Interview with the vampire
Among supporters of a Yes vote this site has often been an outspoken defender of Newsnight Scotland’s Gordon Brewer. Sometimes prone to lapsing into a poor impersonation of Jeremy Paxman, all hectoring and interrupting and not listening, on top form the BBC man is in our book the finest inquisitor of politicians in the UK, with only Bernand Ponsonby of STV capable of giving him a run for his money.
After last night, we’ve rarely felt more vindicated.
Interrogating the hapless Scottish Labour “leader” Johann Lamont on her abysmal ‘Devo Nano’ plans, Brewer was perhaps shooting into an open goal. But nevertheless, the forensic, meticulous destruction he visited on the unfortunate Lamont was chilling.
Like a cat toying evilly with an injured sparrow, Brewer carefully dialled back the full-on aggression and gave her just enough rope to hang herself with, butting in only when Lamont tried desperately to veer away from the subject and launch into a diatribe against the SNP. The result, if we might mix our metaphors, was a grisly trainwreck of jaw-dropping proportions.
We honestly think transcribing the entire interview would be a feat beyond human endurance – beyond ours, for sure. We urge readers to steel themselves and watch every last second of it. But the most crucial moment came early, at 1m 25s:
“We believe very strongly the United Kingdom is about sharing risk and resources, it is about pooling risk, and it is about redistributing out of better-off parts of the United Kingdom into poorer bits.”
We don’t know how much clearer anyone could want it. We’ve been pointing out the true meaning of “pooling and sharing resources” for the best part of a year now, but last night Lamont finally said directly what’s previously only been implied – staying in the UK means moving money from richer regions to poorer ones.
And which are the richer and poorer regions?
Lamont could hardly have spelled it out any more ambiguously: vote No, elect a Labour government and that government will redistribute money out of Scotland and into Wales, Northern Ireland, the north of England and anywhere else there might be a few votes to be won.
Of course, if you’re that strange British-nationalist variety of socialist, where “solidarity” encompasses Dundee and Derby but ends abruptly at Dover, there’s a perfectly legitimate argument to be made for that approach. But Labour don’t have the courage to actually come out and say to Scots “vote for us and we’ll take your money away and give it to the East Midlands”.
At least, normally they don’t. But last night a perfectly-judged piece of incisive, almost predatory interviewing, coupled with a hopelessly out-of-her-depth politician flapping desperately trying to defend an indefensible and incoherent shambles of a policy, saw the people of Scotland accidentally told the unvarnished truth right up front.
If we still vote No, let there be no shocked protesting about what follows.
Shocking , how do these people ever get into positions of power.
I like how JoLa has been using Morticia Addams’ makeup stylist. It just adds to the overall bloodsucking effect.
Superb Rev, thanks for this. It really cheered me up. Ah had tae watch it and oh my god, what a disaster for Johann Lamont and the liebour party in Scotland. A car crash of the highest order. Gordon Brewer couldnae hide his disbelief at the shite that was being spouted. Nothing in Labour’s Devo zero proposals are worth a feck just a big a muddle of words that don’t stand upty scrutiny. The bottom line….Jam tomorrow. YES an inevitability. Think ah might watch it again maybe record Gordy’s expletives…..:)
From link to weegingerdug.wordpress.com
Paul Kavanagh has it right:
“Labour’s just blown its last chance.
Too little, too late, a lot of words saying nothing at all.
Vote no and get nothing.
Vote yes and get all the powers Scotland could ever need – for real”
Does that mean that in the whole UK, Scotland is the only part that the wealth is taken from, as we all know that London and the SE is a giant suction machine, a black hole, which is subsidised to the tune of billions!
Oh dear me.
Jola was acting like she hadn’t really read the paper, never mind understood it, and had to rely on a Readers’ Digest summary or a briefing prep by those had written it.
It was a bit like one of these footballer written columns in the redtops which used to be marked “as told to Pat Roller.”
I believe that a Rangers and Scotland winger, who was sent home from the World Cup in Argentina 1978 for tested positive to an accidentally taken medicine, was being interviewed by a mate of mine on BBC radio Scotland to discus his autobiography. Before the interview began, he asked the interviewer what was in the book as he hadn’t actually read it. At least he was honest.
@ Malc says:
“Shocking , how do these people ever get into positions of power?”
Via the paper, scissor, rock, among the time served?
I watched the NNS interview this morning, mouth wide open. It’s a classic.
What language was Jo-La speaking? I recognised some of the words but they seemed to be coming out in the wrong order. Gordon Brewer’s face was a picture.
If you know any Scottish Labour supporters, be nice to them today. Give them a wee hug. They must be hurting inside.
If I was an English Labour supporter, I’d be deeply concerned about the London HQ who signed off on that document (after all, SLAB aren’t genetically programmed to have written it all themselves).
Scotland may be in ‘third place’ by economic indicators… But it’s incorrect. Much of the wealth flows south below the line (meaning the money earned in Scotland drifts out of Scotland)
Let’s look a it another way, employment in Scotland is higher, but average salary in Scotland is not ‘in third place’
By infrastructure, equality, housing and other economic circumstances, Scotland as a country of 5 million is massively impoverished compared to England generally.
There has to be some proper analysis done to see how the money is earned on Scotland and what percentage actually stays there.
I actually watched the whole interview and at the end I knew I knew even less than what I thought I knew before.
Is that what happens when you keek into a black hole?
I find it incredible that Johann Lamont is the best that the Labour Party can come up with. She is forever totally out of her depth when questioned on even the mildest of facts.
Apart from the lies and spin , her interviews are embarrassing for every Scot watching.
You’ve also got to look at those figures and adjust London & the South East to a ‘normalised’ finance sector (as standard and poor suggested in their report on Scotland, hinting that the UK economy was overly reliant on finance) and they drop massively, leaving Scotland way out in front.
All the credit reference agencies know it but don’t openly say it or reduce the UK credit rating accordingly because they make so much money in London. The govt and media all say about ‘too big to fail’ but never really go into depth about the problem. Nothing should be too big to fail and govt’s should never be ‘in hock’ to the finance sector. The Uk economy; and particularly London & the South East, is overly reliant on the finance sector and that is just asking for trouble, or should I say more trouble. This is one of the reasons the argument put forward that RBS will leave iScotland should be trumpeted as positive not negative, as it actually reduces debt from toxic balance sheets and reduces reliance on finance making the economy much stronger. Again standard and poor said that in their report.
Labour signed their own death warrant with their devo nonsense. Lamont signed her resignation last night. Now just working her notice.
That was good……JL confirming where we stand with Labour
Lamont was a disaster for labour last night. Didn’t know her taxation numbers. Didn’t understand pensions, no grasp of the relationship between Housing benefit and Universal Credit. No substance whatsoever from a person who thinks she can lead Scotland. This proposal was to please London labour cronies it was not for the people of Scotland.
@ BigSteveChisholm
I remember, I think it was a sketch by Les Dawson which had the punchline that a piece on the piano had all the right notes, just not in the right order.
