Norway replies (in Daily Mail) to Salmond attack

The article "Salmond Slapped down by Norway Minister" in the Daily Mail on 29 October contained several incorrect and misleading statements attributed to Norway's Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre.

Firstly, there is no "growing anger in Norway" over comparisons made between Scotland and Norway during the debate in the United Kingdom against the backdrop of the current global financial crisis.

Secondly, no accusations have been made by Mr Støre against Mr Salmond, as alleged in the article. In the interview, the Foreign Minister merely pointed out factual similarities and differences between the challenges presently faced by Scotland and Norway. Inferring from this that Mr Støre is of the view that Mr Salmond has in any way lied or mislead the public, is simply incorrect.

In short, the Norwegian Foreign Minister did not intend to criticise either side in this debate, which is a domestic political discussion. What he strongly emphasised in the interview with the Daily Mail and which, sadly, was simply omitted from the article, was his sincere appreciation of the warm ongoing relationship between Scotland and Norway.

Yours sincerely,
Bjarne Lindstrøm
Ambassador of Norway

Why the British Union doesn't work

Since a British u is attacking my arithmetic here is my reply:

Total Number of British MP's at Westminster: 646

Scots MP's: 59

England on it's own has 529 MP's.

This means that English MP's heavily outweigh all the other countries in the British state and it means that the union is highly unequal as a result.

A majority of Scottish MP's voted against Trident but the British Government is pushing ahead anyway. If we were independent we would have our own direct voice in the EU and UN. We would have a seat in the Council of Ministers, we would have our own European commissioner and we would have more Euro MP's.

Most importantly our flag would fly at the United Nations and we would have our own seat there. We would control our own defence, foreign policy, benefits policy, broadcasting and pensions which are currently controlled by Westminster.

So if we voted against Trident it wouldn't happen and we wouldn't be wasting billions on an unusable deterrent which is intended to prop up the old fiction of Britain being a world power.

Scotland doesn't want to be a world power but we do need to have the same powers as every other country around the world and that can only happen with independence.

If the Scots in the cabinet worked in Scotland's interests that might be an advantage but it is obvious that they don't. Look at the HBOS takeover for a current obvious example.

Scotland would benefit if HBOS remained an independent bank based in Scotland. Brown wants it to be merged with Lloyds TSB which is likely to result in the HQ moving south and the loss of thousands of Scottish jobs.

To do this he is using Billions of borrowed pounds, much of which will be raised from future taxation on Scotland. So we're paying for the wrong decision to happen to our bank with the added rider that Mr Brown believes this indicates that Scotland is too poor to have independence and has the cheek to compare oil rich Scotland with tiny Iceland which was in part destabalised by the actions of the British Government! So much for the 'union dividend'.

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I've printed the whole post below with my replies to each point:


Joe,

Good morning. It’s actually about 10:1 (587:59 MPs). But the exact ratio is largely irrelevant.
I don’t accept your notion that Scotland is “outvoted”. There’s no anti-Scottish bloc voting against our interests. Scots are no more “outvoted” than any other identifiable subgroup: elderly people, non-Caucasians or gay people, for example. Geography is only one distinguishing factor. But I’ll use inverted commas around the word “outvoted” and tackle you on your own terms.

Scotland is a country and represents the people who live in Scotland. Scottish MP's are recognised as a group within the British Parliament and they actually meet occasionally as a group (the Scottish Grand Committee).

Now obviously there are a variety of MP's from different parties, well two kinds actually, the Trident supporting right wing Brits ie Labour, Lib Dems and Tories and the SNP. The SNP are the only party which is based in Scotland and represents Scottish interests but nonetheless MP's elected in Scotland can fairly be described as Scottish MP's even when their first loyalty is not necessarily to Scotland.

Consider this: there being about 70,000 voters in the Glenrothes constituency, each individual is massively “outvoted” when it comes to electing the local MP.

Not really. everyone gets a vote and the winner wins. PR is fairer than FPTP as a system and we have that in the Scottish parliament and would likely have that in an independent Scottish Government but the voters of Fife have a democratic choice at the moment.

Even within the Kingdom of Fife, Glenrothes is only one of four Westminster constituencies, so could perhaps be said to be “outvoted” by a factor of 3:1.

Not really I think you will find that MP's in Fife are likely to work together, particularly when they are all Labour as they are currently.

And Fife itself is “outvoted” by a factor of 642:4 (about 160:1) in the UK parliament.

Fife is not a country. It is part of Scotland but the country of Scotland as a whole is indeed outvoted by a factor of 11-1 in the UK parliament.

Being “outvoted”, as you put it, is in the nature of representative democracy.

English MP's are not outvoted, the other countries are.

So why are you seemingly unconcerned about Fife being in such a position, but telling anyone who will listen that Scotland is “outvoted by a factor of 11-1” within Britain?

Because it's the truth.

I would suggest that your nationalism, rather than any argument about democratic representation, is at the root of your thinking. You see Scots (not Fifers) as separate, are outraged that we aren’t, and so that nationalistic tail wags your political dog.

After all, Scots – unlike Fifers – form a “nation without a state”, not unlike the Sioux, Bretons, Tamils, Sardinians and many others. Can you see yet where your argument breaks down? Should they all be independent? Should the USA, France, Sri Lanka, Italy and other nations cease to exist in their current forms as a result? But I digress.

You're not getting anywhere with your misleading arguments. Brittany has a right to independence and France and Spain as ex-imperial states could be further broken down. The Basque and Catalan countries are obvious examples and are moving towards independence. Sardinia also has an independence movement. The USA is large but it is obviously seen as a distinct country and at this point there is no serious movement to break it up.

The Sioux are a conquered people unfortunately, but their original ownership of America (with the rest of the native Americans) is a historical fact which should not be ignored.

