Home Sweet Home

I had a wee sojourn to Englandshire this past weekend. The purpose of my trip was to hear the superb young tenor Jonathan Antoine sing. Unfortunately the concert was in Porthcawl, South Wales, though we managed to meet up with family enroute for a couple of hours.

My time was limited and it was decided the journey would have to be no longer than 48 hours.  Little did I realise, although I did some research on English motorway conditions, that we would be driving or stationary for 23 of these hours.

The trip to the border was a breeze, although there wasn’t enough to turn any of these white carbuncles which intrude upon our wonderful landscapes.  During the 500 miles journey I saw only 5 turbines moving. (The 5 is not a typing error).

However, this post is not about wind farms, but about the state of one of the main arteries between Scotland and England.

No sooner had we crossed the border at Gretna when we were held up for 95 minutes.  No explanation appeared on these overhead gantries. It was a local radio announcement that gave us minimal information.  

Once we passed the accident (a car had hit the central reservation barrier but there was no ambulance present so it didn’t appear as if there were any serious injuries involved), we thought ‘full steam ahead now’.  I realise it’s fatal to think positively on England’s motorways. Ten miles further on saw us grinding to another halt.  The problem this time was roadworks.  From that northerly part of the M6 to Bristol on the M5, 40% of the journey involved roadworks; all of which had a speed limit of 40 or 50 mph.  A journey which should have taken around 8-9 hours turned into a nightmare taking nearly 14 hours.  Our average speed was around 35mph I calculated.  

Here in Scotland another Forth road bridge is being built to ensure our traffic flows.  A solid infrastructure is essential to the prosperity of a country.  With the exception of the small section of toll motorway in the Midlands, the M6 and M5 have never been altered since their construction. With nose to tail traffic for hundreds of miles, is it any wonder the economy is in dire straights?  (I don’t believe Osborne’s predictions that it is improving).  Much of the traffic was commercial.  

Of course the greenies want us all to sell our cars and use public transport, but I would have had to change trains four times to get to Porthcawl and then pay taxi fares to reach my destination and the cost was much more than travelling by car.  That was on paper.  In reality our fuel costs nearly doubled because of the miles of nose to tail stop/start conditions.

When crossing the border on the return journey I was never more delighted to see the sign ‘Scotland’ and breathed a big sigh of pleasure.  Should I ever have to travel to the south/south west again I will fly, but right at this moment I’d be quite happy never to return further south than Penrith.

Why do people in England tolerate such poor roads?  It would seem the greenies, with their public transport policies, have won.  I’m sure those travelling on the buses I often saw alongside us, may have had different opinions.

The concert was wonderful by the way and worth the journey.  When this young man’s solos album is released in October, I think he will take the world by storm.  Quite probably this was the last time he would perform in a small, intimate concert hall and that’s why I was so determined to be there.  Vast arenas, in which the performers are the size of matchsticks, aren’t for me no matter how big the stage video screens. 

Tweet

Private vs Public Water

'For what we're about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful'.  Whether you believe in God or not, I doubt if there are many who don't think, every now and then, how lucky we are to have clean drinking water throughout the UK.

Scotland is more fortunate than other parts of the UK because present and past Scottish governments have refused to consider privatising water and insist that it will stay in public hands. In the past decade there have been plenty calls from various sources, including the Tory party, to privatise the asset in order to raise a few £billion to 'prop up jobs and services in other parts of the public sector but thankfully the majority of MSPs have been far-sighted enough to understand the public want water to be in public hands. To suggest selling Scottish Water is a definite vote loser and I doubt if it will ever be considered for sale in the coming years.

In an independent Scotland it will be more important to hold onto such a valuable asset, particularly when there is evidence showing the English are being ripped off by their private water companies.

All English water companies have foreign owners, ensuring that profits go out of the UK.  Meanwhile, Scottish Water (International) hires its expertise to foreign companies, ensuring the fees involved are ploughed back into the company.

