Islington Seeks To Ban Chuggers
According to this article in the Islington Gazette, the council is thinking of banning chuggers.
About time too!
The Scottish Independence Referendum
The phone-in on BBC Radio 5 this morning, was about the possible Scottish Independence Referendum, which is being debated by David Cameron’s cabinet today.
I should say, that I don’t care much, whether Scotland is independent from the UK or not. after all, there would be one big advantage to England if Scotland were to be independent.
It would mean that the result of UK General Elections would not be skewed because of the overwhelmingly left-facing vote north of the border. It would also mean that policies for England would not be decided in a Parliament, where many of the members had no electoral connection to England, but still voted on English law. Tam Dalyell posed this as the West Lothian question and summed it up as follows.
For how long will English constituencies and English Honourable members tolerate … at least 119 Honourable Members from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exercising an important, and probably often decisive, effect on English politics while they themselves have no say in the same matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
I agree with this and it is a running sore to many English voters. Interestingly, to sort the West Lothian Question doesn’t need Scottish independence, but just a simple change to UK law, which would say that on matters of English law, only English MPs could vote. But would the Labour Party give up this right?
There might well be other advantages to England and I won’t debate them here, but I think it is in the interest of the whole of the UK, that the problem is settled one way or another before the end of the current UK Parliament.
Some of the biggest problems do not concern either the UK or the Scottish governments.
Suppose you are the CEO of an airline with a service to the London area, that is thinking of serving a second airport in the north of the UK. Obviously, your choice is between Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. But which? Uncertainty about the status of Scotland in the UK doesn’t help your decision. From my experience of the trains between Manchester and Scotland, it would appear that Manchester is getting the business, as opposed to Glasgow or Edinburgh. Note these points too.
- In 2010, Manchester was used by slightly more passengers than Glasgow and Edinburgh combined.
- The Scottish airports are not connected directly to the rail network. Manchester is and is due to get extra connections in the next few years.
- All airports have direct air links to either Gatwick, Heathrow or Stansted.
If Scotland’s status in the UK were to be sorted long-term, it would be a much easier decision.
There are a lot of other business decisions that are suffering from the same uncertaincy.
I actually think that the biggest problem with any Scottish referendum, is that no matter how it is written, it would not give a clear-cut result, that would satisfy everybody.
There could be three possible boxes on the ballot paper for a referendum.
- Complete independence for Scotland.
- More devolution for Scotland.
- Carry on as we are now.
The Scottish Nationalists would be very happy with one and possibly two. But as time progressed, I suspect that if they didn’t get complete independence, they’d come back again and again until they got the result they wanted. The uncertainty would be bad for Scotland and not very good for the UK. So in my view David Cameron is right to insist on an early binding referendum to put the issue to bed, once and for all. It would appear that the Scottish Nationalists want the referendum in 2014, as it’s the seven hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. I actually think that would be a recipe for a lot of trouble, that no-one wants.
The English would also like to bury the argument and most would be happy if Scotland became independent, as it would mean no Scottish interference in matters purely of interest to the English. Remember too, that the last two Scottish Prime Ministers of the UK, are not held in much affection in England. I think too, that the English would also be happy to go along with a very definite vote for the status quo, providing that the West Lothian Question was settled and there was no chance of another referendum for at least fifteen years or so.
I feel a bit sorry for the Welsh here, as they were a bit short-changed on devolution by Tony Blair. I do have this feeling though, that Wales will do well economically in the next few years, especially if they get the infrastructure a lot better.
Northern Ireland is a totally different matter and I’ve always believed that it should be united with the south. But that will probably not happen in my lifetime.
To return to the Scottish Referendum, would any political party get a result they want?
Scotland is a much more divided country than England, although both have a lot of regional pride. Edinburgh and Glasgow rarely agree and I’ve read reports in the past, about the islands not wanting independence at all, except from the rest of Scotland.
So it will be very difficult for any party to marshall the voters.
In fact, I think that in a three choice referendum, the Scots are more likely to vote strongly for maintaining the status quo.
So This Is Clapton Pond!
Coming back home yesterday after lunch in Walthamstow, I changed buses at Clapton Pond.
