It’s difficult to know just what the actual figures for the No
Campaign’s income are.
Scotland on Sunday says that they have been given £1.6
million, while The Sunday Herald headlines says £1.3 million.
I wouldn’t know whether that is down to the fact that BT can’t
count, or that the standard of Scottish journalism is dismally low.
I think it may be the former, as I read that Mr McDougall is
said to be humbled by the amount of money that his supporters (almost
invariably English Tories) have stumped up. But he goes on to point out that it
is a great deal less than the “almost limitless” amounts that Alex Salmond can
spend.
Now, I’m not aware of Alex Salmond having any say over the amount
of spending that the YES campaign can make available to fight their side of the
argument. No more, I would have thought than Ms Lamont can dictate how much the
No campaign can spend. Neither is
strictly involved in the admin of these things, as Blair probably knows, even
if he doesn’t understand it.
But Bair goes on to quantify this amount that Alex is
spending as being “hundreds of thousands”. Call me old fashioned but when I was at school,
hundreds of thousands was probably a lot less than £1.6 million, or even £1.3
million.
He states that this money (which Alex does, in fact, have
control over) is taxpayers money which Alex has spent to answer the questions
that the unionists and indeed the Electoral commission have demanded the government
spend to explain their arguments. This clearly is totally different spending
for the millions that the UKOK government has spent, authorised by David
Cameron, getting Civil Servants in London to work on a variety of reports (then
delivered in Scotland by his cabinet ministers).
I remember one showing that Scotland wouldn’t be able to
defend itself against Iran, or North Korea, because no one in their right minds
would want to be in a Scottish army, standing guard in a kilt, at Edinburgh
castle and being photographed by tourists. They would, he implied, much prefer
to be standing outside Buckingham Palace, wearing bright red uniforms and 3
foot hats, being photographed by tourists.
Another suggested that we were too stupid to have any kind
of military intelligence units like MI5 or 6, because presumably anyone with
brains in the Ukok was English and went to Oxford. When thought about Blair’s
dodgy dossiers, I was somewhat relieved about that. I mean Scotland wouldn’t
want to go to war illegally spending billions of pounds it didn’t have and
killing hundreds of thousands of totally innocent people on the basis of some
PhD thesis which was 10 years out of date, and full of holes.
Mr McDougal’s assertions though do prove one thing. How
different life is in Scotland from in England. In England it is good to spend
tax payers’ money to support a side in a argument; in Scotland that is bad.
As a by-the-way, I was
interested to see that an ex-MI6 person made a contribution to the funds, along
with Sir (Goodbye Mr) Chips Keswick. Mr Keswick is:
73-years-old.
His full name is Sir John Chippendale Lindley Keswick.
He was educated at Eton College, the same as Cameron - His family business Jardine Matheson even employed Cameron for three months in an administrative post in 1997.
Sir Chips Keswick is the chief executive of investment bank Hambros, and is also a director at the Bank of England as was his father before him.
His hobbies are described as playing Bridge, and country pursuits - Shooting animals.
His full name is Sir John Chippendale Lindley Keswick.
He was educated at Eton College, the same as Cameron - His family business Jardine Matheson even employed Cameron for three months in an administrative post in 1997.
Sir Chips Keswick is the chief executive of investment bank Hambros, and is also a director at the Bank of England as was his father before him.
His hobbies are described as playing Bridge, and country pursuits - Shooting animals.
He is married to Lady Sarah Ramsay, daughter of the 16th Earl of Dalhousie.
He has supported "Business for Sterling", and sat
on the board of corporate donors to the Conservative Party.
Just your average Scot then, interested in preserving the average way of life in Scotland.
******************
 |
| Pass me a sick bucket... |
 |
| Mr Hammond take note... |
 |
| His wrinkly old coupon looks like a baby's bum. Maybe he uses dirty nappy instead of Oil of Ugly? |
tris
ReplyDeleteOf course they dont give a stuff in fact
they hate and loath anything and everything
which is not white male middle class and English.
the money they are paying is a drop in the bucket
but they will get gongs etc galore.....
