Alex Salmond's comment

solosuperia
solosuperia Posts: 333
edited September 2013 in The cake stop
It does seem a bit dog in the mangerish, to start banging on about politics when the team GB is doing so well.
His comment was that the Scottish competitors will be competing for Scotland in Rio 2016.

Fair does... if that is what they want to do.

I have a mate who is from Yorkshire, he is on missionary work in Lincolnshire! He reckons Yorkshire would be 11th on the medal table, well a couple of pints later they had actually moved to 7th. I left then, I guess if we had another one they would have been ahead of of the USA and China.
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Comments

  • MattC59
    MattC59 Posts: 5,408
    They won't, because if he has his way, Scotland will be broke by 2016, so they won't be able to fund it.
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  • lostboysaint
    lostboysaint Posts: 4,250
    All the Yorkies are banging on about this with their usual modesty and class. It took a Grauniad article a couple of days ago to point out that there were two English counties ahead of them and that with a population the size of NZ they should be doing well!
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  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    All the talk about Yorkshire being 5th or whatever in the medal table is just daft. If it was an independent nation then Yorkshire wouldn't have the funding for sport that it's athletes get from being part of the GB and NI team.
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  • andy46
    andy46 Posts: 1,666
    I work with a couple of people from Yorkshire and this is all I've heard lately.

    I wouldn't care, the people in question have no interest in sport really apart from whatever is happening with Leeds Utd football club!
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    amaferanga wrote:
    All the talk about Yorkshire being 5th or whatever in the medal table is just daft. If it was an independent nation then Yorkshire wouldn't have the funding for sport that it's athletes get from being part of the GB and NI team.

    Depending on how you choose to normalise the data, Yorkshire has as much of an economic case for independance as Scotland (ie not much)! Not that Mr Salmond would appreciate that thought :lol:
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  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Rolf F wrote:
    Depending on how you choose to normalise the data, Yorkshire has as much of an economic case for independance as Scotland (ie not much)! Not that Mr Salmond would appreciate that thought :lol:
    Alex Salmond is pushing for independance on a point of principle, not on an economic basis. People forget that.
    The voters may well see it differently though.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,547
    amaferanga wrote:
    All the talk about Yorkshire being 5th or whatever in the medal table is just daft. If it was an independent nation then Yorkshire wouldn't have the funding for sport that it's athletes get from being part of the GB and NI team.

    Not to mention some of those medals were in events where they were part of a team and the other members didn't possess flat caps or whippets!
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    Interesting comment. Based on what? Does he know the result of the referendum already?

    Personally I think there should be an English/Welsh Referendum to see whether we should ditch Scotland and go it alone. It would be a firm YES from me, even if that did mean dropping down the Olympic medal table and slightly more expensive Tunnocks Tea Cakes.

    Scottish athletes representing Scotland would be great as there would be more GB riders in the Olympics. It would have been good to see Kenny kicking Hoy's @rse in the Keirin
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  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    Why can't we all just get along :cry:
    I hate people who never finish their sentences.

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  • lostboysaint
    lostboysaint Posts: 4,250
    Rolf F wrote:
    amaferanga wrote:
    All the talk about Yorkshire being 5th or whatever in the medal table is just daft. If it was an independent nation then Yorkshire wouldn't have the funding for sport that it's athletes get from being part of the GB and NI team.

    Depending on how you choose to normalise the data, Yorkshire has as much of an economic case for independance as Scotland (ie not much)! Not that Mr Salmond would appreciate that thought :lol:

    Really? Is there a premium on hot air and arrogance then?
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    daviesee wrote:
    Alex Salmond is pushing for independance on a point of principle, not on an economic basis. People forget that.
    The voters may well see it differently though.

    Oh I know but it's interesting all the same - the whole 'we'd like to be an independant country but can we use your currency because we aren't really big enough to have one of our own?' thing. The point at which the principle ends is a bit too early in the process for my money!

    As for the Olympics - the whole Yorkshire thing is just a bit of fun and an excuse for some alternative headlines. I used to live in Horsforth so I think those medals are at least partly down to me on a chaos theory basis :lol:
    Rolf F wrote:
    Depending on how you choose to normalise the data, Yorkshire has as much of an economic case for independance as Scotland (ie not much)! Not that Mr Salmond would appreciate that thought :lol:

    Really? Is there a premium on hot air and arrogance then?

    Oh go on then - explain what you are getting at as that comment really doesn't make any clear sense to me in regard to my comment (which is simply an observation based on economics).
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  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,974
    daviesee wrote:
    Alex Salmond is pushing for independance on a point of principle, not on an economic basis. People forget that.
    The voters may well see it differently though.

    Each time this issue comes up I've wondered about the following question; Who pays Scotland's Social Security bill?

    Do the Scottish fund their own or does it come from a central purse?


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  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    All the Yorkies are banging on about this with their usual modesty and class.
    Really? Is there a premium on hot air and arrogance then?

    Wow. Someone has a real chip on their shoulder about Yorkshire.
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  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Capt Slog wrote:
    Each time this issue comes up I've wondered about the following question; Who pays Scotland's Social Security bill?

    Do the Scottish fund their own or does it come from a central purse?
    Scotland's unemployment is at 8.2%, same as the UK as a whole so the net contribution would be the same either way.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Sounds about right to me.
    However - "The only thing that will change is that they’ll be reduced to one set of shitwit politicians on which to pin the blame" I kind of like the idea of knowing exactly who is to blame instead of "it wasn't us, it was that lot before" that we have now. :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • phearnde
    phearnde Posts: 73
    GiantMike wrote:
    ..I think there should be an English/Welsh Referendum to see whether we should ditch Scotland and go it alone...

