I shall be speaking at a fringe meeting on Saturday at the Salutation Hotel at 12.30, chaired by Linda Fabiani, on the need for a written constitution. I am available and willing to speak at any other fringe meetings. I am particularly keen to emphasise the need to be focused on independence and not allow excessive energy to be side-tracked either into fruitless pretend “Devo-Max” proposals or the temptations of self-important managerialism. Obviously I should be happy to speak on defence and disarmament, foreign policy, human rights, higher education, maritime boundaries or any of my other specialist areas also.
To be perfectly honest, I should be especially pleased to be invited to any fringe meetings on Friday as I can’t find any other way to get in!! I move in to my new home in Edinburgh on Thursday, but previously as a non-resident was not eligible to be a delegate.
Languages move on Canspeccy.You can remain in the past and talk any way you wish.
People are just trying to be helpful as if you’d made a spelling error.
Are you talking also historically regarding Scotland being unable to look after her borders?
Or was this an uptodate statement?
Habbabkuk (la vita è bella)
10 Nov, 2014 – 6:23 pm
Reposted because still pertinent
“Because while there are some on here who see the SNP as a ground-breakingly different – and more elevated – party in its morality and ethics, there are others who are convinced that the SNP consists of politicians, that all politicians are the same (=bad) and that the SNP is no different morally and ethically than any other political party.”
“I happen to hold the second of these two views…”
……………
Reposted because you’re impertinent:
So you don’t vote then Habbabkuk?
Craig
“But I think you will discover the SNP is more liberal minded than you think – and aware of the need to accommodate the views of an enormous new membership which, apart from anything else, will be bringing it a membership income of about 3 million a year.”
___________________
You may be right and I certainly wish you the best of luck. If selected and then elected, you will inevitably find yourself in opposition to some aspects of SNP policy, but I’m with you in thinking that it is healthy for any political party (or indeed any political blog!)to contain dissenting voices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The only other comments I’d make are:
1/. your thought appears based on a belief that your beliefs chime in with the beliefs of the enormous new membership you (correctly) refer to;
2/. does your reference to the new money brought in by that new membership indicate that you believe that money talks in the SNP just as it talks in any other political party?
(Apologies to friend Mary for daring to converse with you! 🙂 )
Mr Scorgie at 20h24:
Can you explain the logical connection between agreeing that all political parties have low moral and ethical standards and voting/not voting?
Thanks.
The SNP at local government level in Edinburgh could have the axed chaotic and almost abandoned tram scheme they inherited after much had been already been spent on it re-routing underground services such as gas, water, sewerage, electric power, which was so incompetently mismanaged and under-costed by the preceding unionist cabal or parties who held power, thus favouring bus and coach operators. Instead they persevered to make sure it was carried through at least in part from the Airport to the city centre. The environmental and health improvements of a main thoroughfare not congested by nose to tail canyons of diesel particulate belching buses speaks for itself. Being powered electrically the trams will, as with most domestic Scottish demand, in time be supplied from renewable sources. I think the SNP at local government level, where they can despite the obstruction and sabotage of Labour Tory and LibDems in cahoots but posing as three different parties, and at national level in Holyrood have proceeded practically and pragmatically in advancing sound transort and environmental policies particularly strongly, as in other devolved matters or local government competences and expect they can do so in almost every other policy area too.
Given that policies on NATO, WMD, EU, monarchy, currency and so on were intended to be gradualist to present the least change initially pre and post September’s referendum on independence and given how this was abused by the unionists and still is, who decided to hang their cowardice, and ingrained servitude to the corrupt and bankrupt Westminster system and the failed, terrifying and vindictive UK state, which holds them in thrall and in fear, on the preposterous notion that such ‘independence’ was no independence at all, to now hear them use that same argument again, knowing full well then and now that post-independence all bets were off in the medium and long term on these issues, is galling, and really does show, even those they duped and dragged along with them, that the anti-independence zealots position was neither logical or rational, but really was a manifestation of the pernicious influence of the UK state’s controlling elite’s endemic and centuries old anti-Scottish prejudices, deep hatred infact, and their relentless undermining of so many in Scotland itself, by cultural vandalism through the ages, to today’s Orwellian control of the media in manipulating the more gullible to vote for, even to agitate against their best interests, whilst that elite continue to ransack and loot the commonwealth of not just Scotland but all the constituent nations and peoples of Britain. The sham and pretence of democracy however in these countries, but most particularly in Scotland has been laid bare, there is no way the same stunts can continue to be pulled, with which watershed the Union is all over and the parasitic bastard composite state that was the UK and those who’ve gained unduly from its plundering are living on borrowed time, someone needs to do us all a favour and put it out of its misery for it has become positively embarassing to see it attempt to carry on as before when clearly it is in and is no fit state to continue.
