Would you like to be shot with a red gun or blue gun, sir? That is the limit of the choice being offered the UK electorate as New Labour announces it will keep the Coalition public spending plans and the Coalition benefit cuts. Given it will also throw away £100 billion on Trident, and New Labour initiated the rampant privatisation of the Health Service, PFI, Tuition Fees etc., my point could not have been more eloquently proven that the UK electorate is no longer offered any meaningful choice by the neo-con parties.
It also of course demolishes completely the Gordon Brown argument that Scots need to stay in the Union to put New Labour in to power. Who carries out Tory policies is not the question; and why a nation should surrender its freedom just to make sure Ed Balls has a ministerial car and salary while he implements Tory policies, is not a question which to me has an obvious answer.
The only meaningful political choice any part of the UK population will have in the foreseeable future is the Scottish Independence Referendum. If Scots do not take their chance, all they have ahead is economic decline and the collapse of public services. The choice could not be more stark.
If arson, how wicked. The lives of 128 children and staff were put at risk.
‘Suspicious’ Fire At Islamic Boarding School
12:14pm UK, Sunday 09 June 2013
Some 128 pupils and staff have been evacuated after a “suspicious” fire broke out at an Islamic boarding school in London.
Police were called to the Darul Uloom School, in Foxbury Avenue, Chislehurst, at 11.50pm on Saturday.
Two people were treated for smoke inhalation and 10% of the building was damaged during the blaze.
Sky News’ Charlotte Lomas said there would be a police update around 2pm, “which does suggest, perhaps that this fire was deliberate”.
It follows a rise in religious hatred crimes after the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich last month.
Last week, a Somali cultural centre and mosque was burned to the ground in Muswell Hill, north London, and the letters “EDL” – the initials of the English Defence League – were found scrawled on the outside.
More follows…
http://news.sky.com/story/1101313/suspicious-fire-at-islamic-boarding-school
“Is Scotland a member of the UN, Fred?”
Of course they are, all of the UK is a member of the UN.
The UN even has offices in the UK, Edinburgh to be precise.
@Fred
“If it hadn’t been for the 5 SNP MPs voting in favour the bill wouldn’t have passed …”
You really shouldn’t attempt to change history when making claims in support of your argument – you end up negating it (and looking like a dishonest prat to boot).
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuition_fees_in_the_United_Kingdom
“In all 46 Scottish Labour MPs voted with the government with the 5 SNP and 10 Liberal Democrat MPs representing constituencies in Scotland voting against”.
Now … which way did the 5 SNP MPs vote?
Mary,
Pity that it has been removed, along with my recommendation to Jon that the following post by your apparent ‘supporter’, Guano be removed, but still stands:
“Guano
8 Jun, 2013 – 4:45 pm
HairyBaboon
Can you explain to me please the relevance of your big red bottom.”
Unless you respond otherwise, can one imply that this remark meets with your approval and/or sense of humour?
Guano’s remark was unprovoked, out of the blue, and followed Frazer’s and Jon’s observations. Poor judgment or misuse of the comments section?
@Indig
I stand corrected, you are of course right.
It doesn’t alter the fact that the vote was decided by Scottish MPs though does it?
@Fred
No, it doesn’t … to the almighty shame of the Labour party and the MPs in question.
Yet another betrayal of the constituents and voters they are supposed to represent and the professed ‘values’ of a party that once had a claim to be socialist.
Black is white.
@Fred
9 Jun, 2013 – 11:40 am
I am not confused by the meaning of self determination, but you obviously are!
Ergo, there is no warrant for any of your claims and your arguments are fatally flawed.
Yes, Scotland! And soon Wales, and Kernow!
“I am not confused by the meaning of self determination, but you obviously are!”
So explain to me your definition of self determination.
In your definition should Scotland become independent would Orkney have self determination? Or would they be bound by laws passed by those on the mainland?
“Black is white”
Deeper in denial than an Egyptian skin diver.
