Archive
‘No’ panic
There’s a piece on Page 6 of today’s Herald, by Iain McWhirter, that should be required reading for all those rubbing their hands in glee over the idiotic intervention in the great debate by the unelected President of the European Commission.
As with the tri-partite currency claim, Barroso’s analysis and his comparison, has been shown to be well wide of the mark.
There is no clearer indication that the Yes campaign is on course for victory than the hysterical bullying that we’ve seen in the last few days, from Westminster and its self-serving allies.
Yes for Scotland
Slimy Tory toff
A couple of days after his disgraceful and dodgy intervention in the Scottish Independence debate, the Chancer of the Exchequer has announced that international athletes competing in the Glasgow Diamond League meeting in July will be given exemption from UK income tax.
Leaving aside the very live issues of whether this is a bribe, and whether it discriminates unfairly against British athletes, George Osborne’s timing is crude to say the least.
This stuff may be delighting the London tabloids, but it’s all going to backfire in the final stages of the debate.
Yes for Scotland
Gutter press
No newspapers will be banned in the new Scotland, but a quick glance at this morning’s front pages convinces me that a few, notably the odious Daily Mail might as well close up shop. Their reporting of the Independence debate will neither be forgotten nor forgiven.
Three blind mice
I am still laughing. George Osborne, Ed Balls and Danny Alexander are agreed that an independent Scotland will not use the pound sterling. Look out three sets of crutches, someone, for each has shot himself in both feet.
Leaving aside the legality of this tripartite diktat, if that proves to be the case, it will be a small price to pay to be rid of Mr Osborne, Mr Balls and even Mr Alexander, Westminster MP for about half of Scotland. He will shortly be doing what all former Treasury ministers do when the electorate has found them out, namely collecting lucrative non-executive directorships in his new adopted homeland.
As Mel Gibson’s Wallace might have said, ‘They make take our pound, but they’ll never take our free will’.
Yes for Scotland.
Nemo me impune lacessit
Over the last few days, the people of Scotland have been told what’s best for them by Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, Bob Dudley, the boss of BP, and now by David Cameron, the Prime Minister. They’re all belittling Scottish Independence and telling us that they know best, and we should stick with the Union.
None of these people have any locus in the debate, or even an understanding of it. But why should they? For the record, Mr Carney is Canadian, Mr Dudley is an American, and Mr Cameron is an Old Etonian twat. Our referendum isn’t about currency, it isn’t about business and it isn’t about the best interests of the English. It’s about Scotland always having been a nation in its soul, and about the right of Twenty-first Century Scots to be recognised internationally as citizens of an independent state.
Shame
Watching ‘Pointless’ the other night, (yes I know) I heard a young contestant remark that he had just completed a university degree and as a consequence was twenty thousand in debt, so a share of the jackpot would come in handy.
I may have said this before but I’ve no worries about saying it again. Any developed nation that allows such a situation should be ashamed of itself. If we don’t invest properly in our young talent then we are ******.
The Fearties and the FCO
An excellent piece today by Tom Gordon in the Sunday Herald, revealing a black Foreign Office operation to sabotage the independence campaign is well worth reading. For anyone who thinks it’s far-fetched, it isn’t. Cameron is running scared, no question about it.
There is no overwhelming argument against independence. In my current experience the people who are most vociferously against it are those who fear the taxation consequences, and they, ironically, have the least need to worry about them. If my Scottish passport costs me more in tax each year, I’ll live with that.
Stephen Harper goes too far
Politics and sport?
Those with an interest in Spain and its institutions may be raising an eyebrow at the news of the resignation of the President of FC Barcelona, Sandro Rosell, following a decision by a Spanish court to accept a lawsuit against him and the club in relation to the signing last summer of a big money player. I heard his farewell speech last night live on TV, when he said that he was leaving so that personal attacks would no longer affect the management of the club. He made the statement in the club’s press room, and when it was over he was given a standing ovation and applauded from the room.
This controversy follows last year’s prosecution of Lionel Messi and his father over a disputed multi-million euro tax bill. The two have already settled the alleged debt, plus penalties yet the prosecution continues, with prison a theoretical possibility. It maybe no coincidence that Messi’s form has dropped a little this season.
Now many Catalan people are asking: if Real Madrid was the club involved in these matters would its reputation or its player be dragged through the courts? One-word answer: no.
