DO YOU SUPPORT THE BEDROOM TAX?. "MIBBES AYE MIBBES NAW" SNP.

An extract from an SNP candidate selection.

“I was asked whether as part of a Westminster deal with another party, I would agree to vote for the bedroom tax if instructed by the party. I replied ‘No’.  End of SNP political career”.

Craig Murray – Rejected SNP Candidate.  

There are a whole host of questions that a candidate can be asked to test their willingness to support party discipline, e.g. would you support hanging, would you support a ban on immigration, would you support forced labour for unemployed people, would you support the burning of books which were left wing, would you support the building of a 500 foot statue of Alex Salmond on the highest rampart of Edinburgh Castle, all questions which are pertinent to the snp most of whose members would be at best ambivalent  about their answers and at worst enthusiastic ‘yessers’ which of course makes them the party we have known and grown to loathe, but they chose “would you support the bedroom tax”.

Are the snp policy makers so completely thick-headed as to make themselves hostages to fortune by suggesting that a failure to support the bedroom tax would constitute a reason for rejecting someone as a candidate?, my answer to that is, no they are not. IMO therefore there is no way of denying that this has been asked to pave the way for just such a proposition. What they are saying is they will do and say anything to gain power, as I have said often before when you are a single issue politician you can excuse anything by saying ‘we did it for the great cause’ no matter what injustice you have perpetrated. It is becoming harder for the snp to avoid people seeing what they are really like, perhaps all those additional members will prove difficult to control when they start to realise exactly what they have signed up to. Things are beginning to look really interesting.   

RENFREWSHIRE SNP SHOW CONTEMPT FOR PARTY LEADER STURGEON OVER THEIR SNP BOOK BURNERS.

With apologies to Oscar Wilde “To lose one Councillor may be regarded as a misfortune but to lose 5 looks like carelessness” “The importance of being Ernest” (Lady Bracknell). You’ve got to laugh haven’t you but this REALLY is not funny.

December 18^th 09.30 am at Renfrewshire Council and the crowd gathers for the full council meeting, the last of the year. Prior to the meeting starting we were treated to some carols by a delightful group of School children from Heriot Primary. A slightly curious carol concert consisting of 4 songs, unusual in that everyone present including the children I suspect had no idea what they were singing with the exception of the Head of Social Work Peter McLeod who is a fluent Gaelic speaker, I was concerned that the lead teacher who was conducting might at some point call on the audience to join in the chorus, still the music was lovely and the children were a credit to their school and their parents.

The atmosphere is febrile with the Labour Councillors on a high and the wretched snp Councillors crashing around like a bunch of drunks trying to do a sword dance. The snp group are now reduced to 10 members, 5 having been suspended by their own party with the fate of another still to be decided if he or she can be found, possibly leaving, 9 snp Councillors. The now infamous U Tube pictures of the three fearless snp arsonists was shot by a third snp idiot making the number of suspended miscreants 4 and then there was a picture of all four on show as well so, a fifth must have taken it, one ‘eejit’ is therefore still at large. Possibly being protected by a latter day Flora McDonald, is there a patriotic song in here somewhere i ask myself. This fugitive has obviously decided to take to his or her heels and abandon the other 4 to their fate, so much for Scottish nationalist courage and loyalty, “when the going gets tough the tough snp get offsky and hide”.  Sturgeon will be haunted by the missing fifth person, she has shown no inclination to find out who it is and she is scared to revive the publicity with another suspension, that is of course if it was another snp Councillor, perhaps it was one of their legendary well behaved supporters or even an snp MSP or MP, this will not go away, she is already showing her lack of courage and ability to take tough decisions.

The 4/5 snp fire raisers predictably did not turn up for the meeting, they decided to hide and not try to defend their actions, despite their defiant remarks they “bottled it” and stayed away. The new snp leadership team are Nicolson & Cameron, yes you heard that right, Nicolson and Cameron, you couldn’t make it up, two of the most disruptive snp councillors there is are now the leader and deputy leader of the Renfrewshire Council snp group. Nicola Sturgeon you have got a real mess in Renfrewshire. This meeting was truly awful the behaviour of the snp was mind boggling, even the usually impeccably behaved and erudite snp Councillor Maria Brown was moved to opine that the snp fire raisers were exercising their right to free speech by burning literature which they disagree with!.

Fortunately the proceedings were filmed but unfortunately the behaviour of the snp is heard but not seen as the camera’s only focus on the speaker called by the chair of the meeting. To assist anyone who chooses to watch these proceedings therefore I can advise that the snp rabble, racket and abuse are coming from, in order of guilt, Cllrs. Cameron, Andrew Doig, Nicolson, and Audrey Doig. Other snp councillors join in but these are the worst, some other snp Councillors it has to be said take no part in this dreadful behaviour and in fact seem rather embarrassed by it, perhaps Nicola Sturgeon should investigate this at the same time as her investigations in to the matter of setting fire to literature they do not agree with, meanwhile the snp in Renfrewshire continue to behave like out of control thugs. This meeting took 4 hours and should have taken a maximum of 2 hours that is a £4,000 hit to you the tax payer courtesy of the snp. 

FOR PREGNANT PALESTINIAN WOMEN IN THE HOLY LAND TODAY THERE IS STILL "NO ROOM AT THE INN".

Some 2,000 years ago in Palestine a great census was commanded by Caesar Augustus who wanted to count all the people in the world, the Romans were nothing if not motivated. Everyone had to go to the place where they originally came from which in the case of the Palestinian Jewish family we know as Joseph and his wife Mary who was ‘with child’ meant a journey from Galilee across Palestine to the ‘City of David, known as Bethlehem’. Not long after the birth they all three had to take flight because Herod wanted the child dead, and the rest as they say, is history, and the carols, cribs and festivities are going still. Inevitably where there is money to be made the pill gets sweetened, creative writing goes on and we all now think of Bethlehem as a wonderful place, just look at the Christmas cards, the reality however was different. In fact 2,000 years later Bethlehem is suffering much the same as it did back then only the brutal occupiers are from Israel not Rome.

Bethlehem which is an Arab Palestinian town is encircled today on three sides by Israel’s illegal West Bank Wall and can only be accessed by one entry/exit point which is ruthlessly patrolled by the Israeli Army, it’s citizens are effectively prisoners. Israeli settlements are scattered across land belonging to Bethlehem and Israeli soldiers guard who goes in and out with a series of checkpoints, roadblocks, gates and heavily armed occupying Israeli troops. Prior to the creation of Israel in 1948 Arabs, Jews, Christians and Muslims had lived peacefully side by side. Bethlehem Muslims can in fact still be seen today worshiping beside their Christian neighbours in the famous “Church of the Nativity”, a place which most people in fact wrongly think is in Israel rather than in Palestine. Around 28 thousand people live in Bethlehem while about three times that number approximately 90,000 live in squalid refugee camps in desperate conditions around the outskirts of the city and have done since 1948. All of this is taking place despite being declared illegal by the International Court and the United Nations, Israel it seems can do what it likes as long as America backs it up.

