A particularly sickening trick from the BBC a few weeks back raised my blood pressure whilst in hospital and almost finished me off. A French Euro MP was asked for “the French view” on Scottish independence. She said that France would oppose it and the French government takes the view that an independent Scotland would be outside the European Union. I was absolutely astonished that the BBC had managed to find the only French person in the entire world who is against Scottish independence, and that she was telling an outright lie about the position of the French government.
Then I realised who she was – the former research assistant (and rather more) of New Labour minister and criminal invoice forger Denis Macshane. She worked for years in the UK parliament for New Labour, in a Monica Lewinsky kind of way. All of which the BBC hid, presenting her simply as a French Euro MP. There are seventy million French people. How remarkable that the one the BBC chose to give the French view of Scottish independence was a New Labour hack!
Today the news came out that Scotland contributes a net £3.6 billion a year to the UK government finances. Scotland’s fiscal deficit is an extremely respectable 2.6%, compared to 6% for the UK as a whole, or 6.3% for the rest of the UK excluding Scotland.
But even that is not the full story. These figures are based on a geographical allocation of oil revenue – but that geographical allocation is based on New Labour’s incredible gerrymandered 1999 England/Scotland maritime border which gives eight major Scottish oil fields to England, including two North of Dundee.
On a realistic maritime boundary, which an independent Scotland would undoubtedly win from the International Court of Justice, Scotland would actually have a budget surplus of £1.9 billion. Hurray, boys and girls, we are in the black! Remember I was Head of the FCO Maritime Section and I personally was involved in negotiating most of the UK’s maritime boundaries, including with Ireland, France, Denmark and Belgium.)
I know it is hard to believe, but that really is the England/Scotland maritime boundary which the revenue figures in the GERS report are based on. That is why England’s oil revenues are surprisingly high in the report – and Scotland’s surprising low.
But even on that boundary, the GERS report shows beyond any argument that Scotland’s public finances would be much better outside the Union.
Yet this morning the BBC choose to present the report as showing that because Scotland has a fiscal deficit, an independent Scotland would not be viable. Despite the fact that deficit percentage is less than half that of England. Despite the fact that every country in the Western world has a budget deficit.
The BBC have simply become addicted to the Big Lie when it comes to Scottish Independence. Talking of big lies – now they are even wheeling out Blair!
You have confused the relevance of South on the east and west coasts Kempe. On the East coast the sea boundary should arguably be a little nothernly because of the angle of the isle, on the west it should by the same measure go a little south. But the west border splits a firth/estuary which imposes its own local center, it would be crazy for someone to end up with no sea of their coastline or a bit of land chopped off from folowing a large scale center or land border extrapolation.
And a bit of back story on the historical deception of the people of Scotland. We were never to be trusted with the information concerning the true potential of Scotland’s oil reserves, I wonder why?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/how-black-gold-was-hijacked-north-sea-oil-and-the-betrayal-of-scotland-518697.html
Fred
You ask what you are missing. The answer is baselines. In maritime boundary delimitation, the coastal state has a right to close coastline indentations (such as gulfs and river estuaries – or, as we say in Scotland – Firths) with baselines from which the boundary is calculated. You are also allowed to connect islands the same way. That boundary line is very heavily effected by the severe indentation of the Firths of Forth and Tay.
The accepted international practice would be to close the indentations with a baseline stretching, in this case, approximately from Arbroath to Dunbar. The UK has actually done something even more ambitious than that on the West coast, where it affects Ireland but does not affect any England/Scotland oil field division.
I know that because I did it.
You seem to like googling. Google drawing coastal baselines in maritime boundary delimitation, or something similar.
On the East Coast however the UK has just drawn massively less ambitious lines closing the Firth and Tay estuaries well up the estuaries, where they don’t affect the England/Scotland border. The difference in ambition between the West and East coast baseline claims is absolutley striking. Even then, I don’t think the very very limited East Coast baselines were even used in the 1999 England/Scotland boundary promulgated by New Labour.
