Horse, door, stable: bolted ...
The Scots made clear in 2006 via poll after poll we wanted the next step of devolution to be a new federal union with fiscally autonomous nations and regions.
When it became clear Labour was not going to shift we elected a minority SNP Government to Holyrood in 2007 as a hint and a warning.
Labour's response was to take a big hissy fit cancelling, the then cutting edge, CO2 recovery plant at Peterhead, forcing Edinburgh's hyperbolic and shambolic trams project through while taking lumps out our pocket money. Basically the message from Labour was - we're naw listening and your aa fir it when we get back in in 2011.
In 2010 England elected a Tory Government, in 2011 Scotland elected a SNP majority to Holyrood in a electoral system (d'Hondt) which was supposed to stop this ever happening.
Did Westminster listen?
Did Westminster take the option offered by the SNP Referendum Bill 2012 to put forward fiscal autonomy option and the chance to create a new Union fit for purpose in the 21st Century?
No. The only reply Scotland was given was 'shut up and get back in your box, you are going to lose'.
It is only now, when the enormity of Westminster and its weak minded London media friends failure becomes clear, Scotland gets what can only be described as this last ditch insipid offer of 'jam tomorrow'. The offer is only in part because of the surge towards 'Yes' and has more to do with the increasing devaluation of Sterling in the markets and the price the UK Government is now are paying for five year bonds (over 5% yeilds) as the uncertainty it created with its cries of 'no currency union' are causing the world financial markets to get the colly-wobbles. A serious financial hole for Sterling is opening up with the potential to make the 2008 crash look like a walk in the park for the rUK, according to many financial analysts.
You can not say Scotland has not warned Westminster about the problems of the 'no currency union' line to the rUK and declined to talk about a 'Plan B', the 0.5% drop in the value of Sterling Thursday to Friday last week is a good reason why. Worse, the head of the Bank of England asked the Westminster politicians to shut up about 'Plan B', two weeks ago, as it was destabilising Sterling. Again, no one at Westminster or in the London media listened to what was actually said, they were too busy spinning 'Nyah, nyah, nyah Scotland!' stories.
Time to understand; the Yes support is not an 'overnight' phenomenon, the movement has been building steadily since before 2006 and has only become Yes because Westminster could not be bothered to listen to what we Scots were actually saying - fiscal autonomy and a new Union fit for purpose in the 21st Century - while continuing to slap us down at every turn to show us Scots who was superior.
In ten or twenty years time historians will look back and talk about how Westminster's neo-liberal rush to the right broke the Union and how the Scots were driven to independence by Westminster's indifference to what the Scots actually had wanted:
A fairer Union for all the UK's nations and regions.
The Scots made clear in 2006 via poll after poll we wanted the next step of devolution to be a new federal union with fiscally autonomous nations and regions.
When it became clear Labour was not going to shift we elected a minority SNP Government to Holyrood in 2007 as a hint and a warning.
Labour's response was to take a big hissy fit cancelling, the then cutting edge, CO2 recovery plant at Peterhead, forcing Edinburgh's hyperbolic and shambolic trams project through while taking lumps out our pocket money. Basically the message from Labour was - we're naw listening and your aa fir it when we get back in in 2011.
In 2010 England elected a Tory Government, in 2011 Scotland elected a SNP majority to Holyrood in a electoral system (d'Hondt) which was supposed to stop this ever happening.
Did Westminster listen?
Did Westminster take the option offered by the SNP Referendum Bill 2012 to put forward fiscal autonomy option and the chance to create a new Union fit for purpose in the 21st Century?
No. The only reply Scotland was given was 'shut up and get back in your box, you are going to lose'.
It is only now, when the enormity of Westminster and its weak minded London media friends failure becomes clear, Scotland gets what can only be described as this last ditch insipid offer of 'jam tomorrow'. The offer is only in part because of the surge towards 'Yes' and has more to do with the increasing devaluation of Sterling in the markets and the price the UK Government is now are paying for five year bonds (over 5% yeilds) as the uncertainty it created with its cries of 'no currency union' are causing the world financial markets to get the colly-wobbles. A serious financial hole for Sterling is opening up with the potential to make the 2008 crash look like a walk in the park for the rUK, according to many financial analysts.
You can not say Scotland has not warned Westminster about the problems of the 'no currency union' line to the rUK and declined to talk about a 'Plan B', the 0.5% drop in the value of Sterling Thursday to Friday last week is a good reason why. Worse, the head of the Bank of England asked the Westminster politicians to shut up about 'Plan B', two weeks ago, as it was destabilising Sterling. Again, no one at Westminster or in the London media listened to what was actually said, they were too busy spinning 'Nyah, nyah, nyah Scotland!' stories.
Time to understand; the Yes support is not an 'overnight' phenomenon, the movement has been building steadily since before 2006 and has only become Yes because Westminster could not be bothered to listen to what we Scots were actually saying - fiscal autonomy and a new Union fit for purpose in the 21st Century - while continuing to slap us down at every turn to show us Scots who was superior.
In ten or twenty years time historians will look back and talk about how Westminster's neo-liberal rush to the right broke the Union and how the Scots were driven to independence by Westminster's indifference to what the Scots actually had wanted:
A fairer Union for all the UK's nations and regions.
Always worth a read Peter. I loved it when you demolished them on the Independent.
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