Wednesday 12 November 2014

Vive la construction navale ... en France

This is another one of these situations where reality is stranger than fiction.

I mean, if I'd ever come up with a script for a play about independence that had that long streak of misery, British Virgin Islands Hammond, coming to Scotland for a day to tell us that shipbuilding in our country would die without the UK... 

...and had I gone on to suggest that the UK would never build its warships abroad...

... and had I then depicted a winning "no" side....

... and then, had I suggested that 6 weeks or so later, the UK's head of the navy would announce that there was a good chance that in fact the new ships wouldn't be built in Scotland after all... but in France, un paye étranger, I might add...

...the producer would have thrown the script in the bin and said... you have to go for some reality, Tris. The audience'd never believe this rubbish. Don't give up your day job!

Well...


With friends like you, and a Tory government, who needs enemies?
Erm yeah, the future of it going down the pan?
Sep...what?????  Oh wait, it was Ian Davidson.
You did a really crap job, Margrit.
On the banks of the Clyde, three thousand men and women go to work week after week in one of this country's great industries - shipbuilding. Thousands more rely on those high-skilled jobs for their own employment.

How many of those jobs would you put at risk to vote Yes? That's the very real question facing the SNP this morning and once again they don't have any answers. That's why the campaign by Johann Lamont and Margaret Curran is so crucial. When launching the campaign Johann said:

"Scotland has a proud history of shipbuilding and despite the serious challenges the industry has faced over a long period, the skills and expertise of the workforce mean that Scottish shipbuilding has a bright future if it secures the defence contracts planned by the UK Government.

"But these jobs are at risk. There is a danger that if we vote Yes in September we won't have a shipbuilding industry any longer, because we're reliant on UK defence contracts."

At the start of 2012 the UK Government confirmed that the contracts for the Type 26 will be granted in the middle of the decade, after the referendum on independence.  I often have worried about the Tory Government's industrial strategy, but today it's the SNP that poses a greater threat to Scotland's naval shipbuilding.
 

No thanks to shipbuilding, eh Jim?
Hmmmmm....
About as accurate as the rest of your facts
"You shall have your reward, what's your name again?
I'll make you supervisor of the branch office in Glasburgh and I'll
get rid of that awful woman, what's her name?
Norman Lamont?"

14 comments:

  1. Before the first devolution referendum in 1979, one of the arguments was that devolution would be a threat to, for example, Ravenscraig.

    Plus ça change...

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    Replies
    1. LOL Les...

      Scots don't seem to learn lessons much, do they?

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    2. The two union conveners quoted in the BT posters will have a lot to answer for!!

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    3. Aye Duncan and John... what's your take on this then guys?

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  2. Replies
    1. Let's say naive, shall we Alex?

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  3. You couldn't make it up, how are Slab going to defend this? Probably blame the SNP or Alex Salmond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They don't actually know any other form of opposition.

      Even when it makes no sense at all.

      Simply, to keep their hands on the oil/whisky money they would have said anything. Now that they have it, all bets are off.

      It's not the first time the UK has done this kind of thing.

      Perfidious is an adjective long associated with them.

      Labour for their part are content that the guaranteed 40 members from the bit they keep poor despite it being rich, are back on the table, and people like Dougie Alexander are working out which paintings to have in their grace and favour stately homes.

      They know the population will buy whatever they are fed.

      They don't seem to have caught up with the reality of 2014 at all...

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  4. trisNovember 12, 2014 10:38 pm
    Let's say naive, shall we Alex?

    Either way, its a devastating indictment upon the level of intelligence of our nation. Perhaps unparallelled elsewhere..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is. They were warned over and over that these people lie. They were told or reminded about Alex Douglas Home and Thatcher in 1979.

      But they believed a greasy lying spiv like Cameron and a known failure like Brown, saviour of the universe and ender of boom and bust... Perhaps worst of all, they believed No Student Fees Clegg...

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  5. It is getting more hilarious with every day and I am not going to even qualify my statement.

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    1. To be honest, I though about simply writing a title like "You couldn't make this up" and leaving it at that!

      Because you really couldn't make kit up.

      Farce!

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  6. The % of the 55% that voted No because of the FUD are probably feeling well pissed off at the moment and not a little foolish. However, there is a % of voters that voted No who would vote No regardless. They are British first, last and always and it doesn't matter how many lies are exposed.

    How do these % ages split? I'm not sure but the closeness of the referendum result means that not many of them need to change their views to reverse it. GE2015 and SE 2016 will prove VERY interesting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that's true.

      There are some that would still be proud to be British no matter what the UK did to them and to Scotland.

      And of course there are some in Scotland who benefit from the Tory type regimes. They may not be terribly patriotic but they are scared witless about a government that didn't turn a blind eye to say tax evasion or weird sexual appetites.

      There are people who would hate a government that would treat the poor with some respect, demand living wages, use rent controls...

      I've no idea what the spilt is.

      We already know that polling suggests that if the referendum were run again today 50%+ would vote yes. We would win.

      But I never really believe polls.

      No one knows what scare stories they will come out with before their elections in 2015. Vote SNP and let the Ukippers in... Vote SNP and the Queen will not purr any more...

      But yes, they will be interesting.

      Let's make them count for us.


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