Brian Monteith: Rushing towards fiscal uncertainty, The Scotsman

IT’S difficult to trust Salmond’s economic judgment after his previous prevarications and u-turns, writes Brian Monteith

WHILE pundits and spin doctors seek to suggest who won the first referendum debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling, what is self-evident is that the debate helped to distil the question down to one single issue. In the event that Alex Salmond cannot get the currency option of his choice (a formal currency union using sterling) what is his Plan B? The answer, there was none.

As we hurtle at break-neck speed to the vote on 18 September I am sure we can expect more of the same; the personal but small distractions will be tossed aside and we shall focus more on what for the majority of us are the big issues. Such as what will be the new more expensive price for Scotland remaining a member of the European Union, or how will Scotland pay for the cost of its pension liabilities when our workforce will be shrinking and our pension bill rising (before even considering Nicola Sturgeon’s promise of a lower pensionable age in some parallel universe that only she inhabits).

There may be others, such as the pick-and-mix sweetie shop of freebies and goodies that nationalists have been dreaming up to be paid for by the munificence of oil revenues – while at the same time telling us we can have a sovereign oil fund that by implication requires a more austere approach to public welfare.

We shall see what matters most, but for all that, the one crucial issue that Scots residents (as opposed to the broader body of Scots that would more usually have a say in the future of their country) are already well tuned into is how our economy might or might not work if we secede from the United Kingdom and choose the SNP’s offer of independence without independence. (For those of you not used to reading my column let me recap that there will be no referendum on the new price of EU membership and its tighter straightjacket, there will be less influence than present with any formal currency union and even less still with any unofficial use of sterling, while many other institutions that we shall seek to keep access to such as the BBC we shall have no say in).

Read more here:

Further reading:

Scottish independence: ‘Mortgages up £1600 if Yes’

Scottish independence: No campaign 'playing with fire' says Salmond

Alex Salmond goes on the counter attack over pound claiming: No camp's tactic of ruling out currency union makes no economic sense

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective,

Labour question how an independent Scotland would fund state spending after 37% fall in revenue from North Sea tax

Alex Salmond demands Danny Alexander apologises for a missing 'mountain of black gold' as the two trade blows over oil figures

Scottish independence: FM stands firm on currency, The Scotsman

“An independent Scotland would keep the pound because it’s our currency and it would be in the interests of the rest of the UK to agree to currency sharing. But if the rest of the UK won’t agree, an independent Scotland would punish it by repudiating its pro rata share of UK debt…..Yes, it would remove a hefty burden from our shoulders. But an independent country that began life with debt repudiation would find it could not raise money in international markets without lenders demanding substantially higher interest rates. Scotland’s credit rating would be rock bottom.”

This Experience Must Come, My Uttermost for His Highest, Daily Devotionals Oswald Chambers

Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha . . . saw him no more —2 Kings 2:11-12

It is not wrong for you to depend on your “Elijah” for as long as God gives him to you. But remember that the time will come when he must leave and will no longer be your guide and your leader, because God does not intend for him to stay. Even the thought of that causes you to say, “I cannot continue without my ’Elijah.’ ” Yet God says you must continue.

Alone at Your “Jordan” (2 Kings 2:14). The Jordan River represents the type of separation where you have no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one else can take your responsibility from you. You now have to put to the test what you learned when you were with your “Elijah.” You have been to the Jordan over and over again with Elijah, but now you are facing it alone. There is no use in saying that you cannot go— the experience is here, and you must go. If you truly want to know whether or not God is the God your faith believes Him to be, then go through your “Jordan” alone.

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Rend Collective - Build Your Kingdom Here OFFICIAL

Rend Collective - My Lighthouse (Official Video)

Alex Salmond has no tenable plan for currency, says expert | Better Together

Alex Salmond has no tenable plan for currency, says expert | Better Together

"The
only realistic way to avoid the above crises outcomes of Plans A and B is to
combine political union with remaining in the sterling zone. It is only with
political union and the fiscal sharing it allows that the sterling zone is a
credible currency arrangement for Scotland, and it is only by remaining with
the rest of the UK that such an arrangement can work.