In your terms, Britain is similarly “outvoted” in the European Parliament – by a factor of 9:1 (in fact 707:78). But do you see me fretting about that? Of course not, because I’m a Unionist!

That is a problem, which has led to the creation of UKIP. The UK is already independent actually, but UKIP are British unionists (nationalists) like yourself. Scotland would be outvoted in the EU but no one country is large enough to dominate the whole EU which makes a difference.

Not a British nationalist. I’ll leave that to those on the fringes: to the likes of UKIP.

It's the same thing. Britain as currently constituted is a nation so the supporters of British nationhood are nationalists and (some are imperialists as well such as the BNP). If you fly the Union Jack then you are a British nationalist by definition.

But a conviction Unionist. So I’m Pro-Scotland, pro-Britain and pro-Europe.

But you are less pro Scotland than I am because you are happy to see our interests subverted to Britain's, I'm not.

That means I’m at ease with the idea of distributed sovereignty. I’ll consider what powers might best be exercised at Scottish, British or European levels not just on the basis of uncritical subsidiarity, or what’s thought to be best only for “us” (however defined).

Yes we Scots can do that as well and that is the problem, Britain stops us from making these decisions for ourselves. Post independence we might choose to work together with England on certain things but that would be our democratic choice.

Rather, the Unionist ideal is to pool resources, to come together whenever, on balance, it serves our common good. And if at times that cuts across narrow ideas of “our” versus “their” interests, then so be it – even for your hobbyhorse issues of defence and foreign affairs.

Yes, well unfortunately what actually happens is that Scotland's voice is entirely ignored altogether and Britain's voice is the only one that is heard. On Trident we don't want it, Britain does, so we get it.

Anyway, we already cede some such powers to the EU, NATO and UN (and even to the US) and while you and I could probably bicker all day about the appropriateness of the current distribution, the internationalist principle is an important one which nationalist doctrines inevitably undermine.

Yes the US controls the missiles which makes them rather pointless.

And that’s why, as David Cameron rightly said, unionists will win this battle of ideas. Your rhetoric may be pithier, but our vision is far more forward-looking, generous and inclusive.

But of course, in our relations with the rest of the world, Scotland’s and Britain’s interests are our primary focus, and there’s no contradiction between that statement and the foregoing. The distribution of sovereignty, rather like the decision-making dynamic within a healthy marriage, must work to all its parties’ net advantage, if not to each individual partner’s in every respect.

And on that score your argument falls apart completely. An independent Scotland would be “outvoted” in the European Parliament probably by 771:14 (roughly 55:1).

So again I’ll ask: why doesn’t that vex you? Where’s your consistency? Why is being “outvoted” 10:1 in Britain such a concern, but being “outvoted” 55:1 in Europe such a welcome prospect?

It's pretty obvious. Within Britain if there is a conflict of interest between what suits England and what suits Scotland and Wales then it's pretty obvious whose argument will win within the London parliament. The numbers are clear to see.

In terms of the EU yes there is also a problem there because we would be outvoted by a large factor. However no one country dominates the EU and therefore it is possible to work together on a common agenda. Also, if we are independent and we don't like the direction of the EU we would have the power to leave it, we don't have that at the moment.

STONE OF DESTINY - EXCELLENT TRIBUTE TO SCOTS PATRIOTS

The young patriots celebrate their triumph with John MacCormick (Robert Carlisle)

Ian Hamilton QC is something of a legend in nationalist circles. In recent years he has been a highly entertaining and controversial blogger and he enjoyed a sparkling legal career as an advocate but his ultimate moment of triumph was his 1950's heist (with other young Scots nationalists) of the Stone of Destiny.

This action of civil disobedience caught the imagination of a generation and has inspired all future Scottish independence activists. It's sheer audacity and ambition remains incredible today and it must have been utterly startling in 1950's Scotland.

Charles Martin Smith (a co-star with Sean Connery and Kevin Costner in Brian de Palma's 1987 classic The Untouchables like Mel Gibson before him (with Braveheart) has brought an outsiders enthusiasm to Scottish history.

The film based on Ian Hamilton's own book is excellent from start to finish. 1950's Scotland and London is convincingly portrayed and there are some wonderful supporting turns by Robert Carlyle as nationalist leader John MacCormick (father of Neil (SNP Euro MP) and Iain (SNP MP)and founder of the Scottish National Party), Brenda Thricker as his housekeeper and Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd as a reluctant co-conspirator.

The main cast are also superb, the young actors who play Ian and his friend (and possible romantic interest) Kay Mathieson are particularly good (Charlie Cox and Kate Mara) and Peter Mullan is superb as the proud but stern father of Hamilton.

The film begins with the frustration of the Scottish Covenant, the two million strong petition for Home Rule which is completely ignored by the UK Government. In one scene a bitter drunken man reflects on the dreadful position Scotland finds itself, as North Britain a mere adjunct of the British state.

The young Hamilton realises that only an audacious act of rebellion can shake up the torpor of Scotland's resentful acceptance of the union even when (as with the Covenant) it is blatantly obvious that her interests are completely ignored.

He hatches a plan to steal the Stone of Destiny. The ancient 'seat of the Scottish kings' had been stolen by England in 1296. Rebellions initially led by William Wallace and the eventual victory of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn managed to guarantee Scottish independence for hundreds of years but the theft of the Stone of Scone was a huge historic injustice. For years the Stone had been welded into the bottom of the UK King's coronation chair and it represented England's ancient dominion over Scotland.

(Some claim by the way that the stolen Stone was in actual fact not the real stone at all and that the actual stone had been hidden. A view that the current leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond endorses.)

The Stone was considered a potent symbol of Scotland's rights to political independence and the repatriation of the stone proved to be a massive rallying point for the Scottish nationalist cause.

