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Slaintmha

Listed below are comments made by Slaintmha between Thursday, 22nd October 2009 and Monday, 30th November 2009.

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Taking it to the max 11:05pm on 30 Nov 2009 A bit of a shock for Unionists - they were expecting a ranting, roaring, tartanised White Paper and got caught out with something which invites open debate, evidence and justification of each party's position. We know the answers already:

Labour (Jim Murphy) - Jam tomorrow, especially as we won't have any say tomorrow

Conservatives (Cameron) - over your dead bodies if you think we'll touch Calman with a barge poll

Libdems Conference - Maybe's aye, maybe's no - depends if Tavish gets to be Deputy Leader in 2011

SNP - Win / Win - what ever happens the status quo has been broken and still 70 to 80% of Scots support full fiscal autonomy in the recent opinion poll.
Coming home 2:55pm on 24 Nov 2009 Brian like to comment on Swinney's announcement else where on the BBC?

"Finance Secretary John Swinney said departments were getting better at using resources and sharing services."

"A total of £838.8m of government efficiencies were made in 2008-09, against a target of £534.4m."

".....meeting or exceeding these is ever more crucial as we recover from recession and deal with the damaging effects of a cut to our budget by the UK government."

Sorry, I forgot - EBC Pravda only lets you talk about possible SNP failures or possible 'Tartan Stoochies'.
Wise warning 7:24pm on 17 Nov 2009 Hmmm - £85 million to Glasgow to cover the money the BBC are claimed to have promised and have now reneged on as the 'Commonwealth Games' are only a level two event and will be unlikely to be shown live by the BBC(unless some English person is about to win a medal). So no live terrestrial coverage then.

Wonder where the amazing part time Scot Sec 'Spud Murphy' is when you need him, is he out there rattling the BBC's cage? Nope, no sign. Surely Murphy is not going to let 'Digger Murdoch' buy the live rights for Sky and get another hammering in Digger's Sun: 'Digger Murdoch saves Glasgow Games, labouring 'Spud' has his chips'.

Makes you wonder just who is ripping off Glasgow this time ... no not Labour at Westminster, surely?
Anything to declare? 6:37pm on 09 Nov 2009 At least Brian is not as desperate as Angus McLeod in The Time's squealing that the BNP were going to come third in Glasgow NE and steal the seat from poor Willie..........

The Herald survey is most interesting for the 43% that refused to state a preference for a Westminster Party or declared they would not vote. The usual subjects are jumping around using this as evidence for Wee Eck and the SNP's honeymoon being over. Yet as regards to Holyrood in 2011 the poll shows the SNP ahead in both the constituency and list vote by a good margin. It does not make good reading for the Tories as they seek to take power at Westminster.

One interpretation could be the Scots increasingly see less importance in Westminster than they do in Holyrood.
Spending challenge looms 6:09pm on 06 Nov 2009 Anyone notice the latest Unionist scare headline in The Times - 'BNP may come 3rd in Glasgow NE'.

Looks like the shortening of 'bookies odds' on the SNP chances of success has got the establishment preparing for the worst. If Bainpot looses you can see the headline on this web site and across the Unionist media: Late BNP surge costs Labour Glasgow NE seat. (Libdems and Tories loose deposit)

Aye.... that'll be right!
Spending challenge looms 9:40pm on 05 Nov 2009 See this is what happens when folk do not read the actual documents.

The 2007 COSLA / SNP concordat states that the fiscal arrangements agreed reflected the need for tighter budgeting and spending across government. While Westminster is cutting the Scottish Pocket Money in real terms the SNP are actually committed to increasing the money in the councils' pot year on year.

Thanks to fatty Foulkes we know that the SNP have cut the cost of Holyrood government by over £500 million and the cost of running NHS Scotland by £320 million. Against this we have the two councils most effected by PFI costs squealing like stuck pigs and the one which gets £1.1 billion of Scottish taxpayers money in the current fiscal year, is claiming it is being ripped off.

Brian the Scottish Councils are already responding. Just today Dumfries and Galloway sent me a nice glossy brochure to tell me, amongst other things, that to balance the education budget (to pay for PFI schools of which one PFI primary school near me is not fit for purpose, even before it opens) they would not be replacing 70 teachers.

The reality of the concordat is councillors are now directly responsible and accountable for what they spend as, opposed to 59 ring fenced budget under Labour, they only now have 17, all of which were jointly agreed between CoSLA and the SNP. That is the point of SOA's they let the councils prioritise local need with the over arching 15 national priorities.

That's the problem - the Unionist are already behind the times asking questions that have already been resolved by the concordat..... duh!
Breaking up the banks 6:37pm on 03 Nov 2009 On the banks.... don't I remember a lot of folk asking how the Lloyds' bail out of HBOS would get past the EU competition commissioners and being told by Darling and Brown it would be exempt as it was of national importance to allow the take over / they had all ready got it agreed by the EU commission?

Then they fed confidential information to Peston with regards the counter HBOS bid by Scottish business interests and the Bank of China to ensure the Chinese did a runner... in the mean time Barclays sold itself off to one of the Gulf States with out a whimper from Gordon or his Darling.

Is the same EU commission asking the Spanish to break up Santander's dominance in the UK by selling off Alliance and Liecester, Abbey or any of the other bits it acquired with UK Government 'pay offs'? Maybe this is the benefit of the Lisbon Treaty Gordon and Darling are so behind?
Lib Dem weekend 1:09pm on 02 Nov 2009 The Lib Dems position on the referendum reminds me of asking some one to 'try and sit down'. The reality is you are either sitting or you are not - no matter at what height you try to 'hover' over the seat and you waste a lot of energy doing so.

That is the problem with nuance.... it is usually seen for what it is, an empty gesture.

On the Willie Bain theme; One of Glasgow Labour's top councillors spent ages on Saturday night trying to persuade me Bain still lectured at Strathclyde Uni full time and stayed with his folks ... I didn't have the heart to tell her she was telling big porkies as he lectures, works and lives in London and it would be one heck of a commute from Springburn each day.

Brian give's a laugh and see if the EBC will let you get away with asking Willie Bain just what steps he will be taking to ensure the Calman Report is implemented in full or part ..... you know something it is within his remit to do..... rather than blustering on about stuff that is a MSP's responsibility.
It's FMQs, stupid 08:38am on 30 Oct 2009 If you want to know what Willie Bain is thinking go to:

www.labourlist.org/willie-bains-campaign-diary-october-29-glasgow-north-east#Comment58671

and be less than stunned.

PS - anyone else think PPER 'escaped criminal' Gordon is trying to be Gray's Mandelson Minime look a like?
The word on the street 11:13am on 22 Oct 2009 You are right on this Brian. The question that needs to be asked of Willie Bain is; why has Westminster Government after Westminster Government; UK Labour Government after UK Labour Government failed to address the real concerns of these people and left them in a dead end of low pay, the benefit trap and petty crime.

It also rather highlights the shallowness of the Labour PPC's press launch as the main issues he claimed he was going to act on are all either the remit of Glasgow City Council or Holyrood and he has no influence on either unless, as a new MP, he can get Darling to reverse his real term cuts in the Scottish grant since May 2007 and prevent the further £500 million cut in the grant for 2010 - 2011.

Labour are also now at a tactical disadvantage having been endorsed by Scotland's UKIP variant, The Orange Lodge, as saviours of the Union! Man, it just shows how desperate Labour and the Orange Lodge are becoming. Vote Labour.... get 'The Orange Lodge'.

Yep, Wee Eck, Annabelle, Tavish the Viking and the rest will just love that on their canvassing posters, T-shirts, duvet covers.......

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