Laurence

It was mentioned in another part of this forum that as a life long socialist I should be against the House Of Lords

In essence I am

I should like to clarify that I am in favour of a second chamber of sorts. For devolved governments as well as the UK parliament.

Since the days of the Liberal P.M. David Lloyd George when he couldn't get his finance bill passed by the 2nd chamber , Its role has been a bone of contention throughout the times since then

The Liberals had a policy to make over 100 peers overnight to change the balance of power. The House of Lords backed down and budgets are passed now on the nod so to speak

There was also the political scandal of people buying peerages for donations to  certain political groupings,

.If you had  enough cash you could become a Duke my Dad told me

Labour governments from time to time have had a serious problem getting bills through because of rejection by the "upper chamber"  

In modern times its power has been greatly restricted, only certain peers are allowed to attend.

Certain legal measures and  established church matters are dealt with there. Many of the people there are former politicians  who have spent a life time in public service and still have a lot to offer many have great wisdom in matters of state which is good for the country they can speak without fear or favour, and the worry of  going back to the electorate.

So when it comes down to reform it has to be replaced with something better.

The conservative party still   have control by the very nature of the beast being for the privileged  classes. 

Take America which  has a case in point they have  Congress and a Senate and a supreme court and an elected president . They also have state parliaments and state governors, and different tax regimes and what not  in each state.

In Ireland there is something similar two houses  topped off with a president.

Germany also have a complicated federal system and an upper house I am told. I haven't the time to research the nuts and bolts but you get the general idea.

So what do we in the UK do to have a second or so called upper chamber  that would suit everybody?. If it is to be elected it must be given power. To make amend or change laws.

If not elected there's the rub,

What would its function be?  There is no real constitution in Britain like there is in France or the USA , Law is not codified especially in England  Scots law goes back into history previous to the formation of the Union but/and  I think it has a codified base similar to France but I am totally unsure on that aspect

In any event all appeals ( after High Court rulings)  at the moment at the highest level are dealt with by The House of Lords a function of great seriousness that cannot be readily abandoned. Another function of the House of Lords is to keep some sanity about measures put forward by the House of Commons; at the moment  there is a move to leave the  Human rights court in Europe . The House of Lords I am sure will have something to say on that.

To be dead against a second chamber because it is not elected is simplistic. I am not sure why the Nationalists do not have members in the upper chamber but it won't be long off. If they want to of course.  There have been Nationalists  from other parts of the Union Gerry Fitt and John Hulme  come to mind  I think they had peerages.

With regard to the Privy council that is principally an organisation to  give as its name implies private advice to the monarch I suppose these days is just a ceremonial  carry on that no one is particularly worried  about.

There is no simple answer to the upper house problem, you could say "if it aint broke don't fix it."

 

   Funny how Sturgeon's now backing off from the idea of full fiscal responsibility - because she knows it would blow a big hole in their finances - now saying (although it was in their manifesto) 'it will take years to implement' . Really how come they planned for it to take only 18 months after the referendum to become fully independent (in the event of a yes vote)?!? Maybe it has sunk in that even with £1 billion of Tory cuts they would still be much better off than going it alone. It seems to me that what they want is maximum power and minimum responsibility so when anything goes wrong they can still point the finger at Westminster. The SNP is basically like a spoilt teenager who likes to moan about mum and dad and decries 'oppression', yet still expects them to do his washing, feed him and pay his bills and his debts!

 

 

 

I actually clapped but it doesn't mean I like him or agree with him

But he now has a job to do  for everyone  not just his supporters.

He is not Rt. Honourable though as his introduction  indicated

That  title is for Privy Councillors only

 

How is she backing off from full financial responsibility?  Who is even offering full financial responsibility for her to back away from, pray tell....(I must have missed that one)? 

 

I thought that in the GE manifesto, all they pretty much said was that they would get as much as they could from Westminster to try to fulfill the VOW.

 

Or are you still mithering on about the referendum manifesto?  If so, the reason Salmond said 18 months was not to get Scotland out of all the joint UK encumbrances, it was 18 months to the Declaration of Independence, by which time they would have set up basic necessary departments and systems to cope with our own newly minted, much less complicated ideas, but still not have managed to finish extricating Scottish money from the ludicrously complex Westminster system. Those negotiations would have still been ongoing, and given the Westminster rhetoric, somewhat difficult and acrimonious.and long-winded.

