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Will Austerity Be the Straw that Breaks the EU AND the UK?
Will Austerity Be the Straw that Breaks the EU AND the UK?
From where we’re sitting, the biggest victory in the May 7 British election will turn out to be not that of the Conservatives, but of the SNP, the Scottish nationalists. The party took 56 out of 59 Scottish seats in the United Kingdom’s Westminster parliament in London (with just half of the total votes..). Perhaps even more significant is the increased divide between Scotland and ‘the rest of the UK’.
While Cameron’s ‘unexpected’ victory marks a sharp turn to the right, the SNP’s landslide win sets the Scots on a course that’s close to a 180º opposite, even sharper turn to the left. Or in other words: while Britain voted for more of the same, Scotland voted for change. And never the twain shall ever see eye to eye again?! The left side of the spectrum was represented by the SNP, not by Labour, who Tony Blair now claims should run even more to the right – which he calls center.
Perhaps it’s nice to start off with a more philosophical angle about the future viability and/or inevitable fate of the United Kingdom. Just to set the overarching and underlying tone. Ian Jack had this for the Guardian yesterday:
Did The End Of The British Empire Make The Death Of The Union Inevitable?
.. what some of us were in Denmark to consider is the now almost-conventional wisdom about British identity: that it rose and fell with the empire, and with the empire’s going the United Kingdom will almost inevitably break up. Stuart Ward, professor of global and imperial history at Copenhagen University, reminded us of this theory’s several advocates, from Tom Nairn, writing presciently in 1977, to Linda Colley in her book Britons, published in 1992.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Scottish Government’s Position on Fracking Remains Unclear
Scottish Government’s Position on Fracking Remains Unclear
The Scottish Government have been accused of kicking the issue of fracking into the long grass.
Alex Salmond said recently: “I think fracking has a long way to go before it convinces populations across the country. Fracking in a heavily populated area is a totally different proposition from fracking elsewhere and I think the Scottish government is pursuing a wise policy on it.”
The government has been told that the technology is necessary to secure the future of the country’s energy industry, but it seems it will not make the conclusions of its own research known until after the general election.
The SNP’s Manifesto
The Scottish National Party’s (SNP) manifesto released this week also fails to bring clarity to the SNP’s stance on fracking.
The manifesto, launched on Monday, had only one sentence dedicated to the topic of fracking. It said: “We will continue to support a moratorium on fracking.”
Elsewhere in the manifesto, however, the SNP show strong support for the oil and gas industry in underpinning the Scottish economy.
Nicola Sturgeon’s private meeting with INEOS Chairman Jim Ratcliffe, held on the same day as the announcement of the moratorium in January, further clouds the SNP’s overall position on fracking.
After this meeting, INEOS made a complete U-turn saying they now supported the moratorium, despite having been against it prior to the meeting.
However, it should be noted that the SNP‘s position on fracking is stronger than other main parties. The Lib Dems, Labour and Conservatives are all calling for a regulated industry
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
