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A rock and a hard place

Posted on March 08, 2013 by

Catastrophe! Scottish independence (surely “separation”?) will destroy your old-age pension, says yesterday’s Scottish Daily Express.

expresspensions1

We suppose we better vote No to keep them safe, then.

expresspensions2

Oh.

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The Man in the Jar

I notice the unqualified use of the word “Government” in the later article.
Or am I just getting paranoid?

Matt

@The Man in the Jar

Just paranoid I think in this case. It seems to be a UK-wide article, so it would be strange if they felt the need to say “UK Government”.

The Man in the Jar

@Matt
It is The Scottish Daily Express! BBC Scotland also have “form” regarding this.

Matt

I’m not denying that some media outlets play that particular trick, just pointing out that in this case it is the UK-wide edition of the Express. I don’t know if they have a separate Scottish website – as they have a separate Scottish paper edition – but if they do then that is not it.

CameronB

Is this leaked “top secret” report going to be the referendum’s “dodgy dossier”? How big can the porkies get?

The Man in the Jar

Fair doos!
I`l get my tinfoil tammy.

Braco

Alex Salmond could mobilise and deploy to rUK weapons of mass destruction in 45 mins or  less.

(in the event of a YES vote)

Stevie

The BritNats have made me hate them.  Their venal B.S., the cruelty of their self-congratulatory Westminster debating club where people are the sport of things.

I have desperately tried not to but now I do.  I would rather say fku to them than feel hate but it’s too late. 

For all your cruelty that is making millions suffer needlessly, and your Westminster obsession that seems to be your crucible of self-serving privilege and unreal debating chamber that produces real pain for all those who apparently exist to serve your vision of some post-imperial ‘dreaming’ project that doesn’t actually benefit more than a very tiny few.  This notion has put people entirely subservient to you elected and un-elected lordly chamber and has led to war, child poverty and the disintegration of the 1945 createion of the NHS and welfare.  But you know that.

BritNats, I hate you.

Stevie

The only way out of this miasma of corruption and visceral pain is with independence.

Vote YES

Ghengis

Ah .. so good when the destroy their own arguments :))
London government set to plunder our pension, yet again!!
The logo is that of the English edition of the Express. They have some other logo for the Scottish edition. Not that they are that bothered for the online version.

Braco

Stevie,
I am trying my best not to hate you,
but you are taking advantage of my nature
I am not weak
But i aint too strong
I’ve just been wrong too long!
 
Billy Paul ‘Am I black enough for you?’  youtube.com/watch?v=UaaY3slVuus
Billy new how you felt, just keep on trying your best min!

The Man in the Jar

I am only 5 years away from collecting my state pension. I know which government I want to be looking after it.
Same goes for the NHS.

Braco

Power to the people! (even if they don’t know how to post links anymore)

Adrian B

@Braco
Did you post your above link from a phone? As you can see your link has had http://www. striped out.
Billy Paul –  ‘Am I black enough for you?’

Les Wilson

Let me tell you if you did not know, the UK is technically bust, only money printing and high borrowing is keeping the facade working, so far.
They are not mobilizing their Unionist Conspiracy against Scotland because they love us so much that they will do anything to keep us, er no.
The reason is the same one that led to the McCrone being hidden for 30+ years, oil.
Without our oil they really will be up shit creek, the have stolen our oil for 40 years or so, they want to steal it for another 40+ years, end of.
As we now, they are trying to downgrade oil to liability status, as they did back then, they are doing now.
Be sure, if we lose the YES vote they will up their game and strip our remaining assets with even more desperation than previous years, because they really need the revenue, stuff the Scots, they can wallow in their poverty.
We, all of us. who are aware, need to up our game, it is Scotland’s only chance to lift our Nation out of the mire, let them sink, their greed is their undoing.

Stevie Cosmic

Les Wilson, I don’t think that’s the case AT ALL. The rUK will do just fine on it’s own without the North Sea….it’s the other stuff that really matters.
Think about it, just who are the most vocal opponents of independence? I’ll give you hint, here’s a short list:

Lord Wallace
Lord Forsyth
Lord Foulkes
Lord McConnell
Lord Reid
Michael Moore
Danny Alexander
Douglas Alexander
Anas Sarwar
Margaret Curran
Jim Murphy
Alistair Darling
Ian Davidson
David Blundell
Gordon Brown
Ming Campbell
Charles Kennedy
Ruth Davidson
Johann Lamont
Willie Rennie
 
….and these are just the most active ones. And what do all these people have in common?