More interestingly still New Labour never bothered to change the criminal and fisheries jurisdiction within the territorial sea areas of the claim. So that legal cases occurring at sea are still to this day held in Scottish courts according to the 1987 boundary even when, according to the 1999 map, they are now in England. There are I think two reasons for that. Firstly, they actually only cared about allocating the oil to England, it was never a genuine and responsible change of administration. Secondly, if you punched your ship’s captain North of Carnoustie, and ended up on trial in Newcastle Crown Court, that would highlight the absurdity of the situation and lead to legal challenge.
I am quite happy to join in debate on these threads in general, but on this particular subject your arguing with me is rather like me arguing with Geoffrey Boycott on the basis of what I had managed to google about batting technique.
The map does look a bit fairer when it is squashed, viewed from a perspective in space way out over the equator. I hope thats not one of your favoured conventions Fred :p
I thought i had that covered Geoffrey.
Although the thing about the courts, really hits it out of sight.
@ Kempe
““Scotland was allocated a share of that UK deficit, which was added to the nation’s debt balance, on a per-capita basis rather than being related to Scotland’s own finances.”
Well if Scotland goes its separate way under the international laws of succession national debt (and moveable assets) are divided up according to population size. ie on a per capita basis. If you want an example look at what happened when Czechoslovakia split.”
The House of Commons Library researchers did a paper on the methods of splitting (Scotland, independence and the EU) and gave three possible scenarios.
Dissolution – the example being Czechoslovakia.
Separation – separating a voluntary union of two recognised states – of which the United Arab Republic is cited as an example. Under this there appears to be “a presumption in favour of continuity of treaties with regard to each component part”.
Continuation and secession – which Westminster is arguing for. In their opinion rUK would retain all the treaty obligations and membership of international organisations. Scotland would start from scratch. In Westminster’s version, rUK would also retain all the assets. However, here is the big but. BUT, they expect us to shoulder a share of the liabilities. They must think we zip up the back. I don’t think international law backs them on this.
The Yes campaign and the SNP have agreed that under separation they would happily agree to shoulder Scotland’s share of the national debt. At least one leading international lawyer has stated that Westminster’s position is not very tenable. Separation does also seem to be the most applicable scenario – unless someone wants to claim the union wasn’t voluntary.
http://www.scotreferendum.com/2013/03/03/negotiating-a-better-pathway-to-scottish-independence/
CE
‘With relation to ‘Scotland’s Oil’, in 1999 Westminster moved Scotland’s Marine Boundaries from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Carnoustie. Illegally making 6000 miles of Scotland’s waters English.’
So, nothing to do with Gordon Brown then. He was only UK Chancellor of the Exchequer then. Maybe he brokered the deal for Scottish devolution in exchange for transferral of resources. That’s what happened in Libya.
Erdogan risks being kicked out by Turkish voters in 2014, as happened to the other Usraeli puppet and military adventurer Saakashvilli in nearby Georgia. ONLY Turkey can supply the boots on the ground for any Syria invasion, Agent Cameron is in a bind – any British participation in a NATO adventure before 2014 will mean a SURE Scottish Yes vote (I dare say a lot of English might just move temporarily up North just to vote Yes!). Russia and Iran will soon have their boots on the ground in Syria, NATO needs the Scottish referendum business out of the way quickly, or at least delayed after a definitive move on Syria, and we should soon see the Cons coming up with all possible chicanery to scrap the 2014 referendum.
Craig “I am quite happy to join in debate on these threads in general, but on this particular subject your arguing with me is rather like me arguing with Geoffrey Boycott on the basis of what I had managed to google about batting technique.”
Tee hee hee – can you please similarly quell Hubbkyk the “Yorkshire Methodist/Catholic” MI5 ripper/spoiler, who would have us take in a movie in New York instead of going to the cinema in the West End ! IP address search can be quite revealing.
@Herbie, Habbabkuk et al. Scottish Independence
As a distant outsider whose opinion is of little importance, unsolicited, unwelcome and of zero consequence, I’d like to impose it on you anyway.