But why look a gift horse in the mouth the union
will stand the Torys will be booted out Alex salmond
will retire a failed politician, seems a win win to me.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10514786/Speak-English-or-lose-benefits-warns-Iain-Duncan-Smith.html
Ian dunce smith says he will institute 200+
questions to attack immigrants getting benefits.
why am i not surprised he uses the same tactics
of a bureaucratic Nazi.Just the kind of way a
sick cowardly slimy scum would behave.
couldn't stand up like a man and just say we
are not allowing anymore in.
nah he has got to sneak about like the vermin he is
and no doubt if it goes all wrong (as it will)
he will arrange to blame some innocent civil servant.
Yep. That's what he's always done, and it's always worked, so that's what he'll do again.
DeleteWhat will he do if he finds that native born Brits can't answer his questions.
I once saw an application form from someone wrote that said he had a Grade 2 Standard Grade in "Inglush".
I mean I agree that when people come to live in a country they should learn the language. It's not just sensible; it's pretty much vital. You can't access health care for example without it, and if you can't understand when your boss gives you instructions, then you're not going to be any use as an employee.
But I do wish it would wiork the same way when Brits go abroad. Shouting loudly in English doesn' amount to speaking a foreign language.
From Wings over Scotland:
“The number of Britons who think Ed Miliband is likely to be the prime minister after the next election has fallen dramatically, according to a poll.
Research by ComRes for the Independent on Sunday and Sunday Mirror found 21% believed the Labour leader would be in No 10 after the next election, down 10 points since May.”
I'd not count on teh Tories losing. Hard though it may be, David Cameron is England's most popular political "leader" and only a fifth of people see Miliband being prime minister.
http://wingsoverscotland.com/quoted-for-truth-40/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=quoted-for-truth-40
But even if he is, their new Social Security woman has said they will be harder than the Tories on Welfare, so don't expect any let up.
As ftr this particular thing, the people in England have a lot of immigrants to deal with. Labour can't say that they won';t take a hard line of foreigners coming over and taking their jobs, or their benefits.
I bet they won't.
To be honest, I doubt that the SNP would either, if it were their problem...but it's not. We have very few immigrants and the ones we have we need.
http://archive.is/k1q5x
DeleteBoo!
ReplyDeleteCorporations see independence for Scotland as a possible stumbling block of their long term goal and are using Labour for the willing fools they are.
ReplyDeleteThe Emerging New World Order – Part 2. The End of Sovereignty
Well, big money rules the world and I suppose they don't want Scotland getting between them and making more of it.
DeleteYou're right about the effect of the SoS "gloat" about the Yes Scotland funding appeal. Just bunged them a wad over and above the DD. Still 5 days to go!
ReplyDeleteNiko, a No vote is a vote to allow shite like IDS and his ilk to visit their evil on Scots.
That was my immediate thought Barney.
DeleteI guess they didn't think that gloating was a bad idea. But, like a lot of their decisions, they were wrong. It was.
http://www.yesscotland.net/news/launching-pay-ps-scotland-appeal
DeleteSo Sir John Chippendale Lindley Keswick."thinks" we are all better together now does he?
ReplyDeleteMr I'll support anyone who pushes out Tory policy. Think he might have a few problems these days, after all Labour = Tory = LibDem = Tory policy supporters!
Still if you are not quite sure about Sir whatsisname you can always listen to the thought provoking arguments from these huge supporters of Better Together. Remember they do bring up policies no one has even thought of so far like it will be better for the future of our ancestors, sausage rolls and wee dugs! LOL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUio7p9DSMb7zYVHjoeybArQ&v=OSOxs63ZTGM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzCBImu80bk&list=UUio7p9DSMb7zYVHjoeybArQ
They make you giggle though, don't they Arbroath!
DeleteI liked Derek Bateman's comment of the Greedy and the Seedy and the Undemocratic funding No.
ReplyDeletehttp://derekbateman1.wordpress.com/2013/12/15/know-who-your-friends-are/
Brilliant Marcia. He doesn't mince his words.
