Warning Scots will pay for Farage's 'reckless' plans to scrap 'Union dividend'

Nigel Farage has launched a 'reckless' plan to consider scrapping the Holyrood funding deal which helps provide an annual 'Union dividend' for every Scottish family.
The Reform UK leader was accused of a 'hare-brained suggestion' after he called for a review of the Barnett Formula and for the Scottish Parliament have more responsibility for raising the money it spends - sparking fears of savage cuts to public services like the NHS and schools or massive tax rises.
He also shrugged off the risk that he could help hand the SNP another five years in power, saying his party could get things done at Holyrood while in opposition.
On his first visit to Scotland in six years, he also doubled down on his race row with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and also accused First Minister John Swinney of inciting protesters by branding him a racist.
Mr Farage held a press conference in Aberdeen to warn of the threat of 'deindustrialisation' because of the SNP and Labour's opposition to new oil and gas development, before giving the press pack a slip in Hamilton.
The Barnett Formula determines that the Scottish Government must get extra funding through the block grant as a direct consequence of any public spending in devolved areas south of the Border.
It helped contribute to £1,521 more net expenditure per person in Scotland than across the UK as a whole last year.
Asked whether he would look to scrap the Barnett Formula given he has previously said English taxpayers are 'cheesed off' with the amount of extra money spent in Scotland, Mr Farage said: 'The Barnett Formula, it seems to me, is really somewhat out of date.
'What I'd like to see is a Scottish Government that is able to raise a bit more of its own revenue and a Scottish economy that has actually got genuine growth, and I don't think that can happen without this sector (oil and gas) booming.
'The Barnett Formula goes back to the 1970s. Is there an argument that it should be looked at again? Of course there is.'
He insisted that 'devolution is here to stay' but said it has not been working well.
If Scotland had to raise more of the money it spends, it could lead to massive tax rises or savage spending cuts to balance the books.
Mr Farage shrugged off polling showing that Reform's rising support will help hand the SNP another term as the largest party at Holyrood, saying that his party can shift national debate and government policy 'regardless of whether we are in power or not'.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: 'The Union dividend is worth thousands of pounds each year to every person in Scotland. Nigel Farage's reckless proposal would slash funding for our NHS, schools, roads and many other essential public services.
'Alternatively, it would mean further tax rises on hard-working Scots – or, more likely, a double whammy of both cuts and tax hikes.
'Reform's hare-brained suggestion of ripping up the Barnett formula is irresponsible. It would take a wrecking ball to our public services and cause misery for Scottish families, workers and businesses.
'The SNP must be delighted by Farage's latest idea because the only people in Scotland who would benefit from scrapping the Union dividend are nationalists. If Farage knew or cared anything about Scotland, he would know that such a reckless move would increase support for the SNP and independence.'
He added: 'Our public services are a complete mess after 18 years of SNP Government. Schools and hospitals need smart investment, not the savage cuts that would be the consequence of Reform's plan.
'Nigel Farage needs his head examined if he thinks scrapping the Union dividend is sensible.'
Mr Farage was greeted by a crowd of around 20 protesters chanting 'Nigel go home' when he arrived at Aberdeen's Pocra Quay, with one banner proclaiming 'Farage not welcome in Scotland'.
He claimed that protests had been incited by Mr Swinney saying he was bringing 'racism and hatred' into the heart of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election.
Mr Farage said he had not heard chants calling him a racist in England 'for a very long time' and said Mr Swinney used the word 'in a deliberate and very, very provocative way'.
He added: 'Do you know what, the more they insult me the more I know we must be doing something right. And I think they are in a blind state of panic. They are chucking around insults.
'I think the First Minister was yesterday trying to be inciteful in what he said. For today, I will not return the compliment. I'm not going to get involved in a war of words.'
He also doubled down on his party's controversial criticism of Mr Sarwar, after it published a social media video claiming he would 'prioritise the Pakistani community'.
Mr Farage said: 'We don't talk about race at all. We think everybody should be treated equally, we object very strongly to the segmentation of people into different types.
'And I think, to be frank, Mr Sarwar has a record of obsessing on this issue.
'There was the speech that he gave in the Scottish Parliament saying 'why are the judiciary white', 'why are these leading figures in Scotland white'. The most extraordinary speech given the statistics and figures here.
'And actually I think that speech that he gave was sectarian in its very nature, you know 'we are the south Asian community, we are going to take over the country, take over the world'.
Reform yesterday unveiled Aberdeen councillor Duncan Massey as the latest to defect to the party from the Conservatives.
Mr Farage said the party is now making 'remarkable strides' in Scotland and said polls suggest it is 'beginning to eclipse Labour' as the second-biggest party north of the Border.
Condemning the opposition of the SNP and Labour governments to new oil and gas development which he said would make the UK more reliant on imports, he said: 'We are seeing Scotland, and many parts of England and Wales, literally deindustrialising before our very eyes.
'Yes there are arguments around new industries, but for every job created in a new industry many more could be lost in conventional industries.
'We now have the most expensive commercial energy prices in the world and the whole thing is complete and utter madness.'
Reform UK Richard Tice said it is a 'tragedy' that Scotland's 'energy treasure' is being left in the sea, and backed a policy of 'drill Scotland drill'.
He said: 'If it aint broke don't fix it. We know it works and we should be accelerating it.
'I now call it net stupid zero. I think it is the greatest act of financial self harm ever imposed on this nation by people at Westminster.'
Mr Farage also yesterday said he is 'confident' of finishing third in Thursday's by-election and it would be 'a very nice surprise' to finish second.
He went on: 'Do I realistically think we could win? Well, if we do then that will be the biggest earthquake Scottish politics has ever seen.'
However, he failed to turn up to a press call organised by his own party ahead of the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election on Thursday.
Instead, he chose to have a drink in a pub in Larkhall with a select few with no explanation given to those left waiting.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said 'Today the chief clown Nigel Farage finally found his way to Scotland and showed just how totally out of touch with our country he is.
'Nigel Farage turned up, admitted he can't win the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election and pledged to cut funding for Scotland's NHS and public services.
'Nigel Farage is a dangerous clown and the people of Scotland see right through him.'

