Poverty is endemic in Scotland – While poverty fell for a little while in Scotland it has been on the rise again in recent years. Nearly one million Scots, including children, are living in poverty. Warrant sales in the 80’s when I was growing up in Whitfield Dundee were a depressing result of debt and poverty, they were a disgusting and humiliating experience for the victims and those that witnessed them. Warrant sales were ended in Scotland in 2001 after a Bill to abolish them was proposed by Tommy Sheridan, Holyrood can hold their heads high about passing it and something that we could be proud of that our parliament did.
To even think about bringing back basically the warrant sale in Scotland is a disgrace, the SNP should hang their heads in shame if this bill passes, the sad reality is it will, it is an SNP Bill and the Red and Blue Tories will no doubt support what is fast becoming Nicola Sturgeon’s Tartan Tories. People get into debt, most times it is bad judgement, sometimes losing a job, or sometimes mis-sold a product they can’t afford in the first place and in this country it is easy to do in a UK built on debt.
It is bad enough that this Bill is even before the parliament at Holyrood, but it is even a greater insult that Sturgeon and the SNP are basically following the Tories in London who we know hate poor people, even blaming poor people right now for the rise in inflation even though wages have fallen since 2008.
Poor people are not the problem here, they are victims. Tommy Sheridan is spot on this Bill is disgusting, regressive when we made such a significant step forward in 2001, it is not acceptable, and yes, it is shameful and a stain on our parliament. The longer Sturgeon has been in power we have been moving backwards. Most of the SNP achievements were under Alex Salmond , yes a few crumbs have fallen off the table to make Scotland a little better off compared to the UK as a whole but this is a major step backwards.
In other words, those with no assets except household goods or motor cars will now become the perfect subject for statutory pledges.
The SNP, the Law Society, can call it modernisation all they want of the credit system, the simple fact is it means that these so called pledges could see poor people lose their possessions if they get into financial difficulty. People have a responsibility to pay their debts, no one disputes that, but the reality is sometimes heart breaking and more complicated. We also have the situation where rich people and corporations can right off their debts, esp to us the tax payer, socialism for the wealthy and free market economics for the poor. The sooner Sturgeon and the SNP are gone the better, it makes no difference which unionist party Governs Scotland and the way the SNP are going under Sturgeon and the current lot of MSPs, they might as well as just declare their unionism, their Toryness.
https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/poverty-scotland-2021
https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/20453981.mike-dailly-must-not-create-new-warrant-sales-scotland/
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
I had a look at Dailly’s article and then checked it out on the SG website. I did not think anything this administration could do would surprise me now . This administration are simply an extension of Westminster government. it is clever when you think of how this transformation has come around. Very worrying.
Obair
It has been going this way under Sturgeon since the beginning and just shows my leaving the SNP in 2015 was the correct move, nothing they do really surprises me anymore and I often think if they do something right I will acknowledge it but I can’t remember the last time they did do something that I could get right behind. Even the Sturgeon strategy for indy appears set up to fail. Basically they have been in power too long and overall under Sturgeon have been a huge failure, they need to be out of office now as soon as they lose any referendum, or when they fail to deliver. I know James over at Scot Goes Pop is implying we vote SNP in the next GE as it is a plebiscite and we don’t want a host of indy Parties standing but to be honest I just can’t see me doing that if that is the choice presented to me.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
“know James over at Scot Goes Pop is implying we vote SNP in the next GE as it is a plebiscite and we don’t want a host of indy Parties standing but to be honest I just can’t see me doing that if that is the choice presented to me.”
If no other indy party is standing in my constituency at the next UK GE and it’s declared a “plebiscite” I’ll have no other choice but to vote for them as otherwise it will be taken by Westminster as a sign we don’t want indy. Believe me, I’ve no desire to vote for my current woke SNP MP. However we need to give them enough rope to hang themselves. Because believe me even if they get the majority of the seats AND the vote, they’ll find an excuse to do nothing. And then – we get them at the 2026 Scottish GE because no-one will be under any illusions we’ve been conned and turf them out for actual indy parties.
