Wings Over Scotland

Good one Chris but shush don’t tell anyone. We know its a trap & more importantly so does John Swinney. Doesn’t he do well in the guise of Hamish?

Good to see Hamish back again 🙂

But what about all those pre referendum guarantees of Devo max? Surely these people weren’t havering? Were they? I really believed the promises of Gordon Brown, the Daily Record, Jacquie Bird, David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Alastair Darling. I especially believed George Galloway’s promise of super Devo max. Aye right.

Cartoon sums things uo nicely. Well put!

Oh Hamish’s eyes are PERFECT!! The whole thing is, but his expression – absolutely spot on.

Shades of “We have catch‘d Scotland, and we will bind her fast”, eh?
Fool me once…

Scale it to 72% and print it landscape for A4.

Excellent work Mr Cairns.

Fantastic, Chris. Put a smile on my face on a miserable Saturday morn.

A picture paints a 1,000 words. Another excellent capture of the reality. Good to see Nicola sanding strongly on the No Detriment principle. She is no one’s fool, thankfully she is on our side.

And no key to unlock the “goodies”.

We’re no sae daft.

Another “Keeper “so to speak. Usual brilliant depiction of a complex situation in one picture Chris. Outstanding.

Great cartoon Chris. Absolutely spot on. Nicola is doing a magnificent job both against Cameron ( I love that photo where she’s giving him a sideways look) And against the Labour morons in Holyrood. We should all send her a wee e mail of support- she looked pretty pissed off as Findlay’s “apology” was delivered.

@Breeks

I agree with what you say, but I am perhaps more optimistic about the outcome.

It has always troubled me that WM appears to be playing fast and loose with their Union. We should not underestimate the powers behind Unionism.

The Establishment forces Scotland is pitted against are cunning, deceitful and ruthless. They adapt quickly to unexpected situations and are good at capturing the agenda. It’s the way they have behaved for hundreds of years.

They operate in a highly reactive way, rising to challenges as they appear rather than prediction and preparation.

With modern universal suffrage it is essential they manipulate the population and keep them onside. That is their weakness. Newspapers are withering, the BBC is believed by fewer and fewer. Simultaneously the Internet delivers alternative views and information they can’t control.

They are doing things the way they always have, and it will be their undoing.

They no doubt they believe if the Scotland Bill fails they can blame the SNP and Scottish Government. They will try using traditional methods. It will fail because they have been bypassed by new media.

I agree with Breeks,
we have for too long danced to THEIR tune,
It’s time WE ceased the initiative!

Im not smart enough to understand how that can be achieved I would like to think Swinney will have a plan!

Hamish’s eyes say it all, “Aye right!”.

The situation facing Scotland, boiled down and distilled, in one cartoon.

Bravo Chris, bravo!

The assumption that what the Treasury are up to is any part some Conservative master plan is possibly not the real case. For a start we’re talking about the monkey rather than the grinder. I do remember some high heid yin breenging in to the independence debatabe so perhaps there’s a vested interest in ensuring their back of a fag packet predictions are seen as accurate.

On the other hand in all good movies you either get someone deliberately screwing up their governments treaties for their own selfish reasons or being set up as a fall guy who’s boss gets to claim was acting without his permission.

If either scenario is true then we should be keeping a wary eye on Osborne as the heir apparent to the tory throne.

They think they are playing with us!! I just hope we can give them a good hard bite when they least expect it!!

Great depiction of the current situation.

That lazy bastard John Bull not even hiding properly says it all….

Agree with other commenters, I hope the snp are going to deviate way off the dictated agenda.

No more dancing to their yoony tunes.

Cairnstoon / Hamish – Kinda thing that should have been on the front page of the National ; or Billboards Rev ?

And where is the opposition in all this, waiting to play party politics. Don’t they realise that this agreement is the most fundamental change to Scotland,s governance since the act of union. When did the press decide to not talk about it? No really remember this time how quiet the other party’s her, when over their bandwagon will start on what a bad deal was made,

Apologies for the poor language in my post this morning on the last topic, my gander was up, as they say!

