Labour Party In-Fighting Gets Serious – Progress – Blairites Leaning Right – Momentum -Corbynites Leaning Left

 

 

 

The 2015 General Election cleared 40 deadbeat Labour M.P.’s from Westminster  – what does the future hold for Labour

The Labour Party post the 2015 General Election are in turmoil. The party is hopelessly split into a number of groups each pursuing widely differing agendas. The party is not known for exercising common sense and it is likely there will be a deal of blood-letting before the future direction of the party is decided. Meantime, in Scotland the party, ineffectively led by the inexperienced Kezia Dugdale is also divided along politically dogmatic lines. Indeed she was so bold as to make it known publicly before his election to the party leadership that Jeremy Corbyn did not carry her confidence or vote. But there are others, (now members of her shadow front bench team) who  are supporters of Corbyn’s ideals. But many are “Blairites” holding membership of the Progress group led by arch Blairite  Lord Peter Mandelson.

The divided Labour Party in Scotland is in big trouble since the next election is only a few weeks away. It faces Armageddon at the polls.

 

But what of Jeremy Corbyn? The left wing of the Labour Party has waited 25 years for the opportunity to be placed to decide the political direction of the party and they will not give ground easily. So far I have identified two  opposing groups “Progress” and now “Momentum”. There are more. What a mess!!!!

 

 

 

 
8 October 2015: Senior Labour MPs have warned a new campaign group, set up by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, is a “threat to sitting MPs” and will “undermine” the party.

Momentum, a collective set up with the backing of the Labour leader and the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, aims to influence party policy but MPs are worried it is the beginning of a purge of moderate members who don’t support the leader. One Shadow Cabinet Minister said: “They are setting up a party within a party and I fear that they will use it to take control of conference, policy-making and mount a purge.”

Another MP asked not to be named but described the new group as “a worrying sign” while respected Labour MP Stephen Pound said: “This is basically a parallel organisation as far as I’m concerned, it’s against the principles of the Labour party and I think less of Jeremy Corbyn for endorsing it. “It will inevitably be seen as a threat to sitting MPs and the Labour party in parliament – it is a retrograde step.”

Welcoming the group, which is also backed by a group of Labour MPs including Katy Clark, Clive Lewis, Richard Burgon, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Kate Osamor, Mr Corbyn said: “Now, more than ever, we need to unite and continue to build our movement to change our politics and to win together in 2020.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/11919492/Jeremy-Corbyn-backed-Momentum-group-is-a-threat-to-sitting-MPs.html

 

 

 
4 December 2015: Labour split exposed as Tom Watson describes Momentum as a ‘rabble’

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson has highlighted splits at the highest levels of the party by describing Momentum, the group established by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn to strengthen his leadership, as a “bit of a rabble”. Watson spoke out against Momentum during an interview on the Today programme in which he hailed Labour’s decisive victory in the safe Labour Oldham West and Royton seat by-election. Watson praised McMahon and Corbyn – who will be given an important breathing space as he seeks to overcome divisions in the party – after the emphatic win.

But Watson highlighted divisions at senior levels of his party when he criticised Momentum, the group set up to provide grass-roots support for Corbyn, which has been endorsed by the Labour leadership. He said: “I am not a member of Momentum. They look like a bit of a rabble to me. But I don’t think they’re particularly a problem for the Labour party. They are not a party within a party. I just don’t think they’re that effective. They are a bit of an irrelevance in this debate. If there are people who are linked to Momentum that are intimidating Labour party members, then I think we should deal with it.”

Watson said he was grateful to Momentum for releasing a statement that said that it would not campaign for the deselection of MPs. It also condemned abusive behaviour. http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/dec/04/labour-split-exposed-tom-watson-momentum-rabble-livingstone

 

 

 

8 February 2016: John McTernan -The idiots in Momentum will destroy themselves before they destroy Labour

It’s war. Well it was always a war, really. But the leaking of Momentum’s plans to become a fully-fledged party within a party and to win internal Labour Party battles shows how seriously the Corbynistas intend to remake everything in their image. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/12145352/Jeremy-Corbyn-Momentums-militant-style-blueprint-for-gaining-influence-over-Labour.html

Their target this year is 20,000 members – five times more than Militant had – and eight full time organisers. They say they will campaign to win internal elections, in their own words ‘counter moderates seeking key internal party roles’. All they need is a newspaper and Labour will really be back to the future and fighting against destructive infiltration.

But the return of the repressed is evident in politics as elsewhere in life. Momentum give themselves away in one key passage entitled “Consider for membership people rejected by Labour” which states:

“It has been pointed out that the Labour Party may unreasonably proscribe organisations or exclude individuals from membership. For this reason, it is proposed that the National Committee may decide by resolution to admit to membership any person whom it feels has been unfairly excluded from membership of the Labour Party, and shall be the final arbiter in any dispute about whether an organisation is ‘opposed to the Labour Party’ as a determinant of membership of Momentum.

The aspiration to let non-Labour Party members join will be the undoing of Momentum – it is the thread at which moderates can pull. The Labour Party is an electoral machine or it is nothing. It’s organisational base remains local government and the most regularly attended meetings are based on council wards.

At these there is little sign yet of attendance by the new members. Discussions are always either highfalutin debates about ending inequality or hyper-localism, but they are congenial, comradely and always return to campaigning – campaigning to win. Trying to sneak enemies of the Labour Party in through the back door as Momentum plan is the surest way to find out that the “the broad mainstream of Labour Party grass-roots” do not welcome collusion with their electoral enemies.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/12146286/The-idiots-in-Momentum-will-destroy-themselves-before-they-destroy-Labour.html

 

 
8 February 2016: Corbyn hardcore plotting to deselect Labour moderates

Key organisers in Momentum, the new Jeremy Corbyn supporters’ group inside the Labour Party, are explicitly plotting “civil war” to get rid of moderate Labour MPs, despite repeated denials, a Telegraph investigation has found. Leaders of Momentum include, self-proclaimed revolutionary Marxists, and paid staff of parties which oppose Labour, including a man who was until five weeks ago official spokesman for a Green MEP.

Concerted efforts have begun to get moderate Labour incumbents pushed down the rankings of the party’s candidates for next year’s Welsh and Scottish elections, putting them at great risk of losing their seats. Momentum has harvested thousands of confidential personal records of Labour members, including their private emails and telephone numbers, and is already using them to operate phone-banks, it can be disclosed. The tactic has caused a major row, with Momentum’s opponents claiming it is illegal under data protection laws.

Momentum, launched last month to “continue the energy and enthusiasm of Jeremy’s campaign,” insists it is a “social movement” which is “not campaigning at all on any deselections” of MPs. Speaking to the BBC, the group’s spokesman, said: “The purpose of Momentum is not to have internal factional battles, it’s to look outside.” However, bulletins and documents – some confidential, others openly published online – make clear that Momentum leaders and activists have different ideas. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/11981745/The-Corbyn-hardcore-plotting-to-deselect-Labour-moderates.html

 

 

A look at Momentum's website

 
Momentum – Aims & Objectives (22 page document)

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03570/National_Committee_3570014a.pdf

 

 

 

Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn

 

Jeremy Corbyn – Who is He?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/

Labour Party In Meltdown – Read What Their Own People Say

 

 

 

The Progress Network – Labours Progressives – The Party Within a Party

The Labour Party in Scotland will be seeking the support of the Scottish electorate in a few weeks time. The party motto “Unity is Strength” will no doubt feature in their propaganda leaflets, biased press, television and speeches. But Scots are not stupid. It is only a few months ago that the party displayed that Unity of purpose joining with Westminster Unionists in and leading the ” Better Together” team that browbeat Scots throughout the course of the referendum campaign.

The programme of fear waged against Scots was brutally and repeatedly  targeted against pensioners and other aspects of the Scottish community perceived to be vulnerable by Westminster. And they won the day.

But the 2015 General Election evidenced lies spun by labour to the UK electorate. There is no united party. Indeed there hasn’t been since Labour lost the 2010 General Election.  The Progress (Blairite) Network, (President Peter Mandelson)  part filled  the vacuum created by the strong (left-right) differences of opinion as to the future direction of the party.

The performance of the Labour Party was summarised by : Paul Richards – Labour’s Revival: The Modernisers’ Manifesto.

” The problem was not that millions of people in Britain thought the Labour party was not like them and did not understand them; the problem was that they were right.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Scotland the only Labour MP (Ian Murray) remaining is a member of “Progress”. A significant number of MSP’s  have moved to the left however and the UK party is led by Jeremy Corbyn a left wing politician of the old school of Labour who is determined to take the party down the road of socialism.

In Scotland Kezia Dugdale expressed strong opposition to Jeremy Corbyn’s bid for the leadership and her appointments to the front bench  shadow team of ministers pointedly excluded anyone who might be considered a “Corbynite”.  Alex Rowley, (a Corbynite) elected by the party membership in Scotland to the Deputy Leadership role has been sidelined. So the party in Scotland is divided and its controlling party in Westminster is even more divided. Unelectable? I should say so!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two eminent political persons of the Labour Party  Joe Haines and Michael Taylor have spoken out about the on going conflict within the Labour Party. Extracts are added below.

 

 

Joe Haines

 

 

 

 

The Micawber Syndrome

Joe Haines, Harold Wilson’s press secretary, argues that the Labour moderates cannot “wait for something to turn up” in their battle against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

Labour will lose the next general election if Jeremy Corbyn is still its leader, and lose it by a substantial margin. A distrusted and unloved Conservative Party will win something resembling a landslide victory.

No ifs or buts, as David Cameron might say: that is the plain, unpalatable truth. Either he goes or the party itself is a goner. Those who believe otherwise are the Flat Earthers of British politics.