Zoopla
A footballer in England is in trouble for touching his left sleeve with his right hand after scoring a goal. Apparently this gesture may be interpreted as anti-semitic in France, an intention which said footballer denies vehemently. If our media had not gone berserk, nobody in Britain would have had a clue to its meaning or even noticed that it had happened, yet now the kangaroo court is ready to sit and the player is presumed guilty with no real means of proving his innocence.
Since a free media tends to reflect the society that it serves, is it fair to conclude that we have become a nation of hysterical idiots?
God save us from Red Ed
Another good reason for a Yes vote.
Rush to mis-judgement
All my friends know that I am a big supporter of the SNP. That does not mean that I will follow it blindly and endorse everyone of its policies, regardless of my own reservations.
For example there was Police Scotland; as I’ve said on several public platforms, having grown up in a burgh of around 75,000 people with its own self-governing force, I believe that local police accountability at the highest level is important. It’s anathema to me that policing in the likes of Lerwick, Stornoway, Eyemouth or Stranraer should be under the command of an individual in Glasgow, who may never have walked a beat in Scotland in his entire career. It’s anathema to me that oversight of the new Scottish police service should be vested in a body whose members are appointed directly by the government of the day. That is part of the mechanism of a police state.
As a second example, there is the current rush to abolish the centuries old law of corroboration, which is unique to the Scottish judicial system. This proposal was part of a wide-ranging report by Lord Carloway, the Lord Justice Clerk, into criminal law and practice in Scotland. The most obvious benefit of such a move lies in the assumption that it would make it easier to secure convictions in relation to sexual offences. If that was the case, pure and simple, no-one would object. But it isn’t. Corroboration is a shield against wrongful conviction. It means that nobody can be found guilty on the basis of one person’s word alone. It’s a safeguard for the innocent, far more than a loophole for the guilty. Lord Carloway, a man I know, like and respect, may believe it can be discarded, but not a single one of his fellow judges are in recorded agreement with him, and all three surviving former heads of the Scottish judiciary are in outright opposition. They believe that the sexual crime issue could be addressed by finding a middle ground.
The common link behind these two dangerous polices is the Justice Secretary, Kenny Macaskill, MSP, the man who let Megrahi go. I don’t blame him for that one, but I do believe that he is fundamentally wrong about the others. However his statement in a TV interview yesterday indicates that he is determined to see his view on corroboration prevail, in spite of such powerful and experienced advice that it is an open door to wrongful convictions. For sure, he has a track record of making things happen.
What do I think? Put it this way, if Mr Macaskill was the local rat-catcher, and followed the same principles as he does as a cabinet minister, I would not be calling him in to solve a rodent problem.
Yes please
Not every holder of the office of Secretary of State for Scotland has been up to the job, but the current incumbent really has lowered the benchmark. When Alastair Carmichael replaced the respected and popular Michael Moore, the word was that he would play a more forceful part in the Referendum campaign than his predecessor. In fact, as this quote from this morning’s media demonstrates, he could turn out to be the Yes camp’s secret weapon.
‘THERE is a real danger the UK Government would be forced to place guards at the Border if Scots vote for independence, a Cabinet Minister has warned. Alistair Carmichael, Secretary of State for Scotland, said the Scottish National Party’s immigration plans could make such a move necessary, even if Scotland did not join the European Union’s Schengen free travel area. His comments are the strongest warning yet by a Coalition minister that independence could lead to border posts.’
Fine. Carry on, Minister; you’re doing a great job.
Enough’s enough
It’s been obvious to me for a while that Vince Cable would love Cameron to sack him. It’s time he was given his heart’s desire.
Jobs for the HMRC boys
My agent sent me an email this morning, advising me that from early next year HMRC will require him to provide them annually with details of all gross payments received on behalf of all clients and of all sums distributed to them, after deduction of commission. This applies to all agencies and will begin with the tax year 2012/2013. This seems to mean that the taxman is putting himself in a position to do a retrospective check on every client’s self-assessment tax return.
Well, fine: nice one, Mr Osborne. You might well find a few under-declarations, and claw some more cash into the public purse. However I am willing to bet that this extra income will be dwarfed by the cost of HMRC man-hours spent pulling it in.
Surely there comes a time when there is an assumption of taxpayer honesty, rather than the reverse. Or is it simply the case that HMRC is defending itself against future manpower cuts by creating irrelevant tasks? Ultimately, it is forcing business to spend even more time on pointless admin, at the expense, of income generation. Please tell me where that makes sense
Sinister Guardian
How can so much smug arrogance be crammed into one human being?
Lady Gaga
So we switch off the heating, switch on the electric blanket and stay in bed all day?
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