Ever since the British Government started to base its nuclear submarines and their arsenal of nuclear missiles on the Clyde in the 1960s, there have been protests in Scotland against hosting weapons of mass destruction just a few miles away from the largest conurbation in the country. The British Polaris programme, the predecessor to Trident, was announced in 1962 following an agreement between the American and British governments by which the US would supply Britain with Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
The agreement stipulated that the UK’s Polaris missiles would be assigned to NATO as part of a Multilateral Force, and could be used independently only in exceptional circumstances. Essentially the UK’s much vaunted nuclear weapons programme is merely an adjunct to the American nuclear weapons programme, and as such is ultimately under the control of the Pentagon. This stipulation has carried over into the Trident programme, which replaced Polaris starting in the 1980s.
In a couple of years I will be at retirement age, and although there have been protests against the nuclear weaponry on the Clyde for my entire life, we are still no closer to ridding this curse from Scottish soil. The Labour party, especially the Labour party of the right wing Keir Starmer, is as much in thrall to the British nationalist nuclear Viagra of an impotent former empire as the Tories. While the likes of the Über-unionist Jackie not-a-nationalist Baillie wrap themselves in British flags and witter on about the supposed economic benefits that the Trident programme brings to the Upper Clyde, the reality is that Scotland’s pro-rata share of the costs of Trident amounts to £180 million every year. That money could be far better spent on investing in public services and creating well paid jobs which would bring about a lasting benefit to the local economy of the area.
Instead what we get are a handful of civilian jobs purchased at huge financial cost and incalculable environmental damage, and that’s without factoring in the devastation which would result should there be a serious nuclear accident at Faslane, where the submarines are based, or Coulport, where the nuclear warheads are stored.
Last year The Ferret reported that the number of nuclear safety incidents recorded by the Ministry of Defence at Faslane and Coulport on the Clyde had soared by a third compared to the previous year. The online investigative newspaper said that MPs had been told that the total number of “nuclear site events” at the two Trident bases had increased from 153 in 2021 to 204 in 2022. Some more serious incidents doubled in frequency, and figures for the first three months of 2023 suggested further rises. The MoD insisted that none of these incidents had resulted in injury or the release of radioactive material into the environment, but it did not provide any details of individual incidents.
The 204 incidents reported overall at the two bases in 2022 were by far the highest in four years, with a further 58 reported in January to March 2023. The number of incidents rated as category C rose from 10 in 2021 to 27 in 2022.
The MoD has previously defined category C incidents as having “moderate potential” for radioactive releases which could cause “unplanned individual exposure to radiation”. Eight category C incidents were reported for the first three months of 2023.
The MoD has historically treated Scotland as a dumping ground for unwanted weaponry and military waste. The island of Gruinard near Ullapool was out of bounds for decades after the MoD used it for military experiments with biological weapons involving a highly virulent strain of anthrax during WW2. The island was not decontaminated until 1990 but the formaldehyde solution which was sprayed on the island in order to destroy the anthrax spores itself caused massive damage to marine life in the surrounding waters as it ran off into the sea. This is far from being the only instance of the MoD treating Scotland as an expendable dumping ground.
The waters of the North Channel are contaminated by thousands of tons of unwanted ammunition, including chemical weapons, dumped there by the MoD after the First and Second World Wars. The MoD has estimated that well over a million tons of munitions have been dumped there, including 14,500 tons of artillery rockets filled with phosgene. Radioactive waste from military aircraft was dumped on Dalgety Bay in Fife, it took decades to get the MoD to admit responsibility for the contamination. Clean up is still on-going.
In 2020 it was revealed that the MoD was planning to planning to increase discharges of radioactive waste from Faslane into the Firth of Clyde by up to 50 times. The liquid waste comes from the reactors that drive the Royal Navy’s submarines and from the processing of Trident nuclear warheads. It is to be discharged from Faslane into the Gareloch via a proposed new pipeline. Dr Ian Fairlie, a radiation expert who used to advise the UK government, described the proposed increases as worrying, saying: “I do not think that the MoD has done enough work on estimating the increases in the levels of tritium and cobalt-60 in the flora and fauna of the Gareloch.”
Of course all the above are merely those incidents and damage which the notoriously secretive MoD has admitted to. The true picture is likely to be far far worse. The rising number of acknowledged incidents at Faslane and Coulport would tend to confirm the claims of Boris Johnson’s senior advisor Dominic Cummings, who recently alleged that there is top-level cover-up of the poor state of the UK’s nuclear weapons programme. Cummings claimed that in 2022 Rishi Sunak had approached him for help with the next General Election campaign, and Cummings had asked for several conditions in return.
One of these, Cummings said, was addressing the “fundamentally critical” issue of “the scandal of nuclear weapons infrastructure which is a dangerous disaster and a budget nightmare of hard-to-believe and highly classified proportions, and which has forced large secret cannibalisation of other national security budgets.”
Writing on social media Cummings said it was a “fact that our nuclear weapons infrastructure is dangerously rotting and is tens of billions secretly in the hole, with huge knock-on effects beyond its destructive effects on MoD which has got even worse”.
Following Cummings’ allegations, the SNP demanded that the British Government make an urgent statement to Parliament. No such statement has been forthcoming. The SNP has made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to secure an urgent question on Trident in the Commons. Meanwhile the Labour party looks the other way.
In a sign that nothing will change under Starmer, this weekend the Labour leader threatened to U-turn on a previous pledge to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia, He also insisted there was “no inconsistency” between his previous promise to give the Commons a say before authorising military action and his support for strikes against Houthis in Yemen.
Now new concerns have been raised about the safety of Britain’s nuclear fleet, two submarines are still in action despite them being previously forecast to have been out of commission by this year. The retirement dates of nuclear submarines are repeatedly being pushed back, leading to questions being asked about the safety of the vessels.
The UK does not protect Scotland, it treats Scotland as a dumping ground because it’s conveniently remote from the centre of power in Whitehall. Scotland gets lies, deceit , radioactive waste and exposure to to the risk of catastrophic disaster. All this is so Britain can cling to the fantasy that it is still a global influence while Scotland pays the price of British nationalist delusions of power. The Labour party will not change this dismal set of affairs, only independence can.
