This blog is severely hampered by flu. I hate flu. In a globe-trotting life I have had a number of illnesses that became life threatening – peritonitis, typhoid, cholera, cerebral malaria, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension (thankfully misdiagnosed) severe arrhythmia. I was once declared dead and awoken by a cockroach eating my nostril as I lay naked on a corpse trolley in Kaduna. I refuse to die because of the thought of the people – Jack Straw, Islam Karimov, Alisher Usmanov, Tony Blair, John Reid etc – whose day I know would be momentarily brightened by news of my demise. But for sustained misery and feeling really, really awful and uncomfortable, a week with the flu, while not nearly as dangerous, is pretty well as unpleasant, at least to me.
As I lie in a sweaty bed, my thought are perhaps unsurprisingly not happy and light. I am paying keen attention to all the proposals for how to move forward the Independence movement after that check, and am struck by all the calls to reach out to No voters and bring them in.
I have no idea how to reach out to No voters because I find the majority of them stupid beyond my understanding. This is not because they desired an end result different to that I desired. That is a perfectly legitimate choice. It is because, by voting No, they are going to get an end result which is not what they wanted at all, and that was very obvious. Asking me to reach out to these unbelievably thick people is like asking me to go for a drive with someone who, against my advice, drove the wrong way down a motorway, causing a lot of people to get hurt as a result.
Through their No vote they are going to get five more years of Tory rule – which most of them absolutely did not want. And it is going to be Tory rule that lurches further and further to the right. It seems no proposition was too right wing to be applauded to the rafters by the Tory Conference.
Tax cuts for the rich. Benefit cuts for the poor. Openly declared government in the interests of multinational corporations. Censorship of the internet and severe restrictions on freedom of speech. The government intercepting all communications. Even more detention without trial. Permanent war in the Middle East. Leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and in consequence the Council of Europe – the first country to leave the body set up in 1946 to prevent the rise again in Europe of just the sort of proto-fascist measures the Tories wish to impose. To be followed by leaving the European Union.
All of these are direct consequences for Scotland of the No vote. This is much more profound than the entirely predictable and immediate dishonouring of the pledges on Devo-Max by Cameron, Clegg, Miliband and Brown. Brown’s call for a petition to request him to work for what he assured the electorate was already “a done deal” is beyond contempt. It should do for his reputation what the tuition fee betrayal did for Nick Clegg.
Frankly I have no interest in any devolution measures that do not give Scotland control of its oil and whisky revenues, and those are not on offer. But there were people who voted No – 23% of No voters them according to Ashcroft – because they wanted the promised pretend “powers”. Well, you are not going to get those either.
Mostly, of course, those stupid No voters acted under the crass assumption, against all modern precedent, that the opposition could win a general election from a position of just 2 per cent ahead, eight months out. And the even more incredible belief that the Labour Party was still in some significant way different from the Conservative Party.
The consequences of what is coming will fall disproportionately on the poor, with even greater escalation of the UK’s astonishing wealth gap. There will be still more damage to the social fabric that Scots hold dear.
Now there are hard-hearted right wingers in Scotland, in the Tory Party and the leadership of the Labour Party, who wanted everything that is coming in terms of neo-con policy prescription. Those No voters who are wealthy and successful and want to get ahead further on the backs of the poor, made the correct intellectual choice to achieve their ends. They are deeply unpleasant sociopaths, but they are not stupid.
But those No voters who voted No because they believed a fair and caring society was achievable within the present structures of the UK, are so stupid I am astonished that their cerebral cortex can transmit a signal that sparks respiration. They are probably not capable of ever noticing their error.
I am not going to reach out to you, No voter. You are either evil, or quite extraordinarily thick. You will forever be a long way beneath my notice. This will be the last thought I ever give you. To quote a great line from Casablanca:
Peter Lorre: You despise me, don’t you Rick?
Humphrey Bogart: If I gave you any thought, I probably would.
Craig
“Intellectually arrogant” – What intellect Craig? I see no sign of an intellect on this site. Abuse and prejudice are more the order of the day here. Again, no analysis of why Yes lost, merely wishful thinking about the future. You got it wrong this time – clear thinking might help you to get it right – but you can’t manage it can you Craig? It’s more than the flu, isn’t it? Clear thinking doesn’t draw in the ranters. However, it might help you to win a referendum – something you haven’t done so far.
Uzbek – I was just enjoying – in a very unpleasant way – the optimism of the tenant, who was quoted as hoping Mrs Blair would be a proactive landlord and get the rubbish cleared up. Too right she will. First to go will be the present tenants, then the redevelopers will move in, and the entire enterprise will be handed over to a letting agency, instructed only to admit yuppies. It will be very tidy then. And the rent for a flat will be more than the entire wage of a McDonalds worker.
