The mouths of convicts
Posted on
August 04, 2014 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Chris Huhne in the Observer, 3 August 2014:
Isn’t it weird how an MP has to be “disgraced” before they can tell the truth?
Disgraceful.
To give him is due, that particular convicted MP, Chris Huhne, usually did spot truths. His undoing was that his wife was even more truthful in one respect and had a score to settle against him.
His remark above is certainly what I believe to be a fact.
A surprisingly perceptive piece by Chris Huhne.
When it comes to the negotiating, the financial aspect will soon have fUK team come to their senses…Hopefully!
He is speaking his mind because he has nothing to lose.
That says it all about Westminster politics.
I understand and so does the leadership of BT that all these threats etc are merely tactics deployed by them in this referendum battle, but do the few left who are voting No understand this when they repeat verbatim the ridiculous and laughably negative scare stories? I have to wonder.
Nice to see “if” appearing in print, shouldnt be long before we see “when”
Disgraced, or retired. All the senior Scottish Labourites thus far to have come out for Yes have retired; the most vociferous for No are serving pols with careers to lose/promote. Of course there’s a big gelatinous mass of MPs & MSPs keeping their heads down hoping to get away with saying nothing. First poll to show Yes with a lead, the gelatine will start wobbling & disintegrating.
Yep – I was truly amazed to see this criminal now lauded.
It is the same as the ‘War on Drugs’ – only when these guys are out of the frontline, and I include top policemen, others in the legal profession, etc that the ‘truth’, or the ‘pragmatic reality’ comes out….
Well I’ll be ghasted and flabbered, he’s pulled a Healey.
Saw my first No thanks sticker?flag on cars this morning. The one with the Sticker was obviously not that bright parked as he was right beside a busy T junction. The other one was a hard faced hack of a woman with a No Thanks flag, must be coming out of the woodwork.
Ye I commented elsewhere that you seem to have to be an ex Labour what ever to say you will be voting YES. Considering Mr Huhne has no vote I can only say he is out to make trouble for his previous Party.
Maybe he can help a bit more by coming out with more truths, especially if he knows of any nasty tricks they have up their sleeves.
From the same article:
“I have been reading the Scotsman – an excellent paper – …”
Nothing that comes from Westminster or ex Westminster surprises me anymore. It is a mess of so much spin and manipulation for vested interests, that only rarely does the actual truth comes out.
When it actually does, ie McCrone, Healey, and others, Westminster just goes on another spin campaign against the truth.However, their facade is crumbling, their deceit is bit by bit, becoming known. Scots in particular have been subject to this for soo many years, indeed centuries.
Now, the day approaches to finally have our say, who would vote NO?,if having the evidence in front of their face, yet some are unfortunately blind and brain washed. It is our time, we need to take it.
Huhne knows what pragmatism & self interest will mean come negotiation time.
As do we, along with HMG, Project Fear, Holyrood, our European friends, the Yanks, everyone really.
Apart from those voters who PF have managed to frighten, and keep in the dark.
Well there you go,an ex cabinet minister from this present government says Scotland and England can work together,like we all knew they could.
Well there you go,an ex cabinet minister from the present government says Scotland and England can work together,like we all know they could.
Pretty sure no poll will show yes in the lead, not because it isn’t, but because of the effect it will have on the £
O/T
Ouch. Sir George just landed a knockout blow on CU, lender of last resort, how ‘Scottish’ RBS ect are, and this old chestnut…He stated: ” As the debate over Scottish independence enters its final stage, careful analysis is giving the lie to the unionists’ scaremongering about the consequences of independence. For Scotland’s financial sector, this is an opportunity, not a threat.”
link to milngavieherald.co.uk
The Herald also run the story, but i’m not paying, what a start to the week. The man on the money says Yes !
Just a small point – Chris Huhne is an ex-convict. He has done his crime, served his time and is now reintegrating back into the community. Of course one could perhaps argue his reintegration has been exceptional given his previously priviliged status, but that is a mott point as far as I am concerned…
As it stands, current convicts although living in Scotland do not have a vote…
“a person proved or declared guilty of an offense.”
link to dictionary.reference.com
moot point is what I meant to type…can’t even blame autocorrect this time…
Huhne’s analysis is pretty well spot on. Just because he is an ex-con does not mean that his words are any less sincere or untrustworthy – in fact I think he is more trustworthy in his current situation.
