September 19th - another possible future

Good morning. It was close, but the Union has held by just 998 votes. The result was in the balance until the last votes were counted - and then recounted three times.

This morning a tired Alex Salmond spoke to the SNP faithful a declared that this wasn't the end but just the beginning. He pointed out how much had been achieved in moving Scottish opinion and rededicated his government to working for Scotland's interests which he still believed would eventually be served by full independence. He declared that the government down in Westminster should accept that Scotland had shown a wish more more devolved powers, which he thought should include resources and taxation. There was a clear mandate from this referendum for these powers to be transferred, as Westminster would have discovered if Cameron had not blocked the Devo Max option from the referendum ballot.

If Westminster did not accept this then the Scottish government would include a referendum of Devo Max with the next elections for a Scottish Parliament.

Nick Clegg for the coalition announced a review of more powers to be devolved to Scotland, including the right to borrow money that will be ultimately underwritten by English tax payers ( though he neglected to mention the last part ).

Nicola Sturgeon stated that Westminster had to respond to Scotland's demands for more powers and rights, including keeping all North Sea oil revenues.

John Redwood wrote that it was time to give the English a fair deal in the Union, but his was a lone voice. Cameron is expected to make a speech at lunch time declaring his passionate belief in the Union and offering more powers and money to Scotland.

Only UKIP have the argument to keep the Union

The odd thing about the SNP's push for separating Scotland from the UK is there plan to surrender sovereignty as soon as possible to the EU afterwards.

The UK's current viting weight in the council of ministers is about 8%. Since Scotland is about a 1/10 of the population I assume ( but await the EU anaorak correction ) it will be less that 1% for Scotland.

The EU already has possention of the fish in UK (Scottish waters ) and is using the Macondo event in the Gulf of Mexico as an excuse to try to take control of Oil & Gas.

Now that majority voting is being used to dissolve the nation states Scotland faces a tragedy of the commons as the rest of the EU votes to take their resources.

So Alex Salmond's campaign for indepndence is in fact nothing of the sort.

There is only one political party that campaigns for independence ( for the UK ) and that's UKIP. The only political party with a positive message for the Union.

Denying Scots the vote

There are two articles in the MSM today (Little Scotland demands vote in independence poll - Telegraph , Who gets to vote - BBC) both addressing the anti-democratic plan to redefine UK citizens nationality without their consent - because its "impractical". ( I bet the SNP would have no problem answering the same question when handing out passports when it suites them - the little antidemocratic bigots ).

I've made the argument on twitter and in this blog that those who would be allowed or forced to take Scottish nationality should all vote - but the SNP knows that would lose them their referendum they've tried so hard to gerrymander.

Corby - home of many Scots in England - wants a vote, as do many other individuals. But what we see is the establishment's causal willingness to remove the franchise and fix questions that they claim to be putting to the public.

This bodes badly for any EU referendum and a likely post 2014 UK constitutional settlement.

PS I think the term Little Scotland is unfair when used to describe Corby - as the only real little Scotland exists between the ears of Alex Salmond.

By the way I'll be in Scotland watching the self obsessed Scottish media this week - especially the Glasgow Herald. 

Only an English Parliament and English Government can save the Union

Last week I was at a Conservative political meeting and made the point of just how far English political opinion has moved against the Union being preserved.

It seems that one more round of appeasement may be being planned to solve the problem. Full autonomy for the Scottish government ( a sort of dominion I guess ).

Lets be clear - this will result in just one thing - Scottish independence in a generation, with England left paying for the Welsh and Irish.

There are only two ways to preserve the Union.

1. Reverse Labour's anti-English devolution settlement.
2. Set up an equivalent English parliament and government, with a Union government handling some macro economic issues, defence and foreign policy.

Anything less will mean the end of the Union. Its time for David Cameron to wake up and grasp this. We need to be lead to a new stable constitutional settlement that is just for everyone, or else the Union will just become history.

David Melding AM is right - federalism can save the Union

Just saw this article from a tweet from StGeorgeIsCross from Conservative assembly man David Melding, which reports on a book where he has suggested federalism for the UK, with England getting its political rights as a home nation.

This runs counter to Labour EU inspired balkanisation of England strategy and David Cameron's appeasement of Celtic nationalism strategy.

The reason is should work is that it creates symmetry, easily comprehended justice and equality of respect between the home nations.

The sooner it Conservative policy the better as far as I'm concerned.

The Unionist case for an English Parliament

A bit busy today, but let me recommend the article by Andrew Morrison over on Conservative Home who moves towards making a Scottish Unionist argument for an English Parliament.

I think this is an important point, and not addressing it potentially one of the greatest mistakes we may make if we win power at the next general election.

My comment to the article is repeated below:

Andrew - I think your article has a number of key insights and provides a warning to an incoming Conservative government.

