Scottish Tories and a Changing Game

Murdo Fraser, frontrunner to be the Conservative party’s next Scottish leader is planning to disband the Scottish Conservatives and start up a new independent, though affiliated  center-right party. He sees this as the best way to neutralise what is seen as the poison infecting the centre-right voter base in Scotland.
(Daily Mail article Here)  (Morning Star article Here)

Maybe though there is another agenda here.

Just as the Scottish electorate have lost faith with the Conservative party, I think it quite possible that the Conservative party has in turn lost faith with Scotland.


This proposal from Murdo Frazer would make the political viability of Scottish independence more certain. A General Election in Scotland would be (at least in part) a Scottish electorial fight between Scottish political parties. Today is is in reality, the SNP versus UK national parties operating under Scottish banners. With Murdo Frazer's proposal, a General Election in Scotland will be a Scotland centric affair.

For the Tories, there is certainly no longer any political advantage to propping up the Scottish economy with English taxes. Currently the Tories (and previously Labour) are funding huge subsidies to Scotland via the Barnett formula and various job schemes (such as the two white elephant aircraft carriers). This Danegeld is being paid primarily to try and undermine Scottish Nationalism.

Maybe though the Tories have now dispaired of ever seeing any return on this expenditure and have decided to abandon Scotland to its own self determinist fate. Then the Tories could concentrate on England. England is of course, where the overwhelming Tory support lies.

If the conservatives abandoned Scotland and then promoted and encouraged the formation of an English Assembly they would, most likely, within that English Assembly, be unassailable.

After all, although a minority in the UK parliament they are still today the largest single party. If you take out Scottish, Welsh and Irish MPs, the Tories are solidly in the majority.

Where does this leave Labour?

I think Labour saw this coming in the early 2000's. They tried to defeat the prospect of an English parliament by attempting to dismember England into a number of competing Regions. As we all know their policy was derailed by a popular vote in NE England. Even so, a number of the Regional Quango's, elites and assorted hangers-on still remain.

Labour realised that if there ever was an true English Parliament or Assembly, then Labour would be the main loser. It is likely that, in England, there would never again be another Labour government with an absolute majority.

An English Parliament would be, by far, the most powerful and influential national parliament in these islands.

I don't think it would be long before an English Assembly tired of any remnant UK parliament. It would soon see the many advantages of simply being a wholly separate state. Especially if the other UK nations like Scotland has similar ambitions.

Scotland, and possibly Wales and Northern Ireland too, could muddle along by themselves.

Maybe this statement from Murdo Frazer is less about a new Scottish Party but is more about testing the water for a new English Party - The English Conservatives.

We live in interesting times.

Erasing English Politics

My friends at the BBC (of which I have none) have, on their sumptuous website, a main page for each of the countries within these islands.

Tonight we are going to play a little game with some screen shots I have just taken.

Now this is a simple little task. A bit like "I Spy" or "Spot the Difference".

The question is: 

What is the missing topic on the page header....( If you need to cheat...look just above the date)

Northern Ireland:

Scotland:

Wales:

OK so far? 

Now what was the name of that insignificant little country that I have forgotten? 

OH Yes....

So my English dinlows have you noticed the missing little two words? 

That little something the 50 million souls in England clearly cannot be trusted with?

Maybe we grubby little Englanders cannot cope with the stress and strains of (Ugh!) English politics. Maybe it is a good thing that those kindly dears at the BBC have banned it from  polluting our gaze or warping our poor little minds.

It is so good to see that our great benefactors and guardians in Broadcasting House are looking so kindly down on us mere English plebs. 

Goodness! Just Think. 

English people interested in (Ugh!) English Issues? Whatever next?

Heaven Forbid! We'd be wanting an Assembly  next!

But our benefactors at the BEEB also have another brilliant idea. They are trying to breath some life into the corpse of John Prescott's regional dismemberment, er sorry, I mean regionalism plan. 

So they have this:

Oh Joy! Some regional info.

But no politics. Even here the nice kindly people at the BEEB wouldn't want to frighten the simple English folk with any mention of politics. Goodness No.

Much better that England is a Political Free Zone. All politics relating to England and an English identity are airbrushed out, just in case it confuses the English  or possibly frightens the horses.

The BBC can proudly state that their web pages and programs are scourged of English politics. Hurrah!

To end on a serious note: How the hell are any of us in these islands going to progress our democracy while 50 million are airbrushed out of the political landscape?

This not only demeans the English it diminishes the Scots, Welsh and Irish too. If the English cannot be trusted with an Assembly, you have to ask, are the other assemblies and parliaments just tokens? Simply there to appease nationalists rather than progress our democracy?

