The grinding wheels of justice
An update for those interested, via an alert cartoonist:
From: Garreth.Lodge
To: Christopher Cairns
Subject: RE: Ian Smart
Date: 9 June 2015 14:25:33 BST
Dear Christopher,
Thank you for your e-mail to Kezia with regards to her exchange with the First Minister in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 23rd April 2015.
Kezia can confirm that the person mentioned in the exchange has had their membership of the Labour Party put under administrative suspension and an investigation is currently being conducted by the General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party.
If you have specific questions on the investigation you will need to direct them to the Scottish Labour Party, not Kezia’s Parliamentary office.
If there is anything other issues Kezia can help with as your MSP, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Kind Regards
Garreth
(Original enquiry below.)
From: Christopher Cairns
Sent: 09 June 2015 12:23
To: Dugdale K (Kezia), MSP
Subject: Ian SmartDear Ms Dugdale,
I am an Edinburgh resident and therefore believe I fall within your wider ‘constituency’ of the Lothians as a list MSP. I hope, therefore, you find it appropriate to answer this enquiry yourself – but, if not, I wonder if you could pass it on to the correct person with the Labour Party in Scotland and notify me of this.
It is a simple enough question: on April 23 you assured the Scottish Parliament that you would look into the online activities of Ian Smart, the prominent Labour activist and blogger – as highlighted by FM Nicola Sturgeon.
Could you let me know what form that enquiry took and what were your conclusions?Kind regards,
Chris Cairns
We look forward to the outcome of the investigation.
But, the “Scottish Labour Party” doesn’t exist. How can the enquirer direct further questions?
Is this the Scottish Labour Party that does not actually exist, as it is not officially registered? Or is this the Scottish branch office of English Labour?
Not so much of a grind, more of a quick splash of white paint.
With all the Labour Party’s expulsions and non-renewals it is quite likely that Ian Smart alone now represents a fair proportion of the residual membership.
Well done Mr Cairns-you are definitely a winger!
Ian is a regular contributor to press and TV for Labour. I’m going to take a guess that his spell on the naughty step will be short and that promises of good behaviour will be made and accepted.
Well done to Mr Cairns!
It’s about time that the politicians understood that they are elected to represent their constituents. I really believe that slowly but surely the people are taking the power back into their own hands.
Lies and spin are no longer acceptable. I hope they eventually get the message.
@HandandShrimp
Point taken. Saying sorry should do it.
Labour do have a separate Scottish executive committee. This was who backed Murphy before he resigned. I would imagine that they will be looking at local members.
Quick look at Labour party Rule book (admittedly 2013 version)
From Chapter 6:
“3. A ‘suspension’ of a member whether by the NEC in
pursuance of 1 above or by the NCC in imposing a
disciplinary penalty, unless otherwise defined by
that decision, shall require the membership rights of
the individual member concerned to be confined to
participation in their own branch meetings, unless
the reason for the suspension in part or in full is
their conduct in party meetings or there are
concerns that their presence at branch meetings
may be detrimental to the party, and activities as an
ordinary member only and in ballots of all individual
members where applicable. A suspended member
shall not be eligible to seek any office in the party,
nor shall s/he be eligible for nomination to any panel
of prospective candidates nor to represent the party
in any position at any level. The member concerned
will not be eligible to attend any CLP meeting other
than to fulfil the requirement to participate in
ballots.”
So basically, as I read that, this means he can’t hold office or seek candidacy whilst under suspension.
‘Cartoonist Collars Chronic Alcoholic’
‘Scottish’ Labour – distinguished from English Labour by their pronounced accents – could rename themselves ‘Special Branch’ in order to purvey a more dynamic, geographically orientated image to voters.
Excuse me, there’s a loud knocking at my door…
No doubt he’ll be exhonerated due to twitters policy of not allowing deleted tweets from being made public,
It’ll be “sorry we cant find any evidence of wrongdoing”.
23 April was almost seven weeks ago. How complicated an affair does this investigation need to be, one wonders.
On accountability.
