DIDN'T SHE DO WELL....?

Mrs Thatcher gave us several lectures on bringing up children, so I was intrigued to see what kind of a job she made of bringing up her dearly beloved son for whom nothing (including the SAS being sent out to search for him when he got himself lost) was too much trouble. This from Wikipedia

******

Having taken various short-term jobs he [Mark] moved to Hong Kong, where he built up a network of business connections, particularly in the Middle East and in motor racing. In 1977 he set up Mark Thatcher Racing which ran into financial difficulties.

During the mid- to late 1980s concerns were frequently expressed in relation to his business affairs. In 1984 his mother faced questions in the House of Commons in relation to his involvement in representing a British company Cementation, a subsidiary of Trafalgar House to build a university in Oman at a time when the prime minister was urging Omanis to buy British.

He has denied claims made that in 1985 he received millions of pounds in commission in relation to the £45 billion Al-Yamamah arms deal, a controversial arms sale by BAE to Saudi Arabia which was possibly the largest arms sale ever; he has not disputed that a house in Belgravia , London was purchased for him for £1 million in 1987 by an offshore company controlled by Wafic Said, a middleman in the deal. In 1986 his mother faced questions in the House of Commons again over her son's relationship with the Sultan of Brunei.

The government's PR advisers suggested that it would be best if he left the country. Alan Clark mentions the 'Mark problem' in his published diaries. He moved to Texas, where he worked for David Wickins of Lotus Cars and British Car Auctions and met his first wife in 1984. In the USA he started Monteagle Marketing which was a profitable company selling whisky and clothing. During this period he spent time in Switzerland as a tax exile until he was forced to leave when the Swiss authorities started to question his residency qualifications. He helped arrange the valuable contract for his mother's Downing Street memoirs in the 1990s. A security alarm business he ran in the USA failed and in 1996 he was prosecuted for tax evasion, at which point he moved to Constantia, South Africa with his wife and their two children.

In 1998 South African authorities investigated a company owned by Thatcher for allegedly running loan shark operations. According to the Star of Johannesburg', the company had offered unofficial small loans to hundreds of police officers, military personnel and civil servants and then pursued them with debt collectors. He claimed that officers had defrauded him and charges were dropped.It was also suggested that he had profited from contracts to supply aviation fuel in various African countries. In 2004 he was arrested in South Africa in connection with the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt(see below), and pleaded guilty in January 2005 to breaking anti-mercenary legislation. At this time the Sunday Times suggested that he had personal assets of £60 million, most of which was in offshore accounts. (Mr Osborne may be able to mention this to him at the wake.)

Following his guilty plea he left South Africa and lived in Monaco for one year on a temporary residency permit; this was not renewed as Sir Mark was said to be on a list of 'undesirables' who would not be allowed further residency and he was required to leave by mid-2006. His wife and children moved back to the USA, but he was refused a entry visa due to his conviction in South Africa. He was refused residency in Switzerland and settled in Gibraltar where he married his second wife in 2008. In 2013 he was reported to spend most of his time in Marbella. He was in Barbados when he received news of his mother's death.

ASK JOHANN

Here is an opportunity to put your questions to Johann Lamont!

There is a endless number of questions needing to be answered. Everyone knows that manifestos are a mixture of intentions and aspirations  but Labour's all seem to be aspirations, and the intentions seem to be the actual opposite. For example:

ON TUITION FEES

What the Labour 2011 Election Manifesto upon which Johann Lamont was elected said:

“No up-front or back-end tuition fees for Scottish students” [Page 26]

“With Scottish Labour, there will be no upfront or back-end tuition fees for Scottish university students. We will ensure Scottish students are not disadvantaged against fee-paying students from other regions and countries when applying for courses and that the number of graduates is maintained.”[Page 31-32]

What Johann Lamont said in her Cuts Commission speech:

“What is progressive about judges and lawyers earning more than 100,000 a year, not paying tuition fees for their child to follow in their footsteps at university…?”

“I know that there are families, working hard, on above average incomes who feel they pay enough and are attracted by policies like … free tuition fees...”

“What price free tuition fees when your neighbour can’t get a place at college, or when university standards are now lower than when they went to uni?”

