The SNP are desperate ...

... for a debate ...

... between Cameron and Salmond, but Cameron knows that if he put a toe into the referendum pond the SNP would probably get a swing to independence, as Cameron said, the referendum is between the Scots;  the currency and EU will sink Salmond, unless he gets Cameron on camera ..... poor fools!

Consider the [Scotish] question ...

... found at para 483, page 535 of Scotland's White Paper on Independence.

Question.

Will we have the power to reduce VAT on repair and maintenance work to dwellings in an independent Scotland?

Independence will enable the Scottish Parliament to explore a reduction in VAT on repairs and maintenance work to homes as part of wider taxation priorities.
Powers over VAT, currently exercised by the Westminster Government, will transfer to the Scottish Parliament as a result of independence. The tax system in place immediately before independence will be inherited at that time. Thereafter decisions on the tax system and all specific taxes – including tax rates, allowances and credits for VAT and other taxes – will be made by the parliament and government of an independent Scotland.

The answer from Salmon and chums is Yes-No, we can but we cannot, we might but might not ...

The White Paper is a gift to the "Better Together" campaign, do they realise it ?

Pork barrel independence with ...

... the SNP.

... higher pensions

... better childcare

... roll-back housing reforms
 
... pay less tax

... who will say no, how can you argue against the lip smacking list ?

BBC link.

Nothing tangible about currency, just the old chestnut that it will be better for the continuing UK to remain Scotland's lender of the last resort, I'm not sure if middle Britain will be carried along with this argument. I think it best let Salmond and Sturgeon burble on whilst we get next years street party ready ......... Salmon has won the argument with the little people with little more than pocket money.

There is a soft belly in the Independence argument, the isles [Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland] would like to be devolved away from Edinburgh, will Westminster be able to counter Salmond with Scotland's Viking heritage, could the Secretary of State for Scotland counter Salmond with the Isles ?

There is one aspect of today's white paper that I find nauseating,  Sturgeon said today the SNP government of Scotland hadn't introduced an improved childcare because the British Treasury would have benefited through greater tax take, when I heard her words she confirmed my feelings that politics is rarely about what will benefit the little people, its about what benefits politics.

Salmond's threat ....

.... reported in The Times

A threat by Alex Salmond yesterday that an independent Scotland could walk away from its multi-billion pound share of UK debt if Westminster refused to let it use sterling, has been rejected by one of  Britain’s leading economists.

The First Minister yesterday issued an ultimatum that a separate Scotland would refuse to accept its liabilities if London ruled out sharing the Bank of England and entering a sterling zone with Edinburgh. He insisted such a move would not be tantamount to defaulting on debt.

Salmond’s threat to walk away from national debt | The Times
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article3771533.ece

I wonder how the electorate of the "continuing UK" would feel about Salmond's threat, might it be best to end the union with Scotland today ?

Wee Eck, "Mr Hypothetical", ...

... is living up to his reputation, skilfully creating a political void that only Cameron can fill, unable to answer questions that the electorate are asking about a future Scotland Salmond and political clan chiefs are leading the Scots towards, he does what he does, he creates a blue smoke and mirror crises, he sends a challenge to shift the question from "Scottish Independence" to "Westminster is not our government ! ".

Salmond has said Mr Cameron's government was "central to the entire referendum debate from the perspective of the No campaign", and voters had the right to know the details of the prime minister's alternative constitutional arrangements to independence.

Wrong on the first count,  "Westminster is central to the entire referendum debate from the perspective of the YES campaign", without a stick to beat Great Britain Salmond cannot win.  He needs to try harder and inject a degree of honesty into his campaign.

Wrong on the second count,an alternative constitutional arrangements to independence would only be designed with the approval of all the devolved administrations and Westminster (Commons and Lords), the future of the UK is not for Salmond to decide.

A simple question that Salmond should answer is ...

... "exactly how would your Scotland be a better place to live than the United Kingdom?"

He could carry Scotland with him with the right answer, but has he the courage ...

The GR8 DB8, wk2, and toy throwing ...

... is on the cards north of the border.


Alex Salmond, Wee Eck to the faithful, wants to debate the forthcoming referendum with the PM, naturally the PM has deferred to Alistair Darling  the leader of the Better Together cross-party group that are campaigning for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

Wee Eck is, naturally, a tad put-out that Cameron doesn't fall into line and give the Scots separatists an advantage; and an advantage it would be, no illusion, no smoke and mirrors, for Cameron to debate with the separatist leader would give him an extra 10 points in the opinion polls.

