The powers they have
Posted on
November 28, 2017 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Cash is tight in Scotland’s Unionist-run councils.
If only there was something they could do to bring more money in, something they’ve been demanding the Scottish Government do for at least the last seven years and which the councils now have the power to do for themselves.
Not THAT, obviously. They mean something that might lose the SNP votes.
Cos I’m a woman.
Can it be any clearer that the mentality of the unionist is absolutely disgusting.
Yoons gonna yoon
We are in the dying days of stupidity…
Our local council is doing it’s usual, asking the public what to cut. Then once everyone gets up to high doh they reveal, usually just about election time, that in fact they’ve saved the day. :{
Trouble is, they do this every time and blame the Scottish gov without a mention of the UK. Depressing.
I challenged a LibDem councillor about where the SG gets it’s funding and he just looked shifty. Haven’t seen him since…
None of these people are credible. Intellectually, morally & evolutionary dead-ends. They should all fuck off and return only when they have something positive to contribute to society
So council that critical short on funds chooses not to secure additional revenue but is still the SNPs fault
@Mogabee
I wish I could say that you are right about the dying days of stupidity but I ‘m afraid I can’t. With each day that passes the comments & assertions being made by the unionist side just get dafter & way, way beyond stupid. They have to be doing it on purpose-deflection & time wasting.
Wonder how many will remember these morons come election time.
We could do something,but we won’t because people would blame us, and besides it gives us the opportunity to shift the public lame and anger onto the SNP who have nothing to do with how we spend the money in the first place.
That is about it really.
These Yoons are off their trolley.
The British Nationalists Red and Blue Tories snipe constantly they never once put forward a constructive suggestion.
They do not actually care about people it is just point scoring.
Shameful people anti Scottish no doubt about it.
As a matter of interest why are there restrictions on types of spending on capital revenues attributed to Scotland from Westminster, but none on the types of spending that these councils can carry out utilising Reserve monies?
Could the “mouth watering” debt possibly be the Labour PFI debt?
Not “mouth watering” but “eye-watering”. They must all be greeting about it – all the way to the bank – specially in Aberdeen with its billion pound City bonds which the good citizens will have to pay back.
Yoons – Nyooz the powerrrz, Nyooz the powerrrz and raise income tax for more funds and become unpopular you bastirts.
SNP – OK Yoons Nyooz the powerrrz, Nyooz the powerrrz and raise council tax for more funds.
Yoons – SNP Baaaaad
Below are the 8 councils out of 32 in Scotland that have chosen to make no increase in council tax since the government freeze was lifted. They do this in the full knowledge that other services will have be cut as due to Westminster austerity there simply isn’t enough money to go around.
Difficult choices all round but those bleating the loudest about lack of funds are the same lot that are getting rid of teaching assistants and closing local facilities. Those 8 councils all have one thing in common, see if you can spot it
South Lanarkshire Council – Lab
Renfrewshire – Lab
Inverclyde – Lab (minority)
West Lothian – Lab (minority)
West Dunbartonshire – Lab
Aberdeen – Lab-Con-Ind coalition.
Stirling – Lab-Con coalition
North Lanarkshire – Lab (minority)
link to archive.is
The council tax rises in the other 24 councils have been on average £34/year and the very poorest have this paid for them if they are on benefits as it’s paid directly by Westminster. Those who called loudest for the council tax freeze to be removed appear to be the very same that refuse to increase it when given the chance.
As usual they prefer to blame the SNP for the bad decisions they have to make when they make hundreds redundant.
Capella @ 9.11
Is that those City Deal things?
I’ve never really understood them!
But I do know auld Heziltine is or was a fan,and that in its self makes me think they won’t turn out to be good.
@ Liz g – no, not a city deal. They made a trip to The City to issue bonds to raise funds for Aberdeen. The investors insisted that, if Scotland votes for Independence, all the debt has to be repaid immediately. If they can’t they will be bankrupt.
Aberdeen has been bankrupt before though.
link to londonstockexchange.com
@thepnr If I can just correct you a wee bit. Labour are in a de facto coalition with the tories in West Lothian. The SNP are the largest group of councillors with the highest vote percentage but have been shut out of every single committee, while the red tories give the blue tories some of the top jobs in return for their support. It’s a coalition in all but name, because cowardice and duplicity are just two of the many endearing qualities of Labour in Scotland.
Aberdeen City Council is a disgrace. Barney Crookett is still swanning around in the Provost regalia. 9 Labour Councillors running the City into the ground. They have sold the City on the stock exchange. Now councillors have to sign a letter they will honour the debt. They have borrowed and spent like there is no tomorrow. £1.2Billion in debt. Wasting £200Million on a groteque project of no value. No one wanted. Shutting an essential access road. Causing more traffic chaos. They refused a gift of £80Million which would have pedestrianised the City Centre. At an additional cost of £20Million, saying it was too expensive. Then squandered £200Million. Cutting funding for essential services.
The Art Gallery will be shut for years demolished. £30Million. They haven’t got the funding to finish it. £300Million wasted on a Conference Centre with no business case. In Crookett’s constituency. The present one is used once a month and subsidised with public money. £26Million of debts paid off.
Changing council meeting times to accommodate the two job Tory that keeps them in coalition. Jennifer Stewart elected as a LibDem declared as an Independent to keep the unionist crooks in power. It must be illegal. The four LibDems would have held the balance of power and voted independently. The only time the City was well run was with a LibDem/SNP coalition. The debts left were paid down and good affordable projects were undertaken.
Willy Young was voted out but it left the rest of them. How can people vote for them? To destroy the City. The unionist Thomson Press PJ/EE support this mob. Attacking the SNP with lies and falsities Spending the profits on a rival football club. Dundee has been tastefully renovated by a SNP coalition. Missing out on City of Culture application because of Brexit. Brexit is reported to hit the NE/Scotland the most. Being covered up by the Tories.
Ken500,so brexit.is reckoned to hit the NE of Scotland the most?. As Windsor davies would say in ‘it ain’t half hot mum’ Oh dear,how sad,too bad,never mind.
@ Liz g – Heseltine didn’t set up city deals but he did create “enterprise zones” in inner cities after the Toxteth riots in Liverpool. Glasgow got a Garden Festival too.
He was a Tory “wet” who had to resign from the Thatcher government because even he coudn’t thole the right wingness of Thatcher. The Heseltines made their money from coal I believe. In fact I think the striking miners dumped a load in his driveway but my memory is shaky that far back.
If you visit Manchester it’s like a futurustic city along the canal area, completely redeveloped. Liverpool too benefited. Demonstrates that you can “throw money” at social problems and solve them, whereas throwing money at very rich people only breaks the economy.
link to en.wikipedia.org
50 Billion Euro – Buying Back Control
@ walter scott 8.49pm
I agree with your description of these useless twats apart from the bit about them returning , they should just fcuk off , they by their incompetence and stupidity have proven they have NOTHING ,NADA to contribute positively to our great country
Instead of trying to undermine the SNP SG at every turn they should be highlighting vociferously the THEFT of our revenues and resources to benefit rich people from another country ( Engwalland )
But then again they won’t do that because you know we are all better thegether and we all pool and share ( aye right )
So….reserves will supposedly run out in 3 years…
If only there was a way that the SG could raise multiple billions of pounds and invest it in Scotland, say like, oil and gas receipts, under a new tax regime which actually raises revenue, coming entirely to Scotland.
Right there is a few billion per year, combine that with multi billion savings, from not being financially drained by WM and Scottish councils would be swimming in cash.
Hold on…independence does that..!!
Imagine there being such an obvious solution..we should let the people of Scotland decide..Hmmm.
Thepnr
Inverclyde is a labour/ Tory coalition, the snp said they would work with the labour party, but they turned the offer down and went with the tories instead, so the labour party in inverclyde would rather join with the tories that work with the snp
So now we have a Provost who is a tory twat that could not get the votes to run a sweety shop gets to become our provost and meddle in our council without getting hardly any votes at all, and they call that democracy
Question – are councils required to have a reserve fund ? if so what if any is the required % of income set aside to replenish said funds on an annual basis .
Has or have there been any restrictions on the use of this reserve fund , say to ensure no service cuts or departmental redundancies
Scottish Councils presently hold £1.850.000.000 , or one point eight five Billion pounds , in reserve , money never allocated to a specific project but for use in an emergency .
How much does this little council empire need ? . has this little empire COSLA been telling porkies about previous claims of abject poverty , if they can allocate this much money that they would go through hell rather than use ,Why have it if you dont use it just because it’s always been that way with Labour
Whats the f/kn point ? oh i see blame the SNP for underfunding their wee nest egg , rather than tax voters who might just.
possibly not vote them in again .
Try accessing any benefit if you have money in the Bank , that is the first requirement total disclosure of monetary assets
Another Brexit negative
link to caltonjock.com
Yet another brilliant expose that should be front page headline news in the “independence supporting” The National.
But it won’t because The National is as fake as Labour in Scotland.
After Independence, I would like to see an anti corruption agency set up in Scotland. Not just a Mickey Mouse regulator, but a proper auditor of probity and honesty who has the teeth to hold the rogues and jobsworths in local Authorities to account. Not just to deliver criticism in a whitewashed report, but with power to suspend or dismiss the crooks and even bring charges and fines against them.
It is disgusting the way my rotten local Council runs its affairs, acting like arrogant untouchable crooks who are above the law, and I have to saw, an indolent and complicit judiciary which gives them every encouragement. The whole system stinks, with corruption, incompetence, collusion, nepotism, and impropriety running rife and out of control.
There Is no point raising it with your MP, MSP or even Minister, because they are too gullible or disinterested to take the matter seriously, while the crooks thrive and the local community is on its knees and crippled.
Go ahead. Make a formal complaint and see how far you get. The overpaid big headed tossers have it all worked out and just sit back and laugh at you.
I would go so far as to say there is no point introducing progressive land reform, or innovations to stimulate business, commercial activity and economic regeneration until after these lowlife parasites have been weeded out, and local government can be properly described as diligent, honest and professional.
This is one of the many “unionist caused” problems facing the SNP Scottish Government.
The media will run these financial problems daily so long as the Empire media blame the SNP.
How many times recently have the EBC,especially GM Shortbread, blamed the SNP for everything, I can’t comment on the Gurning Burd on Rep Shortbread as I no longer watch it, but wouldn’t be surprised if she blamed them also.
Keep the housebound blinkered and gullible.
Thepnr says:
28 November, 2017 at 9:25 pm
Below are the 8 councils out of 32 in Scotland that have chosen to make no increase in council tax since the government freeze was lifted.
……………..
I take it that is the list of Councils when the Council tax rates were set in April ’17 prior to the local elections in May? Stirling, for example, is now a SNP/Labour coalition.
When the Labour/Con coalition took over from the SNP in 2012 they actually cut 1p off the Council Tax rate. A grandstanding gesture that resulted in a significant loss of income over the 5 years they were in power. To then refuse to raise the Council Tax once they had the chance seems perverse to put it mildly.
Councils with British Nationalist parties in control, alone or in coalition, may well be quite content to foment local financial crises in the short to medium term. The context here is that they and the compliant media all but ignore or deny any impact of Westminster Government austerity on Scotland’s national budget. It is all about pushing endlessly that its the SNP Government’s fault!
With evident incompetence of this Westminster government, a prime objective of the Greater England political parties needs to be ‘deflection’, and to embed the view with the electorate that it is really the SNP Government that is incompetent and wasteful – whether this is in education, health, broadband, police, local authority finance etc.
The reality is that we do have a stable, competent, experienced and progressive SNP government doing a pretty good job under difficult circumstances not of its making, and with very restricted access to key levers of power.
The strong push back by the FM today on the Tories’ negative statements on the SG’s record on broadband roll-out is to be welcomed – but more of this and more loudly will be needed across the board. Zero tolerance of misrepresentation!
And in the most recent UK budget, the Tories that we didn’t choose as a government are deciding, on our behalf, the split in the budget allocation it is giving to Scotland between resource and capital funding. This is regardless of what our Government’s and our Parliament’s priorities might be at this particular time.
Local Authority and other public service financing is undoubtedly difficult at this time – and not just in Scotland – but the root cause is failed Tory austerity, soon to be made much worse by Brexit. And how did Scotland vote in the last GE, and the one before that, and in EU Ref?
