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Sorry Nick, but we have being calling her Bendy since she bent over the £995 issue.
It's nothing related to u-turns or www-turns, Us are not enough for her anymore.

Nicola Sturgeon says Bendy is a secret SNP member, and I just presented a motion to award her the Great Cross of St. Andrews, in its "red" version, for all her good work helping Independence, with the Rewards Commitee.

Alex will hang it from her neck at tomorrow's First Minister Question, count on it.

Or maybe not, she may still pull a sicky, after the "That's not what she has said"

Labour may be anything, but they are absolutely hilarious and entertaining.

We really pity the English, their options are not very good, are they?

Nick, what on earth do you mean when you say only Gordon Brown and Westminster have the power to call a referendum? If you really believe that, you'd better tell Wendy, because she's explicitly talking about a consultative referendum held by the Scottish Parliament. (You'd also better talk to your colleague Brian Taylor, who confirms all this in his own blog). Labour MSP Duncan McNeil clarified that the way a referendum would most likely come about is that the SNP government would table a bill, and Labour MSPs would allow it to pass by abstaining. I fail to see where Westminster comes into this at all - unless of course Gordon Brown brings his MSPs into line by remote control from London.

Nick,

Firstly, your comment concerning the inability of Holyrood to hold a referendum is innacurate: Holyrood does have the competence to hold a 'consultative' referendum - which is what everyone is referring to.

Most agree (including the Tories) that the result of such a poll would be binding (Annabel Goldie said so again on Newsnight last night).

The Scottish civil service have already devised the wording of the referendum (so that it conforms to law) and it is online if you wish to check it out.

Finally, Wendy Alexander did say that she was in favouir of holding a referendum (on Newsnight last night - see it online) AND, and this is a big AND in light of Gordon Brown's comments today, she said that Gordon Brown fully supported this decision (she had spoken to him on the phone THAT EVENING and he supported the referendum position).

There is no confusion: watch the interview for yourself.

Did I mishear today, or did Gutless Gordon really say "It is right that households are suffering"?

He thinks it's RIGHT that we should be in the financial mess that he's got us into?

They say, over and over again, 'We're listening. We're listening.' They don't even listen to one another. Is it any wonder people will eventually stop listening to them?
Hilarious.

By allowing itself to be torn between the policy glitz of the SNP and the new found chumminess of the Tories, Labour has found itself fighting on two fronts. By condensing their policy initiatives down to the most simple and sociable long-term strategy they magnify their own strengths tenfold and neatly divide their enemies who will turn on themselves. Whether accidental or deliberate this is the essence of political genius.

Thatcher wasn’t a great visionary and handed Britain over to the asset strippers. Blair wasn’t the strictest policy wonk and handed Britain over to a consumer explosion. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has vision, sensitivity, and his recent trials have taught him the value of well formed presentation and personal charisma. Unlike his predecessors Gordon Brown is almost perfectly positioned to develop governance that properly unites the head of government and the heart of the people.

[*] Shogun Iyasu Tokugawa is notable for unifying the 7 kingdoms of Japan into a seamless whole. Before the rule of Ieyasu Tokugawa women could be samurai. After Ieyasu Tokugawa cemented his position, he banned women from holding the position of Samurai which lasted until their abolishment. One suspects a similarly brilliant but wayward madam annoyed the Shogun but that’s merely speculation on my part.

We've heard it all now; they haven't got a clue what they're doing.

Simple yes or no questions like this illustrate how this government is completely out of control.

They raise taxes on the poor, lose all our documents, have 24% electoral support, 55% of Labour supporters want Brown gone, lose the London Mayoralty, the Olympics are 4x over budget, the mortgage market has all but closed, they busted Northern Rock the first run on a bank in 140 years, they underfund an army with more commitments than it's had since the second world war in a war that has lasted longer than WW2, they've devalued educational standards so much universities won't even accept the qualifications, the NHS has had ten revues and three times as much money spent but we still have raging superbugs because staff are too demoralised to clean hospital wards, they're closing all our post offices, you can't guarantee a letter will even arrive anymore....

Yet bloggers still defend this shabby shower and I'm supposed to believe Brown's boast that he's the best man for the job.

McJob, maybe.

I'll have fries with that prime minister.

I'm sure I heard Hazel Blears confirm to J. Paxman last night on Newsnight that the Cabinet had discussed the issue yesterday and agreed with Wendy Alexander position.

So that's clear then.

Robin JD - you have just summed up in one paragraph, what lots of people (including me) have been thinking for the last six months or so!

I'll bet Carol-Ann will have something to say about that.

Do you think Wendy Alexander is actually starting to think of her position in an independent Scotland? Scottish Labour would find it hard to sustain their position in Scotland if a referendum was held and lost to the SNP due to fragmentation and a reorientation of the political spectrum. If she is starting to re-position herself there would be a reason. Could it be they held a poll quietly and the results weren't what they wanted to see?

It makes sense now why the SNP were happy for poor wee Wendy to survive the her leadership campaign funding debachle.

She's a real asset to them and a liability to Gordon Brown.

Keep up the good work

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Talk about "it never rains, but it pours ...". After an 11-year nightmare, and continued astonishment at my fellow countrymen's gullibility at the pronouncements of Gordon Brown and his admirers, I'm so enjoying watching this man and his pernicious policies and relationships unravel before our very eyes. I cannot believe he's going to be in office for much longer. It would be suicidal for the Labour Party to stay loyal to the Big Clunking Liability that is now our unelected, dictatorial and wholly dysfunctional prime minister. It's nothing personal, but GB's policies have ensured, without doubt, that my quality of life has gone backwards for the past decade. Whilst I'm not convinced the other lot will make things much better, as sure as hell they couldn't make our economic, political and social circumstances much worse. Good riddance Gordon.

I'm confused....
Labour in Scotland are proposing a referendum they have no manifesto commitment to call and on and issue which they do not support (Scottish independence).
Labour in the UK are not proposing a referendum they do have a manifesto commitment to call and on and issue which they do support (Lisbon Treaty).

Is it just me or does this all seem completely topsy turvy

You’re all doing very well !!

To all those who come to bury him, and to all those who come to rub his tummy and mutter "there, there, there", I can only say one thing

Adolf Hitler is notable for barking out orders from his bunker to a country that was being destroyed by war. After his death and unification, Germany became the powerhouse and beautiful land it is today.

Me thinks history is having a larf!

As a matter of fact, under the Scotland Act the Scottish Parliament has the power to hold consultative non-binding referendums. This is the form of referendum that the SNP are proposing to hold towards the end of their current term of office and which the Scottish Labour leader has now said that she will not oppose, although she would prefer it to be held sooner.

Westminister's approval for the independence referendum that is the subject of the present controversy is not required, which is why the UK PM can remain aloof from the matter.

It is anticipated that the UK government would feel obliged to accept the referendum result.

Nick,

RE: PMQ's

I think Brown presented Cameron with a golden opportunity here and he fluffed it.

As you demonstrate above - the evidence that W. Alexander proposed or agreed to... an immediate independence referendum is beyond dispute. As you say, on Newsnight she even claimed that the issue had been discussed with Gordon and that he approved the new referendum policy.

So when Gordon responded to Cameron's opening salvo with a flat denial - Cameron should have used not only the original Wendy quote , but also the Newsnight interview and then ask - who's telling the truth? Because clearly someone isn't!

With some adroit questionning, Cameron could have had Brown on the ropes, as the PM tried to square his original denial with reality. And whilst it might be fun watching Labour squirm - remember this is a big issue. So if Cameron could have conveyed the impression (which given the evidence, was fairly straightforward) that Labour was either playing politics or lying about mechanisms concerning break-up of the union, then Brown would have been deeply damaged. It would certainly have got on the news.

After all, Cameron could have asked if Labour isn't prepared to play a straight bat when the future of the union is at stake, then what can they be trusted on?