PP
I totally understand that but the plebiscite is a ruse as far as I am concerned so far given the so called update papers are overall pretty weak, there has been zero campaigning on the part of the newSNP and their members are continuing their war against the other indy parties in some cases so that makes it very difficult to even consider to vote for them at this point. As we get closer to the various dates then we will see but right now the newSNP are just another unionist party to me to be honest.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
This speaks to me of Debt Forgiveness.
As a beneficiary, insolvent in business, of unstated debt forgivenesss by a major creditor, in England for God’s sake, I support unstintingly that principle once inherent in a Jubilee, and in fair societies. Why are we so ignorant of past convention?
Neil
Debt forgiveness is a good thing but I can’t think I have ever seen an example of it in the UK, it is also viewed as income in the UK so is taxable and some of any debt written off becomes a debt to the tax man, only in the UK right. I just find the whole idea of the potential of warrant sales by the back door in Scotland disgusting no matter what they call it, I won’t pretend to understand debt law etc but I do have a sense of what I feel is right and wrong and this is just wrong on every front for me and makes the SNP no better than the Tories, maybe even worse, the Tories no longer hide what they are.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Dr Jonathan Hardman, Convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Banking, Company & Insolvency Law Committee, said: “We very much support the reform of the law governing moveable transactions. We consider that reform in this important area will be key to the future success of Scotland’s corporate finance sector and its clients.
“We will consider the Bill in detail and take the opportunity to comment as it progresses through the Scottish Parliament. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government to ensure we have legislation in place that creates the best environment for businesses to thrive in Scotland.
Obair
A neo-liberal economic independent Scotland is not something I would want any part of. I consider myself a left of centre social liberal and would still be a member of the Liberal Party if they were actually a democratic party but their unionism is as bad as the rest, sadly that includes the SNP now. It is just one more step to the right under Sturgeon, many steps to the right she has taken, especially in the last 3 years with her four nations approach to pretty much everything and her poor governance.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Indeed – if Mr Hardman was unhappy with the Bill then that would prove it was on the good side!
James
That is a very good point indeed. This Bill does nothing for protecting people but protecting business that let’s face it have a dodgy history when it comes to easy credit adding to the problems that people have, poverty social security and pensions certainly don’t help in servitude Britain and Scotland.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
This is just another bastard move by the Nonce party to turn people against independence , it has been proven that the less well off are more open to independence rather than the comfortable off , as the impoverished believe that they can’t be any worse off where the comfortable off feel they have more to lose
The impoverished are shit scared that independence will just be a continuation of Sturgeon’s SHITE governance where she favours everyone else rather than our indigenous Scots
If you are currently getting the shit kicked out of you why would you vote for scum who are PROVING they are no better than the amoral tories , the way this lunatic is carrying on I can see a resurgence in the scum unionist lying liebour party
TH
It is regressive in every way and as Obair has pointed out it is not about the protection of poor people but off the credit industry and business. If the system needs reform that is fine but it needs to protect those least able to protect themselves in my opinion and this does not do that. It is a stinking shift to the right for Sturgeon and in the last few years we have seen more and more of that in some ways or she is pandering to minority interests to the extent she is extreme about it.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
All inaccurate.
People will be able to make a CHOICE to put one of their moveable assets against a loan in order to access better interest rates. That will be their CHOICE. It is not going to court to have debt collectors then coke in and value things to sell. If you default on the loan you’ll have to give up the thing you put up by CHOICE.
Anon
You talk about choice, poor people, or sometimes those very vulnerable, don’t have a choice. Interest rates in the credit sector punish poor people, we know that. Not unlike say VAT does, it hurts those with the least the most. This is regressive and about protecting business not people and we know that the credit sector will loan to virtually anyone if they can, this will just add to the problem but shifts the shame back to those who are least able to cope or even understand what they are getting into as a result of their vulnerability so nope I don’t agree with this. There has to be a better way.
