Hope & Despair E-Book

Neil Findlay

• Herausgeber: Luath Press
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 504

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Is Scottish politics mired in a constitutional dogfight with no end in sight? Why has Scottish Labour failed to develop a radical and credible alternative to independence? Is it possible for a campaigning politician to make a difference? Can people power lead to positive change? Over the last few years, political campaigner and former Labour msp Neil Findlay kept a log of his time in the Scottish Parliament, a time which he describes as one of perpetual crisis and scandal. This book is my account of being an elected politician. My comments convey my feelings and emotions as events unfolded. If they cause upset to some, then so be it. I can only report the truth. There is little doubt the tectonic plates of Scottish politics are shifting. Is this a time of hope or of despair? Time will tell. As a socialist, I am an optimist and live in hope and have a belief that tomorrow will always be better than today.

Leseprobe

NEIL FINDLAY was born in 1969, the son of a bricklayer and a primary school teacher. Brought up in the working class village of Fauldhouse in West Lothian, after leaving school at 16 he was an apprentice and tradesman bricklayer for ten years with his father’s small business, became active in his local Labour Party and struck up a great friendship with Tam Dalyell MP. After returning to education, Neil worked in social housing before becoming a schoolteacher. A West Lothian councillor for nine years, he was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2011, serving in various front bench posts and contesting the Scottish Labour leadership election in 2015. He acted as Jeremy Corbyn’s Scottish campaign manager in two Labour Party leadership elections. Neil enjoys fishing, golf, gardening and going for a pint.

Luath Press is an independently owned and managed book publishing company based in Scotland and is not aligned to any political party or grouping.

By the same author:

Socialism & Hope: A Journey Through Turbulent Times, Luath Press, 2017

Life in the Raws: Memories of a Shale-Oil Village (with Jock Findlay), Luath Press, 2020

If You Don’t Run, They Can’t Chase You: Stories From the Frontline in the Fight for Social Justice, Luath Press, 2021

First published in 2023

ISBN: 978-1-80425-102-7

The author’s right to be identified as author of this book under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 has been asserted.

This book is made of materials from well-managed, FSC®-certified forests and other controlled sources.

Typeset in 11 point Sabon by

Main Point Books, Edinburgh

© Neil Findlay 2023

This book is dedicated to my mum and all the other care home residents whose human rights were violated during the Covid pandemic.

Contents

Introduction

Campaigns

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Postscript

Introduction

A TIME OF perpetual crisis and scandal is the only way I can describe the last few years of my time in the Scottish Parliament. The aftermath of the 2014 referendum on independence left Scottish politics mired in a constitutional dogfight. Rational analysis of how well or badly the country is being governed became a sideshow.

In Scotland, every issue from dog shit on the streets to international trade was viewed through the prism of the constitutional debate. No matter how poorly the SNP in Holyrood or the Tories at Westminster govern, tribal loyalties to ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ provided cover for their respective supporters to trot out prepared lines that deflect attention from dire decision-making.

During this period the political world was in turmoil.

The aftermath of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union combined with the failure of Prime Minister Theresa May to secure a parliamentary majority set in train two years of unprecedented chaos at Westminster.

Four decades of civil war in the Conservative Party over Europe reached its crescendo with the removal of May as Prime Minister, only to be replaced by a talentless charlatan in the shape of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, the worst Prime Minister in the history of British democracy… at least, until his successor was appointed.

Thankfully, the premierships of the abominable Liz Truss, and then Rishi Sunak, took place outside the timeline of this book. Suffice to say, the chaos of the May/Johnson period intensified rather than subsided with a Truss budget that cost the UK billions in just a few calamitous weeks.

In the US, Donald Trump’s reign as president culminated in the storming of the Capitol by armed right-wing militia protesting at his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump threatens to run again in 2024 (if he doesn’t end up in prison). God help us.

In Scotland, the ruling Scottish National Party was plunged into crisis with the arrest of former First Minister Alex Salmond on charges of rape and sexual assault. Salmond was later cleared of all charges by the courts. This caused major schisms in the party and the independence movement, resulting in Salmond setting up his own Alba Party. He remained a thorn in the side of his former mentee, Nicola Sturgeon.

At the time of writing, the schisms in the SNP resulted in the shock resignation of Sturgeon. The ensuing contest to succeed her saw the contenders tear lumps out of each other with the eventual winner Humza Yousaf’s first week as leader dominated by the arrest of his party’s Chief Executive, Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband, a media frenzy and appalling headlines. This was a crisis long in the making with the alleged financial mismanagement potentially bringing the party to the brink of bankruptcy.

Following a decade of underfunding of Scotland’s council services compounded by a populist council tax freeze, many public services teeter on the brink. Across the country libraries are being closed, social workers drown in cases and the roads are full of potholes.

In our greatest public service, the NHS, one in seven Scots were stuck on waiting lists. Patients were left lingering in hospitals for months waiting to be discharged, cancer treatment times could not be met, there is a recruitment crisis, a financial crisis and a social care crisis. Our most cherished public institution is facing its greatest ever challenge. This is a very public scandal.

Scotland has the shame and indignity of having the worst rate of drug deaths in the developed world. Mental health services are overwhelmed and underfunded. Our previously acclaimed education system slid down the world rankings, despite Nicola Sturgeon’s claim it was her number one priority.

There was a similar decline across public services, including housing, social work and transport, with many working-class families struggling to make ends meet and more of our fellow citizens forced to seek charitable food, unable to heat their homes in one of the world’s wealthiest economies. And while communities self-organised and responded magnificently to the plight of their needy neighbours and friends by providing material support and solidarity, despair and hopelessness affected groups of people who previously were just about able to cope.

In the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn’s surprisingly good showing in the 2017 election struck the fear of death into the establishment. They pulled out every stop to prevent him from taking power. In doing so, they weaponised racism and antisemitism, using their friends in the media to portray one of the foremost anti-racist MPs of the last 30 years as an antisemite.

A section of the Labour Party actually preferred a far-right Tory Party in power, rather than the election of a transformative, unashamedly socialist Corbyn government. An outrageous betrayal of Labour voters and members.

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour continued to burn through leaders at a rate of knots. The party that more than any other brought about the creation of the Scottish Parliament continued to be paralysed by an inability to understand the wishes of the Scottish people for further autonomy.