Thanks Chris!
Hamish is saying:
“10 oot oh 10 fur effort John bit the only bird ye’ll fool wae a trap yon size is oor Jackie ower et the Beeb.”

@ Hobbit (8.52am):
Nana already posted a ARCHIVED link to that story yesterday at 11.55am. Her archived link helps limit gathering advertising revenues for the full of crap BUM. Please try and use the archive system.

The change in Junior Doctors conditions may seem cack handed but may not be as clumsy as it seems. Without imposing a rota on them it’ll be far less likely that there’ll be suficient staff to cover out of hours. Given recruiting will no longer work it’ll be up to the private sector to provide agency staff. That might be provide by the same JDs who refuse to work for a pitance if there’s no exclusivity in their NHS contract. The result of it all will be JDs working long hours in total but as far as the NHS part goes well within legal limits. Not to mention private enterprises skimming of their cut.

The tory wet dream will be a fully contracted out NHS that we all contribute to and their pals all profit from. In order to do that they need to create enough percieved crisis so as to ride on a wave of public indignation.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Labour Party hacks and activists must loathe Scotland more than they loathe the SNP.
What other conclusion could be arrived at from the current scenario.

The SNP want Independence.
The Better Togethers wanted the Union, and before the referendum were willing to sign up to a Vow which promised more powers for Scotland in order to keep Scotland in the Union.

Essentially the case for remaining in the Union without sweeteners, ie, the alternative of either Independence or Status Quo, was considered an outright loss for Better Together.

Was there a point prior to the Referendum of the mention of no detriment?

So now Scotland has a situation whereby The First Minister, of a Party preferring Independence, has to negotiate, not only the ‘more powers’ promised, but also a ‘no detriment’ position that was negotiated after Referendum, at the Smith Commission.

Better Together wanted the Status Quo, realised they were backing a loser, promised more powers but now won’t deliver them without financial detriment, and expect the SNP to be responsible for delivering them with no detriment.

Ironic.

They really do hate Scotland. But they will protest that conclusion. I wonder how they can’t see it. It’s not so difficult.

Anyone got an idea what’s happening in the Monklands/Coatbridge S.N.P. branch ?, the Herald seems to be making a meal of it, in as much it’s running, and running with the story for days now.

Albaman

I would presume it is personality clashes. I’ve seen it over the decades, nothing new.

@ Albaman . It has been a long time in the coming 2014,due to the SNP elite ignoring members complaints & thank Fek I didn’t take up the invitation to join Airdrie branch,the good People I worked with during the Referendum campaign are no-longer members. You can only keep a lid on grievance’s for so long then it blows.

If you really want to know how Scotland has benefitted from being in a political United Kingdom with England since 1707 to the present day, one needs to discard every economic data, spread sheet & chart but for one; population growth.

There is nothing more revealing that the movement of people. Where a war breaks out, a mass exodus is inevitable. Where there’s gold, people will willingly suffer extreme & chronic hardship in exchange for the chance of striking it rich.

In 1801 England’s population stood at 8.3 million, while 1.6 million lived in Scotland. By 2001, England’s population had ballooned to 49.4 million while Scotland’s had already topped out in 1939 to around 5 million & has barely budged since.

In 200 years, England saw its population grow by a factor of six. Scotland’s growth was a more modest factor of three & has hovered around the 5 million mark for the three quarters of a century.

You might wonder, if this political union has been so economically beneficial to Scots, why vast swathes of its population have had to leave to find prosperity somewhere else.

@Breeks

Much of what you say is correct, but the only way to deal with this is to be strong willed, determined, confident & if necessary choose conflict.
We must pick our battles of course & Westminster is powerful but does not command the respect or admiration of many Scots.
Playing the game is playing by Westminster’s rules & as you suggest, makes outcomes predictable.
We need to throw a little unpredictability into the mix.

Lets kick the Scotland Bill into the new parliamentary session on the basis that the FM feels the people need an input into this back-of-a-fag packet proposal, via the election campaign.

Needs to be on the front page of The National.

