Sinn Féin, fronting Republican aspirations in the 1918 general election, stood on a unified platform pledging not to take their seats were they to be elected to Westminster but to set up an alternative Irish parliament in Dublin. The party received a massive endorsement winning 73 of 105 seats and acted on the wishes of the majority of the electorate. Westminster immediately imposed Martial Law and all of its accompanying iniquities leading to the Irish War of Independence and subsequent creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. The Irish were free of the invidious colonial bondage of Westminster.
If the 2026 Scottish General Election returns a Nationalist majority and an independence referendum is refused Scottish Nationalist MP’s should be withdrawn from participating in the business the House of Commons and any other associated activities such as committee work. Their constituency work would be unaffected.
In Dec 2019 the £650m planning application to construct a 3000-home Durieshill village in Stirlingshire was approved after a meeting between Senior Springfield staff and Nicola Sturgeon which she failed to declare.
Senior Springfield staff also lobbied the First Minister in Perth in January 2019 but there is no mention of the talks in her official diary. And several other appointments between Springfield and senior SNP ministers were also not recorded.
This despite the Holyrood code of conduct stating: “Private Offices should arrange for the basic facts of formal meetings between ministers and outside interest groups to be recorded, setting out the reasons for the meeting, the names of those attending and the interests represented.”
Sturgeon was previously accused of cronyism in 2015 after announcing an overhaul of the planning system following a campaign by multi-millionaire Adam Springfield.
Men are dominant in the labour market, politics and other competitive activities, because they are prepared to prioritise their jobs over lifestyle choices. In consequence they are more likely to survive, and become high achievers.
20% of women are work-centred
Women remain a minority, despite their influx into higher education and professional and managerial occupations. Such women are focused on competitive activities in the public sphere, in careers, sport, politics, or the arts. Family life is fitted around their work, and many remain childless by choice, even when married. Qualifications and training are obtained as a career investment.
In order to be assured of good governance the gender make up of the Scottish Government should be 24 male and 6 female. It is 18 female and 12 male. The imbalance needs to be corrected.
In recent years Sturgeon oft repeated claims that sex discrimination is the primary source of unfairness in the labour market and encouraged by an ever increasing range of lobbyist groups she forced radical feminist agendas on Scottish society; eg the equal opportunities act, family friendly employment, sex discrimination and transgender recognition.
But her relentless pursuit of a radical feminist agenda, recruiting from a small group of work centred women backfired since its aims and aspirations defied logic and reality. The talent just isn’t there.
Unionist, primarily English born incomers to Scotland greatly aided by a similarly minded Scottish press, BBC (Scotland), other media outlets, Labour, Tory and Liberal Democratic politicians spurned the Scottish electorate in favour of “beating the “Lambeg drum” in support of Westminster.
The referendum outcome for Scots who dared challenge the authority of Westminster was the brutal imposition of financial austerity measures rendering many families unable to cope with significantly reduced incomes and ever increasing prices and in harmony with the aforestated cruelty Westminster politicians reduced welfare finance to Scotland by around £3 billion annually.
And yet, according to the polls another referendum might produce the same result!! Scots must be mad, stupid or brow beaten beyond saving. But hang on a minute!! Confining the voter base to those born in Scotland might balance the odds in favour of independence!!
Alec launched a brutal broadside against Swinney as he accused him of “making independence impossible” in the General Election. And he also claimed that the First Minister was “reprising” his failed 2003 Holyrood campaign where he lost eight seats.
Alec was reacting to an interview Swinney did with ITV News in which he confessed that he would support Devo Max instead of gaining a second independence referendum.
The SNP strategy is to win a majority of the seats at the next General Election and then plead with the Prime Minister to give them the power to hold another vote. but Westminster has already rejected the notion of such an event.
Swinney was asked whether he would support more powers for Holyrood instead of a referendum, and admitted he would.
