Clockwise from top left: Anas Sarwar, Nicola Sturgeon, Douglas Ross, Alex Salmond, Willie Rennie and Patrick Harvie THE 2021 Scottish Parliament election is finally upon us. A record number of people have registered to vote, with more than three-quarters signed up to do so in person. So before casting a ballot in the polling booth, it’s important to know exactly what it is you’re voting for. Handily, we’ve compiled a quick guide to some of the key manifesto promises made by the SNP, Tories, Labour, Greens, LibDems and Alba. From independence to the pandemic, and education to the economy, we have listed the party’s headline pledges in each area.
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SNP Europe Minister Jenny Gilruth said EU diplomat Joao Vale de Almeida has been the subject of âsilly political gamesâ by the Tories THE SNP’s Europe Minister has said a top EU diplomat who has found himself the subject of the Tories’ silly political games will be “very welcome” when he visits Scotland after this Thursday’s election. As The National revealed on Sunday, Joao Vale de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the UK, who is based in London, is looking forward to travelling to Scotland “very soon”. The senior public servant, from Portugal, was appointed head of the EU’s delegation to the UK last year, a role normally given full diplomatic privileges.
Could an independent Scotland re-join the EU by 2031? msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Scottish election tops key electoral week in UK
Updated / Monday, 3 May 2021
11:27
London Correspondent
This is a big electoral week in the UK, with voting of some kind taking everywhere, except in Northern Ireland.
Of course, the big one is the Scottish Parliamentary election, in which the Scottish National Party is seeking an electoral mandate to demand another referendum on Scottish independence.
And there is an election to the Welsh Senedd, in which constitutional issues are much higher up the agenda than in any previous vote.
Then there is the London Assembly election, 13 directly elected Mayors (including London), 39 police and crime commissioners, and around 5,000 councillors in 143 English councils.
It began with the 1986 Big Bang that did away with banking regulation, giving for-profit banks control over the UK financial system. This cartel of privately owned banks was gifted the privilege of owning the national currency and lending it back to the state as debt, leading to the now familiar cycle of boom and bust. They do this by issuing credit and because they are risk-averse, driven by shareholders’ interest and quick profits, they direct the vast majority of their lending towards low-risk financial assets and property speculation.
These activities do not generate new wealth in the form of goods and services. A mere 6 per cent of the £7.13 trillion total bank lending is business lending. This leads to gross asset price inflation, stagnating productivity, wealth inequality, unemployment and poverty. Former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said: “Of all the many ways of organising banking, the worst is the one we have today.”