Note the bus stands on the roundabout. This where the 38s turn round. So will Clapton Pond become a tourist destination, when the New Bus for London enters service on that route on the 20th February 2012.
Blair’s Tax Bill
It would appear that he’s paying his share according to this article in the Daily Mail.
But then he’s only living by the Socialist mantra.
Do as I say, not as I do!
I also wonder what Brown’s tax bill is like?
After all Britain’s most accident prone double-act since Laurel and Hardy got us into this economic mess and made sure that they created enough friends to see themselves right.
Perhaps we need a law that all members and former members of Parliament must publish accounts that the man on the Dalston Omnibus could understand.
Rick Santorum on Poland
I have just found this post on the New York Times, which describes the mess Rick Santorum has got himself into over Poland.
I thought one of the golden rules of American elections, was don’t annoy the Irish, Italian, Polish and Jewish voters.
What Is It With ITV And Football?
I’m just watching Peterborough against Sunderland on ITV. Watching being the key word, as the sound isn’t working properly.
But then ITV has form in providing crap football coverage!
Double-Decker Trains for HS2
According to the Sunday Times today, a design consultancy, Priestmangoode has been asked to make the trains on HS2 as sexy as possible.
I’m all for this and have stated that we should make trains more passenger friendly several times. Here’s a piece where I advocated a better approach to the trains to the West Country and the north of Scotland from London using rebuilt High Speed Diesel Trains.
Transport for London have used this design-led approach on the New Bus for London and I hope it goes well for them, when the bus is introduced next month.
So get the trains right and of course build them in the UK and we might have a railway to be proud of. As someone, who’s travelled from London to Nice on Eurostar and a TGV Duplex, we don’t have much competition from the French. The TGV Duplex may look impressive on the outside, but inside it’s rather cramped and stuffy and the ride is not as good as a High Speed Diesel Train.
Rick Santorum Says NHS Cost Britain Its Empire
I can’t find the original quote, but I can find this post on the New Statesman blog, which is based on facts rather than rhetoric.
But then the man does say some rather illogical or outrageous things.
There is a list of 31 here.
If you don’t have time to read all the quotes in detail, here’s the summing up.
From these quotes, we can tell that Rick Santorum is a Christian Right Wing zealot who is obsessed with violating our personal lives and privacy. He would restrict women, outlaw homosexuality, ban birth control, tell unmarried couples what they can and cannot do, would throw senior citizens into poverty, thinks Americans should suffer, and he would enter America into even more wars. He is a Bible obsessed buffoon who has no grasp on American history, believes the Bush policies are worth continuing, and to top it all off, he’s a hypocrite. Rick Santorum is a frothy mixture of hate, bigotry, stupidity, insanity, and danger that America doesn’t ever need.
When is the United States going to get a President, who will set a good example to the rest of the world?
Cameron Apologises For Tourette’s Jibe
I can’t imagine some of our recent Prime Ministers making a statement like this to the Sunday Telegraph.
“He just annoys me,” Mr Cameron said of Mr Balls — whose gestures and comments aimed at the Prime Minister have become a well-known feature at question time sessions.
“But I’m very bad, in the House of Commons, at not getting distracted, and the endless, ceaseless banter, it’s like having someone with Tourette’s permanently sitting opposite you.”
After all, he could have said something like a record stuck in a groove, which no-one would have bothered about. The trouble is that how many these days know what a record is! I think a survey wouldn’t find too many people, who knew what exactly Tourette’s syndrome is either.
My Worry About HS2
HS2 is the proposed new high-speed railway to Birmingham, the north of England and Scotland.
I have my doubts about the viability of the line, but feel that it should be built, if only to release capacity on the other main lines to the north for freight.
My big worry though is that because so many Nimbys oppose HS2, then there will be opportunity for a political party to stand at the next election on an anti-HS2 ticket. After all the cost of the line at £32billion would go a long way in other directions.
It would be unlikely that the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats would do this, as it is their policy, but the Labour Party might despite it being theirs too! After all power is everything!
I can’t see the Greens being against HS2, but UKIP is according to this on their web site.
So will all those opposed to HS2 vote for UKIP?
I certainly hope not!
The Anonymous Widower 