Hope and Despair by Neil Findlay sampler
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.
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.
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to downgrade the children’s ward at St John’s Livingston, my local hospital,<br />
is an example of this. Even today, with the crisis in our NHS, the future of the<br />
ward remains uncertain.<br />
Social care is the key to ending much of the backlog in our NHS. The failure to<br />
develop a working system that allows people to leave hospital quickly when<br />
ready to do so causes major delays for those requiring hospital treatment.<br />
Delayed discharge results in hundreds of thous<strong>and</strong>s of lost bed days a year <strong>and</strong><br />
a loss of around £4,000 per patient per week – much-needed revenue. I raised<br />
these issues repeatedly in the Scottish Parliament.<br />
Drugs <strong>and</strong> mental health – Over the years, I spoke to more <strong>and</strong> more constituents<br />
who were going through a mental health crisis <strong>and</strong> who could not access the<br />
support <strong>and</strong> treatment they needed. Some of this was a result of drug use <strong>and</strong><br />
its consequences. Hearing their stories <strong>and</strong> listening <strong>and</strong> learning about drugs<br />
<strong>and</strong> addiction made me underst<strong>and</strong> the abject failure of drugs policy over the<br />
last 50 years, <strong>and</strong> turned me from a strict prohibitionist to a campaigner for<br />
the decriminalisation of all drugs. I hope I capture some of this journey in the<br />
pages that follow.
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