Barring a cataclysmic economic failure or a sexual scandal of unimaginable proportions, Cameron’s successor will have a shoo-in and a near-moribund Liberal Democrat party will get a kiss of life and dream of beating Labour for second place.

Scotland, if it is still in the Union by 2020, wouldn’t offer a hope of returning to the Labour fold; the Scots voters know a wee, sleekit, cow’rin’, tim’rous beastie when they see one and Corbyn would be lucky to keep our only seat.

Either we wake up or we shut up. Too bleak? Too pessimistic? A fantasy scenario and not realistic? No. Things could get worse. The national party could, according to the gloomiest forecast, disappear altogether by next October, reduced to a municipal party with brave bands of councillors flying the flag, rather like the Independent Labour Party in the 1930s.

Actually, I don’t think things are quite that bad. We face disintegration rather than immediate doom. At least at the first stage. But what will follow is a series of electoral defeats that can only be imagined.

http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/01/micawber-syndrome-or-why-labour-mps-must-depose-jeremy-corbyn-now

 

 

 

 

Michael Taylor

 

 

 

 

The Labour Party Under Corbyn is ideologically bankrupt and organisationally incompetent

Michael Taylor was a Labour Party parliamentary candidate for Manchester in the 2015 General Election. He is a journalist, author, writer and event host amongst other things. He said, I too hold no hope for the Corbyn project. At every step it is politically doomed, ideologically bankrupt and organisationally incompetent. I don’t for a minute believe that Jeremy Corbyn will lead Labour into the 2020 General Election. His mission doesn’t strike me as that of a future prime minister of this country and with a plan to make it a modern socialist republic. He doesn’t think in short parliamentary terms, he thinks in decades. This is a step toward re-casting Labour as a left wing party.

A Podemos, or a Syrizia. He has no interest in power. Triumph is having the debate, or rather changing internal structures to build a party based on policies to fit his own interests and world view. And why wouldn’t he? After all, he was elected as leader by a large margin. The MPs I speak to are in despair. The atmosphere amongst the PLP is described as “toxic”, “awful” and “dysfunctional”. But they are in such a mood of hopelessness because of his “mandate” from the membership. But he doesn’t have a mandate from the electorate. Every single Labour MP was elected on a manifesto and a platform far away from that of the leadership. Few of them share his platform, many of them are either keeping their heads down or appealing for party unity. It’s a position I understand but don’t think is in any way tenable.

I would whole heartedly support a coup in the Parliamentary Labour Party to oust the narrow cabal of Jeremy Corbyn, the awful Diane Abbott and John McDonnell. They have their mandate to lead the party, but not in Parliament. They aren’t up to the job. They are an embarrassment and are unfit to perform their constitutional duty to provide effective opposition to this mediocre Conservative government.

Already the key interventions are at committee stage. The best performances at the despatch box have been from Hilary Benn and Angela Eagle. It has to change. Here’s why. The most common conversation I have with non-Labour friends is this. “Isn’t politics interesting?” they say. “Love him or hate him, doesn’t Jeremy Corbyn represent something new and different? At least you know what he stands for.”  My next question back at them is always answered with a big fat no. Well, would you vote Labour with him as leader? “No, no, no and once more for good luck, no, of course not,” and that’s the polite version. They just won’t. In fact they laugh. The opinion polls also show this. The response on the doorstep is the same. Our answer is either to apologise for him, or to plead for a vote despite him, as we successfully achieved in Oldham.  http://themarpleleaf.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/how-i-got-my-political-mojo-back.html

 

 

 

 

 

Brown’s Plans For Scotland Post a No Vote in the Referendum – Not Honoured or Delivered

 

 

 

 

10 Downing Street – Mid February 2014 – clandestine Meeting – Cameron & Brown (So secret it cannot be confirmed it ever happened) but let us pretend that it did.

Dave: Thank you for meeting with me Gordon. As you are aware Salmond appears to be gaining the upper hand. Polls show a 5% decrease in the “no” voting intention. “Better Together” led by your old mucker Darling are a shambles. In fact the leaders are so laid back they are nearly horizontal. Could you go up to Scotland and give them a kick up the a…e.

Gordon: Sorry Dave I am not involved with “Better Together”. have my own agenda and it doesn’t include working with your “Union of parties”.

Dave: I understand, they really are a bunch of chancers but I cannot send any of my toxic Tory ministers to Scotland they’d get lynched. What about a personal intervention, the Scots still trust you don’t they after all you saved the world from financial collapse.

Gordon: Shucks Dave you are making it very difficult for me to say no. I am getting out of Westminster you know. I’m off to the USA to seek my fortune.

Dave: I could pull a few strings for you Gordon. Fancy running Google?

Gordon: Naw!! I intend frying bigger fish. OK, I’ll go to Scotland. I have a home there y’now so I’ll get some gardening done. It happens I have a speech just ready for delivery but I would need to be assured of a captured audience and maximum television and press coverage. But it needs to appear spontaneous so Better Together musn’t know anything about it beforehand. Darling would throw a fit.

Dave: Could I read over your presentation.

Gordon: Sure. I’ll give you 10 minutes.

Dave: That’s fine. I’m happy with all of that. I’ll brief my BBC and Press barons to attend to your needs and to keep it undercover until you give the go-ahead. But the audience?

Gordon: No problem I can arrange a gathering of pensioners in Glasgow under the pretense of a free bingo night. Will you honour the entire content of my speech?

Dave: Sure mate, you can trust me. I swear this on the oath of the Bullington Club.

Gordon: Right Dave I’m off to Scotland. Scots Whahae!!!!!

 

 

 

10 March 2014: Gordon Brown unveils 6 point plan for Scotland (and Britain)

Many people had been wondering why Gordon Brown hasn’t been more involved in the debate around the Scottish Independence referendum. Today he’s getting involved in a big way – by outlining a 6 point plan to change the constitutional settlement of the UK and give more powers to Scotland. The six points are:

 

 

* A new UK constitutional law – backed by an historic document equivalent to a bill of rights – to set out the purpose of the UK as pooling and sharing resources for the defence, security and well-being of the citizens of all four nations, including a commitment to alleviate unemployment and poverty. Position at February 2016: Not even on the horizon

* A constitutional guarantee of the permanence of the Scottish Parliament, backed up by a constitutional lock that prevents it being overruled or undermined. Position at February 2016: The Scottish Secretary, Tory minister David Mundell and his unelected Deputy Lord Dunlop (he of the Thatcher Poll Tax fiasco) retain the right of veto over the Scottish parliament.

* A new division of powers between Scotland and Westminster that gives Holyrood more powers in employment, health, transport and economic regeneration. Position at February 2016: Little of note included in the Scotland Bill still under discussion but Mundell rejected out of hand any proposals brought forward by the Scottish government. Hardly inspiring.

* A new tax sharing agreement that balances the commitment of the UK to pool and share its resources with the need for accountability to the electors in all the places where money is spent. Position at February 2016: Well the on-going recently extended disccussion between the UK Treasury and John Sweeney gives lie to this.

* New power-sharing partnerships to address shared problems on poverty, unemployment, housing need and the environment which, Mr Brown argues, cannot be addressed unless the Scottish and UK governments work together. Position at February 2016: No partnerships in place. All business and all correspondence between the Scottish government and the Civil Service in Scotland ( who still report to Sir Jeremy Heywood at Downing Street) is to be routed through the offices of Mundell and Dunlop

* A “radical” transfer of powers downwards from Westminster and Edinburgh to local communities. Position at February 2016: Mundell pushes this agenda whilst retaining very strict and all powerful control of Scottish affairs retained without reason or explanation, including dealing directly with local councils undermining the authority of the Scottish parliament.

 

 

 

 

Unwelcome Interventions by Gordon Brown and the “Institute for Public Policy Research” (IPPR)

In Glasgow, in March 2014, to an invited audience of Labour Party supporters Brown said: “I want to move us from the old highly-centralised, uniform Britain dominated by out-of-date ideas of an undivided Westminster sovereignty to a new diverse power-sharing, risk-sharing, resource-sharing UK which is best defined not as an old union but as a modern, constitutional partnership of nations.”

Meanwhile, the left leaning Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) argued that many more welfare powers should be devolved to Scotland, including housing benefit and responibility for the work programme.

Both interventions are likely to increase tension within the Scottish Labour Party – especially with many Scottish Labour MPs being opposed to some aspects of greater devolution. Westminster based Scottish MP’s witheld any support to the programme of devolution in Scotland. They were aided by Johann Lamont and her Unionist supporting colleagues who stated quite vehemently their resistence to any further devolution. Lamont went on to say, on television, that Scots were incapable of reasoned political thought, (or something to that effect). A party so divided it no longer retains the trust of the Scottish electorate

http://labourlist.org/2014/03/gordon-brown-unveils-6-point-plan-for-scotland-and-britain/

 

 

Westminster Promises-Each and Every Scot Benefited from Voting “No” in the 2014 Independence Referendum Bonus – Equates to £5600 over 4 Years -Jocks Should Stop Bleating and Enjoy the Good Fortune

 

 

 

 

2014 Independence Referendum  Financial Bonus

On 4 June 2014 Mundell and his Lib/Dem co-conspirators issued this forecast analysis from his British Government of Scotland Office, in Edinburgh.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/12-things-that-1400-uk-dividend-could-buy”

Afternote: Cannot understand why Labour and Lib/Dems are demanding a penny addition to income tax if Scots are £1400 better off staying with the UK

I tried to arrange payment of my bonus to myself through the Social but without success so far.  Could someone please tel me how to get it???

What did you do with your tax free bonus??

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish Referendum – 12 things that the £1,400 UK Dividend could buy

Analysis proved that every Scot would be £1,400 better off every year by staying part of the UK, and what a benefit. This is what could be done with the bonus.