Could it be that they hope for some sort of backlash by delaying a deal before the Holyrood elections and think this ‘reflects’ badly on our government in Scotland? Ergo it will diminish the vote for the SNP?

I think they are ‘that’ stupid. And it’s certainly how the media are attempting to ‘frame’ the situation, as if it is us who are somehow ‘at it’ when we all know it’s a trap that is being set ‘for’ us.

They are badly underestimating the levels of political engagement in Scotland, remember after the ref and the GE there was much unionist commentary (rationalisation) on the short interval between the ref and GE and that if the GE had been a year or more after the ref, the ‘hit’ would have been less, as they always count on people forgetting…that has after all been the ‘cycle’ of politics in these lands for generations.

This hasn’t panned out the way they expect, so I feel this is why we must hammer them in May, for the point is to keep our foot on the accelerator and show them that we will not be quietly retreating into the night. Nicola and John need to know we don’t give a flying whether this is done before the SE. We will not accept a trap wherein Scotland is impoverished for generations to come by the devious machinations of the Tory party who are merely the public face of the aristocracy who are the real players behind the scenes.

They won’t let go of their ‘possession’ without this fight, and fight we must…we have never been so close…ever. This is not about ‘party’ politics, this is about one of the founding nations of civilisation fighting for its very existence on these islands. We must vote SNP twice to ensure that they get the messsage: It’s not over till we regain our Independence, we will not forget and we will not be intimidated and bullied by the corpmedia into relinquishing our Sovereignty.

Your cartoon nails it Chris. 😉

Dave McEwan Hill wrote:
“Absolutely marvelous piece in today’s National..”

A perfectly valid point worth considering Dave – If it’s such a “marvelous piece” why not archive it?

By archiving articles you prevent anyone from making changes to the original article and you retain the piece for future reference.

By archiving the article you also persuade people such as myself to have a look and read. By doing so you also stand a better chance of converting people to The National.

People such as myself will never commit to it but you will at least get us to read the articles which i would never do by clicking on a direct link.

Using the archive facility is not just about preventing advertising revenues as you can see so it’s certainly something worth your consideration.

I’ve archived your link and would agree – it’s a good article.

Mhairi Black: No wonder Labour’s tax plan is so badly thought out
link to archive.is

O/T although tax has been mentioned

Peter A Bell taxing lyrical

link to scoop.it

Stoker concluded at 12:20pm:-
“I’ve archived your link and would agree – it’s a good article.
Mhairi Black: No wonder Labour’s tax plan is so badly thought out
link to archive.is “.

Here’s the concluding pieces from Mhairi Black’s article:-

“Do Labour politicians really think we’re that daft in Scotland?

They campaign alongside Tories in the referendum to allow the Tory Government to impose stringent austerity cuts on Scotland, they back the cuts, they refuse to hold the Tories to the infamous vow and then they decide that their only solution is to increase tax in Scotland to pay for Tory cuts.

The fact that this Union tax proposal is ill thought out, illogical and harmful is reason enough to discard the ridiculous idea. But the most powerful argument against this is quite simply: why should we have to?

Scotland actively rejected the Conservatives at the election. It rejected the party’s cuts, austerity and ideology as it has done for decades. Why should we still have to endure at the hands of a party with absolutely no mandate to Scotland? Why should we have to pay an extra price in order to offset something we did not vote for?
And above all else, why should we have to put up with the hypocrisy of a Labour Party that is now reaping the rewards of the No vote it fought so tirelessly to secure? They are part of the reason we are in this weak position as a nation and we cannot allow our citizens to pay the price for it.”

I agree with all she says about the ‘Union Tax’ AND Labour.
Call it exactly what it is–a Union Tax,courtesy of The Bettertogether Labour Party!

Ronni Anderson,
Hey what’s rang wi Airdrie! That’s me home toon! No good enough for you eh!
We may be poor, we may be simple, we may be, well, you know but we have a SNP MP and MSP! So there stick that in your shed!

come on the diamond!

🙂

Fighting in the SNP good, shows passion, shows we are alive! Herald fuck off, there’s a good chap!