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The Independent

an hour ago

• The Independent

Readers have their say on reversing Brexit – from rejoining EU ‘tomorrow' to ‘letting more time pass'

Nearly nine years on from Brexit, a deep sense of regret and frustration lingers across the UK. What was once hailed by some as a reclaiming of sovereignty has instead left many feeling isolated, economically weakened, and disconnected from the continent they once called home. A recent YouGov poll revealed that more than half of Britons now want to rejoin the EU, and Independent readers have echoed this sense of disappointment and frustration. Despite the appetite, there was a strong feeling that rejoining would be complicated and is unlikely anytime soon, given political resistance and the demanding terms the EU would likely require. Yet many remained hopeful that growing public support might shift the debate in the future. Here's what you had to say: Farage: the problem, not the solution Nigel Farage – the man who attempted to ostracise Britain from the EU, who pledged Brexit would dramatically bring down immigration, give us our sovereignty back, and who now squeals to the British public that he can somehow, somewhere, magic up a harsher version that will somehow fix all of Great Britain's problems. No Farage, you are the problem. As your new 'Chair' of Reform creates yet another divisive policy of bringing back the return of the death penalty – and as Sky News today has reported that the UK's largest trade union saw its membership jump by 200 per cent in the 10 local authorities won by Reform recently – he is now attempting to sack anyone working on DEI or climate change, despite the very fact that the councils don't even have staff who work exclusively on either of these policies. Can't he, for once, attempt to fix the problems that the UK already has, as opposed to creating new ones? Amy Regardless of whether leaving the EU was a good or bad idea, the outcome teaches us an important lesson about the way our democracy works. Brexit failed for lots of reasons, but in part at least, it failed because the government of the day didn't support it. As a consequence, they had no plan for it. This is why referendums, far from being examples of direct democracy, are terrible ideas – and in this case, a rank abdication of responsibility, and a classic example of a Tory putting his party before the interests of the country. If you want something to change, vote for a party that is promising it. It's to be hoped that they will at least have thought it out. RickC The UK has been teetering on the edge of economic disaster Leaving the EU was a terrible blunder. The biased information received by the UK public was all in favour of 'Remain'. David Cameron went so far as to openly proclaim his allegiance to Remain and sought to persuade the UK electorate likewise. Unfortunately, the UK electorate had, at that time, seen little benefit from their EU membership and voted accordingly to leave. Cameron then did the right thing – to fall on his own sword! Unbelievably, Sunak brought him back into government as an entirely inappropriate foreign minister and even made him a member of the House of Bores. The UK has been teetering on the edge of economic disaster, while still strutting itself on the international stage as a global player. If only politicians would learn to serve the people of this country well! This is – after all – what they are elected to do. SPCK The UK is reliant on a foreign workforce It has been a failure because none of the issues that triggered Brexit were properly addressed, but actually made worse, especially immigration, the number one reason Brexit succeeded. And what happened to immigration post-Brexit? Nothing, apart from Europeans being replaced by predominantly Indians and Nigerians, an important difference being that the latter are bringing in many more dependents than Europeans used to. I have been working jobs where the percentage of immigrants is quite high. Before Brexit, about 90% of coworkers from the EU came to the UK as single or at least without kids, while quite the opposite — 80% of coworkers from India, Nigeria or other African countries came in married with kids. Those who voted for Brexit were just too blind to realise or accept that the UK heavily relies on a foreign workforce, and if you did not want it from the EU, you will have to accept it from Asia and Africa. WokiePokie What does rejoining the EU actually mean? The trouble with this survey and many others is that they fail to qualify what rejoining the EU means. Most assume it means going back in with our concessions. If asked if they support joining the Euro and Schengen (which all new members have to agree to), the majority support amongst the UK electorate disappears. Ian Robinson "It found that 56 per cent want the UK to return to being part of the EU." But it didn't specify on what terms, so respondents probably imagined the same terms we had when we left. That, of course, will never be