 MAJOR ISSUES BULLETIN |
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| LET THEM EAT PORRIDGE-WE'LL KEEP OUR CAKE By
Max Hastings
Daily Mail -November 27, 2006
MONTHS before the 300th anniversary of the ACT OF UNION -Which brought together Scotland and England under a common Parliament, new opinion Polls suggest that the two peoples have had enough of each other.
More than half the respondents to a weekend ICM survey on both sides of the border claim to believe that the two nations should go it alone again. The figures reflect sentiments which anyone who travels the United Kingdom can endorse. In Scotland, ill-will and resentment towards the ENGLISH HAS BEEN MOUNTING FOR MANY YEARS.
A 1995 Nuffield Foundation study found that 75 per cent of Scots felt 'some antipathy towards the English, thinking them aggressive, arrogant and untrustworthy. Today, hostility has grown. It was highlighted by ugly incidents during the World Cup, when some fans rash enough to wear English colours in Scotland were physically assaulted, and Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell defiantly asserted that he was more interested in the fates of the Trinidad and Angola teams than that of ENGLAND.
Meanwhile, south of the border, after decades in which the English seemed unmoved by Scottish animosity, suddenly passions are stirring. There is growing awareness, and resentment of the bills we pay for the northern kingdom's fecklessness. Per capita PUBLIC SPENDING in Scotland is much higher then in ENGLAND. Official figures this year put it at £8,265 per head in Scotland and £6,762 in ENGLAND.
The Scottish parliament has recently decreed that the elderly should receive free long-term health-care regardless of their wealth. In England it is a source of bitter grievance that no such provision is available - yet we are funding Edinburgh's largesse to its own.
Am astonishingly recent statistic suggests that of Scotland's population of five million, just 163,000 people are taxpayers when all relief's and subsidies are discounted. The remainder are takers from - and not contributors to - the NATION EXCHEQUER.
And yet this same nation of dependents possesses a vice-like grip on BRITAIN'S governance. Scottish MPs vote on ENGLISH issues in the COMMONS, while ENGLISH MPs are barred from voting on Scottish ones. Many key OFFICES of GOVERNMENT are filled by SCOTS MPs, and we shall have a Scottish prime minister if Gordon Brown succeeds Tony Blair. The English might swallow all this with good grace, if the SCOTS seemed grateful or even merely friendly. BUT THEY ARE NOT And as abuse grows, as English visitors perceive ever more hostility when they cross the border, southerners are GETTING ANGRY. Now , their feelings are reflected in opinion polls, and building a head of steam. 'If the Scots don't like it, why don't they just b***** off and become INDEPENDENT? demand a host of voices in English bars and homes. If the latest ICM poll is to be believed, 68 per cent of the southern public wants an ENGLISH PARLIAMENT to match the Scottish one.
THIS, it seems to me, would be the worst possible response to the tensions in the [so-called] UNION. It would create another vastly expensive layer of GOVERNMENT in a [so-called] United Kingdom which is already over-governed.
[England OUT -OF-EU which be an even richer country and a NEW UNION of Independent Nation States would add little to the wealth of an EU FREE zone. There is the possibility that Scotland would prefer to remain in the EU but with English withdrawal any cost would have to be shared by the other contributors in the EU and NOT ENGLAND.] If we do not think much of most Commons MPs, imagine what the members of a subordinate English Parliament would be: rejects from Westminster scrambling to board a branch gravy train. Take a look at the McPygmies' who squander our money in Edinburgh. They are most famous for promoting a measure to give women rights to breastfeed in public places, and venting their spleen on the English as the source of all Scotland's woes.
Do we really want the same sort of thing in an English Parliament HOUSE, to be established - let us say in the forthcoming and soon-to-be-derelict Olympic stadium in East London? [The historical home of the INDEPENDENT ENGLISH PARLIAMENT is at WESTMINSTER and there it will always remain] The only rational debate must be about whether the UNION should continue at all. Economically from an English standpoint there is no case. Scotland brings nothing to the party except glorious scenery. The northern kingdom has suffered a tragic decline since the 19th century when it was a thriving heartland of heavy industry, coal mining and shop building.
As engineers, architects, soldiers and traders. Scots were among the foremost builders of the British Empire. In the 20th century, however, since the collapse of the old manufacturing base, Scotland has languished. Nationalism began its resurgence some 30 years ago, when Scottish football fans started to sing Flower of Scotland -at International matches in place of GOD SAVE THE QUEEN The movement gathered pace dramatically during the years of Margaret Thatcher. Scots bitterly resisted her campaign to strip their decaying industries of public funding and make them stand on their own feet. 'With the precise and good intentions of a nurse,' historian Richard Weight has written,
'Mrs. Thatcher unpeeled the fiscal bandages which British government since the 1930s had placed on Scotland and Wales in an effect to heal the wounds of industrial decline. THATCHER WAS RIGHT, of course, but the Scots have never forgiven her or the ENGLISH. They cling to an implacable conviction that we had shafted them, above all by stealing 'THEIR' OIL. IN TRUTH, if we had given them every penny from the North Sea bonanza but made them pat their own way for say, the past half century, SCOTLAND WOULD STILL BE IN DEEP DEFICIT. While England has transformed itself into a post-industrial society the northern kingdom has lagged helplessly. Scots make many excuses for their failure, but frequent studies have concluded that they simply lack the entrepreneurial energy and skills to complete. Edinburgh has become a significant financial centre, but Scottish businesses start-ups have an appalling survival record. As ambitious young Scots migrate south, the population sustained only by a steady inflow of ENGLISH retirement couples, who appreciate cheap housing and a low cost of living. The country employs vastly more public-sector workers per head than ENGLAND Its Parliament promotes a shamelessly Stalinist vision of STATE dominance and STATE provision. Politically, socially, economically, SCOTLAND has become retirement home for 20th century lost causes and discredited ideals
The Scots tragedy is that they cannot make their own country work, and want somebody else to blame. They measure their history alongside that of the IRISH, and imagine an INDEPENDENT future as bright as that of modern Ireland. Both propositions are ill-founded. [Ireland receives annually a Billion pounds from the EU partly paid for by the English taxpayers.]
FIRST, even admitting the 19th century Highland clearances, Scotland never suffered at English hands as Ireland did. Indeed, it has profited mightily from the UNION for most of its history, as economists acknowledge. SECOND, Ireland's take- off was made possible by a tidal wave of U hand-outs [much from the English taxpayer] in the 1970s and 1980s. This will not be repeated if Scotland votes for INDEPENDENCE, because the cash isn't there.
THE WORST - and likeliest - outcome of current surge of nationalist sentiment is that the Scots will go on whinging, but stop just short of going INDEPENDENT. They will be terrified of losing access to all that lovely ENGLISH MONEY
[WE HOPE THEY KEEP THEIR NERVE-some of the most successful countries in the world are SMALL NATION STATES. Mr Salmond needs to visit those countries and learn from their success. He of course needs to get rid of the many nut- cases which give his historic country a bad image on the international scene. Wealth is NOT the most important objective but the happiness of the PEOPLE and their commitment to each other to make a transition to the necessary changes to give their people a decent standard of living but more IMPORTANTLY a 'breath of fresh air' of Freedom and modest contentment. Scottish Independence will pave the way for an INDEPENDENT NATION STATE OF ENGLAND AT WESTMINSTER. ]
If I were David Cameron, however, as the next General Election approaches I would play the English card ruthlessly. Whatever the Tories do, they will never again win significant seats in Scotland, so they have nothing to lose. [We are not so sure as the possibility of England leaving the EU is almost assured if she becomes again an INDEPENDENT ENGLAND. Many in the Tory party and particularly Mr Nice Guy Dave are committed to the EU and they will do anything to see that the name of England is never shown on the map of the British Isles again. There would also be a clamour for Proportional Representation as most of the voters are no longer pleased with Tweedledee and Dave's Tweedledumb.] Cameron can ride a tide of mounting English anger, about how much the Scots cost us, and how wretchedly they behave in return.
Why should we accept governance by the [TARTAN CABAL] Labour ministers who sit for Scottish rotten boroughs? Why should we go on pretending to bear responsibility for Scotland's social and economic failure\?
I am an ENGLISHMAN who has loved SCOTLAND - all my life , but like many of us, I have had enough. IF THE SCOTS CLAIM TO WANT INDEPENDENCE, LET THEM HAVE IT.
The break-up of the UNION will be a sorrow to those of us to whom its heritage means so much But now that it has become a source of rancor and resentment among the Scottish people, let them see how they fare without it. THEY CAN EAT SCOTS PORRIDGE INSTEAD OF ENGLISH CAKE< AND DISCOVER HOW THEY LIKE IT,
[As we have mentioned elsewhere a break-up of partners is not always a disaster it might lead to a more understanding and at a later stage a new partnership where they have learnt not to take their partner for granted. Scotland with Wales and England share the same Island and a NEW UNION Of a Family of Independent Nation States of Greater Britain would be a great force for FREEDOM and JUSTICE in the WORLD of the 21st century.] * * * NOVEMBER/06
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* * 13th October,2007
So You Want Out Of The EU
THEN WHY NOT SIGN THE RENUNCIATION of EU CITIZENSHIP
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Optout Details from petition creator With the signing of the Maastricht Treaty the people of Britain were given DUAL CITIZENSHIP -both EUROPEAN and BRITISH The extra tier of citizenship was thrust upon the people without their consent -and in many cases knowledge. The PEOPLE of GREAT BRITAIN should be allowed the option of opting out of the EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP if they so wish. The GOVERNMENT will then be able to provide those who have opted out with BRITISH DOCUMENTATION -only such as British (not EU) passports, driving licences and other national documents. EU laws will also NOT APPLY to those who HAVE OPTED OUT OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP
[PETITION OPEN UNTIL OCTOBER 08]
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* [Latest Addition - June07] * * *
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Daniel Hannan - Forming an OPPOSITION to the EU
* GORDON BROWN WANTS TRUST-BUT WHY WON'T HE TRUST YOU? * 67% want powers back from EU-ICM poll-June 21-2007-95% of British people want a REFERENDUM * FOR A REFERENDUM SIGN TODAY ON LINE * July 18-2007
VOTE -2007
WITH THE ONLY PARTY WITH A MANDATE TO SET YOU FREE
THE UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY THE QUESTION THAT THE VOTER MUST ANSWER
‘DO YOU WISH TO BE GOVERNED BY YOUR OWN PEOPLE, LAW AND CUSTOM OR BY THE CORRUPT ,EXPENSIVE UNACCOUNTABLE AND CORRUPT ALIEN BUSYBODY BRUSSELS’
-SIMPLE IS IT NOT?
TO RECLAIM YOUR DEMOCRACY DON'T VOTE FOR THE TRIPARTITE PARTIES IN WESTMINSTER BUT SMALL PARTIES THAT SPEAK THEIR MINDS WITHOUT SPIN AND LIES. *
ONLY WILL BRING DEMOCRACY BACK TO THE ENGLISH PEOPLE *
SCOTLAND -ITS PARLIAMENT -WALES-ITS ASSEMBLY-ENGLAND-STILL AWAITS ITS PARLIAMENT-WHY?
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* [All underlined words have a separate bulletin]
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