Big Sister will be watching you!

Nasty Big Sister, Theresa May the current Home Secretary wants details of your every text, email, instant message, phone call, social networking post and every click on a web page. She wants to map your every interaction and log it and record it and keep it for at least a year. She wants to snoop on your life in minute detail so that she knows what you are doing, with who you are doing it, when you are doing it and where you are when you do it. She wants the data to build up a profile of your life and every ones lives in the UK. 

Look out here comes "Snoopers Charter Mark II" which will be meaner and more encompassing than her previous failed attempt at getting such powers to snoop on the population of the UK. Nasty Big Sister wants your ISP and mobile phone company to log the following:

• Who you make phone calls on land lines and mobiles, including when the call took place and location it was made from.
• Who you send text messages, including when the message was sent and the location it sent from.
• Who and when you send an instant message to, which include the type of message sent, the application or service you used and your location when it was sent.
• The recording of when you you use on line video and voice services such as Skype
• A record of every post you make to social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook including where you where when you posted it.
• Information about the games you play and when you play them over the internet and where you were when you were playing them.
• The reception and sending of emails both as a direct service or by webmail including when the email was sent.
• The installation of Deep Packet Inspection equipment allowing the police, security services and government bodies to inspect the content of real-time data communications.
• Requirements for organisations providing such based services outside the UK to install equipment to log users within the UK.

Although the "Snoopers Charter Mark II" won't require phone companies and internet service providers to store the content of messages it will be available to through the use of the Deep Packet Inspection equipment which will be put onto the internet. Currently the plans are to hold this data for 12 months although in reality this could be longer depending how the data is backed up by the organisations that collect it.

Currently the European Convention on Human Rights might protect individuals to excessive surveillance under article 8, which states: 

• ARTICLE 8 - Right to respect for private and family life - Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

However Nasty Big Sister has already stated on the few occasions that she and her department have fallen foul of the Convention that she would like the UK to find away of not being subject to its judgements and ditching the Convention altogether. This would give her the power do as she wishes without any from of recourse from anyone that dares to oppose her.

We have all heard the reasoning behind why she wants this sort of power, but the fact remains the Government already has enough powers under the act they passed back in July. The 12 cases that the police dropped ,that she reported at the conference today, where nothing to do with not having
"Snoopers Charter Mark II" but a failure to match IP addresses to mobile devices. She basically mislead the public in her speech so she can hardly be trusted with your private communications data!

Vote Conservative and Bugger the Poor

The little rich boy from posh school, George Osborne the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, today announced some of his grand plans for the country, the freezing of benefits for the next two years which will hit 10 million of the poorest people. This will save a whooping 0.9% of the welfare budget and undoubtedly push more families and children, that are already finding it hard to afford to eat, into a state of greater hardship. Clearly the message from the little rich boy is "Vote Conservative and Bugger the Poor".

The benefits freeze is selective and designed to hit the sort of people that wouldn't vote Conservative in the first place, while the pensioners who traditionally vote for the party will continue to get their protected increases in benefits as well as those that are disabled. In fact he even scraped a tax that applied to the pensioners as a sweetener for the election next year. As for the rich, Georges chums, well they will be unaffected by all this always, there was no way they will ever be made to pay extra tax with their mate at the helm of the treasury. There is no talk of a rich boys tax from the Conservative party, they have to look after there own including the fat bankers that caused all this mess.

Lets have some facts to blow away the lies and untruth that we are told time and time from the Conservative party and their friends in the press, for not every things is as it seems. In Conservation terms welfare spending includes adult benefits, disability benefits, child benefit, pensions and tax credits and a lot more. The reason for that is simple it makes the whole benefits bill look amazingly high and fuels the myth that benefits claimants are bleeding the country dry. The highest proportion of welfare spending goes on pensions and not on the unemployed. Job Seekers Allowance spending is a tiny fraction of that spent on state pension.

When talking about the poorest in the country the Conservative say how they have taken millions people out of the paying tax by changing personal allowances. The fact is we all pay take in some form, even those on benefits or don't pay income tax pay tax, and you can't get away from the fact that everything is taxed. We are all hit by VAT and other taxes either directly or indirectly. Everyone in this country pays tax of some kind. So don't let the slimy Conservatives tell you have taken people out of paying tax because it is a dam lie as big as any ever told. Here is a fact about benefits:

If I give you £10 but immediately take back £9 I have not given you £10 I have really given you £1. In the same way, to calculate the true cost of benefits we must take out the taxes that people pay from their benefits. For example, in 2010-11 the poorest 10% of families received an average of £104 per week in benefits. However they then paid £68 back to the government in taxes, leaving only £36 per week - or £5 per day.

The £36 per week is the real cost of benefits not the £104 per week that they were paid by the welfare system. When you think of it like this you can see that the Government grabs back quite a large percentage that the paid the people in the first place. Now you don't see any Government telling you that! It wouldn't be in there interest to tell the truth and so it is wonder nobody trusts them, because we are clever than they think we are.

Now it is the freezing that will hit the headlines in the newspapers in the morning but where will the other cuts he mentioned come from. Well here is the list of the other possible targets and how much the Government spent on them in 2013:

• Health Care £125.9bn
• Other Spending (mainly local government) £48.6bn
• Defence £46.4bn
• Education £34.2bn (+ £59.1bn by local government)
• Protection (police, law, courts, fire) £33.4bn 
• Transport £18.5bn
• General Government (e.g. civil service) £17.9bn

Now they need to find an extra £25bn of saving over the course of the next parliament which is going to take a big chunk out of the budgets of the other government departments that have already been paired to the bone and will result more job losses in the public sector. Something else that the little rich boy seemed to forget to mention in his little speech.

Finally, I think one thing is for sure if you vote Conservative you will make the poor poorer, drive more children into poverty and continue to see cuts in public services and defence that are already cut to the bone. And don't even get me started on Conservative state asset striping programs. Just remember the little rich boys slogan as you vote: "Vote Conservative and Bugger the Poor".

More Retro Gaming - Tomb Raider III

Over the summer it has been fun revisiting some of those games that I have played in the past and enjoyed so much back then and now again today. The conclusion I have drawn is that there is much more to a good game than good graphics and wonderful sound, it all comes down to a good story and good game play. It makes sense of why a game like Minecraft which has become such a big hit with its blocky graphics, because a good game is more than that and why Microsoft paid a reported £1.5 billion for the company that produced it.

