I have always believed that Theresa May is likely to try to block a new Independence referendum – and it is extremely unlikely her defence secretary, the odious Michal Fallon, would have said this so categorically without prior agreement with May. Fallon, taking a break from supplying weapons to the Saudis for killing Yemeni children, displayed huge arrogance towards Scotland, which the Tories believe is firmly under the heel. They refuse to acknowledge that any difficulty arises from the contradictory referendum results in Scotland, where Scots voted both to remain part of the UK, and to remain part of the EU – the second more recently and by a much wider margin.
The Tory view is that Scotland is but a province of the UK. They are of course right – the UK Supreme Court decision makes quite plain that Scotland’s so-called “parliament” does not derive its power from the Scottish people, but only from what Westminster condescends to hand back. Indeed Westminster could abolish Scotland’s parliament tomorrow. For the Tories, a combination of that Supreme Court decision, their Brexit victory, and the elevation of the Tories to 21% in Scottish elections (Fallon quotes public support for Ruth Davison in his interview), mean that they don’t have to offer Scotland anything.
For God’s sake, let them not be proved right.
Do you remember the scene in Braveheart, where the nobles at Stirling Bridge are planning to negotiate and go home, and Wallace forces them into a fight? Well, I know which Sturgeon reminds me of more at the moment. If she is planning to fight eventually she is masking her intentions brilliantly. The problem that worries me is that the SNP is now the Scottish establishment, and as Scotland is still very much part of the UK, they are part of the British establishment too. A lot of our MPs seem to have their feet under the table very nicely at Westminster. The SNP as an institution has not just its Westminster MPs but their secretaries and research assistants and the group staff, and all the people paid with millions of Westminster “Short money”. That is a major group of party apparatchiks making a fat living out of the current system. Plus of course Holyrood and its power and jobs.
The SNP as an institution is doing very nicely out of the status quo, and that is why there are so many siren voices within the SNP arguing that it is too early for a referendum; “we might lose it”, “leaving the EU is not such a disaster”, “there are a lot of anti-EU Independence supporters anyway”.
There is a lot of self-fulfilling prophesy here. As there has been virtually no actual campaigning for Independence since 2014 and the media still spew anti-Independence propaganda daily, it is hardly surprising Independence support is not rising in the polls. It is a miracle it is holding steady.
The Tories are banking on leaving the EU being normalised. People are getting used to the idea, and the ill consequences of leaving the single market will not really bite until we do so. This is where Sturgeon’s Fabian tactics play in to the Tory agenda. Instead of a break with Westminster over EU membership, the Scottish government is allowing public interest to evaporate in a series of dull Joint Ministerial Committee meetings. There matters are kicked into long grass and mollifying but insincere words spoken about how seriously the devolved administrations are being taken. I can see no point in continuing with this charade unless the SNP itself intends to allow the issue to fizzle out in a drizzle of EFTA’s, EEA’s, CTA’s and other dull acronyms.
The racist majority in England and Wales are trying to force us out of the EU. The UK Supreme Court has ruled the Sewel Convention has no legal force. Now the Tories are arrogantly refusing the right of the Scottish people even to hold a referendum. I cannot imagine the degree of humiliation the SNP feels is necessary to pull the trigger on another Independence attempt. The time is now.
If the Tories do succeed in preventing another referendum from taking place, they are playing with fire. It is worth noting that there is no requirement for Scotland to hold a referendum to become Independent.
Independence is not an internal question. It is the existence of a state recognised by its fellow states, and that recognition is expressed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. A referendum is not a requirement for that UN recognition. Please note the rest of this paragraph very, very carefully. The majority of States in the world have achieved independence during my own lifetime. The vast majority of those did so without a referendum. Not only is a referendum not a requirement, it is extremely unusual. Of the 194 states recognised by the UN, only a tiny handful featured a referendum as part of the process of the formation of the state. This is also true within the EU. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic all recently assumed their current form and none of them had a referendum to do it.
