Scottish Referendum

[mjw47 10]

I imagine he has better qualifications than you do........

 

At Heatherdown Preparatory School due to good academic grades, Cameron entered its top academic class almost two years early.

Cameron passed 12 O-Levels and then studied three A-Levels in History of Art, History and Economics with Politics. He obtained three 'A' grades and a '1' grade in the Scholarship Level exam in Economics and Politics. The following autumn he passed the entrance exam for the University of Oxford, where he was offered an exhibition.

His tutor, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, described him as "one of the ablest" students he has taught, with "moderate and sensible Conservative" political views. Guy Spier, who shared tutorials with him, remembers him as an outstanding student; "We were doing our best to grasp basic economic concepts. David - there was nobody else who came even close. He would be integrating them with the way the British political system is put together. He could have lectured me on it, and I would have sat there and taken notes.."

 

Cameron graduated in 1988 with a first-class honours degree (MA)

 

Very interesting and nice of you to go to the trouble. Now tell me, what experience of life have you had?

 

By that I mean are you of a reasonable age whereby you will have encountered and had dealings with a wide cross section of people?

 

Because if you have, then you must have become aware that paper qualifications do not always a wise man make.

 

Some people have a retentive memory, which enables them to pass exams with ease, which leaves them in possession of a shed load of qualifications. This does not mean however, that they therefore also possess a ha'porth of common sense.

 

Now I'm not saying that is necessarily the case with David Cameron, he may be a polymath and a renaissance man for all I know, although if he is he's concealing it well thus far.

 

For instance his suggestion that we should all phone our friends north of the border urging them to vote no was laughable, and ridiculous in the extreme.

 

As it happens I have five Scottish friends living in the Glasgow area and I can imagine precisely what the reaction would be were I to offer them my advice as to which way they should vote.

[WeX 10]

Seats (minus Scottish seats):

 

1997:

 

Labour: 362

Conservative: 165

 

2001:

 

Labour: 357

Conservative: 165

 

In both elections Labour won 56 Scottish seats.

In 1997 Conservatives took zero seats, in 2001 they took one seat.

 

Yep you're right. If you take Scotland away from the 2001 election for example. A government would have needed a majority of 294 seats to gain a majority. Deducting the Scottish seats from the Labour result you still come to 357 seats won.

[Guest]

The EU is obsessed with expanding so it's frosty reception to the idea of an independent Scotland joining the EU is very telling; Barroso and co know that a UK without Scotland is basically a Conservative Euro sceptic UK and so don't like the idea at all.

[shilling 10]

Very interesting and nice of you to go to the trouble. Now tell me, what experience of life have you had?

 

By that I mean are you of a reasonable age whereby you will have encountered and had dealings with a wide cross section of people?

 

Because if you have, then you must have become aware that paper qualifications do not always a wise man make.

 

Some people have a retentive memory, which enables them to pass exams with ease, which leaves them in possession of a shed load of qualifications. This does not mean however, that they therefore also possess a ha'porth of common sense.

 

Now I'm not saying that is necessarily the case with David Cameron, he may be a polymath and a renaissance man for all I know, although if he is he's concealing it well thus far.

 

For instance his suggestion that we should all phone our friends north of the border urging them to vote no was laughable, and ridiculous in the extreme.

 

As it happens I have five Scottish friends living in the Glasgow area and I can imagine precisely what the reaction would be were I to offer them my advice as to which way they should vote.

 

I've a reasonable experience of life including university. That's what leads me to conclude that you don't and I was right in my supposition that David Cameron is rather more qualified than you are. It is very easy to hide it from those who don't want to see.

I really do struggle to imagine how anyone involved in politics couldn't see the electoral advantage for the Tories if Scotland left the union. So if Cameron & his advisors are genuinely campaigning for a no vote the union must be something more important to them than political gain.

 

---------- Post added 20-02-2014 at 16:41 ----------

 

Yep you're right. If you take Scotland away from the 2001 election for example. A government would have needed a majority of 294 seats to gain a majority. Deducting the Scottish seats from the Labour result you still come to 357 seats won.

 

Perhaps they need to get rid of Wales next time around.

Edited February 20, 2014 by shilling

[Agent Orange 11]

The EU is obsessed with expanding so it's frosty reception to the idea of an independent Scotland joining the EU is very telling; Barroso and co know that a UK without Scotland is basically a Conservative Euro sceptic UK and so don't like the idea at all.

 

I think it's more the fact they are getting fed up of hearing Alex Salmond's assertion that somehow Scotland would be fast tracked into the EU with little or no negotiation, just because they are in the EU already (be it part of a union).

[geared 298]

Nothing ever happens fast in the EU, any fool can see that.

 

I expect they will get in, you'd hope our government lends it's support to their cause as well.

[mjw47 10]

I've a reasonable experience of life including university. That's what leads me to conclude that you don't and I was right in my supposition that David Cameron is rather more qualified than you are. It is very easy to hide it from those who don't want to see.

 

---------- Post added 20-02-2014 at 16:41 ----------

 

 

 

Well you conclude wrong. Tell me, are we talking about the same David Cameron who, of his own free will, decided that it would be a great idea to post a message on twitter in support of his friend Nigella Lawson?

 

He came to this decision whilst Prime Minister of this country, and in the full knowledge that anyone in the entire world could read it.

 

He also carried out this brilliantly thought out action whist a court case was underway, and received a rebuke from the judge for his trouble.

 

Anyone who is remotely well known and is in a position of responsibility shows a complete lack of common sense if they use any kind of social medium, the potential for embarrassment is enormous and the benefit non existent.

 

Personally, I don't particularly dislike Cameron and in fact feel some measure of sympathy for him.

He has inherited a mess and unfortunately both he and his colleagues are in over their heads.

 

At the end of the day he's a posh boy with little or no knowledge of how things work in the real world, but I'm sure he means well, and at least is an improvement on Brown, who must have been the least well qualified person to hold the position in it's history.

[amberleaf808 10]

Dont you love it when someone loads the gun and lets others pull the trigger.

[firesmudge 10]

It's all Braveheart politics too much thinking with the heart and not the head most folk I know here don't want it most of what your read is media hype talking about something they know nothing about

[tonkatoy 10]

I see Standard Life is the first of the big Scottish based companies to say it would probably jump ship from an independent Scotland. I doubt it will be the last.

[Jeffrey Shaw 88]

I see Standard Life is the first of the big Scottish based companies to say it would probably jump ship from an independent Scotland. I doubt it will be the last.

Always look on the bright side of Standard Life...

[mjw47 10]

I see Standard Life is the first of the big Scottish based companies to say it would probably jump ship from an independent Scotland. I doubt it will be the last.

 

Wouldn't that depend entirely upon what deal the Scots parliament was prepared to give them?

 

Once in charge of their own financial planning they could presumably lower company tax rates and attempt to get English, Welsh and Northern Irish companies to relocate to Scotland.

 

Standard Life are no doubt aware of this and making this statement in order to get a favourable deal if the vote is yes.

 

Still think it will be no though.