on offer – and joining the Euro and Schengen and fully committing to the full European project would be a non-negotiable prerequisite. They would also need to see a consensus among both the public and political classes, and that would mean another referendum with a super-majority in favour of rejoining – and 56 per cent wouldn't cut it. Then, the UK would have to be able to meet the Copenhagen Criteria and its economic limits in terms of debt and deficit, and we are nowhere near that. Happily, rejoining is a pipe dream. There is no prospect in sight for the UK rejoining. Dogglebird The people were lied to – we deserve another vote Brexit was a failure. We were all lied to by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage as well as the other Tories. Look at the damage it has caused and how many people have lost their jobs. The UK has been in a mess ever since. The UK public should be allowed another vote to rejoin the EU or stay as we are. After all, the government gets to vote on everything, but we are not allowed to. Markcarlisle Lazy leadership Brexit was based on lies and misled the public. Farage, Johnson, Gove and co stoked up the campaign and drove through a disastrous hard Brexit deal. But the man at whose door this lies is Cameron. He called the referendum to deal with Tory divisions, lost it because he was too lazy and sloppy to organise it properly (a binding referendum usually requires a two-thirds majority), and then walked away from the resulting mess. It's encouraging that public opinion is slowly shifting towards rejoining, but 56 per cent isn't a large enough percentage to encourage the current government to act, and polls have been stuck at that for quite some time. There will only be enough political momentum to justify rejoining the EU or the EEA when polling in favour of this is consistently over 60 per cent, and there's little sign of that yet. Tanaquil2 Weakening Europe was senseless At Brexit time (after the vote), I posted that it was silly to reject the economic value of being in the EU, but absolutely senseless to weaken Europe in the face of Putin and Jinping, given the US had voted for Trump. I didn't expect Trump to come back, but it was clear there was something seriously wrong over there. For all its problems, Europe is the best hope for the world, and it needs the extra weight of the UK. much0ado We need to know the terms first I voted against Brexit, but the biggest lesson should be: make any decision once you know the terms. From past reporting, it would seem some EU members are open to treating the UK as a returning member as a special case, whilst others, particularly France, want us treated like a new entrant. Langley Now isn't the time I was a staunch Remainer, and as a pro-globalist, I'm keen to see us rejoin the European Union. I also miss travelling so freely. I believe now is not the time to rejoin the EU, however. Nerves are still raw, the Brits aren't well-liked on the continent, and I believe rejoining would be a financially costly endeavour – a kind of punishment for leaving in the first place. More time needs to pass. BigDogSmallBrain No party will have the courage to rejoin Leaving the EU was a horrendous act of self-harm. Unfortunately, we have a situation in which the hard right still has substantial power and do not accept that we are in a worse position. It is somehow a failure of everyone else that Brexit is a failure. No party will have the courage to rejoin, especially as we are unlikely to rejoin on such favourable terms. The EU reset is a good start, but can we quickly progress towards a single market and customs union model? The country has been lied to, but too many people still believe the lies of Farage and co. If there were a referendum, I would vote to rejoin tomorrow. I have always been a Eurosceptic, but I have also always recognised the enormous benefits we got from the EU. If you belong to any club, some rules you will like and others you won't. Speculator The UK is now a sea of charity shops and budget stores I have lived and worked outside the UK since I was 26 and moved to Dubai, from there to Switzerland, briefly back to the UK, then Cyprus, and now France since 2009. Both my children were born abroad and benefited from living in different countries. I watched Brexit evolve with horror, but was powerless as I lost my vote after 15 years outside. I think if anyone has any questions about whether the UK should rejoin, they should take a trip through Europe — not the Costas, but the real Europe. Maybe a high-speed train from Milan to Bari, or a drive through France, Germany, Austria, and check out the well-maintained roads and facilities. Frankly, we find the UK now just a sea of charity shops, budget stores, scruffy towns and horrible transport options. Hoping it changes for the sake of the youth. Chris Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day's top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click 'log in' or 'register' in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.