If the Tories refuse a referendum, the Scottish Government should respond by declaring Independence. My preferred method of doing this would be to convene a National Assembly, comprising of all Scotland’s MEP’s, MP’s and MSP’s, and for that National Assembly to make the declaration. This would broadly accord with international norms. Independence should be effective from the declaration, but that Independence could if desired be employed to hold the referendum which the Tories had refused.
I do not posit this as the best way to achieve Independence. My preference would be a new referendum now in the new circumstances of the UK leaving the EU, as fairly presaged in the SNP’s successful manifesto for the last Holyrood elections. I am convinced that once campaigning starts, support for Independence will surge as during the last campaign, only this time starting from a much higher base.
The Tories fought the Holyrood election on a manifesto saying no second Independence referendum. They got 21% of the vote. May and Fallon should be aware as they plan to block a referendum: other options are available.
Dear, Craig,
it is excellent to read your comments here…and very interesting, indeed! There are many numbers of people who are free to offer their opinions on a Scottish Independence referendum – but, not many who could claim to have your qualifications…your voice certainly has authority!
Everyone is free to offer opinions – a good thing, of course! However, while freedom of speech and opinion is as important as it is, few people are easily able to gain what you have managed to acquire. Therefore, I hope that you, and your likes, can manage the time to further inform our uncertain friends in Scotland!
Moran taing! (Many thanks!),
Ewen
It’s possible to make any response to this short, Craig, although I’m happy to expand too.
The short response is that I simply do not believe there is an appetite for another referendum on independence never mind the support to win one right now. I’ve been paying attention to friends and family who voted NO to see if I could detect any change in the light of Brexit. I can’t see any. People are still too freaked out about the (still unknown) impact of Brexit to focus on another referendum. They are scunnered to the back teeth with referenda!)
Frankly I think Nicola has really played this badly while starting off well. She succeeded in getting the Labour Party, the Lib Dems and the Greens behind the SG at Holyrood after her initial response to Brexit. I was delighted about that. The only Party not to back her was, of course, the Tory Party. I think Nicola could have done so much with that cross Party support yet, within a short time, it was gone because she started down the “We will have a second indy referendum.” stuff and Dugdale and Rennie pulled back and joined with the Tories in declaring all the SNP cared about was independence. I cannot believe Nicola did that when she was genuinely worried about Scotland’s position (as were Rennie and Dugdale).
Since then, it’s got worse as she’s declared (to May) that she’d take indy2 off the table, then threaten to bring it back again, then declare she’s “not bluffing”……and so on. It has not been pretty.
Those SNP MPs in Westminster have, in fact, done very well in trying to fight back against Brexit Craig. I’m glad they were there to do it because sure as heck the Labour Party isn’t.
For me however the fight should have come before the actual referendum because the terms were totally skewed against ALL of the UK and not just Scotland. England, even had Wales not voted Leave, had the numbers to take EVERYONE out of the EU and how anyone can describe that as democratic is quite beyond my understanding. I don’t care what the Supreme Court had to say about the position of the other countries in the Union: the fact is we all have separate parliaments/assemblies and this vote was so huge that built in to it should have been the need for the separate results in all parts of the UK to be recognised. In any democratic state made up as the UK is no one part of it should have the power to drag all others in the direction it alone wants to go. While that situation remained unaddressed we were always going to be screwed. (I’m aware the SNP tried to persuade government of the need for all parts to agree and were rebuffed but even so that didn’t mean we should have given up the fight for fairness.)
Finally, I’m agog today after that vote yesterday listening to all these idiot MPs whining about all they’re not happy about on Brexit. If they weren’t happy why the hell did they given that woman the go ahead yesterday without a whimper?
Like I said, I think Nicola has not played this well at all.
I did enjoy Glenn’s comment “Is it fair that Scotland upon independence doesn’t take responsibility for UK financial liabilities”.
Heaven’s above man, why have the “financial markets” allowed the UK to run up such enormous debts. Perhaps because these “debts” are in house of the anonymous “financial markets? Perhaps Merry England is owned lock stock and barrel by the “financial markets”? And where is Scotland’s liability is running up these debts?
