The Guardian have just published the most disgusting outright lies imaginable. I just got back from the St James Centre – I was literally just passing through on my way to change for this evening’s meeting. I saw Ed Miliband beetle in and beetle out again.
There was a prepared claque of Labour members with No signs, who had naturally attracted some curious Yes passers-by too. Miliband only does carefully controlled no opposition photocalls, so when there was some hackling and badinage he immediately scuttled away again. There was absolutely no pushing; shoving or threat. I have been in larger crowds at the chemists’ prescription counter. I personally called out “war criminal”, which I had every right to do.
To portray this as an angry mob denying free speech is so far removed from the truth that Severin Carrell should be sacked immediately. The man is a disgrace. He is of course only part of a deliberate effort to portray Scots as a violent group of intolerant nationalists. We are of course guilty of failing to show hushed deference to any Westminster trougher and war criminal they dare to send to address us.
Good luck to the Scots if they vote “yes”. I hope the optimists have it right and Scotland can make themselves a fairer, more democratic society on their own than they can within the union. If so, it would also be a great example to the people of England that there’s an alternative to the neo-con agenda pushed by all the main UK parties. Maybe it’s that possibility that’s now scaring the pants off Cameron, Milliband and Clegg. What if the Scots do make a go of it and it works?
What if it doesn’t work, though? That fear is still the “no” camp’s greatest weapon and it’s not entirely unjustified. Sure, it couldn’t be a complete disaster. There are countries smaller than Scotland that are quite capable of running their own affairs, including their own currencies. But it’s also dishonest to pretend that things couldn’t get a whole lot worse than they are now. Scotland does have a huge public service and welfare industry to support. Can this be sustained on taxes collected from Scots, rather than the financial trickery that’s part and parcel of the neo-con banksterism that the optimists of the “yes” campaign would love to throw off? That would be a great experiment indeed.
Sorry that I did not edit out the superfluous parts of that Telesur link.
“I personally called out “war criminal”, which I had every right to do.”
This made me think of a pull-string doll that yells out a narrow range of inapt political slogans completely oblivious to context:
“War criminal!”
“Neocon!”
“Zionist!”
“Orangeman!”
Iain Orr
Since you reside down South You may be forgiven… 🙂
But yes are not the underdogs up here… Any poll that has it neck and neck are misleading…we are all watching, and we all know it
Peace.
Alex Salmond is speaking on Radio 4 Today. He is resisting rising to Naughtie’s provocations. Apparently Darling was on earlier.
Did you think those all up yourself Angrysoba??
Gosh!
What about a pull-string troll?
Final Fears before voting: BBC and Sun “UK more vulnerable to attack” (say impartial ex-mili Lords)
Scottish independence would make the whole UK more vulnerable to attack, senior military figures have warned.
In an open letter in the Sun newspaper, 14 former armed forces chiefs said a “No” vote in Thursday’s referendum was “critical for all our security”.
Breaking up Britain would “weaken us all”, they added.
The letter was signed by seven former Chiefs of Defence Staff – Lords Boyce, Guthrie, Inge, Vincent, Stirrup, Craig and Richards.
Also putting their names to the letter were three former First Sea Lords – Lord West, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope and Admiral Sir Jonathan Band; three ex-Army chiefs – Lord Dannatt, General Sir Mike Jackson and General Sir Roger Wheeler; and former head of the RAF, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29232793
YCNMIU
@Guano: Fair enough Guano, thanks. Sometimes I don’t understand quite what you’re getting at. That clears it up.
Some thoughts, more generally, on what the independence debate, win or lose, ought to mean for the rest of Britain:
http://www.ueapolitics.org/2014/09/16/morning-scottish-referendum-making-new-britain/
Recommended reading.
@Craig “Lies..”
Strange how people accuse others of the things they do themselves. How is Milliband the Younger a war criminal?
The Guardian’s report is consistent with lots of people shouting epithets including of course ‘war criminal’. So I don’t dismiss it as lies.
But on the subject of war, according to the BBC an open letter from many former military leaders warns of the country weakening if it splits up.
Bill Clinton has expressed his reservations about the uncertainties, especially economic ones, that would be caused by a vote for indendence. I quote:
“With so much turmoil and division across the globe, I hope the Scots will inspire the world with a high turnout and a powerful message of both identity and inclusion.
“I understand and sympathise with those who want independence. Scotland is blessed with impressive human and natural resources and a strong desire for more widely shared prosperity and social solidarity.
“However, I hope the Scots people will vote to remain in the UK for several reasons:
“1. The proposal to keep the pound as its currency without the support that UK membership provides carries substantial risks, as we saw in the EU after the financial crisis.
