Cause and Effect

It is not often I cut and paste full articles, but I was directed to this one in the online version of the Scots Independent, by Crinkly. The article's author is Jim Lynch. Here it is in full:

There is no doubt that the election of an SNP Government sent shock waves through the Westminster establishment; the original cunning plan, master-minded by the then Secretary of the Labour Party in Scotland, Jack McConnell, was that no way could the SNP ever get a majority of seats, so the “settled will” of the Scottish people could carry on ad infnitum.

Two things went wrong with that scenario; in the first instance, it was not the “settled will” of the Scottish people, but the “settled will” of the Labour Party. The second was that the steadying influence (from a Unionist point of view) of a coalition government was blown to high heaven by a pointless and hapless Liberal Party; they thought they could play hardball, and dropped it. So then the Dewar “safeguards” kicked in; included in the legislation was a clause that stated the Scottish Government, known then as the Scottish Executive, did not have to pay attention to certain votes in Parliament; this was to stop uppity Parliamentarians frustrating legislation. The Labour Party did not like it when the SNP took advantage. The Unionist parties all thought that the SNP minority government would crumble within weeks; two and a half years now, and counting.

What is interesting, when we stand back and look at the picture, and the various components thereof, is how the Unionists retaliated.

After the Scottish Elections Gordon Brown refused to speak to Alex Salmond; this went on for about five weeks, and must have been driving Brown’s PR advisers crazy. Glenn Campbell of BBC Scotland asked Mr Brown outright for a comment, and Brown just ignored him and got into his limo, and all on prime time TV too. This harmed Brown as the British people did not need a petulant Prime Minister.

Then after 10 years of devolution, it was time to take a “fresh look”; it had not been necessary before, because the Unionists were in control, but now these pesky Nationalists were talking about Independence, so Wendy Alexander came up with a Commission, the Calman Commission, to look at the whole issue, well, excluding Independence, of course. The Unionist majority rammed it through the Scottish Parliament, Gordon Brown appointed the members, and gave them some cash to add to what they had screwed out of the Parliament, and they spent about a year before coming up with some proposals, promptly kicked into the long grass by both Labour and Tories, while the Liberals sat with a communal petted lip on the sidelines.

One of the SNP’ main manifesto proposals was a Local Income Tax, to abolish the hated Council Tax, which had been put in by the Tories to abolish the hated Poll Tax which had also been put in by the Tories; this had to be abandoned by the SNP, who do not have a majority of votes in the Scottish Parliament, so could not have pushed the proposal through. One of the factors was that the Treasury said they would not make the current sum of £400 million a year payable as Housing Benefit available to the Scottish Government, so a big black hole; incidentally the Treasury and the Unionists all claimed that it would not have been possible for the Inland Revenue to deduct Local Income Tax through the PAYE system. Strangely they all enthused over a Calman Commission recommendation to transfer more tax raising powers which did just that!

As described in last week’s Flag, the office of Secretary of State for Scotland was taken out of the wheelie bin and provided with £8 million to “assist” Scotland, aka The Labour Party in Scotland.

Richard Lochhead, Scotlands’s Fisheries Secretary, included this item in his speech to the SNP Conference in October: “I am going to Luxembourg for tomorrow’s European Agriculture and Fisheries Council. But when I get to the Council Chamber tomorrow, I won’t be allowed to sit at the top table. I’ll get to observe but not to participate. I’ll be representing Scotland but not able to put Scotland’s case. At a recent Council Meeting, the UK Minister had to leave early. Did he offer his seat to the Scottish Fisheries Minister? No – wait for it – on orders from Downing Street, he insructed one of his civil servants to take the vacant seat.

“So we had two civil servants at the top table – neither of whom would be able to point to Peterhead, Lerwick, or Eyemouth or Stornoway, or any fishing port on a map!”

The Unionists are adamant in their opposition to a multi option Referendum on Scotland’s constitutional future; Wales will be having a Referendum on their constitutional future as it was written into the Wales Act, and the Unionists find no problem or inconsistency with that proposal.

The Scottish Government has been told it cannot set up an Investment Bank to access European funds unless it is run by a private company; Wales already has an Investment Bank run by a public company. The Treasury sees no problem or inconsistency.

Despite Scotland having the most advanced policy to combat climate warming, the First Minister was not a part of the British official delegation at the recent Copenhagen summit; at the last meeting in Johannesburg, First Minister Jack McConnell was a part of the UK team.