I was involved in many of the conflicts between the socialist Labour left and the hard unionist right of the Scottish party. This book gives an honest account of these often fierce and visceral debates. It is essential that the history of this period is not rewritten or glossed over.

As if all of this was not enough, then came the global calamity of Covid-19, a worldwide public health emergency that claimed the lives of millions.

Covid saw countries locked down, communities become ghost towns, shops and businesses close, and workers sent home. Freedoms and rights were suspended to a degree unseen outside of wartime.

Every family was impacted in some way. Lives were lost unnecessarily and huge mistakes were made. Covid was the greatest crisis to hit the world since the Second World War. But Covid was also a scandal. Political leaders ignored the warnings, failed to prepare, took some appalling decisions, misled the public and failed to take responsibility for errors that cost many citizens their lives. The UK government used the pandemic to reward supporters with contracts worth billions of pounds – no one will ever know the extent of the fraud that took place.

This book is my account of being an elected politician during these times. My comments convey my feelings and emotions as events unfolded. If they cause upset to some, then so be it. I can only report the truth.

Finally, I do not want to put readers off becoming active in politics. I don’t want to have them believe ‘politics is a waste of time’ or that ‘politicians are all the same so, why bother?’

There are many good people in politics – fantastic campaigners, inspirational activists and determined individuals who want to make the world a better place. These are the people who inspire me. I hope they inspire you too, because it’s people power that changes the world. But I cannot hide the fact that 2017–2021 was a period that, for me, started with so much hope and ended with despair.

Campaigns

THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK there are references to campaigns that I have been heavily involved in. These are summarised here to help contextualise them for the reader.

Transvaginal mesh – in 2012, when I was Scottish Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, I met with a group of women suffering from chronic pain, disability and ill health. They had all been fitted with polypropylene transvaginal mesh implants to address stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse. No one in the Scottish Parliament, the media or the medical profession would touch their case. Senior surgeons claimed mesh was the ‘gold standard’ treatment and that this was not what had caused their disability and pain. I, along with my researcher Tommy Kane, built up a close working relationship with the women. They refused to be silenced and campaigned relentlessly with the support of Marion Scott, the finest campaigning journalist in Scotland. Together we took on the medical establishment, who closed ranks to defend the appalling behaviour of some of the world’s biggest multinational health care companies, and exposed the mesh scandal.

Miners’ justice – I come from the mining community of Fauldhouse in West Lothian. I was at school when the miners’ strike took place. I was fascinated by it and inspired by working-class heroes like Arthur Scargill and Michael McGahey who led the National Union of Mineworkers in the year-long strike. When I was elected to the Scottish Parliament, I made a pledge to myself that I would try to do all I could to support former miners and the ex-coalfield areas. The screening of a BBC Yorkshire documentary on the strike and details about policing that came from the Hillsborough football disaster inquiry provoked me into calling for a public inquiry into the policing of the strike in Scotland. In 1984–85, Scotland employed 10 per cent of the UK mining workforce, but 30 per cent of those who were sacked after arrest were Scots. These men lost their job and their redundancy pay, and many were blacklisted. The twists and turns of the campaign for miners’ justice are recounted here.

Health and social care – The NHS is the greatest social policy we have ever seen. Universal health care, free at the point of need and paid for through our taxes is practical socialism in action. It must be protected and fought for consistently and robustly or the corporations will destroy it, leaving the field open for them to set up a pay-as-you-go Klondike for their shareholders.

As an elected politician, a great deal of constituency work concerned health and social care issues and often these issues grew into national campaigns. The plan to downgrade the children’s ward at St John’s Livingston, my local hospital, is an example of this. Even today, with the crisis in our NHS, the future of the ward remains uncertain.

Social care is the key to ending much of the backlog in our NHS. The failure to develop a working system that allows people to leave hospital quickly when ready to do so causes major delays for those requiring hospital treatment. Delayed discharge results in hundreds of thousands of lost bed days a year and a loss of around £4,000 per patient per week – much-needed revenue. I raised these issues repeatedly in the Scottish Parliament.

Drugs and mental health – Over the years, I spoke to more and more constituents who were going through a mental health crisis and who could not access the support and treatment they needed. Some of this was a result of drug use and its consequences. Hearing their stories and listening and learning about drugs and addiction made me understand the abject failure of drugs policy over the last 50 years, and turned me from a strict prohibitionist to a campaigner for the decriminalisation of all drugs. I hope I capture some of this journey in the pages that follow.

2017

THE PERIOD BETWEEN the summer and Christmas of 2017 saw the UK, Scottish and Welsh Labour parties led by unapologetic socialists. For many of us this offered great hope and was something we had worked for throughout our political lives. To the establishment, outside and inside the Labour Party, it rang alarm bells and marked the start of an all-out war to bring an end to any notion of socialist change.

Following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May attempted to negotiate a credible deal that would secure a majority in the House of Commons. Every twist and turn of this tragicomedy was played out on our TV screens.

In Scotland, constitutional politics dominated with the battle between two brands of flag waving nationalism influencing every aspect of our political discourse.

As a campaigning politician, 2017 saw me continue to pursue causes I cared deeply about; justice for miners arrested during the 1984/85 strike, the plight of mesh-injured women, Scotland’s failing drugs policy and the growing crisis in our health and social care system.

29 August The news tonight is that Kezia Dugdale is to resign as Scottish Labour leader. She says she wants to get her life back. I have some sympathy for this as without doubt being a party leader is all consuming. She has looked miserable for a while. Social media has erupted. The next Labour leader will be the ninth since devolution. Unbelievable. Anas Sarwar will definitely be a candidate and Richard Leonard might also stand. One thing is for sure: I won’t.

30 August I have been inundated with calls, texts and messages urging me to stand in the election. Ian Lavery MP and Karie Murphy, Jeremy Corbyn’s Chief of Staff, are trying to coax me, but they have no chance. I dodged a bullet when Jim Murphy won in 2015. The press wanted me to speak but I refused to go on TV.

Alex Rowley is to step in as interim leader.

Anas Sarwar is getting his team ready.