The Guardian

an hour ago

• The Guardian

‘They feel betrayed': how Reform UK is targeting votes in Britain's manufacturing heartlands

When Nigel Farage called for the nationalisation of British Steel on a visit to the Scunthorpe steelworks this spring, it was a marked change in direction for a man who had spent almost all of his political career campaigning for a smaller, Thatcherite state. Two years earlier, he had questioned why British taxpayers' money should be thrown into keeping the fires of the very same blast furnaces burning. Back in 2018 he told an interviewer: 'I supported Margaret Thatcher's modernisation and reforms of the economy. It was painful for some people, but it had to happen.' After gaining a fifth MP and sweeping to a string of victories in England's local elections last month, his Reform UK is coming for Labour in places Keir Starmer's party once considered its traditional heartlands: the former mill towns, pit villages and workshops of northern England and the Midlands, the steel towns of south Wales and the shipyards of Scotland. Farage's success in what journalists and politicians know as the 'red wall' – ripped from Labour control by Boris Johnson in 2019 – is no coincidence. The targeted campaign plotted from Reform's Millbank Tower headquarters overlooking the River Thames has the general election in 2029 squarely in mind. Rightwing populists around the world are increasingly campaigning on the consequences of deindustrialisation: from Donald Trump's efforts to champion the US rust belt to Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) targeting east German auto workers. Railing against net zero, sky-high energy prices and threats to sovereignty – after supply chain disruption in the Covid crisis, and a fracturing geopolitical landscape – are central to the playbook. There is, however, an irony of a privately educated former commodities trader and career politician offering hope for Britain's deindustrialised communities, where successive governments have promised – and largely failed – to turn around decades of living standards stagnation. In the first on a series on the battle for Britain's deindustrialised areas, the Guardian maps out the rise in support for Reform, and speaks to its campaigners, Labour, the Conservatives, union leaders and economists to document the high-stakes fight. From the vantage point of the 34th floor of the Shard, Zia Yusuf explained how Reform would unshackle the City of London by cutting wealth taxes and deregulating bitcoin. But the party's then chair had his sights elsewhere at the same time. The former Goldman Sachs banker and millionaire startup founder said there was good reason why working-class voters were turning to Reform. 'If you go and speak to people who live in these communities, they just feel completely betrayed,' he said. 'I spent a lot of time in Runcorn. A lot of this is driven basically by a political class that's never really thought about the experience of people living in these areas. And Nigel speaks to those people. '[As with] one of the things Trump is trying to do – whatever your views on the approach he is taking – I think we've got to manufacture more things here. We've got to have energy security. We can't be in a crazy situation where we're unable to produce primary steel.' The message of reindustrialisation is viewed as a unifying theme for Reform's policies. In the pivot to the economic left, Farage's road trip has taken him to Runcorn and Newton Aycliffe, County Durham – where Reform triumphed in elections last month – and the steel towns of Scunthorpe and Port Talbot. In Port Talbot, the south Wales town that recently lost its blast furnaces, he demanded their reopening – along with the valleys' coalmines. However, Labour is fighting back. Rachel Reeves placed investment and regional economic 'renewal' at the heart of her spending review last week, namechecking places that would be sprayed with cash. The government's long-awaited industrial strategy, due on Monday, is designed to bolster manufacturing, and there are hopes that it will tackle sky-high energy prices for industry. Such is the threat in Labour's old heartlands that Starmer used a hastily arranged visit to a St Helens glass factory last month to decry Reform for its 'fantasy economics', comparing Farage to Liz Truss. Will Jennings, the professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southampton, said: 'The fact they are focusing their campaigns there are because the sorts of voters drawn to their messages are there. 