 

 

1. An overseas holiday for two with cash leftover for sun cream. Average cost: £680 per person for a 10-day jaunt.

 

 

 

 

2. Buy Christmas presents twice over, with some money left over to spend on Hogmanay celebrations. Average spend on Christmas in Scotland: £610.

 

 

 

 

3. Hop on the bus between Glasgow and Edinburgh (and back) 127 times. That’s the equivalent of a daily commute for more than 5 and half months. Average cost: £11 for a return ticket. Source: City Link, price correct on May

 

 

 

 

4. Scoff 280 hotdogs at the Edinburgh Festival. Average cost: £5.

 

 

 

 

5. Cover your family’s yearly shoe purchase for around 6 years. Average annual household spend on footwear in Scotland: £234.

 

 

 

 

6. Fill up your fuel tank for the whole year with money leftover for an MOT and a few trips to the car wash. Average household spend on petrol/diesel for personal transport in Scotland: £1123.20, average MOT costs: £29.65 to £124.50.

 

 

 

 

7. Watch Aberdeen play all season with two mates – with a few pies and Bovril thrown in for good measure. Average cost: £425 for one 2014/15 main stand season ticket.

 

 

 

 

8. Experience 636 joyful caffeine highs. Average cost: £2.20 for a medium cappuccino.

 

 

 

 

9. Share a meal of fish and chips with your family every day for around 10 weeks, with a couple of portions of mushy peas thrown in. Average cost of fish and chips in UK: £4.74 per portion, based on family of 4 sharing meal.

 

 

 

 

10. Get a haircut monthly for over 3 and half years…you can go for significantly more if you’re a man! Average spend for women per haircut: £29.99.

 

 

 

 

 

11. Pay off your energy bills in full over the year. Average household cost in Scotland: £1,211.60 per year.

 

 

 

 

12. And finally, you’ll still have enough left over for endless hugs with everyone to celebrate being in a United Kingdom. And if you’re still in need of a reason to smile, go to Inverness – it’s the second happiest place in the UK.

 

 

 

Labour MSP’s Behaviour Under Dugdale is Comparable to That of a Pack of Dingos

 

 

 

The BBC must think we Scots “button up the back”. Today in Holyrood Findlay called the First Minister a “Liar”. He was shouted down by the SNP members present but achieved his aim , namely disruption of proceedings. (The act of a schoolboy bully I thought)

The Presiding Officer later recalled the house, after the culprit was identified. At which time reading from a brief, presumably prepared for him away from the Chamber, by persons versed in legal speak he sort of offered an ingenious half hearted heavily slanted apology

In response the Presiding Officer simply acknowledged his statement but it is clear the matter is not resolved to her satisfaction.

I watched the early evening BBC Scottish News later and was struck by the quite disgraceful presentation by Brian Taylor of the day’s events in Holyrood.

He blandly raised the performance of Kezia Dugdale, referring to her questioning of Nicola Sturgeon in the matter of education and followed this up with a video of Dugdale brandishing a document clearly leaked to her by Labour Councillors.  At the end of the clip, there followed, without introduction a clip of Rennie rabbiting on about the same thing. After this a Nicola Sturgeon clip in which she demolished Rennie was shown. But Nicola Sturgeon’s rebuttal of Dugdale’s allegations was omitted.

I waited for some time but to my surprise there was no mention of Findlay and his disgraceful performance in the chamber only a few hours before.

Getting back to the non-apology offered by Findlay. It was noteworthy that Dugdale and her front bench did not return to the chamber to hear it. Jackie Baillie was present and sat with her head lowered throughout. But was she laughing surely not. Have a close look at the clip.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35548744

 

Scotland After the Referendum – Aspirations of Nationhood Cruelly Destroyed – Scots Apparently Content to Remain a Region of Greater England

 

Scotland After the Referendum – Is It Now A Nation of Political Eunuchs

The outcome of the 2014 Scottish referendum was pleasing for Unionist party’s since Westminster gained much by retaining the union.

But there existed the fear in London that 59 Scots MP’s holding nationalist sympathies would, through their eloquence extend and cause confusion in commons debates and committees.

However the prevailing view was that Scottish arguments would be effectively emasculated by English common sense manipulated by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

 

 

So. Apart from continued devolution of very limited powers to Holyrood (controlled through a Scottish Secretary appointed by the governing party at Westminster) the vast bulk of Scottish affairs would still be decided upon by Westminster.

Emancipation, (promised in a “vow” by Unionist party leaders just before the referendum vote) would be placed in the “matters arising tray” for extended discussions.

Any additional devolution to be very limited, betraying the “Vow”.

 

 

Scotland would be required to accept, (yet again for another 5 years at least) a political economy totally foreign to the beliefs of the Scottish electorate within which their representation would be in the minority and without influence.

Manifest in 2015/16, the first year of the new parliament at Westminster was that any proposals, measures or complaints advanced by Scottish MP’s were rejected.

The UK government pressed on enforcing policies, (vehemently opposed by Scottish MP’s) on Scots.

 

 

Nearly half the population of Scotland believe that retention of the union is a continuation of the 1707 conspiracy against Scottish liberty since the Scottish parliament had no right under Scots Law to pass an act handing over dominion to another country, without asking consent of the nation.

Conversely Westminster opposes the concept of “sovereignty of the people” preferring to refer to the UK being a voluntary association between two countries gaining common benefit.

They say Scottish wealth and commercial expertise is nurtured and protected by the Union.

 

 

But Scottish patriots contend that Westminster’s conciliatory words are designed to deceive, and that Scotland’s continued presence in the Union will bring disaster.

Indeed examination of the UK Union and its adverse effect on Scotland reveals that the system is ill conceived and brutally enforced on unwilling Scots.

Simply put, it does not work for the benefit of Scotland since in the past 100 years the existence of the Union has depressed Scottish industries and resources and Scotland’s wealth has fallen markedly compared to England.

There is also the indisputable fact that Scotland contributes much more to the UK treasury than it receives back.

Despite this Scotland is portrayed as a welfare sponger, never happy, always asking for more.

 

 

Relentless, ever increasing poverty caused by an extravagant Westminster’s wasteful and lavish policies has forced many Scots to emigrate markedly reducing Scotland’s population.

 

 

Much of Scotland, outwith the central belt is owned by large corporate bodies and/or very rich absentee landlords, an obnoxious land ownership system created by Westminster through illegal confiscation of property, estates and other land coupled with forced eviction.

The Duchess of Westmorland observed: “Scotch people are of a happy constitution, and do not fatten like the larger breed of animals” as she and her husband confiscated the crofts of highlanders and their families, before forcing them to eat seaweed, prior to enforcing the barbaric deportation of many thousands of Scottish crofters and their families.

Adding insult to injury the bulk of the revenue gained from these properties was transferred abroad or to England (primarily London) where the vast bulk of these absentee landlords have their place of residence.

A huge financial loss to the Scottish economy.

 

Much later Sir Walter Scott wrote: “In but too many instances the Highlands have been drained, not of their superfluity of population, but of the whole mass of inhabitants, dispossessed by an unrelenting avarice which will be one day found to be short-sighted as it is unjust and selfish”.

 

Unconscious Bias – How the BBC Use the Dark Arts to Bludgeon Scots with misinformation

Referendum: Scots protest outside BBC Scotland Headquarters

Bias protest

 

 

Unconscious Bias – How the BBC Use the Dark Arts to Bludgeon Scots with misinformation

BBC Scotland: Politics – BBC text editorial staff are masters of the dark art of using subliminal messages that influence and oft adversely affect the readers mind without their being aware of it. The two links below appear innocuous but careful study reveals the hidden message of a lesser person, (with little status) writing to a superior of significant seniority. This type of misuse of the written word confirms to the Scottish reader that their status in society (drawn from the position of their leader) is vastly inferior.
9 February 2016: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35533136

The headline: “Sturgeon writes to PM on fiscal deal”

The correct wording should have been: FM writes to PM on fiscal deal
9 February 2016: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-35533793

First sentence of the article: Nicola Sturgeon has written to the prime minister putting forward her case in the talks over a fiscal framework.

Should have been: The first minister has written to the prime minister putting forward her case in the talks over a fiscal framework.

 

 

BBC accused of “dishonesty” and bias over EU referendum coverage

Nigel Farage has written to the BBC Trust over its use of the word “Europe” in place of “European Union” amid claims it benefits the “In” campaign.

Private polling suggests that the phrase European Union is toxic to voters, making it beneficial for pro-european campaigners to use Europe instead of EC.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11941330/bbc-accused-of-dishonesty-and-bias-over-EU-referendum-coverage.html

 

Only two examples but there are tens of thousands more. Check previous BBC articles and alert friends and collleagues to be on their guard.

 

 

 

Dr Adam (Mohammed) Osborne -Sex Drugs and Rock-n-Roll

 

adam Osborne wedding asianAdam Osborne’s Muslim Wedding

 

 
December 6 2009; George Osborne’s Brother Becomes A Muslim To Marry

The younger brother of Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has converted to Islam to allow him to marry a beautiful Bangladeshi-born plastic surgeon he met at university. Adam Osborne, 33, who was temporarily banned from working as a junior doctor last year following allegations that he prescribed drugs to a friend, ‘quietly married’ Rahala Noor, 31, in two ceremonies held during the past six weeks. One was a civil ceremony, the other a traditional Asian Muslim celebration.

Dr Osborne’s religious conversion is said to have been a condition put forward by Dr Noor’s devoutly Muslim family for the marriage to take place. Adam Osborne, who has taken an Islamic name, donned traditional sherwani and turban for his colourful Muslim wedding to Dr Rahala Noor in Manchester. He spent several months learning the teachings of the Koran at a mosque in Withington, in Manchester, before being formally welcomed into the faith at a simple ceremony last month.

