Keith Skeoch, Executive Director of Standard Life, is on the Board of Reform Scotland, the neo-conservative lobby group which wants to abolish the minimum wage, privatize the NHS and pensions and restrict trade unions further.
It is difficult for Tories openly to campaign against Scottish Independence as everyone in Scotland hates them, so they do it with their corporate hats on. This is most of the board of Standard Life:
Keith Skeoch, Executive Director, right wing political lobbyist
Crawford Gillies, Non Executive Director, Chairman of Control Risk Group, of London, the “security consultancy” of choice heavily peopled by ex MI5 and MI6 officers
Garry Grimstone, Chairman, “lead non-executive” at the Ministry of Defence, London
Noel Harwerth, non-executive Director, Director of “London First” – [Honestly, I am not making this up]
David Nish – Chief Executive, Member of the “UK Strategy Committee” of “TheCity UK”. “TheCity UK” being a body of the City of London.
John Paynter, non-executive Director, was vice chairman of JP Morgan Cazenove until the 2008 crash
Amazing that lot oppose independence, huh?
Standard Life also threatened to leave at the time of the devolution referendum and gave out no campaign materials to staff. “Leave” of course is a relative concept – the above bunch just pop up from London from time to time to check on how the serfs are doing.
He may not have caused it,but he certainly exacerbated it. Don’t you remember “no more boom and bust”,he went for “boom “boom” “boom” encouraging the Scottish banks (amongst others) to lend so much that by 2008 RBS’s lending was equivalent to the entire GDP of the UK.
Incidentally,nobody forced the UK banks to get involved with US sub prime etc,they chose to.
“Come on Fred, what have you got to say?”
All I can do is state the obvious. For a life assurance company to have their head office in a different country and under a different currency to the majority of their customers would seriously impact on their profits. I expect there will be other companies in the financial sector in the same position, the financial sector runs on greed.
Should Scotland become independent there will be a lot of companies looking at their balance sheets and deciding on their most profitable options taking into account many factors. A country can’t go independent and expect everything to just stay the same.
The state broadcaster weighs in with the aid of the infantry Peston and Cook and Brian ‘Big Bertha’ Taylor.
27 February 2014 Last updated at 15:46
Scottish independence: Standard Life draws up ‘Yes’ contingency plan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-26364418
They have changed it seven times.
The original version http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/745770/diff/1/2
The final version http://www.newssniffer.co.uk/articles/745770/diff/6/7
Highlighted red is what was deleted and green, the replacement or addition. That is how the message/propaganda is refined.
The commentaries by Peston, Cook and Taylor in the side bars are not shown on News Sniffer.
” encouraging the Scottish banks (amongst others) to lend so much that by 2008 RBS’s lending was equivalent to the entire GDP of the UK. ”
Let’s not forget that Wee Eck was cheering RBS on and promising to free Scottish banks from Westminster’s “Gold Plated” regulations. Now he’s trying to kid everyone that an independent Scotland would’ve done the reverse.
I get this for Statcounter.com
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The initial connection between CloudFlare’s network and the origin web server timed out. As a result, the web page can not be displayed.
What can I do?
If you’re a visitor of this website:
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If you’re the owner of this website:
Contact your hosting provider letting them know your web server is not completing requests. An Error 522 means that the request was able to connect to your web server, but that the request didn’t finish. The most likely cause is that something on your server is hogging resources. Additional troubleshooting information here.
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Not much help. Sorry.
Statcounter is experiencing a DDoS attack
https://twitter.com/statcounter
Not everyone in Scotland hates the tories. Get your facts right. Believe it or not, Standard Life is a business, owned by it’s shareholders. The business will do what’s best for it’s shareholders, not for it’s customers. I’m not saying that’s right but that is the way capitalism works, it’s nothing to do with independence.
I have been banned from your blog? Please do see my earlier contributions which were respectful, polite, did not engage in trolling or attack any individual commenting. I wanted to raise genuine concerns over a number of deleted comments and used robust, fair and reasoned arguments. I stayed on topic. I don’t mind if you want to ban me. But a more justified reason would help. Thanks. JM
[craigmurray.org.uk – sorry, mistaken identity. No, you are not banned]
“All I can do is state the obvious. For a life assurance company to have their head office in a different country and under a different currency to the majority of their customers would seriously impact on their profits.”
Zurich seems to manage it.
Geoffrey: The exposure of US & UK’s banks to the derivative markets alone, is over a order of magnitude greater than the GDP of the entire world. Surely you’re not going to lay all than on Gordon Brown too?