Bethlehem has stood on the cutting edge of the Israeli occupation for some 66 years and has become a symbol of injustice and an affront to human decency, which is a far cry from the “The little town of Bethlehem” greetings cards which we all have hanging on our walls. No one should stop celebrating Christmas because of what Israel is doing but we should be aware that if Joseph and the pregnant Mary were to fetch up at the gates of Bethlehem on December 25^Th. 20 14 in nine days time they would not find the situation all that dissimilar, Arab mothers sometimes give birth at the Israeli controlled gates to Bethlehem while queuing to be authorised to access maternity treatment. Personally, I make a point of never doing anything that would help Israel in any way, no contact, no purchases and criticism always. It might not be worth anything and might not make a difference and this blog article might be the same but it makes me feel better. I urge you to do the same.  

BUYING RESPECT AND GOOD PUBLICITY - ALEX SALMOND.

The great shyster salmond is once again under fire for taking 2 salaries and once again his extremely naive flock rush to his defence, protesting irately that he gave half of his second salary to charity the first time and now he intends to do the same again. To that I say ‘there is one born every minute’, here is what he actually did and is preparing to do again, he will do this again because he is an unconscionable crook and swindler. Remember of course the way he spent tax payers money on the Olympics and his golf junkets and we still do not know where the £50,000 + of missing money went from his last golfing jolly, perhaps the green fees were high.    

The last time salmond had 2 salaries he donated half of one to a charity in his own area called “The Mary Salmond Foundation” not a very familiar name salmond is it, ken?.  Or to tell the truth about it he used the money to buy good media hype for himself, thus using the name of his late mother for personal gain. He is now lining up the same cynical stunt again by donating part of his 2 salaries if he is elected to Westminster to good causes. He could of course just refuse the salary and let it go back in to the common pot of money which helps everyone but he has no intention of doing that. After all "What's the point of doing anything worthwhile if nobody's watching" as Nicole Kidman said in the movie “To die for”.  Wee Eck always has an angle and this squalid farce is no exception.  As Billy Connolly once said about Andrew Carnegie "he gave money to charity as quietly as a waiter falling downstairs with a full tray of glasses" and the "useful idiots" still can't see through him.   

ARE THE SWIVEL EYED LOONS OF THE SNP ABOUT TO DECLARE 'UDI' IN RENFREWSHIRE?.

Renfrewshire Council’s snp group once consisted of 15 Councillors, they now have 10. No less than 5 of the original 15 have been suspended by the snp high command, can anyone tell me if this is some kind of record?. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde “to lose one or two Councillors is a misfortune but to lose five looks like carelessness”. I believe this rabble also hold the record for the longest suspension ever handed down for a Councillor by the Standards Commission, one year for an snp councillor accusing the council of nepotism. Two of those recently suspended by their own party are the glamorous MacLarens, Mags and Kenny who when not on the front cover of Vogue can be seen setting fire to bins in Renfrewshire. These two are employed by snp Holyrood politicians one of whom is Scottish Minister  Derek Mackay. Derek rose without trace due to the patronage of alex (Del boy) salmond who is no slouch when it comes to spotting an obsequious yes man to keep a furtive eye  on his colleagues and make the tea.

The fact that the MacLaren’s are employed by snp MSP’s however is not amusing, it means that we, you and me dear reader are paying their wages, oh yes we are. The other two villains of course were ex military man Will Mylett who, ignoring personal danger bravely set the bin ablaze, thus showing his expertise in dangerous  situations learned in the military. He was a cook in that dangerous theatre of conflict, that cauldron of flames known as, the NAAFI, one of our brave boys in fact who served in the British Army. Last but by no means least was Brian Lawson what is there to say about Brian other than that his colleagues saw fit to elect him as leader of Renfrewshire Council when they formed the last administration, aided and abetted by the wretched Liberal Democrats, one of whom survives, one councillor out of 40, perhaps God is punishing their evil doings. How many might be left before the next elections is anyone’s guess, are there enough sacks for the snp ferrets to  fight in?, remember the ‘book burning’ was carried out on a document which was signed up to by the snp leadership. These people want to run an independent Scotland, voter think on.    

THE SNP'S WEE BRIAN, BIG WULL AND POSH AND BECKS MACLAREN AND THE SCOTTISH BLUEBELL MATCHES.

No one really likes to say ‘I told you so’ but sometimes it is inescapable. This morning I saw the beginning of chaos in the snp which I had been predicting after a referendum defeat, this thought crossed my mind when I looked at the headlines in the Scottish morning papers today, there pictured in all their awfulness were snp Councillors Brian Lawson, Mags MacLaren and Will. Mylet, brought to us courtesy of amateur photographer and amateur politician Kenny Maclaren snp who wielded the camera. It took a while to get the head round what they were doing and it turned out they were burning a report on devolved powers for the Scottish parliament which displeased them, a publicity stunt if you will. We have all heard the saying “there is no such thing as bad publicity” a saying which usually applies to charlatans and self publicists, like the snp for instance, I doubt if these 4 hapless idiots would concur with that saying right now. As the country awoke the snp had already condemned their actions and by afternoon they had all 4 been suspended from the party, I wonder if Ms. Sturgeon has ever heard of Harold MacMillan’s answer to a reporter who asked and I paraphrase “what worries you” ? to which ‘Supermac’ replied, “events dear boy events”. The person who should have been left holding this first of many babies is of course wee alex (Del boy) salmond who with rat like cunning saw what was coming and ‘done a runner’ he now counts his money and plays golf while the useful idiots that he marched up and down the hill deal with the hopping mad fall out caused by him.  

One of the most disturbing aspects of this affair is the snp’s murky past. This has been a constant embarrassment to the snp, their tactic of choice in dealing with these matters is denial, abuse and evading the issue. The sight of politicians burning writings that they do not like of course brings back memories of when such behaviour by nationalist mobs led to catastrophic events. I was tempted to hurry over to the railway station to see if the trains had suddenly started running on time. What we saw here was the snp behaving execrably in public, people who are regular attendees at council meetings will not be in the least surprised, I urge the public to attend these meetings and witness their conduct.

Renfrewshire has the reputation of being one of the worst behaved council’s in Scotland because of their antics which have been going on for years. They are also seen as an snp “fundy” stronghold meaning that they are strongly in favour of nationalist fundamentalism, they regard themselves as having been betrayed by people like salmond, Sturgeon and Swinney who persuaded members to adopt a gradualist approach to independence only to lose convincingly, they are livid and out for revenge. Internecine warfare and dirty tricks between the ‘fundies’ and the ‘traitors’ looks more than likely and “them that dies will be the lucky ones” (Long John Silver). The increase in members to the snp could easily turn out looking like a Gadarene Rush when the new recruits realise what the party they have joined are really like. This is only the start.      

