Putin’s Russia pulls the strings and the Tory Party Dances to their tune
In the past ten years, approximately 10,000 super-wealthy Chinese and Russian business investors and entrepreneurs have been issued with “golden visas” by the Tory government providing them with a right of residence in the UK.
So many of Putin’s oligarchs and their wider families have gained the advantage of the scheme that the UK capital is now known as “Londongrad”.
Assertions that Tory’s welcome inward investment regardless of source is well-founded.
The “tier one” investor visa, requires only that the applicant operate a UK bank account with a balance of not less than £2m. This permits investors full residence in the UK for up to five years.
But eligibility for extensions and permanent residence is guaranteed after making further investments.
Scottish Tory’s have the affrontery to demand a Public Inquiry into Russian interference in Scottish politics
The Westminster “Intelligence & Security Committee” (ISC) only this week released its politically delayed Russia report warning that the UK is at risk of Russian exploitation because of the Tory Party’s acceptance of large amounts of political donations, establishing inappropriate relationships with Russian oligarchs. The report read:
“In brief, Russian influence in the UK is “the new normal”, and there are a lot of Russians with very close links to Putin who are well integrated into the UK business and social scene, and accepted because of their wealth. This level of integration London, in particular, means any measures now being taken by the Government are not preventative but rather constitute damage limitation.”
And information released to the public today revealed that 14 of the present Tory government ministers,(including six Cabinet members) have accepted tens of thousands of pounds in donations from Russian oligarchs.
A public inquiry should be conducted without delay so that UK citizens can be assured all measures necessary will be introduced urgently bringing an end to external interference in the nation’s politics. Including banning the practice of politicians taking money from foreigners.
But a 2018 Tory government inquiry giving a warning about Russian influence has been blatantly ignored
The report, published by Theresa May’s Tory government, “Foreign Affairs Committee”, accused government ministers of risking national security by “turning a blind eye” to Russian, “dirty money” flowing through the City of London.
Concerns were also raised about “golden visas” being issued in ever-increasing numbers despite the alleged involvement of Russia in the Salisbury Novichok nerve agent attack.
In its conclusion, the report demanded that the Government get tough on foreign nationals by tightening the rules of the scheme making it more secure.
But interestingly, the one voice of dissent from his own committee was from the then Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson who suggested that “there was no real role for Government in the process”.
The act of Union 1707. Ah!! Scottish Utopia!!! promises, promises, promises betrayal, betrayal, betrayal. 1745 Culloden. and the butchery of German Geordie, his son, and the English army.
But you see we Scots were sold out by a few unelected lords who took English bribes and betrayed Scotland
From that time Scotland has been brutally asset-stripped by an avaricious Westminster government. All roads lead to London!!!
All revenue accrued in the UK is passed to the English Exchequer.
Westminster’s financial needs are then allocated after which the Secretary of State for Scotland is handed a budget, top sliced from the Scottish Grant.
The residue, (decreasing annually as areas of responsibility are removed from Holyrood) passes to the Scottish government.
No-one really knows the full extent of revenue gathered by Scotland. eg Whisky manufactured, blended and bottled in Scotland is transported to England for worldwide distribution. The tax collected is credited to England. £3-5billion annually.
But the annual GERS financial report falsely records Scotland to be in receipt of £ billion’s more from Westminster than it contributes.
This is quoted routinely by Unionists in support of their argument that Scotland is too wee and too poor to survive as a nation. The statement is utter nonsense and has been debunked by many independent financial experts.
Then, if minded to do so – throws Scotland a few scraps to keep them quiet.
New untested ideas about tax collection. Probably unworkable. Introduce new measures in Scotland first The jocks are well indoctrinated to Westminster’s authority. eg Poll Tax Experiment Yup!!
Industry!! – Order books a bit light!! – Close Scotland down. Relocate companies to England.
Coal- mining industry!!! – Bloody minded Jocks and their Unions. Shut it down. Leave the coal in the ground. Purchase cheap dirty coal from Poland and South America.
Car production, Shut it down transfer it from Linwood and Bathgate to England.
Steel production – Shut it down in Scotland move production to England then Sell it to India for a pittance
Retain a massively upgraded Trident nuclear weapons and submarine fleet – Yes!! But voters will not allow nuclear missiles or submarines to be based within 150 miles of population centres in England. Bugger it – locate them in Glasgow. Scots votes count for nothing at Westminster.
The homing of the nuclear submarine fleet and missile systems in Faslane precludes any major shipping industry on the Clyde. Shut it down.
Construction of a few battleships, kit constructed in England, then shipped to Glasgow for assembly will keep the natives happy.
Fighting Johnny Foreigner!! – troops required – Not a problem – Get them from Scotland. The Jocks must pay their way in the Union. In the absence of finance, blood will do.
Shut down their factories – get the buggers on the dole or offer job security through service in the forces.