The SNP propaganda machine has littered the referendum path with promises that need not be kept, promises that in all probability would be nigh impossible to honour, these promises are like much candy scattered on a path to the infamous gingerbread house, but whereas the bread scattered by Hansel and Gretel disappeared, was eaten by birds, the separatist candy is recorded for posterity.  In the short term the promises are probably impossible to dispute except with extensive rebuttal, unfortunately in the 21st century the average elector doesn't have the time for university styled debate, they need sound-bite rebuttals.

So Cameron has declined the invitation, Alistair Darling should do likewise, stick with a political machine that is guaranteed to deliver your message, not become subsumed by the rhetoric of Wee Eck, because like it or not he will shout positives, and the Better Together group cannot prove a negative, and in live debate everything said by the Better Together group will be called negative.

The Better Together cross-party group need to produce positives for the future within the union, sound-bites that call time on Salmond's separatist quest, Salmand's wish to go down in history as a father of the Scots, a modern day Bruce, for certain not a modern day William Wallace’, because he was betrayed by his own ...

It only remains to be seen whether Wee Eck stamps his foot so hard it becomes embedded in the floor - temper, temper ...........
.

Where angels fear to tread, a battleground ...

... David Cameron knows not to enter, he knows better than to take up the gauntlet thrown down by Salmond, to travel north of the border to debate the forthcoming referendum would be to run a gauntlet created during the Thatcher years, irrelevant in the 21st century, but having a bitter taste that has crossed generations.  Why would Cameron gift an opportunity to Salmond, rightly he judges the debate should be between equals, and scottish equals at that.

Of course, Cameron is no angel ... but neither is Salmond, both are deft at dealing a very dodgy hand of cards.

BBC report.
.

The GR8 DB8, wk1, and it ...

... is being used by Scottish Nationalists to dignify the sordid process of separation.

When Alex Salmond second in command Nicola Sturgeon spoke to the Scots, reported here, she said "you'll retire earlier with the SNP than you will remaining with Britain !"

The SNP closed the door on honest debate and confirmed to the electorate, that the candy behind this particular game is "humbug".

A few facts ...

The SNP government-commissioned Fiscal Commission also recently concluded that Scotland will soon have more pensioners per head of working age people than the UK. It reported: “It is projected that without action, Scotland’s dependency ratio will increase more rapidly compared with the UK – reflecting the particularly sharp increase in Scotland’s pension age population.”

The Department for Work and Pensions said “Pensions spending per head is already higher in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, and in future, Scotland will have a higher proportion of elderly people. But by pooling our resources, we won’t need to rely on volatile and declining North Sea revenues to pay the pensions of Scotland’s elderly.”

The truth ...

10% of the population of Britain, that includes Scotland, have 60% of the countries wealth.

90% of the population of Britain, that includes Scotland, are unlikely to ever earn much above the median income of £20,000.

The likelihood of these figures changing through separation is zero.

Blue smoke and mirrors, so who gains through this sleight of hand ?
.

Why Salmond and Cameron ...

... must never meet in a debate about Scotland and the intentions of the separatist agenda ...

BBC story here

... it's is simple, Cameron is not a Scot, my advice David ...

... stay south of the border and keep your mouth firmly shut, the Scots must defend their Scotland isolated from the vagaries of Westminster, you might like to send a memo advising MP's of all parties that this is a fight amongst 21st century Scottish clans, not a 21st century Bannockburn in which Salmond is in a battle with the rest of the United Kingdom.

A final word David, you do not have a Scottish accent, remember this very small detail.......

,

The further up the flagpole you climb ...

... the more of your ass is exposed, words of General later President Eisenhower, so my guess he knew all about leadership, its ups and its downs.

So for the errant Plaid AM, consideration might be given to a valuable Eisenhower quotation ...

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both

Back down to earth and there is ...

Gerry Hassan (15 October 2012) wrote an open letter to Alex Salmond the Scots pretender to its political throne, the title ...

'Independence is about cultural and societal transformation'

... might generate a soupçon of interest from the political pundits scattered around the various halls of government, but to the little people the closure of Hall's of Broxburn meat factory in West Lothian has real interest, particularly the fact that the Scottish SNP led administration were unable to influence the decision making process of the Dutch owners Vion.  Impotent in the face of international business interests.

Unable to demonstrate real time leadership in 2012, what chance these very same politicians will be able transform Scotland's culture and society ...

.. absolutely zero !

Scottish independence is political in the narrowest sense, it has no benefit for the little people whose life will continue as before, in a 21st century serfdom with much the same masters !

 

When Scotland's former Auditor General Robert

... Black asks the question " ... is providing the current range of free public services sustainable", the Scottish National Party administration in Scotland said ...

