The Scottish Government

Well, the latest tactic employed by the Unionist establishment appears to have run out of steam (or hot air).

The attempts at smearing the SNP have resulted only in Nicol Stephen doing serious damage to himself and his party as he jeopordised a possible £1 billion investment opportunity in an attempt at scoring some cheap political points.

Leaving aside the cowardly attack by Stephen on a civil servant in no position to defend himself, the baseless allegations Stephen made were as serious as you could level at a politician.

He accused the SNP government of lies, sleaze and law breaking, all without a shred of evidence. That the Scottish media headlined all of these rants is appalling. However, these media headlines have backfired badly and alerted the general public to the duplicity of this man.

The Unionists have singularly failed to provide evidence for any of these allegations. Allegations that began with a 'secret' meeting, unfortunately the meeting had been announced and reported in the local press. Then followed the ministerial misconduct allegation, that too was demonstrated to be false. We then had the pathetic attempt at 'cargate' until it was pointed out that Salmond had been on ministerial business on that day. When John Elvidge publicly cleared Salmond of any misconduct this is when the fool Nicol Stephen jumped in.

So, what has this business demonstrated?

Well, it is clear that there are a group of influential people prepared to destroy Scotlands reputation, economy and democratically elected government in order to preserve the Union.

What is also clear is that Unionist law breakers are to be tolerated in our parliament. A news blackout has been imposed in relation to Scottish Labour's corruption and illegal donations scandal.

As English newspapers uncover and disclose even more fraud at the heart of Scottish Labour we in Scotland will struggle to find it in our newspapers or our T.V programmes.

However, in spite of this propoganda by the Unionist establishment it would appear that support for the SNP and the independence movement continues to grow. As more and more people begin to access free information from the internet thay are able to make reasoned decisions based on facts and not dostorted and manipulated dross.

It is now very obvious that the unionist parties are running scared of the SNP and are trying every trick in the book to prevent the SNP government from making a great success of being in power - the majority of the electorate are now seeing through their tactics and the opposition parties' antics can only help the SNP to win their ultimate goal.

#1771. Yea or Nay -
Friday, December 14, 2007 12:42

'Ordinary bobbies patrolling the streets' would've been better off with who else in government exactly?

Only 5-7% of the total police strength we are told have been on patrol in Scotland at any given time during the period of devolved government in Scotland. ie 1000 PCs.

You flatter the SNP if you expected them to rid the streets of Scotland of criminality in their first few months of government.

Student debt, who's bright idea was it to land them in debt in the first place?

Who made the cruel hoax, 'Education, Education, Education'?

""...Salmond's latest victims - the chronically ill...""(eh?) How exactly;introducing free prescriptions, keeping local A&E depts open?

No, people like me who put an 'X' for the SNP were not expecting things to miraculously come good overnight.
I, for one, expected to find a government with a backbone and a working set of gonads, to stand up for Scotland and to look after the interests of the people of Scotland first, last and always.

A novel concept which I accept some of our inhabitants will probably never get their minds around.

Betrayals?!! Are you serious?
McCrone, Fisheries, Ferries, Shipbuilding, Iraq, Education, Education, Education, psst how much for a #######?, etc, etc, etc,...

I'm just back from Dublin, not too many there complaining 'seperation' from Westminster has been hurting their people.

[1771] It is indeed sad that when we receive an objective report that clearly indicates an increasing division in the education and future prospects of the rich and the poor in this country, that some cannot put their immediate obsessions behind them and constructively focus on how we can make a better Scotland for all, irrespective of any political party affiliations. The SNP did not bring about this current regrettable situation, and it is disappointing that some cannot see past returning us to the control of the same party/politicians who over many years consistently did “betray” those that elected them, but this is a matter with which their collective conscience should wrestle. What is important is to work out how we can best use the talents and skills of everyone in this country to build a better future for all of our children and I believe even the most blinkered individuals can contribute something positive to this ‘conversation’ if they try hard enough!

I would urge any undecideds that are vsiting this forum for the first time to read the comments from #1771 and contrast this type of comment with the comments from those of us supporting independence.

1751, #1759

In a way it's kind of amusing watching the Separatists in our midst desperately scurrying around defending to the last the SNP's failure to come good on the manifesto commitments it made to the people of Scotland.

Of course, it's no laughing matter for those caught up in the SNP's web of broken promises: the ordinary bobby looking forward to a bit of help patrolling the streets; the elderly, fearful of street crime and burglary; the thousands of students previously denied freedom from fees and who looked to SNP promises for a debt free future; the parents of children to whom SNP promises of a reduction in class sizes must now surely seem like a cruel hoax.