Death and lifetime incapacity for many young Scots incurred through injury on active service in many cavalier military actions entered into by Westminster.
Gordon Brown’s answer to the ever-increasing incidence. The Westminster government cannot afford to meet their needs.
Create “Cash for Hero’s” a charity for injured servicemen – Appoint half a dozen cronies to manage it. All on six-figure salaries. As public awareness recedes it’ll die a natural death.
Charitable housing for wounded – handicapped soldiers – no way, let the Scottish public find the money.
Upgrade the UK infrastructure. But England is allocated the vast bulk of available finance so that a massive programme of works, eg. HS2/3 and numerous other high-cost projects in London and the South East of England can be completed.
Net tax and other revenues to the UK reveals Scotland’s financial contribution to the foregoing works to be many £billions but there are no direct benefits to Scotland.
The Westminster government issues assurance that Scotland will be given finance to allow similar works to e completed but not before 2030. Now that’s a kick in the teeth!!!
Scotland – Natives restless – give them a “wee talking shop parliament” but retain power in England. William Hague clarified Scotland’s place in the Union:
“Scotland is not a state. Westminster simply decided to delegate the games to be held in Glasgow, a city of the UK”
Will Scots find the confidence to ask for another independence referendum after being so heavily defeated in 2014??
They appear to have swallowed the Westminster message. Scots are too timid and stupid to try again. Their continued acceptance of abuse heaped upon them by Westminster justifies the statement.
The Jocks are Luddites!!! Witness the Labour Party in Scotland. Returned to power at Westminster for nearly 60 years. They really did vote for donkeys wearing a labour badge and paid the price suffering rampant corruption.
Moaning Jocks!!! Promise them jam tomorrow – They’ll believe anything Yup! that’s it, buy the buggers off with a few sweeteners.
300 years of abuse imposed on Scots by avaricious Westminster governments yet 55% choose to remain loyal to the most corrupt union of sovereign nations ever created. Beggar’s belief!!
Rabbie Burns got it right when he wrote that “a parcel of rogues” sold Scotland out 300 years ago
The next referendum will provide another chance for Scot’s to get rid of Westminster politicians and their sycophantic useless Peers of the realm.
The fate of Scotland should be in Scottish hands not the grubby paws of a bunch of rich toff’s, lords and even richer barons at Westminster. Feathering their own nest’s, selling the nation into bondage.
In 2014 the Unionists said they loved Scotland and implored Scots to remain in the Union and the European Community. And we did.
The betrayal of the Unionist vow, to devolve to Scotland full fiscal authority and many other areas of governance was not long coming.
Only 3 months on from the referendum the Unionists thumbed their noses at Scotland and devolved little of any significance. Rubbing salt into the wounds they even attempted to con Scotland out of finance that rightfully belonged in Holyrood.
The Unionist paid the price for their devious tactics at the next General Election when they were nearly wiped out in Scotland.
The Scottish politicians returned to Westminster in 2015 were subjected to abuse mirroring that meted out to Irish politicians by the Unionists at the turn of the twentieth century.
Tony Blair’s religion became a political issue because of his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.
His critics said the denial of his Roman Catholic beliefs was for political rather than constitutional reasons and that was why he delayed announcing his conversion by the pope until after he had left office.
Blair had been attending Mass (and on some occasions receiving communion) for years before he converted. And it wasn’t just a case of Protestant v non-Protestant.
In England there are very different historical influences associated with being a Jew and a Catholic, and they would be viewed quite differently.
The long antipathy towards Roman Catholicism in England needs to be better understood. England as a nation rejected the power and authority of Rome, then destroyed thousands of Roman Catholic monasteries and churches. Indeed it still has an annual celebration, (Guy Fawkes) celebrating the execution of a small group of Catholics who tried to destroy the Westminster Parliament building.
And he would not have been allowed, as a Roman Catholic, to undertake the role of leader of her majesty’s government since it is the duty of the Prime Minister to prepare and give approval to the short list of Church of England archbishops to be submitted to the sovereign for appointment and attendance in the House of Lords.
Global Elites Greatly Fear Secession and Decentralization
When it comes to predictions of economic doom, it doesn’t get much more hysterical than that. Except that it does. David Cameron nearly burst into tears begging the Scots not to vote for independence.
The “Yes” campaign for secession failed by a margin of approximately 55 percent to 45 percent. Yet, even without a majority vote for secession, Scotland’s campaign for separation from the United Kingdom provided insights into the weakness of spirit of those who defended the status quo. Namely that:
Global elite institutions and individuals including Goldman Sachs, Alan Greenspan, David Cameron and several major banks pulled out all the stops to sow fear about independence as much as possible. Global bankers vowed to punish Scotland, declaring they would move out of Scotland if independence were declared. According to one report:
The Deutsche Bank compared it to the decision to return to the gold standard in the 1920s, and said it might spark a rerun of the Great Depression, at least north of the border.
