U turn if you want to

[Indy]

Speaking of hospitals :

Wednesday 16th March 2011

Labour’s latest u-turn which saw the party make a bizarre promise to protect a hospital that has only ever been threatened with closure by Labour itself makes the position of Andy Kerr untenable.

Alex Neil MSP : The u-turn, which follows last week’s u-turns on council tax and tuition fees exposes Labour’s former Health Secretary – now finance spokesman – who has spoken out repeatedly over the last four years in support of closing Monklands and Ayr accident and emergencies and against freezing the council tax.

As recently as 2010 Andy Kerr was still attacking the decision by the SNP to save the Monklands A&E and has mocked and attacked the Council Tax freeze.

Commenting Alex Neil MSP, who campaigned strongly to keep the A&E department open, said:

“Can anyone now believe a word Labour say on anything? The only party who threatened to shut Monklands A&E was the Labour party and there is no threat to its existence from politicians except the Labour party.

“Andy Kerr – the Labour health minister who actually threatened the A&E’s existence – has been particularly vociferous in justifying his decision.

“Equally – as Labour’s current finance spokesperson - he has been attacking the very idea of a Council Tax freeze which Labour now support.

“His position is untenable. How can he remain within Iain Gray’s shadow cabinet when he has been sidelined on these two key issues?

“Labour and Iain Gray should actually offer an apology to the people of Lanarkshire who Labour threatened with the closure of this accident and emergency unit.

“If Labour were still in Government there would be no accident and emergency unit at Monklands hospital.

“It is only the election of an SNP Government working for Scotland that means Monklands Hospital has an accident and emergency unit for Iain Gray to visit – a unit that since the SNP put in place protection for local services has treated 219,431 patients.

U-turns, back-stepping, turn arounds, contradictions : The title of Labour's Holyrood manifesto.