The union of Scotland, England and Wales was a bloody and brutal process fought over a very long time. No doubt, either the North or South got the better of the deal in the long run, but both were better off in any case. How many deadly conflicts were avoided as a result? It’s hard to present a case based on what DIDN’T happen but MIGHT have. It’s still worth considering.
Now we see the fad of nationalism revisit Britain, as scheming political careerists try to divide the pond in which they hope to lord it over others as bigger fish. They tap into primitive human psychology and appeal to tribalistic pride in an effort to win their support. They make big claims regarding the economic benefits but diminish the anticipated costs in the hope that latent greed smothers rational contemplation of the hard numbers. Is the average Scot to receive a pay rise, improved employment prospects or lower taxes? I don’t think so. After the party, someone has to clean up the mess.
What will ordinary Scots actually enjoy as a result of independence? Enduring pride? Enduring self-esteem? A sense of identity that is currently absent? A government free of corruption and incompetence? A cultural renaissance? Social justice? A never-ending stream of revenues from fossil fuels? Economic boom times?
And do they really want “independence” or a pretentious immitation that is subsidised by the South? Are they intending to develop their own very expensive defence forces to meet the obligations of defending their part of Britain? Are they to respect the right of the South to impose immigration controls including visas and deportation? How will they handle jurisdictional issues? Will there be a Scottish High Commission in London? Will there be all those expensive diplomatic missions popping up in other countries? Ireland spent over €56M on its 75 embassies in 2010. Myriad questions but where are the credible answers?
There’s much work to do to make Scotland TRULY independent. And with TRUE independence they should not be naive about the potential problems that will arise in the future – not only with their powerful Southern neighbour but also countries with whom the UK currently has strategic alliances and nuanced arrangements. The UK has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Scotland does not.
A lot of blood was spilt in uniting Britain and here we are centuries later, watching it being unravelled by a bunch of hopeless romantics and some greedy opportunists. If Scotland wants to go it alone, good luck to them. They’re gonna need it because London will not entertain discussions of a reunion before the pain and embarrassing failure of independence is rubbed sorely into the conciousness of every Scot. The English can be quite vindictive, you know, and that moving border trick is just a sign of how this game is going to be played out.
If anyone has a compelling argument advocating independence, or link to same, please share.
A primer for the uncommitted –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_independence
Quite ironic that Huhne’s father had a stake in a business making speed cameras!
‘Basically the reason he was able to build property portfolio and fund his political ambitions has very little to do with him “making millions in the City”, which he didn’t, and a lot to do with me.’
Pryce also referred to ‘dodgy investments in mining companies’ and suggested the journalist investigate how Huhne could afford to manage his property portfolio.
She said her former husband also had his father Peter, 86, to thank for a series of gifts and ‘cheap shares’ which were sold at a massive profit.
This was his 5 per cent stake in Traffic Safety Systems, his father’s speed and surveillance camera business which was floated in 2003.
Pryce said: ‘His supposed wealth owes a certain amount to his final bonus but was built mainly because for most of our marriage he could rely on me to earn what I did.
‘And partly on an injection of funds from his father through gifts and also cheap shares which were then sold for a huge multiple when his father’s company was floated.
‘He used all this mainly to pursue his political ambitions and develop a property cushion from which he was earning some rental income.’
She added that without her earnings he could never have pursued his political ambitions or bought his Eastleigh constituency property outright.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2289935/A-new-Lib-Dem-cover-Pryce-claims-confessed-Cable-dropped-hint-Cleggs-wife-months-scandal-broke.html#ixzz2Mvq3URsC
The LDs should have fun today at their meet in Brighton which is in fog today, much like their party’s affair. There will be more blather from Clegg.
halfwit, when you say France are our enemy are you referring to them as a Scot or an Englishman?
the reason I ask is that France has been a longstanding ally of Scotland going back centuries, when they supported Scotland against English domination.