Isn’t UK democracy so empowering – working so well- for the people of Scotland!!
A bit O/T but this film is worth a screening or watching yourself…
http://spiderswebfilm.com
Very much based on nick shaxson’s ‘Treasure Islands’ – all about the ‘second empire’ that is the city of london
Cheers ScottieDog I posted about this film a couple of weeks ago when I heard about it on Manx Radio, could not find it online, will watch tomorrow.
nicola should just strip all funding from yoon councils, COMPLETELY. then say they have increased funding.
thats what the yoons do and it works
yes still at 45 % ???
Thepnr @ 9.25pm
I too wish to correct your comment.
Renfrewshire Council is an SNP minority administration, and as far as I’m aware it has never bleated or moaned about “SNP cuts” since the new administration was elected in May.
I’d imagine that Renfrewshire is actually a pretty flush council, what with Braehead, various industrial estates and complexes, “Glasgow” Airport and so on.
I live and Paisley, and they’ve always been a really crappy council. I await to notice any real difference from Labour to SNP keenly, and so far have noticed better organised events and slightly cleaner streets in residential areas. Early days yet…
North Ayrshire Council labour supported by tories are now raiding local common good funds in Irvine and Largs which should not be used for normal council business. Local charities and community groups are the losers. Officials on £80-£120000 per year bleat they cannot do anything.
Of course they can £80000 pays for nearly 50 school crossing patrollers, £120000 at least 4 schoolteachers. Get the idea.
ot rock
“..But it won’t because The National is as fake..”
Rock you’re as false as your nose. Remember what I said the other night -you have nothing to offer Scotland. C’mon are you tom Gordon? Unionist Begg? wee torq Crichton? Did the National no print your incoherent ramblings and you hate them for it? lol
The disunited kingdom is on track to entrench poverty for generations to come;
‘The consequences of poverty and inequality are very significant for children. Children experience poverty differently from adults; they have specific and different needs. While an adult may fall into poverty temporarily, falling into poverty in childhood can last a lifetime – rarely does a child get a second chance at an education or a healthy start in life. Even short periods of food deprivation can impact children’s long-term development. If children do not receive adequate nutrition, they grow smaller in size and intellectual capacity, are more vulnerable to life-threatening diseases, perform worse in school, and ultimately, are less likely to be productive adults. Child poverty threatens not only the individual child, but is likely to be passed on to future generations, entrenching and even exacerbating inequality in society’
link to unicef.org
Scotland has a choice- we can’t be tied to WM if we want to thrive as a nation. The Tories are ‘clueless’ – flogging their empire to countries that have extracted themselves from the previous empire. It’s a globalised world, trading relations are already mapped out and the disunited kingdom is a small insignificant region in the northern hemisphere that no-one is particularly interested in.
‘And one can hardly mention European integration or disintegration today without Brexit. The old Empire is sailing away from Brussels into an uncharted territory. Who knows where it will end? Will the Scots consider jumping off the ship? EFTA/EEA arrangement Norwegian/Icelandic-style might be unacceptable for a major country like Great Britain, but perhaps not for an independent Scotland wanting to maintain access to the single market. The Nordic Baltics are sometimes referred to as NB8. Will NBS9 including Scotland materialize? I don’t want to underestimate Great Britain, a country that has faced international challenges before. But the task ahead is daunting. The pathways are unknown. The Tories seem clueless’
link to socialeurope.eu
All councils were given the power to set new rates of council tax with a 3% cap from 1st April 2017. The above that I posted shows those that chose to do so from that date and who was in power when that decision was made.
I provided a link to the table that clearly showed the dates each council made their decision, the great majority being in February. I didn’t just make it up but might as well have
Yes we’ve had council elections since but they won’t make any decisions on council tax for 2018/19 until next year. No doubt many will change. I’m not predicting the future though only giving the only available evidence of the past that I could find.
Feel free to find better and more upto date links, then post them here. Ta.
I did get that post wrong, it was probably worse for Labour than I posted. So sorry for that, I was using Feb/March decisions for current council leaderships as according to Wiki.
Bad slip up.
Kezia Dugdale has finally revealed Labour values on I’m a Celebrity get me out of here
She’s abstaining
None of the Unionist councils would even consider bankruptcy, they’ll scream and shout and get the media to yell about it, Labour will even try to organise strikes over it
But they wont do it because they know the Scottish government then has the legal authority to put them in special measures get the books looked at and sack the lot of their thieving Arses out to be replaced by folk who know what they’re doing
And oh the scandal of that eh
Jings! That was quick, Shortbread’s site just posted a story of how many jobs that the UK supports in Scotland compared to the EU lest we stray from the straight and narrow.
————————————————————–
The Fraser of Allander Institute:
The figure is based on £12.3bn in 2015 exports into other parts of the EU. More jobs are already linked with exports to other parts of the world, which the UK government wants to boost post-Brexit through new trade deals.
Some 560,000 Scottish jobs – one in four – are either directly or indirectly supported by UK sales.
That calculation suggests that trade with the rest of the UK is more than four times more important to Scots, in terms of jobs, than the rest of the European Union.
————————————————————-
Suck it up Scotland and bear it or else seems to be the threat!
@call me dave
They tried this on the Irish for leaving their precious Union and they’re trying it again to get their Brexit way
The Irish wont be fooled, let’s hope Scotland isn’t fooled either by their attempts at blackmail
We see how the EU is dealing with them, dismissively
Call their rotten threatening bluff, the rest of their empire did and they’re not on the phone asking to come back
Call me Dave @ 1.30
Oh aye they’re definitely at it….
Whit does the Indirectly bit actually mean exactly ?
Is that just a way of saying that the stuff leaves from an English port?
Supported by!!!! supported in which way? Again we are left tae wonder,and we have no way of knowing that we couldn’t easily replace that support.
Then we have…UK sales?
Well does that include us in Scotland and if so by how much?
I mean if the actual English Welsh N.Ireland part is only 3% then it’s as near as makes no difference.
Also where’s the mirror image…..How much Scottish sales support directly or indirectly UK jobs?
Just to compare and contrast,like!
And the best for last … Directly support….is this Faslane and the Riggs?
Or is there more?
How much do we pay these people to produce the kind of writing I can experience from Orwell for £1.99?
This is no information about anything… double speak on speed…
And it Still keeps our true situation hidden.
Ah Aberdeen City, the northern toon where the Labour Party are at one with the Tories.
With all the benefit that Aberdeen had with “the oil” something doesn’t gel when we now w hear that AC is spending its raweserves.
No doubt it’s all the SNP’s fault that Unionist AC does not have the wealth of Stavanger a city that also had ” the oil”
Good grief!
They really don’t want to go there do they? They’d rather the Scottish government did the dirty work and then scream from the sidelines about the pure essenpee badness of it all.
Two unionist sound bites ‘get on with the day job’ and ‘use the powers’ should be thrown back in the faces of the councils who have not put up council tax if they are having to cut services.
Before the last local election I had a look at the finances of several local councils and was astounded at the reserves some councils had, surely there should be some ruling about the funds held in reserve and a percentage cap on how much it can be.
It’s like the old person dying of malnutrition while having thousands in the bank.
Links
link to news.gov.scot
Series – Brexit’s Impact on Scotland: Devolution
link to scer.scot
First minister Nicola Sturgeon reveals funding to help homeless at Christmas
link to archive.is
link to weegingerdug.wordpress.com
France reinvigorates ‘Auld Alliance’ with new base in Scotland
link to archive.is
link to davidhencke.com
Sharp drop in profits, lol
link to archive.is
Read about the parts of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill concerning devolution, ahead of the House of Commons consideration of them in committee.
link to researchbriefings.parliament.uk
Three reasons why MPs, including Tories, are increasingly Brexit fearful
link to facebook.com
link to politics.co.uk
link to politico.eu
link to euractiv.com
Rising household debt and stagnant pay major threats to UK, says OECD
link to archive.is
UK secretly training Saudi troops for Yemen war: Report
link to archive.is
EU trade ‘linked to 134,000 Scots jobs’
link to archive.is
Tulip Siddiq: MP quizzed over abducted man in Bangladesh
link to youtube.com
This council situation is a concerted effort by Unionists to undermine Independence. It suits them to plead poverty real or imagined.However it provides a great opportunity for them, BBC, media et al, to undermine the SNP.
That is the overall ploy and will increase exponentially the nearer Indy gets. We will, as, usual get no media coverage on anything good the SNP are doing or have done.
Labour is at the bottom of this deceit, while it serves the Unionist cause across the board.
There will never be a real investigation into the so destructive PFI schemes that are a big drain in council services, pioneered by the Tories and Labour saw the opportunity to look good and keep costs of the books. Having built schools and hospitals at no cost to them, the public will pay.
The Unionists are the most devious crew one could imagine, all parties included.
Unless we break the shackles we are well and truly F….d they want us to just die away in poverty, so they can get back to their old ways of rule and corruption.
link to aljazeera.com
link to digit.fyi
link to raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com
link to michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com
@Nana
Severin cant help himself, he has to end a positive story with negativty.
“the reason the Scots and the French cooperated is they both hated the English, and the English hated them.”
The man needs help!
Mornin’ Nana
Thanks for the punt.
I see Bojo’s ‘let them whistle’ sound bite aged well.
I think we need in preparation for Indy, to examine what actually worked in Indy1 and previous times. Of course the financial case must be fully explained and options made clear. In Indy2 things need to be much clearer, including the ways we are systematically cheated by the Union.
Cross border trade needs to be exposed more. Ie Scotland buys much more from rUK than we do from them, but is rarely used even by our politicians in interviews with the media. So they really need that trade, more than we do. A hard border would be suicide.
A good idea for slogans that have impacted before, could be resurrected and brought out of the cupboard.
A good one would be the poster that was everywhere in “79” the picture of thatcher with oil tears and the proclamation that ” It is Scotland’s oil”
Updated with the Thatcher old one, side by side with a new one with Mayhem’s worst look and the same oil tears.
“They still steal Scotland’s oil”
This would resonate with older voters, perhaps stirring some pride and yes, anger. Reminding them that we are still in the same or worse situation right now.
Collectively how much money have Scottish Councils invested in the city of london markets that would be better invested in Scotland ( just a thought ) .
Scottish Gov need to get on top of this ( councils going bankrupt ) by sending in auditors to examine the books , starting with Aberdeen city council & where they find fault surcharge those councillors for maladministration .
COSLA ( convention of scottish labour authorities (Tom Clarke Monklands Dist Council) since its inception this body has been another unnecessary tier of administration ( junket outings + expenses ) , should it be necessary Scottish Gov dept should be set up to advise councils directly & not by Quangos .
Nana says
A reasonable neutral overview of where we are. IMO two forces effect our chances of Indy more than anything, and the article highlights those.
Firstly, the Union is not the safe haven it was billed as in 2014. With Brexit and austerity it is a threat to Scotland rather than a shield.
Secondly, Corbynism. Scots mustn’t be lulled into believing Corbyn’s Labour can offer an alternative Union. The Union is the problem, it’s never going to be the solution.
Good morning Macart
I wonder if they’ll put the cost of brexit on the side of a bus?
A few more links
link to theneweuropean.co.uk
link to oilprice.com
Could you draw Ireland’s border with Northern Ireland? The border with Northern Ireland has become a major Brexit stumbling block.
video here
link to twitter.com
link to thelondoneconomic.com
Historical Aberdeen/Shire got less funding of every other Council in Scotland. COSLA dominated Labour. 30% less funding of every other council in Scotland. The Oil revenues went south to build up London S/E. Thatcher, Then to finance illegal wars, financial fraud and tax evasion Labour. How people can’t see that is a mystery.
The mob that are in the Council coalition now are just a disgrace. 9 Labour runnng the administration. Running the City down. Out of control of any kind of diligence. Just destroying the City with ill conceived grotesque projects. No one wants.wasting £Milllions/Billion. Just an utter disgrace. They refused a gift of £80Million on a project supported by the majority. Just needed an addition £20Million. Then built unneeded hotel and offices (private sector) cost £200Million. Leased it will cost £7Million a year in charges for thirty years. Ruining the City Centre. Blocking off the sky line. An absolute disgrace. People want pedestrianisation and open spaces. Part of the City is now a ghost town. Shut off an essential access road. Causing more traffic chaos.
How they get away with it. A bunch of lunatics. Supported by the unionist Thomson Press.
