No More Freedom

I was sitting watching the news on BBC 1 last night (Friday 19th October) and there was an article on the SNP  and of course Independence and Scotland's continued affiliation to NATO, should they indeed win their 'freedom' from the remainder of the the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland?

The SNP are a few years older than NATO, the former born in 1934, the latter born out of the ashes of WWII in 1949 and I think I am correct in thinking that the SNP have been totally opposed to them since their inception.  The only reason I mention that little fact is that now with the referendum set to go ahead in a couple of years,  yesterday, the SNP conference voted to elect to remain a member of that august body, but hopefully (for them - me I'm indifferent to the whole question) without allowing the nuclear deterrent to also remain within Scottish borders!  I just mention it to highlight the fact that once again another political party has without one iota of embarrassment discarded one of the main planks of its policy with no shame and as they have never been able to get a majority in the opinion polls over 39% (I think it was sitting at that at the beginning of this year, but it's now down around 30% at the moment) they are also informing Scottish voters that every single one of them will get a £500 cash payment for voting yes to FREEDOM from the ENGLISH, WELSH and NORTHERN IRISH! Incidentally, apparently there is also a poll out at the moment which says that £500 is precisely the amount it would take for Scottish individuals to be given, and accept, as the Judas Silver, to break up the Union!

So, anyway as I watched and listened to the article they started to do a segment of snap interviews after the vote was taken and agreed and a really old chap attending the conference was asked his opinion.

I have no idea what his response was as I suddenly started thinking about an other article I had read on line from The Telegraph  about a debate on the freedom of speech, you can read the whole article here  , but here are a couple of snippets;

The Blackadder and Mr Bean star attacked the "creeping culture of censoriousness" which has resulted in the arrest of a Christian preacher, a critic of Scientology and even a student making a joke, it was reported.

 a 16-year-old boy being held for peacefully holding a placard reading "Scientology is a dangerous cult", and gay rights campaigners from the group Outrage! detained when they protested against Islamic fundamentalist group Hizb ut-Tahrir over its stance on gays, Jews and women.

We are told that Section 5, of the Public Order Act, which outlaws threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour is having a "chilling effect on free expression and free protest". And, clearly from these instances above, so it seems.  Every day we hear stories of people being arrested, charged, fined and imprisoned for saying things that someone sitting in an office or indeed someone sitting anywhere can hear someone say something first or second hand, phone their local police office, complain and sooner than you can say or think 'all politicians are tossers', you'll have a copper on you door.

Andrew Mitchell MP, of Plebgate fame who has just resigned, why? Because he allegedly called a cop on a gate a pleb! For Christ's sake, he probably is.  It's a word for the love of God, other deity's are available.....

In the words of Mr Atkinson: "The clear problem of the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism, ridicule, sarcasm, merely stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy, can be interpreted as insult."

and all of the above because as I was sitting watching the report and seeing the aforementioned really, really old chap I was thinking, "What the hell is he doing in the SNP looking for independence, for gods sake,surely he won't be around long enough to see it" , as you do, but, then I thought can I actually put that out there on the Twitter-verse or will the police turn up on my doorstep to charge me for causing offence to all elderly gentleman in Scotland and in the SNP?

So, you have been warned, choose your words carefully out there.

A Question For Scots

The debate over Scottish Independence from the rest of the Union is turning into a bit of a political hot potato since the British Prime Minister opened it up fully on the Andrew Mar Show on Sunday last.

Now my feelings have already been made known on this subject through my previous post last October in Scottish Independence  when I nailed my colours to the mast in favour of maintaining the three hundred year old Union.

Everyone is laying into the debate and apparently the British Parliament through the current government are letting it be known that if Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and the SNP, the ruling party in the devolved Scottish Parliament, ignores the law and tries to hold a referendum without the consent and agreement of the UK Parliament, they, the UK Parliament will go to court over the matter.

Something happened today to make me think about this again, something close to home that is.  You may recall that I have mentioned that Ishbel suffers from something called Laryngeal Dystonia This is a condition that affects the vocal chords of sufferers and makes it difficult for them to speak.  There is no cure but it can be moderated through continued visits to the hospital for specialist treatment every three or four months, resulting in a painful injection into the vocal chords.