2 September Still getting calls about standing, people don’t seem to want to listen – I AM NOT STANDING NOW OR EVER!

3 September Up early for conference call with Richard Leonard’s team. They are understandably like rabbits in the headlights with a million and one things to think about and few resources. They will need to get organised quickly if they are going to take on Sarwar.

Later both Sarwar and Leonard declared their candidacy. Sarwar’s team is putting heavy pressure on MSPs to declare for him.

Richard has support from me, Paul Sweeney MP, Hugh Gaffney MP and Monica Lennon MSP. Anas has MSPs Mary Fee, Jackie Baillie, Mark Griffin, Iain Gray and Neil Bibby.

4 September Met with Patrick McGuire from Thompsons solicitors to discuss the transvaginal mesh campaign. Thompsons have taken on many of the cases.

5 September Parliament returned today after the summer recess. Anas Sarwar is claiming 14 MSPs have nominated him.

Chaired the Health Committee where the SFA (Scottish Football Association) and SYFA (Scottish Youth Football Association) gave evidence on the latest developments with child protection issues. They came before the committee and gave evidence which showed a dysfunctional relationship between the two organisations impacting on child protection procedures. The SFA came out of this badly. The SYFA didn’t help with chaotic record keeping and a creaking bureaucracy.

Went to the Labour Group meeting, which was tense. Sarwar has appointed Alan Roden, Kezia Dugdale’s spin doctor, to run his media campaign. Roden is a former Daily Mail journalist. Richard hopes to get Simon Fletcher, who ran the Corbyn campaign, signed up.

Nicola Sturgeon announced her Programme for Government today with 14 bills. Some of it is decent, some lifted from Labour and other parties.

6 September Met Kevin Neary and the team from Aid & Abet. Kevin was a year older than me at school. He suffered a lot of trauma in his young life and ended up a heroin user, spending time in jail. He is now in recovery and has set up the charity to help people who want to change their offending behaviour. He is a brilliant speaker and tells his story with honesty and passion. I agreed to do what I can to promote the organisation.

Met Simon Fletcher. He has a track record of having been campaign Chief for Ken Livingstone when he won the London Mayor election, helped Ed Miliband when he ran for UK leader and won, and Jeremy Corbyn when he ran for Labour leader and won. It will be a real coup if we get him to run Richard’s campaign.

7 September Brilliant news – Simon Fletcher is on board for Richard’s campaign.

Did an interview for the BBC alongside James Kelly, who is supporting Anas Sarwar. Kelly claimed Sarwar was the change we needed to win. I said, ‘That’s what James said when he supported Jim Murphy and look what happened!’

My daughter Chloe came back from four months backpacking in Asia, great to see her home.

8 September Great news: Labour won Council by-elections at Shotts and Cardonald.

The press is carrying the story of Simon Fletcher’s appointment. They now know Richard is a serious candidate.

10 September To Stirling University for the Health Committee away-day. We visited the dementia centre for a tour. In the discussion that followed our sessions, SNPMSPs were very tetchy when we raised the crisis in social care, health inequalities and period poverty.

11 September Met with Royal College of Paediatrics to discuss the ongoing partial closure of the children’s ward at St John’s. This has been going on for three years. Councillors, MSPs and MPs were present and put on a united front in support of a 24/7 service.

13 September I hosted a screening of the film Nature of the Beast in Edinburgh. It is a documentary about the legendary Labour MP Dennis Skinner. We had a good crowd turn up to see a touching, moving and gentle portrait of the man, his politics and his life.

14 September Met with the team tasked with setting up the Lobbying Register, which came about following my introduction of a bill in the last parliament.

This a positive step for openness and transparency.

To Easter Road stadium for a question time panel with a wide range of disability groups frustrated at the lack of action on social care. The sector needs a massive injection of cash, a proper career structure, care work valued, proper pay and decent conditions.

Came home to find 700 copies of my book Socialism and Hope in my hall. Great to see it finally arrive.

16 September Richard Leonard launched his campaign at Glasgow College. It went well. The message was that whether you voted ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, Richard’s politics are for you. His speech was passionate, intelligent and full of commitment.

Later the TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association) union declared their support for Richard.

Went down to the Miners’ Welfare for my book launch. Over 200 family, friends and colleagues were there. Chairman of the Labour Party Ian Lavery MP spoke, we had poetry from Jim Monaghan, songs from Calum Baird, Arthur Johnson, Stephen Wright and Fraser Speirs. It was brilliant.

The after party at our house finished at 4.30am – oof.

20 September Anas Sarwar and Richard Leonard were interviewed on Good Morning Scotland. Sarwar was asked if someone with £4.8 million worth of shares in the family business was ‘one of the many or the few’? And if being a shareholder in a business that doesn’t recognise trade unions or pay the living wage makes him ‘one of the many or the few’? It really was car crash stuff. Afterwards his spin doctor Alan Roden tweeted saying the BBC was biased in favour of Richard Leonard. Not a good start for them.

Went into parliament for the debate on taxation. Derek Mackay led for the government. He was like a slightly less animated speak-your-weight machine, churning out the Tory playbook with phrases like ‘tax bombshell’ and ‘tax raid’ to attack Labour. He called on all parties to publish their tax plans, BUT wait for it… the government aren’t going to publish theirs!

I took part in a members’ debate on UK government tax office closures and raised the Bathgate office relocation plan. This will see 1,200 jobs moved to a new, expensive office in Edinburgh. It makes no sense whatsoever. SNPMSPs are very vocal on this as it allows them to attack the UK government but they say nothing when it’s the Scottish Government centralising services.

Apparently at the leadership hustings in Glasgow the Chair read out a statement saying that there should be no questions about a candidate’s personal wealth. What utter nonsense! This is not just about the character of candidates, it’s also about their behaviour and values. One thing’s for sure, if members don’t raise these issues political opponents will.

21 September At FMQs Alex Rowley led on child poverty and his line of questioning was going well until he accused Nicola Sturgeon of ‘siding with the millionaires’ over taxes. At this, the SNP benches erupted, pointing and shouting at Sarwar (wealthy son of a multi-millionaire). As we left the chamber, the press was there to doorstep him. It is beyond me how his campaign didn’t see these issues coming and have a plan to deal with them.