Alex Salmond got the funding for the AWPR. The first time capital spending has been higher. Expansion of the airport, the wind turbine project and the Golf Development. Managed to get investment in after the Oil & Gas sector downturn. The unionist/green blocked the AWPR for over ten years. Needed for over thirty years. Unionists sat on their hands and voted against it. Instead of getting the funding.
How people in Scotland can’t see they are paying higher taxes because of Westminster policies. . Illegal wars, financial fraud and tax evasion. Higher Oil taxes 40% when the price had fallen. Leading to a loss of exploration and production. Costs Scotland £20Million a year. Westminster caused the worst migration crisis in Europe since 11WW by the illegal wars. Costing £Trns.
The Tories unionists are ruining the UK economy. Labour are colluding or abstaining. They are going to negotiate an EU deal costing more for less rights and inclusion in decision making.
Nothing will change until their seats are threatened in the rest of the UK. Nothing to do with Scotland who voted to stay in the EU. The usual unionist mess. The economy tanking because of decisions taken elsewhere. Scotland being dragged down with it. Thank goodness for the SNP Gov standing up for Scotland. Making a difference.
Call Kaye going mental with the police totally out of control in standard BBC fashion. First caller tore into BBC then anti police texts provided by the back room boys. Numerous repatition of the headline. Where was all this investigation e journalism when me Savell was doing the rounds ds
@Nana
They don’t have a bus long enough for all those digits.
On the Irish border; just out of interest, after the last election all the ‘border’ counties on NI side are now Sinn Fein.
o/t – caught the tail end of bbc scotlands daily rubbishing of the SNP John Nicolson and something about the Lib Dems anyone seen it and explain what was going on , i would guess Swinson has been cleared of electoral fraud or something along those lines anyway it wont be good news for the SNP as usual .who
would have thought eh .
Excellent witty response Macart
Whilst we are being bombarded by royal wedding news, her shoe size etc
link to scottovoce.wordpress.com
@Robert Graham
I don’t watch or listen to the bbc myself but I know someone who does. Could this be it
see here
link to twitter.com
Nana thanks as usual , yes that was the clip i just wondered what it was about , SNP fault again probably .
Scotland has one big problem above all others – too many No voters. Why so many? Brainwashing, through relentless State propaganda on a daily basis.
In virtually everything, the Tory government is lying. It is the preferred way of communicating for the Unionist Alliance though the Tories do like to add a layer of malevolence when addressing Scotland.
See digit.fyi/scotlands-broadband-powers-stripped/(Thanks Nana) for a recent illustration.
As things stand, the lying and the malevolence flowing north of the Border out of 10 Downing Street seem set to continue for a very long time. In fact, for as long as Scotland is saddled with its dominant Unionist media whose sole aim is to keep the brainwashed No voters topped up with propaganda as a means of preventing Scotland’s Independence.
Is it any wonder the English ruling classes are hated all over the world.
@call me dave says: 29 November, 2017 at 1:30 am:
“Jings! That was quick, Shortbread’s site just posted a story of how many jobs that the UK supports in Scotland compared to the EU lest we stray from the straight and narrow. ?
————————————————————–
The Fraser of Allander Institute:
The figure is based on £12.3bn in 2015 exports into other parts of the EU.”
And there is the bit that shoots a great big hole right through their claimed figures.
Much of the, Scottish “Exports”, to the United Kingdom are Scottish produce/products on their way to the EU and other parts of the World via English Ports and English airports.
Oil & gas from Scottish territorial waters that the Westminster Establishment classify as NOT being extracted from Scottish territorial waters. Even although the rigs extracting the stuff come under Scottish legal jurisdiction.
Westminster claims the oil & gas revenues as being extracted from an invented United Kingdom country/region they call, “Extra-Regio-Territory”.
The term, “Extra Regio”, is defined as, “Not belonging to any particular region”. It plainly comes from a very well defined region and 98% of it is in Scottish Waters.
Then there is the Scots Whisky and 70% of the UK’s Gin, exports and much other spirits that are produced in Scotland but exported onwards from UK ports. Westminster’s accounting system counts these as being English exports. Anything from anywhere that leaves the UK via an English port/airports as wrongly accounted as being an English export.
Then we have much of the fish from Scottish waters caught and landed in Scottish ports that is then NOT counted as a Scottish export as it is sent to be processed in England and then is classed as exported from England. As are many other Scots produce including soft fruit, Aberdeen Angus beef and much, much more. Many so called English exports are manufactured from raw materials or components from Scotland that are then assembled or otherwise used in what is then claimed as English Exports. Just last week I read an article highlighting the very fashionable English exports to the World that were items of clothing made with Harris Tweed. So a Harris Tweed jacket fashioned in an English Sweat Shop, (probably made by immigrants), working for a London Registered company gets exported as an English item – so a Harris Tweed jacket has magically become an English export by an accountancy trick of the Westminster Establishment.
When are Scottish voters going to wake up and stop absorbing the Westminster brainwashing?
They are cynically fiddling the figures to suit their arguments and it isn’t hard to figure out why that are when you actually think about it.
You can see they are actually making a great case for Scotland to be a fully independent Kingdom from the other three countries that form, (Not the United Kingdom), but, “The Kingdom”, of England that Westminster claims to be while they actually operate as the de facto Parliament of England and their use of EVEL proves that fact beyond any doubt.
Great links Nana, if a little depressing. I never watch bbc grot now either but BBC r4 is a spectacular display of how tories lie like psycho’s on the air waves, and that’s just the hourly BBC r4 news headlines.
They all sound so happy doing it too.
Sorry about that Heedtracker, I do try and post one or two uplifting links in amongst the depressing ones. Trouble is they are harder to find.
Here’s one for you
link to archive.is
Flagships of yoon sinking?
Classic beeb gimp propaganda, or why we have still have tory imperial masters, or even, why would beeb Scotland gimps Leave out why Tunnocks are on the UKOK down escalator?
link to bbc.co.uk
Scottish confectionery firm Thomas Tunnock has posted a sharp drop in pre-tax profits, after being hit by a rise in the cost of ingredients.
Daily Torcuil Crichton,
3 Jan 2016 – BISCUIT makers Tunnock’s have dumped their iconic Scottish lion south of the border to rebrand their teacakes as British. The image of the … Tunnock’s, who also produce snowballs and caramel logs, have recently enjoyed record profits and are considering adding a fourth production line. Sales soared in…
Snowballs are my fav but even I know why Mr Tunnocks costs have jumped. Hope he vote Remain.
Here’s one for you
Thanks Nana! One of the GP’s at my local health centre is Syrian. Its an extraordinary experience actually meeting and listening to people who have suffered barbarism, even just for a few minutes.
The hardest thing is trying to not accept that it was the UK and the US that’s caused hell on earth devastation in the middle east. And yet the SLabour crew still think they have a inherent right to govern Scotland.
Also, I was all clear:D
Ot here…
A guest on Sky New’s All Out Politics programme, has just stated, without a hint of shame nor irony, that North Korea is THE biggest foreign policy of America in the last 25 years…!!
Its like afghanistan and Iraq never happened or wasn’t a complete clusterfuck…
Utterly desperate to attack North Korea “before they can bomb america”.
When asked what he thought NK might do to react..
“They will probably bomb Seoul…”
Ah well..thats ok then huh ?
Will the The Fraser of Allander Institute, publish the figures for Scottish purchases from rUK, well everything you can think of would be a start.
I rather doubt it.
Well done heedtracker, good on the all clear.
Heed tracker @10.18am . . . Unionists learned they could tell enormous lies during Indy Ref . . . And get away with them. . .
Police Scotland is the New NHS . . . Police Scotland have replaced our NHS as the Yoons target of the moment
Facilitated by top Cops misbehaving
Coordination, for tory propaganda nation?
The bundle of free Metro’s I recycle for the Daily Heil? off the bus every morn, always has a very SNP bad letter, planted in the middle of their letters to the ed section.
Yesterdays’s SNP bad letter to the Metro ed? a very full on monstering of SNP and Police Scotland, specifically targeting @MathesonMichael. Tory propaganda news gimps probably do chat about their daily SNP bad out put but its getting more and more concentrated.
GAPonsonby?
@GAPonsonby
Follow Follow @GAPonsonby
More
A sure sign that a story is about to be manipulated for political ends is when it appears on the Kaye Adams phone-in where the political bigots feast. Police Scotland is on the menu today. Politically motivated misinformation is about to be pumped into homes across Scotland.
All this talk of Scottish jobs linked to trade with England is a false flag.
When Scotland is independent, that trade will continue.
If anyone is saying England will refuse to trade with Scotland, just remind them that Scotland would be part of the EU so refusing to trade with Scotland could bring serious economic sanctions to bear on England as that would be a refusal to trade with the EU.
That aside, English folk WANT our exports.
@ Macart BendyBus lol.
thatcher destroyed scotlands manufacturing industries.
80% of scotlands exports consist of
oil, fish, gas, whisky, electricity, seed potatoes, water, stud beef, petrol and salmon.
these products are difficult or impossible to source elsewhere so even if england does block trade with scotland then they will simply be sold elsewhere.
but england doesnt produce anything that is unique, except, jellied eels, cornish pasties and yarmouth bloaters. if heinz ketchup is 10% more expensive coming from england than the eu (eg ROI) then tescos in scotland will simply source its products from ROI.
Ach! Weel!
I suppose the BBC Shortbread story this week of, “SNP created Scottish Polis BAAAD!”, makes a wee change from the simple SNP BAAAD! they usually bleat.
Propaganda works on the hard of thinking it seems or they wouldn’t do it.
The USA GIs had, “Tokyo Rose”, (Iva Ikuko Toguri D’Aquino an American), who transmitted propaganda in WWII.
Then there was the generic name, “AXIS Sally, (including Mildred Gillars, German-American who broadcast for Germany and Rita Zucca, Italian-American who broadcast for Italy, in WWII.)
The United Kingdom had Lord Haw-Haw, (Irish-American William Joyce), broadcasting to the United Kingdom in WWII.
Now we YES supporters just get, “Grangemouth Kaye, (wi wan e’e)”.
Call me Dave at 1.30am
Thanks for this information.
If 25% of jobs have some kind of dependence on UK ( which presumably includes Scotland), what does the other 75% depend on?
Regards,
Posters around Aberdeen promoting ‘dance’, ‘Art is the New Oil’. What! Who gets paid to think up naff slogans. I had to work for a living.
Bloody hell andrew neils been on the pies, 1st time seen him for months.
” Dr Jim says:
29 November, 2017 at 1:06 am
Kezia Dugdale has finally revealed Labour values on I’m a Celebrity get me out of here
She’s abstaining”
Kirstene Hair is being flown in as a replacement from the Big Brother House at Westminster.
Funny, I would have thought the über right English Nationalists would have gone ape shit over the proposed higher divorce settlement. And yet remarkably little from all the usual suspects.
The legacy media is not reporting it to howls of outrage. But why? Who told them to put a sock in it?
Perhaps the money and profit driven Tories are genuinely desperate to move onto trade talk. Or, perhaps the hard line cliff jumpers still have their no-deal-plans.
Jings help Polis! Who you gonna call…Kay wie an ‘E’
Guess whats coming up at FMQs…
PS: Same old 2008.
The good old days where nothing changes and that renowned institute of high repute the Fraser Allander Institute warns Scotland again etc etc.
A few old union chestnuts mentioned here… are we scared yet.
link to news.bbc.co.uk
O/T A well educated acquaintance was moaning about Ploce Scotland and how many more policemen there were in the sixties. I remembered an essay I had to write back then and remembered that the police numbers in Scotland then were under 13,000.
Today there are well over 17,000 police officers in Scotland. Fact checked!
.
O/T.
Maybe I should not comment on this but to me it just shows what the British State stands for,a certain person is to be fast tracked into British Statehood and on the other hand we have this.
Inverness couple still waiting on deportation decision three months on.
This is a couple from America who have set up a very good business so why have they to wait this long and the rule was changed without them being told.
schrodingers cat says:
Indeed. Much Scottish produce goes to England, and any scan of a Scottish supermarket will show lots of products from England.
In an iScotland, which is close coupled to the EU one way or another, we will just have to get used to consuming produce sourced closer to home. Those who currently export to England will have to service local outlets instead. There will be a fair degree of cancelling out.