By
sticking with his notion that that the sterling monetary union is absolutely
central to the economic well-being of Scotland, Mr Salmond is therefore
actually making the case for voting No in the referendum, because it is only be
staying part of the United Kingdom that the costs to both businesses and
households in terms of their day-to-day payments and transactions are minimized
and job stability, employment and economic growth are secured and maximized."

An ill wind blows as the surge of turbines stirs fears of silent danger to our health, Daily Express

TENS of thousands of Scots may be suffering from a hidden sickness epidemic caused by wind farms, campaigners have warned.

The Sunday Express can reveal that the Scottish Government has recently commissioned a study into the potential ill effects of turbines at 10 sites across the country.

More than 33,500 families live within two miles of these 10 wind farms – which represent just a fraction of the 2,300 turbines - already built north of the Border.

Hundreds of residents are now being asked to report back to Holyrood ministers about the visual impacts, and effects of noise and shadow flickers from nearby wind farms.

Campaigners fear that many people do not realise they are suffering from ailments brought on by infrasound – noise at such a low frequency that it cannot be heard but can be felt.

One such person is Andrew Vivers, an ex-Army captain who has suffered from headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, raised blood pressure and disturbed sleep since Ark Hill wind farm was built near his home in Glamis, Angus.

Mr Vivers, who served almost 10 years in the military, said the authorities had so far refused to accept the ill effects of infrasound despite it being a “known military interrogation aid and weapon”.

He said: “When white noise was disallowed they went on to infrasound. If it is directed at you, you can feel your brain or your body vibrating. With wind turbines, you don’t realise that is what’s happening to you.

“It is bonkers that infrasound low frequency noise monitoring is not included in any environmental assessments. It should be mandatory before and after turbine erection.”

Read more here:

Further reading:

REVEALED: The 'hidden’ peril of wind turbines that catch fire

‘Out of control’ SNP litter Scotland’s landscape with wind farms

Scottish independence: FM stands firm on currency, The Scotsman, Updated

ALEX Salmond is standing his ground and refusing to name a Plan B for Scotland’s currency after independence, despite mounting criticism of his leadership and unprecedented pressure from his opponents.

Amid growing unrest among his own supporters and a slump in the polls, the First Minister is refusing to back down on his policy, which will be given a final seal of approval by his hand-picked group of economic advisers next week.

Last night there was no sign of the issue going away when leaders of the three opposition parties at Holyrood wrote to Salmond demanding that he sets out a Plan B, arguing that his proposal for a formal currency union with the rest of the UK is “impossible”.

Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have said an independent Scotland will not be entitled to insist on a formal currency union – sharing the pound and the Bank of England with the rest of the UK.

Salmond’s failure to deal with Alistair Darling’s criticisms of his currency plans during last week’s STV televised debate has led to discontent within the Yes movement and support for independence falling in the polls.

His display has also encouraged the No campaign to concentrate even more of its efforts on attacking his currency plans, sensing a fatal flaw.

Read more here:

Further Reading here:

The Five Tests for a Currency Union

Bill Jamieson: Shedding debt is financial suicide

“An independent Scotland would keep the pound because it’s our currency and it would be in the interests of the rest of the UK to agree to currency sharing. But if the rest of the UK won’t agree, an independent Scotland would punish it by repudiating its pro rata share of UK debt.

For the avoidance of doubt, Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney told BBC Radio Scotland last week that failure to agree a currency union would “absolve the Scots of a £120 billion share of UK debt, which translates into an annual cost of £5bn a year”.

There are other things into which this would “translate”, as Angus Armstrong of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research pointed out last week. If it is this easy to walk away from debt obligations, secessionist movements in Europe would jump at the precedent. How might Scotland’s EU application stand then?

Yes, it would remove a hefty burden from our shoulders. But an independent country that began life with debt repudiation would find it could not raise money in international markets without lenders demanding substantially higher interest rates. Scotland’s credit rating would be rock bottom.”