At a meeting of the British-Irish Council in Jersey in November, there was a vote, and it was agreed that the Secretariat for the Council be based in Edinburgh; the Council consists of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. The UK representative, Peter Hain said NO.

And now we have the forthcoming televised debates between the leaders of the three London parties, Labour, Tory and Liberal for the forthcoming General Election. This will be broadcast in Scotland, and we will have all the presentation of the English political scene filling our screens, confusing the electorate, because they will be talking about Education, devolved, Law and Order, devolved, well the Law anyway, the National Health Service, devolved, and a host of things they are nor responsible for in Scotland.

They met the broadcasting authorities and carved it up between them, and steadfastly refuse to allow the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, to take part in any of these debates. The SNP forms the Scottish Government, and at the last country wide electoral contest, the European Election, it polled more votes than Labour, and more votes that the Tories and Liberals put together; we will have to listen to these with a minimal following in Scotland debating issues of vital importance to Scotland, because while most important issues are devolved London still holds the purse strings.

And our faithful media; the Sunday Herald, in its record of the year gone by, reported gleefully that the SNP had not won the rock solid Labour seat in Glasgow North East; somehow they forgot that in the European Election earlier in the year the SNP had out-polled them all! In their Business section they highlighted the Edinburgh tram debacle, conveniently skating over the fact that Glasgow Labour MSPs helped push that through the Scottish Parliament, against the SNP Government’s plan. To paraphrase – you can take the Herald out of Glasgow, but you can’t take Glasgow out of the Herald.

These incident appear one by one, as a steady drip, but taken together they are a flood, and a part of the portrayal of the SNP picking fights with Westminster!

FMQs 7 January 2010

Initially I thought I wouldn't bother writing a summary of today's televised First Minister's Questions then I decided a record was needed.

After a long Christmas break for MSPs, the best the three opposition party leaders could come up with was questions about roads and pavements.

The SNP government are to blame for the weather, particularly according to Iain Gray. 'Why was there no emergency phone line for the vulnerable,' he asked. 'Because the councils want localised telephone enquiries and the numbers are on the government's website,' was the FM's response. Iain Gray, hell bent on blaming Alex Salmond for the freezing conditions in the last three weeks continued on the same theme. As Alan Cochrane said, in his chat with Brian Taylor at the end of the programme, Mr Gray was really flogging a dead horse.

Annabel Goldie didn't perform any better, in fact it could be argued, was worse than the labour leader. 'Why aren't those on community service orders out clearing the pavements,' was her inquiry. They are insisted the FM but, in his usual subtle manner, he reminded her that if the tories had their way there would be no one on community service orders as they'd all be locked up in centrally heated jails. Annabelle walked right into that one I'm afraid.

Tavish Scott questioned the closing of schools. The only blanket closures were in Aberdeenshire and the borders and the FM explained, that was understandable owing to the conditions of the past two days. Over 80% of Scottish schools are open today, that number increasing since Monday.

The opposition were skating on thin ice today by concentrating on weather, roads and pavements. Viewers learned John Swinney worked Christmas and New Year's Day to ensure supplies were getting through and liaising with Pat Watters of COSLA. We also learned that sensible people don't go walking on icy pavements but walk in the cleared road. Let's hope next week is an improvement on question quality.

Possibly Tavish asked the most sensible question but Alex Salmond was the overall winner - by a good few shovels full of salt.

These Wretched Winter Storms!

Might Easily Be A Labour Project Today?

The iron railway bridge over Scotland’s River Tay has collapsed in a severe storm as a passenger train rolled across. The train plunged into the boiling river, killing everyone on board.

The lattice girder bridge, designed by highly regarded railway engineer Sir Thomas Bouch, crossed the Firth of Tay between Dundee and Leuchars. It was built on the cheap, which turned out to be a hallmark (and a selling point) of Bouch’s work. The North British Railway, which commissioned the 2-mile-long bridge, was hewing to a tight budget, and Bouch was considered a master of the form.
Since buying prefabricated sections from established foundries was out of the question, the resourceful Bouch used iron produced in his own hastily constructed foundry. The quality was poor and the casting uneven. Additionally, Bouch didn’t bother calculating wind loads, even after altering his original design to include girders longer than 200 feet.

Dec. 28, 1879: Tay Bridge Collapses.

The Balancing of Power

Yesterday the Scottish government gave the go-ahead for the upgrade of the 137 power line between Beauly, near Inverness and Denny in Stirlingshire.