Glad you enjoyed my comment.
One might ask – with equal justification – where is the liability of your ordinary working stiff in running up these debts? Yet they have to pay for it, through austerity, depressed wages and increased costs. Yet the people who caused this disaster (enriching themselves in the process), are still at it. Virtually all of the gains in this job-free “recovery” have gone to the top 1%, in particular, the top 0.1%.
Quite a few Scots in government at the time all this was going on, remember. Do you recall them shouting about it at the time? No? How about immediately after the Scottish banks were bailed out, through their own reckless behaviour?
Does anyone have any links to good discussions of the case of Phil Shiner, and his striking off, over accusations over Iraq? It all sounds a bit strange to me.
The MoD has paid out over £25million in compo to Iraq people for false imprisonment, torture and murder yet they still claim british soldiers done nothing wrong.
UK courts block Jack Straw being brought to court over the rendition of a Libyan family to be tortured by Gadaffi(MI6 and CIA provided questions to ask), UK court block lawyers attempting to hold british soldiers to account for torture and murder in Iraq. Quite the political institute UK courts. All in it together.
One wonders how Mansfield QC didn’t end up like Prof. Kelly. Face down in a ditch.
No justice in the UK.
The Scottish budget was passed today. One consequence is that higher rate taxpayers in Scotland will pay more than their English counterparts.
‘Scottish budget passes first vote after SNP-Green deal
The Scottish budget has been voted through the first stage of the legislative process after a deal between the SNP and Greens.
MSPs backed Finance Secretary Derek Mackay’s tax and spending plans by a margin of 67 to 59.
A deal was struck with the Greens totalling £220m of extra spending, including £160m for local authorities.
The deal will also see the threshold for the 40p rate of income tax frozen at £43,000.
The same threshold is being raised to £45,000 in the rest of the UK, so the move means higher-rate tax payers elsewhere will pay up to £400 less tax every year than people earning the same wage in Scotland. The Scottish government had originally planned to raise the threshold only by the rate of inflation.’
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38828873
All part of the compromises needed by a government elected by a system that’s designed not to produce a majority . And if we want more public services we should be prepared to pay for them . I’m very pleased that that the SNP have had to be just a little bit more radical and see absolutely no reason why we should do anything just because the rest of the U.K. does.
Unfortunately raising taxes doesn’t always raise revenue. If tax rate is 0% revenue is zero and if tax rate is 100% revenue will be zero. Between is a Laffer curve on which there is an optimum amount of tax for maximum revenue, above or below it revenue falls.
Sorry Fred,
Suggest you read Prof. Steve Keen and many others in relation to the Laffer Curve, which to put it politely, the basis of which has been blown out of the water – people used to pay up to 90% income tax after WWII in both the UK and the USA up until Thatcher and Reagan’s time – guess what, tax avoidance has become a cottage industry on a global scale, which means the buggers don’t want to pay tax, be it income tax, VAT or corporate tax, taxes are for the little people!!!!!!
Craig – What do you think about the striking off of Phil Shiner the lawyer who represented Iraqi waiter Baha Mousa’s family after he was tortured to death by soldiers of the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment? They’re claiming he took on false allegations and violated professional standards by paying an Iraqi “fixer” to look for clients – and (more bizarrely) that approaching Iraqis who hadn’t first approached him was also professional misconduct.
My impression is that this is revenge on Shiner by the government and the MoD, and the government and military both initimdating other lawyers by threatening to end their careers if they take cases against it. Plus the government and military effectively becoming self-regulating – able to decide for themselves which allegations against them are true or false – which is not exactly an independent or neutral process.
Interested to hear your own thoughts and anything else you know about this.
Caroline Hawley who reported from Iraq throughout that terrible war was on the 6pm BBC news just now. She suggested that there is a large amount of documentation and that there are more very serious cases awaiting due process.
