Tartan Tories

Danus Skene of the SNP spoke publicly at the Althing hustings. He was quoted as saying:

“What you have been dealing with are not SNP cuts [but] cuts imposed by economic policies at UK level”.

That is flat-out untrue.

1. Shetland is suffers “stealth underfunding” via the Scottish government’s 2008 arrangement with COSLA who avoid using full “needs-based” criteria for allocating funding e.g. Education shortchanged by £10Mpa = £80 million to date!

2. Shetland/Orkney ferry funding has fallen 14 percent while west coast subsidies have increased 41 percent = £17 million (S+O joint)

3. SIC government funding was for 2016/17 by £5Mpa while the Scottish government received a small cash increase.

These cuts add up to £100 million since 2008 and none has any link whatsoever to Westminster cuts.

Iain Malcolmson sings a siren song of voting for Danus Skene (“Time for change”, SN 28/04/16) so that we may receive a fair deal and reap the benefits of SNP largesse.

Yet the truth is shocking. Little wonder people call them the “Tartan Tories”.

My late grandmother used to say: “I dunna ken whit’s ta be bit I ken whit’s been.”

John Tulloch
Lyndon
Arrochar