Alistair Carmichael in the Record 21 Aug 2014
THE Secretary of State for Scotland said it’s unfair of politicians to use their position to mislead people ahead of next month’s momentous vote.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
If Smart is sanctioned or tossed out of the Labour party, as punishment for his outrageous smear and fear tactics, I would regard that as an encouraging instance of a better organized society, organized by direct participation of ordinary people, hopefully one day leading to greater participation with as little control and domination from above as is feasible.
@ grouse beater
If Ian Smart gets sanctioned or tossed out of the Labour I will look out for low flying pigs.
Surely this should highlight the need within the Branch Office for a Fast Action Response Team, even if the acronym does put the wind up some people?
So what is administrative suspension? Is it an actual suspension like in “You is banned ya tube” or is it like most of their stuff just “pretendy”
Anyway who is the general secretary – Ian Price or Brian Roy? (Wikipedia is unclear and I never use Labour websites) More importantly are they his pals or has he got the dirt on them? Not that it matters as they will need to report to the “real” general secretary in ingiland
A Chilcot timetable ia probably being used.
Why is Wayne David,Welsh MP,putting amendments to Scottish Bill?
link to publications.parliament.uk
“THE Secretary of State for Scotland said it’s unfair of politicians to use their position to mislead people ahead of next month’s momentous vote.”
Splendid catch
And will BBC Scotland keep on wheeling out this world renowned Scottish nazi hunter, piss artist, legal eagle, er Labour big cheese, on their current affairs/nat bashing show?
The thing is we all want Ian Smart to remain a member of the Labour party so that we can throw bricks at the party leaders every time Smart flips on Twitter,
I assume we can look forward to 3 full pages exposing this BritNat troll in the Daily Record.
bob sinclair
6 at least all with white text on white paper.
Nl doubt he was only misstating his views—-too much whisky does that to you.
@Alastair 10:31am & @Rev. Stuart Campbell 10:51am
He only stated it was “unfair” not that it was wrong.
Rt Hon(?) Carmichael’s guidance to us all:
Oxford Dict’y: Unfair – 1, not equitable or honest ( obtained by unfair means).
2, not impartial or according to the rules.
Regards Mr Smart, I’d imagine that being quarantined and so unable to hold office nor seek candidacy within SLAB would be a huge relief.
Ahh – whitewash my favorite colour
We have another petition to unseat the Tory MP Nadine Dorries by one of the rival candidates.
Lawyers are to represent independent candidate Tim Ireland using the arguement: “Under section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, it is illegal for anyone to make a “false statement of fact” in relation to an election candidate’s “personal character or conduct””.
Should be an interesting comparison.
“Administrative suspension”.
This f***ing modern world. Damn it, damn it all.
O/T
Independence Live needs our help. Only 4 days left & only 40% funded.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/going-forward–2#/story
Please help if you can.
Look at all these Labour and Tory MPs getting questions ahead of Scottish MPs,better together,eh? Also,the Scottish Labour MP seems to agree with the Tories. Thought he was meant to be opposing the Tories,not siding with them.
Seems SNP, PC and the Greens are the Tories only opposition,and people will notice this.
O/T:
Good grief what a car-crash for the Secretary of State Against Scotland that session of Scottish Questions was!
David Muddle, an na Sourbelly & Ian Slurry made a concerted anti-Scotland and, “SNP BAD”, attack from start to finish. Not only that but there were many more questions allowed by Bercow from non-Scottish Members than from Scots.
This anti-Scottish display should really further the cause of Scottish independence by a large margin.
SNP are now a laughing stock FFA
deserves them right
O/T
The chancellor will attempt to bind future governments to maintaining a budget surplus when the economy is growing, he will announce later.
Could some of you who are knowledgeable about this stuff explain what this means.
Cheers
O/T
Nicola Sturgeon wrote to all Holyrood party leaders last week asking them to support her in opposing Osbornes massive cuts.
