Skip to main content

The Cameron, Clegg Miliband "Vow", is nothing more than a not very subtle bribe




Final opinion polls show undecided voters could swing the result either way



Cameron, Clegg and Miliband reveal the "Vow" and promise to protect "Barnett formula" 


For anyone in Scotland thinking about voting “No” in today’s referendum, there is a very good reason for voting with the “Yes” campaign. For anyone who thinks that the promise made by Cameron, Miliband and Clegg in respect of greater autonomy to the Scottish Parliament including powers over taxation, spending an even greater devolution, in exchange for a “No” vote, should consider what has emerged since the three “leaders” went to Scotland to unveil their “Vow” and plaster the front pages of practically every newspaper in the United Kingdom with the text.
It has become apparent that not all MP's at Westminster in the three main parties, and particularly those in the Conservative party, do not support their “leaders” in the, not very subtle bribe, that has been dangled before the eyes of the Scottish people. It seems that there is significant resistance to the prospect of Scotland gaining more per capita expenditure north of the border than people in the rest of the United Kingdom. The so called Barnett formula” has received even more criticism and is now even more likely to be scrapped.





 
In response to this criticism from MP's and others, the government is proposing that in the event that Scotland does vote “No” today, a set of proposals for the detail of the “Vow” will be drawn up and agreed between the party leaders, provided that they are able to gain the consent and support of their own MP's and their respective parties. A “White Paper” will be produced, probably in January of next year, for consultation and discussion. Following this period of time, legislation will be introduced in Parliament. Any decisions or votes on the necessary changes however, will not take place or be effected, until after the next General election in May of 2015, when in any case, there is likely to be a new government which may itself have a very different make up and viewpoint on the whole matter of greater devolution for Scotland. 
The “Vow” from the Westminster triumvirate of Cameron, Clegg and Miliband was always nothing more than a desperate, unconsidered knee jerk reaction to falling support in the polls. If it were a serious proposition, it would have been included on the ballot paper for the referendum, as originally proposed but rejected out of hand by Westminster. Moreover, even after almost 5 years of this ConDem coalition, and many years of the previous Labour government, it is only now that more devolution and greater taxation and spending powers for Scotland are hinted at.
This may be coincidence, but I think not.










Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Ireland and Brexit. The return of "The Troubles"

Northern Ireland: police attacked in another night of disturbances | Northern Ireland | The Guardian When the "Brexit" debate was still filling our newspapers and our television screens, readers may remember why I had changed my mind since voting to leave at the referendum vote. Apart from the economic arguments, which had become crystal clear after peeling away all the lies and misrepresentations trotted out by Bozo Boris and his "Get Brexit Done" conspirators, there was always the problem of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Would it be possible to have a border between the European Union and the United Kingdom where people, goods and services could pass freely between the two nations without customs restrictions, tariffs, duties and all the other formalities? Would it be possible to have one part of the United Kingdom treated differently from other parts of the United Kingdom, particularly when Scotland for example had voted overwhe

The Parliamentary Labour Party conspirators are hatching another coup.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/corbyn-labour-leadership-rebel-mps-a7202641.html Labour MPs plan for Corbyn victory  and plot how to confront an emboldened leader Even for the "Independent", the number and use of unnamed anonymous "sources" in this article is quite astonishing. However, amongst all the usual speculative delusion, there is one factor which causes concern to anyone who believes in the Labour Party, its principles and in he democratic process of the Labour movement. It is abundantly clear that elements within the Parliamentary Labour Party, are even now, planning another coup in the event that Jeremy Corbyn should emerge as winner in the current ballot. The failed coup of earlier this year, has now descended into a sham leadership election, because the conspirators still fail to accept the democratic decision of the Labour party membership and cling to

New Agenda on Sunday is out Sunday, Apr. 28, 2019

https://paper.li/f-1346065353#/ Good morning everyone. Last weeks scare regarding Megan and Harry being sent to live "somewhere in Africa" seems to have been dispelled, at least for the time being. It now seems that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will take up residence in California.  Unless  they are actually  doing  some proper work in "The Golden State", I hope that they are taken off the civil list so that we do not have to fund their life choice. The nauseating Daily Mail is at it again. A headline this week, which I will not even bother to reproduce here, screams out in disgusting and repulsive bias without any acknowledgement to the factual basis of their "story". Spewing out their usual smears and embellished distortions about Hamas, the IRA, Hezbollah and the rest, the Mail condemns itself with ample justification, for the closure of a "newspaper," which again abuses 10 fold, the privilege of "freedom of t