Skip to main content

The triumph of bribery and fear over the reality of experience.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/scottish-referendum-results-crossparty-consensus-collapses-amid-torylabour-spat-on-the-english-question-9745125.html


The Conservative, Labour, Liberal consensus of "The Vow" which finally defeated calls for Scottish independence, has been shattered

 

 

Cameron: Further powers for Scotland will be linked to change in England.

Within hours of the results of the Scottish referendum being announced, David Cameron and Ed Miliband threw the question of further devolution of powers to Scotland, and the timetable for implementation of such changes, into chaos. The much publicised "Vow" to the Scottish people bearing the signatures of Cameron, Miliband and Clegg, was heralded days before the vote as, a solemn undertaking to begin the process of greater devolution of Scottish affairs "the day after" the Referendum vote takes place. At the time, many writers considered that "The Vow" was nothing more than a not very subtle bribe, designed to offer more devolved powers to the Scottish people in exchange for a "No" result. This inducement followed weeks of threat, intimidation and fear mongering by the vote No campaign who enlisted the support of businesses, banks, media and others to seek the retention of the union. Even foreign "leaders" were quite vocal in their support for the status quo, even though it is difficult to grasp what the matter had to do with Obama, Juncker, Merkel or the others.

Today, less than 36 hours after the vote, it is patently obvious that the prediction of prevarication, disputes and inter party squabbling, has already begun. The promised reforms, commencing the day after the referendum, have gone the way of previous promises on copious numbers of subjects (many to do with Scottish matters) made not only by previous Labour governments, but also by the ConDem coalition government during their almost five years in power. If this one element, "The Vow" has been the final consideration in anyone's decision to place their cross in the "No" box, then they have been deceived by the politicians "talent" of giving duplicity and falsehood a facade of credibility. 



prevarication, disputes and inter party squabbling

 
Within the coming months, right up to the general election in May of next year and even beyond, there will be the usual recriminations between the parties with proposals, counter proposals and even more promises in exchange for public support, rattling back and forth between the political groupings. In the meantime of course, the people of Scotland will wait for the Westminster government to finally, if ever, produce a set of proposals for "greater autonomy" for Scotland, which will bear little if any resemblance to the expectations that many people may have had on the 18th September 2014.
Cameron and some conservatives, plan to bring in "English votes for English laws" as part of wide ranging  "constitutional" changes. Miliband has proposed a "constitutional convention" that will not even present a preliminary report until sometime in Autumn of 2015. 

Between now and the next general election there will be much jockeying for position and popularity between the Westminster parties, with each bearing in mind the growing threat of UKIP and even other parties upsetting the comfortable "status quo" which they have enjoyed until now. It seems that with the bribery of "The Vow" with its vague promises now firmly established, the parties have painted themselves into a corner which they will find it difficult to extract themselves from.

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