And another thing herald when your chief political journalist was told he couldn’t run the allegations of child abuse surunding Sir Nick, he should have resigned! So fuck you, you covered up to keep sweet with the Tory party, yes we have your number.

A blinn man wae a gless ee could see this is a trap..but oor Hamish is no as daft as these yoonies think he is..weel spotted Hamish
Onwards and upwards…Dougie…xxx

Saw a lone Tory out on the streets handing out leaflets for the local candidate whose name escapes me (Jamie something?). A brisk wee morning and not a lot of takers by the looks of it when I went by.

However, I suppose it is getting to that time. Seems like only a few weeks ago that Nicola was here and the streets absolutely packed.

I think 80 odd days out is jumping the gun but I am quite looking forward to the spring weather and a wee bit street stalling with the badges and stickers.

We are planning on having better supplies this time. Kept running out of badges and stickers last year – not that it held us back 🙂

@HandandShrimp
Yes, they don’t realise how thick they are.
How can they argue that an Independent Scotland will be fiscally worse off while still wanting a Unionist Scotland to sign up to a charter that will make them fiscally worse off.
They really are that thick.

@galamcennalath
‘The Establishment forces Scotland is pitted against are cunning, deceitful and ruthless. They adapt quickly to unexpected situations and are good at capturing the agenda.’

They have all the cards and they make the rules. They have greater powers, finance, international support and a bought and paid for mass media along with those among us who sell out their own. They can also legally intercept all our communications and if necessary cut off our internet supply lines.

If those who fought for us had those odds it would have been a shoo-in. What our side has achieved in getting this far with so little to work with is remarkable.

Someone else saw this as the biggest change since the Union. I can’t agree. The reconvening of the Scottish Parliament was that. It wasn’t meant to be but we have made it so.

Our side will need to be careful that the whole obvious Fiscal Trap furore doesn’t end with an apparent last minute concession hiding even more toxic small print.

However I still think this is intended as an offer we can’t accept to provoke a crisis that is used to justify extreme actions. It is the entire DNA of UK Government and the Tories especially, as with Hunt and the BMA.

I think the plan will be to justify Scottish Parliament being dissolved, shelved or rigged in the defence of national security or the English National Interest. Even if it is not we ought to think about what we would do if it was. I hope behind the scenes we are lobbying European and World leaders and opinion formers constantly.

@Orri I’m told that to impose a new contract without agreement you first have to sack all 53,000 Junior Doctors. It’s far from clear that NHS boards in England would all back Hunt’s comments. McTernan’s piece yesterday saying all doctors should resign and set up an external agency to get the terms they wanted would please Hunt. No Doctors employed by the NHS is what he is after.

Great cartoon Chris but I’m trying to figure out how you managed to get all of the powers of the ‘most powerfully devolved parliament in the World’ into that wee box? Just asking.

@Dave McEwan Hill …….

Thanks for posting the link Dave. Brilliant article by Mhairi Black clearly summarising the proposed SLab tax hike. Henceforth definitely to be known as Labours ‘UNION TAX’ ……. the very thing they warned us about if we voted yes in the Referendum. All very confusing to say the least!

Orri says:
13 February, 2016 at 11:06 am
The change in Junior Doctors conditions may seem cack handed but may not be as clumsy as it seems.

I’m with you on this. The Tories haven’t privatised 10% of NHS England bt accident.

Their aim is to sell every asset the UK has and have one of their £Billionaire supporters provide the alternative with massive profit waiting to be picked up from the sick and the needy.

There are over 250 members of the House of Lords who have invested in medical companies. These companies lie in wait to pounce on the Westminster government’s announcement that “They have no alternative, as the NHS is no longer viable, but to sell off as many aspects of the NHS as possible”.

There will be aspects o the service that can never be profitable, so we will be able to retain these services for our selves.

They need a crisis and someone else to blame before that can turn on the Health Service gravy train for their supporters.

Junior Doctors signed the hippocratic oath to look after us,
Westminster are hypocritical Oafs sworn to look after themselves.
Which ones do you support in this engineered dispute?

