Da-da-da-da Da-da-da-da Gnatman !
There are three truths that are unlikely ever to be universally acknowledged about Scottish Politics:
Firstly, that First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood are even more a game of buffets than Prime Minister’s Questions at Westminster. Just watch a few episodes.
Secondly, that if you are building anything larger than a 1:72 scale model of a patio, the worst people to engage as your project supervisors are a bunch of Scottish Parliamentarians:
They spent 431m on the new Holyrood building, after initially claiming that it would cost just 40m.
Edinburgh City Council will have to borrow £231m to pay for the capital’s controversial tram project.
A report just published by the local authority warns repayments will cost £15.4m a year over the next 30 years.
Added to the original £545m budget for the project, it will take the full cost of the through the £1bn barrier.
Total repayments over the life of the loan will come to £459m of which £228m is interest.
Thirdly, that – writing as someone born, bred, and living South of the Border – anything which has gone wrong North of that Border since about 726AD is completely my fault.
At some stage I will write about Mr Salmond as a serious politician, a character who bestrides British Politics like an extremely well-lunched Colossus, as we are constantly informed.
And I try hard. Really, I do.
But everytime I want to take Mr Salmond seriously, something happens.
Salmond throws his toys, or blames the media for something, or tries to reverse out of a position because reality refuses to be the stooge he hoped to make of it, or he climbs up on-his-dignity about a teensy-weensy lampoon, or comes up with another casual gibe against the eeevil English, which is unnecessary to his argument:
As Norway, Sweden and New Zealand demonstrate, many small nations are coping better with the financial crisis than many larger ones, such as the UK, Italy or Spain.
(That is from the Hugo Young lecture.)
Or, indeed, treats 400 year old history as a personal affront, as in ‘Haggisgate’ two years ago, when the Salmond response to the discovery of the existence of an ancient Haggis Recipe – an English Haggis recipe, mind – was to claim that it was a modern English ‘land-grab‘:
The First Minister spoke out following the discovery of an English haggis recipe from 1615.
He said: “I don’t mind the English claiming haggis as their own, as long as they leave us our country.
“But haggis is our institution and we will defend it to the last.
“This haggis grab is akin to a land grab and it’s a sign of its culinary success now as a swanky dish.”
That damned history thing; it would insist on being so anti-Scottish.
That was subsequently claimed to be a ‘joke’, but no one explained why the Culture Minister, Mike Russell, felt it necessary to intervene in a joke alongside his Boss.
Anyhow, given that he became so cross with Tom Harris, I thought I’d do my own version of Downfall remembering some Salmond Follies.
Yes, I know, but the old ones are still the best ones. Ask Baroness Trumpington.
And Mr Salmond provides so much material that we could make these almost weekly.
I’ll try and get onto serious politics next time, if Mr Salmond stops being so funny.
Note: This was queued before Anna’s stooshie with Subrosa. I’m laughing at Flippin’ ‘Eck, not promoting Scottish female pensioner mudwrestling, fascinating spectacle though that would be.
Anyway, the frozen North starts at Leeds.
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1
March 1, 2012 at 19:11 -
It was Zanu which spent the money on the Holyrood building. The SNP were not in any position at all to spend the money since they only got a majority last year and the building was done yonks ago. BTW there was already a building which could have done the job, but that carried symbolic risks which the SNP may have been able to exploit and thus win an election the system was expressly designed to make sure they couldnt. So that worked. Not.
The tram project was foisted on a minority SNP administration by Zanu, the Tories and the LimpDums all together forcing the issue. To their credit the minority SNP admin at the time capped the project which true to form hit the limit of 500 million but not before our Capital city was turned into a huge shuttered building site. The project is only being allowed extra money to finish it with gritted teeth.
The Zanu boys also blew more that 10 million of your money putting up new toll booths on the Forth Bridge despite it being clear the SNP were going to win the soon after election and ( did ) rip the damned things down.
Labour also built a Dome in London, an Olympic Games Site that was 4 times the initial estimate in cost and ordered 2 aircraft carriers which will be cheaper to build than to scrap.
It is Labour which trashes your money. Not the SNP.
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2
March 2, 2012 at 13:52 -
Er, Matt didn’t say it was the SNP.
He said it was a “bunch of Scottish Parliamentarians” – party not specified.
High Horse, removal, expeditiously – required.
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3
March 2, 2012 at 19:50 -
It is implied. I read it again. Apart from Tom Harris only Salmond is mentioned, for example.
I think it was Mr Goebbels who held that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth. Indeed below in these comments the Darien myth is repeated as if it were the truth. I do try to restrain myself, since I know most of the blog commentators don’t get a vote in this matter, so their opinion is not really that important. But lies and half truths do little to enhance the reliability of blogs as a source of informed debate. Perhaps the best thing would be if all those bloggers who didn’t live in Scotland just kept out of the thing. It is an internal matter and we have quite enough opinions from fellow Scots of all shades who actually live here, vote here, are educated here, and who learned their country’s history here.
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4
March 1, 2012 at 19:16 -
This is just obvious shit-stirring.