Now a few years ago Ishbel told me that she met people when attending the clinic in London who were also waiting for their injections, and she told me that they came from all over the country as there is only one consultant in the country who specialises in this.  Well, today she came home from her treatment and told me that she met a very nice man who had come all the way from Scotland, with the NHS picking up his travel costs and hotel for an overnight stay......

Now there are a couple of points that this raises, one being why the hell is there only one clinic seemingly in the whole of the UNITED KINGDOM, that offers this treatment or which has the expertise for it, I am sure that there are probably reasonable answers to that question? But, the far more important question for Scots, is this.

If the SNP get their way and become the architects of the breakup of the Union, what happens to all the UK wide services that are currently offered, even under Devolved countries, such as sharing NHS facilities.  yes, I know that NHS services are currently different in the UK with free prescriptions, and care homes for the elderly in some parts, but not in others.  But, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland are funded by the UK exchequer from revenue raised, mainly through taxation.  Now taxation as we all know takes many forms from income tax to corporation tax to VAT, to fuel tax and energy surcharges and so on and on and on.

But I keep coming back to that same point, will there be enough people and jobs for an estranged Scotland to raise the taxes for the country to be self sufficient?  And, will people in Scotland, and eventually Wales and Northern Ireland, if they see Scotland achieving Independence, will they go the same way, and will those who suffer from these obscure illnesses suffer, because the English NHS will not fund treatment for them and will the NHS of those countries be able to provide the treatment that they need to maintain  a decent and comfortable lifestyle that is provided through the treatment they receive at the moment?

BBC News article

Scottish Independence

Scottish Independence poll

The SNP conference is about to get under way in Inverness and again the question of Independence is on everyone's lips.  Now if you haven't noticed, I am Scottish although I live and work in England and have done since 1991.  Prior to that I lived in Inverness for 10 years after coming out of the British Army in which I served, also for 10 years.  Prior to my time in the British Army I spent the first 15 years of my life in Coatbridge, which was an industrialised town nearer to Glasgow than Edinburgh.

Ever since I was a kid I can recall, from time to time, the clamouring outcry of nationalism  from people and from some Scottish newspapers, usually just after England had again demolished the Scottish football team in another one sided match and that it was time to go independent, and that the 1707 treaty forming the Kingdom of Great Britain should be dissolved.  Another source of discontent back then (when I was a kid not 1707 - I'm not that old) with many Scots and one that still exists today, is, TV News and Sports commentators who would be commentating on international sporting events where the Great Britain Team would be participating.  If someone from Scotland, Ireland or Wales was doing good and looked on course for a medal it was so and so from team GB but as soon as it looked as if they were out of the running for the win/medal, then they suddenly didn't/don/t belong to team GB any more but suddenly revert back to being Scotland's or Ireland's or Wales Joe Blog and this really is annoying.  And then the English wonder why, and complain bitterly,  when other parts of the United Kingdom are routing for any team in a competition rather than the English; it's not difficult to understand under the circumstances.

Now, as a kid some of those calls did, from time to time have some resonance with me, particularly later when I began to take a little interest in history and politics and reading, becoming more informed about 'my past as a Scot', I would get angry at the treatment of the Scots at the hands of the English.  But then you really have to temper that with the realisation that it was not just the Scots who were treated abominably by the English, the whole world was treated the same way by them; they colonised the greater part of the world and in many instances brought order, not that Scotland needed it, although much of the country still lived in poverty, as did much of England and the majority of the population were nothing more than serfs to their masters in the aristocracy as it was the same in Scotland, but those were the times. The same argument rages today with the minority controlling politics and the banks and in some cases governments, but at least  the populations of most countries do have a semi fluid choice of who they elect to govern them today, back then they didn't.

In modern times we have seen countries and races demanding apologies from other countries and in some cases reparation of lost lands and fortunes for the ills visited upon them by ancestors and in many cases apologies have been forthcoming, slavery of black Africans,  the Highland clearances of Scotland (although it is worthwhile pointing out that this was also done for and by the convenience of some Scots and not just by the English), Ireland, India, Native Americans and the list goes on, and in many cases apologise have been forth coming from Prime Ministers and Presidents.  But when is enough enough, how many times are the sins of our forefathers visited upon us.......