'The structure of support for Reform, much like for the Brexit party and Ukip before it, very much tends to be in particular areas, described often, sometimes unhelpfully, as 'left-behind towns'. They tend to be older, have former manufacturing industries, tend to be distant from Westminster, and tend to have suffered economic loss.' Reform came second to Labour in 89 constituencies at the 2024 general election, running Starmer's party closest in the 103-year-old south Wales Labour stronghold of Llanelli, a steel town once famous for manufacturing tinplate. Most of the constituencies are in the north and Midlands. It is these seats where the 2029 battle will be most fierce. Analysis by the Guardian shows these target seats have a higher share of manufacturing jobs than the country at large, demonstrating that, despite decades of industrial decline, they remain more dependent than most on steel, car manufacturing and chemicals. Overall they account for a fifth of Britain's industrial base. Including towns such as Redcar, Wigan and Rotherham, the average share of manufacturing employment is 12.3%, compared with 8.8% for the UK as a whole. The seat of Washington and Gateshead South, home to the vast Nissan factory near Sunderland, has the highest share, at 35.3%. Separate research by the Trades Union Congress shows Labour seats with the most manufacturing jobs are more likely to have Reform as the second party (34% of seats), compared with the average across all Labour constituencies (22%). Recent predictions from MRP models show Reform would win at least 180 seats if an election was held tomorrow, including nearly all of the places where it placed second to Labour in 2024. Most of the seats cover towns that have been hit hard economically by manufacturing decline. When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979, Britain's industrial base was already dwindling from its peak in the early 20th century, yet still contributed about 30% to GDP. Many areas were also still dominated by industry – including Hartlepool, Burnley and Stoke-on-Trent, where more than half of all jobs were in manufacturing. The deindustrialisation of the 1980s was, however, brutally fast as the UK transitioned to a more services-oriented economy, reliant on imported goods. Today manufacturing accounts for about a tenth of annual output. But Reform is not only targeting nostalgia for a bygone age when Britain made things. When the factories closed, the jobs they offered were either not replaced or were supplanted by lower-paid, insecure work. Whole towns have suffered economically as a result, falling behind the rest of the country despite the promises of successive governments to turn things around. Austerity made matters worse. Last month, research by academics at the University of Staffordshire showed cuts since 1984 have disproportionately affected coalfield and deindustrialised areas, including reductions in welfare and benefit worth £32.6bn between 2010 and 2021. Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England chief economist, said: 'Whichever lens you look at – economic, social, environmental – those places have been lost, and in that sense they have been left behind. And if not overlooked, then underinvested in, systematically, over at least a generation. If not two. 'The longer that has gone on and has turned into generational stasis, or a lack of social mobility, the greater people in those places have willingness to seek redemption elsewhere. Brexit was that, almost a decade ago. And Reform might be it now.' Haldane, the architect of levelling up, and a key figure in the last government's industrial strategy, said Farage had effectively become a 'tribune for the working classes'. The Guardian's analysis shows Reform's target seats would have an average ranking on the English index of multiple deprivation of 92, out of 543 places in total, with 1 being the most deprived. The index brings together a wide range of data sources to build a picture of deprivation, including income, work, education, health and crime rates. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Average wages are £65 a week lower than the UK average. Unemployment, economic inactivity and the rate of jobless benefit claims are higher. To track the rise of Reform, Labour researchers have been using data from parliamentary petitions as a straw poll to see if the party is growing in their local area. Analysts are poring over data from the 'Call a General Election' online poll, launched within months of the last one, and signed by 3 million people. Signatories have to enter a postcode, enabling support to be plotted geographically. Hotspots included Essex and Lincolnshire – Reform strongholds. 'We're looking at how active they are, where we can assign a high probability that it [a petition] is being driven by Reform or their organised groups via WhatsApp,' said one adviser to a Labour MP. Almost all the Reform target seats backed Brexit, including 15 Labour won from the Tories in 2024. Most had only been Tory since 2019, when many decades-old Labour seats backed Boris Johnson's 'levelling up' and 'get Brexit done' messages. On average, leave voters tend to be more socially conservative and anti-immigration. Many 'red wall' MPs are pushing Starmer to adopt a tougher stance on immigration as a result, including the Blue Labour caucus founded by Maurice Glasman. Reform has pushed hard on the issue, in a high-stakes campaign after last summer's riots across the UK – including in many post-industrial towns. Experts said economic conditions alone did not explain anti-migrant views or justify rioting, but that austerity and stalling living standards fuelled grievances and mistrust of institutions. Luke Telford, a criminal and social policy academic at the University of York and author on Brexit and deindustrialisation, said: 'The key narratives we heard in the months after [the riots] was it is all about the far right and social media. 