A letter to the Conservative Party
While we dig deep into the results of our latest Panelbase poll, we thought we should update you on the progress of this story from last month.
A few days ago we received a reply from the Information Commissioner’s Office, and as a result have sent a letter to the Conservative Party’s compliance department. You can read it below.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Information rights concern
It is my belief that your organisation is misusing personal data in breach of the General Data Protection Regulations. Having spoken to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), they tell me that I should give you the chance to deal with my concern before they take action, and I do so now.
My issue is with regard to a “petition” being conducted by your Scottish branch office here:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/petition/
Said “petition” has now been live on the website for over three and a quarter years, since at least December 2015, as can be seen by this archived version from that date.
Since no closing date is stipulated, and since opinions gathered such a long time ago cannot possibly constitute valid and reliable current information, it therefore seems an inescapable conclusion that you have no intention – and have never had any intention – of ever actually delivering this “petition” to the notional intended recipient, and are instead using it to unlawfully harvest data under false pretences.
If that is not the case, please confirm for me the date on which the “petition” will be closed and delivered to the Scottish Government, and also whether the dates of all signatures will be included.
It is also unclear whether any data gathered by the “petition” will be appended to any data gleaned from the almost-identical one here:
https://www.conservatives.com/no2indyref
Both “petitions” are at the time of writing running on the Conservative Party website simultaneously. Please clarify which, if either, will eventually be submitted to the notional recipient, and when this will happen, and whether they are entirely separate or are in fact collecting combined data.
You can find guidance on your obligations under information rights legislation on the ICO’s website (www.ico.org.uk) as well as information on their regulatory powers and the action they can take.
If I do not receive a satisfactory response from you within one calendar month from today’s date, I will raise a formal complaint with the ICO.
Yours faithfully
Stuart Campbell
We’ll let you know when we hear back.
Marvellous. Simple, concise and details the consequences. I expect no response from them and the petition to mysteriously disappear within the week.
Well done! for resisting the urge to swear profusely in your letter to the Conservative Party. That would be an impossible ask of me.
Neatly done. 🙂
Don’t forget that yin illegally got to look at postal votes in 2014 and nothing was done….
Haha. GIRUY Ruthie!
Sent recorded delivery i hope!
Are ICO as toothless in real life as the Electoral Commission or can we expect actual action to be taken place?
This is the sort of story you would hope the new BBC Scotland The Nine would be looking into rather than just giving us other peoples updates on English knife crime and coverage of American Tornadoes.
Tories: Never knowingly following the rules for other people.
Tories at it again.
Hunt came to Glasgow yesterday. Did anyone notice. Seemingly criticised Education and the NHS in Scotland. Considering the State of the NHS/Education and the knife crime in England, which are far worst statistically because of illegal Tory cuts and austerity. Brexit and the total Tory shambles in Westminster. Chaos. What a mess. Cheek does not come into it. He could maybe learn something from the Scottish education system. Or take a leaf out of his own book. Mind his own business. Scurry back to Westminster, stop telling lies and try and sort out his party chaos and mess. Including Brexit.
The ConDems elected to protect NHS and Education. Did the opposite. Cut NHS £4Billion a year and cut Education £6Billion a year. From 2015 to 2020. Cut welfare £3Billion a year from six years. £18Billion. Spending £Billions on HS2, Hickley Point and Trident a total waste of money. Misusing taxes raised in Scotland by total Westminster mismanagement. Illegally funding illegal wars, tax evasion and financial fraud with (higher) taxes in Scotland. Taking resources and taxes raised in Scotland needed for economic development to fund London S/E for years. Hunt is part of that malicious administration.
Hear, hear old chap ,, Hear hear ,,,,
I’m beginning to think Grayling and Co could go on a shooting spree in the centre of London and still have May’s full confidence.
In short if they have been breaking the data protection laws they will barely get a slap on the wrist.
Keep holding their feet to the fire. No let up, well done.
