IF you were in any doubt about how desperate Unionists are feeling right now, here's some welcome re-assurance courtesy of Gordon Brown.
The former Labour leader has trotted out his message of doom and gloom once again ... to people who were recently found to be the most optimistic in the UK.
For this year's Brownhog Day, he's decided to cut straight to the heart of it – "austerity is here till doomsday" under the SNP, he warned.
Speaking at a Labour rally for the NHS in Glasgow, Brown said: "You look now at the Scottish National Party's proposals for independence, they will not be spending money on the health service this decade, they wouldn't be spending it in the next decade and they wouldn't be spending it the decade after.
"Austerity is here until doomsday if the Scottish National Party is all that is going to confront it."
Just to re-assure concerned readers, Brown may seem to be predicting doomsday will come after three decades with his above quotes, but his record on prophecy isn't exactly stellar.
He added: "We must decide to persuade the British people, Scottish people and the whole of Britain that we need to spend more on our health service, we need to upgrade it for the next decade.
"The health service needs to be rejuvenated by an injection of new cash that would lead to greater morale amongst staff that have been sadly disillusioned by the promises of both the SNP and the Conservatives that have not been met."
"As far as I can see it, Labour is now the only party standing for social justice in Scotland, it is the only party that can save the National Health Service."
It's news to us that Labour is standing for anything at all – abstaining doesn't usually require getting off your feet.
Still, Brown's intervention is useful. Even at a rally about the NHS, Brown can't avoid talking about independence. It's at the heart of Scotland's political agenda, and this shows it.
But for as long as we're ruled by a Tory government in Westminster that we don't vote for, we won't we able to end austerity. That much is certain.
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