Back in the tin Jocks

Hammer the Scots

(Last Updated On: 21st June 2015)

We’re a few weeks into the new parliament and the tactics which will be deployed against the bulk of the Scottish MPs are becoming clear. The SNP table amendments and they are voted down. Labour sit on their hands to allow the tory majority to do the deed so that they can appear to be blame free. Last minute amendments are tabled to legislation in the unelected house of lords, where there are no SNP party grandees, in order to pull the rug out of one of Scotland’s success stories. We also had an amendment to ensure the permanence of the Scottish Parliament voted down because, if there was ever a Unilateral Declaration of Independence then it would be dissolved. It’s like an emergency shutoff switch for the unionists.

My feeling is that the unionist parties are deliberately undermining Scotland in order to make us more dependent on rUK. Take the Longannet story, it will be closed and jobs will be lost because of the huge grid connection charges which are levied on power generators in Scotland. It’s okay, we are told, by the wonders of pooling and sharing the electricity can be sent from England to Scotland, at a cost. Currently gas from Scottish waters is piped to power stations in southern England. This electricity will then be sold back to us at a premium. Are you getting it yet? Our country is being raped under our very noses and we are being left even poorer, and therefore more dependant on rUK. Just so that the unionists can continue to claim that we could not afford to be independent. I expect more of this type of thing over the course of this parliament.

As another example we had the news this week that the tories will pull the plug on subsidies for onshore wind a year early. They were just following the promise in their manifesto apparently. Now I’m no fan of onshore wind as regular readers will know, but it is one of the success stories for renewable energy within Scotland. On some days we can generate more than we consume and we sell the rest to England, so cash flows the other way. By pulling the plug the tories have effectively undermined the whole industry.

Part of the problem with wind power is that it is intermittent, it comes and goes and cannot be relied upon. What we need is a base load, a power generator which is always available when the wind doesn’t blow. This used to be provided by Longannet, a dirty coal-fired power station, and two nuclear power stations. If we wish to create a greener future then we have to find another power source which can provide this base load. My solution would be large-scale geothermal energy, extracting the heat from inside the planet to produce electricity and heat. The Scottish Government have already done a study on this and the report is an interesting read. I don’t intend to write more on this subject here, I will save it for another post.

Getting back to Westminster, the Scotland Bill is working its way through and soon it will be deposited on our land like a giant steamy turd. The unionist parties have broken the vow and they will not honour the Smith Agreement. Whatever we end up with will not satisfy me and, I would guess, a lot of other people. They are trying to put us back into the wee tartan biscuit tin. Whatever happens the SNP MP’s must vote against any Scotland Bill  that does not meet our expectations. Imagine that, we would end up with an act which none of our MPs (apart from Fluffy, Mr Toad and the other one) had voted for? What kind of constitutional crises would we have then?

9 thoughts on “Hammer the Scots

    1. Murdo Macphie

      This is what I would think the Scottish government should do. A study to send all electric produced to an interconnecter on the Dogger bank in the north sea, an agreement made with the Norwegean government to use this power for pump storage, use the hydro to come back to Scotland when needed and the extra sold into europe at a premium price

      Reply
    1. Vici Sokolov

      Pfffffffftttt please if you don’t have anything worthwhile to add to conversation. Then please don’t critique spelling .. It comes across as petty and childish

      Reply
  1. david welsh

    Just wait till July 8th, then we’ll see a lot more unhappy folks but nice to see most of what’s happened written down

    Reply
  2. J. Brady

    Good post, if disheartening. I guess that legislation like passing the Scotlland Bill would be subsumed under UK gov’t ruling, but the nuts and bolts of the electricity problem – us sending gas to England only to get higher leccy rates – is there some European Court or committee that Scotland could appeal to? I’m no legal eagle but it seems like more of a dodgy business deal that companies take other companies to court for.

    Reply
  3. Iain

    NO means NO
    there’s no excuse for rape when your told NO
    there’s no excuse when the majority said NO
    NO means NO

    Reply

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