If only someone had thought
Posted on
November 08, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
George Osborne on the Today programme on Radio 4 this morning:
“There’s a very interesting idea which we want to explore, which is whether you could create a sovereign wealth fund for the money that comes from the shale gas that we’re going to be pulling out of the ground, particularly in the north of England.
That’s a way of making sure this money is not squandered on day-to-day spending, but invested in the long-term economic health of the north of England to create jobs and investment there.
So a sovereign wealth fund for the north of England based on the shale gas there is another exciting idea, another part of building a northern powerhouse.”
It’s an idea, eh?
.
link to snp.org
So where’s David Milliband ?. I could see him making a return. Labour will want to appeal I’m sure further to the right in England. Murphy would probably fit in well as his henchman in scotland.
Osbourne has cut taxes (especially for the wealthy). UK debt/deficit has gone up from £80Billion a year (when ConDems came to power) to £1500Billion now (according to the Telegraph). Deficit/debtrepayments are now £52Billion a year. Tax receipts in the.UK have have gone down £110Billion year from £600billion to £490Billion. Westminster is still borrowing £110Billion a year. (With deficit/debt repayments of £52Billion a year). Throwing good money after bad. It is just a disgrace.
Instead of attacking the vulnerable which is only making the economy worse. It requires more
funding. Hungry,worried cold people get sick. It is just a disgrace, sanctioning people who have to
go to food banks. If people of average or above about earning paid £20 a week, the debt/deficit would be cut and people could live with dignity.Scotland is paying above it’s way in surplus, while the Westminster extravagance is bringing thevUK down.
Scotland is losing £20Billion a year to Westminster bad governance. The Oil has declined because of extra high taxes, now up to 90% imposed by Osbourne/Alexander. Killed the
golden goose. Scotland has lost £4Billion a year. Scotland is required to pay £4Billion+ a year
money it doesn’t borrow or spend to pay off deficit. Westminster spends this money, doesn’t
pay off the deficit but spends it.
Scotland is in surplus and raises everything it needs. £59Billion. Trident/illegal wars could be cut saving £1.5Billion. A tax on ‘loss leading’ drink could save £1.5Billion. Oil tax revenues could be increased £4Billion+ by less tax. Scotland pay £4Billion+ on debt repayments it doesn’t borrow or spend, which are not used to reduce the deficit. The rest of the UK doesn’t live within it’s means raises less (£430Billion) and borrows and spends more. £110Billion a year. Pro rata £10Billion year more of public money is spent on the private sector in rest of the UK. E,g.White elephant train lines with no business case and no funding available.
Westminster rule, secrecy and lies holds Scotland back.(unequal) That is why 70% of people in Scotland want full fiscal autonomy, and will continue the fight to get it against Westminster intransigence. So people can live with less worry and dignity, and sleep sound in their beds. Half the country is on tranquillisers or self harming with alcohol.
@EphemeralDeception:
…with 80.72% of the votes so far (around 1.65 million), and it could reach 1.8 million by the end of the night.
1.8 million over 5.4 millions possible voters. That’s 33%.
Catalonia, a country with spine; embarrassing for the creeping minnies among our ‘Proud Scots’.
A Scottish fishing minister should be negotiating in the EU about Scottish (95%) fishing rights. It is an affront to Democracy that a Lord, with no knowledge, is even being considered for these talks.
The ‘lord’ who is going to represent us in the EU is
Rupert Ponsonby, aka Lord de Mauley who was educated at Eton. He didn’t progress to University, opting for the Territorial Army instead.
Lord de Mauley succeeded his uncle, the 6th Baron de Mauley, in October 2002. In March 2005 he was declared a Conservative hereditary peer in the House of Lords.
On 6 October 2013, he expressed his opinion that the poor should “learn to go without”. Let’s hope he doesn’t propose the same for our Scottish fishermen.
Just another worthless lordshit
Congratulations Catalunya, you kicked everyone’s erses.
I have absolutely no patience for the “it was only about 30% turnout” anti-democratic bullshit. If you want your opinion to count, you get your arse out and vote. Why would you assume the other 70% were No/No voters, but didn’t vote because the vote wasn’t legal? Don’t you care about being Spanish? Don’t you want to prove a point to those dreadful Cata-Cybernats? Automatically assuming non-voters are voting for the status quo is what cost Scotland devolution in 1979, and it’s about the most offensive attempt to undermine the voting process I can think of short of discounting the vote entirely.
Oh, and even if you DO consider 33% of the population not being “enough,” well, 32% of the UK population voted for the current UK Prime Minister. Boris Johnson won in 2012 based on a paltry 16% of the electorate of London bothering to vote for him. The average turnout for UK European elections is 33%.
