Its simple. Its straightforward. Its democratic.

If 51% of the Scottish people vote for Independence on May 3rd, Scotland will be a Free and Independent Nation on May 4th 2007.

The Scottish Jacobite Party stands for an Independent Scotland, out of the EU.

The Scottish Jacobite Party stands for a Scotland that uses the talents of all Scots to build a vigorous, prosperous democratic society where all share in the wealth of our joint resources.

The Scottish Jacobite Party has openings for suitably qualified candidates in most constituencies and regions of Scotland in the forthcoming elections on May 3rd 2007.

The former Minister for Everything and current Convener of the Scottish Parliament Finance Committee has a column in the Sunday Express.

In her view, "you face a very real choice: building Scotland with Labour or breaking up Britain with the SNP.
Don't listen to the warm words of any of the other parties.
Across the political spectrum, from the Tories on the right to Solidarity on the far left, countless politicians will be vying for your attention and your vote - but the choice in this election is between SNP and Labour".

My dear girl, a few warm words for you from one you dismiss as of no consequence.

Wendy, sweetie, you have lost the plot. You are in denial. You need help.

Read your own words, lassie.

"So where's the logic in tearing it all up to start again? As the old saying goes "when it ain't broke, don't fix it"".

Its broke. And Labour broke it.

Why was Scotland paralysed by a strike by 400 railway signalmen last week? Doesn't their Union support Labour?

There is no point in saying you don't know. Isn't one of your relatives the Transport Secretary? What's his name? Begins with a B. It'll come to me in a minute.

Next Saturday "A broad spectrum of Scotland's medical profession is to descend on Glasgow in an unprecedented protest against the controversial new recruitment system for junior doctors" according to this morning's Herald.

Junior doctors can't find jobs in Scotland. The NHS is in crisis because we aren't training enough doctors and the Executive have managed to screw up the channels for getting those we are training out into the hospitals and work.

"It ain't broke"?

Actually, the bit about the doctors is being unfair. Your column was in yesterday's paper and you wrote it before you had a chance to read today's paper and find out about the NHS problems.

Gordon Brown and David Cameron are having a public pissing contest to see who is more environmentally friendly. So Scotland must be doing well on the environmental front?

In today's Herald the piece by Kara Brydson, RSPB Scotland's Marine and Coastal Policy Officer suggests otherwise.

"Scotland's seas and coasts are managed in a piecemeal way, with no spatial planning system, no strategic management, various pieces of legislation with gaps and duplication, limited protection for only a few habitats and species, problems with geographical coverage of legislation, no comprehensive data-management system, inadequate enforcement of existing legislation...the list goes on and on. Instead, we have an ad hoc sectoral approach to consenting of marine activities, involving many different pieces of legislation, each managed by different authorities. This results in planning disputes, which stifle economic development, waste money, and put wildlife at serious risk."

Its broke. And Labour broke it.

Last year, I dubbed the SNP the leaping lurching dithering party (LLDP) of Scottish politics.

I must say that I am impressed by how they have grown into the role. More leaping, more lurching and much, much more dithering.

Leaping because the party took a giant leap backwards by re-annointing Alex Salmond as party leader. He had deserted the party for the glamour and the bigger TV market of Westminster after he failed to make any impression as leader. Can a failed leader return? Last week it seemed that even he wasn't sure since he signalled his intention to keep his Westminster seat after the Scottish elections whether he was Scotland's First Minister or not.

Lurching because the party of Independence can't seem to make up its mind whether it wants Independence or not. Last week we were going to have an immediate referendum on the subject. According to yesterday's Scotland on Sunday we're not. Are they in favour of Independence or not? I don't know. Do you?

Last week, Iam N Oxymoron, the SNP Strategist revealed plans to drop SNP from the ballot papers in May in favour of Alex Salmond since party research had shown that The Alex Salmond Party had better brand recognition than The Scottish National Party. This would emulate the strategy of Tommy Sheridan and The Scottish Socialist Party in the 2003 elections. Iam would not confirm on the record plans for Alex to start frequenting swinger clubs in the Greater Manchester area as part of a strategy to appeal to women voters.