THE SNP FUNDIES v THE SNP FEARTIES, CLEAR THE FLOOR.

Two months after the referendum and as I predicted we see the first snp splinter group flexing it’s muscles, I thought it would have happened sooner. Next door to Nicola’s coronation we saw the another meeting by the Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) ready to rumble now that they have lost and how long will it take before the new members realise that people like Swinney, Sturgeon, Constance, Matheson, Brown etc. are in essence apolitical?. A mixture of women in grey skirts and men in grey kilts, they would slip seamlessly in to any corporate or bank boardroom, this could be entertaining. It could be great fun, all those new members to win over plus all the many fundamentalists who were persuaded to toe the line and did so grudgingly only to see themselves beaten anyway, they have a score to settle with the leadership and their supporters who "sold the jerseys".  And what do they see now? An snp government and cabinet bristling with revolutionaries right?. What they see is an established snp leadership made up of gradualists and time servers armed now with membership of NATO, the British Monarchy and right wing policies to please the capitalist bosses. How many of the new members from God knows where are going to buy the tactics and policies which failed?, the clue is in the name ‘radical’.  

The snp government consists of the same people who crushed what I prefer to call ‘the real snp’ nut cases and head bangers for sure but commited to independence or, as they would have it ‘freedom’. This mob who are now licking their wounds and planning treason will not be willing to agree to the same old gradualist tactics that salmond and the right wing sold them, their promises failed and the big hairy bearded whisky sodden foul mouthed violent snp shock troops are bloody angry and the snp male shock troops are just as bad. I reckon there could be some internecine jiggery pokery ahead and “them that dies will be the lucky ones” (Long John Silver). At this stage I expect there to be a minimum of at least 2 snp parties on the go within 2 years, The snp liberation front for Scotland and The Scottish Liberation Front, just like Judea in Monty Python. Stand aside everyone the ferrets are entering the sack.   

A POLITICAL GIANT PREPARES TO LEAVE THE STAGE.

Interesting reactions in the Herald’s comments site to Gordon Brown’s decision to retire from front line politics. 32 years in Parliament, Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer,  victor of the referendum, ender of Alex Salmond's Career holder of a 30,000 majority but. Some Herald readers it seems 'kent his faither' and they try to traduce his achievements with obnoxious criticisms, these are the cretins that we associate with the phrase which welcomes visitors to Scotland, “you’ll have had your tea”.  Scotland must have some of the meanest nasty pinch faced characters in the world. He is regarded world wide as one of the great statesmen and politicians of our times except in the country of his birth by the knuckle dragging nationalists. No doubt they are ‘boaking’ in to their sporrans at the memory of ‘Irn Broon’ kicking their ‘erses’ at the climax of the referendum where he strode the land swatting nationalists like flies and looking like a giant among snp pygmies.

The truth of the matter is that these people are actually pretty dumb and do not see how toxic and embarrassing they are. The fact that Brown has strode the political stage for such a long time and to such effect is not what winds them up the most. He is renowned worldwide, he is one of the cleverest men of his generation, He is 100% solid Labour and 100% solid Scottish. The hatred felt for him by nationalists comes from that last point about his Scottishness, they simply regard anyone who is not a Scottish nationalist with hatred and when that great Scotsman Brown is opposed to nationalism their rage becomes unmanageable. I hope he will be around for a long time to come and I hope he will continue to cast his giant shadow over Scottish nationalism and it’s totalitarian and racist ideals.   

WE'RE SH**E AND WE KNOW WE ARE.

Do you ever like me stop and wonder at the gullibility of the average supporter of the Scotland football team?. The player pool available for international matches has only two above average players Brown and Fletcher (not Darren). Neither of these two however would get in to the English pool of players and neither would any other Scottish players either. Despite this almost 60,000 of them attended the match between Scotland and England at Celtic park last night to witness what a predictable drubbing was dished out by the English. Yes I know a 3-1 defeat does not seem like a drubbing but that is what it was, this was an under strength England playing at half pace and they should have scored double the goals that they did. Scotland played it was a cup final and England played it like the friendly that it was and Scotland still couldn’t land a glove on them if you will pardon the mixed sporting metaphors.

Rooney and Wiltshire alone are worth as much as any 6 or 7 of Scotland’s best players, international football is now an embarrassing farce and it needs overhauled. We ought not to be seeing countries with populations of 3 or 4 million people playing against countries of 60 + million. International football should be hurriedly sorted in to leagues like domestic football and teams like Scotland, Ireland and Gibraltar for God’s sake would be in lower leagues from England, Brazil and Italy thus avoiding humiliation. Scotland can of course  always produce players like Law, Bremner, Johnstone, Baxter, Souness and Murdoch but until we can come up with a way of producing them at the same time as each other we will continue to be regularly gubbed. Our sporting press however will continue come what may to wind up the idiots with fancy tartan dress outfits who cause us humiliation by telling them that, this time we are real contenders, garbage, utter garbage..    

SCOTLAND'S FOOTBALL SHAME.

When alex salmond waxed lyrical about what a wonderful country Scotland was he resolutely avoided any mention of ugly issues such as racism and sectarianism, he was of course and still is an habitual and devious liar. The present controversy about certain footballers deciding to play international football for countries other than the country of their birth reminds me once again of Scotland’s disgrace when it comes to the twin evils of racism and sectarianism. It is difficult to find a more hypocritical stance than that taken by people who willingly encourage and support footballers who decide to play for Scotland who were not born here while levelling criticism and abuse at a couple of footballers who do exactly the same thing by deciding to play for Ireland despite being born here in Scotland, I refer of course to the Irish internationalists McCarthy and McGeady, what kind of an idiot is Gordon McQueen who actually encouraged Scottish fans to abuse both these players despite he himself  having played with players for Scotland who were not born here?. Is big Gordon an idiot, a bigot, a hypocrite or is he a mixture of all three?. Incidents like this give the lie to those who claim bogusly that Scotland is not a country infected by these issues and they are still mainly directed at Irish Catholics, and McGeady and McCarthy fit the bill nicely.

During the Jock Stein years at Parkhead Celtic brought unprecedented glory to Scotland by being one of the dominant teams in Europe and over a period of about 6 or 7 years they won the European cup reached another European cup final and contested semi and quarter finals regularly, there was not a team in Europe at this time who did not fear coming to Glasgow to face that mighty Celtic team. It is also my contention that Celtic did not get the credit or respect that their achievements deserved because of the aforementioned twin evils of racism and sectarianism in Scottish society, this was and still is down to their history of being an Irish Catholic institution in Scotland. The 11 players who won the European cup were all eligible to play for Scotland and indeed they all did so, and here are the stats. Ronny Simpson 5 caps, Jim Craig 1 cap, Tommy Gemmell 16 caps, Bobby Murdoch 12 caps, Billy McNeill 29 caps, John Clark 4 caps, Jimmy Johnston 23 caps, Willie Wallace 7 caps, Steve Chalmers 5 caps, Berti Auld 3 caps and Bobby Lennox 10 caps. Check it out, Murdoch, Wallace, Chalmers, Lennox, Johnston, McNeill etc. dominated Europe but were not considered good enough for Scotland, are there people out there who think these guys actually were not good enough?. These eleven players could have gone to the world cup as Scotland’s first choice players and based on their ability to do so well in Europe where Man U, Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Ajax, the Milans etc etc played they could have made their mark and done very well indeed. Can anyone explain that?, perhaps McGeady and McCarthy got the impression that they, like the players I have spoken about were not welcome.   Oh just a thought did I mention one Jimmy McGrory?, he got 7 caps, ken?.              

