The State of UK politics just now

Politics in the UK at the moment are more than a little messy. Nick Clegg is convinced that his leaving the Liberal Democrat party will not change their stance in the public's opinion, the Tory's are feeling smug that they will likely win the next general election, Labour cannot see that Ed Milliband is not going to work for them as a party leader and Nigel Farage is happy as a pig in mud that his party have done so well, and thinks this is a good sign for the next general election. In Scotland, the Better Together campaign think they are the better off campaign re Scottish Independence! Everyone is delusional just now.

Nick Clegg will never win any popularity with the public if he remains leader of the LibDems. They need to cut off that arm to save the body, as it were. Everyone feels betrayed by a man who saught power for himself and his party over what he could do for his members and the public. Only by getting rid of him can they hope to save their party, or it will disappear into the annuls of history. In Scotland, only by cutting all ties with the UK LibDem party can the Scottish LibDems hope to retain any glimmer of power, any belief from the voters up here. The LibDems north of the border also need to pull their finger out and realise they are missing a huge opportunity here. Many Scots want to stay in Europe but out of the UK. If the UK holds a European referendum, Scotland will be forced out of Europe, as this is what the majority of people in England want. If the LibDems in Scotland can get behind the yes campaign, they can work with the Scottish government in keeping Scotland within Europe.

It really does look like the Tory's will get into power at the next general election, because people are stupid enough to vote for them. Regardless of the number of people having to use foodbanks, or the disintegration of the NHS, people south of the border still prefer them to a Labour government! Things will only get worse for the average person if we are continually subjected to a Conservative government!

Ed Milliband continues to look weak in the public eye and Labour seems to think that sticking with him is the only option! They do seem to have a relatively weak party just now, with no obvious replacements for Milliband, should they decide he won't gain them power (which they won't. I have nothing against Milliband, I'm sure he is a decent person but he is not a strong leader and we need a strong leader). On the Scottish side, Joanned Lamont is still looking weak and sadly, very stupid. She is blindly ignorant of the position she is calling for Scotland to put itself in. Labour cannot and will not win at the next election, so she is saying Scotland would be better under a Conservative govt?!!! Scottish Labour also need to separate themselves from their Westminster counterparts and look to doing the best for the people of Scotland, rather than toe-ing the line of their 'betters' in London.

I was disgusted beyond belief at the sweeping victory UKIP had in the European elections. Come on people! We fought a war to keep fascists out of the UK and you just gave a bunch of them more power!!! If you wanted to make a protest, you could have voted Green, or the Peace Party, for heavens sake, rather than such a destructive alternative! In my opinion, UKIP are fascists, sexisms, racists, bigots and want to class equality. If UKIP gain more power at the next general election (and that is looking quite likely) then you can say goodbye to the minimum wage and all those rights that being a member of the EU affords us. This is a party for white, middle-classed men and no one else! Sadly, it is looking like the next UK govt will either be tory or tory/UKIP coalition!

The Better Together campaign in Scotland are getting nastier and nastier. this is what dirty politics is all about. Fear makes them lash out. They guarantee that we will gain devo max should we vote no. They have no power to make that statement! Alistair Darling has absolutely no right to offer this. Joanne Lamont has no right and no power to guarantee it and yet they continue to do so. if we vote No, Scotland will be subjected to a backlash along the lines of the 1979 backlash, where Scotland was pummeled for even thinking of Independence!

Voting Yes in the Referendum in September is voting for a future of hope, rather than voting of the bleakness of the last 4 years, of reduced benefits, a dissolving NHS and wasting money on Trident! Voting Yes is saying no to nuclear weapons, yes to our NHS, yes t democracy (no matter how we vote in a general election just now, our votes don't count. In an independent Scotland, all votes would count)!

If you want a fair, just society and you are lucky enough to live in Scotland, vote Yes!!


On another note, I have written a bit of a sexy witchy/werewolfy/vampirey book. If you like Charlaine Harris, Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs, hopefully you'll like this. It is available on kindle and now in paperback.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wolf-Witch-Coffin-ebook/dp/B00CCWL6ES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366023812&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wolf%2C+the+witch+and+the+coffin

My second book, The Island of the Mist, is now available on both Kindle and paperback formats:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Mist-Kingslayer-Series-ebook/dp/B0092TUS7U/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346945410&sr=1-2

And paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Mist-N-Roy/dp/147921292X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346506656&sr=1-2

and in the US: http://www.amazon.com/Island-Mist-N-Roy/dp/147921292X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346946271&sr=1-2&keywords=the+island+of+the+mist

My first book, The Stone in the Sword, is now reduced in price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stone-Sword-ebook/dp/B006ZQIEPG/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327179005&sr=1-3

A lot of news!

