Independence in tatters?
I'm back on Monday - my colleague Anita Anand presents today's programme. Here's her take on events and what's coming up.
Has the case for a fully independent Scotland suffered a crushing blow after the bail-out of Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS by Westminster? Some analysts argue that the case for independence now "lies in tatters" after hundreds of years of Scottish banking independence went up in smoke this week.
Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister and Leader of the nationalist SNP, will be joining me live to on the show to talk through this week's events.
And, staying with the global banking crisis, David Cameron this morning launches an attack on Gordon Brown's handling of the economy accusing him of "complete and utter failure". So the results of our exclusive Daily Politics Poll on the three main parties and who is now most trusted on the economy will make interesting reading. We'll see whether Flash Gordon really has managed to pull off some polling magic.
We'll have two big Westminster brains with us throughout the show today - Sarah Sands, former editor of the Sunday Telegraph and Phil Collins, Tony Blair's former speechwriter.
We'll look at the latest from the presidential campaign - Laura Kuenssberg will be joining us live from Boston.
And, as ever, we'll have our weekly rundown of what's hot and what's not in the Top Of The Political Pops.
Let me know what you think in the comments box below.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~53~RS~)
Comments
Sign in or register to comment.
It will be interesting to hear Salmond's views now that his "arc of prosperity" has become the "arc of insolvency". I suspect some paranoid accusations of anti-Scottish behaviour among institutional investors. Shades of Darien?
And after the last month, shouldn't it be "Crash Gordon"?
Complain about this comment
I've never really understood how Scotland (or Wales) can ever hope to be fully indpendent when geologically speaking they're situated on the same lump of rock as England.
Ireland, yes. But not Scotland or Wales.
We can draw whatever political boundaries on a map, but at the end of the day we're all still connected to each other. There are bridges, roads, railways, language and financial systems connecting us like siamese twins. What the Scots do affect us, and vice-versa. Its unavoidable.
Geography and Geology should underpin the political map really.
Devolution (another of Labours pet projects) and Independence merely doubles the amount of bureaucracy we need on this island and keeps Alex Salmond in a job...
Imagine what might happen if Scotland were as independent as Icelend, their Banking system went bust and had to bailed out by the Russians. Having Ivan on the other side of Hadrians wall would make life rather entertaining...
Complain about this comment
this is the perfect time to start new clean banks.
So the setting up of new national banks is the route to independence both financially and politically?
the bigger problem is that hedge funds were behind the PFI's and other municipal loans. The hedge funds are contracting to at least 50% of their size and are in the process of enforced liquidations. Which means there are lots of loans that need to be refinanced with at least 50% fewer sources.
So either they offer the lenders more money or they scrap the schemes. Which will make for some hard choices for local councils and govts who are looking at the prospect that maybe 50% of their projects are now either too expensive to fund or not fundable.
we will are moving into a 50% smaller future.
Complain about this comment
....Geography and Geology should underpin the political map really....
so all europe should be one country? All Africa?
Complain about this comment
Re:4
Why not ?
Europe is a long way down that route already.
And Africa might benefit from that approach, if it removes some of the tin-pot Dictators behind all the corruption and conflict that is to be found on that continent ...
Incidentally, Re: 3, I agree with you about setting up some new clean banks..
Complain about this comment
What fools still think Gorgon Bean is in any way competent? HE caused this country's problems, DELIBERATELY! he hated savers HE ensured interest rates were way too low by fiddling the inflation number used. Low rates are known as the cause of this debt boom.
Gordon Bean is like Galtieri during the Falklands, having a slight rise in popularity before he is destroyed by the actions HE was responsible for.
Shame we can not put Gorgon and all Labour despots, ID card freedom enemies, before a firing squad! They well deserve it.
Complain about this comment
The Conservatives have become adept at shooting themselves in the foot. Over the last ten years, they should have been continuously analysing and criticising Brown's performance as Chancellor - on such things as: pensions decimation; stealth taxes; gold sales; obsession with means testing and complex benefits and tax relief systems; inefficient, poorly planned and inadequately monitored improvements in public services; perpetual boasts about quarter-on-quarter economic growth that began four years before Labour came to power; and so on.
