Unionists retreat to Fortress BBC as the final battle nears

Fortress BBC Scotland - Pacific Quay, Glasgow.
(This image may be freely re-used in pro-Scottish-independence contexts- if unchanged and not-for-profit) 

Unionists retreat to Fortress BBC 
as the final battle nears

by G.A.Ponsonby (28 June 2014)

The referendum campaign entered a new phase last week - the TV debates.

Last weekend the Sunday Herald revealed that First Minister Alex Salmond had accepted Alistair Darling's 'anytime, anywhere' challenge to a live TV head-to-head.

STV stole a march on its BBC rival and set up a mouth-watering clash between Salmond and one of either David Cameron or Alistair Darling.  If Cameron refused to appear by July 16th, said Salmond, then he'd meet Darling when the Commonwealth Games finished.

Despite initially welcoming the statement from the First Minister to a debate with Darling, crowing that they'd smoked him out, the Better Together campaign then performed a shock volte-face.

STV were given the elbow and the broadcaster was accused of bowing to pressure from Alex Salmond by agreeing to a post-Games date.  That the First Minister's stance had not altered one jot since Better Together had welcomed his initial statement, mattered not.

Alarm bells should have rung when it emerged that on the same day Darling withdrew from the STV debate a mysterious, and hitherto unreported, invite from the BBC had been proffered to the No campaign.  It saved Darling's skin and allowed the anti-Independence alliance to claim their man was still prepared to debate Salmond.  How fortuitous I thought.

Read full article HERE

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See also -

Academic calls on media to end news blackout of BBC-Bias study

  By Anne-Marie O'Donnell (1 July 2014)

An academic from the University of the West of Scotland, Professor John Robertson, has accused the BBC of bullying after he carried out research which highlighted an apparent bias in favour of the No campaign in coverage of the Scottish independence referendum. 

Professor Robertson told how senior BBC Scotland figures reported him to senior staff at the university after the research was published, and how the broadcaster's head of policy and corporate affairs wrote to his employer in "aggressive terms".

Read full article HERE

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Luchd-an-Aonaidh a' teicheadh ri Daingneach a' BhBC, 's am blàr mu dheireadh a' tighinn faisg oirnn

le G.A.Ponsonby (28 Ogmhios 2014)

Ràinig iomairt an Reifrinn ìre ùr air an t-seachdainn sa chaidh - ceist deasbadan TV.

An deireadh-seachdain sa chaidh dh'fhoillsich an Sunday Herald gun robh Alex Salmond air gabhail ri dùlan Alistair Darling a-thaobh deasbad TV beò aghaidh-ri-aghaidh "àm sam bith, àite sam bith".

Rinn STV a' chùis air a' BhBC, a' cur air bhonn sàr chòmhrag eadar Salmond agus an dàrna cuid David Cameron air neo Alistair Darling. Ma dhiùlt Cameron a nochdadh ro Iuchar 16, arsa Salmond, choinnicheadh e ri Darling as dèidh Geamannan a' Cho-fhlathais.

Sa chiad dol-a-mach chuir "Nas Fheàrr Còmhla" fàilte air aonta a' Phrìomh Mhinisteir deasbad a chumail ri Darling, a' bòstadh gun do ghèill e ris a' chuideim a leig iad air. Ach cha mhòr sa bhad dh'atharraich iad an sgeul...

Dhiùlt iad STV, a' cur às leth a' chraoladair gun do chrom e ri cuideam bho Alex Salmond nach gabhadh esan ri ceann-latha ro dheireadh nan Geamannan. Ged nach robh seasamh a' Phrìomh Mhinisteir air atharrachadh idir idir bho àm an fhàilte a chuir Nas Fheàrr Còmhla air aig an toiseach, is iad a bha coma.

Bu chòir dhuinn air amharas a ghabhail nuair a thàinig e am follais gur ann air an dearbh là a tharraing Darling a-mach às an deasbad STV a chaidh cuireadh dìomhair, gun sanas ro làimh, a thairgsinn leis a' BhBC ris an iomairt Cha Bu Chòir. Shàbhail seo craiceann Dharling agus cheadaich e dhan caidreachas contra-neo-eisimeileachd a bhith cumail orra ag ràdh gun robh an Darlingeach fhathast deònach deasbad a dhèanamh ri Salmond. Abair fòrtanach, smaoinich mi.

