CENSORED BY THE HERALD AGAIN.

The late Jimmy Reid has now taken on the mantle of an snp secular saint. This has been achieved by doing two things, 1/ dying, and 2/ dying while an snp member with a once illustrious history. He is often referred to lovingly by snp sycophants who hate the trade unions with venom as the great working class leader and heroic Scotsman. Contradictory? absolutely but, this is the snp we are talking about here. He lends his name now to a so called 'think tank' which is nothing more than a nationalist glee club "The Jimmy Reid Foundation". They are trying now to make it sacrilegious to be anything other than obsequious to his memory, needless to say, with me and a great many other Socialists of my generation it will not work. The best they can hope for is a grudging silence out of respect for what he once was but, the snp being what they are are not content with that they want to use him against the Labour Party, the Unions and anyone who does not follow their brand of narrow racist tinted nationalism. 

A recent exchange on the Glasgow Herald's comments net page led to some nationalists comparing him favourably with Arthur Scargill and in doing so chose to besmirch the ex NUM leader. I decided to mention his less than noble behaviour to balance the argument and I wrote the following. The Herald refused to print it.  ___________        

"Under Thatcher the unions and the working people of this country were under unrelenting attack by the Tories and the fight put up by Scargill and the miners was nothing short of heroic. 

When they needed support and solidarity they were let down. People who should have been 100% behind them betrayed them, none more so than Jimmy Reid who attacked Scargill and the NUM. 

When they were crying out for help and comradeship he stabbed them in the back. This was at the height of the dispute and he did great damage to their cause and their morale. 

We have always had to suffer at the hands of "flinching cowards and sneering traitors" and attacks from one such as him were hard to take considering his background. We are still standing though, still carrying on the struggle and despite the behaviour of such people we will eventually prevail. 

The people who stood firm, those who fought the hardest. the ones who did not shirk, they are the ones for whom Scargill was a hero and has remained so to this day. Today we see history repeat itself as leaders like Bob Crow and Len McCluskey get the same treatment as Arthur Scargill got. These men are cut from the same cloth as Arthur Scargill and I hope we see more like them emerging in the future, we are going to need them". 

SEPARATION 7/1 AGAINST THE UNION 1/9 ON.

I have just done my regular laugharendum check with the experts.  The ones who are non affiliated, the experts who cannot be accused of bias, not even by the rug chewing separatists who are becoming even more desperate as doomsday approaches. The man I spoke to smoked a large cigar, wore a fur coat and drove a jaguar, most of you will have guessed by now that this chap was a 'Turf Accountant' or 'bookie' as he is colloquially known.

A genial and prosperous chap, he was happy to offer me odds of 7/1 against a yes Victory and 1/9 on, on a No victory. He kindly volunteered the information that no one, not one f*****g punter as he delicately put it had placed a bet on a Yes victory despite the very generous odds, and very few had betted on a No victory because of the very ungenerous odds. He wondered aloud if the authorities would consider following the example of the "sport of Kings" and handicap the red hot favourite. He kindly suggested a system where a Yes vote counted twice while a No vote counted but once admitting that this would still see a convincing No triumph he thought that the more patriotic separatist might be encouraged to have a go. This he said would enable them to boast that they had in the face of great odds backed the cause of bonny wee Scotland the Brave.

When I report these findings I am immediately tackled by the cybernat crazies who remind me that the crazies won the Scottish election despite the opposition being favourites then as well. Very few though were brave enough then to try a wager so "win lose or draw" as the old song says they won't be effected in the pocket this time either. So we have a situation where some very large wagers have gone on the No campaign but not much by the way of the usual modest amounts normally seen changing hands in the local gambling den. I reckon it's down to a mixture of feartiness and the famous traditional Scottish reticence associated with opening the moth infected sporrans where the 'bawbees are tightly imprisoned. It's looking like Red Rum against the horse that pulls the milk cart.

 

  

THE SHAME OF THE ONCE MIGHTY "THUNDERER" THE SUNDAY TIMES.