If you are a loyal SNP supporter, you might have detected exotic scents in recent days. A fragrant rose here, a suspicion of jasmine there. Always, the distinctive hint of wistaria. You probably thought that Nicola was trying out new perfumes for the campaign trail.

Sorry folks, real flowers. You are being led down the garden path!

The SNP have lost the map and can't find the Road to Independence.

This is a political campaign with the declared aim that Scotland be an Independent Nation on May 4th 2007.

In light of the ongoing "Cash for Peerages" scandal it is important that the finances of The Scottish Jacobite Party are open for public scrutiny. This is over and above the requirements of The Electoral Commission.

This is a One Walt campaign. The budget is £100.

Last week, I reported the expenditure of £26.25 for the rental of shared web space leaving a balance of £73.75.

There was a further debit of £6.95 on last Wednesday, Admission Charge to the world's most expensive otter holt at Lomond Shores. (This was the concession rate. Regular fare is £7.95. We do try to take advantage of any discounts on offer. The bus pass is a major help. I don't know how I would manage without it.)

The Right Rev Alan McDonald, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland and Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland held crisis talks on Sunday at Parkhead to discuss an enviromental threat to the very foundation of the two Churches.

While there has been ever increasing awareness within the secular community that global warming poses a threat to us all, until yesterday, we had been unaware that the spritual world faces an equally devastating enviromental catastrophe.

Hell has frozen over.

The fire and brimstone of eternal damnation are no more. Cutty Sark* and the other helpers of Auld Nick have been made redundant. After being in continuous employment since the firm was founded at the time of Adam and Eve, the girls will sign on for the first time next week.

It has been a double whammy for the lassies. At the same time as they got their pink slips, they discovered that their pension scheme was worthless. Lord Nick is believed to have absconded with the funds. He is thought to be in the Grand Cayman Islands outside the reach of the extradition powers of British Courts. Senior sources in the Metropolitan Police have revealed that his Lordship was to be the star witness in the imminent prosecution of Lord Levy, a known associate of Lord Nick.

There may be other manifestations of these fundamental enviromental changes. Due to cloudy skies, it has been impossible to confirm suggestions that there was a blue moon on Sunday night.

Earlier reports which had been dismissed as implausible are being reexamined. Wee Shuggie fae Partick swore that he saw flying pigs on his way hame fae the Curlers on Byres Road on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, high level sources have confirmed that merger talks are taking place between the two Churches.

A Vatican spokesman indicated that there were important synergies between the two businesses and this new threat taken in the context of the falling market share of both religions in twenty first century Scotland would allow rationalisation of the two business models following a merger.

It is believed that the remaining stumbling block to a handshake deal involves the combination of the two sport divisions. The two boards are split on a name for the joint venture. Both Rangic and Celters are on the bargaining table.

Also unsettled is the question of the team strips. One faction favours blue and white for the home strip with the hoops for away.

Church of Scotland shares rose sharply at the opening bell on Monday morning trading while those of The Church of Rome were unchanged.

Footnote

Cutty Sark is not the name of a brand of whisky. It is not even the name of the fastest of the tea clippers which used to race from India and Ceylon back to London with the new season's crop of tea.

Cutty Sark (short shirt) is the name of the central character in Tam O'Shanter by Robert Burns. The poem carries a message for today with its theme of the evils of drink, provocative female attire and their effect on the male of the species.

But these lines are taken out of context. Go read the original in all of its wonderful couthy majesty.

All societies evolve. They change, sometimes imperceptibly but change they do and British society has changed over time and changes now.

The changes are a result of multiple forces; of attitudes, of opportunities, of overseas influences, of technology.

A society is like the proverbial Titanic. The larger the society, the greater the mass and momentum and the harder it is to change direction in a short period of time. In a country with a rich historic precedent, those historic forces can continue for a surprising time, long after any apparent connection has ceased to exist.

Our historic past was as a feudal society, of nobles and serfs, of the powerful and the powerless. Long gone? Not so. I grew up in the remnants of our feudal past. In the world of large country estates, where the house came with the job. Fall out with the Laird and the family were out on the street. I know. We were.

The industrial revolution brought with it a revolution in servitude. Bondage to the land was replaced with bondage to a machine and a production line. The power remained with the rich; the landowners were replaced by the factory owner, the mine owner and the mill owner.