And, as you say, we and the Irish are likely to see more of each other’s products or from elsewhere in there EU.
However, some will say trade between iScotland and England will continue, as will Ireland and England. Well, that depends on what England plans to do about standards and regulations.
If they maintain high EU standards, then free trade can be agreed. If they drop their regulations and allow in low standard food from elsewhere their entire food chain becomes suspect and Ireland/iScotland/EU need to protect their consumers from the crap.
This isn’t punitive it’s about keeping out food which our EU style regulations deem unfit for human consumption.
If NI or the whole UK doesn’t have EU regulations then the border represents a back door for crap to end the EU. Exactly the same situation will arise with iScotland.
The Tories, with their usual stupidity, think borders are about checkpoints, cameras, paperwork, customs … they are about protecting markets from sub standard imports. If each side harmonies regulations, borders disappear and trade is easy. Move to divergence on regulations and borders become essential. Also, that creates a niche for smuggling and criminality.
‘Art is the new Oil’. The Art Gallery has been demolished. Shut down for years. £30Million. They don’t have the funding to finish it.
Emily Thornberry giving it lardy. FMQ’s better than Corbyn. Useless on Scotland.
Damian Green disaster. Havering.
Scott says:
Solution. Send Harry off to live in America, and keep this couple here. Everyone happy.
link to facebook.com
Yes the Aberdeen Art Gallery has been destroyed by Jenny Lang and chums.
How Aberdeen art gallery lovers begged and pleaded with Jenny and chums to at least save the wonderful marble staircase over the entrance to the gallery, just please can you keep this beautiful example of craftsmanship and design they begged the great yoons of Aberdeen council.
Not a chance, said Jenny. Its gone, we have the money, we have the technology, we have the power, demolish the lot.
And that was that, for a stunning example of Edwardian architectural wonder, in all kinds of never to be seen again granite and marble craftsmanship, beloved by countless Aberdonians, all wrecked by a bunch of lunatics elected on 20% of Aberdonians that can be bothered to vote in local elections.
A n other triumph of UKOK democracy in non action.
Arise Lady Jenny, for services to yoon culture, in our Scotland region.
Worth a read, leaked report on suspended Labour councillors in Aberdeen.
link to eveningexpress.co.uk
Jenny Laing go a Herald award. Along with Davidson. Unbelievable.
ACC are paying £5Million+ maibtenance for a Hub to store painting while the Art Gallery is shut. Cutting funding for essential services. Not putting up the Council tax for the wealthiest. After nine years of restraint. £5 a month on average.
Neil calling people in Scotland illiterate. What a liar. Additional needs people sometimes have problems but can have exceptional talents. Everything in the world was invented by those on the spectrum. Einstein etc were dyslexic. Scottish invention shaped the modern world TV, radio telecommunications led on to the internet. 55% of people in Scotland go to University. One of the highest no in the world. Scotland has pro rata more Universities. Colleges and apprenticeships. 98%. Neil is a dunce.
Pisa results are based on elitist education systems where pupils are stressed and commit suicide. Child abuse. Not comparable.
I see that other Wingers are as incensed as I am at the anti-SNP stance of the Metro. The Metro is extremely successful with what I imagine is a huge readership.
Propaganda everywhere against our interests.
Can we please make a point of removing Metros wherever we find them?
If every Winger and SNP member and casual supporter did the same as a matter of course every day on every bus in Scotland and in every public place, that would be fabulous – a first step in combatting rampant Unionism.
Let’s make the Metro a scarce commodity. Let’s drive it out of Scotland.
Labour Tory Lib Dem Coalition councils
These people will cling to power like limpets because if they don’t it lowers the voters perception of beating the SNP thus leading to apathy amongst their own voters, so they will bite scratch lie and cheat to hang on to what they’ve got at any cost as long as it keeps the SNP from running the country properly proving the SNP to be better at it and SNP support rising even higher
Labour Tory Lib Dem doing it to us because they care
About themselves
BBC r4 lunchtime news currently chuntering on and on about Orange Hitler’s re tweeting British fascist’s videos. Very very naughty Orange Hitler, from exact same beeb gimps that made Nigel Farage a UKOK household name.
Not just beeb gimps, to be balanced n shit…how stinky olde The Graun tories tried to fart Farage into our Scottish hearts. God bless the UKOK meeja
link to theguardian.com
Hark the Herald.
Jo Swinson spend, spend, spend to beat the SNP.
link to archive.is
Shortbread’s got it too.
link to archive.is
Good opinion piece in the Guardian.
“London doggedly and pointlessly clings to its own position until, at the last inevitable moment, it capitulates to Brussels. Reckonings on the Irish border, European court of justice and security cooperation lie shortly ahead.
This routine is time-consuming, demoralising and humiliating, but perhaps worst of all, wholly predictable. “
“The government’s fundamental choice in Brexit is between realism and delusion. It has failed to own up to the false promises of the referendum campaign, and refuses to admit that it cannot satisfy leave voters in both the Tory shires and Labour ex-mining towns.”
link to archive.is
PMQ’s on Daily Politics: Mhairi Black brings up the issue of the WASPI women in the Commons. Damien Green gives the usual response, that is that the SNP should get on with the day job and deal with it as they now have the power to do so. No mention of pensions being reserved to Westminster. That’s what we’re up against on a daily basis: A bunch of manipulative liars.
……………………………………………
Well we’ve heard the Tories in Scotland making a big issue of broadband rollout in Scotland followed now by a statement to the effect that the SG is going to be stripped of any involvement in future decision making. Marginalising and undermining the SNP. The current big gripe is our Police Force. Wouldn’t they just love to take over that too?!
It’s also a sign of things to come in relation to the Withdrawal Bill. As soon as we’re out of the EU and Westminster has more time to focus on Scotland they’ll claw back as much as they can and we’ll be over and out, imo. We have to hold a referendum next Autumn which I’m sure we’ll win. If not the SNP should stand down and hand the reins over to the Unionists and let them get on with it. See where that takes us.
link to digit.fyi
…………………………………………………..
It’s clear that we’re all VERY well aware of the situation in Scotland in relation to PFI, Councils who haven’t put up the Council Tax, amounts of money being held in reserve, who’s running a particular Council and so on. However MOST of the people that I’ve come across think that the SNP have total control over absolutely everything including finances of course …. 100% … instead of 20% control over economic levers and 15% control over piecemeal welfare powers. 7% overall up until 2016. They think the SNP are running all Councils, have total control over education etc. They have no idea that the SNP Government is sitting between a rock and a hard place, that is between Westminster and many of our Councils that are being run by Unionists.
We REALLY need to get ‘Do You Know That …’ leaflets out there ASAP, imo. Right across Scotland. One relating to each Constituency and of course ‘Do you know’ leaflets in general relating to a number of issues such as our oil from the 70’s to date, brief history of the Labour Party, Tory, Lib-dem policies / botch-ups, what’s reserved and what’s devolved etc, etc. It’s even more imperative now if another General Election is on the way with Corbyn and Leonard spouting absolute guff that’s in turn being broadcasted by the MSM propaganda machine.
@ Mark Fletcher says at 1:13 pm …. ”I see that other Wingers are as incensed as I am at the anti-SNP stance of the Metro. The Metro is extremely successful with what I imagine is a huge readership….”
Spot on Mark. Who’s financing the Metro?
”..It wasn’t just a few stray leaflets or placards that the DUP paid for. On June 21, two days before the vote, the party funded a four-page wraparound pro-Leave advert in the Metro freesheet.
While it’s possible to buy such adverts for as few as 10,000 issues of the paper, openDemocracy has spoken to people who saw this propaganda in editions in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dundee, Cardiff, and Sunderland.
A UK-wide wrap around advert in the Metro costs £250,000: on its own, far more than any Northern Irish Party has ever spent on even the most significant election campaigns.
One place the advert didn’t appear is the one place the DUP stands for election: Northern Ireland. The Metro doesn’t circulate there.
“It is safe to assume that this was the most expensive single piece of propaganda ever issued by an Irish political party,” commentator Fintan O’Toole wrote in the Irish Times…”
link to opendemocracy.net
galamcennalath @ 13:21,
Yet you would never realise any of that from the BBC’s reporting of the issue, neither during the referendum itself nor right now.
Step by step, the UKGov is being humiliated by the EU, yet you would never know it from their anodyne reportage and the lame exchanges they air between apparatchiks from the two main UK parties, who are both in it up to their necks, being effectively in cahoots while pretending to be in opposition.
“This is the best of all possible worlds” seems to be the continuing theme from the Beeb. “Keep calm and carry on”, while we relentlessly drift on towards the scrapheap.
And check out the petition at the end of the opendemocracy link.
link to you.38degrees.org.uk
And I know that it’s been posted before but it’s worth reading again, imo.
link to opendemocracy.net
The big surprise for me in Schrodinger’s Cat’s list of food exports is the humble seed potato. There was an unusually upbeat prog. on Pravdasound4 about a year ago which somehow missed the chance to Jackie Baillie all over that particular sector of the Scottish economy (were MI5 spooks on holiday that day or summink?)
In 2015, even The Herald reported:
“The Scottish seed potato sector is valued at around £80-100m, with 75 per cent of UK seed potato production taking place in Scotland and 80 per cent of UK seed potato exports coming from Scotland.”
Seems Egypt in particular is a big market.
Once we’re independent and England is free from all furriners after 2018, E&W will of course stop eating all our food and drink in protest, so no more high-quality beef, lamb, venison, salmon, seafood and malt whisky for them, and they’ll be doing it deliberately. That’ll sort out those pesky uppity sweaties, heehee.
Don’t quite think they’ve thought it through, though.
The news that Tunnocks profits are heading south shows that boycotting by the ordinary citizen against the abusive power of big business can make a difference,
Christmas/Hogmanay can be up to 50% of a company`s sales for the year,
especially the whisky industry,companies like William Grant & Sons Distillers Ltd.
O/T
Re:Roland Smith@12,59
I had a look at the link, thanks, to the article re Aberdeen Labour councillors, no time to read it all. It mentions the ‘national party being blasted’ by these labour councillors for, ‘not allowing them to see the documents’. Now I have never heard of ‘the national party’ so what are they playing at.
Also saying that the ‘SNP are in disarray’ but no mention of how the coalition came about, was it not the STV system?
The article appears to be holding some some vital info back, even though it is about these councillors breaking the rules and presumably seriously being in breach of their contracts as councillors.
Time and again London media and politicians claim Ireland is dependent on the UK for exports.
In 2016, Ireland exported $128B and imported $75.2B, resulting in a positive trade balance of $52.9B. In 2016 the GDP of Ireland was $294B and its GDP per capita was $68.9k.
Ireland’s number one exported product is drugs and medicines used for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes.
1. Pharmaceuticals: US$31.8 billion (24.9% of total exports)
2. Organic chemicals: $27.6 billion (21.5%)
3. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $13.1 billion (10.3%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: $9.8 billion (7.6%)
5. Perfumes, cosmetics: $8.6 billion (6.7%)
6. Machinery including computers: $7.2 billion (5.6%)
7. Aircraft, spacecraft: $3.8 billion (2.9%)
8. Other chemical goods: $3.4 billion (2.6%)
9. Meat: $3.2 billion (2.5%)
10. Cereal/milk preparations: $2.5 billion (2%)
Its top imports are Planes, Helicopters, and/or Spacecraft ($12.9B), Packaged Medicaments($2.81B), Cars ($2.76B), Computers ($2.53B) and Human or Animal Blood ($2.04B).
The top export destinations of Ireland are the United States ($33.4B), the United Kingdom ($16.5B), Belgium ($16.2B), Germany ($8.67B) and Switzerland($6.99B).
The top import origins are the United Kingdom ($22.9B), the United States ($9.6B), Germany($6.53B), the Netherlands ($3.7B) and France ($3.18B).
Therefore, just like Scotland, it has a trade surplus with the UK of some £4 billion a year.
Given Ireland’s population of 5 million people, its total $128.1 billion in 2016 exports translates to a formidable $25,900 for every resident in that country.
Brewer on now on Politics Scotland. I just caught the tail end of Brewer interviewing Magrit Curran, eh! Brewer leading the dimwit by the nose of course and by doing his bidding Magrit’s final comment is that we need to look at Police Scotland again. Maybe a Single Force was a bad idea. Here we go. Drip, drip, drip. We can see where this is going, especially as we have Arlene’s NIrish Police Force carrying out part of the investigation in Scotland.
