Thread: SNP want to keep the £ and independence.

I bet the people of Scotland where breathing a sigh of relief today!

That fat cnut salmond and the SNP have gone quite...

BBC News - North Sea oil industry 'close to collapse'

The UK's oil industry is in "crisis" as prices drop, a senior industry leader has told the BBC.

Oil companies and service providers are cutting staff and investment to save money.

Robin Allan, chairman of the independent explorers' association Brindex, told the BBC that the industry was "close to collapse".

Almost no new projects in the North Sea are profitable with oil below $60 a barrel, he claims.

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

I bet the people of Scotland where breathing a sigh of relief today!

That fat cnut salmond and the SNP have gone quite...

BBC News - North Sea oil industry 'close to collapse'

The UK's oil industry is in "crisis" as prices drop, a senior industry leader has told the BBC.

Oil companies and service providers are cutting staff and investment to save money.

Robin Allan, chairman of the independent explorers' association Brindex, told the BBC that the industry was "close to collapse".

Almost no new projects in the North Sea are profitable with oil below $60 a barrel, he claims.

North Sea oil revenues have been squandered by governments of all parties but you have to remember Scotland only has a population of 5-6 million and unlike some other oil producing countries who basically rely on oil for basically all of their income Scotland wouldn't be in that position and could handle the $60 price would just mean all the loony left policies of the SNP couldn't be implemented. But you also have to remember that many people who are in favour of Scottish independence aren't SNP supporters or support their loony left policies, the SNP like UKIP are just a means to an end.

Originally Posted by buriramboy

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

I bet the people of Scotland where breathing a sigh of relief today!

That fat cnut salmond and the SNP have gone quite...

BBC News - North Sea oil industry 'close to collapse'

The UK's oil industry is in "crisis" as prices drop, a senior industry leader has told the BBC.

Oil companies and service providers are cutting staff and investment to save money.

Robin Allan, chairman of the independent explorers' association Brindex, told the BBC that the industry was "close to collapse".

Almost no new projects in the North Sea are profitable with oil below $60 a barrel, he claims.

North Sea oil revenues have been squandered by governments of all parties but you have to remember Scotland only has a population of 5-6 million and unlike some other oil producing countries who basically rely on oil for basically all of their income Scotland wouldn't be in that position and could handle the $60 price would just mean all the loony left policies of the SNP couldn't be implemented. But you also have to remember that many people who are in favour of Scottish independence aren't SNP supporters or support their loony left policies, the SNP like UKIP are just a means to an end.

blah blah blah.

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

Almost no new projects in the North Sea are profitable with oil below $60 a barrel, he claims.

So don't start any new projects. It's not rocket science.

let's be honest, for the UK to join in the first place in 1975, was too good a deal to be given to them

thank god, they want otherwise now

Good work, you Brits should be proud of yourself

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

Good work, you Brits should be proud of yourself

We are.

Must rankle with the unelected wankers in Brussels eh?

Talk about flogging a dead horse

SNP's Nicola Sturgeon announces new independence referendum bill

SNP's Nicola Sturgeon announces new independence referendum bill - BBC News

"Trump and Brexit are two classic examples where the window of acceptability moves dramatically and political reality is turned on its head."
David McWilliams

https://teakdoor.com/world-news/16707...its-on-91.html

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

Talk about flogging a dead horse

SNP's Nicola Sturgeon announces new independence referendum bill

SNP's Nicola Sturgeon announces new independence referendum bill - BBC News

You're a bit slow, that's been in the works since the result of the EU referendum.

You seem a bit obsessed with doings in a third country, neither Thailand nor England. Is international politics a hobby? What's your view on Trump, guys a walloper eh?

Haggis hmmm yummy

Free range?

Salmond will be giving Sturgeon a jolly good "briefing" tonight

An oil exploration firm has made what it has described as the "largest undeveloped discovery" of oil in UK waters.
Hurricane Energy said one billion barrels of recoverable oil could be contained within the Greater Lancaster Area, 60 miles (97km) west of Shetland.
The company hopes to begin production in 2019.
Dr Robert Trice, Hurricane's chief executive officer, described the find as "exciting times".