OK it’s only my blog but I can’t pass up the chance to publicise the behaviour of The Sunday Times. I am reminded of the words of the great Irish writer James Joyce who described The Dublin Times a “The arse wipers weekly”

Statement by Unite the union on the report today by the Sunday Times

03 November 2013

Today's Sunday Times carries an extensive attack on Unite the union, apparently based on emails given to the newspaper by Ineos or its agents.  The Sunday Times submitted a list of questions to Unite yesterday, in response to which the union sent a statement to reporter David Leppard, well within the deadline he had imposed for receipt of answers.  Not a word was carried in the Sunday Times today.  Attempts to secure an explanation for this from Mr Leppard have been ignored. 

We release below the statement sent to Mr Leppard, in order to place Unite's response to the allegations on the record and also to draw attention to the debased standards of journalism now practised at the Sunday Times, little more than a mouthpiece for Lynton Crosby's Tory agenda. 

"This report is a rehash of issues already investigated by Police Scotland and the Labour party, both of which found that Unite had done nothing wrong, and had broken neither the law nor the party’s rule book as it stood at the time. 

“Specifically, Unite entirely denies any involvement in or knowledge of the forging of signatures on application forms or of any documents whatsoever; the coercing of individuals to join the Labour party – however that might be accomplished; the recruitment of individuals to the party without their knowledge or any other breach of Labour party rules.  Unite called for an independent public enquiry into what happened in Falkirk, and we remain entirely happy to assist such an inquiry – and draw appropriate lessons from it if necessary – should one be established. 

“Some of the questions submitted, however, appear to relate to conduct by third parties, about which Unite cannot comment.  Unite would also point out that once individuals join the Labour party they can involve themselves as much or as little in the party’s business as they choose, but Unite would certainly encourage any of its members to play as full a part in the party’s life as they can.  

“On the separate matter of Mr McCluskey’s call to Mr Grant, Unite entirely denies that he used the words cited.  Unite has never made any secret of its support for Stevie Deans, nor does it now, but the suggestion that Mr McCluskey was threatening unlawful industrial action is entirely repudiated.  It is for Ineos to explain its handling of Mr Deans’ case.” 

STICK WITH THE UNION BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

WHOSE SIDE ARE THE GLASGOW HERALD ON?

24/10/13 - "Broken workforce fight for jobs"

The above is today's Herald headline on the Grangemouth dispute, it is designed to destroy the morale of the workers. I have written to their comments site and suggested the following:-

How about, 

"Courageous workforce still standing with heads held high 

and the fight goes on, the message is boycott everything to do 

with this revolting company and join the Union"

Are Ineos paying the Herald? 


Will they print it though? 

SALMOND SHOWS HIS TRUE COLOURS AS HE KNIVES THE GRANGEMOUTH WORKERS IN THE BACK.

“The trade union should accept the no industrial action demand from the company with no strings attached” (Alex Salmond) 20/10/13 speaking live on ‘Sunday Politics’ show.

Here is the snp’s anti trade union agenda red in tooth and claw, he wants a servile toothless trade union movement where the bosses can do anything they want without having to worry about industrial action and the workers will be no better than slaves. Can you imagine the management regime at Grangemouth tomorrow. Monday morning; faced with a work force whose trade union is completely emasculated? That is what salmond is demanding, a nice place for shop stewards and conveners who have stood up to managers before to work eh? How long would they last without the protection of industrial action when they need it? This statement could only come from a reactionary anti union Tory, in this case one who calls himself a nationalist, Alex Salmond. Will any snp members denounce his treachery? I have heard of an ‘snp trade union group’ but I haven’t heard ‘from them’. Have they nothing to say about this blatantly pro management anti union stance from their toadying leader, he is a disgrace to the Scottish people.     

8 MONTHS TO BRAZIL AND ENGLAND AND POLAND REMIND US THAT THE “BEAUTIFUL GAME” IS BACK. WELL DONE TO OUR NEIGHBOURS.

Brazil in 8 months time and it's the world cup, we can at last put aside the diversionary activities of tennis players, golfers, rugby players, cricketers and people running round in circles etc. and enjoy not the greatest game in the world but the 'ONLY' game in the world but first there was the small matter of England having to qualify. 