Leugh an còrr dhen airtigeal sa Bheurla 

AN SEO

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Businesswoman Michelle Thomson – my journey to independence (video)

Publiée le 2014-06-23

Michelle Thomson from Business for Scotland speaks about why she is voting yes and why she thinks it's the best way for all of us.

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Derek Bateman interviews Alex Salmond (Audio)

Derek Bateman: An Audience with Alex Salmond (Audio)

HERE

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James Robertson: The News Where You Are

Publiée le 2014-06-04

James Robertson's take, in 365 words, 

on that phrase at the end of the BBC's News At Ten.

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Jeane Freeman and Isobel Lindsay

Two leaders of the independence movement 

and driving forces behind Women for Independence speak -

Jeane Freeman on her journey to Yes from being (past Labour First Minister) Jack McConnell’s advisor to a committed believer in independence…

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Isobel Lindsay on the inter-relationship between national identity and social equality…

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By BELLACALEDONIA (JUNE 21, 2014)
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Dooyeweerd: Sphere Sovereignty

Direct download of above BOOK (256 page PDF)

HOMEPAGE for free downloads of Dooyeweerd books

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Sphere Sovereignty

The principle of sphere sovereignty is a creational principle which is unbreakably connected with the scriptural ground-motive of the Christian religion. It tells us of the mutual irreducibility, inner connection, and inseparable coherence of all the aspects [law-spheres] of reality in the order of time. If we consider logical thinking, for example, we find that it is embedded within the logical [analytical] aspect of temporal reality. While this aspect is irreducible to the others, sovereign in its own sphere, and subject to its own sphere of divine laws (the laws for logical thought), it nevertheless reveals its internal nature and its autonomy only in an unbreakable coherence with all the other aspects of reality. If one attempts to conceive of the logical function as absolute, that is, as independent of and apart from the functions of feeling, organic life, historical development of culture, and so on, then it dissolves into nothingness. It does not exist by itself. It reveals its own true nature only in an inseparable coherence with all the functions which created reality displays within time.

     We should, therefore, really see that we can only think in a logical manner as long as we are in our perishable body which functions physico-chemically and which incorporates organic life processes. Our hope of immortality is not rooted in logical thinking but in Christ Jesus. By the light of God's Word we know that our temporal life in all its aspects has a spiritual, religious root-unity that will not decay with our temporal existence. This unity, which transcends our bodily life, is the imperishable soul.

(Herman Dooyeweerd: Roots of Western Thought: Pagan, Secular, and Christian Options, Paideia Press 2012, p 44)

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Dooyeweerd: Historicism

Historicism

Today we live under the dominion of an idolatrous view of reality that absolutizes the historical aspect [law-sphere] of creation. It calls itself dynamic, believing that all of reality moves and unfolds historically.  It directs its polemic against static views that adhere to fixed truths. It considers reality one-sidedly in the light of historical becoming and development, arguing that everything is purely historical in character. This "historicism," as it is called, knows of no eternal values. All of life is caught up in the stream of historical development. From this viewpoint the truths of the Christian faith are just as  relative and transient as the ideals of the French Revolution.

 There are many moments of truth in the historicistic view of reality. All temporal things do indeed have a historical aspect. Historical development occurs in scientific endeavour, in society, in art, in human "ideals," and even in the revelation of God's Word. Still, the historical side remains merely one aspect of the full reality given to us in time. The other aspects cannot be reduced to it. It does not reach the root unity and absolute origin of reality. Because historicism absolutizes the historical aspect, its individual truths are dangerous weapons of the spirit of deception. (Dooyeweerd, 'Roots of Western Culture' p 43)

[...] Following the example of the mathematical and natural sciences, earlier humanistic theory had always sought after the universally valid laws that control reality. It constructed an 'eternal order of natural law' out of the 'rational nature of humankind'. This order was totally independent of historical development, and was valid for every nation at all times and in all places. The earlier rationalistic humanism displayed little awareness of the individual traits of peoples and nations. All individual things were regarded as mere instances or examples of a universal rule and were reduced to a universal order. This reduction highlights the rationalistic tendency of this type of humanistic thought.  