While the English issues are ignored by the political classes (and the bloody BBC), then the democratic freedoms of everyone in these islands is diminished.

What about England Dave?

It is good to see that David Cameron has honoured his promise and visited Scotland within one week of taking office. It looks like the Scottish parliament is going to get more tax raising power so it can raise more of its own revenue. Hopefully this means they will be less dependant on Westminster and ultimately the English taxpayer.

The new coalition government has also made some promising statements about repealing the despised Barnett formula and there is a prospect of something being done about the West Lothian issue i.e. Scottish votes on English matters in the Commons.

That is all good news.

But whatever way you cut it, the lack of any form of English assembly is still a running sore. We need at least debate on an English parliament and the future of the Union.

It is simply unfair and undemocratic that all the other countries of the UK have their own parliament/assembly and yet the English have nothing.

The counter argument, often given, is that the UK parliament is also the legitimate English parliament. This infers that then the UK is really England plus colonial outposts. That is an idea that most people within these islands of all nationalities would find distasteful. (and quite rightly so)

The English currently have only a subset of the democratic rights inferred on other UK nations. It is easy to believe that this is simply so England can be bureaucratically administered and can then be used as the cash cow to finance profligacy elsewhere.

I appreciate that there are a mass of problems that this new government have inherited , especially related to our ruined economy. They of course, must be addressed urgently and first.

I do hope though, that these current pressing needs are not used as a subterfuge to sweep the English issue under the carpet.

Cameron, Clegg and Elephants.

Billothewisp has been rather quiet this week due to suffering from 'flu.

So may I offer my belated congratulations to David Cameron and Thingy from the Liberal Doo-Dahs, who have at least managed to lever Gordon Brown out of 10 Downing street.

Actually when you think about it, they should probably get a Nobel prize for that single feat alone.

It is also good to see that there is a possibility for upgrading our decrepit electorial system.

However there is still the Elephant in the room.

Namely that little known and almost forgotten non country of England.

How are our new Divine Duo going to address the no vote, no country, no representation issue? Are the sour faced little Englanders going to be ignored again or is this issue going to be addressed?

In a recent poll (see here) nearly 70% of those polled wanted an English Parliament.

Dear Dave and Thingy.

The English Elephant is still here.

(Hat tip to Waking Hereward blog for the original report. see here)

England in a Losers Coalition

First off: A hat tip to the Free England Alliance - Hampshire Blog which alerted me to this article in the Times today. I suggest you read it.

Meanwhile tonight, it looks like the Lib-Dem activists are cutting up rough about a coalition with Tories.

Even Gordo has said he is going to fall on his sword to try and stop a Conservative led government (but, Um, Oh.. not quite yet).

There is a distinct possibility that a government, of sorts could be formed by an alliance of Labour, Lib-Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru, SDLP, Greens and anyone else who doesn't like the Tories.

Can you imagine how effective that will be?

Lots of feuding, disparate parties, myopically focused on their own narrow interests. They have little in common except their joint wish to undermine the Tories.

In order to keep the nationalists on-board, there would have to be a strong preservation of their services and jobs. Except of course in England, and guess who will pick up the bill.

Getting this lot to vote in one direction would be like herding cats. So don't expect much to get fixed. It could prove entertaining for us humble Proles. But only in a masochistic and very expensive way.

I am surprised that this potential Losers Coalition has any appetite for it, bearing in mind the parlous state the country. Obviously they haven't read the dire warnings from people like the Governor of the Bank of England. (see Independant article here).

Perhaps Cameron should sit back and let them have a go. It is going to be a cert that the whole thing would collapse within a short time. We may all hurt a lot during a Coalition Of The Losers but it may be worth it in the long run.

Finally, just a thought. Why is the Conservative Party so obsessed with the now obsolete concept of the United Kingdom? It's time has passed. If they were to give a lead to (at least) an English Assembly their large support within England would turn into an avalanche.

Maybe though things are changing. See this ConservativeHome article.

John Redwood tends to be out in front of Conservative policy.

Looks like he is leading again.

A Bonfire of English Criminality

Greetings to you, my fellow unspeakable little Englanders. You inhabitants of a non nation. Those who live in a representation free zone. Perhaps you are cruel and mean (aka Andrew Marr). Worse than that, I bet that you,like me, are all probably crimmo's.

It is, with great regret, that Billothewisp has to (probably) inform all his fellow English nasties that he is a crimmo. A lag, conman, crook, vandal, villain, tea-leaf barbarian. Or at least he might be.

Of course, as a true Englishman, Billothewisp would normally surrender himself immediately to the nearest police station and readily confess all.

Billothewisp would do his bird in true penitence, smoking his thin little roll-ups and eating his porridge with a true reformed character zeal.

But he has a problem.