And this brings me to the question of Scottish Independence, the SNP and clearly  some Scots are still upset with the sins of the English and Scottish forefathers who allowed the Union of the countries of this small island to take place and rather than forgive them for it, they don't just want an apology, they want to take back their independence as well and be recognised as a country standing on its own two feet within the British Isles.  The only thing that surprises me at the moment is that there is not a greater and louder voice from the English to be rid of the ungrateful Scots!

I listened to a brief interview this morning on TV with Alex Salmond, leader of the SNP and Scotland's First Minister under devolution.  Now the interviewer was BBC Breakfasts Bill Turnbull, seems like a nice guy but he is no heavyweight interviewer, but he did ask a couple of questions, one of which was on Defence and 'Scotland's Army' and Mr Salmond seemed to say that 'we' would not rely on the English for 'our' defence and that 'we' would have, "our own army".

Now, you will recall I am Scottish, I am proud of being a Scot.  It is also important to note that I do not have a lot of time for British (or any other) Royalty and I think that they are an anachronism that we as a nation could do without , but, as well as being Scottish I am also British and proud of it and I really cannot understand why some in my 'Home Country',(for it is, after all, still Scotland, a country within the Kingdom of Great Britain), are calling for independence over devolution.

On the SNP's home page they compare Scotland to Sweden, why? Why should they need to compare Scotland to anywhere?  Sweden is 5 times larger than Scotland.  The estimated GDP for Sweden in 2010 was $337.893 Billion compared to Scotland's (for the same period) of £137.774 Billion.  So there really is no comparison that I can see and being 5 times larger they probably have lots of untapped energy resources that they can find and exploit!  Whereas in Scotland 'our' oil which will never be given up by the English, is beginning to run out, or so we are told, and if it isn't why are we still paying through the nose for fuel at the pumps?

Scotland, as far as I can tell is being funded by tax payers from across the United Kingdom; This is paying for the free prescriptions, the free care for the elderly, the free bus and travel passes for the retired, the free university places, none of which are available to the English or us Scots living and working in England.  Mr Salmond wants full Independence and no doubt he will want to get his hands on the oil to continue to pay for these social causes, but how long will it last, if he gets his hands on it.  Does it generate enough income as it stands at the moment to pay for all these things and then to include an Army and a Navy and an Air Force and a full defence policy?

How does he propose to create jobs to get people into work who will then be paid and in turn pay taxes?  If there is a wonder plan for the creation of jobs, why wait until Independence, create them now, and don't be selfish, tell the rest of the UK countries how to achieve this so that they too can get people into work that doesn't currently exist!

You will recall in the first paragraph of this post I said that I came from Coatbridge, an industrialised town to the East of Glasgow.  I left in 1971 at 15 as all of the manufacturing and smelter plants were declining and closing down and thousands were thrown onto the scrapheap.  Places like these have never recovered either in Scotland or anywhere else in Britain or across the world and yes, while there have been some betterment of employment figures in most countries the  days of massive factories employing thousands have long gone and the education of the masses in this country does not turn out today, at the end of schooling of our children , with the level of competence or skills required for future employment.  In the face of that where, again, are the jobs going to come from to allow people to work and pay taxes to maintain the benefits currently enjoyed by the Scots through the monies given back to them from the rest of the United Kingdom?

Do the Scottish people really believe that the small population that they have can sustain them as an independent nation through taxation?  Are they being lulled into thinking that as an independent nation that membership of the European Union and that handouts from Brussels will replace the handouts from London?  I don't know, but what I do know is that the British Isles is a relatively small island.  It has been living under one Flag for 300 years relatively successfully and  I see no reason to break it up.  It's strange that the SNP want to be the architects of destruction of the United Kingdom but then want to join the European Union.  It seems to me that the EU was set up to bring a stronger integration between countries in the EU and whether you like it or not this has happened.  In some things the EU seems to usurp national governance and while there is a hue and cry about it life goes on, so I really don't understand the need to leave the Union.

 related items:

Population of Scotland   
Population of Sweden