Credit to Brewer (not something I say often) – he exposed her ignorance to the full, rendering it clear to the viewer that Lamont hadn’t a) had the slightest involvement in the construction of Labour’s prize dud document and b) hadn’t the remotest idea what she was talking about.
But will her ineptitude impinge upon the ‘consciousness’ (for want of a better word) of the likes of the Labour Unionists we saw in Kirkaldy last night (hello, man helpfully clad in a red jacket and helpfully positioned in the front row of the BBC audience!)? The type that said with sinister certainty that ‘the SNP isn’t a democratic party’ or stated indignantly that Alex Salmond was ‘allowed’ on the BBC?
He all but called her a blithering idiot, but you could see he was thinking it.
Lamont interview last night made me cheer. Even my wife, who is Russian, thought the woman was embarrassing. It was clear that Lamont didn’t understand tax, economics or what would happen if UK Labour changed tax thresholds.
There was much cheer to be had in the Referendum Debate. Mr Swinney as calm and measured as ever against ignorant ranting labour supporters. Overall the crowd taking zero nonsense from the smug Jackie Ballie.
Devo zero. Devolution of powers no sane politician will ever use. Any increase of tax would put Scotland at an immediate disadvantage and cause an acceleration of profession let alone the high wage earners. It would in effect turn Scotland as a feeder zone exporting talent to other areas of the UK. Who would do that?
The only usefulness I see is that it allows the YES side to argue that to really adjust the tax rates to suite your needs, what you need to be is a separate polity . i.e. independent.
I do not object to redistribution from rich to poor within a country. So that particular stance does not shock or offend me in any way. To that extent I do not share your point of view on that “admission” and I would actually support such a policy within an independent Scotland, as I do within the current UK
What is wrong with this is not the idea: it is the fact that it is a bigm, fat lie. The picture Ms Lamont paints of how the UK works bears no relation to reality whatsoever. Wealth is not distributed from rich to poor, anywhere in the UK. It is distributed from poor to rich, as the increasing inequality demonstrates.
Nobody in the UK has benefited from the oil, except the very wealthy and the big corporations. The wealth from all sources has been used to maintain very high levels of unemployment, and that is by design.
Labour’s proposals are predicated on the lie that the welfare state is dependent on westminster rule: I do not know which country they are living in but ain’t the UK where that system is being dismantled before our eyes. Later in the document their view of the value of that is made plain when we are assured that the “work programme” (an integral part of the propaganda which supports that dismantling, by pretending that the poor are poor because they are unskilled and lazy, rather than because high unemployment is a deliberate and conscious policy) should be devolved: not, you will note, abolished because it is costly and worse than useless.
Ms Lamont pretends that there is a labour party we could support: there isn’t. Most of us know that by now.
Let us not attack a principle which is respectable: but rather expose the lie that labour and/or the UK supports that principle. For me it that principle itself which partly informs my intention to vote yes: because I wish to live in a society which acts to increase equality and prosperity. Labour just don’t. Not any more
Incoming: Devo Nano revised to Devo WTF
Bugger (the Panda):
Right sketch, wrong comedian. It was Eric Morecambe in a sketch with André Previn.
I know what I’d like to happen in September – a resounding Yes. Much water has to flow down the Tweed before then.
However, I feel I have to say this …. we are fortunate in this campaign, at this point is history even, to have some totally inept and bungling characters in the BetterTogether camp! It sometimes seems too good to be true that BT have such a collection of numpties lined up against Independence.
I could be accused of crude name calling. That said, I do believe that on 19th September we could be celebrating a Yes win and contributing factor to that will have been the negative, uninspiring, ill thought through tactics of BetterTogether’s incompetent individuals.
Keep up the good work, Johann et al!
Its all about UKOK project fear now, strength, power, clout, part of something bigger, safer, clear choices, leap in dark or safety in UKOK. That’s all Bliar MacDougall kept blurting out last night on STV. To be fair even that guy’s starting to look embarrassed with his own campaign plus that game changer/comic Eddie Izard’s coming up to make Scotland vote no too. What a bunch.
I watched both interviews, don’t forget there is also a Scotland Tonight interview as well. Brewer did a fine job, but neither of the interviews touched on two key areas. None of them really got stuck into the problem of Labour MPs resistance to further devolution, or just as importantly whether this is now Labour policy and fully supported at a UK level?
Unless it is all this talk is nonsense. These proposals are a mess and are all about trying to fool some Labour voters out of a YES vote by dangling the carrots of taxing the rich and abolishing the bedroom tax. YES will have a field day for the next six months picking this nonsense apart.
I have never seen anyone so obviously incompetent being described as a “leader”.
The last few days have caused permanent damge to my lower jaw. It may have to be wired shut for the next 6 months.
Nothing else needs to be said regarding the “devolution” proposals – just show the clip.
I don’t know how I got past a couple of minutes of that rubbish. We could unilaterally put taxes up, but, not down below rUK level! What sort of power is that?
She proposes more responsibility, but, no benefit whatsoever.
She is definitely not genetically programmed to think never mind make policy.
‘Like a cat toying evilly with an injured sparrow’
Written like a man who keeps pet rodents 🙂
The clearest indicator in all this is the downward spiral has no end in sight. Local Labour Councils will be next to get their come-uppance as the injured sparrows come home to roost!
I never saw this last night but my god that was actually quite disturbing.
As pointed out by Rev, this isn’t about what’s best for Scotland and our people. It’s about what’s best for New Labour.
Come on folks surely you can all see now where SLAB’s loyalty sits?
Pooling & sharing of resources in it’s simplest form is taking money away from Scotland to buy votes elsewhere in the UK to further New Labour careerists at ANY cost.
FFS folks. As a lifelong Labour voter even I can see what the current incumbents of Labour have become. They do not govern for the people any more, they govern for their own self interests under the false flag of socialism.
Vote no if you will but as I’ve said time & time again. I will not entertain one single complaint from any of you when they strip power from the Scottish Government, hand it to Labour controlled councils and the inevitable “pooling & sharing” is executed with great gusto.
We all have a chance to put this nonsense to bed. I suggest we take it.
Eric says:
‘Scotland may be in ‘third place’ by economic indicators… But it’s incorrect. Much of the wealth flows south below the line (meaning the money earned in Scotland drifts out of Scotland)’
Absolutely right Eric, there’s so much thats not taken into account. Remember last year when we tried to find out how much is paid into treasury coffers with VAT to find that a regional breakdown is not available. Paul Kavanagh wrote about it at the time.
I can’t remember the figures, but I’m sure a rough estimate was somewhere between £1-2 billion raised per annum on VAT from our average weekly shop alone.
It’s also a strange anomaly that when we see comparison figures for Scotland against the rUK that the rUK’s figures always contain 100% of oil revenues while Scottish figures are often presented as ‘without oil’ and ‘with a geographical share’. How about seeing the rUK figures without oil revenues.
Another aspect of Scotland… We export our talent (generally higher earners and spenders) and we import retirees looking for a property bargain and a quieter life. (Generally lower earners and spenders)
If we don’t halt this imbalance soon, Scotland will reach an economic rubicon.
In the meantime, Boris is insisting that the jam should continue to be heaped on London, and we should rely on it trickling out??
