In your free and fair press today
Let’s have a quick round-up, shall we?
This is a lie. There are in fact no “tax hikes” in the budget at all. The threshold for the higher rate of tax is increasing with inflation, ie in real terms it’s staying the same as it is now. Councils are being ALLOWED to raise Council Tax but not FORCED to.
But the Mail lying is a reflex action. What about the rest?
This is a lie. See above – high earners are NOT having their taxes increased. What the Herald calls “high earners”, incidentally, are the same people the Mail calls “middle income families”. The truth can be seen in the graph below.
Each of the vertical blue bars represents the same number of people. The area we’ve highlighted in dark grey contains the people in the 40% tax bracket. As we can see, 85% of people in the UK earn less than what the Mail regards as “middle income”. As we noted back in March, it’s a curious definition of the middle of anything.
This is a lie. The Scotsman joins the Herald, the Mail and the Express (see below) in pushing a line about Scots becoming the highest-taxed people in the UK, but it’s simply not possible to make that statement based solely on a small difference in a single income tax threshold.
Scots have, for example, enjoyed a Council Tax freeze for most of the last decade, making the average bill for a Band D property now £319 lower in Scotland than in England, which by itself almost exactly wipes out the “increase” in income tax.
And of course the advantage in Council Tax applies to everyone, not just the small percentage who pay the higher-rate income tax, so for Scotland as a whole taxation is almost certainly still significantly lower than the rest of the UK.
Establishing with any credibility which of the UK’s four constituent nations was in fact the highest-taxed would require a calculation far more complex and difficult than any media has bothered attempting (especially as Northern Ireland still uses a system of rates rather than Council Tax), but obviously the truth is no sort of reason to pass up an eye-catching headline claim.
This is a lie. The budget does NOT cut funding for local services. It takes some money away from councils, but it also takes some financial responsibility away from them. It’s effectively like your employer cutting your wages by £800 a month, but only because they’ve started paying your £900-a-month mortgage for you.
Don’t take our word for that – analysis by the independent Fraser Of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde concludes that the overall effect of the changes is “an increase of around £270m in the spending power of local authorities”.
You get the idea by now. Some other papers attempt slightly subtler approaches – the Guardian, for example, goes with a weaselly “SNP accused” headline to hide the fact that it knows perfectly well the accusation is a lie – but the themes are the same.
The inexplicable mystery of newspapers’ plummetting sales continues.
Nothing changes, but how long will it take for Scots to realise what these ‘rags’ are actually doing?
Whato everyone – and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!
Its been a while hasn’t it. My lifestyle has changed such that I have to leave the house to go to work these days so the opportunities to skive off from paid work to engage with my Scottish friends are few and far between.
The main reason for popping back is to comment on the yesterday’s Scottish Budget and to remind contributors of discussions we have had in the past about governments raising revenues through taxation.
I recall discussions here where I was arguing that raising taxation to pay for public services is not about politics, it’s about pragmatism. No matter where you sit on the political spectrum the objective should be about extracting as much money from the “rich” as possible. Implicit in that assertion is the notion that the overall tax take from the rich needs to go up as a result of a particular policy rather than go down.
I recall one contributor here (supported by the usual suspects) saying something like “I will gladly help pack the bags of a “rich” person that leaves the country to avoid paying an increased tax rate”. Again, as I recall, this was in the context of a discussion about a 50% higher tax rate. As usual the contributor displayed not the slightest understanding of how tax works, where we people may pay their taxes regardless of where they live or work or how higher taxes can result in lower government revenues.
No matter what I wrote, the normal protagonists determined that I was a far right Tory apologist hell bent on lining the pockets of the rich at the cost of the poor.
This morning, I listened to an interview with Derek Mackay explain why he hadn’t used his powers to increase the higher tax rate. He said it was because he had seen the evidence that the overall tax take could go down – and he didn’t want to take a gamble with Scottish finances.
Forgive me for gloating therefore for noting that once the serious issues actually have to be faced by a government and accountability and responsibility for a policy and an outcome is clearly visible – then the politicking stops – and pragmatism takes over.
Is Derek Mackay someone whose taxation policy is designed just to help his rich mates – or are his policies designed to produce the best outcome for all people in Scotland?
It’s good to know that Derek and I are “on the same page” – whilst many who congregate here find themselves at odds with the basic principles and policies of their SNP government.
That’s it. I DEMAND propaganda is devolved to Holywood.
That’s Holyrood you unionist spellchecker.
We don’t need Agatha Christie to solve the mystery of the newspapers’ plummeting sales – we just need the truth. The bbc and Sarah Smiths report which omitted WM’s austerity budget is shown to be lying by omission but it is very much still lying. What happened to ‘impartial’ honest reporting. When will the media understand that we know what they are doing and we will never be fooled again or believe the bbc or labour or tories – and the greens are on probation – yet to prove themselves. Now it is not just about Scotland that the bbc is lying but about many other things too – once you begin to notice you really cannot believe anything they say. Oh and why is Scotland getting even smaller and England even bigger on the national weather reports?
We knew the Budget was going to provoke howls of rage from the MSM. Looks like most of it was written weeks ago. No idea why nobody believes anything they say either.
sensibledave says:
16 December, 2016 at 9:22 am
Whato everyone – and a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you too Sensible, you mad old windbag:D
They are on a full war footing now with central command directing the headlines. no lie is too small
I wonder what the private poll results are showing
I don’t really
Well done Stu and the majority of folk just read the newspaper headlines and then accept these as facts which always works against the progressive forces.
To be fair Herald has good articles by Gerry Braiden and David Lonsdale from Scottish Retail Consortium.
@sensibledave
Glad to see you’ve finally got a job in your Tory paradise.
No, I don’t want fries with that thanks.
“It’s good to know that Derek and I are “on the same page” – whilst many who congregate here find themselves at odds with the basic principles and policies of their SNP government.”
You get more tedious with time, Dave. Policy in an independent country with control of ALL tax and economic levers is a wildly different proposition to only being able to tinker with one.
The contents of the budget could have been anything, the response from the media would have been exactly the same.
What is at issue is, what percentage of people still believe their crude propaganda. The equation is simple, the fewer the number of people left which the traditional media (inc TV) can influence, the greater the chance of a Yes vote in the future.
Weasel words indeed, but an inflation linked rise is still a rise
Is it just me or has the quality of journalism slipped even further recently? Whereas in the past we have been fed half truths and misrepresentations, now we are frequently getting just flat out lies.
The Trump effect?
The gutter a Press who needs it or believes it. Take a hike lying losers. Non Dom tax evaders. Most of them should be in jail. Phone hacking, bribing public officials, MP’s. PM etc. Committing electoral fraud and misappropriating £Billions of borrowed money. They are all breaking the Law. Hiding their criminality under the Official Secrets Act.
The budget seems quite fair considering the circumstances of a reduced fixed budget from Westminster. You have to laugh at the Tories who shout for more investment in public services but they don’t want to pay for them. They are so used to avoiding paying tax.
Breeks @ 9.24
I’d even settle for Hollywood,as a second choice.
If we have to get fantasy information..at least they would do it with a bit of style!
3 British weeks ago, rancid old Graun’s UK Chancellor Hammond Autumn statement, wide ranging, fact filled, in depth, balanced, not insane..
link to archive.is
Rancid old Graun’s Scottish budget economics reportage, empty, malicious, spite laden SNP bad.
link to archive.is
The MSM\Labour\Tory reaction to the scottish budget is so knee jerk it’s downright boring. The same people with the same silo’d perspectives punting out the same noises ad nauseum.
The daily dose of ukok sophistry continues, unabated.
Their lies would be hilarious BUT!
I watched the wretched response to the budget by the Tories in Holyrood and my mirth was diminished when I realised the Scotland hating Tories could be causing damage by talking Scotland down.
That’s numberwang!
Slab wanted 1p on the basic rate and the MSM were quick to criticise for not doing so. Now they spout nonsense about the middle class suffering because the higher rate tax threshold will not be raised in Scotland. OK then for the lower paid to cough up more but not the better off! Utter lying hypocrites.
Well they did not disappoint did they, the corrupt media are the bedrock of democracy right enough.
I think Derek pulled together s really good budget considering the constraints on real economical powers.
Throw in Westminster cuts and it looks even fairer.
When will Westminster balance it’s books ie never will we see that occur. Scotland has always worked within it’s budget,wherase the never do. They can all GTF.
[…] Wings Over Scotland In your free and fair press today Let’s have a quick round-up, shall we? This is a lie. There are in fact no “tax […]
Who cares if it is true or not? The voting demographic shows that the vast majority of these people are the im alright jack staunch no voters. Fuck em.
Jeeze …… Which arsehole decided Dave was to be called Sensible Dave ?????
Anyway Dave, you seem to be completely ignoring the simple fact that in Scotland we have no choice but to balance the books.
The “discussion” about a 50p tax rate is not a discussion at all…… It is a spectacular foot shooting exercise by Scottish labour.
When labour were in power for 13 years there was a 50p rate for around 3 months total.
So…….. Please don’t tag political posturing as discussion.
It only makes you look even more foolish.
The trap has been set, but the Scottish Government has more sense than to stick its head in the snare! However one thing we Wingers all know, Yoons can spin an SNPBaaad story from anything.
There’s another aspect to the limited tax powers, those on the left are moaning today about the SG not being “bold” or “progressive”. Hike personal tax now, and independence will be killed off in one simple step. Is that really the left’s hidden agenda?
Aw sensible, you just missed out on first post. Never mind, maybe next time eh
Oh the pain, the pain of it all.
I think I spend more on indy goods and services etc ,than anything I am supposed to be losing tax wise. I’m happy enough with that.
Heedtracker vs SensibleDave!
Just like the old days!
*sniffs…overwhelmed by nostalgia*
The yoons and yoon msm are like the boy who cried wolf so many times! People start to get sick of the tedious twisted bullshit they spout they are nothing if not predictable. Unionist dog whistles designed to attack the SNP and keep Scotland shackled to England.
Sensible Dave says, Wings is far better than Porn Hub.
James Kelly said this morning:
We will oppose it even if you explain it to us we will still oppose it because we will and there’s cuts and we don’t care who Fraser Allander is never met the man but he’s probably a SNP yes man so oppose oppose oppose
Murdo Fraser said There’s nothing in this budget to support Glasow Rangers Queens 11 so no surrender and we’ll oppose it with every orange sash in our bodies
We’ve yet to hear from Comrade Harvie and the bikers grove squad
Willie Rennie’s still at the top of his slide waiting his turn to come doon
Comforting to hear the oppositions political views expressed so concisely
Elmac;
I know, SNP can’t win, especially as none of the yoon rags will remind their customers of slab’s tax plans.
Del’s done the right thing with tax. We can’t add tax to the poorest to pay for WM cuts; instead, we have to keep reminding Scots, whenever our MPs or MSPs are on air that uk cuts to Scots budgets are the real killer. The fact that our SG can run a country fairly and efficiently DESPITE these cuts is astonishing, and should be widely recognised.
Good points raised also about the ebc. Aleppo is a hellhole, brought about by a nasty dictator who refuses to deal with uk and usa, whereas Mosul and Yemen are picturesque holiday destinations.
Scotland has always been taxed higher under the UK Gov tax regime and ended up poorer. The McCrone Report. Thatcher was illegally and serenely taking the equivalent of £20Billion a year from Scotland. Kept it secret. Over thirty years that is the equivalent of £600Billion. More over 50+ years. Fifty years of Labour.
The Tories (Osbourne) have been taxing the Oil & Gas sector at 60% to 80% when the price had fallen 75%. Over £20Billion+ loss five years. Losing thousands of jobs. It is now 40% since Jan 2016. Then importing more Oil & Gas from Norway, and fracked Gas from the US. Putting up the balance of payments deficit and the debt.
