Jump to content

May 2011 Election


xbl

  

498 members have voted

You do not have permission to vote in this poll, or see the poll results. Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

The trial is making the SSP look brilliant to prospective future members and candidates. The new recruitment brochures should say 'Join the SSP and your know will be red raw with the shagging' and 'Vote SSP and we'll get you yer hole'. They are the new Tories.

Yes The Scottish Socialist Party are the new Tories, makes 100% sense, cannot think of any reason why your statement should be challenged. <_<:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 5.9k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Yes The Scottish Socialist Party are the new Tories, makes 100% sense, cannot think of any reason why your statement should be challenged. <_<:rolleyes:

I was talking in terms of the shagging stakes and being sleazy deviants (like the Tories, last time they were in power). I wasn't referring to similarities in policies, and only an SSP voter would be daft enough to think I was.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iain was on form this morning. He was on the radio making a c**t of himself as usual. The man has no answers, none at all. Ask him what he would do if he was in power and he shits himself and starts ranting on about the banks, global recession, SNP, Tories, Coalition, SNP again. The man is a world class fud. The best wee fud in the world.

Did he get properly taken to task? Too often, he is allowed to get away with his embarrassing ineptitude.<_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iain Gray: ‘Labour not opposed to council tax freeze’

The man who will next year vie with Alex Salmond for the role of First Minister of Scotland appeared to support a national freeze in principle arguing only that it needed to be funded properly. In an unimpressive interview that would have worried party aids Mr Gray also appeared to undermine recent comments from his health spokesperson Jackie Baillie by backing the SNP policy of removing prescription charges.

The leader of Labour’s Holyrood group was speaking on Radio Scotland yesterday when he was asked about his party’s stance in many areas including council tax and prescription charges. On the council tax freeze Mr Gray revealed: “We’ve never been opposed to the idea of a council tax freeze…” Mr Gray added: “A national freeze has to be properly funded, if that’s not the case then the consequences will be serious.” The admission from the Labour leader that his party has no objection in principle to a freeze is at odds with recent comments from senior Scottish Labour figures who have attacked the SNP’s proposed freeze saying that it is undemocratic and benefits the rich.

Mr Gray was then asked whether he supported the SNP’s policy of removing prescription charges and answered: “Prescription charges? - yeh”. This unambiguous backing for one of the SNP’s key election pledges will come as a shock to his health spokesperson Jackie Baillie who only last week had attacked the SNP plan saying: "We need to seriously consider if this is the right priority at this time." Ms Baillie had added: "This policy will cost £40 million - that is 1,500 nurses that won't be in Scottish hospitals next year."

Labour’s Holyrood leader also appeared to both back John Swinney’s estimation of the cuts and disagree with it.

Mr Gray said:

“This is typical of John Swinney, every time there’s a budget or a spending review John tries to produce figures which show its worse than everybody else says”

Mr Gray then said: “John Swinney has an estimate of the figures, that estimate was relatively close to the position we’ve ended up in”

Mr Gray conceded that the Scottish government faced a “very, very significant cut in the resources available to the Scottish government” and added: “Perhaps the capital budget is a little worse than they were saying, the revenue budget is perhaps a little better”

In the meantime you can click the link below and fast forward to 2hrs 09 minutes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vc1h5/Good_Morning_Scotland_21_10_2010/

Sigh. And this is the strong and clear favourite to become First Minister.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm more and more beginning to believe that I'll regret that occasion when Mr. Gray tried to cross a road when I was driving past him. The traffic lights were only ten yards away, but that didnt stop him trying. A swift turn of the steering wheel to the right and scotland might have been in a better place for it. :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://newsnetscotland.com/economy/861-world-renowned-economist-says-scotland-subsidising-rest-of-uk

World Renowned Economist says: 'Scotland subsidising rest of UK'

....

A leading Professor of Economics, Andrew Hughes Hallett, has sensationally confirmed that Scotland has been subsidising the UK treasury in London for years and that the Calman Commission recommendations are unworkable and potentially damaging. Professor Hughes Hallett (pictured) also rubbished claims by leading Scottish Labour politicians that an independent Scotland could not have survived the banking crisis by explaining that much of the liabilities suffered by HBOS and RBS would have fallen on England. Hughes Hallett, who is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University in Washington DC and St Andrews University was appearing on Radio Scotland’s ‘Newsweek’ show when he undermined much of what Unionist politicians and Scottish media commentators have been saying about Scotland for years. Misleading