Now he’s interviewing a politician from the SNP, Tories, Lib-Dems and Labour. Not a Green in sight. Question after question aimed at running the SNP / Police Force down.
@Petra (2.10) –
You’ll maybe remember we discussed this outfit before, in particular yon dude Cook.
I recognised him, but couldn’t be sure of the name of the programme. Came back to me earlier – it was called ‘Trial By Night’ and it was on STV in the wee small hours. That Cook character was a regular on it whenever there was anything vaguely political being discussed. He must’ve been on it a good few times if I can recognise his coupon more than two decades later because I remember it being hosted by Bernard Ponsonby and Wiki states he did that gig from 1993-96.
This is all apropos of nothing specific – just wondering if anyone else recalls that programme and/or Richard Cook being on it.
Petra says:
… and she was the dimmest wit of all. While many politicians struggle to find coherent answers, she seemed to struggle to understand the questions themselves! The most unimpressive politician ever. And with the likes of Mundell around, that is saying something.
That’s just him getting on with his job. It’s what he’s employed to do.
The issue is, while many of us understand that and recognise the enemies of Scottish democracy, too many Scots take what the hear as impartial interviewing and reporting. That needs to be highlighted face to face with these folks and propaganda called out for what it is.
Totally o/t – The BBC website Quotes their commitment to transparency and impartiality, and goes on to Quote ” The BBC is seen as by far the most trusted and impartial news provider in the UK “.
Now they really are taking the piss ” Impartial ”
I wonder why their impartiality stops at the door of Pacific Heights, nothing to do with the elected government being their arch enemies the SNP , it would appear their stated impartiality ends when a story , any story involving the SNP is being presented .
All these demonstrations outside their offices never happened ,it’s all in our imagination oh course we trust them we would be silly not to ,otherwise we would be in some kind of totalitarian society where broadcasting is controlled by the state ,now that won’t happen will it , oh where is me tin hat .
I have yet to hear any Labour British nationalist coherently explain just how the Scottish Government whose budget is set by Westminster can possibly end austerity and stop the cuts
re seed tatties, it is the quality of earth in scotland that produces top quality tatties. if farmers in england want good tattie crops, they need to buy quality seed tatties, they cant grow them in england.
30% barley crop goes to distillers, the rest to animals, mainly cattle. it is the quality of water and grass in scotland that produces quality beef and stud cattle. 5% goes to eu as stud, 30% to england as it cant produce enough good quality cattle by itself.
re- homegrown produce, in efta/eea norway is allowed to subsidise its own produce for sale in norway, eu members cannot subsidise their own produce in their own countries (not meant to )
also, efta/eea norway controls its own fishing grounds, it only allows eu boats into its waters to enable its own pelagic fleet to enter eu waters. the eu fishing grounds are all in scottish waters
Perhaps Russia is beginning to catch up on America …
“One thing is certain, however: meddling in elections is nothing new. And Russia is not the only country to have been accused of it.
The west – and particularly the US – have a long history of rigging polls, supporting military coups, channeling funds and spreading political propaganda in other countries.”
link to archive.is
In IndyRef2 we can certainly expect meddling!
O/T
link to europarl.europa.eu
and I just have to share this
link to lbc.co.uk
Forgot this one
Speech by Michel Barnier on German Employers’ Day (Deutscher Arbeitgebertag) 2017
link to europa.eu
Just been made aware of Kilwinning’s worst export John Lamont, the Borders’ very own carpetbagger MP, and his fecking inane letter about broadband. If you were ever wondering why his office expenses were so high, then here we have exhibit A for the prosecution. What an utter arse of a cock!
I do wonder why the Scottish government just doesn’t bring in Annual Ground Rent and let the councils set their own rates. Most councils could raise more than the grant they get from Holyrood so they could become self financing and responsible for their own revenue raising while the Scottish government could reduce its income tax rate to zero.
Nana, that was one wonderful Wally wallowing in drivel!
Regarding the Metro , how come it is everywhere ?
I seem to remember one wee ad by the Rev getting removed by some Glasgow transportation system.’ There’ll be nae politics on ma trains!”
schrodingers cat @ 16:13:
Oh yeah, protectionism, that old panacea.
Great if you like high domestic food prices, and have the high standard of living needed to afford them. And don’t have any need to worry about your major trading partners likewise erecting tariff barriers against your valuable exports.
Just like immigration, the barriers always seem like a quick fix if you only look at it from just one side of the equation. The usual Leaver myopia.
Back to the 1930’s. Like that worked out real well last time.
@Robert Green
The BBC may be the most trusted ‘broadcaster’, it’s not really much of an accolade, just an statement that the rest are even worse. Never particularly watch Reporting S**tland now, I feel much better not
being bombarded by how rubbish Scotland is propaganda, if WM desired to close Holyrood the BBC in Scotland would be at the vanguard of the brainwashing.
Famous 15 at 12.11
Police numbers.
From a House of Commons briefing paper:
“”Over the last 30 years, Scottish police strength has seen an almost continuous increase year on year. At 31 March 2017 police strength was 31% greater than in 1985. Over the last few years there has been an occasional decrease in numbers, for example between 2010/11 and 2013/14, although these were always followed by increases the next year. At 31 March 2017 strength stood at 17,256 police officers which was 1% lower than the 2013 high of 17,496 officers“”
link to researchbriefings.parliament.uk
Scotland is the only part of the UK where police numbers have risen. In England there has been a 23% drop in police numbers over the past 7-10 years.
There is a link to the full report in the link given above. Shortish creport but you do not have to read every syllable just look at the graphs which show the decline in police numbers in the rest of the UK.
Worth being able to point this out when people go on and on about Police Scotland and SG failing.
I think the SNP were the majority after the last local elections but labour and Tories jumped back into bed together and pushed the SNP out and now they blame the SNP for their own incompetence
schrodingers cat re Heinz products gonna be a lot more expensive anyways, watched a telly program last year about Heinz baked beans manufactured in Yorkshire
Ingredients , beans 200 tonnes imported daily from America , Tomatoes , can’t remember how much but tonnes daily imported from Italy, Sugar lots imported from Caribbean. Only English ingredient was the Water and the Labels were made in England but the tins at Port Talbot in Wales.
Yesterday I posted of the 8 councils in Scotland that chose not to raise council tax. Unfortunately as I’ve already said I failed to take into account that the decisions on council tax for the year 2017/18 were taken by all 32 councils in Feb/Mar of this year and before the elections in May.
I’ve amended the list I posted to take account of who was actually in charge when the decision was made. I’m relying on the accuracy of Wiki.
South Lanarkshire – Lab
Renfrewshire – Lab
Inverclyde – Lab-w/Con-Ind support
West Lothian – Lab-w/Con-Ind support
West Dunbartonshire – Lab
Aberdeen – Lab-Con-Ind coalition.
Stirling – Lab-Con coalition
North Lanarkshire – Lab
link to en.wikipedia.org
rjs
Oh yeah, protectionism, that old panacea.
Great if you like high domestic food prices
————–
the reverse, eg, a french bree in scotland will be the same price across the EU, a scottish bree will be cheaper in scotland than elsewhere in the EU because the SG can subsidise it in scotland. result, scottish produce will be cheaper here than elsewhere in the eu.
it isnt protectionism, this happens in norway because it isnt in the CAP or CFP. eg, norway subsidises lamb for the norwegian market only, it cant do this for norwegiann lamb sold in the rest of the eu.
the result is norway has a thriving homegrown market and is far more self sufficient than any other country in europe.
i think the cap is rubbish, the idea that one agricultural policy fore the whole of europe is nonsense. why should the eu subsidise the duke of atholl, the largest sheep farmer in europe, to produce huge quantities of lamb, fit only for MRE’s, which puts other sheep farmers in the rest of europe out of business? milk in scotland invariably gets sent to england to be processed into yogurt, cheese etc, then shipped back to scotland?.
apart from not being very green, it isnt sustainable.
the usa can produce, in its mega mechanised farms, enough wheat to feed the entire world cheaper than anyone else. Economically, this makes sense, but ask anyone who lived thro WW2 if they think it is a good idea for us to stop growing our own food and import everything from holland or china? they would think you were mad.
Economics… meh, we dont live in an economy we live in a society, food security, sustainability and carbon foot print are just as important.
economics, coal 5 years ago was £6 per bag delivered, imported from columbia. this is why they shut down all the coal mines in scotland. it is now £19 per bag. so much for short term economics.
As i said robert, i am in favour of eu membership but i would still reform the CAP to enable all countries to become as self sufficient in the food they grow as possible.
The BBC has been forced to admit Andrew Neil used fake Tory statistics during the general election [VIDEO]
Video of Andrew Neil using “false statistics” supplied by the Tories in an interview with Alex Salmond from the Sunday Politics show. Something that it took the BBC more than 7 months to admit.
link to thecanary.co
I still don’t understand why Aberdeen City Council took on £370 Million of debt from the bond market for infrastructure spending when they could have obtained a low risk, low repayment loan from the Public Works Loan Board?
According to the Financial Times Aberdeen City Council will pay a coupon rate (is that annually?) of 0.1 per cent over the RPI rate of inflation (2.8% as of Oct 2017) up until the bond matures in 37 years time.
link to ft.com
twitter.com/estwebber/status/935920519882461185
They’re nae match for Mhairi lol
O/T
https://greens.scot/andy-wightman-msp/blog/article-50—joint-statement-14621
From the National:
“WITH the question of a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland coming up over and over, Channel 4 stepped out to ask Brits if they knew where the Irish border even was.
It did not go well.
Equipped with a map and a pen the broadcaster stopped random folk and asked them to draw where they thought the border was. As well as getting to see their wild guesses, we also got to hear how much (or little) people knew about the border situation.
Could you draw Ireland’s border with Northern Ireland? The border with Northern Ireland has become a major Brexit stumbling block.
One woman went as far as to say that the Irish were “just making trouble because they lost”, and “it’s a bit petty isn’t it really?”.
Hmmmm.”
rjs
Just like immigration, the barriers always seem like a quick fix if you only look at it from just one side of the equation. The usual Leaver myopia.
————-
in one sentence you accuse me of being anti immigrant and a brexiteer,
bravo, take a bow numb nut
From today’s Belfast Telegraph:
“The UK should make life hard for the Republic of Ireland over a post-Brexit fisheries deal as a response to its “disgraceful” behaviour in the current negotiations, Ian Paisley has suggested.
The Democratic Unionist MP made the suggestion to a committee of MPs in Westminster who are examining the future of the Irish border after the UK leaves the EU.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee was hearing evidence from Brexit Minister Robin Walker and Northern Ireland Office minister Chloe Smith.
Referencing the stance the UK should take with the Dublin government, Mr Paisley told the witnesses the “pussyfooting needs to stop”.
“I think our neighbour has acted disgracefully,” he said.
Mr Paisley was referring to Ireland’s position that, in order to avoid a hard border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland should continue to comply with European regulatory frameworks – even if the rest of the UK leaves the customs union and single market.
He said the UK had loaned Ireland “billions” of pounds to bail it out of “economic ruin and bankruptcy”.
Mr Paisley said fisheries waters used by Irish boats would become UK waters after Brexit.
“As early as September in 2019 they will need to make a fisheries deal, not with the rest of the EU, but with us, and, frankly, if they continue to exacerbate our will as citizens of the United Kingdom, I think we should make that fisheries deal extremely long, tenuous and hard for them,” he said.
The North Antrim MP added: “I think that message needs to be spelt out, that they need to start acting in a mature way and dealing with us as good neighbours and as friends instead of trying to frustrate the will of the people of the United Kingdom, by saying they want a united Ireland, they want this part of the sovereign territory of her Majesty’s kingdom to remain out with the rest of the agreements.”
He said if the UK government was not prepared to say that publicly to the Dublin administration, he said it should start to “shake their cage internally and privately”.
Mr Paisley also told the committee that the collapse of powersharing at Stormont could have a positive impact on Brexit, in the absence of MLAs there to object to EU withdrawal plans.
He said: “There might actually be a fortuitous moment arising that it’s actually this parliament who will scrutinise Brexit through its members of parliament who actually come here.