Scotland raises £54Billion in taxes. The UK raises £515Billion. The rest of the UK raises £461Billion and borrows and spends £100Billion more. Pro rata £44Billion. Scotland has to pay loan repayments on the debt £4Billion. Leaving people in Scotland with less disposable income and higher tax because of Westminster policies. Higher fuel and energy bills pro rata because it is colder. Despite Scotland being in surplus in fuel and energy. Screwing the market.
Scotland has to pay £1Billion for Trident. Can’t put a tax on ‘loss leading drink’ Cost £1Billion. Scotland loses £3Billion? Multinational and Whisky companies tax evade. HMRC not fit for purpose. UK tax Laws are not enforced by Westminster. Scotland can’t borrow to invest in the economy. Total £20Billion a year.
The Tories are borrowing £Billions more for Hinkley Point, HS2, Heathrow and Trident. All a total waste of money with litte business case. Adding to the congestion and chaos. They will be redundant and obsolete. before they are finished. All to benefit London S/E. There are more credible, renewable alternatives to benefit the whole of Britain, The Tories committed electoral fraud in 31 constituencies, They are now trying to illegally take Scotland out of the EU. Their carry on will continue until they lose a GE. The Westminster Unionists have caused the worse migration crisis in Europe since the 11WW. Illegally invading and bombing the Middle East. They want to take no responsibility. Now they want to take the UK out of the EU. Losing £Billions more.
The Phil avatar has been swapped for the Dave one.
The Yoon posting as them must have fancied a change.
I most certainly hope it is true that Scotland is the most highly taxed part of the UK for those who can afford it. UK taxes are low for higher earners and it’s time the SNP started using its tax-raising powers.
I think we need to start being honest and acknowledge that if we want quality public services that means those who can afford it should pay more tax. I would prefer to see more tax raised through land and unearned income but income taxes should rise too for high earners.
The headlines may be inaccurate but I am quite glad to see them because it means the SNP are finally getting round to the difficult task of increasing the tax burden on the wealthy. We should defend progressive taxation rather than deny it.
After a week of demands that the results of exams held in 2015 which have only just shown up in PISA but nevertheless prompted an immediate response lead to an even greater response the government the SNP uses the much vaunted taxation powers to address that issue directly rather than have additional funds siphoned off by local councils would I be wrong to suggest that the unionists have got a budget that actually does all they collectively demanded?
Put money into teaching, check.
Use tax raising powers, check.
Remove the council tax freeze, check.
Increase the amount garnered from more valuable properties given local income tax is problematical to say the least, check
Obviously the last two will present local councils with a choice coming up to local elections that they’d rather not have but tough.
Just goes to show they’ll moan regardless.
galamcennalath says:
I think it is a right wing agenda, not a left, then again we know that Labour have a habit of supporting the Tories by abstinance. However, a trap it is, the need to make the SNP unpopular, for the people to lose faith in them.
That is what it has been set up for, a problem the Rev saw way back and warned about it, he was right.
The SNP need to walk carefully, that was Derick’s budget, he did a good job with limited resources, and powers.
The BBC and other media will not stop until they dethrone the SNP. Or the other way is when we decide to get the hell
out of this corrupt and abusive ” Union”, that IS our way to solve all this.
Now matter whatever happens now the thing is that Scots will not forgive or forget and they have sown a seed that trees will now grow from. They will have their just deserts along that way.
All variations on being too poor etc.
What other nation would permit the media of another nation to blast propaganda at their citizens. It was a union of two nations, albeit under duress, not a takeover.
The trap of petty devolved powers is only the latest move in the unionist game. As a nation I don’t want a mini England model. I don’t want my defence policy, taxation, pensions, social services or anything else measured against a Westminster standard.
We can do so much better in building a fairer society. In keeping us downtrodden they keep control.
Imagine prioritising education and social care. What an utter FIEND.
This just highlights how weird the Scottish media is. When the UK Chancellor delivers a budget, you have one half of the media saying it’s the greatest budget ever, and the other half saying it’s awful. In Scotland, the Finance Minister delivers a budget, and every paper slags it off. Well, except the National, of course.
Anyway, the important thing is this has ruined the unionist parties’ council election plans. In Aberdeen, the Tories and Lib Dems have already been shouting about how the SNP was taking council tax money from Aberdeen and giving it to Glasgow (pooling and sharing Aberdeen’s wealth is only good when the recipient is London, apparently). By funding the Attainment Fund from general taxation instead, that’s shot that particular fox. I don’t expect them to stop pushing that line, mind.
The BBC budget report tells us that two Labour Councils, Glasgow and Fife, are going to lose millions as a result of this budget.
Labour-run Glasgow City Council said it may need to make £60m of savings while Fife, also controlled by Labour, forecast £30m.
link to bbc.co.uk
It doesn’t make clear whether that means the Council Tax rise won’t compensate for removing the subsidy they got while Council Tax was frozen. Content free reporting as usual. It’s impossible to tell from the reporting whether this is a rise or a cut.
Meanwhile, SNP win the Fife council by-election. Which is good news although turnout was low.
link to bbc.co.uk
link to bbc.co.uk
Brutal stuff from Gary this morn, 10 past 8. They’re now back up at last 2 weeks 2014 Scottish referendum levels of hysterics in Pacific Quay. Never in the field of UKOK BBC freak out propaganda, have so many wealthy tories raged, “tax me more ya bastards.”
slightly off-topic, but
In London: “I knew her father” means Sarah Smith gets a top job with the BBC.
In Glasgow: “Ah kent her faither” means, we’ve spotted Sarah Smith as being promoted above her abilities and being a London-appointed Proud Scot But.
Two nations, divided by a common language.
@sassenach says: 16 December, 2016 at 9:22 am:
“Nothing changes, but how long will it take for Scots to realise what these ‘rags’ are actually doing?”
Well, sassenach, I’d venture a guess that by far the vast majority of Scots, even if they cannot put their fingers exactly upon the finer details, do know what the MSM and Westminster Establishment are doing. Readership, viewing and listener figures prove that true.
I include in that vast majority much of the Scottish Yoon Loon Westminster Establishment, “camp followers”, who cynically know exactly what the Yoon Loon propaganda wing does and encourage them to sink to ever greater depths of shameful lying, omission and deflection.
As for the other Yoon Loon ballot box fodder, they struggle to know when it is time to get up in the morning and struggle even more to know which foot to put each shoe on, they rely upon their partner to decide what to have for breakfast and whether they drink tea or coffee.
The rely upon the Daily Wrecker for the news and BBC Scotland to tell them how to vote. This last group are more to be helped than ignored. They are not only Scotland’s worst enemies but also their own worst enemies.
This morning on the radio (GMS) they had Murdo Fraser for the tories to discuss the budget who got a bittie flustered when asked why he would not support it if he agreed with some of it, but to him it was mainly because the SNP was SNPBAD.
But the real beauty was the labour spokesperson, JAMES KELLY, I had to hold onto my seat with his answers. The presenter would ask him a question and he would start to answer about something else, the presenter would then stop him and ask the question again but it was like Kelly was on a pause button.
He would just restart from the same position totally ignoring the questions being asked of him time and time again, I was pissing myself. I think the presenter finally just gave up, as it was just like talking to an “on/off switch.
Its hard to imagine people voted for him.
“is a wildly different proposition to only being able to tinker with one”
…and a mere part of one at that Stu, for the meagre powers allow only the workforce to be part of the planning, not the investors or the property owners, not even the savers.
The tax powers are a mere sop to headline writers, and nothing that can be used to shape an economy. Vow fulfilled!
@sensibledave says: 16 December, 2016 at 9:22 am:
“Its been a while hasn’t it.”
Can’t say I missed your input, sensibledave, but I digress.
That was a great many words you used just to say what we all knew.
Westminster Establishments wonderful gifts to Scotland were the exact opposite to wonderful gifts.
Just the same old Westminster fit-up we all knew it would be. It is the main reason so many of, “The legally sovereign people of Scotland clamouring for their independence from the incompetents of the Westminster Establishment.
I’d venture a guess that the YES movement are already well in the lead for the next, inevitable, referendum and the end of the United Kingdom.
The Brit Nat parties and their meejah hacks have been provoking the SNP for years to “use the powers they have” and raise taxation. Even when the only North Brit Labour MP in the English Parly was interviewed, after abstaining on Mharie Black and the SNP’s Auntie Austerity Bill, he attacked the SNP oan the telly, complaining that they did not use the powers they have. Today the Newsstand is, predictably, groaning under the weight of Brit Nat papers complaining that Scotland is the highest taxed part of the Yookay, after years of demanding we tax oorsel’s twice.
Why pay taxes to London at all?
Roger the Fuckin Dodger must have made it to work on time this morning & is now posting on the company’s time!
Sarah Smith owes that twisted mooth to working as a taxi driver before she joined the BBC.
@winifred McCartney says: 16 December, 2016 at 9:25 am:
” … Oh and why is Scotland getting even smaller and England even bigger on the national weather reports?”
Och!, Winifred, That’s not a mystery. The only reason is the weather where they are has been worse than the weather where we are over the past wee while.
Normal service will be restored when that situation is reversed.
“This morning on the radio (GMS) they had Murdo Fraser for the tories to discuss the budget who got a bittie flustered when asked why he would not support it if he agreed with some of it, but to him it was mainly because the SNP was SNPBAD.”
Sarah Smith is a Labour Unionist. Nepotism and corruption is rife in Britain. The Dunblane and Iraq 100 years Official Secrets Act.
Scotland ends up 50% poorer. The rest of the UK ends up 25%+ borrowed richer. NI ends up 50% borrowed better off. The Unionist illegal divisions in Britain.The Westminster a Gov UK tax regime.
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa
Batshit Jill…
link to twitter.com
@galamcennalath says: 16 December, 2016 at 9:37 am:
” … What is at issue is, what percentage of people still believe their crude propaganda. The equation is simple, the fewer the number of people left which the traditional media (inc TV) can influence, the greater the chance of a Yes vote in the future.”
Have you not sussed out yet, galamcennalath, the reason the Westminster propaganda wing is becoming ever more, “Crude”?
The reason is that as more and more of the aware and intelligent people of Scotland cotton on to their propaganda, bias and lies it becomes more and more necessary for the propagandists to appeal to the less aware and less intelligent people of Scotland.
The trend can thus only become more obvious and crude. It essence the more obvious it becomes is a measure of the failure of the propaganda.
Annoying as it is, it really has become a measure of Westminster’s failure to fool some of the people all of the time.
Whilst it’s not a surprise that the media in Scotland were going to use this “Use your new powers” garbage as a stick to try to hit Scotland’s Government with there isn’t a single one that questions what the parties that THEY back what alternatives they would put in place. That’s because they don’t have them!
That for me is the worst crime here. It’s discredit for all you can go for but don’t ask me what I think, I haven’t got an alternative!
I think this budget was a brilliant piece of incredible foresight to get maximum spend into areas which needed it with the limited recourses we get from our failing capital in England.
My worries are that people like my brother who I spoke to and has two young kids never sees the news picks up tidbits of what he can here and there. I just takes the wrong one to speak to him for just long enough and he’s not got a clue what’s going on. I spoke to him about HS2 the other night. Didn’t have a Scooby as taxpayers how much he and his wife are paying for it or Heathrow.
To the SNP, well done on the budget. I hope that in the long game people see the advantages of it.
GCC gets over a £1Billion but doesn’t adequately support essential services. Deprivation. More in capital expenditure on NHS/Tertiary uni education etc. Now wants to build a train line. £Millions have already been wasted on it. Corruption. Glasgow has the best airport bus service in the world. Into the City centre in 20mins even in busy traffic under a tenner return. £4? One way. Bus passes?