Following on this thread, I am again appalled at the EBC coverage. Many Junior Doctors get paid for overtime as things stand, with this so called pay rise, these Doctors will be presented with a 30% pay cut, along with even more sociable
hours of employment.

If Westminster gets away with this by Imposing the new contracts,
you just know that they will soon be back to enforce more and more unacceptable conditions and costs.

If very intelligent, hard working, professionals with life saving skills can be bulldozed aside, what chance do your own employment
conditions have of remaining equitable?

Some months ago, I had proposed an advertising campaign by the Scottish Government to attract English Doctors to our shores.
Absolutely delighted that this is now in motion and provides these Doctors with lower housing costs, greater access to recreational facilities such as Skiing and of course that assurance that our Government and people value them and all set out to treat them fairly.

Also proposed that we should find a way to source the many refugees who have medical, or indeed or skill shortages that our
nation urgently requires, and welcome them, and their families, to Scotland.

Question..

If the NHS down South is privatised as many of us think,will this directly affect Barnett consequential for health in Scotland,given there will be a lot less public spending on Health in England?

@ Bob Mack

Yes, that’s what Philippa Whitford highlighted during the referendum campaign, for instance in the videoed speech that brought her to prominence.

It’s also no doubt an added attraction for Hunt et al.

FFA or it’s IndyRef 2.

Now that would be a message to get em panicking.

Put it in the manifesto, Nicola!

Effijy 2.36

“Junior Doctors signed the hippocratic oath to look after us,
Westminster are hypocritical Oafs sworn to look after themselves.
Which ones do you support in this engineered dispute?”

That is a masterpiece in succinctness and accuracy and is definitely a “Keeper” !

The Detriment today equals the “Equivalent” in 1707, interestingly …

link to moflomojo.blogspot.com

Excellent cartoon. Gives more than adequate warning to those with an interest in the outcome of the fiscal saga

@Peter Clive
In Agnes Mure MacKenzie’s history of Scotland, I recall she said the ‘equivalent’ of £400,000 was to wind up the Darien company. Once the treaties were signed Scotland was promptly landed with a £3 million share of England’s national debt.

Hamish has a wee look of ‘are you thinking what i’m thinking’. Aye we do Hamish it’s a load of pish but some would have us gladly walk in to the trap….

link to twitter.com

I think he’s just convinced me to vote Labour…. not!!!!

@Almannysbunnet says: 13 February, 2016 at 9:03 am

” … That would be us then so I’m sure some of our WOS economists can have a go at his figures.
link to archive.is”

Can’t be bothered with specifics, Almannysbunnet, every Scot, over 6 Years old, with more than two braincells for cynapse, knowa Scotland hasn’t got a negative balance of trade.

Just to comment that with the actual Oil & Gas from Scotland’s geographic waters, our own Scottish Crown Estates profits, Scottish produce and manufactured goods leaving the UK from other than Scottish ports not counted as Scottish exports we are well in surplus.

That takes no account of the extra charges for adding power to the national grid while subsidising the English generators for what they add and aseveral other nice little earners for the treasury at Scotland’s expence.

You do not needs be a forensic accountant to know the buggers are robbing us blind.

Excellent cartoon. The stupid connection of powers with the fiscal framework, that it is so obvious a trap

@ Andrew McLean I knew about certain complaints pre GE that should have been dealt with ,& people would,nt have left the SNP branch, but they were ignored, a great loss to any branch.

Sweeping complaints under the carpet, to hide other peoples failings was/is wrong & just gave the other Political Party,s more mud to sling & the Herald slung it.

@Albaman says: 13 February, 2016 at 11:16 am:

“Anyone got an idea what’s happening in the Monklands/Coatbridge S.N.P. branch ?, the Herald seems to be making a meal of it, in as much it’s running, and running with the story for days now”

Ach! Albaman, those vile rags are just attempting to divert attention away from a Labour MSP calling the FM, “a lying hoor”.

