The Vow remains an orphan
Another letter from the government. Sounds a lot like the others.
We’re starting to feel a bit sorry for “The Vow”. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for writing it. Nobody will even admit to having heard of it. Doesn’t ANYONE want the credit for saving the Union?
The response above is total nonsense, of course. The “new Scotland Bill” was put before Parliament by HM Government (to be precise, the Secretary of State for Scotland), not as a Private Member’s Bill. The Prime Minister can only have signed it as the Prime Minister, not merely a party leader, which would break “purdah” rules.
But for some reason the people of the UK are not being permitted to know how it came about. What we do know is:
1. The three party leaders “contributed to the wording”.
2. The Daily Record denies having any input whatsoever.
3. A Tory MP said in the Commons that the vow “was made without the authority or agreement of Parliament” and that it “certainly cannot be relied on”.
4. And the government insists it knows nothing and has no record of ever seeing it, even though it’s followed the Vow’s timetable to the letter.
We’ll stay on the case, readers. But it’s not looking good.
Maybe you’d get more luck asking about the secret polls run by the Scottish Office prior to the referendum.
It was a con and a last gasp attempt to secure a NO vote because the unionists were not sure they would win.
It’s a conundrum right enough. Even Connie Francis wants an answer.
‘Who’s sorry vow ?’
O/T
Posting footie link on Off Topic for the non-sky folk in a minute.
OK. So take the liars and wafflers to the next stage. Don’t let them away with anything.
Good god whit hiv ah tae dey, tae git ah post on this site Bribe Somebody lol.
You are nothing if not tenacious STU
Respect sir….
Groundhog Day Stu. They are all so modest at WM with any of them not wanting to claim the credit.
Call me daft but can’t someone just ask Cameron straight out what hat he was wearing at the time…and was it on his head or just covering his arse?
I’m sure there’s a wee cleaning lady on zero hours minimum wage contract who might be only too happy to provide some information on the aforesaid vow with a wee financial enticement.
You’d be surprised at what’s left lying around in offices.
Then again, if there’s nothing to see, there’s nothing to tell.
Information Commissioner is pretty good Rev.Have used their services before & you don’t wait months for an answer either.
If the Scots are not clever enough to see through the London con-tricks they are unlikely to be clever enough to run their own country.
Sorry, like men who wear white brogue shoes to work, a guy called Roger Smethurst is immediately suspect.
The ten times around the block replies mirror those the BBC is sending me over their untruthful journalists. More of that when I get the final, ultmate excuse…
No Stew,
Stick with it, ” they” will trip up eventually, how I wish we posters had the know how to do what you do, so effectually, well, I’d just loose the hied!!.
Wasn’t the Herald going to go pro-independence if the vow didn-t deliver.
I’m sure they said that just before the referendum.
“The Prime Minister was a signatory in his capacity as Leader of the Conservative party and the UK government holds no records of the description given in your request” is an out and out teamGB lie. Daily Record shills made sure their readers know Cameron is the Prime Minister signing their giant fraud.
link to archive.today
“THE Prime Minister admitted he is frustrated with the way politics is done at Westminster but insisted he is proud of the way the three main parties have united to guarantee more powers for the Scottish Parliament.”
There will not be any admission to having broken any rules.
Most of us should be aware, by now, that these institutions and individuals are quite prepared to do and say anything they consider necessary to maintain their current position.
I am grateful that someone is continuing to press them for answers to perfectly reasonable questions.
@Rev I have feeling Mr Smethurst is reading Wings an taking the piss,or taking the Paragraph breaks to the extreme in the wording of that letter.
Move along now,nothing to see here, look squirrel.
Gordon Brown is the man to get that info from. He must have had emails documents about it.
Absolute Tosh and another Insult to our intelligence!
Is there any mileage in trying to gather 100,000 names in a petition that would lead to a Public Enquiry?
So Cameron signed it wearing his hat as conservative party leader but not representing the UK govt.? Do we have zips up the back of our heids? Or is that the reserve of the proud scots?
