The Scottish Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Orkney, Mike Macleod, has repeated his call for the leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to step down.
“To my mind much of the discussion of the Mandelson scandal is wide of the mark, in that it focuses on who knew what and when.
“The fundamental difficulty is that Sir Keir Starmer keeps taking decisions without proper consideration.
“Anyone with any sense (and without the benefit of hindsight) could see that Mandelson might be a dodgy appointment. The correct course of action would have been for thorough checks to be done first to make sure the appointment passed muster, whereas here the Mandelson appointment was announced first and the checks done afterwards. That is, Sir Keir put the cart before the horse.
“And Sir Keir has done this repeatedly, taking decisions without checking the facts properly. Resulting in policies, once announced, having to be reversed. The Winter Fuel Payments Cut being the first and worst such mistake.
“We have to remember the football saying – ‘A good manager can improve the performance of the team by 5%. A bad one can reduce it by 50%.’ Once Sir Keir goes, Labour’s performance will recover to its natural level.
“On discovering that there were very serious doubts about Mandelson, Sir Olly Robbins could have told the Prime Minister this. But not what the Mandelson concerns were – because it seems Sir Olly himself was told only that Mandelson was borderline and Vetting were minded to decline. Sir Olly could have insisted that if the appointment was to go ahead, a Notice of Direction must be given. That is, the Prime Minister would have to take the responsibility.
“You can easily imagine Sir Humphrey [Yes Minister ] saying – ‘Appointing Mandelson would be a brave decision, Prime Minister!’ This invariably worked with Jim Hacker, a jellyfish of a man with no firm convictions.
“The fact Sir Olly himself, as the most senior, and presumably trustworthy, Foreign Office official was unable to see the Mandelson vetting documents tells its own story. The scary reality is that after fourteen years of dysfunctional Conservative Government, our Civil Service has become unable to speak truth to power.”
Elections to the Scottish Parliament take place on Thursday 7 May.
Orkney Constituency – 5 candidates:
- John William COUPLAND – Reform UK
- Jamie HALCRO JOHNSTON – Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Robert Fraser LESLIE – Scottish National Party (SNP)
- Mike MACLEOD – Scottish Labour Party
- Liam Scott MCARTHUR – Scottish Liberal Democrats
Highlands and Islands Region – Candidates:
| Name of Party | Description of Party | Candidates on Party List (in order to be elected) |
|---|---|---|
| Advance UK | 1. Matt Sheppard 2. Steve Skerrett | |
| Alliance to Liberate Scotland | Alliance to Liberate Scotland For Independence | 1. Brian Nugent 2. Andrew Ross Macdonald 3. Kenneth Mackenzie 4. Laura Hansler 5. Allan Duffy 6. Flora Badger |
| Independence for Scotland Party | Independence for Scotland Party, Direct Democracy | 1. Fiona Nelson |
| Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice – Organic, Local, Democratic | 1. Nicola Siddall |
| Reform UK | 1. Vic Currie 2. Max Bannerman 3. Amanda Hampsey 4.Fred Campbell 5.Malcolm McTaggart 6. Jon Whitton 7. John Coupland | |
| Scottish Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship” | 1. Donald MacLeod Boyd | |
| Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party | 1. Tim Eagle 2. Jamie Halcro Johnston 3. Helen Crawford 4. Ruraidh Stewart 5. George Macpherson 6. Peter Wallace 7. Donald Mackenzie 8. Douglas Barnett | |
| Scottish Family Party | Scottish Family Party – Christian values | 1. Kenny Stone 2. Allan MacEachen 3. Rachel Michelle Gibson 4. Eva Morrice 5. Harriet Amelia Mary Woolmore |
| Scottish Green Party | Vote Scottish Greens – Let’s demand better | 1. Ariane Burgess 2. Kristopher Leask 3. Kate Willis 4. Dræyk Van Der Hørn 5.Alex Armitage 6. Anne Thomas 7. Julie Christie |
| Scottish Labour Party | Scottish Labour – Scotland Needs Change | 1. Isla McCay 2. Donald MacKinnon 3. Eva Kestner 4. John Erskine 5. Mike MacLeod 6. Callum George 7. Shaun Fraser 8. David Blair |
| Scottish Liberal Democrats | 1. Morven-May MacCallum 2. Alan Reid 3. Declan Gallacher 4. Angela Margaret MacLean 5. Robert Denis James Rixson 6. Guy Grieve 7. Fiona Bennett | |
| Scottish Libertarian Party | 1. Nathan Lumb | |
| Scottish National Party (SNP) | 1. Maree Todd 2. Robert Leslie 3. Emma Roddick 4. Hannah Mary Goodlad 5. Eilidh Munro 6. Jérémie Fernandes | |
| Scottish Rural Party | 1. Alasdair Fletcher 2. Ruaridh Ormiston | |
| Scottish Socialist Party | Scottish Socialist Party – Independent Socialist Scotland | 1. Willie Hamilton 2. Brenda Nicholson |
| Workers Party of Britain | Workers Party – Scotland | 1. Syed Hussain |
| Independent | Duncan Macpherson; Mick Rice |