10 months into the SNP/L.D. administration and something unprecedented has happened, no I'm not talking about the savage cuts to services which effect the most vulnerable in our society, but it's linked to that.
Through the door the other day came a newspaper which was designed to look like it was officially sanctioned by the council which showed on closer examination that it wasn't.
It was from the SNP administration telling us what wonderful people they were, as an exercise in duplicity, even by SNP standards it was very revealing, a) for what it said and b) for what it didn't say.
New council offices were trumpeted, as were new schools, residential homes, a new health centre etc. what it didn't say of course was that these things were Labour achievements which the SNP got to open.
In a quite brazen display of cant and hypocrisy they posed and smiled at the opening ceremonies and claimed the credit, compounding the felony was the fact that they opposed every one of these innovations when in opposition. In the west of Scotland and in Renfrewshire there is a term for this kind of behaviour it's called displaying "a brass neck"
This newspaper carried the most extravagant claims and boasts by the SNP which had folk thinking that it wasn't Renfrewshire they were referring to at all, it was 4 legs good (SNP) and 2 legs bad (Labour) as Orwell put it, one of the most dishonest pieces of crude propaganda I have seen.
What made it so utterly mendacious was of course the things they never said, no mention of closed Nurseries, Libraries, Housing Offices, Homeless Facilities, £4.5 million Education Cuts meaning cuts in Supported Study, Less Teachers, Education Support Projects, Community Computer Learning, Charges to Elderly Facilities like Day Centres, Cuts to Warden Services to Elderly Accommodation, Sports Facilities etc, etc, I doubt if people are being fooled.
It's another example of underhand behaviour from a party who are already finding that their inexperience and incompetence have them out of their depth, they are under severe criticism from the people of Renfrewshire for what they didn't tell them at the election i.e. savage cuts, and they have started to panic as this paper shows.
I estimate that it cost them thousands of pounds partly because they didn't have any SNP activists so they paid a firm to deliver it so they must have come up 'Trumps' to find the money !
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33 comments:
That is not the copy of the "Renfrewshire" I got through the door the other day was it? For years it served as the Labour Party propaganda sheet. Maybe now it is under new management it has come out your blindspot?
(ShrekBall) 12/04/08
This is an SNP document, read it again.
The magazine you refer to is still in circulation despite the SNP lambasting it for years in opposition, they said many times that they would get rid of it but they now love it, rather typical.
Now we have established this lets go over a few "facts".
The Renfrewshire is not an SNP document it is a council document. When Labour were in charge it propagandised the Labour group. Now the SNP are in charge it is cheering for them. The fact that you NOW think it is nothing more than a waste of money designed to brainwash the impressionable in the town is something I welcome even if it is a little late.
Second is that the "firm" paid to deliver it was the Royal Mail. I know because I was in when the postie delivered it. The Labour council also had the Royal Mail deliver this rag when it used it to write it, I know this by the fact that when it was waiting for me in the past it was in the middle of a pile of letters on the mat (and occasionally it came on a Saturday when I seen him deliver it).
Third is that if this was "designed to look like it was officially sanctioned by the council which showed on closer examination that it wasn't" then the issues produced before May 2007 were of similar dubious legal standing as it is simply the same newsletter under different ownership.
I take it you now hold the position that the "Renfrewshire" is a shocking waste of council resources and should be scrapped?
(ShrekBall) 14:20
The fact that you believe that the council would sanction this is a clear indication that you just haven’t got a clue.
The ‘Council’ magazine (not paper) will be delivered to you in due course and you can write in and admit how stupid you were.
There must be someone this can be reported to. Election campaigning is pretty strictly regulated.
I call the Lib Dems the Lib Dums in private and the SNP the Scottish Nose Pickers.
How can these jokers have any credibility?
When i went to school in Olympia and everyone's the same
And so are you in Olympia and everyone's the same
We look the same, we talk the same
Baby, baby, baby, baby
Won't you please make me real oh no
Make me real oh no
Make me real oh no
Hurt me
I went to school with Calvin
Hey, hey, hey, hey
And what do you do with a revolution
I went to school in Olympia
Baby, baby, baby, baby
And everyone's the same
And so are you in Olympia
Won't you please make me real, make me sick
Make me real, make it stick
Make me real
Do it for the kids some more
Fascist sexists
I went to school in Olympia
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Will the council publication be called "Renfrewshire"? Will it feature a picture of a man cutting a tree in Ferguslie? Will it have an advert for Reid Kerr on the back, details of councillor surgeries on the inside back cover? Will it have the council branding on it and the budget breakdown on the middle pages?
If so then I have this already and we seem to be talking at cross purposes. Is the SNP delivered publication you speak of also called "Renfrewshire"? In which case they only seem to be delivering in your area as I have not seen it.
In Aberdeen pre-2003 there was a similar council-produced rag in circulation called "Bon-Accord" which praised the Labour Party in highest and kept going on about the importance of socialism.
As I left the city a few years ago I do not know whether Lib-Dems have subverted it to their ends or they have abolished it. Probably still going as it it would be cheaper to produce a propaganda sheet at public expense (as Labour did) than pay for "Focus Newsletters" out of party funds.
shrekball - That's fair enough.
(The Aberdonian) 14:59
I don’t know about “Bon Accord” but this paper is from the SNP and is made to look like it’s from Renfrewshire Council.
Question, the previous administration blow £20 million on an unrequired facelift for the council headquarters, and renovate all the schools for about, hmmm, £16 million pounds a year (for the next 25 years). What would you do faced with such a fiscal black hole?