The Unionist argument for an English Parliament is not heard often enough. It provides equality of respect between the home nations and a sense of natural justice.

It also removes one of the key drivers for the breakup of the UK which is the assumption that the now devolved administrations are different from the normal state.

The trap David Cameron is currently walking into is that of again sacrificing English interests to appease Scotland. It will fail on two levels - first the injustice to the English and second the insult to the Scots who sense they are being bought off by someone who is willing to sell his own nation short.

There is a great opportunity for the Conservatives to engage in UK wide constitutional reform, and establishing federal home nation parliaments should be part of that reform. And that means an English Parliament.

It will certainly be better than waiting for the next socialist administration to try its hand, as they will be far more vindictive due to their natural conceit about knowing what's good for people.

Will the Scottish "Nation" get to vote on independance or just those who live there ?

Since the SNP seems to still be gearing up for an independence vote I've been doing a little thinking.

With the devolved assemblies its been a fairly logical choice about who votes in their elections, those people who live in the geographical locations to be administered, easy.

But what of a referendum on Scottish Independence ?

An independent Scotland would have direct affect on the nationality of more than the people who live there.

My wife is Scottish, but she lives in Surrey. Should she get a vote ? I would argue yes, she's as Scottish as Alex Salmond is, and has probably spent less time in England than he has.

I've heard various estimates of the number of Scots in England, but somewhere between 2 and 5 million must be about right. They would all be eligible for Scottish nationality and could lose British nationality - so logically they must be allowed a vote.

Even worse - there will be many UK citizens married to Scots, who could also take up Scots nationality and should perhaps also vote. Though Alex I could be persuaded to reduce my tax bill by granting you your "Freedom(TM Mel Gibson)".

My guess is that this approach kills Scots Independence stone dead.

What's odd is that the Unionists parties don't pursue it, or perhaps some of them are not as opposed to breaking up the Union as they claim ?

Re: Will Tory government hasten end of United Kingdom?

Alan Cochrane asks this question in todays Telegraph, and I think there's a similar meeting on the Conservative fringe this week.

I post my answer below. Its a view that is just starting to gain some traction as one of Labour's former First Minister's of Scotland has suggested the same thing.

In short we need some thing positive to work towards, that respects the nations of the UK. If we don't offer it then people will eventually chose fission over the Union.

Alan,

I think joining forces with the authors of the Union's break up, ie the Lib Dems and Labour, would just make the SNP more popular. The pendulum always swings and one day its going to trigger the fission of the current Union.

That is almost impossible to avoid - appeasement (devolution) and bribery (Barnett formula) of Scots nationalism hasn't worked.

The only solution is to offer something new and positive.

Could I suggest that its a federal UK, with the home nations treated with equal intuitions and respect. ( Then Scotland will be just like everywhere else, rather than a quasi autonomous region in the waiting room for independence - as Brown and Cameron have it now ).

The signs are that the Conservative party hasn't even started considering these things ( the Clarke report is mindlessly useless ).

Its a shame I was always proud of being British, until it became a way to con the English and appease headbanging nationalists in the Scots Lib Dems, Scots Labour and of course SNP.

Calls for England to get a vote

Tim Luckhurst - The Times 7 May 2008
John Redwood - blog 7 May 2008
And this blog also - 5 May 2008
Wonkotsane - The CEP Blog - 2 May 2008
Sepoy agent -blog - 9May2008

Anywhere else ?

Unstoppable momentum now behind the disaggregation of the UK

So says Iain Macwhirter in today's Guardian.

That shoudl be a real wake up call to the flat earthers on the left who have been trying to deny the results of their unbalanced devolution botched job for the constitution. ( Lib Dems this means you too ! )

They saw devolution as a clever trick to keep the Tories out of power forever in large areas of the UK ( remember they wanted regional assemblies also to box the Conservatives into the South of England only ), but they really lit the blue touch paper to the Union's destruction.

The only solution is equality of respect amonsgt the nations of the United Kingdom - and that means an English Parliament with a federal UK.

It will be a great loss if the Union is finally destroyed by Gordon Brown and New Labour (they're harking on about Britishness fools no one).

Save England and save the Union. Repress England and you will lose it all. The danger is that the British political establishment is too isolated to see what is going on and will act too late.

Labour should replace Gordon Brown if they want to save the UK with a man or woman who can save the country. Or even better call a general election so a more talented party can sort this mess out.

England lie back and think of Britain - no chance

The lazy Unionists are now slowly waking up to the vandalism that the Celtic Labour and Lib Dem parties have done to the United Kingdom ( lets remember the Lib Dems were as much involved as New Labour in all this.)

You can tell they are just waking - as their arguments are so lame and dated.

Worry about what the loss of Scotland would mean ( completely wet article in the Guardian here - via CEP Blog ).