Big miss by Cameron and a lucky escape for Gordon.

Truth is, Labour MP's, MSP's and MEP's don't have any leadership - so they've obviously decided to do whatever they think best.

Gordon appears to be in office - but not in power......

He also has one quality that shines above all others. He's stubborn. That's why he waited 10 years for the top job. And that's why he won't resign now.

Hey Labour - it'll have to be regicide becasue he wont be falling on any swords any time soon....

Brown is hopelessly out of control, he has no idea which way Bendy Wendy will go next, he seems to have lost his own independence to lead for the nation.

For heaven's sake he even got the price of petrol and oil wrong today, that should impress the Scots!

These people are political professionals and must be looking forward towards 2010.

There will be a General Election and Labour will be ejected, certainly in England and Scotland.

Plaid Cymru may have made a tactical mistake by aligning themselves with Labour in Wales, so unless they reverse that, then they may not achieve an overall majority there.

Post the General Election, the Tories will almost certainly, by default, find themselves in power in England.

That will be a perfect situation for the SNP to demand a referendum on full Scottish (and in effect English) independence, which I believe will succeed.

If the Tory Government in Westminster try to cling on to Scotland, then I believe that Alex Salmond will, as a last resort, take the UDI road.

That will be that - and us English people will then be able to focus fully on sorting out our own country.

I see no issue here.

Wendy basically said that she is fed up of the SNP waffle and they should put up or shut up.

If Cameron had said it, and I bet he has often thought it, he would be lauded as the next great leader.

But because a Labour politician said it, every one spits and huffs and spews piles of mindless rubbish.

Politics and opinion in this country has been stolen from the voters and dumped in the hands of unrepresentative pundits.

PS. I can understand why many posters seem to loathe Gordon Brown the politician.

William Rees-Mogg has written many words during a very long journalistic career including the famous 'Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?'.

I wonder if one of his more recent pieces will achieve a similar fame 'Gordon Brown - the man who stole our futures'.

This is a reference to the ill-fated pension tax grab which has had such a malevolent effect.

When you think about it, people like Brown must have monstrous ego's.

How else could they sleep soundly at night?

@19 JohnConstable wrote: "Plaid Cymru may have made a tactical mistake by aligning themselves with Labour in Wales, so unless they reverse that, then they may not achieve an overall majority there."


First off John, it's not Paid Cymru anymore, just Plaid.

The Welsh are probably 2 generations away yet from having sufficient numbers demanding full independence that a referendum would actually be worthwhile.

I say 2 generations because the expansion of welsh speaking schools is still underway, as is the expansion of the 'preference' that local government employees to what will eventually be 'requirement'.

It is the 'enforced' use of the welsh language that will lead to the growth, overtime, of welsh nationalism.

I live on Anglesey - a county in it's own right.
Already we only have one english-speaking primary school (primarily for the children of the RAF base near to it). All the rest speak only welsh. Some secondary schools have converted and the rest will follow over the next few years. Next door Gwynedd is going down the same route as are other areas. That's where the future desire for welsh independence will come.

The popular American author Bill Bryson, in his book 'Notes from a Small Island' noticed very clearly on his travels that Scotland and Wales were 'different' to England, effectively countries in their own right.

Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out the obvious.

I am English, and I have visited Wales a few times, although not North Wales since that zealot Brunstrom was let loose on the Welsh.

In Carnarvon, myself and some English friends went into a pub and we all noticed that immediately the locals stopped speaking in English and started talking in Welsh.

Just an observation, it does not bother me, we are in their country and they can speak in whatever language they wish.

Similarly, in Cornwall, I noticed a strange flag flying from some gardens, and I was told that this is the flag of Cornwall.

If the Cornish wish to fly their flag and resurrect their language, then why should'nt they do that?

If the Cornish wish to fly their flag and resurrect their language, then why should'nt they do that?

"In Carnarvon, myself and some English friends went into a pub and we all noticed that immediately the locals stopped speaking in English and started talking in Welsh."

