LABOUR ARM TWISTING OF CARDINAL PAYS OFF

Cardinal forced to reconsider home rule

Labour Party pressure on Cardinal Keith O'Brien to re-think his sympathetic views on independence appeared to have paid off yesterday.

The leader of Scotland's Roman Catholics stressed what he said would be "the tremendous amount of money" required for Scotland to split from the UK.

The comments follows several meetings with high-level Labour figures, including Chancellor Gordon Brown, and Jack McConnell, First Minister. There had been alarm in Labour ranks that the cardinal's comments last month, that he would be "happy" with independence if that is what people want and forecasting independence would come "before too long", could damage Labour.

Cardinal O'Brien said yesterday that the constitutional issue was not about morality: "There are reasons why Scotland could become independent, so politicians and the people have to weigh up other reasons why it should not be independent. "One thing is the tremendous amount of money which would have to be raised for an independent Scotland" he added.

[What a shameful sight, a religious leader effectively forced to recite Labour's typical scaremongering rubbish after making the obvious point that Scotland had a right to independence and that many other nations had flourished after doing so. Perhaps Gordon will go to hell for telling the Cardinal bare faced lies. As an atheist I doubt it but it would be appropriate. This is the man who says his favourite goal is Gazza's against Scotland, and yet he has the brass neck to bully the Cardinbal for telling the truth. A pity O'Brien didn't tell him to get st*ffed! JOE]