Like the Dark money, Will disappear without trace 🙂
Brilliant!! Well done, Stu
Thank you.It takes someone like you to act when others (myself included) wouldn’t know where to start.
I’m sure the Tory’s will happily take their chances with the ICO. Even if they’re found in breach, the fine (if any) will be paltry.
I hope they get Annie Wells to do the reply. Not for any particular reason but I think her ‘take’ on such matters needs to be out there. Well done Stu. BTW you missed a decent night out on Saturday.
Well done, Stu.
To stay legal, they need to wind their ‘petitions’ up and present them. If they don’t then that’s an admission it was just illegal personal data harvesting.
So what would happen if they didn’t comply? I suspect very little. There now seems to a culture permeating through the UK political system where breaches of rules result in no consequential penalty nor punishment. Rules are for ‘little people’ not for the Tories and their far right buddies.
Perhaps the ICO has sharper teeth and other bodies like Electoral Commission. We’ll see.
The problem now is that even if you are found to have acted illegally or spent more than you should have, the worst that can happen is a fine and it would appear that this is being almost regarded as an election expense and just laughed at. It has proved to be worth it whether it is about money or lies (think Swinton East Dumbartshire and Cole Hamilton in Edinburgh). Until parties are fined large amounts or made to re-run elections where they have broken the rules nothing will change.
As for they tories they will use any means at all to bombard people with leaflets and not even mention the Conservative Party just Ruthie and they know they have plenty of dark money behind them to deal with any fines.
She got her data by having party members observing the opening of postal votes deduce the front by observing the indents showing on the backs. Not technically peeking.
We’ve no absolute proof they passed that information on to anyone else in breech of electoral law. The certainly wouldn’t even think of passing that information on to Better Together to give them a heads up on the impact their campaign was having. Nor would that lead to a panic at the last minute if the tide started turning.
She just happened to have a fairly good estimate of how overwhelmingly NO that was. So overwhelming and such a large part of the ballot that any exit polls would probably have led viewers to conclude that the answer was going to be YES.
Or perhaps not. Polls don’t just inform or guide. If you ever want to tamper with an election then it’d probably be an idea to provide a few prior to the result that agree with it.
Against some that may see this as a mere nuisance for the Tories, the GDPR legislation that went into action last year has a fixed penalty of £1M for every breach of data protection. Not “any”: every.
If there are multiple breaches (and can be many, including holding data for longer than necessary) they tally up.
And if the breach entails sensitive data (e.g. membership to a political party, a union, etc) the fine for every breach is doubled to £2M.
The donors to the Tories may get a bit hacked off if the party is pi$$ing about their money in fines.
Hit them where it hurts: the wallet.
The Tories are quite clearly above the law, any law. They are a law unto themselves, they get away with destroying peoples’ lives in their own country, destroying communities and destroying local economies and the national economy, and much worse.
Scotland needs out of the cesspit of the so called UK as soon as is humanely possible.
Davidson still giving it a rest?
Oh dearie me … Tories caught out by oor Stu AGAIN!
Great wee letter Stu and as Neil said congratulations on ignoring the urge to sear in your letter something I could never have done. 😉
This time when the Information Commissioner investigates the Tory branch office lets hope they do it “correctly” and as Corrado indicates we see the wee branch office being hit with a £1 Million fine per breach! 🙂
My suspicion though regarding the ICO is that despite there being a fixed penalty per breach they will ignore this and make the fine more “acceptable” to the wee branch office. Only time will tell if my suspicion is right (hopefully not) or not.
I don’t think you will be on their Christmas card list.
I think it is also safe to assume their friends in the MSM will be getting a plea to attack you again.
Bbc TV news on about poor satisfaction with NHS throughout UK . No figures given on the four nations
Does anyone know these?