'Undoubtedly that's an important contributor to the outbursts of inarticulate rage we saw. But that rage doesn't occur in a vacuum, it is bound to certain social, cultural and economic conditions that combined. 'It's certain that the areas among the most deprived, were among those with high levels of rioting. It's impossible to ignore that kind of correlation.' However, fetishising industrial jobs and prioritising the restoration of British manufacturing might not be the best route to an economic renaissance. Not least because England's regions are more economically and culturally diverse places than some in Westminster give them credit for. Many economists say the idea is riddled with misunderstanding about modern Britain, where its strengths mainly lie in high-value services, rather than on low-paid production that is at risk of being automated away. Most Britons think manufacturing is important for the economy. Most parents do not want their children to pursue a career in the sector. 'I don't think you have to replace manufacturing job with manufacturing job in a Trump-like fashion to resist the rise of populism,' said Haldane. 'But you do need to replace them with something that is at least as good, in terms of quality of work, pay, security and a degree of pride around it. And you do need to invest in the supporting infrastructure. Whether that's transport, housing, or social infrastructure – like youth clubs and parks.' Reindustrialisation runs like a seam of coal through the rhetoric of rightwing populists worldwide – seen most prominently in Trump's Make America Great Again campaign to 'bring back' factory jobs to rust belt states. Much of the intellectual driving force behind reviving industry emanates from the US. The economist Oren Cass and his American Compass conservative thinktank, with close ties to JD Vance in particular, has promoted a 'new right' strategy prioritising a pro-worker, pro-trade union, pro-industry agenda that is scathing of corporate America. Cass was among speakers – including Farage and Kemi Badenoch – at a London conference held by the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (Arc) this year, sharing a stage with Michael Gove, the Spectator editor and former Tory cabinet minister. Founded by the Canadian psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson and the Tory peer Philippa Stroud, Arc's financial backers include the British hedge fund manager Paul Marshall and the Dubai-based investment firm Legatum – who also co-own GB News, where Farage has a prime-time show. Another figure is Matthew Goodwin, also a GB News commentator and regular speaker at Reform rallies. An ex-academic, he studied what he calls the 'realignment' of British politics, whereby the left has shifted to supporting liberal, metropolitan values, allowing the right to hoover up more socially conservative, working-class voters. Farage and Trump share common ground in promising to roll back net zero – ostensibly to boost manufacturing jobs in heavier polluting sectors, including oil and gas, coal, steel and chemicals. And both are courting trade union members and their worries over foreign competition, the impact of decarbonisation and high energy costs on heavy industry. Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, which includes offshore workers in Scotland among its members, has called for an 'honest debate' about Labour's plans for industry. He told the Guardian that net zero advocates on the left risked fuelling support for Reform by leaving workers out of the debate. 'Climate fundamentalism and rightwing populism are two cheeks of the same backside,' he said. 'We need to have a programme about jobs and apprenticeships to bring back hope. Neoliberalism is dead and globalisation as we knew it is over. Working-class people aren't voting for cheap TVs and training shoes. They want their jobs back.' At an event in Westminster late last year to lobby Labour MPs on high manufacturing energy costs, GMB's shop stewards were approached uninvited by the Reform deputy leader, Richard Tice, trying to curry their favour. But while Reform can count on support from some union members, the labour movement's leaders are furious at its overtures. 'We wouldn't talk to those fuckers. Load of posh boys hanging tough for the working class? They can go fuck themselves,' said one union boss. Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, said: 'The hypocrisy is stunning. This is a guy [Farage] who was hanging on the coat-tails of Donald Trump. He turns up at Scunthorpe saying he wants to save British Steel at the same time as his mate in the White House is slapping tariffs on steel and could cost jobs across Britain's manufacturing base. 'In industrial communities there is a lot of cynicism about politics and whether it can make a difference. But it can make a tangible difference to peoples lives who is in Downing Street.' For Labour, the challenge from Farage showed the importance of an 'ambitious' industrial strategy, he said. It could be central to its hopes of winning a second term.