We are being screwed by the current politics and power loci . There needs to be seismic shift to break us out of this economic abuse.
Osbornes Aupair / Nanny tax break jam will not be nearly as sweet in Scotland as in the South East and London.
Has anyone sent the Labour document to the Campaign for Plain English yet? It would be a shoo-in for their Golden Bull Award!
Got this brilliant piece through from Bella Caledonia.
Coming from a slightly different angle form that of the Rev.
It’s titled “Know Your Place” and it lets you know exactly where you stand within the UK.
It’s a must look :-
link to bellacaledonia.org.uk
Question for you Rev.
Is Labour’s u-turn on devo max (ie less powers than they talked about last year) a direct result of Westminster Labour saying to SLAB, ‘get stuffed, you’re not dictating to us what extra powers you should have’ ?
JoLa’s devo nothing will now be buried as planned as the budget is today. Cant have heehaw being scrutinised every day this week can we. On a happier note, Scotland’s unemployment is 6.9% and UK is 7.2%. Would be good to see the breakdown of the English regions.
Oh dear god!
Can I just take this opportunity to thank the ‘wee Scottish wing of the labour party’ from removing this wuman from a position where she was allowed to educate our means.
FFS!
As someone who is a constant critic of the B.B.C reporting of the referendum debate, so I hardly ever watch their programmes, this was an eye-opener. Thanks for the link, and could it be a foretaste of something better to come. I won’t hold my breath, but maybe, just maybe.
@Fiona – well said. Redistributing the wealth of Scotland to the rich in the South East might have been a better way of stating Labour’s Devo Minus proposals. We can do so much better than this.
“weans”
“I do not object to redistribution from rich to poor within a country. So that particular stance does not shock or offend me in any way. To that extent I do not share your point of view on that “admission” and I would actually support such a policy within an independent Scotland, as I do within the current UK”
Me too. I point out in the article that there’s a perfectly legitimate honest argument to be made for it. But Labour are making a DIShonest argument, implying one thing while actually planning the opposite.
@tartan fever
Thanks. The other problem I have is that Scotland continue to have the highest per capita spend on lottery, cigs, gambling and alcohol, but get a lower percentage of the tax revenue back… (Forget the good causes in the lottery. ).
As a country, our citizens pay tax which doesn’t get used on the good of the country., to boost the economy.
It’s time some independent forensic economists / accountants really delved into Scotland’s finances and missed opportunities. GERS is an incomplete picture.
I remember, I think it was a sketch by Les Dawson which had the punchline that a piece on the piano had all the right notes, just not in the right order.
From perhaps the most famous sketch in British TV comedy history, Morecambe & Wise and Andrew Preview; Christmas Show 1971.
The Show also features the second best sketch in British TV comedy history; ‘Beer From Candlesticks’, written by; Brotyboy.
“Right sketch, wrong comedian.”
This is the sketch that sums up devo max:
link to youtube.com
Must never, ever, ever be allowed near any post of responsibility.
On any account. OMG :O
“Is Labour’s u-turn on devo max (ie less powers than they talked about last year) a direct result of Westminster Labour saying to SLAB, ‘get stuffed, you’re not dictating to us what extra powers you should have’?”
That would be my assessment of it, yes.
The au-pair / nanny tax is a stealth redistribution. Poor to better-off AND North to South … Think about it.
Again it is Westminster labour that are pulling the strings.
Project fear is being led by A.Darling the Hycenth Bucket of the NO campaign.I am AFRAID to get up in the morning for fear of being run down by a car while I am walking on they pavement.That’s about the only thing A.Darling has not told us to be frightened of if we vote YES.
Well watched the train wreck last night, still cant believe what I watched. The wife, who is usually a ‘mere observer’ with Newsnight, even laughed out stating that she couldn’t understand what Lamont was on about. Probably a recurring theme in many homes that tuned in last night.
It was clear from watching Lamont’s answers that she didn’t actually understand what she was told to trot out, to the body language and telling of all her tell tale neck flushing (something that happens when someone is not telling the truth and/or doesn’t understand fully what they are saying – an old human resources lesson).
Listened to MS this morning (not all of it , I grant you), but it appears that Labour’s big event yesterday has been airbrushed out as a non happening as not much, if any mention. Surely some mention on the Call in programme with Louise White? Nope subject was the young voting in the referendum and why they are loosing interest.
Interestingly one reason why the youth were switching off, was the lack of information. Which is something that Better together have been pushing, but not actually providing. One shocking caller stated that her daughter was going to vote No as she had heard that an Independent Scotland would get rid of the NHS (I kid you not, my poor jaw was just recovering from dropping on the floor last night and promptly dropped yet again!)
Is it official labours home rule(cant say the other word,its toxic)plans have been signed off,and this document is what they go to the party conference with?
Has anyone told the voters in London and the Southeast that Labour plan to pool and share their resources outwards until all of the country is equal. No question mark needed.
The contradiction of the “BeTory Together” campaign…
We don’t want to spilt this great country in half.
You’re only 5 million people who need to be controlled.
@Fiona;9.45am
Phew, thank you for finding the words.
I am not a fan for Gordon Brewer, or the style of interview he often seeks to undertake.
The fact is Johann Lamont could have interviewed herself and still come across as an economic basket case. Her thoughts were so one sided and convoluted (basically to limit Scotland and/or the SNP) that only a dogmatic political idiot would view them as robust, considered policy.
This remind me of Anas Sarwar last year getting grilled from Brewer on the same subject.
link to m.youtube.com
“I don’t agree with you but I’m a Labour politician”
That line tickled me a bit.
Vote No – it’s better for Labour and we want your money would at least be honest.
I’ll be astonished if folk can’t see this for what it is – worse than nothing.
Well Gordon,the thing is.. you see.. I mean what we want we want other people to want it first. Naw but… Oh aye but.. what we think is what Westminster thinks… No no no..How do you mean?.. Broad shoulders and all that, with universal benefits for some…A non sequitur?…well I suppose aye….
Well, I think that went well. ..Guys..Guys?
The full report (if there is one) is still not up on the Labour in Scotland website.
Is it just me? Was Prof Curtice struggling to contain his amusement while being interviewed on NNS last night?
at 19.30 and 20.35
link to bbc.co.uk
@Eric
link to webcache.googleusercontent.com
“The booklet I have had prepared and printed, setting out the details of the Government’s expenditure and revenue in Scotland, I judge that it is just what is needed at present in our campaign to maintain our initiative and undermine the other parties.”
@Edward
“One shocking caller stated that her daughter was going to vote No as she had heard that an Independent Scotland would get rid of the NHS (I kid you not, my poor jaw was just recovering from dropping on the floor last night and promptly dropped yet again!)”
Hence the crucial requirement for an equivalent barrage of our own soundbites out there. At the moment the unionist use propaganda soundbites better that we do… Brian Taylor and Jackie Baillie are two classic examples out of many.
YES will always come out ahead in detailed rationale analysis and online. NO are winning on newspaper headlines and TV soundbites.