[…] We’re starting to feel a bit sorry for “The Vow”. Nobody wants to accept responsibility for writing it. Nobody will even admit to having heard of it. Doesn’t ANYONE want the credit for saving the Union? […]
it appears westminster might not even be bound to the purdah rules, not sure if the information is correct but worth checking before barking anymore time up the wrong tree :-/
link to scotsman.com
BTW we know why the three amigos were on bended knees with the vow – they need us for the oil, amongst other thing, as proven today by the WM energy minister.
link to youtube.com
Just what I expected.
I have just watched the 2nd part of Planet Oil (On the I player, I won’t give the parasites another penny}.
I would recommend everyone watch it, as it’s getting more and more difficult to understand why the country voted no, or did it?
When you see what the British establishment can get up to in this progamme eg recruiting help from the USA to mount an overthrow of the Iranian government to get “their” oil back.
At least I can say I am a proud Scot and have nothing in common with Westminster.
Gary
The VOW
link to youtube.com
stomach churning
link to heraldscotland.com
Perhaps if you asked the Herald whether they feel satisfied that the vow was delivered?
@ Rev. an he’res anither Orphant
link to youtube.com
They really are all full of shit.
Let’s start the process of putting this right.
Vote SNP, vote for Scotland.
So basically as far as anyone knows, magical unionist policy pixies deposited ‘the VOW’ with Scotland’s Champion editorial staff in the dead of night. Finding this mystical bounty in their emails and having nothing better to do that day, said editorial staff decided to print this vow, word for word and without checking the source (because they knew it was magical) and thanked the unionist pixies by leaving out a plate of tea cakes and a bottle of unionist whiskey.
Both disappeared overnight in equally mysterious fashion.
The moral of the story children is never to accept gifts from strangers in cyberspace.
No surprises there then!
Keep at it Stu, as William Falconer said ‘ Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed’
Thank god for Wings!
P.S. See BBC Scotland at it again criticising Scottish Government for not meeting targets for hospital appointments.
Talk about state controlled media – they are just the mouthpiece for Labour in Scotland
Looks like the dug ate it..
I blame the great clunking fist. It got them the result they wanted…….for now.
I’ve been banned by the Herald for giving Danny Alexander the address, phone number and fax of the Inverness Job-centre
Reply to John D aka Nkosi
“I’ve been banned by the Herald for giving Danny Alexander the address, phone number and fax of the Inverness Job-centre”
Danny Alexander would be unemployable. Why else would he be a Lib Dummy?
There’s probably a D Notice on it as they did with their Dolphin Square horrors.
Keep plugging away Stuart as they can’t shut down the web the way they did the newspapers,(at least not yet).
Maybe there’s a D Notice on it as they did with their Dolphin Square horrors.
Keep plugging away Stuart as they can’t shut down the web the way they did the newspapers,(at least not yet).
Strange indeed, It reminds me of that often used Scottish alibi used in most courts…
“It wizzny me”
False memory is the psychological phenomenon in which a person recalls a memory that did not actually occur.
The only explanation I can come up with. It didn’t happen “we imagined it”
Ian’t the VOW Paul Sinclair’s bastard?
Nobody takes responsibility for the Vow because it was put forward to the people of Scotland as a binding contract. No Unionist politician was ever going to respect the wording of it nevermind how vague, so politicians do what they always do, they maintain deniability.
The Vow means nothing, it always has and always will be nothing, it was set up in panic to do one thing to persuade a few percent of people who hadn’t made their minds up which way they were going to vote. Job done, Jocks back in the box, wash of hands, deny, what Vow?
By the size of Danny Alexander’s cheeks, he must be just about to enter hibernation phase. Obviously, feeding at the Westminster trough has set him up for a very long time – tucked up in his cosy little burrow.
Gary
I think the SNP should show how compassionate it is and leap in and adopt the wee orphaned bairn.