“Frankly if this goes back to the parliament (Stormont) in its current make up, all we will get is carping, blocking and attempts to undermine Brexit as opposed to a proper scrutiny of the Brexit negotiations. Is that not the case, that at this point the Assembly could actually damage Brexit?”
Ms Smith told the committee that discussions remain ongoing with the political parties in Northern Ireland in an attempt to reach an agreement to return to powersharing.
She said: “We are continuing work at every level to be able to get that to a successful conclusion. Meetings have taken place.”
Asked whether that was a contradiction of comments made by Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill earlier this week when she said there was no basis for talks to continue, Ms Smith said: “Meetings are continuing.”
She added: “Whether I agree with Michelle O’Neill or not that there is no basis, there is a clear basis for an agreement to be found, the number of issues which remain to be resolved is limited in number and possible to overcome.”
However, Ms Smith did not elaborate on the nature of discussions or if they amounted to official negotiations.
A summit meeting will be held on December 14 in Brussels with the heads of government of the EU states.
Progress on Brexit negotiations will be considered at this stage, with the border on the island of Ireland expected to be among the core issues focused on.
SDLP Assembly member Claire Hanna heavily criticised Mr Paisley’s remarks.
“As a hard Brexiteer, Ian Paisley seems perfectly happy to cut his nose off to spite his face,” she said.
“The Irish Government has a responsibility to protect the interests of people on this island and to protect the Good Friday Agreement. They are living up to those obligations.
“Any suggestion that UK fisheries policy should be formulated on the basis of punishing Irish people and Irish businesses is absolute madness.
“But more than that, it will hurt businesses in the north who rely on co-operation across this island, particularly in the agri-food sector.
“Given the stranglehold that the DUP now has on the Tory Government, Michael Gove (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) should now make his position on this matter clear.”
OT
but back to the ‘austerity deaths’
This is a must read for background.
And perhaps even the evidence as to why the BBC were never going to report the story.
link to archive.is
Testing.
Testing.
Please ignore.
Mary had a little lamb
Her faither shot it deid.
Sae noo she gans tae scuil wi it
Ateen twa lumps o bried.
Schrodinger’s cat @ 6.32pm
“”economics, coal 5 years ago was £6 per bag delivered, imported from columbia. this is why they shut down all the coal mines in scotland. it is now £19 per bag. so much for short term economics.””
Your information about coal prices and coal mining seems less than accurate.
Coal.
We have solid fuel heating which uses anthracite grains. Installed in 1982 when a bag of anthracite grains was £6 per bag (hundredweight). It is now £17.50 per bag and has been for the last 2-3 years.
When we installed solid fuel heating it was being widely pushed as a heating source. However, as we discovered there was only one pit in the UK producing anthracite. The pit was in Wales and could not meet demand for anthracite in the UK so the coal we were buying came from Poland. Over the years it has come from Poland, Australia and Columbia.
Mines in Scotland
In 1947 when the mines were nationalised there were 225 collieries in Scotland. By the end of the 1960s around 180 collieries across Central Scotland from Fife to Ayrshire had closed.. The remainder closed in the 1970s and 1980s.
link to nmrs.org.uk
The Lanarkshire coalfield for example, were all but worked out by 1960s – 2 large areas were flooded. By the 1970s there were 4 mines left in Lanarkshire and the last one of those closed in the 1980s.
link to scottishmining.co.uk
Been caught up with things but I had heard about ‘oor Kezia’, as the Daily Retard fondly calls her, and the disappointment of Celebrity Jungle progamme makers have of her. They describe her as acting superior and not joining in. She did she was going on to promote Labour values and with that endorsement. she’s doing a grand job of it.
I couldn’t help laughing like the drains
“We need to learn from the 2014 Indy campaign”. I agree, and what do the Unionists do? They leaflet direct to homes, it is expensive, but their dark money enables them.
I agree with Petra, regular “Did You Know” leaflets are the way to combat the Unionist propaganda. And yes, we will need to fund the leaflets, and deliver them.How about it Rev., set up a leaflet fund, and so spread your influence by supplying “Did You Know” leaflets to whatever groups are prepared to subscribe and distribute regularly.
My leafletting patch is about 250 bungalow style homes, good exercise.
Hamish100,
“ot rock
“..But it won’t because The National is as fake..”
Rock you’re as false as your nose. Remember what I said the other night -you have nothing to offer Scotland. C’mon are you tom Gordon? Unionist Begg? wee torq Crichton? Did the National no print your incoherent ramblings and you hate them for it? lol”
I see you are happy for the “independence supporting” The National not to run this expose as front page headline news.
Readers can judge for themselves who is “false”.
@Mike Cassidy (7.16) –
Soo-perb stuff.
Have copied and tweeted that link. Must-read right enough…
link to archive.is
Legerwood
coal delivered here is £18.75, however, the point i was making was that what is economical today may not be in 5 years time. that goes for every commodity not just coal.
education and medication are not open to free market economy, food, farming and fuel security shouldnt be either
@ Thepnr says at 6:35 pm ….. ”The BBC has been forced to admit Andrew Neil used fake Tory statistics during the general election. Video of Andrew Neil using “false statistics” supplied by the Tories in an interview with Alex Salmond from the Sunday Politics show. Something that it took the BBC more than 7 months to admit.
link to thecanary.co
Is Andrew Neil going to get his books? Don’t think so. And where’s the manipulative Tory liar Brian Monteith now? Get it out there folks: Onto Facebook and Twitter.
……………………………………………
Meanwhile the Scottish Tories are screaming ”crisis”, driven by Theresa May via Ruth Davidson.
Chief Constable Phil Gormley has been accused of bullying. He’s currently on ‘special leave’.
The Head of Scotland’s Armed Police Kirk Kinnell (due to retire next month) and his deputy Bob Glass (30 years service in January / could retire) were suspended alongside their boss Assistant Police Constable Bernard Higgins (30 years service in March / could retire) last Friday, plus one other so far unnamed, by Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick (previously Met Police). Two others have been placed on restricted duties over the matter. The matter in question relates to anonymous allegations of criminal and gross misconduct.
Add to that seven Counter-Corruption Unit cops have been placed on ‘restricted duties’ for abusing their position when attempting to find the source of a journalist’s information … ”illegally spying on journalists”… in relation to the Emma Caldwell case. This case has been dragging on for years now, but hey-ho is being highlighted now. No allegations of criminality arose against the 7 cops during the Durham inquiry, however the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has been called in and is now carrying out a further investigation.
Over and above that we are being informed that Northumbria Constabulary is carrying out a review of investigations into complaints against CCU staff from 2009 to 2016.
Fourteen Scottish Police Officers (at least) either suspended, on ‘special leave’ or placed on ‘restricted duties’ as investigations are carried out. I’m not trying to detract from any wrongdoing, if that’s the case, but I reckon if Police Scotland had to carry out investigations into policing in NIreland and England they could dig up any number of cases of criminal conduct and misconduct.
Something stinks to high heaven, imo.
Dan Huil – Thanks for Belfast Telegraph clip .
Gee don’t the DUP realise other people are not quite as bleedn stupid as them , by the way Mr Paisley you don’t get to rattle the souths cage, it’s the other 27 in the EU yer taking on yah dummy.
They should take Paisley into the negotiations, they would be over by midnight Tonight and Farage can shout what a bloody negotiator, see that’s how it’s done .
This I can piss higher than you crap makes for a real cordial relationship, now the Loonies really are in charge, did the Tory party reality realise what they were doing when they released this lot .
And I mean Released before they were just the nut jobs from over the sea now they are running amok intent in doing as much damage as they can before they are once again gaged . It’s like an out of control pit bull that even the Tory party can’t tame .
schrodingers cat says:
29 November, 2017 at 8:43 pm
Legerwood
coal delivered here is £18.75, however, the point i was making was that what is economical today may not be in 5 years time. that goes for every commodity not just coal.
education and medication are not open to free market economy, food, farming and fuel security shouldnt be either
………………………
Whatever point you thought you were making you were using false information to make it. Never a good idea.
O/T Following on from Alex Salmond Kremlin Stooge Stooshie:
29/11/2017 RT 22:00 GMT News has John (The Seer) Mcternan on talking Brexit.
Guidelines for “journalists” and Scottish media
No matter how bad disasterous or downright mental things are in England they’re ten times worse in Scotland because of the SNP
Keep to that principle and you’ll stay in a job
ps Lying is encouraged and rewarded
@ Ian Brotherhood says at 3:49 pm …. ”Petra, You’ll maybe remember we discussed this outfit before, in particular yon dude Cook. I recognised him, but couldn’t be sure of the name of the programme. Came back to me earlier – it was called ‘Trial By Night’ and it was on STV in the wee small hours. That Cook character was a regular on it whenever there was anything vaguely political being discussed..”
That’s interesting Ian. I know we’ve discussed him on here before, but I had no idea that he had been around for so long (time to set up his network) and that he had been on a TV programme. Lives in Bearsden or Milngavie. Married with a couple of small kids. No doubt his neighbours don’t have a clue what’s he’s been up to.
It reminds me of a Police Raid that took place on my parent’s next door neighbour. They lived in a small, very quiet, residential area and had known each other for years. They went in and out of each other’s houses on a regular basis. The Police raided the house early on a Sunday morning and dragged a man off along with the neighbours, husband and wife in their fifties. They’d been hiding some IRA ‘biggy’ (never found out who exactly) in their attic along with a cache of arms. Never heard a mention of it on the news either.
And another. I used to visit a fairly large Estate in Scotland, especially during the Common Riding. The parties that were held there were fantastic with guests from all over the world; brilliant musicians, singers and so on. The owner was extremely popular, charismatic and had seemingly been lucky enough to win the pools which he used to buy said Estate. It transpired that he was an ex-SS Officer who had stolen jewellery from Jews (that he had no doubt murdered), in particular in Russia. After he died we were told by his daughters that he was also a paedophile.
It just reminds me that you never know who’s lurking behind a pseudonym.
……………………………..
@ galamcennalath says at 3:50 pm …. ”Petra – Question after question aimed at running the SNP / Police Force down.” …. ”That’s just him getting on with his job. It’s what he’s employed to do. The issue is, while many of us understand that and recognise the enemies of Scottish democracy, too many Scots take what the hear as impartial interviewing and reporting. That needs to be highlighted face to face with these folks and propaganda called out for what it is.”
I reckon that we’re running out of time, galamcennalath, using our ‘face to face’ strategy. We’re dealing with some, MANY, extremely powerful and wealthy enemies who are knowlegeable, well co-ordinated and focused. They’re not going to give up Scotland without a REAL fight that’ll put the time, money and effort spent on Battles such as Waterloo and Britain in the veritable shade, imo.
We all know why they need us so much from our strategic position geographically, to our natural resources, supply of cannon-fodder, brain drain to London, home for Trident, etc, and with a third of the country housing 5 million people to two-thirds housing (or rather not) 55 million … 84% of the UK’s population is crammed into England. They don’t want to feel wee, isolated and boxed in. Add to that poor and with no seat at the top table and they’ll stop at nothing.
I’ve mentioned this already but no one seems to want to take it on board other than vellofello (8:15pm). I reckon that we should start fundraising on a constant basis (if Stu is agreeble to the idea, of course) over the next few months, say starting in the New Year. Aim to raise a £1 million (plus Stu’s annual monies). We could try contacting well-known pro-Independence millionaires ‘begging’, lol, for funds and who knows maybe people across the EU would contribute to our fund, if we could get the word out there. Guy Verhofstadt would be a good starting place / person, imo.
There’s no point in just hanging around here trying to convert each other. We should be doing something EVEN more constructive with our time. And yes I know that this site does reach thousands of people but do they visit this site, in the main, because they’re already pro-Independence? If we could get the stats up through say getting another blue book or leaflets out there it would give Nicola Sturgeon the confidence / impetus to go for it sooner than later, I would think.
More than anything we have to stop the propaganda machine in it’s tracks, ASAP, by getting people to start to think about what has been / is going on. Think twice when they hear the news NOW not a week or so before they’re due to vote either in another General Election and / or an Indyref. Not waiting until they have had even more SNP bad news stuffed down their throats, such as the latest Police Scotland fiasco added to our so-called abysmal NHS and Educational record.
Just a thought or an idea to get the ball rolling.