WHAT ELSE LURKS BEHIND THE SNP'S FETID TARTAN VEIL?.

Billy McAllister snp councillor has been suspended for making alleged bigoted anti homosexual remarks. The snp will be hoping that their actions here will divert people from their squalid record on this issue. In 2011 snp MSP John Mason moved an anti Gay motion in Holyrood. Alyn Smith snp MEP bravely broke ranks at the time and said the following "What is in the small, mean, angry heads of bigots is a matter for them. I never asked for their approval, but I demand equality". Congrats are also due to snp MP Pete Wishart, who back then actually had some principals, he described the snp's John Mason's move as a "nasty little anti-gay marriage motion", this repellent motion was supported by snp MSP's Bill Walker (remember him?), Dave Thompson and Richard Lyle. The snp's record on Gay rights is appalling. Wee Holy Brian Souter, persecutor of the gay community Bankrolls the snp and they got him a Knighthood for his generosity. A motion which still stands at Holyrood I believe condemns the snp for doing business with the virulently anti gay Mormon Brigham Young University In Utah America. They (the snp) had a squalid little agreement with the American Mormon Peddlers of bigotry and hatred to employ their students as 'interns' for snp MSP’S at Holyrood. The shyster salmond also hawked what passes for his ‘principles’ around various ‘Christian’?, groups to find loop holes which would allow him not to offend them over the issue of Gay adoption rights. If Mr. McAllister's actions shine a light on the snp's dirty little secret it would be a good thing.

NEIL FINDLAY LABOUR MSP PUTS THE LEFT VISION FORWARD.

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OCT
2014

Wednesday 22ND

posted by Morning Star in Features

There’s an open goal if we offer a programme of radical change, says NEIL FINDLAY

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As Scotland enters the post-referendum era with a new First Minister in waiting and a political landscape still reverberating from the decisive rejection of independence, the Scottish Labour Party now faces a number of challenges.

While the media focuses on the growth in membership of the SNP and the Greens — not without its challenges — or the creation of yet another new left party (what a novel idea that is), Labour has to respond and respond quickly to the new terrain.

For some the answer lies in the further devolution or independence for the party in Scotland or some other bureaucratic or organisational changes.

Necessary though organisational change is, the most pressing response required is a political one.

And I would argue — following the massive turnout at the referendum — that anyone who thinks that we can take on the SNP from any other position than firmly to their left needs to re-enter this world from cloud cuckoo land.

So, in setting clear red water between Scottish Labour and a Sturgeon-led SNP government, the party should consider the following policy options:

-Committing in principle to a policy of full employment. It is the most basic need of human beings to have the wherewithal to provide for themselves and their family

-Establishing a national house-building programme to build council houses and social housing on a grand scale

-Setting up a living wage unit in the Scottish government that would use grants, procurement and every lever of government to raise the minimum wage to the living wage

-Re-democratise local government, financing services and freeing councils to set their own taxes again and be held to account for doing so — and begin reversing the 40,000 job losses across our councils

-End the social care scandal by making social care a rewarding, fairly paid career and ending the indignity of short-timed care visits — following the best practice in the sector

-Create quality apprenticeships and new college places that set young people up for life — 130,000 places have been lost under the SNP

-An industrial policy that promotes manufacturing and new sustainable jobs

-A wholesale review of our NHS — recruiting enough staff and rewarding them to ensure we have an NHS for the 21st century; ending the increasing spend on the private sector

-Build a charter of workers’ rights with new legislation on the fatal accident inquiries and strict liability, devolved health and safety, new legislation on equalities, the living wage and blacklisting, and a commitment to an inquiry into the miners’ strike

These are policies that will have an impact on people across Scotland — especially those who have been victims of the Tory class war on the poor and who those who have been left behind as the SNP try yet again to be all things to all people.

We should remember that the SNP is vulnerable for that very reason.

It has not protected the NHS. It has failed to use its powers of procurement to enforce the living wage.

It has made no commitments on workers’ rights beyond talk about partnership. It has taken no action on blacklisting. It still sees economic growth in terms of cutting taxes on big business and the super-rich.

Even its most recent policy announcement on a land and buildings transaction tax trails behind that already announced by Labour.

Labour proposes an annual tax on mansions while the SNP will simply impose a tax when properties are sold.

Those on the left should remember this. The SNP is not a social-democratic party. It is a nationalist party that is at the same time populist. It seeks links with the trade union movement — but also with big business. Its economic policy documents show it to be essentially neoliberal, ultimately defending the privileges of the market.

This is the open goal for the Labour Party. Policy is the key to our future success — let’s start to build that radical policy programme now.

Neil Findlay MSP is the Scottish Labour Party’s front-bench spokesperson for health.

TIME FOR COMMON SENSE TO BREAK OUT COMRADES.

At times like these we need the unions, that is why they are under such attack from the right wing Tories, UKIP and the snp, the former two do not try to hide their hatred of the trade union movement and the latter one, the snp try do to hide their hatred of the Unions but their hatred is such that it is impossible to disguise it. I think this is a prudent time to once again paraphrase the immortal "Reg" the leader of the 'people's front of Judea' or was it the 'Judean people's front' when I ask you to have a look at the poster below which speaks for itself and say "OK then what else have the Unions ever done for us, tell me that, just what?.

(if your eye sight is like mine, left click on the poster to increase it's size).  

HERE IS SOME INFORMATION THAT THE TORIES, UKIP AND THE GUTTER RIGHT WING PRESS WOULD PREFER YOU NOT TO SEE.

When The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Express, The Telegraph and the other Tory right wing media rags push out their racist and dishonest headlines which are designed to deliberately create false impressions we should look harder at what these low life journalists are saying. The article below is a good starter and it nails their lies and the contempt that they have for the truth. 

Democracy is  dependent upon an electorate that is accurately informed.

Unfortunately, UK government ministers and the right-wing press have made sure that we are misinformed about (almost) everything – here is the result. The chart is the result of an Ipsos.MORI poll examining the difference between peoples’ perceptions (mean estimates) and reality (actual) when asked questions about the UK population.

 Here is another example from the Ipsos.MORI poll (referenced below):

Teenage pregnancy: on average, we think teenage pregnancy is 25 times higher than official estimates:  we think that 15% of girls under 16 get pregnant each year, when official figures suggest it is around 0.6%[i].