Life is good indeed, but only for a very few, for whom ‘the less the merrier’ must hold true for without the manys insufficiency of anything remotely describable as good or of the only worth that counts in such a society, material worth, the few hoarding all to themselves would be unable to derive the sense of superiority for which they live solely now, without which their lives would be, impossible as it might seem, even more holow meaningless and pointless, than they are present. Controlled austerity must never be allowed to touch upon anyone not already long made outcast by the wretched system, but capitalism, taken to the inevitable conclusion of its calculated wickedness and balderdash theories, must do just that or its hypocrisy becomes universally apparent, which some can live with if still amongst the favoured caste, still ‘winners’, but when those many blind fools still aspirant to lord it over others in relative comfort and privilege see their chance of that, as many already have and almost all must, dissipate away forever, the system will not stand a day longer and the scenes will be memorable but not pretty, but endured for from that something better will arise, and with it determination to avoid the same or similar injustices and mistakes as before.
The UK is past, gone, history, failed, finished, only in England now has this realisation not yet fully dawned, I do hope they waken up soon and this denial ends.
Craig – Lang may yer new Embro lum reek – gin ye hae wan in yer wee bit hoosie or single-end. Phil (at 5.26 pm) teased you by pointing to two elephants in the SNP front room. You dealt fairly with the NATO/nuclear one. Indeed, one of the most appealing if still secondary arguments for full independence – nane o yir peely-wally devomax gruel- is the considerable possibility that moving the nuclear fleet from Faslane would trigger the realization in London that it would make more sense to disband it. What a spectacular event one could make of the decommissioning!
But what about Phil’s second pachyderm, Elizabeth I (of the UK)? Looked at from the outside, there are good reasons – not least retaining goodwill in negotiations that will call for deep reserves of canniness – for not moving straight to a republic. What’s crucial is that in a written Scottish Constitution there should be no place for the Royal Prerogative – least of all exercised by an elected Scottish government.
@ 8.37pm For the record, the poster is definitely NOT my friend.
Craig – you can come and speak at our meetings any time! (Kelso and Jedburgh SNP branch).
CanSpeccy – it’s ‘whisky’ not ‘whiskey’.
CanSpeccy – it’s ‘whisky’ not ‘whiskey’.
Oh, Jeeze. The Scotch are even politically correct about spelling.
Apparently, they were so up in arms about it, even the New York times caved.
But some are made of sterner stuff.
Great Speech here By The Independence Climber ( Lindsay Jarrett ) at the Million Mask March Edinburgh…5th November…WHAT A girl.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=822736497778173
“@ 8.37pm For the record, the poster is definitely NOT my friend.
But you make such a lovely couple!
You are so droll Glenn!
Peter Wanless of the NSPCC was given just six weeks to investigate the missing child abuse files. The report is due out this morning.
Q Was he set to fail? Simon Danczuk thinks so.
I don’t think we will ever have the truth. The abused children have been betrayed.
Missing Child Sex Abuse Files Report Due Out
The review has looked at claims dating back to the 1980s – after a leak suggested a secret dossier of information was missing.
http://news.sky.com/story/1370879/missing-child-sex-abuse-files-report-due-out
Will there be any transcript, or link?
@Brian: Lindsay is a Legend!
@Mary: apparently, they could have employed a more exhaustive search technique… but it would have lasted six months. Clearly someone wanted this story buried well before the GE.
Craig- will you be reporting further on the SNP conference on the SNP Conference thread or on another one? There is some coverage in the MSM, but not with much detail. I’ll repeat this is the current thread, but it seems a pity that when a new one is opened, the previous one gets ignored by most readers/bloggers.