The Daily Record ran a story about my wife Fiona walking ten miles per shift at her work in an NHS hospital. This followed a comment I made in committee about pressures of understaffing in the NHS.

24 September Down to Brighton for the Labour Party conference. The city is buzzing with huge numbers of delegates and visitors. My job this week is to drum up support for Richard’s campaign.

The Sunday Herald featured heavily on Anas Sarwar today. It was brutal, a front page, double spread and editorial attacking him for choosing private education for his family, the family business not paying the living wage or recognising trade unions.

25 September The conference is rammed with long queues to get in. All the fringe meetings are packed. Richard’s campaign is getting a really positive response.

Into the hall to hear veteran MP Dennis Skinner rouse the delegates as only he can. John McDonnell gave a terrific speech as Shadow Chancellor. At lunchtime I did a fringe meeting on Scotland at ‘The World Transformed Festival’.

In the evening I did a book event with David Clegg of the Daily Record. It was busy with over 100 delegates in attendance.

26 September Spent the day signing books for delegates.

Spoke at the Labour Representation Committee fringe with a huge cast of Left speakers. I emphasised the importance of the leadership election in Scotland and urged them to help in Richard’s campaign.

27 September Up early for flight home, I missed Jeremy Corbyn’s speech as I had to be back in parliament.

The Sun ran a story reporting how they had used a hidden recorder to dupe Alex Rowley into making offhand comments about Kezia Dugdale. Jackie Baillie is claiming it is evidence there was a left-wing plot led by Richard Leonard to topple her. Utter rubbish, but they are using it to divert attention from the failings of the Sarwar campaign. The reality is that since he was elected in 2016, Anas Sarwar has spoken to me in the presence of others about Kezia Dugdale’s performance and how she was not cutting it.

28 September To parliament for the Petitions Committee with the Scottish Mesh Survivors Group. Dr Wael Agur was there to give evidence. A surgeon, he was a member of the review group on mesh implants and was outstanding in giving evidence. He came across as honest, straightforward, principled and very credible. I don’t think I have seen a committee witness make such an impact. Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy, two women disabled by mesh implants, spoke to the petition and were superb. They exposed the scandal, hypocrisy and contradictions of the government’s sham review. Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw, the SNP’s Alex Neil and I worked together to support the petition.

I asked Justice Secretary Michael Matheson if there was going to be a review of the policing of the miners’ strike in Scotland (I have been campaigning for this since becoming an MSP). Matheson said he would make an announcement soon, which sounds promising.

Later, I spoke to a joint meeting of the Dundee CLPS (Constituency Labour Parties) on behalf of Richard. He won the nomination easily.

1 October I watched horrific scenes tonight on the news. There was widespread coverage of the Spanish police using batons and violence against Catalan Nationalists. Police have confiscated ballot boxes and provoked clashes in many towns. The cameras caught them attacking firefighters. The referendum is unconstitutional but the Catalan nationalist government went ahead anyway. This issue has faded into the background as the violence became the big issue. I tweeted condemnation of the violence and said we shouldn’t see these clashes through the lens of the Scottish constitutional debate, and immediately got dog’s abuse from the cybernats, who are now self-declared experts on the Spanish constitution.

A gunman killed 58 people at a concert in Las Vegas and injured 500 more.

In her column in the Daily Record, Kezia Dugdale sniped at the lack of ideas coming out from the leadership election and made it all about who would get her vote. She carries little influence.

3 OctoberThe Herald today ran a horrific story saying women in Glasgow who have miscarried a child have been getting sent home with antibiotics and told to come back five weeks later to have the dead child removed from their body. I really cannot take this in.

Paul Wheelhouse gave a very nervy statement on fracking today. I raised a point of order, as it should have been Cabinet Secretary Fergus Ewing giving the statement. We all know he would frack under his own arse and wants fracking to go ahead. He sat at the back of the chamber throughout, very glum faced. The announcement was not a ban but an extension of the moratorium – a decent result that has only come about because of repeated pressure being put on the government and Claudia Beamish MSPs Members’ Bill which would deliver an outright ban.

4 October Spoke to Hepatitis UK about their idea for a state-owned drugs manufacturing facility that would produce generic drugs at a fraction of the cost charged by the pharma companies. I think it is a great idea.

Theresa May made her big speech at the Tory conference. It was an almighty disaster. First, she was interrupted by a comedian who sneaked in undercover and waited for his moment to hand her a large P45, telling her it was for Boris Johnson. Then the letters started falling off the campaign slogan behind her. Then she started coughing and could barely speak, finding it difficult to finish. It was dire.

5 October Fallout from May’s speech is huge, the Tories are in chaos. Gove was quoted as saying, ‘The speech showed the Prime Minister at the top of her game’. Some MPs are calling for her to go.

Met Stephen Wright, who has a theatre company, and Elaine Miller, a physiotherapist and stand-up comic who does a show called Is Pee a Feminist Issue? – all about incontinence. I am going to sponsor a performance of her show in the parliament as this has great relevance to the mesh women. Elaine advised me she wears a ‘fanny suit’ for her performance and asked how she would get her big bag of vibrators (which she uses as props) through security? I said to her it was a somewhat unusual question, one I had not been asked before and one I was unable to answer. A politician’s answer if ever there was one! She is also going to send every MSP a free sample of vaginal lubricant. Well, I can safely say no two days are the same in this job.

6 October Tommy Kane, my researcher, went to London last year to work for the Corbyn team. Lesley Brennan stepped in, but she has gone to work with Richard Leonard, so I was interviewing all day today for a replacement. Sean Duffy was successful.

7 October To parliament for UNISON public services rally against cuts. Good turnout in the autumn sunshine. Not an SNPMSP or MP in sight.

Heard today that Anas Sarwar has been heavily recruiting registered supporters and members through his business connections. He has also said that he would make it a priority to remain in the single market and attacked Richard Leonard for voting against the Labour whip when he voted to respect the result of the EU referendum.

9 October In the leadership election each constituency party can nominate their preferred candidate. The current tally is Leonard 28, Sarwar 10.

11 October Today Sturgeon gave her conference speech, lambasting Labour infighting and Tory policies. She shamelessly claimed for her own Labour policies on period poverty, a public energy company and social care reform.