When it comes to predictions of economic doom, it doesn’t get much more hysterical than that. Except that it does. David Cameron nearly burst into tears begging the Scots not to vote for independence.
The elite onslaught against secession employed at least two strategies:
The first involved threats and “for your own good” lectures. Things will “not work out well” for Scotland in case of secession, intoned Robert Zoellick of the World Bank. Senator John McCain implied that Scottish independence would be good for terrorists.
The second strategy involved pleading and begging, which, of course, betrayed how truly fearful the West’s ruling class is of secession.
In addition to Cameron’s histrionics based on nostalgia and maudlin appeals to not break “this family apart,” he attempted (apparently successfully) to bribe the Scottish voters with numerous promises of more money, more autonomy, and more power within the UK.
The threats that focused on the future of the Scottish monetary system are particularly telling. The very last thing that governments in London, Brussels, or Washington, DC want to see is an established Western country secede from a monetary system and join another in an orderly fashion.
Ryan McMaken holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy and international relations from the University of Colorado.
The 2014 Scottish Referendum gave hope to other secession movements
Even though it ultimately failed at the ballot box, the campaign for Scottish independence should cheer supporters of numerous secession movements springing up around the world.
In the weeks leading up to the referendum, it appeared that the people of Scotland were poised to vote to secede from the United Kingdom.
Defeating the referendum required British political elites to co-opt secession forces by promising greater self-rule for Scotland, as well as launching a massive campaign to convince Scots that secession would plunge them into economic depression.
The people of Scotland were even warned that secession would damage the international market for one of Scotland’s main exports, whisky. Considering the lengths to which opponents went to discredit secession, it is amazing that almost 45 percent of the Scottish people still voted in favour of it.
Widespread acceptance of the principle of peaceful secession and self-determination could resolve many ongoing conflicts
The Scottish referendum result did not discourage secessionist movements spreading across Europe. Just days after the Scottish referendum, the people of Catalonia voted to hold their own referendum measuring popular support for secession from Spain.
Support for secession is also growing in America. According to a recent poll, one in four Americans would support their state seceding from the federal government. Movements and organizations advocating that state governments secede from the federal government, that local governments secede from state governments, or that local governments secede from both the federal and state governments, are springing up around the country. Over one million Californians signed a ballot access petition in support of splitting California into six states. While the proposal did not meet the requirements necessary to appear on the ballot, the effort to split California continues to gain support.
Americans who embrace secession are acting in a grand American tradition. The Declaration of Independence was written to justify secession from Britain. Supporters of liberty should cheer the growth in support for secession, as it is the ultimate rejection of centralized government and the ideologies of Keynesianism, welfarism, and militarism.
Widespread acceptance of the principle of peaceful secession and self-determination could resolve many ongoing conflicts. For instance, allowing the people of eastern Ukraine and western Ukraine to decide for themselves whether to split into two separate nations may be the only way to resolve their differences.
The possibility that people will break away from an oppressive government is one of the most effective checks on the growth of government. It is no coincidence that the transformation of America from a limited republic to a monolithic welfare-warfare state coincided with the discrediting of secession as an appropriate response to excessive government.
Devolving government into smaller units promotes economic growth. The smaller the size of government, the less power it has to hobble free enterprise with taxes and regulations.
Just because people do not wish to live under the same government does not mean they are unwilling or unable to engage in mutually beneficial trade. By eliminating political conflicts, secession could actually make people more interested in trading with each other. Decentralizing government power would thus promote true free trade as opposed to “managed trade” controlled by bureaucrats, politicians, and special interests.
Devolution of power to smaller levels of government should also make it easier for individuals to use a currency of their choice, instead of a currency favoured by central bankers and politicians.
The growth of support for secession should cheer all supporters of freedom, as devolving power to smaller units of government is one of the best ways to guarantee peace, property, liberty — and even cheap whisky! (Ron Paul is a former member of the US Congress)
Scotland’s “no” vote for independence in 2014 brought an end to discussions about what an independent Scotland should do with its monetary institutions.
Throughout the 2014 independence campaign Unionists promoted a false narrative and convinced many Scots to the view that a secure banking system in an independent Scotland required a central bank to act as a lender of last resort. Their argument being that a bank was a necessary back-up not influenced by market forces thus able to provide stability in banking systems plagued by instabilities. But the Unionist reasoning was spurious with its acceptance that banking systems are inherently unstable and that to have a lender of “last resort,” meant having a central bank.
The truth of the matter was had Scotland voted for independence it could have unilaterally decided to keep using the UK pound (providing Scotland with greater flexibility than a bilateral agreement to change the currency if the British pound proved to be a bad choice).