Dr Osborne has adopted the name Mohammed, plans to attend mosque regularly and now prays five times a day. But the newlyweds have been forced to live apart because of work pressures. Dr Osborne is a specialist in psychiatric care at the John Howard Centre – a mental health unit in Hackney, East London. His new wife recently took up a post at the plastic surgery unit of Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire.

The couple have been going out for 14 years after falling in love as undergraduates at St Andrews University in Scotland. They went on to study medicine together at Manchester University, but they kept their relationship hidden from Dr Noor’s family, who live in Manchester, for several years. A friend of the couple said: “They met in the first week, after a lecture, and that’s when the relationship started. They didn’t tell her family, however, because Rahala was worried about how they would react. Adam’s family knew all about it and they thought she was a very good influence on him. But Rahala didn’t want to upset her folks. She knew that her parents probably wanted her to have an arranged marriage and she did not want to disappoint them. She only told her mother and siblings two years ago, after her father died. Rahala explained to her three brothers and two sisters that she was deeply in love and wanted to marry Adam. I don’t think they were too keen. Her older sister, who had an arranged marriage, was especially resistant. Over time, however, and after meeting him on a few occasions, they came around to the idea. And when Adam announced that he was going to convert to Islam, it enabled everyone to accept the relationship.”

The couple even managed to survive last year’s illegal prescription scandal, which led to Dr Osborne’s suspension by the General Medical Council and his resignation as a junior doctor at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Hospital. A 21-year-old cocaine-addicted prostitute revealed Dr Osborne had given her prescription drugs to stop terrifying hallucinations she suffered as a result of her £750-a-week habit.

GMC guidance forbids doctors from prescribing drugs to friends or family except in exceptional cases because of the risk that they could abuse their position. The woman also claimed that she started having a relationship with Dr Osborne in October 2007. She said he paid the rent on her £795-a-month flat in Manchester.

Another friend said: ‘It was a tough time for them, but Rahala stood by him because she loves and believes in him. She is very religious. She has never drunk alcohol, prays every day and only eats halal meat. From the moment they got serious it was obvious that Adam would have to convert otherwise there was no way the family would have accepted him. She is also very keen to start a family and wants to raise the children as Muslims – which he is happy about. He’s converted for the future of their family. Family is very important to both of them, and he can relate to how Rahala views family. If her family hadn’t given their approval for this wedding then I don’t think she would have gone against their wishes. She’s very traditional and Adam loves the fact that he’s got a wife who is willing to look after him.” As the friend observed: “You couldn’t get two people who come from such different backgrounds. He’s very established and English, and she’s the typical immigrant made good.”

 

osbourne_hi.jpgThe Osbornes at home

 

 

Adam is one of four sons of Baronet Osborne of Ballintaylor – the 66-year-old Sir Peter Osborne – and his wife, Felicity, 63. Sir Peter is a multi – millionaire businessman, who founded wallpaper company Osborne & Little. The boys grew up in a £5million house in Notting Hill, West London, and Adam attended the prestigious St Paul’s School for boys. ‘They were very traditional Church of England,’ said one former neighbour.

In contrast, Rahala’s father Abdullah emigrated from Bangladesh to Manchester in 1980, when she was two. The family settled in the city’s Withington district where they still live. Her mother Sufia is a housewife in her late 70s who is said to speak very little English. Abdullah, who initially worked in an Indian takeaway, saved money to open and run his own restaurant. A traditional and deeply religious man, he insisted that his three daughters all had a good education. A family friend says: ‘He put a lot of emphasis on education for his children and ensured that they all got good qualifications, even though he didn’t speak very much English himself and was barely educated in Bangladesh, having left school at 16 to work as a cook.’

Dr Noor, who was always academically gifted, went to a comprehensive school in Withington before attending a private A-level college. ‘Her father’s dream was to make her a doctor,’ the friend added. ‘He really worked hard to ensure that his children had the best education. He raised them very traditionally and religion played an important part in the life of the family. Rahala is a real go-getter. Very homely, very determined and very ambitious. She is almost like the perfect wife from another time. Because of her upbringing, she is very traditional about the role of the wife and the husband. ‘That’s what Adam loves about her. She looks after him. She does all the housework, cooks, cleans and also holds down a demanding job.’

That Dr Noor straddles two worlds was evident in the fact that she had two weddings, one for each aspect of her life. The friend added: ‘The first Western-style wedding was at St Andrew’s Castle on October 31. Around 100 people attended. There was alcohol and dancing. George Osborne went with his wife and his kids. The bride wore a long white dress and it was a black-tie affair. ‘I think Rahala knew that her family and other relatives would not feel comfortable in that environment. There was alcohol being served and non-halal meat, so Rahala probably thought that they would not have been too happy about that. Her youngest sister, Siria, who is studying dentistry, was the sole representative of the family.’

 

adam osborne wedding asian 2Adam Osborne & his New Bride

 

The second wedding was a more colourful Asian affair at a banqueting hall in Withington. Around 300 people attended, more than half of them Asians, made up of Dr Noor’s family, relatives and members from the local Bangladeshi community. The bride wore a red and gold lehenga. Dr Osborne wore a red and gold sherwani with a turban. His mother Felicity wore a traditional cream lehenga while his father, Sir Peter, wore a blue sherwani. George wasn’t there. The first part of the ceremony was a traditional Islamic affair with the bride and female guests in one room and the groom and male guests in the other. They recited marriage verses from the Koran, signed a document and an imam declared them man and wife. This was followed by a lavish reception, without alcohol.

Guests did not dance but entertainment was provided by a Bollywood dance group and a Bollywood brass band. ‘There was a very strange mix of people at the wedding,’ said one guest. ‘A lot of the English people were quite amazed at what was going on. There were traditional, upper-middle-class people in the room and then lots of kids running around. It was really noisy. ‘The English people were amazed at how late everybody arrived and that five or six members of one family were turning up even though they had received only one invitation. ‘There was a lot of goodwill and love in the air. But the two sides did not really come together. The Asians were on one side of the room and English people on the other. ‘As far as the couple are concerned, their different backgrounds have never been a problem for either of them. In fact, they are both very proud of where they come from.’ When contacted, Adam’s mother Lady Osborne would only say: ‘We don’t really like to comment on personal matters.’

Adam, emerging at the front door of his semi-detached home on the outskirts of Manchester city Centre wearing a pink and lime-green dressing gown, refused to comment on his recent marriage. ‘I’m afraid I have no comment to make whatsoever,’ he said, smiling. But at his mother-in-law’s nearby home, one of Rahala’s brothers happily confirmed that the family was delighted by the wedding, particularly Adam’s conversion to Islam. Speaking at the family’s semi-detached house, still decorated with strands of fairy lights and floral arrangements from the marriage celebrations, he said: ‘Yes, of course you can say we’re delighted. ‘I don’t understand why there is interest in this and I have been told not to say anything.’ When he was reminded of George Osborne’s public profile and the fact that Adam had converted to Islam, Rahala’s brother nodded and said the family was ‘obviously pleased’. Asked whether Adam’s conversion had been prompted by his bride’s family, Rahala’s brother smiled and said simply: ‘All I can say is that we are delighted.’

George is also married to a feisty woman – the Hon Frances Howell, eldest daughter of Conservative Minister David Howell, Baron Howell of Guildford . They married nine years ago after having met at a dinner party and, she says, rowed furiously all evening. Today, they live in West London and have two children, Luke and Liberty.

Frances is an Oxford-educated former barrister who last year wrote a well-received biography about one of her racy ancestors, entitled The Bolter: Idina Sackville. Idina scandalised London society in the Twenties by walking out on her husband, then one of the richest men in Britain – and escaping to Africa with a lover.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1233537/George-Osbornes-brother-Muslim-marry-love-14-years.html

 

adam osborne2

 

 

February 16 2010; George Osborne’s Brother Guilty of Giving Drugs To Cocaine-Addicted Escort Girl

The doctor brother of shadow chancellor was today found guilty of serious professional misconduct after prescribing drugs to a cocaine-addicted escort girl. Dr Adam Osborne, 33, is facing career ruin after admitting he gave anti-psychotic drugs to the prostitute. He told the General Medical Council he started a relationship with the woman – known as “Miss B” – because his long-term partner and now wife Rahala Noor was working away from home. The hearing was told that Dr Noor’s absence left him feeling “isolated”. The panel ruled that his fitness to practice was impaired by reason of misconduct and that he lacked insight into the seriousness of his behaviour in prescribing drugs without recording the prescriptions. It will decide either tomorrow or later this week whether to strike him off or suspend him from practicing as a doctor.

Dr Osborne, heir to the Osborne & Little wallpaper empire, wrote a prescription for the £150-an-hour prostitute – known as Miss B – using a false name. When the psychiatrist, then a house officer, failed to obtain the drugs at the hospital pharmacy he took the “acutely psychotic” patient to another chemist where getting the medication was less difficult. Dr Osborne said he met the woman in a “social setting” but he refused to tell the General Medical Council how many times he saw her between December 2007 and May 2008. In the space of a month he prescribed drugs to her without telling her GP or his employers at the Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. On the last occasion she was so ill she was seeing “spiders climb the wall”, the hearing was told. Later the same day he was expelled from trust premises after admitting his actions were “highly inappropriate”. The following month he admitted giving the Pill to his then girlfriend and an anti-smoking drug to a family member without recording the prescriptions.

