The Scottish branch of the Labour have gone totally aff their heids.
Ok..So what is new? You might well ask.
Its not as If we haven’t heard plenty of their shouting, and screaming,and histrionics by now.We have.
But they really are taking the biscuit with the mould cheese now.
Have you come across their 5 Step plan to get Scotland back to work? It is a work of wonder comparable to Stevensons Jekyll and Hyde..
They haven’t a scooby who they are,what they stand for,or indeed anything else.
Ok…Lets look at this thing.
“Scottish Labour Plan for Jobs
This is a really worrying time for families struggling
with higher bills and worried about the future.
That’s why Scottish Labour has a clear plan for jobs.
1. A £2 billion tax on bank bonuses to fund 100,000 jobs
for young people – which they would be required to take up – and the Scottish Government to use some of the money to build 2,500 more affordable homes
2. The Scottish government to bring forward long-term investment projects
schools, roads and transport – to get people back to work and strengthen our economy for the future, and stop the damaging cuts to Scotland’s colleges
3. Reversing January’s damaging VAT rise
now for a temporary period – a £450 boost for a couple with children – immediate help for our high streets and for struggling families and pensioner
4. A one year cut in VAT to 5% on home improvements,
repairs and maintenance – to help homeowners and small businesses
5. A one year national insurance tax break
for every small firm which takes on extra workers – helping small businesses to grow and create jobs”
Ok..Even without looking at the details they are proposing, whether they are workable or desrable or not? There is One very obvious major snag in the works. Have you spotted it?
If not..Here is what it is.
Out of these 5 measures they propose to undertake…They cannot even begin to deliver 4 of them!
Why not?
They have absolutely no say, no control over … 1. A £2 billion tax on bank bonuses..3.Reversing January’s damaging VAT rise..4. A one year cut in VAT to 5% on home improvements,..and 5. A one year national insurance tax break
All of These are Reserved matters belonging to Westminster…and unless they haven’t realised it yet, they are no longer in Government…and even if they were still in Government, who says that their Bosses in London would even bother listening to them?
The only way that these measures could be undertaken, would be if Scotland became Independent…
So are they now advocating Independence after all??
The One measure out of that list which could be undertaken is no2. The Scottish government to bring forward long-term investment projects
Which strangely enough..Is just exactly what the Scottish Government is already doing,and has been doing. And they would love to do a lot more of , if they could get the Westminster government, to release more funds for Capital projects.
Unbelievable Stuff….Well it would he…Until you realise that it is Labour we are talking about here.
Auld Acquaintance 
I’ve usually got something to say, but they have taken my breath away…
The ideas seem like good ones, at first reading (and without thinking of consequences, which there would inevitably be), which is a start.
But as you say, they are things that can only be done (or in teh case of one, financed) by the English/UK government.
So we must conclude that either they don’t understand this, or that they want the Scottish government to have these powers. In which case, what the hell are we fighting for?
Quite!!
..”which they would be required to take up”
and what if they don’t sounds like the current Wastemonster mob!
Considering that the union that they are proud of still exists, lets see how long it takes to get any of these plans into action under the existing system.
If a Scottish Government had these plans they could be enacted upon very quickly. With labour in opposition in Hollyrood and Westminster, lets watch them lobby Cameron on these plans and see what happens. Its only a couple of weeks until George Osborne’s Autumn Statement. Cameron asked Salmond for shovel ready projects back in February from memory, so on this one at least Salmond and Cameron have had a head start.
Breathtaking in its stupidity. Clearly a cut and paste job from Millbank House. MSM please copy!
Wow!! What fantastic ideas. And when you add the impact of these to the earlier equally fantastic idea of using the SG share of the 4G auction, then how can it fail.
PS. The SG share of the 4G auction is a big fat zero, as everyone except SLab knows.
PPS I use fantastic in its proper sense, ie. pertaining to a fantasy. FYI. Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Note the use of the word fiiction”.
Can you arrange for a copy to be sent to the IMF?
Should finish off the City at a stroke.