Huhne is currently trying to carve out a niche for himself as an “honest broker”. He’s the one with nothing to lose politically – he’s lost it all already – so by establishing himself as someone who is recognised as a source of truth and wisdom he can perhaps have a career as a columnist. He dares to say what he could not have said as an active politician.
We saw a similar effect with Johnathan Aitken. He had been a most obnoxious example of a Tory government minister and when he got out of prison, he turned out to be quite a reasonable guy whose view of the world had changed and who no longer had to tow the party line. He was able to think and speak the truth.
If Huhne was still in government, he would not have been able to write this article, even although I’m sure he would have had the sentiments. Which is all a rather sad indictment on our current political system – when you are in office, what you cannot do is be objective, rational or reasonable. You have to put over the propaganda your party has decided on, irrespective of whether it makes sense. Perhaps this explains the position that Murphy, Alexander (Douglas), Alexander (Danny), Curran and all the rest of these charlatans adopt.
He’s conceding ground because he knows about their £46,500 secret poll. Some MP’s like sozzled old Charles Kennedy are going down swinging, bloater Carmicheal even lied about their own poll result secrecy rules but Huhne knows first hand what can happen to liars and hypocrites.
link to newsnetscotland.com
Hugne’s Damscene revelation is wonderful in hindsight, pity he couldn’t have saved his own neck while in the Westminster ‘hothouse’
Rev.
Same source as yours, alternatvie definition:
“a person serving a prison sentence”
If we take this alternative definition he is an “ex-con”. But we all know what he is – he is a fallen politician, convicted of a serious criminal offence, who has served his time.
The important question is, does that make him more or less trustworthy than his ex-colleagues in government? The sad answer is that it appears to make him more trustworthy.
Just like an Independent Scotland when you have nothing to lose you have everything to gain
WoW.
Is it just me or is Mr Huhne’s piece an effort in preparing rUK for a Yes win? Six per-cent at this stage is nothing, especially if there is momentum.
That from Huhne which is fine.
Portillo was on This Week not so long ago still labouring the oft-debunked notion that England subsidises Scotland.
He was soon put in his place by Tommy Sheridan…
I’m not sure where I’m going with this… Except perhaps to say; prison can open your eyes?
:-/
Yes, James Kay, I noted the bizarre praise of The Scotsman. I also see in The Guardian online edition the comments on the probabilty of currency union, EU membership etc have been excised.
Huhne, just confirming what, we already knew, that Westminster, is full of unionist liars, SNP MP’s aside.
Talking of unionist liars, here’s Kezia Dugdale of the ultra unionist, London owned, and anti-independence driven Daily Record newspaper, attacking Alex Salmond, like Lamont she can’t attack the principles so she attacks the man.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
Dugdale is pathetic, personal attacks on the FM rather than even trying to present the arguments.
Odious and poisonous woman.
HOPE you made the most of the break from the independence debate because the referendum race is back for its six-week finale and the heat is on.
Actually, all the heat is on Alex Salmond and the Yes campaign.
Folk in the Yes camp hoped that Glasgow 2014 would give them a much-needed boost.
They needed a game-changer and still do, because it wasn’t the Games.
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The first opinion poll conducted since the Games began shows the No campaign increasing their lead.
And just when you thought the boxing was over, two political heavyweights are set to enter the ring and debate the issues live on STV.
Tuesday night sees the first and possibly only TV debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling.
The Yes camp once again are desperately hoping for a knockout win but I expect a lot more bob and weave from Salmond.
Here’s the thing – thousands of people who switch on the TV on Tuesday will be switching on to the debate for the first time, too. Unlike the political elite, who’ve been battling this out day and night for the past two years, they’re just tuning in now.
And they have questions. Lots of them.