“No, it doesn’t … to the almighty shame of the Labour party and the MPs in question. ”
As I said, it’s all a part of being a democracy, when a vote is close everyone has control. Back in 1979 11 SNP MPs had direct control over the direction Britain would take, they voted for Margaret Thatcher and gave us 18 years of Tory rule.
That is how democracies work, it might be ugly at times but for one section of the community to claim the system doesn’t give them self determination is just ludicrous.
Thanks for your comprehensive reply Cryptonym.
Do you, and many others, expect that Scottish Independence will change the status of its people from Royal subjects to citizens with a set of citizens rights?
@Fred
“… but for one section of the community to claim the system doesn’t give them self determination is just ludicrous”.
The last time Scots voters voted for Tory government was in 1955.
No, not ludicrous … true.
@ Flaming June
I’m happy to report that the post of mine to which Villager was kind enough to refer is still there for the greater edification of readers including your good self.
It was posted at 09h41 (not 09h21)
******************
La vita è bella, life is good!
@Nevermind
“Do you, and many others, expect that Scottish Independence will change the status of its people from Royal subjects to citizens with a set of citizens rights”?
From Wiki:
“On 1 January 1983, upon the coming into force of the British Nationality Act 1981, every Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies became … a British Citizen …
The use of the term “British subject” was discontinued for all persons who fell into these categories …
British Citizens are not British Subjects under the 1981 Act …
Although the term “British subject” now has a very restrictive statutory definition in the United Kingdom, and it would therefore be incorrect to describe a British citizen as a British subject, the concept of a “subject” is still recognised by the law, and the terms “the Queen’s subjects”, “Her Majesty’s subjects”, etc., continue to be used in British legal discourse”.
Whether Scottish citizens therefore would or wouldn’t be appears to depend on whether the Queen would remain Head of State … thus one for the politicians to decide and the lawyers to argue!
Habbabkuk
I think that the post that Villager was lauging at was posted on 8 Jun, 2013 – 9:21 pm, and was your reply to Guano? And it does seem to have been removed, although Guano’s “red bottom” post is still there.
Did anyone see William Hague on the BBC saying how if we could only see what GCHQ was up to we would be ‘enormously reassured’. But of course, alas, we can’t because their work is secret. It’s funny, I’ve tried and tried but just can’t seem to feel ‘reassured’. It reminded me of Blair saying if we could only see the intelligence he had seen we would have no doubts about going to war with Iraq. Hands up those who woud buy a used car from William Hague or Tony Blair.
Billy fourteen pints pontificates:
This is the kind of bullshit that ye olde USSR used to hold onto, and they were always roundly condemned as abusers of the human rights.
“The last time Scots voters voted for Tory government was in 1955.
No, not ludicrous … true.”
Yes, there are other areas of Britain which lean to one side or the other and some which just float about.
That’s democracy.
Nevermind: I’m certainly not a monarchist. Whether to junk the whole royal shebang, lock stock and barrel should be decided by a referendum. Without the media and without the BBC in particular, ramming these parasites down our throats every five minutes, interest in them would quickly wane and the many skeletons in their closets would become common knowledge (look there’s another one). If a vote goes yes, then anything they own, their personal fortunes which have been plundered from this country and around the world over centuries should be stripped, leaving them with not much more than the shirts on their backs. That is about as far as I would go, they do have human rights and torture, murder is wrong.
Fred (the incandescent) still believes there was then (in 1979) some smidgen of a difference between Labour and Tory parties, would have us believe they’re not simply rival ‘brands’ of an all-controlling secret state and moneyed elite, that held the people and voters in utter contempt and disdain. The SNP by 1979 had long figured out this con-trick and simply wasn’t going to play along with the silly games of Britain’s sham pseudo-democracy a moment longer.
Whoops, you’re right, my post of yesterday 21h21 WAS removed.