Ba’al Zevul 6 Oct, 2014 – 12:39 pm
Yep the Blair’s have certainly given Labour a new face. I knew as soon as Blair removed clause 4 from the Labour Party constitution that he was a selfish money-grabbing twat and never voted for him again. Blair’s father-in-law, the actor Tony Booth, would turn in his grave if he could see what kind of a “silly old moo” his daughter, Cherie, has turned into, and likewise Keir Hardie, a good man who worked for the benefit of the working class, peacemakers, women and other causes and started the party Tony Blair made political and financial capital out of while turning it into a fit place for Resident Dissidents and other true blues of the red variety.
“Good post Helena.Fred isn’t a Scot,he just lives in Scotland.He dislikes the place and the people and lives in fear on a croft where he reads Craigs blog from morning to night spouting his contempt for anything Independence oriented and glorifying the Nationalism of Westminster and the City.Despite his anti Scottishness he stays put and neglects his croft in all weathers glued to the internet.He curses those that disagree with him,which are the majority on this blog and not long after I post this he shall appear and call me a nazi and where to go.”
Once again the Nationalists turn to personal abuse rather than reasoned argument.
That is what makes them Nazis, they behave like Nazis.
Re. Tony Booth, John, I have a theory Cherie was looking for a bit of a father figure. Which is why she married an actor. The way Tony can work a room, or an individual sucker, given that sincerity and empathy are completely foreign to his nature, indicates superb theatrical ability. He should be at the Old Vic, where his talents would be put to constructive use and he would be unable to harm anyone. Or maybe Hollywood, starring in cheap action movies.
Once again the Nationalists turn to personal abuse rather than reasoned argument.
Quoth the master of polite, reasoned argument. Honestly, Fred, don’t you recognise self-parody when it’s staring at you from the mirror?
“There was wrong doing because the procedures were not followed.Ballot boxes were not transported properly,seals were not checked,regular counters were given the evening off,the 750,000 postal votes were sent to England,and ”
So prove your evidence that 7500,000 postal votes were sent to England.
I missed this one:
“Rabbi’s car firebombed in Manchester after anti-Israel comments”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/noone-harmed-in-arson-attack-on-antiisrael-orthodox-rabbis-car-9749404.html
Has it been commented on here?
The Zionists are revealing their hidden agenda.
I missed this one:
http://omnyapp.com/shows/the-age-headlines/tony-blair-blamed-for-murdoch-split-2
Two slebs, famous for being the spawn of famous people, to divorce because Mr. Tony definitely didn’t, no way, I mean gosh, screw Wendi. Apparently.
It’s all very incestuous, and I wonder when the drone strikes on the Rupeschancellery will begin. Tony? Boots on the ground?
” Blair’s father-in-law, the actor Tony Booth, would turn in his grave if he could see what kind of a “silly old moo” his daughter, Cherie, has turned into, ”
Well he might if he was actually dead.
Craig, get well soon, mate, relax and enjoy a little. This is only the end of the beginning. Retreat, retrench and re-arm ready for the next battle in the struggle.
We are now at a crucial juncture and what I think should happen next is for the independence movement to call a conference or convocation and brutally, frankly examine the errors that were made in this indyref campaign, summarise the lessons drawn from the failure of this indyref and discuss the movement’s future tasks, establishing its priorities.
The no voters are not necessarily evil or stupid but ideologically confused, misled and duped by the deceitful, devious purveyors of official unionism. They need to be won over to the cause, one by one, village by village, family by family, generation by generation, Comhairle by Comhairle, from the Highlands to the Islands, from the countryside to the coast, helped to muster their courage and start on a new march towards the great historical transition that has to come.
A first priority has to be the the creation of new indymedia organisations on the ground, and from there full devolution of broadcasting to a new Scotland Broadcasting Authority.
Who will set the wheels in motion? Lots of talk on here, WOS,etc. but so far little sign of action.
.
Let it go. For your own mental health and for the sake of any good you may bring to bear in you time here, would it not perhaps be better to turn the focus of your energies on to actual, important affairs assailing the world, the USA’s despicable wanton acts of war-mongering, social upheavals caused by resource competition, disease and said wars, deleterious effects of rampant capitalism on the natural environment… Compared with those sorts of problems, putative traumas of the “yes” rump about who owns some scotch or some gas, the Scottish-English or the English-Scots, seem like a mere bunch of diddumses navel-gazing.
@Ba’al Zevul, 10:05, careful not to confound human rights with counterfeit substutes like the US bill of rights. The Bill of Rights is toilet paper, flushed after WWII with the Central Intelligence Agency Act, which established official impunity in Section 6, and COG. When you use the fourth amendment as an example of rights, you might as well be using the Code of Hammurabi, another historical curiosity. Unlike so-called US rights, which are subject only to the good faith of the state, human rights are maintained by the outside world: treaty bodies, charter bodies, special procedures, and civil society. In fact, the notion that rights are pointless is an important element of statist propaganda – Western states want you to think that rights are useless without the benevolent state you’re lucky enough to have right now.