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The nukes are the second most important reason for keeping Scotland captive, The USA will work closely with the British state to make sure independence is near impossible to achieve. Last time I checked, 4 or 5 years ago, Faslane employed 12 civilian workers and cost Scotland £180 million a year as you said, it’s probably much more now
Bit more than that alanc51, best part of 15 yrs since I’ve been through the gates of the base. The 9,000 thousand local jobs is a demonstrable lie and easily called out, just look at parking availability, even busing them in is nonsense, apart from security at the main gate, most staff are from Glasgow because locals don’t want a job there as cleaners or maids, may have changed but between 250 and 300, low wages mean hard to get and even harder to keep. So max 500. Support to the local economy comes from actual base staff( tempory) pub owners and restaurants owners are the people supporting the likes of Bailley, Hellensburgh looks nothing like a bustling , thriving base supporting community.
I’m recounting this because it’s important when faced with Bailleys bollocks you need to argue with straight facts.
Hellensburgh’s fortunes will change dramatically when the base becomes the SDF HQ and Scotland’s Naval headquarters.
Golfnut
At least the Scottish Parliament backed the SNP policy banning new nuclear power stations in Scotland in 2008. We are still saddled with the existing relics, of course, which will have to be decommissioned and some solution for storing nuclear waste found.
Incidence of leukaemia and Non Hodgkins Lymphoma:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_United_Kingdom#Nuclear_power_in_Scotland
This list of negatives for Scotland may not be complete:
Inherent dangers – as a target in conflict – due of the presence of nuclear armaments based at Faslane and Coulport.
Inherent dangers of radioactive pollution derived from the presence of nuclear armaments based at Faslane.
Inherent dangers of nuclear accident associated with the presence of nuclear armaments based at Faslane and Coulport.
The risks associated with transporting nuclear warheads – and other nuclear materials? – through south and central Scotland to Faslane/Coulport.
Risks arising from nuclear waste associated with the hulks stored at Rosyth.
The long term pollution/cost legacy of nuclear waste at Dounreay.
The long term spillover pollution risks to Scotland’s marine environment from Sellafield.
The legacy costs and risks associated with decommissioning of existing nuclear power stations in Scotland – with still no permanent, safe storage solution for their most toxic waste.
The long term risks and the financial/environmental costs inherent in new nuclear power plants that may be imposed unnecessarily on Scotland by Westminster governments – aided and abetted by the campaigning GMB trade union. And if successful in imposing these on Scotland, the inevitable claim that Scotland will be wholly DEPENDENT on the expertise and facilities of the UK/England to cope with the processing/management of resulting waste the power plants in Scotland create.
You may be able to add to the list.
And there is the claim by some more knowledgeable than I am of Westminster’s strategic policy connections between civil and military nuclear investments.
Westminster Gov spending £13 Billion a year on decommissioning nuclear a year over ten years. £130Billion increasing over time. Yet plan to build more.
McMillian wanted nuclear at Fort William. Without permission. Kennedy did not want UK to have Polaris but reluctantly agree. The missiles are collected from California. They misfire in tests. Polluting the sea and the earth. The waste is flown all around the world. Contaminated Scotland and the rest of the world.
It is unlikely nuclear will even be used. A total waste of time and monies and too expensive. Greenham Common storage site 30mins from London was shut down after protests in 1992. About time nuclear was gone from Scotland. A danger to Scotland and the rest of the world.
Chernobyl has a cover built by a French company supposed to last 100 years at massive cost. Fukushima is still discharging contaminated waste into the sea 10 years later.
A new initiative launching a podcast from all regions of Scotland.
Karen Adam and Kate Forbes join first episode of independence podcast
https://archive.is/KlNkN
All very good – but somebody tell Talking Scotland that it’s not “Shetlands” or “the Shetlands”, but Shetland.
UK Gov whole accounts 20/21. June 1922.
UK Gov totally wasting Scottish Revenues. No taxation without representation. Scotland out voted 10 to 1.
Brexit costing £Billions losing Scottish revenues. Nearest biggest market. CAP payments, shared Defence costs. Investment, loans and grants. EU membership cost Scotland nothing. £Billion coming back.
UK Gov contribution £4Billion. £Billions coming back. UK Gov whole Accounts 20/21. June 2022.
UK Gov raising £731Billion+ in revenues. Spending £1090Billion. No monies needed for the NHS?
Despite London having overall control of Scotland’s energy policy,we have been lucky to escape the mess and expense we are going to see in England.
Nuclear fission reactors have a reasonably good safety record but when accidents do happen they tend to be fairly drastic.
The real issue is with waste processing and storage and Scotland’s only site is fortunately being decommissioned.
We need to replace existing nuclear power with hydro pump storage but for now that depends on London releasing the funds.
Scotland is not England and needs it’s own energy policy to maximise the benefit to people living in our country.
Jonathan Shafi spells out what seems self evident to us but not to the Westminster and Washington war mongers. They have a completely different agenda.
Yemen strikes will only entrench deep animosity towards the West
https://archive.is/ncSNR
Rishi Sunak will explain himself in Parliament later this afternoon. I can’t find any timing for this event but the BBC tells us that he doesn’t have to tell Parliament before taking military action and that the Leader of the opposition was briefed and agrees with the action. That will make Stephen Flynn the main opposition speaker today.
Lord Cameron of course will not be there but Grant Shapps will. Perhaps he can update us on how safe shipping is in the Red Sea now that they have bombed the Houthis.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67976740
The more I hear that the PM doesn’t need to inform Parliament the more I wonder what is really going on. Informing parliament and indeed getting agreement from parliament is absolutely essential for the PM and UK gov Ministers to protect themselves from any legal action, including War crime trials or impeachment and yes, impeachment is still in the statute books. The fact that he is now informing parliament would suggest someone’s had a word.
Golfnut
Grant Shapps too has been all over the media this morning hastily cobbling together a “narrative” to cover up the fact that they are breaking international law in order to back up the “rules based order” made up by Washington.