Thanks for commenting, at least you had a choice too.
Bruce
What you mean is poor people (who you label as poor) are too thick to make their own decisions then
If someone goes to a credit lender and they are offered a higher interest rate or the choice to put a car up (for example) as collateral to get a lower rate – I see no issue with that.
Anon
Not at all, that is your words, desperate people, vulnerable people, and poor people will make poor choices due to circumstances and some companies will take advantage of that to the degree that they are acting against the best interests of the customer and maybe even not following guidance.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
“put one of their moveable assets against a loan in order to access better interest rates.” and there we have it in a nutshell. People of limited choice and limited access to finance need to be milked. If interest rates were commensurate with risk that would be one thing but the nobody would make any money. Everyone has direct experience of predatory finance, even if it’s just ads on TV. This proposed legislation would be one thing if there were a raft of safeguards and oversight that left people with their dignity attached. However we all know there’s no money in that.
This temple very much needs a good cleansing – from top to bottom.
please excuse my ignorance.
What is a “warrant sale”?
I’ve never heard the term before
Ben
A warrant sale was a statutory means of collecting debts in Scotland until 2001. Legal procedure for warrant sales was governed by The Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987. The practice was controversial, those who opposed it were concerned that it affected the poorest section of society who genuinely were unable to pay a debt, others claimed the legislation was needed to ensure people paid their debts. (Legal Issues Scotland)
They were disgusting, Sherriff Officers could turn up (often 3), often with a Police Officer present, and remove items from someone’s home, in front of children and neighbours etc to settle a debt. They were used against the most vulnerable and poorest of people in our communities. I only ever saw a couple in the 80’s when I was growing up and they were disgusting, one took place where I lived and one did not as people started shouting at the officers and they left due to the anger of it taking place. We should be bringing anything like this back, even if it just using collateral against a loan as anon implies, it is step backwards for myself and as we know with law in the UK the devil is in the detail and it rarely protects the poorest and most vulnerable.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
As Bruce says the repossessions were done as publicly as possible with the express intention of shaming the debtor and to serve as a lesson to others. A vile and despicable act.
We the Scottish people when we get our INDEPENDENCE will apply real Scottish justice to the enemies of Scotland and those that have committed crimes against the Scottish people and Scotland. They should be aware that there will not be any avoidance of this no matter if they are not within the country that we the Scottish people will persue them no matter where. This should also apply to the enablers of these perpetrators. I DONT NEED TO APPLY NAMES TO THESE PEOPLE AS AT PRESENT THEY ARE WELL KNOWN TO THE SCOTTISH PEOPLE.
John
If we get independence, which I feel less and less confident about, I think we just move on and start to build. Life is too short to be going after those who let us down unless they have broken the law then that would be different I guess. We can make sure they don’t benefit from independence as best we can by way of ensuring they are never elected again to represent anyone but I would also hope that we would see new parties and a pr voting system as well. But right now the newSNP are failing us all and I do question wither many of them actually want to independence, that is the betrayal in so many ways.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female.
Not only that Stuart, but the seized goods were often resold at a tiny fraction of their value. The was no attempt to recover the actual cost of the debt and so the lender very often gained naught.
As you say all about humiliation.
I may add, the scales fell from my eyes with respect to the Scottish Labour when they originally voted against Tommy’s Bill banning the sales.
This was the Labour Party, supposedly to represent the working man and life’s disadvantaged. Appalling.
When Holyrood was set up, we were supposed to be better for Scotland instead of dragging the old party/partisan system straight from WM.
As we now observe the SNP have morphed into Labour of old.
Nally
Spot on and I never knew Scottish Labour voted against the original bill. That would have been Dwer and why am I not surprised.
Thanks
Bruce