Scottish politics, music (mostly electronic), sport & general observations as I circuit the globe...
Motherwell, Scotland
Joined January 2012
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Here is @andyburnham unknowingly referencing @The_Proclaimers - the PM could do with checking out all of the lyrics of Cap In Hand and he might get a sense of the true imbalance and failure of the UK system. The national restrictions are a bigger scandal than the 🏴 regional ones
And of course, the song is always worth a listen.
I just can’t understand why we’d let someone else rule our land, cap in hand…
youtu.be/SdXeM4bHBhk?is=CAys…
Oh oh, I am Stuart M Darling... I had never considered that could make some people uncomfortable before 🤔🤯
Illuminating exchange with a 19 year old voter in Detroit, worried about @AbdulElSayed’s name. @AJEnglish #Midterms2026 #Michigan
Stuart Darling retweeted
feels like there's kind of an elephant in the room with this map but I can't quite put my finger on it
Stuart Darling retweeted
🇳🇴 Norway’s national wealth fund: £2 trillion.
🏴 Scotland’s national wealth fund under Westminster control: £0.
Norway has invested its energy wealth for the benefit of current and future generations, helping to support its public finances. Whilst Westminster has squandered this opportunity for Scotland.
‘We'd have a British sovereign wealth fund now that will be worth probably a trillion pounds’
Chancellor @JohnHealey_MP suggests what Britain could have gained if it had set up an energy wealth fund like Norway’s back in the 1980s
#Peston
Stuart Darling retweeted
🔥Having spent the past few months waiting for the Jackdaw decision, it just so happens to have happened on the one week I'm on holiday 🤦♂️
Still. Plenty of coverage from colleagues at @skynews. If you want more background there's LOADS in the archive.
For instance... 🧵
Dear Glasgow / Scotland, the traffic cones on the Duke of Wellington are fine - feels like an appropriate mockery of a guy that was Prime Minister during the Highland Clearances (he was no friend of Scotland!).
Please stop putting cones on the good guys ✌️
Stuart Darling retweeted
I assume BBC Panorama is making a programme about Burnham and Manchester's relationship with the UAE, as now exposed by Manchester City scandal. If not, then the Panorama editor should consider their position.
Stuart Darling retweeted
Burnham announcing a minor Google Maps feature instead of a cut to fuel duty:
I know people are worried about fuel prices. And I get it. You get to the pump, watch the numbers climb, and wonder why it's costing so much more than it used to.
The reality is that global events are pushing up costs, and families here at home are feeling the impact.
But I won't accept that there's nothing I can do to help.
That's why from today, you'll be able to see petrol and diesel prices on Google Maps, compare nearby stations and find the cheapest option before you fill up.
It's a small change, but if there's a practical way to help people keep more money in their pocket, I'll do it.
Stuart Darling retweeted
Just a reminder that 8-time loser @RuthDavidsonPC said that if pro-indy parties won a majority of seats at Holyrood, then “they’ll vote through a referendum, that’s what democracy is all about”
The SNP and Greens combined have 73 seats in Holyrood, the largest pro-Indy majority
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It is bizarre to see Scottish people so blinded by their opposition to independence, that they are doggedly arguing for a massive cut on Scottish pensions. In some cases, they may welcome a clarification that explains why the Scottish government are highlighting the issue👇
Reducing UK state pensions to fund social care in 🏴 shines a light on how ridiculous the UK arrangement is for 🏴. It is UK gov analysis that forecasts a £4bn cut for 🏴 pensioners & there’s no guarantee we’ll get any of it back. I explain why here:
darlingblogs.wordpress.com/2…
Stuart Darling retweeted
How can any Scot, irrespective of where they sit on Yes/No or Remain/Leave, accept this blatant double standard from English/British politicians?
Reducing UK state pensions to fund social care in 🏴 shines a light on how ridiculous the UK arrangement is for 🏴. It is UK gov analysis that forecasts a £4bn cut for 🏴 pensioners & there’s no guarantee we’ll get any of it back. I explain why here:
darlingblogs.wordpress.com/2…
Delighted to see a big performance from McGinn tonight. And all round, all good. Looking forward to Tuesday 🏴❤️
If UK pensioners are asked to fund an English National Care Service, will Scotland actually get its fair share back? Many assume the Barnett Formula guarantees that outcome but it doesn't.
My latest blog explains why:
darlingblogs.wordpress.com/2…
I have received the first official estimate of the cost to Scotland's pensioners of the Prime Minister's attack on the triple lock.
It will take up to £4bn from Scotland's pensioners. And the Prime Minister plans to use it to pay for social care in England.
Readers added context they thought people might want to know
The £4bn is a Scottish Govt extrapolation of UK-wide savings for 2049-50 cash terms per their letter, not money taken from pensioners. UK pensions are reserved; English care spending rises would generate Barnett consequentials for Scotland.
gov.scot/publications/d…
ifs.org.uk/articles/how-w…
heraldscotland.com/news/26595468.…
wired-gov.net/wg/news.nsf/ar…
Stuart Darling retweeted
When Scotland decided to roll out free care services, it did so from Scotland's fixed, devolved budget.
When England decides to roll out free care services, in England only, it does so by reducing the future pensions of all nations.
Pooling and sharing only ever goes one way...
Stuart Darling retweeted
This would mean in real terms every pensioner in Scotland being almost £2,000 worse off in 2050. This is unacceptable and the PM must abandon these plans.
The Deputy First Minister wrote to the @ScotParl Finance Committee to update them on this analysis: gov.scot/publications/deputy…