“2. Separation will require a long complex negotiating process with considerable uncertainty and potential to weaken the Scottish economy.
“3. The increased autonomy promised Scotland by the UK provides most of the benefits of independence and avoids the downside risks.
“4. Unity with maximum self-determination sends a powerful message to a world torn by identity conflicts that it is possible to respect our differences while living and working together. This is the great challenge of our time. The Scots can show us how to meet it.”
5. Please don’t move *our* subs.
John Robertson – Have you just loaded Habbabreak? The default option is to allow the troll – click ‘Habbabreak Options’ (should be at right of the blog page heading) and turn him off. If you haven’t got Habbabreak Options, you may need to try deleting Greasemonkey (the script wrapper) from your Firefox add-ins, and reloading it.
Come on Scotland, make us proud and vote to leave this dysfunctional marriage.
Man, i’d love you to exit the EU and take control of your fishing grounds and end the farce that is ‘fish discards’….
roll on friday..
Off topic. For Nevermind. A scandal. Waste. Aborted PFIs. An example of Whitehall in action at its best over 15 years, ie NuLabour and ConDem. Vote YES Scotland. Break free!
Refers to Surrey, Hereford and Worcester and Norfolk.
Defra: funding allocation and oversight of three PFI waste projects
17 September 2014.
Public Accounts Committee publishes its report into Defra’s oversight and handling of three PFI waste projects.
Report: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: oversight of three PFI waste projects
Report: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: oversight of three PFI waste projects (PDF)
Inquiry: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: oversight of three PFI waste projects
Public Accounts Committee
The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said:
“It is appalling that lax, poorly drafted PFI funding agreements to support the building of local authority waste processing plants have led to hundreds of millions of pounds worth of grants being made to three councils even though the main waste assets – such as incinerators – have not yet been built.
Funding agreements with Surrey and with Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils signed by the old Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions, meant central government started paying grants to the local authorities as soon as the contractors began to deliver waste management services rather than waste management assets.
The supporting PFI contracts signed by the local authorities did not require all of the expected assets to be constructed, resulting in £213.5 million in grants having been paid to the councils over the last 15 years with none of the main waste assets to show for it.
Later, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs only altered its funding agreements with these councils in 2013 when the Department negotiated a £30 million reduction in its payments to Herefordshire and Worcestershire Councils, and a change in the timing of its payments to Surrey County Council.
It’s scandalous that taxpayers in Norfolk have been left in the lurch and landed with a bill of around £33.7 million because the Department withdrew its funding for the Norfolk waste plant in October 2013. This decision was a contributing factor to the Council’s decision to cancel the contract the following year.
The Department judged that the Norfolk plant was no longer needed to meet the 2020 EU landfill target, and yet it was fully aware of the likely compensation costs that would be incurred when it decided to withdraw funding.
Long PFI contracts that typically last 25-30 years may be inappropriate for the waste sector where technology is continually evolving and the amount of waste that will be produced in the future could be hard to predict.
The Department has more work to do to improve local authorities’ contracting capability, especially for PFI projects, and ensure that they only pay for what is delivered in future without getting locked into long, inflexible contracts.
It should act with far greater urgency when it has concerns about a project’s progress and support local authorities to negotiate PFI contracts that are better value for money for local taxpayers.
The Department should balance the need to meet the EU target at minimum cost with making sure that its decisions serve taxpayers’ interests as a whole.”
‘Ed Milliband (he who was largely responsible for derailing a bombing campaign against Syria last year, you may recall), is a “war criminal” ?’
If the US/UK were allowed to bomb the crap out of Syria then they would not need ISIS now, so Ed is directly responsibile for ISIS, which have been commiting war crimes and crimes against humanity.
I came across Jeane Freeman with Andrew Neil feat. Miliband E at the start
Jeane Freeman wipes the floor with Andrew Neil on NHS and Indy
Jeane Freeman does a brilliant job here in the face of a hectoring Andrew Neil, the archetypal Brit/Scot journalist, worried about polls narrowing, making the fatal mistake of trying to patronise and bully one of the most incisive voices in Scottish politics.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23m6CukRUGM
The link for the HoC DEFRA PFI report is
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/report-pfi-waste-projects-defra/
RepublicOIfHolocaustDeniers
“There nothing gracious about old Queen Lizzie, begging your pardon mam.”
___________________
There’s more graciousness in her little toe-nail than there is in your entire carcass.
Astonished that you have the gall to still be posting. This blog would be better off without entities like you.
Mary
“Sorry off topic.
So they knock it down and then Israel and their PA stooges profit from the reconstruction.”
_____________________
You’re not sorry at all – don’t lie.
Please follow Komodo-Baal’s appeal for people (that includes you, Mary) to stay on topic for the good of the blog and to respectt our host.