But as a result of the polarity of its religious ground-motive, humanism veered to the other extreme after the French Revolution. Rationalistic humanism turned into irrationalistic humanism, which rejected all universally valid laws and order. It elevated individual potential to the status of law. Irrationalistic humanism was not inspired by the exact mathematical and natural sciences but by art and the science of history. Art revealed the 'genius' and uniqueness of individuality. This 'romanticism', which for a time dominated western culture during the Restoration period after Napoleon's fall, was the source of the view of reality defended by the Historical School." (Dooyeweerd, 'Roots of Western Culture' pp 43, 50)

[Nazism recognized no laws above itself EXCEPT the genius and destiny of the German volk:]

When the Historical School attempted to understand the whole of culture, language, art, jurisprudence, and the economic and social orders in terms of the historical development of an individual national spirit, it elevated the national character to the status of the origin of all order. It therefore denied the truth that the individual creature always remains subject to law. It argued that if the individual potential of a man or nation is the only law for development and action, then this potential cannot be evaluated in terms of a universally valid law. Accordingly, any nation was considered to act rightly and legitimately if it simply followed the historical fate or goal implicit in its individual potential or disposition.  

This view of reality was historicistic in the sense explained above. Although the Historical School fundamentally rejected the validity of general laws, it nevertheless tried to compensate for this by seeking to reach a kind of compromise with the Christian belief in 'divine providence'. It proclaimed divine providence to be a 'hidden' law of history, arguing that God's providence rules the history of a nation. As the Christian mask was laid aside, 'providence' was replaced by Schicksal, the historical destiny or fate of a nation. Schicksal played the same role as divine providence; it operated as a norm for the development of a national character.  

Careful readers will have noted how closely this view approaches the spiritual atmosphere of national socialism and its appeal to providence, to the 'Destiny of the German People'  [Schicksal des deutschen Volkes]. We will do well to keep the affinity between national socialism and the Historical School in mind, for later we will see that nazism must be considered primarily a degenerate fruit of the historicism propagated by the Historical School." (Dooyeweerd, 'Roots of Western Culture' p 52)

(Herman Dooyeweerd: Roots of Western Thought: Pagan, Secular, and Christian Options, Paideia Press 2012, pp 43, 50, 52)

Download DIRECT free pdf (256 pages) of above book
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Dooyeweerd: Common Grace

Common Grace
In its revelation of the fall into sin, the Word of God penetrates through to the root and the religious center of human nature. The fall meant apostasy from God in the heart and soul, in the religious center and spiritual root, of humankind. Apostasy from the absolute source of life signified spiritual death. The fall into sin was indeed radical and swept with it the entire temporal world precisely because the latter finds its religious root-unity only in humankind. Every conception that involves a denial of this radical meaning of the fall into sin stands squarely in opposition to the scriptural ground-motive. This is so even if it hangs on to the term "radical", as, for example, the great humanist thinker Kant did in his discourse on the "radical evil" (Radikal-böse) in the human being. Any conception that entails a denial of the biblical meaning of radical knows neither the real human being, nor God, nor the depth of sin. 

    The revelation of the fall, however, does not signify the recognition of an autonomous, self-determining principle of origin in juxtaposition to the Creator. Sin exists only in a false relation to God and is therefore never independent of the Creator. If there were no God there could be no sin. The possibility of sin, as the apostle Paul profoundly expressed it, was initially created by God's law. Without the law which commands good there could be no evil. But the same law makes it possible for the creature to exist. Without the law the human being would sink into nothingness; the law determines that person's humanity. Since sin therefore has no self-determining existence of its own over against God the Creator, it is not able to introduce an ultimate dualism into creation. The origin of creation is not twofold. Satan himself is a creature, who, in his created freedom, voluntarily fell away from God.

