Thursday 29 January 2015

ALISTAIR CARMICHAEL GETS A DRUBBING IN LETTER TO SHETLAND PRESS

Correspondence in the Shetland Times


Mr Carmichael is performing his old trick of “claiming credit for other people’s work”.

Until now he’s failed to attract criticism for this self-promotional deceptiveness, but it really is time someone challenged his behaviour.

So far this week he has claimed credit for the following:-

1) Apparently the LibDems have been responsible for giving parents £2,000 worth of tax free childcare. How exactly? Childcare is the responsibility of the Scottish government.

2) Cutting the cost of living, giving local people an £800 tax cut? What? I don’t know which local people he’s talking about.

The LibDems have worked hand in hand with the Tories to bring in changes to the tax and benefit system that has seen the poorest in our country, mainly working families, suffer the most.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies informs us that “those with children in the lowest 10% of earners lost £1,223 on average”.

The LibDems have presided over a period which has given rise to a new category of poverty – the working poor. A period that has seen the necessity for food banks in Shetland. Perhaps he’s talking about some of his rich pals?

3) A 5p decrease in fuel duty on petrol for rural places. I will give him some credit for remembering to include Shetland on the list as a rural place.

This “price decrease” lasted a whole week before it was swallowed up on the forecourt.

Mr Carmichael totally failed to understand the reason why rural places have higher prices at the pumps is mainly due to the high delivery charges and lack of competition, not the duty. Monopolies tend to charge what they think they can get away.

4) £10 million invested in renewable energy. A tiny sum in the scheme of things. Really nothing to brag about.
Why has he not mentioned the absolutely monumental deal the coalition have signed with EDF and China to build a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C in Somerset? Maybe because they’ve promised to pay EDF double the present day unit price for its electricity, when it’s finally built.

The UK government has effectively ploughed massive subsidies into nuclear power at the expense of support to renewables. SSE and Scottish Power have pulled out of offshore wind developments because of this and Pelamis in Orkney has gone into liquidation following investor uncertainty.

The Scottish government, thankfully, has rescued Pelamis’s intellectual property for Scotland’s future, by purchasing it.

5) Persuaded HM Treasury to resolve Shetland’s historic housing debt. Really? For 30 years successive Westminster governments ignored this matter until local Shetlander, Allison Duncan, buttonholed a minister at the airport.

It was only when the Scottish Cabinet visited Shetland and John Swinney initiated tripartite talks that the long standing issued was resolved.

People who take credit for other people’s work do so because they have little of their own to claim credit for. I for one am looking forward to seeing what he claims credit for next.

Angela Sutherland
Weisdale
(Printed without permission, but linked above.)

26 comments:

  1. Ouch! A well deserved drubbing.

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    1. Poor old Alistair, the big beast of the Liberals....

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    2. The big beast is a rotting flounder.

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    3. Just say what you think, Panda. Don't spare his blushes!

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    4. And to finish my contribution, remember that the fish rots from the head down.

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    5. Erm... yeah... thanks for that nice image.

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  2. Help Rona. Why are unionist politicians so inept? I'll answer that in two words Corrupt media.

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    1. Ch, just said more or less the same thing about Labour on Wings, that one thing we do not want for the SNP is a complaint media, where nothing is scrutinised because that is the reason for the state of Unionist Parties today. Carmichael is an erse, a big one, but definitely an erse.

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    2. And there was me thinking he was just a big cuddly teddy bear.

      Oh no, that's right. That WAS his teddy bear!

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  3. Taking credit for other's work. Who does he think he is, Jim Murphy?

    Seriously the Unionists are going to be doing a lot of this in run up to GE 2015. It's good folk are calling them out on it.

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    1. I suspect that the dirty tricks we saw in the referendum are about to pale into insignificance compared to what we are about to see in this general election.

      Home Rule within 100 days anyone...?

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    2. A Hundred days of what, he will never get anything past the English that will be for the benefit of Scotland.

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    3. Och we all know that Helena, but it's a laugh seeing him come to Scotland and spout his nonsense, only a week after a watered down watered down version of a new constitutional settlement saying almost notheing has been laughed at in the country.

      Interesting that they can write a new constitutional settlement for Scotland in a few weeks but the Chilcot whitewash looks like taking 10 years to come to a conclusion.

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    4. We will be lucky if Chilcot ever sees the light of day and if it does will it all be redacted?

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    5. And if it does it will say that Tony Blair is actually the reincarnation of Jesus...ergo perfect.

      Still... .

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  4. It was the gameplan of British Labour (Scottish Section) to claim and adopt the policies of the SNP. The newspapers and the BBC helped propagate that deception.

    Now, all of the unionist Parties and politicians are claiming the outcome of these successful SNP policies, aided by the newspapers and the BBC to propagate that deception.

    The policies of the unionist Parties is not to have them. Criticise every and anything the SNP, adopt it if is working and then claim credit, all aided by the newspapers and the BBC to propagate that deception.

    Derek Bateman has concluded that Murphy, McTernan, MacDougall et al all just don't even bother to do any real thinking, they just lie and rely on the newspapers and the BBC to propagate these lies as a truth.

    Tghe sad, sad thing is that a certain percentage of the population will always believe it as being the truth. Call is brainwashing, Stockholm syndrome of gullible stupidity you can fool a percentage of the people all of the time. If we can just convince more than 50% of the voting population then these "lost" voters will switch slowly but surely.

    We are very close to the tipping point, but no false dawns must be allowed.


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    1. I agree with you... and with Mr Bateman.

      The thing is that usually there is a great distance between elections and the promises and betrayals are usually forgotten in the interim.

      This time round, we have just come out of a period of promises from the Tories and their little helpers and Labour.

      The idea, for example, that, following The Vow, Smith and Federalism, that were promised on 4 months ago, we would believe Jim Murphy's opposite number in the UK on Home Rule Within 100 Days, is laughable, no matter how the Daily Record or the BBC portray it.

      Well, I hope anyway.

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    2. Indeed my favourite French panda, we must not be fooled, but we are a nation of people who want to be fooled, saves them thinking. We are also a nation of Traitors, who would sell their Granny for soap if it would keep them in the way they want to be kept, in more comfort than the rest of us.

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    3. "The thing is that usually there is a great distance between elections and the promises and betrayals are usually forgotten in the interim."

      Tris, the internet never forgets!

      Regards, Ronnie.

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    4. Yes, different times Ronnie.

      I'm not sure that the Establishment has quite caught up with the internet... even if Maggie Curran is on Twitter!

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  5. I'm wondering.

    With this letter appearing in the Shetland Times are we on the verge of a mass break out of worms who have turned right across Scotland? :-)

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    1. I think Arbroath that some of it has finally percolated down to those who voted NO and they realise they have been fooled again.

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    2. Well, it's spreading. Alistair was Ok in the islands when he was a pretty insignificant Liberal MP, but a rise to prominence is only an advantage when you are doing good stuff. It hasn't been that advantageous for most of the Liberals.

      http://new.livestream.com/IndependenceLive/events/3763323

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  6. ...and a large consignment of Pork Barrels and Lucre is now rumoured to be heading north.

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