Latest news with #AnasSarwar
The National
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The National
Scottish Labour is a fiction, nothing more than a branding
The SNP have urged Anas Sarwar to whip Labour's Scottish MPs to vote against the Government's planned benefits cuts, which the British Government's own analysis estimates will push 250,000 disabled and chronically ill people into poverty, including 50,000 children. However, disability rights campaign group Disability Rights UK, anti-poverty charity and think tank Trussel, and economics think tank WPI Economics all calculate that the Government's analysis significantly underestimates the number of disabled people who will be pushed into poverty as a consequence of these cuts. They believe that the true number is in excess of 400,000. Thousands of disabled people are expected to lose their entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main benefit for disabled people in England and Wales, under Labour's plan to change the eligibility criteria for the benefit. The plan will introduce a new eligibility requirement which will mean that only those who score a minimum of four points in at least one activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. To be eligible for PIP, claimants must score a minimum of eight points assessed on the help they need across a range of daily living activities such as food preparation, bathing and showering, toileting, dressing, eating, and taking medication. Many people make up the eight points by scoring one or two across different categories, but under the new plans only those scoring four in one category will be eligible. If a claimant does not score four in a single category, the points they score in other categories will be discounted. Note that this change does nothing to help disabled people into work, the stated aim of the Government's cuts; it merely reclassifies disabled people as no longer being disabled for the purposes of eligibility for PIP. The needs of disabled people remain the same. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA) One of the more pernicious effects of this change follows from the fact that PIP is a so-called passport benefit – eligibility for other benefits depends on eligibility for PIP. Carers Allowance is paid to those who care for a disabled person in receipt of PIP, or Attendance Allowance, its equivalent for retired people. If the disabled person loses their eligibility for PIP, eligibility for Carer's Allowance is lost too. Far from providing an incentive to the disabled person to find work, this will make it far more difficult for them to cope with daily living and far more difficult to get into work. Disability campaigners have warned that the cuts will not save the Government money as they will simply force disabled people, whose very real needs remain unchanged, to turn to other services such as the already over-stretched NHS and adult social services. Any politician with a social conscience or a basic understanding of disability should vigorously oppose these harmful and damaging cuts, but with the honourable exception of Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman, Labour's Scottish contingent in Westminster are a supine bunch of careerists whose contribution to Commons debates consists of attacking the Scottish Government on devolved issues. Of course Anas Sarwar, the nominal leader of the Labour party in Scotland, should instruct Labour's Scottish MPs to vote against these cruel and counterproductive cuts, but he won't, because he too is a supine careerist, installed in his current job by the right wing of the Labour party precisely because he'd do Keir Starmer's bidding. Sarwar defends the cuts, because he believes what Starmer tells him to believe. But even if Sarwar finds a backbone and opposes the cuts, he has no authority over Labour's Scottish MPs in Westminster and no means of enforcing how they vote in the Commons. "Scottish Labour" is a political fiction, nothing more than a branding exercise. Labour MPs elected in Scotland are subject to the UK Labour whip. They do not constitute a cohesive voting bloc in the Commons. They are part and parcel of the UK Parliamentary Labour Party. Anas Sarwar couldn't whip up a cream cake, never mind Labour's Scottish MPs. At First Minister's Questions today, John Swinney tore into Sarwar's attacks on him as "the performance of a weak man" after asking two rather desultory questions about Alexander Dennis moving bus production to England and suggesting that Swinney's leadership was under threat. Sarwar accused Swinney of pressing the "big panic independence button" to "save his skin", after the First Minister made a speech on his desire for self-determination this week. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Swinney retorted: "Isn't it interesting that Mr Sarwar's interest in the workers of Alexander Dennis lasted two questions and then he gets on to his usual posturing in this Parliament of little substance that is before us. Israel discovers war crimes Meanwhile, Israel has suddenly discovered that launching missiles into hospitals is a war crime after an Iranian missile struck a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva. Iranian state media has claimed that the missile targeted a military site next to the hospital and not the medical facility itself. Israel's deputy foreign affairs minister Sharren Haskel has called Iran's strike on the hospital "deliberate" and "criminal", while the Israeli health minister Uriel Buso said it was a war crime. But apparently, it's perfectly fine for Israel to bomb hospitals in Gaza on the supposed grounds that they are targeting Hamas operations in or near the hospital.