The film highlights the fear and uncertainty of the young gang but also their undiminished passion for their country and there determination to get the job done. It proves extremely difficult but eventually they are successful leading to a massive wave of patriotic pride which cannot be underestimated in its effects on the national cause.

Ian Hamilton and the others gave themselves up but were denied their day in court (the authorities realising that it would only give further publicity to the cause). Hamilton is a deserved hero and the story of him, Kay and his compatriots Alan Stuart and Gavin Vernon (played in the film by Ciaron Kelly and Stephen McCole) is a fitting tribute. Hamilton himself has a cameo and it must have thrilled him to see his efforts so lovingly recreated on the big screen.

Sadly the film has been subject to a number of scathing reviews which no doubt are in reaction to it's uncompromising Scottish nationalist stance, however this is a brilliant, funny and passionate portrayal of a crucial event in Scotland's past.

PS: Hamilton also has another notable claim to fame. As a young advocate his refusal to swear an oath to the monarch as her title was inaccurate (The Queen styles herself Elizabeth II even though her correct title should be Elizabeth I as there has only been a Queen Elizabeth I of England not Britain or Scotland) prompted the society to change their rules. The British state (under Winston Churchill) was also forced to indicate that in future all Kings would be 'known by the higher number' of either Scotland or England. A rather ridiculous decision which shows that the British state knew that Hamilton was right and that the Queen's position was legally untenable.

Scots need control of our own destiny

14/10/2008

Dear Sir,

I note that all the usual suspects in the media have decided that the current world financial crisis presents definitive proof that Scottish independence is now a hopeless cause. Given that none of them believed in independence in the first place this is no great shock.

What has actually happened is that the British parliament has used it's superior financial muscle to buy our banks out and move control directly from Edinburgh to the city of London. As an independent nation this definitely would not have happened.

Whether it was a brilliant idea or a disastrous financial mistake is the question. In truth it is likely to be a bit of both. It may well help stabilise the UK economy but it will undoubtedly undermine Scotland's long term financial prospects.

No country around the world is looking for political control to be taken away from them in the midst of this financial crisis. Quite the reverse.

Iceland was in part brought down by the British Labour Government's illegal appropriation of 4 billion pounds of funds held by Icelandic banks under 'anti-terrorism' legislation. Iceland described this as an 'extremely unfriendly' act.

At the same time the new Scottish Secretary has deliberately insulted all our near neighbours by claiming they share an "arc of insolvency" despite the fact that Norway and Ireland have both acted more swiftly than the UK and with better effect.

The UK might be pleased to hear that they do share a political set of values with one Government however. Yes, Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe is trying to convince his political opponent that control of foreign policy, defence and home affairs is best left in his capable hands. A deal that Morgan Tsvangirai says 'only an idiot' would accept. Sounds familiar? Well isn't that the 'great deal' that British unionism offers for Scotland!

Independence is normality and nothing in the current financial crisis suggests a long term problem for small nations. It does however show very clearly the problem of being ruled by a political union where your country is outvoted 11-1.

Yours faithfully,

JOE MIDDLETON

Ireland is still a success story – and Scotland could be, too

Scotsman - 14 October 2008

MARC COLEMAN claims Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy was wide of the mark with his 'arc of insolvency' remarks

I DON'T know which is more shocking about Jim Murphy's recent comments on Ireland's economy. As Secretary of State for Scotland, presumably carrying a degree of responsibility for managing Scotland's economy, the incompetence is staggering. More shocking still is the use of megaphone diplomacy – for the most selfish of political reasons – at such a sensitive time, when loose talk by politicians can do damage.

Last week, Mr Murphy accused the Scottish Government of making "petty, part-political jibes" about the global crisis. He said: "Now look what's happening to those countries – Ireland in recession, Iceland really struggling. The UK is the fourth-largest economy in the world. We get great strength from that and these other countries the SNP try to compare Scotland to – Ireland, Iceland and others – they're struggling remarkably."

But let me put my native pride aside and get down to the real issue: the economic illiteracy revealed in Mr Murphy's comments.

In contrast to Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, and George Osborne, the Tory shadow chancellor – both of whom have visited Ireland to look at our economy – Mr Murphy hasn't bothered to study what is going on in Ireland, nor in his own country.

Equating Iceland with Ireland is very wide of the mark. There may only be one letter of difference in the spelling, but Mr Murphy should look behind that to spot some very important differences.

Three Icelandic banks have been declared bankrupt, leaving UK depositors in dire straits. In Ireland, swift and decisive action by Ireland's government has protected our bank deposits, but also those with UK Post Office Savings Bank, which is owned by Bank of Ireland, not to mention the Irish subsidiaries or arms of five other UK-based banks.

At 25 per cent, Ireland's debt-to-GDP ratio is the second-lowest in the European Union. At most, recapitalising our banks will add seven percentage points to that, bringing it to perhaps the fourth-lowest. If there is one thing Ireland isn't, it's insolvent.

Unlike Iceland, Ireland's euro membership protects us from exchange-rate pressures and limits the risk premiums paid on government debt. EU and euro membership, plus a business-friendly tax regime, makes Ireland a world beater in foreign direct investment and a home to leading high-technology multinationals. Add a booming indigenous traded services sector to that, and we have a very different story to our colder island neighbour to the north.

But even if Iceland faces problems, which independent nation doesn't from time to time? Isn't it better for a nation to make and correct its own mistakes, rather than remain in a state of permanent policy dependency on others?

The answer to that question depends on how confident you are in yourself. Scotland's genius has given the world the television, the telephone, penicillin, much modern industrial practice and, of course, the science of economics. The idea that this nation cannot successfully manage its economic interdependency with the rest of the world is, to me, laughable.

Far from there being an "arc of insolvency", the real arc here is an "arc of indifference", encompassing Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, and despite both nationalists and unionists wanting the republic's corporation tax rates (if not its republican government), Westminster imposes policies designed for the south of England. Scotland and Wales suffer the same. England also suffers through overcongestion and a huge tax subsidy.

