MY new local “Scottish” Labour MP voted against the assisted dying bill in the House of Commons. If I were a resident of England or Wales I think I might feel more than a little aggrieved that she and many other Scottish MPs took part in a vote which has relevance only to England and Wales. Perhaps there will soon be calls for the re-instatement of the “English Votes for English Laws” legislation which was abolished in July 2021.
READ MORE: MSP behind Scottish assisted dying legislation ‘confident’ for bill passing
Putting aside for a moment the rights and wrongs of assisted dying, I am overwhelmed by the heavy stench of hypocrisy and self-righteousness of someone who voted against this bill yet, a very short time ago, voted to remove the Winter Fuel Payment from pensioners – a decision which is predicted, by Labour’s own research, to lead to the early deaths of some 4000 pensioners. On average this would amount to about 10 of her constituents.
So unwanted death by hypothermia is somehow acceptable to her but death by assisted dying is not?
Brian Lawson
Paisley
IT is surely one of the most unedifying sights seen in politics for some time. Most of us pensioners have been robbed of the Winter Fuel Payment, yet politicians are falling over themselves to shy away from the inevitable consequence of Westminster’s decision to restrict that allowance only to those who can successfully jump through the hoops of means-testing.
The loss of that allowance – small though it may be – will mean some harsh choices will have to be made for us in terms of heating or eating. Yes, I know it is a cliched expression, but it is a hard future that is facing us over this coming winter as the higher cost of living, increased fuel prices and dearer shopping bills hit home.
READ MORE: SNP minister denies winter fuel announcement was 'Thick of It' moment
And all the time we see well-heeled politicians telling us that they have no choice but to make these cuts. Well, breaking news, folks! Those making the decisions are not the ones who will have to live with the consequences. We are asked to tighten belts that are already at the last notch, so tell us please how we can do this and still breathe?
Not for us the luxury of untaxed expense accounts. Not for us regular increases in already well-paid salaries. We are constantly being patronised by smooth words and promises of a better future. That is only if we live long enough to see it.
Our pensions are among the poorest in so-called developed societies. There is plenty of money to be spent on projects like HS2, or warships that are floating spare parts for other warships. It is disgusting that Westminster and its membership are able to carry on regardless in their heated offices, their subsidised canteens, their access to travel etc while we have the little that we had being taken away.
If that does not make you angry then it should. We have rapidly moved into a two-tier society where the rich are getting richer at the expense of the rest of us. Disgust is not nearly a strong enough word to describe how I feel. And it is how we should all feel.
Chick McKenna
Dumfries
I WAS sure of it when I got up on Saturday. I downloaded my National as always first thing. I looked at it ... nothing. I searched and searched but no mention of it. There was a two-page article about the assisted dying bill, all very important but a bill that only affects England and Wales. I looked again but could not find a single thing.
I was sure it was St Andrew’s Day – our National day – but nothing about it in The National, the place of all places where I should see mention of St Andrew’s Day – even it is was a titled highlight across the front page ... but nothing.
READ MORE: A public holiday to celebrate St Andrew’s Day is long overdue
Was I going mad? Had I got the days wrong? I checked up on Google Chrome. Yes, November 30 is St Andrew’s Day. I asked my Google Echo “is today St Andrew’s Day?” and it answered “yes”. I then asked Alexa and it gave me to same answer. I must have missed something, so I searched The National again. Still the two-page spread about the debate on a bill that only affects England and Wales but not Scotland. I was totally disgusted.
The National is supposed to be our independence newspaper. It is supposed to celebrate our Scottish culture and being when we have gone through lifetimes of having our sense of being, our culture, mocked and put down. But NOTHING about St Andrew’s Day – our country’s most important day to state we are Scottish, we are here, we are us.
Even the BBC had some weak acknowledgement of St Andrew’s Day by it being mentioned on the news and having a few programmes. The BBC even streamed live the memorial service to Alex Salmond, which was deliberately chosen to be on St Andrew’s Day. But The National – nothing!
This has totally disgusted me. Increasingly I have noticed The National carrying articles that only affect areas outside of Scotland but not Scotland itself, but not even one sentence mentioning St Andrew’s Day on the actual day (when even the BBC can mention it) is totally unacceptable.
Crìdean Mac Fhearghais
Dùn Eideann
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