It is said the upgrade is vital for the future of renewables in Scotland, as it will take power from green energy developments in the Highlands and Islands to markets in the south.

Enterprise Minister, Jim Mather immediately came under fire for his 'vagueness' from political opponents who raised concerns that the conditions of 'visual impact mitigation' measures he had included in his decision would further delay the project, which has already taken eight years to process. It has been the longest planning enquiry in Scottish history.

The power line passes through some of Scotland's most scenic areas and, during the consultation period, the plan received 18,000 objections.

Some of the objections I found rather nonsensical as pylons already run through scenic parts of Scotland. Indeed the replacement pylons, some up to 217 feet high, will be far larger than those which presently cross the landscape but, after listening to Jim Mather on Newnicht tonight, I understand there will be fewer of them.

It's not going to be plain sailing for the power companies, (Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power), even though permission has been granted. They still have to produce plans which will comply with the set conditions and the John Muir Trust, a prominent conservation charity, has said it would go to court to stop the development.

Dare I voice my opinion? If this new power line secures a steadfast provision of electricity for all of Scotland for the foreseeable future I'm all for it. The objection that it will affect tourism is ridiculous unless people are suggesting tourists don't understand the necessity for countries to have energy supplies. Yes, it may have been possible to place the cables underground but, from reading both sides of the dispute, underground cabling also has its problems.

What does trouble me is the closeness of any pylon to communities. I'm not convinced there is no relation between the high level of electromagnetic radiation from pylons and certain cancers.

Finally, is this upgraded power line going to reduce the cost of my electricity? I don't think I need three guesses for the answer to that. The south of England will possibly continue to pay less for electricity created in Scotland. They do at present.

Source

Will Gordon Brown be Ousted?

The tories may think Gordon Brown is a dope but he's no idiot.

The labour party's latest attempt to change leaders will come to nothing. It's far too late in Brown's leadership and especially with a general election within less than four months.

To be fair here's an article in praise of Gordon Brown by Walter Humes. I can't agree with the author on many counts but it does show Brown has support from many sources.

I'm becoming weary of hearing Gordon Brown is from an 'average' Scottish family. That is just not true. He was born into privilege. Any child 'of the manse' was treated differently from the local farm labourer's child, although I'm sure teachers weren't aware of their prejudice.

Gordon Brown also had parents who could afford to sent him to university. I'm convinced there were many thousands of children in Scotland in those days who would have loved to attend university, yet their families couldn't afford it. I know, I was part of the education system in those days.

For Mr Brown to be using the 'class' card against the tories is a really bad move. He's part of the class system. Yes it's true he wasn't in the Bullington Club, but if he had attended an English university he may have belonged to the communist party of Great Britain for example like many of his contemporaries?

There's no one in the labour party who has the strength of character, personality or enough interest in the good of this country - hence my opinion that Gordon Brown will not be replaced. That isn't to say that there are not more capable labour MPs around, perhaps there are, but today's labour party conveys a complete lack of interest in the care of the people of this country. Labour's ambition is power. Nothing more nothing less.

More Change Herald-ed

The (Glasgow) Herald is to move some production from its headquarters in Glasgow to a centre in Yorkshire.

The paper has signed a deal with the Press Association to provide sub-editing of news and feature articles. This is similar to a deal already in place for its sister newspaper, the Glasgow Evening Times.

News stories will still be selected by Herald staff in Glasgow but page design and headline writing will be carried out by PA staff in Howden. A spokesman for The Herald said the move was not designed to replace journalist staff but to increase capacity (whatever that means*).

Changes in Scotland's newspaper industry also saw The Scotsman, based in Edinburgh, shut its printing presses in the capital and sign a contract with the Daily Record's owners to print in Glasgow.

There are further developments on the Scottish media scene. Lallands Peat Worrier has the story.

*Writer's comment.

Choudary's Benefits

Graph courtesy of Guido

It says something about the benefits system when a qualified lawyer is able to work for Islam4UK at the same time as claiming benefits.

Archbishop Cranmer has also posted on this subject and reveals more information.

Judge Changes Court Rule to Suit Accused

The above men (plus one missing from the photograph) were arrested in Luton last year during the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment's homecoming parade.

They are accused of telling the soldiers "to burn in Hell" and branded them rapists, murderers and baby killers, a court was told on Monday. They denied the charge.