Putting Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on a viable footing – letting them manage their economies – would not, of course, be in the political interest of politicians like Mr Murphy, who depend for their career advancement on the supplication and marginalisation of Scotland and Wales to Westminster. But it would be right for the people.

As for Ireland's recession, Mr Murphy is, again, clueless. After 15 years of record-busting growth, some froth is being blown off the Guinness. But the glass remains very much almost full: Ireland's economy grew by almost 90 per cent in the past ten years, four times faster than the EU and three times faster than countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Yes, we've had a property bubble – a bad Anglo-Saxon habit we're in the process of kicking. When that's done, by 2010, Irish GDP will have fallen four percentage points, but Ireland's average economic performance in the first decade of the millennium will remain streets ahead of the EU, OECD and UK.

How did we do it? Following Labour's disastrous management of the UK economy in the 1970s – which saw a once-proud Britain crawl cap-in-hand to the IMF – Ireland decided to embark on a strategy of monetary independence coupled with greater international economic interdependence. We broke the link with sterling and, while maintaining strong and friendly trading links with the UK, began to diversify our economic base more widely.

Membership of the euro in 1997 gave us access to a common currency area of 300 million people, a number now grown to more than 400 million. Since then, our population has increased from three million to 4.3 million. In my book The Best is Yet to Come, I draw a sad contrast between Ireland, where the all-island population will rise from more than six million to more than eight million by 2058, and Scotland, where population levels are falling and set to go below five million in the next few decades.

As well as increasingly positive interaction between its north and south, Ireland now enjoys excellent relations with the peoples of England, Scotland and Wales. The reason for this is the same as the reason why, even after our recession is over, we will remain one of Europe and the world's richest nations: we don't allow Westminster to appoint the likes of Mr Murphy to run our affairs.

• Marc Coleman is a former economist at the European Central Bank. He is economics editor of the Dublin radio station Newstalk.

DESPERATE TACTICS FROM REPUBLICANS SIGNAL OBAMA WIN

Sarah Palin. Has went way too far by linking Obama with terrorism.

I won't confess to having much interest in the US Presidential elections. There is very little difference between the Republicans and Democrats and whoever gets elected is unlikely to substantially change US policy worldwide.

The ignorant buffoon Bush has made America unpopular worldwide and yet he was elected for two terms, his folksy idiocy which the rest of the planet viewed with horror seemed (for the most part) to be just an indication that he was one of America's own.

I now confidently predict that Barack Obama will win the White House. The fairly smart and celebral McCain in an attempt to improve his image chose a young, inexperienced but attractive running mate to boost his credibility and give him the common god fearin' touch which served Bush well.

Unfortunately Sarah Palin is also a loud mouthed ignorant bigot. Her lack of knowledge of the outside world has been painfully obvious in her TV interviews and her harsh but carefully crafted sound bites haven't covered up her basic incompetence.

McCain had signalled that he was going to move into personal attack territory. However Palin has now severely overstepped the mark. Calling a presidential candidate a friend of terrorists is just too desperate to work.

This is the end of the McCain challenge as is forcefully argued here much of his appeal was that he seemed a bit different from the rest of the discredited Republican machine (people had became sick of Bush and his party eventually) but now his campaign has shown he will do and say anything to get elected. He's lost it and will now lose the election.

Comgratulations Obama. I hold no hope that you will do anything great but you can't be much worse than the last one.

KNIVE BROWN QUICK PETER AND DO US ALL A FAVOUR!

LABOUR became complacent about its power north of the border and should not have created a 'two jobs' Scottish Secretary, according to the new holder of the post. Jim Murphy, who was appointed to the Cabinet job on Friday, said Gordon Brown made a mistake when he hitched the job onto another Cabinet position...

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/uk/Brown39s-39mistake39-over-Scottish-role.4559852.jp#3304121

Technically the Scottish Secretary post is supposed to be about representing Scotland's views in the cabinet. In fact it is actually a sort of colonial governor general type post where the UK Government tells the Scottish parliament it has it all wrong. Previously the Tory incumbents used to give the exact same message to the entire population and we know how that went down eventually.

Murphy clearly has a closed mind already. Was it ever open? Probably not. The SNP should avoid any meetings with this puppet of the desperate Brown. There is no need for a Scottish secretary post devolution. It's an utter irrelevance and could and should have been abolished some time ago.

Ex minister David Cairns always came across as a rather pompous squeaky puppy on newsnight while Des Browne (though a fairly normal human being in person) was effectively invisible in Scotland. He's now been dumped (one less Jock in the cabinet) and the desperate Murphy has been promoted well beyond his competence. I expect he will recycle all Gordon's garbage until he loses his seat at the UK elections. He certainly won't have any relevance to either the SNP or the Scottish people.

The return of Mandelson (soon to be followed by his fellow failure Blunkett, yes really!) shows that Brown is utterly desperate. Mandy will choose his moment to knive Gordon again and usher in a new English Tony, but one cannot say that this time Gordon won't deserve it.

He's had his chance and has used it to undermine his own country, basically made a complete fool of himself and wasted the last opportunity to turn Labour into a credible alternative to Toryism. I say a permanent good riddence to Brown and all his ilk. Knive him quick Peter and do us all a favour.

BETRAYAL OF BANK OF SCOTLAND CAN BE REVERSED

So the media would have us believe that HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland) was about to do a Northern Rock and collapse. It needed 'White Knight' Gordon Brown to ride in on his white horse and 'save' the bank by selling it at a tenth of it's value to one of it's major rivals.

I'm sorry but I just don't buy it. Luckily it's not over yet. Shareholders can save Bank of Scotland by rejecting this deal. HBOS share price would have recovered. It is actually a bigger more effective bank than Lloyds TSB with a larger market share. The Halifax merger may have weakened it but it had retained most of it's independence and the HQ was controlled in Edinburgh.

