Letters / Swinney right to blame the UK Government
In your piece about the Scottish Government setting up a special fund for islands and those therein in particular need, due to the economic consequences of:
a) Covid cost recovery, included profiteering on PPE and vaccine by Tory pals,
b) Ukrainian Invasion wheat and gas price hikes,
c) UK Government’s ongoing austerity programme,
d) Post-Brexit labour migration wage cost shock
e) years of wage reduction coming home to roost
f) underpayment of tax by all of us re NHS and other public services,
Mr Swinney of the SNP is absolutely right to blame the UK Government for the inflationary pressures generated.
Scottish Government to set up emergency ‘cost crisis’ fund for islanders
The biggest single contributor to current inflation is the unnecessary, but permitted by the Tories, energy price rises. Adding to this is the government pretending to rush to our aid to pay the private energy companies unreasonable bills (they were unreasonable before) with, guess what, OUR MONEY! Government money is our money.
The economic illiteracy of the British people is quite staggering. If the Tory government don’t shaft you one way, they will another.
France re-nationalised the 25 per cent of EDF. This is the company that sells largely nuclear power to England and, along with the Chinese, are currently building the next generation of English nuclear reactors.
So, the UK tax payer is now directly subsidising French energy bills. You cannot make it up.
And the Tories are meant to be smart with the economy.
Apart from Gordon Brown taking his eye (absolutely no pun intended before you start) off the banks and not regulating them, almost all the major shocks to the UK economy have been due to Tory government economic policy or inaction. Look at the history – economic – books and see how the Tories have cooked them.
Of course, Shetlanders, more than any other group in the UK, will roll over and suck it up being Tory-Lite, we being culturally moothless Shetlanders. Never mind Up-Helly-Aas are comin’. Dat’ll warm wis up! You cood awis burn your electricity bills?
Beatrice [Wishart] welcomes the extra cash, whilst Alistair [Carmichael] advises not to stop your direct debit payments to SSE (OVO cuddly ‘family’).
The Tory-Lite tweedle dee and tweedle dum economics go on about the number if letters they’d written to Ofgem. Laughable. They should have saved the paper for the fire!
James J Paton
Lerwick