If the boot had been on the other foot, New Labour under Blair would have had a field day.
Instead, Cameron decides, far too late, to attack Brown in the middle of a global crisis, so that his actions simply look like shallow opportunism.
When will they learn?
Complain about this comment
Hello Andrew.
I big fan. One of the few BBC journalists to give everyone a hard time. [ I've just voted for you to host QT]
That is why I am so disappointed with The Daily Politics use of polling data.
It is simply misleading.
The polls you have conducted are not weighted etc.
They do not reflect public opinion at large and are way off when it comes to representing VOTER opinions.
Pollster pick up more Labour leaners than Tory leaners when polling. [More Tories aren't in/don't answer the phone].
The pollster has to make adjustments to the figures to make them anything like a representation of the general public.
Yours are not adjusted.
The polls are even more out when it comes to voters because Labour identifiers are far less likely to vote or be registered to vote.
If all voting intention polls were conducted in the way, every poll would show Labour in the lead!
Labour supporters would like it! But its not good journalism.
Its actually remarkable when polls conducted like this ever show the Tories in front bearing in mind the statistical/sampling mountains they have to overcome. Cameron and Obsorne are still coming out ahead on unweighted/unadjusted polls 'on who will improve your stantdard of living' - despite these problems.
There is an increasingly powerful political blogging community in the UK. This is a great thing and I for one am glad you have joined us. But bloggers are well informed. Mistakes soon get around and this sort of stuff makes an otherwise excellent programme look amateur.
Anthony Wells UK Polling or Mike Smthson at Political Betting will be able to give an informed and unbiased opinion of the value of these polls which are being purchased at licence payers expense.
Welcome to the 'tell it how it is' world of blogging!
Complain about this comment
I don't think that DC attacking GB when the financial crisis broke, when nobody really know what to do would have helped the situation.
I take my hat off to him for that restraint.
And the Lib Dems too.
I think DC has chosen his moment wisely, and that's a sign of a good leader.
Things haven't stabilised yet, but they are sufficiently under control to reasonably question GB's actions as Chancellor over the preceding 10 years whilst continuing to offer cross-party support for the rescue package and, maybe, any further actions that are required...
But I still don't blame GB individually for the crisis. He may have done things that gave other people (bankers) the room to create the mess, but the bankers ultimately created it. If there's a failure, its a collective failure of all the G7/8 leaders. Its a global economic problem and the G7/8 leaders, collectively, are supposed to steer the global economy...
Complain about this comment
http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2008/10/17/could-the-next-polls-put-labour-back-in-contention/#comment-813293
You get a mention!
Complain about this comment
Re: 10
Hmmmmm.
PoliticalBetting.com
Having looked at that site, I didn't know it existed, I get the same sort of uneasy feeling that accompanied the realisation that debt was being parcelled up and flogged off as securities...
Something doesn't seem right,
but I can't put my finger on it at the moment...
Complain about this comment
I thought David Cameron was quite restrained in his speach on Gordon Browns handling of the economy.
Given half a chance I would not have been.
The buck stops with Gordon, and no , it is not a case of, them big boys in America made me do it.
Complain about this comment
Regards PoliticalBetting.com
When I cast my vote, I do so on the basis of who's got the most appropriate policies, who's talking the most sense, who's the most plausible leader and who's going to be best for country, overall, in the long-term.
So usually I vote Monster Raving Looney. Well, maybe not !
I certainly don't vote on the basis of if I vote for this party, I'll win £1500 thanks to that bet I placed at Ladbrokes a few months ago when the odds were favourable...
No wonder the world is in a mess. Some people are voting for entirely the wrong reasons. Are they also trying to affect the odds they can get, via blogging and other political activities..?
I reckon some cleaning-up is required in the political world as well as the financial one...
Complain about this comment
dear andrew
That is 2 "daily politics" and 1 "this week" without any viewers points of view ,have you forgotten us !We are the ones who watch the shows .
please no more Mandelson over the credits it gave me nightmares, loved your intro thou keep up the good work.