We need to come out from under our tortoise shell shield formation, (classic roman) and start firing our trebuchet (French)
When I see things like this, or pretty much any FMQs, I really do wonder if it’s all an elaborate scheme to actually frighten the undecideds who aren’t keen on Salmond into voting no.
Because can you honestly see anyone other than the staunchest party die-hards actually wanting Scotland to represented to the world by Lamont, Rennie or Davidson? Clearly they will look at this and think – ‘If that’s the best we’ve got to offer, I’ll vote no and stick with what we’ve got’.
@Mosstrooper
Hahaha, magic. Its like the scene in The Thick of It where the hapless Minister has a terrible interview and in the wings(!) her SPADs are making ‘Noose round the neck’ and ‘Bullet through the head’ signs to each other.
Minister gets up and walks over after the Interview and says “Oh that was bad wasnt it?” and they both say “Oh No no, it was fine. It was good..it was great actually” knowing full well shes for the bump.
I would never have believed that you could show in only 12 minutes and 35 seconds why Scottish Labour is not capable of running a bath never mind a country.
God help us if these people ever get into power.
How can anyone fail to recognise that what Lamont and Labour
have done is turn the devolutionary amplifier up to 11.
This is indeed their Spinal Tap moment.
Just a thought, theres all this talk about how David Cameron could be the ‘Prime Minister who lost Scotland!’.
Imagine being the Scottish Labour leeader who lost Scotland?
Oh dear. I watched the Brewer interview.
I didn’t understand anything Ms Lamont said.
This is very very embarrassing. She is an insult to all teachers! She is an insult to all of us.
And to herself!
What was astonishing about the whole report from Scottish Labour yesterday was the complete lack of vision for Scotland.
There was no mention of transport projects, education reforms, Scottish NHS, employment and jobs, defence projects and jobs, energy and renewables.
The two policies she did talk about were tax raising powers and housing benefit.
The tax policy is unworkable and as for housing benefit, it can’t be paid separately, it is getting integrated into the new Universal Credit payment.
“Alex Beveridge says:
10:01 am
“As someone who is a constant critic of the B.B.C reporting of the referendum debate, so I hardly ever watch their programmes, this was an eye-opener. Thanks for the link, and could it be a foretaste of something better to come. I won’t hold my breath, but maybe, just maybe.”
Here’s hoping! I don’t watch that much on BBC now because, usually, I find myself wanting to throw something heavy at the tv.
Over the past couple of weeks, however, I have noticed a bit of a change. On radio (GMS)for example, I have noticed Gary Robertson and Hayley Millar getting their teeth into Ming Campbell and Jim Murphy and I heard Isobel Fraser’s interview with Tariq Ali where he was allowed to say exactly what he wanted without interruption. I do fear for their jobs at the Beeb!
Gordon Brewer, in this interview, at long last looked as though he was conducting an impartial interview by challenging the nonsense. I hope it continues.
Am I correct in deducing from Ms Lamont’s explanation that the Scots can raise tax but can’t reduce it because we cant have a competitive advantage over rUK?
If so, we are in the position where part of our wealth will be redistributed to other poorer areas of the UK and if we want to spend more than the Scottish Budget we have to increase our taxes.
In effect this is double taxation to stay in the Union.
@DougtheDug
The full report I understand is coming out at their conference in Perth on Saturday.
I thought bloodsports were illegal
I especially liked (for entertainment value) her statement “The power we’ve got is not to cut below the UK rate”
Listen very carefully at around 9:07. You will hear someone laughing.
At 7min 50s Lamont reveals with acute clarity that she has absolutely no idea how this stupid income tax proposal would actually work.
This is a policy that has been 2 years in the making, but her body language says that she hasn’t read the brief sufficiently to even understand what it means. She even listens to Brewer as if she’s learning some of it from him!
She claims at one point that changing income tax levels unilaterally would cause the cost of pensions to go up.
This is one of the most stupid, illogical, nonsensical things she has ever said.
Keep talking Lamont; you are doing us all a favour by demonstrating to the electorate why you are simply too incompetent to be leading anything more complicated than a conga line at the bingo.
I want to show my colleague this interview, versus a good, positive, competent Alex Salmond one. Can anyone suggest a good recent example please? Not too long!
If Brewer’s that good at his job, why has he been dropped right at the end of the BetterTogetherBBC vote No road or is Brewer Scotland’s very own Darth Vader? Brewer’s been putting the bettertogether boot in to Scottish democracy for a decade say but now we have Sarah Smith replacing him. And Sarah’s all about vote NO Channel 4, her mum’s a Labour House of Lords lifer, dad former Labour leader the late John Smith, she left Scotland decades ago… Surely no bias there then.
Lamont looked like she was simply getting her nails done on her STV interview last night, so its not hard to see what the BBC are up to now.
Graeme says:
‘Am I correct in deducing from Ms Lamont’s explanation that the Scots can raise tax but can’t reduce it because we cant have a competitive advantage over rUK?’
Yep, thats it in a nutshell.
Kalmar
Here you go…
link to newstatesman.com
🙂
Just did a YouGov survey and it was centred on the weatherman video on Youtube. That was all they were asking.
Are the South starting to take notice?
I missed this last night, but did notice that John McKay was giving her no quarter on STV.
You have to understand though that politics is not in her genes.
I think this is tremendous. That video should be compulsory viewing before being allowed a vote. That would guarantee a yes. I’m looking forward to the Tory one where the secret hope for a yes (subsequent plan to do something sneaky about the oil) causes another cluster bomb effect.
BBC Scotland debater of the year in action.
Looked extremely unsure of what she was talking about.
Wonder who the experts are that they keeps using as back up?
Albalha:
The full report I understand is coming out at their conference in Perth on Saturday.
Thanks, but it’s an odd bit of media management. By releasing the summary on-line days beforehand they’ve lost any “Ta-Da” impact of releasing the report at the conference because everyone already knows what they’re proposing.
You’d have thought they’d have had the gumption to announce the release date of the full report on their web-site to try and crank up any remaining media interest in the full report and their conference.
Sounds like she’s chewin a caramel.
Devo-JoLa
Mind you Alistair Darling as a Labour MP will have to defend this odorous pile of shyte. Now isn’t that going to be fun to watch?
John McKay asked Lamont about her tax aye thone rich bastirts, £100+ million 50% tax take increase nonsense and how it is in fact £10 million in Scotland but she swatted it aside and McKay went limp.
3/10 STV
The repeated appeal to authority is shocking. So can we expect to see all this “advice” from “experts”. We need to because it is quite clear Ms Lamont has not read it
If anything shows up how utterly corrupt & devoid of talent or integrity the “Scottish” Labour party is then this is it.
It simply beggars belief that someone of such limited intelligence got the position of “leader” unless nepotism & corruption were the only skills required.
She’s simply unemployable & its no wonder that the real Labour party (ie the one in England) totally ignore Scotland. She’s more clueless than the racist inbred UKIP buffoons that are outed from time to time and that’s more than embarrassing, its a bloody scandal.
JL also came out with a line about the possibility of a nationalist government in Scotland reducing taxes and breaking up the UK via the back door (or words to that effect).