Once again this year Scottish Water has frozen its charges - for the fourth year running. The average annual household charge from this month will remain at £324 - the same level it was in 2009-10.  SW said the freeze ensured its customers continued to get 'real value for money'.

In my 20+ years back in Scotland I've never experienced a hosepipe ban, I don't have a water meter fitted and my drinking water is superior to any bottled water I can buy.  I respect water and do my best to use it wisely, but I do have sympathy with so many parts of England where it is now rationed, because customers are still required to pay for a reduced service. That doesn't seem right to me.

Scottish Water is a success in public ownership and will continue to offer Scots a quality product at a fair price for years to come. Meantime, the price of water in England will continue to rise and the service will drift between poor and excellent. That's the difference between a well-run public business and splitting a utility such as water into several private companies.

Tweet

English Independence

Tedious Trantrums' Wednesday morning post. (His latest blog post is excellent.)

Quite an diverse debate occurred on this blog after the post relating to the SNP and the likely timing of the referendum on independence. It’s a hot topic for sure and one which is already steeped in too much politicking by the Westminster gang. There is only one gang down in Westminster, the lie has them being three separate parties standing for different things. We all know they stand for the same things with the slightest of shades different. Number one of which is, of course, to get elected at any cost, saying anything at all which will make them electable then junk it as soon as they get in.

Whilst we are on the subject of being electable let’s be very clear on a very important issue. The Labour Party is a Unionist Party and has no interest at all in Scotland as a separate entity. Scotland is important to the Labour Party because it used to bring in a reliable and significant vote, which realised more seats in Westminster. For that reason alone the English should be complaining.

It is an on going mystery to me to try to understand why English people do not assert their Englishness, out with sport anyway. Why are the English not pressurising Call me Dave to stop kow towing to the EU, for goodness sake man! Stand up and do what most of the rest of the EU countries do. Do the bits that are acceptable and ignore the rest. What can they do? Sue you? You don’t have any money. No one has any money apart from the Chinese, Russians… complete the list with all the countries who used to be our enemies.

You English people owned the world or at least the bits which were worth

owning. You exploited what you discovered which, at the time, was the way things were done and now we see Call me Dave apologising for it now? Is Call me Dave English? Does he talk up England?

Mr Huhne, now there’s a man who knows nothing about being English. His intention is to see your beautiful landscape and gorgeous wee villages covered with pylons and windmills, whilst at the same time freezing your pensioners to death.

I am a huge fan of the English. I’ve worked all over England and have always enjoyed myself and enjoyed the areas I’ve worked in. I’m a big fan of London and have spent endless hours wandering around just enjoying the Englishness of it even although immigration has been huge. It’s not as good as Edinburgh though. Obviously.

It’s less of a thing for Scotland to want independence and also inevitable that it will happen. It’s more of a thing for England to gain independence. To get the confidence back that made England great. It should be Great England not Great Britain. I doubt you’d find many people in Scotland, Ireland and Wales who would describe themselves as British.

The tide is turning and events are overtaking the politicians. The latest polls show a majority of people in England supporting independence for Scotland. Why not? We cost you money. We are not the same people. We share a similar language as we do with Americans and Australians but we are all foreign to each other at the end of the day.

Stride forward England. Believe in yourselves. Have the confidence to be who you need to be. Ditch the doubters and whingers. Recognise being English as being at the pinnacle of the world, but you’ll have to shove us Scots off first and we fight dirty.

Tweet

Time To Disprove England Bankrolls Scotland

On Radio 5 yesterday morning Stephen Nolan dedicated his 90 minute programme to the subject: 'We're All In This Together - The Future of the Union'. Guests included Toby Young, the Telegraph blogger and George Kerevan, a columnist for the Scotsman, plus short visits from Tom Harris MP and Huzma Yousaf MSP among others.

