I see where the old saying; ‘A week is a long time in politics’
comes from. One week post referendum and
‘normal service’ hasn’t exactly been resumed. Remember the ‘vow’ made to Scotland just
two days before the referendum in return for the no vote? The one where Cameron
& Co promised to preserve the
Barnett funding formula, give additional and extensive new powers to the
Scottish parliament and ‘categorically
stated" that the final say on funding for the NHS will lie with the
Scottish government "because of the continuation of the Barnett allocation
for resources, and the powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise
revenue".
Already Cameron seems to be having a bit of a problem
selling his ‘vow’ to his back benchers. Not many of us in Scotland are
surprised by that. Whether or not we ever get what was promised remains to be
seen but one thing is for sure, they may have won the referendum, but the
thirst for independence hasn’t gone away You could almost feel sorry for
Cameron, if he pushed through the additional powers he promised, in the time
scale he promised ( Jan 2015) he risks losing the support of his back benchers,
if he renegades on his promise, the push toward independence will grow stronger
and stronger.
The first part of the promise to be unashamedly abandoned by
Cameron is his commitment to keeping the Barnett formula. He now states categorically
that funding to Scotland
will be decreased gradually over a number of years.
Retaining the Barnett formula isn’t the only cause for
rebellion in the back benches. When Cameron & Co desperately tried to
save the union with those last minute promises he didn’t tie them in with
constitutional change at Westminster.
The biggest problem here is that constitutional change at Westminster, along the lines suggested by his
back benchers, are virtually impossible to negotiate within the promised time
frame. And if Cameron doesn’t stick to the promised time frame, he will be
breaking his promise to Scotland.
The old ‘West Lothian’ question will at some
point have to be addressed; it should have been addressed years ago, but
Cameron didn’t tie in the West Lothian question with the promises he made, they
are separate issues.
And of course Boris Johnson, never one to miss an
opportunity, had to add his opinion. I predict he is about to become an irksome
thorn in the side of Cameron.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2761766/David-Cameron-make-televised-address-reacting-Scotland-referendum-promising-powers-English-MPs-bid-head-Tory-revolt.html
Cameron is in a difficult position, (no I don’t feel sorry
for him) it’s going to be interesting to see where he goes from here. On a more
positive note, since the referendum the three parties campaigning for
independence have all been inundated with requests for new membership. In less
than ONE WEEK, over 24,000 people have become fully paid up members of the SNP.
This more than doubled their membership taking total membership numbers to over
50,000 and making the SNP the THIRD LARGEST
political party in the UK.
Yep they have overtaken the Lib Dems (membership less than 43,000) and are now
the third largest party in the whole of the UK. That is quite astonishing. The
Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party, who joined forces with
SNP to form the alliance for independence have also seen their membership
levels double during the last week. The Sunday Herald, the only newspaper to
fully back independence has seen sales increase by a massive 111% post
referendum. None of that sounds to me as if 'independence' is going anywhere
soon.
Now even if you haven’t managed to read any of the links so
far, this is one not to be missed. This
is a video of John Drummond, chairperson of the Constitutional Commission,
taking apart the promises made by Cameron & Co and analyzing them in
relation to their impact on the constitution. This makes very interesting
listening.
The push for independence hasn’t gone away since the
referendum, in fact it seems to be growing, but as we remain, (for now at
least) part of the Union, some of our energies must be spent keeping a close
eye on all the other stuff that goes on at Westminster. Stuff like the dreaded
TTIP, one of the biggest threats to the NHS we have ever seen. If this
agreement is signed by Westminster
the doors will be open for all and every American based Multinational
Corporation to get the foot in the door of our NHS. Worse still, if the
agreement is signed in its present form, these companies can claim compensation
from us if they don’t have the access to our markets ( and the NHS) they think
they should.
The World Development Movement says
''
The EU-US trade deal (TTIP) could allow multinational corporations to sue our government for making laws to benefit people.
That has already happened in other places in the world under similar trade deals.
The World Development Movement says
''
The EU-US trade deal (TTIP) could allow multinational corporations to sue our government for making laws to benefit people.
That has already happened in other places in the world under similar trade deals.
Fracking is another thing we need to be worried about. Westminster has announced that they are to
remove the rights of householders to object to oil and gas drilling and
hydraulic fracturing beneath their homes. This will include householders in Scotland,
and comes despite 99 per cent of respondents to the UK Government consultation
on the proposals objecting to them.
Yes, one week is a very long time in politics.
An interesting but depressing read. It's not surprising that membership in the SNP has gone up.
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