What I got from that was that it would be OK for a Unionist government to reduce taxes but not a Scottish Nationalist government.
@DougTheDug
Releasing it right before the Budget too…coincidence?
They get to say “We have set out our proposals…its no our fault you haveneae read them!”
Theyre no even worth talking about now, just a total embarrasment. This is an On the Waterfront moment for Scottish Labour.
@Graeme McCormick
Yep, that’s pretty much it top to bottom.
She’s right about one thing though. It’ll be guaranteed to re-invigorate people’s perception of how this devolution thingy works. 🙂
Mince alert!
I thought that this was worth preserving for posterity…
link to archive.is
🙂
I love the bit at the start, where she “explains” why they ended up not devolving all income tax, and what she says pretty much amounts to “the pensions industry said not to do it, so we decided not to do it.” No gathering of multiple viewpoints, no scrutiny of the pension industry claims, just “oh well, if they’re saying that then it must be true.”
What an absolute buffoon. Scottish Labour are currently nothing but a danger to Scotland. Their obsession with the union means they would rather put Scotland in a detrimental position than entertain the idea that we might be better off running things ourselves.
So, to summarise the car crash of a devo nano announcement and the awful interviews with Lamont last night, Scotland will be able to raise the higher rate of income tax, in order to put England at an advantage and Scotland at a disadvantage. Scotland however, will not be allowed to lower said tax to put Scotland at an advantage, as people in England might not like that.
Well done Gordon Brewer for completely nailing that point. It is now clear, that Labour care nothing for Scotland, they are the charlatans of the Scottish political world, and Lamont is their snake oil salesman.
Clearly, judging by the lack of substance in their new devo Nano proposals, Labour in Scotland have been told, to shut the f up by Labour in London.
@ Vestas.
They have given up on argument and have decided instead to embody the “too wee, too poor, and too stupid” mantra in the shape of the Scottish Labour leader. It is easier to show than to tell, it seems 😀
I wonder what wee Dougie Alexander thinks of this bold and brave Devo-Nano proposition
Heedtracker – I think that’s harsh on John McKay. When she started waffling about the SNP, he nipped it right in the bud and made sure the focus remained on Labour’s proposals. Not as brutal as Brewer’s interview perhaps, but a decent job.
This is the most cringeworthy interview I have ever seen.
I am sure this footage will be used by Media training organisations as it has everything:
Interviewer- let them talk and give them enough rope, come back slowly, set a few traps, build it up and then go for the kill.
Interviewee- what not to do. Johann failed- she didn’t know her subject, couldn’t think/ speak on the hoof, she used language and terms even an experienced interviewer could not understand. She got harassed and didn’t respond effectively( the questioning did not comply with her rehearsed script). Body language- dire.
The Scotland Tonight interview was similarly embarrassing, although the interviewer, Johann Mackay, either through inexperience, sympathy or empathy for her cause, did not exploit the weaknesses very well.
SLAB advisors have a lot to answer for: I would have thought that after the first interview, whilst enroute to the second venue, they would have reviewed the first performance and given constructive feedback. She either got poor feedback or ignored it completely.
Any reasonable person watching these interviews, including SLAB and UK Labour comrades will be embarrassed for the woman, and the cause. Johann’s days as leader are surely numbered?
The SLAB conference this weekend will be interesting.
Jola: look we just dae as were telt by the big London guys and look at us. You lot just dae whit we tell yie and look where we got yies, everything wiz goin fine till they bloody nats showed up and started tellin the truth.
Just dae whit somebody frae the big smoke tells yie keep your mooth shut yer heed doon and there ye ur, were better the GITHER.
Were the berries!
If she had the slightest bit of self awareness about her she would resign after that debacle.
Not that I want her out of her job, but really how can she remain. For the first time in ages she’s crawled out of her bunker, the lights have sprung into life and Brewer has virtually said ‘All right Lamont your time’s up’.
Dead right, Brewer’s approach gave Lamont all the rope she needed to hang herself 10 times over. This is the approach that Nicola *should* have taken a few weeks ago…when Lamont isn’t stood in front of her prepared script she flounders badly and stands exposed for the political pygmy she is. No offence to pygmies by the way, a fine body of men and women I’m sure.
It was an absolute car crash of an inept Lamont.Once more Slab voters must be cringing, and hopefully saying, enough is enough, we are moving over right now!
ha ha ha Sorry it took me a wee while before could stop
laughing you cab just see her backroom staff their head in their hands doing a private Fraser WERE DOOMED! DOOMED AH TELL YE!
Seriously it does prove one thing she come away with recently there really are some people in Scotland who are genetically
made to make political decisions.
someone going to tell her?
Rev,most crucial moment 1.25, try 0.20+ 1.00 Pensions & Saveings ( give me a moment I,ll get back to that) then waffle waffle on Taxes, this happens a lot of the time Pensions/Saveings are avoided.
I watched that, and at the end, said to myself, “Labour are f**ked”.
If Labour voters were waiting to see what further significant devo powers their party was prepared to offer as part of a new devo settlement then I think they have been given an unequivocal answer from Labour–NOTHING.
Now, given that many Labour voters will have been holding off making a decision until Labour’s new devo proposals was announced, I think we can expect now to see a significant rise in the YES vote over the next few weeks and months.
The truth is now bare for all to see. All the Westminster parties have given Scotland as much devolution as they are prepared to. That is why they ensured Devo Max (the option favoured by most Scots) was removed from the ballot paper.
Labour voters if you still wish the Scottish Parliament ot have devo max, you now know what you have to do.
I’m glad Mr Brewer allowed Ms Lamont to retain at least some dignity.Her policies,her knowledge of them and her ability to defend them are so pitifully week that Mr Brewer could have really humiliated her last night had he chosen.And that’s without touching on all the powers Scots say they want,but she is excluding.He should really have stopped the interview after a couple of minutes and told her to go away and have a wee think.But that’s not his job.The best Ms Lamont can do is to do and say as little as possible.To keep out the limelight for the next six months.I don’t know what she’ll do after that.Try to hold on to her seat I suppose.She certainly won’t be allowed to pretend she is a leader of anything.
If there is anyone left within SLab who has any common decency, please, please, do the right thing – put this wretched creature out of her misery.
When is her big speech? Whenever: get up and walk; show her a big red card; do whatever it takes, but please get a grip. She is a national embarrassment.
@Edward – I hadn’t noticed her neck initially (I’m transfixed by those drawn-on pointy eyebrows!) but if you fast scroll the video you can see it getting progressively redder and redder. Just like the debate with Nicola, where her face makeup a la funeral home white covered how red and flustered she really was. The red (brass) neck was the definite giveaway!
Good article from George Kerevan in the Hootsmon:
link to scotsman.com
How did Lamont get elected as leader of SLAB, I’m assuming it was some kind of raffle, surely no one in their right mind would vote for such a vacuous ill informed individual. She’s the Sarah Palin of Scottish politics but without the looks obviously.
Listening to this as I type, has Johann forgotten that there is a referendum, because the whole argument seemed to hinge on a 2016 election.
