Alistair Darling has warned Scots that they will lose diplomatic influence if they leave the United Kingdom. He gives Syria as an example. Syria having been such a resounding diplomatic success for the UK, and the UK having contributed hugely to the successful resolution of the conflict – or presumably his reasoning is something like that.
An Independent Scotland would almost certainly not have invaded Iraq and would be most unlikely to have occupied Afghanistan for ten years. It would thus not have squandered vast sums of money, not contributed to the continued political disaster of both countries. An independent Scotland would not be a permanent member of the Security Council. This would impact terribly on the population, who would be benighted like the peoples of Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Australia, in all of which the lives of ordinary people are absolutely intolerable because of their non membership of the Security Council, and all of which have been repeatedly invaded and wiped out in nuclear attacks continually throughout the last six decades.
I worked in multilateral negotiations in both the UN and EU and found colleagues from countries like Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada to be professional competent and influential. The Scots certainly can be all of those. Small countries contribute to policy, to peacekeeping and to humanitarian effort. This latest bit of unionist nonsense is contemptible.
All these terrifying conequences of Scottish independence, none of them even remotely believable. And still they haven’t cottoned on to the real threats, like our plan to annex Northumbria.
Better Together. No names, no pack drill. Who are they? Who is funding it? Agent Cameron et al?
http://bettertogether.net/pages/about
~~~
Interesting stuff from Fabricant. Not sure what he is suggesting though when he says ‘a Westminster government could rule on central issues such as defence and foreign policy’.
New Act of Union would strengthen UK, says Fabricant
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A senior Conservative MP says a new Act of Union giving the four UK nations equal powers would strengthen the country.
Tory vice-chairman Michael Fabricant told BBC Radio Wales that Westminster would still be responsible for matters like defence and foreign affairs.
His call comes ahead of Scotland’s independence referendum next year
/..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-23919439
Alistair Darling – the man who smoked so much reefer he actually believes the bullshit he spouts
I agree with Someone above. Darling was there in NuLabour from 1997 through to 2010, writing the cheques for Afghanistan at the end. Literally a grey and rather faceless man.
Chancellor of the Exchequer In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry In office 5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Secretary of State for Scotland In office 13 June 2003 – 5 May 2006
Secretary of State for Transport In office 29 May 2002 – 5 May 2006
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions/Social Security (1998–2001) In office
27 July 1998 – 29 May 2002
Chief Secretary to the Treasury In office 3 May 1997 – 27 July 1998
Info on Better Together. Note the large donors.
The pro-union campaign disclosed its donor list on 6 April 2013.[12][13] Donations of more than £1.1m had been received from approximately 9,500 donors.[12] The Herald commented that ″The preponderance of business people is a blow to Alex Salmond, who has made a stronger economy a cornerstone of the SNP’s case for independence″.[13]
Among the major donors was Douglas Flint CBE, the Glasgow-born chairman of global super-bank HSBC. The largest single donation was one of £500,000 (almost ″half the total″[12]), which came from Ian Taylor, an international oil trader with a major stake in the Harris Tweed industry, after a meeting on Lewis with Alistair Darling, the Better Together chairman and former Labour Chancellor. Taylor, chief executive of Vitol Plc, has given the Conservatives £550,000 since 2006.[13]
Other donors of more than £7,500 included Edinburgh-born crime writer C. J. Sansom, who gave £161,000, and engineering entrepreneur Alan Savage, who handed over £100,000.[12]
Dispute
Three of the campaign’s four largest donors by April 2013, responsible between them for £686,000 of the total £1.1m received, included Douglas Flint CBE, the chairman of HSBC, Ian Taylor, chief executive of Vitol,[13] and C. J. Sansom, who described the Scottish National Party as “dangerous” in a note appended to his recent novel Dominion.[14] All three drew criticism from Yes Scotland,[14] for accepting them from benefactors ‘outside Scotland’.
The campaign’s acceptance of the £500,000 donation from Ian Taylor was also criticised by the pro-independence organisation National Collective, who pointed to “serious incidents […] linked to Ian Taylor’s business background”.[15]
The Herald also pointed to Taylor’s links to “dubious deals in Serbia, Iraq, Iran and Libya” and UK tax avoidance. Angus Robertson of the Scottish National Party added: “This information is extremely serious and raises questions the No campaign must answer. Material in the public domain states that during his tenure as chief executive Mr Taylor’s company paid $1m to Serbian war criminal Arkan, who was indicted at the Hague for crimes against humanity… Also during Mr Taylor’s tenure it is reported Vitol paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime in return for oil supply contracts, and was involved in a tax avoidance scheme in the UK for over a decade. His donations to the Tories were questioned and criticised by Labour’s Douglas Alexander in relation to a conflict of interest about oil contracts in Libya, so the No campaign must have been aware of these matters.”[16]
/..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Together_(campaign)
“Alistair Darling – the man who smoked so much reefer he actually believes the bullshit he spouts”
I just got a feeling I slipped into a time warp back to the 50s.
