Originally Posted by Osem (Post 34859477)

Salmond's nothing if not a canny guy and if he has got some dirt on Gordon you can bet he'll use it if he can but at the time that best suits him and the SNP best, just before an election possibly and not necessarily in a manner which betrays him/them as the source. This is all just another a political game and there is a myriad of means by which Westminster can exert pressure on Holyrood (and vice versa) some of which will be more successful than others. It's not impossible, however, that the SNP has a few rather nasty skeletons in their closet. If that were the case and they were known to Brown, that'd be just one way of preventing Salmond from spilling any beans in this case. That's the way politics works.

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 34859456)

In that case, don't call it an assembly, call it what it is - a parliament, with the power to pass primary legislation and ministers to carry it out. ;) Devolution in Scotland is not the same thing as in Wales, not by a long way.

Only if you're determined to believe it happened in some way other than it should have, or as it manifestly did.

The funding of Scotland is determined by a fixed formula that sets it in direct proportion to money spent in England. Once again, you're crediting UK ministers with having powers they simply do not have.

You're also continuing to show complete ignorance of the political situation in Scotland - and I use 'ignorance' in its correct sense, not as an intended insult. Since getting into government the SNP has consistently played out a strategy of looking for conflict with Westminster, seeking to show how 'London Labour' is bad for Scotland, complaining at every non-devolved decision taken in London that affects Scotland ... in every possible way to claim that the Union doesn't work and Scotland should break away (except that they call it 'independence' rather than separation, because that serves their aim of painting Scotland as being somehow under English control or domination).

If there was the merest whiff of Gordon Brown trying to influence last week's decision about Megrahi, you can be quite sure that Alex Salmond would have been in every TV studio in the whole of the UK making sure we all knew about it. And if the UK Government had found some means of 'punishing' Scotland with reduced funding, it would serve the SNP's long-term aims to take the hit in the wallet and then use that as another means of bashing the Union.

Originally Posted by harmitage (Post 34857928)

Keep a terminally ill, potentially innocent, man in jail to appease the Americans. :erm:

Why would we want to do that? :confused:

Originally Posted by Chris (Post 34859525)

Would there be any point in mentioning Occam's Razor at this juncture?

Originally Posted by RizzyKing (Post 34860081)

Maybe something for the scottish people to remember next time there is an election if there are many that are not happy about this.