    We were arguing this very point this morning, in the office...

    Who says the English can't have independence from their neighbours
  • Kerguelen
    Kerguelen Posts: 248
    daviesee wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    Depending on how you choose to normalise the data, Yorkshire has as much of an economic case for independance as Scotland (ie not much)! Not that Mr Salmond would appreciate that thought :lol:
    Alex Salmond is pushing for independance on a point of principle, not on an economic basis. People forget that.
    The voters may well see it differently though.

    I didn't know Alex Salmond had any principles. Sucking up to Brian Souter and Rupert Murdoch takes up all his attention.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    phearnde wrote:
    We were arguing this very point this morning, in the office...

    Who says the English can't have independence from their neighbours
    No one.
    Fancy going into politics? :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Kerguelen wrote:
    I didn't know Alex Salmond had any principles. Sucking up to Brian Souter and Rupert Murdoch takes up all his attention.
    I said that he believes in independance on principle, not that he had principles.
    He is a politician after all. :wink:
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    daviesee wrote:
    Kerguelen wrote:
    I didn't know Alex Salmond had any principles. Sucking up to Brian Souter and Rupert Murdoch takes up all his attention.
    I said that he believes in independance on principle, not that he had principles.
    He is a politician after all. :wink:

    Widely considered the most able current politician in the UK.
  • capt_slog
    capt_slog Posts: 3,974
    daviesee wrote:
    Capt Slog wrote:
    Each time this issue comes up I've wondered about the following question; Who pays Scotland's Social Security bill?

    Do the Scottish fund their own or does it come from a central purse?
    Scotland's unemployment is at 8.2%, same as the UK as a whole so the net contribution would be the same either way.

    But when they have to fund their own, perhaps they'll have to start charging university fees and prescriptions?


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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    daviesee wrote:
    Kerguelen wrote:
    I didn't know Alex Salmond had any principles. Sucking up to Brian Souter and Rupert Murdoch takes up all his attention.
    I said that he believes in independance on principle, not that he had principles.
    He is a politician after all. :wink:

    Widely considered the most able current politician in the UK.

    Rather helps if you have a principal issue which feels both very attainable and desirable but without much likelihood of it actually happening to base your career on. A bit like Liberal MPs prior to the coalition.

    Of course Salmond doesn't really want independance on a personal level. Once that happened he'd be found out to be no more able to create miracles than any of the crap PMs we've had in Westminster in recent years. As long as Scotland remains in the Union, Salmond can make mistakes but still remain popular. It's a good gig really and I'm sure Lib, Lab and Con all envy him that position. But it's the position more than the man.
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  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Rolf F wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    As long as Scotland remains in the Union, Salmond can make mistakes but still remain popular. It's a good gig really and I'm sure Lib, Lab and Con all envy him that position. But it's the position more than the man.
    He seems to be doing quite well so far.
    Managing to pay benefits, free busses for OAPs, free healthcare, free Uni and balancing the books within budget - and get re-elected. Wonder how the Tories or Libs will fare?
    Roads are in a terrible state though. :evil: That's budgets and priorities for you.
    Roads or health & education?
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    daviesee wrote:
    Rolf F wrote:
    daviesee wrote:
    As long as Scotland remains in the Union, Salmond can make mistakes but still remain popular. It's a good gig really and I'm sure Lib, Lab and Con all envy him that position. But it's the position more than the man.
    He seems to be doing quite well so far.
    Managing to pay benefits, free busses for OAPs, free healthcare, free Uni and balancing the books within budget - and get re-elected. Wonder how the Tories or Libs will fare?
    Roads are in a terrible state though. :evil: That's budgets and priorities for you.
    Roads or health & education?

    Well I do recall Salmond crowing about how he'd got extra taxation income directed to Scotland but in truth it's been going on for years. About 15 years back a colleague of mine waltzed into a newly created Scottish job at a similar level but for a good 5k salary increase. Per capita spend per head has been higher in Scotland for donkeys so it's easy enough to see how all those benefits are paid. About £10,200 per head in Scotland and £8,500 for England (and a measily £7,000 for Yorkshire).

    Of course, whether he is doing a good job or not is going to be in the detail - ie not the numbers above I dredged out of the net nor all the talk about free prescriptions and Uni places. Unfortunately, that sort of thing politicians are too savvy to tell us and the journos too thick to understand or tell us so we just get to believe whatever we are told.
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  • rodgers73
    rodgers73 Posts: 2,626
    I'm from Yorkshire and, as lovely as the place may be (with some exceptions - Bradford, Leeds, Castleford/Pontefract), it doesn't half bore me to tears to hear how some locals go on about how fantastic the place is etc.

    Tedious parochialism...
  • daviesee
    daviesee Posts: 6,386
    Rolf F wrote:
    Well I do recall Salmond crowing about how he'd got extra taxation income directed to Scotland ........
    Back to economics again. This is a white elephant and I hope the voters are savvy enough to see through it - both sides of the arguement.
    If someone truly believes in independance they will put up with a bit of financial hardship. If they are not prepared to put up with that hardship then they do not truly believe in independance.
    This point should be made loud and clear.

    FWIW - I believe that the real issue is being ignored. There are 2 points.
    What is the point in moving power from Westminster to Brussels?
    If Westminster is going to give increased powers to Brussels, what is the point in Westminster from a Scottish point of view?

    Anyone that can supply these answers will let me know how to vote when the time comes.
    None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.
  • All I see here is a lot of jealousy about not being from Yorkshire ;)
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