Saturday, March 16, 2013

Peter Tatchell reveals Scots independence support



Peter Tatchell
Peter Tatchell: If Tiny Malta can be independent, why not Scotland?















Equality and human rights campaigner and former Labour Westminster candidate Peter Tatchell has called on Scots to vote Yes in the 2014 independence referendum.

The well known gay rights activist and social justice campaigner suggested that an independent Scotland would be “more left wing” than England and could have a “progressive future”.

Mr Tatchell is well known for his direct style of campaigning and is also famous for when he stood as a Labour candidate in a bitterly fought by-election in Bermondsey, south London in the 1980s, when it is claimed he was subjected to an anti-gay campaign.

Mr Tatchell claimed that an independent Scotland could follow the example of nations that had won their independence in recent decades.

He said: “If I were Scottish, I would support independence. Lots of small breakaway states, like Slovenia, have been success stories. Scotland has historically been more left wing than England. Independence would give the Scots people the opportunity to chart their own progressive future. If tiny Malta can have self-rule, why not Scotland?”

http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/peter-tatchell-reveals-scots-independence-support-1-2834297

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Sunday, March 10, 2013

The real (English) motives of Tony Blair

This is a commentary on the following two articles in the Scotsman: Euan McColm: SNP ignore the lessons of Blair’s Third Way at their peril http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/opinion/comment/euan-mccolm-snp-ignore-the-lessons-of-blair-s-third-way-at-their-peril-1-2828746 Tony Blair: ‘SNP just like Ukip in blaming others’ http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/top-stories/tony-blair-snp-just-like-ukip-in-blaming-others-1-2822778


It should be remembered that Tony Blair was reluctant to provide any devolution for Scotland but felt it was inevitable. The scheme he did offer had Broadcasting powers removed and he also moved to block a Scottish 6 O'Clock News!

The fact is that Labour only provided devolution 20 years after a clear vote in favour (not implemented due to their own wrecking 40% clause) and they only did that after repeating the referendum process.

Labour would have had no credibility whatsoever if they had completely ignored demands for devolution so Blair was forced into it.

At the time he also bluntly reminded us of where he perceived the power would continue to be: "Sovereignty rests with me as an English MP and that's the way it will stay." Scotsman 1997

Given all the above his attempts to stop Scots taking the next logical step to self-rule is entirely predictable and his claim that SNP are like UKIP is risible.

I think the SNP's change in policy on NATO was questionable, however it is now pretty clear there will not be any nuclear weapons in an independent Scotland. I also think that claiming the UK or British identity will continue post independence is self defeating. Yes, England probably will pretend to be Britain after we leave but that does not mean it reflects reality.

Blair's influence on politics in general was a negative one. Yes he was in power, but what did he do with it? In most areas he continued or worsened Conservative policy. He wishes to maintain the Status Quo because he believes it benefits England and he misrepresents the SNP's motivations so as to more easily attack them.

Independence is about representing ourselves as Scots on the world stage. Do we need to do this? Does the union not actually represent ourselves as well? The answer to that is a resounding No. In fact our voice is smothered under the British label. Britain comes from Brittania and as Jack Straw admitted England created the union to expand their power internationally.

"Historically, England called the shots to achieve a union because the union was seen as a way, among others things, of amplifying England's power worldwide.

And the reverse would certainly be true. A broken-up United Kingdom would not be in the interests of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, but especially not England.

Our voting power in the European Union would diminish. We'd slip down in the world league GDP tables. Our case for staying in the G8 would diminish and there could easily be an assault on our permanent seat in the UN Security Council."

Scottish and Welsh independence would reduce England's international muscle and the loss of Oil would mean a drastic cut in her finances. That is why all English/British nationalists want the union to continue. Mrs Thatcher was also an English nationalist by the way as she admitted herself: "I'm an English nationalist and never you forget it," said Mrs Thatcher to James Naughtie in 1986.

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With enemies like the Better Together campaign who needs friends?

