IS THIS AS SIGNIFICANT AS I THINK IT IS?

Given the comments on the previous post, I suspect it may well be.

PLEASE HELP FOOD BANKS IF YOU CAN...

I'm hoping soon to arrange an interview with Dave, the manager of Dundee Foodbank. 

I was there on Monday and they said that food was starting to come in again following the quiet period after Christmas.

It seems, though, that there is still a bit of a shortage of absolute essentials, like the ones below, from their appeal on Facebook.

So, dear readers, if you live in Dundee, and if you can help, I know that the wonderful people at the foodbank (and they really really are) would be grateful. It must be hell having to turn hungry people away.

Here's their post...

Dundee Foodbank

Yesterday at 12:00 · Edited · 

We are a wee bit short of the following items - could you consider donating a few to the food bank over the next couple of weeks?

UHT milk
Tinned meat
Instant soup / pasta
Sugar
Tinned Fruit

Cheers!

Details of when our centres are open - all of them can accept donations when operating - are at dundee.foodbank.org.uk. We also have donations points at Tesco Riverside, Sainsbury's, Butties sandwich shops & Brands Books.

++++++++++

On a not too dissimilar subject I notice that the Daily Record headline today bemoaned the fact that the government (the one Daily Record thought was best for Scots), is yet again going to cut benefits to Scotland. This time it's targeting the money available to local government to help with Housing costs.

It is, of course, nothing that we haven't become used to from that much vaunted most successful union in the history of the known universe which the Record urged us not to leave. 

It's just a little ironic that the Record should so soon find the policiess of its favoured government to be not quite as perfect as they promised us they would be. Better Together indeed!

It's also a tad on the cheeky side to expend as much ink as the Record recently has on putting down other organs for rudeness and disrespectful stores about Labour, and then describing Duncan-Smith as a "double-chinned millionaire Tory". 

Looking better than usual

Granted it's true (these £38 tax payer funded breakfasts...eh?). We can't fault them for accuracy...but it's not very polite. And, although Munguin has no such sensibilities, we thought that the Record set great store by politeness.

It seems that they have taken their place as part of the British establishment, where as we all know there is one set of rules for us, and one for them.

++++++++++

PS. 

....in pink

According to what I read on Twitter (I can't access her account because she has blocked me for calling her out on previous lies, but you may be able to) Maggie Thatc Curran appears to think that it's a shameful lie made up by the SNP that the Tories and Labour may consider a grand coalition to keep the SNP from holding any sway in the next parliament. 

Poor deluded woman appears never to have heard of Gisela Stuart. I knew Mags was detached from what's going on, but for heaven's sake...

Fotos for Friday

You certainly did, Gordon.
Still Slab wants you to follow on in the footsteps of such
luminaries as Iain Gray and Johann Lamont.

They're not really representing us any more.
I see no reason to fund them, or watch them
Just don't break the law people; don't watch live tv.

Pooling and sharing misery.

Lord Fraud said:
 "We can't have people loafing about doing nothing
expecting the public to pay for them.
Ooops

Poor old Ed...

Good of you to own up mate?
I didn't know you'd done that...

You really look like you're enjoying that...
Did you pay one of your underlings to actually bite it?

Don't seem to be able to give it away these days.

Ahhh nice... rewards for  telling Jockland that you'd put prices up
if we weren't pooling and sharing with the UK?

WRITING OFF SCOTLAND

If you have around 25-30 minutes and you haven't already seen this, I can recommend it. 

The video explores the research of Dr David Patrick into press bias during the independence campaign. 

Carried out over Scotland's most politically important year in centuries, the study's findings are a shocking indictment of the role of the UK press in the independence debate. 

We all know newspapers take political positions but, uniquely for a western democracy, the entire press industry united against independence in an intense systematic propaganda campaign to save the union. 