Reefer, when was the last time I heard that word, ah yes, now I remember.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DduAbLpZDHg
“Literally a grey and rather faceless man.” Mary, at 10:03pm, today.
Politically, I agree with your statement, but I think you do mean “metaphorically”, not “literally”. Otherwise, this nondescript politician would be something out of the hallucinatory film, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, with the control turned to monochrome. Well, that excellent film was about Vietnam Veterans, so I suppose there is a tangential link.
Who needs diplomatic influence anyway? We need jobs, sustainability, an educated and literate population, sensible environmental policies, a small military organisation for defence only and proper infrastructure, social and physical. Diplomatic – that is international – influence will then take care of itself. Darling, like so many others, is putting the cart before the horse. With friends like him, Unionists really don’t need enemies.
Ex Pat – Putin isn’t “preaching peace” – he’s arming Assad.
“Do they use extreme measures if needed? Undoubtedly.” That’s a very twisted defence of the completely unneeded invasion of Chechnya that Putin ordered. Tens of thousands died.
And not as bad as someone else is the lamest of arguments. Its the one the Israelis always use – don’t look here, look elsewhere. Putin is not a good man. He doesn’t deserve your eulogising.
Suhayl Saadi
1 Sep, 2013 – 10:14 pm
“Literally a grey and rather faceless man.” Mary, at 10:03pm, today.
Politically, I agree with your statement, but I think you do mean “metaphorically”, not “literally”.
Oh no Suhayl, she means literally. But don’t forget its all in the mind. And this is a mind that has declared it hates her country. You can see what The Beatles had to say about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqC_Gma221M
You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don’t you know that you can count me out
Don’t you know it’s gonna be all right
All right, all right
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We’re doing what we can
But when you want money
For people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don’t you know it’s gonna be all right
All right, all right
Ah
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah…
You say you’ll change the constitution
Well, you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it’s the institution
Well, you know
You better free you mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow
Don’t you know it’s gonna be all right
All right, all right
All right, all right, all right
All right, all right, all right
Sofia, if you’re reading, the last verse is what i’ve been saying to you. The Beatles really did “get it”, didn’t they? Apart from putting it so beautifully.
And here’s one for a laugh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNuqgqYgtMk
Harry Pinsker! There’s a character for your nexr project, Suhayl. If i remember correctly, he was the Beatles accountant and it was his birthday the day of that rooftop concert(?) — what i’d give to roll back to that day/venue!!!
Thanks for that important link Fred — always good for a laugh
James Mason
1 Sep, 2013 – 2:51 pm
“Scotland would sit alongside the Marshall Islands as a world power.”
So it’s all about POWER to you Jimmy?
Fabricant has a point the UK needs to be renegotiated rather than split up, but how to do it fairly is very difficult. Wales & Scotland have long grievances for having their history deleted and wealth depleted, but it is worth trying to reorganize rather than just pulling up draw bridges.
“This latest bit of unionist nonsense is contemptible”.
And pathetic. And clearly delusional. Another risible Better Together comment.
Their campaign fascinates and appals in equal measure. Do they really, after 400 years, know and understand so little of Scotland and the Scots that they imagine our culture, aspirations and attitudes to be on a par with that of the Home Counties?
@Vronsky “All these terrifying conequences of Scottish independence, none of them even remotely believable. And still they haven’t cottoned on to the real threats, like our plan to annex Northumbria”
If Scotland gets Northumbria, Wales will unquestionably have to claim Blackpool. And possibly London
Totally off topic
I decided, for the first time, to see what was in my Spam folder before deleting the lot. I was surprised to see emails addressed to ‘adriana’. As this is the only forum on which I have ever used the name ‘adriana’, I’m wondering how the senders got my email address. Can anyone tell me whether my email address is likely to have ended up in places other than penis enhancement and other sex sites?
Adriana,
Gravatar is an enormous hole in this website.
Gravatar always know your registered email address (obviously) and every single post you ever make on any site which uses gravatar.
Propaganda ‘Adriana’ – fuck off and hone your skills before asking imbecilic and inane questions.
Mark.
Can you speak for Gravatar?
Thank you AlcAnon.