The relationship with Miss B – then 21 – began with a phone call to a Manchester escort agency more than three years ago. The ”girl” from the agency received instructions to visit Dr Osborne at the home he continues to share with Dr Noor in the Chorltonville area. Dr Osborne, based at Wythenshawe Hospital while his wife worked at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire, then ”booked” the girl almost every week between October and December. It is then claimed that they began to see each other privately, off the agency’s books, usually at her flat – allegedly paid for by Dr Osborne. On Dr Osborne’s recommendation, Miss B also began working at Sandy’s Superstars, a well-known Manchester brothel in all but name, which boasts a choice of ”over ten ladies every day, curvy or slim, tall or petite”, aged between their early twenties and early forties, offering a ”full spectrum of specialties”. One of its two ”branches” is situated behind permanently closed black shutters in a parade of shops in Northenden, a little over a mile from Wythenshawe Hospital. http://www.psychsearch.net/psychiatrist-adam-osborne-serious-professional-misconduct/

 

a osborne

 

 

 

February 17 2010; Osborne Brother’s Inappropriate Conduct

A doctor who repeatedly prescribed medication to friends and family was acting “outside his competence”, the General Medical Council (GMC) heard. It was told the actions of Dr Adam Osborne, brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne, were “risky”. The 33-year-old prescribed quetiapine, which is used to treat schizophrenia, to a woman displaying signs of cocaine abuse. He admits prescribing drugs for a friend, family member and girlfriend – but denies inappropriate conduct.

The GMC says doctors can only prescribe for family and friends in emergencies. The hearing was told Dr Osborne indulged in “risky” and “inappropriate” practice when he procured the medication. He has admitted failing to record the prescriptions in the “patients'” records or informing their GPs. The doctor, who was working as a psychiatry trainee at the time, sparked concern among his supervisors. As soon as they discovered his “dishonest” behaviour, they excluded him from practise at Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust.

Dr Sean Lennon, a clinical director at the trust, told the Fitness to Practice Panel in London that Dr Osborne was “not in a position” to prescribe medication to the woman, referred to as Miss B. He said: “My concern was that he was managing the care of someone outside his competence and I had anxieties then about what the implications might be for the care of other patients.”

The panel has heard that on 12 May 2008 Miss B arrived at Manchester Royal Infirmary displaying “psychotic symptoms associated with the side-effects of cocaine”. Dr Osborne was working at Wythenshawe Hospital at the time. Miss B, understood to be a prostitute had been taking quetiapine – a treatment for schizophrenia and two other drugs – which she claimed she had been given by Dr Osborne. But she later discharged herself, phoned Dr Osborne and made her way to Wythenshawe Hospital where he had taken up a placement. The couple left the hospital and made their way to a pharmacy close to Osborne’s home where he wrote a private prescription for the necessary drugs — haloperidol, an anti-psychotic, and iorazepam, a tranquilliser.

The panel also heard that Dr Osborne had prescribed the contraceptive pill to his then-girlfriend and the drug Zyban to a family member who was struggling to give up smoking.
Dr Lennon said the trainee would have been aware that this was a breach of the GMC’s guidance. Dr Osborne, who denies acting in a dishonest manner, resigned from the trust but an investigation continued and he was dismissed for gross misconduct. He was initially banned from practice but was later allowed back to work with conditions. The hearing continues. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8520713.stm

 

adam osborne sandys

 

 

 

February 19 2010; Dr Osborne Admitted Failing To Record Prescriptions He Gave To Friends

A doctor denied trying to conceal a cocaine-addicted friend to whom he prescribed anti-psychotic drugs, the General Medical Council (GMC) heard. Dr Adam Osborne, brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne, left the woman in a hospital car park while he went inside to write the prescription. He later failed to put her details on a second form he handed to a pharmacy. The doctor admits prescribing drugs for a friend, family member and girlfriend but denies inappropriate conduct. The GMC says doctors can only prescribe for family and friends in emergencies.

The woman, known as Miss B, contacted Dr Osborne in May 2008 from outside Manchester Royal Infirmary after discharging herself after failing to receive treatment, it was said.

She met Dr Osborne outside Wythenshawe Hospital, where he was a psychiatry trainee at the time. He decided to treat her for cocaine-related symptoms, the Fitness to Practice panel in London heard.

He left her in the car park, while he went in inside to get a prescription for the drugs Lorazepam – a class C controlled drug that has worth as a street drug – and haloperidol.
After being refused the drugs due to the patient’s name not being recognised by the hospital, the hearing was told he went to a nearby pharmacy where he filled out a further incomplete form, missing out details of the woman’s name and address.

Asked if he wanted to conceal her identity, he said: “No”. GMC counsel Bernadette Baxter also quizzed him on his decision not to take Miss B into the hospital to make out the initial prescription. Asked if that was to “conceal her presence”, Dr Osborne replied: “I do not think that was a particular issue in my mind at the time.” He previously said that his main concern was getting treatment for the woman, who was having hallucinations as the result of her cocaine use.

Asked how he met Miss B, Dr Osborne said it was in a social setting in late 2007 or early 2008, but decline to give further details. When asked if it was a “social setting you wouldn’t want people to know about”, he replied: “I would rather answer that in private session.”

Dr Osborne risks being struck off by the GMC over the allegations that he supplied prescription drugs to a former girlfriend, a family member and Miss B. It is claimed that he did so without informing their GPs or making note of the prescriptions in their medical records.

At Friday’s hearing he admitted not having paid enough attention to the guidelines laid out in Good Medical Practice. “At the time I might have skimmed through it, but I probably hadn’t really thought about all the points which is probably why I ended up here today,” he said. Quizzed further if he knew it was wrong to prescribe to family and friends, he said: “I honestly hadn’t taken that message on board. I cannot say I was deliberately going against something I thought was wrong.”

Dr Osborne resigned from the trust but an investigation continued and he was dismissed for gross misconduct. He was initially banned from practice but was later allowed back to work with conditions. The hearing continues. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8524168.stm

 

 

 
February 22 2010; Dr Osborne Gave Prescriptions To Friends

A doctor has been found guilty of misleading and dishonest behaviour by a General Medical Council (GMC) panel. Dr Adam Osborne, brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne, falsified the name of a drug-addicted friend on a prescription he gave to hospital staff. He then obtained the drugs at a private pharmacy using an incomplete form, the hearing in London heard. Charges of misleading and dishonest behaviour in relation to a second prescription were not proved. Dr Osborne, a trainee at Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester at the time, admitted prescribing drugs for a friend, family member and girlfriend but denies inappropriate conduct. The GMC says doctors can only prescribe for family and friends in emergencies.

Dr Osborne, 33, earlier admitted that he met a woman – referred to as Miss B – in a Wythenshawe Hospital car park in May 2008. He went into the hospital to try to get her drugs because she was suffering hallucinations as a result of cocaine use. He left Miss B outside and falsified her name. Alyson Leslie, chair of the disciplinary panel, said: “Attempting to obtain haloperidol and lorazepam for Miss B by writing an NHS prescription in a false name and presenting that at a hospital pharmacy was misleading. “The panel is also satisfied that attempting to obtain haloperidol and lorazepam in those circumstances was dishonest.” The hospital refused to give the drugs to Dr Osborne so he went to a pharmacy and wrote a private prescription for the medication, leaving out Miss B’s name and address.

The panel ruled that it was not proved that this constituted misleading and dishonest behaviour. The doctor failed to record the prescriptions in the medical records of his friend, former girlfriend and family member. Neither did he tell their GPs. He previously told the panel he had prescribed Miss B the drugs because it was “an acute emergency”.
He denied he was trying to hide the identity of the friend or conceal her presence at the hospital. The panel will hear from another witness before deciding if Dr Osborne’s fitness to practice is impaired due to misconduct. If they rule it is, he could be struck off the medical register. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8528442.stm

 

 

 
February 23 2010; Dr Osborne Prescribed Drugs To His Girlfriend And A Family Member

A doctor who falsified a prescription for a cocaine-addicted escort girl has been found guilty of serious misconduct by the General Medical Council (GMC). Adam Osborne, 33, brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne, admitted “inappropriate” behaviour. He also obtained the contraceptive pill for his girlfriend and an anti-smoking drug for a family member while training at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester.

The GMC will decide whether Dr Osborne will be struck off. The failings constitute misconduct that impairs his fitness to practice, the panel ruled. Reading out the verdict, chair of the panel Alyson Leslie said Dr Osborne told them that he wrote the prescriptions while he was under “considerable pressure in his professional and public life”. Mrs Leslie said that he engaged in a relationship with “Miss B, who you described as an escort girl” during a time when his long-term partner was working away. Mrs Leslie said that aspects of the misconduct are “remediable.” It was also noted that many of the charges against Dr Osborne came up as a result of his own admissions. The misconduct ruling relates to incidents between June 2006 and May 2008.

On 12 May 2008, Miss B met Dr Osborne in the hospital car park after she earlier discharged herself from another hospital and was suffering from hallucinations as the result of heavy cocaine use. Dr Osborne wrote out a prescription for anti-psychotic drugs haloperidol and lorazepam and falsified parts of the form because he only knew her first name. He was denied the drugs when hospital staff could not match the patient’s name to anyone registered at the hospital. Dr Osborne drove to a nearby pharmacy where he handed over a second prescription without a name or address and obtained the drugs.

Earlier this week the GMC panel ruled that he had displayed dishonest and misleading behaviour in falsifying the name of Miss B. He had earlier admitted acting inappropriately in relation to the private prescription and one for his then-girlfriend and a family member. The GMC says doctors can only prescribe for family and friends in emergencies. In all three cases, he failed to record the prescriptions in the personal records of the individuals and failed to inform their GPs. In the time since being dismissed by the hospital, Dr Osborne had taken “positive steps to address both your conduct and your commitment to the medical profession,” the GMC heard. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8531171.stm

 

 

 

 

February 23 2010; Guilty Of Dishonesty, George Osborne’s Doctor Brother who Secretly Prescribed Drugs To A Prostitute

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne’s doctor brother was found guilty of dishonesty yesterday for secretly prescribing anti-psychotic medication to a woman who was not his patient.
The General Medical Council could now strike off or suspend Dr Adam Osborne for his misconduct, which included using a false name so he could not be connected to the woman, who was a prostitute. The verdict will be highly embarrassing for the 33-year-old psychiatrist, his famous family and his in-laws, who are devout Muslims. But the GMC disciplinary panel was never told the full story of why Dr Osborne risked his career by breaking a rule which says that doctors are allowed to prescribe to friends and relatives only in an emergency.