The Westminster yoons accepted during the referendum that Scottish independence is inevitable and decided to speed up the plundering and looting of Scotlands wealth while the Union deception was still working on the yoons

That is what the NAW BAWS are so determined to allow. They are being asset stripped but don’t want to see it, their feart and think the establishment is looking after them. After all they are part of the Londinium upper classes, or at least they think they are.

Aye better the GITHER, it’s easier to pick your pockets when your close.

Take heart from that great psalm of the Scottish Reformation:

“Even as bird out of the fowler’s gin
Escapes away and so our soul’s set free.
Broke are their nets and thus escaped we”

If we start living as if we are independent we shall be independent. Excentuate the differences in a good way.

@ Effijy at 2:36pm ……

Great post Effijy and yeah we’re are well aware of what the Tories are getting up to … sitting round a table studying the ‘bills’ that they have to pay and trying to figure out how to transfer taxpayers money into private hands … usually their own. They must think we’re daft.

You also mentioned the following Effijy: ”and proposed that we should find a way to source the many refugees who have medical, or indeed or skill shortages that our nation urgently requires, and welcome them, and their families, to Scotland.”

I read in The National this week that the SG have started doing this already with 33 refugees … doctors and so on. Working on improving their command of English and updating their medical skills in preparation for working in Scotland. Makes sense alround. Too bad that Westminster can’t see it that way instead of scapegoating.

@ Bob Mack says at 2:58 pm …. ”Question.. If the NHS down South is privatised as many of us think, will this directly affect Barnett consequential for health in Scotland,given there will be a lot less public spending on Health in England?”

Crazy Cat has mentioned Phillipa Whitford Bob. She gave up a job that she loved, breast surgeon, to become a politician because she could clearly see what Westminster was doing / planning to do especially with so many Tory and Labour politicians holding interests in private medical services.

For one scary wee Rifkind (stepped down from his position as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, due to cash for access scandal, while remaining on the Committee) …. cousin of even scarier Leon Brittan (now deceased):

link to tompride.wordpress.com

”She (Phillipa Whitford) had spoken in favour of independence, advocating it as a way of protecting NHS Scotland from the same kind of “creeping privatisation agenda undermining services in England.” She helped bring the NHS to the fore of the independence campaign when an online video of her arguing against the dangers of privatisation went viral.

link to en.wikipedia.org

Take a look at this video Bob. Jeane Freeman ‘sorting out’ Andrew Neil. Telling him that we have control over the shape and form of our NHS but not the finances to run it which will reduce with privatision down south. Mentions the implication of TTIP and puts him straight with the following comments:

”Limited pot of money that comes North from the Treasury that is significantly less than Scotland contributes to that Treasury …………..

In terms of (Scotland) increasing taxes can I remind you that people in Scotland already pay taxes for the NHS so are you seriously suggesting that we whould pay twice for a Health Service simply because down south the UK Government wants to decrease its spending on health by introducing privatisation and market forces.”

Good for her. I’m sure that she’ll be on the BBC black list now never to be interviewed by Andrew Neil again.

‘Jeane Freeman wipes the floor with Andrew Neil on NHS and Indy.’

link to youtube.com

‘Jeanne Freeman NHS Question.’

link to youtube.com

Looks like Labour is fucked!

Petra

From what I read , if the Health Service, prison service or any other service goes out to private contracts there are repercussions for the Barnett consequentials.

On that theme though, does anyone know if Scotland is being asked to raise our own taxes and the Barnett Formula is to be cut, will Scotland still have to send the same total amount we do now to the Treasury ?

Me@6.26
Sorry, there not their.(must learn to check before send)
SNPx2

@Graeme McCormick

Living as if we were independent will make us independent.

Brilliant,please develop your ideas!

Just heard on the state broadcasting service Scotland don’t you know,
That the Russians are targeting school and hospitals, blaggeds

Hands up in the class who believes this, not you nigella and Timothy, we know your mater and pater are Brits, but the rest of you who actually believes this shit,

Yesterday it was hooray, peace in our time, today is blasted ruskies, tomorrow who the fuck knows, but as our bombs are smart, can enter a car, smoke a joint, then kill the baddies, whilest giving the goodies a rather good talking too on account of there bad company, those bad soviet bastads, I mean global competition are bloody killing kids and sick people.