England V Poland, it was for real and the chips were down. The superb setting of Wembley stadium; jam-packed and intense with expectation and not a little trepidation saw the evening start with an emotional tribute to the Polish airmen who fought with the RAF in WW2. As the Polish fans unfurled a massive banner depicting the Polish emblem which adorned their fighter planes when they took on the Luftwaffe, their English hosts paid tribute to the indomitable spirit and heroism of our Polish allies, a wonderful and poignant moment and the match turned out to be superbly entertaining as well. Sometimes the pressure and expectation of the fans can ruin such events but this was always going to be a cracker.

I promptly found myself wondering how England could all of a sudden become such a force after suffering such mediocrity for so long. Players like Rooney, Baines, Townsend and the phenomenal Danny Wellbeck swept forward with strength and skill and threatened to finish the game in a matter of minutes such was their dominance. The Poles however are no makeweights and they started to break forward with skill and the kind of speed that would alarm any defence, after 20 minutes both teams could have had a couple of goals each, pulsating stuff. The camera cruelly honed in on the elderly England manager Roy Hodges every time their goal survived a scare and the poor guy looked like he was ready to faint away, was it my imagination or were his minders keeping a particularly close eye on him?

The longer the game went on the more England started to dominate, a mixture perhaps of their resolve and the fact that psychologically the Polls were handicapped by the fact that they could not qualify but they bravely gave everything until the second goal went in late in the game from the determined play of Gerrad, the first was a classic overlap by Baines and a trademark Rooney finish with his head. Make no mistake about it this was a tremendous show by England against very talented opponents and it augers well for their World Cup hopes.

Mr. Hodges has 8 months to polish up the team and he will be aware that in players like Rooney, Wellbeck, Baines, Townsend, Sturrige and the re-emerging Wilshere he has a bunch of talented young players who would get a game with almost any team in the world. This is the time though when he has to be ruthless if he wants to triumph, there are some players still around who should be replaced such as Cole who is no match for Baines, Milner and Carrick who are strong and willing but can't cope with the skill and pace that is likely to be waiting in Brazil, Gerrard alas no longer has the wherewithal to dominate the midfield at this level and Lampard who in my opinion has become a liability as wily foreign coaches now prepare for breakaway attacks every time he smashes a free kick against the defensive wall and they pounce on the rebound some 40 or 50 yards back to form an attack.
It would be great to see England bring the world cup back to Britain and I'm sure that everyone in the UK would celebrate that. It would be a great party here in Scotland as well, how would wee Eck cope with it though?

IS IT RODNEY? IS IT DEL BOY? NO IT’S WORSE THAN THAT IT’S WEE ECK, SOMEBODY COUNT THE SPOONS QUICK.

Alex Salmond and the snp at his behest lied about EU legal advice. At his behest also they spent £20,000 of tax payer's money trying to cover up that lie hiring lawyers to keep it out of the public domain. They have finally failed in their blatant attempt to cheat the Scottish people whom they claim to care so much about, that care though does not stretch to telling the people the truth.
How much longer will the snp sheep allow this spiv and political shyster to use them like cannon fodder? What does he have to do to for these poor people to realize that he is a wrong un? Half a million pounds to go and see the Ryder Cup in America for Salmond and his pals! Another half a million pounds for Salmond and his pals to go to the Olympics. What will it take for the snp members to get off their knees?
Could the "affair of the tartan breeks" be the final straw for a long suffering Scottish public? On top of his football hooligan behaviour at Wimbledon, who knows? £20,000 is a lot of money to throw around especially when it isn't your money, in fact it's our money, it's even worse than that FFS it's my money, well a wee bit of it is kinda, and the tiniest wee wee bit of my money going to that baw faced wee bampot rips ma knittin, so it does.
This sum could have bought wee Eck 80 pairs of tartan breeks at £250 a pair, if you are going to be a fraudster and a crook you are as well doing it right, who pays £250 quid for a pair of troosers anyway and come to think of it who would wear such an outfit in public, tartan strides? He looked like Fran or was it Anna. There are weans running about in my ward with the arse hinging oot of their troosers and he's poncing about wearing £250 tartan breeks and trying to skip paying for them. It just isn't good enough.

 

 

 

 

 

“COME TO THE CABARET” THE snp, 1 LIBDEM AND 1 INDEPENDENT APPEARING REGULARLY AT RENFREW DISTRICT COUNCIL.