Aye, sorry, no dice.
The Catalan result is not as good as it would first seem.
The turnout gives the Spanish Gov all the ammunition they require to ignore and attack the result because more people did not vote for independence, remember the earlier devolution referendem in Scotland where yes side failed on the non voting / dead voters’ rule.
The fact that, of those who voted, the overwhelming vote was for independence, does mean that the Catalans can hold their head up high but where and why was that non voting bloc? Who are they and are they No voters, as the Spanish Gov will surely assert.
It does however bring the Scottish indie referendum result into a very positive perspective with over 80% of the voting population actually voting with, despite the loaded campaign and MSM and seniors abuse by the unionists was only lost by a factor of 11 to 9.
I fear the result will give the Spanish Gov a whole raft of defencive barriers to erect against Catalan independence which will be used for years to block it.
I just looked at the GDP and population figures of the Spanish regions and this tells why independence for Catalunya, and perforce Pays Basque, would deal a near mortal blow to Spain as a modern country.
GDP of Catalunya = 19% of Spain’s
GDP of Basques = 6.4% of Spain’s
GDP of Valenciana = 9.52% of Spain’s
Valenciana is a separate region but share the Catalan language, albeit with a different standard, (manipulation by Madrid?) and it flows upwards into the Catalan region proper in a ribbon of industrial and commercial development bordering the Med.
The only regions which approach this economic importance are Madrid (cf London and the SW England)19% and Andalucia 13.5%.
That troublesome bloc represents over 25% of the Spanish GDP and if Valenciana turns towards Catalunya would be over one third of Spain’s GDP.
The game is on in Spain but far from certain in my opinion.
According to various sources the Labour Party are now experiencing
their worse level of support EVER.
Senior Labour Party members are said to be in favour of Alan Johnson replacing Miliband as their leader.
In Scotland the Scottish branch of the Labour Party continues to
trail way behind the SNP for the 6th week in a row.
Meanwhile, the BBC continues to give the Labour Party disproportionate coverage in vein attempts to help prop them up.
The BBC licence fee should be scrapped and the BBC forced to find ways of raising its own financing.
link to facebook.com
Another week in UKOK media kicks off with rancid old Graun and their creepy malice towards Scottish democracy and the Scottish National Party. Red Tory thinking, or just such a bunch of teamGB hypocrites etc
“The Greens, Scottish Nationalist party and Plaid Cymru have joined forces to ask the BBC to rethink its plans to exclude them from the main TV leaders’ debates in next year’s general election”
Conan_the_Librarian says:81% Si Si!
Agree! Agree! Problem is, Conan, the number who didn’t bother to vote. Are they the majority the right-wing Spanish government will quote as the ‘silent majority’? Sound familiar?
King: At the risk of being regarded as an apologist for Morag by Grouse Beater,
Eh? Another gratuitous swipe?
@John King – I was at Kirkcaldy on Saturday and listened to Craig Murray. He is of the opinion that what Blair government did in stealing that area of the sea was wrong and that we would most likely get it back.
So I do not know what Mprag can have against that argument.
@Nana
‘Learn to go without’?
So easy, so glib, so very predictable from those who’ve never had to do without. You judge someone’s fitness to govern by how they treat the very poorest and least privileged in their society. But hey, some people apparently voted to keep people like him in charge.
Grrrrrr.
BBC Scotland radio editorial line on EU fishing debacle – SNP should stop wingeing and be glad his Lordship will see them before meeting, SNP forced to justify itself again. Oh, and its cutting analysis on labour meltdon is to ask “labour commentator” McTernan to have a free slot to paper over the cracks, nothing to see here folks, move along.
@BtP:
In fact, there is a key economic factor in the Catalan movement for independence. The major difference between Scotland and Catalonia is the support of ‘Catalan Tories’ for independence, the rationale underpinning it being: ‘We have the highest GDP of the whole Spain regions, so we don’t see why we would pay for the others which are not performing as well as us.’ This is, transposed at the regional level, exactly the same rambling as Cameron’s ‘Why should we pay this extra £1.8 billon to the EU’.
While there is a support for independence amongst the left-winged parties of Catalonia, they are a minority. An independent Catalonia would therefore be right-winged.
Hi All
Saw McTernan, Damian McBride and some ex-Labour MP fleetingly on Sky News on Sunday morning.
It was a general discussion around Labour woes and, as you would expect from these ultra-Party Loyalists, all was well – there was some disagreement about Ed Miliband.
My point is that McTernan just brushed off Scotland, saying ‘Ed has put Jim Murphy in Scotland and Jim will sort Scotland out’ (pretty much a direct quote!)
