Lying to Scotland
Posted on
July 23, 2015 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
From a bizarre, rambling Torcuil Crichton column in today’s Daily Record:
It’s Torcuil Crichton, so we’d better check that, eh?
Below are the findings of a Panelbase poll we commissioned at the end of last month.
Oh look. In fact, Crichton’s claim isn’t only wrong, it’s the exact opposite of the truth.
Of the four main parties in Scotland, the SNP’s supporters are by far the MOST keen to pay more income tax to fund public services.
They’re actually the ONLY group with more people who want income tax increased than want it cut. SNP voters are TWICE as likely to be in favour of tax rises as Tories or Lib Dems, and almost 50% more likely than Labour voters.
As ever, readers, remain vigilant, and always ask yourselves a question:
The disintegration of the Labour party comes as no surprise to us, but it would to those who depend on the Daily Record, GMS and the vacuous Sarah Smith, Kaye Adams for information.
Along with the Herald, Scotsman and Daily Mail.
It is extraordinary that the Referendum would begin the stark exposure of the total moral emptiness of the mainstream commentariat.
If the SNP had control over the minimum wage, raised it to a real time living wage in line or above inflation then I would not have a valid problem with paying more tax.
Redirecting to all my No voting / record reading associates as of now – magic !!!! lol
To be fair, he did say “New Scotland”. And in his New Scotland, presumably “self-identified SNP supporters” will be voting Tory.
I find myself doing the ‘Frys eyes’ thing an awful lot 🙁
Excellent debunk as usual.Some were hoping a change in the DR, well they have their answer here.
Of course, Torcuil Crichton has a track record (forgive the pun) in accurate assessment of the situation. This is what he wrote in September 2014:
“Margaret Curran was right – to survive the party has to get stuck into heartland constituencies again . She’s done it before, she can do it again.
There is the usual sniping around Johann Lamont’s leadership, though she has no intention of stepping down.
But there are more positive fixes than a descent into internal warfare.
First of all, Labour’s Westminster talent has to join its Holyrood team. From now on, Westminster is just West Point, a political training academy where Labour recruits are drilled for Scottish service.
And here’s another step Labour can take for the Scots – giving the job of first Secretary of State for Scotland to an MSP, not an MP.
The move, combined with Labour MPs seeking Holyrood seats, would signal a party that takes Scotland seriously.
The Secretary need not be Labour’s Holyrood leader, as there is surely space for more than one talented Labour politician at the top.”
So he’s bound to be right now. Eh, no?
Do you think Torcuil Crichton and the Daily Record understand that by all this SNP Bad dissemination, they are simply shunting more and more Scottish voters to lend their vote to the SNP? Or like many, including myself, to completely leave Labour and become a fully paid up member of the SNP.
To treat HALF the Scottish electorate who just voted SNP in GE2015 like fools and idiots is not only insulting, Torquil et al., are achieving the exact opposite of what appears to be their goal.
Who was it who said: “Insanity is doing the same thin repeatedly and expecting a different outcome.
By that measure Torquil is nuts and the Daily Record is off the planet in another world!
Forgot to ask :
Is anyone still watching Scotland 2015?
What a lot of utter mince. Surely viewing figures must be down the pan with coverage of complete rubbish. just filled in BBC trust survey and panned it completely.
Is its only purpose to remain on air until Labour elect new leaders just for publicity like ?? (Apart from digging up ScotGov at every turn)
Maybe someone could drop them a line and tell them its over.
Jeez – its like observing the remnants of a closing down sale.
It’s a weird finding that just about as many (by percentage) of SNP voters want to lower income tax as voters from other parties though. They seem to want to both lower and raise income tax. I can only surmise that they would like to see tax reduced for the low paid but raised for everybody else.
I hope he gets paid on a commission based contract…..
I used to really hate Facebook but it’s a really good way of exposing the crap the likes of the daily record print by sharing articles like this one.
We should all work to get the truth out one way or another, the harder we work the quicker we will regain our independence from Westminster.
It really can’t come soon enough!
What utter rambling nonsense. While facts might be untrue, the opinions expressed have just as little basis in reality.
One example stuck out for me. He says …
“But when did Labour leave Mhairi? When Brown knifed Blair, the schism of Iraq, the end of Clause Four? All before her time”
Dah!? Has Crichton forgotten the Independence referendum last year already? When Labour opted to become the Tories front line troops? When Labour turned its back on half its voters who opted for Indy? Then stabbed most of the other half in the back by not delivering on THEIR man Broon’s GUARANTEED offers of Home Rule/ Federalism?
And where was Mhairi? Left behind by Labour and doing the bidding for the people of Scotland which Labour were failing to do!
This all begs a central question … where are the honest decent sincere honourable Unionists? Or, do the Unionists we see promoting their Union tell us something fundamental about that Union?
“When the last Labour bum is strangled with the last copy of the Daily Redcoat ..”
It really is a sad state of affairs when unionist media print and TV can lie and brainwash us for their own gain every day, while Westminster constantly lies to and betrays Scotland.
Yet there are apparently still some who think that it could be much worst if we were Independent no matter how bad things get being in the UK.
It really is about time some of us grew a pair of balls.
I’ll be as accurate as the Record and report that ‘Torcuil Crichton’ is an anagram of ‘ I live in a parallel universe married to John McTernan’
Facts and the Daily Record.
Total strangers near as I can tell.
How’s that vow coming along these days? Delivered, not delivered?
Same old, same old from the Record.
People still buy this rag.
Think about that..
One of the many selfless duties that the Rev performs for his readers is to read the Daily Wrecker.
Anyone who has watched Torcuil Crichton will appreciate that he owes much of his unswerving uncritical loyalty to the Labour Party to his apprenticeship under Brian Wilson.
Classic quote from Lorainne Fannin above where she has TC talking about “Labour talent at Westminster”
What on earth was he talking about?
Could the good Mr Crichton perhaps provide us with his evidence base and sight of the raw data behind the research?
Labour have always lied because they could get away with it
and they’re still doing it
It’s just that we keep catching them at it
So are we saying Labour should learn to lie better than before, because if they could manage that, they will have succeeded in their ultimate goal of becoming
Real Tories
donald anderson says:
23 July, 2015 at 11:25 am
“When the last Labour bum is strangled with the last copy of the Daily Redcoat ..”
Torcuil Crichton manages one last breath as the twisted paper tightens.
All I can say is “thank goodness for the National”
Tory Quil, welcome to the officially proven Wings Over Scotland
List of Liars:
Crash Broon.
Badgerboy Darling.
DimJim Skeletor.
Poodle MacDougal.
Johnny McTermite.
Sally Carbuncle.
Davina Mundane.
Murray MacGopher.
Dippy Dug.
Tory Quil.
WARNING to others: If you want to avoid being added to this list of shame stop misleading or lying to the Scottish electorate.
There’s a 1957 British comedy film called ‘The Admirable Crichton’.
You get my drift…
youtu.be/HIWHMb3JxmE
Torcuil Crichton, Bender of the truth. Long may he Fry in hell.
I wonder if the shit that comes out his mouth contains as much potential energy as Nibbler’s droppings… in an independent Scotland perhaps we could harness him in some unimaginably cruel manner to power the new chair we will kindly give to Tony Blair…
The bearded tit strikes again !
And I don’t mean you Stuart. 🙂
Can’t influence Daily Record but don’t miss this opportunity to tell the BBC what we think of their coverage of Scottish Arts, Culture, Sport and current affairs.
Questions about the size of the BBC and its independence from the government are being asked in the largest ever public consultation on the broadcaster.
The BBC Trust has launched a questionnaire to discover audiences’ opinions of the government’s proposals for the future of the organisation.
It also asks viewers to rate potential replacements for the licence fee.
“The most important voice in the debate is that of the public,” said Trust chairwoman Rona Fairhead.
“We’ll ensure it is heard.”
Audiences can take part in the survey on
link to bbc.co.uk
The questions include: “How important is it that the BBC operates independently from Government and politicians, and from any commercial and business interests?”
It also asks viewers to say whether the BBC should make “more” programmes, or whether it currently “provides far too much”.
@gordoz 11:15am
and the link to the BBC Trust surveys is:
link to bbc.co.uk
One about next ten years of the BBC and another about “local” radio (I’m assuming that in this context it includes BBC Radio Scotland as “local”)
If your Welsh is up to it, there’s one there for that too.
The Westminster elite and rainbow tolies have vested interests (money, coverups, oldboy network, jobs for the boys etc) so they have and will continue to lie through their teeth even straight to your face, they are beyond shame. Therefore do not expect anything good coming from them if you do you know its a con, their history tells us that is their nature, they’ve been doing it so long its now bred into their nature, the cheat, lie but don’t swear brigades (brigands) scum for short. Vote and support SNP for everything sooner we are free from Cesspit the sooner we can forge a new Scottish Nation with no child poverty, no weapons of mass destruction, cleaner politics, real journalists and media, no placemen. A country to be proud with a light of Hope beaming out. Let’s do it, let’s show them that Hope over fear will and shall prevail.
Torcuil Crichton would be talking out of his arse …. if he had one.
Master Crichton always somehow reminded me of Tony Stark from the Avengers movies. Only Tony Stark seemed more credible, realistic and sensible …
Poor Torquil. He’s walked with the giants of teamGB, kissed the rings of Bomber Bliar and Ed Milliband, skipped gayly alongside Crash Gordon , Flipper Darling, Jojo Lamont, knelt at the feet of poor old Creepy Jim Morphy, boosted to heaven twits and goons like Keiza Dugdale and Ian Murray, generation after generation of catastrophic red tory losers, he’s counted them in and he’s counted them out. But he won with The VOW fraud.
No one can ever take that historic The VOW shyste on Scotland away from UKOK Torquil.
The Moidart says:
Can I add a wee bit to the end of your comment. ” and infinitely more real!”
@The Moidart
Torcuils like Tony Stark…a genius billionaire playboy who has a road to damascus moment and turns towards representing the good guys?
No chance!
He’s more like Timothy Claypole,Timothy Claypole, a mischievous jester with a comical lack of knowledge about modernity in Rentaghost
Stoker… Speaking of movies… Which I know you weren’t. I was looking through your list and had the strange thought of casting the “people “on your list in movies.. The obvious one of course being Jim Murphy as the scarecrow in the wizard of Oz..
But remember, as Billionaire Blair says “the electorate cannot be wrong” Well except when it comes to 50% voting
for SNP in Scotland, and Oh except if the next Labour Leader is Left of centre.
Torcuil, its a name from a Billy Connolly sketch, do you think he was ever working class or had to experience life a lowly 4 Star Hotel in his day.
Torcuil, if you see Farquhar, would you tell him to let
Gideon know we are having muffins on the lawn.
These clowns have no idea how the majority of Scots live or what their priorities are and they never will.
Go and take a Farquhar to yourself Torcuil.
Torcuil Crichton is a fine example of why journalists who outright lie, misrepresent or distort the truth should be licensed, and if they continue in their dishonest ways their license can be revoked.
[…] From a bizarre, rambling Torcuil Crichton column in today’s Daily Record: […]
As a pensioner, I would be glad to pay a bit extra in tax to promote a fairer more democratic environment, create better paid jobs through more investment. No problem with that at all.
Les… Infinitely so.Lol
Desimond.. Comedy genius. Actually had to rub tears from my eyes there. Timothy Claypole. God!! He reminds me more of George Osborne actually.. But with more savvy and intellectual capacity. Wonder if Master Claypole enjoys Peruvian imports too…
So let me get this right, by Torquil’s logic, nationalsm isn’t an answer to austerity because in an independent Scotland SNP voters won’t want to raise taxes?
Even if he was correct that SNP voters won’t want to raise taxes, surely it will be up to ALL the voters in an independent Scotland to decide if they elect a tax raising government or not, not just SNP ones? Or is he suggesting that only SNP voters should get the vote?
Or maybe this is him finally admitting that by the time the next indyref comes around there will only be SNP voters in Scotland as the Tories, LibDems and Labour will be extinct by then? 😀
They lie so much I don’t even believe the title “The Daily Record” is correct.
We all know the tagline “Scotland’s Champion” is a lie.
Orwell was right. Everyday is just a case of ‘doublethink’. If the truth doesn’t suit the State, then report the opposite to the masses. After all, what do they know? All they need to know comes from the State itself. All they should have in life, is true love for the Party (Royals) and the State (British Nationalism).
The UK Government, along with our State Media, really do want us to believe that 2 + 2 = 5.
War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is Strength.
Orwell …was right. A true visionary.
To be fair to bare faced liars like Torquil, the whole UKOK rule the sweaties by journalism thing is a bit odd.
Yesterday rancid The Guardian ran with half a dozen things on how their Scotland region is an absolute shithole in the hands of legions of fascists, all goose stepping away in front the most dangerous women in teamGB, on top of her open top Merc ofcourse.
Today rancid Graun says Hammer of the Scots JK Rowlings hedge trimming’s important
link to archive.is
This is slightly O/T but kind of relevant given the strained relationship the Daily Record, Torquil Crichton and John McTernan have with the truth.
Not a great fan of JP, but just loved the passion shown by old John Prescott, who is on the Today programme telling the world about John McTernan’s failures and lack of any credible authority…
“Who the heck is John McTernan? He advised in Scotland and WE LOST; He advised in Australia and WE LOST; He wasn’t in the Blair camp in any substance whatsoever; Then there he is, being brought onto the broadcaster with some authority??? He has NO authority!
Perhaps the BBC et al., will STOP giving licence payers money to John McTernan’s ego and delusions of adequacy, and show this poisonous failure the door.
John McTernan, when a former deputy prime minister says you are a waste of space with no credibility, perhaps it is time for you to crawl back under a stone.
