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Wings Over Scotland


What you can’t have

Posted on March 18, 2014 by

We’ve finally got hold of a copy of the long-awaited report (or at least, the executive summary) from Labour’s “Devolution Commission”. While we wade through the fine detail, we thought we’d quickly let you see the list of things Labour has decided that Scotland absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to handle for itself.

devonano1

Analysis to come.

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Craig Stewart

Doesn’t really leave much to devolve tbh. :-/

Muscleguy

Why can’t employment law be devolved? In case we become a worker’s paradise and actually reverse the drain of the black hole of London.

Smith

“Under our proposal, as is the case under the Scotland Act, the Barnett grant will be reduced to take account of the fact that the Scottish Parliament will have a revenue stream of its own. As a result the Scottish Parliament will be funded partly by grant calculated under the Barnett formula and partly by its own resources – principally Scottish income tax payers.”

So a reduction in the Barnett Formula – compensated by increasing income tax. A winning formula!

bookie from hell

“we can eat porridge”

Smith

I also searched the document for “oil”. It was mentioned once:

“tax on oil receipts should remain reserved”

Macart

Basically all the bits that make you a nation state (to use their own terminology). So all the bits that make you a self determining, independent, responsible member of the family of nations. We can’t have any of those.

Why?

And doesn’t this mean that devo max in its accepted form is completely off the table too? 😉

heedtracker

I gave up with first lines of “The UK is a “sharing union”, with economic, social, and political aspects, in which risks and rewards are collectively pooled.”

So why for example are same teamGB “poolers” building £50+ billion HS2 supersonic railway from London to Leeds and NOT London to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and dare I say it Inverness, Labour in Scotland?

Because England really needs to reward themselves with “pooled” Scottish taxes and Scots oil far more than Scotland no doubt.

ScotFree1320

So in a nutshell…

Vote NO for no new powers with all the inconvenience & cost of collecting tax, bundled with a cut in pocket money.

Vote NO and get nothing.
Vote YES for Devo-max Plus!

Thomas William DUnlop

Well no surprise. We just have to take the rest in September. Must be a disappointing day for Devo Max people

desimond

My dad used to like playing a wee gag on my mum. She would ask for a piece ‘n’ jam and he would place one small bitefull on the middle of the bread and fold it. She’d take a bite and enjoy but then find the rest was jam free. Oh how we laughed.

There was more jam on that joke piece than there is above in that joke of a proposal.

M4rkyboy

I didn’t even have to look.
For me,foreign policy is one of the main drivers of my desire for Indy-how are we supposed to engage with the world as an independent nation if we cant control our own diplomacy?

HandandShrimp

I have to say I am glad they have ruled out so much.

No is not a Devo Max option and No does not mean significant new powers. That is a message that is easy to spell out. That summary above says it all and is nice and easy to copy and distribute.

I can only assume that the Labour MPs had a major, behind the scenes, hissy fit and Johann’s conversation involved MPs telling her to shut up quite a lot.

I would imagine the rest of it is Labour trying to gut Holyrood and dillute power out to councillors. A blueprint to be able to do less under the fig leaf of democracy

velofello

Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they?

tartanfever

Isn’t it interesting that Labour decided to release this info today. With all the media attention gearing up to tomorrow’s budget it’s hardly getting any coverage.

Good day to bury bad news by any chance ?

Thomas William Dunlop

18th of March 2014. The day Devo died
18th September 2014 . The day Independence was won.

A beautiful, power symmetry about it

setondene

No surprise that Broadcasting and the Civil Service should remain under London control. Civil Service promotion prospects at the gift of London parties, and propaganda to keep us Jocks thinking correct London-approved thoughts.

seoc

As Union confusion thickens, the ONLY viable option for Scotland is Independence. Period.
A Union will continue to tinker, shave wee ‘benefits’ for themselves and slice wee bits off Scotland’s steadily reducing allocation of diminishing resources.

A NO vote slams the cell door shut on Scotland’s potential, which will be kept severely pruned. a NO means eternal oblivion.

A YES on the other hand, maintains Scotland’s vibrancy, allowing up-to-the-minute adjustments to all matters – the planned and the unforeseeable – should these be deemed necessary. YES means we will always be in control of our own affairs, our increasing wealth and the Laws the we decide to live under.

