Monday, 25 July 2016




  1. Tris

    According to Theresa 2016 she is going to change all of that. She said that banks and the Greene's of the world can't just do what they want. I wonder if she means we will change the system enough that they just won't get caught in future. She really does remind me of Thatcher in a lot of ways, trying to sound compassionate and caring, a woman of the people, we will share the wealth blah blah blah. Time will tell but none of us should get hopeful.

    It will be interesting when or if the Scottish Government call for another indy referendum, then we might see her true colours as she will refuse point blank I suspect and then we might actually see the surge to YES that it will require to win. Labour in Scotland might be softening as well or they will die.

    Orgreave should be investigated but I suspect it won't. It would confirm that Thatcher used the Police as her own personal stazi squad, they of course should have refused but didnt and the Police unions were very quiet at the time, what did she have on them, would love an investigation that actually reports in my lifetime but I don't see it.


    1. Thatcher had the police in her handbag. The first thing she on taking office (other than twitter on about bring harmony..LOL!) did was give them a massive pay rise. They were hers!

      As for St Theresa of YE/No/Maybe, well, I'll believe her soft caring sharing Tory, when I see it and not a minute before. Her past record doesn't suggest for a second that she is an old softy.

      When I see disabled benefits restored, sanction stopped, tax rises for the rich, a complete ban on BVI/Jersey/Guernsey/IoM, etc accounts. When I see the establishment sex allegations investigated properly, when I see companies like Sports Direct fined for treating people like dirt and a great deal of other stuff, then I MAY believe her.

      I could be wrong. Maybe she is a nice woman; maybe she cares about the poor. Time will tell, but if Thatcher's soft and decent words of compassion on achieving Downing Street are any indication of future behaviour then heaven help us...

      I see Kez has ordered her MSPs NOT to vote for another referendum.

      I'm of the opinion that it would have been Labour's last chance to restore its fortunes with their core audience. Looks like she's blown it.

    2. A propos the report on Philip Greene, according to the Mirror:


      So learning lessons is what she's going to do about this pensions whole of half a billion.

      Not a big fan of Franck Field but I'm with him on this one. If Greene sues him I'll chip in to crowd fund Fields defence.

      Greene repulses me to the extent I feel physically sick. But Mrs May will learn lessons for the future.

  2. I always thought that it was mad that Cameron was elected on a promise to cut spending and one of his first actions was to commit to military action in Libya. How many hundreds of millions or billions did that cost?
    Labour in Scotland are beyond hope. They have been stuck in SNPbad mode since the days of Willie Ross that they genuinely don't know anything else. The BBC have kept them on life support for years, when they transfer their alleigance to the Ruth Davidson Party, Labour in Scotland will die and deservedly so.

    Just a little aside. Back in the early nineties, my father took me to meet George Foulkes (as he was then. What an honour!) He blamed all Thatcher's actions on the SNP - they were the ones who let her in he maintained. The pit closures which had badly affected our part of Ayrshire were the fault of the Nats! He's a very bitter man and there are plenty like him in British Labour in Scotland.

    1. I think Labour in Scotland is safe as long as the BBC continues to employ so many of its friends and relations, but they would disappear were it not for the BBC.

      Pity really. At their best Labour were true friends to ordinary people.

      Pity they haven't been at their best for so long.

      Ffoukes before and after his accession to the aristocracy, was a nasty minded, stupid man.

      If he had taken the trouble to read Jim Callaghan's account of the situation, he would have known perfectly well that it was Labour's fault Thatcher got in a few months early... but that she would have got in anyway.

  3. No prosecutions...ah but, lessons have been learned.

    1. Aye, as ever. This lot learn lessons and then allow them to happen again. They must either be very stupid or very careless.

    2. Careless...yes, that's a good word for it. I wonder just how many MP's, current and future, will bother to read Chilcot.

    3. I'd imagine that probably very few of them have.

      Possibly the ones that have a bee in their bonnets about it... that would be headed by Alex Salmond and Jeremy Corbyn.

      Will they learn anything? No.

      When the next president tells them to go to war, the will jump to it and ask..."how many wars ma'am?"

  4. They have to keep learning the same old lessons because they are either stupid or suffer from degenerative mental conditions.

    1. LOl... We more or less said the same there.. only you were more eloquent!!


  5. Quite a damning list of what matters and what doesn't.

    When you add it together, it is pretty well, horrendous.

    New rule.

    There can only be two Etonians elected at any given time. That would reduce the degree of entitlement to govern badly at a stroke.

    New rule:

    Lobbyists should be shown the tumbril and told never to come back again on fear of death.

    There must be more...

    1. LOL.

      You should make a list of the new rules, Douglas.

      And can we sort out when they can clap and when they can't?

  6. I found an old Billy Connelly CD with the song "John Stonehouse went swimming" on it and found out more about him and, yes, even then the Establishment announced that lessons would be learned but as far as I can see the main lesson learned was 'do not get caught'

    Incidentally, I blogged a few thoughts on Madam May and although it is on Nico's side-bar it is not on Munquin's! I now know who my real friends are so I'll be nipping into Nico's for a pint!

