Tag: Alex Salmond

Scotland warns Britain over Trident

Alex Salmond has given warning that it would be a “fatal mistake” for the UK government to proceed with its plan to renew Britain’s nuclear deterrent, refusing to rule out calling a second independence referendum if it does so.

“This government would be making a fatal mistake if they believed that for the sake of this costly trumpery that this useless, expensive, unlawful and inherently dangerous military plaything is going to be tolerated by these benches, this party or this country any longer,” said Mr Salmond.

Asked by reporters after the debate whether he saw the renewal of Trident as a possible trigger for a second independence referendum, he said: “You would have to ask Nicola Sturgeon [the first minister] whether this counts as a change in material circumstances.”

Referring to the SNP’s landslide election victory in Scotland, which gave his party 56 out of 59 seats, he added: “The government will have to take notice that they cannot go forward with the position that they used to.”

Mr Salmond was speaking during a debate about a military investigation into allegations made by William McNeilly, who worked on the Faslane base.

Mr McNeilly, a submariner, made a series of claims about the Trident weapons programme in a long online report.

He said it was harder to get into most nightclubs than into the area housing the submarines carrying Trident nuclear missiles at the Faslane naval base. He said there were significant technical defects on the boats themselves, catalogued potential fire risks and leaks, and added that safety checks were rarely carried out on contractors working on the boats.

He called the system as a whole a “disaster waiting to happen”.

Source: FT

Independent Scotland ‘feels inevitable,’ says Murdoch

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says Scottish independence “feels inevitable” and predicts a hung parliament following the UK general election next week.

In a series of Tweets the chairman of News Corp, which owns The Times and The Sun, expressed a range of opinions on British politics, Scottish self-rule, and rising inequality in the UK and US.

Murdoch, 84, suggested “dirty” deals would be made between the political parties after the general election if no party wins a clear majority.

He also predicted Prime Minister David Cameron would be dropped by the Conservative Party if he failed to gain a majority against Labour leader Ed Miliband. He said this was “open talk” among Tories.

The Australia-born press baron has been viewed as a kingmaker in British politics because of the influence he wields through his newspaper outlets.

Murdoch’s tabloid the Sun had a weekly readership of 5.4 million in the UK last year.

Murdoch has previously backed Alex Salmond, former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), praising him as a cunning politician.

Salmond’s close ties with Murdoch were first revealed in 2012, when private documents were released detailing the extent of their relationship.

Letters published shortly after Murdoch shut down his popular tabloid News of the World exposed how Salmond had more than two dozen meeting with Murdoch or his executives.

The media mogul also commented on the likelihood of no political party wining the general election, a situation known as a hung parliament.

Murdoch also indicated the SNP were “cleverly hurting Miliband” by hinting at their support of Labour in the election.

Cameron’s future as leader of the Conservative Party is at stake in this election, Murdoch suggested.

In a surprise comment for a man estimated to be worth over $14 billion (US), Murdoch also weighed in on the Sunday Times 2015 Rich List, published on the weekend.

His claim that the economic turmoil gripping “advanced” economies has been caused by “regulations and power crazed lawyers” received a barrage of responses on Twitter.

Oz leader’s comments on Scotland ‘foolish, hypocritical, offensive’

Alex Salmond, the First Minister for Scotland, has said that comments by Tony Abbott, the Australian Prime Minster, that the world would not “be helped by an independent Scotland” are “foolish, hypocritical and offensive”.

Mr Abbott who is on a visit to London told the Times newspaper that it was “hard to see how the world would be helped by an independent Scotland.”

“I think the people who would like to see the break-up of the United Kingdom are not the friends of justice, the friends of freedom, and the countries that cheer at the prospect are not the countries whose company one would like to keep,” he said.

Scottish voters will go to the polls on 18 September and will be asked the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

Alex Salmond jumped on Mr. Abbotts’ comments and told BBC Scotland they were hypocritical and “offensive to the Scottish people” considering the benefits Australia has got since becoming independent from Britain after the Second World War.

“They are foolish, actually, because of the way he said it. To say the people of Scotland who supported independence weren’t friends of freedom or justice, I mean, the independence process is about freedom and justice,” he said.

He added that even the British government could recognize the need for a democratic vote on the issue and that the referendum was a “model of democratic conduct”.

The Scottish premiere also said that Abbott was gaffe prone and had put his foot in it, with his comments.

One of his previous gaffes involved referring to Canada as Canadia during a press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa in June.

Source: RT

‘Scotland to become wealthier than UK after independence’

scotlandWhile Alex Salmond encourages his compatriots to vote “Yes” for Scottish independence, painting a picture of the bright prospects of “sustainable prosperity” across the whole country, skeptics have several questions for the First Minister. They want to know about the future nation’s currency, pensions, and funding for schools and hospitals if Scotland was to leave the UK.

According to Alex Salmond, Scotland will become independent “in more promising circumstances than virtually any nation in history,” the Scotsman reports. “We would be among the wealthiest nations in the OECD. Scotland would be 14th on the list, with the UK at 18th. Seven out of the ten wealthiest countries in the developed world have populations similar to, or smaller than, Scotland,” says the First Minister.

“Scotland has contributed more in taxes, per person, than the rest of the UK for every single one of the last 33 years. Over the past five years our public finances have been healthier than the UK’s by £8.3 billion ($13,96 billion), that’s nearly £1,600 ($2,690) per person,” Alex Salmond explains. He believes that Scotland possesses an “extraordinary potential” in such spheres as engineering, life sciences and energy, stressing that independence will help Scotland create a competitive and fair modern economy.

There are skeptics, however, who do not share Mr. Salmond’s optimistic position. Scottish Labour MSP, Jackie Baillie claims that the First Minister’s independence project lacks realism and pragmatism:
“Maybe if the First Minister had credible answers about what would replace the pound, how our pensions would be paid and what would happen to the funding for our schools and hospitals if we left the UK, his campaign wouldn’t be trailing so badly in the polls,” she said, cited by the Scotsman.

“As part of the UK we can have the best of both worlds; a strong Scottish Parliament, with the guarantee of more powers, backed up by the strength, security, and stability of being part of the larger UK. Only separation puts that at risk,” Jackie Baillie added.

Source: Voice of Russia