Kezia Dugdale has been constantly griping on about the Bad, Bad SNP not dealing with issues relating to the NHS, Education and so on. The proposed £100 million cut to our budget will have a massive impact on services and many people will suffer as a result. Has she considered the implications of this and replied to Nicola’s appeal yet or will Nicola have to wait for 7 weeks to get a response?
If you are reading this Kezia we are all watching and waiting to see what you are going to do about this. Are you REALLY concerned about vulnerable Scots or are you and your colleagues more focused on undermining Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP to the detriment of the people of Scotland?
@bookie from hell says: 10 June, 2015 at 12:19 pm:
“SNP are now a laughing stock FFA.
deserves them right.”
So that’ll be why they are winning more seats in every election in Scotland. Seems to me the voters of Scotland are voting for them not laughing at them.
It’ll also be why they are increasing their membership while every unionist party in Scotland, and every unionist supporting news outlet and broadcaster is losing customers.
Looks like the people are not supporting them and certainly not laughing at them. Most in fact seem to be laughing with them.
Worried about FFA??
WAIT!!
“Administrative suspension” normally applies to your driving licence. Maybe SLAB have suspended Smart’s licence. I prefer this description from the States, the last paragraph might be apt
link to lclma.org
Has Carmichael really tabled a bucket load of amendments to the Scotland Bill and if so has anyone got a flavour for what he wants changed?
Quoted from the above letter:
“If there is anything other issues Kezia can help with”
This was written by a member of Labour’s northern branch office, on behalf of someone who claims to care a lot about Scottish education.
Aye I’ll nae hud ma breath, dinnae wint tae exacerbate my emphysema lol
O/T Scotlands Oil
link to caltonjock.com
bookie from hell says:
10 June, 2015 at 12:19 pm
SNP are now a laughing stock FFA
Why is it suddenly now on offer ?.
To make them a real laughing stock the Tories (Red and Blue) should put it in the bill and see if the SNP vote against ? no ? not happening ? – I wonder why.
Come on guys, be fair. The delay in answering Nicola’s letter is because Kezia is having to wait to be told by her London HQ what her answer is to be. That being said, I expect any answer will NOT be agreement to support the SNP Government in opposing Gideon’s extra cuts to our pocket money. Labour’s “Willie Bain Principle” will preclude any support of the Bad SNP in anything!
Hi Mosstrooper, I thought that Smart was the ‘low-flying pig’ but let’s not insult pigs.
Auld Rock
Not a whisper of this suspension anywhere in the MSM.
@proudscot says:
10 June, 2015 at 1:45 pm
“Come on guys, be fair. The delay in answering Nicola’s letter is because Kezia is having to wait to be told by her London HQ what her answer is to be.”
Nah! It’s just that the Dugtail canna type as fast as she can talk.
FFA Westminster style is continuing to take £10Billion out of Scotland and decide how to waste it. ie Trident/illegal wars,banking fraud,tax evasion. Then cut the block grant and require Scotland to raise more taxes to pay for public services. The trap.
FFA SNP style is to raise all taxes and decide how to spend them in Scotland at Holyrood.
With their majority,the UK gov could impose FFA on Scotland,and watch SNP and Scotland squirm,if as they claim,it would leave a ‘black hole’ and it’s what we are asking for.
Generous,compassionate Westminster gov could then ‘rescue’ Scotland or give the money saved from the Scottish block grant to another pet cause.
This would be a no brainer of a chance to quash the rise of SNP and independence and make themselves saviours for ever.
Westminster will not facilitate it,never mind impose it because they are ripping the arse out of us notwithstanding lower oil prices.
They are many things,but they are not stupid.
Alcoholics require a good total abstinence rehab.
O/T
The following are excerpts (with accompanying ‘commentary’) from an article regarding Nicola Sturgeon’s appearance on America’s Daily Show with Jon Stewart in today’s Daily SNPHateMail by Emma Cowing, a troll masquerading as a journalist:
“She looked a little flushed… This was Nicola’s Big Moment after all. A global audience deserves a little bronzer.”
Oooh, listen to you with your bitchy comments. Jealous much?