Broadcast Interview Source: link to bbc.co.uk
Al-Stuart,
As with a great deal of the analysis laid out by the Rev in recent weeks (the factual analysis of poll data, the factual taking apart of the erroneous drivel by the Observer, the factual debunking of myths around the fabled success of Blair, pointing out the massive factual increase in non voters and so on) what you say is spot on.
Given the precedent set on previous threads on this site it should not be too long before a comment comes along plugging a variant of the ‘don’t tell them Pike’ meme.
The point being that there seems to be a reasonable expectation that pointing out the facts and referencing the reality should logically result in the dropping of the proverbial penny and a subsequent change in tact and behaviour. The alternative, logically, is that by carrying on in this vein must mean they are barking mad.
There is, however, a different explanation. That the facts, the reality and the logic are known but consciously rejected as it does not fit their world view. Remember, the Labour Party and the mainstream ccommintariat have been infiltrated since at least the mid 1980’s, if not earlier, by neo liberal zealots whose whole mental world view and faith would (to borrow from Naomi Klein’s book ‘This Changes Everything’) end if they had to confront that reality and the facts. Acceptance of the facts, the reality, and the logic would destroy these people, their hangers on, acolytes, and fellow travellers, psycologically.
What needs to be understood here is how these people view those of us who do not subscribe to their cult like faith. There has been much talk around this issue, where the main focus at present is the Labour Party leadership contest, about what the wider public will and will not accept and the not so subtle top down bullying of Party members thinking of voting for Corbyn; Harriden Harmen with her ‘think carefully who you vote for’; and Bomber Blair ‘ s ‘get a transplant’ being two clear examples.
In the light of the evidence and arguments presented by those like the Rev, amongst others, this position implies a very dangerous mindset.
Let me explain using an analogy. A lot of comment around the surveillance state issue has focused on the blurring of the definition of what constitutes a ‘terrorist’ and what constitutes ‘terrorism.’ With many ordinary everyday commentators concerned about civil activism, from various environmental campaigning through to anti austerity protest coming under a wider definition through mission creep.
What seems to be happening here is something similar. Whether it is SNP voters, Labour Party members voting for Corbyn, or anyone who disagrees with the neo liberal faith these people adhere to, the response and the approach taken is that you/we are no longer bona fide members of the public and by definition not proper citizens with the same rights as those who adhere to these peoples world view. We are beyond the pale. The enemy within.
Group meetings of the organisation Alcoholics Anonymous often begin with the words ‘Hello. I’m [insert name here]. I’m an alcoholic.’
What the position of these people, whatever party they nominally happen to be attached to as neo liberal parasites, implies is that whenever anyone (be it you, me, the Rev, SNP members, Labour Party members, whoever) who does not share their fantasy world view gets up to speak or write a comment on a Web site they should always begin with the words…
‘Hello. I’m [insert name here]. Apparently, I am NOT a member of the public.’
@ The Moidart.
I know what you mean and strangely enough when i compiled the list and was checking over it before submitting i thought – Jeeez, the Yew Choob guys could have a field day with that lot.
🙂
Maybe it’s not lying. Maybe he doesn’t understand basic numbers, percentages and how questionaire’s work. Certainly would be handicap for a political ‘journalist’. Poor guy. He may be trying his best but isn’t up to it.
DR doesn’t appear to know that the Ferguson shipyard is in Port Glasgow not Greenock.
Al-Stuart says:
To treat HALF the Scottish electorate who just voted SNP in GE2015 like fools and idiots is not only insulting, Torquil et al., are achieving the exact opposite of what appears to be their goal.
You forget Al that we did not win with half the Scottish electorate voting for the S.N.P.. According to our dearly beloved Torcuil 49.97% is not half so WE are all wrong to think that we won with half the electorates votes … apparently! 😀
gordoz says:
Forgot to ask :
Is anyone still watching Scotland 2015?
Why?
What did we miss? 😀
Macart says:
Facts and the Daily Record.
Total strangers near as I can tell.
How’s that vow coming along these days? Delivered, not delivered?</I?
I've just received their response to your question Macart.
What vow? 😀
Here endeth the lesson as spoke by the village idiot for today.
link to youtube.com
From Bella. Smari McCarthy co-founder of the Icelandic Pirate Party ….
“In any society people need two baseline conditions for democracy: one people need to have the ability to make decisions, the second is people need to have the access to information to make enlightened decisions. If one of those is missing you don’t have democracy.”
We don’t quite have the second, but with WoS and all the other alternative sources of information, we are getting there 🙂
However, the BBC and MSM are now basically doing nothing more than getting in the way! Democracy is being introduced, despite them.
@gillie says:
23 July, 2015 at 12:07 pm
Torcuil Crichton would be talking out of his arse …. if he had one.
A thought that wiz it under his nose. Thanks gillie
@Lesley Anne
“What vow?”
Spookily, I don’t think you’re far off the mark on their current tack on that. 😀
Tombee…. Bless you for that. Such a relief to hear that from you. I think most of us would for a greater cause. Brilliant. Good for you
Stoker… The fun we could have. Take your pick as to who rubber faced comic Phil cool could play from that list… Considering they all have more faces than a timex factory!!!
Oh Dear!
It seems that increasing numbers of leftwing Labour members are now threatening to leave the party if Corbyn doesn’t win, and increasing numbers of rightwing ones are threatening to leave of he does! The trouble with triangulation and trying to please everyone is that you end up pissing everyone off. Sooner or later you get found out – by both sides.
Oh dearie me.
No one wants to tell me what time my *ahem* beloved M.P. is attending the Apex Centre in Dumfries tomorrow. I can’t for the life of me figure out why that would be. 😉
APEX say the event is indoors and by invite only. The only people receiving invites are the organisations who work with APEX.
Even my *cough* dear M.P.’s office didn’t tell me when he’d be there and me wanting to go along and show him my support as well! 😀
Speaking of lying to Scotland, anyone read the latest Private Eye? I think they’ve truly jumped the shark in citing Kevin Hague as a credible source (a “tenacious economics blogger” no less) in their drive-by on Michelle Thomson:
link to wildernessofpeace.wordpress.com
Seriously, this could’ve been written by Crichton, Deerin, or any of the “SNP BAD” merchants.
Stu
While we’re on the topic of the Wings poll could we have the Panelbase tables for it please? The ST bit of the survey went up a couple of days after and was updated with the EU stuff earlier this week, but we still haven’t seen your bits of it. I assume you asked Ivor Knox to hold them back a bit while you used them for some more posts and then forgot to remind him to release them.
[…] Lying to Scotland […]
Yeah – but you can prove anything with facts. 🙂
Crichton’s UKOK Press and Jouranl chums in Aberdeen go big with SNP is the politics of of cavemen thing today They really like lthat one with day in day BBC style savaging of Aberdeen’s NHS. You have to wonder if any of these hard core Britnats think about what might happen to them if they ever have to go under the knife. “You’re a load useless of shits and a complete waste of teamGB money, now fix me up doc”
The Moidart @ 12:28 pm
The link below is to a vid… a fairly lengthy one but one worth viewing.
The Wonderful Wizard of OZ written by L. Frank Baum was published in 1899. It was published at a time when the British colony was going through a serious depression caused by their colonial masters trying to force them to use a gold only system. At that time there was a populist movement called the ‘silver movement’ who wanted to put silver into their economy to increase the amount of money in the economy.
At that time the depression had forced millions into unemployment and thousands of farms across the British colony were forced into starvation, their produce lying rotting in the ground because their was not enough money/liquidity in the economy to gather their produce. The banks were also forcing many thousands of foreclosures of farms across the colony. The bankers ie. the BofE were trying to force the colonists to use only gold as currency because they controlled gold and its amount.
The Wonderful Wizard of OZ is strewn with symbols depicting people and groups of people from that era. In fact it is said that L Frank Baum wrote the book in the hope that it acted as a beacon to warn others in the future.
.
@gordoz
My wife and I were idly watching the box one recent evening and a program she was watching came to an end and Scotland 2015 started and she had the remote. So I assumed she wanted to watch it. After about 7 min of it she said ‘this is pish, isn’t it? shall we find something else?’ to which I happily assented. Note she is a mind closed ‘la la I’m not listening’ No voter. Along with their recent behaviour and despite waistng her vote for Labour in an SNP constituency in the Yes City in the GE she is now in ‘no party represents me’ territory though I hold no hopes of getting her past SNP BAAD! She works in a university and is convinced that after Independence the SNP will gut the universities and nothing I can say will shift her. But slow progress is being made. She is pro European and I have hopes of the campaign and referendum on Brexit next year might decide her that being in the same country as mouth breathing Little Englanders is not a good idea.
Though I suspect her answer will still not be independence but a return to New Zealand.
O/T (sort of)
‘keep your coins i want change’
Young Scottish dude called Dillan Spencer doing a rap about the welfare cuts, very good, got the link from Rev’s twitter feed. Spread far and wide if you can, would like to see this get some ‘viral’ treatment from Wings.
🙂
link to youtube.com
Porkie pie Chrichton still at it? His time would be better spent informing Daily Record readers that it doesn’t look as though the promises of the Vow will be fulfilled at all: The VOW con that he and his cronies used to dupe so many of them into voting no for Independence.
Rather we’ll now be handed a poisoned chalice of measures from the Unionists to ensure that the SNP will have to raise taxes, to mitigate the Unionists welfare benefit cuts, and in doing so will become unpopular in some quarters.
And his comment ”Nationalism provides no answer to austerity” would be hysterical if the situation wasn’t so serious. Has he bothered to report the Labour Partys answer to austerity that is that they support the Tory Party policy on dealing with austerity …… to take from the poor to give to the rich.
Chris Law MP Sanctioned UK 1/3
link to youtube.com
Chris Law MP Sanctioned UK 2/3
link to youtube.com
Chris Law MP Sanctioned UK 3/3
link to youtube.com
Also in Press and Journal, sorry “Voice of the North”, nice Crichtonian touch there from that bunch of far right tub thumpers, but Voice of the North says we must take heed of Bomber Bliar as we don’t want Scotland to be a one party state,
“the country needs an effective and considered opposition to ensure democratic challenge of a de facto one-party state”
When Slab reigned over Scotland de facto supreme, far right Britnats like these ddint say a word and same P&J clown show Project Feared harder even than the BBC did, to stop Scotland becoming a country. Britnats in the papers eh.
How low could the Press and Journal go? For weeks last year, P&J tried every journalistic way possible to accuse Salmond as being a physical threat to local school kids during the campaign but that’s British journalism for you.
The Daily Record is not a publisher of “proper” news any more. “Proper” means events which are thoroughly investigated for evidence & alternate viewpoints so that it can arrive at a conclusion.
The conclusion may differ from the reader’s but “proper” news should at least contain as many plain facts as possible so that a reader can satisfy themselves with closure.
Instead, the Daily Record is simply a commercial exercise from which it collects revenues from advertisers, cover sales & click rates, in return for publishing salacious gossip, contrived political discourse & accounts of verbal puerility between overpaid footballers & their orange coloured girlfriends.
They have a web based version too with predictable links to an unsettling chronology of Kim Kardashian’s culturally abhorrent stretch marks & a wearisome pictorial menu of hymeneal debutants, wittingly flashing their tits on an exotic beach. But never Troon or Portobello.
Is this really what you want? If not, only by avoiding this title in print & on line can you possibly affect its output & hasten its disappearance forever.
Lesley-Anne says:
23 July, 2015 at 2:01 pm
…
No one wants to tell me what time my *ahem* beloved M.P. is attending the Apex Centre in Dumfries tomorrow. …
APEX say the event is indoors and by invite only. The only people receiving invites are the organisations who work with APEX.
Even my *cough* dear M.P.’s office didn’t tell me when he’d be there and me wanting to go along and show him my support as well! 😀
what happened how did get a referral, perhaps he could not get expenses for cans of beans and dried pasta
Pete the Trussell Trust always invite along the local M.P. to *ahem* open their food banks … apparently! 😉
link to bbc.co.uk
Muscleguy 14.32
I guess you have pointed out to your wife that New Zealand is a small democratic country(with no oil) which seems to do rather well as an independent state.
You know, reading the Chronic Coughers (LA) post at 2.01pm it really does reveal just how much these snivelling spineless saps are running around trying to avoid any chance of confrontation with the people they serve and owe answers to.
Same old cowardly story, they want all the controlled publicity available but they don’t have the backbone to face the public.
I’ve come to a conclusion, i owe gophers an apology, at least they have the balls to surface in front of their predators.
No wit ah meen, eh!
😉
__________
@ G H Graham (2.53pm).
Perfectly put, well said that man.
Alan Massie says what might be, actually, might not be but with his fingers crossed. 🙂
link to archive.is
From what I’ve seen of Massie he’s always full of shit. Looks like not much has changed.
@call me dave
Yeah, Massie starts off with a lie/poorly researched statement in his very first sentence and goes downhill from there, but then we are talking aboot the Torygraph. On current form, not well known for research, confirmation, or indeed tolerance.
@ Muscleguy
Your wife pretty much summed up my thoughts of Scotland 2015 🙂
Cannae even get his quotes right. That “I didn’t leave the Labour Party” line wasn’t that arse Galloway but Jimmy Reid.
Duncan Hothersall was on RS Drivetime, about 4.20, sowing general confusion and claiming that the SNP ‘dresses to the left’.
Oooh-er!
‘Carry On Down The Lavvy!’ – a once proud party representing the masses has become nothing more than a saucy postcard.
The real problem highlighted here is that journalists are not given the tools or the budgets now needed to fulfil their roles as providers of information. This site, like some others, uses up-to-date information-gathering techniques and provides scrupulous references, which is as it should be.