The game that I'm playing at the moment in the limited tome I have is Tomb Raider III from back in 1998 on in its PC form and later in 1999 in its console form. In fact I'm playing the original Sony PlayStation version of the game rather than the PC version which you can still play today via the Steam Store which has be completely patched for today's computers and operating systems. This game is the third, in what turned out to be a long series of games that gone on which has millions of fans around the world that is still being produced today.

The first of the Tomb Raider series came out in 1996 and is said by some that PlayStation's success in the mid-1990s can attributed to this one game. The original game was set in a 3D world and involved the player leading the main character, Lara Croft, through a number adventures set in a series of tombs, and other locations. These adventures revolve around  killing dangerous creatures or other humans, while collecting objects and solving puzzles to gain access to an ultimate prize, usually a powerful artefact.

The third game in the series starts millions of years ago, when a meteor crashed to Earth, landing in Antarctica, then a tropical paradise. It is during an excavation a team picks up unusual readings from the meteorite's impact zone. It is while instigating the readings the a body of a sailor who served on Charles Darwin's expedition on the H.M.S. Beagle discovered. Following clues from the sailor's journal, the researchers expanded their search beyond the impact crater to other parts of the globe, where the Beagle's crew travelled. One of these places is India where Lara Croft happens to be doing her own research, and so starts the game.

What I love about the series is of games is just the imagination of the developers, the game play, the stories and the music. The whole thing is the complete package. It takes you into the world of the lead character and makes you want to play and play from dawn to dusk and in some cases throughout the night as well. The are just amazing games from start to finish.

So why play it on a computer game console that was built between June 1997 and December 1997, well that is easy it was the sort of console the game was made for. It would be easy to play it on a modern windows machine and at resolutions the game would never have been played in, but it won't make a difference to the game play just the way it is controlled and looked. In fact it will be easier to play with a controller than a keyboard and mouse.

Hopefully before we get to Christmas I will have a chance to play some more games on my old PlayStation including some of great driving games like Gran Turismo 2 which sold over 9 million copies, and then there is the early releases 2D of the Grand Theft Auto series of games. Look out for more post coming soon.

Amazing Month

It has been a amazing month weather wise. I can't remember a September that has been so constantly warm and dry. You could ask more from a month at the end of summer and going into autumn. In fact it has hardly been autumnal at all and there has been some amazing sunrises as I have been going to work. Just wish I could have stopped the bus rather than having to try and take pictures through a dirty window.

The current spell of warm weather will at least be with us until the end of the month and a number of weather records are bound to fall or be close to being equalled. In general the average September temperature of around 16 degrees has been exceeded most days and the rainfall has has been negligible. Even the water levels Rutland Water have been visibly falling during a time in of the year you would expect them to be stable. You just have to listen to the dawn chorus as the sun rises or the mist clears to know we are in for a good day.

One would hope that this weather is just some kind of statistical blip, but over recent years the weather does deem to have been changing and the scientific evidence does point to a change in the climate due to man made global warming. Currently the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet which is causing changes in the jet stream which is resulting weather systems getting stuck, just as is happening now over the United Kingdom. As time goes on some scientists are predicting  frequent prolonged spells of extreme weather in Europe, Asia and North America, but before you rush out to buy some new swimwear for December this extreme weather could equally be very cold as opposed to warm. 

The jury is still out on how long this period of  warming will last and if in fact it is due to global warming, but the fact remains we can all see the changes to the weather and we need to be prepared and take action. We need to protect and enlarge the rain forests, plant new forests and protect green spaces and land used to grow food. We need to swallow up the carbon dioxide and reduce the heating effect and find ways of reducing emissions. We need to heal the earth.

Here we go again

Back on 20th March 2003 the West went to war in Iraq and started a process of shacking up the whole of the Middle East and starting the Arab Spring, and it was over 8 years before the troops pulled out. A process that started when George.W.Bush and his mate Tony Blair invaded Iraq on the basis of a made up document that lied about weapons of mass destruction being stockpiled in the country. Today we are still paying for that war with the rise of radical fundamentalist religious organisations that want to convert the world and kill the infidels. Today we are going to war in Iraq again to clean up the mess we made.  

The war destabilised the whole region and removed powerful leaders and replaced them with weak governments propped up by the Western powers. As a result tribal factions, some fuelled religious zealots,  started civil wars to overthrow the existing strong leaders and powerful governments as well as the weak ones which they see as easy targets. Whatever political party you support in the United Kingdom you have to agree that the fact we went to war was wrong and the outcome for the world has been a disaster. It has fuelled years of conflict and their is years more to come.

The organisation we are about to go into conflict with are called the Islamic State and its aim is it claims to bring most of the Muslim-inhabited regions of the world under its political control. It believes is religious authority over all Muslims across the world, by divine right. These regions, as well as large parts of the Middle East, also include Cyprus, part of southern Turkey and Israel. It was founded in 1999 and has it roots in the Al-Qaeda movement which carried out the bombing of the twin towers and was based in Iraq. With the coming of the war in Syria, fuelled by the West, they seized the opportunity to expand their activities into the warring nation and now control large parts of the country and a number of oil fields to fund there operations.

Over the years many notable members of the Islamic State leadership have been killed my Western agents and forces, however like all organisations of this types the leadership is quickly replaced and the organisation strengthened. It isn't war war you can  ever win by force as it is a war on of the mind, the heart and the soul. It is not a war over territory but one over religion and it is the religious movements of this world that have the forces to stop the war by their teaching. It is one that is unwinnable and all you can hope to do is to degrade the origination and force it underground and into waiting until it is able to fight again.

Unlike the last time we were involved in a war in Iraq we are no where near as powerful as a nation because of the current Conservative Government. In a war that would be ideal for the use of the British aircraft carriers and the Harrier force that they once carried rather than a land based ageing Tornado's . The Harriers have been sold to the Americans who value this British designed aircraft and the aircraft carriers have been broken up and scraped for peanuts. Instead we have sea based cruise missiles, brought from the Americans at £1 million per launch, a far more expensive way to fight a war than reusable aircraft. 

Just like in the case of the air attacks on Libya we are going to be in the category of also turned up to the conflict rather than one that will have a say in the outcome and after it is over. David Cameron sold that right when he seriously degraded the British armed forces four years ago. It is after the conflict that peace is made and solutions found and it that stage where we will be sidelined.

