused to halt hospital cutbacks. Health boards across Scotland have had to cut frontline services as they struggle with mounting costs of wages and drugs. The closures and cuts come despite record levels of investment in the health service, with the annual budget climbing to £ 8 billion. Health campaigners descended on Holyrood yesterday, demanding action to stop the decline of hospital services after the Scottish Executive rejected calls to get involved. They cheered from the public gallery as SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon gave an impressive performance, forcing Mr McConnell onto the defensive over hospital closures to cheers from the public gallery and her party’s benches. Labour MSPs sat in silence.
10 September 2004: Health in crisis nervous MSPs demand a freeze on hospital cuts: Labour MSPs yesterday demanded a moratorium on hospital re-organisation across Scotland, in the face of mounting public anger at the plans. The call coincided with their party colleagues at Westminster summoning Malcolm Chisholm, the health minister, to attend what will be a stormy meeting of party colleagues at the House of Commons on Tuesday. Labour MPs want him to explain the risks the health plans pose to their re-election campaigns. At Holyrood, there is growing unrest among previously loyal supporters of the Scottish Executive. They backed a moratorium on change until an expert group on NHS re-organisation reports next March. Labour MSPs joined other parties on the health committee in warning that a national strategy must be in place before more major changes are approved.
10 September 2004: Labour Revolt over Health Service Cuts: The First Minister was facing open rebellion from his party last night as the crisis in the health service escalated. Jack McConnell and Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm came under huge pressure to prevent a string of hospital closures and cuts to frontline services. Labour MSPs on the Scottish parliament’s health committee joined opposition politicians in demanding an immediate halt to any cutbacks, at least until next March when a national review of NHS services is completed. Local health boards are being forced to slash vital services due to rising staff costs, despite the fact the Scottish Executive is pouring £ 8 billion into the NHS.
22 September 2004: Chisholm Warned on Cuts: Pregnant women and babies could ‘die in ambulances in snowdrifts’ this winter because of hospital cutbacks, Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm has been warned. Mr Chisholm was attacked by MSPs of all parties, including Labour, yesterday as he appeared before Holyrood’s health committee. He faced a grilling over cutbacks which have provoked a national protest campaign. Jamie Stone, Lib Dem MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, warned that lives were being put at serious risk because Mr Chisholm was ‘wrecking’ the health service. He reacted angrily to Mr Chisholm’s assurances that no cuts would be allowed if they jeopardised ‘clinical safety’.
4 October 2004: Chisholm sweats it out as McConnell ponders reshuffle: Speculation was mounting last night over the future of Malcolm Chisholm, the embattled health minister, who could lose his job if Jack McConnell decides to carry out a reshuffle. It is believed that Mr Chisholm has been called to a meeting with the First Minister at 9 am today to discuss his position, following a wave of protests across Scotland over hospital cuts. Tom McCabe, the deputy health minister, who has impressed in recent months with his efficient handling of the nationwide consultation on a smoking ban, is expected to meet the First Minister shortly afterwards. The meetings have fuelled speculation that Mr Chisholm will be asked to step aside, possibly into the post of social justice minister, with Mr McCabe taking over at health.
15 April 2005: Labour catches a cold over health gaffe North-south divide on waiting times laid bare: Labour’s Scottish manifesto launch backfired yesterday by reminding voters that NHS waiting times can be twice as long in Scotland as in England. The gaffe allowed the SNP and Tories to make the health service the dominant issue of yesterday’s campaign, as they highlighted what has become Labour’s Achilles’ heel in Scotland despite record investment. After the launch, both parties pursued Jack McConnell over the differences at the first minister’s questions, accusing him of letting down Scottish patients. Labour had intended to use the launch of the 118-page booklet to focus attention on the “harmony” between the party’s ministers in Holyrood and Westminster, a relationship they said would suffer if the Tories were elected on May 5.
Michael Forsyth (ex Scottish Secretary)
Andrew Fulton
caltonjock 