Oblivion or prosperity? Hhmmh – difficult isn’t it?

faolie

To lead in the twenty-first century, to preserve our values and advance the people’s interests, Scotland needs the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom needs Scotland.

Why is that exactly? Why do we ‘need’ the uk? It’s pretty obvious why they need us (revenues) but why do we need them?

Shouldn’t we want to be in a union? We don’t need anybody or anything thanks. That quote says it all about slab and BT

Lanarkist

So Labour’s new Devo Deal gives less than old Devo deal!

Westminster keeps all the areas that bring in income and control of population, Scotland gets to give more away and gets to pay to raise minimum amounts.

No deal!

Vote Yes and control all of it!

Yes thanks!

DougieDouglas

Constitution – what constitution?

Does this constitution exist anywhere in a written form or does it merely exist in the head of Onionists?

Nothing tells you more about the utter contempt in which these people hold the citizens of the country in.

Marker Post

Monetary policy… economic regulation… debt management… defence… immigration… welfare should all remain reserved to Westminster because, frankly, they’ve done such a fine job.

Vote YES!

fergie35

Councilor Willie Young’s name is on it, has he recovered from his nervous breakdown on air?
This is so bad, not even any imagination, just can’t haves

BBC Scotlandshire

These proposals are not Devo Max, but rather Devo Tax.

David

So it’s Devo Heehaw.

panda paws

Control over 40% of income tax! Why not 60% or 30% or indeed all of it? As for corporation tax, VAT, control of social security – apparently we can forget it.

“We fight when they ask us,
We boast then we cower
We beg for a piece of
What’s already ours”

The Proclaimers “Cap in Hand”

Gary

Alan Bisset was so right ,take away with one hand and F#ck the other

Thepnr

@desimond
When just a wee boy I remember asking mine.

“Maw kin a hae a piece n jam”
“Spell jam” she says
“J A M”
“No it’s J A F M”

I protested ” There’s nae F in jam”
“No and there’s nae effing bread either”

ericmac

Forgive the O/T so soon. Has there been any pre budget analysis anywhere of the Conservative Child Care initiative – especially Scotland compared to England?

Call me cynical, but it seems to be shifting the money from child benefit to benefiting families where two parents are working and can actually afford childcare? (Couples with one working don’t get it?)

If you are paying £10,000, the government with give you £2000 (Applies for each child)

It seems to favour families already better off, the so called ‘squeezed middle’ perhaps, but also gives the benefit to couples earning £!50,000.

I cannot decide what this policy is trying to do?
– Shift money from poor to middle
– Undermine Scottish Government childcare initiative
– Force more mums out to work in order to benefit?

I’d really be interested in the extent to which this policy benefits Scotland compared to the South.

edulis

So that is it then! What about all those opinion polls which express a desire for more powers as long as you don’t call it Independence.

This Commission report needs to be ridiculed. It might display straight-line logic of what is necessary to keep the UK together but it is out of synch with the expressed wishes of the good people of Scotland, not to mention the federal solution of the LibDems.

Now for the Tories to trump the other two-quite exciting really to see them disappearing up their own orifice.

bookie from hell

rev

daily politics today about 45 mins in,worth a look

Shetland oil,norman lamont

“territorial waters are defined by being a mid point between the outling coastal point”

then goes on about nationalists changing boundries, I kid u not

DougtheDug

Just as I expected.

Scotland will be funded to the Barnett Formula as always. No change from any of the other devo proposals at all.

Devolved Taxes + Top up Grant from Westminster = Previous Barnett Formula funding level.

The usual smoke and mirrors of claiming that the Scottish Parliament collecting 40% of the Barnett Formula directly from HMRC rather than it going via Westminster is somehow “raising revenues” when it all just adds up to the Barnett Formula funding level at the end of the day.

I wonder how “As we made clear in our interim report, the Barnett formula should remain as the funding mechanism for public services in Scotland.” will go down in the rest of the Labour party, especially the Welsh region.

Mary Bruce

Deceivo max?