The media, including the BBC World Service, have moved on from attacking the memory of President Chavez, to attacking North Korea today. This follows Rice’s speech in the UN announcing new and harsher sanctions. She wants them to ‘bite hard’. Another strange example of womanhood like Clinton who get off on being warlike.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9916965/North-Korea-threatens-to-sever-hotline-to-South-Korea.html
‘Pyongyang’s latest announcement came hours after the UN Security Council beefed up existing sanctions on the communist state in response to its February 12 nuclear test.
The resolution adopted by the 15-member Council added new names to the UN sanctions blacklist and tightened restrictions on North Korea’s financial dealings, notably its suspect “bulk cash” transfers.
The new sanctions will “bite hard”, said the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice. “They increase North Korea’s isolation and raise the cost to North Korea’s leaders of defying the international community.”
China wants “full implementation” of the resolution, said its UN envoy Li Baodong, while stressing that efforts must be made to bring North Korea back to negotiations and to defuse tensions.’
The US baseball player has had a hard time from the US media for fraternizing with Kim Jong-un.
Craig
while in Lyon, I have not noticed that people I meet have strong opinions on potentially independent Scotland apart perhaps from those who are strongly against L’indépendance de la Bretagne. But the latter is no longer a hot topic.
Halibabacus,
your irrational struggle against conspiracy theories rather annoys me. What would our life be worth without a delightful conspiracy a day? Not much, I guess. It may surprise you that you can easily participate in one conspiracy or another without having noticed anything. Simple chaps like you are easily fooled. This reminds me of a friend who may have a little errand for you to do that can earn you few shekels. It is very simple, even you can manage. All you have to do is to deliver a box containing four of the most delicious pizzas to an address in the West End. The box will be handed over to you in a pub called the “Gay Grenadier”. The address of the pub together with othe info. will be sent to you as a telegramme from Tel Aviv. I propose this rather cumbersome way as you admitted that you are already used to this sort of communication. I do not know yet where you live but if you have to travel from afar do not bother to buy a return ticket. You will not need it.
A map of North Sea oil fields and wells. I had not realized just how many there are.
http://www.acorn-ps.com/web/page/oilgas/nsfields/nnsmap.htm
and the list of operators.
https://www.og.decc.gov.uk/fields/fields_index.htm
Mary,
“Quite ironic that Huhne’s father had a stake in a business making speed cameras!”
The Universe is a magical place and sometimes has unusually dramatical ways of revealing life’s hand. I don’t quite feel sorry for the ex-wife who is going have to pay the pryce for her negative and vindictive willfullness.
—
Re Krishnamurti, yes please do delve into his writings and talks. Huhne and Pryce are going to also have plenty of time to do so, though I’d much rather being exploring from the cosiness of your country home and the sane mind-space you live in. Have a lovely day!
Yawn on the Scotland thing.
But here’s something interesting:Chavez will have the biggest funeral ever held in the Americas.
It will be bigger than Eva Peron’s. She got 3 million people. Chavez could easily get 5 million.
One reason this is important is because of the everyone-go-and-block-the-streets, which has changed the face of Latin America.
These are not ‘flash mobs’. This isn’t Twitterised and Facebookised. This is popular power.
Nonetheless, observers from agencies which have successfully run ‘colour revolutions’ and ‘springs’ will be present in Caracas to see what weaknesses they can find, and more generally what they can learn, for future vile use in ‘people’s power’ mindfuck operations.
Expect leading scumbag journalists to give quite considered advice on this score.
But as I said, this is not that. This is the real thing.
In many of the countries in the region, it will be very hard for anyone to impose widespread austerity measures, at least for a long time.
There will be no Uncle-Sam-backed Ayn-Rand-and-Twitter-themed ‘colour revolution’ – oops, sorry, I mean ‘springtime’ – in Caracas, in Buenos Aires, in La Paz, etc. People are too strong to allow it.
(Has anyone else noticed the quasi-Randroid theme in the contemporary version of so-called ‘Marxist’ so-called ‘Autonomism’? All that stuff about intellectuals being producers. I don’t ask rhetorically. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that obvious observation made.)
How are the mass-market western media going to report Chavez’s funeral? Are they going to tell their markets that the huge popular involvement is only because people have been forced at gunpoint to attend, for fear of being locked up in labour camps or chopped up by some analogues of the Tonton Macoutes?
