Referendum aftermath

It's actually a very unhealthy state of affairs, Lily. They don't even try to hide the lying and corruption any longer, but seem to take pleasure in rubbing the plebs' noses in it. It's not going to end well, IMO.

I know what you mean, Bonny.  There is only so much cake eating that the people will tolerate.

Just look at these front pages:



And the greedy swine have awarded themselves 9% pay rises.

The Record's wasting its time bleating now - it LED the unionist campaign, and demonized the YESes. Now, every single thing the Scottish public were warned would happen by YES, is happening.

It's too damned late to complain.

bb1 wrote:I voted to join the Common Market, Sabot. I didn't vote for this bloated, bureaucratic monster it's turned into. So I am a Don't Know at present. I'm in favour of trading alliances, etc., and don't suffer from this UKIP-ish terror of furriners. But I don't like the EU in its present form.

You're right, we won't get the truth about it from any of them, though.

Whoever appears to be in charge at the time gets to put their bias on it. What the hell is the point of that?

So, Ian Duncan Smith, the Tory that is taking such pleasure in making life even more miserable for people at the bottom - GOT THE TAXPAYER TO FOOT THE BILL FOR HIS FLASH WIPES:




And what on earth did he use £100-worth of wipes for in the first place? Polishing his bald head?

Their sense of entitlement is staggering.

This is a very interesting snippet from BBC World News this morning. LL

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29437790

The BBC is kidding itself if it imagines this is ever going to be put back together again, LL. And Scotland is a NATION, not a region.

That lying sh*te Brown is now trying to pretend he didn't know the Vows weren't worth the paper they were printed on:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/brown-accuses-cameron-of-setting-trap-for-scots-voters.25475080

Brown accuses Cameron of setting trap for Scots voters

Kate Devlin
UK Political Correspondent
Wednesday 1 October 2014
Gordon Brown has launched a major attack on David Cameron, accusing the Conservative leader of putting the future of the Union at risk and calling for 100,000 Scots to sign a petition against his plans.

Less than a fortnight after the former Labour Prime Minister was credited with helping to save Mr Cameron's job, Mr Brown urged the people of Scotland to band together against proposals to restrict Scottish MPs' voting rights.

He criticised Mr Cameron yesterday for that announcement, which the Prime Minister made in Downing Street made an hour after the independence referendum result.

No, Broon set the trap for Scots voters, and 55% of them were naive enough to walk right into it.

There has been a robust response to this from the 45% - apologies for robust language:

https://www.change.org/p/gordon-brown-mp-go-feck-yourself

Germany did not actually exist as it is now until 1871 when the Versailles treaty was signed, it was made out of a dozen small kingdoms and principalities.  I think what the BBC is getting at, as are the poiticos, is that all these states actually managed to federate themselves.  They do rule themselves and can veto Berlin if they feel the suggestions are detrimental to their citizens.   Maybe it would be possible to adopt the Basic Law model and run the UK as a federation.      LL

Ah, but the disUnited Kingdom can't be a federation, LL. Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland can be, but England can't - it's too big.

Not, I hasten to add, that I have anything at all against England splitting into self-governing regions, but can you honestly see the Little Englanders standing for that? Most of them still think they have an empire.

There is actually one simple solution to the whole conundrum, which narrowly failed on September 18th....it won't fail next time, in about five years by my reckoning.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/voters-trust-sturgeon-the-most-to-deliver-new-powers.25616595

Voters trust Sturgeon the most to deliver new powers

Robbie Dinwoodie
Chief Scottish Political Correspondent
Friday 17 October 2014
MORE Scots trust the SNP and its leader-elect Nicola Sturgeon to deliver extra powers to Scotland than any other party or politician, despite the Yes campaign losing the independence referendum, a survey has found.



The research by pollsters TNS suggests the First Minister-in-waiting is poised to inherit a strong legacy of trust when she takes charge of the Nationalists next month.

But the survey of almost 1,000 people who were eligible to vote in last month's referendum poll delivered a sombre message for the main UK parties, in whom there is little trust to deliver their pledge of enhanced powers for Holyrood.

However, former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has earned support as the leader of moves to ensure the UK leaders' promises on devolved powers are kept, the survey found.

The research also showed people are more engaged with politics following the referendum, which saw the biggest turnout at a poll in Britain since the 1951 General Election.

When given a list of prominent politicians, just under one-quarter (24 per cent) of those questioned said they trusted Ms Sturgeon, the party's sole nomination for the leadership, most to deliver more powers. Her rating was double the figure for outgoing leader Alex Salmond. The SNP was the most widely trusted to deliver new powers for Scotland; 37 per cent said they trusted the SNP against 15 per cent for Labour, 8 per cent for the Conservatives and one per cent for the LibDems.

The poll showed a very low level of trust in the three UK party leaders who published the eve-of-referendum vow on more powers for Holyrood. Only six per cent trusted Prime Minister David Cameron most, one per cent Labour leader Ed Miliband most and only a handful had faith in Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

At 15 per cent Mr Brown is the Westminster politician people have most faith to deliver more powers. However, more than one-quarter of those surveyed (26 per cent) said they did not trust any of those named. One-quarter said they did not trust any party to do so.