Anne (@annewitha_e)

It’s a devolution dog’s dinner – chop a bit here, a slice of this. incoherent and simply not enough. 100% will do

Doug Daniel

Seems fair enough – otherwise we’d start letting loads of furriners in, make hard drugs legal, make gambling compulsory, start broadcasting Alex Salmond doing Chavez-style national addresses daily, and make it illegal to have an abortion except for the last week of pregnancy.

We’re Too Stupid, remember?

scopa

There’s an even more telling paragraph in the body of the text which says:

“We concluded that, for a variety of good reasons, VAT, national insurance contributions, corporation tax, alcohol, tobacco and fuel duties, climate change levy, insurance premium tax, vehicle excise duty, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and tax on oil receipts should remain reserved.”

No explanation of what the “good reasons” were.

It all comes down to – vote “No” and get what you currently have or vote “Yes” for real change.

Papadox

A suicide note by any other name! Two years for this rubbish, what the hell were they doing? Checking with Aberdeen council to see if it was ok by them. Who controls the expenses, LONDINIUM or the councils.

RMFBrown

This is SLAB’s Spinal Tap Stonehenge moment.

Everybody waiting on stage for nine feet of solid stone…and we get a two inch model which is in danger of being crushed by a dwarf!

bookie from hell

daily politics link–norman lamont

link to bbc.co.uk

Craig P

Oh look, broadcasting remains reserved!

The only surprise is they aren’t trying to reserve the teaching of history and literature.

heedtracker

Jumped in and ” As we made clear in our interim report, the Barnett formula should remain as the funding mechanism for public services in Scotland. Under our proposal, as is the case under the Scotland Act, the Barnett grant will be reduced to take account of the fact that the Scottish Parliament will have a revenue stream of its own”

OR “we” could be even clearer and vote YES to end the complete and utter absurdity of Scotland being “given” back our own freakin money, with “you’re a fat drunk scrounger off of England” added on, for extra cringyness.

scopa

Ah, right, the financial powers are “key to the maintenance of the union” but what about:

• Immigration should remain reserved.

How is this “key”?

Nemo

My wife and I were discussing how to explain the real choice facing voters in the referendum. After hearing people telling us that if we vote NO we’ll get more powers and now seeing the crumbs offered by the British Labour party in Scotland, we came up with this.

On Thursday September 18 2014, from 7 am in the morning, till 10 pm in the evening, Scotland WILL be independent. It is up to you. the people of Scotland, whether Scotland remains independent or cedes power, money and prestige to a Westminster elite, people who have comprehensively demonstrated their ability to look after their own interests to the detriment of their own subjects, never mind the citizens of Scotland.

Vincent McDee

At least they are being coherent. If scottish labour is not genetically programed to take political decisions as La Krankie said, it goes without saying only “wee” things should be in their hands.

From a labour mp point of view, it would not make sense to overload their poor iqued scottish siblings minds with onerous process of decision making, that can cost them more insanity.

Besides, there’s the mighty matter of mp salaries, perks and expenses, which should be affected(down)if fewer decisions are taken at Westminster and Whitehall.

Pure Glasgow Council style sensibility.

Clearly, the Indy Ref is becoming more and more every day, a matter of Scottish Self Preservation and we need to work harder bringing labour supporters/not bothered to vote on board.

For once, the labour policy of making their voters dependent on the party for welfare, may work to their disadvantage.

I can’t imagine any person actually living on benefits, massochist enough to vote no.

bunter

Doesn’t matter how pish SLabs beads and baubles turn out to be, the MSM will spin it and run with it to try sell it to the undecideds, all the way to Sept 18th.

Papadox

What’s keeping you with the analyses rev?
Can you not find anything either? Or are you stunned?

Doonfooter

A Devo dogs dinner. No surprise given that it comes from the party that gifted us working tax credits, the bedroom tax, ATOS assessments……

As others have noted all announced days before Gideon’s budget to ensure minimum coverage in the UK MSM and compliant analysis from the Scottish MSM.

How many members of Labours UK excecutive were at the announcement? Neither of the Ed’s I’ll wager.

Enough of this Devo-pish let’s cut to the chase and take full control on the 18th September!

Clootie

Tavish backing up Norman Lamont with the smug “Shetland Oil” nonsense.