The locals weren't speaking English. They don't in Caernarfon, it being a Welsh speaking town and all.

And please note it's spelled Caernarfon.

I think this is a ploy by Brown. 60% of scots dont want independence. Labour will campaign against idependence. Referendum looses. Labour claims to have won. Ratings go up. SNP is seen to have lost it's purpose because they have nothing different to offer as scots dont want independence. Labour holds on to the seats which were under threat from the SNP in the next general election. Pretty clever don't you think?

"Plaid Cymru may have made a tactical mistake by aligning themselves with Labour in Wales, so unless they reverse that, then they may not achieve an overall majority there."

See that;s where you're mistaken because Plaid will look more like the natural alternative to Labour as has been apparent in the local elections e.g. Plaid winning 14 seats from Labour in carms.

I think this is a ploy by Brown. 60% of scots dont want independence. Labour will campaign against idependence. Referendum looses. Labour claims to have won. Ratings go up. SNP is seen to have lost it's purpose because they have nothing different to offer as scots dont want independence. Labour holds on to the seats which were under threat from the SNP in the next general election. Pretty clever don't you think?

Well, it won't be that easy because the impressive Alex Salmond is minded to do what very few politicians actually do - which is stick to their manifesto promises to the Scottish electorate.

Salmond is running rings around Labour and the only real danger is of he/SNP becoming over-confident.

With Labour self-detonating both North and South of the border, yes, border for those who actually notice those things, Salmond can sit back and enjoy the show.

BTW. As my late father said, Labour are'nt really for us working people, they just want to hold us down. There is more than a grain of truth in that. I reckon they must have lost their political bearings quite a long time ago. Even the name is wrong for this century although to be fair, so is the name 'Tory'.

When you are in a hole keep digging !! Gordon doesn't know what to do next, he is a schemer not a pugilist. Neither leader put up a strong showing at PMQ, but the Tories have no real reason to care about the Scottish vote, whereas Gordon relies on it.
Personally I hope that Alex has the sense to keep his powder dry until the inevitable Tory government takes over in England. The sudden lurch to the right by the party of greed and self interest should be enough to persuade those unconvinced Scots that they will be better off separated from our increasingly disfunctional neighbours. How pleasant it will be to be able to look back and see that it was the unionists incompetence that provided the catalyst for Scotland taking it's rightful place as a nation in Europe.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if Wendy was repositioning to be able to have a place in the new Scotland, but she'll have to get a lot smarter.

JohnConstable #29.
In Birmingham ( Ladywood to be exact) as I was told - my parent's house - well upstairs room was the local Labour Party Headquarters before the war. Many and varied were the political figures who went there to rally the support of the local working class .
Came the war - came the Labour government . As a child I wasn't aware of my parents politicking but when I became interested enough to look at what happened around me (1950's) I found out that neither of my parents supported the Labour party any more . Knowing their political history I was amazed - when I asked why i was told that 'They had sold the working man down the river' .
I think that when Blair became leader of Labour he did the same thing in the pursuit of power - the results are clear to see . Even if Brown had a secret leaning to the left he hid it very well as he supported Blair , and he still seems unable to remember that the Labour Party was founded with socialism in mind . Perhaps a more active Co-Operative Party might fill the left of centre gap .

Lord Levy obviously has an axe to grind as he was hung out to dry by his NuLab 'friends'.

Nevertheless, it is sad and poignant to see him write that Tony Blair was really only in it for himself.

Upon reflection, people may come to decide that the whole NuLab 'project' was in essence, one gigantic 'marketing' exercise that took a very contaminated 'Old Labour' brand, repackaged it and successfully sold it to a gullible electorate.

Now, the NuLab brand has become tarnished and so the cycle must continue with a 'rebranded' Tory party heading for power.

Underneath it all, nothing has really changed.

English people really need to think of some alternatives.