Instead we are looking at a new massive bank which will reduce competition be based in London (not Edinburgh) and will kill the Bank of Scotland's legacy as our only Scottish bank which has survived since the days of independence.

Brown brokered this 'deal' without regard to the Scottish national interest but I hope shareholders will feel differently about the future of the most important bank to the Scottish economy. I have my bank account, pension and mortgage all with the Bank of Scotland. If this deal goes through I will move the lot to RBOS and many others will do the same.

Banks 'belong' to the depositors and the staff not just the shareholders. The chief executive no doubt needs to go but the bank itself can and should survive. I feel nothing but disgust for the treatment of this ancient institution by BritGov, it will be remembered for a long, long time if this betrayal of Scotland goes through.

Count on it.

MEDIA BLACK OUT OF DISGUSTING 'F*CK 'EM' LORD SEB COE COMMENT

"The creation of the team [GB] has been opposed by the Football Associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are concerned it may compromise their individual status within Fifa.But he said the BOA, which selects teams for the Games, has decided to press ahead with a football squad despite the opposition.When asked last night about the opposition from the Welsh and Scots, Coe replied bluntly: “F*** em!”

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See also the Tartan Army Board

http://taboard.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=82111

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Thanks to Ray B. for passing on the above information. This story has been removed from the website of the paper concerned and Lord Coe has threatened legal action however since it appeared in the print media it seems unlikely that the paper simply invented it. Perhaps Coe made the remarks 'off the record' and trusted the journalists to keep schtum.

What is perhaps most surprising is that this story has not made the TV media AT ALL.

The whole issue has been blacked out despite the story appearing in both The London Paper and The Metro. Obviously if it turns out that the journalists concerned have made up the story then Coe will escape censure however an urgent investigation needs to happen immediately because if true it is clear that his position is completely untenable.

The Scottish and Welsh national football teams are functionally independent. Since both are completely opposed to a British team neither the English FA nor the British Government can force through a British Olympic Football Team under those circumstances. To do so could seriously compromise future Scottish and Welsh involvement in The World Cup and European Championships. (Is this actually the game plan of 'the Anti-Scot' Gordon Brown?).

Lord Sebastian Coe seems to think that not only can a team GB be forced through against our own FA's express wishes but that he can insult Scotland and Wales with impunity. Clearly his alleged remarks have been blacked out of the British media altogether which suggests that the powers that be believe this story is just too embarassing to break.

Luckily the power of the internet is such nowadays that this won't work. Personally I believe that Coe has reacted as reported. No doubt he didn't mean his remarks to be widely circulated as it would inevitably mean his job however the almost imperialist attitude that Scotland and Wales simply DO NOT COUNT are the political consequence of joining in an unequal union with a country that in our case is eleven times larger and in Wales case 20 times.

Brown forgets Scotland and HBOS in conference speech

Given that this guy is an ultra unionist this is a damning indictment of Gordon Brown's relevance to Scotland:

Brown has forgotten his Scottish roots

by Angus Macleod, Scottish Political Editor (Times)

Anyone in Glenrothes watching Gordon Brown's big speech yesterday might have been excused for wondering what it had to do with them. Granted there were touches of the well-worn pulpit-thumping Brown style familiar to all Scots, but equally there were large swaths of the speech, on crime and health policy for example, which, because of devolution, had absolutely no relevance to the good citizens of the Fife town or anywhere else north of the Border.

Free universal check-ups for the over-40s? Extension of nursery places? No prescription charges for cancer patients? A commissioner for victims of crime? More children connected to the internet? All England and Wales only, I'm afraid.

It was a speech that underlined just how wide the domestic policy divide between Scotland and England is nowadays, especially when the party in charge in Edinburgh is different from the government in London.

Whereas Scots already have cheaper prescriptions for all, England gets free prescriptions for cancer patients in a year's time. While Scotland already has free personal care of the elderly, England, the Prime Minister pledged, is to get more financial protection for the vulnerable elderly.

The only policy initiatives mentioned by Brown yesterday that could truly be said to be UK-wide was his promised future restoration of the link between state pensions and earnings and his never-ending fight against child poverty.

On flexible opening of GPs' surgeries and new targets for curbing carbon emissions, Brown is actually catching up with the SNP administration at Holyrood.

Indeed, this very Scottish Prime Minister, apart from one glancing reference, hardly mentioned Scotland at all. He also completely ignored Alex Salmond and the SNP as if they didn't exist. Unfortunately for him, they do - and right now only the most optimistic Labour fan of Brown would bet against the Nationalists inflicting another crushing and possibly politically terminal by-election defeat on both him and Labour in a Scottish by-election in a few weeks' time.

Having said that, there were many in Labour in Scotland who will feel uplifted by Brown's rhetoric and his sermon on “fairness”. It could hardly be otherwise, perhaps. Morale in Labour north of the Border is on the floor. But the “new settlement for new times” theme of the speech will be a difficult message to sell in Glenrothes after 11 years of a Labour Government dominated by Brown and Blair, when the big issues remain food and fuel bills.

These Labour troops in Scotland will have been thrilled as much as activists in England by Brown's assault on David Cameron and the Tories. The trouble is that north of the Border, Cameron's Tories are little more than also-rans.

Nor was there any specific mention of the travails of HBOS, a strange miss given that Brown, by at last ditching his dithering last week and taking decisive action to override competition rules, could make a fair case for having saved the day for the bank. Maybe he's keeping that for a rainy day in Glenrothes. Of course, that's if he decides to go there and campaign, as an increasing number in his party in Scotland believe he must.