I thought when they raised this again that they would have updated the material. Norman painting the old scare store stressing over and over “I’m not saying the Shetlands are planning this” then cut to Tavish with smug look stating how powerful they are and have an “open door to Wesminster ministers”

More balanced debate on the BBC regarding the independence referendum. Please come on our flag ship political programme and waffle any crap you like providing it’s unionist crap!

I can’t wait to see the coverage of our enhanced Labour devolution plan. We can tax ourselves as much as we like and this will be balanced by Barnett cuts. You can control airguns. We will bring back dog licenses and you can control the issue. We will remove most of the powers at Holyrood and give them to Glasgow Council as they know who is boss. Aberdeen council – even Labour are not stupid enough to give Aberdeen councillors any powers.

muttley79

@scopa

No explanation of what the “good reasons” were.

Scottish Labour MPs were against it presumably.

DougtheDug

“Whilst it is inconceivable that the Scottish Parliament would be abolished, we believe the Scottish Parliament should become permanently entrenched in the constitution and indissoluble.”

Are Labour’s Scottish Region committing (or trying to commit) the UK to a written constitution which cannot be overturned by Parliament?

Ben

Reading viewpoints that disagree with your own is important. Not only does it test your decision but it gives a sense of perspective. Being as we are we are very close to the debate. So much so we might not see the bigger picture. Absorbing other viewpoints allows you some perspective.

Be highly critical of both sides. The yes side because their message is right and it can withstand scrutiny and the no because it is the opposite. Taking a scientific approach will only bolster the strength of the yes side.

I think I just want people to vote yes based on facts rather than zealotry. Empower yourself and take in all views. Dont stop reading because the article annoys you.

Seasick Dave

On the plus side, it gives the Rev the afternoon off.

Brian Powell

Labour want us to believe two things when they make pronouncements or put out documents.

That there are not two Political Parties in Westminster, who would then need to agree.

That we haven’t worked out that the Conservatives won’t give away significant powers and if they agreed, then Labour haven’t given significant powers.

Ben

Ugh… why is my picture there…

Shagpile

“We hope”?

Sums up this, their best offer. Perhaps they should also have included “we pray” too.

The powers for their extra powers lie elsewhere. With independence they would be ours.

Seasick Dave

The constitution?

What one would that be?

G H Graham

In summary; all taxes remain reserved except some income tax but you can only raise it.

Oh, and we’ll reduce the block grant if you do.

Any questions?

Peter Macbeastie

So, the big idea is to give tax raising powers with one hand and take chunks from the Barnett Formula… leaving Scotland no better off. Most likely worse off, but they won’t mention that, obviously.

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t that just what we’ve got now with more complication involved? Just vote yes; keep it really, really simple.

Richard Lucas

I see that Prof Midwinter was involved – his chilly fingerprints are all over this sad little document.

M4rkyboy

The Orkney/Shetland card is both malign and despicable.
The London Govt papers from the 70’s are the genesis of this attempt at annexing Scotland,not the any local campaign,movement or party.
The sight of Tavish Scott beaming and wagging his tail at his London masters fair turned my stomach.

muttley79

@scopa

“We concluded that, for a variety of good reasons, VAT, national insurance contributions, corporation tax, alcohol, tobacco and fuel duties, climate change levy, insurance premium tax, vehicle excise duty, inheritance tax, capital gains tax and tax on oil receipts should remain reserved.”

This passage just screams out at you of a party that has lost any radicalism it ever had, and has become entrenched as part of the British establishment. The list of tax powers that they want to keep at Westminster tells its own story about SLAB’s complete lack of vision, desire to change the economic and social direction of Scotland. Ambitionless, devoid of radicalism, stale and lifeless.

Breeks

They’ve missed something else we’re not allowed to decide for ourselves, and that’s whether to have a Devo-max option at all.
When it comes to more powers, “You’ll take what you’re given Scotland, and you will then bow your head and say thank you”.

G H Graham

Devo Min Max Tax

Marker Post

O/T but excellent piece from Saffron Dickson on Bella, announcing a new group Generation Yes:

link to bellacaledonia.org.uk

Gillie

The best comment I’ve read with sums up these proposals by Labour

Devo-Fu*k All

Breeks

Quite surprised they’re happy to let us vote really… Perhaps they’re working on that.

