LEVELLING UP – ALBA REACTION

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorizedTags:, ,

For immediate release: Thursday 19 January 2023

LEVELLING UP – ALBA REACTION

“THIS IS NOT LEVELLING UP, ITS SHORING UP THE TORIES AND THE UNION” – MACASKILL

“STICKING PLASTER WILL NOT COVER THE GAPING WOUND OF BREXIT” – HANVEY

ALBA Westminster Leader Neale Hanvey MP and ALBA Depute Leader Kenny MacAskill MP have responded to the announcement today (Thursday) on the allocation of levelling up funds.

In a statement Neale Hanvey, MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath said:

“While funding for important projects is always welcome the reality is that this fund is a mere sticking plaster to cover the gaping wound of EU funding that has been lost since Brexit.  What this announcement fails to address is the many projects who didn’t secure funding or have had to close as EU funds have run out. 

“Between 2014-2020 , Scotland was allocated up to €944 million in structural funding from the EU. The money announced today fails to plug the gap in the financial support that Scotland has lost due to Westminster’s decision to drag Scotland out of the EU against the expressed will of the Scottish people. 

“Yes funding for Fife is welcome but yards will remain idle when they should be booming with construction work for the renewables sector. That’s why we need Independence so that we can use our massive energy resources to power our economy and heat the homes of our people who are living in fuel poverty.”

Continuing ALBA Depute Leader and MP for East Lothian Kenny MacAskill said:

“Of course those communities that have been crying out for investment will welcome any extra funds but let us be clear this is small beer not a bonanza.  Scotland is being fleeced of its massive renewable energy resources, with our energy being transmitted down south, from Torness and Peterhead, and yet we are expected to be grateful when we receive the crumbs from the Master’s table.

“Many good Scottish bids, like Glasgow’s have been unsuccessful whilst London and the South East of England have been granted double the money that Scotland has. How can this scheme be described as levelling up when the most prosperous parts of the UK are being granted the most?

“This scheme is not about levelling up communities but rather about shoring up support in Tory constituencies. This is nothing more than a cynical political exercise by the UK Government to bolster support for the Union by wrapping these funds in the Union Jack.”

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17 thoughts on “LEVELLING UP – ALBA REACTION”

  1. Where has the comments section gone in relation to the Levelling Up – Alba Reaction piece.

    Why do the gremlins come out when its an ALBA driven piece. And is it the same gremlins over on Wings where some comments, after being posted, disappear into the ether.

    Liked by 6 people

  2. Levelling Up ought to be Levelling Down. It ought to be the end of neoliberalism. It ought to be Social Democratic politics. There ought to be much greater redistribution of wealth, power and income. It ought to be a society that is much more equal across all levels.

    Instead, Freeports put more power to the elite. Freeports will allow employers to employ people with less regulation and no unionisation – a race to the bottom where workers’ rights are diminished or lost.

    Liked by 7 people

  4. Radio news today, interviewer to Tory, isn’t it true that most of the levelling up funds have gone to London and the South East and not to the North of England, interviewer also ask isn’t it true that the lion share of the levelling up fund has gone to mainly Tory constituencies.

    The Tory replied by waffling about how the Tory government is levelling up all over the UK.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. If the chart shown on the news last night is the indicator of where the “Levelling Up” money is going, why are there 16 successful projects in London and the Southeast, most within Tory constituencies and only 10 successful projects here in Scotland?

      If London and the Southeast of England require to be levelled up, which region are they “Levelling Up” with?

      Liked by 4 people

  5. Between 2014 and 2020 the UK contributed over £100 Billion to the EU. The loss of poitential financial support for Scotland has nothing to do with Brexit, and everything to do with the Tories trying to shore up their support in England.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Deary Deary me. Alba bumping their gums again. They know the answer to Scotlands problems but are unwilling to use it. They should be screaming about our long standing Scottish constitution, once in the peoples minds it would bring down the whole rotten edifice of this illegal union we find ourselves in.
    But naw. They want a referendum with the same suicidal franchise as 2014 where every man and his dug gets a vote, even oor big Ek has stated that HE will have none of this natavist stuff and everyone who just happens to be here can vote. Why are our supposed leaders so fearful.
    salvo.scot liberation.scot get clued up

    Liked by 5 people

      2. I can’t believe I didn’t see that! Actually I’m more likely to link to the likes of a Wee Ginger Dug article, then let people add the sort of dissenting comments that Mr K so relentlessly weeds out!

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Ah; just checked it out, it looks like comments are automatically closed when you reblog someone, which makes sense. So I’ll just quote and link and let folk do their worst. To be clear, 3rdWayIndy supports free speech, and only spam, off-topic or illegal in Britain comments will be removed.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. I wish I could find the Tweet because it was rather good, and I’ve only ever seen it once.

    A few weeks ago there was a picture on Twitter of a wall in a modern building, beside a picture of an old wall in a traditional building, but somebody had punched a hole in the plasterboard of the new wall.

    The quip below the damaged new wall was, “Please don’t hurt me”.
    The quip below the undamaged old wall was, “Do that again and I’ll break your other hand”.

    Kinda says it all, and rather well I thought.

    Liked by 2 people

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