Monday, February 11, 2008

When Scotland grows up…………… by indypal2

When Scotland achieves her independence what kind of society will we create? Allot will stem from how seriously we take our new found responsibilities. What is clearly apparent is that the current set up won’t suffice. The Scots parliament as it is now has few checks or balances. It needs to be revised and the structure re-aligned for more interaction with the whole nation. Also what will be our future relationship with the head of state? When the Queen is in the country that’s simple but what about when she is not. All of these questions need reflection and more importantly answers.

Nationhood will bring hard decisions and its not inconceivable that at sometime inthe future Scotland may need to declare war. So its time to get the thinking caps on and come up with a great parliamentary democracy of which we can all be proud. We should look around the world and adopt the best practice. Countries like New Zealand and Australia show us how to tackle the Head of State issue by having their own Governor General (NZ GG pictured above) to stand in when the monarch is in England, we should do the same. But why not go further and have them elected.

Also our parliaments single chamber structure is too weak, we need a bicameral parliament with a revising chamber with powers that can hold the govt of the day to account. A senate would be a great idea to delay bad legislation exposing it to the light of scrutiny. Should the lower house becomes too extreme then the upper house can block anything. This would be of benefit if an extreme government were appointed, then the upper house could keep a check on legislation.

The revising chamber should be elected from each of Scotland’s Local Authority Areas, there would be about 50 representatives. Each area would elect one representative giving us our second chamber and would hopefully attract people from outwith the political parties. The lower and upper houses combined could have powers to dismiss a Govt or declare war with a 2/3 majority ensuring that we get the checks and balances we desire. Its a heady debate to start but one we must contemplate if we are to grow up and become an  independent country. We are a big country and must start thinking big, lets get it right this time and not have the shambles that was the birth of devolution.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 15:31:42 | Permalink | No Comments »

Revolving heads

Hi, Indypal One here.

I have been trying to get my head round this whole sharia law debate.  I am instinctively wary of the idea but it’s not a black and white issue. I am certain that we should make no compromises whatsoever on equality and human rights.The law should apply equally to each individual and each individual should be equal before the law. No ifs, no buts. But there are aspects of sharia law which are very attractive. There is an interesting debate going on around the development of a dedicated Islamic mortgage market in the UK .  I have to say that the Islamic-based approach to buying property appears to me to be very much more sensible and sustainable than the status quo.  

But I wonder …. if sharia-compliant mortgages became more widely available in Scotland and in the wider UK  wouldn’t most people – Muslim and non-Muslim alike – want to opt for an interest-free way of buying property?  D’oh … of course we would! And once that model became more widely established, it would be difficult to see how it could be restricted to Muslims. I may be indulging in a bit of conspiracy theorising here but perhaps there are some vested interests concerned with shutting down this debate, as well as those who have very valid concerns about human rights implications. 

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 13:06:38 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Random comments by Essexmangreenindypal 3

Indygal supplied me with one of those ‘grumpy old man ranting’ books for Xmas.  This was read with interest but a few of the targets seem a little soft/ obvious.  Here’s an alternate list of my own. 
1)      Stores, particularly Boots, and their ridiculous carrier bag policies.

The scene – Indypal 3 buys a carrot cake slice and attempts to put it in his own half empty bag  but helpful assistant reaches for a new carrier bag sporting fetching brand logo.

‘No, I don’t actually need a carrier bag – I’ve got one’
‘No bag!!! Are you sure?’
‘Actually no I’m not and you’ve persuaded me now. Allow me to add another one to the 234324 carrier bags handed out in the duration of our current conversation’.

2)       Fake mid-Atlantic accents in UK music/  DJs.

I really don’t understand why 99.4% of groups/ artists from this country try to mask their accents to some extent. – some of the few exceptions are the London late 70s punk scene and The Proclaimers.  The same applies to other non American English speaking countries by the way – have you ever heard an Australian band/ artist sing with an Aussie accent (Minogue!).  Nothing against US accents at all but I would like some more variety and hear all the regional accents of the UK in songs.   

3)       Rampant patriotism/ parochialism.