Absolutely, nobody forced the banks to loan to anybody (or get involved with US sub-prime). They did that all by themselves. Are you finally back-peddling against your assertion that it was all Brown’s fault? Or are you still buying into that tabloid-ready slogan the Tories ran on at the last election?
Anon: You make as much sense as usual. But it appears that tired old accusation that The Left just wants everything to go to hell, and welcomes every disaster that befalls humanity, is a well that apparently never runs dry for you.
“Zurich seems to manage it.”
Zurich is an international group of companies with subsidiaries in countries all over the world. Including several in the UK.
“Absolutely, nobody forced the banks to loan to anybody (or get involved with US sub-prime). ”
Lending money is a bank’s core business. A major problem was that the sub-prime loans were bundled up with secure loans and sold in complex packages. None of the banks who bought these packages knew for sure how much bad debt they were exposed to.
Reckless.
Politics makes for strange bedfellows. Rory Stewart (who thinks he owns the North Sea) and others MI5, MI6, BT, Ex Special Forces “Advisors” Mining Companies with “reputations” and monopolies controlling prices to diamonds, Labour, LibDem, Tory, backroom deals for contracts and support for licenses, bids for jobs in NATO, cuts in sales to overseas clients etc. Independence could cause a house of cards to tumble for some, they may well be taking necessary actions but most of these will not be the kind of thing you could make public
YES
6m population only
50b overhang of North Sea cleanup due in ADDITION to the existing oil industry
Only 40% £2trillion North Sea oil extracted so far, renowned Scots ingenuity plus new tech, salt water injection of night time electricity, to target the remaining 60% – the holes are already there on the sea bed. Plus off-shore fracking too.
World class offshore oil industry
Overseas Scots remittances – this could be a new phenomenon that has the potential to be more powerful than ALL the rest of the arguments for independence combined!!
[Racist content removed]
Scots share of the £1.5trillion British Swiss deposits. Osbourne already has a deal with the Swiss to receive £500m annually being WHT of 5% on the 1% interest on the undeclared deposits
No £100b wasted on trident
No £20b on wasted on F35
No Scottish cannon fodder for wars [Racist content removed]
Freedom from 300 years of colonisation
NO
An ever more rotund Salmond may come down with heart disease!
Pound and share of the national debt?
A 300 year marriage lost
Scots oil-sheikhs running riot in Knightbridge showing off commando kilts whilst alighting from their lamborghinis
[Black Jelly, this is your warning.]
On topic. I once had an online discussion about Scotland’s oill. I thought I made a rather obvious, and not very interesting, point: that oil will be a huge issue in the lead up to any referenda. Weirdly, I got a bit of an internet biffing. I was actually perplexed, but most posters thought I was talking nonsense. Very strange, and it appears I was correct. It’s all about the oil, always was. These suits don’t care especially about the union, or Scotland’s future, they care about maintaining the status quo; an independent Scotland will cause headache and complication, and thus must be avoided. As stated before, I don’t especially care either way, and think he vote will be rigged anyways.
Off topic. Apparently the director of Galloway inspired ‘The Blair Doc’ has been arrested by The Met. I always thought securitat were going to crack down on that particular documentary. If Blair doesn’t have skeletons in his closet, I’m Harold Pinter.
“Only 40% £2trillion North Sea oil extracted so far, renowned Scots ingenuity plus new tech, salt water injection of night time electricity, to target the remaining 60% – the holes are already there on the sea bed. ”
Dream on. The 40% is all that can be economically extracted using salt water injection, steam and every other enhanced technique. Drill holes of redundant platforms already cut off 3m below sea level and capped with concrete. That 60% is never coming out.
“Scots share of the £1.5trillion British Swiss deposits. Osbourne already has a deal with the Swiss to receive £500m annually being WHT of 5% on the 1% interest on the undeclared deposits ”
What?
Blair’s a bit of a grinning skull himself, and Brendan is probably not Harold Pinter. Scroll past the arresting headline and see where the Faith Foundation gets its cash…
http://gawker.com/rupert-murdoch-gave-tony-blair-100-000-then-blair-fuc-1531707995
Never mind Rupert for the moment; Haim Saban is the interesting one here. For those unfamiliar, here’s his Wiki –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haim_Saban
“Saban says his greatest concern is to protect Israel. At a conference in Israel, Saban described his formula. His three ways to influence American politics were: make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets. (continues)”
Tony Blair, if we are ever likely to be allowed to forget, is the Quartet’s Envoy to the Middle East. And has stated for the record that he has no business interests in Israel or Occupied Palestine. Doesn’t need them, does he?
Sorry for the off-topic, but earlier comments invited it.