He said: “I have never, my record says that I have never resisted strengthening of the powers of the Scottish Parliament. I was part of the Smith Commission which brought more power, the very tax powers that you’ve asked me about, came from the Smith Commission, of which I was a member. So I will always try to build the powers of the Scottish Parliament. I’m a believer in independence, I think independence is the answer for Scotland, but I will always work constructively to strengthen the powers of the Scottish Parliament. The real challenge we face is over the last few years since Brexit the powers of the Scottish Parliament have been eroded by the UK Government.”
He was asked if he wanted to see these extra powers being offered in the Labour manifesto and confirmed he did, and wanted Scots to “have the opportunity to decide their own future.” But the interview was highlighted by Alec Salmond as proof that the SNP had given up the push for Scexit.
Alec said: “Now we know why independence is off the SNP ballot paper. These interviews from Swinney are so wrong on so many levels. All experience shows that the ONLY circumstances when Westminster offers more powers for Scotland, is when they are frightened of independence and since the SNP are not campaigning for independence then Labour have no need to concede anything. As Swinney told Nick Robinson, of the BBC, the SNP is campaigning for a ‘democratic effect’ forcing Starmer to permit a referendum to which he already knows the answer is “no”.
A timely reminder
In 2003, Swinney led the SNP to a calamatous result in the Holyrood election, losing eight seats and seeing the vote share drop by 4.9% which was the beginning of the end for his reign as he was forced to resign after another bad showing in the European Parliament elections and was replaced by Mr Salmond. Luddite as he is Swinney is destined to repeat his mistakes condemnimg Scots to many more years of Westminster abuse. Thank you Mr Swinney.
Summarised from an article written by the political correspondent David Walker,
Operation Diem – The Crown Office. The “sisting” process. Bypassing the Judicial Review.
D.C.S. Lesley Boal, was appointed lead officer of a Police Scotland enquiry furnished with unlimited financial resources to establish whether there was any criminality on the part of Mr Salmond. She had command of a team of 14 full-time experienced police detectives. The team carried out 386 interviews over a period of 2 years at the end of which Alex was charged with 14 offences of which he was subsequently cleared in the High Court.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, told Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee that: “A small dedicated team worked on Operation Diem from Fettes Police Station, Edinburgh, between August 2018 and April 2020. It was comprised of seven officers from August 2018 rising to a maximum of 14 during the months between October 2018 and July 2019 before steadily reducing in 2020. The indicative cost of this staffing profile is just over £810,000. In addition, there were non-staff costs captured in respect of operation Diem totalling just over £24,000.” And his report proved to be wishful thinking. The final cost was over £1million and only covered the police investigation.
Not long after Scottish devolution, following storms of protest from Scottish viewers and politicians the BBC agreed to transfer a significant amount of television production to Scotland greatly increasing Scottish content. Implementation of change would be achieved without detriment to existing staff employed in England or to operational routine.
Smoke and mirrors time:
The BBC in London, restructured its programme production contract with Mentorn (a small but growing subsidiary of the Tinopolis Group, an offshore registered media producer & and distributor).
Mentorn, set up a Glasgow office in 2002, in compliance with the BBC commitment to transfer finance and programme making to Scotland.
From then Mentorn expanded its programme production and distribution many times over, including the Unionist biased, Question Time.
Mentorn & Nickilai Gentchev
This is how the production of Question Time was (paper) transferred to Scotland.
Gentchev, in the employ of Mentorn, was transferred from London to Glasgow taking on the role of editor of Question Time.
In his new role he worked with Haley Valentine, who was appointed to a newly ceated post of Executive Editor. A Scottish face needed to be put in place comforting Scots licence holders and politicians
He remained in the employ of Mentorn for the duration of his tenure (2011-2016) reporting to Gavin Allen, the London based, Head of BBC Political News, who who continued to meet his salary.