“I oppose Nationalism and Nationalists as where I am and Nationalists like you are the reason why.”
Ad nausseum Fred, ad nauseum, you are the biggest nationalist here and you can’t see it.
Now, should the referendum should be run again if there are any parties who have interfered?
Well, exactly, Baphomet, me ol’ fellow denizen of the abyss. The only point I was trying to make is that Bills of Rights, drawn up to itemise the human and civil rights of the time, have a nasty habit of getting corrupted to the advantage of the powerful; and that while society ought to observe and even confer perpetually inalienable rights, circumscribing the powers of its governors (democratic or otherwise) I am damned if I can think of a way to do this, because humans don’t actually work like that.
Still, I’m damned anyway. See you downstairs.
Let’s hear it for Winkletoe for trotting out the new & improved British state propaganda line, tailored to absorb and deflect popular self-determination. The British ruling-class line now tells us that Scottish independence is a parochial distraction from Big Questions like peace and the rights of the earth. It’s a clumsy attempt to distinguish inseparable issues. Scottish self-determination gives Scotland control over its role in trans-national peace and development issues; and the Scottish peoples’ right to peace is a crucial weapon against the British aggressor state. So go back to the City of London pedo toffs and get a new slogan. This one’s a pathetic facial flop.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israelis-in-berlin-tout-cheap-groceries-encourage-emigration/
O/T ( But to good to miss ! )
Israel’s Achilles heel . Not fantasy nuclear threats from Iran , nor Hezbollah or Hamas , but the call of Berlins cheap Supermarkets could undermine the demographics of the ‘ State with no borders ‘ .
You have to laugh at the sheer cheek of this carpet-bagging mentally ill English joker.
The fact is people voted No because they don’t want to live in some wanky socialist utopia ran by people like Murray.
_____________________________________
ED L
Its pretty obvious by your username that you’re a right wing fascist, with probably links to the BNP NF O/O and UKIP, all of which would class you in the mentally ill group.
Still I take your point that 55% of residents in Scotland voted to remain in a union where Scots have be dragged into a war they didn’t vote for, for a government infested by corrupt politicians with paedophile tendencies.
The 55% may well be stupid, or misguided by the biased media, but you have no excuse for being a complete arsehole.
Ba’ Al Thank you
Intellectually arrogant” – What intellect Craig? I see no sign of an intellect on this site. Abuse and prejudice are more the order of the day here. Again, no analysis of why Yes lost, merely wishful thinking about the future. You got it wrong this time – clear thinking might help you to get it right – but you can’t manage it can you Craig? It’s more than the flu, isn’t it? Clear thinking doesn’t draw in the ranters. However, it might help you to win a referendum – something you haven’t done so far.
_________________________________________
Here you go Leslie this is what you get when you vote NO.
—————————
Carol Irving single mother of four kids.
failed to declare she was living with her partner,
she overclaimed £40.000 in housing benefit
6 months in prison.
—————————-
David Laws MP
Single multi-millionaire
failed to declare he was living with is partner
overclaimed £40.000 in Parliamentary allowances
invited to rejoin government after 18 months on backbenches.
http://munguinsrepublic.blogspot.co.uk/
Well done Leslie for helping to support WEstminster’s troughers.
15:27
Q: What would the Lib Dems do for Wales?
Clegg says when the government delivers home rule for Scotland, it should deliver home rule for Wales too.
He says the Lib Dems back the proposals in the two Silk commission reports.
3.24pm BST15:24
Q: Should we legislate for assisted dying?
Clegg says he is not persuaded of the case for this. He thinks most people in the hall probably do back a law. But he does not see how a law on this could be satisfactorily drafted.
But he says parliament should debate this.
3.22pm BST15:22
Q; Is the Leveson royal charter a lame duck?
No, says Clegg.
Lord Justice Leveson proposed something ingenious. He was not advocating state regulation of the press. That would have been anathema to the Lib Dems. He proposed an industry body, but also a recognition body that would, from time to time, apply an MOT test to the regulator to make sure it is really independent. That’s where the royal charter comes from.
The BBC is established by royal charter. But no one questions its independence.
Leveson also proposed incentives, to encourage newspapers to join the new body.
It is a “great, great pity” that that “intelligent, small-l liberal principle” has been portrayed as a threat to the press.
Clegg says we should let the current system run for a bit. Because those incentives will increase over time, he says.
(He is implying that at some point a new regulator will be approved by the recognition body, which would trigger the provisions in the law that would led to papers not belonging to that regulator facing higher court costs.)