DeleteTris
ReplyDeleteI really can't stand people like McDougall, he's ok so fuck the rest. I would have respect for BT if they could come up with just one positive argument for the UK. I don't want a lot just one but there are none are there. People like him and his ilk only care about money, hanging on the coatails of their betters, and doing the Tories bidding. What a shameful quisling bunch and if that upsets anyone so be it because thats what they are. We all know that BT is a Tory front and because ordinary people don't give them money, Labour don't have any money they rely on the right wing nutters of the Tory party to fund them. Bet they get massive boasts to the coffers nearer the vote but too late for people to really find out where from given that the media won't be bothered.
Miliband cannot win the next election because Liebour are offering no alternative to the Tories and have no alternative plans after 2015 other than more of the same. If your a Tory voter in the south east why vote red tory when you can just stick to your trdditional vote of the blue tory. There is also the fact that Labour are all crap, I mean would you trust Miliband, Curran, Alexnader, Balls, Lamont, Murphy to babysit your kids, I certainly wouldn't, they would probably sell them. They are a bunch of clowns and the sooner the misguided that vote for them realise that the better.
Bruce
I think that the people at the top (and I use the word loosely), I mean the MPs and civil servants, see the choice as spending their careers in the last throes of the empire, pretending, and being allowed to pretend, that they still have an important place in the world....or being, perhaps, a bigger fish, but in a tiny little pond that doesn't matter a fig, and won't even pretend to, in terms of world importance in Edinburgh.
DeleteI think that the average Labour voter in Scotland is hugely disappointed with the party, watching them fight illegal wars at the direction of neo cons, while people in little Scottish towns are starving and cold.
I think that the Labour activists are consumed with hatred of the SNP, because they took their place while they were a courtin' in the south east of England for the votes of the stockbroking classes, by promising them a deregulated and sod the poor country.
They steadfastly refuse to believe that whether the Tories or Labour wins next time, we are going down if we stay in the UK.
All the stupidities of the Thatcher, Blair Cameron years will be repeated, this time with the SNP back in its box and I'm sure, legally barred from having another referendum, no matter what party sits in Edinburgh.
What worries me is that their arguments are based on lies, or at least falsehoods and half truths. They are scaring people with... the oil will run out (incidentally, when it does, the pound will disappear off the international money markets, and the UK is in trouble, particularly as the "green crap" is on the back burner in England, so there will be nothing to replace it). Never mind that there is massive investment in oil at the moment and at least another 40 year of income from it. Never mind that we aren't counting on the oil for anything much other than a fund for the future.
Lies about the pound; lies about the EU, lies abou defence, lies about terror, lies about every single one of the 30 reports that Westminster have paid for.
But that won't matter, because once the vote is out of the way, they can take back their Barnet money; reduce the budget by £4 billion, force privatisation on us, health, water, education, and watch it all go to hell. But they will still be on the security council and there will still be a chance of greatness.
When the Danish PM had her photo taken with Obama, no one knew who she was; never heard of her. And when they found out, her biggest claim to fame was that she was married to the son of the windbag, the Noble Kinnock and the Noble Kinnockess (now there's a proud socialist family for you; both of them aristocrats!)
Scottish Labour politicians don't want to be nobodies like that. They want to be seen on the word stage, help bring down the world economy like Mr Brown, sleep in Mr Obama's bed like Mr Cameron and get the congressional medal for being war criminals, like Mr Blair and be hated as much as Mrs Thatcher..
BTW Bruce: I can no longer comment on Wordpress blogs for some weird reason... so I ahd a comment for your latest post, but it disappeared into the ether. Can't comment on Wings or Bateman either...
DeleteJardine Matheson? Good Scottish-founded company. Got a family connection with them myself from their early days a hundred odd years ago, when they made their fortune selling opium in China in return for tea. (This was illegal in China but the Brits wanted tea, so loaned JM gunboats as and when required.) As far as I am aware there has never in history been a bigger single illegal drug running organisation, though the CIA must be pushing them close.
ReplyDeleteHa ha...
DeleteThe Brits make you laugh, don't they. How much misery did they cause with their opium trade?
I wonder if Barclays laundered the money for them...?