The accused refused to stand for District Judge Carolyn Mellanby who is in charge of the case at Luton's Magistrates' Court, claiming they only respect Allah.

They were threatened with contempt of court by District Judge Carolyn Mellanby as they would not stand when she entered the courtroom, as is convention out of respect to the law of this land.

Eventually a compromise was reached where they would enter the court after her during the six day trial, thus avoiding their requirement to stand. A strange compromise too because the court stands when a judge enters or leaves because a judge is deemed to represent the law of the country. It is not the judge who is deferred to but the law.

She had the law on her side and absolute power in this situation. Why did she appease the accused?

Remember not so long ago during a rape case the main witness was so upset she fled the courtroom? The woman was jailed for contempt of court, but not these accused.

The judge even gave these accused an extra twenty minutes lunch break to pray and they also have a 'quiet' room set aside for them at the court to have regular 'prayer intervals'.

What is happening in this country? When is someone in authority going to stand up for our laws and conventions? Why hasn't Baronness Scotland of Asthal, the Attorney General, stepped in and said our conventions will be recognised?

There definitely seems to be a soft-touch attitude to a certain section of our community which isn't available to the majority of us.

Source

Have We Enough Gas to See Us Through the Winter?

click to enlarge

(to help you the UK is bottom left)

graph source

I was listening to Radio5Live during lunch and there was a discussion about gas. The question asked was 'Have we enough gas to see us through this winter?'

The answer from the studio guests was yes but I thought I'd investigate a little further because of one comment a guest made.

The UK used to receive all its gas from the North Sea but that is no longer the case as supplies dwindle. We now receive gas from Europe and further afield, although at present Norway is our main supplier.

Norway has a vast store of gas which they sell to other countries.

France also stores gas and is currently expanding their facilities while Germany has the biggest storage facility in Europe. Other European countries store gas (as you can see from the graph above).

The UK contains the only oil producing country in Europe - yes that's Scotland. Yet, since the 1970s, no government has made arrangements to store gas for our use in the colder months. We have no gas stored for our own consumption.

The UK has no gas storage facilities (although they are being considered now) and therefore, we have to import gas at peak prices, while other countries buy it during the summer months when prices are low, store it, then sell it to us at exorbitant rates during winter. That's the reason our gas prices are so high and will become higher.

All too often I say to myself these days 'why does that surprise me?' This does surprise me, it angers me too. This is a true example of the incompetence of our politicians in the last 25+ years. They have no concern for the people of these islands and what better illustration do we need to show this. Our leaders are quite prepared for many to struggle to pay gas prices and watch other put their health at risk because they just can't afford to keep warm. Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows you must store essentials, be it food, gas, electricity or other forms of fuel.

Are you going to vote for people who treat us with such disdain? I'm certainly not.

I'm fortunate though, I can vote for a party which, many years ago, proposed gas storage as an issue of urgency and great importance. They were met with short shrift from Westminster who were more concerned at pleasing the south of England. If the SNP's suggestion had been acted upon, we wouldn't be paying the high prices we're paying today - none of us.

While I'm writing about energy, I thought it may interest you to know that there are a few wind turbines in this area. A friend sees some from her window. They've only turned twice in the last two weeks. EUReferendum mentioned this a couple of days ago and the latest one is here. As Richard says seems like we're more reliant on coal at present and that won't please the climate changers. It looks as if we can't rely on wind either to keep Scotland from darkness doesn't it.

I foresee a rethink about the installation of more wind turbines. If any politician is brave enough to stick their head above the parapet that is.

Do You Know How Big the Internet Is?

Created by Online Education

No Surprise Here For Me!

Is This Why Scotsmen Grunt A Lot?

10th December 2009: It may leave you gaping, but a new study has revealed Scottish girls are more likely to wear sexy clothes than other UK women.

The experts asked more than 1,600 UK women before reaching the conclusion.
The Sun reports in the poll by fashion website `Brag ItUp.com’, they were asked how they chose what to wear in the morning.

The queries revealed 53 per cent in Scotland admitted they wore what they thought was found attractive by men. Just about 42 per cent dressed up for themselves. Another five per cent wanted to wow other women.

In contrast, the study found only 12 per cent of English girls dress up for men.
According to Scottish Sun columnist Martel Maxwell, she dressed to feel good. It was great if guys did a double take. "

Just Asking, as an Oldrightie!