Boy am I glad I am on the side of the good guys, no we won’t elect a man who fucks dead pigs in their mouth, no way hosay!

You yanks should have not throw out the Brits, throwing out seams tame, actually you fought and died in your thousands to rid yourself of the plague of UKOK. Don’t you know we Brits are the ruling class of the fucking world, that London is the worlds capital city? No update your right, well in that case!

God bless you honoured dead!

May we few, we brothers true get of so lightly.

Freedom, wich no man gives up, you fought and died for. Yeah the republic for what young men died to create and preserve! The idea of We The People, that resonates though the ages from posters like RP, thanks for the history to the Rock for his strength , and fortitude.
To nana for her intelligence to the Rev for his, well tear in eye, God bless you!

Soar Alba

Graeme McCormick@8.21,

Or as I read somewhere, “Live as if you’re in the early days of a Better Nation”.

Stephen Roney.

@Petra

Hi I left you a wee message on the last thread 🙂

Bob Mack says:
13 February, 2016 at 2:06 pm

We are dependant on the Barnett formula, just like N Ireland and Wales. Being unable to keep our own revenues is the problem, as we accept what England says is our fair share, without them ever actually letting us see the books.

Imagine running a company where the receptionist tells you, the owner ,how much you have made ,but she never allows you to check the figures for yourself.
..

——-

But until then, the message the unionists will hammer home is that Scotland is now dependent on the Barnett Formula at times of low oil prices.. and the SNP is OK with that..
Yes, I agree some big savings and hidden UK costs will likely be found after independence. But I would still be willing to accept a few years being slightly worse off in order to gain the long term benefits of independence.

Similarly with the current Scotland Bill.. would people be willing to accept a few years being (gradually) worse off within the union, in order to persuade more people that independence is the best way forwards ?

Tactically, I can see that the Tories backstabbing Scotland on the Vow could help the SNP this May. I can see the SNP playing for time until 2020 or 2021 when conditions might be best for IndyRef 2.

But there is also a danger in appearing to get comfortable with Barnett instead of being a step close to Indy with income tax devolved, and a whole new competitive and unstable situation between Scotland and the UK government.
That will breed a whole new mindset, and force people to choose a side when it becomes obvious that far more powers are needed.

BBC northland GMS – Telling us about impartial lobby group ‘Scotland in Union’ poll.

(In Scotchman and Fundy Herald)

Only 1 in 10 Scots believe 2nd Indyref is a priority.

Whooo ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha. Nice try …

Aye right enough guys !!!!!

Listening to Philip Hammond on Marr, lying through his teeth on Syria.

Accuses Russia of bombing civilians, and Russia produces surveillance to show American bombers in the area, with no Russian flights that day.

Hammond had the nerve to say Russia should honour UN agreements and stop bombing! It’s ok for US and UK to continue bombing Syria illegally, but the power invited to help, must withdraw.

Still lots of talk about helping the moderate rebels. They are determined, and growing increasingly frustrated, that Assad must go, and give up the country to the West.

George Orwell, worth repeating: link to grousebeater.wordpress.com

‘Plays an outsize role’. Spending £170Billion on obsolete weaponry. Sanctioning and starving the vulnerable. Hammond described Faslane as a ‘wasteland’. 30mins from one of Scotland’s biggest cities and most beautiful area, the West coast.

US/UK and France have bombed the Middle East to bits and caused the worst migration crisis since 11WW.

For years we complained about Slab’s “Monklands Midden!” now it appears we have the “Monklands McMafia!” somebody from SNP Central will have to start kicking a few arses in darkest Lanarkshire toot sweet.

The Scottish tolly party can trace a path right back to the Scottish Parliament of 1707. They appear to be very proud of the fact that they sold Scotland out for English money and have absolutely no regrets, indeed they are very proud to have stuck a knife in Scotlands back. The proud yoons.