Iain MacWhirter Columnist (Sunday Herald). Sunday 10 March 2013

Things aren't looking good. "The public finances are likely to come under pressure over the longer term primarily as a result of the ageing population ... the Government would end up having to spend more as a share of national income on age-related items such as pensions and healthcare ... non-demographic trends are likely to reduce revenue from sources such as North Sea oil."

Oh, well. That's it – we're stuffed. Why weren't we told this before? Actually, we were. That quote above is not from John Swinney's leaked report to the Scottish Government. It is from the report by the Office For Budget Responsibility's Fiscal Sustainability Report, presented to the UK Coalition Government in July 2012 – and the country it refers to is the UK. These affordability issues are the same north and south of the Border – actually, they are less of a problem in Scotland.

< p>Swinney's "bombshell report" wasn't about "cutting pensions" as some parts of the press claimed, it was about how much Scotland could reasonably put into an oil fund for the future given its social-spending commitments. Choices have to be made. You can't expect an independent Scotland to be immune from economic uncertainty, immune to the ageing population, immune to recession and fluctuating oil prices. But no credible economist seriously argues today that Scotland could not survive as an independent small nation like Norway, Denmark or Finland.

< p>Actually, in an age of economic uncertainty, John Swinney is a useful guy to have around. He is ultra-cautious, often to the despair of his Cabinet colleagues. But this Finance Secretary has achieved a remarkable feat over the last six years in managing to afford all of Alex Salmond's giveaway policies – abolition of student fees, free prescriptions, free bus passes, free personal care – within a static budget that has been squeezed in real terms. Commentators like me kept saying it couldn't be done, that the SNP Government would find it impossible to balance the books without cutting spending on health. We were wrong.

< p>SO, the fact that cautious John was trying to rein in his high-spending Cabinet colleagues by telling them a few home truths is no bad thing. The fact it was leaked last week will, I think, be to the Yes campaign's long-term benefit, provided they don't retreat into a defensive shell, snarling about the "Unionist press". The press coverage was over the top, economically illiterate and rather childish. But you don't get to choose the press and this is the same media that will be covering the independence campaign next year.

< p>The SNP will have to find ways of addressing Scotland's fears if it wants to get this anxious, risk-averse nation to step into the unknown. This is the downside of basing the case for independence on economics alone. It's not called the dismal science for nothing. Even the most benign economic picture can look bleak if you focus on risk. Better Together leaked Swinney's "secret files" to coincide with publication of the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures, an annual statement showing the balance between spending and tax revenues. This year it confirmed Scotland's deficit would be 5% of GDP – but that is substantially less than the UK deficit of 8%.

< p>In other words, Scotland is in a much better place financially right now than the rest of the UK. Did no-one notice that the UK lost its AAA rating the other week? And remember that if Scotland were independent, the UK would not be able to rely on the £11 billion a year from the North Sea, so its deficit would rise.

< p>This is important. It means Scotland is in no danger of becoming another Greece, or Ireland – unable to pay its way and suffering a sovereign debt crisis and internal devaluation. This is not exclusively because of the £1.5 trillion of oil in the North Sea. Scotland has five of the world's leading universities, one-quarter of Europe's offshore wind and wave energy, one of the most valuable tourist brands in the world and luxury exports such as whisky, which brings in £4bn a year. We might even be capable of making things if we had any industry left.

< p>But there is nothing certain in economics, and the job of a finance minister is not to tell people what they want to hear. Oil revenues are volatile. Ten years ago, the price of a barrel was less than half what it is today. It would be unwise for an independent Scotland to rely on natural resources alone, and a proper industrial strategy would have to be introduced to diversify the Scottish economy. But an independent Scotland would be less dependent on oil income than Norway, which has the world's highest standard of living.