 

Any financial devolution within the UK is not simple and does not allow the same level of tearing idiocy up and doing sensible as independence would. After all, there was a bill in 2012 giving Scotland some very small measure of devolution, and of some income tax and two small tax incomes, stamp duty and landfill.......and Stamp duty and landfill has only come in in 2015 (that's three years, btw.....and it is going to be 2016 before the income tax rasing is applied (and that is four years).  Anything in the new Scotland Bill, whatever is in it, is not going to be applied much before 2020......which is five years from now.

 

Laurence, like being in the House of Lords, being a Privy Councillor is a job for life.so Alex Salmond is one, just as Henry McLeish and Jack MacConnell are, and as is Nicola Sturgeon.......and for the same reason, the men have been First Minister of Scotland and the other is now the FM.

 

Big Deal So you think it right to be introduced as rt. Honourable when you have only had a mandate for less than a month

You would argue black is white if the SNP said so. If Sturgeon shouted jump we would have to pull you off the ceiling.

   Funny how Sturgeon's now backing off from the idea of full fiscal responsibility - because she knows it would blow a big hole in their finances - now saying (although it was in their manifesto) 'it will take years to implement' . Really how come they planned for it to take only 18 months after the referendum to become fully independent (in the event of a yes vote)?!? Maybe it has sunk in that even with £1 billion of Tory cuts they would still be much better off than going it alone. It seems to me that what they want is maximum power and minimum responsibility so when anything goes wrong they can still point the finger at Westminster. The SNP is basically like a spoilt teenager who likes to moan about mum and dad and decries 'oppression', yet still expects them to do his washing, feed him and pay his bills and his debts!

 

 

A cup final?

 

On which subject, it was interesting at the Northern Meeting Park yesterday to note the amount of booing and moaning about the SNP that arose when Drew Hendry was introduced to the crowd.

This was a response which was quite out of kilter with this obviously good natured occasion.

The SNP may be riding high in the polls, but this is further evidence that, although they currently have support, they are also instensely and increasingly disliked, and this hostile reaction was another instance of the SNP being hoist by their own petard.

In effect the SNP's approach to politics has been increasingly divisive since the referendum was announced. Because not only do they continue to operate their well established "ya - boo" approach to politics, this also seems to have cross contaminated many people of other persuasions and hence deepened divisions within Scotland.

Let me try to get this straight. Your argument is that the fact that a small number of people who clearly don't support the SNP chose a non political sporting celebration to inappropriately boo an SNP MP is entirely the fault of the SNP ? For goodness sake man, I know you detest the views of half of of your fellow countrymen and women but get a grip !

 

My argument is that what has been the SNP's stock in trade for decades and which has intensified since the referendum was called has now begun to spread to non-SNP supporters as the SNP's overtly divisive behaviour has become more and more apparent.

Also, briefly, Bauhaus' post #6 is simply an example of the "them and us" type of rhetoric which has been fuelling the SNP's recent success.

 

I actually clapped but it doesn't mean I like him or agree with him

But he now has a job to do  for everyone  not just his supporters.

He is not Rt. Honourable though as his introduction  indicated

That  title is for Privy Councillors only

Fantastic story

Do you have the share certificate framed hanging on the dining room wall?

We may not like it but we need to accept it as a fact of life.  We are a small town club with a correspondingly small fan base.  As long as the club relies on income from gate receipts, merchandising, TV rights, payments related to league position etc then we will only ever be able to pay players wages which are not competitive with those offered by other clubs.  Players have to make a living and think about their long term financial position when their short playing careers are over.  We really can't blame them for moving on whether it be to our rivals or anybody else.

 

This is why the success this year is so important.  A range of circumstances have come together which have led to us winning the cup and securing 3rd place in the league.  We won't always be able to put together such a good squad as this season and our opponents will not always be as weak as this year.  One thing that could harm our club is unrealistic expectations for the future.  For a club with our resources just staying in the top flight is an achievement and anything else is a bonus.  So savour what has been achieved this year - the memory of it may need to last a lifetime.

I can't really argue with the above but when you relate to your old club Aston Villa they are near the foot of the Premier League in England, they play in a massive City yet they constantly bleed players to those above them who are richer

In the past there was a song I liked with a line " The poor get poorer and the rich get richer",

ICT must press on bringing to Inverness a great standard of football sure there are hard knocks, but I am sure we can keep going. Motherwell lost players and nosed dived.  But if we keep the lads at the back  we can get another good season, hopefully

Remember Dundee United lost players this season, Hamilton lost their manager,  we are not the only ones with problems, but we are the team with the cup, Lets be glad of that

the Americans have an expression  when they lose a player " Next man up it's their chance",

Have faith When Billy went Marley stepped up, who knows who the next man is?