If Salmond is smart, he’ll arrive at the TV studio with solid answers. But the weekend’s papers have been filled with stories about his preparations being far more about style than substance.
The man who used to be a huge electoral SNP asset is now proving to be a bit of a liability in the referendum campaign.
Women don’t like or trust him. Given they’re the group most likely to be undecided, fielding Salmond to persuade them is a risky business.
That’s why style matters. He’ll have been told not to laugh at his own jokes. To avoid that thing he does with his head, like he’s trying to header a ball towards the inside of the post each time he makes a political point.
And he’ll be relentlessly upbeat. In the absence of answers, just assert that all will be well.
So much so, he’s employed his own happiness guru.
Not Pharrell Williams but Claire Howell – a specialist in the feel-good factor.
So, if Salmond leaves you feeling all warm and fuzzy after Tuesday’s show, ask yourself some cold hard truths.
Do you know for sure what currency we’ll all be using? Is your pension safe? Will your bills go up after independence?
And is it really a risk we need to take?
Meant to add, the above is from the link not me…but you all knew that, right…?
Forgot to add this, another Yesser, Vice president of CND, Bruce Kent, and why I’m voting yes.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
Bruce Kent lives in London. He doesn’t have a vote.
geeo …
good points but you can just use “archive today” to take a screen shot and paste the link to ayarchive.today link instead.
It makes the post shorter while preventing any revenue going to the garbage newspaper which printed it in the first place.
There must be a very nervous collection of ‘Westminster Untruthfuls’ concerned about their imminent discomfort when the truth finally comes out.
Would a whistle-blowing cleansing help? Surely a colleague near them is wondering the same?
An exposé in print might even be of assistance at this time.
link to newsnetscotland.com
Another one from newsnetscotland. Now, if this is true, and I think it is, as I am also hearing these rumous, it emboldens the thoery that the west, right down through the Clyde basin is floating on oil. A new industry to rival Aberdeen can develop over a generation and pull dozend upon dozens of thousands of people out of poverty and back into productivity.
Got to get rid of those subs first though. How do we do that?
(Sorry, haven’t read all the comments above, so sorry if I’m repeating the obvious.)
My first reaction is that only someone dropped by the Establishment can tell the truth. Or somebody who’s never been a part of the Establishment (e.g. SNP Westminster MPs).
No-one in the Establishment or aspirants to the Establishment – and that includes all Labour politicians in the UK, also the SLABs – will tell the truth because it’d hurt their career prospects and throughing and feathering their nest and their private gain at public expense. That’s the UK way.
The UK really haven’t moved very far from the English Magna Carta, which affirmed barons’ rights against the Crown. Not the people’s, the barons’ rights. They made the Parliament sovereign. They must’ve hated the widening of the franchise, giving votes to the plebs and women!
Meanwhile in Scotland, the Declaration of Arbroath made the people sovereign. So, in theory, the people can sack the monarch and/or parliamentary reps.
No wonder this political union of Scotland and England (incorporating Wales and (Northern) Ireland) is an uneasy one.
For more than three hundred years they’ve tried to bring unruly Scots with their more democratic ideas to heel but despite all their efforts, the people of Scotland still have ideas above their station.
The Scots (old and new) just might grab the chance and become an independent contry again.
The UK Establishment won’t like it one bit because it might show them for what they are, arrogant, privileged parasites preying on every ordinary person. They fear a more equal country right on the doorstep. Even the English might start asking questions.
Oh dear.
I wrote a really intelligent and worthwhile contribution to WoS but mistyped my email so it’s in moderation.
Oh well, maybe my pearls of wisdom will appear later.
I blame summer holidays and the heat (it’s been +27…+31 for more than two weeks here in “arctic” Finland) for melting my brain and my sausage fingers.
link to japantimes.co.jp
An interesting piece from The Japan Times over the weekend.
“And is it a risk we really need to take?”
Yes, yes and a further thousand times yes.
I do not want to remain associated with the British Establishment’s out of control psychopaths for a second longer.
It’s hard enough holding on another six weeks to see if I have a future or not!
The Scots have a natural tendency to self determination.. the futures so bright we will need to wear shades.