He also wrote articles for the International Socialism Journal and Socialist Review. A revelation that led to attacks by Tory politicians saying that his background provided credence to their claims that the programme was a mouthpiece for left-wing politicians and activists.
The move was also openly criticized by its presenter, David Dimbleby, who insisted that weekly editorial meetings continue to take place in London. The programme also saw the resignation of its incumbent Editor, Ed Havard, who resigned rather than transfer to Scotland.
Hayley Valentine
Family: Born in Glenrothes in 1971. Schooling: Auchtermuchty High School & Edinburgh University. Career: Journalism: First worked in Dundee before moving on to work in commercial radio in Edinburgh. Progressed to producing television programming with Scottish Television then for BBC Scotland. Promoted and transferred to London taking up a post editing BBC Breakfast TV. Set her stall on working in radio and rewarded with her appointment as Head of News, for BBC Radio 5 Live.
2013: Message from: the Electoral Reform Society Scotland, to: Haley Valentine Executive Editor, Question Time. Date Jun 2013
The Electoral Reform Society in Scotland seeks to inform and improve Scotland’s democracy.
With that in mind, we have being undertaking an inquiry into what a good Scottish democracy looks like.
A major theme that has emerged from this year long, citizen led inquiry, is the importance of the media to instruct, publicize and inform the debate.
There has been support for a publicly funded media provider, but a strong sense that that body should be impartial and should seek to provide balanced and informed coverage of politics.
Clearly this is of particular concern in the run up to the 2014 referendum.
We were concerned therefore to see the line-up for the BBC Question Time programme to be held in Edinburgh this evening (Thursday 13th June).
Not only does the selection of panellists fail to represent the make-up of Scottish politics, but it also seems to be aimed more at pantomime than serious debate.
That this should be the case when the audience is, very pleasingly, to be made up of 16 and 17 year old’s in recognition of the extension of the franchise to that group for the referendum is worrying.
It seems to show a lack of respect for these young audience members – implying that they do not deserve serious political debate.
It also fails to allow them to hear from their elected representatives in this public debate forum which receives the widest of political attention.
Two of the parties which will be competing for their vote in 2014 are unrepresented and the Yes and Better Together campaigns are needlessly unequally represented.
Were this not bad enough, available spaces on the platform are taken instead by George Galloway MP and Nigel Farage M.E.P., two individuals and parties who are not represented in Scotland.
We welcome the decision to involve 16 and 17 year old’s in a public debate about the referendum, but the chosen panellists do those 16 and 17 year old’s a disservice as they will not be able to hear from the parties who represent them and who will be seeking their vote in 2014.
We would ask the BBC to urgently reconsider the panel, and at the very least to re-schedule a repeat of this edition of Question Time, but with a panel representative of Scottish politics that respects the BBC’s role to be impartial and equal.
Haley Valentine Jumps ship and transfers her employment to Mentorm
Mentorn Media Confirmed Hayley Valentine as its new director of current affairs.
She joined Mentorn from BBC Scotland where she was the executive editor of Question Time.
Based in Glasgow, she will continue to oversee the programme for Mentorn as well as BBC One’s The Big Questions and continuing the growth of Mentorn’s current affairs output across all broadcasters.
Chief executive of Mentorn Media, John Willis, said: “Hayley is the perfect person to head up Mentorn’s current affairs programming.
She has extensive knowledge and experience and we are delighted she will be responsible for developing even more programming from our ever-expanding Glasgow office.”
Valentine said: “I’ve been on the receiving end of the impressive editorial work that Mentorn has produced and I look forward to maintaining that level of commitment to BBC programming as well as developing new and engaging formats across all broadcasters.”
2016/17: BBC Forced to make changes
Repeated demands over nearly 20 years from viewers and politicians in Scotland, for news and current affairs programming to be produced in Scotland, for a Scottish audience fell on deaf ears in London.
But the Corporation was forced to respond to demands for change following widespread criticism of its referendum coverage.