Baheid

@Stevie Cosmic
 
Their all wankers?:)

Stevie Cosmic

Exactly!

birnie

To Steve . . .
They are all members of “a parcel of rogues” who sold out to Westminster and are prepared to do down their constituents for the sake of personal aggrandizement. 
There can be no other reason for denying a country’s citizens the right to govern themselves – particularly when the current governing state is in such a parlous economic position.

Braco

Adrian B,
Thanks for that! No, not from a phone, I was just trying to post a link rather than the actual youtube wotsit. Thanks again though brother, Stay cool!

creag an tuirc

@Stevie Cosmic
They’re all self-loathing Scots.

Stevie Cosmic

Self loathing Scots with something monumentally important to lose if Scotland votes yes. Every single one of them will be out of a job.

I find it odd that more is not made of the obvious.

Silverytay

O/T  Scoop it Has an interesting article from the evening times about James Bond entering the Independence debate over the supposed leaking of the Scottish Governments secret paper .  It basically agrees with what a lot of us fear that behind the scenes there will be a lot of dirty tricks going on to preserve the union .
 

orkers

Off topic, but what do you think of this assertion from the man that runs ‘Shelter’ in Scotland?
link to thecourier.co.uk

Hermione

I’m sorry, could anyone enlighten me as to the “commenting standards” being applied to this thread?
 
“wankers”?
 
“self-loathing Scots”?
 
“I hate”?
 
It all seems a bit more serious than matters of punctuation, does it not?

Laura

The Man in the Jar says:
8 March, 2013 at 6:42 pm

I am only 5 years away from collecting my state pension. I know which government I want to be looking after it.
If it’s a NO vote, you can bet it will be another 10 years!

tartanfever

Hermione, no need for that kind of language, really, I’m just, sitting down to watch a re-run of Miss Marple.

Tris

Man in the Jar: Both appear to be from the website marked News and UK, so I think we can assume that government means UK government. In any case it is the UK government that  is proposing  the £144 pension.

mutterings

Here’s the link to the article Silvertay mentioned: James Bond enters independence debate

Inbhir Anainn

The logo for the online Scottish Daily & Sunday Express would appear to be a red coloured lion rampant carrying the saltire flag on a red flag pole.

Gaavster

Chairchoob Davidson has been caught on camera letting slip his thoughts again
 
Better together?
 
Aye righttp://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=IU5AJAhb-sg&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DIU5AJAhb-sg%26feature%3Dyoutu.beht
 
 

Jiggsbro

It all seems a bit more serious than matters of punctuation, does it not?
 
You can now add ‘butt-hurt’ to your list.

mutterings

Here’s a link to the article Silvertay mentioned: James Bond enters independence debate

Jiggsbro

That Ian Davidson video from Gaavster:
 

mutterings

My comments are not appearing anymore.

Gaavster

That’s what I tried to post jiggsbro before my fat fingers and tablet skills got in the way
 
Thanks
 

ianbrotherhood

@mutterings-
Steady now, don’t go all Dadaist on us.

Les Wilson

FAO STEVIE
Yes, you are correct in what you say, and your list misses out quite a few. However,
in the 70s the Uk was bust, had to be bailed out my the IMF. Then oil started to pump. Thatcher used the oil money to rejuvenate the South of England, while decimating Scotland. They have lied and cheated about the value of oil  from day one, it would soon run out, it will only last 10 years, and of course the utter disgrace of the McCrone report, which exposed our worse fears.
They are in a very similar situation now. and that is why they want to dismantle the welfare state. They are utterly skint. So, skint that don’t rule out public disorder within the next year or so, after all their measures have kicked in and are hurting everyone. Particularly the weakest.
So as I say you are also right, your list is something that Scotland has to bear when all attached to Westminster cling on to their golden path, while poverty here is on the rise.
However, and for sure, they want our oil revenues for as long as they can keep their greasy little hands on them, and they will do anything to keep it. 
 

ianbrotherhood

Davidson’s proper ‘ard. He’ll get another job no bother, doorstepping folk who haven’t paid their TV licence.

mato21

People are starting to see what is going on with the BBC
 
link to weourselves.com
 

douglas clark

Davidson’s proper ‘ard. He’ll get another job no bother, in a call centre for Wonga.com

ianbrotherhood

Aye, he’s well ‘ard. I used to work in a Glasgow office shared by Clyde Action and Action Line. Clyde Action is most familiar to Scots in the West because of the Cash for Kids Appeal. Action Line was the STV equivalent responsible for supplying whatever ‘social action broadcasting’ quota they had to produce to keep regulators off their backs. Davidson had some senior role in Action Line, would pop in, usually on a Friday afternoon, frighten the bejaysus out of them all. On our side of the office we had another Labour roaster, forget her name, Anne-something, but she didn’t appear nearly as often as Davidson. Even then (this was the late 80’s) they were both tipped as big-hitters who were going to reach the top. And so it came to pass…
Anyway, point I wanted to make was that back then Davidson sported a Souness-style tash – as he’s aged, despite ditching the tash, he seems to have developed some of the same alpha-male/borderline-sociopath mannerisms that make Souness so scary.  