A failure to do so would be seen not only by his own party but also by the wider Scottish public as a complete failure of leadership from a Prime Minister who only yesterday told us that he was the right person to lead Britain through the present economic jungle. It would be a Godsend for the Nationalists who could start contemplating the size of their majority. Prime ministerial convention that the office-holder does not get his hands dirty in a by-election campaign is one thing. Prime ministerial survival is quite another. Absence will not make the hearts of Glenrothes voters grow fonder of Brown.

SHAREHOLDERS CAN STILL SAVE OUR BANK

Listening to the podcast of the exchanges in the Scottish Parliament on Thursday (18/09) it was obvious that there was wide spread shock and dismay across all parties at the possible final elimination of Bank of Scotland as an independent bank.

This process began of course with the merger with Halifax to create HBOS but the Bank had survived that and despite dubious financial speculation by some it remained a powerful player.

Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling have been at pains to deny any efforts to save Scottish jobs, not that this was ever in doubt. Personally I believe that Mr Brown welcomes the demise of Bank of Scotland, in fact he believes he deserves substantial credit for engineering the takeover! This shows a certain mindset where the Union Jack is all important and Scottish interests are subsumed to the 'greater good' of the British economy.

The rules have been changed to stop 'short selling' but it is too little to late and one wonders why it was not felt necessary to do so before this potential disaster for the Scottish economy had happened.

The Bank of England are also seemingly happy with the deal but any shareholder or employee of the Company must be deeply disappointed, not to mention HBOS's millions of depositors!

Mr Brown has inadvertently illustrated the urgent need for Scottish independence. An independent Government might not have saved this national bank but they would certainly have tried to do so, rather than cheering this disastrous deal.

Luckily the Bank can still save itself. If only 25% of their shareholders hold their nerve and reject this insulting offer then HBOS will survive as a separate entity.

If they do then the long term prognosis is good despite the panic and hypocrisy of the Bank of England and the British Government who appear to believe this well funded well capitalised bank was on the brink of collapse even though their own Financial Services Authority completely disagreed!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: INDEPENDENCE FIRST DEBATE

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Independence First are organising an important debate about the case for and against Scottish independence with MSP speakers from the SNP, Greens and Labour and leading Scottish academics. The debate will be held at the STUC premises, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow on Saturday the 13th of September, 1pm - 4pm (registration 12.30pm onwards). Contact Carol Walker for more information.

British Citizenship did nothing for Gary McKinnon

A Scots computer hacker, Gary McKinnon is being deported to the US. McKinnon who suffers from Asbergers syndrome is likely to receive 70 years for 'terrorism' offences.

In actual fact all he did was expose some lapses in US security in his search for cover-ups on alien encounters. As a British citizen you would expect McKinnon would receive some support from his home Government.

No, Britain decided that it couldn't care less about the Scot. The US was much more important to them and they couldn't care less if his rights to a fair trial were breached.

Sadly that attitude was also shared by the European Court of Human Rights.

It's clear that in McKinnon's case British citizenship was worth nothing.

Perhaps it's time to give Scotland a shot at representing Scots abroad.

Chris Hoy: Proud to be part of a Scottish Olympic Team

Exclusive: Scotland can stand alone at Olympics.. with enough investment, says Chris Hoy

Aug 27 2008 By Joanne Curran (Daily Record)

TRIPLE gold medal hero Chris Hoy last night said he'd be proud to be part of a Scottish Olympic team. The Edinburgh cyclist rubbished reports that he thought the idea was "ridiculous".

Speaking exclusively to the Record, he told of his pride in his home country. And he said he believes Scotland could form a world-class team - with the right investment in sports.

Chris was given a hero's welcome when he landed back in Britain on Monday after winning three golds in Beijing. But the 32-year-old said: "I feel a bit upset that I have been quoted as saying the idea of a Scottish Olympic team is ridiculous.

"If and when a Scottish team was put together, I would be delighted to represent Scotland in the Olympic Games. But before that happens, so much needs to be done for the athletes to be able to compete at the highest level. As a cyclist, there isn't a facility in Scotland where I can train throughout the year and that's why I have to base myself outside Scotland."

"I am proud to be Scottish, but at the same time it's not feasible to think we can compete as a nation without the right facilities."

Chris - on his way home to an emotional reunion in Edinburgh with lawyer girlfriend Sarra - said major investment would be needed to make a Scottish team successful. He said: "Right now, around £20million a year is being invested in British cycling so there would be a huge investment required in Scotland."

He backed the campaign to save Edinburgh's Meadowbank stadium, where he trained as a young athlete. Today, crowds will line Edinburgh's Royal Mile to salute Chris and Scotland's other medal-winners - cyclist Ross Edgar, 25, rower Katherine Grainger, 32, and canoeist David Florence, 26.

A proud moment from political Olympic history

At the 1906 Athens Games, the Irish Gaelic Athletic Association sent a national Irish team, including Peter O'Connor, whose world record in the long jump stood for 20 years. But when they got to Athens, the British objected to having separate Irish representation and the party were allowed to compete only as part of the British team.

However, O'Connor, an Irish patriot, got his own back. At the medal ceremony for the long jump, he scaled the flag pole, pulled down the Union flag, and hoisted the green flag of Eire. Officials who tried to stop him were held off by Irish and Irish-American athletes and supporters.

This is from an interesting article from George Kerevan it was up in full but sadly the people at the Scotsman are now excluding it from public view.

Lazy assumptions about John Mason don't add up

"The SNP man in Glasgow this time is one John Mason, a local accountant and councillor who has been dubbed John "Whatever-his-name-is" owing to his unimpressive demeanour."

Ian MacWhirter, writing in the Guardian.

What a shame Ian MacWhirter repeats the same rubbish about John Mason that his colleagues in London have written. Unlike the bitter careerist Curran (whose TV manner is truly awful by the way) Mason has a track record of service to the area as a Councillor which is second to none. Margo MacDonald and Jim Sillars [who MacWhirters refers to as a comparison] are both tremendously talented individuals, unusually so and far more competent than any existing Labour MP, however Margo has already stated that Mason is an excellent candidate and in fact she claimed the SNP was holding him back (still as an independent you might expect her to say that).