    The divine Word — through which all things were created, as we learn from the prologue to the Gospel of John — became flesh in Jesus Christ. It entered into the root and temporal expressions, into heart and life, into soul and body of human nature; and for this very reason it brought about a radical redemption: the rebirth of humankind and, in it, of the entire created temporal world which finds in humankind its center.

   By his creating Word, through which all things were made and which became flesh as Redeemer, God also upholds the fallen world through his "common grace", that is the grace given to the community of humankind as a whole, without distinction between regenerate and apostate people. For also those who have been redeemed continue, in their sinful nature, to be part of fallen humankind. Through common grace the spread of sin is held at bay and the universal demonization of humankind is restrained so that everywhere sparks of God's Light of might, goodness, truth, righteousness, and beauty may shine even in cultures directed by apostasy. Earlier we already pointed to the significance of Roman civil law as an example of the fruit of common grace. 

    In his common grace God first of all upholds the ordinances of his creation and through them he maintains "human nature". These ordinances are the same for Christians and non-Christians. God's common grace is evident in that even the most antigodly rulers must continually bow and capitulate before God's decrees if they are to see enduring positive results from their labors. But wherever these ordinances in their diversity within time are not grasped and obeyed in the light of their religious root (the religious love commandment of service to God and neighbour), such veritable capitulation or subjection to these ordinances remains incidental and piecemeal. Thus apostate culture always reveals a disharmony arising out of an idolatrous absolutization of certain aspects of God's creation at the cost of other, equally essential, aspects.

    God's common grace reveals itself not only in the upholding of his creation ordinances but also in the individual gifts and talents given by God to specific people. Great statesmen, thinkers, artists, inventors, etc. can be of relative blessing to humankind in temporal life, even if the direction of their lives is ruled by the spirit of apostasy. In this too one sees how blessing is mixed with curse, light with darkness.

    In all of this it is imperative to understand that "common grace" does not weaken or eliminate the antithesis (opposition) between the ground-motive of the Christian religion and the apostate ground-motives.  Common grace, in fact, can be understood only on the basis of the antithesis. It began with the promise made in paradise that God would put enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman from which the Christ would be born. The religious root of common grace is Christ Jesus himself, who is its King, apart from whom God would not look upon his fallen creation with grace. 

    There should no longer be any difference of opinion concerning this matter in Reformational-Christian circles. For if one tries to conceive of common grace apart from Christ by attributing it exclusively to God as creator, then one drives a wedge in the Christian ground-motive between creation and redemption. Then one introduces an internal split within the Christian ground-motive, through which it loses its radical and integral character. (Radical and integral here mean: everything is related to God in its religious root.) Then one forgets that common grace is shown to all humankind — and in humankind to the whole temporal world — as a still undivided whole, solely because humankind is redeemed and reborn in Christ and also because humankind embraced in Christ still shares in fallen human nature until the fulfilment of all things. 

    But in Christ's battle against the kingdom of darkness, Christ's kingship over the entire domain affected by common grace is integral and complete. For this reason, it is in common grace that the spiritual antithesis assumes its character of embracing the whole of temporal life. That God lets the sun rise over the just and the unjust, that he grants gifts and talents to believers and unbelievers alike — all this is not grace for the apostate individual, but for all of humankind in Christ. It is gratia communis, common grace rooted in the Redeemer of the world.

    The reign of common grace will not cease until the final judgment at the close of history, when the reborn creation will be liberated from its participation in the sinful root of human nature and will sparkle with the highest perfection through the communion of the Holy Spirit. Then God's righteousness will radiate even in Satan and in the wicked as a confirmation of the absolute sovereignty of the Creator.

    Shown to God's fallen creation as a still undivided totality, the revelation of God's common grace guards the truly scriptural Christian community against sectarian "high-mindedness" which leads some Christians to flee from the world and reject without further ado whatever arises in western culture outside of the immediate influence of religion. Sparks of the original glory of God's creation still shine in every phase of culture, to a greater or lesser degree, even if its development has occurred under the guidance of apostate spiritual powers. Humankind cannot deny this without being guilty of gross ingratitude.