ianbrotherhood

PS
Anne McGuire. That was her. Not as scary as Davidson. And she didn’t have a tash. (Well, not in the late 80’s anyway…)

Matt

Hermione,

“We reserve the right to edit/remove comments for legal reasons, or in the event of sustained personal abuse, trolling that’s aimed purely and intentionally at disrupting rather than promoting debate, or spam which somehow manages to evade Akismet. But you’ll have to try very hard indeed, and ignore repeated warnings, to have any sort of censorship applied here. Enjoy the site.”

– From the WoS “about” page.

“Commenting standards” are not applied here, except in the form of users encouraging each other to keep it civil. For good or ill, no-one will stop you – or anyone else – from speaking your/their mind on this site.

creag an tuirc

@Hermione
OK, They are all patriotic, ambitious, hard working, intelligent, selfless Scots that only have Scotland’s best interests at heart.

cath

There was an interesting bit of attempted scaremongering on the Times front page today. wil
 
Headline was something along the lines of “separate Scotland will pay loads more to the EU” – can’t remember the exact wording. The first paragraph then basically said we’d be forced to pay a lot more to the EU because – as Salmond has been insisting – we’d be among the richest counties in the EU.
 
Scaremongering headline immediately countered by a first paragraph admitting Salmond has been right all along and we’ll be massively richer!

Macart

Y’know I’ve just come into possession of a book of Bain’s political cartoons from the 70s and early eighties. A lot of it covers the referendum of 79, really its a case of the more things change……..
 
The majority of this work appeared in the Scots Independent of the time and is just as funny and relevant now as then. The work on Wilson, Callaghan, Thatcher is priceless. But quite literally the unionist tactics haven’t changed in 35 years.
 
Same old, same old.

ianbrotherhood

Hermione – whatever you do, being ‘sensitive’ an’ all, don’t watch this. You really won’t enjoy it. (Maybe Morag will though?)

Indion

There’s an ‘I’ word for this:
IMF – Black Wednesday – Big Bang > Big Boom > Big Busts > Big Bailout > Big Devaluation > Big Bankcruptcy > Depresssion.
Incompetence …. by back to back Con and Lab maladministrations and the BoE.
And what do they do next?
The departing Darling cut’s infrastructure spending.
The arriving Osborne carries on and turns-off the oil & gas tap.
And Merve the swerve prints and gives money to the banks to pay themselves bonuses.
Whoever was on watch over us in HMS Brititanic has been looking the wrong way for most of our lifetimes.
Where’s the something Better Together coming from and going?

douglas clark

I am completely on ianbrotherhoods case. What starts out as a joke becomes a fact, becomes memory, gets written into the history books, get’s taught in school, becomes the meme of choice of unionists everywhere.
 
_______________________________________
 
And now we get Longshanker in drag!

______________________________________

Anyway:

Davidson’s proper ‘ard. He’ll get another job when John Smeaton resigns.
 
 

Yesitis

@Douglas Clark
“And now we get Longshanker in drag!”
Oh no, now I have an image of Brian Eno circa 1973 in my head. Don`t spoil it for me. I was just listening to Roxy Music`s For Your Pleasure. Great album.
 

Stevie Cosmic

Howdy Les Wilson.
 
I agree with you in as much as hydrocarbon income will make a dent in the UK economy if Scotland leaves, but Scotland leaving in itself goes some way in covering the impact of that dent; the block grant for example.
 
It is no accident that the most vocal opponents of independence in the political sphere are almost all Scottish; practically every one of them stands to lose big time if Scotland votes Yes. The vigour with which they have pursued their agenda overshadows all of their other endeavours in politics, to the point where they blatantly and openly were prepared to deny the Scottish people their democratic right to even have a referendum in the first place. The evidence for this is overwhelming.
 
Just once, I’d like to hear an interviewer ask ” So, you haven’t provided one positive case for the union in 3 decades and you are all over the place on  policy, that is, where you have anything remotely resembling  policy, are you sure this has nothing to do with the fact that you’ll lose your Westminster seat and all the associated perks thereof?”


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