October 3 rd. 2013 08.50 am, fortified by strong coffee and an unshakeable belief in our just cause I approach the chamber of Renfrewshire council with trepidation,
a full council meeting is about to start and with it the now commonplace 3 ring Circus provided by the assorted opposition members. The snp, + a single Tory, a malevolent pompous Libdem and an independent who has been practicing all his life for the moment when the actor playing Iago is taken ill and the public announcer asks if anyone in the audience knows the lines. As they assemble opposite my world weary gaze, I momentarily think I have wandered in to a casting session for extras in "Pirates of the Caribbean part 3" there are some rum characters here and no mistake, big bruisers, heavily bearded angry looking deviants, rough hewn and foul spoken and as aggressive and mean as Kilkenny Cats who have been on the gargle all night, and the men folk are every bit as bad.
We settled in for the long haul as the agenda was loaded with dim-witted spurious motions from them designed to waste time and cause the meeting to be chaotic. We have some interesting characters in the opposition benches, not I hasten to add interesting in a nice way but interesting in the way we find impossible to train dogs and members of the 'tinned people for cannibal's society' interesting. All above board never the less and it has to be suffered in the name of democracy, although one sometimes feels that Al Capone had his good points.
The meeting promptly descended in to a rabble of low degree largely orchestrated by the snp, they clearly had a game plan which was to see how far they could push the boundaries of decency and normal behaviour without being locked up and in some cases sectioned. Most spectacular was the orchestrated outburst by Cllr. A Doig ( a difficult man to like ) one can't help but sympathise with his good lady wife Audrey notwithstanding the suspicion that she is able for him. He got himself in to a synthetic rage and leapt to his feet roaring and bawling like a fighting mad drunken navvy, gesticulating with a handful of papers and pointing menacingly in our direction, this went on for some time and; by the time he had twisted himself in to a black knot and then sat down we all had to go for a pee such was the sustained laughter in the chamber. As a side issue I took the trouble of asking my comrades and no one heard a word of his incoherent rant let alone had a clue what he was on about but at least he knackered himself with his efforts and slipped in to a kind of nebulous tranquil state for a while. This behaviour was replicated by other snp brave hearts but their efforts were not as funny or indeed so loud, he is clearly a rising star in the snp.
The other side show at such meetings is now being staged by a couple of old codgers who have been round the block a few times and who now present a most entertaining if sometimes sad diversion for our entertainment, I refer of course to our one Libdem who is a she and our one independent who is a he, a more contrasting couple would be hard to imagine as they fight shoulder to shoulder and gaze devotedly in to each other eyes, it's a mutual admiration society as they face the world together from the furthest pitch out at the very end of the pier. The Libdem is a living legend and the independent isn't but as a team they can raise a chuckle, the former is convinced that she matters and cannot be convinced otherwise while the latter knows that he doesn't matter hence the resentment harboured by both. The independent is indeed so needy and meretricious that he is incapable of speaking without littering his discourse with tortuous quotes and references to great writers, poets and people that he has decided are worthy of his praise. It's a cry for attention and a plea for love. Some rather churlish people have started referring to them as the "Chic and Maidie" of the council with the sexes of the great Scottish comics reversed, a cruel taunt I know but it takes all kinds. This show is well worth a visit and it's free which is most remarkable in Paisley.
Finally a sombre note for you the taxpaying public to mull over, due to the self indulgent antics of this crowd of political clowns this meeting ran for 6.5 hours. Based on my own investigations through the council's finance department we have a ball park figure of £2,000 an hour to hold these meetings, any other council in Scotland would regard 3 hours as a marathon but the snp/Libdem/independent opposition here in Renfrewshire (the Tory does not get involved in this) are happy to see in this case 'which is not unique for Renfrewshire' approximately over £6,000 of your money wasted so that they can indulge in this puerile behaviour. Perhaps some people will feel the urge to ask them why they are doing this.

A SAD SIGHT FOR AN OLD SOCIALIST TO SEE. CALTON HILL EDINBURGH SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21 2013.