Mcgrigor msp to Brewer on Sunday politics.

OT.TODAY:-‘New Shetland gas fields could supply whole of Scotland’. 🙂

“New gas fields off Shetland could supply 100% of Scotland’s gas needs, analysts say.
Advice provided to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre said peak production at the Laggan and Tormore fields could satisfy average demand across the whole of Scotland.

Operator Total started production at its new Shetland plant on Monday.”

BBC:- link to archive.is

@ Effijy, there was a Brewer fan on here a few weeks ago, probably Brewer himself, 🙂 the leopard doesn’t change his spots, still a shit & an increasingly hauf-biled shit at that. Another Darling trait.

I haven’t seen the Brewer clip I don’t have to ,I imagine it follows the same line as all the previous junk we have been having over the last few months , when oh when will it dawn on the SNP leadership that all the media are the enemy and they will never get fair treatment , so when the usual interruptions start the interview stops and the person concerened goes for the Questioner and highlights the constant interruptions then ask the Questioner if he would like to interview him or her self as they seem to be doing all the talking , the best I have seen recently was Tommy Shepard on the daily politics he controlled the rabid partner of Brillo nut , her with the big beak can’t remember her name , by stopping her as many times as she stopped him it worked , if anyone with influence in the snp are following this Waken Up we are drowning in a sea of shit fight back .

@Famousfive

This discussion is not really about the Scotland Bill, but how we deliver Independence. As the Referendum showed, simply being an outstandingly competent government with the legislative powers we have and will have, will not by itself move sufficient people to vote YES.

The SNP was established to undermine the British state to such an extent that Scots will vote for Independence when they feel that the UK is superfluous to their daily lives.

Alex Salmond’s book is “The Dream will never die” , but the Referendum allowed us to live the dream, and we can share that dream by finding common cause with the army of former No voters in the things which matter to all of us; Everything we do whether in government, as councillors, in our workplace, in our families and in our communities has an Independence Dimension.

By identifying and acting upon it we celebrate the difference and become truly fishers of men and women to our cause. Even without the reserved powers we Scots can have more favourable mortgage terms as we are a lower borrowing risk; We can create a supplementary non convertible currency to use within Scotland; we can develop a Scottish pension; we can encourage armed service people to live in Scotland with attractive relocation packages; and we can provide time-limited redeemable business start-up vouchers to all returning Scottish universities graduates, and we can introduce an annual ground rent system to ensure our land works for all of Scotland and not just very few.

There are simple things each one of us can do: If you are taking out any sort of insurance, credit or consumer agreement ask the sales assistant if the agreement is under Scots law. Invariably you’ll find that it is under English Law. Ask them to change it to get your business. If we don’t use it we’ll loose it.

If you are a member of a professional or trade body which is part of a UK body organisation like the BMA lobby to start a separate Scottish one.

We have shown the World that the advance of social media is eclipsing state broadcasters. The days of the BBC are numbered. We need spend little time worrying about or commenting on its demise. Instead use our collective efforts to spread the joy of freedom and human endeavour and art in all its myriad forms across the globe

We should not get involved in HS2 or where London should have its third runway. The high road to London is not the noblest prospect for a Scot. There are 31 other points on the compass, and our greatest opportunities lie to the east, north and west. Jim McColl is pumping new blood into our manufacturing traditions on the Clyde against mighty opposition from the UK establishment. Our movement is at such a strength now that we could lead the crowd funding of a national Industrial Bank to provide the financial guarantees which other states provide their global manufacturers but which are denied to ours by the UK government.

And a plea to the Scottish government: Don’t even bother to consider Scotland’s place in the mediocrity which is the UK when we should be celebrating our nation’s performance against the most advanced nations in the World.

We are living the dream, if we believe we are independent and act as if we are independent our belief and our actions will so weaken the British state that our people and our country will reach the state of independence before Westminster provides the rubber stamp of a Scotland Act.

very good post Graeme Mc Cormick you should post it on a more recent topic thread so more people can read ,it deserves a wider audience some very good points that needs further discussion i believe .