The Fiscal sustainability of an independent Scotland

Polly Toynbee: Scotland remains Europe's basket case for health inequality showing real marker for poverty

“Scottish politicians seem as unwilling as Westminster to tell voters they must pay Scandinavian taxes if they genuinely want a social democratic future…. Are the people of Scotland genuinely willing to tax themselves towards social democracy?”

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective

The cars with a certain 'je ne sais quoi' take to the track at Le Mans - French track hosts 2,500 Citroens, the ultimate Gallic vehicle.

Thousands of French car enthusiasts gathered from around the world for an event to celebrate classic models produced by automobile manufacturer Citroen.

These pictures show more than 200 2CVs during a parade at 'Euro Citro 2014', on the circuit of Le Mans, western France, today.

In total, almost 2,500 Citroens took part in the event, dedicated to French carmaker Citroen's fans and car owners.

When it was first manufactured in 1948, the Citroen 2CV was launched to appeal to the large number of farmers in France. Nicknamed the 'Tin Snail', it has now become a classic, known for being easy to drive, cheap and simple to maintain.

Also on display are numerous Citroen DS, manufactured from 1955 to 1975 and often named as the most beautiful car of all time

When it was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 1955, 743 orders were taken in the first 15 minutes of the show and order for the first day reached 12,000.

The event also featured a museum of exceptional models from the company's earliest days and an auction of Citroen cars.

Citroen was one of the first mass-production car companies outside America and was founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroen.

See more here:

We can have the best of both worlds for Scotland | Better Together

We can have the best of both worlds for Scotland | Better Together

In just 40 days we will know the result of the referendum which has put everything but the constitution on hold for the past three years in Scottish politics.

The choice we face on 18 September is not new. We are all experiencing surely the longest political campaign in British history. So what do the remaining 40 days hold?

The so-called game-changers for the Yes campaign: the White Paper; the European elections; the Bannockburn anniversary; the Commonwealth Games; this past week’s debate have come and gone, and yet the game remains largely unchanged.

Increasingly the nationalist narrative seems reduced to claims that their “grassroots movement” will be the key to success despite all objective evidence suggesting this largely consists of a hardy band of activists posing for differing “twitpics” wherever the location, whatever the special interest: Academics for Indy on a Tuesday; Farmers for Yes on a Wednesday; the Radical Independence Campaign on a Thursday. Most recently Sir George Mathewson: perhaps Former RBS Chairmen for Yes. Their “Labour for Independence” group still seems, on inspection, to consist primarily of “SNP Councillors pretending to be Labour for Independence”.

A glorious, flag-waving defence of our kingdom’s union: Whisper it - Britain would be nothing without Scotland... and Scotland will be nothing if conceited Salmond’s in charge Daily Mail

Imagine yourself at a very smart dinner party and the conversation gets round to the issue of Scottish independence. Suppose people whose intelligence and thoughtfulness you’ve long respected, such as Sir David Attenborough and historians Simon Schama and Professor Mary Beard, said they thought that it was in the best interests of Scotland to remain within the United Kingdom rather than going it alone in the world.

Then people who were at the top of their professions, such as the former chiefs of the Defence Staff, Marshal of the Air Force ‘Jock’ Stirrup, Lord Stirrup, and Field Marshal Charles Guthrie, Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, agreed with them, as did the former head of the Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Alan West.

At the other end of the table, some of the brainiest people in Europe, including Stephen Hawking and the former Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, wholeheartedly agree.

Wouldn’t you listen very carefully to what they have to say? Especially if historians of the calibre of Margaret MacMillan and Tom Holland, intellectuals of the experience of Melvyn Bragg and Joan Bakewell, actors of the quality of Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Judi Dench also weighed in, saying exactly the same thing?

Wouldn’t these views be at least worth considering very profoundly? Not if you’re someone of the vanity and self-regard – or perhaps by now the sheer desperation – of Alex Salmond.

The Yes campaign has sneered at the opinions of some of the most profound thinkers and intellectuals of our day who have just written a joint letter opposing Scottish independence, simply because they were joined on the page by a number of TV celebrities, comedians and social gadflies who were asked to join the 200-strong list.