Edinburgh trams. £8 return if paid at ticket machine, Bus is £12 return but quicker. Bus passes can be used. 40 minute journey. The tram price should be higher. Edinburgh transport is subsidised. The wealthiest City in Scotland. An equivalent (shorter) journey Heathrow to London City is £32 return (subsidised). Tram prices should be higher to recoup the expense because of the illogical governance of the project.
sensibledave
Thank you for your kind regards, I do hope you and your loved ones have a good Christmas and next year is wonderful for you all in the rump kingdom!
I’m astounded anybody buys these rags. Even fairly expensive Andrex works out cheaper per wipe.
Sensible Dave
How entirely expected that an abnormalist* posts seconds after Stu’s uploaded new article – with an off topic anti SNP budget ‘gloat’. You know, it’s almost as if some kind of cabal had been burning the midnight oil, with a prepared lengthy dissertation of ‘SNP Badness’ and was just standing by to be the first to post on Wings! LOL!
The Yoons have you in their sights, Stu. You really must be a saint that the Yoon MSM has not been able to find any dirt on you.
*Abnormalist : someone happy to accept being ruled by a foreign power which despises and ignores you; as opposed to a ‘normalist’ who aspires to a normal country, governed by the wishes of the people of that country.
I wish the SNP would change its middle name from ‘National’ to ‘Normal,’ simply to reflect it’s main aspiration, to be a normal country.
The Scottish Normal Party. ‘Yessers’ become ‘Normalists’ and Yoons become ‘Abnormalists’.
The Tory/Unionists have ruined Christmas with their carry on.
I’m betting BBC Scotland 2016 were all over Derek Mackay’s first budget like a bad rash with intelligent commentary from the Tories, Labour and Lib Dems and no one from SNP to respond … right? 😉
Oops … I forgot … BBC Scotland 2016 no longer exists. It will be replaced, apparently, next year by a “new” insightful political programme from Pacific Quay, the centre of of all rational political debate in Scotland, most likely called BBC Scotland 2017. 😀
I would also just like to confirm that there is no such thing in reality as intelligent commentary from the Tories, Labour or the Lib Dem’s, just in case anyone thought I had finally and completely lost the plot. 😀
A round-up?
No mention of the story that the SAAS amended one of its statistical reports after the Scottish Government decided that it was politically inconvenient.
What was damning was that the section was noT corrected (which would be what would happen if it were erroneous) but rather it was deleted which fits much more with the information being hidden from the public.
Obviously, one you missed (or ignored) in your round-up.
No matter what the budget had been the opposition and the media were going to make a big fuss about it simply because it was Scotlands big and first ultra devolvo powerful light sabery tax raising mighty budgety moment in historical history so there was no way they were going to let the SNP have the moment to themselves, it had to be rubbished compacted and dumped from as high a height as was smellily possible and with as much anti SNP rhetoric thrown in
The radio’s got to be the best laugh though, we’ve heard more from Labours Frank McAveety than the actual finance minister
Wait and see they’ll have old sexist thrown out of parliament guy McAveety on the telly later to talk all his crap over again, (sat well away from any women of course, just in case)
Did we really expect different
How about free (real British) turd with mini Union flag, in all unionist papers.
Or instant recycling of the UNTRUTHS by buying up all ("Tractor" - Ed)ous Scotsman AND Heralds (I don’t give TWO HOOTS that there may be decent writing inside,?it’s irrelevant if hidden behind a misleading front), and finding the nearest blue bin.
Newspaper owners deliberately twisting the truth is an ‘elitist-class’ form of civil disobedience.. Turning reasoned debate into uncompromising slander, against SCOTLANDS MOST POPULAR POLITICAL PARTY.
NOW IT’S OUR TURN?
Indy weather forecast…
link to imgur.com
Robert Peffers says:
16 December, 2016 at 11:12 am
“Have you not sussed out yet, galamcennalath, the reason the Westminster propaganda wing is becoming ever more, “Crude”?
…
it becomes more and more necessary for the propagandists to appeal to the less aware and less intelligent people of Scotland.”
What a terrible slur on Yes voters!
Wait and see they’ll have old sexist thrown out of parliament guy McAveety on the telly later to talk all his crap over again, (sat well away from any women of course, just in case)
In yer SLabour man’s case eighteen hands.
Basically I stopped buying newspapers a couple of years ago due to the pro unionist shite they vomit out. A wee squint at the back pages as they sit in the rack thats all now
I was waiting on Andrew Neil shouting ‘you bastard’ at Derek Mackay just now on the Daily Politics show! The spittle and venom was dripping out of his pores!
Well pickle my chestnuts hi Dave and there was me thinking they had taken you out the back and delivered the coup de grace.
Merry Christmas.
I wonder how long the tory MSM have been working on this fake story shame that Derek managed to wriggle out the trap and make them all look like the stupid gits they are 🙂
Wulls 9.57
You wrote…
“Anyway Dave, you seem to be completely ignoring the simple fact that in Scotland we have no choice but to balance the books.
The “discussion” about a 50p tax rate is not a discussion at all…… It is a spectacular foot shooting exercise by Scottish labour. When labour were in power for 13 years there was a 50p rate for around 3 months total. So…….. Please don’t tag political posturing as discussion. It only makes you look even more foolish.”
Er, you are missing the point Wulls. I was referring to to discussions I had here on Wings with Wingers about tax levels – nothing to do with the Labour party.
They most likely had these pages set up on Monday!
Save them spoiling good Christmas party time by getting things right!
If Derek Mackay had stood up yesterday and announced that every single Scot would receive £1 million per year, tax-free, for the rest of their lives, the Daily Heil and the other msm outlets, plus the opposition parties at Holyrood, and the Unionist parties at Westminster would all have rubbished his budget and found something to moan about.
SNP Baaaaaddddd – that’s all they have.
Sensibledave/ Phil Robertson, I have a question for the two of you.
Do you think Westminster is corrupt or not? Should be an easy one for you. I look forward to your reply.
Sorry for O/T here but Scottish government is inviting folks to pass on their views about the proposals on how the independence referendum should be run.
link to consult.scotland.gov.uk
Same ****, different day.
Clearly, both opposition parties and the media are having problems with the concept of someone pretty much doing what they said they’d do in a manifesto commitment. They also have some difficulty over the meaning of the term ‘hike’.
Spooky, but there it is. 🙄
@RogerM says: 16 December, 2016 at 10:17 am:
” … UK taxes are low for higher earners and it’s time the SNP started using its tax-raising powers.”
Nah! RogerM, You miss the whole scam of the UK tax system and it began under Labour rule long ago.
The basics of a fair tax system hinges upon the definition of, “Disposable Income”. That is defined as:-
“That income that remains after deduction of taxes and other mandatory charges, available to be spent or saved as one wishes.”
There are also two quite different types of taxation: –
Direct, (on income and wealth);
and
Indirect, (On goods and services purchased).
Direct Taxation includes PAYE, Tax on profits, wealth and unearned income.
Indirect Taxation, includes VAT, Road Fund Duty, Road Fuel Duty, Betting Tax, Alcohol Duty, Tobacco Duty, Entertainment Duty, et al.
Now it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out that Direct Taxation, is fairer. Not only is it aimed at those best able to pay but thus those with oodles of, “Disposable Income”.
Indirect Taxation, on the other hand not only applies to those least able to pay tax but those with little or no, “Disposable Income”, but even worse it applies to those who cannot even make ends meet and thus have only the options of getting deeper and deeper in debt or starving, freezing or living rough on the streets. (or as is increasingly happening – topping themselves.
Think about it for a moment, RogerM. Even babes in arms pay indirect tax – they use consumer items and even the dead pay tax on their death insurance and VAT on their funeral bills.
Almost everything bought, including services, carries indirect taxation and it was always a well known fact that Indirect taxation transfers the main burden of taxation from the most rich onto the most poor and it was a Labour Government who made that transition in the full knowledge of what it would result in. The Tory and LibDems gleefully went along with the Labour Government’s cynical move. This was the point where the Labour Government gave up all pretences of being the party of the working classes.
Also remember that the Trade Union Leaders, the Labour Party main funders, were all part of the same formula. This was the point where the Labour/Co-Op/Trade Union mix gave up all their pretences of being the movement of the working classes and admitted what they really always had been, RED Tories and integral parts of the Westminster Establishment.
Now go figure out the Tory Government’s first move when the public voted Labour out of office – They not only increased the level of VAT but brought many more previously exempt items such as hot pies, bridies and other hot takeaway foods that were the staple lunch-break fare of the working classes. Then the hit the poor with a double whammy by cutting the richest in the United Kingdom with the top tax rate cut.
Now! Here’s the nub of the matter – for some unknown reason – there is a mental fixation by most people that Income Tax, (direct taxation), is still the main base of the United Kingdom tax system.
Income, and other direct taxation, has become the least important Westminster revenue raiser. Think about it, RogerM. Under the present Tory, “Austerity Measures”, (that Labour and the LibDems stood solidly behind), the richest 10% in the United Kingdom have more than doubled their personal wealth while the poorest 10% are dying from hunger, cold and neglect. Not to mention their numbers are seeing more and more suicide numbers in the statistics.
It costs exactly the same price to put a tattie on a rich woman’s plate as it does to put a tattie on a poor single Mum’s plate but at the end of the week the percentage cost to the rich woman is negligible while the poor Mum is faced with going without, selling sex on the streets or going to the money lender that the rich woman has company shares in.
And despite the bigger Council Tax rises with band E,F,G,H properties for next year they will still be CHEAPER than almost all similarly classified properties in England thanks to 9 years of Council Tax freeze. Still waiting to hear the Tory spokesman’s views on that.
I didn’t watch that pathetic excuse of a Political programme presenter Andrew Neil but apparently, from what I’m reading on Twitter, he got more than a bit of a kicking from Derek Mackay. It appears oor Derek does not cow tow to Neil and his biased views on Scotland and all things Scottish. 🙂
Reading between the lines it looks like oor wee Andra will be running home to his mammy after today’s programme. 😀
That settles it. There must be a Yoon poll somewhere showing YES at 60% plus.
The MSM excelled themselves today.
Tractors one and all.
For a while I didn’t think that Derek Mackay could ever better
John McSwinney in his new roll. After watching him take on the
Venomous Andrew Neil today, he was simply superb. Well done
Derek
DerekM at 12.27
Merry Christmas to you Derek!
Sadly, although I might quite enjoy a career in the media, the nearest I get is that I occasionally sell IT including printers! Does that count?
Once again I am somewhat flattered that it is assumed that my insight, knowledge, wisdom and wit could only be assumed to have come from a “professional” of some sort.
I received mixed responses above Derek. I rather hoped that I had been sorely missed and that I would be welcomed back wholeheartedly – but not so apparently.
My general point stands that actually holding the levers of power is a completely different thing to standing on the sidelines throwing stones at others that do.
As time goes by (and as the SNP government is discovering), blaming everyone else for things that have gone wrong, are wrong are are going to be wrong, has a shelf life. The SNP has been in government for a long time and has promised much. They will not get away with blaming everyone else for whatever issues affect Scotland. In Scotland, the Health service, education, tax policies, etc, are the results of the work of an SNP government who came to power overwhelmingly as a result of an unprecedented landslide of support.
With the power – comes the responsibility and accountability.
I have made the point that the SNP are demonstrating responsibility and accountability by sticking to policies that might actually benefit the country and its finances – rather than populist “soak the rich” stuff.