     It is the will of God that we have been born in western culture, just as Christ appeared in the midst of a Jewish culture in which Greco-Roman influences were evident on all sides. But, as we said earlier, this can never mean that the radical antithesis between Christian and apostate ground-motives loses its force in the "area of common grace". The manner in which scriptural Christianity must be enriched by the fruits of classical and humanistic culture can only be a radical and critical one. Christians must never absorb the ground-motive of an apostate culture into their lives and thoughts. They must never strive to synthesize or bridge the gap between an apostate ground-motive and the ground-motive of the Christian religion. Finally, they must never deny that the antithesis, from out of the religious root, cuts directly through the issues of temporal life.

(Herman Dooyeweerd: Roots of Western Thought: Pagan, Secular, and Christian Options, Paideia Press 2012, p 36-39)

Direct download of above BOOK (256 page PDF)

HOMEPAGE for free downloads of Dooyeweerd books

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Dooyeweerd: creation, fall, and redemption through Christ Jesus

"The scriptural ground-motive of the Christian religion — creation, fall, and redemption through Christ Jesus — operates through God's Spirit as a driving force in the religious root of temporal life. As soon as it takes hold of you completely, it brings about a radical conversion of your life-stance and of the whole view of temporal life. The depth of this conversion can be denied only by those who fail to do justice to the integrality and radicality of the Christian ground-motive. Those who weaken the absolute antithesis in a fruitless effort to link this ground-motive with the ground-motives of apostate religions in effect end up taking part in such a denial.
    But those who by grace come to true knowledge of God and of themselves inevitably experience spiritual liberation from the yoke of sin and from sin's burden upon their view of reality, even though they know that sin will not cease in their lives. They realize nothing in created reality offers the foundations or foothold as a reliable basis for their existence. They grasp how temporal reality and its nuanced multifaceted aspects and structures are concentrated as a whole in the religious root-community of the spiritual dimension of humankind. They see that temporal reality searches restlessly in the human heart for its divine origin, and they understand that the creation cannot rest until it rests in God."
(Herman Dooyeweerd: Roots of Western Thought: Pagan, Secular, and Christian Options, Paideia Press 2012, p 41)

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Cymru'n Cefnogi Annibyniaeth | Wales Supports Scottish Independence

Cymru'n Cefnogi Annibyniaeth  

Wales Supports Scottish Independence

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Le Vive l’Écosse pas-libre d’Hillary Clinton

Le Vive l’Écosse pas-libre 

d’Hillary Clinton

MATHIEU BOCK-CÔTÉ - 15 JUIN 2014

Après Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton n’a pu s’empêcher de faire savoir son opinion sur l’indépendance de l’Écosse : elle la redoute, et plus encore, elle détesterait cela. Évidemment, elle ne l’a pas dit d’un balcon, directement à la foule d’Édimbourg, mais la déclaration frappe : elle se rajoute à celles qui se multiplient, ces temps-ci, et qui entendent dissuader les Écossais d’embrasser la souveraineté. Évidemment, Hillary Clinton n’est plus en fonction, mais devinant qu’elle sera probablement candidate à l’investiture démocrate, ce propos n’est pas sans portée.

Est-ce un vent de panique? Peut-être. D’un sondage à l’autre, l’appui à l’indépendance augmente...

PLUS ICI

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One rule for Yes and none for No

One rule for Yes and none for No

By G.A.Ponsonby (19 June 2014)

Better Together are in a mess.  As I write that sentence I have to double check to see what they are really called, are they still Better Together or are they No Thanks?

There have been so many rebrands and re-launches I’m not even sure any more.

To be honest it doesn't matter what they call themselves, they've never really had a campaign to brand.  Better Together's strategy has been to flood the compliant Scottish media machine with claim after claim.  They've a new vehicle now to go with their rebrand in the shape of Scotland 2014.