The National
a day ago
- Politics
- The National
Labour MPs to be 'blacklisted' if they fail to back benefit cuts
Rebels face the prospect of having the party whip suspended if they vote against plans to claw back £7 billion from the benefits budget. But those considering abstaining have been warned they will not be considered for promotion, The Times reports. A senior Government source told the paper that many new MPs failed to appreciate the 'gravity' of the situation if they believed that abstaining would help them evade sanction. (Image: DWP) They said: 'If someone has any ambition to be a minister then they need to realise that will never happen if they duck out of this. 'Being an MP is not just about being popular with your constituents.' Another insider added: 'You'd have to be mad to ever expect to seriously be looked at for promotion after not supporting this flagship piece of legislation. 'If you're wavering now, then anyone made a [private parliamentary secretary] or minister would be on resignation watch at future votes. Why would we take the risk with them?' READ MORE: Anas Sarwar urged to whip Scottish Labour MPs against welfare cuts The government's working majority of 165 means that 83 Labour MPs would need to rebel for Keir Starmer to lose a vote. An open letter signed by 42 Labour MPs last month warned that the Government's cuts 'represent the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity and over three million of our poorest and most disadvantaged will be affected'. MPs are also jittery over an impact assessment published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which found that 250,000 people would be pushed into poverty by the changes, of whom 50,000 children. A handful of ministers are also on resignation watch, according to The Times. DWP Secretary Liz Kendall (below) published the bill to enact the changes on Wednesday. Nearly 400,000 people are set to be affected by tougher tests to qualify for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the main disability benefit in England, by 2029. Around 800,000 new claimants will receive lower incapacity top-ups of £50 per week, down from the present rate of £97. Tens of thousands of young people will be barred from claiming Universal Credit health payments by raising the age at which this can be claimed to 22. A concession came in the form of allowing PIP claimants a 13 week grace period before their top-ups are downgraded.
The National
a day ago
- Climate
- The National
Met Office invites public to help with new storm names
Naming storms helps effective communication among the media and the public regarding the impacts of severe weather events, the forecaster said. There have been five named storms so far in the 2024/25 season, with Eowyn the last one named on January 21. Factors to be considered during the naming process include how difficult it might be to pronounce, whether a name has different meanings in different countries and whether it could be controversial. READ MORE: Anas Sarwar urged to whip Scottish Labour MPs against welfare cuts The Met Office will work with Met Eireann in Ireland and Dutch weather service KMNI to compile the list which will reflect the diversity of the three countries. Will Lang, chief meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'We all remember the impactful storm names of recent years. 'Whether it's Eunice, Franklin, Bert or another impactful event, the storm-naming system has helped us communicate weather to help people stay safe. 'Now we need the UK public to help us compile this year's list. 'Whether you want to honour a weather lover in your family, remember a family pet or get a friend's name in the headlines, we welcome submissions from the public to help us pull together next year's list of storm names.' Mr Lang said storms are named because 'it works', adding: 'For Storm Eowyn in January, the UK's most powerful windstorm for over a decade, post-event surveys suggest that 99% of people within the red warning area were aware of the warnings, and 89% of them took action.' Names are selected for each letter of the alphabet, apart from Q, U, X, Y and Z. People are being invited to put forward names on the Met Office website, with the option to add a reason for their suggestion. The shortlist will be announced in September. Suggestions can be submitted at
The National
a day ago
- Politics
- The National
The dangers of imported American culture wars
The US anti-abortion movement is more emboldened than it has been in years, largely due to Trump removing nearly all protections for abortion providers. He has instructed federal prosecutors to limit enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (Face), which was introduced in response to violence against abortion clinics and staff, including the murder of doctors. In January, Trump also chose to pardon 23 anti-abortion activists who had been jailed for invading and blockading abortion clinics under the Face Act. READ MORE: Anas Sarwar urged to whip Scottish Labour MPs against welfare cuts The chilling events of the weekend should give us pause for thought here in Scotland. The hard-won Safe Access Zones Act, which keeps anti-abortion protesters 200 metres away from hospitals providing abortion services, came about in direct response to the importation of US-style clinic protests. Although many of the protesters were locals, they were recruited and organised by Texan anti-abortion organisation 40 Days for Life. I first witnessed the protests while living near the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, and the unmistakably US overtones – the signs, the fanaticism – made my blood run cold. Abortion rights in Scotland are under attack with the help of US dollars. When anti-abortion activist Rose Docherty flouted the new buffer zone legislation, she was swiftly lionised by the Alliance Defending Freedom – an American legal advocacy group categorised as an extremist homophobic hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre. She was framed as a persecuted victim of state overreach, rather than someone deliberately undermining public health protections. An even more disturbing example came when JD Vance grossly misrepresented Scotland's buffer zone laws, which led to a surge in abuse directed at MSP Gillian Mackay. Mackay, who spearheaded the buffer zones bill, was called a 'baby killer', received emails suggesting her abusers knew her home address, and was even sent rape threats – all while she was pregnant. The recent events in America are existentially terrifying, threatening our sense of freedom, peace, and democracy. It would be a grave mistake to assume that such extremism cannot reach our shores. It already has. Attempts to undermine our laws and the will of our parliament are not theoretical – they are happening right now. Yet, watching so many Americans take to the streets in defence of the freedoms they cherish gives me hope. I have faith in them – and I have faith in us.
