US AND THEM: ALL IN IT TOGETHER

DON'T DO THAT, GEORGE

It always seemed to me that the current Conservative government largely comprised a bunch of over-privileged, upper middle class to lower upper class men from what the English somewhat weirdly call “public” school (as most of the public never get near them) and Oxbridge. After the relative egalitarianism of the previous 18-year spell of  Tory misrule, it was a return to the days of the old school tie.

In practical terms that meant that what you got was a bunch of incompetent Hooray Henrys, in post because of who they knew, rather than what they knew, and with absolutely no idea of what species populated the world outside of their own class (except for Nanny and Cook, the Butler and possibly the Head Gardener).

Scary, of course. But if these people had any saving grace it was that they were largely “gentlemen”. You know what I mean: “a chap’s word is A CHAP'S bond” dontcha know?

Well, that seems to have gone out the window.

A matter of days after the now infamous love bombing from the Olympic Park, which went disastrously wrong,  Gideon George Oliver Osborne (if they’d just transposed his two middle names, we could have called him Gogo), broke the terms of the Edinburgh agreement, which states [in more legal language] that the two governments agree to work together to co-operate with the free will of the Scottish population. He came to Scotland to tell us we couldn't hang on to the pound in an independent Scotland. I can't help but feel that it was a pretty silly thing to say.

It smacks of desperation.  It is pretty obviously designed to put the frighteners on Scots. It wouldn't be for the good of the UK economy or the Scottish economy, because, although our currency would be strong, we'd still have to do business with a UK whose currency wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. It appears to be a nasty move on Osborne's part, designed to scare, perhaps better described as bully boy (as opposed to Bullingdon Boy) tactics, which I suppose is what you get in “public school” playgrounds and “dorms” when a responsible member of staff isn't around to control the children.

Everyone knows that the pound is an internationally traded currency, and as such anyone can use it anywhere, with or without the agreement of the Bank of England, so technically they can't even say we can't use it. We can. We just can't use it with their blessing.

But it doesn't seem to be a threat that was ever designed to be carried out. It would damage the English and RUK economies. Almost certainly the pound would tumble without Scottish exports. Companies operating across the border would be lumbered with administration costs of working in two currencies (and although that works between Eire and Ulster, there are costs involved).

However, Osborne says the opposite to all this, and in what we know already has been agreed with Ed Balls and Osborne's glove puppet, Alexander, he adds: "I don't think any other chancellor of the exchequer would come to a different view."

This, in itself, is odd, given that ex-chancellor, Alistair Darling, the Tory’s stooge in Better Together, famously said exactly the opposite! Not to mention the SOS for Scotland and one of the No campaigns academic advisors!

My purpose in writing this is not to go into detailed analysis of the situation, which is, in any case, beyond my economic understanding. That is more expertly covered here by Iain MacWhirter, and the options open to our government here by James Kelly. I felt however, obliged to comment upon to what I see as some sort of change in their strategy. An almost desperate turning nasty, or nastier, of the campaign, precipitated, I have no doubt, by private polling showing that they are losing the argument.

It could, of course, work. There will be those who will be frightened at the idea of starting out with another currency. Of course people will worry about pensions paid in pounds by English pension companies (or the RUK government on contributions paid over a lifetime to London). There will be people who will swallow the “border posts” stories. Barbed wire posts set up to ensure that no pounds escape from England into the badlands of the Scottish borders, no matter how many pictures you put up of postless borders between other countries.

Mind you, if this were the plan, it might have been better to make the announcement a little closer to the time, when the truth would have more difficulty in getting out. 

But I suspect many will see it for what it is: a dirty tricks campaign designed to coerce Scotland to stay with the Uk and let the smug Tory boys continue to enjoy the benefits of Scottish exports to prop up their 19^th century dreams of importance and world statesmanship, and to not suffer the indignity of being the government that lost Scotland.

Those who take the trouble to read a little more than the tabloid stories of the “Hammer blow for SNP” type, will perhaps note what the Adam Smith Institute says.

No one likes a bully, Gideon George… and, I suspect, this may well be another blunder in a long list of blunders that will backfire badly. It can hardly be doubted that, if the referendum is to be won by lies, deceptions and tricks, it will not lead to a happy nor a permanent settlement of the matter. And it won't win you international respect.

Perhaps he should have listened to Joyce Grenfell “Don’t do that, George", which I add here for your entertainment.

SO, WHAT ARE YOU SAYING JOHANN? ARE YOU WITH US?

Oh, and would you like to tell us a bit about what has been going on in YOUR area of responsibility? Falkirk. Because, it seems to be stinking, and if you won't tell us the truth, we are bound to assume the worst.

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If you have the time, can I suggest you read this article? 

It appears that in what they now describe as an error, and I would imagine it is, Scotland was, after the 90's referendum on devolution, handed the rights to Antarctica, or the UK's share in it.

As they point out, with the global warming (for whatever reason), Antarctica is melting apace, and something that was once of only scientific interest is now very much of economic interest, so not surprisingly, they want to take it back.