The Scottish government said it remained committed to the council tax freeze, free prescriptions, free bus travel and its public service reforms.

... neatly sidestepping the question with a predictable sound-bite, but ignoring issues surrounding the big ticket items on societies agenda, items such as ...

Free personal nursing care.

When those schemes were set up in Scotland there was no hint given that the costs of those would be rising as quickly as they are now.

... projections relating to the seemingly minor concessionary travel scheme show costs could reach half a billion pounds by 2020s.

The Auditor asks the question ...

"... were the Members of the Scottish Parliament aware of that when they launched the policy?"

... and provides a frightening answer ...

"I suspect the frank answer is not. So to that extent I think I am on safe ground by saying the affordability of some this has to be questioned, we do need to revisit it. Every pound that goes on bus passes for well off older people is a pound that is not available for other things."

... he continues ...

"MSPs have become too cut off from the way services are delivered in local communities. He argued they should spend less time on passing unnecessary laws, to free up more time for budget scrutiny."

Robert Black believes that ...

"... political and media focus on the independence issue is leaving little space or opportunity to address the great challenges which we are facing. 

There is clear leadership on the independence debate, but on many of the other big issues, it can feel as if the politics of Scotland hasn't fully come to terms with the challenges we are now facing. 

No one party or leader is prepared to take the risk of being the first mover in re-thinking policies, whether it be penal reform (or) reshaping the health service.Consider the growth in police numbers from 6,900 in 1949 to more than 17,000 now, despite the use of technology for policing, and without any politician asking why the higher numbers are necessary. 

He said scrutiny of public services is "episodic and patchy" and mostly conducted at Holyrood, remote from the localities where the services are delivered".

Why would I write about devolved Scotland ?

Its because the conditions that exist in Scottish politics are mirrored in the politics of devolved Wales, I would say every word used by Robert Black is equally applicable to the machinations in Cardiff Bay.

It is time our politicians took time out and considered what it is to be like the little people who rely on the services delivered by government ...

... and to ask the little people very specifically whether propositions are acceptable  and to act in accordance with the wishes of the people.  

With a mouth like ...

... this :

... the expression "...... keeps me humble," just doesn't ring true.

Although when he said ....

 "The problem with Alex Salmond is that he wants to destroy Scotland with his ridiculous ................ everybody knows he's a disaster.,"

... he was of course referring to the Salmond windmills,  not the Salmond and the Edinburgh sideshow this weekend.

..... you cannot help warming to him, well that's an exaggeration......

Catalan separatists and Scots ...

... and the other disparate groups in European Union, a message ...

... there is no open door.

The recent march and rally in Barcelona used the slogan ...

"Catalonia: a new European state". 

But a European Union spokesman in Brussels pointed out that, were Catalonia to secede from Spain, it would have to leave the EU and could rejoin only if it met the economic criteria and if other member states voted unanimously in favour of its membership. (The Guardian, 10 Sep 2011).

... yet another lie by the separatist agenda debunked.

So the message to Alex Salmond is "... the list of your lies grows ever longer."  No honesty for the Scots people.

Scotland, Salmond and a strategy ...

... that will send the Scots into a brave new world, and not a shot fired.

The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) are the traditional minnow in a large pond, unable to compete in the philosophical battles found in the larger Westminster arena, the only future is to create an illusion in the seemingly larger political pond an independent Scotland would bring.

Reflecting on the strategy towards independence, Salmond and chums have played a blinder .......

The strategy ...

Too few Scots want independence, less than 40%, so ...

Increase the voting population, the young are easily influenced, voting age reduced to 16 for the referendum.

Ignite an underlying conflict ...

Scottish sporting celebrations that will be dominated by the old enemy, the Commonwealth games will precede the referendum, good timing.

Salmond's coup de grâce, the finishing blow ...

An option that cannot be given without UK wide approval ...

... devo-max, fiscal federalism, the UK wide electorate will not underwrite a constitutional change that gives preferential treatment to one part of the Union.

Westminster says "No", the votes go to Salmond, game over ...

Salmond wins, 
       the party begins !

Say hello to our new flag ...

... minus the Scots Saltire ...

Freedom of Information ...

... (FoI) can be denied by politicians and their civil service familiars, the most recent undemocratic democratic is none other than Alex Salmond, our "Separatist in Chief" of those who would destroy a country.

Those who favour the separation of Scotland, have built their case on several foundations to reassure the gullible of Scotland that it would be business as usual following a "Yes" vote in favour of independence.  One such fallacy is a relationship with the European Union that would be guaranteed, a by-blow of the UK's membership, Salmond has expressed a certainty that membership would follow independence as night follows day.