12 October I met Derek Milligan, Leader of Midlothian Council today. I like Derek, he is a straight-talking, streetwise former miner who tells it like it is. His Council will have to make £44 million of cuts from now to 2021.

Richard won the nominations from Inverness, Edinburgh East and, astonishingly, Edinburgh South, which is the biggest constituency party in Scotland and has Ian Murray as MP and Daniel Johnson as MSP – both of whom loathe Richard’s politics. It is also Alan Roden’s CLP. And despite this they couldn’t deliver for Anas in their own backyard.

13 October Well, well, well, looks like Murray and Roden were indeed hopping mad. Murray has sent a letter to the Scottish Labour General Secretary. Leaked to the press, of course. In it he called for Labour to ‘re-consider the validity of the members of the UNITE trade union who had signed up to vote in the contest’, ignoring all the sign-ups Sarwar has made. He is also assuming that all UNITE members vote the same way, which they won’t. He claimed interim leader Alex Rowley isn’t impartial and called on him to be removed as chair of a panel set up to vet new recruits. His cheerleaders joined in, accusing Richard’s campaign of leaking Murray’s letter to the papers. How on earth could they, when the only people who had the letter were Murray and Brian Roy, the party’s Scottish Secretary?

15–18 October Spent three days at my wife Fiona’s dad’s, in Montpellier.

16 October The Sunday Herald ran a story I gave them about the sister of Guardian journalist Owen Jones: travelling from Germany to Scotland to attend her grandfather’s funeral, she was detained at Edinburgh Airport under the Terrorism Act 2000, forced to hand over passwords for her mobile phone and computer, and interrogated about her political beliefs and her relatives, before being driven from the airport to a police station to have her DNA sample and fingerprints taken. She was detained for four hours and missed her flight back to Berlin, where she lives. The police refused to pay for a new flight.

It is clear to me that the police targeted her for her political activism in Germany and possibly because of who she is related to. I have been in correspondence with Police Scotland about the case, but they are completely unapologetic about the way they handled things.

17 October Jeremy Corbyn was in Brussels to meet Michel Barnier and the European Socialist leaders. He was given a standing ovation by the Socialist bloc.

20 October To parliament to do a ‘Festival of Politics’ event on drugs policy. The long and the short of it is that the current drugs policy is a disaster. With a record number of drug deaths and drugs more readily available than ever, we have a public health crisis on our hands. I am so pleased I was asked to chair this session as it chimes very much with what is going on in my region. I am going to do much more work on this issue.

I visited Bield Housing Association in Edinburgh to discuss their plans to close 12 care homes. The Chief Executive said it was a financial decision, the care homes charge around £800 a week and would need another £300 to make them viable. There was little empathy for the people about to lose their homes.

21 October Got a phone call from Tom Gordon at The Herald to say the Scottish Mesh Survivors are going to be one of the nominees for the Herald Scottish Political Campaign of the Year. Great news.

22 October Patrick Harvie was on the Sunday Politics programme saying he will vote down the budget if no taxes are levied on the rich. He comes away with this crap every year, then the SNP give him the equivalent of a few energy-saving light bulbs, which is enough for him to back the budget which will again hammer council finances.

23 October Met with two women from the West Lothian Ability Centre, which supports people with disabilities and is lined up for closure due to cuts.

Today the Royal College of Paediatrics published its report on the St John’s children’s ward. They are still recommending a 24/7 service but confirmed it can only open when the staff are in place and to date NHS Lothian haven’t been able to recruit, so nothing much has changed.

24 October The papers are running a story about Tory MP Douglas Ross missing the Universal Credit vote in parliament because he was acting as linesman at a Champions League match. What a farce, we need to legislate against this double jobbing nonsense.

At the Health Committee, Minister for Public Health and Sport Aileen Campbell gave evidence to our ‘Sport for All’ inquiry. We tried to find out why they were cutting the very successful ‘Jog Scotland’ programme then were forced to reinstate it. Her answer was incomprehensible, so I asked again. This time she answered a question I didn’t ask. When I went to ask for a third time, SNP committee members got all animated. I then asked about the huge cuts to council services and how they are causing the breakdown of our communities. Well, they really didn’t like that. After the formal meeting, they then tried to tell me what I should ask at the Conveners’ Group when it meets with the First Minister. I told them it is my prerogative as Convener to ask what I want. I will, of course, take account of their views but I won’t be told what to do. I raised the issue of Bield closing care homes and they were totally opposed to us having an evidence session on this; 130 older people are about to lose their homes and they don’t want it discussed.

In the fracking debate, all the SNPMSPs who haven’t uttered a word against fracking are now gung-ho anti-frackers, because the moratorium has been extended. Totally shameless. The parliament voted to reject fracking and continue the moratorium. Oliver Mundell MSP broke to the Tory whip to support a ban. Good for him.

25 October A leaked paper about the future of the Fire and Rescue service has identified major job losses, station closures and changes to the role of firefighters. Post Grenfell this is a very big story.

26 October Audit Scotland published a report stating seven out of eight of the government’s key health targets are not being met. It is a damning indictment.

Nominations were announced for the Scottish Politician of the Year Awards. I was nominated for Debater of the Year and Committee MSP of the Year. The Scottish Mesh Survivors were nominated for Campaign of the Year.

Anas Sarwar published his manifesto, saying in an email to party members he was going to deliver ‘for the few not the many’, instead of ‘the many not the few’. Another balls-up.

At FMQs I asked Sturgeon about the cuts to the Fire Service. She really doesn’t like being held to account. This was the exchange:

Neil Findlay (Lothian) (Lab)

Does the First Minister believe that cutting yet more firefighter posts and closing fire stations will a) make our communities safer or b) put more lives at risk? If she does not know the answer, she can have a guess.

The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon)

Sometimes you only have to listen to Neil Findlay’s tone to understand why Labour is in the dire straits that it is in. It is shockingly bad. First, I want to take this opportunity to thank our firemen and firewomen across the country for the essential and vital work that they do. It is in recognition of the importance of that work that the Scottish Government has this year increased the operational budget of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Since reform, there have been no compulsory redundancies and no fire stations have closed. In fact, over the past year, 100 new firefighters have been recruited. However, like any other service in the public sector, the fire service cannot stand still when circumstances change. There are changing risks, changing patterns of demand and changing technology, and it is right that the fire service looks closely at how it deals with those changes. However, as it does so, its priority and the priority of this government is not only to protect the front line, but to enable our firefighters to deliver an even better service for the people of Scotland in the future.