Councillor,
Have you ever Trumped in your political career?
(Allan) 15/04/08
Are you suggesting that this is the reason for the savage SNP cuts ? If so you are well off the mark.
If these projects could not be managed financially they would not have gone ahead, try telling it to the nursery children’s parents and the elderly who are being targeted by the SNP. Read today’s PDX.
(Firma) 15/04/08
I take that to mean have I ever came out on top in politics ? Yes.
No that i am condoning the way the SNP have tried to minimalise the black hole in Renfrewshires finances, but therer are mitigating circumstances. Like the £20 million bill for the new council headquarters, and the annual PFI bill for the renovation of Renfrewshire's schools (is is £16 million a year?).
My original point remains, and it is a question that Wendy, Hugh and the other New Labour polititians haven't been asked - what would you do, which services would you cut?
Re the comment from Allan, I would have to concur.
The previous administration threw so much money away on such ventures it will take a long time for any new administration to balance the books.
I have been around the new council building and cannot see why this money was spent when ther are so many other priorities.
Also Mr Kelly. Is it true that Labour councils in other areas are cutting the warden services that you so constantly bleat about.
I have 2 close friends who are council employees who work directly with the administration.
They have both said that working with the new administration is like a breath of fresh air as they are now treated with a degree of courtesy and there is new atmosphere of optimism and enthusiasm within the council.
They said that the previous Labour councillors treated them like dirt and were constantly miserable.
This is reflected in your blog Terry, where it is very rare to see a comment that is positive and optimistic.
In fact, the reality is, that it is just a constant rant against anything that the new administration do.
What you don't really understand is that most of the contributors to your blog are one and the same guising under different pseudonyms and having a good laugh at your expense.
Keep up the good work Terry. Your blog damages the reputaion of Labour on a daily basis.
(Allan) 16/04/08
The money for the council headquarters and the schools has been budgeted for.
The cuts are as a result of the tax freeze. 'No tax increase' has to be paid for somewhere, that’s the dishonesty of the SNP position.
(P. Ness) 09:29
I know dozens of council officers and workers who tell me that the SNP haven’t got a clue, they are being laughed at by the people whom they treated like dirt, for the 9 yrs. I was there their behaviour to council staff was appalling.
And they are now being made a laughing stock, having to rush out a bogus “Renfrewshire paper” because they are out of their depth and are already reviled by most people in Renfrewshire.
You either know nothing about Renfrewshire Council’s recent history or you are a blatant liar.
My brother Paul posted on 17th April and he is completely on the mark.
The atmosphere within the council is now so much better since the new administration has come in.
Previously the Labour councillors were absoultely obnoxious to the staff (apart from a few) and it was very clear that they did not really care about the future of Renfrewshire. You only have to look at how they have let Paisley become a ghost town to see that this is borne out.
The new council, however, are extremely enthusiastic and seem to genuinely want to bring a real regeneration into Paisley.
Incidentally Terry. Did labour not also propose to freeze the council tax in their opposition budget? Yes or no would be fine.
(A. Ness) 10:47
Labour did propose a freeze. How you spend whatever money that is available is all about choices and what we are thankfully seeing in Renfrewshire is that Labour have different priorities from this SNP administration which is targeting the most vulnerable.
The rest of your post is lies, everyone who knows about Renfrewshire politics knows the SNP were a bunch of hooligans in the council.
"The cuts are as a result of the tax freeze. 'No tax increase' has to be paid for somewhere"
"Labour did propose a freeze."
Your words Terry.
(Eddie) 14:56
You don’t seem to be grasping this.
My point is how do you make the choices about where to save money, and I’m glad to say that Labour has different values from the SNP who don’t seem to have any.
Terry
What money saving measures were Labour planning to implement?
(Macnasty) 16:45
You should know by now that information of that kind is available by contacting R.C.
I have to agree with Paul & Andy Ness. Some of my friends work for the Council and they cant believe the change in the place. They are actually being allowed to think for themselves and are being listened to.
Richard
I too got a copy of the SNP Mag through the door what a lot of big heads! No mention of all the cuts. They should be ashamed of themselves.
(R. Soul) 18/04/08
Everyone who knows Renfrewshire politics will know you are a liar.
(Mike Hunt) 18/04/08
They are shameless but, they are in a panic, and there are more cuts and job losses to come.
So can you confirm that the annual PFI bill for the renovation of Renfrewshire's new leaky, compact schools is £16 million a year? The new HQ might have been budgeted for , but is still unnecessary.
Oh and please don't make gags about Trumpland, as i have mentioned in my own "Dispaches From Paisley" blog, your own party though happy to critisise the SNP for their handling, would still take the dollars, despite the rather obvoius shortcomings of Trump's proposed development.
(Allan) 20/04/08
“the renovation of Renfrewshire's new leaky, compact schools”
These are the schools that the SNP have described and continue to describe as “absolutely fantastic, the way forward” You should see their smiles as the cut the ribbons.
Your ref. to Trump shows up yet again the SNP embarrassment over this.
Absolutely fantastic, apart from the fact that if you read between the lines of the PDE report today about my old school, the payment plans for the renovation of the schools in renfrewshire are a drain on the resources of Council Tax payers.
Again I ask 1) How much the annual PFI payments are and 2)What services would New Labour cut, instead of introducing Warden charges?
(Allan) 23/04/08
Reading between the lines is a way of seeing what you want to see.
The answers to your second para. Are a matter of public record.
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