Although he is utterly sure that he must be a crimmo, he has had difficulty in precisely identifying his crime. But a crime there must be. And there are so many to choose from.

Why must Billothewisp be a filthy crimmo? I can hear you naive and cruel little Englanders ask.

Let me explain further to you my disenfranchised English underworld brethren.

The great leader, Citizen One the wonderfully marvellous supreme leader the great Gordon “The Abyss” Brown and his loyal and supportive colleagues have created in excess of 3000 new crimes. (Seriously. See here). Of these, about half could lead to a spell in prison for the retro-bate Englishman or English woman who inadvertently breaks one (or more) of them.

All this while they, the great good and extremely well fed, singularly deny you and me, the dirty and degraded English, a chance to vote for our own parliament, and laws. How they must care so avidly for us, to save us the dilemma of who to vote for, and who to vote out.

Furthermore I must confess to a further sin.

I must inform all you old English lags, blags, slags and hags that in the naive view of Billothewisp, a confessed little Englander himself, that these new laws are an affront to English decency. He believes that all such trivial and counterproductive laws along with their formulators, supporters and their associated no-win no-fee advocates should be piled into a great heap in Trafalgar square. Then set alight.

Regrettably this, in itself will probably be an offence punishable by a significant prison sentence.

Perhaps this will solve Billothewisp's crime identification problem. Perhaps he should 'fess up to this desire to remove unnecessary law and control mechanisms. It is after all a veritable thought crime in our 1984-like society.

An English Apology

Billothewisp wishes to offer is his humble gratitude to the sumptuous and magnificent leaders of our great democracy in whom we all so trust. He further wishes to say sorry. But first he needs to explain the need for this apology, particularly to the Leader of the Opposition.

Yesterday evening Billothewisp was reading assorted blogs when he came across some scurrilous CEP posters on this site. If you look you will see that they rather naughtily display statements made by the Grand Etonian and Leader-In-Waiting concerning an English Parliament. Billothewisp was somewhat non-nonplussed and could barely believe what he was reading. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and dispaired about the direction and guidance of the Divine Leader-in-waiting, David Cameron.

To a simple and loyal Englishman such as Billothewisp, such statements show a rather alarming remoteness and aloofness from the English people. Is this Posh and extremely well fed leader merely cynically exploiting the English voters so he can pose in his kilt and brandish his Scottish ancestry to one and all? Is he, then, just a mirror image of that other Grand and Illustrious Scottish leader he wishes to replace? Worse though, is he really so adamant about standing against any possibility of democracy in England? Does he not realise the unfairness of the current situation?

Yesterday, before seeing these posters Billothewisp was considerably less likely to vote for Gordon Brown than a dead dog. But today, if the Labour party sprung up with a legitimate policy on English devolution they would gain my attention. (although luckily for the supremo-to-come, I trust the Labour party no further than I could throw John Prescott).

English people are fair and patient. But the unfairness that has been foisted upon them is beginning to rankle. Billothewisp hears many mumblings and grumblings from other members of the downcast and dirty. Today, I can assure the great Etonian that political opinions are moving among the hoards of minions.

Billothewisp doffs his cap to the great Etonian and born-to-rule future leader. He further humbly apologises for bringing up the distasteful subject of an English Parliament. But the great and the good need to be made aware of the fact there are times when you need to progress beyond the status-quo.

It is now time to move on. Otherwise, in five or ten years the plebs and serfs of England may well extract a reckoning from the political parties that deny them fair play. Worse still, there are also people and parties with ugly policies all too willing to exploit a genuine and aggravated grievance.

We expect our leaders to support fairness and democratic aspirations. We do not expect them to show a dictatorial denial of basic rights for the English, irrespective of how grubby and lower class these English serfs may be.

Prescott: Declared Inedible

Neanderthals, being unashamedly carnivorous, sometimes look on their Homo Sapien friends as lunch.

Be assured though, Billothewisp does try to eat as few of his neighbours as possible.

Still, he firmly believes that the inhabitants of the House of Commons, and their associates should, if necessary, be regarded as a potential emergency food store.

But there are limits to everything.

It has been known for a long time that John Prescott (Prezza to his mates, of which he has none) has always been a marginal food store as he is so full of shit.

But his toadi-ing up to the Chinese over emissions control finally removes him from the menu. See Guido Fawkes Post Here

You may know that Prescott once planned to dismember England into a number of rival regional assemblies. He got as far as appointing regional dictatorships with powers that trumped those of the elected councils within the regions.

His intention was to roll out some form of fixed/spun regional democracy into the dismembered England and cement the murder of nation. His little plan came a cropper when in the first regional referendum, the people of the North East, told him to bugger off.