Education was the key that unlocked the chains of exploitation.

Educated workers learned that divided they were powerless but by uniting, the small stakes of the many equalled or surpassed the holding of the owners and management. But the powerful don't yield power without a struggle. The power of a worker is limited to withholding his labour. By strike action.

The General Strike of 1926 was an open confrontation between the united power of the workers and the deep pockets of the owners.

The balance of power shifted after the Second World War through the power of the ballot box when a Labour Government was elected. Greater social support softened the dilema between principle and starvation.

The balance of power had shifted. Strikes became more common. So common that they became a defining feature of British life.

Then came Maggie.

The Miner's Strike of 1984-85 was the teutonic shift that marked the extreme of Union Power in modern Britain.

Down but not out, the Unions have been fighting a rearguard action since.

One of the surviving dinasaurs flexed its muscles on the Scottish railway lines last week.

Is strike action an appropriate way to deal with workers problems? No.

Are workers being exploited in Scotland today? Yes.

So what's the answer?

The Scottish Jacobite Party will create an Employment Arbitration Division within the Department of Justice. The salary and status of the Judges sitting on these benches will equal those of existing judges. There will be an Employment High Court of Justiciary, Employment Sheriff Courts and Employment District Courts. Legal aid will be available for litigants requiring financial assistance.

Strikes will be illegal. Court arbitration decisions will be binding. All court proceedings will be open.

Labour relations are central to a productive functioning society. No one group or individual has the right to disrupt the legitimate activities of other members of society.

Today... Told a 68 year old he has cancer, told a 20 year old he may have HIV, had both crying in front of me, last night, got punched in A&E, Saw someone lose all there blood through their backside and die in front of me,the smell is foul and lingers... told a family their elderly relative was suffocating to death because his lungs turned into scar tissue the consistency of cardboard and there was nothing more we could do,confirmed his death later on; looked at someones leg about to rot off while still attached,its like rotting cheese, comforted a delerious elderly lady who thought I was her dead husband, talked to a girl who broke up with her boyfriend and slashed her wrists. Got covered in vomit, twice. Did 18 hours unpaid overtime over the last 5 days. Haven't had time to pee for 10 hours but it's not a problem because I haven't drunk any fluids in the last 8. Anyone want this job? I was better paid working in Sainsburys, had a tea break,a full six hours sleep a night, a girlfriend I saw for more than half an hour a day and an element of feeling a job well done. Not bad for £12.50 an hour nominally, and £8.75 on average counting the overtime. Ladies and Gentlemen; this is not like ER.

Advice to wannabe docs? Don't. Advice to trhe public? Get private insurance now. You'll need it.

Posted by I wanted to be Carter on March 9, 2007 5:50 PM

The above posting was borrowed from the Telegraph web site. It is one of the enormous number of responses you will find in The Telegraph Speakers Corner on Wednesday March 7th "Who would be an NHS Doctor?"

One of the consequences of devolution has been a marked increase in Political Churning; the passage of legislation for the sake of it.

Politicians have to be seen to be doing something. Kissing babies keeps them busy in the run up to an election. After that, its back to the old standbys of hiring consultants and holding committee meetings. After millenia of doing this, you would think we would have figured it out and settled on the essential laws.

Hiring a consultant looks as though you are serious about dealing with an issue. Certainly the bill is serious enough. There are ways that are easier on the public purse.

I had been wondering about the problems in front line policing. So I had a wee wander up to Faslane. You never see the polis on the streets of Helensburgh or Glasgow but Faslane is hoatching with them. All of the protesters left at 12.30 after the TV cameras filed for the noon news cycle. Anyway, they had to get back to the toon to pick up their benefits. So the Polis were just passing time until the end of the shift.

The men on the beat think that your local chief constable should be an elective office. The same sort of arrangement as Sheriffs in the US. That way they would be responsible for the performance of the local force and accountable to the voting public.

Sounds good to me. Its on the platform of The Scottish Jacobite Party. Any beat officers who disagree go to page 6 and follow the instructions.

To do an effective job, the officers need computer systems that talk to one another. PC based systems have been around for the past 20 odd years. There's no excuse for this sort of inefficiency.