In fact, it involves a £150-an-hour vice girl referred to only as Miss B, whose profession was never officially disclosed to the panel, a massage parlour called Sandy’s Superstars and cocaine. It also features the betrayal of Dr Osborne’s then girlfriend, now his wife, Rahala Noor, a plastic surgeon who was born in Bangladesh. The scandal that would engulf Dr Osborne – whose father Sir Peter is the multi-millionaire founder of the Osborne & Little wallpaper business and holds the title Baronet Osborne of Ballintaylor – began with a phone call more than three years ago. The call was to a Manchester escort agency. The ‘girl’ from the agency received instructions to visit Dr Osborne at the home he shared, and still shares, with Dr Noor in the exclusive Chorltonville area of the city. Dr Osborne, who worked at the local Wythenshawe Hospital while his wife worked at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire, then ‘booked’ the girl almost every week between October and December. After that, they started seeing each other privately, off the agency’s books, usually at her flat. Eventually the two came to another arrangement. Instead of paying her by the hour, Dr Osborne agreed to pay her £795-a-month rent – in return for ‘sex on tap’.

On Dr Osborne’s recommendation, Miss B also began working at Sandy’s Superstars, a well-known Manchester brothel in all but name, which boasts a choice of ‘over ten ladies every day, curvy or slim, tall or petite’, aged between their early twenties and early forties, offering a ‘full spectrum of specialties’. One of its two ‘branches’ is situated behind permanently closed black shutters in a parade of shops in Northenden, a little over a mile from Wythenshawe Hospital. But, like many prostitutes, Miss B, who was 21, had a cocaine habit which was spiralling out of control. At one point, she was consuming 18 grams a week – an addiction Dr Osborne was inadvertently funding.

Had it not been for her drug problem, Dr Osborne’s secret life with her might never have been exposed. She had begun displaying ‘ psychotic symptoms’ associated with the side- effects of cocaine and turned to Dr Osborne, the third of the four Osborne brothers, for help. He started giving her quetiapine, used to treat schizophrenia, without telling her GP or more senior colleagues at Wythenshawe. So what had until then been a purely private indiscretion became a professional one as well. It culminated-with a ‘hysterical’ Miss B being admitted to Manchester Royal Infirmary’s A&E department on May 12, 2008.

While checks were carried out into how she came to have the drugs, she discharged herself from the hospital and phoned Dr Osborne, who was then a senior house officer. They met in the car park of Wythenshawe before going to the hospital pharmacy where he used a false name to try to obtain medication for her. The computer did not recognise the ‘name’ and he was forced to write out a private prescription instead. But staff at Wythenshawe discovered what he had done and started an investigation. Dr Osborne resigned two weeks later because, he said, he feared his grave error of judgment would damage his family, most of all his brother George. What he did not know was that Miss B was about to sell her story to a Sunday newspaper. The article was published in December 2008 under the headline ‘Osborne’s brother, the £150 hooker & drugs’. It did not name the prostitute, who is now believed to have started a new a life as a student.

But for Dr Osborne, the circumstances could hardly be more humiliating. Apart from his own family, he had to consider the effect on his Muslim in-laws, who ran a restaurant business in Manchester. Dr Osborne converted to Islam before marrying Dr Noor, 31, last October in two ceremonies, one an Asian-Muslim celebration at a banqueting hall in Manchester with the couple in traditional dress. The pair, who met as students at St Andrews University, had kept their relationship hidden from her parents for several years.

The GMC heard that Dr Osborne had also secretly given Dr Noor the contraceptive pill, as well as an anti- smoking drug to a family friend. He denied that his actions were misleading or dishonest, but the disciplinary panel disagreed. Bernadette Baxter, counsel for the GMC, told the hearing that Dr Osborne still represented a risk to patients.
If he [Dr Osborne] has no insight into what was going on and why he did things, then it’s easy to see how similar pressures might affect his judgment calls in the future,’ she said. But Christina Lambert QC, representing Dr Osborne, said her client had ‘learned massively’ following a period of reflection.The panel now has to decide if his fitness to practice is impaired. If it believes it is, Dr Osborne could be suspended, struck off or allowed to continue his medical career under strict conditions.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252900/George-Osbornes-doctor-brother-faces-struck-secretly-prescribing-drugs-cocaine-addict.html

 

 

 
February 24 2010; Escort Girl Drug Doctor Adam Osborne Suspended By GMC

A doctor who falsified a prescription for a cocaine-addicted escort girl has been suspended for six months by the General Medical Council (GMC). Adam Osborne, 33, brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne, admitted “inappropriate” behaviour. Dr Osborne, training in Manchester at the time, also got contraceptive pills for his girlfriend and an anti-smoking drug for a family member. The panel had already ruled that his failings constituted misconduct. It found on Tuesday that Dr Osborne behaved dishonestly in an attempt to obtain medication for the woman, who he had been seeing while his partner was away. He has now been suspended from practicing medicine for six months for misconduct.

The seriousness of your conduct is such that a signal must be made to you and your profession Alyson Leslie, chair of the panel told Dr Osborne. She added that the psychiatrist “seemed unable to grasp that an act of dishonesty remained an act of dishonesty”. The suspension will be imposed with immediate effect to “protect public interest”, the panel ruled. Dr Osborne’s legal representative, Christina Lambert QC, said she was unsure whether an appeal would be made against the ruling.

The incidents happened while Dr Osborne was training at Wythenshawe Hospital. On 12 May 2008, the escort girl named as “Miss B” in court met Dr Osborne in the hospital car park.
She had earlier discharged herself from another hospital and was suffering from hallucinations as the result of heavy cocaine use. Dr Osborne wrote out a prescription for anti-psychotic drugs haloperidol and lorazepam and falsified parts of the form because he only knew her first name. He was denied the drugs when hospital staff could not match the patient’s name, so Dr Osborne drove to a pharmacy for the drugs.

He had earlier admitted acting inappropriately in relation to the private prescription and one for his then-girlfriend and a family member. The GMC says doctors can only prescribe for family and friends in emergencies. Acknowledging what the impact of suspension might have on his immediate future, Ms Leslie added: “The panel recognises that the personal and professional consequences for you and your family will be significant but, in reaching its decision, the panel considers that the seriousness of your misconduct is such that a signal must be sent to you and the profession that your conduct is not acceptable.” After the hearing Dr Osborne said he was “disappointed” by the GMC decision. He added that he realised he had “made some mistakes in the past which I have since worked hard to address”. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8534938.stm

 

A young Gideon partying

 

 
February 25 2010; Shaming of Osborne’s Brother: Doctor Suspended For Giving Drugs To His Prostitute Lover

The doctor brother of Shadow Chancellor George Osborne was suspended for six months yesterday for ‘ dishonest and misleading’ behavior in prescribing drugs to a cocaine-addicted prostitute. Adam Osborne, 33, was told he had damaged public confidence in the medical profession and could have put the health of the woman – who he was in a relationship with – at risk. He had admitted prescribing powerful anti-psychotic drugs to the woman known only as ‘Miss B’ to help her get over cocaine withdrawal symptoms known to addicts as ‘cocaine bugs’, and had done this on previous occasions. She had asked him for the drugs as she had been hallucinating for several hours that the walls were crawling with spiders, and insects were scurrying on her skin.

The General Medical Council told him his ‘relationship’ with the woman had ‘clouded his judgment’ and by ‘dishonestly’ using a false name and not telling her GP, he had put her safety at risk. He was also disciplined for prescribing the contraceptive pill to his then girlfriend, Bangladeshi-born, Rahala Noor, 31, a strict Muslim who is now his wife, and an anti-smoking drug to someone only described ‘as a family member’, also without informing their GPs. Adam Osborne converted to Islam to marry his wife Rahala Noor.

Dr Osborne was due to start a job at the Paddington Community Health Centre in London, where he has been living since his misconduct came to light in 2008, but the GMC heard his suspension means it now ‘may no longer be in place’. He was said to have been seeing Miss B between December 2007 and May 2008, while he ‘felt isolated’ as his then-girlfriend was away working and he was a trainee psychiatrist at the Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

Miss B called him for his help after she had apparently waited for hours without being seen by a doctor while at Accident and Emergency at the Manchester Royal Infirmary. In an interview in a Sunday newspaper, she revealed Dr Osborne had met her at a Manchester brothel called ‘Sandy’s Superstars’. He reportedly later paid the £795 monthly rent on her flat in exchange for ‘sex on tap’.

Chairman of the GMC’s fitness to practice panel, Mrs Alyson Leslie told Osborne ‘a period of suspension is the only appropriate and proportionate sanction’. Dr Osborne’s barrister, Christina Lambert, QC, had told the panel earlier that a suspension would have a ‘disastrous’ effect on him. He had admitted prescribing a contraceptive to his girlfriend, Zyban – to help quit smoking – to a family member, and Quetiapine, Haloperidol and Lorazepam to Miss B. In all three cases he failed to inform their GP and failed to amend medical records. He had denied his conduct was dishonest or misleading, or that his fitness to practice was impaired.

He has been living at his parents’ £5million London townhouse since resigning from his hospital post in Manchester in 2008. He had been working at the John Howard Centre, a mental health unit in Hackney, East London, and commuting back to Manchester at weekends to be with his wife, Rahala Noor, a plastic surgeon, who was born in Bangladesh. They are expecting their first child. Adam Osborne converted to Islam before marrying Dr Noor, 31, last October in two ceremonies, one an Asian-Muslim celebration at a banqueting hall in Manchester with the couple in traditional dress. The two met more than 14 years ago when they were both undergraduates at St Andrew’s University and kept their relationship hidden from her parents for several years. Like his brother the Shadow Chancellor, Adam was educated at ultra academic fee-paying St Paul’s School in South-West London. Initially, he did not consider a career in medicine. On leaving St Paul’s, in fact, he had a place at university to read French and History but decided to take a gap year instead, travelling in Asia with a number of medical students. When he returned to Britain, he took A’ levels, in physics and chemistry – achieving two As – before getting his first medical job in Manchester. His family, he revealed at the disciplinary tribunal, did not want him to become a psychiatrist.

