GORDON BROWN'S LATEST FAN - NORMAN TEBBIT!

Labour's traditional supporters will surely love this, not! Not only has Brown grasped Mrs Thatcher to his buxom, now he is embraced by the grotesque Norman Tebbit, with friends like these and slogans like "Real jobs for Real Britains" Brown has proven that he is not only out of touch but like David Blunkett he'll use the race card when required. If Tebbit is supporting him, and former top Tories are welcomed at their conference, Labour must realise in their heart of hearts that they have lost their way.

Norman Tebbit - Right wing loon who invented the 'Cricket Test' which suggested that people shouldn't be allowed to stay in Britain unless they supported England at cricket.

A right wing former Tory minister praised Gordon Brown and attacked David Cameron today as the party geared up for its conference next week. Lord Tebbit, the former Conservative party chairman, said that voters believed that Mr Cameron was out of touch and had "no experience of the world". By contrast, he praised Gordon Brown's "courtesy and political nous" in inviting Lady Thatcher to No 10 at a time when the Tory leadership was attempting to distance itself from her.

In an interview with the Times, Lord Tebbit said that Mr Brown was a "very clever man and I have considerable regard for him", adding that the prime minister was not "tacky" in the manner of his predecessor, Tony Blair.

Lord Tebbit, who served in Lady Thatcher's cabinet, said that the former prime minister knew exactly what she was doing when she was photographed in Downing Street with Mr Brown earlier this month.

"I'm quite sure that Margaret Thatcher knew exactly what she was doing," he said.
"She's, first, too well-mannered to rebuff the prime minister and, second, of course, the present Conservative leadership has been at great pains to distance himself from her - and she is, after all, a woman."

He said that the present Tory party "lack somebody of the standing of Margaret". He said that the prime minister's invitation to Lady Thatcher was "Gordon Brown at his very best, a wonderful mixture of his courtesy and his political nous".

He added: "After all, Cameron described himself as the 'heir to Blair'. It's only natural that Brown should make himself the 'heir to Thatcher'. It's the perfect response, isn't it?"

LABOUR'S LOVE FOR BRITAIN WILL BE THEIR UNDOING

Alexander says sorry for letting SNP gain power at Holyrood - Wendy Alexander has apologised to the people of Scotland for allowing the SNP to be victorious over Labour in the May elections (reports the Britman).

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1531252007

How can Wendy Alexander apologise "to the people of Scotland" for "allowing Labour to be defeated"? The fact is that the people CHOSE the SNP because they had a positive uplifting message and faith in their own folk something Labour will never understand in a million years.

While Wendy actually apologies to her Labour chums (when in fact they should be grateful the Scots have given them the benefit of the doubt for years) and pleads for help to defeat the SNP, her boss tells us exactly why Labour will never deserve another vote from a Scot again:

Quote from the Scotsman's front page article: "And that nation, as ever, is Britain, an identity the Prime Minister again made clear he believes must come before and above those of the constituent parts of the United Kingdom."

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1531142007

Aye well there's the rub, if Brown doesn't care about Scotland and puts Britain first as he so clearly does, why should we care about him? The more Brown trumpets his love for Britain the more Scots will flush his party down the toilet of history. His hingers on like the Alexanders will enjoy the u-bend right beside him.

CHANGE THE RECORD WENDY- YOU'RE FOOLING NO-ONE

The difference between the SNP and Labour is that the SNP believe the Scots are equal to any other people on the planet and that we have the same right to rule our own affairs, while Labour are stuck to a union which suits their party politically but is long past it's sell by date.

Independence is normality and the SNP are right to call for it just as all the other parties based in Scotland support it as well.

Ms Alexander comes across like another self interested glove puppet of No. 10 Downing Street.

She is only slightly more appealing than her brother, one of the most irritating individuals ever, a puffed up little tick whose career has been based on sooking up Broon's backside and who has obviously never given even an idle thought to the best interests of the people of Scotland.

That Wendy Alexander can only come up with this dreadful response to the SNP's national conversation reveals what everyone already knows, that there is no enthusiasm for continued union or for the low level aspirations for Scotland that Labour has.