There are those that are very sceptical of Salmond's certainty, one is Labour MEP Catherine Stihler who made an FoI request last May, asking the Holyrood administration for any legal advice it had received on the issue.

Ministers refused to reveal whether the information was held.

In the interests of Democracy ...

... the Salmond administration cited Section 18 when it refused to reveal whether the information was held. This can mean the information would be exempt from release or the authority considers its release would not be in the public interest.

... but Rosemary Agnew, the country's Freedom of Information Commissioner, said ...

... In the commissioner's view, the role of [the FoI Act] is important not only in ensuring transparency in information held by public authorities, but also in enabling transparency in information about process.  
In this case, the commissioner considers that it is in the public interest to know the type of information that the ministers were taking into account in developing policy in relation to such a significant issue as independence

Salmond is under the impression that the electorate should believe his word, the Freedom of Information Commissioner thinks otherwise, myself ...

... together with every other citizen of the UK, is more than capable of coming to a conclusion when given sufficient information, we are not illiterate peasants of a medieval society, and as there is nothing of national security involved there can be no reason to hide the information.

Of course, if Salmond wishes to pursue his illusions, his political smoke and mirrors with kilt, then he needs to keep the electorate in the dark .......

Salmond bumps his gums in ...

... vain, the rhetoric is a waste of time and energy.  Today in the (£) Sunday Times there are many hundreds of words written, the separatist leader ...

... at Friday’s launch promises to get rid of all the stuff Scots hate:

Westminster, the Tories, Trident nuclear submarines in the Clyde, Scottish troops sent to fight “illegal wars in Iraq”, public spending cuts imposed by a mean-spirited, perfidious Albion. And to keep all the bits they love: oil, gas, financial services and malt whisky.

... when the majority of peoples who inhabit these British Isles understand the true nature of the issue which is :

Scottish or British, a simple choice!

... and the majority don't really care how Scotland votes.

The aftermath will be interesting, because for sure it will be difficult for Scots to vote "No", and will those who do vote "No" be welcomed south of the border, and how soon before the majority British turn their backs on Scotland, reject Tunnock's caramel wafers in preference for Fox's biscuits, a better selection.

Does Wales have a Plague Party ...

... in waiting, waiting for that crisis that will send the electorate over the edge into "a plague on all your houses" state of mind.

Today's (£/$) Times has an analysis of Greece where Bill Emmott writes that he would vote for the Greek Plague Party (real name Syriza), Alexis Tsipras, the young head of Greece’s Plague Party (Syriza), says that he intends to call the Germans’ to demand better terms on the financial rescue loan and so stay in the euro.  Angela Merkel is going to agree to that, particularly as she has her own plague party snapping at her heals, in Germany it is called the Pirate Party.

The commonality between Syriza and the Pirate Party seems to be a frustration born out of austerity and disconnected politicians, the aftermath of a decade or more where everybody maxed out on their finances including governments, a frustration that doesn't see any end in sight.  In Wales we have the unusual circumstance that in the face of national austerity, we have a regional administration diametrically opposed to the Westminster administration which has been dealt the most uncomfortable hand of political cards, no opportunity for a plague in Cardiff Bay.

I'm sure that our separatist party in Wales would welcome an opportunity to wear the plague party mantel if it thought it could tip the electorate over its edge into independence mode, Alex Salmond has managed a scottish pseudo plague party that might just succeed, but in Wales the commonality is we can always combine to create an opposition to Westminster, we create temporary plague parties at the drop of a hat by combining the unconventional.

For Greece its Plague Party could begin a domino effect upon the Euro where the European underbelly jumps ship, in Germany its Pirate Party is nudging the electorate to ask the question "do we need to share our prosperity with the rest of Europe?"  If I were a banker I would be dumping the Euro, if I were a industrial leader I would be looking for opportunities elsewhere, if I were the UK government I would probably be making preparations for opposition.

In Wales UKIP is probably the party in residence to take up the "Plague Party" mantel, not Plaid Cymru, UKIP can appeal across politics left to right, and there is nothing in its constitution to cause undue concern to the electorate ........ after a crisis everything would return to normal ...

... what's normal in Wales ?

The Crown Estate's control ...

... of 50% of Scotland's coast and almost all the seabed should be devolved to local authorities, MPs have said.

What is The Crown Estate?  It is a diverse UK property business, governed by an Act of Parliament, with all profits going directly to the Treasury.

The Scottish Affairs Committee said the UK government should commit to having the Crown Estate's marine responsibilities and rights related to Scotland devolved to the Scottish government, on condition the powers were further devolved to local level.