28 October Earlier in the year the Royal Bank of Scotland closed their Whitburn branch. I asked them to pass the building over to the local food bank who are desperate for new premises. During a conference call with them today, it became clear they are not interested in this but will consider a financial donation. Not sure what this means but at least it might be something, we’ll see.

Ballot papers are out today in the Scottish leadership election.

29 October The papers are full of lurid allegations of sexual abuse and assault being widespread at Westminster and Holyrood.

30 October Over to Stirling to the ‘Rally for Richard’ event. We had a big cast of speakers – Danielle Rowley MP, Leah Franchetti, Rhoda Grant MSP, Hugh Gaffney MP, Lynne Henderson of the PCS union and Zehyn Mohammed, a young activist. I spoke and then Richard came on. The supporters left happy.

31 October Sexual harassment stories are all over the media. There is supposed to be a list of 40 Tory MPs who are implicated, and a Labour activist has alleged she was raped at an event. There are said to be two complaints about an MSP.

Party leaders met today with the Presiding Officer to discuss how the parliament deals with these claims. There is a really strange atmosphere around the place.

At the committee today SNP members were still objecting to our short inquiry into Bield care home closures.

1 November Lots of names are being thrown about in relation to sexual harassment allegations. Tory Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has resigned because of past behaviour.

I spoke in the health debate today on the Audit Scotland report. Shona Robison tried to defend the government’s record. It looks like she will be replaced soon, probably by Jeane Freeman.

2 November Met Mark McHugh, Ian Hodson and Jim Carlin from the Bakers’ Union to discuss the McDonald’s strike. I pledged to help in any way I can. They are doing great work with low paid workers.

Today the SNP published their tax plans. Paul Hutcheon in The Herald summed it up by saying it was ‘not exactly Attlee 1945’. Quite.

The press pack are on the hunt for two SNP politicians who are alleged to have been involved in sexual harassment allegations.

3 November Visited Carmondean Health Centre to meet Dr Des Spence who runs Barclay Health Care. They are taking over failing GP practices and building themselves a chain. They have around five practices and are doing good work reorganising the way they do appointments and provide services. However, there are some things that don’t sit well and I can’t help but wonder if it was ‘Virgin Health Care’ or ‘BUPA’ how it would be perceived.

The sexual harassment allegations go on today with MPs Damian Green, Charlie Elphick, Michael Fallon, Kelvin Hopkins and Ivan Lewis all named in one story or another. Hopkins has been suspended by the Labour Party.

5 November Monica Lennon is on the front page of the Sunday Mail saying she was assaulted by a senior Labour Party figure prior to becoming an MSP.

SNP MSP Mark McDonald resigned as the Minister for Children and Young People for inappropriate behaviour. Willie Coffey MSP has been named as having been reported by a civil servant for his behaviour. Questions are being raised about what McDonald has done; all he has said publicly is his behaviour fell below the standard expected.

6 November Met with FBU officials today to discuss the Fire Service. Stations have already closed and jobs gone, with more losses to come. I gave a commitment to work with them.

Went to the Royal Society of Edinburgh dinner. I was the only Labour MSP there and what an interesting night it was. Lord this, Earl that, Lady the next thing were all there, the Scottish establishment in all its glory; professors, business people, charity leaders, etc, discussing how we build and grow the Scottish economy. When it came to questions it was all clubby business speak. I asked how can we talk about ‘inclusive growth’ when we have such gross inequality and see the appalling revelations contained in ‘The Panama Papers?’ I don’t quite think it was what they wanted to hear but I was very pleased to have attended to see how their network interacts.

This is Living Wage Week, so I wrote to all the shops at Livingston shopping centre asking if they pay the living wage. Marks and Spencer and ASDA were the first to write back saying they pay it but didn’t want to be registered Living Wage employers.

Kezia Dugdale has called for the resignation of the all-male Scottish Parliament Corporate Body. She seems to have forgotten that she appointed a male to it when she was leader.

7 November The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is in serious trouble. He made a statement saying a British woman being held in Iran was a ‘trainee journalist’ when she wasn’t. The Iranians are saying that this is proof she was working against the government. He has put the woman in real danger.

Today, Nicola Sturgeon gave an apology to gay men who had been convicted when homosexuality was an offence. A number of the men were in the gallery to celebrate the announcement. It was very moving.

There was a security alert today as three packages of ‘white powder’ were delivered to Tory MSPs.

I hosted an event this evening with Aid & Abet. Kevin Neary and Donald Tumilovicz were there to speak about their experience of being involved with the police at a young age, going to prison, addiction and their eventual rehabilitation. It was very powerful.

8 November I convened a breakfast meeting with Alex Neil, Alex Cole-Hamilton, Oliver Mundell and John Finnie to discuss drugs policy. All of us believe the current system is not working and want to see change. We discussed how we might work together on this.

9 November The train to Edinburgh was packed this morning and had only three carriages. The service is getting worse.

To FMQs Jackie Baillie is leading as Alex Rowley is off, following allegations about his private life. She asked how it could be right that Mark McDonald has resigned as a Minister but remains an MSP. I have disliked McDonald from the day I came into parliament, but being tried by media speculation before there has been any due process is unfair both to the victim and alleged perpetrator. This is an issue that must be taken very seriously and dealt with properly.

Spoke to committee clerks today who are really concerned at how one of the committee members is behaving. They find the member’s attitude aggressive, with officials being attacked just for doing their job. The clerks do a very good job and are politically neutral. I will raise this on Tuesday at the committee.

10 November Gordon Brown said on the Today programme that Jeremy Corbyn ‘was a phenomenon’ and that he ‘was right on many issues’. Interesting.

13 November Up at 6am to do a Good Morning Scotland interview on social care budgets, then into parliament to do more interviews.

Disability charity Inclusion Scotland wants me to take a student on a three-month paid internship. The candidates are really good, it will be difficult to pick from them.

14 November At the committee I raised the issue of members being respectful to staff. The person this was aimed at looked as though they had just swallowed a wasp.

