The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


Collecting the clues

Posted on December 18, 2013 by

Rhodri Morgan, Labour former First Minister of Wales, 12 December 2013:

“No reform to the Barnett Formula until after the Scottish referendum.”

Alistair Carmichael, Lib Dem Secretary of State for Portsmouth, 17 December 2013:

This government is not going to touch the Barnett Formula.”

Our emphasis both times. It’s not too tricky to read between the lines, is it?

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

36 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Pedro

It’s Yes or bust. That much is clear. 

Adrian B

No need to read ‘BETWEEN THE LINES”. Its right there in black and white. Just wait until after the next Westminster General Election is what they are all saying. That includes the Scottish opposition parties on the no side – that are all extremely clear.
 
They ALL blame the SNP for this referendum happening. Holyrood is going to be strangled and that will lead to detrimental democracy and all Government spending ability on core services for everybody in Scotland. 

gordoz

Sadly it still appears to be too tricky  to read between the lines for the undecided, who seem to need yet more information (only from YES side though ?) if the press & polls are to be believed.

What will happen to Barnett Formula ? Doh !
 
Yes option – Barnett will eventually go obviously but Scotland emerges with control over economic direction and the mechanisms for affecting such change in the hands of the Scottish People through a supportive government which the residents of Scotland elect.

No option – Barnett will go even faster because the Scottish people voted to be reformed into a ‘northern region’ of Great Britain which permits this too happen by diktat and to draw resources further south by a government which the Scottish people rarely if ever elect; either of the 2 main centre right parties of Labour  or Conservative (Both Unionist in doctrine  / 2 sides of same coin )

DougtheDug

In David Cameron’s letter to Nicola Sturgeon he says, “What I can say is that reform of the Barnett Formula is not on the horizon”.
link to twitter.com
 
I suspect that “horizon” is 18/9/2014.
 
Even more interestingly he says that he can, “No more bind future UK Governments than you can Scottish Governments”, which makes all the demands for definite answers from his campaign manager Mr. A. Darling about what happens after independence a little hollow.

Tom Hogg

Tomorrow’s Scottish media headlines:- “Carmichael guarantees future of Barnett”

creigs1707repeal

There was a referendum yesterday in a turkey farm close to where I live. The question on the ballot paper read as follows:
 
Turkey, should we be free of Christmas?
 
YES
NO
 
The result has not yet been announced but exit polls counted about 44% of the turkeys were wearing Santa hats. The other turkeys just shook their heads knowingly.

MochaChoca

Vote NO and lose £4bn barnett and get 8.4% of £4-10bn North Sea revenues.
 
Vote YES and lose £4bn barnett and get 100% of £4-10bn North Sea revenues.
 
Could it be any clearer?
 
BTW the figure accounted to Scotland by UK government departments, where the remit of that department has already been devolved and so is paid for via the block grant adds up to £1.6bn, strange huh?

Andy-B

Armageddon, is the word, to describe the Scottish budget and its Parliament if a no vote is returned on the 19th of Sept next year, but lets not go there, lets be positive and look to a brighter future that a YES vote will bring.
 
Lets kiss goodbye to the Barnett Formula for all the right reasons, that a YES vote will bring, afterall one way or another the Barnett Formula looks likely to be at best reduced.

Arbroath 1320

Hello there Left hand, I’ve a friend I’d like you to meet.
Ah there he is.
Right hand let me introduce you to Left Hand.
Left hand…….this is Right hand……..Right hand……….this Left hand……… 😆

Inbhir Anainn

The Barnett formula is said to have “no legal standing or democratic justification”, and, being merely a convention, could be changed by the Treasury at will. In recent years, Barnett has called for a review of its long-term viability.

Andrew Morton

One problem with getting this over to the public is that I suspect that if you asked the typical person in the street what the Barnett Formula is, most of them would think it’s a baldness cure. This is probably most true of women who take less of an interest in the nuts and bolts of politics than men. This is tricky as it’s women we need to convert.
 
We need to talk about Westminster cutting the budget or cutting Scotland’s pocket money.

Les Wilson

Ref Holyrood after a no vote. The Barnett formula WILL go, as the Welsh First Minister said ” Oh, that is going anyway “.

Gradually powers to Holrood will slowly be taken away until we actually have virtually nothing but an Echo Chamber for grievances no one will bother to care about.