“Quite what the First Minister of Scotland was doing on a US chat show, waggling her well-turned ankles, was never made clear.”
Ehmmm… she had been invited to appear, didn’t you know? And she was “waggling her well-turned ankles” was she? More bitchiness. And sexist too.
“… Nicola started out shouty – her default voice in nerve-racking situations – waving her arms around…”
Is that right? And you know this as a fact… because?
“Stewart, his wise, Basset hound face inscrutable, peered at her as if she was some exotic curio from a far-off land.”
No, he didn’t, you liar.
“‘You think you’re Saddam Hussein? demanded Stewart.”
“demanded Stewart” No, he didn’t ‘demand’, you liar. How about something like, ‘exclaimed Stewart in a joking manner’?
“Some American’s were wary. The influential Huffington Post warned viewers to take Nicola’s smiles with a pinch of salt, pointing out that at its heart, Scottish nationalism’s ‘far Left’ and ‘anti-English’ sentiment was overwhelming.”
More misinformation. The Huffington Post itself did not warn its viewers about Sturgeon. Simon Philips-Hughes, who blogs for the Huffington Post did in an article entitled, “Forget the ‘Daily Show’ Hype, This is What the Scottish National Party Really Stands For”, a hate-filled rant against the SNP (more of which later). He describes himself as someone who “Writes from the US about politics with an Anglo-American perspective”…
“Yet with trim legs swinging out from behind the desk, Nicola made some fans.”
More claims of leg-swinging. More sexist, shitty commentary from the Mail. Shitty tactics from the Mail: get a woman to make the sexist comments to make it seem less controversial. Scum.
“‘Scotland has much to offer’ Nicola intoned, sounding like an early draft of a VisitScotland press release.”
The First Minister of Scotland promoting Scotland… How dare she! Utterly disgraceful!
“So much talking about Scotland, so little actual governing of Scotland. Sigh.”
LOL! Top-mark trolling! Love your work!
“Back on set, Nicola was on a roll. ‘Scotland invented the modern world,’ she informed a sceptical Stewart. ‘Let’s not get nuts here, he responded. The audience roared.”
“The audience roared”… What like a pack of angry lions, or the auduence that were eating out of Sturgeon’s hands? You forgot to put, “with laughter” at the end…? Oh, right. Tsk!
“But on she wittered… forgetting the golden rule that when it comes to talking to Americans about Scotland, unless you are a personal acquaintance of Great Uncle Jimmy from Ecclefechan, they are not really that interested.”
Funny that, they seemed awfully interested in Nicola. And still very much do. Maybe you’re talking from your own personal experiences?
“This will always be Nicola’s problem in the States. However much we Scots may peer up at Uncle Sam with the sort of wide-eyed reverence that cybernats reserve for Alex Salmond, Americans will always view us as a tartan-tainted novelty.”
wide-eyed reverence… cybernats… Alex Salmond… ROFL! Top-marks trolling again! Love your work!
“But if Nicola thought that her invitation onto the Daily Show was a sign she was being viewed as a serious politician Stateside, I fear she was mistaken. Instead, she looked more like Great Uncle Jimmy from Ecclefechan at the Thanksgiving table – a source of gentle, disinterested amusement.”
You really do have a Great Uncle Jimmy from Ecclefechan, don’t you? And, “disinterested amusement”…? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
“Would you ever see a sitting British Prime Minister agree to appear on such a show? Exactly.”
“such a show”…? Now you’re disparaging the Daily Show after trying to make it the most important programme on American TV…? Ah, that was just to give you an excuse to attempt to smear Sturgeon, right. Just being a shitty hypocrite, then. And, Cameron on the Daily Show? Oh, please, bring it on! A contrast and compare with the audience’s reactions to that of Sturgeon’s would be bloody brilliant!
The Daily Mail – lying, hateful, smearing, scaremongering, racist, sexist and homophobic… so you don’t have to.