This Month's Preview of Wikio Rankings

This month's preview of the Wikio general blog rankings. The full lists will be published on Wikio within a few days.

1 Iain Dale's Diary (=) 2 Guy Fawkes' blog (=) 3 Liberal Conspiracy (=) 4 Liberal Democrat Voice (+1) 5 Labourlist (-1) 6 And another thing... (+1) 7 Tory Bear (-1) 8 ConservativeHome's ToryDiary (+2) 9 Harry's Place (=) 10 Old Holborn (-2) 11 A Spoon Full of Sugar (=) 12 The Devil's Kitchen (+2) 13 EU Referendum (+19) 14 Charlotte Gore Blog (+2) 15 Politicalbetting.com (-3) 16 Mark Reckons (+4) 17 Dizzy Thinks (-4) 18 Left Foot Forward (+12) 19 Simon Says Challenge (-1) 20 Mr Eugenides (+1) 21 Creative Card Crew (+1) 22 Just Magnolia (-3) 23 Allsorts challenge blog (-6) 24 Andy Reed MP (+47) 25 Charisma Cardz (=) 26 ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog (-11) 27 Archbishop Cranmer (-3) 28 UKPolling Report (+1) 29 Nick Robinson's Newslog (-6) 30 Next Left (-4) 31 Stumbling and Mumbling (-3) 32 Cupcake Craft Challenges (-5) 33 Alex Massie (-2) 34 SUBROSA (+25) 35 Tim Worstall (+1) 36 SOCIALIST UNITY (-3) 37 Political Animal (-2) 38 Stampin' for the Weekend (+19) 39 Winter Wonderland (-5) 40 A blog from the back room (+1) Ranking by Wikio

Yemen and Somalia

In the past couple of days I've read a few blogs which have posts regarding the Yemen. Two I found most interesting were whollyrude and Leg Iron.

One of my erudite readers sent me this by email. I consider it an opinion worth sharing (I have the writer's permission to publish):

Oil is in Somalia and the Yemen. So is the USA.There has been a covert war going on there for at least 30 years, in one form or another. The yanks see oil as vital for their survival and will do what is necessary.

As for Broon, O'bummer and co moving into Yemen, can I suggest that a build up, slowly in Oman, a crack down on Somalia due to piracy and then if the Yemen govt plays along, stabliise Yemen properly. That would give them defacto control of the gulf of Yemen, which could be useful. The yanks already sling in the odd cruise missile to the region.

And with the cooperation of Oman you could have effective control of the Gulf of Oman, which would make it interesting for Iran, and would make it easy access to Pakistan and Afganistan, which may explain a few hints as to why we will be in Afganistan for 40 years.

Of course Russia may be unhappy, but the attitude there may be changing and agreements for mutual benefit have happened before....!

The big problem is Islam. It works on religion before country so the effect of doing anything dire may be to unite all Islam against the west.

And of course, the old cynical question, what is happening around the 28th of January they don't want us looking at!! I don't trust any of them.

As the old Chinese curse, may you live in interesting times!!

Anon

Afghanistan is Not the Right War

Another British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan. The soldier, from the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died in a blast in the Nad-e Ali area on Sunday.

Another life wasted for no good reason. Another family and friends left wondering why.

We have now lost 246 military in this war. Shame on our politicians that they permit this to continue when they know full well this war is wrong. Do read the Helmand blog and read for yourself about the conditions under which our troops are carrying out our political masters' orders.

James Corbett, a respected reporter, has produced the following video. Although it's from an American perspective do have a look. He states some facts which you may not know.

I note today that Gordon Brown has said that any march which offends the families of soldiers killed and injured in Afghanistan would be "completely inappropriate". Three days it has taken for him to respond to this abhorrent individual Choudary and the response is so weak it's not really worth acknowledging. What the PM should be saying is that he will ensure no marches of this nature take place in Wootton Bassett or anywhere within a 50 mile radius of the town.

We are governed today by spineless, weak individuals who are engrossed in ensuring their positions on the world stage are not at risk. Our well being is of no concern to them.

The Election Will Be Won by Blogs and Tweets

According to Toby Helm in yesterday's Observer, the rise of social networking sites, such as Facebook on the internet, has caused an enormous change in politics.

The main UK parties are devoting almost as much of their attention to how to turn the internet's power, reach and speed to their advantage, as they are to actual policy.

