And Another Thing…

“Academic performance of school children who smoke cannabis daily deteriorates; they have a chronic low-grade intoxication.”

Indicating that the law has made NO difference to their habits, and that we need to look beyond the law as it stands. Alcohol, of course, is as much a problem for many young teenagers,

So, QZ, I am still looking forward to your views on how criminalisation of drugs is working to the benefit of society, also to your comments on how well de-criminalisation has worked in Portugal.
Over to you, no ducking and weaving please.

“Anyone who checks out the Dutch story will find a wider variety of drugs have moved in behind cannabis.”

So YOU say – sources and references please; you like to state opinions with no backup whatsoever, do you. And again -Portugal? Criminalisation, benefits to society from?

THIRD time of asking.

Do birthplaces matter? Well, they do, up to a point; the bonkers ‘Birthers’ in the US are clearly fruitcakes obsessed with showing that Obama is not a ‘real’ American, but I have seen Gordon Brown attacked for not being a ‘real’ Fife lad as he was born in the Southern General; on the other hand, Labour in Fife has seemed keen to elide the Govan birth .

Being born in Govan doesn’t really make you a Glaswegian, nor should any of us this guff matter. But Mr Kerr’s blaming of an ‘over-eager’ leaflet writer is just another sign that the SNP candidate is not up to much really and the most interesting about this by election is how the minority parties do. My feeling is that Scotland is becoming more fractured, and the by election will demonstrate that increasingly uncomfortable fact.

No, Jay, it’s no more partly false than one can be nearly pregnant.

Boom, boom, Quietzapple.

QZ

“support their libertine views.”

One man’s libertine is another man’s libertarian.

Funnily enough Mr M, Alex spent most of yesterday in Glasgow North East – not a chauffeur driven car in sight.

Alec – no the sentence was mot wholly false, it was only partly false. He did go to school in Cumbernauld but he wasn’t born there. Though actually if you wanted to be really pedantic about it (and something tells me you might) you could argue that it was false in the sense that he was not totally ‘educated’ in Cumbernauld because he went to uni in St Andrews but surely we are getting into angels and pinheads territory there.

It was certainly not a deliberate falsehood, just sloppy leaflet writing – he was standing in Falkirk not Cumbernauld so there was no advantage to be gained from claiming he was born in Cumbernauld.

Jay – Condorrat is in Cumbernauld.

Quietzapple – there’s a difference between typos due to typing in a hurry and using the word loose instead of lose. Alec just can’t spell.

Let’s have an ‘in or out’ referendum and settle the matter once and for all.

I think the British people are sensible enough to see where their best interests lie and vote to stay in.

Bl**y hell, why is everyone focussed on Cameron for this?

It was Labour who PROMISED in their manifesto to hold a referendum on the treaty. They reneged on that promise and signed the thing into law (admittedly Brown tried to hide the fact by turning up late at night and hiding in a broom cupboard to do so).

If anyone deserves the public’s ire it is Brown and the rest of the New Labour mob who decided that a manifesto commitment isn’t worth the paper it is written on. Cameron is just going to have to clear up the mess they’ve made, on this and pretty much everything else you care to look at.

Well I think you should accept that being from a neighbouring town does ‘help’

It’s a live by the sword, die by the sword moment. The SNP made a constant hullabaloo about Margaret Curran saying she lived in the East End. And the SNP have been dropping rather tasteless hints about Willie Bain’s residence and his lack of children.

As Malcolm Tucker might say, if you’re going to fight dirty, make sure you f***ing well win.

Actually Tom, the “Cast Iron” promise was made IF & ONLY IF, The Treaty had been ratified.
You may be happy bowing & grovelling to a federal Europe, I am not.
This was the long term ambition of Blair. Another betrayal of the UK by him for his own self serving ambitions.
Your party never intended to allow democratic freedom. It goes against everything you’ve worked so hard to destroy in this Country.
No probs. I can up sticks & emigrate, something I’m considering rather than live under a federal Europe.

@where’s my vote

The reason its all focused on Cameron, is that he’s the only person who can now fix the disaster (unless you count silent Brown who sold us down the river!)

I really don’t understand why we’ve never had the “in/out” referendum since the update of the EEC (something my dad voted for, but is unhappy that it changed)

You not even remotely ashamed Tom? That the party you represent would play fast and loose with democracy just to try to stitch up the Tories? The treaty is ratified now Tom, it has moved on. There is no Treaty to have a referendum on as it is about to become EU law. But how could this have come to pass? Were we not promised a referendum in a Labour manifesto pledge? Has there been some mistake?
I have in the past had a degree of respect for you Tom, but to see you derive such childish glee from how you clever little Labourites have stitched up those nasty Tories provokes nothing but disgust.

It’s a bit much Tom, getting at Cameron over this thing given that your party is the one that has gone back on an election manifesto pledge –

I suppose we shouldn’t have been surprised really I don’t think they have actually honoured any of their manifesto pledges over the years.

Nice blog post.

I suspect that about a third of Tory voters would vote for withdrawal, perhaps rather more members of their party.