I was simply reminding people of the discussions I had here on WIngs, with wingers, who were arguing for 50p tax rates on a point of principal – rather than understanding the potential ramifications of lefty nonsense in this area. If you tax too much, sadly the tax take goes down. Fortunately for Scotland, Mr Mackay is a late convert to the facts but has done the right thing. Shame some other wingers can’t see it.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all,
What burns my arse is how can these institutions put the name of my country in there titles as if they in any way represent anything to do with Scotland?? Who made them God?? Come independence I think they should be made to change their names …. The Daily Mail … The Man…. lol
A little bit of info on the Blessed UKOK Daily Mail.
Wikipedia:-“……….Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, a great-grandson of the one of the co-founders, is the current chairman and controlling shareholder of the Daily Mail and General Trust, though day-to-day editorial decisions for the newspaper are usually made by a team around the editor, Paul Dacre……”
“……The Scottish Daily Mail was published as a separate title from Edinburgh starting in December 1946. The circulation was poor though, falling to below 100,000 and the operation was rebased to Manchester in December 1968. In 1995 the Scottish Daily Mail was relaunched, and is printed in Glasgow…..”
“…….The Mail has traditionally been a supporter of the Conservatives and has endorsed this party in all recent general elections…….”
“the paper urged conservatively inclined voters to support UKIP in the constituencies of Heywood and Middleton, Dudley North and Great Grimsby where UKIP was the main challenger to the Labour Party.”
I think this tweet explains the tax situation in Scotland compared to rUK in a nutshell. 🙂
link to twitter.com
@Davy says: 16 December, 2016 at 10:35 am:
” … He would just restart from the same position totally ignoring the questions being asked of him time and time again, I was pissing myself. I think the presenter finally just gave up, as it was just like talking to an “on/off switch.”
Perhaps the autocue was stuck?
BTW: it is an old Video maker’s editing trick to watch the interviewee’s eyes. The Autocue in the studio is setup above the cameras. If the interviewee’s eye keep flashing upwards then he/she is obviously reading a pre-arranged script.
It is a dead giveaway that a claimed, but not very well rehearsed, pre-arrange, “impromptu” interview is underway.
James is not the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer at the best of times and a stressful TV interview is not the best of times but James’ type just cannot resist the temptation of a TV appearance.
Why does sensibledave always come over as such a condescending blow hard?
@donald anderson says: 16 December, 2016 at 10:52 am:
” … Today the Newsstand is, predictably, groaning under the weight of Brit Nat papers complaining that Scotland is the highest taxed part of the Yookay, after years of demanding we tax oorsel’s twice.”
Considering the stark facts that between 85% and 89% of the oil & gas revenues come out of Scottish territorial waters are classed by Westminster as from, “United Kingdom“, Extra-regio Territory”, and the bulk of other Scottish exported produce leaves the United Kingdom from other than Scottish ports and airports and is thus classed as non-Scottish exports then there is absolutely no doubts whatsoever that Scotland is indeed the highest taxed area in the entire United Kingdom. All before we even consider the other forms of direct and indirect taxes upon the individual.
Why pay taxes to London at all?
R4 @ 1.11
Didn’t hear the broadcast you refer to but I did hear his interview this morning on the R4 Today programme with the infamous Nick ‘he didn’t answer my question’ Robinson.
I think it was about 7.50. Worth a listen. Derek MacKay was fantastic!
As usual Robinson had his list of ‘searching’ questions – more like accusations- all ready and Derek systematically demolished them all. Often didn’t get a chance to finish his reply before Robinson tried to trap him with a different question but Derek was having none of it. Batted back answers re the PISA figures, the NHS Scotland where we get free prescriptions, hospital parking, etc.
You could tell Robinson was salivating at the thought of traducing the SNP ( I noticed that it was the SNP”s budget, not the Scottish Government’s) but he was an embarrassment.
They should get rid of the guy.
@Robert Peffers
Yes, I’m aware of that. That’s why I said:
“I would prefer to see more tax raised through land and unearned income”
But still, if someone’s earning hundreds of thousands a year I don’t see a problem with expecting them to pay a bit more in income tax.
“Plummeting” has only the one T.
The S|NP have published a handy summary of the budget details on their website. Can be downloaded.
link to snp.org
Does anyone have a youtube link to Derek Mackay’s Daily Politics interview for us non-TV-tax-payers?
@Phil Robertson says: 16 December, 2016 at 11:28 am:
” … Obviously, one you missed (or ignored) in your round-up.”
Right! Now that we have allowed you to have the last word, Phil. Just toddle off, like good little chap, and play nice with your other little Yoon Loon friends.
Derek McKay was very, very good on the Daily Politic. Very well informed, strong and eloquent in the face of robust questioning about his budget and the Scottish economy. Heartening indeed.
Derek Mackay also dealt very well with Gary Robertson on gms this morning. Didn’t hear earlier interviews with the opposition but prepared to bet he did not have to wipe the froth from his excitable gob after speaking to them.
@Juteman says: 16 December, 2016 at 12:24 pm:
” … The spittle and venom was dripping out of his pores!”
So just yer usual, Android Neil then?
@Capella
link to youtube.com
Here’s the link to the R4 interview with Derek Mackay. It’s 1 hr 51 mins 30 secs in:
link to bbc.co.uk
Ian Brotherhood says:
16 December, 2016 at 10:06 am
Heedtracker vs SensibleDave!
Just like the old days!
*sniffs…overwhelmed by nostalgia*
Sensible’s our very own yuletide useful idiot. A UKOK toryboy ghost of Christmas past, present and please god not future.
But he was also a totem of why England can’t give up control of their Scotland region of greater England.
Way too much democracy to give up, way too much moolah to lose, way too much territory to lose control, dump nuke weapons, bleed white.
A prosperous Scotland with PR democracy, continually progressing and liberalising, on our northern borders, The Outrage of it all. Its just not British.
If youre out there, Merry Xmas too Papco.
Ot I see the media are outraged as they think Putin has interfeid in the USA elections funny how they never said a word when obamama and nearly every leader in Europe were interfering in the Scottish,referendum for freedom but hey what’s new?
Capella says:
16 December, 2016 at 2:10 pm
Here’s the link to the R4 interview with Derek Mackay. It’s 1 hr 51 mins 30 secs in:
Also worth see is the disgusting C4 news coverage of the Scottish budget last night. Jon Snow leads a right bunch of sneaky rotters.
“Despite their 2015 election manifesto policy promise to the loyal Brits of our Scotland region, the SNP have today reneged on their promise to raise richest earners to 50%…”
Then 15 seconds of toryboy roaster Murdo rage, in Holyrood, at not getting his taxes hiked.
To be fair C4 is a UK state broadcaster like the BBC and blatant malicious liars ofcourse, just like their bigger brother.
Merry Xmas Heedtracker.
@sensibledave says: 16 December, 2016 at 12:31 pm:
” … Er, you are missing the point Wulls. I was referring to to discussions I had here on Wings with Wingers about tax levels – nothing to do with the Labour party.”
Nah! Sensibledave, when it comes to the tax issue it is you who misses the point. I have dealt with it to some lengths on this very thread. Just up there /|\ a bit.
It was a Labour Party that changed the mainly direct taxation system into an indirect taxation system.
As anyone with a bit of savvy can tell you that change alone is responsible for the tax system of today that is starving poor people to death, has seen the United Kingdom’s greatest growth industry as the burgeoning Food Banks.
These together with sanctioning the sick, disabled and old and the greatest growth in the suicide rates ever seen in the United Kingdom. Also, together with a corresponding growth in younger people’s self-harm, is all due to that Labour Party change in taxation policy.
Think about it for a moment, Sensibledave, even the dead are paying indirect taxation as their life insurance premiums are taxed as is their funeral costs with VAT added to everything.
lol so you just decided that today of all days you would come back and bestow Christmas cheer on your old pals the wingers did you?
Or was it because Phil is totally hopeless,so where you been mucker out trolling remainers or brixiteers and what do you think of your new PM,it was a bit of a shock for us we honestly thought you would get Boris sorry about that but we did warn you all we would not stop at Scotland lol
But hey think of it this way soon you will be independent and able to wave that lovely George cross proudly,you can thank us later 🙂
Oh and you are right about that My general point stands that actually holding the levers of power is a completely different thing to standing on the sidelines throwing stones at others that do
We are fed up chucking stones mate so we fancy having a go at holding the levers of power like most normal countries do,hey but dont get down i am sure an independent England will be able to stand on her own two feet 🙂
Here’s a test.
I’ve read many cogent comments here quite rightly having a go at the BBC and Smith.
She said yesterday that the SG has no excuse now to complain of Westminster cuts because Scotland now has the powers of raising taxes.
Today, Reporting Scotland at lunchtime carried stories from local councils complaining that they will have to make cuts because of yesterday’s budget. However, they now have the power to increase council taxes to remedy any ‘shortfall’.
If the SNP want to win an indyref, they have to take on the BBC at some point in some way. A good start would be this:
the next SNP person to take part in a BBC interview should make this statement.
‘Yesterday, BBC Scotland news editor Sarah Smith claimed that the SNP Scottish Govt. can no longer complain about Westminster cuts because it now has the power to raise taxes. Today the BBC happily reported Labour councils complaining of having to make cuts even though they have been given the power to raise council tax. The scenarios are identical, yet BBC Scotland seem happy to air the complaints of Labour controlled institutions whilst silencing the voice of an SNP Scottish Government.
It seems only fair that Sarah Smith should provide a response to her hypocrisy’
At some point, if you want change, you have to take on those that have the power. BBC Scotland holds a tremendous amount of power, and if you are not prepared to question it, then you are seriously hampering the independence cause in my book.
Yo Ho Ho Heedy!
… er, you seem to have forgotten that I don’t mind whether Scotland goes Independent or not – I just want what the majority of Scots want! (democracy sucks doesn’t it heedy).
Are you happy with the performance of the Scottish government in areas like health and education?
Do you think that the Scottish government not choosing to increase taxes on the filthy rich is the correct policy now Heedy? Do you now think that increasing higher rate taxes might result in raising less tax now Heedy?
If you have now made the conversion then I feel I have played a small part in your education and enlightenment.
But still, if someone’s earning hundreds of thousands a year I don’t see a problem with expecting them to pay a bit more in income tax.”
Just not in Engerland, Engerland. (which chrome doesn’t auto correct)
If I was able to influence SNP policy (by joining, like many of my friends and family)..
I’d suggest an IMMEDIATE MEDIA BLACKOUT.
Let’s see ‘journalists/reporters’ being forced to play devil’s advocate and take a position, begrudgingly, no doubt, defending actual SNP policy details to achieve balance..WITHIN A REASONED DEBATE.
The truth itself is at stake.
A SHOCK to their all too comfortable ‘jobs’ is what the media need.
The SNP owe the media NOTHING..
The SNP leadership must act NOW
And here’s the link to the incandescent Gary Robertson interviewing cool, calm and very patient Derek Mackay. Kicks off with some wise words from Labour sage James Kelly and his Tory counterpart Murdo Fraser. Its 2 hrs 9 mins in:
link to bbc.co.uk
sensibledave, you are Sarah Smith and I claim my reward.
@R4 says: 16 December, 2016 at 1:11 pm:
“For a while I didn’t think that Derek Mackay could ever better John McSwinney in his new roll. After watching him take on the Venomous Andrew Neil today, he was simply superb. Well done Derek”
To better John Swinney in the role of doing Scotland’s books would take some doing but John is far too much of a gentleman for his own good. Mind you, John can, in a gentlemanly way, let fly when it suits him.
However, I have to say Derek certainly betters, John in swatting raving Yoon loons down to size on TV and radio.
@tartanfever 2:31pm
Great post. When the SNP decides it has had enough of the bbc’s anti-Scottish bias and has a go at the britnats in Pacific Quay the SNP will be surprised by the strength of support it will have from the Scottish public.