I was recently delighted to receive a tea towel advertising the ingenious Scottish and their inventions. Sounds pretty obscure I know but this cloth rectangle is indicative of an attitude which is pretty commonplace – the embellishment of facts to reflect more positively upon the place you’re from.

Snippets of tea towel wisdom ‘The Englishman travels to work on a steam train invented by James Watt of Greenock, Scotland ’ etc. All very well,  but Watt actually improved upon the Newcomen steam engine which was invented 20 years before he was born so he didn’t actually invent steam power. He was certainly a clever bloke who influenced the Industrial Revolution but he had no direct involvement with trains. We all know that the true inventor of the steam train was in fact a lady called Ugog as she invented the wheel in 5679 BC. I won’t inform the tea towel makers that she lived on a cave south of Elgin as it would only encourage them.

Not a phenomenon which is unique to Scotland of course – same applies to England, Wales , NI and various counties.  (In the past I’ve been reliably informed that Barnsley Town Hall is the finest example of architecture in the country for example.) 
4)  The lack of doughnut variety in this area of the UK .

Aulds in the devolved political entity of Scotland (or country of Scotland as some people choose to call it) sell a fine range. You cannot buy a pineapple or fudge doughnut in the non devolved political entity of England – most common are drab jam or custard ones in the uniform spherical  generic shape. I’m not entirely sure that the huge and mostly Scottish readership of the blog can relate to this so some empathy is required on this one.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 23:21:42 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Friday, February 8, 2008

Mad world

Indypal One here. I went on to the Scotsman website today to see what they were making of the Wendy scenario.  Personally I think the Electoral Commission has made a big mistake and has seriously damaged its reputation.  Being a bit old, unlike the ever-youthful Indygal (who is actually the same age as me) I remember the days before the Electoral Commission existed.  In those far off days the Representation of the People Act was the only bit of legislation we worried about and, by God, you made sure you stayed on the right side of it or you were in big trouble.  The Electoral Commission should be able to command that level of respect.  Sadly it doesn’t.  Although I am a liberal in general law and order matters, I do believe that compliance with electoral law is best accomplished by fear.  Politicians should dread being called to account by the Electoral Commission.  They should not feel confident of being vindicated when they have in fact broken the rules.


Anyway, I started off by saying that I had gone onto the Scotsman website to see what ‘they’ were making of the story.  By ‘they’ I mean the people who post comments on the stories.  A madder collection of individuals you could not find.  But it seems the Scotsman has finally reached the end of its tether and has shut down comments on all but the most innocuous of stories.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I cannot say.  It will certainly mean that I waste less time reading the deranged rantings of the regulars.  On the other hand I can’t help feeling that the Scotsman was performing a public duty trapping these folk in cyber-space where they could vent their spleen harmlessly and provide amusement to people like me at the same time.  I must admit I will miss visiting their mad world.  The Herald still seems to be allowing comments though ….. 

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 19:43:25 | Permalink | No Comments »

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Italian political farce hits Scotland - by Indypal2

Now imagine a country that’s parliament is so fractured that the Prime Minister needs to threaten to resign every time he wants to pass a budget. The PM is betroven to smaller parties who have no loyalty and only want to exploit their position to the full. This isn’t Italy or Israel folks this is Scotland 2008. What a sorry state of affairs we are in.

I think its really time to reflect on Proportional representation, its a weak form of Govt that is only really loved by the unelectable, smaller parties. The public don’t rate it much either. Is this how Scots democracy is to go on, with backroom deals and budgets sliced up to special interests? I hope not.

Its time to work out some durable and stable electoral process for the country, not this mess. We don’t want to be seen around the world as having a flip flop parliament. I know its the policy of both the SNP and Lib Dems, I understand why the Lib dems want it but the SNP should ditch this awful idea. It simply does not work and the country will be the poorer for the political stagnation. People don’t want to be going to the Polls every year only to elect more indecision so lets consign it to history and be a strong, powerful democracy. Only the Lib dems and trots will lose out, lets put out the political trash and strengthen the parliament and the country in the process.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 15:40:00 | Permalink | No Comments »

America decides with real democracy - by Indy pal 2

 

Women of the Future? - Only time will tell.