The print press, in particular, just assumes that even although tertiary education is much more widespread than it once was, people are still prepared to read a few words of print and take it on trust that the “expert” journalists have done their research and know what they’re talking about.
Those days have gone, but journalism is still a refuge for the dilettante approach: few journalists are qualified in the field they report on, and fewer still have the time or the budget to undertake the research needed to verify their assertions.
Brian Wilsons spiritual love child strikes again. Torque just cant help himself.
Ian Brotherhood.
The guy Hothersall said the other day on GMS that there are 15,000 Scottish Labour Party members.
I think his source for that figure was that Goofy bastard Clegg of the Record.
Have you got any proof of that figure Duncan?
“Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not… We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them”.
John Henry Newman
Roll on 2015.. Thank you and wow!! Awesome stuff. Sounds strangely familiar eh?? I’m now wondering if the scarecrow was actually based on captain Murphy then. He used a different name then of course. Count something or other….
Call me Dave…read that article. Thank you. massey still spewing the once in a generation pish.. The new generation of babies born since September 18th will do for me. No doubt they possess more intelligence than that clown!!
Incidentally can anyone tell me why Glasgow City council cleansing trucks have a plaque saying HEIL on one side of them?? does it have a plaque on the other side saying MATHIESON???
O.K. you loverly folks from the Central belt and beyond.
Who’s up for a wee *ahem* (especially for you Stoker 😀 ) rally in Glasgow then? 😉
link to twitter.com
Lesley-Anne says at 2:01 pm ”Oh dearie me. No one wants to tell me what time my *ahem* beloved M.P. is attending the Apex Centre in Dumfries tomorrow. I can’t for the life of me figure out why that would be. APEX say the event is indoors and by invite only. The only people receiving invites are the organisations who work with APEX. Even my *cough* dear M.P.’s office didn’t tell me when he’d be there and me wanting to go along and show him my support as well!”
Lesley-Anne (if you’ve got the time) what about putting a placard together depicting something along the lines of ‘Mr Mundell voted NO to our Scottish Parliament being made Permanent’ or something to do with austerity measures and stand outside in the hope that cameras will be there. If not it might attract some attention from no voters.
Crichton and the Record, make the Chuckle brothers, look like brain surgeons.
Is anyone still buying that gutter snipe rag?
@caz-m –
15,000?
He’s making it up as he goes along.
It’s worth listening to that brief interview as and when it surfaces via the i-player. Lasted about 4/5 minutes, and it was embarrassing gibberish from start to finish.
The guy is all over the place – in that sense, I suppose, he does represent his party.
@ Iain More says at 4:49 pm ”Brian Wilsons spiritual love child strikes again.”
I’ve come across this before. Any truth to it?
According to the Independent Jeremy Corbyn appears to be “in tune” with the electorate on quite a few issues. I wonder how many issues the other three *cough* (sorry Stoker 😀 ) contenders are in tune with the electorate on … not that many I’m guessing. 🙂
Erm I think it might help if I actually put up the damned link I suppose … DOH! 😀
link to archive.is
@ heedtracker
I gave up with the P & J years ago min. I think it was around the time they started giving space to Brian Wilson to produce vast quantities of sputum.
It has actually got worse since then as well since they also like to crawl up Donald Trumps arse as well. Thanks to the Brit Nat P&J I have acquired a passionate hatred for the game of golf.
@Ian Brotherhood
Yes and he also claimed the SNP are a Blairite party. I am continually amazed by how idiotic these people are and equally how often the BBC wheels them out for viewers to listen to their drivel.
Is there any chance in the future that instead of Scotland 2015, 2016, 2017 etc with marble mouthed Sarah Smith we might actually get something that has something to do with the current political happenings in Scotland? A daily dose of Wings on TV each night would do me nicely.
It’s all a question of which poll you believe. Survation, I think, reported that the percentage of supporters who wanted lower tax rates north of the border were 31%, 21% and 18% among SNP, Conservative and Labour supporters respectively.
That may what Mr Crichton was referring to.
On a different subject.. Just heard on that a conductor named joseph cullen convicted in Scotland on sexual offences. Does anyone know if that would be the same joseph cullen who worked with the bbc orchestra???
Has anyone asked the Daily Record editor (twitter: @Murrayf00te (2 zero’s not O’s) ) for his opinion on this?
Also, why have the Daily Record not printed anything about the Welfare Bill?
New Scotland! what happened to New Labour?
We must be the strangest and weirdest country on earth having many of our fellow scots actively working against our own land. It really is a crazy situation. What kind of person does not want their own land to be independent?
Democracy Reborn says:
23 July, 2015 at 11:51 am
There’s a 1957 British comedy film called ‘The Admirable Crichton’.
You get my drift…
Yes the main character was ship wrecked and all washed up on a desert Island. Sounds about right.
Could somebody make me a T shirt with Fry and the caption on it, please?
Lesley-Anne
That Hope Over Fear Rally in Glasgow on 19th Sept. is going to be a good one. It’s been known about for a wee while but keep putting up the reminders.
Tommy Sheridan and Co, should be a good day out. And the Hope Over Fear song is brilliant.
Myself and Ian Brotherhood were actually wanting a protest at Pacific Quay that day, until we heard this was on. The BBC Scotland rally can wait.
Get yourself up to the horses arse LA.
Heard a report on Sky News a wee while ago that the driver of the Council Vehicle that mounted the pavement in Glasgow, and killed and maimed people. Has had blackouts before, in 2010 while being stopped at the wheel of a bus.Nothing on BBC so far. WOW!
Phil Robertson says:
23 July, 2015 at 5:12 pm
It’s all a question of which poll you believe. Survation, I think, reported that the percentage of supporters who wanted lower tax rates north of the border were 31%, 21% and 18% among SNP, Conservative and Labour supporters respectively.
That may what Mr Crichton was referring to.
If it was Phil, Torcy would say Phil, Torcy would say.
Shakes head, with sad smile.
OR
He’d compare and contrast, if he was an actual journalist, you know like these really cool ones in movies, Phil, what never existed in teamGB newsrooms anywhere:D
HEIL Glasgow city council lorries.
I was curious too.
link to heilfarideu.com
Lesley Anne 5.05
I like your style of writing.I reckon you do it well.Not many people could manage it but I reckon you do.It adds something to this site.Cheers!
“Nothing on BBC so far. WOW!”
That’s rubbish! Check the BBC website – it’s the lead story.
Caz..would it be possible to incorporate both together on the same day?? While we have the numbers???
Lesley-Anne wrote:
“O.K. you loverly folks from the Central belt and beyond. Who’s up for a wee *ahem* (especially for you Stoker 😀 ) rally in Glasgow then? ;)”
link to twitter.com
Awe shucks, luck wit ye’v whent an dunn, ah’m awe blushin!
(btw, Hope Over Fear gigg marked up on calendar – 19.09.15)
We have problems getting up and down to the Central belt Caz with one thing and another but I’ll speak to my partner and she what we can do. You have no idea the frustration I have gone through watching all these fantastic events on Livestream whilst stuck indoors. 😀
Lesley-Anne
The famous “Horses Arse” and holding the Wings banner is Ginger Dug, caz-m, the singer from the SSP and a friend from Catalonia.
link to i61.tinypic.com
It can get busy below that horse.
caz-m says:
23 July, 2015 at 5:29 pm
Myself and Ian Brotherhood were actually wanting a protest at Pacific Quay that day, until we heard this was on. The BBC Scotland rally can wait.
Get yourself up to the horses arse LA.
Is there not a Pacific quay rally on the 1st of August
Call me Dave… Lmfao.. You couldn’t make it up could you?? But…. Why have they not been painted by mixing red and yellow together??? Lol
Moidart @ 5.12pm
Could be…
link to examiner.co.uk
It is just a coincidence that the letters page in the Scottish record and the express have at least two anti SNP hate mail rants every day.??
O/T
Looks like Cameron is following in Blair’s footsteps.
Money talks.
Syria embed with US forces authorised last autumn
link to scottishindependence.com
Listened to a bit of audio about the nearest inhabitable planet to earth. I know my maths is not what it use to be, but by my calculations based on current probe speed we should reach it in just over half a million years.
Probably just enough time for us to evolve into a nation with a backbone.
The Moidart wrote:
“On a different subject.. Just heard on that a conductor named joseph cullen convicted in Scotland on sexual offences. Does anyone know if that would be the same joseph cullen who worked with the bbc orchestra???”
Aye, the very same!
Torquil needs to paws for a thought (a leopard would do).
The SNP got 50% of the vote – the big increase in the SNP vote – up from 20% to 50% came largely from disaffected Labour voters.
What Torquil is saying is that former Labour voters are least likely to agree that taxation should be used to help the disadvantaged in society.
Call me a traditionalist but I always had Tory voting Taxpayers Alliance types in that camp.
Perhaps the bizarre twists within the Labour party have confused Torquil.
Pussy Nancy.. I’m absolutely sickened. Didn’t that animal Tobin frequent St Aloysius church too?? And murdered that poor Polish girl?? I’m pretty sure that Cullen animal worked for bbc as a conductor too.
Doomed! Traumatised… by erlection defeat!
link to archive.is
…least willing to raise Taxes in new Scotland.
Torcuil is misreprersnted. I am pretty sure he is simply referring to Nova Scotia, helpfully translating so that the average record reader won’t be too challenged.
How can the Rev have missed the obvious 😉
They say that your first encounter with a name tends to colour your view of it.
My fisrst encounter with Torcuil or Torquil was in fiction, “Cousin Kate” by Georgette Heyer. Torquil is the totally insane Cousin. In that story, he klls himself.
After that “What is the point of Labour?” headline the other day, I wondered how long it would take them to revert to type. There were probably a few hotline phone calls and e-mails telling them to sort themselves out and I knew we could rely on Torcuil to oblige. They all know the truth, they just refuse to admit it. However, it is most honourable of them to go down with the sinking ship.
Rev,
Just wondering, does doing a page refresh/reload count towards the site visits tally? Comments appearing very slowly today, unusual for a Thursday in my experience.
Puzzled wee face thingy.
‘Journalist’ on six figure salaries will not pay £20 a week so the vulnerable do not starve.
Scotland has enough to halt austerity by not wasting public money on Trident/illegal wars, bank fraud and tax evasion. Putting a tax on ‘loss leading’ drink and putting higher council tax bands for houses £700k to a £Million.
The SNP Gov is already mitigating the ‘bedroom tax’, welfare cuts and spending £300Million on nursery places. Expanding the economy and cutting unemployment.
Unionist Parties arefunded by Tory bankers. The SNP is funded by ihe members.
The DR stopped comments after the VOW. DR prevented their customers giving their opinion.
I don’t know of a BBC protest, will need to look into that.
I also don’t know if we could have two rallies on the 19th Sept.
I go with the flow. If they are on I will be there, If I am not away working.
Lesley-Anne, hopefully you can make it.
Prescott calls out McTernan
link to twitter.com
Unionist Parties arefunded by Tory bankers. The SNP is funded by ihe members
The unionists are funded by English nationalists with serious issues over their control of their Scotland region or rather, losing control of it all.
link to bbc.co.uk
History repeating itself?
Late 70’s, Snatcher Thatcher shut down all Scottish renewable energy research/industry, all of it. Even BBC Scotland creep show had tv news of Scots engineers in the Pentland Firth with wave energy research, all of it shut down. It just didn’t tie in with the teamGB assault on Scottish working class people or their industrial might.
Other examples of English nationalism? Snatcher Thatcher shut down booming Scottish airline Air Caledonia. It competed well with British Airways, so it was bought and shut down.
Its all about England.
Stoker… Thanks again my friend.. Just the latest in a long line of bbc sex offenders. Watkins. Harris. That other fucking degenerate friend of the “royals “!! And plenty others!! I always thought that the death of Mark Speight was very very dodgy. I wonder if he knew anything?? Fucking criminal paedophile organisation!! Bbc licence… To do anything they like. Honestly man!!!
Yay! Another posh unionist from Edinburgh gets her teamGB reward
link to archive.is
Laura Kuenssberg confirmed as the BBC’s first female political editor
Newsnight host ‘completely delighted’ at new role and will take over from Nick Robinson, who is joining BBC Radio 4’s Today programme as a presenter
So one hammer of the Scots/historic UK liar moves up or across BBC creep show, another gets made up. No doubt proud Scot but Ms Kuenssberg will be giving Scottish democracy the hammering it really deserves.
@heedtracker
Don’t forget Fly Globespan. Very successful Edinburgh based airline.
Brought down by E-Clear – the ‘british’ (London) payment processing company in 2008.
Anyone would think that they didn’t want Scotland to have a ready-to-hand Scottish airline – just in case.
And Prestwick? Could have been (and hopefully still will be) a major hub. Has everything required for it. But that would have meant competition with Manchester, Birmingham(ish) and the London airports.
link to en.wikipedia.org
@X_Sticks
Bear in mind, what goes round may just come round. 😉
link to ibtimes.co.uk
Hi Maxi kerr.
“It is just a coincidence that the letters page in the Scottish record and the express have at least two anti SNP hate mail rants every day.??”
It’s the same in The Courier. At times, by the time you’ve read a third of the letter, you know it’s gonna be one of the usual suspects name at the end of it. There seems to be a pool of anti-SNP letter writers with whom The Courier pepper their letters page.
Hi caz-m.
BBC Demo, 1st August:-
link to facebook.com
Heedtracker 7.03
The worst betrayal by the Thatcher regime, in my opinion, was the selling off of Britoil to the Tory’s City friends.
Glasgow based Britoil had a stake in every new oilfield and owned outright several oil and gas fields. For completely ideological reasons it was sold to BP, leaving us as the only oil producing country without a National oil company or an oil fund.