…but without nuclear weapons and the strong shoulders of The Union we would be open to attack from space ( aliens ? ) according to Lord John Robertson . He was the High Heid Yin at NATO , so he must know something that we don’t .
Or is he just another Unionist nutter who will come up with any old sh*te to defeat Scottish Independence ?
Grant Shapps finishes his big warry speech by paraphrasing Shakespeare “Britain must take up arms against a sea of troubles” blah blah blah deary me
In Shapps speech he spoke of the *need* for Britain to be the biggest fastest most technological arms manufacturer and dealer in the world to cope with the old and new *foes* just as Margaret Thatcher did 35 years ago (looking back on that debacle it really didn’t go as well as Shappsy boy deliberately misremembers) it was a bit of a battle of Hastings arrow in the eye moment from an Argentinian conscript amateur military that very nearly won the thing with their jets and French made Exocet missiles
Indeed Mr Shapps went on and on slinging the reddest of meat to Tory supporters throughout England’s Kingdom, more weapons and more weapons and soldiers and marines and big bangy things like wot we’ve always done to *defend* our nation
Rousing stuff eh?
By this afternoon Sir Kier Starmer will agree to support the government in all that they do, but he will no doubt say he will go even further because that’s what Sir Kier Starmer does these days, he disagrees to agree with everything the Tories say then changes his mind if the polls show the public might not like it and claim that was his plan all along
And Scotland will suffer more than 200 nuclear leak incidents into our waters every year, but it’s OK because the leaks are only harmful to Scots as they’re far away from voters in England’s UK of Britain
Can’t we vaccinate ourselves against England’s poisonous attitude so maybe the rest of the entire world won’t include Scotland in their hatred of all things England
The US has a pretty succinct opinion on the UK’s military abilities, that it is incapable of defending its borders. Pretty damming opinion since defence should be any governments priority unless your government is jam packed with idiots whose only concern is money. France declined to be involved and France was the US first choice.
Golfnut
Did I read somewhere earlier that Starmer commented that a Parliamentary vote for military action is only required if troops are to be deployed on the ground? Does that therefore mean that the UK could carpet b**b any place on the planet without a vote in Parliament so long as they don’t have any men running around on the ground? It’s OK if you’re up in the air, though.
I also read yesterday that Braverman attended a pro-Israel rally. As a politician she should not be seen to be taking sides, rather trying to find solutions and that means engaging both sides but you get the impression that they simply don’t have the nous to realise that which is why this world is such a mess.
AFAIK her husband is Jewish and she writes articles for Jewish newspapers and boasts about having family members in the IDF. So she is very much partisan.
Of course, I had read that recently and forgotten. Thanks for reminding us.
She was also the one who tried to gag a Holocaust survivor for mentioning her Home Office policy towards refugees brought shame onto ‘the country’, considering what she (the complainant and her family) had gone through on the eve of (and subsequent to) the Second World War.
Nice timing – almost a year ago
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/14/suella-braverman-wont-apologise-to-holocaust-survivor-for-calling-migrants-invasion
She is a nasty piece of work like her colleagues who manage to dissimulate a little better.
Sunak knew for two days what he was going to do, he waited till parliament closed its doors, he learned that one from Boris Johnson
A UK Prime Minister actually has more power over the British state because it was a monarchial transfer than a US President has over America
Basically Sunak like all previous British PMs is a King and the House of Commons are like courtiers because of the majority FPTP voting system
If you have the majority vote, you rule and the opposition can only complain after the fact, except for Starmer who agrees after the fact
Yes, Starmer actually said there is no need for a parliamentary vote before England nukes a country off the face of the earth.
He’s as bloodthirsty as Blair; already eagerly bombing people in the middle east without legal support, and he’s not even made it to No. 10.
And I bet he’d roll back on the boots on the ground requirement if Scotland voted Yes and needed to be put back in her box by English troops. This is not a man who likes Scottish people. If he did, he’d be happy for us to freely chose the governments we desire.
Sunak isn’t nuking anybody, so why is Starmer using that analogy. When AS was calling for Blair to be impeached, didn’t they then tell us that wasn’t possible because it hadn’t been done for ages, why are you accepting that a single individual without any reference to anyone can take a state to war? when we know of at least half a dozen reasons why they cant.
Golfnut
Starmer was trying to wiggle out of his previous pledge that a parliamentary vote was needed for the UK to take military action. So he was like ‘Ah, but I meant for boots on the ground!’, i.e. bombing from afar like in Yemen doesn’t need a vote…. Well, nuking doesn’t have boots on the ground, so his new logic is thus.
Nuking is and has always been an executive decision, of necessity and for good reason. So I get his logic but it’s not a logic that is acceptable in international or domestic law, at least not in this sad state. Owning/renting nuclear weapons doesn’t give you special exemptions, particularly if it’s illegal for Israel to bomb the shite out Hamas then it follows that it’s illegal for Sunak to bomb the shite out of the Houthis. To make sure he doesn’t end up tried for war crimes he needed parliament. There are no grey areas on this matter SS.
Golfnut
If nukes were heading in our direction, then that might make sense (so you can react quickly), apart from the fact that if that were happening, nuking back would achieve absolutely nothing, so what’s the point.
That aside, the UK has no executive. That would require a directly elected president. Sunak is completely unelected. He was elected as an MP by a minority of the electorate for a single English constituency. That’s it. He’s no mandate for anything. This should at least come from the UK parliament as a result, but as that’s not PR, again no mandate even if it did vote.
Yousaf by contrast was elected by the Scottish Parliament which was elected itself by proportional representation. But then he has no executive powers because of that lack of direct election, as should be the case.
To make it legal under international law he needed a UN SC resolution authorising it or be acting in self defence or the defence of a persecuted minority e.g. the Palestinians in Gaza. He doesn’t have that so it’s illegal and a war crime. But that never stops the coalition of the willing implementing the rules based order.
Sounds unbelievable doesn’t it, because it is.
Golfnut
Continuing the comment thread with SS and Capella.