The arrogance, even though you expect it, is brethtaking, the disdain for their own party members and the electorate as a whole beggars belief……..
Onwards!
Such a monstrously anti-democratic assertion should be challenged there and then. If they do go down that route, then one need only point out that Patrido Popular gained 44.6% of the result on a turnout of 68.94% of the total electorate in 2011. Put that through the calculations, and you get only 30.74% of the Spanish electorate. In other words, a larger proportion of the Catalan electorate voted for independence, than the proportion of the Spanish electorate voted for Partido Popular.
It would be immensely stupid for Partido Popular to dismiss 33% of an electorate’s decision when they are only in power thanks to the backing of 31%.
It was a crock then and it’s a crock now.
The Spanish Gov know damned well why the turnout was so low: tanks on the streets, outlawing the referendum, and so forth.
Darran Murray, council care worker at a children’s home, a member of an Airdie flute band with links to loyalist paramilitaries and who was arrested after scenes of violence following the referendum campaign has been told by his bosses at North Lanarkshire council, “to keep his head down”.
The people of North Lanarkshire voted Yes, the Labour run council are clearly having trouble with that.
Taranaich
I do not disagree with you at all and am just pointing out what will be, in my opinion,the layered onion defence of Spain by central Junta.
It seems to me to have more than an element of inter changeability with Quebec and Scotland.
I wonder if they have a swap shop somewhere?
@Macart
Only the plebs can do without so long as these disgusting troughers fill their pockets at our expense.
My disdain and anger knows no bounds and I see an awful lot of folk round about getting increasingly angry which is good. At last they wake from a deep slumber.
My friend called this morning and she is a member of a large highland dancing troupe, many voted No and are now saying they will vote Yes next time. The longer the promises go unfulfilled the better especially when they see what slab are offering….bugger all
Shocking extent of radioactive waste dumped in Scottish seas
link to archive.today
link to scottishnews.scot
just about to start
@ what Ronnie Anderson said
link to scottishnews.scot
Publicise it everywhere, facebook, twitter etc.
Get everyone you know familiar with it.
@Ronnie:
Yep, the teaser is nice. Dynamic, appealing and catchy. Apple will be delighted too, I am sure.
I just wonder why TV news anchormen have to wear tuxes. Do they look more credible?
AultA
It used to be that the “continuity” announcers on the old BBC ( B & W) used to wear monkey suits as did the news “announcers.”
@ link to scottishnews.scot
spread it far and wide folks
@BtP:
Thanks for the explanation!
Nevertheless, I think it’s a bit formal (especially for a WebTV).
@ Auld A awe ah see was two guy,s in suits n ties, whit were you watching.
Sky news, Chuka Umunna MP getting into a tizzy with Desimond over Milliband.
AultA
It is a visual joke against the London “Establishment”
@BtP:
Oh, okay. I am a bit slow on the uptake today.
(Who said ‘as always?’ Who? Who?
)
@Ronnie:
I‘ve never worn any suit or tie or whatever in all my life, so my vocabulary in this particular field lacks accuracy. Apologies for being a roughneck.
@Nana
Wish they didn’t have to learn the hard way.
@Ken500
“If people of average or above about earning paid £20 a week, the debt/deficit would be cut and people could live with dignity.”
That would be fine if we didn’t have to give a good percentage of added receipts to Brussels to prop up the EU budget.
Viva catalonia, what a great result.
I hope that one day you will be able to provide the same in Scotland, and with the combined help of Moraq and Craig, pulling on the same string to get there.
Off course Catalans, just as Scotland will be made to wait for devo max, will be punished for their daring to go against the rigid, fascist designed constitution of Spain.
take care all
Brewer looks utterly bemused by the simplest of economic explanations in that clip. Is he thick, or does he always look that way? Maybe both, I suppose.
Many thanks for advice re anti-virus software, to everyone who replied – I knew I’d get good advice here. With the mix of skills and talents, mixed with caring and willingness to help others, even just within the Wings community, there’s no doubt that Scotland could be a hugely successful and wonderful country to live in, if we can just persuade the doubters.
Re Catalonians, congratulations people, an amazing result in the face of such intimidation from Madrid. You put so many Scots to shame. Wishing you success in your next steps towards independence, and hoping we follow your example sooner rather than later.
fionan
Personally, I am not an IT expert, I would give a cautionary on Avast, I used to use it but ditched it because their takeover by Yahoo seems to have converted it into a Yahoo propagation vehicle and also appears to me to have become flaky.
AVG is OK.
Another good one-shot free cleaner is adwcleaner.
When downloading AV software, be sure to use the originator’s website other wise you risk downloading a version which itself has been loaded with malware from a third party.