Seasick Dave

I do hope that Lindsay pops in for a look.

muttley79

@G H Graham

In summary; all taxes remain reserved except some income tax but you can only raise it.

Oh, and we’ll reduce the block grant if you do.

Any questions?

Nope, that is it in a nutshell. I don’t envy the MSM having to sell this atrocious and stale agenda of ‘change.’

M4rkyboy

link to derekbateman1.wordpress.com
Sorry Stu,Derek Bateman beat you to the analysis.

braco

Mary Bruce,
I salute you!

Deceivo max? (though perhaps an exclamation mark rather than a question mark)

Bell

So we’re to get income tax level-setting powers, and the Scottish Parliament will be part-funded by Scottish income tax… but since the Civil Service is still controlled from London, presumably there won’t be a separate Revenue Scotland collecting the tax.

So, in effect, the money will come from the Treasury in London either way. What’s the point in that? If there isn’t a separate pot of money that the Scottish-sourced income tax goes into, then there’d actually be no change from the way Holyrood gets funds at the moment, just that there’d be less of it.

Do they think we’re all as stupid as they are?

dmw42

It does explain one thing though. Labour’s Scottish branch are “genetically incapable of making political decisions”.

Calgacus MacAndrews

Devo Max Headroom

Claire McNab

Wonderful to see that the Welfare State will remain reserved.

For a horrible moment I thought they might want Scotland to be free to scrap the lovely bedroom tax, or end ATOS’s efforts to support disabled people by removing their only income.

There will be rejoicing all over Scotland at this wonderful new news. I hear that a group called Disabled And Evicted is organising a series of mass rallies in support of the Labour plan. Meanwhile, the good folks at Radiate the Gareloch are organising a midnight swim at Faslane to celebrate the retention of Trident. (Do not bring your own candles; the water glows in the dark!)

Kev

If anything deserves to be decimated by the media, then it is this, instead it will be heralded as a “gamechanger” no doubt, I will be switching ma telly off for the entirety of this week, and possibly a month while they mumble on about this crap.

Breastplate

Are we allowed the use of sharp scissors?

desimond

heads Up

BBC News Channel Saturday and Sunday night at 9:30 will show latest Generation 2014 debate involving Jim Murphy and Humza Yousef facing a 15-16 yr old audience

Bigdrone

Wait, wait there’s no reference in there as to how much jam they’re
going to make for us – does that mean we can make our own – ah YES, we can still make our own by voting YES!! That is, if we’re still allowed a vote!

cynicalHighlander

Devodelusion just like the mirage that is Scottish Labour.

Grant_M

Devo Hoax

call me dave

Mary Bruce

Excellently described.

As I have said before. Let’s make our own jam!

Dcanmore

Devo-crumbs

So, the Labour leadership has to approve it first (there will be compromises), then it has to go to a Westminster vote but can only be applied if Labour wins GE2015 #devonaechance

It’s a set up for a fall ‘well that’s democracy for you’ … back in yer box Jocks! Only a YES vote has a guarantee of more powers.

HandandShrimp

Breastplate

The Green Day song Warning should be the Bitter anthemn

Flower of Scotland

So that,ll be a NO THANKS then!

Gin

If these are all mandatory requirements ‘to be an effective union’ then I guess Labour don’t consider the US or many other Federal unions to be effective.

Anyone know if German Lander also break these ‘rules’ ? It look like the centre ‘Bund’ is restricted to a set of competencies.

No No No...Yes

Devo No More
Johann No More
Ruth No More
Ming No More

desimond

“Dad, dad, I got a new Paper Round”
“Thats brilliant news son, I’ll cut your pocket money!”

Gillie

Best yet;

DEceiVO-MAX

chalks

PITA PAWLETT BABY!

PITA PAWLETT OHHHHHHHHHH!

Oneironaut

@scopa
“Ah, right, the financial powers are “key to the maintenance of the union” but what about:

• Immigration should remain reserved.

How is this “key”?”

I’m wondering it was someone from UKIP who insisted on adding that one.
If the planned coalition between them and the Tories goes ahead, they’ll be wanting to keep a very tight grip on immigration controls.