Not unreasonably, the Scottish government is not minded, on the eve of independence, to hand back control of the territory to rUK. After all, it could be a bargaining chip.

Our name's McPingu! And we say McYES to Scotland

Of course, it has to be accepted that the transfer was done in error. (Imagine, the Great British state making that massive an error!), but, let's be honest, if it were the other way round, what would they do?

Of course they have put the reversal into the Scotland Bill, but, of course the Scottish government has to pass the Scotland Bill before it can be forced upon us, as is the case with any legislation involving devolution in the Celtic nations.

I think we should be very careful with this Bill, which gives some very limited tax raising powers (offset by Barnet), to the Scottish Government. No government has ever used the uselessly limited tax raising power it already has

We should be sure that Antarctica is not the only thing they are taking back.

Maybe the penguins should get a referendum?

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Surely only an Eton/Oxford/Bullingdon boy could stand in the Guildhall, resting his speech on a gold lectern, surrounded by chairs, and other fixtures of gold, having partaken of a dinner, the cost of which would keep an UK OAP for a month, and talk to us with a straight face about austerity being the future... and all without the slightest sense of irony. 

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The opposition in the London parliament has opted for a debate to be held today, on Welfare Cuts and the Bedroom tax. I applaud them for that. But I note that, suddenly, Mr Duncan Smith has discovered that he has a prior engagement in Paris for a meeting about youth unemployment. Now youth unemployment is a very important subject, and one that is close to my heart.

However, given the almighty cock up that Mr Duncan Smith has made of all his Welfare Reforms and the massive amount of OUR money he has wasted, wouldn't you agree that he should be in parliament to try to defend them, instead of leaving a junior minister to take the can? Surely a conference on youth unemployment could have been attended by one of his staff, or a lowly lords minister?

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Here's a proper socialist, and with a brilliant wit.
He never misses a day at work, because when he was a miner he would have lost money for being absent.
I don't have heroes, but this is a man I respect hugely.

RESPECT? THEY THINK IT'S THEIRS BY RIGHT...AND THEY ARE WRONG

As I've listened to the coverage of the English riots, I've been struck by one thing above all else. The "authorities" just don't get it. Just, in fact like they didn't get it when the politicians were caught with their greedy snouts in the trough.

I've listen to people like Johnson and Cameron blustering and posturing about dreadful thugs, rule of law, authority, retribution, blah, blah... and not one single word about WHY. I've listened to angry police chiefs, found wanting yet again, blaming the whole thing on the miscreants, but never once asking WHY.

I've spent 20 years working with unemployed people, in Scotland, watching them become increasingly marginalised by society. Twenty years watching as factories closed down, as retail jobs increasingly were taken by students (who have to find over £100 a week in rent, even in Scotland, where there are no fees to be found), as fewer and fewer opportunities presented themselves for those who had no chance of university, and the number of college places were dwarfed by applications, and as people realised that unemployment, part time work, poverty and deprivation were their future.

Of course the politicians have to say what they are saying. It's what the public wants to hear. People who live in the riot torn areas are frightened and angry. They fear for their homes, businesses, their children. They fear for their way of life. So Cameron and Johnson must appear outraged; and the police have to appear confident that they can beat this. It suits all of them to believe that it's just thuggishness.

But we aren't going to make it go away by ignoring the reasons for it.

As Quiet Man said in a comment the other day, there is a level of resentment building up in England. And if the politicians and the police can't see it and do something about it, then whatever steps they take to damp this down can be only temporary measures, for as sure as eggs is eggs, it will come back.

Time and time commentators on the left have warned of the increasing gap between rich and poor that is so evident in the whole of the UK (one of the worst in the developed world), and most specifically in London where, because of easy going tax regime, live some of the richest people in the world, cheek by jowl with grinding poverty and neglect. I've seen it.

A short walk from a friend's luxurious apartment in Docklands, complete with gym and rooftop cocktail bar, lie some of the most disgusting dilapidated streets I've ever seen, where opulence is replaced by hopelessness and despair, drugs and booze.

The trouble is they have no respect for authority, say people, shaking their heads. But, as I said here, why would they have respect for a bunch of thieves and liars who care for nothing but themselves. “Authority” has to earn respect. If it’s not earned, it's not proper respect; it's fear.

And no, it's not just trendy lefty Tris that feels like this. Much more venerable voices, and far better minds, are saying the same thing.

As I listened this morning, to the prime minister and mayor politicking, I recalled that they were both members of the Bullingdon Club, an Oxford dining club for posh boys who's degrees were in the bag, so hard work was optional. Their objective on a dining evening was to dress in a Savile Row tailored outfit, go to a restaurant, get drunk and trash the joint. And in Boris's autobiography he boasts that his crowd used to get drunk and steal from Fortnums. Remind you of anything?

No, it's not on the same scale and of course the rich boys' daddies picked up the tab for the trashed restaurants (boys will be boys, doncha know), but nonetheless these are England's leaders...

Respect? Pfffffffff. I've far more respect for the slugs that are eating my garden. At least they do an honest day's work.