The pumped up Britishness of Gordon Brown, clearly designed to cover up his scottish identity and fool the English UK majority is both transparent and pathetic. The SNP have nothing to fear from this crowd. The time is right for independence.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS CONTEMPT FOR SCOTS LEADER = CONTEMPT FOR SCOTLAND

From 'secret weapon' to Lib Dem fringe act (Scotsman)

A YEAR ago, Nicol Stephen made his battle cry for the Scottish elections on the main stage at the Liberal Democrats' conference, billed as the party's "secret weapon", ready to be deployed against the SNP. Yesterday, for his sole appearance at the Brighton conference, Mr Stephen and the Scottish Liberal Democrats were, literally, relegated to the fringe.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1492352007

Interesting article from the Britman about the Lib Dems, it transpires that the Lib Dems are now demanding some of the oil money for Scotland (a move in the right direction) but the British party conference won't even let them say it on their main stage! It doesn't say much for their influence or relevance down south does it?

This reminds me of the treatment of Jack McConnell during the last election. Basically Jack went down to London, explained his plans for the Scottish elections which were ripped up and laughed at by Blair and Brown (or Bwown as he now prefers to be known) and then he was told how it would be run, and yet he was supposed to inspire respect as First Minister of the Scottish Government...!!

I just watched Nicol Stephen on Newsnight Scotland (the one Jeremy Paxman doesn't want us to have even though he's never actually watched it) and he was ripped to bits by Gordon Brewer who is hardly the finest interviewer on the TV, he's more of a friendly puppy than an attack dog, yet even he, an arch unionist, was flabbergasted at the Lib Dem's hypocrisy.

Do you want a referendum on the EU, 'oh yes' says Nicol 'because we believe in the EU and we want the chance to put our case for it', do you want a referendum on the minimal new powers at Westminster proposed by Gordon Brown, 'oh yes the British people should have a choice on this important change in the powers of the Government'.

'So you want a referendum on the EU but you don't want to have a referendum on Scottish independence? You don't want to make a positive case for the union?' says Brewer.

'Oh no! We don't believe in independence' says Mr Stephen. (So they will only hold referendums they think they can win and suit their party, a great attitude to Democracy.)

A referendum on independence gives the SCOTTISH PEOPLE a choice on independence. Nicol claimed that the people had the chance to vote for independence in the Scottish elections and the UK general elections, yes they did and they also had a massive campaign of lies and misleading statistics led by a biased media against independence. They also were voting on party manifestos and local issues, so it was NOT a direct vote on independence, as he well knows.

Of course Nicol claimed he had came back to Scotland for important discussions with his new best pals the leaders of the Labour and Tory parties. Their humiliating conclusion? That they now need to GO BACK DOWN TO LONDON to get advice on exactly what powers Britain might decide to advance to Scotland!

There we have again if proof was ever required that the Liberal Democrats have no interest whatsoever in what the Scottish people might desire, all they want is to stop any move towards self determination, what a sad day for a once proud actively campaigning Scottish political party which held to the Claim of Right for Scotland. I imagine their could be some screams of anguish at their next Scottish conference, IF they have any principled members left.

When the Scottish Liberal Democrats get humped in Scotland in the upcoming British general election they will only have themselves to blame.

Independent Scotland would have to apply to join EU CLAIMS the Scotsman

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1497442007

The 'meat' of the 'story' is here: "On the issue concerning Scotland's independence, that's not my competence to assess or to evaluate..."

IE this person is not competent to make a judgement so this is yet another attempt by the scotsman to cast doubt on the SNP's position without foundation.

The European Commission retained its neutral position yesterday. A spokeswoman said: "It is not customary for the commission to state its views on matters which, as things stand, are purely hypothetical."

Scotland joined the EU as part of Britain. If Scotland becomes independent then the British state as enshrined in the Act of Union no longer exists. There will be a rump state of England and allies (possibly terming itself the UK but without any foundation to that because 'the Kingdom' ie the state would not in fact be united anymore).

It is unlikely that it will last for long as logically Wales would follow Scotland to independence and NI might see less prestige in being part of England rather than Britain.

However when Britain breaks up there will be at least two seperate new states created, they will either both have to apply for EU membership or both will be automatically accepted, I suggest the latter is more likely to be prudent given our resources and our history as an EU member.
If in fact we do have to re-apply for membership then many people would argue that Scortland would be better off outside anyway so this won't necessarilly affect Scots prospects of voting for independence as much as the Scotsman hopes.