The Herald Scotland

2 hours ago

• The Herald Scotland

Isn't it time the SNP got on with the issues that really matter?

The SNP administration needs to start dealing with the issues that actually make this country of ours function on a daily basis. The time for navel-gazing about issues that are of little consequence to the vast majority of our citizens is not now. Too often our FM tries to smoke-screen his way out of the glare of public scrutiny by virtue-signalling one peripheral issue after another, meanwhile 'Rome burns' metaphorically. Our omnipresent challenges continue to grow and become more acute. I don't need to list these, as anyone who reads these columns and is au fait with current news will easily be able to pen their own list. I suggest that we should be more engaged with the issues that affect the quality of life for the nation, rather than wasting time in anguishing about, for example, who uses which toilet. Leave that to the law makers. Colin Allison, Blairgowrie. We need to talk about pensions In February to April 2025, the employment rate for people aged 16-64 in the UK was 75.1%. The projected percentage of the population of working age in 2050 is 60.5%. Based on today's employability figures that would mean in just over 20 years only 45% of the country in work paying the vast majority of income tax for the welfare benefits of the day. The amount of pensioners to working-age people is projected to be 393/1000 by 2070. That means there will be fewer than three people in work for every pensioner. It was 4:1 in 1970 and 5:1 when the state pension was introduced. Successive governments have ignored the incoming time bomb of a population that is getting older with fewer working-age people to sustain it. Read more letters Previous governments have tinkered with schemes such as NEST (National Employment Savings Trust) and auto enrolment but the reality is that this provides a pensioner a fraction of what post-war generations have enjoyed in the form of good occupational pensions and the current state pension. I am currently projected to get my state pension when I am 68. I have no doubt that this number will increase but governments kicking the issue into the long grass will only result in more pain passed on to the next generation who will see the sharpest decline of pensioner living standards in history. That is the most distressing part of Labour's welfare reforms – which are targeting some of the most vulnerable – as there is the need for a national conversation on what the Cura Annonae should look like in the years to come and importantly how it will be paid for. Christopher McEleny, Gourock. Death with dignity The headlines in newspapers, TV and radio will be the vote on the assisted dying bill in England and Wales ("MPs vote to pass assisted dying bill at Westminster", heraldscotland, June 20). For those Scots with short memories, similar legislation passed its first reading in Scotland last month. Opponents are now questioning the lack of palliative care available for patients with terminal illnesses. Only about 25 per cent funding comes from the Government, the rest from charitable donations. My wife, former BBC Radio Scotland host Annie Webster, died in February and was a staunch supporter of assisted dying. She was in agony for much of the last six months of her life. But she was fortunate to get a place at the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow for two weeks which she loved. The most important thing for her was to be pain-free. The care and laughter and craic from the doctors, nurses, orderlies and volunteers was unbelievable. Eventually she was in the Marie Curie Hospice (the place she insisted she wanted to die) and I was able to stay with her for her last eight nights. I will be eternally grateful, and she would be too. Yes of course this support should be available to all and funded by the Government. But if it's not and someone gets to the stage they've simply had enough we have to let them die with dignity. Andy Stenton, Glasgow. Tourist tax will sink Glasgow Fifty years ago the film Jaws put Amity Island tourist resort in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. No one wanted to visit. Now we find Glasgow City Council adopting a "head in the ocean" stance with its introduction of a tourist tax ("Glasgow 'tourist tax' approved as visitors face £4.83 tariff per night from 2027", The Herald, June 20). Glasgow right now looks near derelict, particularly the city centre. The council has chased commerce and leisure away with high costs and a very car-unfriendly approach. Taxes only force folk to go elsewhere, just like the shark. Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow. UK's record is shameful Doug Maughan (Letters, June 20) refers to the UK's role in the overthrow of the democratically-elected Iranian government in 1953. To go back much further, during the First World War the French and British divided the map of the Middle East into states that cut through ethnic and religious communities and at about the same time the UK infamously promised Palestine to both the Jews and the Arabs. What is more, some 75 years ago Britain secretly supplied 20 tons of heavy water to Israel which enabled it to make nuclear weapons. Now such weapons are in the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu. And then the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the USA, backed up by our then Prime Minister, was justified by the fabricated insistence that Saddam Hussein was in possession of 'weapons of mass destruction'. What a sad story of