The media strategy though isn't working and, devoid of the boots on the ground that make up Yes Scotland's optimistic army, they are left with the sobering thought that the debate is lost.  The polls are closing as people start to tune into the real issues and tune out of the scares.

If you are losing the debate then the only thing left is to close it down.

Read full article HERE

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Gordon Brown calls for end to Scotland's distinct education system

Gordon Brown calls for end to Scotland's distinct education system

By a Newsnet reporter (16 June 2014)

Gordon Brown has come under fire today after calling for Scotland's education to be brought under UK control. The former Prime Minister, who has shoehorned himself into the independence debate front-line, made the call in a speech at Edinburgh University.

The former Labour leader called for an end to Scotland's centuries old education system and for common UK exams and qualifications.  Mr Brown claimed most young Scots didn't want to be edcucated in an exclusively Scottish education system but instead wanted it intergated into one which was UK wide.

Read full article HERE

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A northern frontier: Arctic prosperity for independent Scotland

A northern frontier: Arctic prosperity for independent Scotland

Michael Gray (09 June 2014)

An independent Scotland will gain the powers to improve the economy and create more jobs. In a changing world it is crucial that business in Scotland can respond to new opportunities. Control over investment, taxation, industrial policy and exports can chart a path to greater prosperity. One key example of this lies in the potential held by the Arctic region.

Read full article HERE

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Scotland is one of the world's wealthiest nations

http://www.yesscotland.net/

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Colonial and Corrupt – Time’s up for BBC Scotland

Colonial and Corrupt – 

Time’s up for BBC Scotland

By G.A.Ponsonby (5 June 2014)

President Obama has spoken; the USA made a tragic mistake when it fought off colonial rule over 200 years ago.  America wants to rejoin the self-styled 'greatest Union on earth'.

 

OK, not quite, but what an interesting question it would have been to the US President – why did they leave the UK when it was (then) a 100 year old success story?

Obama's intervention (that's what pundits call it) was Reporting Scotland's top story last night.  His short oblique statement on the referendum was just enough for him to deny he had backed one side over the other.

But it was seized on by our broadcaster and pushed to the top of the news agenda.  'Barack backs No' was the message.

Never has so few words received such massive coverage.  Never has a foreign politician been subjected to so little scrutiny.  Well not since Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC it would be near impossible for Scotland to keep its EU membership if it chose Yes in the referendum.

Read full article HERE

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Alexander Tait: Mightier than the Sword

Description on rear of paperback: 

"Mightier than the Sword by Alexander Tait is a book about Scottish nationhood. It tells the dramatic story of William Wallace, the greatest warrior and martyr for Scotland s ancient liberty. It uncovers the fascinating history of the symbol which has for over 700 years represented the nation s heroic struggle for freedom. It provides a revealing record of the many chapters in the Scots relentless pursuit of self-determination, and, through the personal experience of the author, it illuminates what Scottish nationalism means in our own era. In September of this year, 2014, the Scots will decide democratically whether to remain within the 300 year-old union with England, or to rejoin the community of nations as an independent state. For those who would understand the historical and emotional forces, the grievances and the vision, behind the independence campaign, Mightier than the Sword is an essential read." 

Publication Date: 27 May 2014

Olida Publishing £7.99

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Why Scotland needs to manage its own seabed

Why Scotland needs to manage its own seabed

Andrew Leslie (05/06/2014)

In Scotland the foreshore and the seabed to a limit of twelve nautical miles belongs to the Crown. So too do the rights to all minerals in the continental shelf, excluding hydrocarbons, out to the 200 nautical mile limit.  The Crown Estate also has the right to all naturally occurring mussels and oysters and to all ‘large whales’, not to mention coastal salmon fishing and the right to mine gold and silver. These crown property rights date back well before the Act of Union and indeed before the Union of the crowns. Legally, they are vested in the Crown of Scotland, so differ from those south of the border.

