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<title><![CDATA[The fight from within: Scottish Independence & Labour]]></title>
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<description><![CDATA[Me...a far too opinionated Young Labour protegé, now a confirmed late 30-something activist never afraid to think different, sometimes very different. On one hand, a supporter of the state of Israel whilst idolising Scargill at the same time as supporting the need for full Scottish Independence. Who said the Labour Party isn't a broad church....]]></description>
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<lastBuildDate>Sat, 18 May 2013 07:56:32 +0100</lastBuildDate>
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                           <title><![CDATA[From Strength to Strength]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[I've been a bit quiet on here of late, helping to run the newly formed 'Labour for Independence' group has taken more time and effort than i'd anticipated - not that its a gripe, far from it.
Group founder Allan Grogan spoke eloquently at the recent March and Rally for Independence in Edinburgh on September 20th, and the media reaction was electric. Internview spots on Newsnight Scotland, printed press articles, name dropping in many a national newapaper has led us to believe that there are many, many Labour members out there being stifled by the party and not being allowed a...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/31011/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:39:29 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Bitter Together....lies, damned lies, and statistics]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Well, the Better Together campaign kicks off in many city centres this weekend and the leaflet which has been pushed into the sweaty palms of 1000's of distrungled shoppers this weekend is a mass of lies and madeuppy rubbish.
Rather than regurgitate the story here, the following comments are well worth a read.
Each and every point pulled apart in front of your own eyes...Enjoy!
http://tommyballgovan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/anti-independence-campaign-tell.html?spref=fb...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30941/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2012 20:40:15 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[The end of Scottish Labour as we know it?]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Labour will be campaigning with the Tories from this weekend onwards in the 'Bitter Together' 'No' Campaign. Some quotes from Labour's Jim Murphy MP."I&rsquo;m going to go campaigning. And the Tories will be there on the same side." "I won&rsquo;t be campaigning alongside David Cameron. But I will be standing at a street stall with members of his party." "I am not and never have been a Unionist. But I fundamentally believe in Scotland being part of the UK" So...Will the Scottish electorate forgive Labour for this? Will Labour be damaged good just like the Lib-dems?...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30940/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2012 08:57:09 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Ian Davidson MP....losing his memory too?]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[I found this snippet of news today, and as soon as the tears of laughter subsided just a minute today, I thought i'd share the comedy with you...With thsnks to NNS for the clip.
 
Ian Davidson MP, who convenes the Westminster Committee on Scotland, tells us the final word on how the referendum is run, remains with them.  They are sovereign.Can this be the same Ian Davidson whose signature I find on the "Claim of Right for Scotland"? Did he and all his fellow Labour MPs really line up at the first meeting of the Constitutional Convention in 1989,...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30930/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Sat, 11 Aug 2012 17:43:54 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Ian Davidson MP...losing the plot]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Sometimes you just wonder if people just create a controversy to get their name 'out there' but sometimes I just wonder if some MP's just have a bad dose of 'Foot in Mouth' syndrome
Ian Davison MP is one of people in my view.
Last June, he was embroiled in a 'neo-fascist' storm, making remarks of SNP Parlimentarians which was shudderingly poor judgement. Last October, said MP was then in the centre of a bullying claim during a commons committee, now after a short break, he's returned as good as ever to cross swords with the BBC and make outrageous claims on...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30923/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 8 Aug 2012 11:33:53 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[What about the assets Ally??]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[There is a lot of, well, twaddle coming out of the 'No' campaign lately, and with more than two years to go still, the Tory led group 'Better Together' is really making the Labour party look like a comical bunch....
The regular topics of money, debt and assets crop up and this tends to reappear regularly in press releases, blogs and articles so as a quick guide to the major issues, heres something I found which might help you all...
 
The debt question..
"Scotland would be unable to service the amount of debt it would be required to take on"
Answer. (false )...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30910/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Thu, 2 Aug 2012 21:47:21 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[An uncertain future?]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[There is a degree of uncertainty in voting YES to Scottish independence... It's not certain that our largest city will continue to have the lowest life expectancy in Europe. It's not certain that 20% of our children will be able to continue to live in poverty or that we'll maintain the highest levels of poverty seen in the British Isles over the last 40 years.... or if we'll continue to be the worst country in the WORLD for drug related crime per head of population while living in one of the most unequal societies on earth. There is uncertainty whether...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30835/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Mon, 2 Jul 2012 21:05:46 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[The pound, or not the pound...that is the question]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[A bite size blog today for you...
Thought for the day.
If an Independent Scotland decided to keep the pound as its currency, then the massive investment in a newly Independent nation would only serve to strengthen it and make it better for everyone in the remainder of the UK.
However..
Were an Independent Scotland to leave the pound, it'd take at least &pound;1.5 TRILLION (at todays value...) of oil revenues with it, taking away all the new investment in the new independent country.
The result :
There would more than likely be a run on the pound and collapse of the currency would shortly follow....]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30787/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jun 2012 12:10:59 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Too wee, too poor?]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[The same old mantra is likely to be pushed out by the pro-union party leadership and the likes of Ally Darling and the 'No' camp but recent figures and data put this myth to bed once and for all.
Figures  show that an independent Scotland would be more prosperous than the rest of the UK, ranked six places ahead of the UK in a table of European countries using information from Eurostat, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Scottish National Accounts Project (SNAP).
The table, which rates countries by GDP, was based on...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30775/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Sun, 10 Jun 2012 12:30:20 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[More Labour converts to the 'Yes' declaration...]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[It was welcoming to read this morning that the chief of staff to former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell is today unveiled as the latest recruit to the Yes Scotland campaign, as its organisers ramp up efforts to convert supporters of the Unionist parties to independence.
Jeane Freeman, a former Labour party member who was McConnell's top political adviser for almost four years is one of several high-profile recruits from other parties who have now signed the Yes Declaration, along with former Labour MPs Dennis Canavan and John McAllion.
She insists there is &ldquo;far greater support among Labour voters for independence&rdquo; than...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[http://www.labourblogs.com/public-blog/steven-syme/30742/]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Sun, 27 May 2012 21:14:43 +0100</pubDate>
                           
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