Mark Stephen Golding, sorry, I didn’t know there was an aptitude test for posters on this site. Obviously there is no civility requirement.
Oh and btw, I’d be interested if Craig or admins could answer if they are aware of “Gravatar” and its potential implications?
There really is no requirement or obvious reason I can see for a “specialist” blog like Craig’s to be using it.
But maybe I am missing something.
Yes Gravatar – as a cryptoanalyst I have broken the Gravatar unsalted MD5 hash by applying brute force on a known format i.e. email use of @Domain in the SMTP string. Is is not easy. However a Gravatar ties you identity to all the rest of the sites that use Gravatar – thus you must be prepared to lose a bit of privacy and risk impersonation.
To the informed there are much easier ways to harvest email addresses than hacking Gravatar therefore I feel ‘Adriana’ is slinging negativity by conjuring fear and awe which is below my consciousness. Therefore I have cast him out.
Mark,
So if this site dropped gravatar and switched transport default to a recent (plenty bits) spec diffie-hellman variant key negotiation, where there would be no problems for the users (they wouldn’t notice a difference other than registering avatars locally) you would be all for it?
Personally if I was an intelligence service I’d want access to gravatar. So I assume it is compromised.
“Adriana” suggests female. But you’ve cast “him” out. Sorry just noticed that at the end.
Thanks AlcAnon I admire your intensions. A waste of energy however; it is an email address.
I was not so arrogant to cast out a poster- bless her. Not at all. I was trying to cast out fear, an intrinsic property of the male genome used to cheat death, ever present when out hunting.
Mark,
Peace. If we can agree on that it will do for now:-)
WW3 must not happen either. I hope we can also agree on that.
Solid AlcAnon – just solid.
I don’t think Gravatar needs to be “compromised” for Western intelligence services to have access to their aggregated data on unique email addresses. Gravatar is obviously not a charity so they have commercial clients and some of those clients are just as likely to be NSA/GCHQ/ASIS as they are to be purveyors of junk remedies. Who’s to say that some of those spam advertisers are not fronts for intelligence agencies?
The problem with this is not just identification of specific posters on this blog but ID of posters across a spectrum of sites. I can’t see any reason to save our ruling masters a few CPU cycles by voluntarily IDing ourselves consistently for the dubious benefit of having a vanity pic.
And with frequent suggestions to “fuck off” from regulars on this blog to other visitors, is it any wonder there are so few new commentators contributing these days?
@Jon – please note my email address will now change
great start for our “Presidency”!
(Foreign Minister Bob) Carr says West could act on Syria without UN as US, allies gear up for probable military strike
Australia assumes the presidency of the UN Security Council this Sunday for the next month – a period during which the situation in Syria is expected to dominate its deliberations…
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013-08-28/carr-says-west-could-act-on-syria-without-un-as-us-allies-gear-up-for-probable-military-strike/1182517
Australian military planners in Washington work on Syrian war plans
http://www.news.com.au/national-news/australian-military-planners-in-washington-work-on-syrian-war-plans/story-fncynjr2-1226702413856
Academic wary of US military presence
With US forces in military bases dotted all over the north of the country,
Australia is now hard-wired into the American military system, with
potentially dangerous consequences, a political studies academic says
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2013/08/23/Academic_wary_of_US_military_presence_899604.html
hmmm! first mention i’ve seen in MSM – but it dates the MOU to 2012 (or it’s a guardian typo?) when it should be 2011. writer is no Assad fan btw:
by Dr Nafeez Ahmed is executive director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development and author of A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilisation: And How to Save It among other books:
30 Aug: Guardian: Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon concern
Massacres of civilians are being exploited for narrow geopolitical competition to control Mideast oil, gas pipelines
In 2009 – the same year former French foreign minister Dumas alleges the British began planning operations in Syria – Assad refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline from the latter’s North field, contiguous with Iran’s South Pars field, through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to supply European markets – albeit crucially bypassing Russia. Assad’s rationale was “to protect the interests of [his] Russian ally, which is Europe’s top supplier of natural gas.”
Instead, the following year, Assad pursued negotiations for an alternative $10 billion pipeline plan with Iran, across Iraq to Syria, that would also potentially allow Iran to supply gas to Europe from its South Pars field shared with Qatar. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the project was signed in July 2012 – just as Syria’s civil war was spreading to Damascus and Aleppo – and earlier this year Iraq signed a framework agreement for construction of the gas pipelines.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/aug/30/syria-chemical-attack-war-intervention-oil-gas-energy-pipelines
‘She’ doesn’t hate her country. She hates its systems and its corruption.
Do leave off Villager and get it right. Cease your persistent ad hominem attacks too.