< p>We have an ageing population, a situation marginally worse in Scotland than in England. I say "worse" – in fact, people living longer is a very good thing. But it does mean you need lots of young workers to pay the taxes to look after them. Ten years ago, everyone believed Scotland's population was going to decline below five million. In fact, it has risen to 5.3 million: its highest level ever. All those young Polish workers coming here are having large families, which has turned the situation round. But with the UK imposing ever tighter immigration restrictions, this may be choked off if Scotland stays in the UK.

< p>Meanwhile, Scotland exports many of its graduates and skilled workers because we don't have jobs for them here. When I was rector of Edinburgh University, I was acutely aware this world-class institution was churning out large numbers of brilliant graduates who would never find work in Scotland. They take their learning south or abroad, which is what Scots have been doing for the past 200 years.

< p>Now, an independent Scotland might make this worse; there is no guarantee of anything. But I am finding it increasingly hard to see how Scotland's problems can be addressed without substantially greater economic powers and investment. Scotland's industry has long gone; the start-up rate for new businesses is dismal; the financial sector – look at RBS – is in crisis. Scotland is falling off the economic map in a UK dominated by the city state of London.

< p>It's the HS2 factor: Scotland pays, through taxes and oil revenues, to build a high-speed rail network which starts in London and stops at Manchester. Last week, we learned that 6000 troops which were supposed to come to Scotland will go to Salisbury and Northern Ireland. Even Lord Heseltine says that the greatest problem facing he UK is over-centralisation of economic life in London and the southeast.

< p> Devolution has begun to address the "democratic deficit" in Scotland, but what the Scottish Parliament lacks is power to address very deep-seated economic problems. It isn't only Nationalists who are concerned about this.

< p>As I pointed out last week, the Labour shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, is proposing a national convention, to look at ways of preventing a No in the referendum leading to a decade of despair in Scotland.

< p>If Scotland votes No, there will be no Union dividend to fall back on. Living on handouts from Westminster is no longer an option. Debilitating dependency will only turn Scotland into the introverted, negative and depressed little country that is presented to us every week in much of the Scottish press.

< p>That is the true message of Swinney's secret bombshell. The SNP should start leaking these bombshell reports on a monthly basis.

      
Oh, well. That's it – we're stuffed. Why weren't we told this before? Actually, we were. That quote above is not from John Swinney's leaked report to the Scottish Government. It is from the report by the Office For Budget Responsibility's Fiscal Sustainability Report, presented to the UK Coalition Government in July 2012 – and the country it refers to is the UK. These affordability issues are the same north and south of the Border – actually, they are less of a problem in Scotland.

Swinney's "bombshell report" wasn't about "cutting pensions" as some parts of the press claimed, it was about how much Scotland could reasonably put into an oil fund for the future given its social-spending commitments. Choices have to be made. You can't expect an independent Scotland to be immune from economic uncertainty, immune to the ageing population, immune to recession and fluctuating oil prices. But no credible economist seriously argues today that Scotland could not survive as an independent small nation like Norway, Denmark or Finland.

Actually, in an age of economic uncertainty, John Swinney is a useful guy to have around. He is ultra-cautious, often to the despair of his Cabinet colleagues. But this Finance Secretary has achieved a remarkable feat over the last six years in managing to afford all of Alex Salmond's giveaway policies – abolition of student fees, free prescriptions, free bus passes, free personal care – within a static budget that has been squeezed in real terms. Commentators like me kept saying it couldn't be done, that the SNP Government would find it impossible to balance the books without cutting spending on health. We were wrong.

SO, the fact that cautious John was trying to rein in his high-spending Cabinet colleagues by telling them a few home truths is no bad thing. The fact it was leaked last week will, I think, be to the Yes campaign's long-term benefit, provided they don't retreat into a defensive shell, snarling about the "Unionist press". The press coverage was over the top, economically illiterate and rather childish. But you don't get to choose the press and this is the same media that will be covering the independence campaign next year.

