IS Scotland being gaslit by harbingers of doom? I challenge you. Look through any newspaper in Scotland and find a positive story about our country. There are none. Every new day is characterised by a new doom. Education is failing. Hospitals are crumbling. Our civil liberties are being threatened. Asteroids are falling from the sky and the seven plagues of Egypt are about to descend upon Edinburgh.
Wherever there’s a negative story, Scottish Labour are not far behind, ready to validate how rubbish Scotland is. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pretending it’s all rainbows and unicorns. Scotland has not been immune to poor economic decisions made in Westminster. A financial crash, a decade of austerity, and a pandemic to boot. Yet it’s not quite the Dickens novel that Labour would have you believe we’re all living in.
READ MORE: 'No coalitions': Anas Sarwar rules out Labour deals after 2026 Holyrood election
Scots are being gaslit – and it’s not good for the nation’s psyche.
Recently, my gran was rushed to hospital in severe pain on a Tuesday. Within a day she was diagnosed. Finding the shared sleeping quarters difficult, She was quickly moved to her own room. Her one complaint was that doctors checked in on her too often. She was operated on by Friday afternoon and by Monday she was back home with a new lease of life.
I know that’s not everyone’s experience, but it was ours. The doctors were clear: had she not arrived at the hospital when she did, she would have died. My family owe a debt we can never repay to the NHS. It serves no-one to constantly talk the institution down, whilst offering no ideas on how to improve it. Yet this is what Scottish Labour are doing every day. The positive stories like ours get zero coverage.
My new Scottish Labour MP put leaflet after leaflet through my door saying there’s no affordable housing in Edinburgh North & Leith, then gave a rather ungracious acceptance speech attacking her predecessor’s record. I look out of my window every single day at affordable housing in Pilton, including older council houses being refurbished, and not five minutes away in Muirhouse, Pennywell and Granton, even more being built. Tracy Gilbert was gaslighting voters. The same Tracy Gilbert who voted to retain the cruel two-child cap which is exacerbating poverty for families in Edinburgh North & Leith.
READ MORE: Labour MPs starting to quit Twitter over 'disinformation' concerns
Relentless negativity cannot be good for the nation’s mental health. Scottish Labour being the midwife of doom is not surprising. They are looking to 2026, and their hopes of regaining power at Holyrood rely upon Scots believing that everything is broken. A message of despair, instead of a positive vision filled with hope. Even less is said about how Scottish Labour would improve public services, when faced with the same constraints that plague the SNP.
As the UK Government, Labour could of course resolve the fiscal challenges of the devolved institutions quite quickly, but Rachel Reeves is hell-bent on more austerity. Instead, they’ll carp from the sidelines about education failing, despite Scotland having one of the best-educated workforces in Europe.
Our economy performed comparatively better than the rest of the UK last year. Inward investment is second only to London. So yes, there are challenges, mostly fiscal and economic. Holyrood doesn’t even control most of the fiscal and economic levers. Westminster does.
Despite the challenges, Scotland remains an attractive place to live and work, for businesses to set up and tap into a well-educated workforce. It’s irresponsible of politicians to be harbingers of doom in the pursuit of power. Especially when the narrative is filled with more holes than a sieve.
Scottish Labour should do the nation’s health a service and turn down the gas, it’s summer after all.
Colin Storrier
Edinburgh
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel