The best thing about the end 2013 it brings Scots within nine months of being able to end this dysfunctional political Union which no longer meets the needs of any of its constituent parts with the possible exception of the Greater London area.
For me it has been a year of thinking seriously about the sort of Scotland I wish to leave future generations of Scots. I am for a Scotland which embraces our middle of the road conservative socialism. A Scotland where government addresses the electorates needs and expectations rather than enforcing a narrow political ideology at all costs which is increasingly the norm from the UK Parliament. A politic growing ever further away from the Scottish sense of a common weal with its rush to put a cost on everything while ignoring the real value inherent in the public function, whether it is the NHS or Welfare, and then as quickly as the UK Government can get away with it, selling the public body paid for by UK taxpayers onto their chums in the banks and corporates. This in itself is not the worst, what is the worst is they can not even value the public business as in the case of Royal Mail at its market value and put it on the market for 60% of its true value. Not only is Westminster selling of publicly owned assets off, it is doing it on the cheap.
My dislike of Ian Duncan-Smith's Welfare Reform Bill has been expressed previously on this blog this year so to keep my sanity I will be brief. Just how can a system be claimed as successful when it turns out that the IT system has failed at a cost of £4.2 million odd, the cornerstone of the reform has been delayed yet again as in its current form it is unworkable, ATOS have stopped providing ESA85a 'medical reports' to the DWP as they have run out of money and will only carry out home assessments (and having hoovered up all the taxpayers' money are whining their contract with the DWP is running at a loss). I have now gone through the appeals tribunal process and I was left with the view you were guilty until proved innocent (luckily I won my appeal four days before Christmas). This is another good reason to vote 'Yes' in September 2014.
Where ever you look in 2013 it is clear the politicians in the UK Parliament have little or no clue as to what is happening in Scotland. They are basing the idea that the rUK parliament will hold the whip hand in any negotiation to end the Union while failing to understand the only constitutional legitimacy a rUK Parliament will have is as the English sovereign parliament, all based on an error made by Bagshotte in the mid 1800's on the nature of the Treaty of Union and Scotland's place within it.
As for Better Together their campaign is now being recognised as failing by their own leadership - Project Fear is turning into Project Farce. The polls are showing a leakage from 'No' to 'Don't know' and even to 'Yes'. The alarms are beginning to ring in Tory Central that chucking money at the problem is not working and maybe their safe pair of hands in Alistair Darling are not that safe after all. Things must be looking bad if even Boris Johnson has started to notice and state his concerns.
I bet even Elizabeth, Queen of Scots is looking on in disbelief at the total and utter mess her government at Westminster is making in their attempts to keep the Treaty of Union in place. No wonder she is currently throwing a sicky.
To all my readership and friends: I wish you prosperous New Year and look forward by this time next year talking about the way forward which a once more, sovereign Scotland is taking.
Labour, their pals in Better Together and the Glesgagrad pocket will fall.
For me it has been a year of thinking seriously about the sort of Scotland I wish to leave future generations of Scots. I am for a Scotland which embraces our middle of the road conservative socialism. A Scotland where government addresses the electorates needs and expectations rather than enforcing a narrow political ideology at all costs which is increasingly the norm from the UK Parliament. A politic growing ever further away from the Scottish sense of a common weal with its rush to put a cost on everything while ignoring the real value inherent in the public function, whether it is the NHS or Welfare, and then as quickly as the UK Government can get away with it, selling the public body paid for by UK taxpayers onto their chums in the banks and corporates. This in itself is not the worst, what is the worst is they can not even value the public business as in the case of Royal Mail at its market value and put it on the market for 60% of its true value. Not only is Westminster selling of publicly owned assets off, it is doing it on the cheap.
My dislike of Ian Duncan-Smith's Welfare Reform Bill has been expressed previously on this blog this year so to keep my sanity I will be brief. Just how can a system be claimed as successful when it turns out that the IT system has failed at a cost of £4.2 million odd, the cornerstone of the reform has been delayed yet again as in its current form it is unworkable, ATOS have stopped providing ESA85a 'medical reports' to the DWP as they have run out of money and will only carry out home assessments (and having hoovered up all the taxpayers' money are whining their contract with the DWP is running at a loss). I have now gone through the appeals tribunal process and I was left with the view you were guilty until proved innocent (luckily I won my appeal four days before Christmas). This is another good reason to vote 'Yes' in September 2014.
Where ever you look in 2013 it is clear the politicians in the UK Parliament have little or no clue as to what is happening in Scotland. They are basing the idea that the rUK parliament will hold the whip hand in any negotiation to end the Union while failing to understand the only constitutional legitimacy a rUK Parliament will have is as the English sovereign parliament, all based on an error made by Bagshotte in the mid 1800's on the nature of the Treaty of Union and Scotland's place within it.
As for Better Together their campaign is now being recognised as failing by their own leadership - Project Fear is turning into Project Farce. The polls are showing a leakage from 'No' to 'Don't know' and even to 'Yes'. The alarms are beginning to ring in Tory Central that chucking money at the problem is not working and maybe their safe pair of hands in Alistair Darling are not that safe after all. Things must be looking bad if even Boris Johnson has started to notice and state his concerns.
I bet even Elizabeth, Queen of Scots is looking on in disbelief at the total and utter mess her government at Westminster is making in their attempts to keep the Treaty of Union in place. No wonder she is currently throwing a sicky.
To all my readership and friends: I wish you prosperous New Year and look forward by this time next year talking about the way forward which a once more, sovereign Scotland is taking.
Labour, their pals in Better Together and the Glesgagrad pocket will fall.
Just a wee question but, was the cost of the IT failure not Billions?
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year.
IBSU: You are thinking about the mess Capita made of the NHS England IT system at around £1.4 billion. The one that was to do the same as GPAS the Scottish NHS uses.
ReplyDelete