I protest at this unjustified censorship by whoever removed it and after repeating its essence hereafter challenge the moderator to explain why it was removed, his criteria for deeming a post offensive (of that was the reason for its removal) and whether he applies those critera in an impartial manner to everyone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1/. Flaming June, in a post about David Cameron making a speech about the 1 billion starving people in the world, described him as having a “well-fed face” and, presumably on that basis, accused him of bein a hypocrite.
2/. My post, issued in response, asked 3 questions :
a) what was the relevance of that description of the Prime Minister’s face to the rest of F.J.’s comment
b) does someone have to be starving him/herself in order to be able legitimately to make a speech about starvation
c) whether F.J.’s face might not also, to an outsider, appear fell-fed and non-starving (the point of this question was to suggest, satirically but gently, that physical descriptions were all in the eye of the beholder and therefore irrelevant to the thrust of any following argument. Perhaps this was too subtle for the moderator – if so, I shall endeavour to be blunter next time).
So could whoever deleted my post explain his/her objections to any one or more of those three questions?
Thank you.
@ Moderator :
Possibly a second whoops…..
Dreoilin’s post, above, makes we wonder which post pf mine was actually deleted : was it to one to Flaming June or the one in reply to the Great Excrement, in which I pointed out that if my bottom, described as big and red by Guano, were capable of human speech its pronouncements would make a lot more sense than most of those from the said Guano
That’s the problem – too many posts (so much nonsense to point to) and too many people attacking poor old/young Habbabkuk!
Anyway, none of my posts should be deleted because they are unparalleled in their excellence and to-the-point-ness (I made up that last word).
****************
La vita è bella, life is good!
Habbabkuk
Don’t worry, posts are never really deleted anymore. GCHQ will have a record 🙂
Good one, KoWN
Definitely a second whoops and APOLOGIES to the moderator for having got the wrong post. (I should have checked better).
In reparation for which I shall not ask him to explain why he DID delete my spirited and witty response to Guano (especially since I have repeated its essence in a post of a few minutes ago).
@ KingofWelshNoir) :
“Habbabkuk
Don’t worry, posts are never really deleted anymore. GCHQ will have a record”
———-
That’s quite a relief! I was rather counting on my response to Guano to help me along the road to being awarded a gong – a FUG, in fact – in due course (for the uninitiated, that’s short for For Undermining Guano)
@Fred
“Yes, there are other areas of Britain which lean to one side or the other and some which just float about.
That’s democracy”.
But Scotland is the only “area” of Britain (apart from England) that is a “Kingdom” – as attested by her separate legal system.
The citizens of said kingdom will, in 2014, thus be able to exercise their democratic right to vote for their independence (or not) from that cesspit called Westminster and the truly undemocratic representation enjoyed by Scottish citizens there.
……and while this is all going on……Flaming June, like her beloved Brer Rabbit, is lying low and saying nuffin’……no doubt scanning the air waves and the internet…..to regale us, in the fullness of time,…..with another tasty morsel about David Cameron or similar hound-dogs from Hell.
I can’t wait!
In fact, you don’t need to worry about losing data anymore, or backing it up to Dropbox, the NSA are doing it for you.
According to whistleblower William Binney their Narus recording systems (of which there are 18 or so around the US) can each record 10 gigabytes of data – the equivalent of a million and a quarter emails with 1,000 characters each – per second.’
(Source, Washington’s Blog.)
The new facitility opening in September will be the Biggie:
‘Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.”’
(Source Wired magazine.)
I can’t remember the last time I felt to reassured.
“The citizens of said kingdom will, in 2014, thus be able to exercise their democratic right to vote for their independence (or not) from that cesspit called Westminster and the truly undemocratic representation enjoyed by Scottish citizens there.”
Scots citizens get just as much democracy as anyone else, if not more.
I’ve nothing against a referendum, I just think the electorate should be informed. Should Scotland become independent those who now get elected to Westminster will no doubt stand for election at Holyrood.