Not the best day for the Smith Commission:
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| But Labour said it was a good deal Guys. Aren't you two supposed to be on the same side? The side of the workers? Bwa ha ha ha. |
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| Home Rule... Just like Jersey and Guernsey... Not. |
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| Erm... yes... or something... |
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| Oh well, never mind, we can change the road signs... That'll be nice. |
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| What do you call Home Rule, Ed? Income tax we can't use? |
Miliband: Smith
Commission delivers our devo vow http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/miliband-smith-commission-delivers-our-devo-vow.1417180936 …
Didn't Miliband's office deny any part in creating the Vow, saying it was something the Record mocked up?
But there was some good news for the SNP:
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| SNP Members in England now |
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| Oh dear, Conservatives... and look at Labour. |
Labour still don't know their butts from their elbows:
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| Soooo... if it won't affect Scotland, why did you inflict your vote on the bill? And if it will affect Scotland, and you had a reason to vote on it, why did you lie through your teeth about it before the referendum? |
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| He's the kind of fellow that, if he was on your side, you'd hope he got locked in a cellar somewhere to stop him opening his big fat stupid tactless mouth. |
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| They are simply never going to live that ad down. Must be why they want a man in charge of Labour in Scotland. Won't spend all his time worrying about cereals. He'll be too busy filling in his expenses. |
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| He puts me in mind of that revolting little man Daniels. Wasn't he some time of hypnotist or magician or something odd? |
The Tories don't seem to have good days any more:
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| What was Gideon on at lunch...electric soup, or just some more of that nice nose candy stuff? Anyway, what ever it was, can I have some. Groovy man! |
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| Jeeeez... you can't do that. How are people going to make enough to donate to the Tories if they have to pay the minimum wage? |
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| I mean what can you say, really, honestly... ...except Dick Head? |
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| *&%^**$%£(%%^&% Don't ask. It's very very rude. |
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| Well, you have, Dave. Just think of all the payback. One day you'll be as rich and as hated as the Blair creature. |
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| In the meantime... |
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| This, as opposed to the Big Society, is your legacy, you git. |
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| MMMMMMM... directorships, donations. It's just win win for the Tories. |
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| What a total prat you look... |
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| ...now, just as then when you had more hair and weren't so fat. I see Gideon always had that spaced out look, though. Easy to get at Oxford, was it? |
Gideon might be a coke-head but he is a sly coke-head that one. I think the Tories are going to shaft Labour again. The Tories are going to say that they will deliver more powers to the Scots Parliament if they get elected; more than what the Smith Commission had recommended. They are going to hard that Labour are the ones objecting to the transfer of power (like that's very hard to do, and whether the Tories will ACTUALLY transfer it is another thing all together). Mark my word. The only logical choice for Scots and Scotland to move forward is to vote SNP whether they like it or not.
ReplyDeleteLabour strategists should commit seppuku by now. That is the only honourable thing left to do.
harp*
DeleteLOL AHAH,
DeleteThat sounds like a plan for them. Messy but effective!
Actually you're bang on, I think.
He is known for being sly. I don't think he's clever, at least not in an intellectual or practical way, but he is a strategist.
To a certain extent they have already stuffed Labour. Like it or not, EVEL will happen, and the more power that Edinburgh has, the less that London MPs will have.
That's fine. I remember Stewart Hosie saying that he was working hard to get rid of his job (he quoted Winnie Ewing: "We didn't go to London to settle down; we went to London to settle up"), but the unionist parties NEED their Scottish MPs to make them powerful in England, where it counts.
Without Labour MPs from Scotland they can't effectively form a government of the UK.
The truth is that you can't have "federalism" or really even "devolution" in only part of a unitary state. It really has to be all over.
One of the reasons Blair didn't give England it's own devolved parliament back in 1997 (the logical thing to do) was that he realised that Labour would struggle to EVER control it. The people accepted this because they thought that the UK was England was the UK, and the Celtic Fringe was unimportant little bits that no one much cared about.
Basically the Tories are now proposing an English parliament, without proposing a new building to go with it. (Although I read that Westminster is falling to pieces and needs billions of pounds (which they don;t have) spent on it.