[…] Wings Over Scotland A letter to the Conservative Party While we dig deep into the results of our latest Panelbase poll, we thought we should […]
@Sinky
53% customer satisfaction in England
Brilliant
Apparently the folk in England are happy when they get the service, but getting it has become the issue, complaints are that GP appointment times are into weeks rather than days
so more folk turning up at A&E looking for help clogs the system even further
I love yer style Stu.
53% satisfaction must only be that high due to health tourism and the lack of attempts to claw that money back.
I wonder how many times Ross ‘Groper’ Thomson was told to ‘refrain’, or choice words to that effect?
Scotland does not want to quit the EU, how many times for that one?
Why do we tolerate such people?
@winifred mccartney 1.18pm says: Until parties are fined large amounts or made to re-run elections where they have broken the rules nothing will change.
………..
Absolutely, and the re run election should be minus the offending party.
Well, to do this was a good thing, can’t wait for the answer (cough)
A couple of things come up today, that need thinking about.
J Hunt comes to Glasgow and tells us the Westminster will not allow a new Indy vote.
His reason for coming, beside that, was to warn us about cyber issues in regards to referendums and elections in the UK, possibly being effected by other states.
So is he laying the ground for Westminster to say a positive Indy vote was not valid as “evidence has came out that other states were involved and helped a yes vote?
That may be a plan to dispute any Yes vote. If that were the case the security services will be concocting these now in order to make them look real, come the day.
Also,the explosives that have been delivered by mail in London and now in Scotland. I have heard in various media outlets the suggestion that they may have been carried out by the IRA, well I think this is a false flag situation.
After all, I hardly think the IRA would put a Dublin return address on the envelopes would they?
So to make statements about “that it could be the IRA with absolutely no evidence of that being the case,is a strange attitude to have.
Why? time will out I suppose but I see no good coming of saying that and question why this was said at all?
Sinky @ 1.56 pm
link to kingsfund.org.uk
_______
John Robertson
Position
Professor (retired),
Organisation
UWS
Comment date
28 February 2018
Dear..
Can I access a breakdown of the data for England, NI, Scotland and Wales?
Given the many other differences between the NHS in these areas, it would seem important to be able to compare them.
I was able to do this with the Commonwealth Fund study in 2015
Please advise
John Robertson
(Professor, retired)
REPLY:
kf_guest
Comment date
28 February 2018
Dear John
Thanks for your question. The survey covers England, Scotland and Wales. Unfortunately we can’t compare the data between countries as the sample in Scotland and Wales is relatively small.
Best wishes,
Ruth
______
Prof (Retd) John Robertson needs no introduction to Wingers. I expect he/we would get the same reply to a similar question today …
That fake look of sincere thoughtfulness on Davidson’s face is enough to put me off human beings for life.
What a transparent excuse for a decent human being that particular mammal is.
This isn’t their only trawling dodge for personal info. I’ve recently had a “questionnaire” pretending to ask my preferences on local and national government priorities, whether I want another independence referendum and who I’d prefer as FM, Nicola or The Colonel (over whose name I wrote “Anybody But”). The giveaway was the boxes for my phone and email address, presumably so’s they could bombard me with lies, propaganda and begging letters. Ministry of Truth…
According to a survey by Prof. Robertson there is a 78% satisfaction rate for NHS Scotland.
link to thoughtcontrolscotland.com
Hunt criticised illegal interfere in Elections. Well he should know they are all lincumberced in 10 Downing Street. Without sanction or censor, protected illegally by May. Gove, Johnstone, the criminal etc. Cambridge Analytica. The illegal lying Brexiteers. Trying to create a war with Russia and destroy the world economy. Hunt failure as Health minister and as foreign secretary. Causing death and misery. Another failure. Total hypocrite.
They’ll just wait for the 29th of March and the gdpr won’t apply anymore, right?
The prospect of Davidson as FM will have many more people scurrying to vote SNP.
galamcennalath @ 13:12,
The ICO is no pushover, it has real sanction power (unlike the Electoral Commission), and it hasn’t been afraid to use its powers either.