Nikostratos,
ReplyDeletetake a good long look at yourself in the mirror. Your idealistic loyalty to the 'Union' is drifting you into some very, very morally dangerous waters. Solidarity is a two way street so look at who your 'comrades' are! This is not being hidden from you, or even excused as an unfortunate necessity. Blair McDougal as a Labour man, speaking on behalf of Better Together, is 'humbled' in the face of his (and now your) new financial backers and 'comrades' in arms. Humbled FFS!
Are you humbled Niko?
All your talk of hating the 'Tories' and your outrage at the normalisation of horrendously rightwing policies from Westminster since the days of Thatcher, who ever the party of power happens to be, has really led you to this Niko?
Yes, you are still proudly manning the barricade, mumbling your socialist slogans and wearing your flat cap. Look around you man! What is your barricade protecting? Who is directing the defense? Who has paid for your 'weaponry'? Who will be in command after a 'NO', when your barricade comes down.
Read the Donors list Niko, that is who! All up front and out in the open.
What will you do Niko, when they stop paying and yous have no barricade to hide behind? No weapons to defend yourselves. Just your new comrades, quite understandably, demanding 'solidarity'.
Did you read Douglas Alexander's last speech/lecture, or listen to Gordon Brown's launch of United with Labour ? It's all there Niko, the contract they expect you to fulfill once you sign it with your NO vote.
Just read George Osbourne's, 'No longer afford the Welfare State' speech, or listen to David Cameron's, (speaking as your UK PM), 'permanent austerity' musings in front of his golden lectern. Understand it, because that is the contract your NO vote is signing with the Tories, (when they return to power in 2015 and even if not, then certainly in the next election).
It's all there Nikostratos, out in the open and you are willingly, actively campaigning for it. It's not going to be enough to play the charming outrageous fool, metaphorically castrating yourself in front of your 'FASCIST NAT' friends as penance.
This is it Niko. You are crossing the same threshold that your hated Tory 'comrades' stepped over in Scotland all those years ago. You, of all people, surely should know the emotional response that will induce.
Is your fantasy of what this 'Union' should be, (rather than the selfish, elitist, food bank and warmongering rich man's club it proves itself as, day in day out) really worth it? Are you prepared?
This is a serious comment Niko. Please respond seriously.
You are selling your 'left wing' soul for Right Wing Gold, that just so happens to coincidentally be coming from the direction of England. (Funny that, eh?)
braco
Very powerful Braco...
DeleteAnd right too.
And if we vote no, we will find out just how far they will push their vile agenda here, and we will have no money, whether we are Labour or SNP, to stop them
Sorry to say this, but Niko is starting to sicken me Tris. That's why I would like to hear a serious reply from him. I want to be wrong, but I worry that I am not.
DeleteNiko, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GJyP5WwOu0
braco
Braco: He's only winding you up. he doesn't mean any of it.
DeleteJust ignore him if he's upsetting you.
He's far too clever to believe any of what he writes here.
Upsetting? I thought I was picking a fight? (wink)
Delete(the youtube link was just a sad wee musical joke.)
braco
Oh good.
DeleteYou managed to change Dean's mind... who knows, you may even manage with Niko...
Bunged Yes Scotland a donation, wasn't straight forward but who cares.
ReplyDeleteMore double standards from BT in any case.
Scots living outside Scotland during the referendum won't be able to vote = A Very Bad Thing.
But, people (rich tories mainly) of any nationality living anywhere, not only with opposing political views to most Scottish voters but also with vested interests in maintaining the union - can donate how ever much they like to Better Together.
With out even looking at arguments from either side, possessing the knowledge in Tris' post and my previous two sentences - why would anybody be voting no?
Seriously, why?
Double standards is their game, Pa.
DeleteThey are so pathetic, they make me sick. They criticise a paper on what an independent Scotland might look like, yet provide us with no idea what a UK might look like. They can't tell us anything at all about the future. They don't even know if we would be in the EU, for all they harp on about us being thrown out lock stock and massive fishing grounds.
They can’t tell us what powers Scotland would have, what they would take back from us by stealth, with their house of aristocrats, or what responsibilities they would devolve. Yet they want to know what level of income tax we would have; what vat level we would have; how much our unemployment benefit would be.
Well, we can tell them it would be more that the UK one; after all that will be nothing very soon.