Suggest thinking of England and worrying about unfair Scottish advantage is racist - in the Daily Telegraph ( yes really ).

The slow constitutional car crash that Tony Blair, Donald Dewar and Gordon Brown started has entered the bit where the screeching of tyres has given way to the crunching of metal. It was all easily foreseen - but they put party before the country.

The answer is apparently for the English to allow themselves to be victimised, broken up and robbed by the new MacLabour constitution. Anything to keep the Labour party in power - and they will do almost anything.

Asking the English to lie back - forget about justice and national self determination - and think of Britain ( when no one else is ! ) is objectionable, insulting and ultimately futile.

The English people have rumbled it. See Tommy English's post here on what Sun Readers think.

If the Union is to be saved a positive case must be made for it. Bribery of the Scots and Welsh by the English is a negative case that all three nations will reject for their own reasons.

I want to hear why the Union should be saved. If the message isn't positive and doesn't recognise England on an equal footing with the other home nations then the Union is doomed.

Poppies in Scotland a sign of the dutch auction of nationalism

I recently met a man a few decades older than myself who was appalled at the potential break up of Britain. He kept saying he was British and felt British. I told him I used to think like that, until I returned to Scotland to live and work, where I had last lived there as a child.

Everything you can think of with the word British in front of it has had Scottish, Scot, or Scotland placed instead. ( Scotrail, Scottish Gas, Scottish Power, Scottish Hydro Electric - its a national obsession. The Scottish poppy appeal is perhaps the worst example - as the armed forces are British entities and everyone has always fought for each other - to say the money will only go to Scottish servicement ( aka not the English ) - is a fudemental betrayal ).

Perhaps its also worth listening to the efforts by Welsh language fascists to split their country off from the UK and provide a way to discriminate against races they don't like - using their ancient language as the club.

All this has been going on for decades - actively supported by the Scottish Labour party, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Welsh Labour Party and Welsh Liberal Democrats.

But when the English ask for a little recognition of our nation and the rights to govern ourselves the likes of Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg play the British card and little Englander smear card.

Scotland is a beautiful country full of great people. I suggest those who think Britain can survive as it has been for the last 200 years, and especially the last 10 years, take a summer holiday up there and get Scottish newspapers delivered to their door every day. You will have a great holiday and also come back the wiser about England's future.

Man in a Shed is still a Unionist - but the Labour party and Liberal Democrats need to actually pull their weight in providing justice for England and countering the dutch auction of nationalism in Wales and Scotland. Otherwise England's path is going to diverge sharply from the Celtic nations and Britain will end. It won't be English Conservatives who have achieved this - but the failure of the other supposed Unionist parties.

Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown should earn their Unionist credentials - rather than just trying to keep the English down ....

If the centrifugal forces which both men support in Scotland and Wales are not reversed then their anti English statements won't save the Union.

If the Union is to be saved then there must be a good reason for it.

The debate about the future of the political union of the United Kingdom is being mostly conducted - as with much else about UK policy, by the Scots for the Scots.

However I find many of the arguments put forward for preserving the Union depressing. They seem to be based on economic advantage. Its like a child of divorced parents deciding which parent to live with on the basis of whom will give them the larger allowance. Where is the love in that ?

If it really just comes down to economics then when should go a separate ways - regardless of which way the advantage runs ( for the record I believe the Scots have got a fantastic deal - at the expense of most of England - the South who paid and the North which missed out on funds that they could otherwise have used ).

But there are good reasons for the Union. I personally have a Scottish wife and have a very high regard for Scotland and its people. We work very well together. We are family and until very recently no one in England would have thought twice about helping out Scots in need or trouble.

Though having lived in Scotland for a number of years I note that that view is not reciprocated. As an example: it continues to annoy and insult me that the Scottish Royal Legion makes it clear that its poppies are only for Scottish servicemen. In England they are for the British. Maybe the money is only spent in England and Wales, but nobody here knows that - and they would be quite happy to see the money spent in Scotland. This suggests to me that the Scots need to think hard about if they belong in the Union. Where is the love ? Its just show me the money right now.

The challenge for those who would keep the Union for the next 300 years is:

• What are the positive reasons for continuing this marriage between nations ?( just looking at the bank balance and deciding you can't afford to walk out is not enough ).
• If devolution isn't rolled back then England and the English must have the same rights as a nation ( not to be balkanised by Celtic politicians and their English quislings ). That, David Cameron, means the re-establishment of an English Parliament and proper recognition of the English Nation.
  

For my part I would like the Union to continue. I was happy before devolution, but I'm not going to put up with the victimisation and contempt that Celtic Labour politicians now have for England with their biased devolution and economic settlement.

PS I don't think independence is actually on offer to Scotland - despite what the SNP says - its really chose your Union - the UK or European Union. Scotland will make few of the important decisions itself under either arrangement as it is too small a country.