Shiner is being hung out to dry. Theresa May wants all investigations into illegal activities of the military shut down. She described them as ‘vexatious’. How can she say that until they are investigated properly by IHAT?
Shiner has been found guilty of fabricating cases against British soldiers for financial gain. The man is a disgrace to his profession and has rightfully been struck off. He ought to be in prison.
Or maybe it’s a stitch-up.
” He ought to be in prison.”
I advise you to take note of the fact that neo-cons come from both sides of the political divide in US UK and everywhere else. It follows therefore that the neo-con misdeeds of either political party will be covered up by the other political party, which is what has happened here. A Tory government is whitewashing the war crimes of the New Labour government. Similarly when Jeremy Corbyn seizes power the Tories will expect his government to whitewash the war crimes of David Cameron.
The best article I’ve found so far is from the Justice Gap
http://thejusticegap.com/2016/09/phil-shiner-grubby-tank-chaser-human-rights-pioneer/
It seems to me highly improbable that Shiner went chasing cases. I can believe that the poor Iraqis, having suffered so much from the British-US illegal invasion, might be exaggerating somewhat. But striking off seems to me quite unjustified. Paying for cases? Then who’s paying? That is not stated.
Legal aid from the UK government i suspect – since they cut off legal aid to his firm
Legal aid might pay for immediate legal costs, but not, as claimed, payments to Iraqis.
“I can believe that the poor Iraqis, having suffered so much from the British-US illegal invasion, might be exaggerating somewhat.”
Aww. Let’s just let them off for lying then.
You fundamentally misunderstand the way things work in these countries. As soon as it becomes understood that big compo payouts are available from rich Western states then everyone and anyone will claim to be a victim and demand a payout. Western lawyers are happy to oblige because of the large fees on offer and whole careers can and have been made out it. You have obviously not spent any time in the ME or Asia.
Yes well serial Islamaphobes and racists would say something like that.
It takes one to know one.
Not meaning you John
It did set me wondering mate until I saw the comment below. 🙂
But on the other hand how as someone who speaks no Arabic, and who has no contacts in Iraq, would Shiner find people needing representation except by hiring Iraqis to find them?
“I can believe that the poor Iraqis, having suffered so much from the British-US illegal invasion, might be exaggerating somewhat.”
Aww. Let’s just let them off for lying then.
You fundamentally misunderstand the way things work in these countries. As soon as it becomes understood that big compo payouts are available from rich Western states then everyone and anyone will claim to be a victim and demand a payout. Western lawyers are happy to oblige because of the large fees on offer and whole careers can and have been made out it. You have obviously not spent any time in the ME or Asia, where people are treated like shit throughout their whole lives.
“You fundamentally misunderstand the way things work in these countries”
Says the ignorant. Foreigners lie, don’t they, but honest Brits don’t. I gave you the situation: there may be exaggeration in specific cases, but the general picture is correct. There was massive disregard of human rights.
What is so outrageous about the Shiner case is not so much that the invasion was illegal (widely accepted today), but that the British troops in Basra followed the behaviour of their American allies further north, and seem to have completely disregarded the human rights of the conquered Iraqis. Iraqis were just shit, and didn’t need to be bothered with. Recall the case where two SAS were arrested in local costume in Basra by the local police. The Brit military just went in, and took out the two Brits by force. (That’s leaving aside the videos of Brits running over Iraqis in the road and leaving them bleeding, or shooting in all directions at innocent Iraqis. That wasn’t the army, but it was the spirit of the times). Is it surprising that the British Army lost the confidence of the Basrans, and were in the end forced to withdraw? Shameful that the British Establishment now conceals what it did.
“Recall the case where two SAS were arrested in local costume in Basra by the local police”
They also had rifles and bomb-making equipment in the car. There was a large Shi’a festival on that weekend and it looks as though a bit of mayhem was prevented. The British army just stormed the prison where they were being held and whisked them away before they could face court.
It’s been quite clear for some time that Shiner and his colleagues have been milking the legal aid system. They had the one success but seem to have got greedy and set about searching for, or even going as far as to fabricate, other cases, Let’s not beat abut the bush Shiner has admitted bribing at least one witness to lie in court.
Don’t be blinded by PIL’s previous record, Shiner had become motivated by greed rather than any desire for justice.
The legal aid system is not sufficient for bringing Iraqis to Britain to make their case. There’s no money to be made there.
No because the lawyers creamed it all off. PIL lined their pockets with about £3 million of taxpayers money, your money, and did very little in return. You should be outraged not making apologies.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/02/ambulance-chasing-law-firm-that-hounded-british-troops-over-fals/
You obviously haven’t understood. The legal aid system, if it’s the case, could pay for the legal expenses of the lawyers. It doesn’t make payments to the claimants, as is claimed.
Yes, almost certainly revenge. We know about the torture that went on in detention- and rendition-centres which was so endemic Cameron shut down the Gibson Inquiry into the abuse. Oh, yes, revenge.
I do so miss Judge John Deed and the interplay between government and judiciary. There’s enough here for a new series in this alone. I would not wish for innocent soldiers to be wrongly accused but it is a well-known fact that the armed forces are just as capable of closing ranks as the government and judiciary, and Spicer may well have become an unwitting victim because he dared to challenge these august institutions.
Jail for six in HBOS fraud case
Ministry of Truth
At last.
Some banksters are getting locked up.
but HBOs refusing to pay a penny of compensation to the victims of these peoples’ fraud
Jo – “Those SNP MPs in Westminster have, in fact, done very well in trying to fight back against Brexit Craig. I’m glad they were there to do it because sure as heck the Labour Party isn’t”
Geo – what have the SNP MP’s achieved? What can they achieve? They have no say on anything that happens in Westminster. Never can, never will.
It does seem like Phil Shiner’s conviction, has set human right on the battlefield back by decades.
It wasn’t that long ago that British soldier Alexander Blackman was imprisoned over the death of a Taliban insurgent, in which it was claimed the Fourth Geneva Convention was breached.
However, in the heat of battle and under immense pressure, soldiers can and do make terrible judgements. One has to ask though, in this instance, what the hell were British troops doing in Afghanistan in the first place.
Apart from protecting the poppy fields, and guarding private contractors who were asset stripping mineral rich Afghanistan, under the tenure of Western puppet Hamid Karzai.
Some have suggested that oil will be the new magic for Scotland.
A country should be able to exist without magic.
Not sure how this relates to RoS’s post – perhaps you need some magic to come up with a relevant response?
I think Michael’s had one too many sips of the old magic.
But you are still here, still being allowed to use your voice, Anon 1, but if you don’t like what you read here, there is no need to torture yourself, you poor soul, all those lovely comments were probably not suited.
Did anyone ever here the old story about the state banquet where the queen ended up with a fish fork to eat her ice cream with and everybody else did as well?.
https://twitter.com/AgentP22/status/827167320632070144
Excellent, Fred – you included a deliberate spelling mistake in your post, I hear, to emphasise the point!
Jeez, is this the level that the Britnats are stooping too, Ruth and Kezia will be proud of you.
Off you go now laddie, I’m sure there’s a spelling mistake somewhere waiting for you to post about it.
Alas I didn’t hear about the queen and some wrong fork or other (boring) however HRH did meet the king of Saudi Arabia, she even took him for a spin in her Range Rover.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/23/queen-elizabeth-king-abdullah-driving-story_n_6533236.html
Then again cosying up to murderous dictators, is nothing new in royal circles is it?
The racist majority in England and Wales are trying to force us out of the EU.
You are not wrong Craig. Well said.
Sally,
By congratulating Craig on that crass ‘racist’ comment he made indicates you too must be a RACIST – could you and Craig please provide ‘verified’ supporting evidence for such a claim, particularly given those Polls conducted on reason why many who voted ‘OUT’ indicate clearly immigration concerns were not at the top of their agenda – of course one puts little faith in Polls, but my area voted out, and my area is one of the only few places in the UK to actually settle Syrian Refugees – ALAS, WE ARE FUCKING RACISTS!!!!!!!!!
