Ironically Scottish Labour could actually end up being proven right on the stuff they've been criticised for by the left in the event of independence - as the current tax structure stands, things like free education wouldn't be sustainable at all in the way they are under the Barnett formula, so the choice would be there in a theoretical first post-independence election over whether the Scottish would be happy to ramp up taxes to maintain the existing system or whether they'd want to spend less on it and bring in tuition fees/graduate tax/ramp up taxes but spend that money elsewhere.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scot...litics-27151993

 

Milliband is en route.

 

I wonder if he will have the audacity to claim the SNP are too much like the Tories again, when the SNP's (fairly moderate) policies would be considered palpitation-inducingly radically Marxist and "un-credible" in Labour circles.

Edited April 24, 201411 yr by Danny

I howled with laughter when he did that! The irony being that Labour and the Tories aren't exactly far apart on the political compass these days compared to where Labour were pre-'New Labour'

I wonder if he will have the audacity to claim the SNP are too much like the Tories again, when the SNP's (fairly moderate) policies would be considered palpitation-inducingly radically Marxist and "un-credible" in Labour circles.

Have you got anything new to say yet?

Have you got anything new to say yet?

 

Not until Labour have something new to say other than endlessly parrotting "cost of living crisis" and "economic credibility".

Not until Labour have something new to say other than endlessly parrotting "cost of living crisis" and "economic credibility".

What exactly is wrong with the first one?

I'm not really sure why free education is taken as a left-wing policy. It works on average against the less well-off by having admission set exclusively according to how many students the government is willing to pay for, thereby shutting out those going to uni on lower grades but who are willing to take on tuition loans as an investment, and it subsidises those who gain the most monetarily from their university education who'd pay tuition fees otherwise.

 

Chuck in cuts to corporation tax and a freeze on council tax as a couple of the other signature SNP policies and this idea that they're some radical left wing alternative to Labour falls apart. They just portray themselves as that and in opposition to the Conservatives because they know there's a market opportunity there for disaffected Labour supporters looking for an anti-Tory vote.

 

(They also have the advantage of having more money to spend per head than the British government does. You'd probably see a Labour Party that could spend money on things like free education et al if they had more money per head and were literally unable to run a deficit.)

I'm not really sure why free education is taken as a left-wing policy. It works on average against the less well-off by having admission set exclusively according to how many students the government is willing to pay for, thereby shutting out those going to uni on lower grades but who are willing to take on tuition loans as an investment, and it subsidises those who gain the most monetarily from their university education who'd pay tuition fees otherwise.

It's a left wing principle more than it's a left wing policy.

Robert Peston is to do a report on UK (lack of) prep for a yes vote..

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27145821

 

 

I'm not really sure why free education is taken as a left-wing policy. It works on average against the less well-off by having admission set exclusively according to how many students the government is willing to pay for, thereby shutting out those going to uni on lower grades but who are willing to take on tuition loans as an investment, and it subsidises those who gain the most monetarily from their university education who'd pay tuition fees otherwise.

 

Chuck in cuts to corporation tax and a freeze on council tax as a couple of the other signature SNP policies and this idea that they're some radical left wing alternative to Labour falls apart. They just portray themselves as that and in opposition to the Conservatives because they know there's a market opportunity there for disaffected Labour supporters looking for an anti-Tory vote.

 

(They also have the advantage of having more money to spend per head than the British government does. You'd probably see a Labour Party that could spend money on things like free education et al if they had more money per head and were literally unable to run a deficit.)

 

I wasn't even really talking about tuition fees, I was talking mainly about the fact they've actually stood up for people on benefits and tried to protect them as much as their powers allow, whereas Labour cheerily vote for "welfare caps" and absurd sanctions on anyone who doesn't comply with some requirements, while only discovering the balls to say they'd repeal the bedroom tax after Nigel Farage and Norman Tebbit had said they opposed it. As well as the fact they stand up for traditional public services rather than come out with some guff about "the era of centralisation is over" or that "reforms" had to be introduced, introducing free care for the elderly at a time when the Progress Tendency in Labour would balk at the idea of introducing a new "bureaucratic" public spending programme, etc.

 

I would agree that that the only thing I find worrying about the SNP is that, at the same time as they admirably stand up for the poor and the public services, they still say they're going to throw goodies at the rich by cutting corporation tax and not re-introducing the 50p tax rate. That said, Labour are not exactly in position to criticise them for that since the whole New Labour ethos was based on the pie-in-the-sky idea that you could help the poor while still allowing the rich to gorge themselves on huge salaries and low tax rates, when everyone knows that to help the poor, someone is going to have to pay for it.

I wasn't even really talking about tuition fees, I was talking mainly about the fact they've actually stood up for people on benefits and tried to protect them as much as their powers allow, whereas Labour cheerily vote for "welfare caps" and absurd sanctions on anyone who doesn't comply with some requirements, while only discovering the balls to say they'd repeal the bedroom tax after Nigel Farage and Norman Tebbit had said they opposed it. As well as the fact they stand up for traditional public services rather than come out with some guff about "the era of centralisation is over" or that "reforms" had to be introduced, introducing free care for the elderly at a time when the Progress Tendency in Labour would balk at the idea of introducing a new "bureaucratic" public spending programme, etc.

 

I would agree that that the only thing I find worrying about the SNP is that, at the same time as they admirably stand up for the poor and the public services, they still say they're going to throw goodies at the rich by cutting corporation tax and not re-introducing the 50p tax rate. That said, Labour are not exactly in position to criticise them for that since the whole New Labour ethos was based on the pie-in-the-sky idea that you could help the poor while still allowing the rich to gorge themselves on huge salaries and low tax rates, when everyone knows that to help the poor, someone is going to have to pay for it.

On that second paragraph - Labour are EXACTLY in a position to criticise them given we'd reinstate the 50p tax rate.

The CBI has borrowed Nigel Farage's bicycle. They are back peddling as fast as they humanly possible.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scot...litics-27159618

Danny Alexander has called on Scottish ministers to produce "realistic analysis" of the cost of independence.

 

It comes as the Treasury prepares to publish detailed findings on the financial impact of a "Yes" vote.

 

In a speech in Edinburgh on Wednesday, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury will attack "over-optimistic assumptions" about oil revenues.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scot...litics-27174605

 

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scot...litics-27174605

 

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

Danny, I had no idea :o

The muppet can go fuck himself. Might give him a break from rimming Osbourne.

Can't see him still being an MP after the next election so he'd better make good use of the Ministerial Jag while he can. Muppet indeed.

Danny, I had no idea :o

:D!

The latest YouGov poll has it stable from last month at 51 NO - 37 YES, or 58-42 when don't knows are filtered out. Just to balance things a little away from the 'INDEPENDENCE IS INEVITABLE LOOK AT THE POLL SURGE!' narrative that seems to be taking grip (here and in the media) from a couple of carefully selected polls.

Not a massive surprise to anyone on this side of the border but the Sunday Herald has today become the first newspaper to pick a side in the debate. They have gone YES. Which is about as shocking as the pope reviling himself to be a catholic.

 

I would expect the vile lie mongering rags that have Scottish editions (Scum, Daily Star, Daily Hitler et al) to side with the No camp over the coming months. That would also be as surprising as the pope admitting he's catholic.

Aaaand the SNP have voted against a living wage in public contracts. Let's bring an end to this myth that the SNP are this great lost labour party just because Salmond goes big on rhetoric.