It very obviously makes sense because Governments are tasked with defence, endless updates on protocols, disaster recovery plans, reactive and proactive, down to and including how many bodybags they’ll need if it all goes tits up. The fact that Starmer used an already in place protocol regards the use of nukes ( already granted permission ) displays a complete and absolute disregard for truth and integrity. The media should have and still can rip Starmer to shreds any time they choose. He has made himself a hostage to the media barons and displayed a complete lack of political awareness and integrity. This is what’s trying to sell himself as the next PM.
Golfnut
There’s been another momentous poll where barely 50% of the population are predicted to turn out to vote, yet the pollsters make predictions on how many seats will go to whom on the basis of people not engaging in polls
Something tells me when the time comes these pollsters are going to be a million miles out, especially if by some miracle young people make a point of voting for a change
Our young people can muster up the energy to stand outside the Scottish parliament or march and make a lot of fuss about things our parliament do not control, who knows what would happen if they got off their backsides to vote the power of England out of Scotland, then our Scottish parliament would control the things they want to complain about to make their protesting and marching worthwhile
Use your votes to point the complaints at the folk who cause the trouble, Scotland’s parliament can do nothing if you don’t vote to give it the power to do something
Another total nonsense poll. Yougov are getting projected turnouts around 50% as you note. That’s rubbish and must be sampling issues. This has to rise ahead of the election, in which case, the VI numbers will change very quickly in response.
That or what the polls say = Labour would be doing no better than their ‘worst defeat since 1935’. If these actually occurred, it would be a weak, despised, democratic mandate-free right-wing extremist Labour government with a huge majority but no electorate support. End of the UK would follow with English/British politics totally broken.
Keir Starmer today has sent a message to the Tamil people.
Not You Scotand!
was it no the Brits who moved the Tamils from India to the then Ceylon as a source of cheap labour to pick tea, back in the 1870s.
Well he’s lost the Muslim vote so he might as well try to get the Tamil vote.
He’s rapidly losing the Labour vote in Scotland to Yes.
He has managed to win over the Tory vote, but needs a desperately low turnout to get his seats UK-wide. But that means he has no mandate.
I am honestly at a loss as to how none of the pollsters are pointing out the huge elephant in the room, but instead letting the papers gush about stunning, 1997 like victories. This is not what the polls are saying at all. They are, at face value, saying British politics is totally broken and Labour is despised. It’s just that the Tories are even more hated, and if the public does boycott the election in numbers never seen before, Labour will get the most seats by a large margin, but no mandate. A Labour government won’t even have a democratic mandate to rule England never mind Scotland.
I can’t say if turnout will be that low. I feel it won’t as turnout projections are commonly very low in mid term polling. But these polls are not good for Labour, that’s for sure.
I guess the pollsters worry that if they point out the high level of uncertainty, people will not pay for their work. Instead, stories of crushing victories makes them money, as does ‘sudden’ swings ahead of elections, even though these are often not swings, but just their own accuracy improving as voters start engaging with them.
In the end, they only need to be right in final polls. Job done.
I note that polling in the US showing Trump doing well will likely be the same thing. His base is a very determined one, and the silent majority may not be responding to pollsters while his base is. That said, Biden has greatly disappointed me. But you couldn’t feel that and want to vote for an even bigger disappointment in the form of Trump.
I guess the pollsters give their clients what they pay for and only publish what they want.
Starmer has a religious family
Sharps has a religious family.
‘Thou should not kill’
Ten commandants ignored.
Royals head of the Church.
Ten Commandants ignored.
On the topic of English government / opposition military warmongering.
UK Yougov:
In general, do you approve or disapprove of how the Labour Party has handled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so far?
Scot subsamples:
7% Approve
29% Disapprove
In general, do you approve or disapprove of how the Labour Party has handled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so far?
2019 Labour Voters (UK-wide)
8% Approve
34% Disapprove
Yup, my money is on this being what is driving Labour 2019 & 2021 to independence. Right wing genocide backing, Scottish Labour policy overturning (e.g. GRR) English Labour. Broken promise after broken promise from Starmer who won even call for an end to the slaughter of children.
Welcome all those Labour voters rallying to Scottish indy. In an indy Scotland you can help formulate policy through your Labour MSPs, free from English Labour overruling you as it chases Tory voters in the south of England.
And there is a lot of DK’s there because they’ve not been following. But when they pay attention, you see the ratio of approval to disapproval that results! This is with polling favouring Labour voters in sampling too right now!
Latest on the ‘revival of unionism’ in Scotland.
https://archive.is/aNmVR
BBC Scotland news show attracts just 200 viewers
THE BBC in Scotland has been branded a “deplorable waste of money” by a former editor as the number of people watching its main news shows continues to dwindle.
Professor Tim Luckhurst, a former editor at BBC Scotland and The Scotsman, said the viewing figures for The Seven and The Nine were “atrocious” and suggested the broadcaster should stop spending licence fees on the content.
A mere 200 people watched The Seven, the 15-minute news programme on the BBC Scotland channel, on Sunday, January 7.
Ties in with traditional listeners / viewers of BBC Scotland – aka Lab/Con/Lib 2019/21 voters – moving to indy as per polls.
The BBC’s death in Scotland has been slow and steady. Seems Scots are now just completely turning it off.