To you, Chris, a self declared racist……..no I can’t. Cheerio
Sally,
Unlike Liberal retards like yourself, I’ve actually confronted the National Front directly, as with violence in the 1980s – most Liberals run away when blood is involved. Still, as I say, we are ALL RACISTS!!!!!!!
Hate crimes soared by 41% after Brexit vote, official figures reveal http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/brexit-hate-crimes-racism-eu-referendum-vote-attacks-increase-police-figures-official-a7358866.html. England should really have a look at itself.
Excellent summary. I have posted a very similar thing to Angus Robertson. Get up on your feet and walk out of Westminster now. Call an election in Scotland now. Re affirm loud and clear if you vote SNP we declare UDI now.
I wouldn’t worry. This is just empty bravado from the Tories. It’s quite obvious that the UK cannot survive full Brexit.
So who is going to stop them?
This might be a solution for some of we wee Sassenachs. I’ve signed it in hope.
https://www.change.org/p/do-you-want-personal-eu-citizenship-send-a-message-to-the-european-parliament
It’s an application for individual EU status.
A week or so ago there was a piece on TruePublica that was quite breathtaking. Here’s a paragraph from that piece:
“The article quotes from a classified report and summizes that a plan, formulated by Henry Kissinger was adopted by the US administration in the 1970’s under President Gerald Ford to use population control methods in regions around the world where threats to their own economic or political power was likely emerging. The article, now over twenty years old, explains in detail the plan to starve millions and keep many countries in a cycle of perpetual emerging nation status through famine or war or both.”
http://truepublica.org.uk/global/u-s-world-population-control-programme-revealed-war-famine/
I posit this because independence for Scotland is utterly meaningless within the context of the American empire.
Likewise with the Brexiteers south of the border.
If you don’t even understand the power structure how are you going to escape from it?
There will be a referendum in late 2018 and the resultant poll will see 58.2% vote for an independent Scotland
Nostradamusgoonyeah?
When considering Wallace in the context of Scottish nationalism let us not forget that, as his name so clearly infers Wallace was a Welsh Speaker. Nationalism is simply a tool for the elite, whoever they might be, to whip the masses into obedience. It replaced religion as the opium of the people. Its best avoided.
Fwl
You cannot cultivate an alternative vision inside the diseased mind of Westminster.
Not necessarily fwl. Wallace, Wales, Gaul, Gael, Galloway, all from the same root. Strathclyde down to Wales through Galloway was a Gaelic speaking continuum.
Away at the moment, but will revert on this later. Cheers.
Gaelic my arse!
The Celtic languages formerly spoken in Strathclyde and Cumbria were Brythonic – the archaic form of the Celtic languages which later became Welsh, Cornish and Breton.
Gaelic whether in its Scottish, Irish or Manx versions, derives from the other archaic form of Celtic- Goidelic Celtic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittonic_languages
Just released partial video of a british soldier executing a wounded combatant in Afghanistan. Suppose its progress for the british army from gunning down civil rights marchers in Ireland.
Or were any of those soldiers locked up like this chap?
Breaking. As concerns Fallon’s sending of an HMS Diamond Destroyer to the Black Sea there are reports currently coming out of Donetsk that the Ukrainian forces are shelling the city using GRAD missiles one of which has struck a civilian building in Kievsky Street.
HMS Diamond is at ‘action stations’ with a bewildered crew steered by slow running Marcus of Falklands Patrol ilk who clearly knows this little banyan to the Black sea is just a bit of Trump agitation and flag waving – So very touching…
They will be even more bewildered if they get the same treatment the USS Donald Cook got Mark.
True John, thank-you – the baffled crew will need to make use of binoculars to spot incoming airborne threats because most times the Combat Management System crashes if too many threads/ports are opened, this despite £millions of pork barrels spent to restore the sparkle of a Type 45 that took 11 years to get going.