In the film, Dr Patrick discusses the framing of the referendum and how front pages, editorial and commentary are used to get key messages across, the lack of media coverage for the research, strange BBC experience and how the Independence debate has damaged public trust in our press.

Munguin's thanks, once again, to Cynical Highlander for bringing it to our attention.

THE TERRIBLE BURDEN OF OIL

JOAN McAlpine looks deeper into the some Westminster's claims regarding how Britain's oil would be distributed if Scotland became an independent nation.

Does the oil belong to Scotland?

Yes. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) says oil revenue should go to the country in whose waters it was discovered. Professor Alex Kemp, of the University of Aberdeen, says 90 per cent of UK oil lies in Scottish waters but we need to be independent to get the revenue it generates.

Isn't the oil running out?

No. UK Oil and Gas, who represent companies working in the industry, say there are 24 billion barrels left in the North Sea. That is why they are investing record amounts. Even the UK Government have conceded it could last another 50 years.

How much is it worth?

Around £1.5trillion. This could rise as world demand pushes up prices. The International Monetary Fund’s research team have predicted world prices could double by 2022.

Will we be too dependent on oil if we choose independence?

Even without oil, Scotland’s wealth is around the same as the rest of the UK, according to official figures. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s say, even without oil, Scotland would be one of the most successful economies in the developed world. But the oil is a huge bonus and gives an independent Scotland a great head start.

What does that mean for me and my family?

We can create an oil fund by saving some of the tax – Norway, a country the same size as Scotland, has accumulated an oil fund of £500 billion to be used for pensions, healthcare and investment in the future. The UK has failed to set up a fund and squandered our oil wealth.

But the UK Government say the Scottish Government have exaggerated the value of oil

They would say that, wouldn't they? The highly respected Investors Chronicle magazine said the UK Government are underplaying the value of the North Sea oil because of the forthcoming referendum on independence.

Who else backs the Scottish Government?

Professor Sir Donald MacKay, the world’s foremost expert on oil prices, says the UK government are wrong and the Scottish Government are right. He said: “There is no hole in the Scottish Government’s oil predictions but there is a mountain of black gold missing from the UK Government’s.” The economic think tank N-56 said the figure for future tax revenues was six times more than the UK government claimed.

Is more oil being discovered?

All the time. This month Xcite Energy announced a major new oil find east of Shetland. The Bentley field will produce 700 million barrels over 35 years. The Clair Ridge Project to the west of Shetland is expected to produce 640 million barrels in the future. BP’s publicity video says Clair will make an enormous contribution to the UK economy for many years to come.

Why don’t I know this?

Good question. David Cameron made a secret visit to Shetland to see this important field. But the visit was hushed up along with the latest results of test drilling, which are rumoured to reveal even more oil.

Why would they bury a good news story?

A certain independence vote on September 18. It has even been suggested that workers on the field stand down till after the referendum.

Surely the UK Government are not involved in a cover up?

(At this point we had to pause while we arranged oxygen for Munguin.) They have form. When oil was found in the 1970s, a report for ministers by the senior civil servant Gavin McCrone predicted an independent Scotland would be richer than Switzerland. That was kept secret for 30 years.

So they lied to us?

(Well duh! They are the British government. It's what they do.) Denis Healey, the former Labour chancellor in the 1970s, admitted the value of oil was played down by Labour and Conservative governments to stop the Scots supporting independence.

How much did these lies cost us?

Around £300 billion of oil tax revenue has gone straight to the London Exchequer since oil was discovered. Scotland didn’t receive a penny.

Anything else I should know?

Significant oil finds were made in the Clyde in the 1970s but the industry was blocked by the UK Ministry of Defence because they didn't want anything interfering with nuclear submarines. Michael Heseltine, defence secretary at the time, admitted it this week.

Last weekend the Scottish Government created a taskforce to examine the potential of oil in the west. A Yes vote will mean the Ministry of Defence will no longer be able to block these developments.

What will independence change?