Although the debate was good natured throughout and the consensus was that Scotland could survive as an independent nation, one fact stood out very distinctly, even though George Kerevan and the historian Mark - I didn't catch his surname - tried hard to 'balance the books' by way of sensible explanation.

The fact is many people still believe England (not Wales or N Ireland), subsidises Scotland. It's not only the English who believe this to be true - some Scots do too. There have been so many reports offering differing figures most people no longer know what to believe and this needs to be clarified - the sooner the better.

I see little point in this vital aspect being discussed only between supporters of independence as happens only too often. Somehow the people in Scotland - and England for that matter - must be told the true facts in a style which can be understood by all.  Few want to read the annual GERS reports. Even less want to listen to unionists and independence supporters arguing about lists of numbers.

This 'misunderstanding' has to be confronted now before it becomes so firmly embedded in folks' minds that eradication is nigh impossible.

To reach everyone would require high profile radio/television access but even better would be a leaflet distributed to each household in Scotland. It could include a few questions such as 'what style of military presence would you prefer' and 'how can our care services improve. Independence politicians must start to listen to the people, all the people and opening up lines of communication is the first step.

People will only vote for independence if they feel they've been included in the process towards the goal. Three years isn't a long time to ensure inclusion and it could commence now if the SNP took the step to ensure the unionist incantation that England is Scotland's benefactor was, for once and for all, proved wrong and as quickly as possible.

Tweet

The Difference Between UK, GB And England

Wonderful material for David Cameron and the Unionists?  Pity about the presenter's approach. I won't comment on his accent because that would be quite unfair but I do wish he wasn't reading from a 'speed' script.

I had my paracetamol prior to publishing this but perhaps that's unkind.  It could be a good video for teaching purposes.

Thanks to the Filthy Engineer

Tweet

English National Anthem

There has been a bit of talk about an English national anthem in the blogosphere.

This is my contribution, sung by Deanna Durbin. It ends on a high note!

Tweet

Happy St George's Day

It is St George's Day, England's national day. There's little in the news about it and even less in the blogosphere.

I was going to write about England but discovered a local blogger - well he does live within an hour's drive of me and so few do - has a superb piece this morning. Every English person should read it.

(He's right about the Scots by the way, although I do see traces of the Righteous around. It's our job, as part of Scottish society, to protect our identity from being paralyzed by these people and their petty rules. Common sense must prevail and will.)

In case you've missed it, Tom Clougherty, writing for the ASI, says '68 percent support English Parliament'. Good for them.

Happy St George's Day!

Tweet

An Interesting Article for my English Readers

In Our Kingdom this morning there is an article entitled 'But which of our political parties will offer a fair and just settlement for England?'

There are some comments which you may find well worth a read too.

Tweet

England and Independence

In recent months I have been aware of many more English people suggesting they should have their own parliament or even English independence, yet there is little in the blogosphere supporting this and even less in the MSM.


The Campaign for an English Parliament is the most prominent but they are certainly not high profile in their efforts.  Of course their aim is to have an English Parliament within the UK and with the same powers as the Scottish Parliament.  More of a half-way house rather than a place of power, because as Scotland knows to its cost, without having complete control over fiscal matters, power is very limited and thus decision making is restricted.


The English Independence Party is low key and along with the English Democrats a slightly higher profile organisation, are the only sites which recognise England is being left behind.


I am proud to support the cause of independence for Scotland because I consider Scotland would be quite able to look after her own affairs without the help of any other country.  At least one third of the voting population of Scotland feels the same and votes accordingly.  We have the SNP, which supports independence, while the unionist parties refuse to even permit the people to have a referendum on the issue.


Although there appears to be a surge of English folk who wish their own parliament, few seem to want to be independent from the rest of the UK.  Why is this?  Is it because they are by far the largest country in the UK and therefore the others don't matter because they like the feeling of being the 'big boy' of the group and reiterating the myth that the English financially support Scotland?  