You guys don’t give up do you? Even the Russian manufacturers of the Kibeny jammers have dismissed the story as a hoax.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Donald_Cook
No they did not dismiss it as a hoax. It may not have been fitted with a Kilbeny jammer but something knocked out the USS Donald Cook AEGIS sytem.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article185860.html
Hoax.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/3xs3co/how_good_is_russian_electronic_warfare_part_i/
If Scotland declared UDI its dreams would be sold out and the country sold in next to no time. Many on this blog supported Trump because they are left wing and wanted to kick the centrist international elite. There is a need for a wake up and reformation, but when we open Pandora’s box to shock the audience we unleash unknown consequences. That does not mean we should lack courage, but nor should we lack common sense. Look at what happens to revolutions and look at what happens to small countries who become independent. Blair took a courageous step when he devolved power because he was not under pressure to do do. He did not patronise Scotland, though he patronised Wales by offering it lesser powers. It was not a stepping stone to independence. A grown up post feudal federal Britain is to be worked for not an island divided by the scourge of Nationalism.
The US of A is shortly about to disapear up its own arse. We can only hope that nukes don’t start flying, because for at least the last 50 years the USA has been run by complete psychopaths.
Trump, too, is a complete psychopath. Don’t forget to keep hating the Russians and the Iranians, and all the other enemies they manufacture for you, in order to keep the military-industrial complex to the tune of a trillion dollars each year.
Those that think these psychopaths wouldn’t pull false flag events to keep the gravy train going are stupid beyond belief.
And if you want to know who’s real or not, the Boston Marathon bombing was a quite blatant false flag (easily provable). Those commentators who push the official narrative are either total egits, or they’re propagandists.
I believe he did it because of pressure to do so from the Council of Europe. Blair didn’t even attend the opening of the first Scottish devolved Parliament which shows his lack of enthusiasm.
Dear Craig,
Although not a Scottish national, I feel a great empathy (IMPO) to the subtle cultural differences between the English imperialist superiority complex and what I feel is a more socially based outward looking nation that is Scotland.
Like a number of the English population I still feel the shock and sadness of the referendum vote and more deeply the embarrassment that comes with understanding what base emotions were unleashed by unscrupulous individuals to turn what was an extremely close vote in the favour of bigotry, isolationism and hatred of what the individuals do not understand. The dissapointment is compounded by the realisation that evil (strong but true !) publications such as the Mail and Telegraph were the cheerleaders in rousing such negative emotions. How in a supposed civilised society are these abuses of public trust in the impartiality of the great British press allowed to continue ?
I have now drifted in to soap box territory, but Scotland, please do the right thing. Gain your independence and prosper. Be the nation that you are, open and welcoming. Be independent, do not be held back by the imperialist bigotry that still rules Little England with a rod of iron.
Regards
Kevin
Thanks Kevin. Good luck to you and all the other decent tolerant English people who must be horrified by all of this. At least we have a chance to escape but who knows how it will all pan out. We have our own union lovers to contend with!
So let me see if I understand what you are saying. You think being opposed to the union of Europe is bad and racist and being for the union of Britain is bad and racist? Other nationalism is bad, Scottish nationalism is good?
That’s right, Fred.
Wanting to go it alone and seek independence is a Bad Thing if you’re British, and only goes to show what a racist you are.
On the other hand, if you want to got it alone and seek independence as a Scot, that shows how decent, bold and rightfully proud of your nationality you are, and also how you no longer wish to be associated with that racist rabble known as the rUK (who voted for independence – how dare they!).
On the third hand, it’s perfectly OK to simply declare yourself an independent nation, despite losing a referendum on that question by 10 points. Getting a referendum might not be a requirement (indeed it may well be unusual) before declaring independence, but doing so after losing such a referendum by a sizeable margin is very possibly without precedent.
I could accept an opinion that voting to leave a union with other countries is racist and I could accept an opinion that it isn’t but to say it is for people from one country and isn’t for people from another is racist.
