OO JIM, IT SEEMS THE ORDER DOES HAVE FRIENDS IN BETTER TOGETHER

Only a few weeks ago Jim Murphy said that Better Together or No Thanks was an amalgam of Tory, Labour and Liberals.

He refuted any connections with Ukip and BNP Fascists or the extreme Protestant group, The Orange Order. That they are campaigning on the same side in the matter of the referendum doesn’t imply that they share the same policies on everything. Fair enough. I doubt that the Greens and the Scottish Socialists agree on everything or that Labour for Independence and the SNP can always see eye to eye.

But Murphy made it pretty plain that these organisations could not campaign under the Better Together umbrella. 

Mr Cockburn

Unfortunately of course, as we know, Ukip in the form of MEP David Cockburn was spotted at a BT stall chewing the fat with one Danny Alexander. And of course the very fact that Mr Cockburn is in Scotland instead of his home in London, suggests that he’s on the job of keeping Scottish oil British.

Of course Mr Cockburn’s party is entitled to its unionist views, along with its other right wing opinions, but just because I find them repulsive doesn't mean that they aren't entitled to them, and to canvas for them. But isn't this a bit embarrassing for at least Labour and the Liberals?

 

Orange march in Glasgow

Now the Herald has revealed that there are people in the Labour movement who are supporters of the Orange Order, which is staging a march in Edinburgh this Saturday in support of the union.

Murphy has said that the march should not go ahead, although, surely, in a democracy, people have the right to express their views, political and religious, even if they are not to our taste so trying to ban the march is a little anti-democratic.

It is true, of course, that in the past the OO marches have attracted violence and that on the last rally for the union, a 12 year old girl was glassed in the face. But one violent incident cannot be allowed to stop people expressing their opinion so, just like any other political group, the OO can march for their cause.

As it will be an embarrassment for Better Together, it seems unlikely that the unionist press, including the BBC, will cover the rally. However I am sure that there will be plenty of coverage on the net. 

Violence is a hallmark of OO marches

Interestingly,  the Herald carries the story that despite Murphy’s dislike of the OO (he is after all, a Catholic), there are others within the Labour movement who welcome the Order’s involvement. Of course no Labour names are mentioned, but we might draw from this that there is some support in the Labour movement in Scotland for the Orangemen.

Here's an excerpt form the Herald's piece:

Mr [Sammy] Wilson, [of the DUP] said: "In Scotland your biggest pro-Union party is Labour, some of whom are very socialistic indeed. You could say there's no affiliation politically with our brand of unionism. But the lowest common denominator is we appreciate we're better off in the Union. 

One Labour MP told me 'Sammy, I've never been so glad to see the (Orange) Lodge on the street'."

A Labour source said some within Better Together could seethe parade as valuable in mobilising No - those in areas where the organisation is strong and who do not routinely vote.

I hope that Yes people will avoid the march on Saturday; that the whole thing will pass off peacefully, with no violence, and that the only publicity will be reported on the net of a group of elderly "apprentices" dressed strangely singing their sectarian songs, waving their union flags and making a bit of an ass of themselves, while the grown ups get on with political canvassing on whatever side.

SNAPS ON SUNDAY

See, that's how easy it is to change things.

Thanks Denmark, we will look forward to that.

Yessing in Dundee.

You can tell a lot about people by the company they keep!

The Lemon Disorder...

Now they look like such nice people ...
Britain First?

And so law abiding.

The Klu Klux Klan.... wow

Has anyone mentioned the royals. Prince Philip is Greek
Does that mean the next king will be a ....foreigner?

Awwwww...paeur wee sconnie.

That's something to look forward to.
Wonder how big the food banks will be then.

So, it's iceberg either way...

Proud boast, Tubby...

Oh wait... he's the Middle East Peace Envoy... How could that be?

Now they may not be traitors to their country, but to the people
who voted for them, they most certainly are.

Oh dear...any comment Alistair? 

Yes... it will Alaan... You ever thought of politics for a career?

Thank heavens someone has pointed that out.
We people  to whom it was supposed to trickle down
have know that for some while.