All the tax money from oil will stay in Scotland and be used for the good of the people who live here.

**********

SCOTTISH BOY BAND STILL AT #1 IN 

COUNTRY DOWNLOADS ON AMAZON.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Caledonia/dp/B00M85FWNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1408988337&sr=8-1&keywords=libations+caledonia

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PAT ON THE BACK FOR SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT... FROM THE DAILY RECORD!

It's not that often that I feel the need to share an editorial column from the Labour supporting and Britnat "Daily Record", but I feel this is one our government can be proud of.

When the opposition press is praising you, you have indeed done well.

Fergus Ewing

THE true test of any civilised society is how it treats its most vulnerable members and by that yardstick yesterday was a very good day for Scotland.

Two announcements by the SNP Government showed an enlightened and caring attitude to people that need it most.

First, Enterprise Minister Fergus Ewing revealed disabled workers thrown on the scrapheap by the closure of Remploy factories would be given a new lease of life with another company.

Hours later, Veterans Minister Keith Brown outlined plans to create a veterans commissioner to fight the corner of ex-servicemen and women as they adjust to civilian life.

Keith Brown

Both moves should be warmly welcomed by anyone with a shred of decency.

The public were rightly outraged when the UK Government cruelly condemned hundreds of disabled Scots to the dole queue when they axed Remploy factories.

Now Scottish Government support means 26 workers who were made redundant have been given new jobs with a textile factory who will supply nurses’ uniforms for the NHS.

This is exactly how public contracts should be used – in the way that best benefits society as a whole.

The setting up of a veterans’ commission is also a far-sighted move that ensures those who have risked their lives for their country overseas are not abandoned when they return home.

Brown, a former Royal Marine, gained inspiration for the move on a recent trip to Canada, where a similar post has been successfully operating for some time.

It is an important step in improving the support provided to ex-servicemen and women who often face serious challenges getting jobs, houses and medical support.

It will take more than one appointment to stop discrimination on civvy street against our former troops. But it is a good start.

Together these announcements send a powerful message that Scotland is still a place that looks after its own.

I feel particularly strongly about the closing of Remploy factories by a government which insisted that their reason for persecuting sick and disabled people was that it was good for them to be forced into work (or rather, given the economic realities, lose benefits). 

It was, they said, nothing to do with saving money. It was everything to do with making the lives of people with disabilities better.

They seemed unable to come up with an explanation then for saving money by closing these factories which they said were running at a loss, thereby throwing people, who have even greater difficulties than the majority of us getting work, on the dole. 

The utter hypocrisy of their morally repugnant actions was deplorable, particularly as much of the work done in these factories was relocated abroad! What happened to British jobs for British workers?

Esther McVile (especially posed for John Brownlie)

Still, with IDS and Esther Mcvey in charge, what would you expect other than moral repugnance?

There is a limit to the amount of money the Scottish government has at present to spend on these matters. They have already spent a very considerable amount trying to alleviate the worst excesses of other DWP policies. 

Let's hope soon that the likes of these two will have no more say in the looking after of our most vulnerable people.

**********

Thanks to Cynical Highlander for pointing me in the direction of this video, also from the "Daily Record". I've not always been a fan of Jim Sillars, but he's talking a lot of sense here. 

DAILY RECORD SLAMS DAVIDSON

Yesterday we heard that the journalists' trade union, the NUJ, was taking issue with Ian Davidson's recent performance on News Night Scotland. Today, something I thought I would never see,  an article from Labour paper The Daily Record (reproduced here in full) deeply critical of not just Davidson, but of the whole Labour party, including Lamont and Darling, for doing the Tories' dirty work for them. 

This is a game changer. Labour supporters read the Record in droves. Their opinion has an element of sway. But, they also have their ear to the ground. They don't stray in their opinion far from what they are hearing on the streets of Glasgow, where they are based. If they are starting to lambaste leading Labour figures, they must be fairly certain that the mood on the streets is open to this criticism.

