This man aspires to be Scotland's next Justice Minister. He relies on a 'cost' figure from Medics against Violence which they flatly deny ever making.
Rapidly shifting ground in the face of Isabel Fraser's facts, he relies on newspaper reports, newspapers such as the 'Daily Record', which simply reports Baker himself, and his unsupported assertions.
Faced with ridicule on this, he shifts ground again to 'figures from the Violence Reduction Unit'
Here is a quote from the publication that Baker appears to be misusing and misquoting in the interview -
"The Health Service bears a significant burden from violence. Conservative estimates from England and Wales suggest that three to six per cent of the annual Health Service budget is used in the treatment of outcomes of violence. This equates to an annual cost of between £258m - £517m in Scotland (Home Office Police Research Unit)"
pp21 of Reducing Violence: An Alliance for a Safer Future
As this clearly show, Baker is quoting England and Wales figures on the total cost of violence from all causes, either a blatant careless error or a disingenuous misrepresentation of what the VRU were saying.
Labour's policy on knife crime is knee-jerk populism, unsupported by any real evidence, and attacked as unworkable by the police and justice authorities.
(Andy Kerr last week made a fool of himself on the same topic with Gordon Brewer)
Don't let this man anywhere near the Scottish justice system, never mind a ministerial post!
Vote for the SNP and for Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Minister of Scotland, a qualified and experienced lawyer, former senior partner in a Scottish law firm, steeped in the law, and with a sound grasp of fact and figures.
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Peter, yesterday I was on the Newsnet Scotland site when it went down, I think to a Denial of service attack, then I lost internet connection! Were you Ok last night?
ReplyDeleteEverything was down incl. my internet connection between midnight and till part 1.00 am. OK this morning. In my case, I think it was the internet in general, not a denial of service.
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteas a former Labour man this must be painful for even you to watch!
They don't seem to have a clue do they? a party in Serious trouble!
The Labour Party I knew has been dead for over a decade now. I don't recognise the thing it has become.
ReplyDeleteBut that's the party hierarchy - the party members are overwhelmigly good people, finding their way painfully to the SNP, as I did, Grahame. Saor Alba!
Moridura,
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments. Can you point me to where:
"He relies on a 'cost' figure from Medics against Violence which they flatly deny ever making."
I have checked out their web site and it is as if this has never happened.
They denied it in response to a direct query from BBC Newsnight Scotland, as reported by Isabel Fraser in the clip.
ReplyDeleteWhy should they publish denials on their website of figures they never gave?
Am still periodically finding it difficult to access their site.
ReplyDeleteIs there some-going technical issue or some "issue" more exotic.
Am curious if blogger , a "'quixotically' 'clever'" name-play on the nickname of the Duke of Cumberland ("The Butcher" giving birth to the later folk tale of the "Butcher's Apron" - aka the Union flag) and his recently trolling kin can shed any light.
A security services ploy vis a vis Newsnet Scotland by their own direct hand or via their quisling stooges? Worth investigation.
I want to thank you for posting the video excerpts, please don't ever stop doing that. I have a heck of a time tracking them down on Youtube and usually can't.
ReplyDeleteThus,
I watched for a second time the Baker Frazer interview (something I never do) and it's breathtaking the contempt Labour have for their 'expected' core vote.
Imagine just coming out with a £500 million figure (a figure I found ridiculous when they first said it) because they'd read it in some newspapers somewhere.
The lies, incompetence and arrogance is quite unbelievable.
The core vote still vote Labour because apparently in Scotland there is no reason to actually think about a voting choice you're going to make. It's hardly a choice then is it; it's a Pavlov's dog reaction. See red vote Labour. Rather, see red get angry.
In the words of Randall Wallace's Braveheart :
Why won't they just die?
Die, I want you to die.
Actually, when I say red I mean ultra violet rose pink with hints of mauve.
I'm with you exept for your last statements,Elliott.
ReplyDeleteI am a former East end of Glasgow traditional Labour voter (50 years of it) and I understand why they continue to vote for a party that has consistently betrayed their interests, against all common sense. (See yesterday's 'Sun')
It is a misplaced loyalty that runs deep in families over generations, stemming from the undoubted fact that Labour was once the only party that served their interests, indeed was created to serve them.
Labour politicians back then came from the same experiences, the same class and the same roots of the people they served. But that party has been dying for half a century and died finally when Blair, Brown and Mandelson took power. The Labour Party no longer exists, except in name - what exists in its place is Tories Mark Two, run by privileged Oxbridge graduates.
But policians such as Margo Macdonald - in her early days - and Nicola Sturgeon today, have succeeded in former Labour heartlands in getting hardocre Labour voters to see where their real intests lie, not by abusing them or wishing them dead, but by winning their hearts and minds.
We must do the same, Elliott.