The West Lothian Question been discussed for years with none of the three main political parties putting forward a solution.  Only this past week David Cameron said, should he be elected, he would let Scots MPs keep the vote on English legislation.  Surely the English don't consider it democratic to concede to representatives of other countries voting on policies which will only affect them.


The Union is dying.  Its use is no longer suited to today's world. The UK has been brought to its knees by 13 years of Labour rule.  Wales and Northern Ireland are to ask their electorates if they wish further powers.  Now would be the ideal time for England to think about taking control of their own country and rebuilding it to suit their own needs.


Englishness is being called 'the forbidden identity'. No other western country has such trouble admitting they have pride in their national identity yet the word 'nationalism' has attracted negativity throughout my lifetime.  Westminster politicians have been effective in their message that nationalism of any kind is sinister, divisive and introverted.  Daily the Scots can read, in their unionist press, that the SNP are for divorcing or destroying the UK.


Will England take the opportunity to speak up for itself before it's too late?  Who knows?  As a Scot I would like to think they would stop thinking they are part of an empire which has long gone and begin to think they are a part of a small island which has cultural and political differences which will not be resolved unless addressed.  

Tweet

What Is Happening in England?

Must confess I missed the fact that northern France have secured their latest Olympic contract by claiming to be the part of southern England the British have forgotten.

The civic leader of Pas-de-Calais, Dominique Dupilet, said: "I consider that we are the south of England and because we're the south of England it's normal that we would associate ourselves with this extraordinary event."

Considering the amount of English who visit to strip his supermarkets of cheap booze, I can understand M Dupilet's stance. The problem I see is that the good Monsieur's history is slightly out of date.

More worrying, if it is true and who am I to doubt the NoW, Gordon Brown plans to sell off Dover. The lovely blogger Tory Tottie first posted about this but if you haven't read her wonderfully emotional post then you can read the government is being advised by Rothchilds who say, "This is an exciting sale. Selling Dover to Calais is a very logical move as that is where most of the business is directed.

"Dover made an operating profit of £15.1 million in 2008. Now it is seeking £400m to expand, as it anticipates a doubling in freight traffic by 2040."

The PPC for Dover has expressed his outrage, but the article says the government is strapped for cash.

Less than 10 years ago I would have thought this an April Fool but I've learned, thanks to labour, to be a cynic and realise there really is no smoke without fire.

source

Tweet

For My English Friends

England, my England

Goodbye to my England, So long my old friend
Your days are numbered, being brought to an end
To be Scottish, Irish or Welsh that's fine
But don't say you're English, that's way out of line.

The French and the Germans may call themselves such
So may Norwegians, the Swedes and the Dutch
You can say you are Russian or maybe a Dane
But don't say you're English ever again.

At Broadcasting House the word is taboo
In Brussels it's scrapped, in Parliament too
Even schools are affected. Staff do as they're told
They must not teach children about England of old.

Writers like Shakespeare, Milton and Shaw
The pupils don't learn about them any more
How about Agincourt, Hastings , Arnhem or Mons ?
When England lost hosts of her very brave sons.

We are not Europeans, how can we be?
Europe is miles away, over the sea
We're the English from England, let's all be proud
Stand up and be counted - Shout it out loud!

Let's tell our Government and Brussels too
We're proud of our heritage and the Red, White and Blue
Fly the flag of Saint George or the Union Jack
Let the world know - WE WANT OUR ENGLAND BACK !!!!

Sent to me by a very dear English friend.

Tweet

Question Time with David Starkey

Firstly my thanks to Moridura as I missed this last night.  His post is definitely worth reading. As he says the clip doesn't catch all Starkey's ravings and you can watch a repeat, plus the panel's reaction, on BBC channel 81 at 6pm on Saturday and it is on iPlayer now, right at the end.

Peter Curran (Moridura) says it all in his post, I have nothing more to add.

Update :  Moridura has taken down the video from Youtube for the reasons stated here.

Tweet