And then there are Salmond's latest victims - the chronically ill.

Sadly, many of these individuals are the unsuspecting dupes of the SNP's pre-election assurances that all would be well if they made out an 'X' to Salmond on May 3. And now they reap the rewards.

But as the massed ranks of SNP apologists on this forum arrogantly wave away complaints about promises made and not kept it is important that the rest of us, a.k.a. the overwhelming majority of Scots, remember that these betrayals WILL hurt real people, people who could well be our family members, neighbours, friends, workmates and acquaintances. All ordinary Scots who surely deserve much better.


P.S. Apologies for my tardy reply - but my life, like the overwhelming majority of Scots, doesn't revolve around this 'conversation'!

[1765] Please accept my apologies for causing you concern by questioning your apparent wish to hide your identity. I can certainly assure you that I have no interest in your name but as the fears you have expressed about Independence may be shared by others (even though the reasoning behind them is not obvious to me), I would encourage you to read the other three paragraphs which were more pertinent to this Conversation and to perhaps respond constructively. I know that irrespetive of our different opinions we all wish better futures for our children and that the increasing divide between the prospects of the poor and the rich, as objectively assessed and recently reported in the media, causes all of us concern.

Freedom is the undeniable right of all nations. Only total independence constitutes true freedom. Scotland remains like an inmate in Sydney Austalia Taronga Zoo's new gorilla enclosure - the environment is certainly more like their original homeland, but the trees are still electified, the walls and moat still denote their boundaries, and they are still ultimately told when to go to bed, when to eat, when to play, and how to live by their zoo keepers.

I was not born in Britain, I was born in Scotland. Yet, each time I go to fill in an online form, or make a transaction at the bank, I can't find Scotland anywhere on the selection list. I have to write Britain...aka England. I am gutted that we are so timid still. True freedom cannot be bargained for, it must be taken. True freedom cannot be settled for, it must be demanded. To be free is not an act of parliament, it is an act of will. I declare one day that I will be ruled no more, and it is so. Scotland can be free in one day, she only needs to cry it out!

Sons and daughters of Scotland, who says to us that we need permission to be free? Who tells us that we must wait for freedom? Who declares to us that we are not free...sadly, only we do.

Open your eyes. Simply say to the English, then to the world that we are free and we are independent and it shall be so. It is a simple process. We control our borders, we control out armies, we control our health care, we control our taxes, we control our education, we control our wealth, we control our natural resources, we control our policing, we control our infrastructures, we control, we control, we control. It can happen tomorrow, it can happen today. Are we so timid and ultimately so naiive to think that we cannot govern ourselves this day, today, right now. Of course we can.

I love being a Scotsman. How much more wonderful is it going to be when I can tell the world that I am a Scotsman in a free land, an independent nation, with its own constitution, its own government, its own people, its own destiny.

I welcome the national conversation.

Like many people living in Scotland I often wonder what it would be like should we either re-establish our political independence or even have a parliament with greater powers than the current set up allows.

I suppose the bottom line is I would like the opportunity to listen to the agruments, put my own views forward and then be able to choose between the various options.

I know the national Conversation is working towards this and I'm more than a little perplexed about the Liberal, Labour and Conservative debate in the parlaiment to have a commission look at the various option to take scotland forward...but with the exception of independence. Why exclude people from the debate and their right to legitimately put forward their option ? ( Bit of an own goal guys ! ).

Any way Mr Salmond good luck to you and I look forward to contributing to the debate as it unfolds and voting in a referendum for my favoured position.

Let's take Scotland forward together !

#1765
Please get your facts right before you go on to a public forum.
The First Minister did NOT meet Donald Trump; he met employees of Donald Trump as a constituency MSP. There is a difference!
I suspect that you are a Labour fellow traveler and happy with the mediocrity and stasis of the Lib/Lab years. Wendy was a prominent part of that for some of the time and cannot be excused for her involvement. She has admitted that the law was broken in her Leadership campaign and its touting for money from ex-patriot millionaires!
It is difficult to see how the Lib/Lab/Tory Commission will achieve anything and why is Civic Scotland excluded? There is already a Constitutional Commission set up by Kenyon Wright, John Drummond etc that sets out to involve the whole of Scottish Civic society and that is a much more equitable way to proceed than "Wee Wendy's" talking shop!!