He said: "This is a highly significant moment for Hurricane.
"We believe that the Greater Lancaster Area is a single hydrocarbon accumulation, making it the largest undeveloped discovery on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)."
Giant field
The discovery is significantly larger than the average find in recent years, which has been about 25 million barrels.
However, it is still a fifth of the size of the Forties field, which contains about five billion barrels - of which approximately two billion have been recovered.
Hurricane discovered oil in two wells which sit about 30km apart.
The company believes the oil they found forms part of the same giant field.

Drilling at the Halifax prospect found a column of oil-bearing rock of at least 1,156m. It has been described as "very significant" in an independent analysis.
Operations had to stop for budget and safety reasons, but Hurricane Energy plans to return for further appraisal.
Shares rose 6% in early trading after the Halifax announcement. In the past year, their value has risen five-fold.
'Signs of optimism'
Hurricane Energy has focussed its efforts on what it believes are neglected geological formations known as naturally fractured basement reservoirs.
These occur in a series of drilling blocks west of Shetland, which Hurricane has apparently named after RAF aircraft, also including Typhoon, Whirlwind and Warwick.
Lancaster and Halifax lie between the Schiehallion and Solan fields, west of Shetland, and to the south-east of Foinavon.
Hurricane Energy claims to have found more oil in UK waters than any other exploration company over the past 10 years. All its prospects are wholly owned by the one company.
Deirdre Michie, chief executive of industry body Oil and Gas UK, said: "This is extremely exciting and welcome news for the UK Continental Shelf.
"Hurricane Energy's announcement - coming just days after the Oil and Gas Authority awarded new licences to companies to explore for oil and gas in frontier areas - demonstrates the significant remaining potential of the UKCS.
"Signs of optimism, mainly led by exploration and production companies, are returning to the basin, which has worked hard to reduce its costs and improve efficiency.
"However, the UKCS needs fresh investment so it can capitalise on its potential, whether that be from new geological plays, or from enhanced recovery from existing fields.
"There are still up to 20bn barrels of oil and gas to go after in the UKCS and we believe that makes the basin a very positive investment prospect indeed."
Hurricane makes 'largest undeveloped' oil find in UK waters - BBC News

Scotland to switch to driving on the right if independence given green light



Current road signage system would also be scrapped under scheme nationalists say helps show country is 'part of Europe'

Scottish nationalist leaders will attempt this week to give the trailing yes campaign a boost by revealing a series of measures aimed at showing what an independent country would look like.





Seeking to capitalise on the arguments about "bullying" England and keeping the pound, they will unveil an ambitious scheme to scrap the current – English inspired – road signage system. M for motorway will be replaced with a new S – for Scotland and the A trunk roads will become N roads – for Nationalist in honour of the new country. Blue will be the predominant backing colour.
The scale of the scheme is enormous: Scotland has 2,174 miles of road, including the 273-mile long A9 stretching from Edinburgh to John O'Groats – known as the "spine of Scotland".
It is estimated that 58,000 signs will have to be replaced – scrapping the famous road sign font known as "Transport" with a new Celtic-tinged typeface, Proclaimer. And it could be that they may take the opportunity to renumber all of Scotland's roads, beginning at one.
Independence strategists are believed to have sought advice on the plan from the Stirling University professor of transport semiotics, Lana Gocaireachd. "It's exciting, it gives us a clear difference from the English and is a tangible manifestation of a new, vibrant and independent national," said one official close to the scheme. "A more conscious uncoupling, perhaps."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he revealed that if the proposals were seen to swing the needle towards the yes camp then the next stage would be revealed: switch driving on the left of the road to the right – from the first day of independence in 2069.


