Collecting the clues
Posted on
December 18, 2013 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
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?
It’s Yes or bust. That much is clear.
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.
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 )
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.
Tomorrow’s Scottish media headlines:- “Carmichael guarantees future of Barnett”
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.
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?
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.
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………
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.
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.
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.
“Ref Holyrood after a no vote.”
Les, I’m begging you. TWO carriage returns at the end of a paragraph, not one. Please.
Andrew Morton – or how about ‘Westminster cutting Scotland’s Housekeeping Budget’?
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
Labour will blame the Tories when the Barnett formula goes, guaranteed.
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.
9….. months to go?
9 months to go doesn’t fit with project fear. I was hoping to tweet to them my Xmas love
6 foreign wars (that’s how many Blair undertook).
Richard
3 Ian Davidson Westminster committees
4 flipped Darling houses (might be wrong?)
5 hundred thousand in the dodgiest of donations to UKOK
Thanks aldo_macb.
feel free to amend any of the other. Maybe there have been 12 scare stories (at least)
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
“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
Barnett now in sights
Falls away like Sarwar lies
Vote No, see tears flow
#Revku
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
Richard
8-hundred and 35 BAEjob losses
9-million INEOS Holyrood business grant
12 Tories milking
I need a 7 .
I have kept the 11lords a leaching and the 12 scare stories
7 black gold barrels?
7 billion black hole if we say no
7 Carroll in the Guardian
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.
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
Like it Bertie k
@Richard
Thanks for the inspiration