Read more here:

Further Reading

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective

Alex Salmond threatens to default on share of debts

"Economists warned that a debt default would wreck the country’s reputation for fiscal responsibility."

Vicar of Baghdad: We need military action NOW Daily Mail

  President said the speed of the Islamic State advance was surprising, and there is no quick fix for the problem

  But was definitive that U.S. would not be dragged back into ground confrontations in the country

  U.S. military sources revealed that more strikes had been made against IS mortars and convoys

I have just returned from a secret visit to Qaraqosh – once the largest Christian town in Iraq, but no longer.

Today, Qaraqosh stands 90 per cent empty, desecrated by the gunmen of the fanatical Islamic State terror group now in control. The majority of the town’s 50,000 people have fled, fearing that, like other Christians in this region, they will be massacred.

The militants, in a further act of sacrilege, have established their administrative posts in the abandoned churches.

My visit, under the noses of the gunmen, was frightening – but that is nothing to the terror of the poor souls left behind.

Since I went to St George’s Anglican church in Baghdad in 2003 – the only Anglican church in the city – I have seen countless terrible things. Many of my congregation have been killed or mutilated in the years of violence.

But I have never witnessed anything on the scale, or which has affected me quite so dreadfully as on this visit to the north of Iraq.

In the nearby city of Irbil, I found many of those Christians who had fled. Some 30,000 refugees are packed into the Kurdish capital, forming a new Christian suburb.

I spoke to one woman who had survived the massacres in Qaraqosh. She had a bandaged left hand. When IS soldiers could not remove her gold wedding ring, they had simply hacked off her finger. She wept as she told me.

Comment

Please remember to prayer for Canon Andrew White and our fellow believers in Iraq,  Today in the west we can go to Church in relative safety,  but  our fellow believers in Iraq are being attacked and murdered by Islamic fundamentalists because they're Christians.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

MAURICE GLASMAN: This is a battle for civilisation... the UK cannot remain neutral

  Islamic State fanatics seize towns and tell terrified Yazidi 'Become Muslims by noon today... or we kill all of you'

War victims flee back to Syria as refugee camp in Lebanon is burned to the ground by invading Islamic State fighters

Bombing in Iraq could last weeks, says Obama as U.S. launches air strikes... but he insists there will be no boots on the ground

'We have no plan B': Alex Salmond admits he has no back-up plan if an independent Scotland was not allowed to keep the pound. Daily Mail

  First Minister made admission in an open letter to voters in today's Sun

  'It implies settling for second best', he said, insisting Scots can keep pound

  But his plan is contested by all three main political parties in Westminster

  Ed Miliband reveals he will campaign against currency union in 2015 election

Alex Salmond has admitted there is no acceptable 'Plan B' if an independent Scotland is barred from using the British pound. The First Minister said dropping the pound 'implies settling for what's second best' - but still insisted there will be a deal on a currency union with the rest of the UK.

His admission came in an open letter to voters setting out why he has not yielded to calls to disclose a back-up plan, if his favoured option of sharing the pound and the Bank of England fails.

The letter, published in the Sun, declared: 'It is revealing that our opponents in the No camp like to talk about a "Plan B" on currency.

'It's revealing because it says it all about what they think of Scotland.

'Plan B implies settling for what's second best. And neither myself, my colleagues in the SNP, or the wider Yes campaign will ever settle for second best for Scotland.

Read more here:

Further Reading and Insight

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective,

Drivers warned to brush up on new road tax rules or face £1,000 fine as the disc disappears from windscreens in October Daily Mail

  End to practice whereby car sellers include remaining tax in sale

  Drivers will no longer need a tax disc from October

  Onus is on the seller to inform the DVLA of ownership change

The tax disc with months left to run has long been a handy money-saving perk when buying a used car, but new rules will see that benefit axed from October when they vanish from our windscreens.

And motorists need to be aware of impending tax disc changes or face a £1,000 fine as well as potential penalty charges against a car they no longer own, experts warn. 

