PROJECT FEAR AND THE TORY LEADERSHIP BATTLE

As we've said before, Munguin's Republic hasn't really got an opinion on the current referendum. 

On balance, if pushed, we think that there would be comedic value in Boris as leader of the Conservative Party. There's a certain je ne sais quoi about the prime minister falling in a river, or being suspended from a high wire waving a rather too colourful flag.

And we reckon too, that there is a possibility a Boris government would hasten the end of the United kingdom, even more quickly than a David Cameron one would. Possibly starting in Northern Ireland and leaving the rest of us to follow.

But, as we say, without detailed economic evidence, or some arguments that have a measure of certainty (or even credibility), we honestly don't know who would make the better prime minister.

It's in a far off land of which we know precious little.

Most of the time, after the second week of the campaign when we were disgusted at the poverty of arguments, we've done our best to avoid reading about or listening to the claptrap from both candidates. 

The general impression has been that the two sides are competing for the position of Project Fear. At least in the Scottish referendum one side was putting forward a positive message.

However, today's pensions story caught our attention on Twitter.

According to Dodgy Dave, if the UK leaves the EU then pensions will be at risk. Yes, the Eton boy has succumbed to the kind of threats that Labour descended to when door knocking around Scotland back in 2014. If you vote to leave the UK, your pension in Scotland will disappear. Clearly it was nonsense, and even the repugnant DWP under IDS admitted it was fabrication, but it scared some older people into changing their minds. Scared them silly!

OK, he hasn't gone so far as to say that the pension will disappear, but he reckons that, if the UK leaves the EU, the triple lock  will be endangered because the country just won't have the money to pay the second  lowest pensions in the developed world. 

If it were true what would THAT say about our united kingdom, Dave? 

Something pretty shabby, we'd say

But, of course it is not true.

The EU has absolutely no say whatsoever in the pensions of UK citizens. We accept that if it did they would undoubtedly be higher. 

But then neighbouring countries outside the EU have HIGHER pensions. 

(Nor does it the EU dictate what benefits there should be for the sick, the disabled or the unemployed. Nor does it set taxation levels. The UK makes its mind up what pensioners are worth. Or rather how little it can get away with paying them.

But Dodgy Dave the Pig Man reckons that the economy will be so badly hit that cuts will have to be made.  This may or may not be true. I've not met anyone who knows one way or the other (although it is fair to say that in the period of change, as there will be when Scotland becomes independent, there will be a measure of uncertainly in financial markets).

Even accepting the possibility that there wouldn't be so much money around, at least for a while, it seems that Dave would choose to cut pensions for the elderly rather than say, cut the amount spent on nuclear weapons, rebuilding Westminster, embassies, royals, the house of lords, baubles for those and such as those, fighting wars all over the middle east, etc, etc. 

It wouldn't occur to him that clamping down on tax avoidance and evasion (well, of course it wouldn't) would be a better way to reduce spending in a potentially smaller economy?

We wonder if it turns out that without all the industrial and commercial regulations that the EU imposes, Britain does, as Bozo the Clown suggest, prosper outside the union, will pensions go up?

Aye right! I'll get my coat.

PROJECT FEAR AS SEEN BY A BROADCASTER WITHOUT A VESTED INTEREST

Cameron was so sincere there that he had to glance down at his notes to tell us how special the UK was. 

It is certainly true that, by lying about silly things like roaming charges for phones; the end of the postal system; that Doctor Who and Easterners would be a thing of the past; that you'd need to get a visa to see your "foreign" granny in Berwick, if you could get through the barbed wire border; or that we would need to redraw the Treaty of Vereeniging 1902 and 10 million others, they have made people dubious about everything that they say.

It would be ridiculous to imagine that independence will be seamless, but probably to the average person it will appear that way.

You'll still have an (EU) driving licence, although it will probably be issued in Aberdeen (if they let us within the city limits) or Inverness instead of Cardiff, and you'll still have to pay your road tax, although it will be to Edinburgh, not London, that the money will go. But you'll still do it through the bank, or at a post office... and yes, post offices will still exist. Because they manage this kind of thing in other little countries, and we may not be any brighter than the Icelanders or the Irish, but we are also no more stupid.

Afterthought:  I just read that the head of GKN, one of the UKs biggest companies, sways that he isn't in the least worried about Scottish Independence, but does go on to say that Cameron's in/out EU  referendum is causing great uncertainty.

Terrible when things you say come back to bite you on the backside, Dave, isn't it?

FOOD PRICE STORY PROVES TO BE YET MORE FEARMONGERING

Dear Old Niko reminded me last night in his post of the scare stories about food becoming more expensive in an independent Scotland. 