Your other point is well made too. never, but never, trust a Tory promise. They melt like "sna aff a waa".
Oh gawd have they had the election yet? Jim Murphy seems to be omipresent. Sarah, Neil who? May will be here before we know it. Still mithering over whether to tactically vote Tory to reduce sunny Jim's majority. But will I be able to put my cross there - shudder
ReplyDeleteWhat do people think of the National then? I'm delighted it's continuing. Anyone seem the latest circulation figures of the Daily Vow?
It will all be over in a fortnight and we'll know that Malfoy is the leader.
DeleteSarah Boyak appears to have been ignored. Neil Findlay was given a little time at the beginning (he must have friends somewhere) but now it's Jim, or Draco as I think of him.
Not sure why, although I can see that Findlay's and Boyak's performances were poor. It's just that, apart from his friends in the BBC, I've never come across anyone who likes him.
Malfoy Murphy, the Slytherin snake.
I'm not sure about how you should vote though, PP.... Do you think that the SNP has no chance of overturning Murphy?
I don't think I could vote Tory, not at any cost.
I like the National and I'll go on buying it. I think it's getting better. I wonder if it will be the death of the Scotsman or the Herald? The ongoing readership has to come from somewhere. It's unlikely to be the Daily Vow (as you call it :) ). But I'd love to know the figures for the Vow. A bit like Labour party membership, it's likely to be a state secret.
Can the SNP overturn Murphy? Well in 2010 he got over 50% of the vote, the Tories 30%, the LibDems around 8.9% and the SNP 8.7% with UKIP last on less than 1% . No other candidates.
DeleteThe Referendum
90.4% turnout, 63.2% No.
So, no the SNP can't really do it. Even if all the Yes voters voted SNP that's only 36.8%. He needs to bleed 15% of his vote but not to the Tories as well.
So theoritically possible but unlikely
o/t - read on twitter that Matt Quovrup was asked is telling a conference that he was asked by the FCO to write a paper on how to rig a referendum. If true, WOW
Indeed wow... Need to find out more about that I think, PP.
DeleteFair enough with the figures. In your situation I'd wait till nearer the time before deciding. I'm thinking that you're probably right and that voting SNP may be a waste, but then we dunno what will happen to the Tory vote... or the Liberal vote come to that.
He looks pretty settled there. It may be that it's best to accept that we will keep his seat and vote SNP so that they can't spin it that the YES vote has collapsed.
Hard decision!
Ridiculous rubbish from Trevor Davies. I've met him in the past and put him down as posh English or possibly posh Welsh, so what a cheek to tell Scots what to think. Lives in a big hoose in Edinburgh like most Labour grandees. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteBest ignored, Anon.
DeleteHe just sounded embarrassing there.
An excellent load of pictures and comment Tris, as usual. Well Murphy the Smurph will no doubt get the leadership, after all he did not go to all that bother getting rid of Lamenable, never thought I would feel a wee bit sorry for her, but here is the rub, she might have kept her place had she had some backbone, but Labour seem to have bother growing them. I see oor Gordie wants us to get back in our box and concentrate on all the things we wanted to concentrate on with Independence. He is a fool with an ego bigger than the much vaunted intelligence which he really shows nothing of. We know all he was doing was keeping the Fragrant Sarah as she wishes to be kept, probably part of the deal, and then he had got himself responsibilities with the kids too. So he will need the generous pension he managed to ruin for everybody else.
ReplyDeleteMeant ot add Tris that we too shall continue to buy the National, have to go into Central Dunfermline as we have not tried Tesco as yet. I felt on Friday that some articles could be considered more neutral than pro but I do not think that is a bad thing. We can all see what happens to a political party who goes without any criticism, as with the Labour Party and I want the SNP held to account if something is wrong. I want the criticism to be accurate though, there is enough of it about and most of it is like the lies which are flowing from the wee back stabber that is JB. No John not you.
ReplyDeletePlease accept my apologies for the misspelling.
ReplyDeleteHelena - I have got the National from my wee shop in Newmills every day this week!