What stupid voters vote for the likes of Ross Thomson. I just can’t understand why Scottish voters vote for these scumbags and are Scottish people in the minority in the Britnat NE of Scotland. It’s bad enough living in Tory Prestwick full of Old Britnats but for Gods sake what is up in Aberdeen and the NE how stupid are the voters up there!
Dan Huil @ 7.29……so the ragged arse OO DUP are banging the ould drum again…Well maybe Paisley jnr needs a history lesson, other than the one based on his pin number.
N.I. is a fabricated tinpot ‘state’, created by a gutless conniving UK on the back of armed rebellion ( with german arms..oh the irony!) by brainwashed proddie lackeys backed by the mutiny of British army officers refusal to move their troops against these ‘loyal’ subjects back in 1914.
The result?…armed Irish nationalists and republicans from 1916 onwards and the ‘partition’ i.e. amputation of six counties by the Brits and the creation of the one party sectarian state of ‘Northern Ireland’..NOT ULSTER…they left three counties of the historic province with the rest of the Free State as there were too many catholics in them.
So from 1921 when it was ‘founded’ until the 1968 civil rights movement when catholics attempted to get equal votes(!) the protestant ascendancy ruled run by poor white trash and their anglo masters.
‘Northern Ireland’ has as much credibility as a ‘state’ as Paisley has as a statesman. It is a remnant of Empire..of British divide and conquer. It demonstrates yet again the desperation and myopic stupidity of the Tory gang’s bribery of the scabrous DUP. It MAY yet sink the whole nest of rats yet.
Old Pete@10.41
Take a wee trip along the East Coast from Inverness all the way to Aberdeen. Its turning into a Yoon-shire with Yoon economic “Mail, Express reading” retirees.
Hence the Tory vote. Nayin, Moe-ray, Eljin, Fok-abers etc.
Simples.
I reckon that we should start fundraising on a constant basis (if Stu is agreeble to the idea, of course) over the next few months, say starting in the New Year
————-
not a bad idea, we will need a war chest for indyref2 and we may not get much notice when it comes or indeed will the campaign be long.
Gary45%@10:48
If we don’t get Independence in the next three years then I seriously doubt if we will ever defeat the continuing Britnat colonization and the mind numbingly stupid Scot buts who seem to believe any Britnat propaganda without question.
rock hates the National = hates independence
prefers the guardian? Daily record? hootsman? times
well anything except the National cause it is anti–independence!! got it?
O/T one for Robert Peffers, reading a motorcycle magazine and there is a story about the reintroduction of a Motorcycle Road Race (like the Isle of Man TT) in Wales. There is a statement from the Organisor which says “The bill that allows road closures in England for Motorsports events has gone through Parliament but still has got to go through the Welsh and Scottish governments. But because the site (a 35 mile by 35 mile tranch of land) is owned by the MoD and therefore the crown , its subject to the same laws as England ” Sounds to me as it’s a bit like the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus where the British Military bases are deemed to be part of the UK . What about the bases in Scotland? What’s your thoughts on it Robert? I should point out that the spokesman is known for spouting Jackie Baileys.
I share others frustration that we are being subjected to a continuous omni present anti Indy campaign … while at the same time there is a very low key pro Indy campaign.
They thought they had won outright and permanently in 2014 but the 2015 general election result came as a huge shock to them. And since then the campaigning has been relentless. SNPBaaad to try to erode electoral support and No IndyRef2 as the theme of council elections, for heaven’s sakes.
We really need to turn up the heat with a lot more pro Indy campaigning!
I trust Nicola and the SNP leadership to do the right thing at the right time, but jeezz, it’s difficult sitting waiting while the Yoons appear to have a free hand to campaign.
Robert
Mary had a little lamb,
Which caused some shock and awe
Cos inter-species breeding,
Is against the law.
@Petra (10.28) –
Fantastic.
You’re got the outline of a novel/36-pt Netflix drama right there…
It’s ‘Britishness’ that’s holding us back as people.
England is England and Scotland is Scotland and both are as viable as eachother.
Britain, Great, or otherwise is a power-grab, a made up royalty-linked excuse to deflect a much needed revolution.
A ‘united’ Kingdom to create an absolute centralised elite, based almost exclusively in the South East and home counties of England.
Labour, quite recently created the welfare state but then jumped on the gravy train and sent their kids to the same schools as their Tory chums.
It worked well for them until facts and information became freely available..and popular, in most households.
Too much inventiveness, in Scotland and ‘the North’ is still suppressed by lack of motivation.
Only independence can widen our focus, increase our productivity and spark life into communities and social-enterprises.
We borrow efficiently for the right type of infrastructure. Our small size and our energy rich resources equate to an enormous manufacturing potential. Invest, educate and invent.
Britishness gives us the opposite, they give us nothing. Oh wait, Brexit and nukes.
Thank God we’ve managed to ban fracking in Scotland, for the time being at least. I’ve just been watching some Ian R Crane videos relating to what’s going on in Yorkshire. Fracking in general. Looks as though Police Scotland should be down there carrying out investigations into the ‘actions’ of the North Yorkshire Police Force.
A video of Ian R Crane, himself, getting pushed into a ditch and then arrested for obstructing a highway, when he wasn’t actually standing on the road at all.
link to youtube.com
@Petra and Velofello
I like the idea of funding a leafletting campaign.
Perhaps using the experiences of folk from the Phantom Power ‘Journey to Yes’ videos?
A good opportunity to say to persuadable No voters ‘Here are people who, like you, voted No in 2014 because of [list of issues] but have reconsidered in the interim.
Just a thought.
I caught a bit of the Kaye Adams show on the radio this morning between changing cd’s and she had asked for listeners to send in their favourite Christmas films. I didn’t catch who it was but well done to whoever got her to read out London Calling. She’s obviously never heard of it in her wee yoon bubble.
Ronnie Anderson @6.40pm
I see Mhairi Black’s motion was passed at WM this afternoon.
Labour and the dUP voted with the SNP, openly for the motion which won by 280+ votes:0 as the tories abstained, rather than see a visible defeat.
So our wonderful 13 Scots tories seem to have voted against WASPI – I’m sure Nicola will get that in somewhere tomorrow. They rely are a PATHETIC bunch.
Expect a bumpy ride at FMQ’s tomorrow because of the SNHS A&E stats and the ‘snagging’ roadworks forcing lane closures on the new Queensferry Vanity project…
Petra.
It is my suspicion that most of us here and many elsewhere are ready to commit as much financial support as we can to a consolidated indy program.
However, the question in my mind and I suspect that of others, is one of trust in any such consolidated indyref2 program.
Speaking for myself, I certainly do not want to repeat the mistake of having another official Yes campaign. A campaign which could not even acknowledge the evident bias in the BBC and other MSM actors and which was suspected of being under politician control and thus was effectively – well, ineffective, despite the large proportion of pro-indy financial resource it sucked in.
On the other hand, alternative targets for our money are somewhat fractious with varying degrees of non-indy related agendas.
Given that circumstance, perhaps the best approach would be to create a consolidated indy program headed up by an executive panel of people who represent the main contingents of the movement.
For example, I am thinking of an executive panel consisting of those which would form a consensus I would trust with my money – The leader of the SNP (or deputised representative), The leader of the Greens (or deputised representative), The chair of the SIC (or deputised representative), Reverend Stuart Campbell, Paul Kavanagh.
Possibly Women For Independence or even Labour for Independence or Business For Scotland might be in the mix as well.
I know some have reservations about lefty infiltration into the SIC but they are still 100% pro indy and any potentially horse frightening proposals they might come up with would be subject to sanity checking by the rest of the voting panel.
That kind of thing, were it to happen, would, I feel, certainly in my case, galvanise financial support.
The main obstacle to this happening, as always, being the clash of egos.
Definitely O/T
@ Ian Brotherhood says at 11:53 pm
@Petra (10.28) –
? ? ? (three smiley faces).
”Fantastic. You’ve got the outline of a novel/36-pt Netflix drama right there…”
What part Ian? Scotland’s David versus England’s Goliath or the IRA / SS? If it’s the latter there’s another to add to that.
When I was in the US I was invited to a very lavish party in a beautiful mansion. I was having an absolutely fabulous time and just loving watching dozens of kids running around the gardens. I especially noticed that the adults, in particular the males, were very attentive to their kids / grandchildren. Very family orientated crowd overall. Then I noticed helicopters circling around overhead and asked the woman sitting next to me what was going on. She said ”Oh it’s the cops. They’re keeping an eye on ** *******. They’re filming everyone here including you.” I said ”** *******. Who’s that?” She laughed and said ”You haven’t heard of him? He’s the Godfather hon. That’s him standing over there.” Needless to say I did a runner first chance I got, lol.
Check out Google homepage, folks!
I’m surprised no-one has mentioned here today that the SNP brought an opposition day bill to the HoC this afternoon regarding the WASPI women and a transition period.
I watched the whole debate, which started about 2.50 and it was very acrimonious in parts especially with the Tories from both sides of the border. The Tories definitely don’t live among the ordinary people.
Brilliant debate and it was won by 288 -0. Well done SNP.
Ian Blackford asked the Deputy Speaker what the next steps were and she said the Minister has 12 weeks to come up with a plan which he has to put before the house.
So that is roughly mid-February.
@ Chick McGregor says at 12:38 am …. ”Petra … It is my suspicion that most of us here and many elsewhere are ready to commit as much financial support as we can to a consolidated indy program. However, the question in my mind and I suspect that of others, is one of trust in any such consolidated indyref2 program….”
Good points Chick, such as ”perhaps the best approach would be to create a consolidated indy program headed up by an executive panel of people who represent the main contingents of the movement.”
I would love to see the whole kit and caboodle get together. The people and groups that you’ve mentioned Chick. That amount of talent and knowledge combined would be absolutely amazing. However could we get them all to sit round the same table? And if so, how long would that take? They’ve had 3 years to get their act together already, but we’re getting nowhere and running out of time now, imo.
And as you say, ”On the other hand, alternative targets for our money are somewhat fractious with varying degrees of non-indy related agendas.”
I’m thinking (only one person of course) along the lines of ‘blue books’ and / or leafleting that would combat MSM bias. What if some of the ’round table crew’ didn’t want to go down that route? What then, Chick? Then again who knows, maybe they’d come up with a better idea? If so, time for them to move it.
Well it’s, at least, got us discussing the subject Chick and I doubt that anything will happen until after the New Year. And if it comes to pass that Wings has to go it alone (with Stu’s agreement of course … and he may not be up for it) Stu will no doubt have to get a certain ‘case’ behind him before he thinks of doing anything else I would imagine.
All I know is that I would put every spare penny I have into a project such as this and I’m sure that many others think likewise. I’m basically at the end of my line watching and listening to what’s going on out there. Sickened with our so-called Scottish journalists who are an absolute disgrace. The Scots are known to be brave, highly innovative and extremely intelligent. Surely we’ve got enough brains between us to outwit these self-serving morons?
@ The Dog Philosopher says at 12:46 am … ”Check out Google homepage, folks!..”
Great stuff! I wonder if it’s an omen?
…………………..
@ Still Positive says at 12:46 am … ”I’m surprised no-one has mentioned here today that the SNP brought an opposition day bill to the HoC this afternoon regarding the WASPI women and a transition period….”
Well done to them and Dr Philippa Whitford got one through yesterday in relation to Universal Credit. Who says the SNP are doing nought at Westminster? We should be proud of them and I bet that many English people who follow what’s going on wish that they had them representing them too, especially in relation to Brexit.
link to twitter.com
Now off to bed to rest my weary head, lol!
Not so veiled threat to disabled people and those with mental health issues, from the tories.
Note how it says “GET” disabled people into work…not ‘help’ or ‘assist’ or ‘enable’…
Also note they are putting employment advisors into NHS clinics treating mental health issues such as depression and anxiety…unbelievable !!
…….
Theresa May vows to get one million more disabled people in work
link to archive.is
Then there is THIS..
People with degenerative diseases still facing benefits reassessments.
link to archive.is
Utter scum.
Happy St Andrews day !
I am watching our man on RT discussing all things Scottish!
link to scotland.org
Happy St Andrews Day from me too.
Old pete 11.09pm. I think if Scotland lose a 2nd Indy referendum due to yoon economic retirees colonizing Scotland.
There will be an angry backlash.
Media at it again…
New roadbridge will require maintenance and road closures from time to time. Who knew? There was a time when Scotland built a railway bridge of international distinction which for most of its life had a continual rolling program of painting it, but that never detracted from the stunning achievement of the bridge itself.
