THE leader of Scotland’s trade union movement has said that
his members are “more attracted” to the pro-independence campaign.
Grahame Smith, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) general secretary, said the union was “disappointed” in the case being made for staying in the UK by the No campaign.
He made the stark claim as the umbrella trade union body launched an analysis paper on the referendum “a just Scotland” today.
Grahame Smith, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) general secretary, said the union was “disappointed” in the case being made for staying in the UK by the No campaign.
He made the stark claim as the umbrella trade union body launched an analysis paper on the referendum “a just Scotland” today.
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| Some things just come back and bite you on the bum. Don't they, Johann? |
The STUC, which represents, 630,000 workers, includes some of the UK’s biggest trade union such as Unite and Unison - that are affiliated to Labour.
Mr Smith said that STUC members had so far been “more attracted by the vision offered by the Yes campaign and the Scottish government” through their “social agenda on welfare and addressing inequality”.
“It’s fair to say that they've been largely disappointed by the lack of vision from the No campaign.”
Meanwhile, the STUC paper said that none of the currency options for an independent Scotland were “wholly compelling”.
It said that there were a “number of disadvantages” for the UK in agreeing to a currency union, but that a new Scottish currency under independence would “allow most discretion over fiscal and monetary policy”.
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At least 39 bills have been subject to royal approval, with
the senior royals using their power to consent or block new laws in areas such
as higher education, paternity pay and child maintenance.
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| Is that what peasants eat? |
And we were always told that she had no power at all... and it's not just her, Charlie, for some reason, has the same power even though he's not King.
I note that the government in London isn't happy that Atos has announced that it wants to pull out of the contract it has to kill off as many sick people as possible.... or whatever else they are contracted to do.
They say that staff have received threats on their lives. The best one the BBC could come up with was "If there's someone who works for Atos, kill them", which was, I think, tweeted. Wrong, I grant you, but not really very scary.
Anyway... if another company takes over, which I suppose it will have to if IDS's (and Labour's) plans for the sick aren't going to sink without trace, will they not also need staff?
It seems to me that DWP staff and all the people that have worked for that department in all its guises over the years have always faced this kind of threat.
I think, though, that this is an excuse. It is more likely that they are worried that their worldwide reputation is being damaged by their involvement in this small time project for the UK.
Interestingly, the BBC couldn't get a minister to make a comment on that on the tv, although the next item on the news was to do with the reduction in the number of people unemployed or somesuch other lie perpetrated by IDS, and, miracles of miracles, a spokesman for the DWP said, "blah, blah, blah". He must have been in the toilet when they were looking for a quote on Atos.
However, the BBC website says that the government is furious, because this was commercially sensitive information, and knowing that Atos no longer wants the contract may make it more difficult for them to find other companies willing to bed for the job.
As Spook is want to say on these occasions: Wee shame!
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| Yes. That is what we are suppose to believe. Funny huh? |
Or alternatively we are supposed to believe the other eu nations
ReplyDeletewill allow a new nation to bypass all criteria every other nation
had to follow......cos Alex says so
A sort of snp fast track which only applies to them and
nobody else. oh do come on there will always be a nation
which will use this as opportunity to renegotiate some
treaty or other they do not like.
It isnt going to be as straightforward as Alex lies about
you never know we may have agree to having the euro
other nations did.....oops but snpland
Well, I assume you’re just doing this to be awkward, but I’ll go along with it.
DeleteThe process of joining the EU, Niko, is long and complex, because a lot of criteria have to be met, particularly in regard to system of government, human rights legislation at the level of European Rights, financial conditions, etc.
Countries like Romania and Bulgaria took a bit of time, after years of Russian domination, to achieve this sort of thing. Turkey has so far not managed to.
Scotland, however, having been a member of the EU since the early 1970s, ie 40 years, does meet all of these conditions.
Of course it may be that Scotland wouldn't be welcome in the EU. For whatever reason, it is a possibility. Who knows, someone somewhere (and it only takes one nation) might dislike something about Scotland. Men wearing skirts; or thistles may offend some people, and the accent in Dundee is harder to understand than Hungarian!
But largely, the EU falls about trying to get new members to join. They immediately accepted 30 million East Germans; they accepted Bulgaria and Romania, even though they were pretty dubious on human rights, and were financially dodgy.
On the one occasion when a country wanted to leave, there was all kinds of hell to try to keep them in... and even when they left after a couple of years of negotiations, they retained most of the rights, and none of the commitments of EU membership.
Added to that, a bloke from the EU commission giving evidence to a Holyrood committee, answering a Tory MSP (therefore anti Scotland as a country) said that Mr Barroso was wrong.