Just keep watching for the SWOPS £130 trillion tsunami ,it will drown us all .There are £115 billion worth out for Lehman bros alone and they want there money..............Gordon going to have to dig real deep when this one hits, don`t say i didn`t warn you !
Please get Alvin Hall on and ditch some of the boring politicians/banker experts
(blah,blah .. lessons must be zzzzzzzzzzz)
thanks tony
Complain about this comment
Political betting is by far and away the busiest poltical blog in the country. If you haven't heard of it you need to get out blogging more.
It is run by a respectable man, a former BBC journalist and a LibDem councillor.
I say that as a Tory.
He puts his money where his opinions are -based on reliable polls, not voodoo polls which we pay for.
Complain about this comment
Salmond wiped the floor with the unionist stooge interviewer and two irrelevant by-standers (readers digest?) (former Tony Blair aid?)! Question is why is the BBC so biased against THE major political force in Scotland ... and why should anyone pay for a service that constantly denigrates their country?
One can only assume the neutering of the BBC (post Dr Kelly et al) is developing into something much worse, where unionist propaganda will now be openly poured into every home by the beeb as 'news', in an attempt to save the only possible successful 'Party of the Union' (Labour) in Scotland.
They are even banning free-thinking Scottish journalists (like Iain McWhirter) from the airwaves - and he doesn't even support independence, he just keeps an open mind!
Complain about this comment
Re:15
Busiest doesn't necessarily equate to good...
Complain about this comment
Re: 16
When I watched the interview, I didn't detect any BBC bias. And I thought the guests made some sensible comments.
Particularly Phil Collins, who I'd expected to dislike purely because he was Tony Blairs speechwriter - what a label to be tarred with, poor chap, but what he actually said was OK and I've no arguments with it...
I did however see an extremist party leader desperate for more power, taking the opportunity to knock everybody and everything south of Hadrians wall, which didn't really strengthen his case. And posting #16 reinforces that view. Its the old Yes Minister trick of if you don't like whats being reported, discredit it. It happened re that high-profile Iraq issue. I reckon Bob Peston is a victim of the problem too, to some extent. But we can see through it down here, in Worzel country...
Anyway if A.S had simply and unemotively said, we don't think we'd have been in the situation because we'd have followed the Norwegian model with our economy underpinned by an oil-fund, and left it at that - without knocking London/Westminster, I'd have thought he had a better argument and was more credible...
We need better quality political debate and fewer knockers. Which, come to think of it, sums-up our national press quite nicely...
Complain about this comment
17. No it doesn't.
But never having followed it, you are not in a position to comment.
Your comments suggesting people vote for an outcome to suit their bets is alittle silly. These are individuals who all support different parties [Tory/Labour/SNP/LD/Green/None of the above].
They have only one vote each [and some will not vote].
The difference is that when they pontificate, someone will say that if thatis their belief and they are not just spinnind, put money on it.
Tends to stop the partisan hot air and the Draper's of this world.
It also means they know how to read a poll - and when its worthless.
Mike has just cashed in his bet on Obama for President - at 50/1 put on at a time when the rest of the world had never heard of him.
Complain about this comment
#2 & #18 TGRWorzel
I think you're forgetting that the UK were signatories to the UN Charter guaranteeing self-determination of the peoples - recently pushed by both NuLab & Tory unionists re Kosovo yet something they're less keen on in Great Britain.
That means that all of the three nations on the Island of Great Britain have the right to choose for themselves, and I doubt you will win many friends in Scotland by labelling the party currently supported by more Scots than any other as extremist.
Unless the LibDem's federalist approach is adopted, and quickly, the UK will not long survive.
Complain about this comment
Re: 20
Your reference to the UN Charter is a valid point which has provided an answer to my original comment thanks.
Much more helpful than knocking the BBC because they are the BBC or Westminster because they're Westminster....
