Look up, and you can see Scotland from anywhere in the UK. SCOTLAND should have a strong voice at Westminster. That much is certain.
We are a berth for the UK’s nuclear submarines. We build the ships of the Royal Navy. We are so popular (and important) bears fly off our coasts and sneaky submarines sneak around our fishing boats.
We contribute to the UK’s economy and the fabric of the country as a whole (regardless of the denial brigade) so much, London could never bear to let us go. It’s true!
And – yes - we house a collection of 700 year old judges hell bent on protecting their highly secretive and dubiously achieved judicial wealth from prying eyes.
It is also true our little, big, country is a possible candidate for vested interests & big business to frack for their own gain. Yes, their gain, not the wider community at large.
Vested interests, corporate boards and Chief Executives do not toast champagne over throwing free money at citizens or vital public services without some fiddle in the background. Fact.
And – sadly - we are an outpost of dodgy financial & legal services who go to extreme efforts to avoid scrutiny, accountability, regulation & transparency. Heather Heather. And some Capital.
In any case, there is a General Election this Thursday, and it is your right as a citizen - to vote.
Will anything change next week? Not really.
The NHS will still be in crisis. Statistics on crime (and everything else) will still be fiddled beyond plausibility. Increasing numbers of people across the UK will be forced to use Food Banks.
Oh .. Shocker. People in power you rely on for help will write back to you saying they cannot help.
Lord Gill – the Lord President & Lord Justice General - almost Napoleonic in title, will still be in Parliament House dancing to “Mysterious Ways” – or perhaps “Insidious Ways” - gaming out his latest military style exercise against judicial transparency on his WOPR WarGames computer.
Oh yes – and the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.
But, once every few years - when you – the electorate – are needed - it is YOUR chance to hold Government and all it’s fantasy and all it’s power – to account.
As you hold Government to account this week with your vote - think on this.
Some might say … a Government is only as good as it’s opposition. Inevitably, a Government is only as good as those who vote for it.
A strong opposition can - or at least should - hold a Government to account.
A strong, independent media often holds, and frequently advances the line on transparency and accountability - which helps hold Government to account.
Thursday 7 May 2015 is your choice, your voice, and your vote. Think. Don’t be bullied by vested interests or false and fantastical promises.
However you decide to vote, you have the right to decide for yourself. But please, do vote.
Another tanking for Gill.He will not be amused.And you are right about everything else of course.
ReplyDelete"People in power you rely on for help will write back to you saying they cannot help."
ReplyDeleteYes and the letter they send you you end up paying for it in more ways than one.
Funny + oh so true
ReplyDeleteProblem with the strong opposition argument is they are usually bought off one way or another so as you say it is left to the media to hold governments to account.
ReplyDeleteSo where does this leave us?
We may as well vote for the Sunday Mail,Sunday Herald and the Sun and you since you do such a good job of ripping apart the legal establishment!
LOL!
ReplyDeleteLord Gill – the Lord President & Lord Justice General - almost Napoleonic in title, will still be in Parliament House dancing to “Mysterious Ways” – or perhaps “Insidious Ways” - gaming out his latest military style exercise against judicial transparency on his WOPR WarGames computer.
Whichever party sponsors or cuddles up to the Law Society is not worth voting for!
ReplyDelete"It is also true our little, big, country is a possible candidate for vested interests & big business to frack for their own gain. Yes, their gain, not the wider community at large."
ReplyDeleteand this is exactly what Fergus Ewing and the nats want to happen.You can just see them drooling over themselves at the thought of chopping up the environment for all those backhanders. and Gill in the background promoting it in that story you wrote about him.Shocking.
http://www.shalegas.international/2015/04/30/fergus-ewing-snp-will-not-rule-out-fracking-in-scotland/
Fergus Ewing: SNP will not rule out fracking in Scotland
30th April, 2015
Fergus Ewing, Scottish Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, and SNP member, told delegates at the IJGlobal European Renewable Energy Investors Forum that the SNP would improve UK renewables, but would not rule out the exploration of Scottish shale resources.
Mr Ewing opened the two-day director level conference at the Old Course Hotel in Scotland with an address to delegates outlining the Scottish government’s priorities for domestic electricity supply.
The Minister told members of the renewable energy and project finance industries that the SNP would seek to work with Westminster were it to form a coalition with a UK party post-election.
Ewing also said Scotland had not ruled out a shale gas industry in the country.
The Scottish government imposed a moratorium on shale gas planning permits in the country in January this year, and the SNP has previously voted for a UK-wide moratorium.
However Ewing told delegates at the event that the party does not support an indefinite ban. Instead “we need a national debate,” he said.
“It’s wrong for us to proceed other than on the basis of evidence, and we lack that.” In contrast, the rest of the UK has a “gung-ho” attitude to shale gas exploration, he said.
In January, the Scottish Government imposed a moratorium on fracking, which means that no shale gas licences will be granted until the moratorium is lifted. An earlier attempt by The Green Party to impose a total ban on shale exploration last May was rejected by Holyrood.
At the time, Fergus Ewing told the Scottish Parliament that the moratorium would allow for a full public consultation on the controversial drilling technique, and to commission a full public health impact assessment.
He expressed the same belief during a BBC One programme, The War over Fracking, broadcast yesterday.
When asked about fracking for underground shale gas Ewing said: “We should have a national debate about the topic, especially since we are to acquire, we hope, powers in respect of the unconventional oil and gas issue before very long.
“So this is the right time to have a national debate informed by evidence.”
The minister was then asked: “If the Scottish public clearly says it doesn’t want this, will that be enough for you to introduce a permanent ban?”
Mr Ewing replied: “Well, let’s see what the debate comprises. I don’t want to prejudge that debate,” adding: “People will come to their own conclusions, perhaps using that great tool that Scotland bequeathed in the enlightenment to the world – rational analysis.”
Also featured in the program, INEOS director, Tom Crotty, said that his understanding is that the Scottish Government imposed the moratorium on fracking “to take a breather while we gather information”. He told the BBC: “That’s a great thing, and we’re completely committed to that. So at the moment it’s not frustrating. If it went on and on, it would be very frustrating.”
This shows INEOS in much better spirits when it comes to its future in Scotland than when the moratorium was first announced. At the time, Gary Haywood, the chairman of Ineos Upstream, said that the moratorium on fracking in Scotland may make the future of the Grangemouth chemical plant “very difficult”.
Same as the indyref better get out there to vote or else you know what will happen
ReplyDeleteAnyone had any success writing to the Scottish Government over problems in the courts or justice in the last 8 years?
ReplyDeleteA big NO to that!
you dont do politics much but I gotta say this is THE ONLY sane story on the entire 2015 election!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete