Mighty Morphin’ More-powers Rangers
Posted on
June 11, 2013 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
This select gathering is all the Scottish Conservative conference delegates who were interested in discussing the party’s approach to devolving more powers to the Scottish Parliament in the event of a No vote in the independence referendum of 2014.
Readers far more cynical than ourselves may find the picture a useful gauge by which to measure the true degree of interest the Tories have in more powers.
Rev. did you not see that it is the whole of the younger set of the Torys here?
There also seem to be about 50. Compared to the 120-140 for Ruthie’s speech that’s showing some concern I reckon
“There also seem to be about 50. Compared to the 120-140 for Ruthie’s speech that’s showing some concern I reckon”
I did note in my tweet that it was getting on for a third of the entire conference attendance. But however you slice it, it’s still 50 people.
Arguing for more powers for Scotland but also arguing for a no vote.
I think there’s a bit of a problem with split personality in that room. Campaign for a yes vote, get all the powers in one easy shot rather than trying to convince a Westminster Government who really, really aren’t interested in handing over more authority to Holyrood anyway.
Argue for more powers but not too many.I mean, what would we do with TOO many powers, huh? They will be wanting their own pandas in Scotland next.
Why does the Duelling Banjos theme from Deliverance immediately spring to mind on viewing that photo?
Is the guy at the back being dragged in wearing a strait-jacket?
Witness the esteemed panel members bickering at approx 19mins – if this is the level of consensus they manage to demonstrate in public, what manner of stushies are happening when the cameras go away and they’ve got a couple of pink gins down them?
More powers=Independence. Anything else is deception. Circa 50 lost souls.
A truly wonderful headline. You have a gift for that art, Rev
Cracking blue socks Gromit!
It looks like some Amateur Dramatic Society raffle and guy in aisle has realised his number’s up, just like the rest of them.
These are all Young Conservatives. There is no one over the age of 70.
Ironically if you want Devo Max, your only chance is voting yes and then campaigning for re-joining the union on the new terms.
Im smiling at the thought of having a guy with a microphone, never seen one used in a lift before!
To be fair to the young man in the front row. He’s rightly thinking about the party and it’s future whether a YES or NO vote and is decried by the bampot Alan for it. The rest of the panel spouting the usual pish but deep down they know there is no chance of more powers in the current set up. The paradox being only independence would save their party from the utter, utter wipe out it is facing in the next GE and SGE in Scotland at least.
You can practically smell the steradent and mint imperials through the screen.
A few generous Tories (Ha!) are willing to hand over a few more responsibilities (tax raising etc) to the Scottish parliment. But more powers? Forget it, it will never happen. Responsibility without power – it’s all we will get from that lot.
I wonder how many got there using their free bus pass?
@Max,
None, travel with the great unwashed sweaties !
I think the Tory party in Scotland is well past it’s sell by date.
Actually, this is a theme that is running across all UK parties.
There are definite rumblings at UK level that threaten to unseat the once cosy Westminster threesome. I understand that there are calls for a new party of the left from some trade unionists. UKIP now occupy the right, pinching from the Torys and the other two right wing parties (That’s Labour and the Lib Dems for all you apologists) . There’s probably even a patch in the middle ground up for grabs.
In Scotland, although I wouldn’t support them, a new emergent party of the right, shorn of imperialist trappings and BritNat jingoism would probably find a level of support that could be built upon. I’m genuinely surprised that no group has stepped forward. Of course, if there is a yes vote I can well imagine various careerists falling over themselves to be first in line as potential right wing candidates for the Scottish Parliament.
It’s probably already started in some quarters; look at Tavish and his Orcadian buddy Liam MacArthur, if they’ve not gone quiet, then I’ll bet that we start to hear additional noises about autonomy soon. Those are the preliminary rounds in building power bases for the future.
C’mon Ruthie or someone in the Tory ranks. Look at which way the wind is blowing and show some clear thinking.
The massive own goal of trying to patronise us as ‘too wee, too everything’ rubbish has now been raised a little to ‘of course Scotland can ‘survive’ as an Independent country’.
They still have a very long road to travel to get this right, shedding the patronising the nearer we get to 2114.
We will not only ‘survive – we will thrive.
On the other hand, will you?
One way they might survive would be if Scotland were to rescue and then run the bankrupt, war-ridden mess that they made of things, but why should we bother?
Agree with the great headline – I’m sure the cloakroom’s half full of their capes and cosmic helmets…..
One good thing about this referendum, even more than the average general election campaign, is that it is, to any open minded person, showing unionists up for what they really are, irrespective of what party they usually support.
I honestly believe that their deviance, their doom laden predictions and the sheer anti-scottishness of some of them will rebound against the NO campaign.
Thankfully for us, the longer things go on, the more their sheer bitterness shines through, collectively they are acting like a small kid who is has been threatened with having it’s lollipop taken from it if it doesn’t behave!
By the way, can anyone suggest a collective term for unionists, without swearing!
A collective term for unionists; a disgrace.
Jim
What about “An Infestation”
I just watched the clip on the I player. My impression is that they seem to be deluding themselves that a no vote is certainty (well they would!) Also what can they do about anything. Scottish Tories don’t exactly feature in Cameron’s agenda very much do they? To sum it up, the Tory conference is in my opinion a load of hot air and a waste of space. Still it keeps them off the streets I suppose.
A scunner of unionists
A misery of unionists
A vacuum of unionists
A parcel of unionists
A plague of unionists
A heidshake of unionists…….
An embarrassment, A Bliar.
By the way, can anyone suggest a collective term for unionists, without swearing!
An Ululation of unionists?
A Positive case of Unionists?
A scare monger of Unionists?
A disappointment of Unionists?
My personal favourite, A scandal of Unionists.
I like a parcel of unionists because for those not in the know there is the chance to find out why that word and hence some history and for those in the know the implicit conflation of unionist with rogue . smiley smiley thing
A negation of Unionists.
John Lyons
A non breeding group?
Craig M: I have wondered about that as well – a party that is conservative (small c) fiscally and socially right wing that supports free markets. Without any of that butchers apron-wrapped brit nat BS.
I wonder how such a party would do?
A case of, more is less? I think so with this lot, they have absolutely no intension whatsoever in ‘allowing’ us more ‘powers’. Must think we are really daft eh, lets hope people aren’t conned into thinking a ‘no’ vote would be positive or in any way forward looking for Scotland, and I still don’t get the negative campaigning from ‘no’ when they so want to hold onto us, they don’t make any sense, at all.
Hetty says:
11 June, 2013 at 6:17 pm
Except
Maybe the strategy is to rip the heart out of N Sea Oil in as many years as possible after a No vote, however obtained. Privatise the air or anything else they can and sell of the Crown Estates etc (The Hong Kong Gambit)
What do they get out of it? Well a pissed off Scotland which will blow any semblance of balanced grown up negotiations about independence out of the water.
In the time until it comes to the crunch, which they will stretch out as long as they can, the fracking gas in England will come on stream (loads of it) and maybe the Falklands oil fields as well..
Job done from Westminster / the City’s point of view.
What about darling saying, the poles look good but please vote for the union ,as i know these poles are made to look good for us .
A sphincter of unionists? Sphincter being the opening of a hollow organ.
Or if we’re keeping it polite,…..A Fleg of unionists.
As I started it I suppose it’s only right that I suggest a collective name for unionists.
I have one in mind but am not certain for two reasons.
1) I think it may already be in use as a collective name.
2) It’s too polite
Anyway it’s a ‘Folly’ of unionists.
BTW can anyone tell me if it is possible to lift a still picture from something on You Tube and if so how, (please keep it simple)!
@Jim Mitchell
play video in full screen mode. pause on desired frame. press print screen (prntscr) button on keyboard. open paint programme and select paste. save.
Southernscot: Thank you very much for that, one of the scenes contained a picture of an old pal of mine who had fought the good fight for many years and who passed away a couple of years ago, it brought back many memories and i can now pass a copy on to his wife who had told me about it.
Cheers.
Jim Mitchell
Many thanks to Southernscot – I always wondered how to do that.
How about “an abomination” of unionists?
I’m not entirely clear as to why we always seem to be attacking the Tories. It’s always been the Labour Party and its hypocrisy that has kept Scotland down for the last 50 years. The Tories, up until Thatcher at any rate, always seemed a bit more switched on with bigger thinking regards finance and they at least gave a nod towards culture.
Labour in Scotland however, could never get themselves out of their teeny wee parochial soviet mentality and never gave a bugger about our culture.
I really don’t fancy the Reds getting into control but I will vote Yes because I believe that with independence the Scots will find something in themselves that has been suppressed for the past 300 years. It’s called national pride.
Who’s the guy third from the right at the front who looks like hes grabbing his baws?
They all look a bit fed up and care-worn, or would that be don’t-care-worn.
Who’s doing well in the UKOK at the mo according to an ‘economist’ from the CPPR? As read in an article today on Newsnet. Well it’s Wales and…Yorkshire, wouldn’t be due to a bit of investment regards fracking would it, in Y’shire? Not sure about Wales, maybe due to a smaller and possibly reduced population?
If ( as we are being told incessantly ) there’s nowt much left of Scotland’s oil and gas, goodbye then UK, leave us to get on and stop interfering in the democratic process, with Scotland’s plans in having a referendum in 2014. Move on and get over it UKok, as they say, it’s really not such a big deal surely.
The Rough Bounds
I kind of agree with you – certainly about Labour anyway.
The way I see it, the only way forward for the tory party here in Scotland is for someone in the party to start up a Conservative for Independence campaign, but they would need to do it fairly soon to have some sort of credibility – ie not just wait until the polls show a massive support for a YES vote.
I actually think a Conservative for Independence would do quite well, not sure if they’d get my vote again but who knows what will happen in 2016.
.