The Lesley Riddoch Podcast Lesley Riddoch and Pat Joyce

The General Election campaign is well under way and we look at how it's been going both in Scotland and the UK.Will devolved matters dominate the debate in Scotland. How can the SNP focus voters minds on Westminster issues? Lesley has particular insights on this after her sojourn in Orkney, Shetland and Caithness.Can the Tories recover from the shambles of the first week? How will they solve the black hole of missing candidates? Are they focusing all their attention on capturing Reform supporters?Labour has received backing from big business but can it withstand pressure from UNITE over watering down its New Deal for Working People?Starmer has also maintained a distinct fence sitting position over the ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant even after the latest Rafa outrage. However he's been extremely vocal in demanding that the election debates should be head to head with Sunak, excluding all other parties in particular the SNP.We ask how fit for the rough and tumble of the campaign trail are both Anas Sarwar and Douglas Ross after less than stellar recent media appearances?Much has been made of the recent Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce survey on Energy Transition. It's safe to say no political party nor either government comes out well. However there are some nuggets not so far covered by either the press or broadcasters contained within it.All this plus Bambie Thug, fitba( not Dundee United), and the Orkney folk festival.


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In this podcast extra we speak with Stewart Kirkpatrick, the former head of digital for Yes Scotland who has launched a survey designed to find out just why the 2014 referendum was lost.Since then Stewart has worked for the petition and campaigns website 38 Degrees before moving to openDemocracy as their head of impact.His experiences there  taught him the “power of asking people what they think”.This is precisely what this survey sets out to do.If you want to take part, and why wouldn't you, go tohttps://yeswedidnae.scot/


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In this special edition of the Lesley Riddoch podcast we give our immediate reaction to and analysis of Rishi Sunak's surprise announcement of a General Election on the 4th of July.


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The report into the infected blood scandal has finally been published and it makes for damning reading. It found that this "not an accident", and that the government and the NHS had engaged in "downright deception" over decades.We speculate on whose head will roll as a result of the findings and marvel at the fortitude of survivors and campaigners.
John Woodcock, Baron Walney , former Labour MP , chair of Labour Friends of Israel, and current chair of Purpose Business Coalition and Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption to the UK government has completed his report entitled Protecting our Democracy from Coercion.We ask if given his ties to Israel, fossil fuel companies, and the defence industry whether his independence  can be relied on.
The ICC has applied for arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity related to the war against Hamas in Gaza. Alongside the Israeli leaders, the ICC also seeks arrest warrants for Hamas’s senior leadership: Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. If granted, Netanyahu would be the first Western-oriented leader charged by the ICC .
What has been the reaction of both the UK and US governments? How does the rationale for UK opposition to the decision stack up against international law and its previous stance on Russian war crimes?
The latest polls show a significant lead for Labour in Scotland  in voting intention at the next General Election. However it's neck and neck with the SNP when it comes to Holyrood.
UK Labour has also set out its First Steps for a future Labour government.Will Anas Sarwar simply parrot the Starmer lines or will he make a separate set of Scottish pledges?
What impact will the parachuting of Labour candidates from England into Scottish constituencies have on the electorate?Meanwhile Holyrood has declared a housing crisis.Should this have been foreseen given the homelessness trends over the past six years? Have funding regulations mitigated against non local authority and housing association organisations building social homes?  Will there be over reliance on the "big boy" private building companies? Will "land banking" be tackled seriously?
https://www.ft.com/content/24117a03-37c2-424a-97ed-6a5292f9e92eFor full marketing details of the 23 serviced self-build plots available for purchase at Hall’s Field, Lamlash, Arran see link to the relevant page on the DiscoverArran websitehttps://www.discoverarran.com/latest-news-blog/96-halls-field-self-build-plotsFor the Marketing Document, which is available for download, and/or if you have questions contact sheena.borthwick.aeg@gmail.com. All contacts will be treated in the strictest of confidence.While the SNP has slumped in the polls support for the Greens has gone up by 3%. All this despite the expulsion of 13 members for signing a declaration which said “sex is a biological reality” and called for trans women to be banned from women’s changing rooms.
Signatories also claimed there was a “chilling atmosphere of censure and fear within the party, which affects not only free speech but also free thought”.The party said those who signed the Scottish Green Women’s Declaration were in breach of the party’s code of conduct claiming they'd failed to “maintain political discipline” and breaking rules on “behaviours that constitute prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender identity” and “behaviours that constitute a threat to others”.We examine what the Scottish Green Women’s Declaration actually said and wonder if the expulsions signal a potential party split.https://scottishgreenwomensdeclaration.scot/All of this plus the usual meanderings, listening and viewing recommendations, and the obligatory mention of Dundee United.As promised link to YesWeDidnae surveyhttps://yeswedidnae.scot/


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As the dust settles on the SNP leadership question and the Cabinet reshuffle, the focus now shifts to what policies the Swinney government will pursue. Will it be a simple battle between "Left" and "Right"? Growth has been promised  but what will this mean in practice and will there be a new openness to ideas outwith the usual lobbying  suspects?Change under a changed Labour Party has been the mantra of the Starmer project. This change has been so dramatic that Natalie Elphicke, most definitely not a One Nation Tory, has crossed the floor of the House. A master stroke or a sign that Labour has abandoned all pretence of socialism? Meanwhile ,they've  been outflanked by none other than Suella Braverman on scrapping the two child benefit cap, still support the disastrous "Right to Buy", long abandoned in Scotland, and have no plans to re-open safe routes for asylum seekers. Even their much heralded New Deal For Working People looks like being watered down even further.Anas Sarwar appeared on Good Morning Scotland this morning and was put on the back foot simultaneously opposing and defending UK Labour policies while justifying the parachuting of Labour candidates from the south of England into Scottish constituencies.Rishi Sunak in his keynote speech yesterday launched what looks like his first salvo in his re-election campaign. It went way beyond Project Fear and lurched into Project Panic. It painted a picture of a beleaguered country assailed on all sides by extremists including those 50% of us who support Scottish independence.It was a bad set of results for the parties supporting independence in the recent Catalonian elections. It marked a significant shift in Catalonia’s political landscape, with the Socialists winning big and pro-independence parties losing ground.Lesley analyses the result, it's all a bit more complex than the British media would have us believe, and reflects on what significance they may have in a Scottish context.All this plus the usual malarkey and Eurovision.
 


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Humza Yousaf officially resigned as First Minister just before noon this Tuesday.John Swinney was elected unopposed as leader of the SNP after Graeme McCormick dropped out. The theatre switched stage to Holyrood where the formality of his ascendancy to FM was played out.We give our reaction to both of these.What will his election to both posts mean for the furtherance of independence?Will he manage to unify his party to fight the General Election?Will it be simply business as usual in terms of party management and government policies?
Sir John Curtice has given his thoughts on 25 years of devolution, and despite the SNP's recent troubles, says it's been pretty positive for them.
Meanwhile the Tories took a real beating in last week's series of English elections. We look at the results and ask what, if any ,extrapolation can be made between them and the looming General Election.
After Dan Poulter's defection to Labour, the impending watering down of its New Deal For Working People, Labour Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves speech to business leaders  was introduced by ex Tory Minister Nick Boles. Boles has been advising other Shadow Ministers behind the scenes. What change will Labour bring in government?Here's the links to the Neal Ascherson and Ian McConnell  pieces Lesley mentioned in the podcasthttps://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/04/the-snp-may-be-laid-low-but-the-call-of-scottish-independence-is-loud-and-clear   https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/viewpoint/24295961.snp-enormous-problem-scottish-business/
 


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