It announced a new BBC Scotland channel which would broadcast from 7pm to midnight every day, as well as being available online and on iPlayer.
With a budget of around £30m it would feature acquired programmes and programmes from partners in the creative sector and from other countries and a selection of content sourced from other BBC services.
2018: Haley Valentine Returns to the BBC
Valentine, executive editor of the BBC’s, Question Time, the much criticized flagship political debate show, was appointed editor of the “integrated news hour” a key part of the BBC Scotland channel.
The new bulletin included national and international news and was broadcast between 9pm and 10pm.
Not much of a change really, since she was already the director of current affairs at Mentorn Scotland, the company which made the bloody programme for the BBC.
She said: “to be given the opportunity to launch a brand new programme at the heart of the proposed new BBC Scotland Channel is a real privilege and a rare treat.
We will be creating a really distinctive programme with a broad Scottish, UK-wide and international news agenda which has the priorities of a Scottish audience at the centre of everything we do.”
Gary Smith, head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland, said: “Hayley has an outstanding track record and I’m delighted she is re-joining us.
I’m confident that under her leadership we will produce an exciting, distinctive, and brilliant new programme for our audiences.
She also joind the management team, and undertook a key role in the running of the department and the recruitment of the 80 new jobs created through the BBC’s major investment in journalism in Scotland.” ( another story yet to be to be told)
2017/18: The New BBC Scotland Channel Takes Shape
80 new journalists were hired in the run-up to the launch of The Nine.
New appointments included James Cook, the BBC’s former North America correspondent, as chief news correspondent, innovation correspondent Laura Goodwin, David Farrell as entertainment reporter, Europe correspondent, Jean MacKenzie, and three new political reporters – Rajdeep Sandhu, Lynsey Bews and David Lockhart.
2018: Hayley Valentine – A voice from cloud Cookoo Land
Referring to her work with Mentorm as Executive Editor of Question Time and the Scottish Independence Referendum, she said:
“I was involved in our referendum programming and I will defend it agianst accusations of bias until my dying day.
I’m not saying the BBC or any other broadcaster was perfect.
It was a tricky time, but we were all doing the best we could.
I don’t know a single journalist who brought any bias to work with them.
I’m aware that there are trust issues, but I think they are sometimes overplayed.
The BBC is still trusted, and BBC Scotland is still trusted, more than most news organisations.
I don’t think we are universally dismissed on a trust basis.
Across the piece, the public looks at lot more sceptically at journalism than it potentially did ten years ago.
To be trusted, you have to give people things that they want and have a need for, and stories that they wouldn’t otherwise be told.
A key aim of “The Nine” is to move political journalism away from institutions and translate politics into how it affects ordinary people.
I hope “The Nine” will restore faith in BBC Scotland by shunning top-down journalism, reducing the use of jargon and making people feel we are for them and of them.
Our remit is to serve the audience better, ask questions that people want asked, explore bits of Scottish life that aren’t currently being explored and reflect their lives back at that them.
That will get people to like and trust our programme.
It can do a lot to make people feel that we are for them and of them.”
What a load of Tosh!!!! Her statement conflicts sharply with verified opinion polling carried out in the wake of the referendum which found that viewers in Scotland were more unhappy about the BBC’s output than any other part of the media.
Indeed one survey found that a third of audiences in Scotland believed that the BBC was biased against independence.
Sep 2020: New BBC Scotland Channel Is A Dud
launched in February 2019 average audience figures peaked around a satisfactory 60,000, but the honeymoon did not last long, figures had slumped to under 19,000 by the beginning of May 2019.
Over the period 21 shows recorded an audience of zero. and in one day in May only 7200 viewers tuned in.
The flagship “nine news” also recorded zero viewers on a number of occasions.
Channel content went from bad to worse in 2020, viewing figures plummeted and the channel eventually shut down.
It just didn’t deliver what Scots want which is Scottish news and current affairs delivered on BBC1 at 6 and 9.