Thanks for the Derek Mackay piece Nana, great stuff! Andrew Neil is now nothing but a raddled auld booze-bag in need of being sent out to grass.
@sensibledave says: 16 December, 2016 at 1:13 pm:
“Sadly, although I might quite enjoy a career in the media, the nearest I get is that I occasionally sell IT including printers! Does that count?”
Nah! Sensibledave, it doesn’t count as the profession being referred to is that of a paid employee of the Westminster Media Propaganda Industry, (A well known United Kingdom Government growth Industry).
As to the rest of your comment – it consists of a rather stolid, long-winded, biased version of, “SNP BAAD”, and a rather accusatory version of the Scottish Government doing a poor job and being overly left wing.
Considering the generally held opinion, of unbiased commentators, is that the SNP are factually marginally slightly right of centre on the political spectrum this only indicates your own particular place on that spectrum and therefore not anything like a really unbiased opinion.
Heedy 2.33
Heedy, you sentimental old fool!
You wrote “But still, if someone’s earning hundreds of thousands a year I don’t see a problem with expecting them to pay a bit more in income tax” (… then you went all silly again).
Heedy there is no problem “expecting” them to pay more tax – its just that it has been proven over and over again that they dont!
We both want rich people to pay more tax. We agree.
However, I have known for a long time, and the current Scottish government now also seems to know, that increasing the higher rate tax rate, frustratingly and annoyingly, usually ends up in a lower tax take – because the “rich” make other arrangements.
… which is why they haven’t brought in a higher tax rate – which goes back to the discussions long ago on this very subject. Back then though, it was said by many here that the reason a Tory government didnt increase the higher rate tax rate was because they were looking after their rich mates rather than being pragmatic.
I have merely observed, and congratulate Mr Mackay on having the balls to do the right thing for Scotland – rather than listening to loonies that would rather see the Scottish economy go to hell in a hand basket than have to deal with the actual facts of the matter.
Scott Arthur Retweeted
Ian Murray ?@IanMurrayMP Dec 15
Are we witnessing the end of local government and local democracy? link to edinburghnews.scotsman.com
So vote SLab. Its not democratic if you dont. Dr Scott Thinks has been at the Xmas sherry again.
Sensibledave and Phil Robertson,les Wilson asked you a question at 12. 38pm. Would you agree that Westminster is corrupt. Are you afraid to answer him. Or would you prefer to keep your heads up your a***s.
@Fred
Great description of Neil Fred a ‘raddled auld boozebag’
O/T
Well done Eilidh Whiteford SNP MP
link to archive.is
sensibledave says:
16 December, 2016 at 3:02 pm
Heedy 2.33
Heedy, you sentimental old fool!
I am. But I cut n pasted the comment. And am not reading all that reams of vile sep busting waffle Sensible.
Get some mistletoe, go and enjoy an office Xmas party, like me. You saved your Scotland region from running its own affairs, for another UKOK year.
Ah Sensible – you are now seeing the light.
In other words, your head really is that far up yer arse…
@ Nana – thanks for the link to mad Andro. Must say I think Derek has done well in the studios today. Cut his teeth on the Forth Bridge closure I think. Calm under fire!
I was talking to a friend of my father earlier. He is a nice old bloke, even if he is a Tory that voted No.
‘There never was a Union, was there?, we are just a colony, and they don’t seem to like us much’.
If this old Tory is now thinking like this, I hope the media carry on with their attack on Scotland.
Dear editor of ‘The National’. Please be aware that – for the second time this week – all 5 of your newspapers in WHSmith Sauchie’ll St were found by me lying HIDDEN (under a grubby Racing Post) at filthy floor level. I promptly put some, at head level, over a “rag” and put one over the ‘Autopay mch’ newsbox – which was the usual screaming (sick) DMail.
I don’t know why the Yoon MSPs are complaining. Isn’t a list MSP’s salary just under the 40% threshold?
galamcennalath 9.37
“What is at issue is, what percentage of people still believe their crude propaganda. The equation is simple, the fewer the number of people left which the traditional media (inc TV) can influence, the greater the chance of a Yes vote in the future.”
This is what it’s all about, and this is one surefire way to help speed things along a bit –
link to indiegogo.com
Mike d 3.03
I have no idea why you might think my views on whether I think Westminster is “corrupt” is relevant to anything but I will try and give you an answer.
Firstly though, you need to tell me what you mean. If you are asking me if the average constituency MP is financially corrupt – then the answer is probably, no. If you are asking if there are career politicians that will toe a party line that they disagree with, and you define that as corrupt, then yes. If you are asking if there are MPs in Westminster that are prepared to lie or throw their principals under a bus in exchange for a cheap win then yes (SNP MPs voting on fox hunting when their leader had explicitly said, before an election, that they wouldn’t, for instance).
At Westminster, every significant party with the exception of one, has an “awkward squad”. The parties have wings, flavours and differences within. Those factions keep the parties on their toes and then serious debate and compromise often results. One party only seems to operate as group. Rarely (if ever?) do we see members of the same party voting in different lobbies on a particular issue. That could be because every member of that party thinks exactly the same and hold exactly the same views like robot sheep or, that they are not voting for what they personally believe in but because they have been instructed to vote a particular way because it is hoped that that will cause the most disruption. Is that what you meant by corrupt?
Just checked the latest total on that crowdfund, it’s crawling along at a snail’s pace, literally. Are people serious about gaining indy or what?
C’mon folks get in there and help.
@ Heedtracker –
“Despite their 2015 election manifesto policy promise to the loyal Brits of our Scotland region, the SNP have today reneged on their promise to raise richest earners to 50%…”
Gary Robertson tried that one this morning. He pretends to not know that in 2015 there was a Westminster election and in 2016 it was a Holyrood election. The two contexts are very different.
Still, Derek could always take another look at it and raise the higher tax band, since that seems to be the consensus demand for the way to go.
Thought Derek was brilliant speaking with Andrew Nwil but he did miss a trick with the r4 interview.
To be fair, education & the NHS are not in his remit, presumably why the interviewer tried to trip hi up, but he should have said SNHS times are the best in the UK & the PISA results. although not great are still on average and not below
Hilarious
The Tory rags say that it is an evil communist tax hike budget and the Record true to its Labour pals say it is an evil Tory austerity budget.
The truth? The budget ploughs a safe middle ground with a modest increase in infra-structure and safe guards key areas like health and education. Not an exciting budget but a safe pair of hands budget in what is a very difficult time.
Out with a few friends for a wee pre-xmas drink, when two of them (yoons) broached the subject of the Scottish budget.
They felt that they had been skelped by it, so I reminded them that their children had been helped through their uni degrees and also enjoyed free prescriptions and savings from the council tax freeze.
No answer, debate over, point made!
Andrew Neil quoting Labour Press release ffs..what a complete and utter roaster he is.Well done Derek dinnae take any shite off them.
It’s getting closer folks, they are panicking here.
Capella 3.33
… for the sake of accuracy, the SNP tried to ride both sides of the argument in the 2016 manifesto. They wrote:
“While the Scottish Government does not control the rules on income tax avoidance, there is a risk that an increase in the Additional Rate in Scotland could put revenue at risk. Accordingly, we will not raise the Additional Rate in 2017/18. However, we will ask the Council of Economic Advisers to consider how and to what extent this risk can be mitigated and if we are sufficiently assured that it can be, we will consider raising the additional rate from 45p to 50p from 2018/19 onwards”
… I assume the Council of Economic Advisers considered the extent of the risk – and then told the SNP what most pragmatists already knew and, credit to Mr Macka,y he has done the best thing for Scotland regardless of the potential caterwauling from self destructing dimwits.
Well my reaction to the bleats from the Incompetent Yoon Councils of Fife and Glasgow was – BAH HUMBUG!
I expect bleats to erupt from the corrupt, incompetent and nepotistic Moray soon as they are always bleating.
Cappella the link to Gary Robertson is that the same programme radio 4 today? Was it gms Derek was interviewed by him on?
O / T. “Scotland Has The Best School Attainment Outcomes In The UK Because It Has The Most Teachers Per Pupil”
link to thoughtcontrolscotland.com
Just caught up with Derek MacKay and Andrew Neil.
10 out of 10 for Derek MacKay. First class.
Sorry, this link might not work… the link is fine, it’s me that’s the weak link. Lol
youtube.com/watch?v=gY0E1Ui45XI
I can’t put a link to gms Cappella but it’s def that station. The time 2hrs 9 mins in, is correct. (laptop’s in shop, this kindle’s shite at everything)
Nana @ 3.05
From the newspaper link you post about Dr White Ford’s bill:
“”Commenting, Dr Whiteford said: “Today, Parliament sent out a strong signal to women across the UK, that a life without violence is not inevitable and it can be prevented.””
Does that really say what I think it says? Has someone mangled the quote or is my brain turning to pre-Christmas mush?
Surely it must have occurred to Murdo et al that taxation has always been different between England and Scotland due to the marked differences in rates of Council Tax? For example a house in London in band D would be far lower than a band D property in Aberdeen due to the huge subsidies for London. Also taxation for a house in the same band varies between council areas in Scotland.
It is nonsense to get all upset about Income Tax when Scottish councils had been ripping off residents for years under Blair.
“small difference in a single income tax threshold.”
So has my tax gone up or not?
Arrrgh!
If anyone finds a complex and detailed explanation of how Scottish local councils are actually funded, and not as the general public fondly imagine they are, floating free around the internet would you please tell it to return home. I was just about to finish it and post it when it decided, all by itself, to go walk about.
The general idea was that such as Fife and Glasgow, while raging at the SG, are caught in the Westminster’s trap but that the SG are not fooled for a minute.
The main point is that in well run councils only a tiny proportion of council funding comes via the Council tax.
Thus, by passing the buck of rises council tax back to the councils, the councils, not the SG, carry the buck for any rises.
They all also lose the extra grant made by the SG but the level of that grant is adjuster and the former compensation is now part of the grant. While the SG are still the major source of local council funding.
Voters are not daft and now those councils who are badly run and thus have higher than average tax rises get the blame exactly where the blame actually rests with such as the Labour run Fife and Glasgow now raging at the SG.
The talent of the SNP just keeps on impressing me. However those gutter rags are everywhere. And while they peddle keech those headlines in your face can be quite powerful. Am I the only one in thinking that a lot of shops refuse to stock The National? It should be in more shops but isn’t and the front page can be influential.
Anyone else notice that Aldis and Lidl’s have toned down their Union Jack branding? I was getting to the stage I was thinking of shopping elsewhere. I don’t want to see flags on food – well not in such a blatant way. Who knows? Maybe there were complaints.
There’s going to be a right royal bun fight come May at the local elections. Never have local council elections been so important. Because if we get in enough indy councillors this time then come the inevitable indyref 2 we will have our “ducks in a row” grr – I don’t like that phrase but it kind of suits the scenario. Anyone think of a better Scots/Doric one?
Also if you’ve never been canvassing, manned a stall, stuffed envelopes please, please give it a go. It really does make a difference! And you will enjoy it. I never thought I’d have got involved but since I have I can’t stop…
Keep at them, Rev.
Here’s a Wiki Link about how Scottish Local Council’s are funded : –
link to en.wikipedia.org
I’m not going to write the one I intended to post again. Wiki will just have to do.
Breeks says:
16 December, 2016 at 4:32 pm
Just caught up with Derek MacKay and Andrew Neil.
10 out of 10 for Derek MacKay. First class.
Sorry, this link might not work… the link is fine, it’s me that’s the weak link. Lol
See if this sorts it :=
link to youtube.com
Just watched Derek Mackay/Brillo on you tube.