I find it rather sad that MacWhirter would join the London hack pack dazzled by the celebrity of Alex Salmond and ignore the fact that Mason has answered all questions honestly and succinctly. Unlike Curran he has made no gaffes. His opinion on a referendum is shared with every other member of the SNP and any leader who ignored his view would not be leader for long.

Salmond is a powerful asset and the SNP are right to use him upfront in their campaign, anything else would be distinctly odd but their candidate is entirely competent and obviously honest. That will be a rarity for Glasgow East given the expenses scandal which was about to engulf their last MP. David Marshall was good at keeping his money and expenses within his immediate family but he was less successful in standing up for the interests of the people in the area. (There are obviously pockets of deprivation however when I went there on Saturday I don't think it seemed substantially different from any other area in Scotland, certainly no worse than where I live just now. I have tended to live in Labour supporting seats all my life, and from my own experience their vote is soft because it is based on a mistaken assumption, that Labour care what the working classes think, when in reality they don't).

These grim coupons say it all!

Margaret Curren lied about living in the East End all her life. She put out a letter to her proposed future constituents that she didn't even bother to read! She hypocritically says she can do two jobs after attacking Salmond for his own joint role. (I'm sure as Labour leader, which she will no doubt be rewarded with if she wins she will find it handy to get her orders from London based Labour MP's and then take them back to her MSP colleagues).

She pretended she was standing beside a 93 year old war veteran when in fact it was a Labour activist. Her only celebrity endoresement is a man who bwelieves the UK is dead and buried. Her campaign has been utterly disastrous and Labour have lied about having two thousand activists on the street when in reality they can barely muster 200.

If this is a great campaign with a competent candidate give me some of the drugs you are on Ian! If Labour win it will be because they have successfully pulled the wool over the people's eyes yet again but you can't fool al lthe people all the time. Their day of reckoning will come.

John Mason said there was no difference between Gordon Brown and David Cameron, how right he was. Both Labour and Tories want to stigmatise the unemployed and make them scrub the streets and pick up litter! Socialist values? Labour don't know the meaning of it and they haven't done for years. The best jobs they can provide are making their biometric ID cards so repressive regimes across the world can spy on their citizens. Wow!

The SNP are well to the left of Labour and they are proudly Scottish. When Labour attack Mason (by putting his face on their leaflets, which suggests despite their spin they do regard him as a serious candidate) for saying he wants to break up the UK they should realise that most people in Glasgow East are not actually as proud of the union as they are. In fact at the last census no less than 96 per cent chose to say they were Scottish rather than British, more than in any other Scottish constituency! Britishness is dead just like the 'socialist principles' of Nu Labour. Hopefully Glasgow East's voters will give Labour the kicking they deserve at the ballot box on Thursday.

If however the worst happens, Curran scrapes through and wins and is subsequently elected Labour's Scottish Leader I can't imagine a greater gift for Alex Salmond. The press can maintain she is wonderful all they like but the reality is that Wendy was at least personable on TV even if she was a poor tactician.

The abysmal attacks in this by-election on the SNP (which have all the hallmarks of being dreamt up by a delusional David Cairns MP) would be easily slapped down in the Scottish parliament. SNP are tartan Tories, oh really! SNP want independence, what a shock! SNP would keep trying after a referendum, good God I thought they would all go home!

This is political ABC and shows that Labour thinks the voters in glasgow are thick as mince. They are not and this rubbish can't sustain any serious politician and one who doesn't read her own leaflets isn't serious or committed to any genuine change. "I will phone Alastair Darling and ask him to change policy!" Gee, Maggie don't you have a phone in your MSP's office?
The reality is Curren would be lobby fodder just like David Marshall. Marshall voted against greater financial transparency at Westminster (what a shock!), he was in favour of ID cards despite saying "I remain concerned about the compulsory nature of the scheme and the cost. People living on benefits are genuinely poor and are unlikely to be able to afford the costs" yet he still voted for it. What a surprise! He also supported the Government over foundation hospitals, top up fees and 42 days detention.

Want an MP with a spine? Vote SNP!

Labour have sold out their traditional supporters

Letter to the Editor (Daily Record and others)

Sir,

Isn't it ironic that in the same week the Labour party savaged the SNP's John Mason for daring to suggest that there is little difference between their party and the Tories they themselves have provided the direct evidence?

Labour have now decided that the long term unemployed should be treated as criminals who must be sent out in work gangs to pick up litter and clean up chewing gum. This 'bright idea' was originally drawn up by David Cameron's Conservative party.

David Cameron is the same man who recently told the voters of Glasgow East that the poor and sick (and fat people, just for good measure) only had themselves to blame.

New Labour don't support the poor or the working classes or trade unionists. They are the tools of the rich and powerful, just like the Conservatives. Anyone who believes otherwise is either completely foolish or deliberately deluding themselves or both.

Wake up Scotland! We can do a lot better than this bunch of soulless hypocrites or their Tory pals but we need normal powers over our own country to do it.

Yours faithfully,

JOE MIDDLETON

The reality and the lies of Glasgow East by-election

Fantasy

East Enders will rewrite the script

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/opinion/Kenny-Farquharson-East-Enders-will.4306214.jp

Glasgow East is not about independence (he hopes! by Brian Wilson)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/07/20/do2005.xml

Reality

They would have employed a Monkey (inside Labour's campaign - brilliant!)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4362917.ece

LABOUR HYPOCRISY DESERVES DEFEAT IN GLASGOW EAST

One begins to wonder just how stupid the Labour party think the electors of Glasgow East are. Are they really expected to swallow the enormous lie that Labour are still socialists despite the fact that Labour's every move in Government has been designed to appeal to traditional Conservative voters?