So America has gone further down the road of deciding who will be President. I’m not cynical like Indypal 1 because I understand the American system of elections and it is better than ours. Strip away the speeches, music, conventions and what you have is the electorate involved in shaping the candidates of the future. This doesn’t happen here which is why we get such dullards as MPs and MSPs (indygal clearly excluded).

I’m delighted that Hillary won most of the primaries, she is a passionate woman of conviction and will be a great Pres, she’s bursting with ideas and will get health care to all Americans. That’s why I don’t share Indypal 1s rather snobbish rubbishing of their election process. It really does matter to them and us. If they had chosen differently last time Iraq might never have happened and that really does matter.

I have good friends in America and they want change and renewal, just like us. So lets admire what we can and adopt the good practices, with an open mind we can learn alot. As for the other candidates Mr Obama is eye catching but has no substance and Mr McCain makes great chips. So you see its not all bad.

So be of good cheer, the world is shaping up a new order with a SNP govt here and the Clintons back in the white house. Its nice to get some good news for a change. All we need now is Indygal in the Scots parly and everything would be perfect Smile

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 15:11:52 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Super Tuesday?

Obviously a lot of people think so as bloggers everywhere get caught up in the frenzied excitement of, erm, whatever it’s all about. 

Indypal One  can’t get into it though.  Sorry.  It’s just rubbish. The candidates’ comments are so trite, they read more like song lyrics than anything else.  Who said this?

“Because you know that politics isn’t a game… It is not about who is up or down. It is about your lives, your families, your futures.”

or

‘Our time has come. Our movement is real and change is coming to America . What began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be deterred.’

Woo-yeah-clap hands and holler…

It hardly matters does it? But maybe since they are into swelling choruses they should just turn the whole sheebang into a show.   US Presidential  Primaries and Caucuses – The Musical!

Who would play the starring role?  Hilary, of course.

Meantime, back in Dodge City, we have our own little showdown (or should that be hoe-down)  to look forward to.

I’m backing Wyatt Earp to keep the varmints in line.  Woo-yeah-clap hands and holler…

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 13:35:32 | Permalink | No Comments »

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

More social-workery stuff

To continue the social work theme two further reports on poverty in Scotland have been published today.  The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee has published a report looking at child poverty in scotland .  

The second report looks specifically at deprivation in Glasgow .  It is published by the Centre for Social Justice Now a word of warning – this is a Tory thinktank devoted to seeking ‘effective solutions to the poverty that blight parts of Britain ’.  Nevertheless it looks an interesting paper (I say looks because it doesn’t seem to be on their website yet).  The author – former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith – has apparently said that a visit to Easterhouse in 2002 changed his political priorities completely.  And this was before Tartan Hero was elected. 

Most of the press coverage has focused on the fact that there are 170 gangs in Glasgow.  Well, send for Martin Scorcese. There were almost as many as that at my school.  Maybe we should have a competition to see how many we can name?

More on the political content of these reports later.  Bet you can hardly wait…….

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 18:19:15 | Permalink | No Comments »

Decision Time - America.by IP2

It’s super Tuesday folks the day that America will decide who will run for President. I don’t know what you make of the current crop buy I do like that Hillary Clinton. She has style, experience and more than a touch of showbiz but will America agree? Oh and her policies look ok as well, lol. Its time to replace Mr Bush but will they want a change of policies as well as leader. Only time will tell but it looks like it’s going to be a cracker of an election, almost as exciting as our own election in 07.

I just wish Neil Diamond was standing, now theres a president in waiting.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 12:14:28 | Permalink | No Comments »

Play nicely children

A very brief post from moi, Indygal, the one with all the pals (!!), just to say that you’ve not to fight with each other. For all you know, you may know each other very well indeed. I’m not saying you do, but you might ….

And just to say again, I love all my IndyPals but it doesn’t mean I agree with everything they say especially IP2 when they are making comments like the one about Greggs! As someone said to me in response, what’s wrong with Aulds?

Ciao for now and if anyone’s missing me I’m here.

Posted by Anne McLaughlin AKA IndyGal at 11:18:19 | Permalink | Comments (1) »