Complain about this comment
Re: 19
I'm perfectly entitled to comment, if I see something that causes me concern. We don't live behind the Iron Curtain or in 1930s Germany do we, its a free country ?
You'll see that I actually asked a question, "Are they also trying to affect the odds they can get, via blogging and other political activities..?".
A perfectly valid question.
Interesting that you proceed to note somebody who's cashed in his bet on Obama for President. The US haven't actually had the election yet and Obama isn't president...
The notion that there's nothing wrong in this activity sounds rather like the Bankers saying there was nothing wrong in what they were doing...
Complain about this comment
I agree with no 9, Cameron has been very restrained. It is difficult to choose your moment and he has done well! Someone had to say it. It is outragous that G Brown thinks this has nothing to do with him or his government over the past 11yrs. Just because Standard Chartered gave Gordon some good ideas, and they have been accepted does not mean we are out of this crisis. This is a debt created crisis that has become global. It worries me that our government sees the only way forward to be pouring more money into it. Long term the economy has to be sound to go forward and we have to tighten our belts to find a level where we can afford what we want. I was horrified to hear that the government is charging companies 15% on their vat debt, at the same time asking banks to resume lending, follow the 2007 trend, and pass on the BoE rate? There is no joined up thinking, and that is what we need.
Complain about this comment
'Extremist Party leader' TGRwhatever,
Pathetic comment!
He was chosen by the people of Scotland to led them, unlike our current Prime Minister who still refuses to seek a mandate of his own.
The BBC is systematically banning free thinking Scottish journalists. Its line ties in neatly with the Labour lies that Scotland - and other 'small nations' - couldn't, or shouldn't go it alone. The interviewer was a disgrace and demonstrated a lack of even basic knowledge, as did the two 'guests' (who answered in terms of sentiment, when asked about economics).
The trashing of Norway and Ireland by both the beeb and Labour's stooges (such as supposed 'Scottish Secretary' Jim Murphy) is baseless. There is no need for a Scottish Secetary anyway, as all his job requires is attacking anything said by Salmond - effectively the UK taxpayer is funding a Labour Party political attack position. For me, that is something English tax-payers should get worked up about too!
Murphy's ill-informed (at best) comments are now creating a diplomatic incident between the UK and our neighbours. Ministers from Norway and Ireland have written to Murphy asking for an explanation - to my knowledge - he is yet to respond.
Yes Ireland is in recession, we in the 'UK' will be there soon; as we are one of the worst place economies in the world - thanks to a decade of Gordon Brown in control of the economy. Ireland and Norway are both streets ahead of the UK in terms of GDP and record of growth, nevermind their huge lead in terms of quality of life.
As for the Iceland comparison ... why compare Scotland to a country c1/18th the size of it in terms of population? (300,000/5,000,000) It is equivalent to comparing 70+ million Germans to 4.3 million Irish or 3.4 million Lithuanians!
Worzel - I am glad the BBC is serving your national needs. Report after report (internal and external) shows it is not providing for Scotland, this is just another example. I hope it is just ignorance that was on display, but the more often it happens, the more I and others doubt it.
Everyday we sit through 'national news' of which 25 of 30 minutes is dedicated to exclusively English affairs. What relevance do changes in education, healthcare etc in England have for us - nothing! The Sport section is a joke in which English success/failures are designated 'us', while Scottish, Welsh, NI sporting experience are described as happening to 'they' or 'them'. A Scottish Six O'Clock news - as recommended by the independent commission - could do much to change this, but is dismissed out of hand. Makes you wonder why you pay the licence fee, when you get no service relevant to your country. Would probably be better off tuning into RTE half the time!
Complain about this comment
I agree that the British Broadcasting Corporation does not give the SNP the respect it deserves.It might be something in the name but in my opinion there is often a snooty bias against the scots nats.
With reguard to the banking crisis how does Westminister completely mismanaging the banking sector undermine Scottish Nationalism.The," we completely messed that up but you are unlikely to be as good as messers as us" argument should not be a serious argument for any kind of Union
Complain about this comment
Thank you paisleynemesis ... for me it has come to the fore recently as the supposed 'SNP threat' grew.