3.17pm BST15:17
Evan Harris gets a follow up question.
Q: These same papers are ones that oppose the Human Rights Act. Can you explain to them the inconsistency of their position?
Clegg says this is a good point. Often those who proclaim the proud tradition of British liberty are people who want to pull out from a document written by British lawyers (the European convention on human rights). The convention embodies great British principles, he says.
He says he has been dismayed to hear Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, reject the convention.
Let’s reform the court, he says. It is “hopelessly bureaucratic”.
But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. We should defend these rights “hook, line and sinker”.
3.14pm BST15:14
Q: What is your view on the police using RIPA to access the phone records of our friens in the press? [This is from Evan Harris.]
Clegg says he agrees with Harris. This is a rare issue on which he, Harris, the Sun and the Mail on Sunday all agree.
He praises Harris for tabling the amendment to the motion debated yesterday saying journalists should be able to protect their sources.
Harris’s commitment to issues like this is what makes him a “great liberal”.
Journalists going about their work have discovered that their phone records have been accessed without their knowledge.
That is “wholly unacceptable”, he says.
More such rubbish from the Lib Dems here:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2014/oct/06/lib-dem-conference-2014-nick-cleggs-morning-interviews-politics-live-blog
Fred
I see one of your buddies has left a comment on here, ED L, you must be well chuffed, God save the Queen, Rule Britannia, and all that crap.
David Laws was suspended from Parliament, RoS. For seven days. And is now Minister for Schools; his responsibilities being:
“Pupil Premium, raising attainment, narrowing the gap; Teachers; School improvement, accountability, inspection; Funding; Admissions; Raising the participation age, and financial support for young people; Teaching Agency, National College; Child Poverty and Social Mobility Strategy; OFSTED” (Wiki)
Thank you for illustrating his “child poverty and social mobility strategy” to say nothing of his approach to “financial support for young people” so clearly. Would you buy a dodgy academy school from this man?
Laws claimed between £700 and £950 a month rent between 2004 and 2007, plus typically £100 to £200 a month for maintenance, to rent a room in a flat owned and lived in by Lundie (his male partner – BZ)in Kennington, South London.[1] After the flat was sold for a profit of £193,000 in 2007, Lundie bought a nearby house for £510,000. Laws then began claiming rent for the “second bedroom” in this property, at a cost of £920 a month, until September 2009. Laws then began renting another flat. This flat was not owned by Lundie, who remained at the Kennington house. Since 2006, parliamentary rules have banned MPs from “leasing accommodation from… a partner.” Laws also maintained his main home in Chard in his Yeovil constituency,[3] as well as a holiday home he owned in Provence, France.
Wish he’d tried to claim JSA…
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “Britain will never be the same again but I can assure you that the Liberal Democrats will never support a nationalist effort to create an unstable form of devolution as a ticking time bomb deliberately designed to deliver independence.
“So there is a test for the SNP – will they be like Gollum in Lord of the Rings, torn apart by the lust for the ring of independence.
____________________________________
What a nauseating wee man Willie Rennie is, the man with a face like an Orc, and who’s party is in free fall has the audacity to slag off the most popular party in Scotland the SNP, by a country mile.
Your right Willie Britain will never be the same again, 45% of Scottish residents have woken up.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/call-to-sturgeon-to-rule-out-second-referendum-183296n.25508763
Are their workable solutions to the current issues we have with our form of ‘democracy’?
Isn’t that the question? Pointing at the problems and cursing them does what?
!. Publicly funded elections
2. Selectors of candidates vetted under oath before jury-pool type citizens.
3. Public education (CIVICS) compensating for loss of pay.
Doable, or not?
True, Ba’al, humans don’t work that way, not if the state is allowed to engineer them to its liking. That’s why education is the fiercest US battleground. The kleptocrats know that if you can keep the subject population ignorant of their rights, it’s much easier to push them around. So in the US you see ersatz grassroots resistance to the International Baccalaureate, and entryist assaults on local Boards of Education as in Colorado. On the other side, UNESCO deftly inserted some educational cadres into Occupy, even as the state-sanctioned parties tried to yoke the movement to their safe and futile electoral rituals.
“Ad nausseum Fred, ad nauseum, you are the biggest nationalist here and you can’t see it.”
Fuck off.
“I see one of your buddies has left a comment on here, ED L, you must be well chuffed, God save the Queen, Rule Britannia, and all that crap.”
Fuck off and die Holocaust denying scum.
Fred’ I know you picked up jury-pools as candidate selectors. Any thoughts?
Ba al
Thanks for the info, Laws unfortunately as you well know is just the tip of the troughers iceberg. Another thing that I’ve read and heard a lot about is Nepotism among Westminster politicians.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/06/what-labour-s-red-princes-tell-us-about-britain