DeleteHi Bill.
DeleteI think it's become more widespread over the week. I imagine that it will be on sale more or less everywhere from next week...
It will be interesting to find out.
Thanks for reply Tris - I really like the National but accept some of the criticisms I see around - but it is very, very early days.
DeleteGreg Moodie cartoons will start next week as they slowly beef out the content and gain advert revenues.
DeleteBill, I always try, where it's appropriate to answer people's comments. if you took the time to comment ... I can take the time to respond.
DeleteThat said, people, sometimes i either miss a comment or, there is no appropriate answer.
So don;t shoot me if i miss one or two...OK
:)
It was bound to get better. They must have started off with no staff.
DeleteGlad Greg will be making his contribution. He's hilarious.
Thanks again Tris - I will certainly not be put out in any way if you don't reply to my comments. I only posted for Helena's info re the National. Thanks anyway.I can think of some I'd like to shoot but you are not among them!! Cheers
Delete:)
DeleteMunguin is grateful. He'd have to pay someone the minimum wage to take over from me!!
I agree that the National shouldn't necessarily be a mouthpiece for the Yes campaign. It should be what we should have had, a fair and balanced reporting and analysis of the news.
ReplyDeleteIf the Yes campaign is getting something wrong, then let's hear it from them. We don;t listen to the carping of the Daily Vow.
As for Brown... simple message.
Gordon,
You promised us federalism.
It hasn't happened.
This is a joke, already watered down by the awful Duncan Smith and Tess of the Horrible.
It yet has to pass through the House of Commoners; the House of Lords and the Edinburgh parliament before it can become law.
It is unlikely that it will survive that with even the limited devolution of powers that it has... For example the passenger tax could possibly affect airports in the North of England, where Labour MPs will vote against it...
If you think that you have delivered on your promise and if you think that we will be content with this joke of a proposal, then you have spent far too much time away from Scotland mixing in high circles.
Back in the box... Yeah right.
Tris and Munguin.
OK OK... Munguin and Tris....
I never actually twigged that JB shares his initials with Ms Bail- lie.
As for spelling... ha ha ha. Please, don't even start apologising. Mine is awful; my typing is worse and the new spell-check on Blogger is utterly useless.
Tut Tut
ReplyDeleteMalfoy?
More like Nesferatu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1djGyCj1vCk
1 m 25 secs in but worth the 8 minutes.
LOL... its the very spitting image
DeleteLooks like one of his ancestors as the resemblance is uncanny.
Deletetris
ReplyDeleteso we find with all the snp hype distortion and dissembling
the Aberdeenshire byelection
the total amount of pro union scots 1357 voted against the Nationalist
1159
well you lot want to play silly buggers.
So the Torys decide the way to deal with immigrants is not to bar them or send them home Which in fairness I would if I could, But to starve and impoverish them by cutting any entitlement to tax credits for children etc. Now as i would like to see them go it would be a straightforward you cant come in or goodbye you must GO HOME .
Obviously that means leaving the EU either by a referendum of more likely being ejected.............or accepting the EU free movement labour
But at least that is to my mind fair what i do find puking is to let them in with
the intention to starve them back out.If they are let in it they should be treated no different to any other UK citizen with all the same entitlements. To create a separate
category of UK sub-citizen is the kind of action you would expect from the Conservatives...........
And makes me wonder why the feck do i support the Union I mean
what kind of mind comes up with these ideas straight out of mein kampf.
OK.. Niko. I've always be pro EU. Frankly I see no difference between a Bulgarian and a Scot. Many of my best mates are European. I have no problem with people coming here from wherever, as long as they are prepared to work in the society.
DeleteI've also got no problems with Scottish people or Brits working in or retiring to Spain or Italy, Malta (or Cyprus). As long as they try to fit in. After all the UK climate isn't idea to grow old in and working conditions and salaries are far better in Germany, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland... and the Efta countries...
