I've noticed a lot of videos which show the Unionist cause in a bad light seem to disappear fairly quickly. A few different videos which could be seen as positive towards the "Yes" side have appeared on social networking sites over the past few months and disappeared from Youtube within days.
Better Together has before tried to use copyright as a ploy to force youtube to take down material exposing their arguments. They really are the worst kind of people.
Better Together has before tried to use copyright as a ploy to force youtube to take down material exposing their arguments. They really are the worst kind of people.
Amazing - and it seems to be their camp which loves to suggest that an independent Scotland would be a creepy, restrictive dictatorship which won't tolerate dissent!
"A Scottish MP has reacted with fury after the Scottish Parliament was stripped of a key energy power after a House of Lords amendment was backed by Unionist MPs.
SNP Energy spokesman Mike Weir MP slammed the vote, which saw powers over renewable obligation brought back under the control of Westminster.
Commenting on the debate in the House of Commons on the Lords amendment to the Energy bill - and in particular Amendment 54 which removed the Scottish parliament's powers in respect of renewables obligation in Scotland - Mr Weir said:
"This is an outrageous example of the unionist parties ganging up to remove powers from the Scottish parliament. Worse still they did so by introducing last-minute amendments in the unelected House of Lords, rather than having the courage to debate it on the floor of the House of Commons"
Technically there's nothing to stop them abolishing Holyrood. They might even have the brass neck to do it by the same method.
The strategy would be to remove as many powers as possible without actually going as far as abolition. The fact that this particular step interferes with the SNP administrations plans to remove reliance on fossil fuels for domestic power generation is simply a coincidence.
we can all join together for fairer more prosperous scotland still to come, or we can stay as is, watch our country decline as our wealth is raped from us, leaving no future for our kids. No -one has said it will be easy , but we have the resources and structure to make this happen for the benefit of all who stay in scotland. Its time to grasp this opportunity vote YES
Amazing - and it seems to be their camp which loves to suggest that an independent Scotland would be a creepy, restrictive dictatorship which won't tolerate dissent!
The strategy would be to remove as many powers as possible without actually going as far as abolition. The fact that this particular step interferes with the SNP administrations plans to remove reliance on fossil fuels for domestic power generation is simply a coincidence.
Wasn't it the SNP that allowed the Scottish Parliament's tax-varying powers to lapse?
"A Scottish MP has reacted with fury after the Scottish Parliament was stripped of a key energy power after a House of Lords amendment was backed by Unionist MPs.
SNP Energy spokesman Mike Weir MP slammed the vote, which saw powers over renewable obligation brought back under the control of Westminster.
Commenting on the debate in the House of Commons on the Lords amendment to the Energy bill - and in particular Amendment 54 which removed the Scottish parliament's powers in respect of renewables obligation in Scotland - Mr Weir said:
"This is an outrageous example of the unionist parties ganging up to remove powers from the Scottish parliament. Worse still they did so by introducing last-minute amendments in the unelected House of Lords, rather than having the courage to debate it on the floor of the House of Commons"
And that was exposed as nonsense within a day of being reported. The academic in question was in the wrong due to his heading up an allegedly neutral body of independence research. The SNP have actually encouraged academics not involved in any such study to air their questions publicly (and they have).
It might be best to follow up stories and their aftermath rather than taking them as gospel.
Better Together has before tried to use copyright as a ploy to force youtube to take down material exposing their arguments. They really are the worst kind of people.
"The more the Empire tightens its grip, the more Yes votes will slip through its fingers..."
“It must be his message, and his legacy, is the capacity of people to govern themselves, and make the right decisions in their own interests, where you can share democracy, you can share power among the people, but you have that innate ability.
So yes we need leaders, but it is about that – the inspiration about people governing themselves, fairly and equally, that’s his legacy.“
We’ve added emphasis. But otherwise we couldn’t have put it better than the woman whose party spent decades denying Scots a referendum on self-governance, and which even today urges them to reject it. We assume an announcement’s in the offing."
“It must be his message, and his legacy, is the capacity of people to govern themselves, and make the right decisions in their own interests, where you can share democracy, you can share power among the people, but you have that innate ability.
So yes we need leaders, but it is about that – the inspiration about people governing themselves, fairly and equally, that’s his legacy.“
We’ve added emphasis. But otherwise we couldn’t have put it better than the woman whose party spent decades denying Scots a referendum on self-governance, and which even today urges them to reject it. We assume an announcement’s in the offing."
Hmmm, and I thought that wings over Scotland was a McCartney tribute band.
At this particular moment it really does seem that it's a competition by both sides to see who can split the most manure.
It's only been a couple of weeks since the white paper and I'm flagging already. I think the plan of both camps is just to lull me into a state of apathy. Or make me even more disillusioned with politics than I already am, and believe me, I am.