“Flash a ahhhh, saviour of the Union”…
Earns the most outside his 9-5 (that he never attends)
link to independent.co.uk
I’m nobody’s child, I’m nobody’s child
I’m like a flower just growing wild
There’s no mommy’s kisses and no daddy’s smiles
Nobody wants me I’m nobody’s child
crowd fund for best lawyer you can get
up a notch
Bookie from hell says
“crowd fund for best lawyer you can get
up a notch”
Joe Betrami’s awa
Apologies in advance for off-topic but has it occurred to anyone that as the No vote was only 46% of the whole electorate then another reason the establishment is acting like losers is that if they’d achieved 50% of the total electorate and then there was another referendun in a few years time then they could have insisted that 50% or more of the electorate (as opposed to the turnout) would need to vote Yes? In 2014 46% of the electorate was deemed an acceptable mandate for staying in – then they can’t shove a % of electorate clause on the next referendum like they did in 79? If we follow the Quebec trend then we could accrue another 15% by the second referendum which would come to 61% – but if it was a low turnout then the final tally might be under 50% of the electorate. However as the 2014 vote of 46% of the electorate stood then they’d have a tough argument insisting on this. I think that could be one reason why the so-called winners are acting like losers. They’ve established a precedent. Just saying….
Poor wee vow
Then….
who wants a turd for a bairn?
Always going to be smelly no matter how much it’s polished.
Keep hammering away at them, Stu!
I suppose the question to be answered now is, why does no one want to be labelled as saviour of the Union?
You would think The Vow was some cheap dirty underhand nasty deceitful low-life con …. or something 😉
As “bookie from hell” says.
“Crowd fund for best lawyer you can get”.
It doesn’t really matter if none of these pigs want to claim the vow,it has unfotunately for them become the rope with which we will be able to hang the unionist bastards.
It’s an odd one right enough. The scoop of the century, and no-one is claiming ownership.
Bet someone, somewhere is desperate to let the cat out of the bag!
WANTED…Whistleblower… ;D
Surprised they haven’t tried to pin it on Malcolm Rifkind.
The thing about Danny Alexander is this. He is about to lose his job. Now what is it they say about being nice to people on the way up….as you are sure to meet them on the way down!
Danny has insulted and belittled so many other politicions, and ordinary voters,on his climb up the greasy pole.That he is absolutely terrified ,of where he is going to go for support when he hits rock bottom.
In order to invent a role for himself well above his station and capabilities. He had to behave like a right wing Tory yes man!
I bet everyone on here knows someone at work who has done the same. Its a learning experience for most. They must learn humility. Danny is a no mark third rate MP. Yes men do get to the top but they often get found out.
Nae luck Danny the people will deliver a verdict on you in May!
As previously stated in a past post, I put my money on Robert Shorthouse, Better Together Communications Director, being involved in the wording of ‘The Vow’, together with A. Darling. It wouldn’t surprise me if they hadn’t been given the freedom to produce such a declaration on behalf of the three Unionist parties. After all, they were supposedly in charge of the reigns for the campaign, were they not?
At first I read this man’s name as “Roger Smegthirst”. I was incredibly disappointed when I read over it again to double check.
Effijy
I hate to say it but going for a public enquiry via a petition is a no go. A member of the Establishment always leads an enquiry-why do you think the government never loses any public enquiry? Even Leverson never came to anything despite the public outcry. Governments don’t lose enquiries-by hook or by crook they always win.
Even trying to start a class action against UK govt would be difficult because the judiciary are a part of the Establishment so you can’t rely on their impartiality-sad to say.
Who’s the daddy?
This is like an episode of Jeremy Kyle – with men denying paternity. Get Jeremy on to them with his lie detector and DNA testing kit.
I am joking but the establishment is a joke in itself. Keep at them and they will crack
And I don’t think I’ve laughed so much at the above wingers post about getting banned from the herald for supplying Danny Alexander with the address of Inverness job centre. Comedy gold. Cheers!
Now that his Lordship Rifkind is out of a job, why dont we crowdfund half a days fee, to see what he can dig out?
The vow is like a fart in a lift full of people.
It stinks, there are only a small number of suspects, but nobody will ever own up.
I think its priceless in the way that the Record is doing its damndest to try and wriggle out of from one of its greatest ever front page publications!