Norway has both and invests in its own construction of oil platforms and supports the most innovative offshore industries. This year they built three massive topside modules worth over a billion pounds. Think what that would for the Clyde or Nigg Bay, but poor old Scotland has not had a contract like that for ten years.
We remain the only country in the world to discover massive amounts of oil and to get poorer, while the London financiers enrich themselves on the wealth from Scottish waters.
Hi heedtracker.
For you…
link to youtube.com
“Self-identified SNP members”. Yes! I’m out and I’m proud, no more sneaking around..I am what I am…
Briandoonthtoon
The Scotsman last week had a day when there were six anti-SNP letters fom all the usual suspects.
One clown even wrote that the lack of booing against English players at the Open Golf was because the “oafish element of the SNP” did not attend golf tournaments.
Fortunately they published my reply next day pointing out that the only oafish booing was at Alex. Salmond at the prize giving at Castle Stuart last year and at Nicola at St Andrews.
Has Moodievision defected to Bella? Or is it just being “pooled and shared”?
Whitever, this one’s a cracker…
link to bellacaledonia.org.uk
One:
I note that the question was:
“What do you think the Scottish Government should do with that (ability to set its own rates of Income Tax) power?
And the answer option where the SNP voter response is pointed to is “increase income tax to fund public services”.
What isn’t stipulated here is upon WHOM income tax should be increased. The question just asks the respondent whether income tax should be increased; but nothing about which groups / tax rates this should be targeted upon.
As social attitudes surveys in Scotland (and England) tend to indicate, people are very keen on tax rises – as long as they are on someone else, and not on them. (Ranging from TAX THE RICH!!! to “just tax anyone who earns a bit more than me, tax them”).
If you’d asked “would YOU be prepared to pay more income tax to fund public services (pointing out who else would and wouldn’t be paying more income tax) you might get a very different range of responses. (I’d be prepared to put money on you getting a very different range of responses).
In your survey, you’ve asked the deliberately vague and ambiguous question about ‘should income tax be raised to pay for public services”, and NOT “how much more income tax would you personally be prepared to pay for public services”.
Because of course, many of your respondents will be assuming – or expecting – or will be demanding – that its not them that will be paying more income tax to support public services. It will be someone else, who earns more than them, or who earns “too much”, or “the rich” or some such.
Or are you proposing that income tax should be increased on absolutely everyone (including those on the lowest earnings who have recently been lifted out of tax) – ? That’d be popular – how ‘progressive’ and ‘egalitarian’.
It’s the same old thing, found in Scotland and England (and Wales, and Northern Ireland).
“Don’t tax me – tax them – !!!’
“In your survey, you’ve asked the deliberately vague and ambiguous question”
We did no such thing, of course. We said “increase income tax”, not “increase the top rate of income tax”, and we said “rates” plural.
I am an Insturgeont Caveman
Out and proud, I thank you!!!
Fireproofjim @ 9.13
Aye, a (insert sweary word of choice ) scandal.
We’ve been sold down the river for over 300 years. I just don’t understand how so many can’t see it.
My sister worked for Britoil and was livid
Fireproofjim says:
23 July, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Britoil sell off is quite well known. However Maggie also forced British Gas to sell of their “Oil Assets”. These were sold to a newly formed company Enterprise Oil. One of the assets of Enterprise Oil was the Nelson field which has produced some 500 million bbls of Oil to date.
Enterprise was taken over by Shell and these assets are now part of their Portfolio.
Torcuil Crichton – What a waste of a good old Scots name.
See above post Enterprise Oil / British Gas sell Off
link to en.m.wikipedia.org
That weather map at the end of Reporting Jockland just sums all of Scotland’s problems in one image.
O/T
Just wondering out loud how many new “members” might join the Labour party at £3 a pop in the coming weeks to ensure a Jeremy Corbyn defeat? Hmmm.
X_Sticks. Brian Doonthetoo, thanks for the info/video. It’s fcuking horrifying. Why did so many vote NO to keep this farce dragging on and on? Project Fear, I’m alright jack, proud Scot but…
OT
I find myself not caring who becomes leader of the Red Tories. There was not a single Brit Labour MP that came out in support of Scots Indy, so a plague on all their houses! That includes Corbyns.
Look at them all. Looted Scotland, created untold poverty and misery and we voted to stay reigned over by the next generation, who are probably, well who knows what they are, maybe in 30 years hidden UKOK documents will suddenly pop up in rancid UK media.
link to theguardian.com
HandandShrimp
.
Are you perhaps forgetting to add the eleventh dimension so you can apply M-Theory to your analysis? Genuine question. 😉
I say No to joining the Labour Party, just to get a ballot paper
on their party leader.
Good Luck to Corbyn, but give any money and time that you have
to supporting SNP.
This man seems to have a socialist background but the party itself is now Tory orientated, They will eject him as the powers that be in there just want the job for the seat on the gravy train and sod the Plebs!
Don’t feel sorry for a party that supported the Poll Tax, Bedroom Tax, and 10 years worth of Austerity cuts.
Who volunteered to do the Tories dirty work in the referendum-
Labour!
I’m only posing, I actually failed my a higher physics. 🙂
Just been watching “Scotland’s future history” with Stuart McHardy live-streamed from Leith Common Weal by the wonderful Independence Live.
Think you know about Scottish history? Think again. This is a riveting history lesson from Stuart. I think it’s excellent. See for yourself:
link to tinyurl.com
I’ve just posted this on one of the older Wings pages but, what with the rapid excursion to new pages that takes place, it may go unnoticed and consigned to the web archive of history.
—————————–
Maybe Corbyn should pay a visit to Central Scotland and LISTEN to former Labour voters who, “with a heavy heart”, voted SNP on 7th May.
I met a couple in Glasgow after one of the George Square rallies – and they exist!
I’ve no doubt the parallel in England is all those who didn’t vote in ‘the Labour heartlands’, because there was no viable alternative, unlike Scotland.
Brian DTT 9.13pm
Re: BBC Demo 1st Aug.
I didn’t know there was a demo at Pacific Quay 1st Aug. Yes, I’m up for that. See you there if you are going.
Do you have the Wings banner?
Or did Ronnie take it to Spain with him. lol.
caz-m,
What a wonderful image, Ronnie on a foreign beach using the Wings banner as a windbreak!
O/T but I like this comment from mark Steel:
“Blair’s Blair’s supporters point out that although his current image is tarnished, we should remember he was hugely popular in 1997.
_________________
Isn’t that like saying, “Jimmy Saville’s supporters point out that although his current image is tarnished, we should remember he was hugely popular in 1977?
Interesting development.
link to archive.is
@Ian More there was one Scottish Labour MP for an English constituency who came out for Independence. He retired/stood down at the GE.
“Scotland” 2015 tonight basically party political broadcast for
“Lindems” and the wonderful ” former Secretary of State for Portsmouth”
Receives ” glowing praise ” from “Libdem lackie ” contributer .
Another propaganda exercise from the “Westminster blatant better together broadcasting cabal “
O.K. folks … looks like a nice wee *ahem* reception for our *cough* gallant M.P. has been organised. 😉
I have something first thing to get out of the way but we aim to bimble along to Dumfries and add our rough and ready voices to the reception committee. 😀
link to twitter.com
Strange article – the bit at the end where Torcuil states: “Mhairi Black is an authentic sound. By merely speaking she proves she is the voice of our times.”
What does that even mean? Is that as dripping with condescension as I read it? I think Torcuil Crichton does something of a disservice to the people of Paisley who endorsed Mhairi.
Torcuil thinks those people are wrong; he thinks we are all wrong and that is his perogative.
Unless there is a by election in Paisley sometime soon and Torcuil decides to stand his opinion on her counts for zero for the good people of Mhairi’s constituency. His politics is, in the eyes of the voting public very much a minority set of beliefs I’m the face of the most humbling reversal imaginable.
There is no ultimate truth or wisdom – the only thing that is tangible is the consent of democracy and in much the same way as we still believe in independence though the majority of the public appear to remain to be convinced, so Torcuil’s labour party must continue to espouse their beliefs in the face of the most humiliating reversal imaginable.
Calling labour a social democratic party is strange and suggesting the SNP at the last election sought to divide the social democratic vote is also strange…. I recall the SNP bending over backwards to work with labour and the Greens at the same time Miliband was ruling out even being on the same side.
Good for you Lesley-Anne. If I came from your part of the country I’d be surely joining you.
@ X-Sticks at 11:31pm ……. I’m on my IPad right now so feel a bit hemmed in here with regard to adding further data. I started watching this and had to see it through to the end!
Many thanks for that link. Brilliant in fact. I was heavily involved in elaborating the 5-14 Educational Curriculum in Scotland to meet the needs of pupils with special needs. The role that I played discounted including Scottish history for the pupils that I was representing at that time however I came to realise that all pupils regardless of cognitive level were being deprived of historical facts.
On a professional / personal level I had always been most annoyed (raging) about the suppression, distortion and out and out lies relating to the history of Scotland. This video has highlighted a number of most interesting facts once again totally ignored by the MSM … Thomas Muir …. Scottish Law. More than anything at around 24:40 into this video just listen to what Stuart has to say. It’s absolutely disgusting that no one has reported this type of data. I for one will now be bombarding them (MSM) with complaints later today (after I check it out of course).
Once again many thanks X_Sticks. More than anything many thanks to Rev Stu for affording us all (team work) access to a most enlightening site.
Strange dichotomy : in England, Harriet Harman says Labour must respect what the electorate voted for in May (hence abstention on welfare bill). In Scotland, SLAB and MSM sycophant hacks like Crichton continue non-stop ‘the electorate are being duped by the SNP/are too ignorant or stupid to see what they voted for’ [delete as applicable].
The Daily Record tax evade. The DR is embedded with Labour since Maxwell (Liddell) owned the paper. The DR donate to Labour. Trinity Mirror illegally phone hack.
Comments were not allowed after the lying VOW. The DR do not like the views of the readership.
Scotland raises £54Billion in tax (Westminster) 12% UK pop
The rest of the raises £412Billion (pro rata less)
Divide £412Billion by 11 = £39Billion. (Pro rata ) Scotland raises £54Billion the rest of the UK raises much less. The rest of the UK tax evade and will not pay their taxes.
Scottish Oil sector is taxed at 55% (people are losing their jobs). (Foreign) multinationals making vast profits tax evade through the City of London, a tax haven. Damaging British business from illegal unfair completion and losing tax revenues. .
‘Journalists’ on 6 figure salaries will not pay £20 a week to stop children starving. Lying Greedy Hypocrites
Britsh history (Robert Owen, Lanark) was taught at secondary school. Scottish history (specialise) was only taught at University in Scotland.
10%+ of children have additional needs. Teachers receive no training in additional needs (unless they specialise) 10% of teacher training should be in additional needs. It would help the teachers and the pupils. Some children will never learn to read of write (conventionaly) but they have other skills and can use computers etc.for Maths/English. Many teachers do not appreciate the programmes that could help.
Doctors do not receive training in drink/drug/addiction. (unless they specialise) At least 10% of their patients will have related problems. Doctor should receive 10% of their training in drink/drug/addiction.
Now heres a thing
Obamalamadingdong says
“Britain must stay in the EU to have an influence on the world stage”
Who the fuck do you think you are el presidente?
Butt out and mind your own beeswax
you stuck your neb in last year where it wasn’t wanted Obama,
Good ol US of A eh? cant mind their own fucking business!
The Rancid leading today with, rules changed to allow GCHQ to legally spy on MSPs?
Hi caz-m.
Ronnie has the banners and will be at Pacific Quay.
As far as I know, I’m collecting two new banners from Gillian on Saturday.
John King 7.22
OBAMALAMADINGDONG!! Thanks for that Mr King.What an xcellent way to start the day! Hasn’t President Obama been a massive disappointment?
Snide 1965 7.27
GCHQ are complicit in the House of Lords child rape scandal.They are up to their necks in a cesspit of sleaze and corruption.They will be making every effort to try to drag the Scottish Parliament into the filth too.
There is,of course,nothing snide about Mr Snode.Bloody predictive text thingy!
Lesley-Anne I like you post,
link to twitter.com
link to taxresearch.org.uk
link to government-fraud.beforeitsnews.com
link to neonnettle.com
Artist taxi driver
link to youtube.com
I’m waiting for Blair to warn the socialists can launch Corbyn at us with only 45 minutes warning.
@John and Mealer
The Pres is a hypocrite of the very worst order. The leader of a nation whose facade is built on the popular legend of their fight for independence from guess who?
The land of the free and the home of the brave celebrate their most famous legend every year on July fourth. The tale of Paul Revere’s ride is recited from every high school stage along with the tale of Washington’s crossing of the Delaware and some of Abe’s greatest hits. Enough fireworks are set off to send a bloke on a Mars mission. Replicas of the Liberty bell are rung from coast to coast and copies of the declaration of independence are sold a dime a dozen. Star spangled banner is effectively on a 24hr loop.
Mr Obama effectively dropped that entire legend in the bin with his last intervention into European politics (our referendum). In the name of American corporate and governmental geopolitical interest Mr Obama is willing to ‘advise’ other nations on whether they should aspire to independence and freedom of choice.
America is a great place, full of great folk, but dear God their their corporate and government world.
Crichton’s biggest lie is, “Nationalism provides no answer to austerity.”
It is just so brazenly stupid an assertion you only need shake your head in disbelief and walk away.
O/T links
link to dailymotion.com
link to globalresearch.ca
OT:
link to thenational.scot
Brian DTT
OK Brian, I wasn’t sure if Ronnie was still going to be on holiday or not.