I was a great admirer of Dennis Canavan years ago when he fought on the left of the Labour Party for the causes which meant so much to us both. I also think that the party made a big mistake when they refused to endorse his candidature for Holyrood. That as we now know set in train a series of events which saw him make an equally bad mistake by leaving the Labour Party, thus beginning his sad descent and bringing him to the sad place he is now, ensconced as he is now with egomaniacs, political shysters and hidebound single issue zealots in the reactionary cause of nationalism. From Socialism to nationalism for a potentially great left wing crusader is a tragic journey, very very poignant. He gave his enemies what they wanted, his resignation, if ever there was a man whom I thought would stand and fight and never give in for what he believed in it was Dennis. I could never however be unkind to him though because he gave so much and suffered so much as well in other ways.

I was watching home made films and photos of the independence rally and saw Dennis speaking, the picture was taken from behind and to the side of him. There in much profusion in front of him were the vivid flying colours of various organisations waving in their enthusiasm; he can still move a crowd can former Labour MP Dennis Canavan.

My heart went out to him though when I saw with horror that he surely could not avoid seeing the bright yellow banners of the Flemish Nazis who had come to show their support for the snp, no surprise of course when you consider the snp's history but, Denis Canavan! being cheered on by Scottish Nationalists and Flemish Nazis and fascists, Dennis Canavan!

OK lets be generous; it was after all an old and much loved comrade I was watching, did he see them? I'm afraid so, did he know who they were? I don't know but their presence was well trailed, did he mention them? I don't know. If he saw them; knew who they were and did not mention them what then? I will out of respect for what he once was reserve my judgement but in all my time in politics it is one of the saddest sights I have ever witnessed. I want so much to see him beaten in this struggle and beaten heavily and I never thought I would ever hear myself say that about Dennis Canavan and that made it a very sad day for me.

“I TOOK MY HARP TO THE PARTY BUT NO ONE ASKED ME TO PLAY” ALEX SALMOND – SEPTEMBER 21 20 13, EDINBURGH.

The snp's Nicola Sturgeon bullishly and rather comically announced a crowd of 30,000 which is a nice tidy number and represents 0.6% of the population of Scotland give or take a few. The "Harry Margolis" or Polis as we here in the west call them announced a dangerously precise sounding number of 8,300 which is 0.16% of the people of Scotland, heads are no doubt swimming at the colossal figures, imagine the logistics of stewarding such a gathering, I understand the Scottish Association Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Guides provided the extra stewards required to support the overstretched Polis.

The discrepancy arises of course with the contradictory calculations of the not quite gigantic numbers who attended the so called "march for freedom" led by the snp in Auld Reekie today. There were in fact just to confuse things further 3 estimates of the numbers, 8,300 by the rozzers, 15,ooo by the organisers and 30, 000 by the cerebrally challenged Nicola Sturgeon, it was ever thus I hear you experienced marchers say. The inevitable jokes have started with the pitiless and derisory description of the event as a stroll rather than a march for freedom, people can be unkind can't they? But; on the other hand people do not like political parties so blatantly trying to; as our American friends say "blow smoke up their asses" with "asses" being rewritten to replace the good old British word "arses" meaning of course that the political party in question is lying about the numbers.

A rather meaningless football match at Celtic park today attracted 6 or 7 times the lowest estimate; 4 times the middle estimate and 2 times the highest estimate, woe and twice woe and even bloody well thrice woe for the wretched snp it would seem, ochone, ochone , o'f******g'one, the game's a bogey. The appalling fact is that Hibs and Hearts draw bigger crowds and they are unarguably utter s***e . It looks like car boot sales will see a rush in kilts and wee toy daggers for sale over the next couple of months as the remnants of the snp rabble lug themselves " hameward tae think again" meanwhile the Scottish Police Force will have to endure the indignation of being placed on the burgeoning list of organisations who are part of the great Global anti snp conspiracy, they will be distraught, no doubt about it, Polis heads will roll under an snp dominated separate Scotland.

With apologies to TS Elliot, and for the snp.

"this is how the world ends, this is how the world ends, not with a bang but with a whimper" this by the way hurts me as much as it hurts them and many other Scots. honest it does.

THOSE ARE MY PRINCIPLES, AND IF YOU DONT LIKE THEM....WELL I HAVE ANOTHER SET” (ALEX “GROUCHO” SALMOND)

Prior to the great banking crash of 2007/2008 one of the party leaders was constantly critical of the Government for being too strict with their banking regulations,
can anyone guess who this cavalier clown was? It was none other than Alex Salmond, the financial hustler's friend, the pal of the stock exchange gamblers and shysters.