Absolutely right. How dare they do this?

Oh dear... what happens if Russian warship looms...? Oh yeah, they send someone
from England and it only takes a couple of days to get here.

To see yourself as others see you...

Aye, No thanks indeed...

If it ain't broke....

How quickly people become Scottish when they haven't quite made it.

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING...OR NOT

Well, it's been a funny old weekend. We've been told by the Herald that Dave the Spiv Cameron has appealed to Vlad the Impaler Putin, for help to deal with Salmond. When asked for a comment of course Downing Street demurred.

Then we read that Scotland on Sunday (yes, it does still exist) had managed to get Downing Street to deny that they had contacted the Kremlin, and say that nor would they in the future.

Rumour has it that the Eton Spiv has entered into some agreement with the Spanish prime minister, who of course also faces losing face and a loss of income from its richest nation. This, by the way, would be the same Spanish prime minister who was threatened by the imperial power of a British gunboat if he didn't mind his Ps and Qs over Gibraltar.

I'd be worried if I were Gibraltarian. Even spoilt boys who went to Eton probably realise somewhere deep inside that they can't always have everything that they want, and that compromise occasionally has to be made. I wonder if our second hand arms salesman has traded one thing for another with their sleazebag government. Heaven knows Mariano Rajoy, and Spain in general, could do with some good news, what with corruption hanging over the government and one of the infantas of the king, not to mention the king himself at his lowest ever popularity being boo'd in the streets!

Dave might not want to lose Gibraltar, but how much more embarrassing (and expensive) would it be to lose Scotland (and that's all he'll be caring about)?

Then, of course, there has been the revelation that despite us being told over and over that British troops did nothing wrong, there may be senior ministers of the Labour government prosecuted for atrocities carried out by Britain in Iraq. Geoff (Buff) Hoon and Adam Ingram together with General Peter Wall are accused that they "knew or should have known" that men under their command were committing war crimes. Based on the theory that "the buck stops here", should not Tony Blair and the Commander in Chief not also be in the dock?

Don't worry though, Labour and the Tories may be deadly enemies, but when push comes to shove, crooks usually stick together. Wee Willie Hague is fighting this with all his erm, might!

No more foreign aid till Nick Griffin's debts are paid off

We have also seen posters for the Better Together's friends, the BNP, saying that there should be no more foreign aid while pensioners are cold and hungry in UKokland. It is commendable that a right wing party has even noticed that the old and the poor are being maltreated, but isn't it typical that they would do other poor people out of comfort, before they would demand that the bankers pay back the money they stole; the house of lords be abandoned, and the royals made to live in just ONE massive palace in London instead of 5? Yet more proof that the Tories control Better Together!

And dear old Gordon Brown, proving that that doctorate he got on the Labour Party history, was, erm patchy, says that after a No vote, the Health Service should be devolved to Scotland.  Hmmm. The health service is one of the few things that has never NOT been devolved Gordo. Try to keep up. (That's the problem with only occasionally visiting the UK; you tend to forget how things actually work here).

Oh dear

Of course there was, earlier in the week, that hilarious story about our Spiv turning out for a photo opportunity with someone who had benefited from the Help to Buy scheme. There was Dave, we imagined, pretending to be all warm and friendly with this poor working mother in her joy at finally being able to get her foot on the housing ladder thanks to the beneficence of the British Conservatives. Pity that it turned out that Dave's struggling single mum was in fact a BMW driving, estate agent! Who employs their spin doctors?

If that wasn't enough, it was revealed that Dave gave his own hairdresser an MBE (the award that they give to cleaners, according to the late Michael Winner, who was offered and refuse it as being beneath his dignity). Still no such immodesty for Dave's £90 a snip barber.

The funniest tweet I've seen all week was this corker from someone who may be slightly delusional, or at least in denial about the debates that Ms Sturgeon has been involved in, but also seems to have a lamentable lack of knowledge about Scottish and British history.

I thought you might like some of these photos too:

Quick, call Vlad; get that submarine back...

UKOK alright!

You could try the Chinese; they are very close to Eck...
 trouble is they don't like you

Too late: Eck got there first as well...