Scottish transport planners, under strict conditions of secrecy, have begun drawing up plans for a series of spiral interchanges at the major border transport nodes. These will transition drivers to the correct side of the road – whether travelling south–north or north-south – and avoid cross-border crashes – "a PR disaster worse than horsemeat in haggis", according to one planner.
The campaigners take their inspiration from what Sweden – a much larger country than Scotland – was able to do in a single weekend in September 1967. Adopting the Swedish model, Scotland would need all signs ready, an intensive information campaign, and temporary speed restrictions. Backers say it would be more than symbolic – it would let Paris, Berlin and Brussels know that Scotland was serious about an EU role.
"It sends out an explicit signal: we are part of Europe," said one of the brains behind the scheme. "The little Englanders who want out of Europe are the only ones driving on the left-hand side. We've been the smaller relative dominated and having to copy their ridiculous ways for too long. No more. Just think, this will be an indignity for little England – isolated in Europe and pootling along in the slow lane on the left," he added.
They are concerned, however, that opponents of the move to the right might mobilise under the emotive slogan: "Proud to be left." Some fear that when the plans go public, the charismatic MP George Galloway would not be prepared to stand on the sidelines but would launch his own appeal: "Stay left, hard left."
It is understood that another proposal involving traffic light sequencing has been rejected. Instead of red, amber, green, it would have become red, amber, blue. But there was a fear that this would be adopted south of the border by the Conservatives and so lose any distinctiveness.

Jesus H Christ what a load of rubbish ! I am ashamed to be Scottish , will there be a vote on this by the population /

^

April 1st today isn't it???

Charismatic MP George Galloway?

Sounds more like an old crude piece written by a twelve year old. April fools jokes should at least have some wit and humour. Remember the instant beer newspaper cutout, drop it in water for a free pint of beer.

It appears I was correct in my judgement of that lying, self serving parasite Alex Salmon. ..
ALEX Salmond has provoked outrage after he appealed to the public to crowd fund his legal challenge against Scottish Government investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed a female civil servant while he was First Minister.
At the time of reporting last night, Mr Salmond, who was kicked out as an MP in last year’s election, had raised more than £83,000.

His appeal to the public comes despite being entitled to five pensions including as a former First Minister, MP and Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP).

On top of that he is paid by Vladimir Putin’s state sponsored TV channel Russia Today to present a weekly show.

Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells also said: "Alex Salmond has taken the decision to resign his membership of the SNP, but he has some brass neck to publicly crowd fund in the same breath.

Image copyrightAFPScotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has launched the Scottish National Party's election campaign in Edinburgh.
She made a few claims worth looking at - the first was about the potential impact of Brexit on Scotland.
Talking about the prospect of the UK leaving the European Union's (EU) single market and customs union, she said: "Economic analysis says that it will cost every person in Scotland £1,600".
The single market is the agreement between EU countries that provides for free movement of people, goods, services and capital, while also having the same regulations about things like food safety, transport and packaging.
The customs union is an agreement to have no taxes charged on trade between EU countries, while charging the same taxes on things coming from outside the bloc.
The figure came from a Scottish government assessment in January 2018 (before either Theresa May's or Boris Johnson's deals).
It estimated that leaving the single market and customs union would mean Scotland's GDP (the value of the total output of the country) would be 6.1% lower by 2030 than it would have been if the UK had stayed in the EU.
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGESIt predicted that would knock £9bn off Scottish output (in 2016 pounds), which it divided by the population of Scotland to get about £1,600 per person.
So it's saying that GDP per person would be £1,600 lower than it would otherwise have been in 11 years, but that's not the same as costing each individual £1,600.
GDP includes other things like company profits, some of which could go to shareholders outside Scotland. GDP per head does feed into average income, but it is not necessarily on a one-to-one basis.
To be clear, almost all economic analysis predicts that, over this sort of time period, leaving the customs union and the single market would mean GDP would be lower than it would have been if the UK had stayed in the EU.
But the £1,600 per person figure is unhelpful.
You can read more about this from the BBC's Scotland economics editor Douglas Fraser here.

Very difficult to find a non-biased article on the subject.

For the most part it’s all bullshit from the media.

Scotland is a cash generator.

Alex Salmond has appeared in court charged with carrying out a series of sexual offences against 10 women while serving as Scotland's first minister.
Mr Salmond faced a total of 14 charges at the High Court in Edinburgh.
He denies all the allegations, which include one attempted rape, one intent to rape, 10 sexual assaults and two indecent assaults.
The offences are alleged to have happened between June 2008 and November 2014.
His QC, Gordon Jackson, said Mr Salmond was pleading not guilty, and judge Lady Dorrian set the trial date for 9 March next year.
The trial is expected to last about four weeks.
Mr Salmond served as first minister between 16 May 2007 and 20 November 2014.