And today we have a party leader declaring that he will "bring the Royal Mail back in to public ownership if Scotland becomes independent and if it gets privatised by the Tory/Libdem Government today, note with extreme caution that he was asked on several occasions to say re-nationalise and he refused to say it. Can you guess who it is? Yes! It's Salmond again, and on this occasion his finance minister John Swinney refused to give a similar commitment the night before on national TV, when asked the question, oops. The road to Damascus appears to have relocated to Edinburgh's Royal Mile, from right wing monetary enthusiast to left wing Marxist revolutionary in one fell swoop, that's wee Eck, if you believe him?.

Does his desperation over the impending laugharendum have a part in all this? From the man who said "we Scots. did not mind Mrs. Thatcher's economic policies so much" to the crusading advocate of the socialist shibboleth of nationalism in jig time, what a man, what a crook, what a Janus faced swindler, villain, fraudster, imposter, phoney, low life crook, choose your own description folks.

Does anyone still believe anything he says? Vote "No" to separation to get rid of this vulgar embarrassing character once and for all.

THE HERALD, IT’S JOKE JOURNALISTS AND THE RUG CHEWING NATS.

The snp/separatist/cybernat crazies have been repeating their interminable drivel about how the BBC is anti Scotland and anti snp, it's an exercise in getting your excuses in before the laugharendum drubbing happens, then they will cry foul once again to the sound of loud ringing laughter. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the comments column of the newspaper which used to be The Glasgow Herald, a once decent newspaper which has been allowed to deteriorate to a dreadful degree and is now a laughing stock. The lumpen nats have been led by the nose by the Herald's own version of the chuckle brothers the hapless third rate journalists Ian Bell and Iain Macwhirter or just "Bell and Macwhirter" Scotland's own end of the pier comedy duo. I have discovered to my cost that these people will not allow criticism of the paper or these journalists, hence the comment below which they refused to print----------- again. It's a glimpse of what an snp run separate Scotland would be like.

The level of vitriol and paranoia from the kailyard school of Scottish journalism and the nationalist crazies grows in equal proportion to the proximity of the forthcoming laugharendum. The wannabees and third division girners like Bell and Macwhirter and the snp/separatist/cybernat posters have become a pathetic joke and there is still a year to go. Where are they going to end up, what level of bulldung will they end up writing and who else will they find to accuse of bias and anti Scottishness? who else will feel their lash? flower growers, Quakers, dog owners, the scouts, the guides, little old ladies, sun bathers? Enemies and conspirators, insults and abuse for poor old bonny Scotland, real or imagined, where will it end?  

SNP STILL DUCKING AND DIVING AS LABOUR CALL THEM OUT ON BEDROOM TAX AND THEIR SEPARATION SUPPORT FALLS TO 25%

As their lies and deceit become more exposed Labour are mounting a challenge to the snp's duplicitous stance on the bedroom tax. People are becoming more aware that Salmond and the snp want the bedroom tax to harm as many Scots as possible. Their twisted logic sees that as advantage to their narrow separatist agenda. Put simply and crudely they believe that that will allow them to blame the English for the pain being suffered by Scots. and that is why they have chosen to do nothing to help those Scots caught up in this iniquitous Tory charge on the poor.

Scottish Labour has called for concerted action by the Scottish Government to help protect Scotland's social housing tenants from the impact of the coalition government's Bedroom Tax. Scottish Labour is bringing forward a package of measures which will offer 

assistance to all social tenants now, without having to wait until after a general election or until 2016.
 

Scottish Labour has previously supported the Govan Law Centre petition which called on the SNP Government to amend housing legislation to protect social tenants from eviction. As the SNP has resisted the petition, Scottish Labour is now bringing the proposal forward as a members' bill. 

As an integral part of the package of support required, Scottish Labour has also asked the SNP Government to provide additional funds to local government and housing associations to help plug the financial gap which is growing by the day as a result of increasing rent arrears. Both offers made by Scottish Labour to work together with the Government to find a consistent approach across Scotland for all social tenants have so far been refused by the SNP.
 