I'd have said that Britain gets a good deal. It gets a pile of hard-working fit young people who tend to learn the language. It does mean that their kids have to be educated. (The Tories say it puts an intolerable strain on education systems, but these people are paying tax. Why wouldn't their kids get education?) Tax credits exist because employers don't pay enough wages for people to live on. The government subsidises bad wages. It also subsidies exorbitant rents by paying housing benefits.
If Spain and the other countries chuck out Brits, we'll get a few million OAPs putting a massive strain on the health service.
It sounds like the minnow Cameron, in a desperate attempt to out Ukip Ukip, has decided to take on the shark, Mrs Merkel. Well good luck to him there!
Britain will be probably thrown out of the EU in the end if he insists on going against free movement of people, and at least that will save him the neverendum costs. He'll also lose a few million jobs as worldwide companies relocate to Eire or Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic or wherever...
I suspect Cameron and his spivs will try to play it as poor Britain being bullied by these horrible foreigners. And for some that will work. They will stir up xenophobia and hatred. Well done Dave. Another legacy to add to foodbanks and misery.
But of course no matter how humiliating it is, the press will make Cameron a hero, standing up for exclusively British values like fair play, decency, cricket, David Mellor and Andrew Mitchell..
I look to see Mr Miliband standing up for the poor...
Niko: Once again, an opinion poll shows the difference between Scotland and the UK in these matters:
DeleteIf a referendum were held tomorrow on whether or not the UK should stay in or leave the European Union, how would you vote?
Respondents in Scotland -
Remain in the EU : 55%
Leave the EU : 45%
Respondents throughout Britain -
Remain in the EU : 40%
Leave the EU : 60%
(Com Res)...
(From Scot Goes Pop... without permission!!)
Over 60% rejected Labour in those 13 disastrous years yet they still had a majority to condemn millions to death and misery, don't let facts blind your hatred eh.
DeleteIt true Blair had a big majority on a minority of the people's vote. But that is the rules. FPTP... And that was what the two main parties wanted in the referendum on voting ... not surprisingly, seeing as it keeps them in a cushie job at ridiculous money
Deletetris
ReplyDeleteI would vote to stay but would still like to see more uk citzens in jobs
taken by immigrants some i know and who are honest decent hardworking
people with families whom i truly like and admire .
But Niko, do you not admire some Polish and Hungarian or French or Italian families too? One of my best mates is Bulgarian. I admire Stanislav so much. What a worker.
DeleteI'm really interested in what it is that makes people's opinion of "foreigners". I know that a few years ago I recruited for a factory over the summer. Horrible jobs, long shifts. The manager said. I'll take Europeans if you get any. They don;t take time off; they don;t have 5 grannies that will die and they will need time for the funerals... and if you ask them to work on for an hour to get the job done, it's never any problem.
I'm also interested in what constitutes a foreigner. I mean (without disrespect) if there is a job in Glasgow for example.
Should it go to a Glaswegian?
If no Glaswegians can do it, should it them be offered to a Scot form anywhere in Scotland?
Then should it be opened up to a person from Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
The n to people from the British dependencies around the coast...Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, IoM?
Then Gibraltar and the Falklands and such like?
Then the EU?
I'm just puzzled, because I have a blind spot to this. White, black, gay straight, French, Latvian, English Scottish... Jew Christian, Muslim a person is a person.
I know you can say, but they haven't paid into the system..
But there are plenty of brits who haven't paid into the system, and for that matter there are a million or so old people in Spain dependent on the Spanish health service, who never paid a €cent towards Spain's costs.
I'm not being deliberately obstructive here... I'm just saying I don't see a problem in immigration in Scotland, whereas some people do.
Niko is foreign to me in his skewed thought processes.
Deletech
DeleteNothing is over and done with. Nothing. Not even your malice.
Jack Henry Abbott
That is amazing.
DeleteMunguin's republic will make a small donation and I'll tweet about it too...
Thanks so much. It's great read.
What malice? Recognising your continuing inadequacy in separating fact from fiction and your bizarre claim of blaming all the ills of Scotland on the SNP shows a deeply flawed character on your part.