Look what happens when you can't give an MBE to your hairdresser...

Yep... like a lot of things you never thought would happen...

IDI AMIN LESS OFFENSIVE THAN NICK GRIFFIN?

Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, has been invited to attend a Buckingham Palace garden party hosted by the Queen. Each year British MEPs are entitled to two tickets to one of the Queen’s three garden parties at Buckingham Palace. A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace confirmed that an invitation had been issued this year. She said that Mr Griffin was eligible to nominate himself and the Palace would not discriminate against democratically elected representatives.

His possible attendance plunges the palace into fresh controversy over its attitude to Griffin, who has been convicted of distributing material likely to incite racial hatred.

Mr Griffin is invited is in his capacity as a North West of England MEP and has provoked concern that other MEPs would boycott the event. Other MEPs and opponents of the far-right party warned that Mr Griffin’s invitation “utterly compromised” the Queen and risked politicising the annual event.

Claude Moraes, a Labour MEP for London, said that the move “deeply politicises and embarrasses the Queen”. “She has been forced into an extremely difficult situation. I would expect some people to boycott the party. If people knew about this it would clearly spoil the occasion for a lot of them. “It has utterly compromised the Queen and she is made to feel that she has to make a political decision.”

Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP who trounced Mr Griffin in his bid for the seat of Barking and Dagenham, said: “It sickens me that Nick Griffin uses his elected position to gain access to the Royal garden party.”

How terrible that her Majesty should be forced meet a person elected by some her subjects. I am not a supporter of the BNP but let’s review some of the people the Queen has met in the past: Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin, The Shah of Persia and Nicolae Ceausescu. None of them was elected and they had all committed far worse crimes than incitement to racial hatred. So why did she meet them? It must have been politically motivated and she was told to by the PM/Government at the time because it was politically expedient.

Nick Griffin may be a revolting character but he was elected by the people. If in these times of Dunkirk spirit and us all tightening our belts, we can still afford to have garden parties then it is HMs job to invite MEPs and what is more it is their job to go. But the best solution of all would be to save the money and not have garden parties state dinners banquets etc etc etc. Maybe if as David Cameron says its going to change the country for ever we can’t afford the Queen!

THIS IS WHAT NICK GRIFFIN WAS TRYING NOT TO SAY

I’ve just watched a video from Youtube as featured on Scunnert Nation.
I think everyone should have a look. It’s what Mr Griffin was trying not to let us know when he attempted to appear like a reasonable and sensible politician (?!?) on his Question Time appearance.

The video is of Wembley High Street. The commentator a BNP member from South Wales, talking about how it is no longer his country, because there are a lot of Asian people walking about on the street. A good deal of the footage concentrates on an area right outside a mosque.

Apart from the colour of the people’s skin, what else do we see in the video? Well we see a lot of signs up warning you that the road has no markings and we see shops and bus stops and all the other stuff you’d expect to see in a busy part of the English capital.

What do we not see? Well loads of things obviously, but what I particularly noticed was that there was no one fighting, no one drunk, no one begging and no one vomiting in the gutter.

It just seemed like a normal, decent, not terribly unpleasant shopping area with lots of little shops.

The commentary, for the first part in English, is about how it’s not “our” country any more. (That’s not something I feel in particular because, in my view, it was never my country.) The second part, when our intrepid reporter gets out of the car is delivered in Welsh (with subtitles). Clearly he’s not so intrepid that he wants to make blatant racist remarks in English surrounded by people who can understand him. (Yes, that’s right, they may think that the immigrants don’t speak English, but they are not prepared to put it to the test.)

Now, the BNP may have some reasonable points to make about the failure of immigration policies of the London government, but when, as here, the commentary sinks to the level of talking about people going out in their pyjamas, the other points that they make become tainted with the ignorance that that kind of comment displays.

I urge you to go to Scunnert’s blog and watch the video.


PS. Our commentator makes several remarks about the iconic status of Wembley, and he notes that it is the home of British football. He maybe hasn’t heard of English Football, Scottish Football or even Welsh Football. Strange that. Another piece of crass ignorance!