Cameron visits Edinburgh

“Together we’re actually stronger. I think we have a fairer country, a better country, a richer country with all of us together.” – David Cameron

Despite Scotland’s undoubted wealth a staggering one in four of our children still live in poverty. What’s more the latest official statistics suggest recent progress in reducing child poverty has stalled.

In November 2011 the Institute for Fiscal Studies forecast child poverty to rise by 800,000 across the UK by 2020 as a result of current UK government policies.

In January 2012 it was revealed that 13 Scottish councils have wards where more than 30% of children live in pockets of severe poverty.

Britain’s unemployment rate has remained at its highest level since 1995 – 8.4% – as the flatlining economy takes its toll on the labour market. In Scotland alone, unemployment numbers rose by 16000 over the last three months of 2011. Youth unemployment is at a record high in the UK, with 1.04m (22.2%) of 16 to 24-year-olds without a job.

This is the stark reality of Cameron’s Britain and the Union today. A government we didn’t elect presiding over an economy we don’t control.

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  1. Doug Daniel says:

    I’m getting really sick of this “stronger together, weaker apart” nonsense. As a software developer, we were always told at university never to describe something as “easy to use”, or even worse “easier to use”, because it’s a completely empty, meaningless statement. “Easier how?” our lecturer would ask us. And this is the problem we have here.

    How are we “stronger”? Does he mean stronger as in able to impose the UK government’s will on others? Is this just about the UK’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council, something which all but five countries in the world somehow manage to struggle on without?

    How are we “fairer”? Does he mean fairer in the sense that we have a wider gap between the rich and poor than 40 years ago? Does he mean fairer as in the way his government is directly targeting the poorest people in society with their neo-liberalist ideological cuts, and letting the rich get away scot-free, despite being the ones that caused the mess?

    How are we “better”? What does he even mean by “better”? What makes a country better than others? I find this bit even more insulting than the rest.

    How are we “richer”? Is it because we have arguably the highest debts in the world? Is it because Scotland pays almost 10% of the taxes in the UK, despite having just over 8% of the population? Is it because our huge natural wealth is frittered away on weapons of mass destruction and paying for the Tories’ otherwise completely unsustainable cuts agenda?

    Weasel words. How apt, considering he is a rodent.

    (My apologies to any rodents who were offended by that last remark.)

    1. bellacaledonia says:

      It is perfectly polished but utterly banal rhetoric. It bares no scrutiny whatsover. Hopefully people of all parties – and more importantly none – will see this?

  2. Weasels are mustelids, not rodents. Otherwise, I agree with you both

  3. Morag Lennie says:

    Doug, we need you out on the stump speaking to your peers and contempories. I couldn’t agree more,

    1. Doug Daniel says:

      Ha! I’m far too easily riled to be let loose in public…

  4. Stronger together sure they are,we are the cannon fodder,as always.
    Can anyone explain why we are not so strong in Europe? Does not having a lot of countries together not make us really strong? No not really it just takes power away from Westminster,and that is the crux of it all,Westminster will probably lose out in certain world-wide corridors of power.The UN security council,will Westminster still be there? I doubt it and so do they.How many votes at the top table in Europe? less I’m certain,causes loss of influence.
    It does not matter which of the unionist parties are in power as we really do not have a democracy.They need us for several reasons,firstly they need our money,they need our volunteers for the forces.They have the cheek to tell Scotland that we wont be able to use their embassies? Even just now they charge Scottish companies to use the UK embassy for promotional purposes,but not those in England,These embassies are not England’s they are the British embassies and at present we are part of Great Britain Oh and we will still be on this island of Great Britain,we are going nowhere else.We only want what is rightfully ours the right of self-determination.

  5. Davie Park says:

    Doug, would you mind if I posted your comment on my facebook page? (with due acknowledgement of authorship of course). It sums up my thoughts quite perfectly.
    My intention would be to append your comment (sans first para) to Cameron’s platitudinous guff.
    Regards,
    Davie Park.

  6. John Souter says:

    In essence Cameron wants the UK to continue acting as the equivalent to the European TROIKA.

    An oligarch heading an executive of real and aspirational oligarchs wants to disperse penury fairly in order to maintain the largesse demanded by their financial master oligarchs.

    And, by so doing, protect and advance their own lifestyle ambitions, portfolios and investments.

    Do they really believe the tripe they utter, or does it merely underline the contempt they hold the people in?

    Does their hubris hide the fact they have pawned the lives of generations in order to save the banks, and by doing so have exposed their own incompetence in any form of governance, whatever form of ‘cracy’ or ‘ism’ it chooses to hide under.

    Does this man and his acolytes regard the fact we are paying £159 bn yearly in interest to, in many instances, the same banks we invested the trillions in to save them at 0.05% interest, which they then leverage 9 : I and charge 2.1% interest is being astute business and responsible governance.

    Does he, with all his plea to be trusted, have any concern his use of quantitive easing has factored in another £320 billion to the banks while it has de-valued the pound by 30% and reduced a £100k pension pot which would have bought a £7k pension in 2006 to the equivalent in 2012 of circa £2.5k. How many people are going to be able to save £100k in their working lives? And given the paltry returns, how many will manage to save five times that in order to have a pension which has the privilige of being eligible for HMRC taxes? How many will bother?

    Did he lie when he said the NHS will be safe in his hands, when everything he’s tried since coming to office has been diversionary towards the increase of its privatisation. The continuence of the Thatcher mantra that has seen in every instance the costs rise to cover the profits of the private rentiers?

    I suppose, in the end, we have to ask whether we are the bigger fools for allowing them the luxury for so long to believe we accepted their arrogant right to tell us what and why we should believe.

  7. morris young says:

    When Cameron says WE ,he means WE STMINSTER is stronger both in size.representation , reputation and financial stability.
    WE stminster definitely does benefit ,and none more so than LONDON WE .
    Scotland needs to think about ME and forget about WE .They look similar, but they could not be more different .

    Scotlands politicians first duty is to their constituents.
    Vote Labour Tory or Lib Dem because all three have KNOWINGLY LIED TO SCOTLAND EVERY DAY FOR THE LAST FORTY YEARS is not the strongest argument Ive heard.
    WAKEN UP SCOTLAND
    SCOTTISH WE are being taken for a ride !

  8. Edinburgh Quine says:

    Lesley Riddoch in today’s Guardian doesn’t seem to impressed either: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/16/david-cameron-union-speech-comment

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