Finally this war won't be won with air power alone, as we have seen in the conflict between Israel and  Palestine earlier in the years, the only losers will be the innocent people being bombed and the loss of life and hardships that will last for years, which will fuel the rise of more radical religious movements. All that the west can gain from this action is to please their own people that they are doing something. The question is are they doing the right thing when it is peace we need and not war, and that should be the aim of the whole action, not to wipe out the opposition but to get them to talk.

Oakham Fire Fighting Services to be cut

It has been announced in the press that it is proposed that fire fighting services in Oakham should be cut which will put lives and properties at risk. The current two appliances in the town under the plane will be reduced to a single machine as cuts bite and 100 firefighters lose their jobs. This comes as Leicestershire fire services have to make cuts of £5.5 million due to cuts in Government funding.

Mr Webb, chief fire officer, said "Members of the public would probably notice the difference if they called the fire service. Probably not with the first fire engine arriving but certainly the second, in some areas, would be slower than it currently is.". With the nearest fire station to Oakham being in Melton Mowbray the people in Rutland will certainly notice a slower response time as fire engines heavy with water have to travel  from further afield to assist in fighting fires.  

To give you an idea of the scale of the cuts to the fire service in Leicestershire and Rutland, the force current employs around 400 fighters which would be cut to 300 with the loss of 100 jobs. That is one quarter of the fire fighters in the region losing their jobs. It is no wonder we are being warned that the service, which is all ready lean, will be slower to respond to emergency calls in future. Unions warn that the fighters lives will be put at risk as well, as members of the public, when crews of five on each appliance are reduced to four. Talking about the manning of the fire engined Graham Vaux, from the fire fighters union said "If we have less than five on each fire engine there wouldn't be enough firefighters to carry out a rescue or put up a ladder, which means we could put ourselves at risk or the public,"

These are no small cuts they are massive. The fire services are something the Conservative government be protecting from cuts just as it protects the NHS. It is an essential service that saves lives. One of the many roles of any Government is to protect there citizens not putting them at risk. This is Government fail and the sooner we have a Government that cares about the people and maintenances services the better. The shower we have in cares about nothing but looking after their own.

I urge the people of Rutland not to accept these cuts and write to Sir Alan Duncan and if he fails to protect the fire service in Rutland then vote him and his local Government Conservatives friends out at the next election. If they can't protect the people of Rutland they don't deserve to be in power.

More local views ignored again

In the last few days plans have been approved to create a new plant to reprocess food waste and create energy in the small Northampton village of Theddingworth which is near the Leicestershire boarder and the town of Market Harborough, despite objections from local residents. Welland Waste Management have been given planning permission to site a Thermophilic Aerobic Digester (TAD) and a gasification plant at Pebble Hall Farm, where they already have one unit.

One of the campaigners. Fiona Wilson, who is against the construction of the new plant said "I'm not happy with the stink the existing plant generates and I'm very concerned about the odours from the TAD - they're going to be horrendous. While another a campaigner from Welford, said it was an "industrial facility". All agree that they don't want the countryside around the village spoilt.

Northamptonshire Country Council who approved the passed the blame by making it sound like it was out of their hands and claiming that just because there was a TAD on the site it was okay to build another. Here is what Councillor Phil Larrett, chairman of the development control committee, had to say: "[Councillors] felt the emphasis within the national planning policy framework with regard to renewable energy was a significant factor." before going onto say  "Farmers are finding it difficult and many of them have diversified and if you visit this site, there are a significant amount of industrialised processes already going on." 

In the Localism Act the people where promised more say in what we wanted our communities to look like and the development within them, however their is no evidence I can see that this is actually happening. In fact all I can see is developers being given permission to develop both housing and industrial site despite local objections and real concerns. Once again we have been let down by our national Government and Local Government and the Localism Act isn't worth the paper it is written on.

Richard Bacon leaves BBC Radio 5 Live

It was sad to listen to the last broadcast by Richard Bacon on BBC Radio 5 live this afternoon as he said his farewells. He was one of the those broadcasters that was happy to sure his thoughts and his lives with the audience and you felt sort of at home with him and that is a special talent that not all broadcaster have. For those skills he had the perfect slot in the afternoon where he could show case his many talents.

Richard Bacon joined BBC Radio 5 Live to present the late night show "Up All night" on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC Radio 5 live, but it wasn't a long stay at the station before he decided to try his hand as DJ with a commercial station. In 2007 he returned to the station to the late night programming on the station that eventually earned him a day time slot after he stood in  for Simon Mayo. In fact it was Simon Mayo slot he took over from Monday to Thursday in 2010. It was a slot he was to make his own and his loyal supporters followed in in droves on Twitter and his twitter account has 1.5 million followers which makes him one of the most widely followed British personalities.

I will miss his show on the radio, as I know many other swill. His style and his whit all brought something special to the afternoon, when I had time to listen to him chatting with his guests. I know he will go on to greater things but radio seemed to me the place where he felt most comfortable and I wish him well. I just hope one day in returns to his roots and he comes back to the little speakers in the car and the living room to brighten our days. Good Luck Richard.

Finally I finish the post with Richard Bacons last words on the show, "I remember appearing as a guest on Simon Mayo’s show and sitting in the studio thinking I’d love to do this for a living. It was then my highest aspiration and it’s been everything that I hoped it would be and really a lot more. So I’m going to live a fairly complicated life living between LA, London and New York but I will always be a listener to Radio 5 live. To that troll I made a documentary about who was very upset when I replaced Simon Mayo – it is now safe to turn the radio back on.” 

Tescos Cat

The blog has been a little heavy on late, so may be it is time for something of lighter note. Anyone that has been to Tesco's in Oakham over the years will recongonise the cat pictured below, in a more heavy form, as one that use to that was a regular sight at the entrance to the store. To many she has become known as "Tesco's Cat". In recent years she has made the odd visit but recently she has been seen a little more regularly. 

She is now a lean and beautiful young lady who loves to be fussed as longs as you don't rub her tummy. Originally many people thought she was something to do with the supermarket but she actually lives near the supermarket and the last thing she needs is treats. I'm sure she gets enough of those and love at home. Although I'm sure she won't be around for to long before her owners workout how she is escaping she has made many people smile as they go in or come out the store. She is that sort of cat. She even has her own Facebook fan page she is so popular in the the town.