Professor Hughes Hallett confirmed that Scotland subsidised the UK and also described the perception that public spending in Scotland is 20% per head more than the UK average as “misleading”. He gave, as an example, the defence figures where the actual monies spent in Scotland was £0.8 billion LESS than the official treasury figures. Prof Hughes Hallett said: “The usual perception is that Scotland spends about 20% on public services more per head than the UK average...Those numbers are very misleading mainly because the spending in that part is what’s spent on behalf of Scotland but not necessarily in Scotland. The estimate for Scotland’s share, that’s contributions to defence, is 2.8 billion but it’s roughly 2.0 billion are actually paid out in Scotland So there’s an implicit subsidy going south in that sense and you can think of lots of other examples”

Hughes Hallett added: “At the moment, on the current account, there’s a subsidy going to London, which is helping London. When you get down to it, on the current account for the last five years at least, maybe longer, Scotland has had a current account surplus, which is currently according to the national accounts in Scotland £1.3 billion.”

Asked whether Scotland would definitely be better off, Prof Hallett replied: “You can definitely say that it [scotland] would be better off in terms of the revenue.”

....

Very interesting! (rest of article at the link) I'm not economist, but we now have someone who is demonstrating that Scotland would definitely have been better off away from the cold dead Union. Thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The SNP have been a bit pathetic in gorvernment, they have bottled out of their referendum and all they have done is take pointless cheap shots at the UK government and desperately try and do something significant in any way they can, see alcohol pricing.

I used to vote Lib Dem, after what they did following the last Westminster election I hope every one of the b*****ds gets ebola.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The SNP have been a bit pathetic in gorvernment, they have bottled out of their referendum and all they have done is take pointless cheap shots at the UK government and desperately try and do something significant in any way they can, see alcohol pricing.

You are aware what minority government is right? Also, you call them pointless cheap pot shots, but you could also call it standing up for Scotland. What pointless cheap pot shots did you object to? Any examples?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The SNP have been a bit pathetic in gorvernment, they have bottled out of their referendum and all they have done is take pointless cheap shots at the UK government and desperately try and do something significant in any way they can, see alcohol pricing.

I used to vote Lib Dem, after what they did following the last Westminster election I hope every one of the b*****ds gets ebola.

I trust you have no idea how a minority government works.

Can you list these cheap shots in clear order? Thanks in advance.

Can you give you view why alcohol pricing was a cheap shot? Clearly backed by doctors and health chiefs. Perhaps you know better?

What did the Lib dems do in the last UK election, get a shot of influencing Parliament. They have went up in my estimation, certaing better than their spineless Scottish counterparts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you give you view why alcohol pricing was a cheap shot? Clearly backed by doctors and health chiefs. Perhaps you know better?

Not only was alcohol pricing backed by health chiefs and Doctors, but also by the Parties in Westminster, and even the Labour Party's hand picked alcohol commission! And it was still blocked by the Unionists. But its the SNP who have behaved terribly with cheap shots apparently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not only was alcohol pricing backed by health chiefs and Doctors, but also by the Parties in Westminster, and even the Labour Party's hand picked alcohol commission! And it was still blocked by the Unionists. But its the SNP who have behaved terribly with cheap shots apparently.

You forgot Iain Gray rule number 1.

- Don't read any SNP policy, just veto it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know I'm quoting a lot, but there are some interesting articles about! The Scotsman is running an article from a guy called John McTernan, who "is a former political secretary to Tony Blair":

http://scotlandonsun...-can.6596129.jp

One of his suggestions as to how Iain Gray can beat Alex Salmond is:

What else? Scottish Labour should look deep into what the polls tell them - they overwhelmingly win among workers of voting age (25-59) and lose the young and pensioners. How to win the missing groups? Values. Tell young and old - both groups on fixed income - that the SNP will raise the price of a pint or a bottle of wine. Unfair? Maybe, but sometimes the delivery of high ideals requires low means.
First, Alex Salmond is by far their strongest card. He out-polls Iain Gray as preferred First Minister by 41% to 24% - and is even the preferred choice of 1 in 5 Labour voters. Salmond is marginally more popular than his party (+7) while Gray is 40% less popular than his (-16).

Second, the economy, and in particular the cuts to public spending, will be the biggest issue in the elections. The SNP aim is to propose a simple solution - leave the UK and leave the cuts behind. Again, this is clearly gaining some traction.

The YouGov poll shows a dramatic increase in support for independence. At 34% it is up nearly a fifth since May and at its highest since 2008 when the SNP were enjoying the benefits of their extended honeymoon as an impressive new government.

My question is, who are these four fifths of Labour voters who prefer Iain Gray?? :blink:

Edited to add, the other article is:

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/politics/Alex-Salmond-beats-Iain-Gray.6596183.jp

The poll showed that even among Labour supporters, 21 per cent believed Salmond would make a better First Minister, with 50 per cent preferring Gray. When the responses of SNP supporters were examined, it was found that 89 per cent preferred Salmond and 2 per cent said Gray.

