Mr. Rankine, where does North Sea oil fit into the bright picture of Scottish
independence?
Cordially,
M. Lucas
On Jun 8, 2017, at 7:41 PM, douglas rankine (Redacted sender "douglasrankine"
for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
When the Scottish National Party took power...We became Lesser Britain...in
mind if not physically...:-). Now, we just got to get Australia back from
the Chinese...Given up on the USA...:-).
ATB
Dougie.
On 08/06/2017 22:47, Peter M Howell wrote:
Never mind. Prognostication is a risky biz much like politics.
There has to be a reason or two for people to vote Labour, I suspect it
might be genetic though nurture will likely have not helped.
When did Britain stop being Great...
On Jun 8, 2017 10:17 PM, "douglas rankine" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
see url:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2017/jun/08/general-election-results-2017-uk-live-labour-tories-corbyn-may-election-results-live-news-line
Just goes to show how wrong I could be...:-)
On 08/06/2017 21:59, douglas rankine (Redacted sender douglasrankine for
DMARC) wrote:
Dear Colleagues,
You may...or may not...have noticed that I haven't written anything about
the General Election being held in the UK today. It is a very unusual
election, with the electorate and the politicians and the political
parties, very much in a political, economic, social and historical muddle,
about what is the right way to go forward in the future. 46.9 million
citizens of the UK are registered to vote, out of a population of around
65 and a half million, the largest registration on record. There are 650
constituencies to be fought for and around 9 political parties, apart from
independents contesting the election.
The issues are Brexit, hard or soft, a single market, large scale
immigration; and social and economic policies, mainly the national health
service, social service provision, looking after the elderly, education
and social welfare, with the main discussion about which party can provide
the people with the most secure and progressive future, and which leader
shows themselves to be the strongest personality for leading the political
struggle, particularly in exiting the European Union in the next couple of
years. The main parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the
nationalist parties, and smaller parties such as the Greens and UKIP,
along with small numbers of independents.
The Conservatives, who were in power, decided to call an election so that
they could get a mandate from the people, by increasing their majority in
parliament, so that their leadership's hands wouldn't be tied in the
coming negotiations with the European Union, and to put them in a strong
negotiating position. Election law in the UK was changed a few years ago,
in that the right to call a general election was taken away from the remit
of the Prime Minister, into organising a regular election once every five
years, or if the Houses of Parliament decides by a substantial majority
decides to call one. The Conservatives wish to continue with the austerity
programme, cutting back public expenditure, lowering taxes, including
corporation tax and continuing with the squeeze on the public sector wages
and capital expenditure, and asking the elderly and infirm who own their
own homes to forfeit much of the wealth in their estate to pay for their
care when they become ill. Very small increases, in public expenditure,
not even keeping pace with inflation is envisaged for the future, with
further privatisation, and cut backs in the civil and public services.
The Labour Party, whilst supporting an election, is in complete and utter
disarray, with most of its M.P.s opposing Brexit, wishing to remain in the
European Union, whilst many of its supporters are in favour of Brexit.
Their economic and social policies include increasing public expenditure
and taxes on the wealthier classes in our society, to provide for extra
funding for improving the infrastructure of our society, the National
Health Service, education and re-nationalise the railways.
Historically, both leaders of the two main political parties, stood on
opposite sides over Brexit or remain, and both have shifted their
positions to the opposite view. And, in fact very little discussion has
taken place about what will be done about cutting back immigration or
about our negotiating position when it comes to leaving the European
Union. There has been lots of talk, but the main thing appears to be to
keep a single market, free of tariffs, at the same time avoid the free
movement of labour, which is a mainstay of the European Union and one of
the main sticking blocks, along with the alleged cost of leaving.
The recent terrorist activity has led to calls by the Conservatives for
the UK to leave the European Court of Human Rights, so that the government
and to increase the power of the Security and Intelligence Services so
that they can have carte blanche powers to control alleged terrorists,
without resort to the courts, in cases where there is not enough evidence
to prosecute them. It is most unfortunate that the recent spate of
terrorists, were all known to the Security Services, but nothing was done
about them, and for some reason there are many Conservatives who think
that removing human rights of all of us, including themselves, is going to
somehow prevent terrorism...it is an old story of course.
It is in this background, that me missus and I decided to vote in an
election for many decades. Usually, we don't bother, not because we don't
believe in elections or democracy, but purely because we couldn't find a
candidate whom we felt could represent our views in parliament adequately,
and long experience has shown that they really want to look after
themselves rather than anyone else, and, if I were in their position, I
would most likely want to do the same.
So, this morning, off we went to the local polling station, in a local
community centre, to register our vote. I noticed that it was very busy
when we got there, the car park was full, there were many people about,
and the road was blocked by the local Labour Party candidate who was
ferrying some elderly folks in wheelchairs in his car, who was hoping that
they would vote for him, and had parked in the middle of the road in a no
parking area, preventing anyone from coming or going to vote, resulting in
a large traffic jam...but such is the nature of politicians, they don't
notice such things, they don't know what they are doing, living in their
own little world of dreams of political power and being loved by the
masses. When we eventually entered the polling station, there was no
sign of a policeman or policewoman, armed or otherwise, no soldiers
guarding the station, just some friendly civilian public servants who were
there to record our presence and issue our voting papers, tick us off the
list, and make sure that we put our voting papers in the boxes.
In all the time of the elections, over 3 weeks, I think I saw about 3
election posters, all for the Conservative Party, which rules the roost in
this part of the country, here in the South of England, and there was
never any sign of vans with loudhailers fitted, and politicians spouting
their politics to the masses as they drove round the streets. No one
knocked on my door, though the UnRoyal Mail, did deliver some free
leaflets from the candidates. These days it is all about Facebook and
Twitter, and not being a member of those, I missed all the false news,
lies, deceptions and hypes. Hopefully, the candidates and political
parties will keep within their election expenditure caps in this election,
and hopefully, the Russians or the Americans haven't been able to
influence or muck up our voting procedures to bring about the politics in
the UK, that their leadership or the CIA or the Intelligence services
think they might want to make American Great Again.
Oh! Not that you will want to know, but I voted for Labour, even though
they are opposed to Brexit. I didn't use logic, or illogic, I didn't use
rationality or irrationality, I didn't vote with my head or my heart, I
didn't use emotional intelligence, but voted for them purely because I
wanted to do my little bit to try and make sure that the Conservatives
don't get elected with an overwhelming majority. One should always try
ones best to make sure that politicians work hard and think hard for their
money, and prevent polarisation of the biggest parties, or monopolise the
political scene, and of course globalisation and huge international
corporations now rule the roost, along with groups of international elites
these days, national governments have very little power in the world
economy.
I hope you enjoy this little treatise...if not I do apologise for wasting
your time.
ATB
Dougie.
P.S. Oh! And who do I think will win? The Conservatives of course, with
an overwhelming majority...
P.P.S. Can anyone tell me when the time was when America was Great in the
first place. I keep racking my brains but just can't work out what Trump
means...Was there a time when America was more charitable than it is
now...I wonder; a time when charities spent the money they raised on the
deserving and needy and poor, rather than subsidising the rich and wealthy
gentlefolk and elites of New York and Washington when they go to play
golf...:-).