Dishonest David

Tomorrow Prime Minister David Cameron will have a meeting with senior Tories at Chequers to discuss the devolution plans as he continues to hijack the promises he made to the Scottish people. How low can this slimy excuse of a politician go? He seems hell bent on doing what Alex Salmond failed to do, breaking the union apart.

Conservative party chairman Grant Shapps announced that "huge amount of work" had gone into barring Scottish MPs from voting on English-only laws. A clear indication that the Conservatives had been planning this all alone should Scotland vote "No" in the independence vote last Thursday.

It also turns out that David Cameron also knew these plans were afoot before he signed the deal with the other two leaders before they were offered to the Scottish people. He just conveniently forget to tell them what he was up, a despicable action that shows how little trust you can put in this man.

Conservative Justice Secretary, Mr Grayling, said Scottish Parliament should not receive more powers while Scottish MPs can still "shape the destiny" of the NHS and schools in England, before going on to say, that it would be "a travesty of democracy, and would be regarded with fury by the English,"

Little has been said of the fact that the formula used to calculate how much money is based partly on how much the rest of the United Kingdom spends on the NHS, schools and other spending commitments. If the Scottish members of the UK government didn't have a say then that would also be a  travesty of democracy just as big if not worse than taking there powers away. This isn't something that can be changed over night.

What is clear is the David Cameron leads a dishonest government that can't be trusted not to pull the wool over peoples eyes. The sooner they go the better because they can't be trusted with the future of this country.

Rutland Country Council Fail

Typical of Rutland Country Council that that they should forget to inform the motoring public of a road closure during the middle of a Sunday afternoon. Clearly they think everyone that travels in and out of the town reads the Rutland Times or pops on the Council website everyday. Little do they think that a lot of people don't read the mouth piece of the Council or it website.

At 1500 on Sunday the roads in Oakham get busy as everyone make the Sunday afternoon supermarket dash, but this sunday the only thing travelling down the road in the town was the band of No. 5F (Northampton) Squadron Air Training Corps and members of the RAF 504 Squadron who were based in the former RAF base in Cottesmore. They were meant to have left the market Place after an Inspection at 1545 after a service at  All Saints Church in the centre of town at 1400, however they were early and their was no advanced notice about the closing of the roads in the town, and especially the level crossing which causes problems at the best of times.

Although it was nice of the Rutland Country Council and the Oakham Town Council to give the Freedom of Entry to Oakham to RAF 504 Squadron after their long service at the old RAF Base, it wasn't good of them to close the roads without putting up signs. It might have made a good photo opportunity for the Mayor of Oakham, Cllr Mrs Jayne Woodcock, but for all those people that need to get food for the week ahead it was a nightmare. It was an epic fail in public relations and shows how little they think about the people of the town. How hard is it to put up some signs a few days in advance.

Last Laugh

Alex Salmond is reported as saying that 'No' voters were 'tricked' and he is probably right with Westminster an the Leaders of both the Labour and Conservative party  hijacking the promise they made. The only way they can prove him wrong is to keep their collective word and prove the Nationalists wrong, not to do so would be the biggest mistake in recent political history and lead to the break up of the United Kingdom within a generation.

Neither leader can control there parties with both of which are is disarray after the promise made to the Scottish people was hijacked by the public school boys in the Conservative party headed by David Cameron, the person that nearly lost us 300 years of union with Scotland. Before the incandescence vote Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg all vowed before the referendum that Scotland would be given additional powers if it rejected independence. Now they are slide lining Scotland, the one thing that will do more to damage the union than anything else.

Alex Salmond said "I think the vow was something cooked up in desperation for the last few days of the campaign" and he is probably right. For all my dislike of nationalist politics and all it stands for now and in the past he has a very valid point and Westminster are playing right in to the hands of the Scottish Nationlist Party. The reason they had to make an announcement to give more powers to the Scottish government was because they didn't listen or pay attention until it was almost too late. It is the decease of the major political parties in  the United Kingdom, they ignore the people.

We deserve better than both Labour and the Conservatives in the whole of the UK. We need a party that is fair, honest and most of all listens to the people rather than think they are better than the people. It is no wonder we feel so helpless politically as a nation when their is nobody decent to lead the country. I fear that Alex Salmond will have the last laugh when the parties in Westminster fail to deliver.

Oakham Bus Station

The title Bus Station might be a bit on the ambitious for the new structure built in Oakham, it is more on the scale of a Bus interchange, however it is the title it has been given. It was opened on 4th May 2014 by 102 year old Tommy Suthern with the omnipresent leader of Rutland County Council, Councillor Roger Bilton  Begy OBE, who never misses a chance to get his face in the papers.The total bill for a project was somewhere in the region of £700,000 according to the Rutland Times Newspaper.

(Above) Artist Drawing - (Below) The New Bus Station

 

The Bus Station has a nice indoor waiting area, with Wi-Fi internet connection if you don't mind giving your Facebook ID to the council, real-time bus information screens, a rather nice toilet facilities that including disabled and baby changing and a unbranded coffee machine. Outside there is a cycle storage, an outdoor canopy for shelter, small bus information screen, improved lighting and outdoor seating which was a later addition together with some litter bins. All it needs now is some nice art work on the wall rather than the dull orange brick and numbered bus stops so you know where a bus might happen to be stopping.

Although rather nice the cost did seem a little high despite Councillor Roger Begy saying "careful management and attention to detail has ensured that we have spent £150,000 less than originally planned", after all they have basically done is covered the waiting area of the older Bus Station and rebuilt the building that was once a public toilet. Some people have asked why they didn't reuse the existing buildings by modifying there function rather demolishing buildings that appeared to be structurally sound. Other criticisms of the project, initially, was about the timing of the project which was done during the winter and left elderly waiting for buses near the library with no place to shelter from the cold and wet weather.

Now the people of Oakham have a nice new Bus Station all we need are bus services that meet the ordinary peoples needs and just not those in recite of bus passes like Councillor Roger Bilton Begy OBE. Talking and listening to a number of people that use the bus services in Rutland to get to and from work the service lets them down. This needs addressing by the Rutland Country Council rather than being suppressed. If the the Country Council and the Government are as committed to green as they claim then they need to provide public transport that works for people.

Fools by the Thames

Seems like the fools by the Thames are proving Alex Salmond right, that the Government in Westminster just cares about themselves and f**k everyone else. and I thought they were better than that. More fool me to think they would all make a promise and then not sort it rather than arguing about it like spoiled children, Now Labour have started fighting among themselves about powers for the regions of England that look like breaking the promise they made to the Scottish people to give them more powers. They are all behaving like children.

Thankfully there are a few people out there that know what a promise is and one of them is ex-prime Minister Gordon Brown. Describing himself as the "promise keeper" he said he would ,make sure that the "promise makers" would not become "promise breakers". He claimed that the pledges made by the party leaders would be kept, the time scale adhered too and the extra powers delivered to the Scottish people as promised by the Westminster party leaders.

However, all that the Westminster based power hungry fools want needs constitutional change for the whole nation. That requires a grown up discussion and debate in the country that your average mud slinging Member of Parliament is incapable in the days of sound bite politics. They act like children in a class room seeing who can shout loudest rather than working out what is right. It is no wonder that the 1.5 million people in Scotland didn't want to be ruled by these people, and so many care so little about politics in the rest of the country.

One thing I noticed about the debate during the Scottish vote for independence was that people where engaged in the debate. Village halls, Town halls and City halls where full of people making their voice heard and having their say, while listening to the arguments from both sides. It is no wonder they had a turn out as high as they did when it came to the vote.

Meanwhile the major parties in the rest of the United Kingdom act like the three wise monkeys and ignore any form of debate and appear to rule by the bullying system of the parliamentary whips and party politics. It is no wonder we don't feel engaged because most of the population feel powerless and so on goes the match of the fools by the Thames.

Scotland to Stay

After a long and hard fought campaign the people of Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom and the rest of the nation breathed a sigh of relief, for this country would have been a less place without them. It also marked a defeat for the Scottish Nationalist party who had promised the earth and more to get the people of Scotland to vote for independence. 

Now it is time for the rest of the United Kingdom to honour the promises it made at the end of the campaign to increase the powers it gives to the Scottish Government with no strings attached, for not to do that would be morally wrong. If any political makes a promise to secure a vote then that promise is binding, for breaking it not only shows the party to be dishonest and untrust worthy in the feature.

Back bench members of the Conservative party on hearing the result of the independence vote immediately saw an opportunity to give themselves more power but demands for more power for England, a part of the country where they have the over whelming majority of seats. It won't come as any surprise that given the importance of Scottish Labour Party seats in Westminster that the Conservatives had the most to lose from a Scottish No vote, if their had been a Yes vote they would have been almost guaranteed power for years. They aren;t going to let that go and they have a plan, more power for English members of the British government to exclusively vote on the same issues as as the Scottish Parliament has powers over. This would result them being able to veto any Labour Governments plans on Education, Health and even the Government budget.

Slimy Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, who was nearly was the man that broke up the Union, jumped on the idea, as did his nemesis Nigel Farage of the UK Independence party saying equal powers should be given to England that are being given to Scotland as part of the promise made during the independence vote. This has left the promise made during the run up to independence vote by all the major political parties in tatters with no timetable for implementation. The whole affair has been hijacked by the right wing boys from public schools.

In effect David Cameron has gone back on the promise he made during the campaign by hijacking the whole affair. He has shown his true colours and shown that the Conservatives are not a party the Scottish people can  trust and that the rest of us shouldn't be trusting them too. I just hope come the next elections the people of Scotland do their best to help vote them out and that even those in the wouldn't vote Labour vote tactically. We must get ride of politicians who say one thing and then break the promises they made. It is the sort of thing that gives politics a bad name.

I'm glad Scottland decided to stay as part of the Union but now there needs to be a timetable for the promised and agreed powers to be transferred to the Scottish people. The political representatives of the United Kingdom made a promise and should stick to it. It is simple common sense unless they want Scotland to have another vote which would break up the great nation.

Liecestershire/Rutland patient transport improvements promised

Back in July it was reported that in a recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report said Arriva Transport Solutions' service which provides hospital patient transport in Leicestershire and Rutland had been failing people. The report said that there were problems with staffing the service, the management of the service and that the service was failing in respect of care and welfare. This lead Leicester deputy mayor Rory Palmer saying that "Too many patients are receiving an extremely poor service from Arriva Transport Solutions." They were given three month to clean up their act or face the threat of fines.

Examples of poor care reported include the case of Olive Burns, who was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary after a fall, waited in the discharge lounge from 08:30 until 19:30 BST before she was taken to her care home. And this is just one extreme case and their have been others where patients are discharged to the holding lounge to wait for hours and hours. These I have seen with my own eyes when the same thing happened to me. Many of the patient waiting were old, frail and in some cases very confused as to why they weren't being taken home.

Today Arriva Transport Solutions' said it was investing in staff and punctuality was better. this was in response to the claims that patients were "often" arriving late for appointments, and taxi drivers with "poor attitudes" being used when other resources were unavailable. In a recent public meeting the company's managing director, Jonathan May, said he was "disappointed" with the delays but claimed "improvements" were being made. To solve the problem the of vehicles has been increased by 14% and the number of staff by 20%. The company are promising that this will improve the service.

Before the service was handed over to Arriva Transport Solutions' to reduce the cost of patient transport the service patients were transported by East Midlands Ambulance Service. And the mess lead Leicester deputy mayor to say "This is yet another example of big, national companies winning lucrative NHS contracts up and down the country and letting patients down." To me it is an example of private companies providing public services and cutting everything to breaking point to preserve profits. It is the one reason why the NHS should be privatised in part or as a whole. People deserve better.

Scottish Independence Vote

With talk of intimidation of "NO" supporters and threatening vote graffiti posted on the wall of at least one polling place by the Nationalists as Scotland goes to the polls to break up the United Kingdom. Whatever the rests the police have planned for civil unrest tomorrow as the results are announced, with police officer leave cancelled.

The polls opened at 0700 and closed at 2200 and the rest of the United Kingdom waits to see if the Nationalists have won the vote for independence. A "YES" vote will plunge the rest of us into years of being ruled by the Conservative party and the fool of a prime minister, David Cameron, who agreed the independence vote in the first place, after the Scottish National Party took control of the Scottish Parliament in the 2011 election.

I hope for the sake of three hundred years of history the two counties share that the vote to remain to stay in the United Kingdom. If they don't there will be years of political fighting before this issue is sorted out between the two counties and a lot of bitterness is going to be generated along the way that could damage relations between the two counties for years.