BBC Scotland criticised the Scottish government for *only* planting 9000 hectares of trees this year instead of the planned 18000 meaning they were missing their targets for green projects
Maybe could it be because the Scottish budget was decimated by the UK of England’s government, and what money the SG have got they’re spending on the Scottish child payment (only available in Scotland) keeping Scotland’s kids from starving unlike in England where Rishi Sunak prefers to spend money on private jets instead easing the cost of living increases that he and his cronies created
Those folks who think they want to vote Labour might want to reflect upon that payment as one of the first things Labour would get rid of given the chance
Perhaps the SNP might make a list of all the benefits available in Scotland that would vanish like snaw aff a dyke if ever Labour get their hands on Scotland again
Of course we know with Labour there are benefits too, like PFI, (which we’re still paying for more than 35 years after Gordon Brown conjured that one up) falling down school walls, asbestos everywhere you don’t want to look, the famous brown envelope, or how about Glasgow city Council taking female workers to court to prevent them earning the same as men, pay your own education fees for Uni, means tested prescription fees, and many more Labour schemes to numerous to mention
Vote Scottish Labour to get eh, English Labour or Tory and Lib Dem, who cares, it’s all the same
Aye, “Climate change target warning over forestry cuts” has grown a comments section since first publication, clearly “Woodland Trust Scotland and an industry body..” made a call to promote this nonsense a bit more, or some news turned up James Cook or Alister Jack thought better not published https://archive.ph/sRscX
Quite why Kevin Keane should pay the slightest attention to the opinion of these private organisations is not explained…
Plaid Cymru leader calls for outdated Barnett formula to be scrapped for a fairer needs based system
Of course that can’t work can it?, England always needs more, that’s why they invented the Barnett formula in the first place
Dennis Healey responding to a question from the media reminded the reporter that it was he who employed Barnett, ” I was his Boss”, he added that Scotland wasn’t subsidised by the English taxpayers and that Scotland paid more than its fair share.
Barnett ‘ formula ‘ was never meant to be a permanent solution to funding Scotland but it like GERS were used to convince Scots we were wee, poor and stupid.
Golfnut
It’s of note that Yougov’s latest mid term nonsense ‘MEGAPOLL’ MRP, which the English papers have been going mad over, actually shows Labour on less than 40% at 39.5%. Blair was, as noted previously, on 53% – not Starmer’s 43% average – at this point, with projected turnouts far higher / more sensible. He lost 11 points as the polls became accurate ahead of the election. Big sample, lower error, more fangled method, lower Labour?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_United_Kingdom_general_election
Also, 39.5% on a say 52% turnout – which is at the higher end of TO variance right now UK-wide – would be 20.5% of the vote, substantially down on 2019. No mandate for anything. As far from 1997 as you could get, with Labour measurably more unpopular than their 2005 final disaster of a term in office. But hey, lets all talk crap about some sort of stunning win as we run around deluded with our MEGA (make England great again) caps on.
‘Massive’ samples do not improve the quality of your poll if the methodology or sample is flawed. So if e.g. English Tory and Scottish SNP voters are under-engaging – which the evidence very strongly points to as they are uniquely being affected – then that effect will still be there and just at a ‘mega massive’ size.
The UK is sleepwalking into a massive political crisis election is what polling says. That and the mass anti-government / opposition protests on the streets right now.
Lang and Thatcher etc lie. They were taking the equivalent of £Billions of Oil & Gas revenues and lying about it.
Cut Scotland funding. Shut every industrial facilities. Linwood Vans. Fort William smelter etc. 15% unemployment in Scotland. 20% unemployment in NI. ‘Troubles’, caused by Westminster. Discrimination.
The only place unemployment was under 10% was London S/E. Interest rates 15%. Inflation 17%. Social unrest and violence.The Poll tax.
Thatcher came to Scotland and said. ‘We the English people are generous to you Scots.’ A complete lie. The sermon on the Mound. The Church of Scotland Assembly.
Thatcher built Canary Wharf. Tilbury Docks. 26miles. The docks around Britain lost out. Thatcher funded the Bankers who fund the Tory Party. Fraud and corruption. Bankers collapse.
Reduced collateral and bank reserves from 25% to 13%, worldwide. Reagan/Thatcher, Blair/Clinton/Bush Illegal wars, tax evasion and financial fraud. Thatcher established tax havens.
If people want Independence they have to vote for it. Or lose out. Use it or lose it. Not vote for unionist Parties. Then complain about it.
The only group in Scotland who majority support the Union are over 65 year olds. They are more likely to vote %.
Latest R&W UK poll predicting a 47% turnout, so Labour yet again taking a hit on their 2019 ‘worst defeat since 1935’ support-wise. Down to 20.7% of the electorate compared to 21.6% in 2019. Starmer continues to lose voters from the short high of that post-mini budget bounce.
Even if he got the seats on these numbers, he’d have lost the election. Nobody would have won it. Too big a boycott by the electorate. Would basically invalidate the result as no party could claim any sort of mandate. People rightly complained that Labour had no mandate in 2005, but at least the TO for that was 61.4%. You’d see mass protests on the streets in response to a huge labour majority based on just 20% off the electorate’s backing. Starmer’s victory would be completely hollow. He is not popular at all based on current polling, and it’s getting worse for Labour. They continue to slowly bleed voters; in Scotland, to indy.
England is not a friend of Scotland.
https://archive.is/ySSOR
Scottish independence: MPs vote down bid to devolve referendum powers
This is why unionist Scots are moving to indy at pace now. The UKSC case broke the union. Attacking Scottish unionism by stripping unionist voters of the right to freely choose the government they desire, while undermining their devolved parliament was the biggest mistake England’s government could make, and I thank them for it.
This treatment of Scots by England while 40% of Lab and Lib voters now back indy is madness if you want to preserve the UK, but let’s not interrupt these racist, Scottish / Welsh / Irish hating idiots while they are making a such a stupid thicko mistake.
36% Turnout projected for the SE and E of England.
If you believe that so you can believe in a stunning Labour win, you are only deluding yourself. Nope, the Tory base will do it’s duty. Took Blair’s 53-55% to 42% in short order. Starmer is starting on 43%…
A new question has been invented for the Scottish Covid enquiry
“Should Nicola Sturgeon have done more even though constitutionally she wasn’t allowed to?”