greed, cruelty and deceit and I have not dwelt upon the terrible suffering, for the past 77 years, of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israelis, Israel being seen, ironically, as an outpost of western 'civilisation'. Of our history in the Middle East we should be profoundly ashamed, our contribution to the never-ending suffering of the Palestinians and the Iranians displaying little in the way of caring for the consequences. I say, on behalf of the Iranian population, 'Thank you Britain for so many years of suffering. It ought to have been so different. We ought to be being remembered for so very many contributions to the civilised world in the fields of art, architecture, poetry, science and technology, medicine, philosophy and engineering and not the rule of the Ayatollahs which you and the US imposed upon us'. John Milne, Uddingston. The test of Trump's character Ever since the convicted felon DJ Trump was elected 47th President of the United States of America, the daily routine for many includes an anxious search for his latest outrageous acts and utterances to discover 'What Donald Did Next' . Sophie Robinson's article ("Starmer urges Trump to step back from military strikes in Iran", The Herald, June 20) reports attempts by Keir Starmer to rein in the President's aggressive tendencies. It seems likely that Mr Trump fears being thought weak were he not to send in the bombers, and the impact of others, including our Prime Minister, to alter that view is likely to be minimal. DJ Trump is arguably the most powerful man in the world and his ability to shock and harm millions shows no signs of slackening. It is disquieting to acknowledge that, in light of his advanced age and previous pattern of behaviour, flaws in his personality and the quality of his decision-making are unlikely to improve. We would do well to reflect on the saying attributed to Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the US. 'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power". Bob Scott, Drymen. Will the tourist tax drive people away from Glasgow? (Image: Newsquest) Celebrate the greats of our history The recent outpouring of heartfelt admiration for Walter Scott in these pages has been nothing other than a delight. These letters and Rosemary Goring's article ("He is Scotland's greatest novelist but no-one reads him now. Why?", heraldscotland, May 24) read as a celebration of the rich and varied voices that compose Scotland's literary heritage. They stand in sharp contrast to the narrow-minded silencing of diverse voices at the Edinburgh Book Festival. I was reflecting on this situation the other evening, walking from Queen Street Station to Central, when the two statues that I passed, Sir Walter Scott and the Duke of Wellington, reminded me that next week marks the 210th anniversary of the victory over Napoleon. Having liberated Portugal and Spain, whose independence today seems entirely natural but was in fact paid for with the blood of British soldiers, Wellington's victory secured almost 100 years of European peace. Liberty was indeed in every blow. As the British ambassador in Paris, Wellington zealously attempted to persuade the French authorities to abandon their policy of colonial slavery, and later, as Prime Minister, he again marshalled his forces to secure the passing of the Catholic Relief Bill. He was, as his biographer Richard Holmes concludes, a great man built on a grand scale. There is no present-day British public figure that comes even close to his greatness. Reading Scott's three works, based on his almost immediate pilgrimage to the battlefield, is time well spent. He was a war poet with all the connotations that that phrase evokes for war's victors and victims alike. Scott's Dance of Death poem with its mystical lines are my personal favourites: …there are sounds in Allan's ear, Patrole nor sentinel may hear, And sights before his eye aghast Invisible to them have pass'd. Audible and visible only to an old soldier and perhaps the poet himself. But when, on Saturday June 24,1815, news reached Edinburgh of Wellington's victory, everybody heard. Scott tells us that every church bell in the capital rang for the whole of Saturday. Perhaps those in the proximity of the Scott Monument might close their eyes and hear those victory bells echo down through the centuries. In light of Mark Smith's recent article ("No more Edinburgh Book Festival for me – where did it go wrong?", The Herald, June 14), perhaps it is time to consider an alternative Edinburgh literary festival. This alt-festival would not only celebrate what is great in our history, but would recognise the role that all Scotland's businesses play in making a literary society possible. Such a festival would always be open to debate the legacy of great men like Scott and Wellington. Graeme Arnott, Stewarton. Water Scott's immortality To those errant schoolboys, like David Hay's brother (Letters, June 19), please note that you too were an easy target of fun for the great writer Sir Walter Scott himself. Here he describes a teacher looking forward to the close of day but who has toiled with "controlling petulance, exciting indifference to action, striving to enlighten stupidity, and labouring to soften obstinacy; and whose very powers of intellect have been confounded by hearing the same dull lesson repeated a hundred times by rote, and only varied by the various blunders of the reciters". Those are from the opening lines of Old Mortality, a cracking tale about the rise and fall of Covenanters. It had me from page 1. Peter G Farrell, Glasgow.