O/T links
link to lse.co.uk
link to opendemocracy.net
link to aljazeera.com
link to globalpost.com
The anti Corbyn camp inside the Labour Party are now saying that it doesn’t matter if Jeremy Corbyn is the most popular candidate, it doesn’t make him the right candidate for leader.
It’s similar to the message that Torquil Crichton tries to put across, which is that they know best.
Why are they asking their membership to go through all this voting process, when they aren’t even listening to them?
And anyway, austerity has less to do with taxes than it does blind ideology.
Lying to and about Scotland, or another day of sneering Bettertogether condescension from our imperial masters. Y’see whatever’s going to hell in hand cart in England, it’s all your fault SNP voters, all yours.
Who’s the “we” and who’s the “you” in this typical whinathon from some of the most rancid hypocrisy in western politics today.
link to theguardian.com
“Unlike Germany, we will also have separatist nationalist parties to complicate matters still more, and we will still have a first-past-the-post electoral system to empower the unified centre right.
The upshot, almost inescapably, will be a long, perhaps a very long, period of Conservative rule. Labour’s only way of preventing that is by competing in the centre, with a modern reformist agenda that can challenge the centre right. But that, it seems, may no longer be Labour’s priority.”
Obama. We watched when he was inaugurated with hope that he would make a difference. Well what a disappointment he has turned out to be a pathetic plastic president.
Now Clinton waits in the wings and god help America and the free world, she lies at the drop of a hat or Monica’s drawers.
link to truthrevolt.org
Of course the Donald reckons he’s in with a shout, will likely be a case of who’s got the most money and which crooks are willing to back whoever.
Great white hope Geez…
link to redstate.com
The Greens are untrustworthy. The Greens renege on their own policies. They collude with Unionists/Landowners and are funded (secretly) by them to prevent land coming back into public use. They prevent the predestrianisation of City centres, and waste £Millions/Billions of public money which could be better spent. Against the majority wishes and against the public interest. People are protesting in the streets. The Greens/Unionists brief the Press with lies and get any objectors arrested, finger printed, swabbed and threatened with the cells.
It’s interesting how the labour right say that Corbin would be an economic disaster.. What they mean is that we he would blow the lid right off everyone’s false belief that the government has to borrow money…
link to archive.is
His ‘QE for the people’ policy would transform the productive economy AND help pay down the nations existing debts.
This is nothing new and has been proposed by Martin Wolf (financial editor of the FT). Campaign group positive money, Lord Adair Turner (former chairman of the FSA), Steve Keen (author of debunking economics and professor of Economics at Kingston University), Prof Richard Werner – who coined the term QE, the New Economics Foundation, and mainly more.
I have written to my MP asking that he and the SNP back this policy.
Seriously, the UK. Can never pay its debts of, yet it’s going to claim it can by ruining lives and actually killing people. It is history repeating itself – austerity has lead to famine when there is ample food in the fields.
Under the QE programme in 2012, the government created £375 Billion to by up existing debt resulting in a 20% boost to the stock exchange. Those owning the most stock gained the most – I.e the wealthy. Very little of their increase wealth reached the productive economy, instead they reinvested it because their assets were performing so well!
Please have a look at corbyn’s psoposal and email your MP.
Corbyn is now feeling the propaganda attacks that are usually reserved for Scots. It should show people down south just how the right wing media uses the system to their own ends, and might make some see just how Scotland has been abused in the same way.
Almost all of the media are saying things against him, that in itself should encourage him to stay the course. He is aiming at the right target, and they really fear him.
Nana Smith says: On Obama.
Amusing to hear UKOK right wingers complaining about foreign leaders telling Brits how to vote in the EU referendum.
Also on last night’s Scotland 2015 Sarah Smith cut off SNP MP who was about to counter Murdo Fraser’s pro nuclear power argument on renewable subsidies by saying “that’s an issue for another day” but the pro nuclear point had already been made.
URGENT QUESTION for anynoe with info –
Is BBC PQ protest linked to Glasgow March (On same day)?
Times etc ?
Nana Smith says:
“Now Clinton waits in the wings and god help America and the free world, she lies at the drop of a hat or Monica’s drawers.”
Ha Ha, you do have a way with words, gave me a laugh this morning!
Nana Smith wrote:
“Now Clinton waits in the wings and god help America and the free world, she lies at the drop of a hat or Monica’s drawers.”
LOL
🙂
Slightly O/T relating to recent posts on nationalism.
When Scotland gets our independence I hope that we make our ‘independence day’ a traditional day of helping out the poor and needy. Hopefully by making it a charitable day our future Scots will understand the ‘civic nationalism’ which set us free and we can rest easy knowing that long after we are gone the spirit of what we are doing here will live on.
I abhor the sort of mindless imperial nationalism displayed by, for example, Britain and the USA. “Britishness” carries with it a stale air of snobbiness and self-entitlement – look no further than our ex-supreme warlord millionaire Tony Blair or the repulsive frontbenches of our current government (not to discriminate against the backbench who are equally as repugnant). Where you see the words “Rule Britannia”, “For Queen and Country” or “God Bless America” they are more often than not attributed to some attrocious war crime or similar act of self-righteous vulgarity.
Instead of seeing bloated archaic celebrations of unelected hereditary overlords like the costly cringefest being planned for Sweaty Betty’s Big Day Out next year, in an independent Scotland I would like to see Scots taking pride in their people and displaying nationalism by emptying their pockets to help a homeless person for the good of their nation, knowing that they are doing the right thing and thinking “Yes”.
Westminster are going to put up interest rates to recover the increased debt through printing money.The increased funds from the increase in interest rates will go back to the BoE to cover the QE debt. Another devious scheme from Osbourne as he and his associates milk the public purse and waste £Billions of public money which could be better spent. Westminster harms children. Hague is involved in the cover up or something more sinister. Cameron/Osbourne lied to win an election.
All the organisations which supported NO have been shafted by Westminster, especially Scotland. Ie the Oil Companies, supermarkets, retailers, NHS, Universities, Health clubs and their interest rates will go up. Making their loans/over drafts more expensive.
@Finlay
“When Scotland gets our independence I hope that we make our ‘independence day’ a traditional day of helping out the poor and needy. Hopefully by making it a charitable day our future Scots will understand the ‘civic nationalism’ which set us free and we can rest easy knowing that long after we are gone the spirit of what we are doing here will live on.”
Superb idea and well said.
Ken500 says:
Yeah, and the value of our money will buy less as QE, is another way to have all of us pay Government debt. They know well about this result in America.
HEADS UP – Re the weekend of AUG 1st & 2nd – There are several OO events taking place in Glasgow on these dates. People intending on making the PQ protest may want to be aware of this information. There will be more than a few knuckledraggers floating around Glasgow on these dates.
Brian says:
” … austerity … blind ideology.”
Yes, and that aspect gets lost in all the political shenanigans!
IMO it’s all about rolling back the state to leave the weakest to fend as best they can in a neo-liberal jungle. Let the market rule everything. Their ideal is something more like the U.S. model than a typical European society. They have the cheek to present this uncaring approach as ‘individual freedom’ – it would be a joke, if it were funny.
@ X-Sticks 11.31
Thanks for that great link to Stuary McHardy. I followed up reading two excellent titles from the bibliography he provided in Scotland’s Future History: James D Young’s “The Very Bastards of Creation” and “The Rousing of the Scottish Working Class”. They go together well with “The Scottish Insurrection of 1820” by Ellis and Mac A’Ghobhainn and “Scotland’s Forgotten Massacre” by Mullay. Add “Handful of Rogues” by MacMillan and you have “(almost) everything I wanted to know about Scottish History but was afraid to ask.”
When I showed title number three to a history teacher friend of mine, he said it was too unbalanced. The Max Hastings books he reads are not, of course.
Finlay 9:49 am
What a great post.
Throughly agree.
One of the many reasons wings is important is all the great links our posters find. There is not a corner our merry band won’t shine a light on. They are important and allow us to challenge all aspects of this corrupt Union. (Nana working particularly hard!)
Apologies for pish grammar in previous post.. :/
Ken
Interest rates won’t be going up anytime soon. I’ve seen the fed posturing about it too but it won’t happen.
Think about it – our economy is based on the expansion of private debt into housing bubbles etc. increasing interest rates would be the snowflake which starts another Avalanche where people start to default. Those that keep up the mortgage payments would have less disposable income and so demand would fall further.
So interest rates will stay the same. They are a useless blunt tool.
O/T
Spotted this on twitter, copied it out in order for you to read. Well done to whoever wrote this.
Email sent to Trussel Trust
T 01382 250063
scottish,assistant@trusselltrust.org
I noted the article on the Herald whereby Trussel trust was quoted that it was “standard policy to invite the local MP to open food banks”
Just for the record Richard Arkless MP SNP is the duly elected MP for Dumfries area. Mundell is NOT
As a regular food bank donator I take exception to your glamourising Mundell and inviting him to open the Dumfries food bank. He is one of the MP’s who have imposed Austerity on the people and is directly responsible for the misery and suffering by children and adults throughout Scotland.
I hope that Trussell Trust will be challenging Mundell and not giving him a platform on which to further his claim that he and his party are NOT connected with poverty driven food banks?
QE is already being used to fund house building. It is being lent by banks for mortages (pay back double) and building companies to build houses. It is also going to companies and private individuals etc. (with collateral?). £90Billion is being spent in the rest of the UK because they do not raise enough in taxes. Wedtminster wastes £Billions which could be better spent.
Westminster gives Scotland 12% of the bill, false, illegal accounting. (the deficit?) It isn’t borrowed or spent in Scotland. Tax is evaded through the City of London tax havens because Westminster doesn’t enforce the UK tax Laws. Westminster politicians and their Associates tax evade. Westminster harms children.
Nuclear is the dearest, dirtiest and most dangerous. Unaffordable. Any politician who advocates it is harming children. Do not put the waste in Scotland.
@ Les Wilson
@ Stoker
Start the day with a smile, difficult to find a lot to smile about right now but hey the Clintons were good for a laugh!
@Finlay
A very thoughtful post and a great idea. I helped out at the first food bank in the Highlands and what an eye opener that was. The poverty out there is truly staggering.
Folk who never thought they would find themselves in such dire need brought low through no fault of their own.
Seeing that and witnessing the greed of labour politicians makes me howl with rage.
Got any links ken?
I’ve never heard of QE being used for that. At the moment any govt building programmes, help to buy etc is paid for by tax payers money/deficit spending but never by creation of sovereign money.
Yes banks create money when they lend but that is lent to individuals.
Any links appreciated.
heedtracker 9:05 am
Your Wrote “Lying to and about Scotland, or another day of sneering Bettertogether condescension from our imperial masters. Y’see whatever’s going to hell in hand cart in England, it’s all your fault SNP voters, all yours.
… Phew! I guess you saw my comment at the bottom (9.44am) of “The perils of the bubble” thread – and managed to get the problem fixed!
This is why people in Scotland need to know about the currency options.
I’ve asked to do a weekly quiz on the site but still waiting on a response from Rev.
C’mom Rev this is the perfect platform to get the truth out there and of course we can resolve austerity if we had our own central bank issuing our own currency with a floating echange rate.
Let me post the Questions on a Saturday and give the answers on a Sunday.
sensibledave at 11.03
One of the things that practised bloggers and efficient political spinners understand very well is that when you have a poor case to argue silence on it is as useful as arguing it.
You’ll learn no doubt. In the meantime you give us good practice
Nana Smith 10.45
The SNP has been in government in Scotland for yonks now. Just for the record, could you let me know when they will start taking responsibility for actually addressing some of the issues that are raised here on Wings?
As a “for instance”, how about starting with food banks in Scotland. Clearly they are needed and used by a number of the poorest people in Scotland with funding coming from charity. At what point is the the SNP going to step in and help fund this initiative? Maybe they could re-look at some of the Universal benefits offered to the populace and re-direct funding.
For example, and as discussed on a previous thread, why does Scotland provide free prescriptions, free university education, free care for the elderly, etc, etc – to the super rich – but can’t find the cash to support the poorest in society that have to use food banks?
…. just asking.
@sensibledave at 11:19
Oh deary Me!
O/T
Much anger aimed a the Daily Record. In my opinion it is not the worst. It does give SNP a lot of decent cover alongside lots of absolute anti SNP shite and it gives Joan McAlpine a good page every week. It supports Labour and makes no pretence to do otherwise but it is a significantly better tabloid than the others in general newspaper terms.
The Mail and the Express are much worse though they have lower circulations but their anti SNP rantings are usually vicious or infantile – or both. These appear to be mostly purchased by women
The Herald is reducing itself to the level of the Scotsman and has columnists whose standards are very far below what one would expect of a organ that presumes to be responsible and the Sun is now nipping away at the SNP again having used its support for the SNP to harm Labour at the election
All the more reason to push the circulation of the National and to encourage its gradual expansion. It is 50p per day well spent
Finlay
As Macart @ 9.55 AM
Infact your statement in itself should turn a NO to a YES .
Sadly SOME NOs may never change.
Well said young man , keep it up yerv deein a gran job chiel.
Maybe they could ask Westminster not to cut welfare,slash the Scottish budget,decrease vat,stop spending taxpayers money on London,tax the wealthy and run a fairer and better economy.
Ferk off Dave you clueless troll. You haven’t the faintest idea why there are so many foodbanks.It’s feck all to do with Holyrood and everything to do with bankrupt UK and Eton Tories.
Dippydave: At what point is the the SNP going to step in and help fund this initiative?
We are waiting for you to show example by donating your salary.