DeleteAs to your actual post I would vote to stay but would still like to see more uk citzens in jobs taken by immigrants some i know and who are honest decent hardworking people with families whom i truly like and admire . reads like jobs for the boys come what may which is rather disturbingly close to what happened in Europe in the 30's. No I don't believe you are really that way inclined but that line is getting very thin indeed.
How The BBC Stole The Referendum
ReplyDeleteI believe that other official Westminster depts where involved in 'rigging' the referendum according to a reputable tweet earlier today.
I believe that Brown tv has been dominating the screens today on our very strange public service broadcaster in Scotland.
I was sure I'd said something about this... Anyway, it's brilliant and Munguin will contribute to its completion
DeleteThanks for putting it up CH..
Ah, the comment was in the wrong place... above!. Who's daft?
DeleteCynical Highlander I hear that the BBBC were so disappointed with the non take up by the Newspapers of GB's little rant to Party Members. Sad ain't it?
DeleteBrown snaps his fingers and the BBC in Scotland jumps to attention and asks how much uninterrupted airtime he requires for his sermons.
DeleteWhy wouldn't they? Is there a single member of staff in management position there that isn't married to or related to some "bigwig" in the Labour Party. They are probably terrified he'll turn up at the Christmas party and throw Nokias at people who disobey him.
Deletetris
ReplyDeleteI am saying any uk citizen of any and all ethnic background should
get first dips on any jobs, housing etc I am saying even a lying lazy
skiving scrounger should get first dips over someone not a uk citizen.
Instead of pushing them aside to rot on social security.
I suppose what people like me want is yesterday when you hardly
met a person outside of the UK let alone worked or lived with them.
but then yesterday isn't on offer although to me yesterday was a better
place.
OK. I have a few problems of practicality with that:
Delete*As an employer, I don't think I'd want to pay a useless lazy scrounging skiver to do a job I cold get someone else to do. If that someone else was Estonian, so what?
* As I colleague I'd have a problem working along side a useless lazy skiver, because I'd feel obliged to try to pick up the slack (this has actually happened to me).
* As a customer, I'd be a less than happy with a...let's say plumber, who was pretty useless and lazy and who left a leaking pipe in my attic (just like the Scottish Gas plumber did when I put in Central Heating resulting in weeks of misery and a bundle of expense).
This would be even worse if the service I was using was say dentistry, or medicine. As Dennis Skinner pointed out in his now famous rant against Reckless the Ukipper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=org__iDiPrY
Yes, maybe you do want to live in yesterday's world, where things were different.
Of course if the UK or whatever it was at the time, hadn't gone around invading a quarter or the world, stealing their resources and treated their natives like scum, but reminding them that they were now British, maybe people wouldn't have felt they had a right to be here.
If Britain hadn't joined the EU maybe it would have managed on its own. it's unlikely that it could have competed with its second rate manufacturing (thanks to Thatcher).
Anyway, you must remember that not everything about yesterday was so jolly good...
There was maybe a lot more employment, but would you like to work 8 -6 in a jute works, or down a mine, and 8 2 on a Saturday... and all for £2. 10.0?
Niko, after years of staying at home and never going abroad because I had responsibilities for Pugs and Parents, we now manage to go place out with this country. Strangely enough people are simply people everywhere, some places are nicer than others some because of Government some because the people are hard working and proud of where they live and want it to look it's best for people visiting. Twice in recent years I have been driven home by drivers who were "foreign", the one this year came from Romania, he has been here 15 years, obviously worked hard enough that his English could be said to be better than my Romanian. His family lives here and I bet his kids all have Scots accents. I have no problem with people coming here, they are doing jobs which need to be done. They are hardly taking them off Scots, and there are some who will never work or want I am sad to say, though the numbers are very much inflated by the media.
DeleteI agree with Tris, things were not good in the good old days, it is a flawed memory that causes it. My family had it hard but because of Grandmother's determination and help from her parents it came out okay.
Thatcher ruined the working class, she brought in every man for themselves attitude before that people helped each other, my Great Grand Parents did more for family and friends and they were not alone, everyone helped out if there was a need.
It's called "la vie en rose", Helena, ... or rather less eloquently "looking at the world through rose coloured specs".
DeleteWe all do it.
