CEP Press Release: England To Dance To Scotland's Tune, Says Salmond

England to dance to Scotland's tune, predicts Alex Salmond at his SNP conference in Inverness, and Westminster will dangle from a Scottish rope, Well. we will see, replies the Campaign for an English Parliament.

Giving a battle-rousing Leader's speech at the conclusion of the SNP conference in Inverness last Saturday, October 17th, Alex Salmond gleefully rattled off the prizes he would be looking for from the next UK government in the event of a General Election result in May, which handed the SNP enough MPs to hold the balance of power. He spoke of Westminster dangling from a Scottish rope. He described how he and his party's MPs would influence legislation and financial measures to Scotland's advantage. To Sky News he shamelessly stated that he would use his and his members' voting power exclusively in Scotland interests.

Well, we will see, says Scilla Cullen chairman of the CEP in an email to the Campaign membership. What Mr Salmond fails to realise is that there should be in all human relationships, both individual and collective, a thing called justice. All talk of England dancing to Scotland's tune and dangling from a Scottish rope is not just silly but unwise and unjust. It is silly because England with ten times the population of Scotland is just too big to push around. His is the language and the posturing of the petty bully who really does not know what he is dealing with, who only sees a little part of the playground, and will only learn the facts of life when he has made a complete fool of himself.

But the issue really is much more one of justice. England got nothing out of devolution. Gordon Brown, Salmond's fellow Scot, who navigated the 1998 devolution through the UK Parliament, saw to that. England got nothing except to pay for it all. Each English taxpayer pays an extra £281 per annum towards keeping Scotland solvent. Scotland does not pay its way. Its tax revenue is routinely short of its expenditure by £11billion per annum. Its land-owning and merchant class came cap in hand in 1707 to Westminster to ask England to bail it out when it was bankrupt. Thanks to devolution and both the block grant and Barnett Formula every single Scottish man, woman and child now receives £1600 more per annum than anyone in England on social expenditure. The Scottish Parliament is able thanks to English largesse -because it is England that provides 90% of the UK revenue- to fund Scottish university students who do not play tuition fees, which our students have to, to provide free personal care for the elderly, to put a freeze on water rates and council tax, and to be planning for free prescriptions and an end to hospital parting charges.

Salmond might well be hoping to goad the English to anger by his demands if his party holds the balance of power come the General Election. He might well be hoping we will then be glad to see the back of Scotland. That is as may be. But the deeper issues are justice and fairness. As long as we have a United Kingdom, the population of each member nation should be treated equally. None should get preferential treatment. And any talk like that of Salmond to use his party's voting power exclusively in the interests of Scotland is morally indefensible. Interestingly, that was however precisely what Gordon Brown himself committed himself to when in March 1989 he signed the Scottish Claim of Right -to make the interests of the people of Scotland paramount in everything we say and do.

Sue Campbell on "Conniving" MSP Christine Grahame

Born in England, but more Scottish than day old haggis, Christine Grahame uses her place of birth to try and make out that her actions are justified and that she's truly fair-minded. In reality, she's a conniving anti-English... er... MSP!

The SNP are anxious to use her to front their most dishonest endeavours, because then they can say: "But she was born in England! She's English! She has no axe to grind!"

No she isn't English - and yes she does have an axe to grind. She hates the English. I was born in Scotland and my Dad's a Scot, but believe me nationality's really a state of mind and I'm English!

See more about Ms Grahame here.

Christine Grahame, MSP - Another Liar?

It doesn't really matter how it's achieved, but Scotland is determined to have what is not rightfully Scotland's to have - and Christine Grahame, MSP, is one of the ring leaders.

Christine has been misleading the Daily Express concerning the maritime border between England and Scotland. In the 1960s, the border, which pointed upwards in line with the land border and international convention, was tweaked, ceding English North sea oil and gas to Scotland. As we were a "UK" and resources were to be shared equally, it was felt not to matter a jot. The UK Government opted not to consult the English.

Any changes since have not returned the border to its original state, but Christine Grahame is trying to make out that further tweaking in 1999 stole waters from the Scots! This is very rich indeed as that particular tweaking did nothing to restore any where near England's rightful share of the gas and oil.

Ms Grahame is trying to make out that the 1960s alteration, carried out without consulting the English, is the "historic border".

Oh dear.

And the Daily Express believes her.

Oh dear.

It could be that Christine Grahame does not do research. Or it could be that she is a simply a liar.