The SNP will have to find ways of addressing Scotland's fears if it wants to get this anxious, risk-averse nation to step into the unknown. This is the downside of basing the case for independence on economics alone. It's not called the dismal science for nothing. Even the most benign economic picture can look bleak if you focus on risk. Better Together leaked Swinney's "secret files" to coincide with publication of the latest Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures, an annual statement showing the balance between spending and tax revenues. This year it confirmed Scotland's deficit would be 5% of GDP – but that is substantially less than the UK deficit of 8%.
In other words, Scotland is in a much better place financially right now than the rest of the UK. Did no-one notice that the UK lost its AAA rating the other week? And remember that if Scotland were independent, the UK would not be able to rely on the £11 billion a year from the North Sea, so its deficit would rise.

This is important. It means Scotland is in no danger of becoming another Greece, or Ireland – unable to pay its way and suffering a sovereign debt crisis and internal devaluation. This is not exclusively because of the £1.5 trillion of oil in the North Sea. Scotland has five of the world's leading universities, one-quarter of Europe's offshore wind and wave energy, one of the most valuable tourist brands in the world and luxury exports such as whisky, which brings in £4bn a year. We might even be capable of making things if we had any industry left.

But there is nothing certain in economics, and the job of a finance minister is not to tell people what they want to hear. Oil revenues are volatile. Ten years ago, the price of a barrel was less than half what it is today. It would be unwise for an independent Scotland to rely on natural resources alone, and a proper industrial strategy would have to be introduced to diversify the Scottish economy. But an independent Scotland would be less dependent on oil income than Norway, which has the world's highest standard of living.

We have an ageing population, a situation marginally worse in Scotland than in England. I say "worse" – in fact, people living longer is a very good thing. But it does mean you need lots of young workers to pay the taxes to look after them. Ten years ago, everyone believed Scotland's population was going to decline below five million. In fact, it has risen to 5.3 million: its highest level ever. All those young Polish workers coming here are having large families, which has turned the situation round. But with the UK imposing ever tighter immigration restrictions, this may be choked off if Scotland stays in the UK.

Meanwhile, Scotland exports many of its graduates and skilled workers because we don't have jobs for them here. When I was rector of Edinburgh University, I was acutely aware this world-class institution was churning out large numbers of brilliant graduates who would never find work in Scotland. They take their learning south or abroad, which is what Scots have been doing for the past 200 years.

Now, an independent Scotland might make this worse; there is no guarantee of anything. But I am finding it increasingly hard to see how Scotland's problems can be addressed without substantially greater economic powers and investment. Scotland's industry has long gone; the start-up rate for new businesses is dismal; the financial sector – look at RBS – is in crisis. Scotland is falling off the economic map in a UK dominated by the city state of London.

It's the HS2 factor: Scotland pays, through taxes and oil revenues, to build a high-speed rail network which starts in London and stops at Manchester. Last week, we learned that 6000 troops which were supposed to come to Scotland will go to Salisbury and Northern Ireland. Even Lord Heseltine says that the greatest problem facing he UK is over-centralisation of economic life in London and the southeast.

Devolution has begun to address the "democratic deficit" in Scotland, but what the Scottish Parliament lacks is power to address very deep-seated economic problems. It isn't only Nationalists who are concerned about this.

As I pointed out last week, the Labour shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, is proposing a national convention, to look at ways of preventing a No in the referendum leading to a decade of despair in Scotland.

If Scotland votes No, there will be no Union dividend to fall back on. Living on handouts from Westminster is no longer an option. Debilitating dependency will only turn Scotland into the introverted, negative and depressed little country that is presented to us every week in much of the Scottish press.

That is the true message of Swinney's secret bombshell. The SNP should start leaking these bombshell reports on a monthly basis.

Reprinted from Sunday Herald
http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/with-enemies-like-the-better-together-campaign-who-needs-friends.20449422

Posted by Joe Middleton at 9:22 AM 0 comments

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Saturday, March 09, 2013

Useful Scottish Independence Quotes - Please pass on!
















Posted by Joe Middleton at 12:09 AM 0 comments

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