The coast and seabed [and the other assets] around Britain are nothing more than a revenue stream for our government at Westminster ...

For the year ending 31 March 2011 we [the Crown Estate] delivered to the Treasury £230.9 million. For the first time our total property value reached more than £7 billion, our total capital value amounting to £7.3 billion.

So what is this committee of Scottish Affairs doing ...

... muddying the already muddy waters of Alex Salmond's wish to float Scotland free of Britain, it's all bullshit of course, if this group of MP's had the wit they were born with there is no way they would wish to transfer powers of the coast down to local authorities, thus dissipating the bargaining powers that comes with holding all the cards to ones chest.  If they are serious the whole Scottish enterprise should be transferred north of the border, its revenue deducted from the Scottish grant from Westminster, and Salmond and Co told to get on with it.

This is little more than politicians who oppose Salmond's agenda creating indicators of what might be on the table if the Scots folk reject independence ..... but adding a caveat to appeal to the voters directly in the knowledge the gift is only plated with glittering gold, not the solid gold Salmond covets.

Yesterday the ...

... Prime Minister visited Edinburgh to discuss the forthcoming independence referendum, in a surprise move, he said in his speech that "Holyrood could be given more powers if Scotland votes no in the referendum". Salmond responded to this with "Where’s the beef?" (the answer might have been "under your chin fool"), the offer of a straight referendum on independence was clear, in response Salmond was reported by the Times as "being in the weeds making lots and lots of arguments about processology".

The most telling response of the day from Salmond was his "We’ve been through this before in Scottish politics. What’s the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" Scotland, I don’t believe, will be fooled twice", an appeal to those with short memories, for history is littered with success and failure from all quarters. 

Salmond also wants children in the voting booths, no doubt he and his loyal followers have calculated the effect that having 4 years worth of children schooled in the tales of  William Wallace, warrior of the First War of Scottish Independence hung drawn and quartered by Edward I (Longshanks), best not forget the highland clearances where Scots landlords cleared the lands of poor crofters.  Will teachers remember to tell of the flamboyant Alexander Ranaldson MacDonell of Glengarry who portrayed himself as the last genuine Highland Chief while his tenants were subjected to a process of relentless eviction (Robert Burns wrote a satirical poem about Glengarry in the Address of Beelzebub).

In response David Cameron might have repeated the call of the Japanese Satsuma clan who said "there is no history, history will start tomorrow", it wasn't an insult to who and what has gone before, rather a call to look forward to a future strong devolved union of equals, but very equal, peoples of Britain.

The growth of a strong feeling in the rest of Britain that the Union is tiresome to defend and expensive to maintain is something that the Prime Minister needs to counter reports the Times, at least part of his day was aimed in that direction, but the most difficult job for Cameron, say the political pundits, will be to prevent Salmond from successfully insisting that Scots be allowed to vote on further devolution at the same time as they vote on independence without coming across as a bully.

It's not really difficult, "devolution needs to become a level playing field with the fullest measures applied to all regions of Britain", how could the Scots disagree ..............

He's got his knickers in ...

... a twist, no celebrity appearance at the Calcutta Cup yesterday for Alex "Jowls" Salmond, as reported in the Times today, he has completely lost the plot ...

Salmond fury at losing rugby punditry slot

Alex Salmond’s relationship with the BBC is under strain after he branded an official a “political gauleiter” for withdrawing an invitation for him to appear as a TV pundit for the Calcutta Cup.
The Scottish First Minister questioned whether the corporation could be trusted to remain impartial between now and the independence referendum in 2014.

He had been booked to appear on Saturday during coverage of the Six Nations match between England and Scotland at Murrayfield, which England won 13-6. However, the invitation was cancelled at the behest of Ric Bailey, a political adviser to the BBC, who felt that Mr Salmond’s appearance might “heighten tensions”.

Mr Salmond’s aides, according to e-mails released yesterday, undertook when he was booked to appear that he would make no reference to political or constitutional matters.

The corporation said that it would have been “inappropriate” to give undue prominence to any single politician, but Mr Salmond said: “The guy has just totally, utterly lost the plot. I would imagine people like Ric Bailey are in thrall to Downing Street and that is the worrying thing.”

Ruth Davidson, the Tory leader in Scotland, said Mr Salmond was using “bully-boy tactics” because he lost the chance to have his face on TV.

Mr Salmond will raise the issue with Lord Patten of Barnes, Chairman of the BBC Trust, in Edinburgh on Thursday.

Read it £ here .

This is the man who would lead Scotland ........... he has a vision I understand.