Oh, and the Guardian thinks Theresa May and Trump will have a special relationship because Trump’s mother is British.
Just can’t help themselves…
O/T, but only because of today….
Happy St. Andrew’s Day to all Scots, everywhere!
OI but for all animal lovers who are horrified by the RSPCA showing what a country of ‘ animal lovers ‘ the UK really is , please remember that your money should go to the SPCA not the RSPCA who have coined it in the past and not handed over money to the SPCA.
O/T, I picked up a used peuguot 206 last night that was taken in part exchange in Newbridge. It has “Stronger for Scotland” and “Bikers for Yes” stickers on the rear window, anyone on here?
They will be staying firmly where they are haha! Might add a Wings one, is there any Wings stickers?
” Proposals to avoid a hard border were reportedly submitted this week by Britain and a deal could be agreed next month. “
” This would involve a package of powers being devolved to Stormont to allow customs control with the Irish Republic on areas such as agriculture and energy. “
So, UK allegedly proposing additional devolved powers to Stormont so it can avoid regulatory divergence in Ireland after Brexit.
How about a heap more powers for Scotland when they are at it?
link to archive.is
It’s no good!
Wee Willie Rennie keeps popping up in the shortbread media to whine and girn and by the time I find my deluxe rubber ‘whack a mole’ hammer he’s gone only to reappear a few minutes later on another station.
Happy St Andrews day.
WASPI women.
Report on yesterday’s vote in the Commons on the SNP motion from today’s Herald. Seems some Tories voted for the motion including Mr Ross.
From the Herald.
“”THERESA May is under fresh pressure to help women affected by state pension age changes after Tory and DUP MPs voted for improvements to transitional arrangements.
Five Tories joined opposition parties in backing an SNP motion which asked the Government to improve transitional measures for women born on or after April 6 1951 who have been “adversely” affected by moves to speed up increases in the state pension age.
Douglas Ross, Conservative MP for Moray, was among those who voted for the improvements.
He said: “I believe Waspi women are already victims of decisions in this Parliament from both sides.””””
O\T John from Aberdeen on Call Kaye spouting fascist support for Donald Trump. Who is this man who shames Scotland? He must be well known in Aberdeen politics. We should be told!
Pretty sure it is this John @Famous15 says at 9:17 am
link to wingsoverscotland.com
Using Google this morning, on opening page, was greeted by a very nice graphic for ST Andrews day including Saltire. Captured it for my many images. Worth a look.
Lenny Hartley says: 29 November, 2017 at 11:23 pm:
” … There is a statement from the Organisor which says “The bill that allows road closures in England for Motorsports events has gone through Parliament but still has got to go through the Welsh and Scottish governments. But because the site (a 35 mile by 35 mile tranch of land) is owned by the MoD and therefore the crown, its subject to the same laws as England.”
It is claptrap, Lenny. Here’s why:-
The, “Statute of Rhuddlan”, (1284), provided the constitutional basis for the government of the Principality of North Wales from 1284 until 1536.
The statute was enacted on 3 March 1284 and promulgated on 19 March at Rhuddlan Castle in North Wales, after careful consideration of the position by Edward I, The Prince of Gwynedd had been recognised by the English Crown as Prince of Wales in 1267, holding his lands with the king of England as his feudal overlord. It was thus that the English interpreted the title of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Lord of Aberffraw, which was briefly held after his death by his successor Dafydd ap Gruffudd.
This meant that when Llywelyn rebelled, the English interpreted it as an act of treason. Accordingly, his lands escheated to the king of England, and Edward I took possession of the Principality of Wales by military conquest from 1282 to 1283. By this means the principality became “united and annexed” to the Crown of England. Today The Prince of Wales status still remains and today’s Prince of Wales is still the first born, (heir to the throne), of the Queen of England.
By the Statute of Rhuddlan the English Kingdom imposed English law upon Wales and the Kingdom of England Rule of Law is imposed upon England, Wales and (northern), Ireland but the Scottish Rule of Law remains legally independent today.
Mind you it is not for the lack of Westminster attempts to prove it is not independent as witnessed here:-
link to youtube.com
where Mundell claims Scotland doesn’t even exist today.
In short – Wales has been legally part of the Kingdom of England and subject to English law since 1284 but Scottish law is still legally extant today. Thus the guy classing Wales and Scotland as in the same boat is talking rubbish.
Cheers Robert thought that may be the case, I will write to the magazine and correct them, hope it does affect my application for a Photographers pass at the meeting
@ galamcennalath One small problem with that Irish Times story there is no Stormont assembly & looking more likely there still wont be by Dec 15/16 .
Well, Trump stirring up racial hatred in the UK via twitter.
This guy is a warmongering bully who will create controversy over
anything to get his views out there.
BBC with Kate inviting views, some appalling responses, Trump is promoting right wing loonies without a thought of consequences.
Certainly lowers my estimation of American politics that it seems ok for a US president to come out with this kind of dangerous carbage.
SeanW92 there are Wings windows stickers, unfortunately can’t remember who was doing them, maybe ayemail.
No Nana links for coffee:-(
Britnats in action today.
link to independent.ie
For St Andrew’s Day, stinky old Graun’s says Glencoe’s nice apparently.
Why does the UKOK media hate the Scots so much?
@Lenny Hartley
Yes Ayemail still do the Wings window stickers, 10 for £4 or 2 for £2.
link to ayemail.scot
@galamcennalath says:29 November, 2017 at 11:29 pm:
” … We really need to turn up the heat with a lot more pro Indy campaigning!”
Why?
That would be a very silly thing to do just now, galamcennalath.
The whole point being that the Westminster Establishment’s constant and unrelenting campaign of everything SNP/Scotland/Scottish BAAAAD! is signally failing to win over any more Scots electorate support for unionism. In fact there is a slow but inexorable shift towards independence.
It would thus be a grave mistake to interrupt our enemies while they are making campaigning mistakes. A tactical rule laid down by none other than that great tactician Napoléon Bonaparte.
The Unionists are our best weapon against unionism at the present time.
Just to illustrate the point – I listened to Wee Wullie Rennie this morning on BBC Shortbread outrageously ranting against the Scottish Government/SNP acting against LibDem illegal election spending.
If just 99.999% of my feelings about his rant rubs off on the Scottish electorate then it cost the LibDems, and thus the unionists, a few more voters.
As we say in Scotland, “Wee puckles mak muckles”. We just give needs give them enough rope and they will most certainly hang themselves.
When will it be enough
Donald Trump the unevolved white terrorist seeks like minded others to murder those who are not them in order to keep up the traditional values of unevolved white terrorists
Please send application directly through social media to *Keep the white faith alive*
We must not allow the left wing evolved white man to thwart us from our path of the elimination of all lesser peoples from OUR world, we’ve been doing this for hundreds of years and it is our right to do so
We shall not rest until we have succeeded in that sacred task then we’ll think of someone else who doesn’t agree with us and come for them
Join us in our fight to destroy the enemy and brook no dissent
War is good, take responsibility and help us cleanse our world of people who are against our values
Remember folks if it wasn’t for us lefties the world would be run by Trump, the Tories, and Hitler would be revered as a war hero, so to say or do nothing about these people allows them to flourish, and ignoring them in the hope they go away hasn’t worked so far has it
We need to be more stridently and loudly opposed to them as they slather over their next victims calling it their God given right to being righter than them
Using Google this morning, on opening page, was greeted by a very nice graphic for ST Andrews day including Saltire. Captured it for my many images. Worth a look.
Indeed!
Saltire, unicorns, St A’s boat, Nessie, stag, snow, bluebells, thistles, mountains, Paisley, Scotsh pines , Celtic patterns – all ticked. Bonus points for spotting the midge.
Saltire, unicorns, St A’s boat, Nessie, stag, snow, bluebells, thistles, mountains, Paisley, Scotsh pines , Celtic patterns – all ticked. Bonus points for spotting the midge
It is a nice gif from google. But there are no actual Scots in it at all. Scots are being airbrushed out of the meeja mainstream and replaced with all of the above.
As the bbc Scotland gimp network rages and sneers at us Scots are shite, all the rest pretend we do not exist.
I do, oddly enough:D
Do you, fellow Scots?
Dr Jim says:
30 November, 2017 at 10:23 am
When will it be enough
Take a chill pill Dr. Orange Hitler is killing the GOP stone dead in all but the most mental blue states. By the time Orange Hitler’s done, Republican party will fcuked for a generation.
Or, who was first to kiss the Orange Hitler inaugural ring? UKOK Teresa and the tory creeps, especially Fuhrage, Gove. How hard are they winding it back today? they may even scrap Orange Hitler’s UK state visit.
schrodingers cat @ 18:32 & 19:08 (29.Nov),
I’m not going to defend every detail of the CAP, if that’s what you hope. It’s often clumsy and sometimes counter-productive. There’s much about it that could be improved, but it doesn’t help your argument to over-egg it by bringing the Duke of Argyll into it. A straw man if ever there was one.
Overfishing in particular is a matter of basic science, not a matter of politics nor the fault somehow of the CAP, as the Leavers would somehow have us believe.
The basic point is to ensure food security across the EU as a whole, and in that it has succeeded. What individual countries do within that framework is up them, and unfortunately in our case it is all mediated through London, which is the real villain of the piece, not the Duke of Argyll or the EU. As a supposed supporter of Scottish independence I would have thought you would focus on that, but what’s another easy distraction among so many?
It’s a simple basic fact of economics, but one that you don’t seem to have learnt, despite all the lessons of history going back a hundred years or more, that if you erect protectionist trade barriers from a well-intended but misdirected desire to “protect home producers”, it rebounds with a vengeance and doesn’t help anyone in the end. And especially so if your own country is a large exporter itself.
You do have an unfortunate tendency to start personalising arguments when they strike home, but I was just giving one fairly obvious example of the kind of reverse penalty that Leaver arguments inevitably ignore. Leavers have a wonderfully one-sided view of the world in general, and it’s pumped at us 24/7 by their ever-helpful tame media. But if you somehow recognise yourself in supporting or appeasing any other aspect of the Leaver agenda, which was not my intention, who am I to disagree?
I remember when glasgow airport was attacked and without a bit of luck we would have had hundreds of scottish deaths because of the people that Donald Trump is trying to protect us all from
So next time anyone has a go at Trump, just remember one of yours could have died at the airport that day
Latest labour leader of Scottish branch office stands up at FMQ’s and bangs on about the poor poor councils…yet the REALITY is they have between them, £1.85 BILLION in the bank!
That is UP £100 MILLION in the LAST 12 MONTHS, so that is £100million BANKED and NOT SPENT by those same councils pleading poverty).
That £100 million could have been spent and had ZERO impact on their cash reserves.
Then, lets not forget that Mostly labour run councils have REFUSED to increase Council Tax, despite COMPLAINING about the CT freeze for half a decade !
What say labours new branch manager to this ?
Labour run councils DID NOT raise CT by the 3% limit as it would only raise £70 MILLION !
What to make of that comment ?
Well, you could read into it that labour want to raise CT by MUCH MORE than the 3% limit set by the SNP SG.
Of course, alert readers will recall WHY the SNP put the CT freeze in the first place…MASSIVE RISES of CT by labour councils after the SNP took office.
Labour have also tried to redact history on council spending.
PFI under labour has absolutely financially crippled local government all over Scotland.
Yet here they are, moaning about SNP funding…what a cheek.
We have had Old Labour, then we had New Labour, now is seems we have same old, same old labour.
Tax… spend…lose power…complain.
The labour tax and spending plans were put to the Scottish people in the 2016 Holyrood election, the electorate UTTERLY REJECTED it then, so why on earth would the electorally MANDATED SNP SG even listen to labour now ?
Empty vessels indeed make the most noise.
geeo
“Empty vessels indeed make the most noise.”
Bit of Gaelic for St Andrew’s Day.
Far an taine ‘n abhainn, ‘s ann as mo a fuaim
Where the stream runs shallowest, it makes the most noise.
Cheers chick, i like that one..!
Hamish100,
“rock hates the National = hates independence
prefers the guardian? Daily record? hootsman? times
well anything except the National cause it is anti–independence!! got it?”
Whatever I read or not read, you are happy for the “independence supporting” The National not to run this expose as front page headline news.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
Confirmed.