Here is the reality

“With the lowest numbers recorded since 1969, the teenage pregnancy rate is proof of all the hard work of sexual health and education professionals, and the lasting legacy of the decade-long Teenage Pregnancy Strategy.
Read more at http://www.fpa.org.uk/news/teen-pregnancy-rates-continue-fall-england-and-wales#1CdvzfTmfHPWh1cR.99

Was this news on the front page of the Daily Mail.  Of course not – it did not fit their alternative reality.  It would only be on their front page if they could somehow twist the data into a moral outrage about increasing teenage pregnancy.  Even the Mail has failed to manage this – so far.

More from the IpsosMORI poll:

Foreign aid: 26% of people think foreign aid is one of the top 2-3 items government spends most money on, when it actually made up 1.1% of expenditure (£7.9bn) in the 2011/12 financial year. More people select this as a top item of expenditure than pensions (which cost nearly ten times as much, £74bn) and education in the UK (£51.5bn).

Benefit fraud: people estimate that 34 times more benefit money is claimed fraudulently than official estimates: the public think that £24 out of every £100 spent on benefits is claimed fraudulently, compared with official estimates of £0.70 per £100.

These two pieces of research indicate the gap between perception and reality in the British public:

The IpsosMORI Poll – Perceptions are not reality: http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/3188/Perceptions-are-not-reality.aspx

British public wrong about nearly everything, survey shows:  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-public-wrong-about-nearly-everything-survey-shows-8697821.html

Also:

“Watching Only Fox News Makes You Less Informed Than Watching No News At All” http://www.businessinsider.com/study-watching-fox-news-makes-you-less-informed-than-watching-no-news-at-all-2012-5#ixzz2o2UEgHzE

These are just a few examples of government ministers misinforming the public:

David Cameron Rebuked For Making Misleading Economy Claim, Again: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/03/08/david-cameron-obr-economy-growth_n_2836515.html

Ministers who misuse statistics to mislead voters must pay the price.   http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/31/ministers-misuse-statistics-resign

Minister rebuked over immigration statistics:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-16730433

Incapacity benefit test claims ‘conflated figures’ – watchdog: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22720007

Iain Duncan Smith criticised over benefit cap figures:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22462265

Duncan Smith ‘clarifies’ Commons slip over benefit data: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11792700

This gives just a few recent examples of tabloid misinformation:

The Daily Mail & The Sun continue to undermine their own case for press freedom: http://www.reasonandreality.org/?p=2837

More:

The Lies of Right Wing Tories, Blairites, Free Marketeers and Neolibertarians:  http://www.reasonandreality.org/?p=2017

Some Questions for our local MP John Glen: http://www.reasonandreality.org/?p=1789

Cameron won’t make me a Minister… I’m a white, married, Home Counties Christian, says Tory MP John Glen: http://www.reasonandreality.org/?p=1494

A QUESTION FOR NICOLA STURGEON !

The snp are on the run again from a perfectly straight forward question which I have been asking them. It could hardly be more simple yet no one wants to address it from the nationalists who have gone uncharacteristically quiet.

When Gordon Brown was appointed Prime Minister a huge, no doubt orchestrated snp cacophony of abuse was directed at him and Labour based on the fact that he was appointed without a vote. They have since then continued to accuse him and Labour of being undemocratic, totalitarian, dictatorial and much more since that day, insisting that he should never have been recognised as PM because he was not voted in to that position. 3 days ago those accusations ceased. 3 days ago the snp appointed Nicola sturgeon without a vote and not one snp member, elected official, councillor, MSP, EU MP or even supporter has raised a voice in protest, not one.

What has happened to their democratic outrage? Their wrath? Their righteousness?. Is this an unprecedented outbreak of amnesia?, a massive collective head injury?. Or Is it in fact an embarrassing example of synthetic rage and hypocrisy, will anyone answer me, sturgeon must be ‘de facto’ undemocratic, totalitarian, dictatorial, right?, surely we are entitled to have this anomaly cleared up by the snp. What a way to begin a career as first minister and leader of her party, how can we the people of Scotland take seriously someone who runs away from such an obvious position of cowardice and mendacity.     

"THE OLD WILL DIE AND THE YOUNG WILL FORGET" DAVID BEN GURION.

The above quote from David Ben Gurion Israel’s first Prime Minister was his response to accusations (which he acknowledged) about Israel’s occupation of Palestine and their atrocities against the indigenous Arab peoples of that beautiful peaceful country. Well, “the old” he referred to are indeed dead as is he, but what of the young? have they forgotten?, I leave you to judge.  Today the beleaguered Palestinians and millions across the world are celebrating a victory for justice and a triumph over evil as the Westminster Parliament voted overwhelmingly last night to recognise the State of Palestine. Israel and its Zionist war criminal leaders will be livid, they will try to undermine the seriousness of this vote but, make no mistake about it this is hugely significant and a huge blow to Israel. Public opinion is changing and has been shifting against Israel for some time now. Israel’s most potent enemy is not Hamas or any other military threat it is publicity. The all seeing eye of the ubiquitous camera and the courage of the people using the cameras, the unforgiving and relentless photographic evidence, the eye witness accounts and detailed stories of indiscriminate atrocities being committed by them against non combatants is what  will finally destroy them, just as it did America in Vietnam. The iconic picture of the tiny naked Vietnamese girl fleeing in terror from the American napalm attack damaged them more than the Viet Cong ever could and Gaza today echoes that situation, how many people are there like me who instead of picturing olive groves and peaceful scenes picture a small boy throwing a stone at a tank when they think of Israel?.  

This is a small but important step forward for Palestine but there is still a long way to go. More and more people are realizing that Israel is running out of friends, more and more people are refusing to visit the country or buy its produce; they are becoming international pariahs who slaughter Palestinians at will as the past 3 conflicts in Gaza have shown. They talk about peace while annexing Palestinian land, building illegal settlements and refusing to obey the UN and the world courts. They refuse to allow the right of return of refugees, they refuse to return land taken by war, they refuse to agree to East Jerusalem belonging to the Arabs and they confine the Arabs behind an apartheid wall. The state of Israel is a match for any brutal and tyrannical country that ever existed. Eventually they will be defeated and justice will prevail. Meanwhile I urge everyone to have no dealings of any kind with them.             

WHEN YOU AVOID VOTING IT'S NOT REBELLION IT'S SURRENDER.

The heading above this post "when you avoid voting it's not rebellion it's surrender" is from my American correspondent in Chicago who keeps a forensic eye on politics in the USA and here in his native Scotland. 

Salmond is running out of time for telling lies, 'ergo' there is a light at the end of the tunnel. His latest underhand scam is to portray the people who avoided paying the poll tax as some kind of heroes or rebels he want's their votes so it's another bribe like the council tax freeze and other freebies for those who can well afford to pay. I have no quarrel with people who disagreed with the poll tax or people who protested against it, I personally was the Chairman of the Shortroods anti poll tax association here in Paisley and like most others I ended up paying it but we did not fail, it destroyed Thatcher after all. 