Eventually Holyrood will be closed as being of no use to anyone. This will all be designed to try and ensure there is never another referendum. Job done, as far as Westminster is concerned.

We can complain, we can make noises but Westminster will not hear.

If we vote no, I am convinced all this will come to pass, we cannot afford a NO vote, or mass emigration is once more on the agenda for many more Scots, as has been our history under the Union.

TJenny

Andrew Morton – or how about ‘Westminster cutting Scotland’s Housekeeping Budget’?

Richard

O/T I was thinking about 12 days of Xmas.
1bedroom tax, 
2food banks
3weeks brew suspension
4 trident subs
5 scare stories
6
7
8
9
10 labour mps
11lords a filcjing
12
i was hoping for inspiration

alexicon

Labour will blame the Tories when the Barnett formula goes, guaranteed.

Illy

I just hope that whatever the vote then it’s cleaner than clean regarding vote-rigging, etc… from the winning side.
 
I’m not expecting that to be the case from Westminster though.
 
But can you imagine the scandel if the result gets reporte no, then a month or so later it’s revealed that it was actually a yes?  If that happens I’m worried that we’d lose the “most peaceful independence movement” award.
 
What would be nice is if both sides agreed publically that whoever loses the vote is going to want an investigation for any misconduct, so they’re both going to start the investigation in say, March 2014, so it’s resolved as quickly as possible.

MochaChoca

9….. months to go?

Richard

9 months to go doesn’t fit with project fear. I was hoping to tweet to them my Xmas love

aldo_macb

6 foreign wars  (that’s how many Blair undertook).

desimond

Richard

3 Ian Davidson Westminster committees
4 flipped Darling houses (might be wrong?)

5  hundred thousand in the dodgiest of donations to UKOK

Richard

Thanks aldo_macb.
feel free to amend any of the other. Maybe there have been 12 scare stories (at least)

desimond

On Celtic thread last night there was a nice wee #Sevku posting series where Haikus for Rangers AGM were posted… Might be fun if we tried for some regards Independence Referendum and all it involves

Big Blair hear him roar!
No Lion, more a sad Sheep
  RIP Dolly

#Revku

john king

“Your request for guarantees in perpetuity is quite astonishing”
so says Cameron to Sturgeon,
but has no qualms about making making similar demands of Sturgeon,
or at least using his puppet Darling to say it while Dave the ventriloquist drinks a glass of water. 
a gottle of geer

desimond

Barnett now in sights
  Falls away like Sarwar lies
    Vote No, see tears flow

#Revku

Richard

O/T I was thinking about 12 days of Xmas.
1bedroom tax, 
2food banks
3 Ian bayonet Davidson committees
4 darling flipped houses
5 500k dodgy donations
6 Blair wars
7
8
9
10 labour MPS missing vote
11lords a filching
12scare stories
was hoping for inspiration

desimond

Richard

8-hundred and 35 BAEjob losses

9-million INEOS Holyrood business grant

Bertie K

12 Tories milking

Richard

I need a 7 .
I have kept the 11lords a leaching and the 12 scare stories

Bertie K

7 black gold barrels?

Alastair wright

7 billion black hole if we say no

handclapping

7 Carroll in the Guardian

handclapping

So Barnett goes; does the SNP have to stand there and take it? The Scots have had their referendum as promised. They have rejected in the referendum the whole point of the SNP. The First Minister can step down and the by law the whole SNP government goes. JoLa becomes First Minister?
 
In normal politics you can dismiss the thought of a party giving up power (we are looking at you Jim Wallace / Nick Clegg) but the SNP are not a normal political party. They even had a debate on NATO. How many other major parties even had a debate on the Union before deciding they were agin?
 
I dont think people have really thought through what a NO vote might do.

Bertie K

On the twelfth day o Christmas
My neighbour sent tae me
Twelve year o cut-backs
Eleven mair new taxes
Ten lords a-sneaking
Nein as in NO vote!
Ate all ma dreams
Seven shades o grey
Six tae ma stummach
Five empty barrels
More calling names
Three mouldy crumbs
Twa Tory stoogies
And a fat Scottish Sec-a-ta-ree

Richard

Like it Bertie k

Bertie K

@Richard
Thanks for the inspiration 😀


  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)

    Stats: 6,666 Posts, 1,201,502 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