(Probably including us folks up in Scotlandshire, since we’re clearly “not English”! Maybe that “border checkpoint” story was their idea too actually…)

desimond

@DougtheDug

I would suspect the Labour Party( and friends) wish to make any further Referendums illegal rather than bigging up the Scottish Parliament.

kalmar

Nope, that is it in a nutshell. I don’t envy the MSM having to sell this atrocious and stale agenda of ‘change.’

There’s no way this can be interepreted as offering a meaningful increase of powers, which is what’s been presented as the alternative to independence, so won’t they just ignore this sideshow altogether, and not report it?
It’s bad news for union fans, and there’s plenty of other news around to bury it.

desimond

Nice to see Broadcasting on the Unions protected species list…good to see Labour giving the BBC something back for a change

bookie from hell

If you enter a brothel,you at least expect something on a bed

Bugger (the Panda)

Devo Dead (in the water)

Calgacus MacAndrews

Devo-Malky

thorkil cretin

devo dead duck. a bit like millipedes nu liebour party in scotland

Marcia

Labour should have delayed the publishing date of this report for 2 weeks.

Marcia

by = for

bookie from hell

Labour Devo+ is so BAD,its good for YES

Macandroid

@dmw42

Great pity Labour’s Scottish branch are not just “genetically incapable”!

Simon

I love the line about how the “welfare state” is linked to the “social solidarity that helps bind the UK together”. How could you possibly satirise lines like that?

Geoff Huijer

‘Te core of the Welfare State…these allow the social solidarity that helps bind the UK’.

WTF does THAT mean?

Bind us in poverty?
Bund us in demonisation of the poor?
Bind us in demonisation of benefit claimants?
etc.

Many moons ago Labour at least had a plot; they
lost that plot a long time ago.

Confirmed here in writing.

bookie from hell

devo max = chipolata

Flower of Scotland

O/t @Marker Post

Yes,delighted to read about Generation Yes. However did anyone see the new youth debate that’s going to happen on BBC with Gavin Esler holding the rains? Could have been a good idea but BBC AT IT AGAIN ! They did a poll of hands, yes and nos. and of course there were about three times as many nos! Won’t be watching that then!

Les Wilson

I see that SKY News are broadcasting blatant Unionist propaganda today. As pressure is being put on BBC they appear to be trying to fill any gap.They need to get some hassle too/ complaints.

Charles Addison

Vote Naw for Hee-Haw!

My, but there’s a slogan for Unionist’s tae fight for.
The real joke of course is that Labour’s Scotland branch are in no position to deliver any of this and would need to get elected to Westminster 1st then get this past their own back benchers. Does anyone know if this pile of mince is actually endorsed by the twa Edded-man in London or is it simply a bunch of havers for distribution to gullible labour voters in Scotlandshire only.

Calum Findlay

Labour setting the heather alight as usual then. Seriously, it took them years to come up with this?

Nemo

Popped out to renew the car tax at the Post Office, I like to support them, and heard a dyed-in-the wool labour supporter, retired like me, loudly insulting the First Minister and his Deputy with all sorts of bile. So… he doesn’t make this up, he gets it from the papers, from his labour buddies, from the disrespect shown to the FM on the BBC.

This is the true voice of many in the labour party in Scotland. They will not read anything on Devo anything, so the details of what has been proposed are irrelevant. All they need to know is that they have to Vote NO. They may even believe the bile that they spout.

They will never read Wings, the only way to counter this is to use the treasure trove of Wings articles and posts to engage as many of the public as you can in discussion. There will always be those who do as they are told, in that respect Johann Lamont was right. She relies on their vote to stay in office. Get out there and campaign to make sure we determine our own future.

mogabee

Dev¬¬¬¬¬¬

o-ver the cliff.

Gillie

Nemo don’t be silenced by these unionist bigots. You have a voice tell them what you think, and watch them scurry off in response.

Roddy Macdonald

Analysis to come.

Good luck with that Stuart. Edinburgh Uni may be flogging off an old electron microscope, you’d need it to analyse that.

Calling this Devo is as convincing as Izzard or Barrowman in drag. From Carry On Screaming to Carry On Camping:

link to logicsrock.blogspot.co.uk

Nemo

@Gillie – did I say that I was silenced?

MochaChoca

So…

I presume this isn’t going to appear as an option on the ballot paper.

