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As I understand it, the Scottish Parilment has the powers to raise the level of taxation in Scotland up to 3% above the general level in the rest of the U.K. Has this been done since devolution?
If yes, what where the reasons for doing so and if no, has there ever been a call for it to happen?
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Quote: from Grasshopper on 8:43 pm on Feb. 28, 2007[br]Insomniac, you and I look at it the same way – merely from opposing sides.
Whilst the Unions undoubtedly had to be tamed, Thatcher chose to sacrifice entire swathes of the country, and the wider social fabric, merely to teach them a lesson.
What did she care? The money was going to be reset into the pockets of those she most aspired to be like, and she would never, herself, be required to live in such areas.
The Thatcher Wet Dream convinced those who have the crumbs, that it was the fault of those who have nothing, and bugger-all to do with those that have plenty.
Nowadays, those that have gathered crumbs of their own, choose to blame every social ill on the very creatures that Thatcher created, whilst those who sit at the top table, raking in all the cream, and generally making every f**kers life a misery, are both exonerated and venerated.
**** Thatcher.
Her short-term memory is shot to bits, and I sincerely hope that all she remembers is her wanton dismemberment of a huge percentage of the UK’s population, during her years of handbag-swinging and theivery.
It might help her develop a conscience, or at least something which might equate her to a human being.
I, like many others I’m sure, will dance a jig the day she meets her maker in the basement.
Apologies if that sounds harsh, but I save a special vengeance for the children of the devil. :biggrin:
PS. Re the Poll Tax, I don’t wear it as a badge of oppression. I merely mentioned it in the context of ‘the Scots’ (Welsh and affiliated Irish for all I know) being  classed as ‘tax debtors’ on this thread.
I pay my taxes, and generally have ****-all to show for it. That makes me a ‘tax creditor’ in my book, and the generalisation that all Scots are somehow the same, needs to be corrected. In exactly the same way that all English/Welsh/affiliated Irish, are not the same.
Indeed, its the suggestion that there is a common bond of ‘Englishness’ which will set you free from the hangers-on, that I find most absurd. Lollys Mate doesn’t even like his fellow Harrovians. :biggrin:
That’s some rant GH. <br>Up there with the best of them LOL<br>I personally agree with most of what you said. Seeing her get a permanent bronze statue in Westminster made me feel rather nausious actually. It would be better placed in Trafalgar Sq, a nice perch for the pigeons to crap on. <br>If that is what destroying a country gets you, I guess Blair will be immortalised on a plinth in Whitehall, rampant on horseback **rolls eyes**
Grasshopper – This is no Joke – Join the Labour Party and vote for John McDonnel for the leadership.
I left the party about five years ago – fed up with the lot of them – but rejoined last November, and I know of at least 20 others that have done the same for the same reason.
Grasshopper it may be in you interest to shake this political system to its roots with the election of a dye in wool Old Labour, Clause Four and all, PM, its a shame, anyway we are all gonna leave again when Brown or Millband win.<br>
I left the labour Party about 6 years ago and joined Amnesty International .. far better fighting the beast then trying to persuade it, IMO.
Nationalism is a joke .. but I still believe that the UK is the best place to live in the world. When you take a serious look around at whats on offer elsewhere, this place is quite good.
If Scotland elected the SNP, it would be a disaster for me personally. I wouldnt fancy being English and living here with the Anti-English trying to run the show .. it wouldnt take them long to make an arse of it and then blame the English for their own short-comings .. I feel like a Jew.
I did try Anmesty a couple of times but the mass letter writing groups freaked me out a bit :o
Quote: from Grasshopper on 8:01 pm on Mar. 1, 2007[br]
Quote: from robnorth on 7:21 pm on Mar. 1, 2007[br]In general government only reflects the failings, or otherwise, of the people.
Rob
Utter horsesh*t, if you don’t mind me saying so, Rob. :biggrin:
In our faux, art-deco democracy, the Goverment only ever reflects about 1/3 of what the ‘people’ think. And six months later, they still claim a mandate.
Welcome to Democracy. Please keep your hands in the vehicle at all times. Management cannot accept responsibility etc etc ad nauseum.
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Grasshopper
Please take careful note of what I wrote.
I did not say that the government reflects the thoughts of those voting for them.
Rather that governments of all hues, as if there’s an awful lot of difference these days, tend to reflect the general attitude of ‘the people’, to whit the ‘me myself I’ philosophy. Regrettably I can’t say I am able to exclude myself from that particular mire either.
Rob
GH has this spot on. Labour has been pushed so far to the right that it no longer represents the traditional Labour voter. In fact, New Labour is a Conservative voter’s wet dream. Labour voters are caught between a rock and a hard place now. Die hard Labourites would never vote tory, but may as well. Tory is closer to old Labour values under Cameron than Blair’s New Labour scam. <br>NL is nothing less than a clone of Thatcher’s Conservative regime. "I want it, so the country WILL have it". TB refuses to listen to the people, so the people will kick his ass in the biggest possible way next year. Britain is at last seeing him for what he is. <br>Brown would do well to not run for the main job this year. If he does, and wins, New Labour loses the next election. Simple as that. No-one voted for Brown and no-one want’s Brown. He represents an even more condenced version of what we have at present, bordering on totalitarian, IMO. A UK under Brown will see the average person without a pot to pi$$ in. <br>The red rose lost it’s petals in 1997 unfortunately.<br>Labour died, as a party for the people, the moment Tony Blair took the leadership from Margaret Beckett.
The Labour voter, as I see it, has to demand that Cameron run on a moderate ticket to guarantee their vote. If he does, TB and his new labour movement dies a very painful death at the hands of the electorate in 2008. I will be voting for Cameron as there is frankly no other option.
Grasshopper – I would suggest most people know what you said to be true and just choose to get on with their lives, knowing they can’t do anything about it. Admittely the the quailty of life may be called into question but who are you or I to judge?
But if anyone wants to make a difference they can – Thus spoke Zarathustra.
Would he not have sublimated the experienced and expressed it as Beyond Public Transport or The Will to Travel?
I think busses would have played havoc with his indigestion.
.. and Zarathrustra came down from the mountain, where he had soared with the eagles and he came upon an old man stood by the side of the road. And he said to the old man .. ‘what do you here, old man, beside the plastic monstrocity with the ‘No Smoking’ sign on it?’
‘Why’ replied the Old Man gleefully, ‘I am waiting for a bus.’
Zarathrustra walked away shaking his head, ‘could it be, that the Old Man has not heard that the bus is dead.’
Grasshopper
I suspect we hold the same scepticism about democracy, just maybe express it in different terms.
Political parties scramble for the middle ground, because it’s the 20 per cent of wavering voters who determine which party governs. Politicians look to see which way the wind blows in order to keep their own little empire intact.
My point is that this is no more than a reflection of society in general. In the main people are ‘in it for themselves’ and will grab what they can get. If you use the example of public transport then the best way would be for more people to use it, but ultimately it suits to go door to door in our cars.
Rob
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