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Gordon Brown yesterday told people waiting for transplants that, in the event of independence, Scottish residents would no longer be able to avail themselves of the services of the current transplant organisation which covers the British Isles.
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LIAR OR FOOL? |
It turns out that he was wrong.
Stuart Campbell, seemingly one of the few real journalists left, contacted the organisation to ask them for clarification. This was duly received. The service would remain the same as at present.
It turns out that not only was this information readily available (Stuart got it in extremely short order), but that it had already been supplied to a Conservative MSP, Nanette Milne, as long ago as August last year. (Thanks to Helena for the heads up.)
Your might have thought that Brown would have known, having been the head of the Scottish branch of the Labour party, and then Prime Minister of the UK, that there are four health organisations in the UK, each one entirely separate from the other. Each one organised differently; each one an entity of its own. And yet co-operating and working together for the benefit of patients.
As far as I can establish, the separate governments of Guernsey (and its dependents), Jersey and the Isle of Man, which are British Crown Dependencies, also have health services which benefit from this co-operation, which of course is a two way street. Organ donations from Jersey may save the lives of residents of Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man, or, of course Scotland.
Nothing will change on independence. The separate countries will continue to work together.
I read on Twitter of one desperately ill man who was canvassed who said that he was voting NO because of this very issue.
So if Brown's idea was to scare the living daylights out of chronically ill people then it worked.
I can't say I was ever particularly taken with Brown . Even as a Labour supporter in 1997, I found him unappealing by comparison with the rest of the leadership. His disastrous handling of the economy as Finance Minister, his end to boom and bust alchemy rubbish, and his catastrophic Nokia-throwing, tantrum-ridden, sulking, ashamed to be Scottish premiership, further eroded what little appeal he had.
But this is sinking to the depths of a nasty stinking bog. Brown is either a fool or a liar. Or both.
Credit to Fife News on Line for their coverage. But where is the BBC? Where are the newspapers who covered his lies yesterday?