The SNP's John Mason said there was little difference between Gordon Brown and Mrs Thatcher, given the idolisation of the latter by the former this is a statement of simple fact. The Labour party try and translate this into the SNP being Conservative supporters. One can't accuse them of originality since they have been attempting to stick the SNP with a Tartan Tory Tag since the 1970's.

Their other big idea is that the SNP are extremist nationalists. Why? Because the SNP believe in full self determination for the people of Scotland. Wait a minute aren't the Labour party also nationalists? Are they not absolutely desperate to maintain the British union? British nationalists are still nationalists they just think it's OK for their countrymen to be outvoted 10-1 at Westminster, probably because their parties are all completely controlled from inside the city of London.

Mason's support for independence (which is the same as every other member of the SNP) makes him supposedly a 'hard liner' ie an extremist. No, he's not a member of the IRA or the BNP but he might decide to keep campaigning for independence after an unsuccessful referendum. What a shock!

Yes, everyone no doubt imagined the SNP would just give up if a future referendum failed didn't they, after all didn't the devolutionists do just that when Labour swindled Scotland out of devolution despite a vote in favour in 1979?

The only policies the SNP have co-operated with the Conservatives on have been those previously contained in the SNP manifesto. Labour on the other hand have destroyed the principle of free education by introducing student loans and tuition fees and voting against the latter's removal. They are in the process of creating a new internment for potential islamic terrorists and have already realised plans to snoop on every person's individual correspondence and telephone conversations.

Pointless ID cards, part privatisation of the NHS in England, new nuclear power stations and most importantly wasting billions on new nuclear weapons show exactly where Labour's loyalies lie and it is not towards their former working class supporters. Their support for the discredited Council tax over a system based on ability to pay and their removal of the 10 pence tax band proved that Labour could not care less about the poor, unless of course they are in a by-election in Glasgow and then they pretend they are redder than John MacLean.

I'm sorry but it just won't wash. Labour should expect to pay the logical price for their hypocrisy on the 24th of July. If they however survive and their gaffe prone candidate becomes their new Scottish leader then don't expect the SNP to lose any sleep. The bitter illogical rubbish which has been generated by this campaign will not sustain any serious politician and will certainly provide no serious threat to Alex Salmond.

Fiscal Autonomy vs Unionism vs Independence

If Labour had ever wanted to introduce fiscal autonomy they would have done it already. In fact without oil 'fiscal autonomy' would be worthless and would probably be less advantageous than Barnett (even though it is actually designed to squeeze our expenditure not increase it).

If you have Oil then it's independence. FA is a useful tool whereby you pretend you want more powers but in fact you would be happy to see Scotland get less money (while being swindled out of our rights to the Oil and Gas revenues). Wendy was in that camp, her own recent paper acknowledged it.

The fact is as well that Labour and not going to win the next GE so we would be reliant on the Tories to give us a fair financial settlement. This will not happen because the Conservatives support is in England and as such they don't care particularly how they are seen in Scotland (when in Government that is, as we saw last time). They are always more pleasant out than they ever are when they are in, prior to Thatcher they pretended they wanted 'stronger devolution' than Labour but they showed their true unionist colours eventually.

Their comments in Glasgow East were revealing, if you are poor it's your own fault. This from a public school boy who went to Eton and Oxbridge! Don't trust anything a unionist says and you will never go wrong.

Independence is normality so logical arguments against it are few and far between. All are flawed.

We would lose our seat in the UN security council.

We might but since it doesn't represent Scotland in any shape or form who cares? Rump England would remain a nuclear power if they had somewhere to put the weapons so they might remain part of the bullies council, but it doesn't matter to us. Scotland needs an ordinary seat in the UN with our flag flying at it. Until we have that we have nothing else.

Scotland would have a lesser voice in Europe.

Same as above we have no voice at the moment so independent membership, a seat in the Council of Ministers and improved representationin the parliament would be a significant step up.

The EU doesn't want you.

The EU wants everyone else (if they are democracies) and given the amount of natural resources like fish and Oil we have they would be daft to try and pull anything. In fact the EU is a mixed blessing anyway so this argument is losing it's teeth. (The EU are trying to make a mediterranean union btw behind the scenes which will infuriate the arab world, Libya is right on this). There's hasn't been a word about it in Scotland, so the truth is we are out of the loop in a lot of areas.

We would be out the G8.

Britain would yes (because it relies on the GDP of Scotland to make it one of the 8 richest nations) but apart from a fancy dinner Britain doesn't get much out of it anyway. Russia and China have poor human rights records so the body will never do anything significant anyway.
Scotland would however be eligible for membership of OPEC along with Norway which is the powerful group the G8 was set up to imitate!

We would also be members of numerous other world bodies, we would have consular representatives in all the nations in the world we wanted them. At the moment we have no influence world wide because on every maor issue the British Government represents their interests and it's not the same as ours.

Scotland could have an effect in a number of areas. We could increase the percentage of GDP we give to third world countries. We could reach free trade agreements which help open markets (but without strings attached) we could help towards world conflict resolution.

As for we're too poor/daft/incompetent to rule ourselves, if anyone believes that they should consult a psychiatrist because they have a colonised midset through reading too many biased British newpapers!

Others are simply disinterested/demotivated and say 'I'm not interested in politics, they are all the same' or 'why bother with change it's too much hassle let's settle for what we've got'. Why bother living at all then? Everything in life worth getting is worth risking something and if the only risk is having faith in your fellow Scots it shouldn't be that hard.

We have plenty of opportunity but we have to be able to see them and as the ex SNP MSP Cambell Martin said "for the unionists to see clearly they have to first get up off their knees."
Some people like it down there though they have their wee bit money and their big hoose and they don't give a damn about their fellow Scots.