Adam is close to his younger brother Theo. The two, in fact, are involved in a online bookmaking company, Parnassus Premier Sportsbook. Adam is the company secretary and sole shareholder; Theo is the director. The firm, registered at the Osborne family’s West London home offers a ‘bespoke service’ to its customers and made a small profit in its first annual return in 2009.

Theo, a graduate of the European Business School in Regent’s Park, is a colourful character in his own right; more like George in his Oxford days than either the more private Adam or Benedict, a graphic designer. That much is evident from the image on his personal Facebook internet page: it shows Gordon Gekko, the character played by Michael Douglas in the film Wall Street. There is also an advertisement for a lingerie business showing a model in her underwear. His online ‘friends’ include Zac Goldsmith and David Cameron. A third friend is James Reuben, whose father David is one half of the reclusive property and metals magnates, the Reuben brothers.

According to friends, Theo flew out by private jet with James Reuben for a recent holiday in St Tropez. They spent time at the Reuben family villa near Cannes and on board a well-appointed luxury yacht. A variety of photos on Facebook showed them living it up on past vacations in the South of France. In some, they are seen with cigars and bottles of champagne at a nightclub. They have also partied together in New York and Miami. Last year, Theo Osborne was also spotted in the company of Roedean-educated society girl Saskia Boxford, the young woman who was later linked with England and Chelsea footballer Frank Lampard. Theo – who drives a black Range Rover with a personalized black number plate – is still believed to be living at his parents’ home. One imagines the conversation there in recent days has been rather more colourful than usual.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252900/George-Osbornes-doctor-brother-faces-struck-secretly-prescribing-drugs-cocaine-addict.html

 

 

 

 

February 27 2010; Doctor Suspended By Medical Panel

The brother of the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has had his registration to practice as a doctor suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC). The suspension of Dr Adam Osborne is an interim one which will last for 18 months while further investigations are carried out. It is understood that Dr Osborne was training as a psychiatrist at a Manchester health trust. The shadow chancellor’s office said he would not be making any comment.

As you may know, during the leadership election in which he acted as David Cameron’s campaign manager, an allegation, supported by the word of the girl and a photograph published by the News of the World was brought that George Osborne took cocaine with a prostitute. He denied this, saying that he had not taken cocaine or had sexual intercourse with the girl, and that he had been acting on behalf of a friend, whom she was blackmailing.

This allegation was repeated (and again denied) in the Macbride emails, which were published by the Sunday Times and the News of the World. No libel suit has been forthcoming on these matters, although as a multi millionaire many times over George Osborne would be well able to afford such.

We know that Boris Johnson’s best friend in the socially exclusive restaurant smashing Bullingdon Club at Oxford (of which Osborne & Cameron were also members) was Darius Guppy, who became a convicted fraudster, was also a member of the still more exclusive Piers Gaveston Society, renowned for hiring many, many prostitutes for public orgies.

Mrs Osborne sought an apology and threatened a libel suit against the Sunday Times and Macbride on her own behalf for the allegations that she was “nervous” etc.

The blogger Paul Staines, aka Guido Fawkes claimed to have served papers on Macbride on behalf of Nadine Dorries MP, who was libeled in the Macbride emails, and boasted of his earnings therefrom. A soap opera may be possible after they are all gone. http://www.lordtobyharris.org.uk/general-medical-council-suspends-george-osbornes-brother-from-practicing-medicine/

 

 

 

 

 

September 5 2010; Chancellor George Osborne’s Disgraced Brother Buts a £1Million Townhouse – Even Though He Doesn’t Have A Job.

Dr Adam Osborne, 34, was barred by the General Medical Council from working as a doctor for six months after he prescribed drugs to four people – two family members, a friend and a cocaine-addicted prostitute he had an affair with. The financial support of baronet father Sir Peter enabled him to buy the four – storey house in West London. But while big brother George is making swingeing public service cuts and declaring “we’re all in this together”, his family really are in a class of their own. Despite not working and having two outstanding mortgages on his £450,000 home in Chorlton, Manchester, Adam is settling into the four-bedroom terraced house, complete with an attic conversion, which cost around 13 times a doctor’s average salary.

Land Registry documents show the property was bought in July for £1,025,000 with the help of his father Sir Peter Osborne who has a multi – million pound fortune as head of the upmarket Osborne & Little £90-a-roll wallpaper firm, which fired 12 per cent of its staff last year. Sir Peter is named on the deeds along with Adam and his Muslim wife Rahala, a plastic surgeon for whom he converted to Islam in order to marry last year. It is not known how much each party paid for the property, but it is mortgaged with Barclays and the bank is likely to have required a cash deposit of at least 20 per cent or £205,000. The Osbornes would also have been liable for stamp duty of £41,000 – and they have not sold their current home.

Although Dr Osborne is not working – he would normally earn around £80,000 a year – the couple could still get a mortgage of about £400,000. So it appears likely that Sir Peter’s millions – which are kept in a tax-effective family trust – have been used to either put down a deposit of £500,000-plus, or to guarantee mortgage payments.

Dr Osborne resigned as a trainee psychiatrist at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester in May 2008 after he was accused of prescribing drugs to the prostitute and trying to use a false name. He was later dismissed for gross misconduct. He was banned from practice but went on to work at the John Howard Centre in Hackney, East London, under strict supervision.

He was brought before the GMC in February and admitted prescribing drugs to a girlfriend, two family members and a friend. He admitted an affair with the prostitute and falsifying information on her prescriptions. He blamed his behaviour on “considerable pressure on his public and personal life” and was found guilty of serious misconduct. He was accused of being “misleading” and “dishonest”.

Dr Osborne had his work ban lifted on Friday after telling the GMC he had been on a “personal journey” since the scandal. A GMC panel said: “Over the last two years you have grown up a lot and taken responsibility for your actions.” They felt he was unlikely to repeat the behaviour.

Dr Osborne married Bangladeshi-born Rahala Noor, 31, in November 2009. The couple are thought to spend much of their time apart – Dr Osborne lives in London while his wife is based at the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire.

The family’s wealth comes from an upmarket wallpaper firm set up Sir Peter Osborne in 1967. Osborne & Little – which sells paper for up to £90 a roll – is today worth around £20million. According to the Parliamentary register of interests, George benefits from a trust fund with a 15 per cent stake in the firm, worth around £3million. It is not known what Adam’s situation is. Sir Peter is the 17th baronet of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon in Ireland. As eldest son, George will inherit the title. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/george-osbornes-unemployed-brother-buys-245591

 

Arrival of Dr Tahirul Qadri and story of Adam Osborne

 

 

 

14 July 2014: Arrival of Dr Tahirul Qadri and story of Mohammed (Adam) Osborne

About five years ago, the Express newspaper in UK had published an item stating that Adam Osborne, younger brother of the current Chancellor George Osborne, had converted to Islam in preparation of his marriage to a Muslim lady. The article had gone on to mention that Adam, who after his conversion had taken the first name of Mohammed, had been studying the Holy Quran and was saying his prayers five times a day as stipulated in Islam.

http://www.magtheweekly.com/19-25july2014/london_eye.asp

 

 

 
July 4 2014; Google’s Right To Be Forgotten Hides Islamic Marriage of Osborne’s Brother

A news report about the conversion of George Osborne’s brother to Islam has been hidden by Google. The article, published five years ago and detailing the conversion of Dr Adam Osborne to Islam in preparation for his marriage to a Bangladeshi-born plastic surgeon, was removed from search listings by the internet giant. The original story, on a British newspaper website, remains online. It revealed how Dr Osborne had been studying the Koran and given the name Mohammed for the ceremony. Dr Osborne was later suspended from practice by the General Medical Council for six months after being found guilty of “serious misconduct” when he falsified a prescription for drugs for an escort.

The removal from listings came after a request to Google from an unknown person. It follows a highly controversial ‘right to be forgotten’ ruling in the European Court of Justice last month which gave people the right to have “inadequate”, “irrelevant” or “no longer relevant” search results removed from internet searches. Critics have denounced the ruling as an assault on free speech that will allow criminals and disgraced politicians to hide their past from the public.

Over 70,000 requests have been made in total to the search engine asking for 250,000 links to information be removed from Google’s European site branches. The search engine is receiving 1,000 requests per day, each of which has to be evaluated by lawyers.

Individuals can only apply for the removal of a link to an article or picture, rather than the deletion of the information itself. The message ‘Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe’ is displayed at the bottom of search results. The EU ruling was a result of a case brought by Spaniard Mario Costeja González, who requested the deletion of a link to a newspaper article detailing the repossession of his home after he hit financial difficulty in 1998.

Peter Barron, a Google spokesman, said the ruling was “not something we welcome, that we wanted.” But it is now the law and we’re obliged to comply with the law.” Asked whether he considered the law workable, he said: “It’s early days.” It has also emerged that Google is also blurring the homes of famous people including Sir Paul McCartney, Tony Blair and disgraced banker Fred Goodwin on the Street View website, in response to homeowners’ requests.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/10947009/Googles-right-to-be-forgotten-hides-Islamic-marriage-of-Osbornes-brother.html

 

Adam’s  brother Gideon (George Osborne)

 

 
8 February 2016: Psychiatrist Dr Adam Osborne will appear before the General Medical Council after engaging in an “inappropriate” emotional and sexual relationship with a vulnerable patient
George Osborne’s brother is back before the General Medical Council after he admitted having sex with a vulnerable patient who had been under his care, a disciplinary panel has heard.