An interestting move from Stu.
(I’ve been contemplating doing the same thing about the BBC. Data harvesting gateway of licence-payers on programme catchup.)
link to bbc.co.uk
So, NS applies for a section 30 and is refused. Then what?
Given NS pessimism, this would suit fine I think until we can get Yes consistently over 50% in polls.
Brilliant piece of work, Stu. (awaiting moderation)
There can be little doubt that the Tories & Friends have switched to having diplomatic immunity in all things.
In addition, there appears to be no Government commission or committee which is prepared to hold anyone with connections to the Tories responsible for their actions.
But this piece by Stu is of considerable value, not least because it further exposes the Tories’ predilection for dirty tricks involving deception and dishonesty.
No one could ever say that Tories like Cameron, May and Ruth Davidson were decent people. Good people don’t have that much guile or such a facility for lying as those three do.
Ps. But I wouldn’t worry too much, the political and economic avalanche triggered by the EU referendum isn’t even halfway down the hill yet.
mountain shadow 15:25,
If you think it’s a good idea to wait for the “50%+”, or “60%” or whatever, you’ll wait forever. Until people get a positive lead and an actual choice to make, the polls will stagnate. Then slump as people slowly give up all hope of getting out of the mire. (Which is maybe your intention?)
The current triple mandate doesn’t have an “and” in it, it has an “or”. All that’s needed besides is a dash of courage and self-belief.
OT/
Rev Stu on Twitter 15 mins ago :
Latest poll shows SNP Westminster MPs seats rising to 40 =)
A thorn can have a powerful impact!
🙂
I have full confidence it will be declared an administrative oversight which is deeply regretted.Only because they’ve been caught of course.
Well done Stu
Info Wars, like all wars are won by those with the most, and most effectively used resources.
Luckily for the good guys in this war, this includes stuff that Roubles can’t buy.
Like Stuart Campbell. And us.
When in convince mode…
Whilst i feel there’s lots to be said for putting the positive,logical case, winning trust can also be about pointing out what absolute rotters the London based Establishment are, along with the foibles of their useful local idiots in the provinces.
Dark dark dark.
Stir it, like our glorious leader has done by example here.
Pick away at the scabs, and keep picking. It works.
e.g. The heir to the Throne seems to be getting away with canoodling with some very choice peepski. Soliciting for dirty money, in my view.
Will I let it lye, or choose to make this my scab to pick?
Or you could be like oor Ken, and do them all, but imho there’s only one Ken500.
🙂
Go low. They do, and will continue to.
What happens now. Hunt days no S30 will be granted. Has the SG clearly stated that without the S30 being granted they won’t hold an Indyref2?
That’s what the BBC is reporting. Of course since the BBC is reporting this angle we need to be cautious of this and wait and see how this is going to develop.
Hunt up in Scotland so they must be conjuring up something. Tories only come up to Scotland when they have something negative to say and denounce anything to do with the SG and especially Scott’s Independence. Which they know is on the cards and will do anything to block it.
What they are doing is totally illegal in my opinion.
Hunt “says” and “Scottish”.
Rev Stu Campbell, the YES movement is lucky to have you.
I wouldn’t hold my breathe waiting on that lot replying.
Meanwhile Craig Murray blows the Skripal saga wide open.
link to craigmurray.org.uk
TheItalianJob:
We fall back on the Claim of Right –
“On 4 July 2018, the House of Commons officially endorsed the principles of the Claim of Right, agreeing that the people of Scotland are sovereign and that they have the right to determine the best form of government for Scotland’s needs.”
1. Ask for S30 out of courtesy,
2. S30 refused,
3. Raise an action in the Supreme Court to uphold the Claim of Right,
4. Announce date of our referendum to take place after the Supreme Court judgement,
5. Start campaigning in parallel with the Supreme Court proceedings …
Robert J. Sutherland says:
7 March, 2019 at 3:51 pm
mountain shadow 15:25,
. Then slump as people slowly give up all hope of getting out of the mire. (Which is maybe your intention?)