In the event of a NO vote (and a Labour win in 2016) is this now what we’ll be getting whether we want it or not?

Without control over North Sea revenues we may well be better off just keeping the current arrangements.

MochaChoca

I presume this isn’t going to appear as an option on the ballot paper.

In the event of a NO vote (and a Labour win in 2016) is this now what we’ll be getting whether we want it or not?

Without control over North Sea revenues we may well be better off just keeping the current arrangements.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

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? The definition of madness

tartanfever

Claire McNab @ 1.47.

Utterly brilliant post.

MochaChoca

I presume this isn’t going to appear as an option on the ballot paper.

In the event of a NO vote (and a Labour win in 2016) is this now what we’ll be getting whether we want it or not?

Without control over North Sea revenues we may well be better off just keeping the current arrangements.

creag an tuirc

My favourite line “We will reverse the SNP’s process of centralisation of local government by embracing the principles of double devolution and subsidiarity.”

Yip, but keep all the real powers centralised in Westminster. I just hear the Deliverence Banjo Duel when I think of SLAB now

Morag

Since the next post is indisputably available, but repeatedly refreshing this page fails to bring up any link to it, I can only assume the cacheing problems are still around, at least to some extent.

Morag

Well, that did the trick….

Lee Rogers

Scotland has made a mistake, and hears the Drill Sergeant: “AS YOU WERE!”

Look Skye Walker

Another gang rape by the BBC and the Daily Mail readers:

link to dailymail.co.uk

Arel

Devo-id of anything worthwhile.

Colin young

Behold the power of tv, unless it is neutered it will win.

Quote Zappa “I may be vile and pernicious but you CAN’T look away.
TV is the real enemy,if not countered in some way then I fear the worst.

Edward

A bit O/T
I’m not sure if anyone was aware, but Derek Bateman is dipping his toes back in the ‘broadcast’ waters, the online version that is
He has posted a recording made by him as a bit of an experiment, so the quality by his own admission is not top notch, but he hasn’t lost any of his qualities in interviewing. The person being interviewed is Steven Purcell

link to derekbateman1.files.wordpress.com

link to derekbateman1.wordpress.com

Richard Haley

“Foreign affairs (including international development) should remain the responsibility of the UK Government” – Does this mean they’d take away from Holyrood the right to have an international development policy and a Minister for international development, as it has at present?

Anon Sailor

So Analogous Issues are to be reserved for Westminster, well blow me down and call me Popeye.

JLT

Guys,

Start linking this page on Facebook. What the Rev has given us here is Gold Dust. We need to start letting family and friends know that Labour’s promise of ‘some’ devolved powers is nothing more than empty words.

Spread the word on this link. This admission that there really is no devolved powers will make those who are undecided really think twice!

Kevin Lynch

So how much does the government make from it’s drug trafficking business anyway?

CameronB

Imperialism, as defined by the Dictionary of Human Geography, as “an unequal human and territorial relationship, usually in the form of an empire, based on ideas of superiority and practices of dominance, and involving the extension of authority and control of one state or people over another.”

link to en.wikipedia.org


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    Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)

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    • Peter McAvoy on The Unbargain Bin: “On the discussion of Scottish politicians autobiographies I would like to read Patrick Harvies that towering intellect and oratory tell…Nov 25, 00:44
    • sarah on The Unbargain Bin: “1.7 million on the petition to call a General Election now because Labour aren’t honouring their promises. That is almost…Nov 24, 22:47
    • sarah on The Unbargain Bin: “Indeed. If only we had direct democracy as Scotland did pre-1707 and as Switzerland now has. That petition is now…Nov 24, 22:12
    • Robert Hughes on The Unbargain Bin: “or Francis Bacon . I can imagine a ” Screaming ” Swinney .Nov 24, 21:50
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    • sarah on The Unbargain Bin: “1,509, no 1,510, 853. Amazing. How embarrassing for Starmer if it reaches millions and the press/tv report it…Nov 24, 20:31
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    • Tinto Chiel on The Unbargain Bin: “Yes, sarah, I reckon any Hieronymus Bosch painting could depict Holyrood quite accurately 🙂 .Nov 24, 20:15
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  • A tall tale



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