Derek FIRST CLASS, only problem, expect the yoons to be gunning for him, methinks some bollocks smear campaign for crimbo.
SNP champions league,10
Yoon parties/media Sunday pub league,0
link to tinyurl.com
Well done Derek and well done Peter Curran for his YouTube uploads.
Much appreciated by those of us who do not hand over our money to the BBC
I loved it when Derek McKay told Andrew Neil (twice) that he was reading the Labour press release!
Higher rate taxpayers will pay the same amount they did before but if you compare it with Englands tax reduction for higher rate taxpayers it’s still less than the price of say a prescription, or say University tuition for kids, or say yer grannies bus pass, or say free personal care, or say getting to live in a beautiful country where 99.99% of the time you don’t have to live in fear of being the victim of say, a crime
But maye quite a lot of the moaning faced gits who might have moved here from somewhere else in order to avoid the horrible furriners and then voted NO in Scotlands constitutional debate haven’t taken any of that into consideration, especially those newer residents in Dumfries and Galloway whos council have already hiked the council tax the full 3% even though they didn’t need to because remember when you got flooded who was very very slow in paying you out the help you needed and tried blaming it on the SG, why it was Dumfries and Galloway council Labour Tory alliance
You SNP yet
The really good thing about all these dodgy headlines is that it makes more & more people aware that we are being fed propaganda.
I got the impression from reading through some comments on The Herald that more and more people are seeing the light!
Andrew Neil, the Tory should get the sack. The multimillionaire tax evading Tory, is being overpaid a fantastic salary to tell a load of lies. His contract should not be renewed. Thatcher’s henchman. He was broadcasting fake reports and lies, rejoicing in poverty in Scotland. When Thatcher was illegally and secretly taking the equivalent of £Billion a year of Oil & Gas resources. Building Canary Wharf and deregulating and funding Bankers who were funding the Tory Party. Corruption and sleaze. Molesting children. When told of the abuse, Thatcher replied,’Boys will be boys’.
Andrew Neil got a totally free Scottish education, now expects others should pay. Hypocrite.
Derek MacKay did well to get the information out or even get a word in. Wish he could have told Neil to take a hike and what about Westminster overtaxing Scotland. Taxing Oil & Gas sector at 60% to 80% when the price had fallen 75%. Losing thousands of jobs. Paying for the illegal wars and Trident. Paying loan repayments on money borrowed and spent in the rest of the UK. On HS2, Hinkley Point, Heathrow and Trident. To benefit London S/E. Neil’s $3.4Million Trump NY apartment paid for by public funded money. His wife is a migrant.
Bit rusty on PS since indyref1. Hopefully it will quickly come back.
link to i51.photobucket.com
Go on, Frank the Pieman, make my day.
Council Tax rise of 3% so you can prop up all your New Labour Arms Length failing contracts.
You have until May ’17 to shred Tamanny Hall’s records. Likewise the Lanarkshire Red Tory Councils.
You’ve been bleating on about the CT freeze for nearly 10 years.
Now’s your chance to implement Kezia’s tax increases at local level. Do you feel lucky?
Patrick Harvie will be pleased too. Decisions and funding drilled down to local level and all that jazz.
The Dead Tree Scrolls can’t handle it, can they?
Independence is only a matter of time now.
In other news,I note that Michel Roux is charging 13% service charge on his £212 per head lunches Down There, London Town but reportedly not paying staff minimum wage, nor handing over the ‘service charge’ (tips) to the poor working stiffs providing the ‘service’.
This is the distorted elitist ‘aspirational’ world of Ruth Davidson, Murdo Fraser, and the rest of the Blue Tories Tax Breaks to the Rich mob.
Their days are truly numbered. They will be consumed by their own greed.
What the hell is the Labour Party Up Here doing?
Instead of ripping Ruth’s fulsome lungs out, Dugdale joins with the fat bloated Blue Mob in attacking the Scottish Administration, and whinging on about nothing of consequence in response to a fairly tepid but inclusive SNP Budget.
Has she really lost it? Tax Scots ‘hard working families’ and perpetuate Blue Tories stay at WM?
There is another way, oh Scottish Labour readers. Independence. When will the penny drop?
Join the Movement for Scottish Self Determination.
What a great big bully yon Derek Mackay is. He left puir wee Andra Neil’s nose that far out of joint, the puir wee soul will need extensive plstic surgery if he is ever to have his boyish good looks restored.
Andra was floundering, because, like every bully – he cannot take it when someone, as Derek did, stands up to him.
That’s the tactic, meet Andra head-on, he will crumble and terminate the interview to move on.
So my Tax has gone up.
Scots have, for example, enjoyed a Council Tax freeze for most of the last decade, making the average bill for a Band D property now £319 lower in Scotland than in England, which by itself almost exactly wipes out the “increase” in income tax.
What a super shoe by Derek McKay. He joins Tommy Sheridan and Jeanne Freeman in the list of stars who have duffed up Andra Neil
For anybody who is interested I will be talking about the great Syria lie on my Roundabout Show on http://www.argyllradio.co.uk at 7pm (before my Rock’n’roll show at 8)
I’ve just watched Derek Mackay destroy Andrew Neill on his wee Daily Politics show. The grizzled Old Retainer was visibly shaken, and on a networked show too, with English and Welsh viewers watching.
Now that we are paying for free prescriptions, no tolls, no tuition fees, and so on from our own income tax, are we still subsidy junkies?
Hopefully viewers down south start to get it. There is an alternative to Red Blue and Yellow Tory Brexit Austerity. Social Democracy is alive and well Up Here in Jockland.
I enjoyed Neil’s uncomfortable ten minutes. He hadn’t done his homework, relying on Ruth’s and Kezia’s briefing notes instead, and he got what he deserved, a good kicking from our very own ‘rising star’, Del Boy Mackay.
I can’t see Hang On a Minute Just To Be Clear Brewer inviting the Scottish Finance Sec onto his wee Sunday show now that he has popped his cherry on Neil the Old Retainer.
Well done, that man.
@ Chic Mac
Yer a bad mawn, Chic.
Genius!
@ K1 – Derek Mackay had 2 radio interviews this morning – R4 Nick Robinson and R Scotland Gary Robertson. He did pretty well I think in spite of much provocation.
Here’s the links:
link to bbc.co.uk
link to bbc.co.uk
re Neil on BBC AT Lunchtime.
Neil obviously thinks £43000pa is low pay in his eyes.It is petty change in Andrew Neil’s books. Probably spends that in a wee soiree with his right wing mates.
Basedon what he said he appears to be in contact with the Trump brigade.
Incidentalyy Derek MacKay did well
O/T
But another Yoon Roaster surfaced today (not sensibledave) but Bat Shit Jill.
Writing as a ‘member of the public’ not a board member of SIU in todays Facist Voice of the North the P&J.
Look away now Mr Peffers as her comments are exceptionally ignorant on the Scots language.
” Mickey Mouse view of education.”
“Sir, So Scotland’s standards of education have declined over the last decade and more. In reading, Scots are now 23rd in the PISA rankings, whereas in 2006 they were 11th and in 2000 at sixth.
This is lamentable for what used to be one of the best educated populations in the world. It may be that it owes something to the confusion being sown in young pupil’s minds by the imposition of faux “Scots” in the curriculum.
This invented “language” owes more to Stanley Baxter’s hilarious Parliamo Glasgow than to any living tongue.
Children are set tasks requiring them to read, spell, and write this “language” at an age when their real need is to consolidate their learning in standard English.
It is all of course intended to hammer home a spurious differentiation between Scotland and England that is part of the SNPs strategy for winning Scots over to separation.
According to Professor Lindsay Paterson of Edinburgh University, the culprit for failing standards appears to be the much-vaunted Curriculum for Excellence.
In a damning interviw he referred to its “rather Mickey Mouse approach to cross-curricular themes and lots of other projects that are rather beside the point at that age”.
Is this all simply a matter of incompetence, of a misplaced sense of “innovation”? Or is it a cunning plan to dumb down education so that Scots are incapable of seeing the patent flaws in the SNP’s arguments for separation from the UK? Only joking…I think
Jill Stephenson,
Glenlockhart Valley.
Edinburgh”
So Top SIU Yoonatic Bat Shit Jill (but not presented as such) living in Edinburgh tells folks in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highlands:
SNPBaad, Scots Language is a makey-uppy language, SNP brainwashing kids into thinking difference between Scotland and England is spurious, SNP dumbing down education so we don’t see SNP Baad, UK good.
Aye Jill we’ll all go back to eating our cereal now.
@ K1 – apologies – I posted the R4 link twice. Here’s the link to the Radio Scotland interview. sorry I didn’t spot that earlier:
link to bbc.co.uk
Love this from Beardsley Ruml – one time chairman of the federal reserve. Rarely will you here more candour from a central banker..
“The necessity for a government to tax in order to maintain both its independence and its solvency is true for state and local governments, but it is not true for a national government…….
…Final freedom from the domestic money market exists for every sovereign national state where there exists an institution which functions in the manner of a modern central bank, and whose currency is not convertible into gold or into some other commodity.”
Scotland operates like a state govt (obviously Ruml was referring to America). In other words all we have control over is wealth distribution not wealth creation.
When S.G starts issuing its own bonds in its own currency and is in charge of all of its export revenue, if it doesn’t deliver then that government can be kicked into touch.
As for taxing the rich, that has to be done at source. In other words stop funding them in the first place. Bonuses associated with the finance sector are effectIvely guaranteed by the British state. That won’t stop until the city of London is broken up (another labour promise broken)
WOS archive links now over on O/T.
@Jockanese Wind Talker 6:58pm
Unwise of “Bat Shit Jill” to criticise Scots language since even in petty pukey P & J land the Doric is a source of pride.
“The inexplicable mystery of newspapers’ plummetting sales continues.”
Hope this helps. I’m about to put a load of material over in OT, in case anyone is interested.
link to sociology.about.com
Stoker
I’m not trying to compete mate, honest, I’m just doing my thing. 😉
@ Ruby
Thanks for the link, I’ve been trying to hunt it down.
” check your facts Andrew”
Just received a flier from the Ruth Davidson No Surrender Party:
“Sign our petition today and send the SNP a clear message. We want better government, not another independence referendum.”
Aye – she’s till banging that “independence” drum. Worked a treat for her last time round so she won’t be letting it go any time soon. Have added a few choice words to her flier before sticking it in the post back to her (unstamped of course – I’m sure Ruth the Mooth can well afford to pay to have it returned to her).
Poor Ruthie – she is a one trick pony.
I see Nicky Morgan has pulled out of HIGNFY tonight – to be replaced by a leather handbag 🙂
lol thats no golfin Rev this is golfin
link to youtube.com
Thanks Cappella you’re a star 🙂
‘Poor Ruthie – she is a one trick
pony’phoney…Happy tae fix that fur ye H&S… 😉
Thanks K1
Its either the magic of Christmas, or Scottish democracy but who knew we’d live to see hard core Thatcherite liggers demand to pay more taxes. BBC fcukwits.
Andrew Neil ?@afneil 5h5 hours ago
Andrew Neil Retweeted Ann Godden
If self-interest involved I wouldn’t have pushed him so hard on why he hadn’t raised the income tax top rate. You need to pay more attention Andrew Neil added,
Ann Godden @anngodden
#bbcdp It’s amusing how exercised rich people like @afneil get about taxes. No self-interest, of course.
Some excellent posting lately everybody, thanks for keeping us all informed and for the links.
Have to say first couple of times I heard Derek Mackay I was a bit dubious about him. Thought he was a bit lightweight, but boy did he skelp old brillo’s erse the day. Brilliant performance. Never let Neill get on top once in the whole interview. Best bit for me when he said to him, are you saying the bbc’s position is that the Allander Institute is not now independent.