A few things to talk about today - some good, some not so good.

Firstly, I think it is wonderful that many Labour MPs are finally going for the Yes vote for independence in Scotland. I was talking to a friend who is English, lives in Scotland and votes Labour. He's worried that the SNP are anti-English. They're not anti anything. They have English and Muslim MPs within their ranks. This is not about being anti-anything, its about being pro Scotland, about leading ourselves, making all the bi8g decisions for ourselves and being responsible for and to ourselves. This is a good thing. I am really, really happy to see that many Labour voters and MPs are finally seeing that now. I hope other parties will follow on, although I really do not care what tory MPs and their handful of followers do. It is so obvious when a tory/Conservative government is in charge - you have extreme poverty and a minority of rich powerful thugs getting richer and more powerful.

Second on the menu is the fact that this horrific government I was just mentioning are planning on censoring our freedom to look at what we want on websites. It started with porn and fair enough, I agree especially with reference to illegal and inappropriate porn but now it is moving on to other things. And so our civil liberties are being infringed. And the government has the cheek and audacity to call the Chinese totalitarian!!!

Thirdly, the fact that there is a protest going on in Bulgaria that no one in the media seems to be paying much attention to. This is over government corruption and the ordinary person feeling like they are not being regarded at all - sounds a lot like here, doesn't it!! http://www.rue89.com/2013/07/24/bulgarie-revolte-aussi-leurope-sen-fiche-244488 Sorry its not in English!

Fourthly, Iranian pregnant woman was hung to death!!! Link here but I dso not agree with its statement that this is Islamic law or Islamic Justice - Islam is a gentle religion, these are the actions of fundamentalists and most religions have those! http://www.siotw.org/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=154&cid=1#.UfkYzKywSnR

We are all human beings and all deserves a little respect. I think the higher ups needs to remember that, treat their people with a little respect and stop thinking so much about themselves. They are meant to be the SERVANTS of their country - not in it to exploit their position for everything they can get. This goes for Iran as well as the others. Women are people too. If a woman is attacked she should be protected and treated carefully. It is not her fault. I really wish they would see that!

Peace.

On another note, I have written a bit of a sexy witchy/werewolfy/vampirey book (not erocita, but sexy). If you like Charlaine Harris, Carrie Vaughn, Patricia Briggs, hopefully you'll like this. It is available on kindle and now in paperback.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Wolf-Witch-Coffin-ebook/dp/B00CCWL6ES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366023812&sr=8-1&keywords=the+wolf%2C+the+witch+and+the+coffin

My second book, The Island of the Mist, is now available on both Kindle and paperback formats:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Mist-Kingslayer-Series-ebook/dp/B0092TUS7U/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346945410&sr=1-2

And paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Mist-N-Roy/dp/147921292X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346506656&sr=1-2

and in the US: http://www.amazon.com/Island-Mist-N-Roy/dp/147921292X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346946271&sr=1-2&keywords=the+island+of+the+mist

My first book, The Stone in the Sword, is now reduced in price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stone-Sword-ebook/dp/B006ZQIEPG/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1327179005&sr=1-3

Why we should stay in Europe

There is a great deal in the news just now about whether there will be a referendum on the UK leaving the EU (European Union).

Alistair Darling used the fact that the Scottish government wish to remain in Europe as a comparison on why they should stay in the UK!! These situations are completely different and the most basic example is that the whole of Scotland could vote to remain in the EU but the reast of the UK (or even just England) could vote to leave, and we would have to leave.

Now I don't know about the rest of the UK, but a huge amount of Scottish exports go to Europe - they are our allies in so many ways. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face - this is what the UK govt want to do. Cameron doesn't even have the guts to state that he himself does/not want to remain in the EU - he just falls in to the party 'mindset' on this. That is no way to run a country! You are the servant of the public, not your party!

Labour in Scotland in particular are equally guilty of this, neither stating whether they want in or not, but backing what happens in Westminster. It really is a joke. They do not want an Independent Scotland because then they could not blame their errors on Westminster, which is what they have done in the past!