It’s like the dog that has been left at home by itself; gone on a bender; torn the living room apart, and then sits sheepish in the corner looking at its owners with a look of ‘it wisnae me…’
That is how the Record is acting these days…
Nice try, Rev. But the simple fact of the matter is that no one is ever going to admit to having been the mastermind behind the biggest ever con perpetrated upon the Scottish people. Not ever.
From what I heard early in the referendum campaign, Cameron’s last line of defence plan was to make a DevoMax promise. This wasn’t dreamt up in September, this was an accepted tactic of last resort much earlier.
What I didn’t see coming, when I first heard this, was an offer being made which they had absolutely no intentions of honouring!
However, by September BT et al had lied so much that when The Vow etc offer was made, few hardcore Yes folks believed it genuine. Clearly many soft Yes and Don’t Knows did believe it.
There can be little doubt the plan was audacious and risky! Make an offer which many Scots wanted but from the outset have no intention of ever delivering.
So, from a Unionist perspective, was it a good move?
Well, they won the vote …. but as the months have rolled past, they may have lost everything else including ultimately the Union which their daring plan hoped to save.
The Vow and all that came after it will, IMO, be the downfall of the Union.
I expect The Vow will appear in rUK history books as an ill thought through tactic, foolishly deployed, which delayed Scottish independence for a few years, but with hindsight made it inevitable.
Watching the news about sending British troops to the Ukraine to (advise) lets pt that into context, how would the UK government have felt if the USSR had sent advisers” to the ROI during the “troubles”
SERIOUSLY CAMERON GET A GRIP!
The signee Roger Smethurst could be in a lot of trouble if the ICO find him guilty of a criminal offence under the FOI act.
Section 77 of FOI act states that it is a criminal offence to alter, block, destroy or conceal information.
I have every faith in the probity and veracity of the Information Commissioner Office.
Graham: I put my money on Robert Shorthouse, Better Together Communications Director, being involved in the wording of ‘The Vow’, together with A. Darling
Interesting theory, Graham. It has all the hallmarks of composition by the semi-literate, then fine tuned.
Luigi says
“The vow is like a fart in a lift full of people.”
what?
yadda yadda yadda ?
link to youtube.com
Congratulation Stu. You certainly know how to keep those *ahem* busybodies a.k.a. Westminster on their toes. 😛
Seeing as how neither Cameron, Clegg, Milliband or the Daily Record are prepared to accept responsibility for the vow then obviously only one thing can explain this scenario … Nothing to see here move along now please!
As they are determined to deny ALL responisbility for the VOW does that mean we are all entitled to definitively now call Gordon Brown a LIAR. (Yes I know we do that anyway 😀 )
p.s. Has anyone read in the Daily Record paper or on their website the fantastic full blown apology from the Daily Record yet? Just asking like. 😉
galamcennalath,
that’s about right.If the next challenge to the union can be delayed for a generation the broken vow will be forgotten about by many.If the next challenge comes along within a few years it will still be fresh in the minds of the people.In fact,it could be argued the challenge is present and growing now.That the September referendum was an essential part of the ongoing process of independence which we are currently living through.
The Vow…not worth the paper it wasn’t written on.
JLT says
“It’s like the dog that has been left at home by itself; gone on a bender; torn the living room apart, and then sits sheepish in the corner looking at its owners with a look of ‘it wisnae me…’”
What?
Oh god
sort it out yourselves
link to youtube.com
Why don’t we ask Edward Snowden?
@john king
I think it may be oor Dave’s way of saying up yours because the UK wasn’t invited to the peace talks. 🙂
The VOW was, and still is, a mere device to manipulate enough public opinion
so as to increase the NO vote.
It succeeded.
It has no further useful purpose.
Furthermore, the consequences of an individual
admitting to responsibility for the Vow are such
that none of the three ever will.
Saving the Union is the be all and end all
for the Unionist parties and their Establishment Overlords.
Independence for Scotland will be like the wife divorcing the husband
and taking all her inheritance with her
leaving the husband penniless and up to his eyeballs in debt.
What we are currently witnessing in the SLAB campaign of error,
is a measure of how desperate they are to avoid
economic and political ruin
for themselves and
for the entire English Ruling Class.