The most important body we need to join is the UN, the others are negotiable.

http://www.scottishindependence.com/

A VIEW FROM ENGLAND

Quite a good article with some interesting comments appended. JOE

If Scotland got its vote, then so should we
Beware, Mr Brown, the English are proud patriots too
William Rees-Mogg (The Times)

After three centuries, this seems likely to be the year of Scotland’s revenge. In 1707 the last Scottish Parliament of the old order dissolved itself and Scottish sovereignty was transferred from Edinburgh to London.

In their hearts many Scots never accepted this English predominance. They rebelled in 1715 and 1745, but it was not until May of this year that they elected, with a plurality of only one seat, a Scottish government committed to Scottish independence. I admire Alex Salmond’s achievement as leader of the Scottish National Party.

In a month’s time in Lisbon, Gordon Brown, who is a Scottish Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, will go to the European summit to approve a treaty that will transfer many of the remaining powers of British sovereignty to the European Union.

Although the Scottish people were given two constitutional referendums to establish Scottish devolution, no such consideration will be given to the British people, if the Prime Minister can avoid it. Certainly, the English people, however much they might object to becoming one of the western provinces of a European empire, will be allowed no chance to decide the matter for themselves.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article2469067.ece

SCOTLAND BEWARE AS BROWN WOOS ENGLISH TORIES

'Not so New' Labour: Does this man represent our interests and our values?

(from Washington Post) Gordon Brown and Mrs Margaret Thatcher's meeting at Downing Street came after the current leader praised Thatcher, still a hugely divisive figure in British politics and amid an apparent campaign by Brown to appeal to supporters of her party, the main opposition Conservatives.

In recent weeks, Brown has appointed two Conservative lawmakers as advisers to his government and hired the opposition party's ex-deputy treasurer as an environmental consultant.

Brown, who must call a national election before mid-2010, has also tapped Thatcher's former advertising agency to handle Labour's looming campaign.

Unionist Arguments Against Independence Are Desperate Rubbish

Letter to the Editor (Metro)

14/09/2007

Dear Sir,

Proponents of Scottish independence should perhaps be pleased as the arguments against it seem to have become ever more desperate over the years. The latest assertion by 'Robin' that "Scottish independence is nothing more than a label to hide behind for hatred of the English" is perhaps the nastiest assertion yet, though most unionists have sang some variation on this theme at some point.

Let's be absolutely clear. A belief that Scotland has a right to the normal political powers that almost every other country enjoys is about simple democracy not any imagined feeling of superiority.

It is ironic that those who hark back to the so called golden times of the British Empire - which was in fact based upon a philosophy of imperialism and superiority to other cultures - try and turn the argument against Scotland for wanting the same freedoms that most former colonies now enjoy.

Modern civic based nationalism is about changing Scotland for the better and it attracts support from every nationality and ethnic minority living in Scotland. It is about improving things for everyone who lives here.

'Nick' from Edinburgh says nationalists are all right wing thereby attempting a variation on the other great lie that fascism and nationalism are somehow linked. Not all nationalists believe in the superiority of their culture over others, those who do are imperialist nationalists like Hitler or the BNP.

The SNP are quite different. They are a genuine democratic left of centre inclusive political party, however 'Nick from Edinburgh' probably knew that already just as his pal 'Robin from Glasgow' is no doubt aware that more Scots fought in the Spanish civil war per head of population than any other outside nationality.

If more people had followed our example we might have avoided World War II altogether! It is a totally grotesque insult against every Scot who fought in the second world war to claim that if we were independent at that time we would have taken no part in it.

If British unionism is based on both blatant lies and deliberately twisting our past shared history (and it is surprising how often these 'arguments' come up) it is no wonder that increasing numbers of Scots see the British union as redundant and want a better life for them and their children as a free and independent state.

Yours faithfully,

Joe Middleton

Unsettling changes (for Labour and the Media)

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mike_small/2007/09/unsettling_changes.html

A cracking article and some very interesting well thought out comments appended to it.

Waffle from Wendy? Or are Labour going to back a referendum?

Ruaridh Nicoll in the observer:

At the Apex, Alexander hinted at how she might be prepared to call Salmond's bluff. 'There will be a referendum in 2010,' she told the delegates.

That's quite a statement. Why must there be a referendum? Her certainty was odd, for there is no need for one. The SNP have not got the votes in Parliament to call it. Could she be planning to have Labour back this call? Her advisers were not forthcoming, beyond encouraging speculation.
'There will be a referendum in 2010 and the SNP will lose,' she told the delegates.

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,2165514,00.html