In the case of such a unilateral choice, in principle, Scottish banks would not have been able to ask for support from the Bank of England as a lender of last resort.
But this did not mean that Scottish banks would have been short on lenders to go to since they had the financial markets of the entire world from which to find lenders willing to extend credit.
The 1689 – Scottish “Claim of Right” and Common Law
The document contains the assertion that ultimate power rests with the “Nation of Scotland”, and the UK Parliament is but their representative.
Claims by politicians that they represent “what the people want” are often exploited in the corridors of the Parliament at Westminster under the guise of representing the Nation state of the UK.
And in this respect letters from government ministers or other persons to the courts of Justice ordaining Judges to stop or desist from determining causes, or ordaining them how to proceed in causes depending before them is contrary to law.
Judicial decisions are legitimately open to comment and criticism. But more than one Home Secretary has sought to tell the judiciary how to apply (or how not to apply) the law and there is an increasing tendency to invoke the doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty, which properly applies only to duly enacted legislation, to justify Ministers and other politicians in criticising, or even abusing, judges for disregarding their view of the law and how it is to be interpreted and applied.
SCOTLAND’S MAGNA CARTA: THE CLAIM OF RIGHT AND THE COMMON LAW Professor the Rt Hon Sir David Edward KCMG QC FRSE*
In 1995, when Scottish nationalism began to find increasing favour with Scots as their preferred choice of government Robertson, then Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland said:
“let them have their way. Devolution entrenches the Scottish parliament in the UK’s unwritten constitution, power devolved from Westminster is power retained by Westminster. It will kill Nationalism stone dead.”
In the years that followed the SNP gloated that the party had destroyed that fallacy by winning the Scottish Parliamentary Elections in 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2020. But “wise seer” George was right.
His vision of Scots being “fitted up” with a poorly equipped and reversable devolved governance structure proved to be entirely accurate.
As at 2022 Scottish Nationalism is faltering badly under the auspices of SNP WOKE minded Daniel Defoe’s who self recruited themselves to the nationalist cause falsely proffering to be committed to fighting tooth and nail for independence.
Scots will need to find another way of kick starting the drive for independence only this time ensuring the campaign is led by bone-fide Party members who declare “fealty” to a Scotland free and independent of any political interference from Westminster or any other country.
Duties and responsibilities of MP’ greatly diminished with devolution
The establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 raised important questions about the future of local representative roles of MP’s.
The Scottish Parliament took over responsibility for many of the issues that individual constituents were likely to raise with their elected members, as well as important strategic matters such as economic development, transport and health previously central to the role remitted to MP’s.
Members of the Scottish Parliament, MSPs assumed the duties of local representative and spend many hours each week fulfilling them. Their contact with interest groups and work with local community groups and party members is also more frequent. MSPs spend more time on these activities than did Scottish MPs previously
The traditional local role of the MP in Scotland, which was highly rated and significant in terms of commitment of time, was given up to members of the Scottish Parliament, MSP’s.
But some MPs are determined to hold onto the past and the resulting duplication of roles are frequently the cause of confusion for constituents dependent in part on the level of co-operation existing between the two local members. A problem exacerbated if the local MSP is a list member from another political party.
Benefits and Allowances made available to MP’s
Gross Salary & Pension:£120-£140k
Staffing: Constituency based. Assistance with casework, correspondence, surgeries, visits, meetings, organising events, and outreach activities. Mainly covers payroll costs but can also be used for pooled staffing services and incidental expenses for volunteers. It is paid directly to the employee. Annual charge £150-180k.
Office costs: Covers rent, stationery, telephone, broadband, and other costs attributed to running a constituency office. Annual charge £14-£20k
Accommodation: To meet costs incurred as a result of working from two permanent locations. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, it is usually only possible to claim for accommodation and associated costs in either Scotland or London, not both. Annual Charge £25-£40k.
Travel and Subsistence Allowance: Is for travel between Scotland and Westminster, within the constituency, and elsewhere on parliamentary business. MPs can only travel First Class if the fare is demonstrably cheaper than a standard class ticket. Annual cost £12-£18k
MPs may only claim for the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks where they have stayed overnight either outside the London area or Scotland. This is limited to £25 for each night of a stay but can be for purchases made in the day.
Summary: The role and responsibilities of Scottish MP’s at Westminster is greatly diminished following devolution. And yet MPs still enjoy the same benefits, privileges and allowances as English MP’s who’s role has remained unchanged.
The admitted number of hours freed up for other duties at Westminster is around 25 weekly and the absence of any tangible promotion of the cause of Scottish independence and claims of MPs promoting LBGTQ agendas, wild partying, alcohol consumption, extra marital sex affairs and harassment both physical and sexual within the group is embarrassing and of concern to constituents.
Something needs to be done to ensure the Scottish taxpayer is provided with value for money. We are not getting it from the present group of SNP MPs.
caltonjock 