In case you hadn’t noticed sensibledave, er everyone, not just the ‘super rich’ as you seem to emphasise, has ‘free’ prescriptions, free tuition etc. If people cannot afford their medication, and I know someone in that situation in England who was on a low wage, it costs more because they end up in hospital as their condition is not managed well. Now if he had had to pay for hospital treatment other than via his NI, he would likely have died.
Regarding the your attack on the Scottish government, yes always room for tweaking things, but with a very limited budget which is forever being shrunk by westmonster, it’s kinda tricky. Like your neighbour taking your wages and giving you a tiny bit back and telling you to manage all your bills and family needs on that!
Just a wee observation. Why don’t the ukok, ie tory government stop spending billions on trident, lining their own pockets and their pals and stop attacking the poor and making them reliant on foodbanks? London is very very rich, it’s thriving, all kinds of new infrastructure, now where does that money come from? It’s like having a thief taking care of your finances for the rest of the country.
I think you are afflicted with pot, kettle, black, itis, go see a Dr it’s free for the moment, better be quick though!
WOW thanks un-sensibledave
SNP bad, Union great
I have seen the light, long live the union 😕
…just saying.
It shows how little knowledge the people of Scotland has if they think taxes fund anything.
Taxes are just a monetary tool that adds or takes currency away from the system.
They are used to increase or decrease aggregate demand.
HM Treasury has told you that on their website
The Bank of England has told you that on their website
Even Labour list has told you that on their website.
Repeat after me
We no longer work from a gold standard.
sensibledave says:
24 July, 2015 at 11:19 am
At what point is the the SNP going to step in and help fund this initiative? Maybe they could re-look at some of the Universal benefits offered to the populace and re-direct funding.
Dave the SNP are unable to fund any such things they are a political party with very limited resources.
At what point the Scottish Government should institutionalize food banks ? I do not know. But its inefficient to keep fixing the symptoms of bad UK policy, when the only effective solution is a different policy.
I look forward to the Tory, Labour, and Lib Dem plans for food banks, other than the current one of forcing yet more charity funded ones to open via their attacks on the lowest paid.
Means testing is not an answer. Keep on Trolling.
There is not one fiscal Conservative or gold standard household budget zoomer who can debunk this.
A simple example helps reinforce these points. Suppose the economy is populated by two people, one being government and the other deemed to be the private (non-government) sector. If the government runs a balanced budget (spends 100 pounds and taxes 100 pounds) then private accumulation of fiat currency (savings) is zero in that period and the private budget is also balanced.
Say the government spends 120 and taxes remain at 100, then private saving is 20 pounds which can accumulate as financial assets. The corresponding 20 pounds notes have been issued by the government to cover its additional expenses. The government may decide to issue an interest-bearing bond to encourage saving but operationally it does not have to do this to finance its deficit. The government deficit of 20 is exactly the private savings of 20.
Now if the government continued in this vein, accumulated private savings would equal the cumulative budget deficits. However, should government decide to run a surplus (say spend 80 and tax 100) then the private sector would owe the government a net tax payment of 20 pounds and would need to sell something back, use savings or borrow to get the needed funds.
Which means if we ran a budget surplus everybody would be using their savings or have to borrow to meet their tax liabilities.
Hence why when Brown ran a budget surplus the rest of us went into debt to the tune of over 450% of GDP.
We all know what happened next
Every time Torcuil sees fit to raise himself up on his hind legs and enlighten us once more I am reminded of J M Barrie’s character the Admirable Crichton.
For those unfamiliar with the play, here is a very brief synopsis (spoiler alert if it is on your reading list).
Upper class Lord Loam, at the end of the 19th century, fancies himself a modern liberal especially in regard to the class system and membership, or not, of it being dependent solely on an accident of birth and not on any innate ability.
To prove the point he organises a swaree where the servants and upper class guests are allowed to intermingle and discuss the matter.
To his dismay he discovers that his butler, Crichton, is of the ‘I know my place’ variety, that the class system is the natural order of things and a matter of birthright and entitlement.
Fast forward to a later cruise where the ship is wrecked and Lord Loam and his family, along with Crichton, are the sole survivors which reach an otherwise deserted island.
Crichton, being the only one there with any practical ability, quickly becomes the de facto leader.
Over time, Crichton and Lord Loam’s daughter fall in love and Lord Loam is forced to confront the falsity of his hitherto liberal posturing.
But as they are about to get hitched, rescue comes and the marriage never happens, Crichton reverts to his subservient role and eventually leaves Lord Loam’s service.
It was a clever and important expose of the British Class system highlighting, as it did, the hypocrisy of those who can afford to take the high moral ground, the obsequiousness of those who cannot and the false premises on which both are based.
A painful learning curve for the ruling set rendered only palatable by its comedic approach. Even then Barrie had to change the original ending where Crichton and Lord Loam’s daughter were married and lived happily ever after as he was advised that was a step too far.
The play was made into an early film at the start of the 20th century and again in the 50’s it was also the basis for several other films. It has much more importance socially than has ever been fully publicly acknowledged.
The last manifestation I am aware of was in the Red Dwarf series (Kryten the robot).
It is also difficult to believe that Wodehouse’s creation, Jeeves, written a few years later, did not owe something to Barrie, although never of course acknowledged.
Barrie based the character on a real life historical Scot from Perth.
For example, and as discussed on a previous thread, why does Scotland provide free prescriptions, free university education, free care for the elderly, etc, etc – to the super rich – but can’t find the cash to support the poorest in society that have to use food banks?
…. just asking.
None of its free sensibledave. Its tax/spend choices Scotland makes and if Scotland decides otherwise, we will change it. Its odd how toryboys like you in England can’t grasp how it all works in modern PR democracy.
Once we get FFA sensible, you can then Foff for good:D
@ Ken 500
Time and time again I have never read as much garbage in all of my life.
You have no idea whatsoever how it all works.
You have no idea how the simple double entry book keeping works at the Bank of England and you have no idea how currency is created.
Stop posting such nonsense.
The progressive pretensions of the SNP are a cynical cover for its pro-capitalist policies. It aims to help Scottish capitalism to become a centre for financial speculation and a tax haven for the world’s super-rich. That’s why billionaire Jim McColl of Clyde Blowers sits on the SNP’s Council of Economic Advisors.
The SNP has already gone a long way toward this goal. It has given billions of pounds to private firms through corporate handouts, public service privatisation and lucrative infrastructure projects. Just this year, the SNP set aside £617 million in tax relief for businesses, while cutting £500 million from public services.
40,000 public-sector jobs have been axed in recent years and pay frozen. 4,000 teaching posts have been cut from primary and secondary schools and more than 100,000 college student places have gone. Student debt tripled last year as university tuition grants were slashed. Social care has been privatised to levels comparable with England, and NHS Scotland has become dangerously overstretched through repeated rounds of ‘efficiency savings’.
SNP finance minister John Swinney reiterates the SNP’s fundamental agreement with George Osborne stating, “The deficit needs to be reduced.”
The SNP also wants fiscal autonomy – full tax raising and budgetary powers. This is nothing to do with ending ‘austerity’ (poverty) policies. Rather, the SNP’s key goal is to get the power to slash corporation tax to further enrich its wealthy backers.
The SNP’s living wage policy, the so-called ‘Scottish Business Pledge’, has the same aim. Presented in terms of ‘increased productivity’, a ‘distinctive Scottish approach to growth’, the derisory living wage will be a baseline for cutting public-sector wages, and firms will be able to gain accreditation by committing to pay a living wage ‘over time.’
The SNP has hijacked the growing opposition to capitalism, and seeks to divert it into the cul-de-sac of nationalism.
@ Nana Smith
Well done for helping out at the food bank. I would say the poverty is everywhere these days. Now that the schools are on holiday you see more parents bringing their kids to the foodbank. It reminds me of when i was young and i went with my mum to get clothes with the vouchers we got. Horrible times.
I don’t like seeing these kids at the foodbank, and by that i mean it hurts me, depresses me, makes me angry that young people, innocent people, people with their whole lives in front of them are in the front line of poverty and are spared no illusions as to the state of affairs they find themselves and their families in. It’s wrong, 100% wrong, and there’s no excuses. We’re better than this. Some of us just don’t know it.
What are we doing to these kids, what are we setting them up for? How much damage does it do (in the long and short term) to know you’re family don’t have money to buy food and rely on charity to get you through such hard times.
And…by and large it’s tinned food we’re giving out. No fresh fruit and veg cos that’s perishable. Tinned soup, tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned fish, tinned beans. No eggs, no bread, no fruit juice (we give out diluting juice). Point being, we’re not giving people their five a day. We can’t. We don’t have the means. We are allowing poor people of all ages to go malnourished. The kids are suffering.
Meanwhile…there’s more millionaires and billionaires than ever before. And some of us, not the folks here, but some of us in Scotland get distracted and pour scorn on the ‘scroungers’ – shame on these people, sure, but it’s up to us to bring them round, to enlighten them and yes, show them some love in the process.
Dave my parents always told me to be kind & polite to strangers so with that in mind, trot off back under your bridge.
What is quantitative easing?
With very tight credit markets at present (that is, banks have upped their lending standards and made it harder for firms and households to access credit), central banks have used what is called quantitative easing to free up credit flowing especially as short-term interest rates fall towards zero. In fact, near zero interest rates are required if the central bank is to engage in quantitative easing!
Quantitative easing merely involves the central bank buying bonds (or other bank assets) in exchange for deposits made by the central bank in the commercial banking system – that is, crediting their reserve accounts. The aim is to create excess reserves which will then be loaned to chase a positive rate of return. So the central bank exchanges non- or low interest-bearing assets (which we might simply think of as reserve balances in the commercial banks) for higher yielding and longer term assets (securities).
So quantitative easing is really just an accounting adjustment in the various accounts to reflect the asset exchange. The commercial banks get a new deposit (central bank funds) and they reduce their holdings of the asset they sell.
Proponents of quantitative easing claim it adds liquidity to a system where lending by commercial banks is seemingly frozen because of a lack of reserves in the banking system overall. It is commonly claimed that it involves “printing money” to ease a “cash-starved” system. That is an unfortunate and misleading representation.It is bullshit.
Invoking the “evil-sounding” printing money terminology to describe this practice is thus very misleading – and probably deliberately so. All transactions between the Government sector (Treasury and Central Bank) and the non-government sector involve the creation and destruction of net financial assets denominated in the currency of issue. Typically, when the Government buys something from the Non-government sector they just credit a bank account somewhere – that is, numbers denoting the size of the transaction appear electronically in the banking system.
It is inappropriate to call this process – “printing money”. Commentators who use this nomenclature do so because they know it sounds bad! The orthodox (neo-liberal) economics approach uses the “printing money” term as equivalent to “inflationary expansion”. If they understood how the modern monetary system actually worked they would never be so crass.
Crucially, quantitative easing requires the short-term interest rate to be at zero or close to it. Otherwise, the central bank would not be able to maintain control of a positive interest rate target because the excess reserves would invoke a competitive process in the interbank market which would effectively drive the interest rate down.
The Bank of England has now cut short-term interest rates to virtually zero (the lowest since the BOE was formed in 1694) in the misguided belief that monetary policy could solve the demand failure they are facing. While still eschewing fiscal policy (spending and taxation) they now have nowhere to go with monetary policy unless they begin to engage in quantitative easing. As a consequence, over the next three months they intend to spend £150bn buying assets from the private sector called gilts (which are just government bonds) and also high quality corporate debt.
The aim is to increase liquidity in the credit markets and encourage banks to increase lending to companies as explained above.
Does quantitative easing work? The mainstream belief is that quantitative easing will stimulate the economy sufficiently to put a brake on the downward spiral of lost production and the increasing unemployment.
It is based on the erroneous belief that the banks need reserves before they can lend and that quantititative easing provides those reserves. That is a major misrepresentation of the way the banking system actually operates. But the mainstream position asserts (wrongly) that banks only lend if they have prior reserves. The illusion is that a bank is an institution that accepts deposits to build up reserves and then on-lends them at a margin to make money. The conceptualisation suggests that if it doesn’t have adequate reserves then it cannot lend. So the presupposition is that by adding to bank reserves, quantitative easing will help lending.
But this is a completely incorrect depiction of how banks operate. Bank lending is not “reserve constrained”. Banks lend to any credit worthy customer they can find and then worry about their reserve positions afterwards. If they are short of reserves (their reserve accounts have to be in positive balance each day and in some countries central banks require certain ratios to be maintained) then they borrow from each other in the interbank market or, ultimately, they will borrow from the central bank through the so-called discount window. They are reluctant to use the latter facility because it carries a penalty (higher interest cost).
The point is that building bank reserves will not increase the bank’s capacity to lend. Loans create deposits which generate reserves.
The reason that the commercial banks are currently not lending much is because they are not convinced there are credit worthy customers on their doorstep. In the current climate the assessment of what is credit worthy has become very strict compared to the lax days as the top of the boom approached.
The major formal constraints on bank lending (other than a stream of credit worthy customers) are expressed in the capital adequacy requirements set by the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) which is the central bank to the central bankers. They relate to asset quality and required capital that the banks must hold. These requirements manifest in the lending rates that the banks charge customers. Bank lending is never constrained by lack of reserves.
While some point to the quantititative easing experience in Japan between 2001 and 2006, the reality is that it was highly expansionary fiscal policy not the monetary policy gymnastics which kept that economy from deflating and allowed it to return to stronger growth in recent years (until the crisis hit).
We should be absolutely clear on what the BOE is doing. It is buying one type of financial asset (private holdings of bonds, company paper) and exchanging it for another (reserve balances at the BOE). The net financial assets in the private sector are in fact unchanged although the portfolio composition of those assets is altered (maturity substitution) which changes yields and returns.