This being DS after all, I find my thoughts returning to the BBC and the SNP plans for a future SBS.
I've been thinking that why even in an independent Scotland, break something up, or more to the point, leave it?
Can't an independent Scotland continue with a British service? After all, what would be the real benefit of switching to an SBC over what BBC Scotland is now.
Sometimes there are such things as economy of scale. I worry that a future SBC will spend a huge proportion of its budget replicating what BBC already has. Collecting a Scots licence fee for one and Administration costs another that spring to mind. This seems at second thought to be a huge potential waste of limited resource.
This being DS after all, I find my thoughts returning to the BBC and the SNP plans for a future SBS.
I've been thinking that why even in an independent Scotland, break something up, or more to the point, leave it?
Can't an independent Scotland continue with a British service? After all, what would be the real benefit of switching to an SBC over what BBC Scotland is now.
Sometimes there are such things as economy of scale. I worry that a future SBC will spend a huge proportion of its budget replicating what BBC already has. Collecting a Scots licence fee for one and Administration costs another that spring to mind. This seems at second thought to be a huge potential waste of limited resource.
I think the benefit of having a SBC would be large and rewarding for the Scottish Economy. There is nothing like the amount of productions being made in Scotland for a nation of our size. An SBC would have a lot more to focus on creating Scottish material while still being able to provide decent material from the BBC etc. More programming means increased employment in the broadcasting industry in Scotland which is so important. Also we need to look at quality, our news service under the BBC is appalling. Reporting Scotland might as well be the regional news of some English region rather the national news of semi-autonmous devolved with all that entails. That just isn't good enough. With your concerns about the cost of having a state broadcaster in Scotland I think you need to look at other small nations to see how a service like that can be provided successfully. Broadcasting is important culturally and for too many years we've been receiving a service which is tailored to suit the interests of viewers in England. It would terrible for Scotland to become independent and still have to endure the substandard service we receive just now where we're not even allowed a Scottish Six o'clock news.
I think the benefit of having a SBC would be large and rewarding for the Scottish Economy. There is nothing like the amount of productions being made in Scotland for a nation of our size. An SBC would have a lot more to focus on creating Scottish material while still being able to provide decent material from the BBC etc. More programming means increased employment in the broadcasting industry in Scotland which is so important. Also we need to look at quality, our news service under the BBC is appalling. Reporting Scotland might as well be the regional news of some English region rather the national news of semi-autonmous devolved with all that entails. That just isn't good enough. With your concerns about the cost of having a state broadcaster in Scotland I think you need to look at other small nations to see how a service like that can be provided successfully. Broadcasting is important culturally and for too many years we've been receiving a service which is tailored to suit the interests of viewers in England. It would terrible for Scotland to become independent and still have to endure the substandard service we receive just now where we're not even allowed a Scottish Six o'clock news.
While I think that your ideas are fairly sound in principle I do think that the size of the BBC makes it more able to try new things and provide a decent content to a wide audience.
I personally don't need a Scotland six o'clock news as what would that news consist of? Both STV and BBC Scotland have a decent half hour news programme as it is and to be honest at times I wonder of the triviality of some of the Scottish news in that half hour as they struggle to find decent and worthy subjects.
I've spent a lot of my time in various countries and can definitely say that from my experience, the BBC is far and above the vast majority of other broadcasters. Some range from simply being a government mouthpiece to others just being mundane.
While I admit that some nations broadcasters do a decent job, again, they don't compare to the content that the BBC is able to offer. Again, having lived in England the regional format is just the same for someone in East Anglia or Cornwall and compliments rather than replaces the national news. I think this format works and see no real reason to complain about it. What would an exclusive national news bring that the current format doesn't?
If an SBS were to be formed then there would have to be a funding regime that by it's very nature wouldn't provide the amount of content that the BBC does now. I'm not convinced that there would be an incentive to share anything with the existing BBC unless we kept that institution. Not out of nostalgia, but for practical purposes. Scotland would have to raise its own revenues, administer its own licence system, pay its own staff etc etc. I know that all this would be possible for Scotland, but it would all take up a hefty proportion of the budget of that station that the BBC has a scale to soak up.
The only comparison I have is with Eire and while they manage to run several stations, just looking at their line up shows that they spend a lot of money either copying BBC formats or buying them in. I'm unaware of any quality Irish programmes that we watch in the UK.
A lot of people like to denigrate the BBC but try living in some other countries for a year and you'll come home with a much greater appreciation of what we have now. A continuation of the BBC would definitely benefit an independent Scotland in my opinion.
Oh and I don't see an increased staff without increased funding, it doesn't make economical sense, quality tv costs a lot to make per hour.
Does anyone know what will happen to mobile phones if there was an independent Scotland?