———————-
Complete opposite. I wanted the 2nd Iref a year ago, to get us out of this Brexit madness.
I fear the PM will get her deal through and Scotland will be out the EU.
Any refusal to “allow” Indyref2 will annoy fairminded people like my Auntie Agnes who will now complete her journey from NO to YES.
I would debate the requirement for a Section 30 but without it any boycott by the Tories would undermine legitamacy. However this refusal shows up their fear and will anger many.
@GrahamB
Ok thanks for that.
But will/can the Supreme Court reject the Claim of Right?
Either way we need some Scottish lawyers to look at this.
Re the Tories refusing to allow a S30.
Setting aside legal and constitutional arguements … It’s a battle for hearts and minds. When a majority of Scots decide it’s time for Indy, the union is over.
They have already lost around half of Scots. They have about 30% hardcore BritNats onside. Exactly how well do the Tories think that any ‘Spanish inspired stunts’ will go down with with undecided voters?
Will those who voted NO then Remain and who are becoming sympathetic to Indy be impressed by ‘jack boot tactics’?
Continued refusal, and perhaps taking the battle into the courts, is only going to drive support away from their increasing far right extremist regime.
@Famous15
Certainly agree with you that refusing a S30 order will incence many Scots and not just us INDY supporters.
This is a time where we need to hold our resolve and be ready as it’s going to get a bit tough and Westminster won’t go down without an almighty fight.
The possibility of the £GB tanking from the first minute of Brexit + all the consequences will be enough to rally the troops around the red, white and blue. Project Fear #2 will slip into gear and the cautious masses will think mortgage, savings, pensions and stuff independence.
Scotland is stuck with an ageing, functionally conservative, population who will reason in such terms. Davidson and co will graphically exploit their worst nightmares and ratchet up the imagery of sticking with nurse.
That is effectly the good old, well tried British way.
Getting the Brits out of Scotland will need more than formalized FMQs, PMQs and parliamentary style rhetoric.
Brexit is a major paradigm shift in UK politics. The ways of the old paradigm are obsolete.
Excellent ! Great idea after all rules is rules and if they aint going to abide with them they should suffer the full penalty.as for “we wont let you” scenario is good you really mean that? and let the people tell them what they think of being denied their rights.
as a certain MR Salmond said Better to have a good neighbour than a surly lodger
@galamcennalath
Good points.
The refusal of a S30 order will indeed strengthen the cause and the majority of Scots will not be enamoured by the Westminster “Jack boot” tactics.
It will indeed backfire on them.
The SG have to go for a S30 and let Westminster dig their hole deeper and deeper.
mountain shadow @ 16:42,
Impatient though we are all getting, I reckon public opinion wasn’t ready back then. Now as the cliff edge looms, that may be changing.
Like you, I fear a Dis-May win next week, as the “antis” and “fearties” align long enough to get the dirty deed done.
Nevertheless, that vote is all we need to light the blue touch paper. Otherwise we have to wait a teensy little longer.
Still all to play for, I think.
BBC still carrying the significantly distorted message that Nicola wont call a second referendum without an agreement. This is actually what Nicoa said which is considerbaly different.
But Ms Sturgeon said: “My view is clear and always has been clear. The legal basis of any future independence referendum should be the same as the referendum in 2014, which is the transfer of power under a section 30 order.
“Of course the only reason we’re talking about this is because of the anti-democratic stance of the Conservatives, who I think are running so scared of the will of the Scottish people on independence.
“They refuse to acknowledge the democratic mandate that the Scottish government has.”
“Should be the same ” is different from saying we wont call a referendum without an agreement and Keith Browna has just said if it comes to it we will. Them saying “no” is exactly what we want and I think we are pushing them to that quite deliberately.