O/t Dal Riata, good post but don’t worry about Emma whoever, dont think anyone has heard of her, but now America is being charmed by our Nicola and the establishment don’t like it. Great, long may it continue. The day these uneducated pricks ever say anything nice about Nicola then we worry. Everyone that seen it knows the truth. What DM “journalists” or readers think matters not.
He’s probably being lined up for promotion.
@ bookie from hell: have you made any attempt to understand UK/Scotland’s financial matters, or are you simply parroting the distortions put about by Unionists?
You do know the UK has a massive deficit and a massive debt?
Do you believe the IFS are impartial, whilst funded by the UK Government?
You do understand that a deficit is incurred when expenditure exceeds income. And that this “deficit black hole” projected in an independent Scotland, and happily voiced by the Unionists, is based around expenditures projected in an independent Scotland by, yes, the IFS. Funny that.
This post by Alistair needs to be brought to the attention of the folks that started this court case against Carmicheal, as Rev Said, Good catch. Does anyone know how to contact them? This will strengthen their case
Alastair says:
10 June, 2015 at 10:31 am
On accountability.
Alistair Carmichael in the Record 21 Aug 2014
THE Secretary of State for Scotland said it’s unfair of politicians to use their position to mislead people ahead of next month’s momentous vote.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
I’m really sick of these vile unionist numpties and their evil lies and distortions. So I did a brief search for, “Nicola Sturgeon”, in the USA on Google Advanced Search. and set it for the past week.
Here’s what a couple of the USA media outlets had to say on the matter – (and I didn’t especially select them). I did have to reject some other websites as they carried so many video clips that were restricted to within the USA.
I also rejected the USA version of the Huffington Post which was quite impressed with Nicola but I had a devil of a job trying to cut & paste the required text from the cluttered page riddled with links to other stories, video adverts and other junk. Here’s what the USA media thought of our First Minister.
link to news.yahoo.com
link to bloomberg.com
You will see that the USA are far less critical the the vile unionist news, (for want of a better description), outlets.
Kezia prefers to use emoticons to make herself understood – anyone need a link?
Ian Smart prefers a couple of drinkie-poos before he tweets, no need for a link – read any of them, mostly the spelling and grammar are a bit off-beam.
Dipity Dug has investigated nothing!
She and the Smurph, along with many other Labour Mafia members
are well recorded exchanging nasty words on social media.
The Rev was kind enough to show us Ian Smart’s Nazi comparisons with the peoples party of Scotland, SNP.
The enquiry should take as long as it takes to open her i-phone.
They, Liuebore, got too used to having the UK media move the goal posts for them and pasting halos behind every dunderheid in their ranks.
They assume that they can get away with anything. if its against SNP
So the active members of the Labour party in Scotland have been reduced by 0.1%. 999 to go, seems appropriate.
@Robert Peffers
I’ve recently started using Firefox and it’s great. a bit like IE but better. In the link bar there’s an icon that looks like an open book, click it and you get “reader view” which strips out all the rubbish. People were telling me for months to use it, wish I’d listened. I still have IE as the default, just fire up firefox for such as this website which makes it quicker. You can download straight from mozilla:
link to mozilla.org
O/T
Sorry, it’s long.
In the above post at 3:54 pm, I mentioned Simon Philips-Hughes who blogs for the Huffington Post.
On Twitter he promotes himself as: “Marketing Communications and Messaging for Campaigns. GSPM Grad. Huffington Post Blogger.”
On his facebook page he states his ‘likes’ as: “Mitt Romney, TED, Fox News, Dogs, George W. Bush”
Mitt Romney, Fox News and George W. Bush… Naming those three as ‘likes’, no need to guess which side of the political spectrum he is on.
So, on to his Huffington Post article, delightfully entitled:“Forget the ‘Daily Show’ Hype, This is What the Scottish National Party Really Stands For”
Following is the entire article for your delectation:
“This week Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party and unexpected media star of the UK’s recent general election is on a ‘charm offensive’ tour in the US. The amity of Americans and Scots is natural and well documented; from their shared egalitarian culture, the large numbers of 19th century immigrants to America and the genuine charm tourists experience north of the Border, not just in scenery but in person.
