I am of course immediately proved wrong 🙂 The Conference just remitted back a motion supporting the Scottish Government’s land reforms on the grounds they are too timid. There is life in this Party after all.
Allowed HTML - you can use:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>
THat’s the spirit Craig. Keep the faith man!
Indeed and we need to reinforce it lets demand a commission on democracy and resubmit motions on land reform, fracking, TTIP and NATO!
Given the sheer force of the establishment campaign against it I am not surprised that the SNP is currently tending to caw canny.
Having caught up with the comments from yesterday I am beginning to think that the SNP is slowly shooting itself in the foot.
Craig.
Is wee Johnny the barber speaking at a “fringe” meeting?
The SNP leadership deserved to get their arses metaphorically kicked for the lame, timid, anaemic Land Reform Bill. The delegates who voted against the leadership on this issue deserve praise. Hopefully the leadership of the SNP will now see sense, and beef the LRB up significantly.
Muttley79, it’s exactly this same “tame, timid, anaemic” attitude which lost us the referendum. All the passion & drive came from out with the SNP, mainly the Left, including Labour supporters. Many, many people of my acquaintance gave as their main reason for opposing independence is that it was a lot of bother for not very much change. We’s still be in the dreaded EU, still have the monarchy, still be in NATO, etc.
“Many, many people of my acquaintance gave as their main reason for opposing independence is that it was a lot of bother for not very much change. ”
I heard that too and all I can say is that it is / was such a sad and lazy thing to say. It used to amaze me that other people could not see that the SNP were and are just a vehicle. The whole point of independence is to get control of our own country and set it up with a constitution and fair voting system, after that all bets are off.
Seems to me that the Scottish Cringe is hardwired into a lot of people here. I can at least acknowledge someone who makes a principled stand for the Union, although I am still to hear a convincing argument for it, but I can’t stand the whingers it is just soul destroying.
Funny how many of them seem to be Labour people.
It’s a scandal. 725,000 acres of Scottish land are owned in tax havens.
‘Post-referendum, the SNP made a big deal of their commitment to land reform. A far-reaching, bold set of proposals were produced by the Land Reform Review Group. Then came the public consultation, and the draft bill in June. But somewhere along the way, something strange happened:the more “radical” (or arguably just “effective”) measures disappeared.
Why was this? The consultation responses make interesting reading. Of the 1,269 responses the vast majority came from individuals. The remainder were from organisations. Some, such as Common Weal were in favour of reform, the rest were landowner organisations such as estates, lobby group Scottish Land & Estates and “professional and private sector” groups. They objected vociferously to many of the proposals. And it seems they were listened to.
The proposal to restrict ownership to entities formed in an EU state – in order to tackle the 750,000 acres of Scotland owned in tax havens – was supported by 82 per cent of individual respondents, but only a third of the landowner/private sector group agreed. Those opposed cited “potential loss of inward investment” and “discouragement of a free market” in their arguments against it – not only a very right-wing approach, but also an economically illiterate one.’
Jen Stout: SNP members must force the party to strengthen watered-down Land Reform Bill
October 14th, 2015
http://www.thenational.scot/comment/jen-stout-snp-members-must-force-the-party-to-strengthen-watered-down-land-reform-bill.8709
and from the same author
Jen Stout: Let’s try to imagine a genuinely modern face of landownership
14 Aug 2015
NOT so long ago I happened to hitch a lift with the factor of a large estate. He was a nice gent but his views on land reform were nothing short of hysterical. It struck me what a different world he inhabited: one of paternalistic, Victorian justifications for landed wealth – “locals can’t look after the woods!” – and nostalgic, anti-modernisation rhetoric.
“We’re going to become like Rhodesia!” he repeated, a telling reference to what everyone else would call Zimbabwe. As with other “old-fashioned” lairds and their friends, comparisons between Mugabe and the SNP are never far away.
Scotland’s lairds seem to feel under attack. During the referendum debate our very concentrated land ownership patterns became a key issue, so much land remaining in the hands of so few symbolising the urgent need for change. The SNP suddenly acquired a burning interest in the issue, and last month draft legislation was put to Holyrood for a new Land Reform Bill.
/..
http://www.thenational.scot/comment/jen-stout-lets-try-to-imagine-a-genuinely-modern-face-of-landownership.6364
Robert Crawford
Many of your contributions are interesting and very welcome. But I wish you would stop continually denigrating people for their jobs. There is nothing wrong with barbers, occupational therapists etc and I would entirely refute the idea that professional status equates to political wisdom.
I came across a nice comment about Craig in this piece by Hugh Kerr when looking for the membership of the SNP standing orders committee.
SNP balancing act as leadership copes with membership expectations
Oct 13, 2015
http://newsnet.scot/?p=115787
Craig.
What is political wisdom?
And where to you get when cutting hair or, being an occupational therapist?
No, professional status certainly does not equate to political wisdom, which is why the Athenians were so wise to choose their legislators by lot from the whole citizen body. (Well, they restricted it to the male citizen body, but we don’t have to do that.)
Who says they have any wisdom to deal with Westminster?
I have met one of them, useless in my experience!
John McNally seems to recognize me in the street, yet we have never met?
These people are not up to scratch as far as I am concerned. I will not be wasting my precious vote on them.
Independence or bust!
The ‘news’ gets worse. Any comment from Dave or Gideon?
‘Tata Steel is to announce 1,200 UK job cuts next week.
The firm is expected to significantly reduce the workforce at its Scunthorpe steel plant, which employs 3,000 people and is one of the UK’s biggest.
Tata may also cut jobs in Scotland, at Clydebridge in Cambuslang and Dalzell in Motherwell.