White paint will be applied vigorously
Thank you, Les Wilson @ 2.46 p.m., for your thoughtful and thought-provoking post. As you rightly say, these things do indeed need thinking about.
@Dave McEwan Hill
Thanks for that clarification as I knew the BBC would twist everything the FM or an SNP member would say/state on such matters on Independence.
They (Westminster and the Establishment) must now be running scared as they know a Yes vote will prevail in an Independence ref here in Scotland.
The majority of Scots have now been awakened to what Westminster is doing to Scotland and its people i.e. holding Scotland and its people with contempt.
Good work Stuart, no one else would do this. Mon the Wings
If it is to be believed, then I am taken aback by reports of Nicola saying she that going ahead with Indy2 without S30 is not in her thinking. I cannot imagine that she ever expected one.
May is not for giving one, “this is not the time” means not ever, in Theresa’s book.
No mention of our sovereign right of the people either.
However,we have established that we have a legal mandate and we have the established in Westminster itself that Scots are sovereign.So if we have these things why would Nicola take this line.
We should decide all things,the when,the question,who is elligable to vote, no asking Westminster on bended knees. We are in a “Union” that as equal partners (cough)we can recind the treaty should we decide to do so.
I thought that was our way out of all this, but it seems I may be disappointed, alone with many others.
So what now ?, is Nicola going to say ” this is not the time?”
At first, I was thinking (and despairing) the same way as you, Les Wilson at 5.28, when I read about what Nicola Sturgeon was reported as saying, in the MSM. Then, however, I read Dave McEwan Hill’s comment on the matter at 5.03 p.m.. which somewhat reassured me, and helped me modify my view.
I think Dave has probably got it right, and I certainly hope he has. It seems noteworthy that, like me, TheItalianJob @ 5.12 p.m. has also been helped by Dave’s clarification.
This makes me think that the manner in which the MSM, and the BBC in particular, twists what the FM or the SNP or any pro-independence proponent says is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Even though, at the same time, the opposite might be said of the propaganda, denials and downright lies dished out by the Unionist Parties, and all the main political opponents of independence. They increasingly deny simple truths point-blank. No doubt on the assumption that the more often you repeat a lie, the more people will believe you.
On the one hand, they attack with the most unsophisticated denials imaginable, while on the other hand they combine this with the kind of distortion that can be very subtle indeed. In other words, a two-pronged attack, but both prongs are eventually exactly the same thing – namely lies.
There is something truly evil about this, but only in its source – where it originates, among whoever it is who pulls the strings (and spreads the smoke) behind the scenes. We should not blame ordinary pro-Union friends and neighbours who are taken in by the deceit and propaganda. They are its victims: it is our job to win them over by reasonable argument, so that the lies that are confusing them melt before their eyes. And they begin to see these lies for what they are.
We are not here to attack those ordinary Scottish people who are still convinced of their ‘No’, but to deliver them from the propaganda that is deceiving them. They are friends, not enemies. Our job is to help them to distinguish better truth from falsehood, so that, of their own free will, they become convinced, and turn from ‘No’ to ‘Yes’.
@Rev
Oooh, you are naughty, but …
… 😎
Why oh why do some independence supporters keep believing statements/reports in the Britnat media. Surely there have been enough lies from the Britnat media to make anyone be very wary, at the least, of believing them. Their lies are designed to dispirit independence supporters.
Similarly the lies and weasel words of phoney independence supporters on Wings. That is not a reference to genuine independence supporters who have genuine concerns at times but those pathetic individuals who come on Wings deliberately trying to undermine the morale of independence supporters.
I thought it had become pretty obvious to most of us that any utterances by SNP ministers will be spun to suit the MSM’s agenda.
As D McE H pointed out, you really have to go to the source and see what the ACTUAL utterance was, rather than believe the spun version that is broadcast.
Nicola did NOT rule out indyref2 without a Section 30 agreement. I saw and heard what she said.