I think Craig might well endorse this parliamentary petition against the infiltration of our government by Israeli spies and pressure groups.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/177407
Thanks for joining me in signing.
I have news on Shai Masot. Too tired to write it now: tomorrow.
Look forward to that Craig.
The Parliament of Wallonia, a legislative assembly but with the power to ratify international treaties, was able to force the modification of the Canada-EU free-trade treaty(CAFTA) in several desirable respects(Le Monde Diplomatique/current edition). What would be required for the Scottish legsilature to gain similar powers?
As Switzerland last year finally withdraw its application for EU membership, are the Swiss also to be dubbed racists
and the widespread opposion to EU menbership there seen just as SVP-prompted xenophobia?
Craig, you’ve done a tremendous job in helping to expose Werritty, Gould, Masot and others. You also speak out honestly about Syria, Libya, Iraq and the other wars. Still more, I admire the solid stance you have taken against Britain’s use of torture and am grateful for the daily effort you put into this blog which is a valuable resource and yet… what is this repeated nonsense about the EU?
Its anti-democratic institutions have been wholly responsible for financially crippling Greece and the other ‘PIIGS’, have helped to stir up civil war in Ukraine, and are complicit in the abandonment of refugees stranded in the Mediterranean or in Turkish camps. But whenever honestly challenged about the serious failings of the EU you stay silent. Then, periodically, you resort to slurs such as “the racist majority in England and Wales are trying to force us out of the EU”. So are you seriously suggesting that everyone who voted to leave the EU is a racist? Because quite frankly that’s how it reads.
Crispin Blunt chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee. He has announced that an investigation will take place into ‘foreign influence on Israel-Palestine policy’ following the Shai Masot affair. This is a first.
Friends of Israel set ups watch out!
Shai Masot scandal: UK MPs to probe ‘foreign influence’ on Israel-Palestine policy
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-parliamentary-committee-examine-influence-foreign-states-731235910
29 January 2017
Background:
http://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/thelobby/
Revision of the OFA to strengthen the protection of establishment treachery:
http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/official-secrets-acts-reviewed-to-meet-the-challenges-of-the-21st-century/?platform=hootsuite
Anon1
I saw your complaint about deletions. I was not aware it was happening, but have just deleted myself the latest racist rubbish from the Daily Express which you published.
You also appear to have deleted my link to al-Jazeera’s extensive investigation into Isr**li – sponsored influence on UK politics. Perhaps this pre-empts your forthcoming post – in which case, I apologise. Or maybe it was accidental: here’s the link again.
http://www.aljazeera.com/investigations/thelobby/
If there is some other reason, perhaps you would be so kind as to state it, for my future guidance?
Trinity Mirror are in so much financial difficulty due to the falling circulations of their ‘organs’ (understandable if their Surrey Advertiser is anything to go by as it is now basically an advertorial*) they are in talks with Desmond.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Mirror
There are digital versions.
Trinity Mirror confirms talks with Richard Desmond’s Express Group
Daily Mirror parent company in ‘early stage’ talks with Northern & Shell over merger of back office and sales operations to make significant savings
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/09/trinity-mirror-in-merger-talks-with-express-newspapers
*They have just sacked its editor and one other senior editor and applied for pp to convert their HQ into apartments. The paper is printed in many local editions.
Your point is ?
Terrifying.
Why does one feel that these depraved barbarians could not Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus or even J’s?
could not *be
I suppose it would be Church of England if shouting it with a boy then Anon1.
You must get great pain in your head when you attempt to think.
Anon1’s headstone – A failure in life because of muzzlumms………….duhhhhhhhhhh.
How sad. Haha.
Ferry services in Scotland should be brought under government control if European Union rules allow it, the transport minister has said.
Humza Yousaf said the Scottish government would prefer to use an “in-house operator”
if it is permitted following a European Commission review.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-38838230
The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union also means ministers will no longer have to comply with EU regulation.
After we have left, we will be free to make up our own rules.
Tory rules? No thanks.