And I don't blame him for believing it, because it wasn't one of the Daily Mail howler headlines warning that Christmas celebrations will be banned in Scotland after independence (although there are some that wouldn't have a big issue with that!) or moronic MPs warning that all young people studying at English universities will become foreigners in 2026 (gotta admit Maggie will go down in history for that one...).

No. This came from no less an organ than the Financial Times.

It seemed to me from minute one that the story was ridiculous.

Because, while many things in this country do not operate in a free market… electricity, gas, telecoms, etc all seemed to be fixed… in general, the retail industry does seem to be pretty cut throat  and if you have the time, energy and transport, you can go round all four getting the cheapest deal on everything. Why would that change?

Of course getting past the ‘Sunesque’ opening paragraph in the FT: “Scottish consumers will pay more for food if they vote for independence in next year’s referendum because Britain’s big supermarket chains plan to raise their prices north of the border, senior executives have warned”, you find that senior executives did nothing of the sort.

The UBC masquerading as BBC, reported in a rare moment of honesty: “Neither Asda nor Morrison’s said they had any plans to raise prices in an independent Scotland”.  Meantime, Tesco and Sainsbury’s have distanced themselves from the report.”

The executives of the four large supermarkets reportedly told the FT that they currently absorbed the extra cost of doing business in Scotland into their overall costs.  I’m assuming they mean that they accept that trailing everything from their head office to Scotland costs them more distribution, but then that is true of the whole group of islands.

ASDA is based in Leeds; Morrison’s in Bradford. So presumably it costs it very little to distribute food in the North of England, but much more to Shetland or the Scilly Isles, Cornwall. Sainsbury in based in London and Tesco in the home counties of England, so different story there.

The truth is that the supermarkets have warned that if an independent Scottish government increased the cost of doing business, then they would have to look at the prices. However, as the only two parties that might form a government in Scotland are committed to lowering the cost of doing business (the SNP have indicated that they would lower corporation tax, and Labour while in power in the UK did so, with Gordon Brown promising to do it again as soon as he could), that is unlikely to happen. 

Business for Independent Scotland has an excellent article here for much more detail.

And what we have learned is that the once reputable Financial Times has sunk to the level of bending the news to suit its agenda. Fortunately their Scottish sales figures are laughably low (35% of the Paisley Daily Express and 20% of the Greenock Telegraph), not a lot of people will have been glued to the story.

If BT quoted it as fact, it says as much about them as it does about the FT?

SNAPS ON SUNDAY

Too busy, too posh, too thick? Nah, just too hated
Send Flipper instead.
Never mind the fact that we have a Secretary of State
who is supposed to be Scotland's man in the Cabinet.
Get the bloke who is an opposition backbencher in to do it.
That way when if all goes belly up, it's not our fault.

Chicken Dave: What was it he said, something about doing
everything that was in his power to keep Scotland in the union?
Did he mention any exceptions?

Absolutely, you don't. Not a bloody word you big posh girls' blouse.

Yellow Dave. Apparently Tories are to get free transport in Manchester this week.
Welfare state for rich Tories

Have you caught it yet?

Brilliant wee lad at the rally

The Ugly Face of Westminster

The Uglier Face of Westminster

Bloody Hell. Apologies in advance to John Brownlie

Free Transport for Brown too

This one is for Deano

Welfare state when it's not about Tories getting free transport

And then, just for a laugh:

True....

No wifi here, speak to each other! (For the Urchin)

Such an important part of the democracy...yeah right

There had to be one attractive image in the photos

And last, and absolutely least, here's Mr Pointless.
(Even if it should be North British Governors General)

SATURDAY SNAPS

Before we get on to the snaps, I'd like to draw your attention to a new publication by our own (our very own) Pa Broon. To raise more money for his Scout troop, Pa has written an account of  a short break on Arran, called quite appropriately, "On Arran". (Sample here).

If you enjoyed the "Great Glen Way", you'll like this too. I could read this guy's stuff all night. He never fails to make me laugh with his crisp dry humour and self deprecating style. It's only £2.03, and for a brilliant cause.

Dear Lynton...such an asset

...to cigarette companies

Nah...you must have it wrong. Alistair says its nearly finished... and he knows all about being nearly finished

Except you'd have Ed's irritating voice instead of Eton Boy's

Oh well...locust are nice deep fried...they say

Make up your mind Alistair. Hmmm "mind"

As we have always said

And that's not all you got away with, is it?

Generous George, everything' a bargain... not!

Ain't it true?

That explains a lot of the dodgy arithmetic

Westminster's priorities are...Westminster

You can't help wishing they would, as the Fench say "accorder leurs violins"

BE THERE...

...OR BE SQUARE!

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

She’s not really my kind of singer, but no one could deny, surely, that Susan Boyle has a wonderful voice. 