As Jim Murphy was heard to say,
about the consequences of Independence,
‘It will then all be over’.
GE15 is huge for the Union – they can’t afford
to cede any power from Westminster to the SNP.
The Holyrood elections in 2016 don’t mean much to them
nor does any EU referendum.
No, this election on MAY 7th is the Big One after Indy.
What we have to keep in mind
is how desperate they are.
As the Establishment start to lose their nerve,
we can expect desperate men to do desperate things.
Then we will have to keep our nerve, stay steady,
and persevere to the finish.
O/T
The SNP are trying to raise campaign funds for the election in Glasgow North. For those of you familiar with the area, it remains a tough nut to crack, though the collapse in support for the Lib Dems may make things more interesting this time.
Anyway if you have a quid or two to spare, you can donate here
link to crowdfunder.co.uk
Apologies for going O/T here but came across this site, courtesy of BBC News 24.
After putting my vehicle’s details in I find that:
To fill my tank it will cost £94.83
I’m paying £1.51 more than average in the country. Well there’s a surprise … NOT!
Do away with the tax and I’d only pay £27.84 😀
You think that’s good wait till you see what it would cost me to fill up my vehicle in Venezuela! 😉
It would cost £93.54 than what I’m currently paying. 😛
there might be a reason for the last figure being so significant though … in Venezuela fuel cost £0.01 per litre! 🙂
link to bbc.co.uk
Would love to see Nicola ask Cameron this at the leaders debate
Who wrote the vow and did you sign it as Pm
Vote SNP vote for Scotland
Well done! Keep snapping at their heels! They’ve been forced to lie and lie again to cover up for this con. Cameron kept his hands relatively clean during the campaign allowing BT to do his dirty work. This must rankle with him – good.
Don’t want to demean your chosen career, Rev, but this journalism game looks like a piece of cake – stuff just writes itself, apparently.
O/T At lunchtime, on BBC Radio Labour, Eleanor Bradford was hyperventilating to almost orgasmic proportions as she explained that these health targets were set by the SNP and not the BBC!
Stu – You rock. I totally admire your dedication.
Stu you should have asked for the contents of file 667/a ( SCOTLAND) they are all numpties sub section ( they will believe any Shite (sic) move on get back in your box Jocks. And we may get the answer. But please keep annoying “THEM” we the people like it.
This is frightening from Bella. Westminster off to war again in Ukraine this time. Trident may get a first and last try out after all link to bellacaledonia.org.uk
English press reporting that David Cameron has offered Dan Snow, who played a leading Referendum role for Better Together in London organising Trafalgar Square rally etc, the safe Tory seat of Kensington in place of Malcolm Rifkind.
@Grouse Beater says: 24 February, 2015 at 7:16 pm :
“Sorry, like men who wear white brogue shoes to work, a guy called Roger Smethurst is immediately suspect.”
Not to mention that with a few judicious strokes of a pen that signature could be turned into a rather strange wee drawing of cartoon face.
@Craig P says:24 February, 2015 at 9:38 pm:
“Surprised they haven’t tried to pin it on Malcolm Rifkind.”
Naw! Craig P, that’s jist a Straw Man argument.
I’ll get ma coat.
Keep the pressure on Sky’s Faisal Islam, folks. Remember he claimed to have explosive copies of email between tories and senior labour figures regarding the vow. Why isn’t he releasing them?
Betsy,thanks for the link to crowdfund Glasgow North’s campaign..a wee donation has been sent.
The vow was obviously intended as a last minute tactic to stop it being picked to bits by commentators, surely when they put their signatures to it, they took ownership. I doubt many of them actually write their own correspondence but when they sign it, it’s theirs.
Scotland is taking them at their word and is engaging with Westmonster in big way. If they wish to reject Scotland involvement, that will demonstrate that we are not better together and provoke the next step.
Sorry fo O/T here. Following the decision by that *ahem* leader of Labour GCC to demolish the City Hall steps in Glasgow there is a protest on Saturday.
link to twitter.com
Macart says @ 24 February, 2015 at 7:58 pm
‘….So basically as far as anyone knows, magical unionist policy pixies deposited ‘the VOW’ with Scotland’s Champion editorial staff in the dead of night…..’
