Cantona For President
According to this article, one of Britain’s favourite Frenchman, wants to stand against Sarkozy to be French President.
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.
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.
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!
Diane Abbott Slips Up
The media is making a hell of a fuss about Diane Abbott’s comment on Twitter.
I find Ms. Abbott entertaining, although her politics are very different to mine. I suspect, that if we were sat next to each other on a plane or train, we’d argue and agree and disagree in unequal measure.
What she originally said was probably scientifically correct in its full context, but was rather shortened because of the rules of Twitter. I don’t disagree with her reasoning and “divide and rule” is a method, that is used by everybody to get their own way on a committee or in a meeting, whether inside politics or not. The British Empire probably used the technique in the past, but hopefully that is all history and to be learned from and not copied. I suspect that it is technique much less used in business and management these days as well.
The real mistake she made was to publish without thinking. But this is the Twitter trap!
I think it would also be better, if when we see something wrong on Twitter posted by someone we know, we douse it in a bucket of very cold water, rather than report it all to the media.
Having read the tweets that caused the story, it strikes me that an early intervention, perhaps in a light-hearted vein could have created a molehill out of a mountain.
We have had politicians in the past, who would have mangled their words with impunity and got into awful trouble on Twitter. George Brown comes to mind, although there would probably be many others in his era. On the other hand, politics has had its fair share of precise wordsmiths, who would have found Twitter suited to their style.
David Hockney is Awarded the Order of Merit
The Order of Merit is a unique order in that it is a personal gift of the sovereign. It has just been awarded to David Hockney.
I first came aware of Hockney when he won the John Moores Painting Prize at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, in 1967 and can remember seeing his painting, Peter Getting out of Nick’s Pool, at the time with C. I also have seen the major collection of his works at Saltaire.
Reading the list of those who have been awarded the Order of Merit is to read a list of some of our greatest scientists, artists and composers with a few politicians thrown in. Although, I think it is true to say, that these days there are more of the thinkers than the politicians, than there was fifty years or so. At present there are only two British politicians on the list and both are women; Margaret Thatcher and Betty Boothroyd. There are however two long serving Commonwealth Prime Ministers; one Canadian and one Australian. Decades ago, there would have been many from the military, but now there is only the respected military historian; Sir Michael Howard.
I think on the whole it is a good list and if you look at those who hold the honour today, no-one stands out as universally condemned by all.
There are some interesting connections and some would think anomalies.
For instance the only churchman is the Anglican Primate of Ireland, Lord Eames. Although Cardinal Hume was a member.
Dorothy Hodgkin was also a member, as is her pupil, Margaret Thatcher. I think it is true to say, that their politics were very different. I wonder if they ever met, when Thatcher was Prime Minister! This web page provides a glimpse of their relationship.
Margaret Thatcher worked as a fourth year student on X-ray crystallography in Dorothy Hodgkin’s laboratory. Despite later political differences they always held a great affection for one another.
According to this page on the BBC, they did meet whilst Thatcher was Prime Minister to discuss world peace.
The Anonymous Widower 