Dr Adam Osborne, who is currently suspended by the GMC, admitted that he had engaged in an “inappropriate” emotional and sexual relationship with the woman, despite being her private psychiatrist. The woman, referred to as Patient A, had been under Osborne’s care between February 2011 and late 2014 and had a history of mental ill health.

It is not the first time the younger brother of the chancellor has been in the spotlight for medical failings. In 2010 he was suspended from practising medicine for six months after writing fraudulent prescriptions for a girlfriend, a family member and an escort girl while a psychiatry trainee at Wythenshawe hospital in Manchester.

The GMC found that Osborne had behaved dishonestly after attempting to obtain antipsychotic medication for a cocaine-addicted woman he had been seeing while his partner was away. The tribunal said the misconduct, which related to incidents between June 2006 and May 2008, impaired his fitness to practise.

Osborne, who qualified as a doctor in 2004, did not attend the latest Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service hearing in Manchester. The tribunal will make a decision on the allegation that his fitness to practise is impaired by reason of misconduct in his absence when it is formally opened on Tuesday.

Osborne admits that he knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that the woman was a vulnerable patient because of her history of mental ill health. He further admits that between 14 February 2015 and 24 February 2015 he sent inappropriate emails to Patient A, which referred to requests that she withdraw her complaint to the GMC against him, made threats towards her and the consequences for her family if she did not withdraw her complaint and an accusation that she had seduced him.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/08/george-osbornes-brother-admits-having-sex-with-vulnerable-patient-in-his-care

 

 

Constitutional Region Status Within The EC – Belgium Implemented the Change – But Other Old Guard Western European Nations Did Not Hence the Catalonia Debacle Protecting the Spanish Fascist Model

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Scottish Referendum – We lost but where does Scotland go from here?

Scots up to age 60 voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence.

But the old guard, ardent Unionists and EC nationals residents held sway and tipped the balance in favour of remaining with the Union.

Scots were persuaded by the Westminster Cartel that the Scottish independence referendum would be conducted in good faith.

Gullible perhaps, but many in Scotland believed the propaganda orchestrated by the Civil Service and delivered by the Westminster controlled BBC and other media outlets, including a compliant press who daily mocked the aspirations of Scots, pressing home their demoralising message that Scotland was a small entity of no consequence, incapable of running it’s own economy and burdened by a population of work-shy shirkers incapable of any decision making ability.

Westminster’s “campaign of fear” against Scots betrayed Scotland and consigned 300 years of co-operation between Scotland and England to the dustbin of history.

But in losing Scotland won. The Westminster machine “blinked” a few days before the day of the referendum vote and whilst their actions, being within the period of “Purdah” were dishonourable, and illegal they successfully “wrong footed” the “Yes” campaign tabling a “vow” that, in the event of a “no” vote significant “new powers” would be devolved to Scotland including a significant extension of the very limited powers of autonomy Scotland presently enjoyed.

There is now entered in the  “UK records of state” a statute establishing the precedence of an “independence referendum” setting the scene for an entirely new relationship between Scotland and England.

A referendum could be held at some time in the future should Scots decide upon it.

This is relevant in the circumstance of the existing situation since failure to deliver all of the promises contained in the “Vow” could be viewed as a betrayal by the Scots triggering another referendum.

 

 

 

 

Constitutional Nation status within the EU

The issue discussed at the Convention which worked on the new European constitution in the early 2000’s was the award of “constitutional region” to those areas which had enough autonomy to have legislative authority and the power to implement European directives.

The proposed change was not followed up by the UK who wished to retain all controls at Westminster.

but transfer from Westminster and implementation of significant new powers moves the status of Scotland across the threshold to that of a “constitutional region”, even if it is not full independence.

The precedence has been set by Belgium who devolved a number of powers from central government to the Flemish and Walloon parliaments of the country.

At European summits on agriculture which is one such devolved responsibility, the Belgian team is represented by a Minister from either Flanders or Wallonia.

Meeting the terms of the “Vow” the devolution of new powers from Westminster to Holyrood also impacts on Scotland’s relationship with the EC since the vast bulk of gas, oil, renewable energy and fishery resources are to be found in Scotland and it beggars belief that Westminster should seek to continue to deny Scotland its rightful place at EC meetings leading or having a voice as a full member of negotiating teams representing the UK.

The EC closely monitored the Scottish referendum campaign and is now alerted to the increasing discontent of Scots, Corsicans and Catalonians.

The genie is “out of the bottle” and the democratic demands for recognition of “constitutional regions” will not be denied for much longer.

It is to be expected that MEP’s representing “constitutional regions” may create a pressure group advancing their case in the EC parliament.

Mini-summit meetings of the governments of Scotland, Corsica, Catalonia and Northern Ireland would further enhance their case for representation in devolved matters.

 

 

 

References:
http://www.euractiv.com/future-eu/future-constitutional-regions-eu-approach-state-autonomies-spain/article-117660
http://www.academia.edu/4930674/0_Autonomous_Constitutional_Regions_in_a_Federal_Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communities,_regions_and_language_areas_of_Belgium
http://cor.europa.eu/en/documentation/studies/Documents/The-local-and-regional-dimensioninthe-European-constitutional-process/EN-The-local-and-regional-dimension-in-the-European-constitutional-process.pdf

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/spain/2016-01-28/farewell-catalonia?cid=soc-tw-rdr

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/01/27/how-catalonia-is-the-key-to-spains-current-political-deadlock/

 

 

 

Scottish Independence – the Referendum – Germany Say’s Foul

 

 

Remember This Statement It Is Relevant to Scotland’s Future As An ndependent Nation

73% of voters aged 65y+ voted against secession whilst 71% of 16-17 year-old’s supported independence.

 

 

 

 

Strategic Planning and Successful Delivery Of An Attack on the Scottish Independence Referendum “Yes” Campaign

The 2014 Scottish referendum showed that a Westminster government, aided greatly by a compliant Civil Service was well capable of conducting a ruthless campaign of misinformation and fear with the purpose of convincing Scottish society that it was expedient to preserve the existing order.

Scots living outwith Scotland were barred from taking part in the referendum, a right that was extended only to those who lived in Scotland, including Irish, English, Welsh and EC, other immigrants. The decision to debar Scots living in other countries significantly weakened the independence movement since a recorded 10-15% swing voter grouping was subjected to an intensive misinformation campaign by the Westminster government before going to polls and their votes decided the outcome of the plebiscite.

Just before the referendum and well within the “purdah” period the Westminster government, (supported by opposition party leaders) illegally tabled a “binding Vow” offering devolution of extensive new powers on tax, spending and welfare if the Scots rejected independence, though fully-fledged autonomy was not offered. The “new” option added a second question to the referendum ballot paper well after the closure date for the return of postal votes effectively disenfranchising many scots voters.

Cameron committed his government to have the new plans in place and agreed by November 2014, with draft legislation ready by January 2015. “We will ensure that those commitments are honored in full, “he said on September 19, the day after the vote. But qualifying his statement he added the rider that other people in other parts of the United Kingdom would also need to have more rights to govern their own affairs, particularly in England. He said “I’ve long believed that a crucial part of this debate that’s missing is England. … The question of English votes for English laws, the so called West Lothian question, requires a definitive answer.”

 

 
Other External Influences Ensuring Success For “Better Together”

Before going to the polls Scottish voters were further softened up by the Westminster government controlled media and press who, quoting eminent USA and EC sources repeatedly warned that a newly independent Scotland would bring with it an onslaught of economic, cultural, and geopolitical troubles. Economists added to the assault predicting a deterioration of Scotland’s economic performance with living standards being greatly reduced. There were also dire warnings of rising unemployment and bankruptcies. It was also suggested that there might be no access to credit/debit cards.
Senior military officers were deployed to attack the independence campaign claiming it’s success would weaken the defensive capability of the British Isles. Their primary concern was centred on the commitment by the SNP to reject any suggestion that the United Kingdom would be permitted to keep its nuclear fleet on the Clyde. Expelling the Trident Program from Scottish waters had long been a mainstay of the Scottish Nationalist cause and this was not negotiable
The officers berated Scots, warning that removing the nuclear submarines and Trident from Faslane would come at a substantial price for Scotland and the United Kingdom, both literally and figuratively. The naval base employed in excess of 6,000 highly-skilled, well-paid workers and was the largest single site employer in Scotland.

They omitted to mention that the vast bulk of the workers were resident in England and contributed little to the Scottish economy since there was a weekly exodus of the workers from Faslane to England at 1600 hours each Friday.

They further warned that removal would attract a £25 billion cost and there was no definative plan in place setting out where the submarines and Trident would be located (and who would meet the cost) should Scotland vote yes.

 

 

 

 

Germany Did Not Jump For Joy At the Outcome of the Referendum

There is a growing discontent within the EC about the role played by the UK in heavily criticised clandestine activities acting against the interests of it’s citizens. Namely “rendition and internet/telephone” eavesdropping programmes put in place by the USA with the active participation of the UK. The foregoing coupled with Westminster’s aloof stance within the EC, always denying the agreed treaty process of integration engenders doubt about the UK’s future intentions in regards to EC membership. Conversely Scotland is known to be very much in favour of retaining full EC membership.

Public opinion in Germany predominantly supported the concept of Scotland’s independence but the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier officially welcomed the referendum result (confirming the North Atlantic solidarity process). However informed gossip within the German government provides support to the view that they were not entirely enamoured about the outcome since the partition of the UK would have boosted Germany’s influence and slowed the rapprochement between Paris and London which is viewed in Berlin as kind of rebirth of Entente Cordiale.

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/09/23/referendum-in-scotland-and-separatist-trend-in-europe.html