But of course having a lot of time for Scotland is not the same as agreeing with the SNP. For at the center of contemporary Scots nationalism is an anti-English sentiment that overshadows its pro-Scottish credentials, and merges with the anti-Americanism of the far left everywhere. Honestly, these guys make Bernie Sanders look like Rand Paul and Barack Obama look like Ronald Reagan.
Take away the media savvy and cheeky persona and you will uncover SNP hostility to anyone that has the temerity to question their proposals. It is true of the torrent of online hate the famed ‘Cybernats’ directed at critics of independence like J.K. Rowling or recently departed (and hounded) Scottish Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy. It is true of their bullying disregard of centuries old protocol in the legislature. It is seen in double-talking reminiscent of Orwell; Nicola Sturgeon reassured an SNP vote in the general election was not one for Scots Independence… right until the ‘dramatic’ morning after the vote.
Seeing as Sturgeon is in the US, it is topical to underscore the SNP’s anti-Americanism, which has made an unlikely return to UK politics by way of Hadrian’s Wall (Labour Party spin doctors sensibly eradicated most of this stuff from the British left in the 1980s). The Scottish First Minister is in the US ostensibly to promote links but wants exemptions north of the border to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that would otherwise bind America and European countries closer together.
From their rhetoric on public spending you would think that government is the fountainhead of all that is good, because that is what the far left believes. The rest of us are lucky they let us make the money they spend. Their statist vision for an independent Scotland is the exact opposite of the laissez-faire values that made the US the powerhouse it is, rooted in commerce. Put simply, SNP stalwarts loathe capitalism and its champions.
But it is on the question of defence that this all becomes rather more serious. An independent Scotland would oppose American foreign policy and prevent some of the best units in the British Army from joining their brothers in arms. It’s sad enough that Obama’s terms have led, paradoxically, to the possible necessity of stationing US cruise missiles in Britain again (and don’t worry, we will welcome them). To make matters worse, it has always been the mission of the SNP to disarm Britain of its own Trident submarine system, with targets agreed by the Pentagon and permanently ensconced in the side of Scotland. Vladimir Putin can only be delighted this has come at a time when Finland has put 900,000 reservists on notice and the Poles are breaking out the brick-bats in fear of invasion.
Yet it is this very talk of independence that is most calculated to tug at the heart strings of Americans (and prompted the SNP’s Alex Salmond to cry hypocrisy when even Barack came out in favour of the Union). Any analogy with the American experience is false. English soldiers last pacified the Highlands hundreds of years before the Union Army settled the West and a Scot inherited the English throne to unite the kingdoms 150 years before the United States. The Smith commission agreed devolution of powers to Scotland last year that exceeds the federal freedom the Constitution gives States (and which the American left would deny them). And by American standards, the Scottish Government is an elective dictatorship because (McFly, hello!) there is no separation of powers. At least Westminster has the poor old Lords as a check on executive largesse.
In fact, the top-down Jacobite tendency of Scottish politics the SNP represents is a form of frustrated imperialism common to nationalists movements all across Europe, still seething they never became the power Britain did in the 19th century or the US did in the 20th. When Scottish autocracy failed in Nova Scotia, or to make it down to London in 1715 and 1745, they were at the forefront of the oppression of Whig colonists in America a few decades later. And now they are coming again!
So, sure, John Stewart and the NGO crowd should welcome Nicola Sturgeon, share a dram, recognise what a talented politician she is. But that is all she is, and she should leave the hate and the crazy stuff alone at home as much as on her best behaviour stateside.”
