I made an error today.
I switched my TV on to watch MotoGP and caught a snap of Jim Murphy blaming John Swinney for the closure of Fergussons on the British Biased Communications, Sunday morning program. The thirty seconds I accidentally caught left me with a clear picture why old fashioned politics has failed us. It might be funny when the Chuckle Brothers do their 'to me: to you' gag but watching a politician doing this left me less than overwhelmed. Murphy made his claim that, basically, it was the SNP's fault Fergussons were closing, the BBC bloke made clear in the tone of the question to Mr Swinney he agreed with Murphy instead of asking the real question:
Just what did you do, Mr Murphy, when a Minister in UK Government to secure Lower Clyde Shipbuilding capacity?
This line of question simply does not fit in the BBC interviewer's abilities - all he is interested in is Chuckle Brother politics, causing a stramash, talking over any answer which does not fit the BBC slapstick politics programming, forefend the idea the public need and deserve a serious answer as to why Scottish Shipbuilding has been reduced to this state. No, this will never do on the BBC; it has to be a Punch and Judy show.
The truth is that Fergussons had been reliant on building modules for BAE systems at Scotstoun to keep the doors open. The Scottish Government via McBrains Ferries ordered two new ferries to tide the yard over until the start of the Type 26 build. This needed to happen because the MoD had not taken up the option to build an extra four Type 45's because they were on their uppers. The Type 26 program is now coming on line a year later than originally intended because the MoD could not afford to start the build until the carriers were completed as the RN capital funds were being eaten up in preparatory work for the Trident replacement submarine which has already cost the RN budget in the region of £4 billion over the last three years. Add in the overrun cost on the two new carriers - courtesy of more to me; to you carry on - first between Gordon Brown and the MoD, then Cameron and the MoD unable to decide whether the carriers would have catapults and arrester wires or not. This political to me ; to you added £7 billion (and still growing) onto the capital cost of the two carriers; taken, of course, from the RN budget.
Fergussons are going down the tubes courtesy of a level of financial and political incompetence at Westminster which beggars belief. The Scottish Government did all it could to tide Fergussons over with the ferry order and mitigate the total mess the UK Parliament had made of defence procurement for the RN.
In the meantime Murphy seeks to make political capital about a Scottish company going down the tubes caused in part by decisions made while he was a UK Government Minister. He has nothing more substantial to offer but more patronising 'pap'.
Let us do our best to end the 'Punch and Judy Show' politics in Scotland, the start point is the rejection of the current political status quo.
The only way we can do this is to vote Yes on the 18th of September 2014 and use the d'Hondt system of election which brought us the referendum, to reshape Scottish politics in May 2016. It is time to bend our politicians to the considered will of the people of Scotland, ensure our political process best represents this paramount Scottish constitutional position and is embedded deep in the new constitution's core.
I switched my TV on to watch MotoGP and caught a snap of Jim Murphy blaming John Swinney for the closure of Fergussons on the British Biased Communications, Sunday morning program. The thirty seconds I accidentally caught left me with a clear picture why old fashioned politics has failed us. It might be funny when the Chuckle Brothers do their 'to me: to you' gag but watching a politician doing this left me less than overwhelmed. Murphy made his claim that, basically, it was the SNP's fault Fergussons were closing, the BBC bloke made clear in the tone of the question to Mr Swinney he agreed with Murphy instead of asking the real question:
Just what did you do, Mr Murphy, when a Minister in UK Government to secure Lower Clyde Shipbuilding capacity?
This line of question simply does not fit in the BBC interviewer's abilities - all he is interested in is Chuckle Brother politics, causing a stramash, talking over any answer which does not fit the BBC slapstick politics programming, forefend the idea the public need and deserve a serious answer as to why Scottish Shipbuilding has been reduced to this state. No, this will never do on the BBC; it has to be a Punch and Judy show.
The truth is that Fergussons had been reliant on building modules for BAE systems at Scotstoun to keep the doors open. The Scottish Government via McBrains Ferries ordered two new ferries to tide the yard over until the start of the Type 26 build. This needed to happen because the MoD had not taken up the option to build an extra four Type 45's because they were on their uppers. The Type 26 program is now coming on line a year later than originally intended because the MoD could not afford to start the build until the carriers were completed as the RN capital funds were being eaten up in preparatory work for the Trident replacement submarine which has already cost the RN budget in the region of £4 billion over the last three years. Add in the overrun cost on the two new carriers - courtesy of more to me; to you carry on - first between Gordon Brown and the MoD, then Cameron and the MoD unable to decide whether the carriers would have catapults and arrester wires or not. This political to me ; to you added £7 billion (and still growing) onto the capital cost of the two carriers; taken, of course, from the RN budget.
Fergussons are going down the tubes courtesy of a level of financial and political incompetence at Westminster which beggars belief. The Scottish Government did all it could to tide Fergussons over with the ferry order and mitigate the total mess the UK Parliament had made of defence procurement for the RN.
In the meantime Murphy seeks to make political capital about a Scottish company going down the tubes caused in part by decisions made while he was a UK Government Minister. He has nothing more substantial to offer but more patronising 'pap'.
Let us do our best to end the 'Punch and Judy Show' politics in Scotland, the start point is the rejection of the current political status quo.
The only way we can do this is to vote Yes on the 18th of September 2014 and use the d'Hondt system of election which brought us the referendum, to reshape Scottish politics in May 2016. It is time to bend our politicians to the considered will of the people of Scotland, ensure our political process best represents this paramount Scottish constitutional position and is embedded deep in the new constitution's core.
I watched that clown running the SNP down in spite of the fact he is well aware the actions of his and the tory governments are wholly responsible for the state of shipbuilding on the Clyde,
ReplyDeleterevenge is a dish best eaten cold,
tick tock Murphy, tick tock
Murphy,a member of the pretendy Labour party here in Scotland whose standard line is to blame others for their own failures.
ReplyDeleteHe was part of an administration who supressed the development of an oil business in West Scotland just so they could keep their nuclear subs on the Clyde.
In his Brit Nat mind,Scots are expendable when his interests and that of the London establishment are in conflict.