In twenty to thirty years time the whole of Scotland could be paying the prices of a "YES" vote with oil running out and high unemployment, net youth migration, falling standards of living and cuts to public services that were funded by oil revenues. When that time comes there will be no coming back and assuming that Scotland even gets into Europe it will become it poor man with all its wealth spend. What price Independence then, when they can't return to the United Kingdom.

UPDATE 22:35 - The YouGov exit poll puts the Yes vote on 46%, with the No vote on 54%. I just hope it is right and this matter can be put to bed once and for all for several generations to come and we get on with saving the UK from the Tories EU referendum nightmare.

One day left to decide

Tomorrow the people living in Scotland will decide one way or another to stay in the union or leave it forever with no chance of going back to the way things are today. While the majority of us in the United Kingdom watch hoping that they will stay and make this country great and a fairer place to live for everyone. While in Europe people will be hoping that they same the same, because most people united people and nations are stronger than the sums of there parts.

Despite the rhetoric of the Scottish Nationalist Party party there are too many unanswered economic questions and implications to Scottish independence: 

• It’s not clear what the Scottish currency would be. Scottish Nationalist Party ministers have asserted that they would create a currency union with England, but the Chancellor has made it clear that he will not allow Scotland into a currency union.
• There’s concern about Europe and the conditions and time lines of Scottish membership are unknown. 
• This would prove to be a massive risk and cause a huge uncertainty and it would mean extra cost for business and the people of Scotland.
• With many companies having to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom there would be more bureaucracy for companies whose main business crossed the boarder who would have to deal with different tax and regulation and would find themselves paying import duties. 
• It isn't clear how the Scottish Government would stop inflation and interest rates from rising, protect the country from rises in unemployment, control taxation while keeping unrealistic promises, maintain standards of living and stop the flow of migration into the United Kingdom. 

Basically the fundamental questions on the economy haven't been answered they have been either avoided or ignored and hidden in the debate by the Scottish Nationalists Party. This will be a leap into the unknown by the Scottish people.

I hope the people of Scotland vote with there heads. We all love our individual nations in the United Kingdom, we wouldn't be who we are if we didn't, it is what makes us great. The fact we all live together in one country making it all work sets the world an example of unity and what can be achieved as a whole rather than in parts. It is the way that we will achieve fairness in society by working together.

 I know not many people in Scotland will read the posts I have made in recent days, it might be as few 20 or so but if one of those people decide to keep this great nation together partly because of my words then it makes writing this and the posts before it worth it. It will be better for all our children and there children too if we remain together.

Politics or Bullying?

Ever since the December last year business leaders in Scotland have been frightened to say what they think and what will happen after independence. All through the campaign until the final weeks they kept tight lipped about there plans and what it might mean for them. This is all for good reason as we found out over the weekend from one of Alex Salmond right hand men, former deputy leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, Jim Sillars.

Back in December one business leader was reported as saying “Most business leaders are keeping their heads down on this issue mainly due to the aggressive reaction any expressed negative opinion provokes from Alex Salmond and his cohorts.” While another said It is disgraceful what is going on, with SNP ministers putting in threatening phone calls to anyone in business who dares to ask legitimate questions, accusing them of being unpatriotic and trying to kill off criticism.”

It would seem many business leaders, entrepreneurs and bankers were checking they weren’t being overheard when talking about the independence , in case they are targeted for retribution by Alex Salmond’s nationalist administration if they supported the union. Some felt it was safer to say nothing than face the potential consumer boycotts by nationalist voters who might not like their views come irrespective of the vote on Thursday. Couple with this there were concerns about incurring the wrath of Scottish Nationalist Party politicians, in terms of smear campaigns instigated in the Scottish parliament and publicised in the media.

Last year when four of the United Kingdoms big supermarkets (Tesco, J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison and Asda) dared to raise their heads above the parapet. Senior supermarket executives warned that in the event of a Yes vote, Scottish consumers faced the possibility of higher food bills. This resulted in the following response on twitter from Stan Blackley, a member of the Yes campaign’s executive: “Wouldn’t it be great if Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons (and) Asda just left Scotland after Yes vote.” While one Scottish Nationalist Party councillor in Glasgow added that it was “time to boycott” the firms.

The reason the firms issued this warning is that increased prices would result due to increased costs of distribution in Scotland compared to the rest of the United Kingdom and because of the effects of International market. In response to the threats the chief executive of Asda explained his position in the media and Sottish Nationalist Party leadership claimed that his remarks proved he had retreated when he had not. He just stated the reasoning behind the statements that were released by the supermarkets.

Iain McMillan, director of CBI Scotland, which speaks on behalf of businesses, said that businesses are worried about talking publicly. The leaders of prominent businesses have been contacted by Scottish Government ministers, he says, and warned not to criticise Mr Salmond’s independence plans. Clearly business don't want to speak out because they know whatever the way the vote goes they will have to work with Alex Salmond's regimen and in the case of a yes vote for decades to come.

That was all back in December last year and little has changed accept that there fears have come true in terms of the smear campaigns and the threats to teach them a lesson come independence are being openly spoken about and reported in the press. This has created a climate of fear is extraordinary and quite sinister and I fear that businesses are right to be fearful.

Last week a number of major banks, financial institutions, telecommunications companies and supermarkets spoke about their fears for independence, with some moving operations out of Scotland while others talked of increased costs of the products they market. The response from one of Alex Salmond, right hand man, Jim Sillars, showed the true colours of the Scottish Nationalist Party and that accusations of threats back in December were correct and the fears of businesses were well founded.

Tim Sellars threaten to nationalise BP operations in part or as whole in Scotland if the company didn't do as it was told, he further said that if the company wants to extract wants extract the potential oil fields west of Shetland "it will have to learn to bend the knee to a greater power". As for the banks he threatened them with splitting them up and warned Scotland won't bail them out if they fail. While financial institutions have been threatened with employment laws which require them to give two notice of relocation and redundancies. Finally he said  "What kind of people do these companies think we are? They will find out."

What is more interesting is when the truth came out when  Jim Sillars said "This referendum is about power, and when we get a Yes majority, we will use that power". Although he was talking about business it show what the Scottish Nationalist Party want, and its not power for the people but power for the party. Power they will have for decades to come with no real opposition in Scotland. That is one of things the people of Scotland need to think about tomorrow. Do they want a party in power that puts themselves above the needs of the nation that need to rule by fear and bullying.