The internet will bring opportunities but also dangers. It will help make election 2010, as Professor Anthony King of Essex University predicts "the most unpredictable since 1974". Politicians will for the first time in a campaign be able "to talk directly to voters" through mediums such as podcasts and blogs, bypassing the traditional media. Cameron has been doing this since 2006 on webCameron, while Brown now puts out his own regular weekly podcast (which I hasten to say I've never watched).

If the SNP get their act together and revamp their website to make it appealing, that could be a great asset for the independence cause. Just a thought.

Source

Subrosa's Super Seven blogs

A Happy New Year to one and all! It has been unanimously agreed that SSS blogs will be published on Mondays. In this modern requirement for transparency, I can inform you one person voted.

EU Referendum - Driving Us into Poverty

Hundreds and Thousands - Old Holborn is Not a Number

Is there more to life than shoes? - New Year, New you?

Police Inspector Blog - If Carlsberg Made Justice Secretaries...

RantinRab - Police State Britain

River Scrap - Full-body 'naked' scanners: Myth and reality

Spy Blog - Spy Blog articles 2009

The Vigil - America's Afghanistan Mission(s)

Wolf Howling - Dr North's One Man Crusade to Expose Corruption

Posts also deserving a mention:

J Arthur MacNumpty - 2010 the Year of If

Ian Hamilton QC - Suborn The Soldiers

Helmand Blog - Sitting ducks of Helmand

Hootsmon Headlines

click to enlarge

Just in case you don't know the satirist behind the HL his place is here.

Underpants Bomber is Intelligence Patsy...

Video Courtesy of Aangirfan

The BBC are reporting the US and Britain intend to 'counter Islamist military across Yemen'. Where is the EU in all this? Are they unable to make any contribution because they're still on holiday?

Craig Murray has an excellent piece on the Yemen and Somalia. He reiterates what many may think - 'Unfortunately, the West seems to have forgotten that policy responses other than military force exist, so what we will in fact see is an attempt to solve Yemen's problems by killing more people with drones.'

Scottish Futures Trust

In May 2008, the Scottish Government announced its way forward for infrastructure investment in Scotland to secure new schools, hospitals and transport projects at better value to the public purse.

Ministers published the strategic business case for the Scottish Futures Trust initiative to be supported by a new company established in the public sector.

It's now more than a year and a half since the SFT was announced and I've suggested several times that the Scottish Government need to start showing the public that this organisation is set to deliver the goods.

The SFT cost £23m to set up while its budget for the next financial year is £5.9m.

Today the Sunday Post reports the salaries of SFT employees. The CEO, Barry White, receives £180,000 and seven other administrators are paid between £50,000 and £95,000. The four most senior director appointments are paid between £85,000 and £130,000. Another batch of support staff and executives are due to be recruited later this year.

The SNP said the not-for-profit body would end the exorbitant costs associated with the Private Finance Initiative system of funding, saving taxpayers between £100 and £150 million a year.

I have no objection to anyone being paid their worth, but the SFT has yet to produce anything of substance. Time has run out for this body to show its existence will have any money-saving effect on government expenditure.

Sadly the only news ever reported about it is negative and when Scots read their newspaper this morning that message will be reinforced. Only the Scottish Government can change the present image of the SFT - if it's not already too late.

Radical Muslims Loathsome Plan

Wootton Bassett, the small Wiltshire town which has become synonymous with honouring the return of our fallen from Afghanistan, has been targeted by muslim radicals who plan to hold a parade through the town.

Extremist group Islam4UK are organising a march in the coming weeks, which they claim will be in honour of muslims killed in the Afghanistan conflict.

As a PR stunt, this must be one of the most repugnant ever mooted. Using the people of Wootton Bassett to push their extreme political views is abhorrent and will do nothing for their 'cause'.

Should this march go ahead, I have no doubt the good people of Wootton Bassett will handle it with the contempt it deserves. I suspect they will stay behind firmly closed doors. Silence can speak louder than words.

Although possibly a PR stunt, this is the result of 12 years of a labour government. The silence from our political leaders in today's Sundays will also reverberate throughout the country.

Source

Kindness

This is an American story but it could happen anywhere couldn't it? Or am I being fanciful?

An Example of the EU Dividend

Five years ago Lithuania joined the European Union.

One of the conditions of its membership is that over 2,000 people would become unemployed on 31 December 2009.

On Friday the Ignalina nuclear plant delivered its last watt of electricity. This plant was Lithuania's only nuclear power plant and although it was dubbed unsafe due to its Chernobyl-style safety system, its shutdown was a key condition for Lithuania's entry to the EU.