ON CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL

What the Labour 2011 Election Manifesto upon which Johann Lamont was elected said:

“We will sustain the concessionary travel scheme and better link it to community transport initiatives. We are also committed to ensuring the needs of older carers of adult children with disabilities are properly identified and addressed.”[Page 64]

“We will appoint a Disabilities Champion to drive this agenda forward. We will improve mobility and access for people with disabilities, including extending concessionary travel to those on the lower rate of the Disability Living Allowance...” [Page 67]

What Labour’s 2010 Election Manifesto – upon which they won the election in Scotland - said:

“We will protect the help currently provided to pensioners, including … concessionary public transport fares...”[Page 44-45]

What Johann Lamont said in her Cuts Commission speech:

“For example, spending on concessionary fares increased by 19% over the last four years, while spending on enterprise and tourism has fallen dramatically by 33%.”

ON COUNCIL TAX FREEZE

What the Labour 2011 Election Manifesto upon which Johann Lamont was elected said:

“Freeze council tax for the next two years”[Page 60]

“Scottish Labour will freeze the council tax for the next two years, ensuring that the freeze is sustainably funded. But whilst we deliver this support, we know that local authorities cannot afford for a single penny to be wasted.” [Page 69]

What it also said on Council Tax breaks:

"We will also take steps to ensure that all students – including those undertaking articulation courses – are exempt from paying council tax for the full period of their studies." [Page 32]

“We will consider the role council tax incentives could have in achieving this and will introduce a series of gradually phased in bans on recyclable and biodegradable material going to landfill.” [Page 77]

What Glasgow Labour’s 2012 Election Manifesto– upon which Johann Lamont campaigned on and in which she is pictured -said:

“100 things we will do - Number 1 - “Labour was the first council in Scotland to introduce a council tax freeze, and will continue to freeze council tax for the next 5 years.” [Pg 6]

What Johann Lamont said in her Cuts Commission speech:

“I know that there are families, working hard, on above average incomes who feel they pay enough and are attracted by policies like … the council tax freeze.”

“A council tax freeze, for example, costs. It’s cheap to say, but expensive to fund. And if you don't fund it properly, and John Swinney isn't funding this one, I'll tell you what it costs. In North Lanarkshire alone, another 1400 jobs at risk.”

Note: as their policy was a two year freeze the freeze would still apply to North Lanarkshire council.

“Well, I have to ask what is progressive about a banker on more than 100,000 a year benefitting more than a customer on average incomes from the council tax freeze?”

“We need to be honest that the funding of local government finance is in need of reform; we need to move beyond the“sticking-plaster” policy of a council tax freeze...”

“What price the council tax freeze, when your parents care is cut, and your child’s teachers cannot give them the materials they need because there is a ban on something as simple as photocopying.”

ON PRESCRIPTION CHARGES

What the Labour 2011 Election Manifesto upon which Johann Lamont was elected said:

“With Scottish Labour, there will be no reintroduction of charges for prescriptions in Scotland.” [Page 42]

What Labour’s 2010 Election Manifesto – upon which they won the election in Scotland - said:

“We will protect the help currently provided to pensioners, including … free eye tests and prescriptions.”[Page 44-45]

What Johann Lamont said in her Cuts Commission speech:

“What is progressive about a chief executive on more than 100,000 a year not paying for his prescriptions, while a pensioner needing care has their care help cut?”

“I know that there are families, working hard, on above average incomes who feel they pay enough and are attracted by policies like free prescriptions…”

“What price your free prescription when an elderly relative spends five hours on a trolley in A&E, or the life-saving drug they need isn't available at all?”

ON FREE PERSONAL CARE FOR THE ELDERLY

What the Labour 2011 Election Manifesto upon which Johann Lamont was elected said:

“Whilst retaining our commitment to free personal care, Scottish Labour will deliver a new National Care Service to provide the right care in the right setting.” [Page 40]

What Labour’s 2010 Election Manifesto – upon which they won the election in Scotland - said:

“Maintaining free personal care.” [Page 42/73]

“In Scotland we led the way, extending the frontiers of the welfare state with the introduction of free personal care. Our ambition to do the right thing by older people was right.”[Page 45]

What Johann Lamont said in her Cuts Commission speech:

“Lord Sutherland, the architect of free personal care, tells us: “Unless there is a marked increase in the share of taxation in the Scottish economy, quite significant cuts will have to be found in other programmes to continue to fund the present structure of care.”