Mind you they will shortly be split on the form of referendum, as well as on the UK’s relationship with the EU, Ireland, the Channel Isles, I O M etc.

I think there should be a referendum on constitutional matters in 5 years time or so, after changes in the voting system (for the Lords perhaps?) have been in place so we can assess the results of the changes. Our way ahead in Europe, the Monarchy etc might be a part of that.

If Chameleon wins in 2010 I doubt he has much alternative but to hold an In or Out referendum, Hannan, Carswell, Redwood et al will make it impossible for him (or his successor) otherwise:

http://quietzapple.wordpress.com/

Alec:

Do try and keep your reproductive methods to yourself.

Nice Boom, Boom though.

The SNP has not been dropping any tasteless hints about anything to do with Willie Bain.

It is a fact broadcast by the Labour Party that he lives with his parents in a multi-storey flat in Springburn.

They launched their campaign outside that flat for heavens sake.

The whole thrust of their campaign is that Willie Bain is a local boy because he still lives in the high flats he was brought up in with his parents.

The SNP candidate and campaign has said nothing about that. If Labour don’t want it to be discussed why make such a big deal of it?

Actually Plodder, the Portuguese experiment seems to have led to an increase in school child cannabis consumption. Their culture is rather different to ours, and I have worked with a fair few Portuguese in the UK, my opinion shared by others.

Holland the effective non prosecutions of cannabis users has run alongside the increase in use of designer drugs I read.

If you are really interested in the subject take a look at the African experience where Keef is a menace to all and sundry a Uk friend in the know tells me.

Now stop being silly and go and take some good clean breaths of fresh air.

Tom, you really should be taking out your anger on your own party leader.

It’s your party who lied to the country over a referendum, not Cameron.

It’s your party leader whose incompetence will lose many Labour MPs their jobs next May.

Our relationship with Europe pales into insignificance when compared to the economic nightmare the next government will inherit.

You are right that the smaller party should not be able to dictate 100% of the time but a clear and proper agreement over manifesto committments made by both parties should be agreed. This agreement should contain what both parties want to achieve from their own manifestos but perhaps also highlight policy areas where there are differences and allow freedom within the agreement to vote differently on key topics. For example, the beliefs that underpin the Labour Partys approach to civil liberties is wholly different to the belief that underpins the Lib Dem approach. The parties can agree to disagree. But things like Lords reform, voting reform (yes I know your views) and foreign policy (post Iraq) can be agreed in partnership.

As for the tail wagging the dog, I dont think it could happen at Westminster for two reasons. The first is that the Scottish Parliament was (an still is) an immature institution which will take a generation to bed in. A future Labour led Scottish Government (possibly as early as 2015) would be a stronger partner in a coalition.

The second reason is that the threat of withdrawl has real electoral consequences. The Scottish Parliament is elected every 4 years but the Westminster parliament is elected when the Prime Minster asks the Queen to call an election. If the Lib Dems were being bolshie about withdrawing from an agreed approach to coaltiion government then the Prime Minister could threaten to call an election, making the key issue one of a mandate to govern as the largest party. That very strong threat is not available in Scotland.

But I still think that your many many comments on the Lib Dems on this blog reveal a very negative opinion of them, even if you cant see it yourself. What is the difference in the language that you use and the language of bullies?

Mr Harris, there has been enough legislation in the past 13 years with Henry the eight powers that any minority Government can rule with impunity.

Tom Harris Bullying, never.

But his party interfearing in every aspect in your life is more like it.

How dare a party with over 22% of the votes cast think it can have any say in the running of our country?

Much better to leave it to the party with 35.3% who, somehow, have almost 6 times the number of seats…

Democracy is soooo Old Labour.

I am all for Clegg being given a place at the “top table” to express his views.

It is only right that the electorate see and understand that the only centre left party is the Lib Dems, whilst Labour and Tory continue to fight out the centre right

The electorate should understand that their is a choice at the next election, and if the appearance of Clegg helps the current mood of “a curse on all your houses” and stiffens voting intentions by giving an alternative to the obfuscation of one side, and the light touch of the others, then I’m all for it.

Of course it does rely upon Clegg putting in a sterling performance, but if some of his PMQ’s are anything to go by then the others should be very wary.

The Lib Dems are also ideally placed for thte “against the incumbant” vote because of the expenses scandal and the fact that the people in parliament have proved that they may not be the best to carry out that process, because even those “with no issues” are still part of the operation that allowed it to happen.

And when the other two parties bring a motion of no confidence against the government?

“Far better to govern as a minority, even if that means you can’t actually legislate.”

A legislature that can’t legislate.

So no salaries will be picked up then?

And yes Tom, you’re right. If other political parties who won’t form a government and provide a PM are not invited to debate, then the same should apply to Clegg and the Lib Dems. Stuff the broadcasting rules about election campaigns.

Brown or Cameron for President…

After his duff speech at the Lib Dems Scottish do yesterday, he shouldn’t be part of anything.

Never seen anything so weak from any aspiring, never mind actual, party leader.

And that includes John Swinney.

So there!