Bonny Prince Alex

Prior to the union with England Scotland had a long and glorious tradition of following the wrong leader and creating the wrong alliances and this poor judgement eventually created the need for union with England 1706, when the Scottish Parliament voted by 106 votes to 69 for dependence.  Since the Union there have also been a number of moments when the Scots have thrown their lot in with leaders (Bonny Prince Charlie for one) and alliances (The French) who offered more than they were able to deliver.

Queen Anne's floral badge of Union

Devolution with dilution solving the Lothian question

Right the way across the globe old political structures are being torn down, the Arab spring has turned to Muslim winter, austerity in Europe drives people against their politicians and more generally the catholic South of Europe is in conflict with the Lutheran North.  In the BRIC economies rapid growth has not assuaged the thirst for change.  It must be something in the water that’s affecting us all, or is it just money or the shortage of it?  Interestingly it’s the middle classes and in particular the young middle classes who are after a change and they have forgotten their manners;  the post baby boomer generation thought they had it all in the Credit Boom and now they are feeling the pinch and look likely to be in recovery mode for years to come. In Blighty we have been somewhat protected although we having to acclimatise to coalition government and the rise of independence fever.  We may not be rioting on the streets in protest to austerity but we are close to a more fundamental breakdown.

Guarding against a repeat of 1066

In 1415 we had the longbow, in 1588 we had fire barges, in 1805 we had Nelson, in 1815 we had the thin red line and in 1990 we had Brian Moore, having been out gunned by the French in 1066 we have never allowed ourselves to be in such an embarrassing situation again.  All the talk of Britain throwing in the towel on nuclear deterrents while the French have the bomb is laughable.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has been busy defending the Trident programme, which is our multi-billion £ submarine based nuclear capability, he said  "The Soviet Union no longer exists (well spotted). But the nuclear threat has not gone away. In terms of uncertainty and potential risk it has, if anything, increased".  He added "Last year North Korea unveiled a long-range ballistic missile which it claims can reach the whole of the United States. If this became a reality it would also affect the whole of Europe, including the UK".  Clutching at straws here I think!

Should the English have a vote on Scottish independence?

All those years ago a simple act of Parliament sealed one of the most successful unions in world history.  The initial article simple said - 

That the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland shall upon the First day of May which shall be in the year One thousand seven hundred and seven and for ever after be united into one Kingdom by the name of Great Britain And that the Ensigns Armorial of the said United Kingdom be such as Her Majesty shall appoint and the Crosses of St. George and St. Andrew be conjoyned in such manner as Her Majesty shall think fit and used in all Flags Banners Standards and Ensigns both at Sea and Land

During the intervening 308 years this partnership has been unbelievably successful, between us we have:
1.  Colonised about about a quarter of all the earth 
2.  Forged the industrial revolution
3.  Kept freedom safe in Europe twice
4.  Spawned 119 Nobel prize winners (More the either France or Germany)
5.  Survived some of the worst weather on the planet and come up smiling!

Westminster Mash - digest of political posts

We are a tipping point in British politics, seldom has there been so much to be interested in.  We have the election in 2015, the Scottish independence referendum next year and an impending European Union in/out referendum in 2017.  To heighten the interest we have a coalition government who will have to  tread the line between being in power together and in (quite bitter) opposition to each other at the election.  This Post covers a range of subject that I have blogged about in an attempt to cover this fascinating but complicated landscape.

Where did it all go wrong?

Firstly, there is the referendum in Scotland and its potential impact on English politics, a vote for independence would be terminal for Labour.
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-lothian-question.html

Secondly, as a social media new boy, I looked at the anger of the Left and what motivates the school boy insults that Ed Miliband and his followers can't resist.
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/02/campaign-against-priviledge.html

Thirdly, the Eastleigh bi-election provided a great insight to some of the problems the major parties
face.  The irrelevance of Labour in the south of England, The anti Government sentiment that is bringing down the libdems and the lack of talent the Tories have among their prospective candidates. All of these issues resulted in a spectacular protest votes that UKIP cashed in on.
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/02/touch-of-class.html

 Some people think David Cameron is a poor Prime Minister because he is too posh, others think he is
lazy.  My guess there is something else holding him back.
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/02/oh-dave.html

 Looking back at how Gordon Brown saved his party from annihilation at the last election one gets a
clue as to how David Cameron might approach the problem of electoral unpopularity - two Posts cover the ground.
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/03/in-tight-spot.html
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-polite-bribe.html

Finally, we look at David Cameron's mid term / life crisis and his pathetic attempts to woe the younger generation.
http://getwd50.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-grey-vote.html

I took the recent speech verbatim from David Cameron's recent up date on the economy - basically sticking to plan A  - and created a word cloud and this is what we get, not exactly Milton Friedman is it?

 

The Lothian Question

The Scottish government has outlined a possible transition to independence in the event of a "Yes" vote in the autumn 2014 referendum.  If they get the nod, Independence Day for Scotland would be in March 2016.  This leaves us with the awkward problem of what to do with Scottish MPs elected to the Parliament in Westminster in the 2015 general election.  Presumably they will all stand down on Independence Day and if the Government looses its majority then there will be another election?  

This is likely to be messy, particularly if Labour wins a majority at the next election with the help of their forty Scottish MPs.  In the 2010 election the Tories fell short of a Parliamentary majority by 20 seats (MPs).  But without the Scottish seats they would have had a majority of 9.  Interestingly the chances of Labour ever winning an outright majority after Scottish independence are virtually Zero!!

Party	2010 election results Seats	Without Scots MPS
Conservative	306	305
Labour	258	217
Liberal Democrat	57	46
Others	30	23
Total seats	650	591

So whilst I have have been happy to be British all my life I am quite looking forward to being English from 2016.  Actually I'm not sure what I shall be called given we will still be in union with Wales and Northern Ireland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-21331302

It's a Gas, Gas, Gas

It  amuses me that England may be about to enjoy a fracking gas boom just when the Scots are about to vote for independence.  Sadly Scotland is 90% granite - not much shale around north of the border!  Having moaned that we have squandered their oil inheritance they will be pretty peeved if we end up having an energy boom of our own just after they ditch the grand alliance!

Up dated on 11th jan 2013

We now find that the Shetland Islander don't want to play ball either - Alex Salmond could be running short of energy very soon

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/9794268/SNP-warned-off-outrageous-Shetland-oil-grab.html


The Up Helly A festival in the Shetland Islands to show off their Scandinavian heritage