    1. ... and if you do get caught remember to get one of your old school chums to be the judge.

      I'm mystified about where your blog link has gone, John. Munguin is broken hearted that you prefer Niko and Taz to him.

      He's gone for a weep.

      However I will ensure that our oversight is rectified immediatelyish. You will be restored to your exulted place on Munguin's blog roll.

    2. Bloody Buddhist Wee Frees. Can't drink. Can't eat meat. Can't dance. Can sing a little...

    3. Still, it leaves them a lot of time for mithering little animals who've never done anyone any harm. Much.

  7. The meme about 'things we can't afford' doesn't make any sense, nor is it really true.

    Education policy, like health, is devolved - thus there is no 'UK policy' to cut these policies at all.

    Further NHS funding in England has gone up above inflation in England. By definition this does not represent a 'cut', or a lack of funding.
    As for education, it may have escaped your notice but while English attainment levels in the core subjects is rising, in Scotland it is stagnating (at best). More Eng students from working class backgrounds go on to uni than compared to their Scottish counterparts.

    If there is a lack of investment, it surely isn't 'Westminster' that is responsible!

    1. Memes a meme Dean.

      Education policy is devolved. Whereas money to match our ambitions is not. NHS funding in Englandshire has gone up. Probably as a precursor to TTIP. Fatten the calf and all that.

      On education, standards are the thing. If you drop standards, educational attainment will rise. It is a magic trick. Clearly my three 'Highers' from the 1960's are at least equivalent to my son's 5 Highers from the naughties, or maybe not. Depends entirely on whether 'standards' were the same or not.

      Comparing across educational jurisdictions is even more fraught.

      Your apologia for a lack of investment might be persuasive if we had levers of power that weren't deliberately tainted.

      Best wishes.

    2. As Douglas says, there is only a certain amount of money.

      Ah, I hear you say, but the Scottish government can put up the tax to pay for these things.

      But we all know that power of control over only one big tax is no power at all. If you wish to make radical changes yu must have power over all or most taxes.

      When Mrs Thatcher came to power she immediately reduce drastically the income tax on the rich, and penny by penny income tax on the poor, but to pay for it, she doubled VAT.

      We can't do that.

    3. Douglas,

      If the SNP do not think the Barnett formula derives enough revenue to spend on education, they do have the power to raise taxes of their own now. Can't play the game of 'blame london' anymore, Holyrood has tax authority.

      But this is all beside he point, the reality is Scotland gets significantly higher spending per head of population than England gets (so no 'cuts' or 'denial of revenue' in reality)

      Total identifiable expenditure on services by country (2012-13)
      UK Ave: 8,788
      England:8,529 (97.1)
      Scotland: 10,152 (115.5)

      Only N.I has a higher public spending per head. So I really do not understand where this myth of 'denied funding' comes from. Maybe Nats need to spend more time being critical of their 9 y/o government in Holyrood - and drink less of he propagandistic cool-aide?

    4. my source for figures if anyone fancies learning facts rather than idly accepting SNP assertion:

      HM Treasury, Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2014, Chapter 9, Table 9.2

  8. Why does all no to independance voters seem to think it is all right to beholding to English, Welsh and N.I. taxpayers to fund thier lifestyle in Scotland !

    1. No voters seem to believe that. It isn't true, but then many political arguments aren't true.

  9. Apologies, I mis-read your post.

    1. I took them out Douglas. :)

  10. Children, avert thine eyes from, and be wary of, comments made by the one calling himself Conan the Librarian. Do not be fooled by the subtle change of name from Barbarian to Librarian. As the old saying, which I've just invented, goes "Once a Barbarian always a Barbarian".

    The Barbarian is an advocate of, whisper it, "Dancing". This devilish device, designed to entice and entrap the unwary invariably begins by one of Satan's sprites, usually bearded, picking up what appears to be a petrified octopus and torturing it until it emits a ghastly droning noise. This encourages individuals, usually wearing brightly coloured skirts, which scarcely hides their modesty, to cavort around the floor like dervishes and, when the fever takes hold, screeching at the top of there voices.

    Then, shamefully, physical contact takes place, usually but not exclusively, with members of the opposite sex. In order to cloak these activities with a veneer of respectability those involved have an anthem called "Dancing Queen" as if Her Majesty, God Bless Her, would indulged in such an unseemly past-time.

    The innocent among us should, therefore, be aware of this hideous activity and be wary of where it may lead...

    1. Debauchery, I say DEBAUCHERY.


      Munguin is so shocked that he will be writing forthwith to the First Ministers asking, nae DEMANDING that she put a stop to this evil.

      And when Munguin talks... Let's just say, there are strings he can pull!

      Whatever is the world coming to, I ask you!

      Tell me Brownlie, is drink taken during these ghastly proceedings?