Did Tories Kill 25,000 Glaswegians?, New research points to lethal political attack Options

[wombat]

Blame me ... I'm used tae it.

already did pal,you and yer pal dondon triggered an auld memory frae forty years ago ramblin oan aboot alsatian dugs did ah tell yie aboot the time ah ________

[dondon]

Blame me ... I'm used tae it.

Please Naw! don't fall for that trap, last time he was blamed he was in Warsaw a month later. We'll hiv Fuhrer THH roaring doon Argylle St at the heid of a clank of Panzers and before you can say 'I surrender' in Italian you'll hiv two tory MPs in Scotland

[TeeHeeHee]

Aw ziz (sorry, this) promotion ... and aw a wanted originally was a knighthood.
When the last stone is replaced oan the wa' and the last Tory is ceremonially thrown over it in a southerly direction, who's gonnae get the blame of the next 25,000 poor souls who have to line up before either of those gates (2 pennies clutched tighly in the sweatin' hands of those destined for the ferry) long before their alloted time ?
Those dreadful Tories still have their uses, you know, in the blame-game.

[GG]

An interesting article in the Irish Times about Glasgow today, regarding the recent research from the University of Glasgow which found that poor Glaswegians life chances are truncated even before birth:

Odds stacked against Glasgow's poorest - even before birth
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/...4310807513.html

... Lower levels of methylation increase the chances that diabetes and cardiovascular disease will develop later in life – illnesses on which Glasgow still has the worst record, according to the 2010 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Alcohol and cigarettes, along with the mother’s diet during pregnancy, affects the degree of methylation in the embryo in the weeks after conception, the researchers acknowledge, but the single biggest factor is the mother’s stress levels – both psychological and sociological. ...

In the terms of this topic, it would be interesting to find out to what degree the Tories' 'political attack' on Scotland in the eighties affected stress levels in pregnant mothers in deprived areas of Glasgow.

GG.

[GG]

In the Sun today:

Scots still ‘dying of Thatcher’ 30 years on

Scots die younger than anyone in Europe — because of Maggie Thatcher, a report said yesterday.

An NHS study said deaths from booze, smoking, drugs and suicide rocketed just after the Iron Lady entered No10 in 1979.

Up until then mortality rates were on a par with the rest of Europe — but now they’re the WORST at 75 for men and 80 for women, with Glasgow men living on average to just 71. But public health expert Dr Gerry McCartney claimed that after Mrs Thatcher came to power there was a "political attack on the organised working class".

Dr McCartney — a member of the Scottish Socialist Party — wrote: "The UK was exposed to a form of neoliberalism after 1979.

"Scotland was more vulnerable than other parts of the UK.

"Higher mortality is often attributed to higher rates of deprivation. Income inequality and unemployment don’t occur by accident but as a product of the government of the day."

GG.

[GG]

A very good opinion article by Gerry Hassan, Scotsman commentator, in which he postulates that recent (last 30 years) policies are part of a wider phenomenon, with its roots in the underlying origins and objectives of 19th century British capitalism. An interesting read!

Who’s really to blame? Well, it’s a long story…

Thatcherism and New Labour have their roots in the nature of British culture, going back to the start of the Industrial Revolution

As the economic, social and political turmoil mounts across Britain, Europe and the West, some voices of certainty have arisen. One of the most vocal strands of opinion concerns who to blame for the wreckage and debris we see before us, with some wanting to lay the responsibility solely on the shoulders of Thatcherism, “the Big Bang” and 1980s.

It is very simple and easy to understand: the human need to rewrite history as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The 1980s as the epitome of everything that is wrong and has gone wrong is a powerful current in modern Britain. ...

To be fair to Owen Jones, author of the excellent book Chavs, he does briefly talk about the policies of Gladstone and Disraeli, though Jones' focus is firmly post-Thatcher.

Full article here:
http://www.scotsman.com/news/gerry-hassan-...story-1-2411223

GG.

[GG]

... interesting to note that the paper version of the article did not include the very emotive photo of Thatcher entering 10 Downing Street in 1979.

GG.

[derick2]

It's a life style choice,probably motivated by despair at the miserable living conditions. Glasgow also has very poor dental health. People obviously think that smoking and drinking and sucking lollies gives them pleasure. If people felt good about themselves and their environment I feel sure ther health would improve. Do politicians have a responsibility? Of course they do. But intelligent individuals take charge of their own destiny like Andrew Carnegie did.

[Doug1]

I think its a piece of nonsense to blame Mrs Thatcher for Glasgows declining health problems. There may well be some sort of connection but at the end of the day people are responsible for their own health and glasgows drinking and drug problems are well documented. I well remember hearing a doctor whose surgery was in the shettleston district being interviewed on tv about the serious health issues in certain parts of the city and his reply was simple...excess drinking, excess smoking, and very poor diets.... ie fish n chip type meals every other night, i didnt recall him blaming Mrs T.

[Jupiter]

I know Ive referred to it before but I was looking at some of the aerial pictures of Glasgow from the 30s to the 50s and although I have no facts figures or data to support this Im sure the jam packed tenements and the countless chimneys,domestic and industrial spewing out their fumes,coupled with unhealthy and insanitary living conditions have to have been a contributory factor in the deaths of many citizens.

[Doug1]

Dead right joop especially in the old industrial inner city areas but.... Mrs T didnae create them !!

[GG]

Modern-day Tories were today blamed for modern-day Scottish poverty:

Report blames Coalition for Scots poverty

A NEW report on poverty in Scotland has blamed the UK Government for worsening the social divide but warned that even under independence Westminster would still “constrain” the way the country is run.

The first report by the newly-formed centre-left Scotland Institute warns that thousands more people both in and out of work in Scotland are facing poverty thanks to the
“deliberately chosen policies” of the Coalition government on low pay and welfare cuts.

Examining the constitutional options, the paper says a more powerful form of 
devolution might give a Scottish Government a greater ability to tweak policies as it sees fit. But it warns that a Scotland which continues to use the pound, and lives within the UK’s framework, would always be “constrained” in what it can do. ...

Full story here:
http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday...verty-1-2438898

GG.

[tamhickey]

I have to agree. If people vote for Independence we shall still be tied to the pound and this may seem like no difference, however, I believe this would be a transitory measure until we as a nation agreed on which currency would best suit us. It would also act as a brake on foreign companies withdrawing their finances from Scotland until we have a settled currency of our own, which will take some time. Remember decimalisation? Same thing really. I can't see the Euro lasting very long as so many countries are in so much debt, so I doubt if that's the way forward. It's up for discussion what form our currency should take. Adopt the Krona? Who knows, and much depends upon the economic circumstances at the time. Don't forget, realising Independence means that we can then vote for political parties who represent us all, rather than being told to do things from Westminster as is currently the case. It would free up all of the parties to be more honest and local rather than the fraud that is Westminster politics. Remember the 90's when 50 labour MP'S were voted for in Scotland? They had no say as the Tory party won again and again and none of them stood up against warrant sales during the poll tax. In fact, it was the people of Scotland who did so without their representatives ever getting involved.
I don't support the SNP nor a member of any political party, but I believe we have to go our own way and then we can sort out what kind of country we need to be, including currency.

[Melody]

I don't support the SNP nor a member of any political party, but I believe we have to go our own way and then we can sort out what kind of country we need to be, including currency.

So do I Tam.

[Jupiter]

Melody.Im with you on this point.I would like to see nothing more than a stand alone Scotland.