Neil Winton sur Twitter : "And this is after they won. Scotland's shame is Unionism. #the45 #scot... Unlucky For Some: 13 Westminster Failures. The Independence referendum is a vote on Scotland’s potential and the benefits of controlling our own affairs. It is also a vote on Westminster’s record. When we examine that record, we find that Westminster isn’t working. It isn’t working economically. It isn’t working to build a fair society. It isn’t working to build a safer world. Here are 13 reasons why Westminster has failed: 1) Asylum Policy Westminster treats asylum seekers with contempt. 2) Homelessness The UK has a growing problem with homelessness. 3) Tax Havens The UK supports some of the world’s most profligate tax havens. 4) Nuclear Weapons The UK is one of 9 nations who possess weapons of mass destruction. 5) Arms Deals to Dictatorships The UK is at the centre of the arms industry. 6) Oligarchy not democracy Power in the UK is centralised within a small elite. 7) Inequality and Child Poverty The UK is the 4th most unequal nation in the developed world. 8) Financial Regulation & Debt 9) Privatisation 10) Anti-Trade Union Laws.
The Positive Case for the Union « The Thin Red Line (Battle of Balaclava) The Russian cavalry force of 2,500 was on the road to Balaklava. About 400 of them were involved in the incident.[2] It was early morning, and the sole force that lay between the oncoming cavalry and the disorganised and vulnerable British camp was the 93rd Regiment.[3] Colin Campbell, 1st Baron Clyde is said to have told his men, "There is no retreat from here, men. You must die where you stand. "[4] Sir Colin's aide John Scott is said to have replied, "Aye, Sir Colin. The Times correspondent, William H. The Thin Red Line has become an English language figure of speech for any thinly spread military unit holding firm against attack.
The term "the thin red line" later referred to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and their job to defend the British Empire and the United Kingdom after the incorporation of the Argylls and Sutherlands into a single regiment now known as the Argyll and Sutherland battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. History made as Parliament votes for independence. Commenting after the Scottish Parliament debate on Scotland's Future, in which MSPs voted for Scotland becoming an independent country, SNP MSP Humza Yousaf said: "This is a genuinely historic moment for the Scottish Parliament. With this vote it shows that, thirteen years after it was reconvened, it is ready, willing and able to take on the full responsibilities of any normal legislature. "The United Nations comprised just 51 countries when it was formed in 1945 – that number has now grown to more than 190 member states of the UN, many of whom have become independent in the last 70 years.
Scotland is now ready to take the next step and join the ranks of independent countries. "In contrast to the relentless negative scaremongering from the Labour-Tory anti-independence alliance, the simple truth is that it is better for the decisions affecting Scotland to be taken by the people who care about Scotland most, that is, the people of Scotland. English literature, a Scot’s invention. Just over a century ago, neither Oxford nor Cambridge offered degrees in English literature, but Scotland has been studying the subject since the 18th century, largely thanks to one man, Hugh Blair When I was growing up we had that kitsch patriotic tea-towel, “The average Englishman in the home he calls his castle…” that detailed the entrepreneurial innovation of the Scots from breech-loading rifles and chloroform to Mackintoshes and the television. I didn’t realise it at the time but the subject which I would go on to study at university – English literature – could well have been added to the list.
Ironic though it might seem, the idea of English literature was a valid field of academic enquiry was a Scottish invention. The first person to hold the chair was the Rev Hugh Blair. The son of a merchant, Blair was born in Edinburgh on 7 April, 1718. David Hume described him in his letters as a “vain, timid, fussy, kind-hearted man that everybody liked”.
Chancellor George Osborne to 'scrap public sector national pay rates' 17 March 2012Last updated at 19:49 ET Mr Osborne is set to outline his Budget plans Unions have reacted angrily to plans to scrap national pay rates for some public sector workers in the UK. Chancellor George Osborne is expected to say civil servants, such as Jobcentre and DVLA staff, should have pay brought into line with private sector salaries in their regions. The Public and Commercial Services union says it would cut regional wages. The Treasury says public sector pay in some parts of England and Wales is up to 18% higher than the private sector. Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he feared the plans would end up in a "free-for-all" and would be difficult to keep public sector pay under control. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union - which represents civil servants - told the BBC the plans would be "cruel, economically incompetent and counterproductive" at a time when public sector salaries and pensions were being cut.