I thought poorly about her day one when she was running around putting herself forward as a new leader in the place if Ian Gray and somehow I think the kids remain to be better educated as long as she remains a LABOUR POLITICIAN, too wee, too poor and badly educated English Teacher as well.
Yup, the only clear thing I could decipher from that drivel was: Union comes first, Scotland last. Why oh why are these people, who were born here, live and work here, will probably die here, and have children who will probably do the exact same, SO obsessed with trying to help folk in neighbouring countries to the detriment of the people of Scotland? Truly staggering…
@Eric
Nae mair Queenbury rules bollox. A severe boot in the Clangers every time. Language of the streets..
Ed: Jo – can I call you Jo? – these plans you have for more devolution? Here’s what I’d like. Basically, you can’t have anything important.
JoLa: what if we give them the power to raise but not lower income tax?
Ed: there we go, I knew we’d find a solution. Now off you go, I’ve got an election to win.
Her media handler has been brushing up her hand gesture skills.
” keep them together Johann, it makes you look more sincere..ok clasp them sometimes.. thats it …lower your chin…tone of voice Johann…ok…and…hands up …now down… ach whatever..”
link to gifsforum.com
Apologies if this has already been said; Labour needs London even more than Scotland to ever be elected at UK level. How will they manage to get elected in London if their policy is to take from the richest regions and give to the poorest?
Ah think JoLo believes the wording on Safety Matches,
JoLo they do burn Brightly,and behind the scene, Scottish Lab
at Westminster, Wee Duggie Alexander ( praticing the black art,s )Davidson / Murphy & the rest setting up they muppets
Slab MSPs,then move in to the void as a more credable Lab MSPs. Wheasels in a sack spring to mind.
This would be worth a ‘ridicule demonstration’ outside Labour’s conference this week-end. A few well crafted sound bites on banners for the TV cameras and MSM to pick up.
Reluctantly it takes me to my Machivalian scenario that they want to show us how incompetent they are, either because they secretly want independence but are putting on a show of bravado for their Westminster comrades, or they want to instil in the Scottish voters’ minds that there is a future risk of these people representing the Scottish Government. Aargh!
I spent the first couple of minutes feeling very stupid as I hadn’t a clue what she was saying. Then I realised that she hadn’t a clue what she was saying either.
Yesterday evening’s canvass in Possil
Yes 45 (many of whom are not on the register)
No 11 (The Right to Buy owners, mostly)
Undecided 23
Devo WTF! Like it
Summary: Devolve some income taxes that we can unilaterally only ever put up, never down mind you & we’ll reduce block grant by same amount.
P.S. Devolving all income taxes causes cost of pensions to go up. We don’t know why but some pension guy told us & we believed him.
P.P.S. Ed hasn’t approved this yet but if he did, none of this will come into effect anyway unless we win Westminster. And you haven’t voted for independence. And we haven’t changed our minds by then. Which we might. Cos it’s only ever going to make it into the manifesto. And that’s only a proposal, not a promise or guarantee.
Remember, you can always trust Labour to put the Union first.
@DougtheDug somewhere up there
Yea, I couldn’t make my min up whether it was Eric Morecambe or Les Dawson, who could play well and at the same time hitting a slew of off notes.
The André Prévin sketch
link to youtube.com
steven Seagull
jeez howzafur% do you know?
I need mind bleach
I’ve nothing. Sorry.
@Seasick Dave 11am
That piece in the Record about Johann and her family brought a wee tear to ma eye.
You lot oan here don’t understand her. She’s jist a normal wummin wae real feelins.
It would be useful if everybody in Scotland were to see that interview. I’ll distribute it as widely as I can.
A further reflection on the BBC’s Referendum Special last night was that I sensed a rubicon had been crossed in the question about BBC bias. There is no question that a sizeable minority if not a majority of the population are now onto this. There isn’t any longer the convenience of a hiding place and BBC Scotland know that.
Feck me!
I used to think Johann was bad, but I clearly overestimated her.
By way of an analogy; If two brush salespersons showed up to my doorstep today, neither of which I liked. Johann would be going home with a full suitcase and Alex would have my pound in his pocket.
That is a reason to feel confident about September.
Missed broadcast last night have just watched it. I almost felt sorry for JoLa, almost but didn’t I almost felt sick as she produced such purile and patronising “arguements” for DevoMax which all Unionist parties denounced before. Now that a Yes vote is possible and the scaremongering is failing we get this made up and unthought attempt to garner votes for the Union. Still nice to see the Westminster influence having control of the puppets strings
@ Doug Daniel, not buying this Mackay’s a good journo at all. Here in Aberdeen, UKOK Press and Journal follow through headline news today is “Vote NO for more tax raising powers” with worked photo of Lamont in noble/stateswomen/stance podium style. Propaganda is all about that why change UKOK overall impression thing.
Plus just got my Aberdeen City Council tax bill with letter from Aberdeen Labour council leader Davy Crockett, telling me to vote NO as Aberdeen is bettertogether in the UKOK. Nae happy.
I just don’t get the Labour party strategy with this
What they appear to be saying is this is Devomax and this is the end point for devolution. Which gives the Yes campaign a clear attack point
They also appear to be saying that they won’t devolve to Scotland something that would help Scotland. This gives the SNP a clear attack at an future Scottish Elections.
Final point. They have done this ahead of the Tories declaring their hand. What happens if the Tories say they will devolve 21% rather than 20% and that devolution could continue beyond this? Leaving aside if we believe them could the Tories portray themselves as the party of Devolution in Scotland? Have Labour shot themselves in both feet and in the head?
caz-m
I read the article on Lamont in the Record, frankly it was a ‘she is a wummin of the peeple’ piece, complete with cooking mince (as apposed to speaking it), just to give her that homely people feel. I though though it was spoilt by the obvious ‘holiday in a very warm country’ picture, which theses days not many can afford.
The Labour spin doctors have tried this before of feeding articles to friendly papers to try and bolster Lamont’s working class image
@Heedtracker
Send Barny Crocketts UKOK letter back to the council, with a letter asking them to keep council buisiness and the referendum as different issues
To be too fair to Johann, I too have been caught out , ill-prepared and out of my depth It is not nice but sometimes happens.
But I never stayed ill-prepared or out of my depth for 3 years. Lamont’s persistent child like performance speaks more about the powers that placed her there than her own ability. She is a lamb to a slaughter, by her own side.
I wonder why we were given such gifts as her and Darling as “leaders”. They have the charisma of a tramps shoe.
@ Edward
“I read the article on Lamont in the Record, frankly it was a ‘she is a wummin of the peeple’ piece, complete with cooking mince”
With a single glance?
heedtracker says:
“just got my Aberdeen City Council tax bill with letter from Aberdeen Labour council leader Davy Crockett, telling me to vote NO as Aberdeen is bettertogether in the UKOK.”
Someone teewted last night that there will be a stall in Aberdeen on Sat where you can sign a petition against Crocket & Co and return unwanted letters. Sorry don’t have more info – at work and no time to go look 🙂
Al
I think we have all been caught by the odd curve ball or a set of numbers that we didn’t expect. However, if I go in with my numbers and my brief I can explain the numbers and field the questions even if the message is not particularly welcome. Johann never seems to know her own numbers. She doesn’t come across as someone who owns her brief.