A while back I had a similar informal poll of secondary and primary teachers in Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire and their chalk face problems. The responses follow:-

The view from the Classroom

• Pupils coming to secondary at level B – more ore less unable to read & write. Then expected to study a foreign language!
• Quite large numbers of pupils with no manners, respect or social skills.
• Parents who are unsupportive of school e.g. saying their child did not deserve a punishment exercise and won’t be doing it.
• Expectation that school can solve the problems of home and community.
• Courses are exam led – teaching to the exam.
• Classes too large to allow all pupils to be treated as individuals
• Lack of communication between other organizations such as social work making it difficult to meet pupil needs.
• Christmas leavers. Pupils should be able to leave at the end of S4 not when 16. Christmas leavers do not benefit from being back in school for a few months – tend to disrupt the learning of others or not attend requiring attendance officer etc.
• Pupils not taking responsibility for their learning, homework, attitude, behaviour etc.
• No noticeable increase in preparation time etc despite McCrone – now due to be reviewed.
• Job sizing toolkit does not necessarily apportion salary according to workload causing dissatisfaction amongst some staff.
• Pupils have increasing problems to deal with outside school.
• Teachers time taken up with meetings that have nothing to do with teaching pupils in the classroom.
• Teachers have been lying to parents for years. Teachers can no longer tell parents that wee Jimmie or wee Jeannie is lazy and needs to work harder. As a result, parents think that their children are geniuses. They are confused when they attend parent-teacher meetings and get the opposite impression. There is further confusion when the children leave school and are unqualified for employment.

"Please, Sir" or "Please, Miss", same as with the Polis, if you don't agree or want to add to the debate, go to page 6 and follow the instructions.

A question for you. In any business, who is more important, the managing director or the receptionist?

Look at the pay slips and there will be no question. The bloke in the pin stripe suit in the fancy office on the top floor earns the big bucks to steer the corporate destiny to the eldorado of big profits.

The receptionist on minimum wage is the public perception of the organisation. She is on the front line, the customer's first contact in the business. In human relationships, first impressions are vital. A bad receptionist can ruin a business while Mr Big on the top floor dreams of golden parachutes.

On Monday, I had a story about Trident that I wanted to get into the debate on the issue. It seemed timely with Labour MPs resigning over the weekend and the Commons debate scheduled for yesterday, Wednesday.

I called a reporter on my local paper. But she had been off for a couple of days last week, was tied up dealing with the faxes that had piled up over the weekend and couldn't see me until Friday.

So, I went into Glasgow to The Herald offices on Renfield Street. In the reception area in the front lobby, I asked if I could speak to a political reporter. There was a consultation then I was told that The Herald doesn't have any. I asked about reporters in general. Nothing doing.

I was given a phone number for the newsdesk 0141-302-7113. Told to phone them. If they were interested and if they could find a reporter, he or she would come meet me.

Everybody in reception seemed edgy. The building is badly designed and they have to use an enormous electric fire in the lobby to keep it warm. I took out a camera to take a photo and one of the girls called security. After I was given the slip of paper with the phone number, I was asked to leave.

You know that SMG are up for sale. I suspect that there is some major asset stripping going on behind the scenes. It wouldn't suprise me if they haven't moved the backroom operations off-shore. Watch out for the accent the next time you speak to someone at The Herald.

Since there was nothing doing at The Herald, I went to Edinburgh.

The Scotsman digs are palatial compared to The Herald's. The building is cosy, just behind the Parliament buildings, between it and Arthur's Seat.

The receptionist was a nice wee lassie. Well presented, friendly and helpful. I said that I would like to speak to a reporter. She called through to the news room then asked what it was I wanted to talk about.

"Trident"

"What?" "Its about Trident"

"What's Trident?"

I pointed out that she was sitting in front of a pile of Monday's edition of The Scotsman which had "Trident" in 250 point type across the front cover.

Maybe she wasn't hired for her reading abilities.

At any rate, I got to speak to a reporter but it turns out that I was three days late. The Scotsman did the Trident story in its edition last Friday. They were desperate for comment last week but this week's story had already been written.

The story of my life, a dollar short and a day late!