Stunning that ANYONE trusts Broon, with his track record, but then, some were foolish enough to believe The Vow.

Oh dear. What a shame. Never mind.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/bp-gdf-suez-hail-discovery-of-new-north-sea-oil-field.1414070716

BP, GDF Suez hail discovery of new North Sea oil field
Thursday 23 October 2014
A new oil field has been discovered in the North Sea.

BP and GDF Suez E&P UK said they had discovered the field - which spans two areas where the companies have separate licences to explore - in the UK Central North Sea, traditionally serviced from Aberdeen and Hartlepool.

Testing has revealed it could produce a maximum of the equivalent of 5,350 barrels of oil per day.

UK Business and Energy Minister Matthew Hancock said: "We are determined to have set the right fiscal and regulatory regimes to make sure we can get the maximum possible economic extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea.

"This discovery shows exactly what can be achieved in the North Sea if companies work together to maximise the considerable potential of remaining oil and gas reserves."

Trevor Garlick, regional president of BP North Sea, said: "As BP marks its 50th year in the North Sea and as the industry looks to maximise economic recovery from the basin, increasing exploration activity and finding new ways to collaborate will be critical to realising remaining potential.

"This discovery is a great example of both."

Ruud Zoon, managing director of GDF Suez E&P UK, described it as "an encouraging exploration discovery in a part of the Central North Sea that needs additional volumes of hydrocarbons to open up development options for several stranded discoveries".

He added: "The discovery is our third successful well this year and demonstrates a continuing commitment by GDF Suez to an active exploration and appraisal drilling programme on the UK continental shelf."

Isn't that amazing? Whoever would have thought there was still all that oil under the North Sea? Good job all the revenue will go to London to pay for vanity projects, us Scots couldn't possibly stand the worry and responsibility of all that money.

Why, we might go and fritter it away on silly things like healthcare, housing and education, instead of shiny, extra-fast choo-choos.

Don't, Bonny. I can't bear to think of it.

So sorry to hear that Scotland has been screwed again.

The worst part is that every single person that voted YES knew it was going to happen if we lost, Lily. And so it has come to pass.

You can't blame people for wondering if they knew about this ahead of time.

They should have known. This is what has always happened. Four hundred bleeding long and awful years. I try not to think about it. And there is nothing that I can do anyway.

It is now just a hope for a lip service.

It will happen one day, but it will never be as important as it should have been when it should have happened.

Wonderful news!

http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/labour-in-turmoil-as-lamont-resigns.25688772

Labour in turmoil as Lamont resigns
michael settle and HELEN MCARDLE
Saturday 25 October 2014
SCOTTISH Labour are in turmoil this morning after Johann Lamont ended weeks of speculation about her political future and resigned as leader.

Ms Lamont, who had been facing growing internal criticism since the independence referendum, said her decision would allow the "debate our country demands" about more devolution to take place.

The fight to replace her could now involve former Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who led the campaign to ensure the Westminster party leaders stick to their pre-referendum pledge to give Scotland more powers.

Another contender is Anas Sarwar MP, Ms Lamont's deputy, who will step up to the leadership on a temporary basis. An MSP will also be chosen to stand in for Ms Lamont at Holyrood until a successor is elected.

Ms Lamont said she was proud of what the party had achieved over the past three years and that she had held Alex Salmond to account, but she hit out at internal Labour sniping about her leadership.

Ms Lamont also criticised party bosses in London for not allowing ­Scottish Labour more autonomy.

She accused some of her colleagues of trying to run the party in Scotland "like a branch office of London".

Ms Lamont believes some Labour MPs at Westminster are too concerned about their own interests and need to realise that the focus of Scottish ­politics is now Holyrood, not Westminster.

Ms Lamont, who replaced Iain Gray as leader in December 2011 following Labour's defeat at the hands of the SNP in the Scottish Parliament elections, said she was proud of her achievements. But her decision angered former Labour First Minister Lord McConnell, who said she had been pushed out. He tweeted: "This is a truly astonishing development. Johann leaves with head held high. Outrageous treatment of Scottish Labour Party leader."

The new leader will have the job of taking on First Minister elect Nicola Sturgeon in the run-up to the May 2016 Scottish Parliament elections.

Pressure from colleagues at both Holyrood and Westminster who were unhappy with Ms Lamont's leadership performance, together with bad poll ratings, are thought to be behind her decision.

She certainly wasn't. No doubt she'll find plenty of work in the forthcoming panto season as Wee Jimmy Crankie's stand-in.

bb1 wrote:

She certainly wasn't. No doubt she'll find plenty of work in the forthcoming panto season as Wee Jimmy Crankie's stand-in.

I guess you are a very happy lassie! I'm not really up with politics in Scotland, in fact I'm not au fait with politics anywhere. So SNP will now have a one-party run at everything? LL