Monday 22 September 2014

A hornets' nest @ No. 10

A dreadful caterwauling came down the corridor. It emanated from No 11! I knew it must be Arturo but I could not catch the words! Then the blast hit me full force:
A Gordon for me, a Gordon for me

If you're no a Gordon ye're nae use to me

The Black Watch are braw, the Seaforths an a'

But a cocky wee Gordon's the pride of them a'
.

"Do you like the refrain?" Arturo asked me. "I thought that 'Boy David' Cameron might like the lilt."

Why on earth, I wondered, would Cameron like that? Before I could ask - as usual, I was told.

"As The Sun could well have headlined it - 'It was Gordon what won it'! And before you flaunt your knowledge of all things - I know the 'Gordon' in the song refers to the Gordon Highlanders - however I am taking poetic licence."

Of course, I'm not daft - despite Arturo's comments to the contrary - so I took myself off to read the actual news reports. He was right! Gordon Brown does seem to be credited with 'saving the Union'. For example The Independent had the headline :
Scottish referendum result: Gordon Brown's place in history rewritten after decisive intervention

The article by Andrew Grice went on:
Gordon Brown has been hailed as the man who saved the Union, after his late intervention in the referendum campaign halted a slide of Labour supporters who had been planning to vote for independence.

The 'man who saved the Union'! I don't think that's what 'Wailing Lad' Clegg and Cameron have been saying about him!

Grice continued:
Mr Brown’s passionate defence of the Union in a speech on Wednesday was widely seen as one the decisive moments of the campaign. ...

Conservative ministers were happy for Mr Brown to seize the reins of the No campaign and set out a timetable for further devolution for Scotland after a No vote. They noted the irony of him propping up his Tory successor David Cameron, who would have been under huge pressure to resign after the break-up of the 307-year-old Union. Mr Brown and Mr Cameron have enjoyed a strained relationship until the past two weeks, when the Prime Minister has apparently been happy to take his calls.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/scottish-independence/scottish-referendum-result-gordon-browns-place-in-history-rewritten-after-decisive-intervention-9744892.html

So - 'the Prime Minister has apparently been happy to take his calls'!! He was, was he? Now there's a surprise! Ever the PR man - our 'Boy David' will talk to anyone whom he thinks might be a possible asset for him! As Groucho Marx once said:
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.

Not to be out-done by the 'cocky wee Gordon', 'cocky wee' Cameron took to the microphone at dawn on the morning of the announcement that the 'No' vote had won. The BBC reported:
As Scotland votes ''no'' to independence, Prime Minister David Cameron has said it is ''time for our United Kingdom to come together and move forward''.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-29272162

So far so good - who could argue with coming together and moving forward. Then - the PR man got carried away in an endeavour to please the Tory backwoodsmen! Caution and judgement - if he has any - went out the proverbial window! Cameron was quoted as saying
... Lord Smith of Kelvin had agreed to oversee the process of devolving more powers over tax, spending and welfare to Scotland, with draft legislation by the end of January.

Mr Cameron added that the rights of other people in the UK needed to be "respected and enhanced". He said he had long believed that a crucial missing part was England. He said "the millions of voices of England must be heard".

The Leader of the Commons William Hague has been asked to draw up plans for what would be a fundamental change at Westminster - that only English MPs could vote on English matters.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29271763

Yes! You did read that correctly: 'by January'. According to my reckoning that is just over 4 months! So - get this, guys! 'wee cocky' Cameron who had given himself the headache of meeting the Scots' agenda in 4 months - now added the issue that had been debated and re-debated for almost a century i.e. English democracy. And - he will resolve both issues in 4 months! Below Downing Street, the earth was trembling! It was Gladstone spinning in his grave!

The Guardian had the headline:
Scottish referendum: Funding pledge to Scotland leaves David Cameron with the hangover from hell

Even Lord Barnett has called his formula which allows Scotland 19 per cent higher public expenditure per head than in England a 'terrible mistake'

The article by Anthony Seldon went on:
The pledge now leaves Mr Cameron with the hangover from hell. Many of his MPs have been vocal in their decrying of the pledge, and even Lord Barnett, now 90, has called his formula a “terrible mistake”, intended only as an interim measure in the run-up to planned political devolution in the late Seventies.

To some Conservative backbenchers, Mr Cameron was typically bounced into reactive decisions in promising too much to Scotland – a decision that has been called “reckless” by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. They believe that if the Prime Minister had fought a better campaign, he would never have had to make these concessions.

Significant doubts also remain over whether the proposals for further Scottish devolution will ever get through Parliament. Many voices on both Left and Right believe it is an error for such major constitutional change to be introduced with such haste
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11110848/Scottish-referendum-Funding-pledge-to-Scotland-leaves-David-Cameron-with-the-hangover-from-hell.html

So there you have it! 'cocky wee' Cameron is up the creek without a paddle. His unrealistic timetable for increased devolution for Scotland was bad enough! The added plum for the backwoodsmen of an offer of reform for England has really set the proverbial cat (Ha! Ha!) among the pigeons! Just read Andy Sully who wrote under the headline on the BBC news blog:
The papers: After the referendum, the political rows

Sully went on:
In the Sunday Mirror, John Prescott argues for a renewal of his regional assembly idea.

... "I believed if we offered more powers and made a more compelling case, people would be convinced about devolution. Scotland has just done that for us.

"It's now time for a devolution revolution. We must seize this chance to give power to ALL the people."

The idea isn't universally popular.

Jonathan Meades in the Independent on Sunday decries "localism" and asks how will a future PM "cope with the pressure of English regions seeking various levels of autonomy? And what powers should they be granted?

"How many extra levels of non-productive, ludicrously overpaid functionaries does a country need?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-29299057

So 'wee cocky' Cameron has stirred up a hornets' nest. We are in for 'interesting times'!

Meanwhile - Arturo and me are off for a bite of haggis!