I have to say that to me it's not as important as some issues just now - such as the fact that the UK govt are trying to get rid of a whole range of facilities (like closing a large number of fire stations in London, hospitals across the UK etc), taking money from the poor and giving to the rich and further mass chain store closures.

The general public are aware that we are teetering on the edge of a TRIPLE DIP RECESSION, thanks to this mentality that is austerity. they need to remove their heads from their arses and get the economy back on the ground, instead of taking money from consumers pockets that would be better spent in the high streets and boost the economy!

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

Child Benefits

Firstly, I am not going into the ins and outs of the changes to child benefits - I really just want to talk about the fact that until recently everyone was entitled to child benefit, regardless of their salary. To me, this is the reason our welfare system is in the state it is. I was shocked to learn that people earning more than £50,000 per annum were claiming child benefits! To me, this is wealthy people taking money out of the mouths of the poor. Because of this flagrant abuse of the benefit system cuts have had to be made across the board. This could be part of the reason several people with disabilities have killed themselves or starved to death!

If you have read any of my other posts you will see that I dislike the tories with a passion - and that's putting it lightly. However, I am shocked and disgusted that a Labour government would have allowed this policy to continue, and have the nerve to say the tories are pandering to the rich when they did the exact same!

To be honest, I think the £50,000 cap is too high. Anyone earning more than £45,000 doesn't need child benefits and i9f they do they are doing something very wrong!

The new policy means that anyone earning more than £50,000 needs to opt out of benefits or they will be required to pay it back at a later date. I think those who earn this and above should be made to pay back any benefits they earned in the last 10 years to make up for robbing the welfare system of its much needed money!

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

Politics in Scotland today

I was watching the Daily Politics today and of course, Thursday is Scottish First Minister's Questions. I would like to say that I am glad these parliamentary pieces are far less like a tantrum and more like actual politics.

One thing that continually gets me is Joanne Lamont's use of a script. I understand the need for paper notes re statistics and quotes from other people but she blatantly reads a script as though there are no original or intellegent thoughts in her head. I'm not trying to have a go at her, I just think she needs to understand the issues (real issues, not having a go at one stupid point, but real issues) and know what stance her party has on it. I do think that this lady is a completely ineffectual party leader for Labour. I personally would not vote for them given her argumentativeness.

The average person wants our politicians to get along, to actually agree with good judgements and good policy and politely put across their own ideas if they don't agree. The spirit should be co-operation.

The Liberal Democrat Party and the Labour Party need to learn something. They cannot blindly ignore many voters and categorically state that they are against independence because they are starting to look more and more like ostriches with their heads in the sand.

I will let you in on a secret - I used to vote Liberal. When they stated they would not back independence I switched to SNP. If we gain independence there's a good chance I won't vote SNP ever again (that depends on the parties and their policies for the country's future). I also vote Green as my second choice, because I feel that we need to look after our environment if we want to continue to breathe lovely fresh air.

Willie Rennie is a great Liberal Party MP, he is intellegent, articulate and, well, liberal. I agree with a few of his views but I really feel that the Scottish Liberals need to cuts themselves away from the national party or they will never gain seats again. In fact, I would go as far as to say that there is a very good chance the party will cease to exist after the next general election given the betrayal everyone feels in their siding with the tories.

Later in the programme, Andrew Neil spoke with Leanne Wood, Party Leader of Plaid Cymru. She had a lot of interesting things to say but one thing I really picked up on and loved is that she said regardless of the outcome of the Scottish referendum everything would change after it and that we needed (by we she meant Scotland, England, N Ireland and Wales) a standing of equality. I thought this was a wonderful thing for a politician to say.

This is the main issue a lot of people do not realise. They assume that Scotland is anti-English and we want to break away from the union for that reason. This is utter rubbish. We want independence because we want to take responsibility for ourselves and to be on an equal footing with the rest of the UK. I have several English friends, some of whom will vote for independence and some who possibly won't. I do think that many English people in Scotland will feel somehow threatened if we gained independence. Scotland is a modern liberal country, we want equality in all forms and no-one is going to be excluded.

I also think that Labour, who are curently in majority in the Welsh Assembly, are not benefiting Wales in any way, shape or form just now. in fact, I feel that the voice of the Welsh is being lost in Westminster even more than that of the Scottish.

