caltonjock

Holyrood to be side-lined then shut down

The May 2021 Scottish General Election is a critical moment in time since the outcome will decide the survival or closure of Holyrood and it is imperative that Scots elect politicians with fire in their bellies taking forward the fight for independence. The established SNP is well able to provide good government but there are reservations about its lack of drive and a growing disenchantment with long serving politicians who appear to be content with arrangements for devolved government as they are and a wake-up call is needed. This would best be delivered by the election of hard-line pro-independence MSP’s through the “list” system. But with only a few weeks left before the election the portents are not favourable to Scots who desire change and progress.

Rule Britannia – Never trust a Unionist

Post Brexit the Unionist parties continue to “sing” from the same despised constitutional hymn sheet defying the aspirations of many Scots who wish to withdraw from a “Treaty of Union” forced upon their forebears. The Unionists are aware that England’s hold over Scotland is only political, in their hearts and minds Scots will never hand over their nationality to another State.

Mindful of the need to keep the natives in North Britain happy the Unionist Parties issued a statement saying: “The Scottish Parliament is a fact and it will remain in place, and it will be able to legislate and implement policies for the newly reduced devolved responsibilities. A Tory government will not interfere with that. It will continue to govern Scotland with respect. Scots will see that and that will consolidate our support in the medium to longer term”.

The key words to note in the statement are “newly reduced devolved responsibilities” since they expose the duplicity of Unionist politicians, of all political persuasions. The Tory Government has been evolving strategies for the removal of devolved government from Scotland from May 2010.

The man behind the strategy is anglicised Scotsman Andrew Dunlop

The quiet man of UK politics. He has been closely associated with the Conservative Party for most of his adult life. He was a special adviser to the Defence Secretary (1986–88) and a member of Margaret Thatcher’s Policy Unit (1988–1990).

The demise of Thatcher brought his budding career to a halt and he moved away from active politics to found and develop his own strategic communications consultancy business. Over 20 years later he sold the business, for a very tidy sum of money, to the Brussels-based Interel Group (lobbyists).

The return to power of the Tory Party in 2010 sparked his interest in politics once again and he linked up with his friend and former colleague David Cameron, in his former role of special advisor, with specific responsibility as the principal adviser on Scotland and devolution.

He was elevated to the House of Lords in 2015 allowing Cameron to take him into government, where he served as a minister in the UK Government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland between 2015 and 2017.

He is a member of the UK Constitution Committee and an Expert Member of the UK Civilian Stabilisation Group and retaining close contact with Scottish affairs he is currently a Board member of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry.

An avid supporter of Boris Johnson he is the brains behind Tory Government policies in Scotland. In this respect, he revealed his thinking in a speech, in the Lords, during a debate on the “possible effects of Brexit on the stability of the Union of the parts of the United Kingdom”.

He said:

“Attention should be paid to the machinery of intergovernmental relations, which needs to be strengthened. We also need to look at the cross-UK synergies, weakened since devolution, which need to be reinvigorated.”

“We need to pursue a decentralised, pan-UK strategy for rebalancing the economy, driven by city regions across the country. This means moving away from seeing everything through a four-nation prism.”

“Many of the problems confronting Glasgow, for example, are similar to those of Manchester or Birmingham. They provide embryonic structures which can be built upon.

“There are two years until the next Holyrood elections. Strengthening our union must be an urgent priority whatever our post-Brexit future.”

https://caltonjock.com/2015/05/26/andrew-dunlop-the-murky-world-of-the-lobbyists ( This is a long but very enlightening read)

The 2014 Independence Referendum campaign – A lookback at the lies of the Unionist “you’ve never had it so good” strategy

“Better Together”: “Scots enjoy membership of the EU because of our membership of the UK and if we no longer are members of the UK then it follows that we are no longer are part of the EU.” “The process for removing Scotland’s EU citizenship is? Voting “Yes.”

Ruth Davidson: “I think it is disingenuous of the Nationalists to say that “No” means out and “Yes” means in, when actually the opposite is true, “No” means we stay in, we are members of the European Union.”

David Cameron, Unionist Party Leaders & Ruth Davidson: “Power lies with the Scottish people and we believe it is for the Scottish people to decide how Scotland is governed.”

The illegal promises of the Unionists in the purdah period. The Party Leaders promised “extensive new powers” for the Scottish Parliament, but the award was predicated by a “No” vote on 18 September 2014. Which they got. The subsequent legislation retained 70% of Scottish taxes and 85% of Scottish welfare spending in the hands of the Westminster government.

The cross-party Devolution (Further Powers) Committee said: “The Scotland Bill falls short in critical areas.”