“This is the stark choice that Scotland has to face up to: if we wish to continue some policies as they are then they come with a cost which has to be paid for either through increased taxation, direct charges or cuts elsewhere. If we do not confront these hard decisions soon, then the choice will be taken from us when we will be left with little options.”

ON  POLICE OFFICERS

What the Labour 2011 Election Manifesto upon which Johann Lamont was elected said:

“We will protect frontline police jobs and police numbers, with a community policing team in your area” [Page 48]

What Labour’s 2010 Election Manifesto – upon which they won the election in Scotland - said:

“Provide the funding to maintain police numbers...”[Page 73]

“We are committed to giving the police the resources to maintain the numbers they have on the streets, with funding assured for the next three years.” [Page 35]

What Glasgow Labour’s 2012 Election Manifesto– upon which Johann Lamont campaigned on and in which she is pictured -said:

“Labour will continue to fund 100 additional police officers working in neighbourhoods across the city.” [Page 7]

What Johann Lamont said in her Cuts Commission speech:

“How do we move beyond the “numbers game” on targets. We need to be honest that the target of 1,000 additional “bobbies on the beat” is not the best use of police resources when a number of them are filling back office jobs which have been cut.”

SNAPS ON SUNDAY

It's not a question of personalities. It's unlikely that either of them will be in the job for ever, isn't it?

We're pretty much saying no. It's not for us; it's for you!

You bet he is

Exactly. Then how are you going to keep the rich satisfied? Shoot the poor?

Hard one, huh, Dave?

They're real people, Dave. Not like you, of course, but real nonetheless

And Labour's no better. What a charlatan

Scots can work together. It's not about the SNP ...

...or Alex Salmond

As for the funeral. It's a farce. What we are saying is...

Never, never, never

These are Tory values

And yet...what did she actually achieve?

And wasn't she a two faced bitch?

So  no more Thatcher; no more Cameron

I wouldn't bet my pension on it Dave.

OK... let's make it happen.

Seen in Belfast: Rust In Peace, Iron Lady!

(As always, click on image to enlarge)

THE GREAT GLEN WAY

We have a published author in our midst.

Some months ago Pa Broon's blog Fazzledown featured the story of his walk with a group of Scouts along the Great Glen. I know that some of the regular readers of this blog read the story. I certainly did, and enjoyed it immensely.

Pa, who is a Scout leader, and has been involved with scouting for over 20 years,  tells the  story in an really engaging way recounting the joys and travails of the trip  in Scotland's unpredictable weather... and when the under canvas is out of the question because of the aforementioned weather, the joys, or otherwise, of youth hostelling.

Pa says he enjoys writing: "... its a good feeling to concoct  a sentence or paragraph which is economic with words yet concise in its message, I mean I hardly ever manage to do it, but still; I try." ...Self deprecating as ever! He actually does manage to do it a lot amount of the time. When I was reading it I could feel the cold and the rain, and smell the youth hostel! But I also laughed a lot, and could see the scenery in my mind's eye. Most of all, I kinda wished I'd been there!

Anyways, he's expanded the story now and published it as an ebook, available on Smashwords or Kindle. It's ridiculously cheap for a good and entertaining read, and on top of that, all the money goes to his Scouts' group. So it's win win. You get a good read; his group gets some of your money.

Of course, this might not be your cup of tea for reading matter. If so maybe you'd at least consider publicising the book on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, MySpace, or whatever other social media you use.

Merci d'avance!

BIG BROTHER AT TESCO... AND WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT JONG UN?

According to someofus.com, Tesco is forcing its warehouse workers and drivers to wear electronic armbands that can monitor how hard they're working. People can be punished if they don't meet strict targets.

A former Tesco worker says the armbands are used to time every task. If an employee doesn’t work fast enough, they get a bad score and can be hauled in front of management. 

Tesco admits it is using electronic armbands on warehouse workers and drivers but claims this is just to cut down on paperwork. But the real story is that these armbands are like Big Brother in the workplace, watching every move a person makes.