Analysis. Did the LibDems just vote me towards independence? A record-breaking 172,475 people have signed Dr Kailash Chand’s e-petition to drop the NHS Reforms bill. David Cameron promised once upon a time that any e-petition that got more than 100,000 signatures would get a debate in the House of Commons, but he evidently meant “any e-petition that Tories can support without going against the interests of our donors“. At the Liberal Democrat conference today: 2.21pm: Nick Clegg has won his first battle of the conference. According to Channel 4′s Michael Crick on Twitter, Lib Dem activists have chosen to debate the Shirley Williams health motion tomorrow – the pro-leadership one – instead of the rebel motion calling for it to be withdrawn or defeated. 2.27pm: The Shirley Williams health motion got 309 votes.
The rebel “drop the bill” one got 280 votes. On Tuesday 13th March, the e-petition will have a House of Commons debate and the House of Lords will have a 3rd-reading debate on the Bill. But you can’t use that card inside your own country. English 'would bomb our airports' Text size Group Political Editor GLASGOW and Edinburgh airports, in an independent Scotland, could be bombed by an English government if it was threatened by an unfriendly country, a former deputy leader of the UK Conservative Party has warned. Sorry, you must sign in before you can print full articles. Lord Fraser of Carmyllie also warned that SNP policies removing nuclear forces from Scottish bases and reducing Scotland's navy "essentially" to fishery protection vessels could make Scotland a war zone. He said a country with a few fishery protection vessels was "asking to be invaded". The former Lord Advocate and Solicitor General said he did not see who might have "evil intentions" against England but he had missed "the import of the Balkan crisis and the ramifications of 9/11" and would hesitate "to predict the crises even in the rest of the century".
He suggested one solution would be to base the nuclear fleet, currently based on the Clyde, to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. Who is, and is not, invited to Cameron's emergency NHSbill summit? A data vis. Everything Is Connected – to London. The Crown Estates report, “East Coast Transmission Network: Technical Feasibility Study” confirmed the practicality of an offshore transmission system to move energy from as far north as Shetland to London, from where it could be sold on to European states. With peak oil having arrived and global economies under strain under of diminishing resources, we can increasingly expect more items to switch from fossil fuel to electricity as their base energy unit. This will apply to everything from home heating to transportation. Electricity will become the primary lifeblood of tomorrow’s economies. The cost of this Crown Estate’s proposed transmission line alone would be just shy of £5 billion by 2020. The Crown Estate findings are largely concurrent and consistent with Ofgem’s workshop report of May 6th 2011, but not with Ofgem’s policies which heavily discriminate against peripheral generation of electricity.
It would be an effective method of ensuring future influence. Salmond calls for independence referendum in 2014. 10 January 2012Last updated at 21:14 Alex Salmond: "Let the view of the Scottish people prevail" Alex Salmond has said he wants to hold an independence referendum in Scotland in the autumn of 2014. The Scottish first minister said this date would allow people to make a "considered" decision on the country's future within the United Kingdom. The news came as the UK government said its Scottish counterpart could not legally go ahead without its authority. It has said it wanted to work with the SNP-led administration amid a row over the timing and conditions for a poll. Confirming the Scottish government's preferred date for a referendum, Mr Salmond - who wants Scotland to leave the UK - said holding a poll in 2014 would allow all the necessary legislation required to authorise it to be passed and for proper preparations to be made. 'Made in Scotland' Mr Salmond added: "The date for the referendum has to be the autumn of 2014. 'Legal and fair' 'Clarity sought' Continue reading the main story.
My contribution to the debate on Scottish independence « Alan Bissett. Vote Britain Alan Bissett People of Scotland, vote with your heart. Vote with your love for the Queen who nurtured you, cradle to grave, Who protects you and cares, her most darling subjects, to whom you gave the glens she adores to roam freely through, the stags her children so dearly enjoy killing. First into battle, loyal and true. The enemy’s scared of you. That’s why we send you over the top with your och-aye-the-noo Mactivish there’s been a murrrderrr jings! Vote, Jock. Vote with those notes we scrutinise in our shops. (might be legal tender but looks dodgy to me) Vote for the Highland Clearances. Vote for nuclear submarines in your water.
Vote for the Olympic Games you didn’t vote for (but you’ll pay for it, you’ll pay for it). Vote Conservative. Vote with the chip on your shoulder. Vote Labour. (Get back in line, Scottish Labour, HQ in Solihull will issue their commands shortly, Just keep the vote coming in from up there thanks goodbye, Subsidy junkie). Hush. Take a drink. All Brits together.