Automatic number plate recognition cameras enforcing road tax will end any tax disc is in the post excuses and spell penalties for those who forget to renew, while those buying and selling used cars will need to make doubly sure everything is done by the book.

The death of the tax disc has been well documented. This is Money revealed the Government was plotting its demise back in 2012 and the change was officially announced in last year’s Autumn Statement.

Yet experts at hpicheck.com say many drivers are likely to get caught out and now realise that the end of the tax disc will also see a tightening of enforcement.

Read more here:

As Eritreans and Sudanese riot in Calais over the best spot to jump onto lorries bound for Britain, one mother of a little daughter says 'Nothing will stop us getting to your schools and hospitals!' Daily Mail

Wearing a clean dress and pink socks as she waits patiently to be smuggled across the Channel to England, Kidan Tedros is the youngest child at the Calais camp where African migrants armed with guns, flick-knives and iron bars rioted this week.

The four-year-old is sitting on a wall by the refugee camp which is spread over sand dunes and the base for 1,300 Eritrean and Sudanese who try, night after night, to jump on lorries where they can hide and be taken illegally on ferries sailing to Dover.

The little girl arrived in Calais three weeks ago with her mother, Laula, 40, after travelling at least 3,200 miles from Eritrea, a country in north-east Africa which is run by a ruthless dictator. Terrified, they watched when this week’s riot broke out and French police moved in to quell the violence and fired rubber bullets.

This mass exodus of desperate peoples from war-ravaged, religiously divided and impoverished countries on the giant continent — as well as Iran, Iraq, Syria and Egypt — poses a disturbing immigration problem for Britain.

Of course, this isn’t a new issue. Twelve years ago, our government agreed a deal with France to close the Sangatte refugee camp in Calais because it had become a magnet for illegal immigrants. Labour politicians promised the days of ‘soft touch’ Britain were over.

Yet as today’s Biblical scenes of human suffering show, the problem is getting worse. Indeed, it has been compounded by this week’s mischievous call by Calais’s deputy mayor for the refugees to be given ferry tickets to Britain and for the scrapping of the arrangement under which the UK’s border controls officially begin at Calais, rather than Dover.

This, he suggested, could happen for an experimental month so that the UK Government might comprehend the pressure Calais is under.

Read more here:

Cappuccino Communication - Knowledge is power (1/2)

·         John Glass,   General Superintendent - Elim Churches 

Terror at luxury tower in Swansea where premiership stars live as armed police take down lone gunman who held man hostage during two-hour siege. Daily Mail

  Officers used tasers to subdue gunman holding victim hostage in penthouse

  Man entered exclusive Grape & Olive restaurant in Swansea at around 4pm

  Residents trapped inside luxury flats of 29-story tower by armed police 

  Two-hour siege ended as Villarreal arrived at the Marriot Hotel next door 

  South Wales Police say incident ended peacefully and no one was injured 

Armed police stormed the tallest building in Wales yesterday ending a two-hour siege and freeing a hostage.

Officers used tasers to subdue a lone gunman who had been holding his victim in the penthouse restaurant of The Meridian Tower in Swansea, South Wales.

The drama began shortly after 4pm when the man entered the exclusive Grape & Olive restaurant carrying a handgun.

Residents were trapped inside their luxury flats in the 29-storey tower as armed police cordoned off the building and evacuated diners from the top-floor restaurant.

Paramedics wearing protective clothing and helmets were seen entering the tower around 5pm.

Police told around 60 locals who had gathered to watch the siege to ‘move out of sight of the tower’ as the police helicopter circled the upper floors.

The siege lasted for around two hours while a police negotiator entered the tower alongside armed police and talked to the gunman.

Read more here:

Toll road hero who came to the rescue when his council closed a vital route could lose his home if his gamble goes wrong. Daily Mail

  Mike Watts, 62, built his own road which bypassed a key local road in Kelston, Bath, which was closed for maintenance 

  He borrowed an adjoining field from a farmer friend and, at a cost of £150,000 to himself and his wife Wendy, 52, made the bypass

  Mike needs 1,000 cars a day at £2 per car, per journey for 150 days to break even 

Every minute or so a car rumbles past, churning up dust and small stones. Drivers and passengers wave and shout thank-yous through their open windows.

