Jackie Baillie

Jackie Baillie argues that John Swinney should remove Neil Gray from the Cabinet after documents reportedly showed that the SNP government knew the Monklands Hospital replacement was unaffordable before the election. She says Gray nevertheless promoted the project to voters in North Lanarkshire, who were later told by Health Secretary Angela Constance that it had been cancelled. Baillie describes the episode as a serious breach of political trust and calls for full disclosure to the public.

Jackie Baillie argues that increasingly severe wildfires, including those affecting the Cairngorms near Nethy Bridge, expose the consequences of years of cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. She claims cumulative budget reductions could reach £900 million by 2027/28, with 1,250 firefighter jobs, stations and equipment already lost. Baillie criticizes the Scottish Government’s slow response, welcomes potential UK military assistance, and calls for urgent investment and improved preparedness as climate change makes annual wildfires more likely.

The cancellation of the planned £2.1 billion Monklands Hospital is framed as a deliberate deception by SNP leaders John Swinney and Neil Gray, who promoted the project during the election despite having months-old knowledge of escalating costs and an unsigned business case. The final business case, developed at a cost of £42 million, had been with ministers since before Christmas, and warnings about affordability emerged before the vote. Angela Constance later scrapped the project due to spiralling costs. Critics, including former SNP minister Alex Neil, describe the situation as serious misconduct, arguing that voters and patients in Lanarkshire were misled. The episode is presented as evidence of broader failures in SNP governance and unmet election promises.