Few across Europe will mourn the closure of an old 1970s Soviet designed nuclear plant, but the consequences for the Lithuanian economy will be severe. Up to now the plant daily produced more electricity than Lithuania's entire 3.5 million-strong population could consume.

The country will now have to import energy, where it exported it before and plans for a replacement plant are a long way off. There is no mention whatsoever about a renewables programme.

I wonder who will be the winner(s) in this one? Certainly not the people of Lithuania who will now be forced to import expensive electricity while the world is in the midst of one of the most severe economic crises.

Source

Nature.

As This Winter Continues To Break records For The Bitter Cold................

We can still wonder at the resilience of human beings to cope. Surely this same spirit can cope with vineyards and balmy summers too? I have read and heard of many wonderful acts of help and kindness over this incredible cold winter. Especially in the Arctic conditions of Scotland!

Visa Scheme Costs Taxpayers £50m a Year

Taxpayers are footing a £50m a year bill to fund appeal by relatives of immigrants barred from Britain.

More than 1000 are lodged every week and the caseload has soared eightfold since the Government scrapped fees for family visitor visas in 2002.

"The definition of a family visitor is so wide that it could include as many as 120 relatives of a middle-aged person," said Sit Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch.

In 2008 a total of 414,000 applications for family visitor visa were made, of which 312,000 were approved. Around 197,000 of those applications came from India, Pakistan and Nigeria. Of those, 134,000 were approved. Yet despite the huge number of approvals, failed applicants are allowed to challenge the refusals without charge.

You can read more here. We desperately need politicians with some sense of balance and respect for our country.

Update: I've removed the original picture. Vronsky pointed out it wasn't relative to the story and I agree.

Gordon Brown's Latest Stunt

It is reported today that Gordon Brown has called a summit in London to discuss radicalisation in Yemen, after the alleged failed bomb attack on a US plane over Detroit.

No 10 said the 28 January event had support from Washington and the European Union and Mr Brown aimed to attract Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.

Alleged plane bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is believed to have linked up with Al-Qaeda in Yemen.

Brown said the meeting would involve key international partners and be held alongside the conference on the future of Afghanistan, due to be held in London on the same day.

He said, "The international community must not deny Yemen the support it needs to tackle extremism. I have said before that Yemen - as both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism - presents a regional and global threat."

Mr Brown added that the UK had a £100m commitment to Yemen, making it one of the country's biggest donors and that Britain was providing assistance including intelligence support and training of counter terror units.

Once again, Gordon Brown thinks his opinion matters as he calls for another summit. Another jamboree which is unnecessary as any discussions could take place very easily by video-conferencing. But as we know Mr Brown has a obsessive desire to be seen as one of the 'big boys' and also to be thought of as a generous donator to his chosen world causes - using our money of course.

Is this the start of softening us up for sending troops into Yemen?

Why doesn't Gordon Brown have a summit with his own cabinet and sort out the problems within the UK rather than be concerned about the Yemen. Many who are 'radicalised' have a connection with Britain. The evidence is here for all to see, yet he ignores it.

Day by day our safety in this country is being diluted because of this man's erroneous decisions. He's no longer capable of making sound judgements.

Another Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

A British soldier, from 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Royal Engineers, died yesterday after being caught in an explosion on Afghanistan.

The bomb disposal expert, who was part of the Counter-IED Task Force leading the fight against the Improvised Explosive Device in Helmand, was killed near Patrol Base Blenheim, close to Sangin in Helmand Province.

The UK death toll from operations in Afghanistan since 2001 is now 245 - with 108 killed in 2009 alone.

So the deaths continue with no end in sight.

Politics 2010

Courtesy of G.O.T.

Quiz Answers

QUIZ ANSWERS

My apologies to you all. I thought I'd published these earlier.

In case you missed them the questions are here.

1 c) Romania, Greece and Russia

2 b) Robert Burns

3 b) The Saltire

4 a) 800

5 a) The author Arthur Conan Doyle was Scottish

6 a) English, Scots and Gaelic

7 b) 5.1 million

8 c) Between 30 and 40 million

9 b) Roslyn Chapel

10 a) Jura

How Robert Burns would rate you:

1 - 3 Wee, sleekit, cowrin, timorous beastie

4 - 7 The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry

8 - 10 Great Chieftain o' the puddin race!