Scotland and Salmond

It must be terrible for wee Alex Salmond!
He has huffed and he has puffed and he has tried to bring down the Union but for all his bluster we can now see him for what he is - a calculating politician rather than a Scottish patriot.

He wants all of the trappings of being 'El Presidente' but is scared to let go of the apron (and purse) strings of the Union.

He wonders:

"Who will pay, if my independence ploy becomes a folly?  What happens if I upset the neighbors and then when I ask to borrow a wee cup of sugar, they say, 'no more, you borrowed from us, too many times in the past and then just snub us and bad mouth us '? "

"What happens if the ungrateful and unforgiving Scots wake-up and say 'Hold on a minute, we have swapped shared governance  by the 'Brits' and Westminster, to domination by the Germans and French - didn't we fight wars against them, to avoid being ruled by Bonaparte and Adolf?'"

"How, when I know, 100% for sure, that constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster, can I gracefully and face-savingly  back-down?  What words can I use to deflect the Scots from knowing that the accursed Westminster parliament have seen through my plan?  That the public schoolboy running the show is not the easy push-over I took him for"

"I don't think I can win a straight Yes or No question, so how do I 'pull the wool over the eyes of the electorate' and get them to back me going for 'Devo-Max', when it seems that only my party and the Greens, want it and at the same time hold on to my 'Freedom for Scotland' credentials?"

If it wasn't for the fact that he is a politician, I might feel some sympathy for him.  But no!  I will reserve that sympathy for the decent Scots that he has deceived and led-up a garden path, never intending to get to the end.

Who was it said?
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"

Sir Walter Scot, methinks!

HS2, NIMBYs and France

Given the Government's decision to go ahead with the HS2, would it be too much to ask that we follow the example of the French.

That is, we get the thing done as a national priority and not just through to Birmingham but on to Manchester and Leeds. 

One of the things I admire about the French is that once they decide, at a national level, on a grand projet, they get on with it.  According to reports, the legislation for the initial phase, through to Birmingham, won't come before parliament before 2014. 

Honestly!  It would be quicker to get a referendum on Scottish independence!

Wherever and whatever route is used, someone will be affected and so will someone's view.  Sorry (not really though) but that's the price of progress and I really think we do need to progress.

Some of the opposition to the proposal suggest that the current congestion on trains could be eased if more carriages were added to existing trains and platforms extended.  Well let's do that as well.  The indications or proposal suggests that the first phase won't be complete before 2026, anyway!

I am really not sure I understand why it will take 14 years to build a railway line and yet we got the whole London Olympics site built in less than 7 years!

Let's get this done and done now.

Cameron and Co need to put the national interest before party interest and tell the constituencies through which the line goes, this is the way it is!

One further point though.  It is my understanding that one reason the French manage to get their grand projet through is that they don't penny-pinch on compensation and they accommodate those that they effect - so build under-passes for farmers etc.  In other words they buy-off a lot of the moaners!

Sod the French

The French reckon UK is in worse economic shape than the 'soon to be rate-lowered' French.

They may be right.

So let's save some money and cut-back on the money the UK sends to Europe.  According to Wikipedia, the below is for 2009.  Can't believe we have paid any less in 2010 or 2011. 

£3.6 billion won't make much of a dent in our debt but it would help to improve care for our elderly or those in fuel poverty.

Might also concentrate some other Europeans and give them pause for thought before they 'slag off' the UK, when we contribute to the EU and they take from it !?!?!

Might also give those pompous asses - sorry MEPs a chance to consider just who it is that is paying fopr their Euro gravy train

Estimates for net receipts from EU budget based on 2009 budget data
(negative amounts show net contributions)^[4]

Country code	Member state	Per capita (euro)	Percentage of GDP	Absolute (millions of euro)
AT	Austria	−59.7	−0.18	−499
BE	Belgium	90.0	0.29	968
BG	Bulgaria	77.4	1.76	589
CY	Cyprus	−34.0	−0.18	−27
CZ	Czech Republic	150.4	1.11	1,575
DE	Germany	−107.3	−0.37	−8,797
DK	Denmark	−211.0	−0.53	−1,163
EE	Estonia	416.2	4.02	558
ES	Spain	9.7	0.04	444
FI	Finland	−113.8	−0.36	−606
FR	France	−100.4	−0.34	−6,461
GR	Greece	267.2	1.30	3,009
HU	Hungary	265.1	2.68	2.66
IE	Ireland	−35.0	−0.09	−156
IT	Italy	−100.7	−0.41	−6,046
LT	Lithuania	438.2	5.33	1,468
LU	Luxembourg	2364.5	3.05	1.167
LV	Latvia	218.8	2.62	495
MT	Malta	17.4	0.13	7
NL	Netherlands	−90.2	−0.26	−1,488
PL	Poland	160.5	1.66	6,119
PT	Portugal	196.4	1.25	2,087
RO	Romania	74.8	1.24	1,609
SE	Sweden	−43.6	−0.13	−404
SI	Slovenia	92.8	0.55	189
SK	Slovakia	88.8	0.78	481
UK	United Kingdom	−62.7	−0.24	−3,865

Triple A

The French don't like us - Quelle surprise!

According to the (biased) BBC, the French don't appear to like us.  This seems to be news to the BBC. 

Seems that Cameron has upset them by standing up for British interests and (based on recent polls) by representing the wishes of a majority of the British public.

Now the French, in a communitaire act, are suggesting that the ratings agencies should downgrade UK's debt from  AAA to something lower. 

Fortunately the agencies are not yet run by France or the EU (though a proposal seems to be doing the rounds!).  These naughty agencies are not looking at UK rating levels - I guess that little though the UK is doing to reduce debt and the deficit, it is doing something! - instead they are looking at France's rating which seems to be at risk.

Thing I don't quite understand is who does the French Finance Minister think he is fooling?  Or who is listening to him other than for a blogg-able quote to denigrate and denounce? 

Why, when his own jardin is such a mess, is he looking over the fence and criticising the neighbor's garden?

It must be hard being French these days.  Wine is poor, old and over-priced, Triple A rating is about to become a thing of the past and, no that's it, there never was much!

Oh!  I know, Sarkozy  also has to closely watch Merkel's back-side so he doesn't bump into it when this French poodle follows its master.