An ex-judge of the EU court said Barroso was wrong.
Weigh it up.
Which way do you think it will go?
Would it aid Spain to keep us out?
Does anyone seriously think that the Catalans would be put off?
What would they do with all their fishing boats which currently take fish from the North Sea, because Mrs Thatcher traded away fishing rights for a rebate?
What about their students at Scottish universities?
In the end, of course, it may be that they will say no. If they do I'd bet that EFTA would welcome Scotland. It will cost as much as the EU, but we wouldn't have a vote or a minister at the council.
We also wouldn't have Spain's fishing fleet; and we wouldn't get any money from the CAP. Although, as England steals most of that money from us anyway, a fact that even Labour criticised in the Scottish parliament, that won't make a fat lot of difference.
The UK will almost certainly leave the EU, although the EU will fight to keep it. But if a referendum shows it wants the country to leave, they will leave.
They are unlikely to be invited to join EFTA (all EFTA countries are either medium or tiny in size. 60 million English/Welsh/Irish would upset the balance far too much, and the UK would want everything their way.)
The Euro is simple. When you join you have to accept that the ultimate aim would be to get your currency to work within the framework of the Euro.
To do that you would have to join the ERM. The reason is obvious, given the problems that basically Germany has had to bail out all the other countries which fiddled their membership... Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Greece...
There is nothing that says you must do that.
Even if there were, you could always fail to meet the ERM standards. It’s not a matter of being poor or rich. It's a convergence. It is very easy NOT to converge, and quite difficult to do so
Are the Public & Commercial Services Union on verge of switching support to #yes2014? #indyref
ReplyDeletehttp://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/scottish-independence-pcs-union-to-hold-vote-1-3315979?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
It looks like it. That's what the Herald front page says (although I know it's too small to read).
DeleteGood news.
I wonder what Lamont and Margret have to say to that.
DeleteI'm pretty sure that people like Darling don;t much care for the unions... but Lamont is a working class Labour person. She should be concerned that the STUC and a major union have come out for independence.
Why do you hate your country, niko?
ReplyDeleteJuteman
DeletePatriotism the last refuge of as turd !
anyway snpland is for snp supporters only the rest
are for the gulag alexpelago.
tris
I think your being deliberately obtuse
Scotland has not been and is not now a member
of the EU, Scotland as an Independent nation does
not presently and may never exist, A fact even the snp
accept er ! thats what the referendum seeks to decide.
Only the UK is the nation state within the eu if Scotland
was (god forbid ) to go mad and vote for separation then
the nation formally known as Scotland would reemerge
from the mists of time.
Then the negotiations would begin obviously the snp
pretend badly the outcome is already predestined to
agree to every god like thought in Alexs head.The other nations may take a different view
how very dare they !!!
until then or at least a yes vote win (god forbid ) all is
speculation or in the snp case assertion dressed up as
unvarnished truth.
there you go Juteman another comment from a stinking
traitor.
Well Scots are EU citizens, and the country as it is is part of another member state. I ahve an EU passport and an EU driving licence. I have rights as an EU citizen to live and work in any of the states; to buy my insurance, bank, bring up kids, send them to school, use the health service, etc etc...
DeleteLikewise, there are many EU citizens living here entitled to the same things.
So Scotland is a part of the EU, as Greenland was when they got self rule and decided to leave.
It took the EU over two years to let them leave!!!!
Tris
ReplyDeleteWe need the unions to stop funding labour, that is the only way they will get a big wake up call.
Bruce
tris
Deletewe need bruce/anon (whats that about ) to grow a brain
that way we may get a sensible or even funee comment.
he he he
Now Niko... What Bruce is saying there is bang on. Labour takes the unions and their money for granted.
DeleteI'm not talking in particular abo9ut this issue, although clearly an independent Scotland would be more likely to be a good thing for poorer people and a not so good thing for those who are used to living in the lap of non tax paying luxury.
But seriously, on other matters...
Are the unions for ATOS (or whoever takes over from it)?
Were the unions for Iraq?
Are the unions for nuclear weapons?
Are the unions for a minimum wage of under £7?
Are the unions for poverty old age pensions?
Ask Taz if you don't know the answers to these questions.
And don't be nasty to Bruce. He doesn't post anonymously. He just isn't a member of Blogger.
:)
Niko has an office!
DeleteIndeed!
DeleteCan someone enlighten me and tell me why you engage in any form of conversation with this Niko character. It achieves nothing. Ignore him and he might go away
ReplyDeleteIt's my mission to make his a YES supporter Four!
Delete:)