It's a natural defence mechanism against looking back with too much disappointment.
But I'd say that for every good there's a bad. I'm not sure how it balances out. Probably differently for each of us.
tris
ReplyDeleteA better yesterday
A young graduate said to me trade unions had to much power back in the day
and any raise in the minimum wage will destroy jobs .
So I says when young i was working in a manufacturing factory not a particular
high paying job but reasonable for those days . my then future wife worked in a
another factory assembling electronics.
Before we wed we saved up for a year a deposit on a house bought the house
and then got married had children etc.
Now i said and what about you buying a house??to which he replied he would
have to save up for years let alone pay of his student depts living at home with
his mum he thought he would never own his own home and could hardly afford
the ever rising rent in the private sector.
He is 24 the same age i bought my first house..........
"looking at the world through rose coloured specs".
you say
How many ordinary working class men and women in ordinary everyday
jobs can say that is there story to day........just asking
Completely agree Niko.
DeleteOne of the huge problems for me with Britain is this "class" thing. As I say, I have many friends in Europe adn they simply have no comprehension of "clss". There are rich and poor, but they don't understand the class system at all.
The unions and the management continually fought, as the lad said, there was a point at which the unions at least appeared to have too much power. But that was only becasue the bosses had had too much power and the unions tried to take it away from them... and won (probably with a bit of help from Harold Wilson).
There's no doubt that the strikes over almost nothing and the winter of discontent was the real reason that Thatcher was welcomed into government.
Then she went wild taking away union powers, smashing working people's power, taking their jobs away (instead of modernising like Germany did), destroying decades of traditional work.
It was she who made owning a house a badge of honour for ordinary people. Because a mortgage meant you couldn't go on strike. No one would pay that for you, unlike rent rebates.
I'd say it was probably Blair and Brown who let house prices run away with themselves to the point where ordinary workers really can't afford them (and those who do are going to have a hard time when interest rates rise).
I think it was Thatcher who got rid of student grants and replaced them with loans. It was Blair who put university fees of £3000 and it was Cameron who tripled that (famously with the support of that serial pledger, Nick signed in me own urine Clegg).
If you leave an English uni with fees of £27,000 plus all that you have to borrow to live on for the three years of their bachelor degrees, you are likely to have a debt of £60,000 to start your life with. The you need a home at £200,000. Fat chance. And of course, thanks to Blair, 60% of the population now has to go to university, and we don;t have anyone who can fix the toilet or rewire the house.
So yes, things are not easy, specially for young people starting out. We seem to have created a society that is fine for the people who live in Morningside or Chelsea, but pretty crap otherwise.
But, I still maintain that life wasn't a bowl of cherries in the past either.
If you got cancer, the chances were you died; if you had a heart attack your life was as good as over. You woke up in the morning with ice on the inside of your windows. Your car wouldn't start in cold weather. Unless you were rich, your holiday was spent in the rain at Rothsay. Your kids got Scarlet Fever, Polio, Diphtheria, and it wasn't unusual to for them to die before they grew up. The hours you worked were long. Wages small. Few people had company pensions. if you came from a poor family they needed you to go work, no matter how clever you were, so you ended up doing a job you hated, all your life....
So, although life may not be better today, it was't that good back then either..
Or maybe it was...It depends on the individual's story.
In the end, Britannia is a great place to live if you are very rich, and a crap place to live if you are not. Always was... probably always will be.
ReplyDeleteMy name is TESSY JERRY FROM USA, I head that my husband was having an affair with one of my closest friend and I was very upset and worried so a friend of my advice me and told me if I still love my ex and if I really want to have him back so I told her yes, and she ask me to contact Dr. ADAGBA the spell caster and I did although I never believe on spell so he gave me something when he was casting the spell and ask me to say my wishes on it and after the casting of the spell a receive a phone call from my ex and was ask me at which I did and now we are back together again I’m so happy and I wish not to ever have this mistake again in my life. I will also advice anyone with this kind of issue to contact him for help he is really nice on phone and always there to answer you question giving you the good result that you need. his email is adagbaspiritualtemple@yahoo.com