I was recently looking at European roaming charges, which as we all know can be quite expensive.
Right now we use mobiles as a UK system but if Scotland were to be a separate country I was wondering how this would work. Obviously in Scotland we could have our own system much as it is now, but if we were treated as a separate country then I could envisage a situation where we will be paying much more to keep in contact with friends and family in the rest of the UK.
Taking this further, what happens to all those BT lines out there? Will BT rush to make a killing of foreign Scots customers just wanting to call their family in England?
Does anyone know what will happen to mobile phones if there was an independent Scotland?
I was recently looking at European roaming charges, which as we all know can be quite expensive.
Right now we use mobiles as a UK system but if Scotland were to be a separate country I was wondering how this would work. Obviously in Scotland we could have our own system much as it is now, but if we were treated as a separate country then I could envisage a situation where we will be paying much more to keep in contact with friends and family in the rest of the UK.
Taking this further, what happens to all those BT lines out there? Will BT rush to make a killing of foreign Scots customers just wanting to call their family in England?
Is this in the white paper I haven't seen it?
roaming charges are soon to be abolished across EU
There was scaremongering about mobiles in recent past -- ironically released around same as EU announced changes were coming:p
roaming charges are soon to be abolished across EU
There was scaremongering about mobiles in recent past -- ironically released around same as EU announced changes were coming:p
Ok, never knew this, so if Scotland is in the EU then my mobile bill will be the same.
Cheers.
Oh do you have any links etc as to the date that roaming will be abolished?
Edit, update
This is right now an aspiration and not a European law. Changes are coming but depend on a lot of things happening first. However, the earliest date for changes is 2016 so if all goes ok could be in place around the date of a seperate Scotland.
Ok, never knew this, so if Scotland is in the EU then my mobile bill will be the same.
Cheers.
Oh do you have any links etc as to the date that roaming will be abolished?
Edit, update
This is right now an aspiration and not a European law. Changes are coming but depend on a lot of things happening first. However, the earliest date for changes is 2016 so if all goes ok could be in place around the date of a seperate Scotland.
Comments
Better Together has before tried to use copyright as a ploy to force youtube to take down material exposing their arguments. They really are the worst kind of people.
Amazing - and it seems to be their camp which loves to suggest that an independent Scotland would be a creepy, restrictive dictatorship which won't tolerate dissent!
The positive case for the union?
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-politics/8428-fury-after-unelected-peers-strip-power-from-scotland
Ever wonder what new powers Scotland will get if we vote no?
Westminster stripped Scotland of one of its powers yesterday..
http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-politics/8428-fury-after-unelected-peers-strip-power-from-scotland
"A Scottish MP has reacted with fury after the Scottish Parliament was stripped of a key energy power after a House of Lords amendment was backed by Unionist MPs.
SNP Energy spokesman Mike Weir MP slammed the vote, which saw powers over renewable obligation brought back under the control of Westminster.
Commenting on the debate in the House of Commons on the Lords amendment to the Energy bill - and in particular Amendment 54 which removed the Scottish parliament's powers in respect of renewables obligation in Scotland - Mr Weir said:
"This is an outrageous example of the unionist parties ganging up to remove powers from the Scottish parliament. Worse still they did so by introducing last-minute amendments in the unelected House of Lords, rather than having the courage to debate it on the floor of the House of Commons"
The strategy would be to remove as many powers as possible without actually going as far as abolition. The fact that this particular step interferes with the SNP administrations plans to remove reliance on fossil fuels for domestic power generation is simply a coincidence.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=569363483141663&set=a.136650206412995.35100.136640179747331&type=1&theater
we can all join together for fairer more prosperous scotland still to come, or we can stay as is, watch our country decline as our wealth is raped from us, leaving no future for our kids. No -one has said it will be easy , but we have the resources and structure to make this happen for the benefit of all who stay in scotland. Its time to grasp this opportunity vote YES
Ahem . . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10445073/SNP-ministers-waging-dangerous-campaign-to-gag-university-academics.html
Wasn't it the SNP that allowed the Scottish Parliament's tax-varying powers to lapse?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25237570
No, that was Labour.
And that was exposed as nonsense within a day of being reported. The academic in question was in the wrong due to his heading up an allegedly neutral body of independence research. The SNP have actually encouraged academics not involved in any such study to air their questions publicly (and they have).
It might be best to follow up stories and their aftermath rather than taking them as gospel.
"The more the Empire tightens its grip, the more Yes votes will slip through its fingers..."
"We agree with Margaret Curran
And that’s something we can’t say every day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNnbLOAJ2ck
“It must be his message, and his legacy, is the capacity of people to govern themselves, and make the right decisions in their own interests, where you can share democracy, you can share power among the people, but you have that innate ability.