In terms of changing portfolio compositions, quantitative easing increases central bank demand for “long maturity” assets held in the private sector which reduces interest rates at the longer end of the yield curve. These are traditionally thought of as the investment rates. This might increase aggregate demand given the cost of investment funds is likely to drop. But on the other hand, the lower rates reduce the interest-income of savers who will reduce consumption (demand) accordingly.
How these opposing effects balance out is unclear. The central banks certainly don’t know! Overall, this uncertainty points to the problems involved in using monetary policy to stimulate (or contract) the economy. It is a blunt policy instrument with ambiguous impacts.
The major problem facing the economy at present is that there is not a willingness to spend by the private sector and the resulting spending gap, has to, initially, be filled by the government using its fiscal policy capacity. I prefer direct public sector job creation to be the principle fiscal vehicle. But fiscal policy it has to be. Then when the negative sentiment is turned around, private borrowing will recommence and investment spending will grow again. Then the economy moves forward some more and the budget deficit falls.
So I don’t think quantitative easing is a sensible anti-recession strategy. The fact that governments are using it now just reflects the neo-liberal bias towards monetary policy over fiscal policy. What will motivate consumers to borrow if they are scared of losing their jobs? Why would a company borrow if they expect their sales to be depressed? The problem is a failure of demand which has to be addressed via demand measures – that is, fiscal policy. Overall, you can only take a horse to water ….!
There are also those that claim that quantitative easing will expose the economy to uncontrollable inflation. This is just harking back to the old and flawed Monetarist doctrine based on the so-called Quantity Theory of Money. This theory has no application in a modern monetary economy and proponents of it have to explain why economies with huge excess capacity to produce (idle capital and high proportions of unused labour) cannot expand production when the orders for goods and services increase. Should quantititative easing actually stimulate spending then the depressed economies will likely respond by increasing output not prices.
link to bilbo.economicoutlook.net
When will the SNP take responsibility for the issues of Scotland hmmm thats an easy one Dave when they have control over Scotland.
You seem to think we are independent already Dave we are not our government in Scotland have their hands tied behind their backs by westminster,so maybe the question should be when is westminster going to take responsibility for the issues in Scotland.
And of course this is why sites like wings and a growing grass roots movement in Scotland for independence is happening,we want responsibility for our own country for to long we have waited for all the promises to be kept only to see them broken one after another,well we are fed up waiting.
During the American Colonists’ War of Independence from British rule, a surprising 50% of immigrants from the Scottish Highlands sided with the Loyalists (ie British Forces). I say surprising as many of these same Highlanders had been victims of the brutal suppression of the clans, which drove many to seek new lives in the American colonies.
Yet at least half of them still chose to support their erstwhile oppressors, during their fellow colonists’ struggle to throw off British rule. It seems Torcuil is continuing this almost Stockholm-Syndrome style supine subservience to Westminster rule, rather than support the self-governance of Scotland, which is what independence would mean.
Note to Torcuil, neither is British Nationalism and its ingrained hostility to Europe the answer to Tory imposed austerity!
Osborne has used framing today straight out of the Gold standard handbook. How stupid do people have to believe this nonsense.
Living within our means, savings blah, blah, blah
Do not fall for this nonsense stand up and fight against the lies and deciet.
Let’s cut right through this crap.
From HM Treasury own website:
link to parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk
Now look at the model HM Treasury gives you and then read what they say about how it works.
HM Treasury are telling you in black and white if you can understand English that every day of the week daily deficts or surpluses are destroyed in the interbank market after the commercial banks close for the day.
You can do the sums yourself. A budget surplus will be a net reserve drain (because taxation is higher than spending), whereas a budget deficit comprises a net reserve add (because spending is higher than taxation). This is done every night in the interbank market it is how the Bank Of England meets its overnight interest rate.
So what is a net reserve drain or a net reserve add ?
Simple- they either buy bonds or sell bonds to balance the horizontal transactions in the bank reserves between HM Treasury current account held at the BOE and the Commercial banks accounts held at the BOE. So they add to zero.
That’s all there is to it the simple double entry book keeping. It’s not real currency it is a STOCK on an accounting spreadsheet. As a currency issuer.
It is not like the vertical transactions that is currency. These are a FLOW these appear in the real economy between commercial banks and the rest of us as currency users.
HM Treasury are telling you that taxes don’t matter apart from a monetary tool that controls inflation. Look at the model and read what they are telling you. A daily deficit or surplus is destroyed in the reserves every day.
If the Bank Of England did not do this they would never meet their overnight interest rate. Because daily deficits and surpluses put real pressure on the rate which means the BOE wouldn’t be able to control it.
I’ll explain this in another post and explain why selling bonds are just corporate welfare !
For more on HM Treasury model read this excellent piece.
link to 3spoken.co.uk
Wake up !
@Anagach
The SG dig in where they can, but the pool is getting more shallow by the day.
link to news.scotland.gov.uk
We must remember to thank Dave, Gideon and IDS through the ballot in suitable fashion at the very next opportunity offered.
Way off topic just read a social media stooshie with a record reporter hounding and terrorising a young mum on her doorstep on film. Turned the stomach watching it. Scummy bastards.
Hi Dippydave
Why are you farting around on this site and not using your time to get rid of food banks in your home town of Hull? Don’t you like your city or care for its people?
“More and more people in hull are turning to food banks to stay alive. The Trussell Trust, which runs a food bank in King Edward Street, city centre, has helped more than 10,000 people in Hull in just over three years, a service is one of many now continuing to spring up around the city.”
The food banks are really important,” Mr Haldenby, 33, said. “If it was not for those who run them, I do not think I would be alive.”
Mr Haldenby was using the food bank at St Mary’s Church in Lowgate, which became Hull’s newest food bank [one of 12] when it opened on Tuesday, January 13.
Dave was nowhere to be seen.
Sesible Dave – You can teach a clown to type, but you can’t teach a clown to think. Watch you don’t trip over your size 15’s.
@sensibledave.
The SNP HAVE GIVEN £500,000 TOWARDS FOODBANK STOCKING THIS YEAR.. Remind me —- how much have Westminster contributed this year?
Dave.. I believe I already offered the hand of reason yesterday and invited you to come to cowlairs in Glasgow. Formerly one of the industrial powerhouses of Europe thanks to heavy industry, mainly railway works. Now one of the most impoverished locations in the UK with the lowest life expectancy in Europe only ten years ago. As published on the front page of evening times. I’d even put you up. Alternatively.. You could perhaps look up the GDP for Scotland over the past.. Say ten years?? Including extra regio territories. And then look up the block grant we receive from our unworthy imperial masters. Tell me when and if you do and if it seems honest or fair to you.
The SNP has hijacked the growing opposition to capitalism, and seeks to divert it into the cul-de-sac of nationalism.
Will Podmore You forgot the RULE BRITANNIA
Promoted again. Much as I predicted. Her pedigree helps
link to caltonjock.com
@Dave and Will
Your Union has no future. Borrowed time etc.
Start getting used to that and consider the situation appropriately. Debate needs to relate to the rapidly unfolding situation, not Unionist never never land.
Scotland can afford all of it’s policies. £54Billion. Scotland spends £30Bilion + £16Billion (UK) pensions/benefits, £4Billion Defence = £50Billion – £4Billion to pay off the rest of the UK debt. Nit borrowed or spent in Scotland but subsidising rest of the UK debt. They cannot afford to keep on subsidising the rest of the UK, who refuse to pay enough tax for their expenditure.
Scotland could easily eradicate poverty by cutting Trident/illegal wars, banking fraud, tax evasion and putting a tax on ‘loss leading’. Increasing council tax band of higher value houses (£700M to over £1Million – estates Growing the economy and managing the Oil sector better. Westminster totally mismanages the Oil sector and loses jobs in Scotland.
The SNP Gov is mitigating the Westminster cuts. They have mitigated the ‘room tax’ mitigated the benefits cuts from Westminster £100Million a year – £300Million. Allocated £300Million to increase nursery places to relieve child poverty.
Plodmore: The SNP also wants fiscal autonomy – full tax raising and budgetary powers. This is nothing to do with ending ‘austerity’ (poverty) policies. Rather, the SNP’s key goal is to get the power to slash corporation tax to further enrich its wealthy backers.
I know you take comfort in Dippydave’s posts to make an appearance, but posting unsubstantiated garbage – base opinion – culled from the ‘Labour book of Lies’ won’t help you gain respect here.
Man in the Jar 11.26
Big Jock 11.33
Grouse Beater 11.37
… I note that none of you answered the question.
Government’s “hard” isn’t it. Its always about choices. What are you going fund and what are you not. Much easier to shout and complain about other people’s choices rather than face up and take responsibility for issues that you have the power to affect.
Would I be being cynical to suggest that the universal benefits are there simply to buy votes from the middle and upper classes – and the SNP don’t want to affect their election chances by changing anything? You will be aware, of course, that those universal benefits don’t exist for the super rich in England. Choices, choices.
The collection of taxes are irrelevant when it comes to funding. It is not an issue at all.
Here is how it works in reality the smoke and mirror con trick.
The Bank of England has told you 23 times.
HM Treasury has told you
And Labour list has told you
link to neweconomicperspectives.org
link to neweconomicperspectives.org
Learn it so you don’t fall for the framing and brainwashing moving forward.
Otherwise you are just one step away from being a fiscal Conservative
FGS!
I don’t care what party their in it’s not on.
link to archive.is
ArtyHetty 11:37 am
You wrote “I think you are afflicted with pot, kettle, black, itis, go see a Dr it’s free for the moment, better be quick though!
Ahh, ArtyHetty, thankyou, you have made the exact point I was trying to make – i.e. the pot, kettle, black thing.
All governments are making decisions and choices that, if put under microscope, could be spun as preferring to afford benefits for the rich rather than funding solutions for the poorest.
Westminster and BoE plan to increase interest to 2% next year. That is their stated policy. Along with selling off the banks. Austerity has cut the amount raised in taxes from £600Billion a year in 2010 to £466Billion a year.
MJT..Hi again.. Hope you are well. Interesting post. What makes it all the more despicable is the shite and poisons placed in diluting juice etc. Take aspartame aka phenylalanine. Which is basically faecal matter from the e-coli bug. Regularly used by good old Robinsons in their no sugar products. Pepsi had to drop it from their diet products in the Us a few months ago as their sales plummeted due to links between aspartame and cancers Or fluoride which is not natural fluoride but sodium fluoride. A by product of phosphate mining and one of the most hazardous poisonous toxic waste products known to man. But routinely added to our water supply to prevent cavities. But doesn’t as we have one of the poorest dental records in Europe. Or vanilla or raspberry flavourings described as natural flavourings which is actually derived from the anal gland of the beaver. Bon appetit eh?? it’s a disgrace and I see no mention of it in any party manifesto. Ps.. You do an amazing job and I tip my hat to you. From most of us.. Thank you ????
Dippydave: I note that none of you answered the question.
You are the one dodging direct questions.
Come on, tell us why you are wasting your life denigrating another nation’s political ideals when you have all this poverty in your own home city?
How much have you donated to help your poor, Dave, in kind and in salary?
60,000 people live below the poverty line in Hull.
Every day, people go hungry for all sorts of reasons ranging from redundancy, difficulty in receiving benefits, to having an unexpected bill on an already low income. The churches in Hull have set up the Hull foodbank to provide a minimum of 3 days emergency food and support to help individuals and families experiencing such crises.
These supplies take the form of emergency ration packs to cover a family’s basic needs. Local professionals will give people in hardship a food voucher and refer them to the Hull Foodbank Centre where they will be given their food and signposted to any other support they may require.
Although the food is donated through special collections at supermarkets, schools and churches, the work cannot continue without financial donations to pay for storage, transport, building, advertising, and some staff costs.
Well, Dave – how much time and effort have you given to Hull’s poor?
Sensibledave and Will believe that the SNP should be like the princess in Rumpelstiltskin and be able to spin straw into gold.
The problem is that we only have straw but are being denied the spinning wheel by Westminster
The rest of the Uk doesn’t raise so much in taxes as Scotland, Westminster chose to not fund universal benefits in the rest of the UK but to support tax evasion, tax cuts and supporting banking fraud. Not imprison fraudulent bankers or child absers. Support Trident dumped on Scotland against the majority rule and illegal wars the majority are against. Westminster favours tax cuts rather than universal benefits and supporting Education/NHS. The majority of the voters in the rest of the UK voted for these policies.
Dippydave: Government’s “hard” isn’t it.
Patronising turd.
It’s a kinda “Have you stopped beating your wife” question when your hands are handcuffed behind your back! 🙂
link to archive.is
link to newsnet.scot
Boris, That Laura Keunsberg promotion to BBC politics commissar is a disaster for progressive liberal politics across the whole of teamGB. BBC Scotland simply no longer mention the SNP in their daily atttack on SNP Scots.gov or the 55 SNP MP’s in Westmonster.
Fluffy snuck in and out, coward’s way
link to facebook.com
@Ken 500
Scotland can afford all of it’s policies. £54Billion. Scotland spends £30Bilion + £16Billion (UK) pensions/benefits, £4Billion Defence = £50Billion – £4Billion to pay off the rest of the UK debt. Nit borrowed or spent in Scotland but subsidising rest of the UK debt. They cannot afford to keep on subsidising the rest of the UK, who refuse to pay enough tax for their expenditure.
Complete nonsense that is detached from reality.Economic baffoonery.
Honestly you think we still work from a gold standard with this balanced budget nonsense.
Balancing the budget would be financial suicide Ken.
My simple examples above tears your theory apart and so has Japan and China for the last 40 years.