Yesterday Gordon Brown gave a speech and some amazing interviews in which he seemed to suggest that Chris Hoy couldn't have won a gold medal if it hadn't been for England. (Presumably Andy Murray couldn't have won without Spain then, s that is where he trained). He seemed to accept too that Scots are around 4% worse off than the English. I'm not sure why any Scot should accept that, even one that comes from North Britain! 

Further he seems to think that wage levels would change were the union to split up. But if he were a little more regular in his appearances in the House of Commons, which we pay him to attend, he would know that his friends the Tories, intend to have regional pay rates for all public servants, from council employees to doctors and teachers. 

I think you will enjoy this. The article is open to comments too...

MOST sensible people were glued to the London Olympics on TV these last two weeks.

So they may have missed Ian Davidson, a senior Scottish Labour MP, make a complete plonker of himself when he insulted a respected female BBC journalist.

Isobel Fraser, a poised and dignified presenter of Newsnight Scotland, asked Davidson a question he didn’t like last week.

The Glasgow MP blew a gasket, ranting about “Newsnat” Scotland and accusing Miss Fraser and her colleagues of being pro-SNP, something that will come as a surprise to Alex Salmond.

Davidson heads a Tory/Labour-dominated House of Commons committee charged with looking after Scottish Affairs. This is not the first time he’s landed himself in the proverbial.

The only SNP member of his committee, Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP, said she could no longer attend while he was chairman because she said he had threatened to give her “a doing” for speaking to the press.

His language so alarmed English members of the committee that he was forced to explain that he didn’t mean “doing” in a sexual way. Charming.

Mr Davidson was on Newsnight to discuss a report his committee produced into the planned independence referendum – or as they insisted on calling it, the “separation” referendum (no bias there, then).

His report says the Scottish Parliament has no power to hold a referendum. Only Westminster can do that, it says.

The Tory government in London could, however, give the Scottish parliament “permission” to hold the referendum, but only if Westminster called the shots.

Mr Davidson has done an excellent job of delivering for David Cameron.

His committee’s conclusion is exactly the same position as the Tory PM took when he tried to hi-jack the referendum back in January – a move that infuriated Scots.

There’s nothing we hate more than being patronised – and that’s exactly what Davidson and the Tories are doing.

Davidson feels no embarrassment that he is delivering the Tories’ wishes.

That must also go for his fellow Scottish Labour committee members who signed the report. Hang your heads in shame Iain McKenzie (Inverclyde), Lindsay Roy (Glenrothes), Jim McGovern (Dundee) and Pamela Nash (Airdrie and Shotts).

These Labour MPs worked in tandem with the Tories on the committee to produce the shameful report.

Their true blue allies include Fiona Bruce, Conservative member for Congleton, David Mowat, Conservative member for Warrington South and Mike Freer, Conservative member for Margaret Thatcher’s old seat of Finchley.

Is this how low Keir Hardie’s party have sunk? They will use Margaret Thatcher’s successor to strip Scots of the power to decide their own future?

Johann Lamont, Labour’s leader in Scotland also stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tories – at the launch of the anti-independence Better Together campaign.

She believes Scotland is better off with a Tory Westminster government slashing benefits for disabled people, squandering Scotland’s oil wealth on tax cuts for the super rich, and sticking to a lunatic economic policy of austerity.

But there are murmurs of discontent. One front bencher, Neil Findlay, recently had a go at Alistair Darling, Labour figurehead for the Tory Better Together campaign.

Findlay wants the Scottish parliament to have the economic power to protect the poorest – yet his party leaders are trying to block a second question on that subject.

Even more damning for Lamont was the verdict of one of her predecessors, Henry McLeish, former First Minister of Scotland.

Mr McLeish said last week the anti-independence campaign was in danger of also appearing anti-Scottish. We can only speculate as to what he meant.