Media captionAlex Salmond says he is innocent of sexual assault allegationsSpeaking outside court after the brief hearing, Mr Salmond said he was innocent of the charges against him, and would defend himself "vigorously" during the trial.
He added: "The only proper place to answer criminal charges is in this court, and that is exactly what I intend to do next spring."
What is Mr Salmond accused of?

The charges are set out in an indictment which includes the specific details of the allegations against the 64-year-old former SNP leader.
The attempted rape is said to have happened in June 2014 at the first minister's official Bute House residence in Edinburgh. He is alleged to have pinned a woman against a wall and to have removed her clothes and his own, before pushing her onto a bed and lying naked on top of her.
The other 13 charges allege that:

• Indecently assaulted a woman on a number of occasions in Glasgow in June and July 2008 by kissing her on the mouth and touching her buttocks and breasts with his hands over her clothing
• Sexually assaulted the same woman in December 2010 or December 2011 in the Ego nightclub in Edinburgh by touching her arms and hips with his hands over her clothing
• Indecently assaulted a woman in October or November 2010 at Bute House by repeatedly seizing her by the wrists and repeatedly pulling her towards him and attempting to kiss her
• Sexually assaulted a woman in a car in Edinburgh in February 2011 by touching her leg with his hand over her clothing
• Sexually assaulted a woman on various occasions between 2011 and 2013 at Bute House, the Scottish Parliament and other locations by touching her buttocks with his hands over her clothing, stroking her arms, and touching and stroking her hair
• Sexually assaulted a woman at Bute House in October 2013 by removing her foot from her shoe, stroking her foot, lifting her foot towards his mouth and attempting to kiss her foot
• Sexually assaulted a woman at Bute House in November or December 2013 by kissing her on the mouth
• Intended to rape the same woman in December 2013 at Bute House by causing her to sit on a bed, lying on top of her, making sexual remarks to her, touching her buttocks, thighs and breasts over her clothing with his hands, repeatedly kissing her face, struggling with her and pulling up her dress
• Sexually assaulted a woman in 2012 at the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant in Glasgow by touching her buttocks with his hand over her clothing
• Sexually assaulted the same woman at Bute House in April 2014 by placing his arm around her, making sexual remarks to her and attempting to kiss her
• Sexually assaulted a woman at Bute House in May 2014 by placing his arm around her body, placing his hand under her clothing and underwear and touching her breast, repeatedly kissing her on the face and neck and stroking her leg with his hand
• Sexually assaulted a woman at Bute House in September 2014 by seizing her by the shoulders, repeatedly kissing her on the face, attempting to kiss her on the lips and touching her leg and face with his hand
• Sexually assaulted a woman at Stirling Castle in November 2014 by touching her buttock with his hand over her clothing

Police began an investigation following a Scottish government inquiry into complaints of sexual harassment against Mr Salmond.
Mr Salmond launched a judicial review against the government over how it had handled its inquiry, saying he had been treated unfairly.
The government later conceded its procedures had been flawed and paid out more than £500,000 in Mr Salmond's legal expenses.

---

Alex Salmond's political career

Image copyrightREUTERSImage captionMr Salmond was twice leader of the SNP, but quit the party in 2018 after taking legal action against the government

• He was twice leader of the SNP, and led the party into government at Holyrood in 2007
• Mr Salmond left office after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, with his former deputy Nicola Sturgeon taking his place in Bute House
• He returned to Westminster as an MP the following year, but lost his Gordon seat in the snap election in 2017
• Mr Salmond has since worked as a talk show host on Russian network RT
• He quit the SNP when launching his legal action against the Scottish government in 2018

Why didn't the alleged victims come forward at the time of the incidents? I just can't get my head around why they waited years before coming forward. Seems to be that soon one won't be able to greet a woman with a peck on the cheek.

I'm not saying Salmond is innocent but some of the things he's been charged with seem stupid IMO.

In truth it sounds as if he was simply a randy old goat who fancied a bit of slap and tickle but misjudged the objects of his desire. The rape and sexual assault vocabulary is just the current fashion for hyperbole by the "me too" lobby of neurotic women getting an airing and resulting in these daft charges - if it were a mere 40 years ago just about half the office workers in the country would have been arrested after the Xmas parties.