Posh Tories

From EVEL to Independence

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There’s an interesting piece in the Tory press tomorrow which is titled, “Ban Scottish MPs from becoming Chancellor, Tory MPs demand.” Just think about that for a minute, if these plans go ahead Scotland would never have a man in the UK Treasury again. Even though we would still be a part of the UK. But, why stop there? UKIP’s Nigel Farage said, “Ultimately if you can’t have people voting on English laws then you can’t have them holding senior office either.” I’m sure he speaks for a lot of other MPs too.

So that would mean that no Scottish MP would ever hold a position of authority in the UK Parliament ever again. How do you feel about that Scotland? Does that sound like representative politics to you? We would end up as second class citizens even though we pay the same rates of taxes. We would never have a voice at the top table of politics in this land. We would be unable to have any influence upon any decisions which directly affect our lives.

In more briefing of the Tory press apparently the Tories are pledging to stop Scottish MPs from voting on  English taxes, even though those decisions will directly affect the funding to the Scottish Government via the Barnett formula. It is clear that the Tories are ramping up the rhetoric over EVEL but they have not considered the effects on Scottish people, they are playing to an English audience.

Posh Tories

Posh Tories

So what are those effects? My prediction is that the people of Scotland will see each move against the voting rights and the rights to hold office in the UK Parliament as an affront. They will be disgusted with the rewards of voting to remain within the UK. They will move towards Yes and they will clamour for another referendum, which the Yes side would probably win.

But all of this is speculation. None of these things will happen if the Tories, of whichever flavour, don’t retain power in the next general election which would be a good reason not to vote for them or their cronies. But they will get in eventually, such is the joy of the two party political system in Westminster. What then?

Gordie Broon Tory Poodle

John Swinney calls for the people to dictate the political debate

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At least that should have been the headline if they BBC weren’t so biased. Instead the lead with “Gordon Brown calls for Scottish politics to be ‘reset’.” In the piece the Big Beast allegedly “asked the SNP to explain how it will use the extra powers to be devolved to Scotland. In case he hasn’t noticed, NO POWERS HAVE BEEN DEVOLVED YET! How can anyone say how they will use powers which they may or may not get?

The King o’ Fife also allegedly said to the BBC, “Scottish politics has got to reset and Labour is pressing the reset button.” Now why would he say this? Is it because he thinks that the people of Scotland are like a computer? Press the reset button and all is forgotten and forgiven? I think not Gordie. The people of Scotland will never forget the way that Labour stood with the Tories and lied, bluffed and intimidated them. That is why they face electoral carnage in the general election and subsequently in the Scottish parliamentary elections. That is why he is standing down as an MP, because he is a coward. He is feart he will lose his seat to the SNP or some other pro-independence candidate. He also allegedly said, “The focus has got to move from the constitution to economic change.” Why is that then?

As the Deputy First Minister succinctly put it, “It is not for Gordon Brown, or any politician or party, to presume to dictate what the terms of political debate in Scotland should be – that is up to the people as it always should be, and they will have their say at the ballot box in May. Gordon Brown and the Labour leadership stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tories in the No campaign and now know they face paying a very high electoral price for that. It says it all that this speech was to a room full of Labour councillors – once again, Labour are having conversations with themselves and not with the ordinary people they claim to represent.”

Gordie Broon Tory Poodle

Gordie Broon Tory Poodle

Who do you think has his finger on the pulse of the people of Scotland?

UK Parliament

EVEL And The Scots’ Ripost

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The funny thing about the question of English Votes for English Laws, a.k.a. EVEL, is that it is complete ruse on the part of David Cameron and his repulsive Tory party. Now I fully agree that if there is a devolution of power to the Scottish Government then there should be a corresponding devolution of the same powers to the other devolved assemblies. That would be fair wouldn’t it? But the English do not have a devolved assembly, they have the Westminster Parliament which they believe is the parliament of England. That is true, but it is also the parliament of the UK and what goes on in that parliament affects the whole of the UK.

Of course our Prime Minister is fully aware of this, what he wants from EVEL is a complete muzzling of the Labour party who derived a large proportion of their strength from Scotland and Wales (40 & 26 respectively). EVEL would also restrain the effects of SNP MPs in Westminster if, as seems almost certain, a large rump of SNP MPs are elected in GE2015. So EVEL seems like a win/win for our illustrious leader.

But here’s a thing. Due to the Barnett formula, funding of the devolved insitutions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is dependent upon how much money is spent on public services in England. Now this is a bit crap because if the English Government (which one is that?) decides to reduce funding to the NHS then the funding to the devolved administrations would also be reduced. So there is no such thing as an English Government, there is only an UK Government. Which means that there is no such thing as the West Lothian Question because all decisions taken in the UK parliament affect the whole of the UK. It’s in the name.

So what’s to be done? I believe that all Westminster MPs should be involved in making all decisions in the UK parliament since all decisions made there affect the whole of the UK, that’s the answer to the West Lothian Question. The only fair solution to the conundrum is to set up an English parliament, separate and distinct from Westminster. Then give each devolved parliament exactly the same powers. This solution would be known as Federalism. Anything else is unfair to all the people of the UK.

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So It’s Devo F*&k All Then

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The Smith Commission has given it’s considered views on which powers should be granted to the Scottish Parliament. That’s all well and good but these proposals fall somewhat short of the mark, they amount to nothing in reality (apart from full control of road signs). Oh how Unionists must be laughing at their cocaine and whore parties tonight.

Brokenvow Sign

Brokenvow Sign

The Smith Commission Report is available here. The ins and outs of this report will be pored over for some time I’d imagine, with Unionists giving us all the “Vow Delivered” clap trap and “Now the Scottish Government must tell us how it’s going to use these significant new powers.” The simple fact is that although some new powers are being offered they all come with caveats. If the Scottish Government makes efficiency savings in one area and saves some cash, then the block grant from Westminster will be cut. If the Scottish Government chooses to use some devolved power which costs a bit more, the money will have to be found from within the existing block grant.

The most striking part of the report for me is in paragraph 76 which says, “Within this framework, the Scottish Parliament will have the power to set the rates of Income Tax and the thresholds at which these are paid for the non-savings and non-dividend income of Scottish taxpayers.” Which means that the Scottish Government can tax the workers, but not the rich. That’s a nice touch of Tory there.