I have not seen anything recently re Northern Irish politics so I cannot at present comment on this area. I hope they are in a better position than the rest of the UK at present.

On a final note, England needs representation as England, not just as Britain. I do feel that the voice of the average English person is also being drowned out in Westminster. It seems to me that Westminster is filled with upper middle-classed men who are concerned first and foremost with their own money issues than anything to do with doing the right thing for the UK.

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

Sad State of Politics in Scotland

There’s been so much in the news the past week or so, I don’t know where to begin. Well, I do. I was watching the Scottish Parliament today and was yet again disgusted by the behaviour of Johann Lamont. I have no idea why she was elevated to leader of the Labour Party. I just cannot see it. She lacks the intelligence required and (the reason I was so angry) rather than debating the issues, she simply flung insults aimed directly at Alex Salmond. Whether you like the man or not is irrelevant. This kind of behaviour should not be acceptable. It makes them look like children.

I think if Labour are to survive in Scotland, they need a far more articulate and intelligent leader, one who can rise above the mudslinging. Siding with the Conservative Party has made them even less popular. They truly need to look at where they are going before they end up going nowhere.

The issue she raised today was regarding unemployment in Scotland, regurgitating the 200 people a day are becoming unemployed in Scotland. I don’t know where she got this figure but it just is not correct. That is more than a thousand people a week and this would most certainly have made national news. Demanding to know what the First Minister was doing about it folly on her side. If Scots know one thing, it is that Salmond is bending over backwards to bring new business, and in the process, new jobs to Scotland, and so he is doing a great deal. The Labour Party are falling in the polls because people see them as ineffective, offensive, childish and lacking anything beneficial to bring to the table.

Equally ineffective is Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson. While she is highly articulate and clearly intelligent, all she seems to be able to talk about is when will Salmond meet with the Secretary for Scotland, rather than the Prime Minister. As far as the majority of Scotland are concerned, Salmond is on equal footing with the PM and should therefore be meeting him, not being handed down to Mr Moore.

What politicians continually fail to understand is that most people don’t care about ‘the party’ they care about their livelihoods, health, welfare and safety. If politicians would work together and not bicker like children, maybe they, as a whole, would be a little less disliked.

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin

Independence for Scotland

At the moment I am angry at the current political situation in Scotland. We have Tories in Westminster telling us when we should hold a referendum on the future of this country and lying blatantly about the state of business in Scotland – stating that businesses are uncertain re the future because of the possibility of independence and yet we know for a fact that since the SNP obtained a majority, businesses have been knocking at our doors wanting in.

This is blatant scaremongering and it should not be allowed in a genuine debate.
I am also disgusted that the only thing Labour and Conservatives have ever agreed on is that we should stay in the union! Fair enough, the Conservatives (and indeed the near extinct Liberals) should be worried, they have how many seats in the Scottish Parliament? But Labour, to me, are simply betraying their constituencies by backing the union, backing a Tory government and clearly not supporting Scotland. I thought Johann Lamont would be smarter and brighter than that.
2 points for England here:
• Given the disdain among the people of Scotland for the Tories, and latterly the Lib Dems, the loss of six million votes against their parties in a British general election would only serve to increase their majority and chances of holding onto power for longer in Westminster.
• How do the people of England feel about Scottish MP’s voting on English/Welsh issues when English and Welsh MP’s do not get to vote on Scottish issues? This is a complete imbalance and not fair on English and Welsh citizens.
I find it laughable when people say that Scotland is not ready for independence, given that we have one of the best business records at present in the UK. We have international companies investing in us such as Amazon and Nissan, just to name a couple.

Another thing that really annoys me is that some people put the SNP on a par with the hideous BNP. This could not be further from the truth. The SNP are not in any way shape or form an exclusionary party. There are Asian and English members/MP’s who contribute greatly to the party, but this is never mentioned in the press. The SNP stands for Scottish National Party, NOT Scottish Nationalists Party. There is a huge difference. This is not an anti-English party either, as many people believe, it is simply pro Scotland.

On another note, I have written 3 books. 2 are part of a series set in Scoltand about the Sidhe, fairy folk. Available on kindle and in paperback:

The Island of the Mist is book 2

The Stone in the Sword is book 1

The 3rd book is an adult, sexy witchy werewolf/vampire story set in New York and featuring a strong female lead character, again available in kindle and paperback formats:

The Wolf, the Witch and the Coffin