Did we see this one coming? of course we did
Well she was in all of our houses every day at dinner time, then on the TV news every tea time telling us in no uncertain terms not to go out and catch this thing because people will die, but some did go out when they didn’t need to, caught it and people died, so definitely all her fault
The England overlords and their wee Scottish branch drones were doing their collective nuts every chance they got to complain about her doing things differently from them
They said she was being a political opportunist
They insisted she was showing off by being on the telly
They spent more time complaining about her than solving the actual problem
From Boris Johnson to Michael Gove all the way down to every Labour Tory and Liberal Democrat muskrat in Scotland the moaned and girned about Nicola Sturgeon
Less people died in Scotland per head of the British population for one massive reason, Nicola Sturgeon
More of us are alive today because we listened and paid attention to that woman because we knew she was serious, and we saw how every day reporting what she had to report was breaking her heart
In England Boris Johnson and Rushi Sunak’s attitude was “out you pop for your dinner and let the bodies pile high”
but here they come to Scotland to put up another murder tent outside Nicola Sturgeon’s front door
Meanwhile Moray council says a Saltire (Scotland’s national flag) in a garden is insensitive to British soldiers and has ordered its removal
How long are we going to put up with British nationalism from England?
Are they doing this in Wales? are they doing it in Northern Ireland? I’d bet my house they’re not
Quelle surprise !
https://nation.cymru/news/mps-reject-bid-to-give-scottish-parliament-power-to-hold-votes-on-independence/
MPs reject bid to give Scottish Parliament power to hold votes on independence
16 Jan 2024 3 minute read
A proposed law seeking to give the Scottish Parliament the power to hold independence referendums has been rejected by MPs.
The Alba Party’s Neale Hanvey (Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath) was seeking to introduce the Scotland (Self-Determination) Bill to the House of Commons for further consideration.
[…]
England is doing it’s best to sour relations with Scotland for decades to come. You can’t hate a people like this so openly and not expect animosity. Ireland has never forgiven England for what it did, and to this day doesn’t trust it one bit. Rightly so. It’s the same sad story in all the colonies that England didn’t let freely self-determine.
They made a huge mistake with the UKSC case. In principle support for indy and free self-determination is around 3/4 of the Scottish population; primarily the people who see themselves as Scottish over British in forced choice self-id. The 3/4 that voted Yes in 1997. For most unionists (rather than British nationalists), support for the union will be on the condition they can choose to support it, not have it forced on them and their countryfolk by an aggressive racist colonial England. This is why unionists are moving to indy; England ended their unionism; unionism being voluntary. That 25% on top of the 50% Yes the morn are Scottish, not British. It’s not like the 40% DUP in N. Ireland who don’t self-id as ‘Irish’ and ‘unionist, but British.
The polls show the ground is moving beneath our feet. Up to a doubling for support for indy amongst 2019 unionist voters is truly something. It’s so gloriously funny that Labour etc are celebrating these polls, focussed as they are on what they want to see, not what the polls actually say.
Seems we have at least a couple of English MPs that respects Scots as equals and not subordinate to the British / English.
https://archive.is/j3wEc
Tory MP backs bill to devolve Scottish independence referendum powers
A CONSERVATIVE MP backed a bid to give Holyrood the power to legislate for a second independence referendum…
…Of the 228 MPs who voted against Hanvey’s bill, the majority (157) were from Labour.
Both of Scottish Labour’s two MPs – Ian Murray and Michael Shanks – voted against the proposal to give Holyrood more powers. Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross voted with them.
English / British Labour hates Scots as much as the Tories; something Scottish Labour are starting to learn, and which will become starkly clear if the genocide supporting kid starver / killer gets his majority with no mandate.
For what it’s worth I agree. A deliberate souring of the relationship between England and Scotland for reasons yet to be determined though we can certainly punt a good few educated guesses as to some of them. We’ve never been best pals.There are few nations having entered into a treaty with England only to find that England didn’t feel any need to uphold their end of the contract.
Strategy wise, they are way in front of us, only Nicola Sturgeon managed to panic them with the UKSC, evident by the over the top opinions rather than sticking to the relevant sections of the Scotland Act. So they’re making mistakes and we have never been closer to ending this union, our way.
Golfnut
A grandstanding attempt by Alba to pretend they’re doing something about independence which of course was doomed to failure from the start and they knew it
In other words a complete waste of everybody’s time that the SNP had to turn up to support, again knowing full well it was a pointless exercise in Alba amateur politicking
The supreme court ruling was the ultimate in demonstrating to the people of Scotland that there is no democracy or union within England’s British nationalist state, and the people of Scotland en masse just sat on their hands and accepted it
Nicola Sturgeon engineered that to show Scotland what the position is, and still the people did nothing
We moaned and complained and some blamed the former FM for doing it in the first place as it took away hope
The people of Scotland are responsible for our own lack of independence, and if events go the way they look like going England will remove the Scottish parliament altogether and the usual Alba suspects will still blame Nicola Sturgeon
Scotland can have independence, but it’s not the politicians who are responsible for getting it for us, it’s us the people, and it won’t be done by voting for a bunch of political chancers pretending they can do something they clearly and knowingly cannot
England can only be forced into change by Scotland continuously voting for one single party without deviation or division, then and only then can anything close to democracy be done about it
But we won’t will we, because as history has always demonstrated, Scotland falls victim to British/English nationalist deception over and over again by splintering our power and allowing those with the slimy tongues to weasel their words and get into our heads making promises they know they can’t keep for their own gain
It’s simple, if Alex Salmond had a dead certain plan to gain independence for Scotland he’d surely be telling us all and we’d be surging forward wouldn’t he? but he doesn’t, his only plan is blame blame blame with the only end product being to remove and replace the ones he’s blaming, result? none, nothing, nada, zilch, just a slippery tongued fraud
[…] Source […]
The reality.
https://archive.is/A2IWm
An analysis of these changes for BBC News, ITV News, Sky News and the Press Association suggests Labour needs a national swing of 12.7% to win with just a small majority.
That’s considerably higher than the 10.2% achieved by Tony Blair in 1997 and higher even than the 12% achieved by Clement Attlee in 1945.
The swing from the Conservatives to Labour would need to be uniform, to follow the same pattern everywhere, with other parties seeing no change in performance since 2019.
With Labour on a lower level of support amongst the total electorate than their ‘worst defeat since 1935’ (2019), reality is highly likely to bite, and hard in due course.
And the winner is?…………I’m opening the envelope now………..drum roll……the guy that England dislikes least
The state of world politics, in America they’re choice is the guy that might live longer than the other guy, even though he’s a complete fraudulent nut job
Jist Wow!