When we are considering salmond's intention to grant an amnesty to those who did not pay we must consider what happened to those who in fact did avoid paying, what punishment if any did they receive for breaking the law?. How many non payers do you know who were charged?, I don't know a single one, all those I knew paid it despite their hatred for it, that is because they knew that it was the right thing to do. They knew that no one has the right to refuse to pay a tax which is legal and democratically levied no matter how much we despise it. If we say it's all right to refuse to pay such a tax how do we deal with the billionaires who dodge paying taxes?, is it now OK according to salmond for Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, KCMG PC AKA "Lord Ashcroft " the multi billionaire bank roller of the Tory Party not to pay taxes?, no matter how you slice it it certainly looks that way. 

For those who refused to pay and faced charges I have respect, for those who refused to pay and went "missing" I have no respect, they abdicated their right to vote so that they could avoid paying, they sold their democratic rights, rights which were secured for them by hundreds of years of sacrifice and struggle. Mr. salmond is leaving still showing his contempt for the Scottish people, by bribing them, he thinks we are all as bent as he is.    

"You cannot hope to bribe or twist (thank God!) the British journalist. But, seeing what the man will do unbribed, there's no occasion to." Humbert Wolfe.

Here is something that never changes. Lies are told constantly by the right wing media to portray their view of the world, a spun story, an oft repeated rumour, lies and innuendo, they are all the stock in trade of the Capitalist media journalist. The result of this constant barrage of propaganda is that many people, most of them honest and decent form, through no fault of their own a consensus of opinion about societies so called 'problems' and, more importantly who is to blame for them.This supply of misinformation comes in many forms from across a wide range of sources as disparate as the BNP and SNP with the former blaming blacks and the latter blaming the English all the way to the "quality" newspapers and commentators. The table below is an example of where this can lead and then consequently lead on to division and ill informed prejudice. Don't be fooled by them, check whatever they tell you, then check it again. I read once about a young man who had left home and when his parents wrote to him asking questions about how he was getting on, what his accommodation was like what job was he doing etc. He wrote back saying that he had a nice flat and he was working as trader in child slavery, he thought this would be preferable to admitting to them that he was in fact a journalist.          

PAY YOUR TAXES, THAT'S THE SOCIALIST WAY.

This poll tax pursuit development is interesting if you want to try to gauge the grasp that the snp members have on reality. We have a group of people who dodged the Poll Tax and a larger group who paid it, most of them reluctantly. Very few of those who opposed it actually did so in the face of the law most disappeared without recourse to the barricades. The snp now in their undignified scramble to appear left wing are posturing and rattling their sabers against the injustice of the tax as we all did back in the day.

I believe 100 % in paying taxes, taxes are a sign of civilisation, fair progressive taxes even more so. That it (the poll tax) was an iniquitous tax IMO is indisputable and that gives it's opponents two clear choices 1/ pay it, and 2/ don't pay and face the sanctions, notwithstanding protest and argument. Refusing to pay and going underground is not an option because others have to pay it, it is like the strike breaker who accepts the pay rise that his work mates fought for, it's simply not on it's about unity and solidarity. How do we maintain any united front if we say to working people I hated the poll tax as well as you and I know we paid it but those who didn't pay and hid are to get an amnesty, that is not a recipe for building unity among people.

I want to see a lot more money collected in taxes but lots of people would object to who I would take it from, you probably seen them on TV from Birmingham over the last couple of days but we must make fairness our watch word and that means everyone pays what the government decides we must pay and to get multi billionaires like Lord Ashcroft and the rest of them in the net we need to be the government. When we get something like the Poll Tax or indeed The Bedroom Tax we get rid of the government we do not run and hide. I would advocate that defaulters should pay but because of the time which has elapsed I would make those payments as manageable as is humanly possible.

The snp have predictably accused others of chasing this money when the truth is that councils are obliged by law to pursue debt, snp councils will do it as well despite salmond pretending again to be ‘Wolfie Smith’. If we write to salmond and say, I don’t like that local council tax so I’m not paying it and I now know that you will support my decision, right?, aye F****n right!. This is beginning to look like another ‘Del boy’ salmond “in terms of the debate” scams. 

COULD THE WEE GREEN MEN FROM MARS BE NO SUPPORTERS?.

Rumors are now circulating about mysterious alien forces employed by the "Better Together" campaign. They claim that BT were able through a hitherto unknown process of osmosis to force yes voters to put their crosses in the NO boxes. Senior government sources have admitted that they feared this might happen because they have been aware of unexplained signs of brain interference in the 'Yes Camp'. Soon to be retired snp chief 'heid banger' alex salmond is said to be incandescent with rage and demanding a full investigation and an immediate re run of the referendum as he rages incoherently about the "Engurlish Bastards" whom he claims "have all goat it infamy".   

WHEN WILL THE REST OF THE WORLD PUT A STOP TO ISRAEL'S CRIMES?.

Salford Trades Union Council Motion on Gaza

Motion Reads:

This Salford Trades Union Council condemns the outrage perpetrated by the Israeli State, by its attack by land & by air on the population of Gaza.

Israeli has now crossed the rubicon of humanity by the destruction of life & its disregard for property. It pursues the illegal building of settlements and annexing of East Jerusalem in contravention of UN resolutions that call on them to desist and return to its 1967 borders.

The renegade Israeli State has consistently ignored United Nation's call for the return of Israel to its 1967 border's.

This Salford TUC demands that:

- mis-named Israeli Defence Force (IDF) cease its continuing bombardment of Gaza City & surrounding area's.

-the IDF remove its armoured weaponry out of, the area known as the Gaza Strip.

- Israel frees Marwan Barghouti and the thousands of political prisoners being held on concocted charges.

- those member's of the British Parliament who are "Friend's of Israel" question why, by association, they support the actions in Gaza.

We call upon the world to:

- condemn the Israel State & ask Israeli citizen's to renounce its government's policy.

-boycott all Israeli goods & services until progress is made towards returning land stolen from Palestinian people, as per relevant resolutions UN resolutions..

- support any call for Israel to be removed from all European Sport connections while the blockade of Gaza and illegal occupations continue.

We call on Hamas to:

- cease their missile attacks on the people of Israel, so that talks on a lasting peace can recommence.

The acts of inhumanity cannot be justified, the history of the Jewish people's os one of centuries of human misery and yet they allow this perpetration of another race to occur in their name.

The Salford Trades Union Council, fully supports a two state solution based on a peaceful transition.

Motion Ends.

WHEN IS 45% GREATER THAN 55%?. WHEN SALMOND AND HIS SNP FLOCK SAY SO APPARENTLY.

