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caltonite

Listed below are comments made by caltonite between Wednesday, 2nd July 2008 and Thursday, 26th November 2009.

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Talking drink 1:45pm on 26 Nov 2009 I heard Ian Gray on Good Morning Sccotland defending his position that one of the reasons why Labour were blocking the plans for minimum pricing on alcohol was because "there was no taxation benefit from this for the people of Scotland". Sadly, the person who asked the question, Gary Robertson, failed to mention to Mr Gray that the Scottish Parliament has no powers to increase the taxation on alcohol. I knew that, but while I was surprised that the BBC journalist did not know it, I was even more astounded that the leader of the Scottish Labour Party didn't know it!

The information curently coming out of the Iraq inquiry is shedding light on just how low and cynical the party which once claimed to defend the ordinary working people of this nation has sunk. The Labour cynicism over alcohol pricing is breathtaking and I wonder just how many of their MSPs actually believe what their Scottish leadership are asking them to vote for!
Redirected controversy 3:42pm on 02 Sep 2009 The Labour Party really has got itself into a terrible position concerning this. I don't doubt the world of realpolitik is out there but Scottish Labour's decision to eschew principle for what Mr Gray no doubt believed was a political point scoring opportunity has completely backfired on them and left Mr Gray revealed as a very shallow politician indeed. He and his cohorts have spent the best week attacking the decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds and Mr Gray claimed he was speaking on behalf of the "silent majority". Well now we know that his party leader, Gordon Brown, is not part of Mr Gray's "silent majority". If the Labour leader in Scotland has no idea of the opinion of the Labour leader in Westminster about something as fundementally important about Lockerbie, his political abilities really do have to be questioned!
Diageo damage 12:20pm on 10 Jul 2009 I lived in Kilmarnock for many years and one by one saw the town's great industries crumble. Saxone, BMK, Glenfield & Kennedy, Massey-Ferguson all went within a very few years. The one place I always thought would never close would be Johnnie Walker and I can fully appreciate the shock and the actual revulsion of the people of Kilmarnock concerning this. The town and its people were always extremely loyal to whichever company owned Johnnie Walker. They have been betrayed by what can only be described as a very cynical management of a multi-national and it is a clear demonstration to everyone in Scotland - if any more were needed - that if you allow your entire economy to become a branch economy, then your fate hangs upon the whim of people who no little about you and care even less!
Not impossible - but difficult 12:35pm on 17 Jun 2009 You sometimes wonder about the political nous of the unionist politicians in comparison to that of our First Minister. With one stroke he has virtually backed them into a corner as far as voting on the Referendum Bill is concerned. Having opted for Calman are they seriously going to deny giving the Scottish electorate the democratic opportunity to vote on it? If the SNP can get their Bill through, they have a very realistic chance of winning the referendum. If the predicted Tory landslide arrives in England at the next UK general election, I can see more than a few Labour politicians opting for an independent Scotland.
Frustrating smears 3:23pm on 14 Apr 2009 This week's visit to Glasgow is a very tired gesture by a very tired government. The e-mail fiasco had all the hallmarks of a government which has run out of steam and ideas. Heseltine's words this morning about Brown's ability to lock stable doors long after the horses have bolted rings very true. Brown was in charge at the Treasury and let the banks get into the state that has now left the country in one heck of a mess. Now he's supposed to be clamping down on smear politics, after his closest aide de campe was rumbled. The old Glasgow cry of "It wisnae me, honest"! will no longer stand the test of scrutiny in Brown's case. He is a busted flush and should resign.
Superman or Clark Kent? 3:28pm on 17 Oct 2008 Brown's attempts to take the credit for the money that has been pumped into stemming the banking collapse is reminiscent of the reckless driver who's caused a crash and then wants to be thanked for phoning for an ambulance. When Brown himself said during the week that he wasn't 'Flash' Gordon. He was correct. 'Crash' Gordon is a far nore appropriate title!
Will they, won't they? 2:45pm on 25 Jul 2008 The possibility of the seat returning to Labour isn't the question here. What this result needs to be looked at is within the context of past SNP by election victories. In 67, Winnie Ewing's victory established the SNP as a real political party in Scotland. In 74, Margo's victory in Govan was the pre-cursor of the SNP 'surge' that saw the party gain 11 MP's that year and ultimately lead to the 79 referendum. Jim Sillars' Govan victory drove Labour back onto the devolution highway which they had been trying to avoid for years. That victory eventually led to the referendum of 97 and the Scottish Parliament. Roseanna Cunninghame's victory in Perth began the end of the Tories as a Westminster party in Scotland. Look at Glasgow East in that context and ask to where it may lead. With the prospect of a generation of Tory power looming on the not too distant horizon, many leftward leaning people in Scotland may now start to regard independence as a real option. The tectonic plates are moving out there!
Advance with gusto 4:58pm on 02 Jul 2008 What the SNP must do in this campaign is to ask the people of Glasgow East if the government of any other small oil rich independent country would have stood by and let a huge section of its greatest city deteriorate to the state that the East End of Glasgow now finds itself. Until 2007, Labour dominated Scottish political life and the current state of the east end of the city of my birth and upbringing is a testimony to its failure! the people of the east end will never have a greater opportunity to make them play for that! Labour, quite simply, deserves to beaten, and very badly at that!

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