Excuse my grammatical error *they’re* their, I’m old
Dinnae worry, I’m slightly dyslexic. Cannae see my own mistakes on initial read throughs, but it matters not if the point is clear.
On the topic of language….
https://archive.is/g1V8C
Irish language used in Belfast courtroom for first time in 300 years
The Irish language has been spoken during legal proceedings in Belfast’s Royal Courts of Justice in what language experts say was the first time in nearly 300 years.
It is believed to be the first time witnesses have officially used Irish in courts in Belfast since it was banned under the Administration of Justice (Language) Act (Ireland) 1737.
I note:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administration_of_Justice_(Language)_Act_(Ireland)_1737
The equivalents of this Act passed for England in 1731 and for Wales in 1733 were repealed for both countries in 1863.
Northern Ireland was thus the only jurisdiction in the United Kingdom that retained this legislation until 2022.
The union is coming to an end piece by piece. The last of the European imperial states tailing off. England is turning in on itself as a result, which is where we are.
The equivalents of this Act passed for England in 1731 and for Wales in 1733 were repealed for both countries in 1863.
___________
What does this mean?
I was under the impression that my language was disallowed in the judicial field by the so-called ‘Act of Union’ (i.e. Laws in Wales Act 1535), and that it was only allowed back in under the Welsh Language Act 1967.
One should consider the example of the Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Raymond who in the House of Lords forcefully opposed the House of Commons plans to replace Law French with the obligatory use of English in the courts. In his view, … this policy might lead to … capricious innovations; [such as] the people of Wales demanding the power to proceed in Welsh. [Two centuries later … this came true.]
True, from the 16th to the early 20th century the majority language of Wales was indeed Welsh, and there would have to be provision for court interpreters (of varying ability and qualification) to assist monoglot prisoners/defendants, but you rarely hear of them. (Indeed, Welsh was the last country to be allowed free interpretation in courts and that in 1942 – all other nationalities got it, as of course).
____________
– Sionees has qualifications in (English and Welsh) Law and Linguistics, is an active student politics and is also a native speaker professional user of Cymraeg/Welsh.
In his spare time, he is an activist for both the SNP and Plaid Cymru.
I first became aware of foreign languages when in primary school and we got some French, I went home and told my dad who replied “If you learn French then you’ll be able to speak two foreign languages” the puzzled look on my face when he informed me “well you already speak English and that’s a foreign language”
Dads are great aren’t they
I love living in Aberdeenshire (now). People use Doric widely and unashamedly so.
Thankfully, coming originally from the eastern / central highlands, I understand it pretty well as it’s not to far from the version of Scots I knew in my youth. Working on being able to speak it too.
Certainly a bit of grandstanding by Alba with their tactics but two very valid questions were raised.
Both NI and Scotland voted to remain in the EU,so why is NI retaining access to the EU market and Scotland not?
NI has the right to determine it’s constitutional arrangements every 7 years but Scotland not ever.
The answer probably is,mainly,that Scotland has stuff that the London treasury covets and NI has not.
Location location location, plus the rental income from Scotland without our landlord having to do the obligatory upgrades makes Scotland the ideal property on England’s portfolio
Scotland also functions as the perfect waste disposal site, as well as some of our Islands can be used as practice missile targets
And all free at the point of use
Is there a U left that Keir Starmer won’t turn? What a shameless creature .
Keir Starmer U-turns on policy to recognise Palestinian state
https://archive.is/OpgVK
A consistent pattern is that certain to vote levels are notably lower amongst women compared to men right now. Not unusual mid-term as women.
This was the same ahead of 2011. Here, in the 6-8 weeks you first saw CTV rise along with SNP VI amongst men, then, crucially, the same amongst women, which ultimately led to a total reversal of 45% Lab / 32% SNP Q1 to the entirely opposite result.
Female voters as a group tend to show more liberal tendencies, including notably stronger support for the SNP / Greens and their socially liberal policies (inc. GRR). Societal conditioning means men tend to say they are less opposed to military action (don’t want to be seen as pacifist ‘cowards’ etc), with women free to express such opposition (as it’s expected of them in sexist stereotypes).
The more Labour moves right, the more female voters it will lost to the SNP / Greens. Starmer’s backing for the local starving of kids and overseas slaughter of these will not help him. He really needs female voters to stay at home and not do what they did in 2011 if he’s to get his seats here (and in England).
When Nicola Sturgeon became FM there was a massive surge in female engagement and new female members
They liked and trusted her far more than any other FM gone before, and still do
This doesn’t tell the full story. Aberdeen City was Labour controlled until very recently. Under Labour, they went to the LSE to raise money there. The terms included the clause that, if Scotland voted for independence then the citizens of Aberdeen would have to pay back the loan in full immediately.
Scottish councils with highest average debt revealed
https://archive.is/5PZTV#selection-1443.0-1443.52
At risk of repetition, the only growth industry in the UK since the 1970s has been debt…
Your debt is someone else’s asset.
Golfnut
Aye chust so, chust so.
Now there’s some real Tory chicanery.
Collect our taxes to London.
Then don’t give some back for infrastructure improvements….
LEND some to us at a PREFERENTIAL INTEREST RATE.
That way we get to pay them twice and pay interest on half of the total.
What page of the GERS is that on.
Aye, never happened in “my day”, you wanted something? you saved up
I still practice that today and enjoy driving my kids and grandkids nuts by reminding them that with all the high wages they earn and their brand new motors they still owe more than they can ever repay should it all come tumbling down
And why they turn up at my door for some quick cash when they’ve maxed out all their credit cards
Of course I don’t understand it all because I’m decrepit and ancient
I love being sanctimonious in my old non understanding of the modern world patronising way as I drive my used car that cost me a quarter of the price they pay to show off to their next door neighbours, or to visit the hair and nail salon spending over £100 a time that they deem really really necessary on a monthly basis
If there’s any pleasure to be had in being old, that one’s right up there
And yes, I go around even in their houses switching off lights
I reckon my kids invented the phrase “Aw dad (granddad) gonnae no dae that, jist gonnae no”
🤣
TOT
Why are we not all (as in the four nations, especially governments) boycotting “Fujitsu products and services”
As I understand it they have won at least four major government contracts (that would be £billion contracts) since ‘Horizon’. In fact probably on the strength of ‘Horizon’ or being a ‘preferred contractor’.