Expect some kind of discourse on religion too.
Is the idea that God is the poor in struggle, which goes way beyond most ‘liberation theology’, even recuperable?
Those who think everything and everyone has a price may think everything is recuperable. Those bastards may be wrong
For reference: not every country in the western world does run a budget deficit. Most do. Brazil, Russia, Norway and Switzerland don’t.
It’s actually highly misleading to talk of ‘Scotland’ currently running either a deficit or a surplus.
Dear Technicolour,
It is good to see you back and I’m sorry if you sound disappointed. I shall do my best to explain, i don’t think what i said was so alarming. But before that let me clarify that, as much as i think Krishnamurti was one of the greatest thinkers of the last century, and indeed in modern history, I am not he nor do i belong to any association of K followers etc.
Firstly, what is the root meaning of the word “humble”? the etymology is “from Latin humilis “lowly, humble,” literally “on the ground,” from humus “earth.”
The facts are that Jemima was appointed ‘Executive Producer’ to the “We Steal Secrets” documentary, not because of her documentarian or film-making skills, but because she happens to be born ‘high’ as a Goldsmith, is a well-known London socialite and, further because of her apparent proximity to Assange as a friend and as a surety.
As Jemima’s wikipedia entry confirms “Khan first gained notice in the United Kingdom as a young heiress, the daughter of Lady Annabel and Sir James Goldsmith. She converted to Islam and married Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan in 1995. Khan also gained worldwide media attention for her relationship with British film star Hugh Grant.”
I take it that you have read in full Joseph Farrell’s email to her and her op-ed piece in the NS for context. In summary, she is responsible for the utterly misleading title of the documentary for Wikileaks doesn’t steal anything. That makes her a blatant liar. Further, she lies about her inability to get a response from Assange because as she alleges he was too busy, yet wanted a photo opportunity with her. Yet more lies as the email explains.
Turning to Krishnamurti, he wouldn’t have knowingly engaged with an opportunistic habitual liar but may well have suggested that that represents a deluded state and they would be well advised to stick to the truth and be more grounded. And also not to operate from a ‘centre’ (ego) in one’s pursuit of Freedom. But there is a more profound point from K’s teachings which coincidentally i posted above earlier at 15.22. Extracting from that, if i may:
” Before the law all are supposedly equal, but some are `more equal’ than others who have not sufficient money to employ good lawyers. Some are born high, others low. Observing all this in the world there is apparently very little justice. So where is justice then? It appears that there is justice only when there is compassion. Compassion is the ending of suffering. Compassion is not born out of any religion or from belonging to any cult. You cannot be a Hindu with all your superstitions and invented gods and yet become compassionate you cannot. To have compassion there must be freedom, complete and total freedom, from all conditioning. Is such freedom possible? The human brain has been conditioned over millions of years. That is a fact. And it seems that the more we acquire knowledge about all the things of the earth and heaven, the more do we get bogged down. When there is compassion, then with it there is intelligence, and that intelligence has the vision of justice.”
J Krishnamurti
Jemima started out in supporting Assange and showing compassion. Sadly, she soon fell prey to temptation in order to expand her career and ego and before long dropped her opportunistic fake compassion for Assange and instead attacked him. The following extracts from Farrells letter are pertinent to what i said:
”
It is one thing to publicly disagree with someone, or even to distance
oneself in public from a former ally, but it is quite another to use
one’s own publication to the further harm of a political refugee
suffering the persecution of a superpower.”
and
”
From the point of view of defending a film in which you feature as
“Executive Producer”, your actions are straightforward: your name is on
the credits of a dated WikiLeaks documentary with a prejudicial title
which features all the hostile people who haven’t had anything to do
with WikiLeaks in years. You chose a production credit over principle
and in doing so attacked a vulnerable political activist and fellow
journalist, something which I know to be beneath you”
So yes, I do believe that Jemima needs to come down to earth again, be grounded and free herself from being use as a pawn by her ‘high society’ of the Establishment. And i do believe that Julian is a free-spirit and a brave man in taking on the World’s hyper-power and deserves our compassion, including Jemima’s if she can be true to her inner intelligence.
