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william1957

Listed below are comments made by william1957 between Wednesday, 17th September 2008 and Monday, 10th November 2008.

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Bank duo pose questions 2:00pm on 10 Nov 2008 Brian,

As with many others I have deposits with HBOS, and despite the government's promise to protect depositors I would like to think my savings were with a strong and stable bank.

What intriques me about all of this is that if HBOS is viable and such a good business, as some suggest, the question is why are there no other offers on the table. I would have thought one should have emerged by now. Spowart's hint that a major financial institution was eying up HBOS has come to nothing.

The other thing to remember is that under Burt BOS was weakened to the point wher the merger with Halifax became necessary. Maybe the truth is LTSB is the only game in town. The sad thing is 1000's are going to pay with their jobs.

Best Wishes,

William1957.
Glenrothes by-election 3:09pm on 07 Nov 2008 Forfar_Loon@103,

Might debate the first point on arrogance, but share your views on the "yah-boo" style of politics. I voted "Yes/Yes" in 1997 hoping that consensual politics would make a difference in Scotland. Eleven years later, I see them as two wasted votes.

Look at what happened in the USA on Tuesday, the victor was magnanamous, and the loser gracious. Would that we could have men and women of such stature here. Brown, Cameron, Salmond and co are not fit to lace Obama or McCain's shoes.

Sadly,

William1957
Glenrothes by-election 10:00am on 07 Nov 2008 darwinsmonkey@96,

Like you I am not that concerned a Labour victory, but you are spot on with your comments about the nationalist supprters.

Best Wishes,

William1957
McCain's lost battle 11:02am on 05 Nov 2008 This election is a reminder of what makes America truly great. On balance I thought McCain would make a better president, but he was hampered by his choice of Palin and sadly began campaigning negatively, presumably on the advice of some within his party.

However, I wish that in Britain we could have politicians of such stature, one a great orator, the other gracious in defeat. Once more, a remider of what makes America great.

William1957
Nuclear exchange 12:14pm on 26 Sep 2008 Brian,

Sigh, an important issue clouded by the usual points scoring from the usual suspects. A couple of stories from this morning's papers point to the possibility of power cuts this winter if one of the stations supplying the National Grid goes off-line. Scary stuff to those of us who remember the rota power cuts during the Miners Strike of the 1970's (yes sadly I am that old).

We ae beginning to hear more of the looming 'energy gap' the question is how we close it. There are three options: nuclear, increased use of fossil fuel, renewables. Of these, at present only nuclear and fossil fuels can provide reliable base-load.

Personally, I have no objection to nuclear power and think that the SNP's and Lib-Dem refusal to consider the possibility of new nuclear plants a mistake. Labour's 11th hour conversion is welcome, if way too late. If it means the lights stay on, let's go ahead. Do we have to wait till they start going out before we act?

Best Wishes,

William1957.
'The real Gordon' 4:07pm on 24 Sep 2008 Dougie-Dubh@41,

Point taken. However, what kind of impression does this make on people such as me who frequent the board relatively infrequently, and for those who frequent it out of interest.

Granted the invective on this board is not as bad as that on The Scotsman or The Herald, but I wonder what people at home and abroad think when they see one contributer describing another with whom he disagrees as "an enemy of Scotland". If this is the best we can do when debating such an important issue as our country's future it bodes ill for us whether we are part of a union, or an independent country.

With best wishes as always,

William1957.
'The real Gordon' 2:40pm on 24 Sep 2008 Richard_the_Rogue,

Perhaps not, but a fair number of nationalist supporters on this board imply that you cannot support the union, and be a scottish patriot at the same time. I recall "Dougie_Dubh" using the words "enemies of Scotland" to describe those who supported the union and "Bighullabaloo" concurring with him in a fairly recent blog. See my pots that took exception to this.

In addition, "scottishrepublic" has described Scotland as being under occupation by a foreign power or words to that effect. A truly risable statement, but not uncommon on this and other boards.

Best Wishes,

William1957
Sentiment and history 11:56am on 18 Sep 2008 Brian,

Rabbiehippo@90 has a point. Dealing in HBOS shares should have been suspended the moment they dropped to 88p. Whatever body is responsible for monitoring such movements, and suspending dealing if necesary, was asleep in the job here.

Best Wishes,

William1957.
Sentiment and history 10:40am on 18 Sep 2008 Brian,

With due respect to minuend, I don't think GB sold HBOS down the river. As someone who has a substantial chunk of his life savings in HBOS accounts, I think the Llyods takeover is a good thing, that GB involved himself was necessary as no PM could stand by and watch one of the country's biggest financial institutions go to the wall.

I am no fan of Gordon Brown, but to blame him for this blow to Edinburgh's financial sector is surely nonsense. As 'planejock' pointed out @60 "it's the market". What happened yesterday is what happens to listed companies of any nationality in a global market. It wish it were otherwise, however, it is sad but true.

What was the alternative, a run on HBOS? A Northern Rock style nationalisation, ending with the gradual winding down of the business? The tax-payer picking up the tab?

I am lucky, if HBOS had gone down, I could have waited for the compensation due. Thousands, if not millions, probably could not have waited. The proposed takeover, if it goes ahead, will secure the deposits of those investors.

One final point, 24000 jobs may be lost in Scotland, though I hope sincerely they will not be, but this still leaves 46000 other jobs in other parts of the UK at risk. Are they any less important?

Best Wishes,

William1957
Sentiment and history 9:31pm on 17 Sep 2008 Brian,

This is a bit off topic, but I feel I must reply to a couple of your posters.

Those who have read the few posts I have made on your blogs will know I remain to be convinced of the case for independence. However, if it comes I will work to ensure it is a success because my family's future would depend on it, and it would be the democratic and settled decision of the Scottish people. To describe a sceptic such as me as an "enemy of Scotland" is an insult.

I take exception to the posters @28 and @36. The real enemies of the Scottish people are those who are so convinced of their own rightness, and intolerant of the views of others that they brook no opinions other than their own. The posters @28 and @36 are examples of such.

Best Wishes,

William1957.

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