  • Recent Comments

    • Skip_NC on How it happened: “Thanks for the kind words, Jay. The question in your penultimate paragraph is a very good one. The presidential election…Nov 8, 02:33
    • Skip_NC on How it happened: “There was nothing from Harris to disbelieve. Her argument was that she isn’t Trump. It is still very early in…Nov 8, 02:12
    • Jay on How it happened: “Ros, in among 3 years worth of articles in Euromaidan Press you should find at least one showing the percentage…Nov 7, 23:56
    • Jay on How it happened: “Might any shareholder dividends from the US Military Industrial Complex end up in an eastern mediterranean coastal state?Nov 7, 23:45
    • g M on How it happened: “We’ll wait and see of course.Nov 7, 23:34
    • g M on How it happened: “I listened to it and it was a long list of fairly extensive measures he intended to take to break…Nov 7, 23:33
    • Andouilette on How it happened: “No. It was painfully obvious that Mr. Salmond was being stitched up. The orange gibbon is a disgusting waste of…Nov 7, 23:23
    • Jay on How it happened: “Skip, it is a relief to see comments from you. My experience is limited to reading of ‘current affairs’ for…Nov 7, 23:20
    • Billy Carlin on How it happened: “And if Salmond had been found guilty via the lies you would have been saying the exact same thing then?…Nov 7, 22:06
    • Billy Carlin on How it happened: “You are obviously clueless re the Executive Orders Trump put into place during his first term as President re corruption…Nov 7, 22:00
    • Republicofscotland on How it happened: “I haven’t listened to it – but I did listen to a few Americans speak – and in plain language…Nov 7, 21:57
    • Mark Beggan on How it happened: “Did the Democrats think the American electorate were just going to bend over and take like Carlos Alba?Nov 7, 21:51
    • sam on How it happened: “Thanks, Fearghas. Will watch them all.Nov 7, 21:51
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on How it happened: “Typo 2: FRANZ Fanon (not Frank!). Apologies.Nov 7, 21:36
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on How it happened: “Typo: Prof Bill ROLSTON (not Royston).Nov 7, 21:33
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on How it happened: “SCOTLAND AS COLONY – a way forward… The above webpage (posted 3 April 2024) has a number of videos featuring…Nov 7, 21:26
    • Campbell Clansman on How it happened: “They’ll accuse the “judges” not just of corruption but also of being a part of one of their tin-foil hat…Nov 7, 21:15
    • g M on How it happened: “Have a listen to his program for government RoS, sounds like he is serious to me.Nov 7, 21:05
    • g M on How it happened: “Skip, his program for government as announced via social media sounds far reaching. He might have just put himself in…Nov 7, 21:03
    • Aidan on How it happened: “Yes – it’s a total repudiation of reality, which is why this is never going to get near a court…Nov 7, 20:47
    • Campbell Clansman on How it happened: “Aidan, Alf’s blathering on the “Claim of Right” alleged constitutional “conditions” to the Act/Treaty of Union is just that–blathering. Even…Nov 7, 20:37
    • gregor on How it happened: “I was listening to Radio Scotland phone-in this morning, amusingly, while weeding a garden. I normally listen to music.Nov 7, 20:33
    • Jay on The Mandalorian Candidate: “Who are the Editors at BBC Scotland? Who actually took the decision to engage Carlos (not as respectable as jackal)?Nov 7, 20:15
    • Pipinghot on How it happened: “Fuck me. Tell me this is not the Skye bridge activist Andy Anderson please.Nov 7, 20:13
    • Robert Hughes on How it happened: “Whit ! naw , really ? ahahahahaha – man , that’s fckn priceless . Will these poor wee Trump-terrorised infants…Nov 7, 20:03
    • Robert Matthews on How it happened: “FYYFCNov 7, 20:02
    • Meg Merrilees on How it happened: “…well, anyone listening to Radio Scotland phone-in around 9.40 this morning would have heard the opinion of a Scottish journalist…Nov 7, 19:35
    • Hatey McHateface on How it happened: “To me it looks like folk didn’t believe Harris You defo have the experience and credibility to make that assessment,…Nov 7, 19:31
    • Aidan on How it happened: “There have been a number of cases heard in the Supreme Court recently specifically concerning the ability of the U.K.…Nov 7, 19:28
    • Skip_NC on How it happened: “Well, he was in New York City so it was in his commercial interests to be seen as a Democrat.…Nov 7, 19:02
  • A tall tale



↑ Top
52
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x