It’s all there – the SNP and those who wish for an independent Scotland are:
anti-English; anti-American; propagaters of a torrent of online hate at “critics” such as JK Rowling and Charles Kennedy – actually “hounding” him; bullies who disregard centuries old protocol in the legislature (Westminster is what this loony probably means); Orwellian-like double-talkers; willing spenders of the money those on the right make; people who loathe capitalism and businesspeople; unpatriotic for wanting nuclear weapons removed from Scotland; backers of Putin, who has caused Finland and Poland to be on a war-alert; liars for not saying that the Highlands was really “pacified” by English soldiers; troublemakers for not accepting that the Smith Commission will give Scotland more devolved powers than The Constitution gives to the USA; worse than communists because the Scottish government is an elective dictatorship; top-down Jacobites; frustrated imperialists; the descendants of separatists and troublemakers in 18th century America; full of hate and crazy stuff, just like Nicola Sturgeon…
And breath…
Good god almighty! Utterly insane! Yes, this dude writes in blog form, but he gets regular gigs in the Huffington Post, FFS. Dearie, dearie me!
Even the Daily Mail (maybe!) would blanch at putting this nutter’s insane ranting in print.
The American far-right is one hell of a mad and scary place!
It seems that WoS recieved 40,000 visitors yesterday just to watch Nicola’s Daily Show appearance. So at least 40,000 people know the truth of it & I’ll bet there’s been more views of it since then.
Rev Stu-that must have been the equivalent of a Fleet Street scoop. Well done man!
Dal Riata: propagators of a torrent of online hate at “critics” such as JK Rowling…
Philip-Hughes is a pamphlet propagandist working for a right-wing numbskull think tank. No sane person would employ him in any other way.
He is whore happy to take their dollar.
And the notion that Rowling a committed Anglophile would decide to live in Scotland because she loved and admired the way of live and values is the stuff of her fantasy novels.
She was always going to endorse the British Establishment because she is the establishment, and needs to be to promote her work and extend her wealth and influence. There is not an ounce of rebellion in her public school obsessed books or her personality.
She is conformity write large.
Slightly O/T: With regard to FFA, everyone seems to have forgotten what the SNP actually set out in its manifesto. If you check it, I think you will find that they did not say they wanted FFA immediately.
To the contrary, they pointed out that it would have to be phased in gradually, at least while Scotland remained part of the UK. This is simply a matter of practical common sense: it is not something that can happen overnight, because the infrastructure for implementing it is not yet in place.
So what kind of timetable might be feasible? If my memory serves me correctly, in their manifesto the SNP promised to do what they could to have FFA up and running by 2020 or 2021. They have not reneged on that promise, and will keep trying … even if they he Tory government at Westminster will be trying to thwart and embarrass them at every turn.
The SNP are sticking to their manifesto. They know fine well that any Unionist politician who attempts to set up FFA all at once,in one go, will be selling Scotland down the river. They have no intention of being swindled.
Anything which pretends to be FFA while refusing to give Holyrood full control over Scotland’s natural resources and the revenues therefrom, including oil and gas (both offshore and onshore), is laughable. It is also a lie.
In fact, for Scotland to achieve genuine FFA, innumerable lies built into the UK’s present accounting systems would have to be exposed for the fraud they are, and dismantled. Anyone who thinks any UK Unionist Party is going to allow that kind to happen is living in cloud cuckoo land. As realists, that’s not the land the SNP inhabit.
I did not like the language Alex Salmond used when he spoke about holding people’s feet to the fire – all of us are anti-torture nowadays, surely. However, granted that it was only a metaphor, I have to admit that he knew what he was talking about.
Even if it finally dawned on the Unionists that FFA was the only way to ‘save’ the Union, they would still have to be dragged there, screaming and shouting. Genuine FFA within the Union is virtually impossible; the only way to obtain it is without the Union. The SNP know that. In the final analysis, ‘Autonomy’ is just another word for ‘Independence’.
The first referendum was only a dummy run. It revealed many things, not least that Unionism is all-in-one. There are not three kinds of Unionism – a Lab kind, a LibDem kind and a Con kind (and now even a UKIP-kind), as we once thought. No: they are all one and the same thing. Now we know. We won’t be fooled again.
The SNP’s core policy isn’t FFA; it remains what it always has been: FFI. That is, Independence, whether you think of that Independence as Full Fiscal, or Full Frontal.