Tesco isn't known for doing business ethically or treating people well. But is this going too far?

If you think it is wrong, you might like to sign the petition here.

*****

I thought this was quite amusing...

*****

AMONG ALL THE DRIBBLING MORONIC CREEPING THIS AFTERNOON, GLENDA JACKSON LAID IT OUT AS IT WAS

NEMO ME IMPUNE LACESSIT

Absolutely no reason for posting this, except that I couldn't bear the picture of mrs Thatcher on the blog every time I opened it. Anyway, it's a beauty of a thistle.

THATCHER 1925-2013

OK, let's get the sensibilities out of the way first.

If you had only nice things to say about someone you knew personally when they were alive, it is not wrong but probably it is unpleasant to say nasty things about them when they are dead, presumably because they can't respond.

As I didn't know Mrs Thatcher personally and I rarely said anything nice about her when she was alive, I see no particular reason for doing so now that she is dead. 

What do I feel? Well, nothing. I wasn't even going to write anything about her until Panda Paws indicated that she hoped I would.

Mrs Thatcher was a divisive character one of the most divisive I can think of. Although it's fair to say that a poll in 2011 (above), showed that more people felt she had been good for Britain than thought she had been bad.

That she changed Britain there is no doubt. That it needed some change at the time, there is also no doubt. But in my opinion her change was all wrong. And perhaps in a way, this poll illustrates at least one reason why Scotland should be an independent nation. I cannot recall ever, not once, hearing anyone in Scotland say that they were a fan. Ruth Davidson, said that it was time to forget Thatcher...so presumably even she wasn't much of a fan. Thatcher may have been relatively popular in England; she was largely hated here. 

And although now she's gone, as at 87 she might reasonably expect to be, her evil lingers on in the form of Blair, Brown, Lamont, Duncan-Smith, Cameron, Hague, Fox... and far too many more to mention...including the odious Osborne. It is unlikely that this government could have done what it has done without the start that she made.

She privatized ruthlessly. Everyone could and should own shares in the utilities and in much more. But she must have known that little people would buy shares and make a quick profit by selling them to the big boys, who would then make a profit by selling them off to even bigger boys, sometimes her husband's friends, sometimes from America or China, which is why water, gas and electricity is so expensive. She sold off council housing, without a thought as to what might happen if the housing bubble burst...precipitating the disastrous affordable housing shortage of today. 

And what did she do with the money? Any ideas?

She certainly had the most repulsive friends. Pinochet, Sadam Hussein (until she went to war with him), President Suharto of Indonesia. She would have no truck with the hope and vision that people foresaw in Nelson Mandela. He was a terrorist. No more. 

She shut down industries, closed down towns, ruined people's lives, and threw whole communities on the scrap heap. For someone who was as clever as she clearly was, it was strange that she thought that she could replace mines, factories, mills and foundries with call centres. In doing it she destroyed a great manufacturing base with heavy and light engineering skills equalled only by those of Germany (which had the good sense to retain its industry) and she wrote off a generation of young people.

She insisted that the only way to progress was to become a low wage economy, but with high rewards for the best managers. Heaven knows that went wrong on both sides!

She favoured an economy based on service industries: finance, insurance  banking. And that wasn't the best idea, was it?

She encouraged greed. Loadsamoney was more than a comedy character; it was what 1980s yuppies were all about. Reaganomics cut and pasted from America, with no thought to whether it was suitable or not for Britain. 

She revived hereditary titles to give her husband a Baronetcy so that her beloved Mark, the arms dealer and revolution funder, as he would never amount to anything much on his own, could be a "Sir!" when his father died.

Recently it was revealed that she was complicit in the police cover up of their own incompetence at Hillsborough.

One thing that she might have done, as the first female leader of a political party in Britain, and the first female prime minister, was to further the cause of equality for women. But she promoted very few women, whether because she didn't think them competent, or because she wanted to be the only woman amongst all these men, I don't know. In the end I imagine that she probably set back the cause of women in politics, at least in the UK, although not in Scotland.