TC, i may have got it wrong but i’d be interested in your thoughts.
It seems to me unlikely the UK Gov will allow Scotland to be independent. For now the strategy seems to be to use propaganda and scarre tactics to turn Scottish opinion against the idea. Fear of the unknown is powerful.
Later – should the above tactics fail, I predict a backtrack on the referendum. There will be political fallout of course but I suspect many of those responsible for agreeing to a referendum will be on the way out by then…
I would quite like to see a more independent Scotland. I’m half Scottish myself. But I’m not holding my breath.
That was sweet of you Villager. Can’t see much of anything today in thick fog.
I was going to send you a friendly wave and was looking for a sign, not an emoticon. Came across this. Remarkable that moves are being made to keep the Native American languages alive, isn’t it? The peoples have lost pretty well everything else it seems.
http://pictographs.turquoisetales.com/
I will persist with Krishnamurti.
Michael Culver
7 Mar, 2013 – 5:14 pm
“Craig The readers of your blog would rather you didn’t have a heart attack and especially not over anything the Brutish Brainwashing Conspiration says.(thank you Villager).”
Michael, you’re very welcome and yes i prefer your acronym and happy to contribute. Agree with all you said.
Life comes in phases and life is long. Blair has some interesting times ahead. I don’t know how he sleeps at night. He has a huge debt to pay. I wish him a long life, long enough to allow him to pay his debts.
The BBC’s activities and presentation over the question of Scottish Independence is a national disgrace; when they do allow an SNP or YES campaign onto their programmes, they harang them, talk over them and interrupt at every opportunity.
They are an arm of the State, supporters the Labour party through their personal relationships and as we are required to pay for the service it is intolerable that they and MSM get away with these lies.
If you want to know what is happening in Scotland try these websites:
http://www.newsnetscotland.com
http://wingsoverscotland.com/
Good to see Yukon being taught in schools again. This philosophy is from the days before schools were introduced to native Americans, but there is a lot of wisdom there.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=581429871868550&set=a.254630291215178.74224.254587994552741&type=1&theater
N_ spoke of the funeral of President Chavez today and how the media will deal with it.
There are 18 uses of the words left and leftist in this short piece which includes such sentences as
‘For leaders such as Ecuador’s Rafael Correa, himself a fiery president, it is clear that the death of the 58-year-old leaves a void that will be difficult to fill for the radical leaders who rose to power in the region after Chavez was swept into office in 1999.
Almost all of them pledge to carry forward the torch as this oil-rich country of 29 million prepares a funeral on Friday that will include pomp and circumstance and a heavy dose of mythmaking.’
Leaders of Latin America’s new left gather to say farewell to Hugo Chavez
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/chavez-funeral-draws-us-world-leaders/2013/03/07/818d4afa-8745-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html
John Tk
I had forgotten Norway, thanks. Genuinely surprised about Switzerland. The other two I wouldn’t designate as “Western”
“Good to see Yukon being taught in schools again. This philosophy is from the days before schools were introduced to native Americans, but there is a lot of wisdom there.”
Well said John Goss, about time too, cause schools and education has lost its way and soul.
This animation, sorry for following this with another O/T post, Craig, not only points to the mistakes in the system, it also shows a way forward, in a rather unique way, call it a talking pen if you like.
http://www.wholeeducation.org/pages/overview/introduction/513,0/things_we_like.html
Thank you Mary for that kind thought. Yes that link was quite creative and inspiring, particularly in relation to a small project i’m working on.
I’m looking forward to that walk in the park despite the mist followed by a nice cappuccino. Meeting a friend who i met through sheer synchronicity who at age 30 has extraordinary perception. A sort of antithesis to our Babbler. There could be a subtle shift occurring in Man’s consciousness. Anyway all we can do is our bit, and if we did do that, that would be All. See you later.
Lastbluebell, thanks for your helpful guidance. Its going to be quite a read. Lovely day!