Complain about this comment
Re: 24
My comment in 17, merely described what I saw on the TV interview. Read it again PattyM.
It was how A.S came across in the interview. It was what I saw. He seemed extreme to me. Even the body language of the guests, at one stage, seemed to support that...
If the SNP going to have a broader appeal in Scotland and greater respect South of Hadrians Wall, you ALL need to temper the anti-Westminster, anti-BBC line.
If you were ever to become fully independent, you'd still have to work with Westminster (and the BBC) in practice, because of the geography and geology of the situation. Its an inescapable fact. Sitting south of the border, I expect to see an SNP leader who at least recognises and appreciates that fact - even if they don't actually like the idea of having to work with Westminster...
Complain about this comment
Why seek greater respect south of the border? If you knew anything about Salmond you would know he called for $100 billion bail-out for British banks two weeks ago (and was slated for it) and what does Brown do later and is applauded for.
Salmond is a trained economist with 20 years of experience, more than any other 'British' politician he recognizes, appreciates and is qualified to act on economic facts!
Don't expect a pleasant response if you call the leading politician in Scotland an 'extremist'. He best represents the people of Scotland, to the extent anyone can in such a politically divided polity.
I recognise the need to work with Westminster and the beeb post-independence - that is precisely why it is so disappointing that there is this indisputable institutional bias.
Salmond has been talking recently about independence within both the EU and a new inter-isles grouping (potentially including the Irish Republic) as the 'United Kingdoms' - rather like the all Scandinavia institutions, again it would be nice if you had known that.
Complain about this comment
Re: 28
To be honest, I don't think this strand of this blog would even have started if it wasn't for the Triumphalist tone of the opening line of your posting 16...
A.S. certainly didn't wipe the floor with the interviewers and guests, not from where I was sitting though it may have appeared that way to a die-hard SNP member. Somebody is always going to reply to a comment like yours. Perhaps extremist wasn't the most diplomatic word to choose, I'll give you that, but I was genuinely reminded of the interviews that the Sinn Fein leaders used to give 20 years ago: Westminster that, BBC something else...., etc. etc.
My main point, that the constant Westminster/BBC bashing doesn't help the SNP cause remains.
If AS had simply and unemotively said, we don't think we'd have been in the situation because we'd have followed the Norwegian model with our economy underpinned by an oil-fund, and left it at that he'd have been more credible, no just to me but more importantly to those Scots who don't vote SNP...
Complain about this comment
He certainly did wipe the floor with the interviewer, he had facts at his disposal; whereas she had nothing to offer but the same untrue - Labour spun - cliches. Frankly Salmond is not playing to the audience of which you are part, he is playing to those in Scotland who can be convinced. The sort of performance he put in is exactly what has led to a doubling of SNP membership and polling figures in the last 5 years.
Don't dare compare the SNP to Sinn Fein, that is tantamount to me comparing Labour or Tory to the BNP simply because they support a British state! In fact it is worse than that because the BNP (to my knowledge) has no links to a terrorist organisation that has killed individuals, based purely on their politics, for decades.
Your quite right that this strand of the blog wouldn't have started had I not posted earlier. That is because like much of the rest of BBC content, even on Scotland, it is primarily aimed at a specifically English audience. It was disruptive of me, as an adoptive Scot, to post a Scottish perspective on this website.
Complain about this comment
Scotland is too good a country to be run by Scots -England too for that matter.
Devolution should have come after evolution.
How can Scots MPs be for more integration with Europe AND more independence at the same time
Labour win Glenrothes by a mile I think
Complain about this comment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=556FEKoVd-w&feature=related
impartial?
Complain about this comment
I'm amazed that was broadcast. The cartoon bit was totally racist, completely offensive.
Complain about this comment
It wasn't impartial. It was racist. The BBC are a joke. I noticed the presenter Anand had obviously been told off because the second most recent interview she was "fingers crossed" Salmdnd would appear and much less high handed when speaking to him.
Complain about this comment
View these comments in RSS