A “YouGov” poll found that only 9 per cent of Scots believed that the promise of “extensive new powers” had been delivered. The passage through Westminster of the 2015 Scotland Bill was torturous. 56 Scottish MP’s, representing a majority of Scots, tabled in excess of 100 suggested amendments to the Scottish Bill. Mundell, then Scottish Secretary of State, rejected every proposal. The entire process was a joke.

Shipbuilding

Before the referendum, the “No” campaign said jobs in shipyards would be under threat if there was a “Yes” vote. The propoganda included the wide distribution of a leaflet saying “Separation Shuts Shipyards” and promising that only a “No” vote would ensure Govan and Scotstoun would get the order for thirteen Type-26 frigates from the Royal Navy”.

In November 2015, the media reported that the programme would be slashed because funding needed to be diverted from ship building to fund the aged and obsolete nuclear submarine fleet and trident weaponry. Later that month the UK government announced that the number of frigates to be built was reduced from thirteen to eight. 800 clydeside workers were subsequently made redundant. From that time the project has been repeatedly delayed and the number of ships to be built further reduced.

Energy

David Cameron heavily promoted a referendum “No” vote on the basis that: “when it comes to vital industries like green technology, the combination of a green investment bank sponsored by the United Kingdom Government and the many natural advantages that there are in Scotland can make this a great industry for people in Scotland but we will do that only if we keep our country together”.

Before the referendum Edward Davey the UK Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: “The broad shoulders of the United Kingdom is unlocking the power of Scotland to take its place as one of the world’s great energy hubs -generating energy and generating jobs”.

In June 2015 the BBC reported: “Scotland could lose £3bn in investment because of a UK government decision to exclude new onshore wind farms from a subsidy scheme a year earlier than planned. The report also advised that Siemens, a German “clean energy” company had announced it would not invest in any further renewables projects in the UK until the UK Government had decided whether energy generation would be through investment in nuclear energy or wind and hydro. Sotland hammered again!!!

HMRC Employment

Before the referendum it was claimed that HMRC delivered a ‘jobs dividend’ in Scotland and that this would be at risk by a “Yes” vote. In 2015 the UK Government announced the closure of many HMRC offices – 2,000 Scottish jobs went.

Civil service jobs

Before the referendum, the Scotland Office issued a press release boasting that only the UK Government protected civil service jobs in Scotland. But information in “SPICe” exposed the lie. Between 2011 and 2015, there was a greater fall in UK Civil Service employment in Scotland, 17.5% than in any other UK nation. The rate in England was 12.4%, Wales 9.3% and Northern Ireland 16.1%.

Carbon capture

Before the referendum, the UK Government stated: “Scotland benefits from other competitions and grants provided by the UK Government and the wider UK consumer and tax base, such as the programme to support the commercialisation of carbon capture and storage.” The commitment to a £1billion investment in CCS was also set out in the Conservative’s 2015 manifesto.

Deciding on a nuclear energy future the Westminster Government abruptly cancelled the investment. Peterhead and Longannet, the front runners lost out. Canada didn’t hang about and developed the technology.

Social security

Before the referendum, Better Together suggested that independence would be a threat to the welfare state saying: “we are better placed to support the most vulnerable in Scotland ” with a “No” vote.

Less than a year later the UK Government Chancellor announced £12bn cuts in welfare and benefits. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) said the budget was an attack on the poorest and most vulnerable people in communities and that the Chancellor was “demonstrating a cruel disregard for the impact this will have on hundreds of thousands of people’s lives”. The Child Poverty Action Group said the budget cuts damaged economic security of working families “with higher child poverty for millions and lower taxes for the better off”.

EVEL

In the weeks before the Referendum Scots were “love bombed” by tv personalities, pop music performers, politicians and heads of state of other countries with the heart tugging message that Scots were an integral and equal part of the UK “family of nations” and a tearful pleas of “please don’t go, we love you.

Only eight hours after after the referendum result was published Cameron announced the Unionist Party’s answer to the “West Lothian” question. Acts of parliament would be implemented, without delay, introducing English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) forming two tiers of parliamentarians in the House of Commons. The ill-judged changes created a myriad of potential political strife situations where Scottish MPs would not be able to properly consider and vote on legislation relevant to Scotland such as the Barnett formula or Barnett consequentials since this would be classified as English only.

Barnett Formula

The Vow, which was signed up to by each of the three main parties at Westminster clearly promised “the continuation of the Barnett allocation for resources”. In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, fresh suggestions are being raised by the Tory-right wing and others about cutting Scotland’s budget further.

Brexit campaigner Lord Owen called for a vote to Leave the EU to be used as an excuse to axe the Barnett Formula, while Tory MEP David Bannerman tweeted that a “new Brexit Government should suspend the Barnett formula for Scotland” – raising the spectre of Tory government at Westminster initiating a systematic and cynical erosion of Scotland’s finances. One time Tory leadership candidate Michael Gove again raised the prospect of axing the Barnett Formula.