The SNP are not being disingenuous when they stick to their manifesto: they do want FFA by 2020 or 2021. Because they are very sure that FFA ultimately, or even very quickly, means independence.
Unionists who say they are willing to give it are only pretending. What they want to serve up is a pretendy FFA, not the real thing. In the hope that this will prove an embarrassment the SNP. Who would accept a fake today when he knows that if only he is patient for just a moment, the genuine article will be available to him tomorrow?
Yet the SNP are not simply ‘biding their time’ in idleness as they await the opportune moment; they are working hard to hasten the day.
Surely not! Mr Smart being made out to be some kind of, um, cyber..Cybernat!?
Dal Riata,
Instead of cutting & pasting an entire piece of copy (whether you agree with it not, it’s still someone else’s work, for which they receive an income), why not just post a headline and a link to the article?
@wull
Agree with all you say. Great post on what seems a quiet night.
Quiet night? Not here in Brechin…
link to youtube.com
Good post there @11:05 by wull. Westminster Unionists still seem to think that Scots are thick,they haven’t learned a thing.
An interesting view on FFA.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH A TRAP YOU CAN’T AVOID? YOU JUMP IN WITH BOTH FEET.
link to peter-arnott.blogspot.co.uk
P.S. Wasn’t a central tenet of British Labour’s ‘Devo nano’, the ‘principle’, ‘doctrine’, ‘dogma’, that no part of the UK should be able to gain advantage through preferential tax rates? One Nation and all that.
“… it’s still someone else’s work, for which they receive an income”
Yes… and? So, nothing should be cut and pasted from anywhere online if the writer of the piece receives, or has received, an income for it…? Riiight…..
If the piece of writing had been plagiarized in any way, or given no identity to its composer, or given no mention of where it had been printed, or not enclosed in quotation marks *then* you might have had a point.
“… why not just post a headline and a link to the article?”
Because I wanted it to be seen in full by viewers to this site as it is so off-the-wall in its venomous attack on the SNP, and by association those who voted for them, that it exposes just how way-out-there – and wrong – far-right American thinking is.
Do note: the writer of the piece was named; the publication in which the piece appeared was named; the whole piece was enclosed in quotation marks to show the words as belonging to the author.
And anyway, you were warned it was a long post. You didn’t have to read it. Dearie, dearie me…
@Graham Harris Graham,
I, like you have suffered from Lyme disease albeit a milder form than you contracted in Tennesee.
I took an intensive course of Cat’s Claw for a year and I have now been free of symptoms for a year.
Good luck with your health and photography.
I see that the eurosceptics are demanding the BBC be monitored for bias in the forthcoming referendum. Well, they would know.
They were the same bunch who used every dirty trick in the book against us but now the boot is on the other foot they cry foul.
It would be good to monitor the BBC etc in the same way during this referendum, there is a chance that the BBC will actually act impartially in this referendum and then a benchmark would be set against which future referendum analyses could be compared.
Certainly any protestation from them of being impartial in this EU one would strengthen the case for there having been bias in the recent one if the treatments of the arguments of each side were treated differently in percentage coverage, final comment, etc ( the things that John Roberston’s survey used).
A good proposal, Caroline. I hope Prof Robertson is on that case!
Yes good idea Caroline. I heard someone (can’t remember who now) ask in the Commons if scaremongering and unacceptable interference from Civil servants would feature in this EU Referendum. I’m sure it wasn’t an SNP MP but they had obviously picked up on this during the run up to our Referendum.
I also watch BBC news, when possible, and take a note of all biased reporting. I’ve built up quite a dossier now! I’m sure John Robertson, his team and followers, Ponsonby and so on continue to do likewise.
jackie g says:
10 June, 2015 at 12:22 pm
O/T
The chancellor will attempt to bind future governments to maintaining a budget surplus when the economy is growing, he will announce later.
Could some of you who are knowledgeable about this stuff explain what this means.
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A budget surplus means the government takes more from us in taxes than it spends. This is NOT A GOOD THING. The government looks virtuous, but all it means is that it has robbed its own citizens.