Iain and others
I agree……..It would really surprise me if any poll in the next six weeks shows us (YES) the lead. MSM couldn’t handle this. In one sense, I’m glad because it makes them complacent……on the other hand it would give our folk (and the undecided) a real sense that the tide is turning and the momentum is with us. Right now, I know we’re making inroads but it is painfully slow. I guess it’s my own frustration that what the doorstep is telling us and all the hard work isn’t really being reflected in the polls which is why I think these polls are being manipulated. Come the day!
I suspect there will be more than one poll showing Yes ahead or equal prior to 18th September. We’re now at the business end and several factors will come into play:
1) A more circumspect media – serious breaches of the Broadcasting laws could rebound badly on corporations and careers.
2) Some newspaper editors worried about alienating a large section of their readership will also strive for more balance (some signs of this from the Record recently).
3) We may even see a siding with Yes from one or more of the papers – my money’s on ‘The Sun’. Just contrary enough to risk it and Murdoch would love to stick it to Westminster. Taking Scotland out of the equation would also help with one of his other objectives too – getting the UK out of Europe. Besides, they always like to be seen to back winners.
4) The focus of the public and engagement with the arguments will favour Yes – especially if all the Tory Boys and Mad Gordon go clodhopping across the TV screens, with Lamouth mugging in the background.
5) The Yes campaign will be far more effective on the ground, and (last but not least)
6) The Pollsters: We know they’ve been at it. They know we know. They also know how their surveys have been skewed. What they don’t know is how to engage all those people who don’t normally vote, just recently registered or who they normally wouldn’t deign to include in their samples. And that worries them. Professionally, their reputations are in serious danger of another big dent on Sept.19th, worse than the SNP victory in 2011. One or more will break ranks and publish to gain advantage over the others.
BT will dismiss it as a rogue poll and use it to whip their supporters out of complacency. Yes will be spurred on to even greater momentum.
Physics demands that when an unstoppable force hits an immovable object that something has to give, but any physicist will tell you there is a caveat to that: There is no such thing as an immovable – it’s just a question of how strong the force is.
Helena,
I’ve also noticed a lot of No Thanks and Naw stickers in recent days.
I’m now outnumnbered 3-1.
However there’s also a lot more YES stickers around and more of them are on show than No, I would say in some cases the opposite of my predicament.
I can tell you that four of the homes who have the no stickers in my village are staunch labour supporters and be it hard to believe, all the families are also Rangers Supporters.
Head down to Culross and it’s mainly the big hooses that have the No stickers in their windows. One in particular has a garrish collection of No Thanks posters with various colours on every window and unfortuneatly you can’t miss them as the house is facing you as you drive into Culross from the West.
There is a superb Yes in a window in Rosyth. It looks like it is a window blind. The YES is circular and grey, but has a huge big smile with YES above it.
Heading East past East End Park in Dunfermline is a snazzy little cottage with a huge saltire and YES in the window.
Hulne refused permission for a coal CC Project at Longannet in Fife. Coal is half the price of (imported) Gas and is plentiful in the UK.
Westminster indecision lost Scotland the opportunity to access £Billion? in renewable Grants from EU.
Dr Ew
I think you have forgotten to take into account the Quantum effects on the referendum.
Surely, you must have heard of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
The closer we get to the referendum the more uncertain it becomes.
It is very scary!
@Dr Ew
re pollsters – they will not give a shit if they are proved wrong on Sept 19th. They have been miles wrong on both recent SNP victories. They are just playing the UK establishment line – they have no interest in producing favourable polls for an Independent Scotland.
I really think the no campaign is all about holding the line. Most No people I know quote the polls as their main defence of the Union – they have no other arguments. If the polls turn they will have no answers.
Therefore, the polls will not turn – the polls will predict a 5% to 10% lead right up to the 18th September – They have to.
That is our great advantage – are the No people campaigning ? No, because they do not have to as they are ahead in the polls.
I like the irony of it all – but we are not there yet – still a long way to go – so get out there.
You will not meet many on the no side campaigning like us.
Thank you pollsters !