The last refuge of the "tartanshirt" scoundrels that is social media still contains some of the shell shocked 'useful idiots' who bought salmond's lies. Their rage is strong and their hatred is palpable as they stammer out their loud-mouthed defiance. It must be difficult for some NO campaigners not to feel a pang of sympathy for them but, not for me. They are behaving in defeat exactly as they did in the campaign, shamefully. The lies, abuse, and belligerence continues as the predictable and wretched cries of "we were cheated" ring out and the world looks on askance as they humiliate Scotland with their grotesque reactions to the clear, decisive and richly deserved defeat. Can anyone recall the Labour Party accusing the snp of cheating when they won in 2011?. Did Labour call for a rerun?, did Labour try to declare themselves as winners despite losing?, did Labour accuse the snp voters of being tricked?. One victory for the snp in a referendum would see the end of all elections, there is now no doubt of that.  

The NO campaign was always IMO going to win but two things happened to our advantage as polling day approached, these two things were connected and they were catastrophic for the separatists. The first happened because they were becoming aggravated at their lack of growth in support and they made what turned out to be the biggest blunder of the campaign. They decided to take a chance on fear, they turned to negativity and in doing so they chose to use the most emotional and provocative of all subjects, the Scottish NHS. They deliberately started scaring the old and defenceless, the parents of young children with serious and chronic conditions and those for whom the NHS is a constant comfort blanket in their lives.

Battle commenced immediately on this volatile issue and this led to the second catastrophic event to hit the snp in the campaign, this was the angry intervention of the man who is still by far the biggest political beast in the UK Gordon Brown, and he was not pleased. Overnight he became the story and the separatists were immediately in a panic as he cut a swathe through their lies and shabby deceitful tactics. With 3 weeks to go the 'Scottish Lion Roared' and the whole of Scotland listened and so did the UK as he went on a rampage across the country galvanising the NO campaign, crushing our opponents and steadying the ship containing the 'silent majority. From the point that he intervened the yes campaign were bound to lose, all the big hitters on the NO side tactfully stepped aside as 'big Gordy' shook salmond and the yes campaigners warmly by the throat. there is nothing in UK politics more guaranteed to strike terror in to an opposition than the approach of Gordon Brown when he is 'ready to rumble' and so it proved as he delivered the result with a little help from salmond and the snp whose bottle crashed at a crucial time. All thanks to Gordon Brown. He clearly has a huge part to play in politics, possibly Scottish politics if he wants to meet the challenge, I hope he does.    

“NOO THEY ENGURLISH B******S UR MESSIN WAE OOR BRAINS” (ALEX SALMOND).

Rumours are now circulating about mysterious alien forces employed by the "Better Together" campaign who were able through a hitherto unknown process of osmosis to force yes voters to put their crosses in the NO boxes. Senior government sources have admitted that they feared this might happen because they have been aware of unexplained signs of brain interference in the 'Yes Camp'. Soon to be retired snp chief 'heid banger' alex salmond is said to be incandescent with rage and demanding a full investigation and an immediate re run of the referendum as he rages incoherently about the "Engurlish Bastards" whom he claims "have all goat it infamy".   

SALMOND DEPARTS AND THE SNP CRAZIES PREPARE FOR A BLOODBATH.

"all political careers end in  failure" (Enoch Powell). If there was ever a political career that deserved to end in failure it is that of alex salmond. Make no mistake about it the announcement of his resignation represents an ignominious failure. With apologies to TS Elliot, "he goes out not with a bang but with a whimper”. His one political goal in life was independence, it was 'thee' single issue, his ‘raison d'etre’, and he has failed to deliver it despite being snp leader during a 20 year build up to this moment. The hatred also that he has created among the Scottish people will take decades to fade if indeed it ever does and it will be his legacy.

The defeat in yesterday’s referendum was decisive and unequivocal and certainly robust enough to settle the matter for at least one if not more generations and that will negate the success he claims of getting 1. 6 million Scots to vote for independence. The profile of those who supported the yes campaign is such that it excludes huge swathes of the population and draws heavily on the poorest areas, without salmond and without a chance of another referendum in the near future that momentum will be lost. All that has really happened is that people who do not normally engage in politics through no fault of their own will now drift away. They have been rallied by dangerous rhetoric based on grievance against our neighbours in England who have been identified as the enemy and seduced by uncosted promises of a better tomorrow, a tactic which, as we know has been used before as a cruel deceit by dishonest charlatans. Everything that the separatists could have hoped for has happened and helped to gain that momentum and it was still nowhere near enough.

His leaving also leaves a huge gap at the top of the snp and, the man responsible for this is salmond himself. He has methodically and cynically over the years created a leadership structure which makes him look good because, quite frankly, those promoted by him are pedestrian in the extreme. Neil, Russell, Swinney, Hislop, Constance, McKay etc. lack gravitas and intellectual rigour. Perversely enough Nicola Sturgeon who will start as favourite to succeed him is the most high profile and over promoted one of all and is simply not credible as a First Minister. He ‘salmond’ has thus presided over a rise in political representation for the snp, gained control of Holyrood and delivered a referendum while at the same time leading them in to a very vulnerable position if they lost the referendum which they did and if he goes and he is going.

Casting a very large shadow over all of this is Gordon Brown. There is growing speculation that he might be eyeing a seat at Holyrood and he is still the biggest political hitter in the UK as was demonstrated this week with his explosive intervention in the referendum which helped to consolidate the NO vote and gave the whole campaign a huge lift. The personal abuse used by the most mild mannered snp supporters toward Gordon Brown is a clear indication of how much they fear him. The fillip that Brown’s presence and possibly Alastair Darling’s as well would give the Scottish Parliament would be difficult to overestimate. And the boost to Labour’s electoral appeal would be massive. Interesting times ahead.             

THE FAT LADY SANG AND DECENT PEOPLE JOINED IN THE CHORUS.

The fat lady has sung and her song was liberating and cleansing. Almost 3 years of lies and intimidation by the yes campaign brought to an end by that hope for mankind, ‘the ballot box’. I awoke this morning to find that the Vote NO posters in the windows of our house had been removed by a very relieved and scared family member. This was done as soon as the result was announced.

This morning there are many many decent people who can sit back and allow a feeling of pride to wash over them, they have been forced to watch their country being consumed by hatred and bullying, they have been forced to endure aggression and abuse the likes of which has not been seen since the days of Mosley’s Blackshirts, all emanating from the yes campaign, the bullets being issued by alex salmond and latterly the truly wretched Jim Sillars and fired by the mob.

The much spoken about ‘silent majority’ watched and patiently waited, they were horrified but they knew that they would eventually get to play their part, their resolve never wavered and their determination to stamp out this evil was solid, their revenge if you will would be “a dish best served cold” and yesterday they struck with a vengeance. Simple black crosses on ballot papers, millions of them all across Scotland reclaimed the streets from the marauding  ‘tartanshirt’ barbarians. The ordinary decent citizens, the undemonstrative people who live next door and are simply good neighbours to all of us struck at the heart of the nationalist brute and destroyed it and I salute them. “Nationalism is a disease” (Einstein). Racism, fascism and nationalism are bedfellows and the price we pay to control them is constant vigilance. The great German playwright Bertotl Brecht put it better than I ever could when he said about the demise of Hitler in his play “The resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”. “Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.”