The National
a day ago
- Health
- The National
New scanner used for brain tumour patients trialled in world-first
Scientists at the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian have been awarded £350,000 of Scottish Government funding to generate never-before-seen images of glioblastoma brain tumours. The technology is hoped to potentially improve treatment and quality of life for patients, by investigating a new way to scan glioblastoma brain tumours – the most common and aggressive type, with more than 3000 new patients in the UK diagnosed each year. Half of all patients die within 15 months of diagnosis even after extensive surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. READ MORE: Anas Sarwar urged to whip Scottish Labour MPs against welfare cuts Field cycling imaging (FCI) is a new and specialist type of low-field MRI scan pioneered in Aberdeen and has already been found to be effective in detecting tumours in breast tissue and brain damage in stroke patients. It is hoped it can now be used to help brain tumour patients. MRI scanners were invented at the University of Aberdeen 50 years ago, but the new FCI scanner is the only one of its type used on patients anywhere in the world. The FCI derives from MRI but can work at low and ultra-low magnetic fields which means it is capable of seeing how organs are affected by diseases in ways that were previously not possible, and can vary the strength of the magnetic field during the patient's scan – acting like multiple scanners and extracting more information about the tissues. The new technology can detect tumours without having to inject dye into the body, which can be associated with kidney damage and allergic reactions in some patients. The team of doctors and scientists involved will scan glioblastoma patients undergoing chemotherapy after surgery and chemoradiotherapy. It is hoped the research will establish that, unlike conventional MRI scans, FCI can tell the difference between tumour growth and progression, and 'pseudo-progression' which looks like tumour but is not cancerous tissue, which could improve care and quality of life. (Image: PA) Professor Anne Kiltie, Friends of ANCHOR chair in clinical oncology at the University of Aberdeen, who is leading the study said: 'We already have evidence that FCI is effective in detecting tumours in breast tissue and brain damage in patients following a stroke. 'Applying this exciting new technology to glioblastoma patients could give us a much more accurate and detailed picture of what is going on in their brain. 'If we can detect true tumour progression early, we can swap the patient to a potentially more beneficial type of chemotherapy. 'Also, being able to verify that a patient has pseudo-progression will prevent effective chemotherapy being stopped too early, because it was thought that the tumour has progressed, thus worsening prognosis. 'Providing certainty will also reduce anxiety for both patients and relatives and improve the quality of life of patients. 'Importantly, having a reliable method to identify progressive disease will allow development and more precise evaluation of emerging potential treatments. This is of particular importance as patients currently have a limited choice of treatments for combating their cancer. 'Ultimately, this study and related future work will improve quality, effectiveness and healthcare cost-effectiveness in the treatment of glioblastoma patients across Scotland and beyond.' Sarah-Jane Hogg, chief executive at Friends of ANCHOR, added: 'This is a really promising development and another example of the pioneering work coming out of the University of Aberdeen. 'Professor Kiltie's role at the University is fully funded by Friends of ANCHOR through our Dream Big appeal, and our thanks go to our donors and fundraisers for the part they've played in supporting this work.' A spokesperson for The Brain Tumour Charity said: 'This pioneering technology is a promising step forward for people who have been diagnosed with the most aggressive type of brain tumour. 'It's positive news in contrast to the accounts we often hear about delays to diagnosis, limited treatment options, and the struggle to get vital innovations to the NHS front line. 'We welcome this, and The Brain Tumour Charity will continue working with clinicians and policymakers in Scotland – and the rest of the UK – to help bring advances to patients more quickly.'
