Project Indy Fear

If your 'umble scribe's FB page is anything to go by, the Yes campaign may be beginning to get desperate in finding something that could a 'game changer' in the great (yawn) referendum debate.
Yes, negative campaigning! Who'd have thunk it? Stooping to such depths.
I've a pal (true) who has posted a front page on the Sun from down south about the crisis in the NHS with the comment : This is England's NHS today. If we vote No it will be Scotland's NHS tomorrow.
Hmmm. No mongering of scaredom there. Nooo! It's a fact! Incontrovertible (aye!) fact!
And another titled, 'Thinking of Voting No?' (yes, actually, I am) which puffs itself up to full importance and gravely intones how, 'you have to be comfortable with the marginalisation and victimisation of the poor'  (you bastards!) 'your vote at Westminster will make no difference to the outcome' (work out that logic) 'when the full calamity of your decision is revealed to you' (Jesus, this is the book of Revelations, right?). Desperate, hysterical stuff.
And another (yes another deluded FB 'friend') who has posted a link to Priti Patel's speech about the Barnet formula and added the apocryphal words, 'There you go..' 

All very understandable of course. Yes is still stuck pretty much where it was when the campaign began. It's going to get more desperate yet...

OK, one last pop, honest.

"CONTROVERSIAL plans to scrap Scotland’s centuries-old principle of corroboration have been delayed amid mounting criticism from the legal establishment. Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill yesterday said he had accepted a proposal from opposition parties to delay the passage of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill until a review being led by Lord Bonomy reports back next spring"

That was was back in April 2014, of course. However it was also reported ....

Mr MacAskill said: “The Scottish Government remains firmly committed to all aspects of the criminal justice bill, including our proposals to abolish the requirement for corroboration..."

Leaving aside all the other arguments against this move, such as possible miscarriages, and police sleight of hand, oor Kenny has made much of the need to abolish corroboration to allow victims to "have their day in court". 
It'll certainly do that of course (whether the courts can cope is another matter). Just a single day. Any jury will still be asked to make their decision based on the case before them being proved, "beyond reasonable doubt." One person's say so, with no supporting evidence? How long would you give that case?

Him Again

MacAskill added: “Some people expressed legitimate concerns about single services, on centralisation, governance and accountability. Centralisation will not happen. We will improve local services and strengthen links with communities."

Yes, yes, you read it here. That's right. That's how the polis gate crashed the Edinburgh Saunas against the de facto policy of the old LABP Board and local councillors. And now of course, the teuchter councillors are up in arms (not literally) after armed police attended a Saturday night rammy. The man will say anything. 

Toom Tabard - except that the empty coat is on a shoogly peg

Let's Get this Straight

As the date for the great referendum approaches, the intensity of pish and waffle and wishful thinking has multiplied. Today I once again hear of 'getting the government we voted for'.
Just as a bit of background to all these arid discussions, we should remember that in 2010, (in Scotland), just over 1M voted for Labour, just under 900K for the Coalition parties, and about 500K for independence. So, perhaps, we didn't get the Government 'we' voted for, but leaving aside the vagaries of the first past the post system, it could quite rightly be claimed that actually we did.
That is, 1.9M voted for parties who accept that the party of Government of the UK is that party that wins across the whole of the UK.