15 November Today a newspaper ran a story about Alex Rowley MSP. It was a one-sided story about relationship breakdown from an ex-partner painting Alex in the worst light. The reality is relationships are messy and things can get acrimonious when they end. Alex has referred himself to the Labour Party to investigate and has stood down temporarily as Deputy Leader. Within a few hours the ‘ever supportive’ Kezia Dugdale released a press statement saying if she was still leader she would have suspended him. So, irrespective of what has or has not happened and with no investigation, she would immediately have suspended him for a relationship having gone wrong. It must be great to live in a perfect world like that of the saintly Ms Dugdale.

I emailed James Kelly, the party’s Parliamentary Party Business Manager, raising my concerns about the handling of this case. No one has given any thought to the impact on Alex or his wellbeing. Have they forgotten what happened to Carl Sargeant, the Welsh government minister who took his own life following allegations made against him?

16 November To Edinburgh Castle for the march to parliament in support of the BiFab workers. The Fife company is capable of doing wind farm fabrication work, but it is all going overseas. The business is about to go into administration. With 1,400 jobs at stake, closure would be a disaster for a place like Methil.

To Prestonfield Hotel for the Scottish Politician of the Year event. I was nominated in two categories but didn’t win either. Ruth Davidson won the main award for the second year in a row. It was an enjoyable night.

18 November Got up this morning to a text from a journalist which I thought was a joke, I really did. But apparently Kezia Dugdale is going on I’m a Celebrity get me out of here. I shit you not. We are coming up to the budget, public services are under massive pressure, poverty and inequality are causing huge suffering and a Labour MSP is pissing off to Australia during parliamentary time to eat kangaroo tadgers with a bunch of has-beens and wannabes. She will of course be getting handsomely paid for her ‘troubles’. This announcement has been deliberately timed to undermine the announcement of the new Scottish leader, which is this morning. The clearest indication that Richard is going to win.

Over to Glasgow Science Centre for the leadership announcement. I wrote my prediction down on a piece of paper: 55 per cent for Richard and 45 per cent for Anas. All the campaign team were there.

When the result was announced it was 57 per cent for Richard and 43 per cent for Anas, a fantastic result. Richard gave an excellent, passionate, gracious victory speech.

Afterwards I gave a number of media interviews saying I hoped this result would now help rebuild the Labour Party’s fortunes.

We then went to the pub for a celebration. Richard came in and thanked the team and left for his first visit as leader to the BiFab plant to show his support and donate a £500 cheque to the workers.

Richard’s win is an opportunity to move away from the failed strategy of recent years. If handled right, we can now provide a radical alternative to the SNP and shake off the disastrous Better Together legacy. Richard and Jeremy will work together in a more coherent way than under Dugdale, who hated everything Corbyn stood for.

Richard has some big decisions to make very quickly but he must not make the same big mistake as Jeremy did of trying to keep his harshest critics close.

Predictably, his victory is being overshadowed by the I’m a Celebrity fiasco. Richard’s first action will have to be to suspend her.

19 November Up early to do Sunday Politics with Gordon Brewer. He covered Richard’s victory and what it might mean for Scottish Labour, the Alex Rowley situation and Kezia Dugdale’s impending ‘holiday’ in Australia. I told him I found it ‘utterly ludicrous’ that she would do this. I would not demean myself by saying anything different. The newspapers are full of it and even her political allies Blair McDougall, Michael Marra, Daniel Johnson and Leah Franchetti were critical.

21 October At the Health and Sport Committee we heard from a range of health professionals about the impact of the lack of staffing and resources on morale and patient care. We hear this time and again.

To the Labour Group meeting where a discussion about Kezia Dugdale’s jaunt took place. Even her close allies like Ian Gray were very angry. The decision was not to suspend her but to wait until she comes back so she can face the music. Given that this was an open and shut case with no credible reason for going and that she did not have permission from the Business Manager I wanted her suspended immediately. Not doing so shows weakness.

I spoke to a woman whose son has Asperger’s and is desperate for a job. He was previously taken on at a B&M store and given a 3 day trial after which he was told he didn’t get the job and he would receive no pay for his trial. How can they get away with this? I spoke to some media contacts who are going to run a story to highlight this injustice. I also contacted ASDA to see if they can help find this man a job.

In the evening, I hosted Elaine Miller’s comedy show about pelvic floor health. She was very funny and got across a very serious subject in a fun way.

22 November Drafted a letter to the Scottish Futures Forum calling for a major piece of research on drugs policy. I got a cross party group of MSPs to sign up along with former Presiding Officers David Steele and George Reid.

23 November To the Petitions Committee to support my constituent Emma McDonald with her petition to regulate family contact centres. Emma is a Church of Scotland minister who went through hell with an ex-partner and then with access arrangements to her children arranged through a family contact centre. The committee will look into these issues.

It was Richard’s first FMQs and he led on cuts to Fire Services. He was assured and confident, a decent debut. I raised the St John’s Accident and Emergency department where the lack of staffing is causing very long waiting times.

Lesley Brennan has been appointed as Richard’s Chief of Staff which is a good appointment, but he must also take on Tommy Kane who is strategic, politically astute and well connected, and Simon Fletcher who is a good all round strategist. It would be a big mistake not to.

24 November Met with West Lothian Council about complaints from staff about violence in schools. I have had teachers and classroom assistants come to me about being assaulted every day by pupils. Some children need a lot of support; however, no one should go to work expecting to be assaulted.

26 November To St Luke’s in the East End of Glasgow for ‘The Rally for Real Change’ with Jeremy Corbyn, Richard Leonard, Stephen Wright, Becci Wallace and Jim Monaghan. Lots of new people in attendance and a real buzz around the place.

I heard from a constituent tonight that Gordon Dewar, the Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport, who I have clashed with over airport expansion, spoke at a meeting of the West Lothian Chamber of Commerce and made a series of inappropriate ‘jokes’. He referred to people traveling from Glasgow to Edinburgh by train as being on the ‘Whoreient Express’, said public sector workers’ sons and daughters ‘smoked and drank Buckfast’ and mentioned me as someone who would give him a warm welcome in West Lothian. None of this is surprising.

27 November Spoke to ASDA to see if they would take on a young man who was treated badly by B&M stores. They are interested in helping, I really hope they can.