Great. The sooner we are rid of the Scots the better. I am sick of hearing about the oppression of this nation for three hundred years by the wicked evil English. Be gone with you and the sooner you start paying you way the better. The Scots have become a self-centred, self-serving, selfish group of whingers. Good riddance.

Today I went onto the Labour Party web site. The front page contained the following twaddle -

The values Labour stands for today are those which have guided it throughout its existence.
• social justice
• strong community and strong values
• reward for hard work
• decency
• rights matched by responsibilities

Can anybody in their right mind say that this is what they have achieved in 11 years of government?

Having watched both parliamentary question times live, on Wednesday at Westminster and Thursday at Holyrood and most of the media coverage concerning Scotland and the proposed referendum on Independence. What a debacle Labour have created.

I am left with one impression – what has the state of UK Labour politics come to, after almost a year of incompetence, corruption and sleaze, under Mr Bean, can it go any lower?

#6 advocates that events unravelling in Scotland are a stroke a political genius by the Labour Party. From what I have seen it displays quite the opposite. Were Labour in Scotland have been shown up as the shallow party they are and the SNP are running circles around them!

But recent events do raise one serious question – Who is the liar Mr Bean or Ms Bring it on?

#6 further advocates that Mr Brean has vision, sensitivity, and his recent trials have taught him the value of well formed presentation and personal charisma. After the 10p tax fiasco and his performance on Wednesday, I would be surprised if many people would agree with your tinted view.

#6 I would concur with your summation on Thatcher and Blair, with regards ‘asset strippers’ and ‘consumerism’ but would add Mr Beans legacy of ‘debt and bankruptcy’. As is the Labour Party presently rescheduling its loans, so to will be the UK for years to come.

#6 As for your comment about Mr Bean uniting the head of government and the heart of the people. I seem to have heard that one before in 1997 – hearts and minds, does that ring a bell. Derisible really!

Ms Alexander states she is not the problem, Mr Bean, I feel sure is not the problem, but I believe the SNP have hit the nail on the head – they sure as hell aren’t part of the solution.

Who says 60% of Scots don't want independence? Some crummy poll somewhere with loaded questions?
I think Scotland has a few surprises up its sleeve.
Everyone seems to think that only SNP voters want independence, that just ai'nt true!
There are many who support other parties who see it as the best way forward.
Personally , I would like my country free of foreign policies which drag us into illegal wars, free of WMDs near to our largest city, free of Westminster , which , to me is too ignorant of specific problems and disinterested in all the regions and countries of this disunited kingdom.
Free to spend OUR taxes to benefit the Scottish people , contrary to some peoples belief we DO pay taxes in Scotland and very hefty council tax!
Westminster and London do not make up the UK !
Westminster is the self preservation society , intent on keeping their jobs and preserving party politics. They are in it for questionable reasons with few honourable exceptions.

So the Issue now becomes clear. The SNP is preparing to face David Cameron with a fait accompli, assuming that is he wins the next election. Interesting is that Alex Salmond wants to wait that long. Blair came to power by virtue of the Scottish vote not the English and Cameron's power base will probably be the south whilst the SNP will probably split the vote north of the Border. It may be pragmatic politics, but I suspect that it is also the politics of cowardice.

So Now Wendy has put Gordon on the spot, will the question be put to the British people or just the Scottish. After all what validity will Westminster to England if the scots go for UDI?

One could write one way about Scotland and Wales seperating from England being a good thing for England, Wales, Scotland then on the other hand one could write the other way, my observation of this is that together we have been a formidable nation together if we seperate then each of us will become a small and very unimportant country and the thought of sharing all the countries assetts is to frightening to contemplate, so if your able, kick all these seperatists up the backside and lets concentrate on our wonderful British Isles, forget the politics,whichever party this is a great country thats why so many people want to come here, its certainly not for the weather.

The picture of Gordon says it all.

"Oh Brother",... was it really Gordons fault? Lets not forget the other half, Douglas her brother.

We just gotta bear in mind how brothers and sisters react... she wanted he didn't kind of thing and ... it ends up on Gordons dinner plate making him look the fool.