Robe & Rest

Survive Lewis Capaldi · Survive · Song · 2025

So, as MSP’s encourage us to believe that what we know and what is being reported regarding the Monklands “reset” is misinformed and dubious reporting, people from the local community and
Stand Up For Monklands group have organised and held a meeting to demand clarity, but what does clarity look like and are we wrong to be questioning the government and it’s ruling MSP’s information, particularly now that a clearer picture is emerging?

We think not and let’s question what they say is their clarity and is it as vague as the debate on what shade of green the grass is and is it tactically, politically so?

Now for the past week or so the hot debate surrounding the Monklands reset has been when the government knew?
The when the government knew question itself plays into a whole host of other questions but the most important when is….
When were they presented the business case and the answer is last year December to be exact which falls into the time Airdrie and Shotts MSP Neil Gray SNP had the health brief. So the next question is, did he really sit on it until John Swinney had his reshuffle in a deliberate attempt to throw Angela Constance under the bus?
Well, yes and no.
No, he didn’t and couldn’t have just sat on it because when decisions like this have to be made yes they might take time but are not allowed to take too long. There are certain rules. So even though NHS Lanarkshire were kept in the dark, the govt has made an active and conscious decision to shelve the plans but not inform the service or the public until such times the election was held.
Moreover, the SNP government had in their election manifesto that they would be completing the new Monklands hospital, pedalling this on the doorsteps of Airdrie and Coatbridge where Fulton MacGregor and Neil Gray were garnering further support prior to being elected again. Confirming in parliament at the same time that the hospitals business case would be seen through and going out to the Wester Moffat site to have pictures taken by the side of NHS Lanarkshire emblazoned excavators, after the decision was taken that Laing O’Rourke would be the preferred contractor.
Then, suddenly Neil Gray is given the justice remit and Angela Constance delivers the somewhat “structured news” that the hospital will not now go ahead as planned indefinitely. So yes a deliberate attempt to throw Angela Constance under the bus.

So who made that decision?
Well it wasn’t NHS Lanarkshire
It must have been Neil Gray, who sources we’ve spoken too have said that he was hinting at a move on the front bench in January which is when it’s rumoured that a bill of around £200 Million had already been spent and the government knew then that it was shelving plans to kick on with the hospital.
It couldn’t have been Angela Constance because in January, she wasn’t the health secretary when it’s rumoured the government knew and being given such an important decision only a month after the election would seem like a bit of a hard task and some might say, a setup to keep Neil Gray on the front bench Neil, who has made no secret of his leadership ambitions in private circles, private circles which are now not so cosanostra as they once were.

Now we move onto Fulton MacGregor and his claims that there has been false reporting.
C’mon Fulton, you serious?

You really expect people to swallow the words…
Reset and still committed as meaning anything serious? Especially from a guy who’d have us think that changing the name of a train station from Whifflet to Coatbridge Whifflet is high on the list of progression for the local area. We’ll put a plaque on the wall for ye, it’ll read…..
This stations name was changed by Fulton MacGregor in the midst of a new hospital not being built and put it beside the sign on the pub above the broken glass which reads please respect the neighbours.

So what doesn’t reset actually mean then?
Does it mean we begin again and does that mean there will be another £200Million spent to create new plans for a much reduced because you want it cheaper hospital?

Will it take into account the rise, year on year of procurement, building and consultation costs which have risen in the trade by 50% in Scotland in the last 12 years?

Since we’re talking about clarity and the fact that the debate is currently around the facts of when, who, if and why?

Can we have some clarity on how the hell a hospital that had plans to upgrade its ventilation system knocked back in 2022 can possibly continue in its current form and as you put it full of every danger that might see you end up in hospital anyway. Asbestos, water infection, infection control to name but a few. On top of this, workers who are now coming out and telling us that the place can’t be kept clean. The very basic standard a hospital should have. So how is it expected to deal with the real world issues and our areas biggest killers, heart disease, respiratory disease, cancers, strokes and a whole host of other ailments that our people suffer and struggle to attend a place they have confidence in?

You call out misreporting but you can’t hide away from the fact that this hospital as it currently sits is now more than ten years into a demolition plan that has now been halted and is forced to continue until such times incompetence is overruled by common sense.
Common sense being that the cost of building a functional hospital to serve the area may be a hard hit but do the people who’ve had to suffer a sh*tehole for so long not deserve it anyway?
Do the masses of folk buying new built homes which will dictate the fact that the area will need such a hospital not matter either? I mean if we’re encouraging clarity, open your eyes.
Are the general public in the area not considered as one of the most important factors in the business case either? Out of the five key parts of guidance they feature in all of them?
Maybe we should just jail them all, better conditions at least.

Just a note too to all the……

“But England failed to build HS2”and other public infrastructure projects.

We don’t live in England and if you’re following the guidance of those who would rather we judge other countries failures and claim our own as some sort of success because we didn’t fail to deliver as much as they did then progressive policies and the very notion of progression is lost on your support of incompetence in spite of demanding better.

Don’t blame these folk for standing up for what’s right 👇