Stop posting such nonsense.
a) You don’t know how goverments spend and what that looks like on the Bank of England simple double entry book keeping accounts.
b) You don’t know what taxes look like on the Bank of England simple double entry book keeping accounts
c) You don’t know what our national deficit or debt is in reality and how it is shown on the Bank Of England simple double entry book keeping accounts.
d) You clearly don’y know what happens in the interbank market every night.
So the bottom line is this ………
We can’t create £22 billion of currency that is created out of nothing from nothing to give to the NHS. When our debt to GDP ratio is 90% of GDP.
Yet,
We could give £50 trillion of currency that was created out of nothing from nothing to the NHS, Social housing, pensions, welfare state, schools, universities etc etc etc.
In 1945 when our debt to GDP ratio was 245% of GDP.
And you can’t see how you are being lied to. Wake up Ken with this balanced budget crap!
Incredible.
And don’t say we raised taxes later to pay for it.
We’ve only ran 3 tiny budget surplses in the last 100 years.
So when did that happen ?
So how did we do it ?
How did we pay down our debt from 245% of GDP in 1945 to 20% of GDP in 1990 ?
If we didn’t run any budget surpluses Ken ?
The clear facts are we ran CONTINUOUS budget deficits for nearly 90 years.
If you can answer how we paid down that debt in reality you might have learned something today Ken.
Scotland would be a very fair and wealthy country if we had our own central bank with our own currency and floating exchange rate.
If you let me do a weekend quiz on this site I’ll prove it to you.
Also let us not forget that the Scottish government are having to cushion the blows to the most vulnerable from westmonster. They make funds available to counter the horrendous bedroom tax, for the removal of ILF, council tax benefit, which is all but removed from the poor in England etc. Now the cash removed by westmonster, is cash removed from communities, and our economy at large, not to mention our councils.
If someone is sanctioned by the cruel, immoral government, ie ukok, they have no money to spend, lose lose for local economy, council etc etc. When Universal credit kicks in it will also mean no housing benefit if you are sanctioned, lose lose for the council. Westmonster patting their back pockets and laughing.
The Scottish government cannot continue to cushion the blows ad infinitum, and what we are allowed to do by westmonster is very very little, in fact they have vetoed on further requests by the SNP, to put more funding in place to counter the horrendous effects of the sanctions imposed by wm.
No time, or energy for idiotic comments from unsensible dave.
Derek Henry 12.19
This will be last comment today – got to go to work.
You, point blank, refuse to accept the point I am making. Let’s move the subject along. The SNP government, holds the Scottish education budget. The results and performances of Schools in Scotland have come under scrutiny – indeed Ms Sturgeon has accepted that there is much to be done to improve matters. Funding for schools is clearly part of the solution.
The Governement has chosen, as a priority, to provide free university education to all in Scotland – as well as as many EU students that want to go to a Scottish University for free.
That decision to provide free university education, to all, means that the remaining education budget is reduced by the costs of that policy – and, ipso facto, schools end up with less.
All of that is a matter for the Scottish government. The government has made a choice, it has preferred, for whatever reason, to subsidise university education for those that are capable of paying (and who will receive the benefit of for the rest of their lives), over preferring to provide additional funding for schools for the masses.
Without going into the same detail, the rest of Scottish NHS funding is affected by the free prescriptions for all policy.
Rancid Graun going after Bettertogether Obama today, once hero of teamGB boosting Englsnd’s ever tightening grip of Scotland, now
“If letting foreign countries impose laws on you, levy taxes on you, and spend your money is such a good idea why doesn’t he create an American Union so Mexico can have common borders with the US, Cuba can spend US tax on herself, and Brazil can impose laws on the US the US does not want,” Redwood said.
Far right rule Britannia types, red and blue Tories, even our new old Britnats chums Will Podmore and sensible Dave don’t really do irony.
Go to Youtube
And type in The Deficit’s A Good Thing, A Necessary Thing!
By Goyo Marquez
There is not one person on here who can debunk that video especially Ken 500.
It shows clearly the insanity of a balanced budget.
Fiscal Conservatives wouldn’t know where to start with it.
You know it dawned on me recently, being from shipping and mining area of NE England, why is that area so poor, where did all the revenues go from those money making industries? They certainly did not stay in the area, just like Hull, sucked dry.
The most productive areas of ukok have been being shafted for a very long time, time they stood up to the bullying thieves in Wm.
Sensible can put whatever spin he chooses onto anything. We can all do that.
The point he can’t escape is that the welfare state and benefits are not devolved. Westminster run these. The economy and economic policy are not devolved. Holyrood can do the best with a broken infrastructure.
Like they have done with the bedroom tax. What they can’t do is shape the economy or control how poor people are looked after by the state. That’s not in Scotland’s gift whatever hue the government is.
The blinkered vision of a unionist is always fundamentally flawed and abstracted from the real-politic.
@Nana 12.57
😀 LOL Great link Nana
Love the image posted of the group holding the ‘CAREFUL NOW’ and ‘DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING’ placards. Topped off with a back door exit for fluffy.
Excellent. 🙂
Just reading an article in Third Force News online, that Asthma UK are ‘abandoning Scotland’ and ‘centralising’ operations to er, London, just like RNIB.
Funny that, I am on the board of an Edinburgh charity, and the chairperson, a labour unionist, before the Indy ref laid into me and said we would lose funding for charities if it was a yes vote, can’t wait for the next board meeting!
ArtyHetty says:
24 July, 2015 at 1:05 pm
You know it dawned on me recently, being from shipping and mining area of NE England, why is that area so poor, where did all the revenues go from those money making industries? They certainly did not stay in the area, just like Hull, sucked dry.
The most productive areas of ukok have been being shafted for a very long time, time they stood up to the bullying thieves in Wm.
_____________
A port in a place called Pulteney town in Caithness was once the herring capital of Europe; the same scenario played out there with poor wages paid to the workers and the major money sucked elsewhere.
Although not a ghost town, it makes you wonder what it would be like now if the wealth generated was spread out fairly across that area.
“Would I be being cynical to suggest that the universal benefits are there simply to buy votes from the middle and upper classes – and the SNP don’t want to affect their election chances by changing anything? You will be aware, of course, that those universal benefits don’t exist for the super rich in England. Choices, choices.”
Sensible dave, “middle and upper classes” Scotland voted NO. It was them wot won it for teamGB. Its disaffected Labour voters that have voted for and joined the SNP, poeple like me. Well I’m less disaffected, more physically repulsed by the SLabour red tory wannabe blue tory creep show but you catch me drift.
It’s like Britnats live in another universe. Do you sensible?
@Macart
Some smashing posters, clever wording.
Was looking to see if I could spot Lesley Anne. Perhaps she will tell us all about it later.
Sadly too far away for me to attend, with them all in spirit!
@ sensibledave says
I’ve not seen your point ?
So I don’t even know what point you are making.
Post me your point and I’ll adress tonight in great detail.
We shall discuss it tonight.
At the moment Scotland works like a state in the US or a member of the Eurozone we are currency slaves to the bank of England. End of story like a gold standard.
This needs to change and change quickly.
If Scotland had it’s own central bank with its own currency and floating exchange rate.
We would be a very rich country indeed and the neoliberal markets would not be able to touch us.
We would be safe from the predatory capitalists. We would just buy up our debt ourselves. Just like Japan and China have been doing for the last 40 years.
Spent gazillions with no inflation insight.
So send me your point and we’ll discuss it tonight. I get home from work around 11.
Dave said:
“That decision to provide free university education, to all, means that the remaining education budget is reduced by the costs of that policy – and, ipso facto, schools end up with less.”
That’s a great argument but it’s a shame your logic doesn’t hold up. Perhaps if you’d ever worked in Government you’d know that it’s the other way about.
Government is required to fund schools.
Free University education is available because once all the stuff that HAS to be paid for leaves enough to spend on other things.
Macart says:
24 July, 2015 at 12:06 pm
The SG dig in where they can, but the pool is getting more shallow by the day.
link to news.scotland.gov.uk
Thanks for the link.
I do realise that the SG makes efforts in this area.
I really dislike the idea that people are ‘sanctioned’ to save money on one (Westminster) budget and are then in dire need and another (Holyrood) budget for food banks is required.
Its a false saving in the first place and its a merry go round of suffering and punishment.
I am glad I am old, because if I was young I would explode with the injustice of it.
@Anagach
I empathise entirely Anagach. The budget stretched as it is and the SG scraping the cash together to offset more suffering, yet still it goes under the radar with barely a mention by our media.
Now after that first £1bn is slashed from the block grant, actions such those taken under EFF provision will indeed become more of a rarity and through no fault of the SG. It would make you weep.
We can make it right though. It’ll be no easy fix, but you have start somewhere and the sooner we start the less damage we have to repair.
Next opportunity at the ballot.
Have I missed something?
I thought we were not supposed to feed the trolls?
@ Nana, thanks for that, no sign of Mundell there. He’s looking as ginger as the Ginger Dug of late, surely not a wee tint? he’d suit a blue rinse. 🙂
@ Jim, Pultneytoon indeed, where did the money go? Shipbuilding, mining, locomotives & textiles. None of the ditricts associated with these look like Beverley Hills either. Funny that! Fondness for Old Pultney mind ye.
Will Podmore’s back from his Ukraine holidays, as boring, incoherent & tedious as ever. Don’t they do patter or repartee in the CP these days?
Fred
Mundell looks like he’s had a bad perm and his tint is like Donald Trump’s old colour.What a mess.
Ken500,
“The Greens are untrustworthy. The Greens renege on their own policies. They collude with Unionists/Landowners and are funded (secretly) by them to prevent land coming back into public use. They prevent the predestrianisation of City centres, and waste £Millions/Billions of public money which could be better spent. Against the majority wishes and against the public interest. People are protesting in the streets. The Greens/Unionists brief the Press with lies and get any objectors arrested, finger printed, swabbed and threatened with the cells.”
Paula Rose, you and your new sycophant Ian Brotherwood wanted me to respond to Aldo for no reason.
I ask you to respond to Ken500 as this has something to do with you.
Finlay,
“When Scotland gets our independence I hope that we make our ‘independence day’ a traditional day of helping out the poor and needy.”
Lovely thought which I totally agree with.
Scottish “nationalism” is completely different to the imperialistic British Nationalism.
All we want is a free country with a fair and decent society.
Doesn’t even matter if we are not rich, as long as we are all more or less equal.
Like the people of Iceland.
Rock, you are obviously immature.
When you’re debating a point, it ill behoves you to refer to your debating adversary as a (Insert adjective or noun).
If you have to use adjectives and nouns to describe those with whom you disagree, you have lost your argument, by attacking the messenger, instead of attacking the message.
Onnyhoo, as you are an ardent Winger, I look forward to seeing you in Helensburgh tomorrow evening.
Rock likes to stir the porridge. No reasonable arguments, just offers controversy. Likes to wind people up.
In other words, a troll. Well named, crawl back under.
Ah Thepnr…
link to youtube.com
Thepnr,
“Rock likes to stir the porridge. No reasonable arguments, just offers controversy. Likes to wind people up.
In other words, a troll. Well named, crawl back under.”
One moment you wanted to embrace Tory voters into voting Yes.
When I pointed out the absurdity of that argument, you started calling me a troll.
Then you changed your mind about embracing Tories.
But you continue to call me a troll.
Thepnr,
“Embrace the NO voters, even the Tory ones if you hope to reach your ultimate goal.”
When I was saying:
“Target and embrace the ones who can be persuaded.
Later:
Thepnr,
“In reality, I would probably have more success with the Yeti but such is life.”
Let us hear your “reasonable arguments” about embracing Tories to vote Yes.
Brian Doonthetoon,
“When you’re debating a point, it ill behoves you to refer to your debating adversary as a (Insert adjective or noun).”
Another Paula “no children to save the planet” Rose sycophant.
Let us see what you have to say about Paula Rose’s unprovoked comments on the previous thread:
Paula Rose,
“Silly Aldo can someone call the carer? Just so silly –
btw Rock still sobber xx”
Paula Rose,
“Why doesn’t the Rock deal with Aldo?”
Paula Rose,
“Come on Rock doll – lay into Aldo.”
Ian Brotherhood,
“@Paula Rose –
Rock dealing with Aldo would just result in an old croak.”
Thepnr, what do you have to say about these “reasonable arguments” by Paula Rose?
Green hypocrites and their Socialist sycophants not really happy about the SNP’s success but pushing their agenda here.
Why don’t you respond to Ken500’s serious allegations against the Greens?
Where is the queen bee herself?
Hahahaha you really are a laugh Rock. A good laugh 🙂
Hi Rock.
Once again, you typed,
“sycophant”.
Please, expand your vocabulary! Really, I’m becoming fed up with your tarring of Wingers as ‘sycophants’ or ‘pedants’. Can you not enroll in an evening class to learn some new insults to direct towards those with whom you disagree?
@Brian Doonthetoon
Great tune BDT. better to be an optimist eh!
Brian Doonthetoon,
“Once again, you typed,
“sycophant”.
Please, expand your vocabulary! Really, I’m becoming fed up with your tarring of Wingers as ‘sycophants’ or ‘pedants’. Can you not enroll in an evening class to learn some new insults to direct towards those with whom you disagree?”
I don’t need to change words as long as the ones I use are perfectly applicable.
If you don’t like being called a sycophant, stop behaving like one.
Haven’t read any pedantry from yourself or Robert Peffers recently so haven’t had to use that word.
Rock I too have a little bag of words and one of them is reserved especially for you. It is douche and you fit the bill.
Don’t thank me, your welcome.
Grousebeater tries to refute the evidence I cited by calling the facts ‘unsubstantiated garbage – base opinion’ and claims that it won’t help me gain respect here.
Perhaps in his next post he should try to address the reality of the SNP’s policies? Facts not faith should be our motto.