The company declined to confirm the job cuts, but said it had been facing challenges in the UK such as a surge in steel imports, and the strong pound.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34552523
There is nothing wrong with anyone’s job, barber or occupational therapist, road sweeper or toilet cleaner. In fact, toilet cleaner is an extremely important job, however, the pay is shit!
Certain skills are required to do all kinds of jobs, however, not all, very few in fact are transferable.
Being an M.P. is extremely important with a Nation’s future at stake.
If the SNP had not won Falkirk because they had put you up for election they would not have lost anything. They never had it, and it would not have made one iota of a difference to the overall standing at Westminster. On the other hand I for one would be more enthusiastic about who was representing ME at Westminster. I would have had the confidence to trust your world wide experience in your previous job to be able to fight for ME, and Scotland.
Naw, you can keep the barber and the occupational therapist.
Surely Robert you are not saying that this awful self serving class of careerists, many who had never had a normal job in their lives, are in any way superior to the informed views of a randomly chosen individual doing a 9to 5 job.
One could argue that the remoteness of a secluded upbringing, private schooling and or the wealth of a family is alien to a job that needs a communicative all rounder, someone who is not devoid of ideas or shackled by his class, standing in society or the establishment.
A randomly selected Government would not fail because the individuals are normal people, it would only fail if the civil service, underpinning almost everything party politicians do now, has its own agenda and refuses to serve.
We are nearly at this stage when one reads Rowans blog, civil servants have colluded in the financial fraud at the heart of the City.
I had enough of people who believe they have an inalienable right to a safe seat, (you’re having a laugh gov.) or think they are better suited because of their standing and their past troughing occupations.
Exactly that mindset has brought us to the stupendous situation we find ourselves in, a dark dank room full of BS, no fair proportional vote and some feckers who like nothing better then to rob us blind.
I think we are going back to the times of sharpened pitchforks soon, Robert, no same as it ever was will prevent it.
“What is political wisdom?”
Wisdom is usually associated with King Solomon. He had a neat way of judging which woman was the true mother of a baby. It’s a lesson worth remembering today.
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt09a03.htm#16
Sorry, O/T, but this is too important not to report here. From Glenn Greenwald Twitter:
And here’s what’s at the NBC Nightly News link:
Who insisted on repeating the order, and why?
Plato put in the mouth of Socrates the argument that governance, like any occupation, demands professional expertise. Hence Plato’s Socrates said that rule should be restricted to philosopher kings.
That’s not a way of putting it that finds much favor these days, but a lot of people in the ruling class essentially still believe it, in their heart of hearts.
Nevermind, you make a lot of sense as always.
Comparing the politicians who have got us into this mess with these new comers who will have great difficulty arguing the toss (debating) in the House is a bit like comparing apples and pears.
You make a very valid point about Civil Servants working behind our backs.
Many years ago when all this crap was swimming into my ken, I said,”we should change the Civil Servants at the same time as the new government”.
Craig said he was impressed with Ms Whitford talking about what she knows about the NHS. She is a breast cancer surgeon, I think. She has the experience!
What is the barber going to talk about and impress us at the same time?
The occupational therapist is the Justice Secretary???.
As far as I am concerned they are only controllable heads to be counted when there is a vote in Parliament.
I am reminded of the man who owns a corner shop and was on Mastermind. “What is your specialist subject?”. “Anoraks from 9.99 to 1999”, he replied.
Anna Missiou argues in her book Literacy and Democracy in Fifth-Century Athens that serving on the Council (Boule) was a real educational experience for Athenians, who allowed themselves to be instructed by those who were serving for the second time. (Citizens could serve on the Council no more than twice. The numbers are such that virtually all male citizens who lived long enough to serve must have served at least once.)
He would not be a barber if he couldn’t communicate Robert. Compare that to the mealy mouthing wafflers in our political parties who can brag the skin of a dog with waffle, whilst saying nothing much at all.
@ Fred. King Solomon, if he did exist, most definitely did not call Palestine ‘Israel’
Slightly O/T but amusing, because it is these men the SNP wants to be in power with, rather than keeping to their promises of another Y2 vote if the referendum results in us leaving Ms./Mr. EU for another, yet indeterminate affair.
A rather Teutonic article/research of the Bullington clubs rogue elements, rowdies/ establishment terrorists who smash windows in the middle of the night and then run away. Enjoy
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-bullingdon-club-and-the-excessive-british-elite-a-1057793.html
Tell me this Nevermind.
How do these fools get elected, again and again?
Has the public become completely zombiefied?
I will not accept second best from any company or political party.
When I walk into a shop and ask for a certain item and the assistant tells me they don’t have it, “but we have this”. I go elsewhere to get what I want, not what someone wants to sell to me.
“Fred. King Solomon, if he did exist, most definitely did not call Palestine ‘Israel’”
The story probably pre-dates Solomon anyway and was attributed to him. There are lots of old tales about people who would rather see something split and destroyed than intact and alive.
Election tends to select a certain personality type, not, in the long run, a very attractive one.
Random selection chooses all personality types, in proportion to their share in the total population.
Because we are slaves, kept in perpetual darkness by an unfair disproportional voting system. because many are now so fed up with politics, exactly the state our political parties want to keep them in, as they only want their own supporters to vote.
@ Fred. It also bears witnes to the state of palestine today, the same attitudes still exist,i.e. killing before talking sense.
Curious to see how one talks about things like the Bullingdon Club in the German language, I looked for the German original of the Spiegel article. Unfortunately, Der Spiegel, at least in German, is apparently now behind a pay wall. https://magazin.spiegel.de/digital/index_SP.html#SP/2015/42/139226824
We have PR voting system in Scotland.
The public are wise to it, they give both votes to the SNP mainly.