His handling of Gary Robertson was equally impressive.
We have some very talented people in our government.
‘Check your facts Andrew’
Bwahahahahahaha! 😀 ROFLMAO
Brilliant!
That vid made my day. 🙂
Thanks for the Andrew Neil youtube link, Derek Mackay great stuff. I’m guessing his experience at SNP conferences gave him great training. Put down Neil with a smile.
Yes, gloves are off with the BBC, and the likes of Neil aren’t used to it. Well they’d better get used to it, because I’ve a feeling this won’t be the last time their presenters are going to have to eat the stuff they fan around the room. Smell it? They’re sitting in it.
BBC £400k a year, plus expenses in silly wig v. elected Scottish minister.
The 😀 works too.
Andrew Neil ?@afneil 2h2 hours ago
Andrew Neil Retweeted Derek Mackay MSP
So, tell me, what is the net increase, in real terms, in local government funding from central government?Andrew Neil added,
Derek Mackay MSP @DerekMackaySNP
@afneil and if you had let me answer I was pointing out there was more finance from @scotgov to local government than you were aware of ?
41 replies
Old fart tory still wants to pay more Scottish taxes.
Andrew Neil ?@afneil 3m3 minutes ago
Andrew Neil Retweeted David Bell
So, whoever you’d like to blame, there has been a net reduction?Andrew Neil added,
David Bell @DavdBell
@afneil @RuthDavidsonMSP What’s the net reduction in funding sent to Scotland from WM? Surely dictates how much can be sent to Councils?
0 replies
What gets me about these headlines and the coverage is, never mind the SNP, never mind Independence, this is betraying Scotland.
“It’s official. Scotland to be highest taxed part of the UK”.
What do these people think this is doing for Scotland? If people read this from the rest of the UK, people who are thinking of moving to Scotland and don’t really follow politics, and are taken in by the lies of these guttersniping filthy media turnkey animals, what is that doing for our economy?
I think they should bring back the Clearances and ship all these totally dishonourable people off to some deserted island where they can only do each other harm. With a volunteer medic team to take it in turns to patch them all up so they can do it again and again and again and again.
There’s not one swear word in this because I’ve had my tea, put up the Christmas lights, and enjoyed that youtube of Andrew Neil being taken to the cleaners by Derek Mackay. What was in my mind before that – and a fair bit of the day, would have had every other word and several all in a row, totally unprintable.
How can they do this to their own country?
@yesindyref2
‘How can they do this to their own country?’
I doubt they have one dads. Just as I doubt they have either empathy or conscience.
The bottom line, the next click, maybe even a ‘believer’ Ukania. Who knows?
They certainly have no problem causing harm to others and THAT is unforgivable.
I thought the budget measures re local authority funding were very astute.
We have had BLis banging on relentlessly for ages about how the SG jolly well oughter find the extra funding to protect public services from Tory austerity, and now Derek Mackay has very neatly turned the tables on them.
The clamp on council tax, which councils oft complained about, is lifted. So if they truly want to protect public services from “SNP austerity” (as BLiS would have it), they are perfectly free to do so.
So are these Labour-controlled councils happy with their new-found freedom to swallow their own medicine? (And just before the local elections next year.) Are they hell!
Cynical hypocrites, the lot of them. But their bluff has just been called, and with a vengeance.
Beep Beep Beep…..Bird flu in the UK…says the news
Actually it’s in England so we must be Independent again because when we last had Bird flu in Scotland that’s what they said..Scotland
I do wish they’d make up their minds where they live or is it like a blame thing or a shame thing or
Just the same thing
Andra is still on twitter try to justify his figures today.
He’s now calling folk cybernats.
He must be furious cos he was shown up.
Derek will need to be very careful, they’ll be raking his bins.
Look for a ‘scandal’coming up soon
Having watched Derek Mackay rightly skewer Neil over his ‘labour press release’ figures and listened to Gary Robertson choking on his own tongue i would say our finance minister has just been elevated to Chief BBC Arse Kicker in Scotland.
I’ve always loved watcbing Derek in interviews, he’s extremely sharp and very much a man who knows his portfolio inside out, non fazed and a straight shooter. Such great people we have in our government…the stars are aligning richt enough.
Just listened to Derek Mackay’s interview with Andrew Neil – great performance!
Well informed on all the issues raised; clear in presentation; calm/unruffled; and (thankfully!!) combative. Just what all Scottish Government/SNP politicians now need to be ready to bring when accepting invitations to appear on TV. And if that’s not someone’s particular strong point, field someone else.
liz says:
16 December, 2016 at 10:20 pm
Andra is still on twitter try to justify his figures today.
He’s now calling folk cybernats.
Maybe the Ligger’s been turned from the dark side, Xmas miracle wise. Didnt see all of the his Vote Tory Daily BBC Politics show today but as usual, he had on another UKIP nutcase, who, among other very weird UKIPer stuff, said Sweden wants out of the EU. The Ligger said no way, and he should know because he’s married a Swede.
So maybe the latest Mrs The Ligger has taken the Ligger home to socially democratic Sweden and he’s seen what non planet toryboy UKOK catastrofuck reign can actually achieve, after everyone’s stopped asking his wife Ikea why she married her grandad.
Hi yesindyref2 at 9:37 pm
You typed,
“I think they should bring back the Clearances and ship all these totally dishonourable people off to some deserted island where they can only do each other harm.”
An island rather like this perchance, yesindyref2?
link to youtube.com
Totally forgot to mention our “under-performing” schools chess teams did exceptionally well in Liverpool recently! Congratulations, and fly that Saltires flag at all the tourneys. (“Bah humbug, ‘ow can ’em scotch PISA Test failures play so damnd grate?” Squire John Bull.)
link to chessscotland.com
I’ve been feeling sorry for David Torrance knocking his pan in in the white-hot world of gold-standard international journalism, so I was going to invite him to Grimsby next week. But I don’t think he’d come – he has a beard and wears jumpers and tweeds, just like a very conventional “nothing unusual about me, guv” and “I buy my clothes at Murdo Fraser, Gents Outfitter, so I’m as normal as Ann Widdycum” kind of chap. I don’t think Grimsby’s for our David. Might suggest Brighton – it’s near London.
“SNP GOES ALONG WITH TORY TAX CUT FOR TOFFS”.
Oops wrong lead headline.
@Macart
Yeah. I think I’ve calmed down now and at least I was able to stay calm and just research and post some facts on the Herald. I agree with Ruby above, people are starting to see the light, and it’s a case of keeping the head. Just keep politely pumping out verifiable truth to put the lie to the rags, and the posters who either distort stuff themselves or post Labour press releases!
It was a good safe budget, just a little use of powers, and that’s really got the Unionists desperate.
Torrance, McTernan and Hothershall.
Hipster, Tipster and Quipster.
The news where we are tonight on BBC was a catalogue of attacks on the SNP and the budget with no responses to it from the SNP.
The “national” news led with another huge lie about Syria. As the truth starts to seep out the lies are getting bigger and stupider and more obvious and the BBC is further destroying itself.
PS that last one could have been Sh*tstir but hey, the spirit of Christmas has descended on me.
I had the good fortune to meet Derek Mackay a number of years back.
Moderately impressed & my only criticism was his accent/tone ie When I’m out with “Doric” land I moderate my accent etc to accommodate those I converse with, I felt back then DM would benefit doing likewise.
He must have heard me, LOL
This week he has upped his whole game/ stature.
His interview/debate style is getting closer to what some of us on here have been hopeing for.
Thank you Derek , just what I needed to clear some of my eternal “bahumbug” as I’d been getting a wee bit scunnert with all SNPBad $hi£ that’s been around lately.
BBC is further destroying itself.
Alongside the Ligger’s BBC vote tory politics show today, on BBC r4 and after their BBC r4 lunchtime vote tory news, there was a posh Oxbridge English dude droning on and on about the beauty of great sport and great athletes and how nationalism is horrid and meaningless in great sport.
He kept bashing on and on about England and Argentina football matches and how great it is to be able to say, I saw the great Federer play at Wimbledon and then he had on Martina Navratilova, who also said that nationalism was a very bad thing in sport now and sports fans never used to support sports stars just for where they were born and isnt it terrible. Posh BBC dude said yes, it really is.
Andy Murray hardly got a mention. When Murray did get a mention by posh English dude, he said that he’d watched the Fed win Wimbledon with much better tennis than Murray and that the Wimbledon crowd cheered the Fed much louder than they ever cheered Murray.
Rule Britannia, from Switzerland.
OT I noticed in FMQs this week, the PM, in answer to a question from Mike Weir regarding the continuance of protected branding status for geo-related branding, e.g. Arbroath Smokies if Brexit happened, the PM not only offered the usual platitudes but added, with emphasis, ‘We are leaving Europe.’
This is not the same as ‘Brexit means Brexit’ which is vague with all kinds of deniability. Plus it was a statement made in the UK’s official chamber of legislature during an official statement process. Not a statement made outside the UK Parliament or outside the EU Parliament to the media.
As such, I believe it may be considered an official triggering of Article 50 if the EU chose to view it such.
Should they be asked about this?
I would but I have asked Europa three ‘questions’ (i.e. really as much information relaying exercises as anything) in the past couple of years, the last one re the possibility of the EU conferring Eu citizenship on Scots post Brexit just about 6 weeks back.
Sorry, PMQs
The more you think about it, Scotland being controlled by Westminster, London, it’s a dated system.
@BBC
I’m not suggesting the SG, of any party, should not be held to public scrutiny but you lack objectivity. Your positivist British nationalist ideology is out of date and out of time. You represent an obstacle to the legitimisation of my humanity and I’m just no having it.
If you’ve got any aspiration to intellectual rigor and integrity, you do a grand job at disguising it. Yet you supposedly operate in the role of public educator.
Grooming more like. Grubby stuff indeed. Creeps.
link to glossarium.bitrum.unileon.es
Chic McGregor@11.36.
Any branding regarding “Scotch” produce will be FKeD if the Yoons have their way.
After all jellied eels and Brenda’s mint cakes e.t.c, will get precedence over anything from the Northern Colony, or at least Scotland will continue to be told about the equal pulling and sharing bollocks, but in truth we will still continue to fund the Shires.
Wake up Scotland, FFS
Indy Ref2. Tick Tock.
For the wee ginger dug, and other canine companions: link to wp.me
Brillo’s wife is called Ikea? you couldn’t make it up.
The Yoons are going into meltdown, sit back and enjoy the fireworks.
Tick tock.
@BDTT
Was that Andrew Neil doing the makeup?
link to sfu.ca
Gary
As important and essentially true as your assessment of the fate of Scottish branding post Brexit is (although I winced at the use of ‘pulling’ and ‘bollocks’ in the same sentence) the main point of my post was that I believe Theresa May made an error which could be construed as triggering Article 50.
And I wonder if this possibility might be highlighted to EU personnel by asking and appropriate question through Europa.
Block Grant: It’s not a F…..g grant!
Who came up with that offensive term for our own money
Block grant is pocket money from our assets, wee Nicola knows the score, trust her.
Have just read through the first few pages of the Referendum consultation document – and I am ready to declare war on the SNP Government.
It seems that IndyRef2 will again be run by the Unionists, lock, stock and barrel, because they did such a magnificent job with IndyRef14.
Dr Jim
The “Block Grant” Is the language of misrepresentation intended to support Britain’s colonial social structure, in an age where such social domination is generally perceived as barbaric, frankly.
I propose that the Scottish Government calls on the pathetic
BBC propaganda regime and brings then to book.