THE FAT LADY HAS CLEARED HER THROAT AND SHE IS NOW PRACTICING HER SCALES.

The man with the big cigar and the rolls Royce “The Bookie” started paying out on a NO victory in the referendum yesterday, Monday, September 15, 2014. That’s 3 days before the poll. WTF does that say?.   

IT'S ODDS ON A NO VICTORY AS THE FAT LADY CLEARS HER THROAT.

The snp and their followers have, as I predicted brought ignominy on Scotland through their yes campaign. The behaviour of their followers has been frightening and embarrassing, reminiscent of scenes which were last witnessed in the 30’s as the Moseleyite blackshirt mobs of The British Union of Fascists used violence and intimidation to deal with anyone who opposed them.  Considering the squalid history of the snp it is no surprise at all that we have witnessed this thuggish behaviour.

They have lied again and again since the start of the campaign, creating phantom groups of pro independence supporters, using deception to ensure that  a majority of their supporters could pack TV meetings and other meetings in public halls. They have also been traducing every opponent who challenged their bizarre assertions no matter how qualified and distinguished they were in their field. Celebrities as well who dared to show support for the UK have been subjected to the foulest abuse imaginable and supporters of the NO campaign have been disinclined to display their support  for the union by turning up at meetings, putting posters in their windows at home or stickers on their car windows for fear of violence and or vandalism, this is not Weimar Germany at the time of Hitler and the Nazis folks, this is Scotland at the time of the snp and alex salmond.  

The day approaches, will the people of Scotland choose to vote NO thus favouring reason, debate and truth or will they choose yes and plump for odium, belligerence and mendacity?. The United Kingdom has survived for over 300 sometimes turbulent years, sometimes it has been one step forward and two steps back but the overall result thus far has undoubtedly been progress. That is not to say we are satisfied or complacent, far from it but the more observant and analytical among you will I’m sure conclude that this struggle is by definition a long haul, look at any other country and you will find problems and yes we have our share.

In my own lifetime I have been able to listen to parents and grandparents tell stories of what could only be described as hard hard times when lives for people like us was often short and brutal, their lives testify eloquently to the progress that has been made under the union. Compare if you will the progress made in the fundamental fields of Education, Health, Housing and the Welfare State among others. These improvements would of course have happened without the union but I find it hard to accept that they would have been as inspiring and certainly not as rapid.

I will therefore vote NO, not only for my children, and their children but in remembrance and appreciation of my parent’s and grandparent’s generations, their struggles and their vision, for their courage and sacrifice and their dream of the future, that is the torch we carry, let’s make sure we do not drop it, VOTE NO.            

A BRUISING AND UNCOMFORTABLE ENCOUNTER FOR THE SNP POSTER BOY.

I watched Labour’s Douglas Alexander on the “Scotland 2014” programme last night where his opponent was Humza Yousaf, rising star of the hard working snp Asian community as they debated independence. I mention this because I want to advise people to watch this mismatch, you can find it on line. Catch it if you can because it could turn out to be the last time you will see Mr. Yousaf  on our screens, at least until the referendum is over.

A couple of nights ago I watched the same Douglas Alexander toy with the snp’s Nicola Sturgeon like a cat with a mouse, the makeup of that programme and the recent bad publicity for the snp tartanshirt  street mobs made it impossible for her to morph into “Sturgeon Stairheid Snarler” and consequently no one noticed her. Douglas Alexander’s task was easy and it showed on the night, proving that you do not have to yell if you are armed with the facts and the truth.  

A BRUISING AND UNCOMFORTABLE ENCOUNTER FOR THE SNP POSTER BOY.

I watched Labour’s Douglas Alexander on the “Scotland 2014” programme last night where his opponent was Humza Yousaf, rising star of the hard working snp Asian community as they debated independence. I mention this because I want to advise people to watch this mismatch, you can find it on line. Catch it if you can because it could turn out to be the last time you will see Mr. Yousaf  on our screens, at least until the referendum is over.

A couple of nights ago I watched the same Douglas Alexander toy with the snp’s Nicola Sturgeon like a cat with a mouse, the makeup of that programme and the recent bad publicity for the snp tartanshirt  street mobs made it impossible for her to morph into “Sturgeon Stairheid Snarler” and consequently no one noticed her. Douglas Alexander’s task was easy and it showed on the night, proving that you do not have to yell if you are armed with the facts and the truth.  

VOTE EARLY AND VOTE OFTEN IS THE SNP WAY.

A shocking example of the kind of people who populate the snp was captured on TV on Tuesday morning. In a referendum programme from Dundee billed as an opportunity to change the minds of those voters who are undecided.  The audience were divided in to three groups, no, yes and undecided. The latter group were expected to say at the end whether anyone had gone from ‘don’t know’ to being decided. What followed left even the most deceitful yes campaigners stunned, a guy said he had been persuaded by the arguments to go from No to yes, he was obviously enjoying the camera so much that he rambled on a bit and ended up saying he voted yes by post the day before the TV programme!, cue uneasy quiet and toe curling shame for the yes camp. The horrified looks on the faces of the snp gang behind him caught on camera told their own story, two of them, Denis Canavan and Shona Robison looked as if they were frantically trying to locate the nearest exits. Funny?, well, yes in a kind of painful way for the snp as the smiles quickly wore off and people started to be aware of what  they had just witnessed. They quickly realised that the yes camp had actually planted this guy as a convert to the yes cause in the ‘don’t knows section’!, and the looks on the faces of the audience and the woman chairing the meeting all clearly thought the same. The yes people, some of whom obviously were not in on this latest snp fraud stood around looking at each other hoping for a hint of what to do but there was none, all they could do was shrug their shoulders, bow their heads and exit  a.s.a.p. I advise everyone to search for this and have a look, here was proof positive if any more was needed that the snp are running continually on lies and cheating, they truly are beneath contempt.  

THE PROCLAIMERS DONATE £10,000 TO THE YES CAMPAIGN. THEY ARE BIG FANS OF THE GREAT ARTHUR DALY.

Big picture of The Proclaimers on the front page of The Herald today, they gave £10,000 to the yes camp and immediately got much more publicity than £10,000 could possibly buy in return. These millionaires are “flinging their money about like men wi nae airms” as the ‘old fella’ used to say.  They cannae play and they cannae sing, but they are as fly and sleazy as any Capitalist hustlers or Shake Down Artists out there and they are great businessmen. They have a niche market and they are going to cling to it just like Andy Stewart and Harry Lauder did before them. The money they donate is an investment. Between them they have two eyes crying with pity for poor old Scotland and the other two shining with financial calculation.

"There are few more impressive sights in the world than a Scotsman on the make" J.M. Barrie.