Question is, did they leave the signed and written ‘Vow’ on a piece of velum parchment already set-up with nice head and shoulder photos just ready for printing as well? Some doing!
That fact alone hoists the Daily Record high and exposed as the publisher of a dictum from someone who either collected or forged the three signatures.
Or, was it all the Daily Record’s own little bit of UK helping hand effort?
But, hold the bus in any case; is the Daily Record allowed to print the signatures of the PM and leader of the UK Conservative Party, the Deputy PM and leader of the UK LibDem Party, and the Leader of H M Opposition and leader of the UK Labour Party, without their prior permission?
I also agree with Caledonia @11.09 pm:
‘….Would love to see Nicola ask Cameron at the leaders debate – Who wrote the VOW and did you sign it ….?’ The same for Milliband and Clegg.
As for crowd funding ask away Rev Stu. Open door!
@dennis_mclaughlin,
Thank-you. He’s a good candidate but historically the SNP have been a distant third behind Labour and the Lib Dems in Glasgow North. The SNP will need all the help they can get to win this one.
@ Barontorc
Its ludicrous Baron and the worst kind of evasion on the part of both the Record and the three party leaders.
There never was a vow only an intent to mislead and misdirect which all of them shared equally. Between the Records actions to sell the vow and the party leaders inaction over the publication of the wording and use of their signatures any form of deniability is not an option.
Politics and the media, joined at the hip.
Perhaps the individual who dreamt up “The Vow” is a smoker? It was scrawled on the back of a fag packet after all…
Wait thirty years for the truth to be out The troughing lying pigs will have exploded by then, gone to hell.
The UK invasion nonsense is just electioneering by the Tories. Apart from anything else they can’t afford it. Just jingoism. Create a war to terrorise the population. Bugged up by Cabinet posts of total hypocrites. ‘This is a terrible invasion’ etc, etc. ‘An attack on freedom supported by the West’. Etc, etc. The ‘West’ has invaded nearly every continent on the Planet. Russia saved the West in WW11. 26million Russians died. 1 in 6.
O/T
Danus Skene selected for O & S. The last SNP candidate so all 59 up and running.
link to scotgoespop.blogspot.co.uk
Anyone know what is happening to the Lib- Dem candidates – they are still quite a few short ?
Are they going to put candidates up in all 59 seats or are there no takers or trying to save lots of money on lost deposits?
Didn’t Murray Foote tell Wings that he’d been in contact with the PM’s Office? Maybe you ought to go back to him and point out that the Cabinet Office is calling him a liar.
I’d also contact the Cabinet Office again with a seperate request on the question of how this affected government policy. At some point, it DID become a government issue rather than a party one. Let’s see THAT correspondence. I suspect they’ve rather elided that issue into the former, more easily deniable question.
But it was in THE GUARDIAN! It MUST EXIST.
“The former UK prime minister, who remains a Labour MP, said a resolution for a new Scotland Act signed by David Cameron, Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and himself after the vote would be placed in the House of Commons on Monday.”
link to archive.today
You can still d0wnload the House of Commons Standard Note which refers to it.
sn06987%20(9).pdf
2.3 UK party leaders’ “vow”
On Tuesday 16 September the leaders of the UK political parties issued a joint signed
statement of undertakings, which was published in the Daily Record, under the
headline, “The Vow”.
Does the House of Commons record refer to a non existent document?
Apologies if this has already been asked in earlier posts on this topic. I wonder if there is merit in the same (or similar) request for information under the Freedom of Information Act being sent to the Cabinet Office by many individuals (as opposed to one person on behalf of a group of like-minded individuals)? Would a very large postbag of requests for the same information make a difference? If suitable wording were suggested then I for one would be happy to post – very interested to see the emails in question.
Could you crowdfund a good lawyer to challenge this matter? I would be glad to contribute.
[…] in pro-Yes circles who have not been following the latest skirmish in the Daily Record’s petulant defence of the Union’s bastard offspring, the infamous “Vow”. Initially, today’s post was going to be on a different topic, it will […]