Why don’t they call Sarah Smith out and ask her bout the Scottish Government has no excuse nonsense?
In essence, the UK Media, lead by the BBC, need to explain why they ask how Scotland bleeds when Westminster cuts our throats?
We need to highlight this North Korean type propaganda for the Scottish Vulnerable. Once and for all.
Miss Smith obviously loved her Dad’s Labour party, and seen that as a socialist body, but unfortunately she can’t se that Labour had become a right wing body controlled by Right wing Tories and right wing Media.
She is quite misguided to think that distorting the Truth and blatantly lying will the return the Scottish Vote to a labour party that admittedly puts the party before the people and Westminster before Holyrood.
Can’t you just hear the Scottish Labour voters saying that I vote Labour, as my old Dad did, but I don’t see what they are doing for me as a Scot, or a Brit?
I spend hours reading this site. and we all seem to agree that media is all important, now if i call (heedtracker, Mr Peffers, Liz g, and nanna) ,nationalist barstewards ,all the yoons would be my friends,and i would be no1 in ukok land. Why cant our SG just for once be no1 in wings land (and Scotlandshire) and publish the truth through a media platform and tell the masses whats what.. I think the Rev has what our gov lacks and they are dangling.
Block Grant. You know, if you ask folk in england what this is, are they able to say? If you ask many in Scotland what this is, are they able to say?
I somehow doubt it.
Now, if you ask a EU representative from say, one of the 27 countries what the ‘block grant’ is, can they tell us what it is? Some might, but not all?
Would they be happy to have their revenues sent to their next door neighbour? Meanwhile said neighbour decides, condescendingly, to send a few crumbs back, and you are told to manage on that, and be very, very thank you ma’am grateful, suck my c**k, you dolts!
I don’t fricking think so!
Scotland has been had, big style. English establishment are laughing, all the way to the bank, ha ha ha, while taking the total rip out of Scotland.
I think things are hunky dory and we don’t need any pretendy government in Holyrood anymore.
Thank you england, for saving us from our destiny, one consisting of independence whereby the wretched barbarians, deciSo maybe the people of Scotland, could be the breed whose remaining wee % of DNA, after being brainwashed by the terrier across the border for centuries, who aspire to be more like the wolf?
Steadfast, wild, untameable, independent and territorial, when the chips are down.
I think we all know the answer, and we are seeing it now, with the kind of politics in place in Scotland, that works for Scotland, against massive odds.
Who knows how things might progress, but the Scottish people are no longer accepting of the UKok crumbs, while giving everything and the kitchen sink, only to be undermined and made to look very, very small and pathetic.
Animals are amazing, intelligent, with senses beyond what we can ever comprehend, but are treated so brutally by humans who have a sense of superiority way above any notion of intelligence.
Humans, quite often, are really, really stupid, animals know that. Those of a cunning nature, whose DNA tells them they have been had, in Scotland, have surfaced and they inform us all, through wit, wisdom, knowledge and twitter!
We live in modern, interesting times, no unionist, ignoramous, selfish, greedy and backward, rich power mad low lifes, will stop us moving into the 21st century, not here in Scotland. No thanks.
de on who gets their actual resources, revenues and land.
Crikey, no idea my last comment made liitle sense at the end. Grr,, its late. Have agood weekend all!
oh how very fckg UKokian spellcheck cut n paste bizarre stuff just completely messed up my last comment! Will try again…
The Bear in the room regarding tax will start to be felt around this time next year for the self employed – all across Yoonland expect to hear the shrieks of agony from the self-employed at paying more tax.
And yet their middle and upper classes will still vote for Tory austerity in the mistaken belief that Labour would take away all that they are about to lose.
That Bear is tax on company dividends. Basically until 2016, providing your dividends were below the 40% tax threshold, you paid no extra as you had already paid 20% corporation tax on the profits.
Since April 2016 however, tax on dividends has been introduced on all dividends above £5k at the rate of 7.5%, 32.5% or 37.5% based on your tax band rate.
link to gov.uk
Previously so long as a Ltd. company kept the dividends paid below the 40% tax threshold you had a situation where a husband & wife team could draw as much as £80k in dividends without paying a penny in tax on it, since they had already paid Corporation tax on it. There was no PAYE as they had only paid themselves the equivalent of the basic rate allowance, and also the bottom rate of NI payment.
And yet the Yoon stormtroopers choose to attack a £6 a week tax reduction that will not be passed on.
£6 a week is a small fee to pay for all the benefits brought by the SNP government.
It is also wrong to say we are paying more in tax than the rest of the UK as our house prices are lower for an equivalent house we pay less LBTT than the English and Welsh pay for SDLT . Similarly the capital gains tax on the sale of a property not your principal private residence is less as the profit on the sale will be less. As proportionately fewer people’s estate in Scotland attract Inheritance Tax again we pay less tax generally because of lower property values.
Other UK imposed taxes such as vat cause most Scots to pay more since we travel further so the more petrol we have to use the more tax we pay.
Re Effijy
Sarah Smith knows full well that Labour are just right wing Tories under another name.
She simply isn’t that stupid to believe otherwise.
stewartb says:
16 December, 2016 at 10:23 pm
Just listened to Derek Mackay’s interview with Andrew Neil – great performance!
Well informed on all the issues raised; clear in presentation; calm/unruffled; and (thankfully!!) combative. Just what all Scottish Government/SNP politicians now need to be ready to bring when accepting invitations to appear on TV. And if that’s not someone’s particular strong point, field someone else.
What we have been witnessing over the past year, IMO, is that a number of up and coming SNP politicians have been launched into senior roles and, following a steep learning curve and a period of adjustment (baptism of fire, courtesy of the MSM), are now growing into their roles. Some of the B team have already made it into the A team and are now thriving (as Labour struggle to put together a single team with any talent). There will be personal setbacks: Not all of the SNP “new firm” will make it, but there is enough talent available to ensure continuity. All it needed was a little time. Derek MacKay is certainly one to watch.
@Yesindyref2
A time for all things dads. Getting mad every now and again does you a power of good. 🙂
Just watched Derek MacKay and have to say Well Done for giving that arrogant bastard a beating!
What makes the BBBC employ a bunch of knowalls with no humility whatsoever as interviewers ? I always thought in my ignorance that the purpose of an interview was to learn something ,to listen and not to put forward the interviewers opinion .
Loud, bullying , sneering arrogance personified by their “leading lights’ such a Neil ,Kunnessberg and lower down the food chain Bird , Campbell and Taylor.
As a P.S , why is Andrew Neil earning double the prime Ministers salary?
What makes the BBC employ a bunch of knowalls with no humility whatsoever as interviewers ?”
They’re journalists that have been there for decades, counted hundreds of politicians in and out. Jim Naughty’s been BBC for over 40 years. From the Press and Journal to the Hootsman, then the greatest public broadcaster in the universe. Get ready for 40 years of SNP bad, from next gen journos like Laura Keunsberg.
effijy @ 1.10am
Sarah Smith’s dad was a Labour Party right-winger. His political philosophy was a damned sight closer to that of Tony BLiar than to Jeremy Corbyn.
That was how Sarah was brought-up.
Links
Consultation on a Draft Referendum Bill
link to gov.scot
link to scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk
link to weegingerdug.wordpress.com
link to indyref2.scot
link to itisintruthnotforglory.wordpress.com
link to rbs.postach.io
link to thecanary.co
link to cer.org.uk
EU blanks May’s call for quick Brexit deal on expat rights
link to archive.is
Brexit: Japanese banks tell Philip Hammond
link to archive.is
Could not archive
link to northernirelandweb.com
link to mlexmarketinsight.com
link to pinknews.co.uk
I tried posting earlier, may have made a mistake these might appear again.
EU blanks May’s call for quick Brexit deal on expat rights
link to archive.is
Brexit: Japanese banks tell Philip Hammond
link to archive.is
Unable to archive
link to northernirelandweb.com
link to mlexmarketinsight.com
Dorothy Devine says:
17 December, 2016 at 7:28 am
As a P.S , why is Andrew Neil earning double the prime Ministers salary
Ruby replies
That is a very good question! He isn’t exactly a very good interviewer and on top of that he doesn’t have much going for him in the looks & personality department.
Had he been a woman he would have been retired decades ago due to very ugly old face!
@Nana
Mornin’ Nana and many thanks. This burning candle at both ends stuff encouraged a return to the duvet this morning. 🙂
Anyroads, kettle and catch up time.
Since I am being highly superficial this morning and commenting on people’s looks I would just like to add that Derek McKay looks amazing in that top hat & blonde wig. He gives Johnny Depp a run for his money!
PS Anyone had any encounters with politicians this week.
I had to share a pavement with Adam Tomkins on Thursday fortunately it was only until I arrived at the zebra crossing and has able to cross to the other side of the road.
@Macart
I’m planning on telling Paul to extend his hols haha
I wonder where Petra is, I’m missing her posts. If you are reading Petra, let us know you are ok.
I meant to add to my earlier post that when I was forced to share a pavement with ‘Jezerna Rosa from Slovenia’ I thought of Heedtracker.
Glad to see Heedtracker is back!
Ruby 9.43
You make a great point about Neil. I think he is losing it right enough. He is not a great interviewer.
He is confrontational at best, and if a point is made which rebuffs his statement or figures, he simply says “forget about that what about this”.
Rather than try to debate the point he just jumps ship to something else. His style of continual interrupting and shouting is more noticeable nowadays. Mackay really had the measure of him, answering concisely and not afraid to stick the knife in and counter attack when he knew Neil was talking bollocks.
Did you see Sally Magnusson stutter and stammer her way through her interview with Mackay. Totally out of her depth, might be a good newsreader but a rubbish political interviewer. Embarrassing for her.
while out campaigning for SNP candidate Alistair Suttie, I encountered the Labour candidate Colin Davidson and his buddy Cllr Altany Craik during the Leven by election if that counts..
@Al Dossary
That’s not right, all dividends used to be taxable, but not subject to NI. So a small company would have paid corproation tax to leave dividends, and then if the dividends were taken, income tax would be payable taking into account other earnings.
What happened is the Conservatives allowed the first £5 k of dividends to be NON-taxable, to give a bonus to small businesses.
Common thing for people owning a small business was / is to pay income during the year at the LEL / ET so as to get a stamp but not pay emplyers or employees NI, and then if there’s enough profit – take it minus corporation tax s dividend.
It used to be in theory that you’d need to declare dividends during the year to pay out during the year, but that was relaxed – possibly because of the EU directorate on micro-entities designed to make life easier for us. I submit my accounts as a micro-entity.
Next link in the unionist black propaganda chain, SNP: HOW RUSSIA SUBVERTS BRITAIN. Fake news goes legit. Spin it boys!
I thought this deserved a re-post for Newbies to Wings.
It’s about the Scottish Budget this week.
The Scottish Finance Minister Derek Mackay gives Andrew Neil a lesson in arithmetic, politics – and good manners. 🙂
TV interview.
link to tinyurl.com
Sadly much of the money poured into local authorities goes to funding gross inefficiency and fraud. Eradicating fraud however is in particular an initiative that is long overdue. Let us hope that the SNP will eventually do something about it.
@Willie
===========
IF we can get a lot of Labour councillors thrown out of office that will go a long way to reducing fraud.
Yes Stu. Getting the rotten Labour apples cleared out is looking overdue. But the Police and audi TR task team should be in rooting out the corrupt officials. If we do not do this, and we are on our third SNPadministration, then we are s bad as the Labour Party.
Do these arseholes never get fed up with the lies. Day after day after day. Give us a break from this pish please, we can see through it, your only embarrassing yourselves.
Stop the shit unionist journalism its becoming very tiresome, you’ll end up with no circulation in Scotland at all, god give me strength.