Labour's Jackie Baillie said:"With the impact of the Bedroom Tax becoming more apparentand every day, it is right that we bring forward a package of measures which will ensure that no tenant who is genuinely unable to pay the Bedroom Tax, loses their home. "With the SNP refusing to act for all of Scotland, I have decided to bring forward a Member's Bill with the assistance of Govan Law Centre, which will ensure that any social tenant who is genuinely unable to pay the Bedroom Tax will not be evicted."The Bill will help ensure that our most vulnerable are protected. It is for times like these that the Scottish Parliament was created and the Bedroom Tax is the perfect example of just how Parliament could act now to make a real difference to tenants across Scotland."This is bigger than party politics and bigger than constitutional arguments. Scots are looking to us for leadership on this issue. It is not too late for the SNP Government to work with parties who want to see action on the bedroom tax. They have the

Labour's Ian Gray said "The financial impact of the Bedroom Tax on Scottish tenants is £50 million. That is less than 0.18% of the Scottish Government budget, a fraction of last year's underspend. But the wider impact is huge. 80,000 households are affected, many with children, many of them including someone with a disability. There are no smaller houses for them to move to. Meanwhile councils and housing associations face the prospect of soaring rent arrears, threatening cuts to other council services and undermining Housing Associations ability to borrow and build."Yes, this is the Coalition government's fault but apportioning blame is not enough. Scots want politicians to work together to protect our poorest and most vulnerable."We can, and we must, act by working together to find the resources to protect councils, housing associations and above all, tenants."
Labour's Mark MacMillan; leader of COSLA and Renfrewshire Council said:"Despite the rhetoric, we know that councils of all political hues are facing growing financial pressures and our tenants and housing association tenants are growing increasingly concerned about what lies ahead as their rent arrears mount. "We've seen SNP councils threaten evictions to tenants who are falling behind as a result of the Bedroom Tax. It simply isn't good enough for individual councils to be left to try to plug the financial gap on their own. Housing associations can't simply be left on their own to try to cope with the financial impact of the loss of rental income."Scottish Labour councils commit that no tenants who fully engages with their local authority to minimise their debts and who make every effort to pay their rent will be evicted. This joint approach is needed as all of our requests for SNP Government action, made both individually and through COSLA, have fallen on deaf ears."So with this commitment from Scottish Labour councils and from Scottish Labour in Holyrood to bring forward the money and the legislation needed to ameliorate the impact of this much-reviled Bedroom Tax, there is a comprehensive approach to ensure action is taken now to help our poorest and most vulnerable. Scotland deserves nothing less.

THE HERALD JOURNALISTS? THEY COULDN’T WRITE THE WORD F**K ON A STEAMED UP WINDOW.

My struggles to get printed by The Glasgow Herald's comments site despite having improved are still giving me grief. I replied to a post by my old 'friend' Paisley's own snp/Tory hybrid iain Lawson (more old than a friend of course) about an article written by the Herald journalist Iain Macwhirter, a man who makes Chic Young look like a cross between James Cameron and Alistair Cooke. It is quite difficult for me sometimes to get printed being anti snp and almost impossible if you criticise either Mr. Macwhirter or the other Herald cure for insomnia Ian bell who is guess what? He's a distant relative of the Irish revolutionary Marxist James Connolly, honestly. So being 'binned' again by them was not really a surprise, I have therefore decided to reprint my comments here, to make me feel better. n.b. For the sake of clarity, Iain is Macwhirter and iain is Lawson, I've no idea why.  
The oil flowed south, Scots went on the dole ... no-one cared. Sunday 28 July 2013- iain Macwhirter.

It's the same bunch of words mixed up and recycled like so much fictitious refuse by Iain and iain again, they can't change them because they have nothing to change them with; hence their torpor and crushed demeanour. It was great fun for them when they could wind up the crazy Nat. rug chewers and grasp some counterfeit celebrity while doing so. Now it's gone too far, it's serious and they can't now prevent what they know is going to happen, this is where weakness leads. Hardly an article or a post from them now appears without bets being hedged and premature blame being apportioned; these two though will survive the carnage; don't worry about that; they will endure, they are not the type of fellows to go down with the ship. The people that they led to the top of the hill though? The expendables?. That will be another poignant story but Iain and iain will no doubt survive; with heavy hearts they will carry on. Iain will no doubt be taking notes right now, the better to assist with his best seller about the heroic defeat of the Scots. freedom fighters, his version of course.