Good article by Ian Smart:
link to ianssmart.blogspot.co.uk
Watching The Budget and Osborne laying it on thick….help for emergency service folk blah blah … he made me laugh when he announced
“I announce a grant to the Magna Carta Trust on their 800th Anniversary to help teach the kids about that victory over robber baron led evil!”
square haggis says she sounds like she is chewin caramel, i think she looks like she is chewin a wasp, a great big angry hornety type of wasp. how can she look so angry? horrible woman.
If Brewer had interviewed in this style with Sturgeon or Swinney or any SNP member I would agree with your assessment of him Rev.
However, I’ve sat through numerous Newsnight programmes where his belligerence was intolerable.
One in particular, with Nicola Sturgeon over the EU advice, crossed the line for me. His aggressive body language, due to his frustration at being unable to break Nicola down was totally unacceptable and is on a par with the notorious Wark/Samond interview. I cancelled my license the next day after yet another mealy mouthed reply from the BBC to my complaint.
I do hope last night’s style of interview continues. To have a YES campaigner being able to put their points across as Lamont was allowed to, without a barrage of interruptions, will be a breath of fresh air. In such an environment they will flourish.
As for Lamont? I think it has all been said. I can’t even bring myself to pity her, and she is indeed to be pitied.
Budget: Emergency services fuel costs reduced in UK good!
Oil scare reserves / production target revised downwards. Osborne in budget says equivalent £1000 per head less in Scotland. Oh surprise, surprise 🙂
Here’s another albino british bulldog, albeit a more friendly one;
link to tinyurl.com
“Robert Peston, Business Editor for the BBC tweets: Osborne seems rather pleased that tax receipts from North Sea oil are falling more than earlier forecasts. I wonder why?”
A good week for Brewers all in…beer down in the budget!
It’s true right enough. If you put up the volume and listen very carefully you can hear someone cracking up with laughter.
Och, I meant to add that it happens at 9.07.
Thanks for the info XSticks! After Crokket’s ban on SNP Scots.gov from Aberdeen council property, it came as no surprise to see that idiot Wille Young on the line up of this vote No for more devo con/farce. Did you catch Davey Crockket telling the BBC that Aberdeen City council stuff would not be “prostituted” for politics?
Also, it’s never occurred to me before but it also explains why there are no Saltires flying anywhere over Aberdeen City council property, that we all pay for and Labour in Scotland think they own.
@Patron saint of cats
She’s goat the look of wan ae those severed heids dooked in formaldehyde, bunged intae a revolving fkn Cakestand.
Lamont at her lamentable best.. what a waste of space! Can you imagine her trying to communicate with foreign dignitaries?? They’d need to have someone translate her mumblings into English!!
Don’t know about this budget,but next years budget should be worth some comedy value,comedy gold indeed,2 months out from a general election,no Scottish oil or whisky revenue to rely on to pay for tax cuts.
You are right,someone is having a right good chortle in the background. 🙂
BBC Scotland straight in there with the ‘oil scare’ second punch to the stomach after Osborne had delivered a bloody nose to a helpless Scotland, who has both hands tied behind her back. The whole of the UK population were witnesses.
Who needs Lamont & Ruthie when these other two thugs can give us a proper doing?
By teatime we shall see another story being told after the SG get a wee word in.
As I watched this last night I got the impression that Mr Brewer might be a Wings fan!
It still staggers me that anyone in Scotland would still vote Labour, I have been in so many run down areas of this country that have been staunchly Labour for decades, maybe JL thinks we are all just as gullible.
Ken C at 1.03
To have constantly interrupted and prevented her from speaking would have been a kindness
Watching this budget,Scotland has to get rid of this lot.Vote Yes. Please.
Dave McEwan Hill says:
19 March, 2014 at 12:16 pm
“I’ll distribute it as widely as I can.”
I take it that you’ve recovered your contacts list now.
Sounded like JoLa had her man’s teeth in her mooth by mistake.
We’ve all been there.
If oil is that bad then the uk won’t be needing it then,will they? Whats left will go quite far amongst 5.3 million people,we don’t spend much in comparison to the uk as a whole.
D Fraser suggests £63M Barnett consequencial extra for Mr Swinney.
But making much of the oil scare (sombre voice included)
@ GH Graham “…too incompetent to be leading anything more complicated than a conga line at the bingo…”
Now this made me chuckle….
…. then I cried for my country. There are a dozen people on Wings who could do her job better.
http://www.referendumfaq.com
http://www.scotlandfaq.com
http://www.yesforscotland.com
Available free domains if anyone wants one.
Off topic : twitter is saying that 83% of students at an indyref debate at Dundee Angus College have just voted yes, up from 60% at the start. The debate featured Blair Jenkins, not sure who else.
Glad I’m not a no voter at that college, it must be a bit lonely.
Perhaps there is something wrong with me. Perhaps I have a temperature but I just felt so sorry for Johann Lamont as she tried to sell Labours ‘Diddy Devo’ (so called because it must have been put togther by the Diddy men.
I feel sorry for her because like the rest of us she can only think with the brains she’s got, but she has put herself in the position of trying to front up a nonsence. I wish the Labour grandees would let her retire and perghaps she can have a wee lie down.
I noted the promise of establishing lots of research and development centres in England…preparing the way for independence and possibility of key jobs going South perhaps.
PS:Listening to the J Beattie prog for about 15 minutes, they have broadcast the budget oil scare in various forms four times already.
I know I shouldn’t comment on her appearance but she is looking really haggard.
She came away with her ‘famous’ phrase – there’s a mature debate to had – blah blah blah.
Re getting rid of the NHS – I don’t think I even heard BT say that so where are they getting that idea from?
If anything it will be England that gets rid of their NHS.
I think some folk are beyond changing as they will not take the time to find out the correct info.
One of my students was considering voting No because of losing the BBC!! but then others started talking and she said ‘what is devolution?’
I just said you need to get more informed before making any decision.
@Eric
Just keep voting SNP, I trust John Swinney’s forensic brain and Wee Eck’s nous in the oil industry etc to know where to go ferreting after we vote Yes in September.
Remember, they have no residual instinct to let money slide to Westminster with that warm unionist glow Johann must feel, those Labour MSPs must have felt when they returned those unspent millions to the Treasury.
We HAVE to have the SNP in power at Independence as it is going to take time for the unionist parties to recalibrate their political antennas just for Scotland, and some may not survive the process. Once the SNP have done their jobs and he political landscape settles down, then, judged on their local body and European performances, we might begin to consider electing somebody else, maybe, possibly, perhaps.
BTW I also trust the Greens and SSP, if they get elected, to have Scotland’s interests at heart first and foremost. The LibDems might have to drop Tavish Scott off the side of a ferry in order to lift their eyes from just the Northern Isles mind.
A plot for a new Ann Cleves novel there.
John
I have.
The most devastating section was where Brewer was explaining incredulously that we would only have the tax ‘powers’ to put Scotland at a disadvantage, and not any that could put us at an advantage.