Be that as it may, I've never thought of her as a political or economic expert or intellectual giant, so I was a little surprised to see that the Project Fear is trumpeting her support all over today’s Sun.

Subo, as she has been nicknamed, has questioned the economic and political basis for independence.

“I strongly believe Scotland should remain part of Britain” she is reported to have told the Scottish Sun.

“I am a proud, patriotic Scot, passionate about my heritage and my country. But I am not a nationalist.

“We have still been able to retain our proud identity whilst being a part of Britain.

“I share many of the same concerns that other folk do with regards to independence.”

“Economically, the costs of change will be vast and money that should be directed into important areas like hospitals, schools and the vulnerable in society will be swallowed by bureaucracy.

“Many people are struggling to make ends meet — how will they cope if prices escalate because of this change?” 

“Then there’s the question of the military — what will become of the regiments?

“Another concern is there is nothing in place with regards to the EU, plus there is the question of our currency.

“We should remain a part of Great Britain and instead of wasting money on this change; we should put it into the areas that need it the most.”

The Sun goes on to say: SuBo’s stance is a huge boost for the Better Together bid.  No honestly...it does!

They quote a BT spokesman as saying: Scots have always had unlimited talent and being part of Britain helps unlock it. There is no better example of this than Susan Boyle.”

With respect, I doubt if there is one single person in Scotland who will be persuaded to take a particular political stance upon which their future and that of their kids and grandchildren, by what Susan Boyle thinks.

Most thinking people will probably doubt that she said any of these things at all. 

It's kind of BT to say that Scots have always had unlimited talent, but I wonder if he or she would like to explain what that means in real terms. 

Certainly, I can see that if Susan appeared on an English produced TV programme called "Britain's Got Talent", the union certainly helped her to have that talent recognised...but wait, didn't some Bulgarian group win this years talent competition? (I could be wrong: it is so not the kind of tv I would ever watch). And in any case, with all this "endless" talent that Scots have, could we not organise our own tv talent contests?

Susan Boyle has learning difficulties, albeit mild ones. She was used by the tv company, laughed at when she first appeared looking dowdy, and then raised to the rafters by them when the public heard her voice... Cowell's look of astonishment when she started to sing was, of course, fake, as were those of Ant and Dec and the rest of the panel. They knew perfectly well that they had a star. But they used her appearance and naivety for "good television". They even let her go on stage looking like a middle aged frump with a hairstyle form the 50s, so that they could later transform her into a reasonably attractive middle aged woman.

Later, when she didn't win, and suffered some sort of mental breakdown, she was used again by Gordon Brown sending a public message of sympathy.

Now, Ms Boyle may very well be a British Nationalist. That is her right,which we all respect, But I fear BT has used her in the hopes that there are people who will be persuaded of the intellectual argument for dependence by a middle aged woman who sings beautifully and who appears to be able to learn the lines that BT have fed her.

Shameful.

Addition: I've just read Rev Stu Campbell's piece on this. 

Along with him I'd beg anyone reading this not to tweet or FB any unpleasant comments. (I know most of you wouldn't think of if it, but there is a lot of traffic on here that I do know know.)

It almost undoubtedly wasn't Susan Boyle who said any of it. It would be the Sun, and of course BT are delighted that they did. 

It would surely hurt Susan Boyle to find out that there was any bad reaction to her, and BT would simply use it as a publicity victory about how nasty cyber nats upset her...

...Without , of course considering just how unkind it is to use people like SuBo.

COME ALONG AND FILL THE HILL.

Wasted on wars and unemployment while Norway invested in infrastructure, jobs and education

£1.9 billion; thats 6% +/- our total budget at the moment...and that would be extra.

Denmark joins Iceland in its acceptance of Scotland

Name me an actual FACT that they have used, if you disagree

I bet Cameron was thinking..."I wish I'd brought my union flag. Why does Salmond always outthink me?"

Pretty , not. The Brit "loyalists" of whom Brits everywhere should be ashamed. The YES campaign by comparison want to press their case with logic, not hatred.

Et cette affaire est reproduit dans d'autres régions de l'UE. Nous ne sommes pas seuls. Vive une Ecosse libre.

Useful answers for doubters. This time the truth, not from Project Fear

Just like the bedroom tax, Scots have opposed the privatisation of the Post Office, but of course no one gives a toss what we think, when there is money to be made for the Friends of the Tories and their lap dogs.

You should... no MUST...read the Rev Stu's take on this nonsense. Labour's policy is its usual half thought out  hair brained, moronic  fail.

This surge in English national awareness is a good thing. Clearly the devolution settlement was unfair from the point of view of "West Lothian". The English should  remember, though, that  THEY call the tune on anything that is not devolved, and until 1999, for nearly 300 years, on everything! However, when national identity gets out of the bag, it's hard to put it back, and this is a game changer.