Valentine and her large expensively salaried team was a waste of licence fee payers hard earned money.
And the transfer of £80m from London to Scotland didn’t happen. All of the production work was awarded to Mentorn whose profits end up with their parent company registered offshore. I’ll write about them next time.
Elon Musk will purchase Ryanair. Relocate its headquarters to the US controlled Free Trade Zone, near Edinburgh, Scotland adding airfreighting to the development.
Scapa Flo Orkney
Demand for Container Terminal Capacity in Scotland will increase markedly
Scapa Flow in Orkney provides the best available deep water port in Europe with the potential to handle any amount of major transshipment of today’s mega-size container ships.
The container port market in Northern Europe is expected to continue its upward trend, demand more than doubled over the 2001-2015 and is expected to double again between 2015-2030.
With container traffic increasing faster than output, transshipment growth will be even more rapid as carriers, due to ship upsizing, reduce the number of direct port calls and move towards hub and bespoke services.
For the fast growing Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Australian, New Zealand, other Asian markets and existing European and North American Authorities, the efficiencies and economies will be matched by the opportunity to achieve through use of the Orkney facility, the secure gateways required.
Scotland, will benefit directly from economic spin-off, cheaper transport and a major stimulus to the development of sea and water-borne alternatives to the UK road network.
As the seas around Russia are released from the grip of the Arctic ice studies are projecting: “remarkable shifts in trade flows between Asia and Europe, diversion of trade within Europe, heavy shipping traffic in the Arctic and a substantial drop in Suez traffic.
Russia has not been slow to recognise the new opening for trade and is building nuclear powered ice-breaker ships well capable of keeping sea channels open to commercial traffic.
Cost savings achieved using a new “Northern Channel” are eye wateringly high and joint development, with Russia or China of a new trans container facility, at the southern end of the channel, in Orkney would bring significant benefits to participating countries.
Presently the channel is freely navigable in the summer and autumn months, ice breaker support is required over the winter period but a report by the Copenhagen Business School found that large-scale trans-Arctic shipping will become economically viable by 2040.
6 Sep 2017: The Northern Sea Route is completely ice-free and shipping thrives
As Russian Arctic ice shrinks to this year’s lowest, a big number of ships are moving in. In waters normally covered by thick ice, ships are today sailing easily and without escorts.
Ice data from Russia’s Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute show that the whole Northern Sea Route now is ice-free.
Even in the waters between the Kara Sea and the Bering Strait, normally a highly complex and ice-covered area, shipping appears smooth and easy.
The ice edge in the East Siberian Sea is now retreating to north of the 75th parallel and practically the whole Laptev Sea is ice-free.
There is only some scattered ice around the Vilkitsky Strait, the area separating the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.
Due to global warming, it will become viable to deliver goods from Europe to the Pacific throughout the Arctic as ice floes melt.
There is reason to believe that China would be interested in participating in the development of the NSR, as the waterway will save time and can help China find a way out of the Strait of Malacca dilemma that has long plagued importers and exporters.
Efforts to open up the NSR would help pump fresh investment into the country and would benefit the development of Russia’s Far East.
The NSR has the potential to become a significant new area for cooperation between China and Russia. It is expected that the Belt and Road initiative will create an opportunity for Russia’s NSR ambitions to turn into reality.
The Northern Sea Route, one of three Arctic shipping routes that connect East Asia and Europe along the Russian coastline, is now subject to more attention than ever before. The Northern Sea Route Administration notes that in 2016 traffic volume on the Northern Sea Route reached 7,265,700 tonnes – an increase of 35 percent in comparison with 2015.
As the world’s third largest ship-owner, China has a strong interest in Arctic shipping, especially in the Northern Sea Route. That was reflected in China’s decision to include the Arctic in its Belt and Road Initiative.
