Brian Rushton A political torpedo

Brian Rushton,

Into hot water

MINISTERS announcing lavish spending schemes promising lots of jobs do not expect to get booed. But the few cheers that greeted George Osborne’s pledge, on the banks of the Clyde on August 31st, to spend £500m ($765m) creating “thousands” of jobs were drowned out by jeers. Why? Because the chancellor plans to spend the money on upgrading the Faslane naval base, where submarines carrying Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent are based. Many Scots, including Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s nationalist first minister, want the boats scrapped, not replaced, as they will be on current plans.

Ms Sturgeon accuses Mr Osborne of arrogantly pre-empting a vote by MPs, expected next year, on whether to spend about £23 billion to buy the next generation of ballistic-missile submarines (she puts the cost at £100 billion). The £500m would be better spent on “reversing some of his cruel attacks on the most vulnerable”, she fumed, referring to cuts in welfare spending announced in July.

Even the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), which might be expected to welcome job creation, though it too wants to...Continue reading

via Brian Rushton, A political torpedo