...

When the sample of 1,405 Scottish adults was asked who of the two men would make the "better" First Minister, 41 per cent replied Salmond, 24 per cent said Gray and 35 per cent said they did not know...The poll showed that even among Labour supporters, 21 per cent believed Salmond would make a better First Minister, with 50 per cent preferring Gray. When the responses of SNP supporters were examined, it was found that 89 per cent preferred Salmond and 2 per cent said Gray.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The SNP have been a bit pathetic in gorvernment, they have bottled out of their referendum and all they have done is take pointless cheap shots at the UK government and desperately try and do something significant in any way they can, see alcohol pricing.

I used to vote Lib Dem, after what they did following the last Westminster election I hope every one of the b*****ds gets ebola.

They gained power and some responsibility. Maybe you'd have preferred Labour blundering around like a bunch of c***s again?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to break into the SNP's HQ and issue a press release stating that their flagship policy for this election is a cull of the first born just to see if xbl and News Net Scotland back it.

If we are quoting interesting articles, I thought the following article in the Sunday Herald business section was, er, interesting - Fiscal autonomy = grown up government?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to break into the SNP's HQ and issue a press release stating that their flagship policy for this election is a cull of the first born just to see if xbl and News Net Scotland back it.

I've said plenty of times that I've disagreed with things the SNP propose. For example, I'm ambivalent on their council tax replacement, I was against scrapping of bridge tolls, scrapping of the graduate endowment, I didn't agree with their bottling out of the referendum, and I was originally against alcohol pricing (although I've now changed my mind on that). I've also commented before that I think Newsnet has the weakness of being too partisan. I don't like their editorials sometimes, I prefer it when they stick to news.

If we are quoting interesting articles, I thought the following article in the Sunday Herald business section was, er, interesting - Fiscal autonomy = grown up government?

Lies! :lol:

Although I do agree with what it is saying. Scotland needs fiscal autonomy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to break into the SNP's HQ and issue a press release stating that their flagship policy for this election is a cull of the first born just to see if xbl and News Net Scotland back it.

If we are quoting interesting articles, I thought the following article in the Sunday Herald business section was, er, interesting - Fiscal autonomy = grown up government?

You seem to have a problem with neutral media.

Its a pity that when we have yet another major economic figure like Andrew Hughes Hallett saying Scotland could do alright as a normal country you play tabloid card.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You seem to have a problem with neutral media.

Its a pity that when we have yet another major economic figure like Andrew Hughes Hallett saying Scotland could do alright as a normal country you play tabloid card.

Yeah. And if the debate ever became heated enough you can bet your arse that plenty of other respected economists would be wheeled out to give an alternative view. Economists are generally good financial historians. Most of them are useless c***s that haven't got a fucking clue what's going on until the thing has actually happened.

Lets face it, our first Minister also wanted us to be like fucking Ireland and Iceland not that long ago. And Salmond is another one of these economists that doesn't see the piano falling out the sky and landing on his head until he is picking ivory out of his skull.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets face it, our first Minister also wanted us to be like fucking Ireland and Iceland not that long ago. And Salmond is another one of these economists that doesn't see the piano falling out the sky and landing on his head until he is picking ivory out of his skull.

You forgot to mention Norway! But what, you think that we should not be anything like the projected fastest growing economy in Europe? You would prefer it if we kept our per capita GDP below them, rather than being one of the highest in Europe?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. And if the debate ever became heated enough you can bet your arse that plenty of other respected economists would be wheeled out to give an alternative view. Economists are generally good financial historians. Most of them are useless c***s that haven't got a fucking clue what's going on until the thing has actually happened.

Lets face it, our first Minister also wanted us to be like fucking Ireland and Iceland not that long ago. And Salmond is another one of these economists that doesn't see the piano falling out the sky and landing on his head until he is picking ivory out of his skull.

What a really lazy reply.

Surely if you dismiss this you would give the results of many of these economists that are pro-union?

Also interesting that you feel that you are better places to coment on fiscal matters that the experts. What do you base this on?

Love you have chosen selective work on your countries of choice. strange Norway has been left out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You forgot to mention Norway! But what, you think that we should not be anything like the projected fastest growing economy in Europe? You would prefer it if we kept our per capita GDP below them, rather than being one of the highest in Europe?

I wonder if Salmond will be trying to keep us out of the EU just like Norway? Maybe he should adopt this policy for the last few months of his political career? <_<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...