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Listed below are comments made by drewthomson between Wednesday, 27th August 2008 and Friday, 7th November 2008.

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• Dom's shirt that resembles a dog blanket 08:54am on 07 Nov 2008 That looks pretty decent.
• Prison population 5:36pm on 29 Aug 2008 This topic is so tricky really. There are few people that would completely agree with another's view on the matter because there are so many different factors and a lot of it based on your own moral and philosophical taste.
  
  #28 Thomas_Porter
  
  You (and the SNP) are lucky that they were so woolly about their approach to the extra 1000 police officers. It's true that the SNP intend on introducing 1000 by 2011 and they've outlined how here. Seemingly 450 by the end of the financial year, 200 next year and 200 the year after that.
  
  "Let's look at the bigger picture. For years police numbers have decreased"
  
  My word. Read this - probably the simplest thing you could've researched. They've been increasing for years.
  
  
  #24 Brownedov
  
  Sounds like a good read. I do like being recommended random books that I'd never otherwise think of buying.
• Prison population 2:21pm on 29 Aug 2008 Nice wee cheeky comment Brian. If there was substantial and notable increase in police on the streets - in that, you are down the pub and it comes up in conversation that you've seen police around and about the streets a lot more - then I think it can have very positive effects in decreasing crime.
  
  So first step is to either increase police presence to this extent - or give the illusion that there is this presence! Psychological effects 'n' a' that.
  
  Second step: another prison.
  
  Third step: stop reducing prison sentence times - with increased capacity we can return to having decent strong sentences.
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 00:12am on 29 Aug 2008 #255 Anagol
  
  I've got my fingers crossed one of the Unionist parties will get their arse in gear and push forward with some kind of federalisation plan. To make the alternative to full independence even stronger, all three parties could adopt a common federalist future. Dreamland?
  
  Interesting reading - cheers.
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 7:13pm on 28 Aug 2008 #220 sneckedagain
  
  You are one of few that actually list a multitude of other sectors that would benefit our economy, should we go independent. I must congratulate you on that.
  
  You needn't have spoiled it all by throwing in the following:
  
  "a budget economy the equal to or already bigger than most comparable small countries around the world."
  
  Anyway.
  
  1. They're not hanging on grimly? To be hanging on grimly would be to be holding on to it despite the clear opposition. There is no clear overwhelming opposition within Scotland, and there's certainly little opposition outwith Scotland.
  
  2. I won't bother answering this one in full because any argument I have is based on my non-nationalist thoughts. As I've mentioned on posts before, the Union is great because we share a lot of common policies and issues - see earlier posts for further comment on this if you so wish.
  
  
  oldnat - have you got any scoop on this Tory candidate? I can't find anything very exciting.
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 3:34pm on 28 Aug 2008 #189 Thomas_Porter
  
  "What if we are successful, how do the Unionists plan to hold the Union together? It will become totally irrelevent"
  
  If more and better devolution proves successful for the Scottish people, then brilliant. English resentment to any dangerous levels would presumably kick the British Parliament into making it UK-wide, or something along those lines.
  
  At the end of the day, I believe your argument on the Union becoming irrelevant is fruitless because of the number of common issues between the UK and Scotland. These common issues (I've mentioned before - social security, foreign policy etc.) are things that you'd likely disagree with me on, so we'll never agree on this specific point.
  
  --
  
  On the point of Scott's Newsnight interview, you would fully expect him to have an answer for the inevitable independence referendum questions - whether or not it's not the one of the 'real issues' that we want to be thinking about.
  
  It's good to see a politician that is focused on the issues that matter currently, though.
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 00:18am on 28 Aug 2008 #139 oldnat
  
  The Herald have put up a story suggesting the government deny the report
  
  I think it's interesting though - surely a Labour defeat would almost certainly be curtains for Brown anyway? Perhaps he should go full throttle.
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 10:46pm on 27 Aug 2008 #126 Brownedov
  
  Agreed. But it was just a wee jab!
  
  P.S. I have a degree in Astrophysics, so basic maths comes fairly naturally.
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 9:12pm on 27 Aug 2008 #117 Simon
  
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/regions/html/regions.stm
  
  Actually Scotland is 75% of the average cost of a house in England, not 60%. Those are just facts ;)
• Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 3:51pm on 27 Aug 2008 #75
  
  I think it's clear that the SNP's priorities vary considerably from that of the British Government's. I'm not convinced if you surveyed all of the Scottish people you'd find huge variations in opinion on those issues.
  
  The war has proved an incredibly expensive move indeed and there's little we can do about that any more. Trident only accounts for a few percent of the defence budget, so it's not really an important consideration financially. It would be nice if ridding the country of poverty was as simple as throwing money at something, but it's not.
  
  Have we drifted from the topic of the Lib Dem appointment suitably? So. Tavish Scott. Splendid chap, eh what.

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