Craig Murray, who knew her personally says that as an individual she was clever and charismatic. However he tells a story on his blog about how, after she stood down and was acting as a paid consultant to a cigarette company, she was prepared to risk lives for money.

Did she do any good? 

As far as i can see, yes, at least one thing. She did more than most to further the cause of independence for Scotland and for that, and that alone, I thank her.

I said earlier that I felt nothing. That's not quite true. I heard somewhere that we are to pay for a ceremonial funeral for her. I have no idea how much that will cost, and of course we will not be told, but I am furious about this waste of money at a time when so many have to go without and that I will personally have to contribute. 

I take comfort though, from the fact that it can only do even more good for the YES campaign.

My friend, James, has managed to find some creditable aspects of her career, and, like the much nicer than me guy that he is, he has chosen to highlight them!
******

I know that Thatcher is an emotive subject and that feelings run high when talking, or writing about her. Can I respectfully remind you that this is a family blog, read I know by some children, and say that I really would appreciate it if you would moderate the expression of your feelings accordingly. Thanks in advance. :)

SUNDAY SNAPS, FEATURING HIT THE WEAK WEEK AND McCAMERON THE FEART

The welfare changes started this week and, true to form, we were treated to Cameron and his ministers out in force making ridiculous statements about how much welfare costs. 

Ignoring reality, which is that the bulk of the welfare bill is spent either on the elderly (and everyone has known that that was coming for the last 60 years and more) or on people who are in work but paid far too little to cope with the outrageous (and wholly unnecessary) price of staples, like foods, electricity, gas and petrol , they and their friends in the press continued telling us that all the money was soaked up by undeserving lazy skivers, criminals and child murderers. 

The truth is shown by these (the most recent) breakdown of expenditure from the DWP (2011).

42.3% elderly,

20.8% low income,

18.4% families,

15.5% sick/disabled,

2.6% unemployed.

Source: DWP

Still there isn't much profit for the Tories in letting the truth get in the way of their vile propaganda machine. And vile it is: Comparing struggling OAPs, and people dying of cancer, to a man who murdered 6 of his own kids is low, even for the likes of Osborne ...and yes, I know he didn't actually say it, but he implied it, and allowed the Daily Mail readers to make of it what they would. And if he didn't know that that was what they would do, it is high time he was back on his ancestral estate counting the sheep instead of our money.

Then we had Cameron in Scotland, refusing to debate independence with Mr Salmond. He said because "it was for Scots to decide... not an Englishman like me". (He seemed momentarily to forget that while Mr Salmond is first minister of Scotland, he is (like it or not) prime minister of Scotland) Maybe we successfully managed to make him feel like the outsider he is in our country. I hope so, because he is, and a dangerous one. 

He kicked holes in his own argument, however, by lecturing us about how much better we have been, and would be, in the UK. He's a Tory so he retreated into the usual jingoistic talk...it's all they know about.  We beat fascism together, we had nuclear weapons together and, if we didn't then Kim Jong Un could blow us off the face of the earth, and probably would. 

Cleverer than IDS a week before, he was talking to an audience that was bound to show him respect, as the talk was hosted by their employers. So telling him to... erm...'go away', wasn't really a possibility. 

But he won't talk to Alex. Oh no, despite the majority of Scots wanting him to, he just won't. I wonder what the real reason is...

By the day, it seems more and more obvious that if we want to live a decent life in a decent country with decent laws, we have to do this on our own. The alternative is to remain part of an angry and deeply divided country where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer; where we store, and help to pay for, dangerous and unnecessary weapons, capable of killing tens of thousands  of people, while our schools and hospitals are underfunded, and those down on their luck because of illness, old age or unemployment are left to feel like thieves and child murderers. 

This one takes the biscuit!!

******

In under 24 hours check out the difference from the Scotsman.

Friday's story on Western Baths:

"One of Scotland's best-known artists, Alasdair Gray, has unveiled a major piece of his work in arguably the most unusual location yet - his local swimming baths."

Saturday's story on Independence:

"Controversial artist Alasdair Gray is to publish a major new book setting out his case for Scottish independence in the run-up to next year’s referendum, The Scotsman can reveal."

Hmmmm. Best known one day and controversial the next... What a fickle world the Johnson Pressers live in.