Onnyhoo, why is it that the Unionist parties are bangin’ on about the possibility of an independence referendum? They are the ones who are keeping the indyref kettle bilin’…
So thanks for that!
@Dave McEwan Hill
Yes, exactly. Totally guarded and careful use of language, and the BBC ain’t good at English, they failed their Standard Grades. And yeah, they wouldn’t understand that one either.
Famous15@4.44pm
“.. any boycott by the Tories would undermine legitimacy.”
Sorry but I disagree. That is what the Britnats will say but that does not make it true ( as ever ). A precedent was set in N.Ireland when there was a boycott and the result stood. People boycott refs and elections all the time – it’s called not voting.
BDTT@6.47pm
I too heard Sturgeon’s exact words and only the Britnat media could spin it that way. Liars the lot of them.
Also you have to laugh at the brass neck of Leonard and Carlaw. One minute they are complaining about Sturgeon (wrongly) always banging on about independence and then they both use their time at FMQs to ask questions about independence. Both obviously too scared to raise the small matter of only 23 days left before a possible EU exit.
A recent case of data misuse which led to a substantial fraud went through the ICO system, including its complaint procedure. Its final decision read “As a regulator, we use the concerns brought to our attention by individuals to inform our decisions as to whether it is appropriate to investigate an organisation’s information rights practices and consider further regulatory action.
I agree with the conclusion that it is not appropriate for the ICO to investigate further as a result of your individual concern. It is up to us to decide whether or not we should take further action.”
An organisation which performs its duties to its own complete satisfaction.
Neat Neat Neat Stu. Superb letter and straight to the point.
@Neil Mackenzie
There is however much satisfaction in that vein to be had by baldly setting things out, with no wriggle room whatsoever, as the Rev Stu has done (with legal advice?). In holding their feet to the fire that and only that is likely to seriously discomfort them. Venting one’s spleen with profane words might be cathartic but it gives the other party a cast iron reason to ignore you.
There is also the offence of sending a malicious communication which should also give you pause. You do not want to give the likes of the Scots Tories cause to report you to the Polis or hold your letter up as an example of the abuse Yes supporters send them.
We should seek to be better than them, or what’s the point? We can rub their faces in a successful Yes vote and forever afterwards.
Not long after the 2016 General election which reduced the Unionists to one seat each some SLAB people chapped my door (local elections?) and I told them they were ‘off reservation’ and that ‘Embra South is thataway (indicating a Southerly direction). This struck home and told him all he needed to know about the point of trying to win me to his cause.
If next they chap my door seeking votes I intend to ask if
1. Scotland is Independent
and
2. Has Hell be found and found to be frozen over?
If those do not pertain I cannot vote for you.
Feel free to steal that.
Hoisted by their own petard. Classy Stu. Just classy.
Give it a rest Ruthi
She has been told again and again Scotland does not want to be part of this divisive UK, but despite this the Tories keep telling us we cannot leave.
Life expectancy in England in Wales decreasing, not a blip but a trend. A government in denial about the impact of its toxic domestic policies despite a growing evidence base that austerity impacts on life expectancy (but one doesn’t worry about such wicked problems if one can make money out of people’s misery and stressed lives) as WM rushes headlong into Brexit and further widespread economic and societal damage.
link to journals.sagepub.com
link to actuaries.org.uk
Scotland it is time to leave. The Colonial Empire is hopelessly lost. By the time the Colonial Handbook was published India had left the empire.Many more colonies were lining up to leave- they are now called countries. They rejected the message that they couldn’t govern themselves.
‘Few of the Colonies have the good fortune to possess substantial mineral wealth, and in comparatively few are there manufacturing industries of any magnitude…However able their Government , however efficient their economic administration , many Colonies cannot finance out of their own resources the research and survey work, the schemes of major capital enterprise and the expansion of administrative or technical staff which are necessary for their full and vigorous development, an adequate standard of health and education services’
Colonial Office Handbook, 1948 (London, 1948).