28 November To the health committee for a session on NHS Governance with National Clinical Director Jason Leitch and others. All were defending their territory. The NHS is cluttered with so many levels of bureaucracy, there must be a better way to ensure scrutiny, democracy and accountability. NHS Lothian Board papers often run to over 500 pages, there is no way board members read them all. Officials know this and can hide bad news. This is not scrutiny.

Good news today is that Michael Sharpe has been appointed to head up the Labour Support Unit that carries out our research. Simon Fletcher is doing a communications and campaigning role. Frustratingly, I haven’t had a conversation with Richard since he took over.

Watched a bit of I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here, as I suspected Kezia Dugdale is making zero impact. She has nothing to say and comes over as being pretty dull, she is 3/1 with the bookies to go out first.

29 November Got a call from a journalist. He has a story about Underbelly, the company who run the Edinburgh Hogmanay event recruiting 300 people to work as ‘Volunteers.’ They will work the night shift for nothing, despite tickets being £26.00 and 50,000 people are likely to attend. What a brass neck they have. I lodged a motion on this and there was a lot of media interest so I did a few TV interviews and gave quotes to the press. It is a reflection on the nature of our economy that a very profitable organisation, running such a high profile event, thinks that they can get away with ripping off workers by dressing it up as ‘volunteering’.

Later, I spoke in the debate on GP practices, raising the fact that out of 122 practices in Lothian 57 have closed their list to new patients. The government took a pounding from all sides but their little helpers in the Green Party once again bailed them out by abstaining in the vote, allowing the government motion to pass.

Just before the debate, Michael Matheson, the Justice Minister, was forced to make a statement on Police Scotland. This follows a series of resignations and suspensions within the organisation including that of Chief Constable Phil Gormley and his Deputy.

Got a call from Paul Hutcheon at The Herald. He has been informed of Gordon Dewar’s comments from the Chamber of Commerce event and is running a story on them.

30 November Mum’s 78th birthday today, can’t quite believe it; she is in good health, her mobility is still OK and she is very sharp.

Got word from ASDA saying they can’t help the young man with Asperger’s with a job before Christmas, which is very disappointing, but they will look at it afterwards.

Got a response back from the Futures Forum. Looks like they are going to do the work on drugs policy. Good news.

Heard today Alan Roden has gone out to Australia to greet Kezia Dugdale as she gets turfed out of the jungle, which from her performances appears imminent. I also heard today that she asked Jeremy Corbyn to make a video urging people to vote for her. I thought this was a wind-up but alas, no! She asked the person she repeatedly attacked and undermined to endorse her ludicrous participation in this charade. The plot has been well and truly lost.

2 DecemberThe Herald is running a story saying Anas Sarwar’s register of interests shows he accepted £80,000 towards his failed leadership bid. Apparently, half came from Kasim Gulzar, who runs a string of pharmacies with Mr Sarwar’s brother. The other £40,000 came from an international paper business.

3 December Today is my daughter Chloe’s last day working as a cleaner at St John’s Hospital. It has been a great experience for her. Now she has qualified as an Occupational Therapist.

Theresa May is under pressure over Brexit with 30 MPs and right-wing businesspeople attacking her.

Damian Green MP is in the news about allegations of porn on his computer.

The Gordon Dewar story is in The Herald as is the story about footballer David Goodwillie, who in a civil case, three judges said raped my constituent, Denise Claire. I have been supporting Denise for years in her attempt to secure justice.

Tonight, Kezia Dugdale was voted off and was met by a beaming Alan Roden as she left. The press will now attack her as she has served her usefulness to them.

4 December Met with West Lothian Council to discuss homelessness provision; meanwhile, on the other side of the world, my Lothian MSP colleague Kezia Dugdale drinks cocktails at the Versace Hotel.

Former MP for Lanark Jimmy Hood died today aged 69. Jimmy was a miners’ leader during the strike before entering parliament in 1987. He was a big solid, decent, working-class man.

5 December Ayrshire and Arran Health Board senior officers came before the Health Committee for their performance report today. The bullshit meter was off the Richter scale, they couldn’t answer the simplest of questions.

NHS Lothian have been caught again manipulating waiting times targets across their hospital sites.

We had a chamber debate on the mesh petition. Johann Lamont as Chair of the Committee led and was excellent, setting out the evidence they have taken and the powerful testimony of the Scottish Mesh Survivors and others. There were excellent speeches from Jackson Carlaw, Alex Neil, Alison Johnstone, Alex Cole-Hamilton and Anas Sarwar. The Minister Shona Robison said nothing new. I put forward a number of ideas about how we should progress whilst maintaining the ban. I said if the government doesn’t act we will bring forward a political motion to unite the opposition and force the government into action. Afterwards I spoke to the mesh women who came in for the debate. They were really angry at Shona Robison’s performance and will pile on the pressure for action.

To Blackwell’s bookshop in Edinburgh to do an interview and Q&A with Henry McLeish. He has written a book called Citizens United about Trump, the EU, Brexit and disenchantment in the political process. I get on fine with him but he is a bit of a strange guy.

The DUP scuppered Theresa May’s plans for customs arrangements for Northern Ireland. May thought she had the EU, Republic of Ireland and the DUP on board, however the DUP, given their past experience in the Northern Ireland peace process, are some of the most experienced and hard negotiators out there and have the government over a barrel.

6 December I went to West Lothian Council to speak to the Council leader about the latest round of spending cuts imposed by the Scottish Government. I asked for information on the list of cuts and was astonished to be told these were confidential and that officials have advised he cannot share them with anyone. He seems to forget he runs the Council not Council officers. I offered to help raise issues in parliament but got nowhere. It was a complete waste of time.

To the St James Centre development in central Edinburgh for a Blacklist Support Group demonstration against contractor Laing O’Rourke, who are implicated in the construction blacklisting scandal. This is where companies refuse to employ people because of their trade union or political activities.

Still not had a conversation with Richard Leonard about his plans but I heard today Kezia Dugdale has said she will accept a place in the Shadow Cabinet if offered one. What a brass neck.

7 December The Brexit shambles continues for the Tories, the DUP are milking it for all its worth.

At FMQs the Tories led on the ‘Named Person’ legislation which is in trouble.