However, I will point out that the building of the parliament building was a disaster of the UK government’s own making. The site – the most congested part of the most congested city in Scotland – was chosen by Donald Dewar so he could be near the Queen, and the construction was managed from London by the Scottish Office.
But please carry on: this kind of mean-minded jock-bashing can only strengthen the move towards a “Yes” vote in the independence referendum.
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5
March 1, 2012 at 20:53 -
Please, pretty please, pretty please with sugar on it ………
Vote ‘Yes’ to independence.
Don’t let the door bash your a… on the way out.
I speak, I’m sure, for a majority (super-majority?) of the English.-
6
March 1, 2012 at 21:31 -
I am so glad we are in agreement as to the arrangement.
But I wouldn’t be so so sure about who is on the way out if I were you…
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7
March 1, 2012 at 22:16 -
They came in bankrupt (remember Darien? … for those of short memories) and it won’t be long …..
The Euro, anyone?
Or do we hide behind Sterling?-
8
March 1, 2012 at 22:28 -
Yes, Darien: Promoted by the same man who founded the Bank Of England. And founded on roughly the same fiscal principles that drove the sub-prime scandal at the start o this century – get rich quick.
Let’s forget, shall we, the role of Daniel Defoe and his likes, who bribed the ruined Scottish nobility into supporting the union to save their own finances.
But this is long gone, and pretty much irrelevant. The question now is: what benefit does the Act of Union being to Scotland in 2012?
Precious little, as far as I can see.
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9
March 1, 2012 at 22:39 -
Your coat, sir …
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10
March 1, 2012 at 22:50 -
Oh, Paterson was a Scot, who obviously agreed with Johnson …
As do I, and many, many Scots …
(Montagu only implemented Paterson’s plan).
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11
March 1, 2012 at 21:15 -
I saw this post first thing this morning and was going to comment. I thought it would be best to ignore it. But now that others have commented I’ll add my tuppence worth.
The £40 million pound “estimate” for the parliament building was not an estimate but was a figure conjured out of nothing by a vastly overrated lawyer.
The first minority SNP government wanted to scrap the trams project but the other three parties in the parliament at that time were threatening to make the vote on the expenditure a vote of confidence in the administration thus triggering an election. The minority SNP government held it’s nose and let is pass and thereafter, quite rightly, had nothing to do with the project.
I did not comment earlier as it is obvious that the author of the original post is a shit thick ignoramus who know nothing about the Scottish political scene and made no attempt to find out anything about it.
Disappointing really as I agree with a lot of the post on this site, which is why I have gone in for a gratuitous ad-hominem comment in the the line above.
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12
March 1, 2012 at 21:24 -
I have to admit that I haven’t got the faintest idea of what this is all about. But I am all for Scottish Independence, and can I join, please.
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14
March 2, 2012 at 10:42 -
Thanks for the comments.
I’m more Nat-tickling than Jock-bashing; it would probably help themselves if certain parties could separate their idea of themselves from their idea of the nation.
Mr S has been trading off ad-homs and anti-English gibes for decades, which is why I’m more than happy to throw a few brickbats back and take the p out of the man.
I’ll give you that Mr Salmond is a canny tactical politician, but you’d agree that he gets himself into impossible positions far too often.
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15
March 3, 2012 at 21:35 -
Matt,
sorry for having a go at you, but it was one, seemingly ill informed, post/comment, too many.
The number of anti Scottish comments that are posted on various blog comment sections beggars belief. Most if not all would probably fall foul of various anti racism laws.
As a Scot I try and ignore them but eventually it gets to a point when you have to say enough is enough.
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17
March 2, 2012 at 13:29 -
A few thoughts of my own – as an ex-pat (so to speak!).
SNP supporters really do need to stop believe they and King Alex are the body and spirit of Scotland, amen. They are a political party that has performed moderately well, has weak opposition and can be voted out any time. To insult King Alex is not to spit on the sacred soil of Alba so do get over yourselves.
The English and Welsh and Northern Irish are perfectly entitled to express an opinion on Scotland – they are equal partners in the enterprise that is UK. To throw your little tartan clad teddies out of the pram everytime someone with an accent from south of Gretna Green dares venture an opinion on Scotland makes you look ridiculous, petty and thin-skinned. Again, get over yersels ( and please don’t type some long treatise on the legalities around the Act of Union and how come NI didn’t exist then).
The Scottish electorate are more than capable of voting for a party they wish to govern without buying into Independence. There is a conflation of 2 separate issues that Madame La Sturgeon is fond of – that the only reason Scots haven’t voted for Independence is because they thought the SNP were not capable of governing: ‘The SNP have been voted in therefor Scots want Independence.’ Er – no, they don’t. As I am frequently and vehemently told everytime I visit my home town.
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18
March 2, 2012 at 14:51 -
I though this was going to be about Bat Flu, the latest killer pandemic that might sweep round the world making a few people a bit poorly according to a story I blogged yeasterday.
As for Scotland, I think most Scots are canny enough to undrrstand that with the crypto Socialist politicians of the SNP in charge an independent Scotland would soon become the new Greece.
On the other hand a majority in England are behind Mr. Salmond. Separation would mean England would never have another Labour government.
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