But whatever she is, she does Scotland's reputation no good at all.

Read Ms Grahame's spinnings on the Daily Express site - here.

UPDATE - RECEIVED, 1/3/08:

Sue Campbell:

Born in England, but more Scottish than day old haggis, Christine Grahame uses her place of birth to try and make out that her actions are justified and that she's truly fair-minded. In reality, she's a conniving anti-English... er... MSP!

The SNP are anxious to use her to front their most dishonest endeavours, because then they can say: "But she was born in England! She's English! She has no axe to grind!"

No she isn't English - and yes she does have an axe to grind. She hates the English. I was born in Scotland and my Dad's a Scot, but believe me nationality's really a state of mind and I'm English!

Berwick-Upon-Tweed: Scots Out To Grab More English Oil And Gas?

It just occurs to us sitting here at WENAP Towers that the disgraceful attempt by the Scottish Parliament to bribe Berwick-Upon-Tweed into joining Scotland's corrupt elite of plenty, could be an attempt to steal more of England's North Sea oil and gas.

What happened in the 1960s was remarkable: without a word of consultation with the English, the UK Government moved the maritime border, ensuring that a large amount of English North Sea oil and gas was gifted to the Scots. It was seen as not mattering as we were a "United Kingdom" and resources were supposed to be equally shared.

Now, Alex Salmond makes hay with the border, claims all the North Sea oil and gas for Scotland, and tries to hide the border's tweaking from interested onlookers, going so far as to conceal the facts on "national" UK TV.

The Scottish Parliament's attempts to bribe Berwick-Upon-Tweed (and remember, voters in the TV referendum were voting to become part of Scotland not because they wanted to be Scots, but because they wanted the free care, cancer medications, etc, available in Scotland due to subsidies from England via the Barnett Formula) are probably, no more no less, an attempt to steal more of England's resources. Won't this land grab result in a corresponding maritime border grab?

What a shitty little country Scotland is becoming.

ITV Tonight: Alex Salmond Lies About North Sea Oil

From the CEP News Blog:

The Tonight programme on ITV1 tonight investigated the differences between the funding and treatment of English and Scottish people including a mock referendum in Berwick on Tweed asking whether Berwickers wanted to remain in England or become part of Scotland.

It’s rare to get this kind of documentary on any channel, let alone ITV1 and it was quite well done. The programme concentrated on the spending differences - the Scots get an average of £1,500 per head per year more than the English - and the differences in benefits they get as a result such as not having to pay university top-up fees, getting free cancer treatment that the English aren’t entitled to, free care for the elderly, free prescriptions, etc. And they did it without trying to justify it which is a novelty.

The only downside was that they didn’t counter the tired old argument of “oor oil”. Alex Salmond said - more than once - that Scotland was subsidising Britain with North Sea oil and gas revenues and that it would be unfair to cut public spending in Scotland whilst the UK Treasury (in London, he always makes a point of saying in London) “continues to drain North Sea oil and gas revenues”.

North Sea oil and gas, despite Alex Salmond’s big plans, is not all rightfully Scottish. In the 60’s the maritime border was moved, in contravention of international maritime law, to extend along a line of longtitude instead of being an extension of the land border. The English were not asked if they were happy to cede their waters to Scotland and lose the oil and gas fields contained therein. Devolution for Scotland (but never for England of course) was on the cards back in the 60’s so it is a reasonable assumption that British MPs took this decision in the knowledge that Scotland would claim the waters once it gained fiscal autonomy. Robbing Peter England to pay Paul Scotland.

Read it all here.

Alex Salmond really is a liar of the highest order, but even if what he said were true, it is totally against the ethos of a United Kingdom that resources should be retained by one particular region in this manner. It also shows just how conniving and uncaring the SNP have become.

Salmond is another shameful item to add to an ever increasing list for poor old Scotland. What with Brown this side of the border and Salmond that side, it seems that conniving twisters are holding all the cards in the so-called UK today.

Where does Salmond get his figures from? Even if the maritime border was left in its current incorrect state, not all North Sea Oil and Gas belongs to Scotland, and an article in the Guardian last year stated that even if ALL North Sea Oil and Gas revenues were given to Scotland, the country still would not break even -

Tax revenues from Scotland almost match the country's £49.2bn a year public spending - although only if all North Sea oil and gas revenues are attributed to Edinburgh, a controversial allocation.

Read it all here!

More WENAP material on the subject of North Sea Oil here.