Lamont is only saying Uh-huh, Uh-huh, as if it only just dawned on her how ridiculous it was.
Or perhaps she originally wanted some genuine powers, but was put in her box by the UK leadership, and now has to try and defend a pig in a poke.
Surely Labour MSP’s must be absolutely embarrassed by these proposals.
Well Labour can’t say they weren’t warned about the consequences of watering down their interim proposals.
link to newstatesman.com
“the weaker Labour’s offer of more powers becomes, the greater the risk that significant numbers of the large pool of undecided voters will opt for independence. Equally, pollsters are finding that while the No vote has a healthy lead over those saying they will vote Yes, it may be softer than people realise. “Give us something to feel good about voting No” is a complaint heard in the focus groups.” – Feb 7th, 2014, Guy Lodge and both from IPPR’s ‘Devo More’ programme.
On last night’s Scotland Tonight John McKay, who implied he was still waiting to be excited by the referendum, asked Mr Blair McDougall when was Better Together going to inject “some colour” into their campaign. Mr McDougall responded immediately by reminding him that BT already had an input from David Bowie to add colour – I kid you not.
I reckon, judging by the expression on Blair Jenkins’ face, he couldn’t believe his luck when faced with such vacuous virtuosity.
‘Incompetent’ doesn’t come close to accurately describing the abject poverty of economic grasp displayed by Ms Lamont last night. Appalling.
I understood every word she didn’t say.
On Lamont’s performance, I can actually see a pattern forming that defines Lamont’s skills and it ain’t pretty
Taking all her ‘outings’ away from Holyrood, such as her performance against Nicola Sturgeon
link to youtube.com
Then the video at meeting in Penilee (I think), in which she just sat arms crossed as if switched off!
link to youtube.com
And finally some what prophetic a video clip from 2 years ago in which Andrew Neil asks Jim Murphy , who will lead the no campaign to save the union…………
I posted these yesterday, but they seems even more apt now.
Imperialism, as defined by the Dictionary of Human Geography, is “an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of dominance, and involving the extension of authority and control of one state or people over another.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Imperialism: A Study (1902), by John A. Hobson, is a politico–economic discourse about the negative financial, economic, and moral aspects of imperialism as a nationalistic business enterprise.
The “taproot of imperialism” is not in nationalist pride, but in capitalist oligarchy; and, as a form of economic organization, imperialism is unnecessary and immoral, the result of the mis-distribution of wealth in a capitalist society.
link to en.wikipedia.org
O/T
Just got the actual figures from the Dunoon husting. Meeting started with 219 people plus the platform party and Dunoon Observer folk and some latecomers came in .
Still stunned by the remark from Rob Shorthouse, when he was asked what independence meant, that “the independence debate was paying his mortgage and that is all I’m going to say about it”. As Rob is on more than £100k as Director of Communication for Better Together I understand that exactly.
However two people have this morning suggested to me that he didn’t seem to believe a word he was saying.
Edward
That’s the winner for me.
@msean
Next years budget…indeed but the last few budgets have been based on 3-5 year projected plans…it never takes a YES vote into consideration. “Move along Jock, nothing to see here”…wee Chancellor Michael Gove is gonna get a right scare in 2016 when he opens the shortbread tin and finds its empty.
@Edward
Brilliant 🙂
Watched the whole thing. What an insult to the Scottish public:
“Vote for us and we promise to …. talk between now and 2016 about what we’re going to do for you IF we manage to win power in the UK.”
They must think the voters are utter morons.
@Edward
Love it; shared on Facebook.
She’s cracking entertainment is wee Johan! Next time she comes tae the Pavilion,I’ll bee camped oot over night for front row tickets!
I don’t know why we would be surprised at this redistribution of wealth away from Scotland, it been happening for decades now, only this time we’ve a chance to do something about it, on September.
@ Edward
Had to share that, the clip is a classic.
Belief in the authority of Westminster has been one of the great confidence tricks of the Union.
Once that faith evaporates the sky’s the limit.
Fiona @ 0947 [& Rev Stu @ 1003]
Agree whole head and heartedly.
Peter Sneddon
It is a pity that the old Empire was knocked down.
We could have pelted her.
1:10 – Devolovolve….snigger.
These BT people organising a torch-lit vigil along Hadrian’s wall (miles away from the border) for Scots to stay… Maybe they are onto something.
Big parts of Northumbria are north of the wall, the sentiment remains: total disillusionment with Westminster. The London bubble just don’t see any of this. Scots can at least DO something about it, Cumbria and Northumbria can just watch in envy from the sidelines, and be the first to promote co-operation with an indy Scotland. If their spiteful Westminster government allows it.
The only experts in the field that Johann Lamont has consulted are uncastrated bovines.
GeWhat is devolvalol?? New word , new language only she understands, god helps us if they were in charge being sent to the Colonies would be better.
If they are going to redistribute the wealth can we have the HS2 link direct to Paris from Edinburgh? that would change our fortunes!
She’s like both the Krankies in one body – bargain for
Panto bookers, Its behind you – the breakaway to late for Lamontations.
And again on redistribution of wealth, have they found and dug up Robin Hood to try and get their popularity back, oh the Etonians will never let that happen, its still Ye Olde Merrie England with Barons, unfortunately they have fingers in pies in oor country big style, land ownership disparity, lack of jobs and revenues always go South.
James123 says:
How did Lamont get elected as leader of SLAB, I’m assuming it was some kind of raffle, surely no one in their right mind would vote for such a vacuous ill informed individual. She’s the Sarah Palin of Scottish politics but without the looks obviously
“the looks”?
Fussy bugger thinks he’s Rock Hudson :-]
I took the Rev’s advice, steeled myself and watched the whole interview.
What I learned from this car crash:
– Labour will not discuss how they would use the Scottish Parliament’s tax-varying powers ahead of the referendum. Why? Because they plan never to use them and saying so would be a vote loser. The flexibility not to do anything is meaningless.
– Johann doesn’t know the ins and outs of her own policy. That tells me she didn’t play a big part in shaping it – so who did? For example, she couldn’t explain the detail of what the pensions and savings companies consulted actually said. She also seemed astonished that if the parliament voted tax up, found out that that caused problems, then they couldn’t put them back down again.
– “Pooling and sharing resources” is the new phrase the No campaign have been told to use. Spotted this at least 3 times. The problem with the UK of course is that while the resources are being pooled they are not being shared in a manner that the Scottish people want – from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. This has gone on under Labour and Conservative governments since the start of the Union so much that we’re now the 4th most unequal country in the world. Vote No if you want that to get worse.
Actions to take:
– If you’re at a public meeting – ask the Labour panellist to spell out how they would use the tax-varying powers.
– Think up more scenarios where the rule against putting taxes down looks stupid. It shouldn’t be hard.
– If someone brings up this pooling and sharing resources trope, ask them if they think resources are shared fairly now and if not, how they will guarantee that the Westminster Parliament will share resources fairly in the future.
Please note that on Page 45 the URL to [97] doesn’t work.
“Please note that on Page 45 the URL to [97] doesn’t work.”
Cheers, will fix.