So yes we need leaders, but it is about that – the inspiration about people governing themselves, fairly and equally, that’s his legacy.“
We’ve added emphasis. But otherwise we couldn’t have put it better than the woman whose party spent decades denying Scots a referendum on self-governance, and which even today urges them to reject it. We assume an announcement’s in the offing."
Oh the irony.
Hmmm, and I thought that wings over Scotland was a McCartney tribute band.
At this particular moment it really does seem that it's a competition by both sides to see who can split the most manure.
It's only been a couple of weeks since the white paper and I'm flagging already. I think the plan of both camps is just to lull me into a state of apathy. Or make me even more disillusioned with politics than I already am, and believe me, I am.
I've been thinking that why even in an independent Scotland, break something up, or more to the point, leave it?
Can't an independent Scotland continue with a British service? After all, what would be the real benefit of switching to an SBC over what BBC Scotland is now.
Sometimes there are such things as economy of scale. I worry that a future SBC will spend a huge proportion of its budget replicating what BBC already has. Collecting a Scots licence fee for one and Administration costs another that spring to mind. This seems at second thought to be a huge potential waste of limited resource.
I think the benefit of having a SBC would be large and rewarding for the Scottish Economy. There is nothing like the amount of productions being made in Scotland for a nation of our size. An SBC would have a lot more to focus on creating Scottish material while still being able to provide decent material from the BBC etc. More programming means increased employment in the broadcasting industry in Scotland which is so important. Also we need to look at quality, our news service under the BBC is appalling. Reporting Scotland might as well be the regional news of some English region rather the national news of semi-autonmous devolved with all that entails. That just isn't good enough. With your concerns about the cost of having a state broadcaster in Scotland I think you need to look at other small nations to see how a service like that can be provided successfully. Broadcasting is important culturally and for too many years we've been receiving a service which is tailored to suit the interests of viewers in England. It would terrible for Scotland to become independent and still have to endure the substandard service we receive just now where we're not even allowed a Scottish Six o'clock news.
While I think that your ideas are fairly sound in principle I do think that the size of the BBC makes it more able to try new things and provide a decent content to a wide audience.
I personally don't need a Scotland six o'clock news as what would that news consist of? Both STV and BBC Scotland have a decent half hour news programme as it is and to be honest at times I wonder of the triviality of some of the Scottish news in that half hour as they struggle to find decent and worthy subjects.
I've spent a lot of my time in various countries and can definitely say that from my experience, the BBC is far and above the vast majority of other broadcasters. Some range from simply being a government mouthpiece to others just being mundane.
While I admit that some nations broadcasters do a decent job, again, they don't compare to the content that the BBC is able to offer. Again, having lived in England the regional format is just the same for someone in East Anglia or Cornwall and compliments rather than replaces the national news. I think this format works and see no real reason to complain about it. What would an exclusive national news bring that the current format doesn't?
If an SBS were to be formed then there would have to be a funding regime that by it's very nature wouldn't provide the amount of content that the BBC does now. I'm not convinced that there would be an incentive to share anything with the existing BBC unless we kept that institution. Not out of nostalgia, but for practical purposes. Scotland would have to raise its own revenues, administer its own licence system, pay its own staff etc etc. I know that all this would be possible for Scotland, but it would all take up a hefty proportion of the budget of that station that the BBC has a scale to soak up.
The only comparison I have is with Eire and while they manage to run several stations, just looking at their line up shows that they spend a lot of money either copying BBC formats or buying them in. I'm unaware of any quality Irish programmes that we watch in the UK.
A lot of people like to denigrate the BBC but try living in some other countries for a year and you'll come home with a much greater appreciation of what we have now. A continuation of the BBC would definitely benefit an independent Scotland in my opinion.
Oh and I don't see an increased staff without increased funding, it doesn't make economical sense, quality tv costs a lot to make per hour.
I was recently looking at European roaming charges, which as we all know can be quite expensive.
Right now we use mobiles as a UK system but if Scotland were to be a separate country I was wondering how this would work. Obviously in Scotland we could have our own system much as it is now, but if we were treated as a separate country then I could envisage a situation where we will be paying much more to keep in contact with friends and family in the rest of the UK.
Taking this further, what happens to all those BT lines out there? Will BT rush to make a killing of foreign Scots customers just wanting to call their family in England?
Is this in the white paper I haven't seen it?
There was scaremongering about mobiles in recent past -- ironically released around same as EU announced changes were coming:p
Ok, never knew this, so if Scotland is in the EU then my mobile bill will be the same.
Cheers.
Oh do you have any links etc as to the date that roaming will be abolished?
Edit, update
This is right now an aspiration and not a European law. Changes are coming but depend on a lot of things happening first. However, the earliest date for changes is 2016 so if all goes ok could be in place around the date of a seperate Scotland.
It would start next year..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24056369