Let’s stop rewarding incompetence and lying by omission. Unless of course the company wants to publicly hold it’s hands up, and deposit money’s in the tens of millions all of which to be dispersed to the affected post masters and their survivors/descendants. Whilst daring Westminster to accept an equivalent liability and match their compensation package in kind.
And while we are at it let’s see government ministers, civil servants, and post office management past and present named and shamed loud and long in the MSM.
I doubt that any of them are going to be housed at ‘His Majesty Pleasure’ even tho every prosecution they sought and won must surely fall under fraud and or ‘demanding money with menaces’.
If the PF feels that prosecution is not in the public interest (want to take money on it) retrospectively removing index-linking from pensions and allowances, along with removal of any and all patronage awards would be a good start at deterring future malpractice.
It seems as though the Horizon Scandal will simply join the ever growing list of things where the victims are denigrated, lied to and about, maliciously prosecuted, denied justice, made an example of, repeatedly fobbed off with platitudes and out right lies. And the perpetrators are shielded, and rewarded by westminster
The list includes but is not limited to.-
Thalidomide, Aberfan, Willie McRae, Contaminated blood, the Guildford four, the 96, Various Scottish politicians and Holyrood staff/employees.
Yup their ar**s need to be closer to my size ‘9’s.
#Remember Shell were intent on dumping the Brent Spar in a North Atlantic trench, with or without Greenpeace on board. Until people stopped buying their petrol in Brussels and Holland and as the European population started to wake up. The Spar suddenly turned 180 about and headed for a fjord to be dismantled.
When you have them by the balls their hearts will follow. Every companies balls are intimately connected to their wallet. It does not take much individually for us to have a profound effect on their thinking.
Follow the money, or put a stop to it.
I watched a little of this on the telly and the guy from Fujitsu said they reported to the Post office that there were “bugs in the system” but the Post office just carried on
…while the CEO of The Post Office took the Richi Sunak ‘Covid ‘ approach – ”I don’t know …I don’t recall …I was not aware …”
This highly paid individual turned up at a Parliamentary Committee , knowing that he represented a company which was responsible for the biggest miscarriage of justice ( so far ) in the UK and would be asked for details of what went wrong , and yet did not think that he should have acquainted himself with the FACTS as they pertained to his company .
This just highlights the complete arrogance of so many CEO/Chairmen of Corporations in this country ( and senior politicians ) who believe that THEY are above the normal rules that apply to the plebs !
Yup Dr J.
I also watched some of it as well, and you are correct he did claim “they reported to the Post Office that there were bugs in the system, but the post office just carried on”. I believe he also apologised for assisting the post office with prosecutions. What neither of them did not do was disavow the system until proved reliable.
The simple reality of this and all the others in the past is the lack of integrity and honour, from the people at the top down to the least of those who could affect change.
It would appear none of these now have the courage to initiate a prohibition order, to stand up and say “hey I/we did this” but “we will do this and that until I/we make it right”.
Through out my career one of my guiding principals was at the first sign of things going wrong, to hold up my hands and say it was me I did this and take the brickbats. But if it was a success I also expected the laurels.
That way instead of looking for someone to blame, trying to alibi themselves, or just distance themselves. Everyone acknowledges the problem and concentrates on fixing it as quickly as possible.
This is endemic in companies and governments, everyone wants the laurels, but no one wants the responsibility.
Like the guy in the TV drama said “we’re just the little skint people”
None of us count for anything
Oh the media waves its hands in the air in outrage on our behalf as if they knew nothing, oh what a shocking thing to happen to “the little skint people” but the media are every bit as much a part of it as the perpetrators, and cover it up until they can’t cover it up any longer then put on their wee media acting show
The English/British establishment have been at this forever and they make me sick that they keep getting away with it, and as far as apologies go? heard it heard it and heard it, and it still means nothing, why? because they don’t and never have meant a word of anything they ever say
The Covid 19 inquiry has moved to Scotland now. Yesterday the first session opened with a short video of those affected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysYh0wtE7Lc
And DO note in particular the resounding silence from HMS James Cook – “How do Covid death rates compare across the UK?” is one of three stories in advance of the Covid Inquiry lingering on the BBC/Scotland/Politics page alongside edited highlights of the day’s proceedings…
On the main Scotland page, zilch…
Your “impartial national” broadcaster… 🤣
Police Scotland will have their murder tents on standby ready to drape over Nicola Sturgeon’s head, she had better turn up guarded on all sides by experienced guys watching for motor bikes and white Fiat Panda’s
This thing’s a farce and hasn’t even got going yet
Nicola Sturgeon forced me to swallow a microbe, wait for it
Brexit bonanza.
https://archive.is/h4s8b
London finance job vacancies slumped nearly 40% in 2023, recruiter says
LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Job opportunities in London’s financial sector plummeted nearly 40% last year, recruiter Morgan McKinley said on Monday, as market turbulence and high inflation led employers to tighten their belts on costs.
Available jobs in finance decreased by 38% in 2023 compared to the prior year, according to the firm’s London Employment Monitor, while the number of job seekers also declined 16%.
Graph from a related article:
That’s what Brexit is doing to the UK. And it’s not going to stop as England continues to turn in on itself.
Fact of the day, 56% of Labour MPs just voted against giving Scots the right to vote for the political party / government they desire. Only 16% of Tory MPs voted against it. Both parties support English / British people having full voting rights by contrast.
Labour are hate Scottish people, but smile at us and pretend they are our friends before stabbing us on the quiet. At least the Tories stab us openly.
Yep, just when we need a time machine, a secret meeting, a church and a pointy thing people are thinking about voting FOR these *Labour*? (insert adjective here)
I’ve got a bad feeling about this, as they say in every script stealing bad copy of a Star wars movie, it will not go well if Scotland votes for these people, no good can come of it, there’s another bad line