On June 20, 2017, China’s National Development and Reform Commission and State Oceanic Administration published the “Vision for Maritime Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative” (the Vision). The Vision officially incorporates the Arctic into China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Moreover, before attending the G20 Summit in Hamburg, President Xi Jinping visited Russia and signed the “China-Russia Joint Declaration on Further Strengthening Comprehensive, Strategic and Cooperative Partnership” (Joint Declaration) on July 4, 2017.
Described as the Ice Silk Road, the development of the Northern Sea Route is a key area of cooperation between China and Russia.
The Ice Silk Road can be seen as a further step in shaping China’s Arctic policy. The three main pillars of this policy are: respect, cooperation, and sustainability.
Moreover, the BRI now officially extends to the Arctic, which could help achieve the objectives of China’s Arctic policy. It is now very clear that China is keen to play a role as a user of the Northern Sea Route.
As elaborated in the Vision:
China is willing to work with all parties in conducting scientific surveys of navigational routes, setting up land-based monitoring stations, carrying out research on climatic and environmental changes in the Arctic, as well as providing navigational forecasting services.
China supports efforts by countries bordering the Arctic in improving marine transportation conditions, and encourages Chinese enterprises to take part in the commercial use of the Arctic route.
So why is China keen to use the Northern Sea Route?
It is commonly known that the Northern Sea Route could shorten the distance of transportation between China and European ports.
China also sees the opportunity of resources development in the Russian Arctic. But perhaps more importantly, China believes that the Northern Sea Route is strategically important for its energy security.
China is facing the dilemma that energy from Africa and the Persian Gulf passes through waters dominated by strategic competitors (the United States and India), threatened by piracy, or bottle-necked at the Strait of Malacca. It would therefore be helpful to have an alternative shipping route along a politically stable area.
Mar 2007: Council members bid to oust Jackie Baillie MSP
An outbreak of CDIF occurred at the Vale of Leven Hospital in West Dunbartonshire. This was the most recent failure in service delivery at the hospital abd the public are very unhappy about it.
Labour councillors turned on their local MSP yesterday, demanding her resignation over local hospital services.
Jackie Baillie, the Dumbarton Labour MSP and former communities minister, was attacked by four Labour members of West Dunbartonshire Council, including former leader Andy White.
They sided with the Scottish National Party and independent councillors at a full council meeting which brought the ruling administration to the brink of collapse. Martin Rooney, who replaced Andy White after his forced resignation.
In December, only six of the 16 people elected as Labour councillors in 2003 attended. Several stayed away while four rebels voted against the Labour line and sought revenge on Ms Baillie for her public attacks on them.
what arrangements were put in place to keep patient safe. If they were transferred to other hospitals this would markedly increase the travelling time for relatives and other visitors in already difficult circumstances. What was the final cost of the clean up to the Scottish public
Vale of Leven Hospital Context (2007)
The CDIF outbreak at Vale of Leven Hospital was part of a broader scandal involving poor infection control and management.
A 2009 public inquiry found that 53 patients died between 2007 and 2008, with C. diff being a factor in many deaths, though only 18 were directly attributed to the infection.
Failures included inadequate staffing, poor hygiene practices, and insufficient isolation facilities, which fueled the outbreak and public outrage.
Patient transfers significantly increased travel times for relatives and visitors. Vale of Leven Hospital is in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire, approximately 20–30 miles from Glasgow’s major hospitals. Public transport options, such as buses or trains, could take 1–2 hours each way, and driving would involve similar time and costs, particularly burdensome for frequent visits.
The outbreak’s distressing nature—marked by severe diarrhea and loss of dignity—already placed emotional strain on families. Increased travel would exacerbate this, especially for elderly or frail relatives with limited mobility or resources, compounding the “already difficult circumstances” noted in the query.
Families also reported inconsistent communication from hospital staff, with “mixed messages” about C. diff, which would have made coordinating visits to transferred patients more challenging.
caltonjock 