Thank you.
Komodo-Baal
I’m curious to know why you recommended Habbabreak using the handle “Afrend” rather than one of your two usual handles (Komodo or Baal).
Presumably you disapprove of sock-puppeting on this blog?
I am very sorry for the people of Gaza troll whether you like it or not.
Another link for you to put in your murky depths or whatever vulgar expressions you are using today.
Israel’s Gaza Probe Aims to Stymie War Crimes Trials
by Jonathan Cook / September 16th, 2014
For five days during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza, 16-year old Ahmad Abu-Raida says he was held by Israeli soldiers as a human shield. Repeatedly beaten by the unit that seized him, the youngster describes being forced at gunpoint to enter deserted homes, which could have been booby-trapped, to search for Hamas tunnels.
Ahmad, who was separated from his family by Israeli soldiers after they invaded the town of Khuza’a in the southern Gaza Strip on 23 July, testified that soldiers “were walking behind me, with their rifles pointed at me. ‘Get in and see if there are tunnels or not,’ [the captain] ordered me. … Whenever I told them there were no tunnels, they would take me out and search the room themselves.”
Ahmad’s account, taken by Defence for Children International, is one of five allegations of criminal conduct that the Israeli army announced last week it would be investigating. More than 99 incidents have so far been highlighted by Israel’s military attorney general.
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2014/09/israels-gaza-probe-aims-to-stymie-war-crimes-trials/
That was from the belly of the beast.
This is what is happening to the east of Gaza in the ‘West Bank’ ie the collection of Palestinian bantustans.
The most recent account
in practice – Israel’s Daily Toll on Palestinian Life, Limb, Liberty and Property
24 hours to 8am 13 September 2014 (Report from PMG for 12 September unavailable to date)
7 attacks – 16 raids including home invasions – 4 injured – 4 acts of agricultural/economic sabotage – 7 taken prisoner – 8 detained – 110 restrictions of movement
Israeli Army opens fire on people in 4 West Bank locations
Israeli Army opens fire on West Bank farmer and his family
Israeli Navy twice opens fire on Gaza fishing boats
3 people wounded in Israeli Army assaults with rubber-coated bullets
Israeli soldiers abduct 3 Palestinian children aged 12 to 15
Night peace disruption and/or home invasions in 8 towns and villages
http://www.sapienspromise.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=3256
“The Guardian”…. Guardian of lies !
TFS
“Man, i’d love you to exit the EU and take control of your fishing grounds and end the farce that is ‘fish discards’….”
_________________-
With great respect, TFS, the rules on discards of fish are adopted at the EU and not the national level.
Therefore your point is otiose – unless of course you think that an independent Scotland would be outside the EU?
Angrysoba
17 Sep, 2014 – 6:03 am
“This made me think of a pull-string doll that yells out…”
—————————————–
No Angrysoba, that’s the blow-up doll you use ‘cos you can’t get a woman!
Habbabkuk (La vita è bella) !
17 Sep, 2014 – 10:24 am
“There’s more graciousness in her little toe-nail than there is in your entire carcass.”
———————————————
I am saddened to hear that Her Majesty has a chronic toe-nail fungus infection and also suffers from external haemorrhoids which necessitates her to sit on ice packs twice a day.
Cool Britannia!
Jives: “Did you think those all up yourself Angrysoba??
Gosh!
What about a pull-string troll?”
No, those are the common slogans used hearabouts for things wot people don’t like.
“I burnt the toast! Damn Zionist toaster!”
Doug Scorgie: “No Angrysoba, that’s the blow-up doll you use ‘cos you can’t get a woman!”
Aye, that’s the spirit, Dougie! At least she has an excuse for being an airhead. What’s yours?
“I’m sorry, but I think that was over dramatized and a big hoot about nothing and if you can’t take a bit of jeering in a time of high political tension, you would be better out of politics altogether.”
Yes, Nazis don’t see anything wrong with harassing and bullying, you wouldn’t see anything wrong with it.
Those of us who want a civilised world rejected the Blackshirt tactics.
‘New Labour arsehole’ would have been more descriptive. Labour folk in England voting UKIP instead of Edd and his motley crew, tells you all you need to know.
Footnote re. St James Square shenanigans – The Crace sketch in today’s print Grauniad (ok, I said I’d never buy it again, my bad) contains absolutely no mention of Yes supporters, and makes it clear that the people harassing Miniband were the Press. The double page spread picure confirms this. There is a single Yes placard visible, its owner invisible behind a wall of hacks.
Wonderful – an article that has no context, no subject and nothing to learn.
Did it even occur to the author that some of us do not live in his country and have absolute no fucking idea what he was writing about?