Alex Salmond is a skilled campaigner and he has dedicated his life and career to winning a vote on separating Scotland from England. Having got this far, winning an overall majority for the Scottish Nationalist Party at the last Scottish parliament elections and engineering a referendum on the Union he will let nothing get in his way. Clearly he won’t opposition from the business community that might sway voters worried about jobs and prosperity, especially when they are right to be worried about doing business in Scotland given Jim Sillars remarks and the uncertainty and ecomonic questions that remain unanswered. 

Nationalism at all costs won't make Scotland a fair a place, it won't make it a better place to live or work, it won't give the people jobs. Those things won't come from socialism which has failed in so many counties in the past and will fail in Scotland too. Capitalism might not be perfect, but nor is socialism, communism or fascism. What does work is being free to speak out, make your voice heard and to change the system, something you can't do when you live in fear and you are subjected to political bullying.

Is Scottish Independence worth it?

The one thing I haven't seen is a risk analysis of Scotland voting "YES" on Thursday and what it could mean to the Scottish people. Their have been bits and pieces in the press about this and that but nobody seems to have done a complete analysis of the consequences. Looking from the out side it doesn't seem good for Scotland at all as there are too many unanswered question which means the economic stability of the country could push it into years of recession that the oil revenue will not be able to save it from. 

What I have done is to try and draw my own thoughts on what Independence will mean for Scotland in terms of the key issues as I see them. Unfortunately they don't make good reading at all if you are Scottish in an independent Scotland.