Is there any significance in the fact that Queenie will name the new aircraft carrier in Rosyth on July 4th, American Independence Day?
Queen to name new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26292274
‘The estimated cost of the aircraft carrier and its sister ship is £6.2bn. The initial projected cost was £3.65bn.’
There used to be a game show on TV called Double Your Money.
LOL
Brendan – “Apparently the director of Galloway inspired ‘The Blair Doc’ has been arrested by The Met.”
Source? Can’t find a report. GG is going to sue the Stirling Macrobert Centre for cancelling his gig, though;
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/galloway-sues-venue-after-event-cancelled.23348537
Nothing offered in explanation by the Macrobert, and they don’t have the Local Government Act to hide behind either. Still, if they aren’t giving a platform the Yes vote either , they can’t really be accused of bias. Pity in a way. Galloway is an entertainer if nothing else, and it would have been a lively show.
Symptomatic of the divide between Labour and the SNP. More orchestration.
Row as Glasgow is latest council to quit Cosla
Friday 28 February 2014
SCOTLAND’S largest local authority has formally signalled its intent to quit the body representing all 32 councils, claiming it will “stagger zombie-like” before winding up.
Glasgow City Council’s ruling Labour administration said it has left Cosla, which it says is being used as a “human shield” by the Scottish Government and exists solely in the interests of a “stultifying and artificial unity”.
Several councils, Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeen, Refrewshire and Inverclyde, all Labour-led, have applied to leave Cosla, with South Lanarkshire signalling its intention to quit yesterday too.’
http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/wider-political-news/row-as-glasgow-is-latest-council-to-quit-cosla.23551885
Tellingly –
http://bettertogether.net/press/entry/better-together-publishes-donor-details
There’s a link to the list. Wow. *Click*. Not Found. LOL.
Still, the Hootsmon has some of the big names –
http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/scottish-independence-pro-union-donors-revealed-1-3234090
Ah. According to Galloway on Twitter, the ‘Killing of Tony Blair’ director was pulled in at this fundraiser at Chingford (formerly the lair of N. Tebbitt, ironically) –
http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/chingford/11033466.Protests_planned_for_Alastair_Campbell_s__curry_spin__visit/
…suggesting that maybe the anti-Iraq war protest had more to do with it than the content of the film.
@ Ba’al Zevul
I agree, I’m no Pinter.
“…suggesting that maybe the anti-Iraq war protest had more to do with it than the content of the film.”
I’m also no mug, nor do I think you are. Not convinced this suggests any such thing, tbh. I believe we all know the word ‘pretext’. Could be wrong, of course.
Brendan, 6:09 am
Do you have any links for that please?
This is an eye-opener. I wondered why a private company would want to interfere with the Scottish referendum – wouldn’t it be wiser to make sure to be on excellent terms with all sides? But a politically committed group dominating a board of directors would be another matter.
I see the Nationalists have got the SDL picketing the Galloway events.
Good post Craig
Enlightening.
It comes as no surprise to see the names and backgrounds of these people.
It does raise the spectre of a shadow power and the strings being pulled from the shadows…..
The NO campaign have real problems in presenting any good argument against Independence.
It’s all Fear in Lothian.
MSM are totally onside with the No’s.
And most surprisingly , Labour have swung so far right in their Anti SNP rhetoric they are now beginning to block traditionally socialist policy to thwart Alex Salmond.
It’s amazing that the Yes crowd are actually growing in the midst of all the mis and dis information that British Govt supported by all MSM is putting out.I voted in 1979 for devolution only to see Thatcher turn every non vote into a vote against by using the 40% rule. In other words, making a yes vote impossible.
This time around there are no pre-conditions, but if Scotland does say Yes, you can be sure that Westminster will not allow it.
Why else is there no discussions taking place at the moment in case of Independence ?
Surely it would be in London’s interest to have continuity in some area’s.
At the moment it’s Bush’s old mantra, your either with us or without us, and by the way the 46″ flat screen is mine.
“The NO campaign have real problems in presenting any good argument against Independence.”
I know, they keep getting their bookings cancelled.
People who have read my comments know that I have been a robust supporter of keeping the United Kingdom as the United Kingdom. Yesterday, with Standard Life’s announcement on behalf of David Cameron, all that changed. I have never seen such a shabby political trick, and realise now Scotland would be better off on its own, without the dickheads at Westminster. It might take a little while for an independent Scotland to establish itself but wish it luck. I just hope Alex Salmond will call for a public inquiry into who was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. Up to now he has supported Cameron and Miliband on not seeking one, and unless he has changed his mind – as I have over Scottish independence – he still believes that al-Megrahi was responsible, which of course is utter nonsense.