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I am of course talking to our Charles not the politician who has recently been lost to us

Motherwell it seemed to me are a much better side than their foot of the table league position showed

When I watch Rangers or even Celtic I get the impression the players are just there for the beer as the expression goes.

It;s a shame really in the old days guys played for the shirt.

Celtic feel it is a disaster if they don' win all three trophies in Scotland, the fans and the commentators  I mean

The media bias for the so called old firm is so bad, one is tempted to mute the sound on the TV

Surely the broadcasters can come up with a few more neutral pundits.  I love Glasgow as a city to visit, but in footballing terms, the best thing about Glasgow is Scotland surrounds it.

Me and my spelling I should put more water in it

My post above should of course read Qatar

Surely Butcher's connection with Ipswich Town brought us Meekings

Probably the best of all finds

Russia is employing " slave Labour" I e prisoners to build stadia

Quarter is employing immigrant labour at starvation rates to build theirs

If some European F As need to think about boycotting. then they should be applauded

My face was wet with tears time seemed to stand still at the end of the match.

I want to go to Istanbul so I can stay at my daughters flat there

Beer is cheap too,

Congratulations to Heart of Midlothian  well done after your ownership problems

The member of Parliament for Inverness Badenoch and Strathspey  was introduced as

Right Honourable

Not possible unless there is something I don't know

Only members of her majesty's privy council hold that title

It may be some time before he attains that high status.

Northern Meeting Park

Is that the park near  the theatre where the Highland games are held ? 

When we win it will be wunderbar

http://www.metrolyrics.com/wunderbar-lyrics-kiss-me-kate.html

What next should all senior European teams resign from FIFA. 

Have their own tournament somewhere  in Europe . That would put the cat amongst the pigeons.

Not realistic but something must be done. Marketing and organisation issues , T V rights is always open to bribes and bungs,

US are really miffed about losing the world cup vote. That's why I tagged " Hell Hath No Fury",  

England are expected to go into bat on this one too, they are furious as well in losing the vote .

The Cat is amongst the proverbial pigeons

It is looking like a breakaway is now on the cards

What time will the bus ( 10 ) be in aviemore?

This may have been discussed already but what colour will the teams wear, A clash with Inverness

Falkirk wear

What next should all senior European teams resign from FIFA. 

Have their own tournament somewhere  in Europe . That would put the cat amongst the pigeons.

Not realistic but something must be done. Marketing and organisation issues , T V rights is always open to bribes and bungs,

US are really miffed about losing the world cup vote. That's why I tagged " Hell Hath No Fury",  

England are expected to go into bat on this one too, they are furious as well in losing the vote .

The Crises at FIFA is now raging

The US attorney General has issued enditements against at least 14 high ranking officials

Arrests in Switzerland amongst  officials as well

Everybody knew that corruption existed amongst top officials but this has been the first steps taken by officialdom to sort it out.

Geoffrey Webb a vice president  of  FIFA  has been  arrested , 4 individuals have already pleaded guilty.

10 current FIFA officials are to be investigated and questioned immediately

Although the defeat today looked like our back up players are not Premiership standard, I was quite impressed with the players Hughes gave a chance too.

I feel he should look to the future and sign the lot if he needs a fuller squad. Squads develop over time, Young players hopefully will improve.

To match what we have done this season will be very difficult, but hopefully we will not nose dive down the division; like some of our opponents' have done. I worry a bit that John Hughes may be the target of other clubs now he has shown his undoubted abilities.

Especially after the success of Norwich City, may or may not give rise to more speculation regarding Scotland's best managers.

Also just a thought  as you all know in a former life I was a keen Bury supporter.

I am led to believe that the Bury forward  mentioned below has been offered a deal by the club and not yet  signed,  Might be worth while looking into

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Nardiello

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dgaA1tVyDFs/maxresdefault.jpg

These men where they pathetic

Where Roman legions pathetic to protect their eagle at all costs

Every regiment has its colours that men would die for

The Union flag is our national emblem  created by King James when he came from Scotland to form the Union

The Flags of ST Andrew St George and St Patrick are not National flats as such, but emblems of Patron Saints of the main Nationalities that formed the Union.

Accies got promoted through the play-off.

Their manager might do it again at Wembley what a feat it would be  two years running