‘It’s a pleasure,’ Mike yells back, beaming from ear to ear. ‘Enjoy the view!’

They do indeed. But even they aren’t as happy as Mike, who’s had quite a week.

For, suddenly, he’s become a national hero. People have called for him to be knighted and (though I suspect this might be slightly tongue in cheek) honoured with a statue on the green in his home village of Kelston, near Bath.

And all because, when faced with the indefinite closure of a key local road while it is mended, forcing him to take a 14-mile diversion to work as a council repair team sorts it out at the speed of a glacier, Mike took matters into his own hands.

His solution was not a civilised ‘reopen our road, please’ campaign or angry letters to the Bath Chronicle newspaper, pointing out that nothing had been done since early February when a crack appeared in the A431 and the road was closed.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Businessman sets up private toll road just 340 yards long charging motorists £2 a time to bypass closed section of main road

Acts 29 Dismisses Mark Driscoll so 'Name of Christ Will Not Continue to Be Dishonored'

Acts 29 Dismisses Mark Driscoll so 'Name of Christ Will Not Continue to Be Dishonored'

Despite recent public apologies, the Acts 29 Network is officially disassociating itself with its co-founder Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church.

"It is with deep sorrow that the Acts 29 Network announces its decision to remove Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church from membership in the network. Mark and the Elders of Mars Hill have been informed of the decision, along with the reasons for removal," reads a statement signed by the board of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, which includes Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick, Steve Timmis, Eric Mason, John Bryson, Bruce Wesley and Leonce Crump.

Surge in no vote after Alex Salmond TV flop: Major blow for SNP in wake of debate defeat Daily Mail

Viewers believe Alistair Darling crushed Alex Salmond in live televised debate

Poll reveals nearly quarter of viewers now more likely to reject independence

More than two-thirds of 1,010 Scots polled said First Minister needs 'plan B'

The shock Survation poll, carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, shows that opposition to separation has soared to 50 per cent for the first time since the firm began asking the question.

That is a remarkable four point increase in the space of a single week, with only 37 per cent now in favour of a Yes vote – down three points. When undecided voters are excluded, the No camp is on 57 per cent – a massive 14-point lead over Yes, compared to just a six-point lead last Sunday.

Mr Salmond's failure to answer questions about the currency of an independent Scotland is at the heart of the dramatic collapse.

More than two-thirds of the 1,010 Scots polled by Survation said the First Minister should produce a 'plan B' to his unrealistic bid to keep the pound before voters cast their ballots.

Asked to pick adjectives to describe the SNP leader's performance in the pivotal STV debate last Tuesday – which was watched by 1.7million people – the most popular choices were 'weak', 'uninformed' and 'dishonest'

.

His opponent, former Chancellor Mr Darling who is spearheading the Better Together campaign, was described as 'knowledgeable' and 'strong'.

Mr Salmond's leadership is now under unprecedented scrutiny, with senior SNP figures privately briefing against him throughout the week and some suggesting his deputy Nicola Sturgeon should replace him for a crunch TV debate on the BBC later this month. 

Read more here:

Further Reading

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective

BREAKING: 'Armed siege' at Meridian Tower, Swansea Marina | South Wales Evening Post

BREAKING: 'Armed siege' at Meridian Tower, Swansea Marina | South Wales Evening Post

Armed police have reportedly been called to an incident at the Meridian Tower in Swansea.

Diners in the building’s top floor restaurant said they were evacuated at around 4.30pm.

One of them, who did not want to be named, said: “We were in the restaurant and we were told to stay put by a waiter. I asked what was going on and they said there were reports of a man with a gun.

“A short while later we were ushered out of the restaurant, down the fire escape a couple of flights and in to a lift to the bottom. When we came out there were armed police there and they told us to move away.