Since then the whole plan to dismember England has been somewhat muted. Some steps have been made but today, for example, The South West Regional Assembly is essentially run by delegates from local councils rather than by the original imposed flunkies. Soon the whole sad abortion will be abandoned.

Perhaps when this travesty is finally buried in its own cess pit we can get back to looking for an English assembly or even an English Parliament, just like the one in Scotland.

Meanwhile Prescott, in backbench retirement continues with his bitter tirades against anyone he designates as non-working class. (which must included most of the labour party these days)

He appears to simply regard his own background as the sole point of reference for a continuing class struggle. Anyone living south of Watford is, by definition, an oppressing toff. While his narrowness is unappealing, I do have a level of sympathy. As he is undoubtedly from a working class background he must feel very lonely in the upper echelons of the Labour Party.

But that does not get us past the unsavory fact that he is without doubt inedible. Luckily as he has now retiring, his removal from the House of Commons will not affect the the number of specimens available in the food store.

It may also improve its quality.

A Christmas Apology to Thingy( Nick Clegg )

He may lead an out of date, irrelevent political party with no hope and no policies. But even so, I really should not have been so rude as to refer to the leader of the Liberal Democrats as Thingy in this post. But honestly, at the time, I simply could not remember his name. I have however been scratching through the Neanderthal grey matter (of which there is not a great deal) and finally, through much miming and mouthing of possibilities (Cligg Cleeg Clogg Clergg Clugg) I finally got to Clegg. Eureka!!

Now for the easy part:- his first name

and Of Course!

Its Brian.

Ah No. Unfortunately I have just been informed that thats wrong too. Perhaps Brian may well have been a better choice for his parents but I am now reliably informed by my colleagues that his first name is Nick.

I assume that is Nicolas rather than Nicola or Nicole, but then, his parents didn't call him Brian (which was clearly the best choice) so they may well have gone completely off track. After all the Liberals are a rather sexless lack-lustre group of no-hopers so all bets are off.

Perhaps I will simply call him Nick Clegg.

So, finally,

An Apology

Dear Nick Clegg,

Please accept my apologies for calling you Thingy in this post

But perhaps you should stop trying to be all things to all men. If you spent a bit of time addressing the needs and aspirations of the English in their non country of England you may become more memorable. You could also keep your power base in the Outer Hebrides or Outer Mongolia or wherever it is. We wouldn't mind.

Kind Regards
BilloTheWisp

Finally a seasonal little poem to get us through the yule-tide roo-ha-ha. Aknowlegment to Jethro Tull (aka Iain Anderson) and also whoever wrote the original bit. (No. it wasn't Nick Clegg)

Once In Royal Davids City,
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby,
You would do well to remember,
What he later said.

As you are stuffing yourself at Christmas
You would do well to think,
That the Christmas spirit,
Is not just what you drink.

Anyway, it went something like that.

Merry Christmas
BilloTheWisp

The Striking Out of England

Today at mid-day I had no lunch. Not one morsel passed my lips. Even the bloody "Oily Rags" I have to work with had their "Ham" sandwiches and "Muesli" snackbars. But I had nothing.

Anyway to kill the pangs of hunger, I decided to surf to the BBC website to read the news instead.

BilloTheWisp decided to navigate to politics. More precisely to this page. Nice layout! Lots of fine words (well, they do get nearly 3 Billion quid a year from you suckers) but....

There was something missing.

Underneath the headline stories there was a section Scottish Politics. Another for Northern Ireland Politics and finally a third for Welsh Politics. Really, there was something missing. Neanderthals are really built for stability rather than speed so I had to mull it over for quite sometime.

What could it be? Then it came to me. In a flash. Or more a rumbling of discontent, a bit like the rumbling of my unfilled belly. There was no mention of English Politics. Not one word. Let alone a heading. It was as if England had been airbrushed out of the political make-up of the UK.

BilloTheWisp is a trusting sort of chap, though a bit hairy. Consequently, I have decided that until justice is served and fairness established for England by the establishment of an English Parliament, I will follow the lead of the exceptionally well fed at the BBC by airbrushing England out. This will undoubtedly also save any embarrasment to our leaders in England, who of course, cannot be our English leaders anyway, because England does not exist. Let alone have any political representation.

Unfortunately this Neanderthal centric blog is mainly about England. Consequently I felt it would be rather messy to simply remove all references to England and the English. So please excuse this simple Neanderthal who, instead of airbushing England out, will now ensure that any reference to the non country of England is now struck out from this blog instead.

I hope that will enable all of us who live in England to stop worrying about silly things like democracy and fair-play. We can then get on with paying our English taxes into the Barnett formula so the other real countries around us can flourish and push forward leaving us English ever wistful for the fiction of the non country of England