The Economy  Smaller countries are more at risk in times of global economic meltdown; you just have to look at Ireland which in recent years has suffered a recession, higher taxes, lower public spending and higher interest rates. Scotland during such times won’t have the rest of the United Kingdom to help it out financially and to provide stability during times of a downturn. The global economy isn’t stable and Scotland won’t be able to protect itself from another credit crunch by relying on oil revenue alone which is a finite resource. All this could make it hard for the Scottish Government to raise money on international markets and it will affect the countries credit rating in a detrimental way. Currency  It is clear despite what the Scottish Nationalists claim that there will be no currency union with Scotland after the vote for independence and if Scotland keep the pound it won’t be the same pound as we use in the rest of the United Kingdom. People and businesses will be forced to convert currency from one form of the pound to another. In the short term it is impossible to see Scotland adopt the Euro because of the fiscal uncertainty that independence will bring to the country, so Scotland will have to go it alone. This will all cause uncertainty and instability in the money markets that will last into the medium term. Investment  Investment and money has already started to flood out of Scottish Businesses, even before the country has voted to become independent, if the country does vote for independence this will only get worse. Other counties will be reluctant to invest in the country in the future that has so many unanswered economic questions and that is not part of the European Union, since the risks will be just too high. This means the only investment of note will come from the Scottish Government itself and this will have to come through public spending which raises the question of where will they get the money from if it not through higher taxation because it will be hard to raise money on international money markets. Interest rates  In an independent Scotland, what banks that are left will find it harder to borrow money in order to lend to customers, this will cause cash shortage that will result in them having to raise interest rates in order to attach the money they need. This will affect business and households by increasing there costs. Mortgages will be more expensive for home owners and businesses will have to pass the cost of borrowing onto consumers. This will have an affect on growth and in the short term could lead to a recession that would lead to higher unemployment, cuts in services and lower standards of living as has happened in Ireland since the credit crunch. Business  It is impossible to think that business in Scotland will not be affected by independence and as we have seen some business have plans to move head offices from Scotland to the rest of the United Kingdom. Although currently Scottish businesses pay some of the lowest levels of commercial business rates in the United Kingdom but in an independent Scotland these would need to rise to pay for the promises made by the Scottish Nationalist Party. This would make Scotland a less favourable place to base a business, together with the uncertainties about an independent Scottish economy and the affects that independence could have on the important valuable Scottish export market. Taxation  The Scottish Nationalist have made a lot of promises in the campaign for independence about how things will be better under their rule however the problem is going to be how they are going to pay for all these promises. The only way is through increased taxation and not just of the rich, who will flee the country, but by increasing the tax burden on every person in the country. Just looking through my thoughts you can see increased spending due to rising unemployment, increased public spending in order to invested, increased education funding and funding to the NHS, the list go on and on. There is no way that the increases in taxation can be avoided which will result in less consumer spending and less investment by business and will help fuel a recession which could last years. Oil Revenue  A lot is being made of the importance of oil revenue but this is a infinite resource and the revenues generated by it will only be available in the short to medium term. Hanging too many promises off it will be a disaster just waiting to happen as this avenue of income comes to an end. Services funded by it will have to be cut drastically or taxation raised to make up for the short fall. Yes, oil is a golden egg an independent Scotland but has to remembered when it is used up there will be nothing to replace it. With uncertainty about the amount of oil reserves it is not clear how long the Scottish Government has before they run into trouble. Health  Research seems to show that NHS spending in an independent Scotland would fall behind that in the rest of the United Kingdom unless the Scottish Government increases spending on health services. In order to do this they will need to find extra money through taxation. In addition to this the NHS is a United Kingdom based resource with some specialist treatments being offered in a limited number of Hospitals around Great Britain, some of these services would no longer be available after Scottish Independence representing a degrading of the services off to the people of Scotland. Unemployment With the financial companies already saying they will be leaving an Independent Scotland, employment in this sector is set to rock, then add to this the closing of the ship yards that are make ships for the Royal Navy and the loss of jobs in Naval bases and that just the tip of the iceberg. You can see there is no way increasing unemployment can avoid in an independent Scotland. The cost of increased unemployment will have to be paid for the Scottish Government which will increase the need for increases in taxation. Food Prices  In an independent Scotland food prices will increase, partly due to the geography of the country and through the costs of having to import food from outside Scotland. Currently the major Supermarkets balance the cost of food distribution throughout the whole of the United Kingdom which benefits Scotland which is more spacey populated and where transportation costs are higher, once the country is independent all these costs increase and will passed on the consumer and will result in higher prices. In addition the need to exchange currency from one form to another will also add to price of food as will higher interest rates in Scotland and possible business tax rises. Standards of Living  In a the short term there are going to be a sharp decrease in the standards of living in Scotland that the country will take tens of years to recover from. There will be a higher cost of borrowing, increasing unemployment, and higher taxation all of which will increase the risks creating a recession that will last years to a certainly. In addition to this lower investment, static wages, economic instability and a shrinking export market and oil reserves in the medium term which will lead to tight fiscal control and lower public spending and cuts in services. For the majority of the people of Scotland they will be worse off in years to come than people within the United Kingdom. Education Free University Education could be at risk in Scotland once the fee paying students from the rest of the UK stop going to Scottish Universities. This could in three years time result in a short fall of £100 million University in fees being received by the Universities which the Scottish government will have to make up. This will make it impossible for Nicola Sturgeon to keep her promise of free universities without increases in taxation. In the medium term the Scottish people could find themselves having to look to make savings in other areas of Education due to excessive short term spending just after independence. Migration In countries with falling or low standards of living people leaving the country has always been a problem. You just have to look at Ireland to realise that generations of young people have left the country to seek a better standard of living for their children. This has left Ireland with the problem of an aging population with all the cost that this involves on those that remain in the country. It is highly lightly that the same situation could arise in Scotland if there were a free movement of the work force across boarder as there has been between Ireland and the United Kingdom. This could be a disaster for the Scottish economy. Population and Emigration Even the Scottish Nationalist acknowledge that Scotland will need to grow it’s population and will need a net inflow of people of other counties for some time to come this will result in polices that encourage emigration to Scotland. This is going to be a massive problem in a country with falling standards of living and an unstable and adjusting economy which will be less and less attractive as time goes on. Also the numbers of people that the country needs will be much higher than predicted due migration form Scotland to more wealthy counties. Europe It is naturally assumed by the Scottish Nationalists that Scotland will be instantly a member of the European Union however the EU has already said it will need to apply for membership. From what I have heard from people in business in Scotland that trade and deal with the EU it isn’t going to be simple to get membership and other member states are not happy with the political system in Scotland or their push for independence. They see the country as being economically unsound and fear that the cost of them joining could be to high a price to pay in terms of propping up the economy given the spending plans of the Scottish Nationalist party. Boarder Control Boarder Control and Customs are inevitable and will be implemented on both sides of the boarder. Scotland will not want low cost items coming into the country from the United Kingdom which could undermine is tax system and so will need to set up customs posts. The United Kingdom on the other hand won’t want large number of emigrants and Scottish nationals flooding into the country through an open boarder with Scotland and will set up boarder controls. Board controls also will be required to be put in place to meet policing and defence needs as deter smuggling of goods. Defence  The Army, Navy and the Air Force in Scotland after independence will be tiny compared to the forces at its disposal that it has today and it is unclear if the Scottish Government are willing to spend enough money to allow the country to join NATO. Although it is clear the forces will be enough to defend it will have a limited influence militarily around the globe. One thing nobody has touched on in these times of international terrorism is that Scotland will need its own secret service and intelligence organisations. In addition to this Scotland will be reliant on the import of military hardware from around the world as defence contractors move operations to the United Kingdom from Scotland. Policing  Although not a big issue, Policing has to be one to be considered and there will be an effect both sides of the border. First one will have a new problem of cross border crime, i.e crimes being committed in one country being committed another. Police won’t simply be allowed to cross the board as this would be an invasion of sovereignty so a whole set extradition rules would be need to be put in place. In addition to this services which are currently provided by national bodies to the polices forces in the United Kingdom wouldn’t be available to the Scottish Police after independence such as those to fight cybercrime. These will have to be set up in Scotland adding to the cost of policing the nation. Broadcasting  It is clear that the BBC will no longer broadcast radio and television programmes in Scotland after independence and these will not even be available on BBC iPlayer. The BBC role in Freeview in Scotland will be a thing of the past as terrestrial broadcasts come to an end, although satellite broadcasts will still be available for the foreseeable future. Given the small take in license fee it is not clear if the replacement Scottish version of the BBC will even be able to afford to buy in all the programmes wants from the BBC. Further to this their will be no need for the BBC to produce programmes in Scotland that have no appeal or relevance to audiences within the United Kingdom. The BBC will simply leave Scotland. Telecommunications   Telecommunications companies have already highlighted that the cost of using mobile devices will rise just to pay for maintaining and expanding the mobile data networks in Scotland come independence. What is not said that it will cost more to phone relatives in the United Kingdom after independence because they be making international calls. In addition to this the cost of maintaining the fixed lines services is greater to in a country such as Scotland. It is also unclear how the telecommunication systems in an independent Scotland will be regulated. These are all things that little thought has been given too. Politics  It is unclear other than that Scottish National Party will be in power for at least three more terms if independence becomes reality in Scotland on Thursday. There is no organised opposition in Scotland to oppose them and they will be on the high of the independence vote. Over time the current unionist’s parties will come together in some way and provide some opposition to the nationalist party. And if they can ever defeat it is a question that remains to be answered, but something that will something is a long way off. Some people in Scotland will feel completely marginalised for years to come and this could be major problem for the Scottish Government and undoubtedly will lead to civil unrest. World Influence With a small high cost economy, a small population and a small sized military presence Scotland will have little say in world affairs. It will become a nobody state in a big world. On the world stage it will become a bit player and have little control on world events. Its influence will be tiny and this will affect trade and commerce for years to come. In addition to this, being a socialist country in a capitalist world will further diminish it credibility with a lot of nations which have a distrust of such political systems.

As far I can the only winners of a vote for independence will Alex Salmond, the Scottish Nationalist Party and the people that support them and profit buy them. For the people of Scotland it will be a one way journey into the unknown that will see them poorer and living in a country where the cost of living out strips the benefits of independence and the hallow promises made by the politicians that in the end won't be kept.

There will be no going back however close the result and the divorce won't be as neat and nice as some would have us to believe. It is all going to get very messy and their will be a backlash on both sides of the new border should the two counties divide. Already the Scottish Nationalist are threatening reprisals about businesses that leave their nation and nationalising those that disagree with their views. Talk like this is just the start of something very nasty and years of friendship will be gone forever as old friends become the old enemies of the past as nationalists on both sides make a stand. No good will come of this. 

Finally, the sad thing is this will happen and Scotland will be independent be it on Thursday or ten or twenty years time. The Scottish Nationalist won't let it go away now they have power and they want to keep it, no matter the price that Scotland has to pay for it. When Scottish independence come Great Britain will lose something great, it will lose Scotland and it people that have given so much to make the United Kingdom the country it is today. For the last 300 years or so we have stood together fighting injustice in the world and combining our strength to create a great nation. That will be lost forever.