THE FRENCH HAVE IT SUSSED... C'EST TOUJOURS L'AMOUR QU’ILS CONSEILLENT

(Make love, not war, because a packet of condoms will always cost less than a nuclear bomb.)

Not bad advice, unless of course (as Mr Cameron pointed out whilst lecturing Scots, but not Alex Salmond, on how to vote in the referendum) some daft wee laddie of a mad dictator is pointing his nukes at you and they could go off within 45 minutes... or am I getting that one mixed up with the last fat cat right wing nutjob PM who threatened us with nuclear annihilation. Probably.

Incidentally, given that Mr Cameron's excuse for not debating with the First Minister on the independence subject, is that he is not Scottish and this is a matter for Scots to decide, why they hell was the daft b*****d up where lecturing us on the subject anyway.  According to him it's none of his business.

Really! It's hard to imagine a less competent government, isn't it? I thought Gordon Brown was a turnip, but Cameron breaks all records for downright stupidity and ineptitude and his hapless braindead ministers are close on his tail.

This is a good read, as is this, and this.

TORIES: CHEAP, SILLY, UNPLEASANT AND OUT OF TOUCH, BUT SO GOOD FOR THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT

The reason that we must stay together, according to the David Posh Boy (DPB), in Glasgow today, is that the UK together  had, among other achievements, built the NHS, created the BBC and defeated fascism. 

OK. Just as passing thoughts, the NHS was built quite separately in Scotland, before the English version and the UK is dismantling the NHS in England right now. There soon won't be one.

The BBC is not something in recent years that I've ever been proud of. Over many years they have taken our money and used it to afford themselves the most luxurious of lifestyles while dropping the standards of their programming. They appear to have allowed paedophiles free reign, with almost everyone aware of crimes that were taking place and saying nothing. A proud and honourable organisation then? And as DPB was talking in Scotland, we should also point out that BBC in this country stands for Biased and Bitter Clots (and that's the polite version).

I'm sure that the Canadians and the Australians and all the other Commonwealth countries that sent troops to the Second World War, not to mention the Americans and Soviets, who gave their lives in millions and took lives on the Eastern Front, will be happy to know that it was was the UK and Scotland together that defeated fascism. The rest might as well have stayed at home.

It's strange, even if one believes DPB, that Scotland and the rest of the UK couldn't fight against tyranny together again, even if we had different governments. As partners, maybe? 

I recall the emotional and pseudo-statesman like speech that Cameron made about the partnership between the UK and its senior partner, the USA, before leaving to meet President Obama, just a few years ago.

At that time, of course, he mixed up the dates of the American involvement in second world war, perhaps a hint of what was to come. Maybe today he was over-correcting his mistake, by leaving the Americans totally out of the war. Never mind, one day he may get it right.

One day, for that matter, he may get a lot of things right. Or maybe not.

In teh meantime, Gideon Posh Boy (GPB), never one to miss the chance of profiting from a disaster, announced that what was wrong with the welfare state was that taxpayers supported the Philpotts (the murdering parents who set fire to 6 of their children). 

I thought it might help GPB if I pointed out that most people who receive benefits are not actually like the Philpotts. Most of them are just poor people down on their luck because they have been thrown out of work, or have cancer or depression... and have never tried to murder as much as ONE of their children. I say this because, in fairness, it is likely that GPB's cosseted lifestyle has never afforded him the opportunity to get to know people that collect any kind of help at all from the state...

Oh no, wait a minute, until recently HE collected child benefit, and his friend DPB did too.. and Nick Posh Boy, and DPB also claimed Disability Living Allowance for his disabled son.

So he should know that all claimants are not like the Philpotts.

He just couldn't resist cashing in in the cheapest possible way, on the very understandable hatred that the public feel for the Philpotts right now.

He should remember that just because some MPs claimed for moat cleaning and tree surgeons, hanging baskets and four different houses, doesn't mean that Dennis Skinner is a thief. Keep that in mind Gideon Posh Boy.

GO ON THEN... PROVE IT... DO IT

Iain Duncan Smith says he could live on £53 a week.

I doubt if he could.

However, I think the man should be given the opportunity to try.

So I've signed the petition which demands that he do that.