The seabed alone makes up more than half of Scotland’s entire territory, and if you include the 18,000 kilometres of foreshore, it is an even more considerable amount of land. And both are becoming more important to Scotland’s economy with the advent of the offshore renewables industry. But the management of the Scottish Crown Estate was not devolved to Scotland in 1998 and remains reserved to Westminster. It is undertaken by the Crown Estate Commissioners (CEC) whose remit is ‘to manage and enhance its value and the return obtained from it, but with due regard to the requirements of good management’. They are not accountable in any formal way to either Scottish ministers or the Scottish parliament.

Read full article HERE

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Darling under fire over Kim Jong-il remarks

Darling under fire over Kim Jong-il remarks

by Martin Kelly (4 June 2014)

Leader of the anti-independence campaign Better Together, Alistair Darling, has come under fire after likening First Minister Alex Salmond to a former North Korean dictator and implying the independence movement was based on 'blood'.

The Labour MP, who leads the cross party Unionist alliance, said remarks made by Mr Salmond in which the SNP leader criticised UKIP, were "something that Kim Jong-il would say".

According to reports, the Labour MP told the New Statesman magazine that Mr Salmond had "said on the BBC that people voted UKIP in Scotland because English TV was being beamed in to Scotland" and added: " This was a North Korean response. This is something that Kim Jong-il would say."

In a bizarre interview, the Labour MP also described the SNP as "blood and soil nationalism" which had created a "culture of intimidation" and that businesses were frightened to speak out against independence.

Read this article HERE

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See also:

What Alistair Darling Said

by Rev. Stuart Campbell (5 June 2015)

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Honey I Shrunk The Country (For The Umpteenth Time)

BBC European Election 2014 map

Honey I Shrunk The Country 

(For The Umpteenth Time)

 by Michael Greenwell

More on this item HERE

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10 Ways Gordon Brown Is Wrong About The ‘Best of Both Worlds’

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Business for Scotland comments on rehashed IFS report on Scotland

Business for Scotland comments on rehashed IFS report on Scotland

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp (04/06/2014)

Today’s Institute of Fiscal Studies report on the fiscal implications of Scottish independence fails to take into account the impact of independence on Scotland’s economy. As with many Westminster centric think tanks they lack ambition for and an in depth understanding of Scotland’s economy.

The report understates the central purpose of Scottish independence – that bespoke business and economic policies for Scotland implemented and managed from Scotland will grow Scotland’s economy, while reducing the costs of Westminster.

The IFS claim that on a projection of current decisions - the majority of which are determined at Westminster - Scotland would face sizeable fiscal challenges. However, an independent Scotland would make different and better decisions because the policies that make London and the South East wealthier are the same ones that make Scotland poorer, slow our economic growth and increase the costs of government.

- This is a rehash of last year’s report which identified that Scotland pays far more tax per person than the UK average and is therefore is in a strong economic position.

Read article HERE

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Scottish Independence: Interview with Jim Sillars

Bella Caledonia

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In Conversation with Alex Salmond (5MQs YouTube)

Publiée le 2014-06-04

Five Million Questions' David Torrance leads an in depth conversation that covers the main issues of the referendum debate so far, as well as Alex Salmond's political and personal motivations as we approach the defining moment of this political era in Scotland.

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Scottish Gov's ‘Named persons’ Act: child protection at its most dystopian

Stuart Waiton is a sociology and criminology lecturer at Abertay University in Dundee. He is organising the No To Named Persons Conference in Edinburgh on Monday 9 June. For more information, and to reserve your place, click here.

‘Named persons’: child protection at its most dystopian

by Stuart Waiton

The passing of the new Children and Young People (Scotland) Act... will mean that, from birth, each child in Scotland will have a specific state-appointed professional, a ‘named person’, to oversee their interests, and, in particular, to oversee their safety. Initially, this named person is likely to be a health visitor or midwife, the role later being taken over by school teachers who will have the ‘duty’ and responsibility to act as the child’s guardian.

The children’s minister, Aileen Campbell, has been dismissive of those people who have criticised the act as state snooping, or, as many Christian groups have put it, an ‘attack on the family’.... When someone raised the point that this act undermined the role of parents in child-rearing, Campbell, somewhat comically, replied, ‘we recognise that parents also have a role’.

Read full article HERE

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