Britain is "extremely interested" in getting support from Russia to counter arguments for Scottish independence, a source in UK Prime Minister's David Cameron’s office allegedly told ITAR-Tass.
ITAR-Tass, the Russian government’s news agency, said Cameron’s aide warned Scottish independence could "send shockwaves across the whole of Europe," according to the Sunday Herald report Sunday.

If these claims stand up, they threaten to blow apart what has, up till now, been a sometimes soporific debate on Scottish independence: the campaign is now in its 11th month, with nine months remaining until the referendum vote on Sept. 18, 2014. On that date, the question posed to Scottish voters will be, "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

The ITAR-Tass report, says the Sunday Herald, appeared on Russian language news-wires on Dec. 31. The first paragraph of the Russian report read, “Great Britain is extremely interested in the support of Russia, as holder of the G-8 presidency, in two vital areas in 2014: the Afghan pull-out and the Scottish independence referendum," says the newspaper. On Jan. 1, 2014, Russia assumed the presidency of the G-8 group of industrial nations.

The Russian report was attributed anonymously to a “representative” of the UK prime minister’s office but included what was claimed to be a direct quote from its UK source, who spoke of, "two main issues whose resolution requires international formats, albeit of different modalities."

According to the report, an aide of UK Prime Minister Cameron had commented, “Those are the withdrawal of combat units from Afghanistan by the end of the 2014 and September's referendum on Scottish independence. We believe that the G-8 could become one of the main political platforms where London will find backing."


The revelations in the Sunday Herald brought immediate condemnation from Scottish First Minister Salmond, who’s quoted as saying, "This report from Russia raises serious questions about the UK Government's underhand tactics. If this is accurate, then Westminster has been caught red-handed trying to stir up hostility to Scotland instead of representing Scotland's interests - it seems the No Campaign's self-named 'Project Fear' has now gone global."

.Another problem for Cameron is that the ITAR-Tass report appears to show him willing to court Putin, yet on the domestic front, the UK Prime Minister has consistently refused “Yes” campaign and SNP calls for him to hold a series of televised debates with Scottish First Minister Salmond in the run-in to Scotland’s referendum date.

Come that date, voters in Scotland are unlikely to look kindly on a prime minister who appears to prefer dodgy deals with the even dodgier democracy of Putin’s Russia to open debate with the democratically elected Scottish first minister.

Earlier this afternoon, Georgia become the first state in American history to pass the Convention of States application to limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.

The House voted to approve the Senate’s version of the resolution by a vote of 107-58.

“I am pleased that the Georgia legislature has given voice to the frustrations of millions of Georgians,” said State Sen. Cecil Staton (R-Macon), the resolution’s primary sponsor. “Enough is enough. It is time to impose fiscal and other restraints on our runaway federal government. We urge other states to join us.”

“We Georgians have become the hope of the Nation today,” said Jacqueline Peterson, the Georgia State Director for the Convention of States Project. “Many thanks to our State Legislators for standing for Liberty. May God bless us, every single one!”

Our deepest thanks go to our volunteers in Georgia. They took a stand for self-governance, and history will remember what happened in Georgia today. Because they decided to write a letter, make a call, attend a hearing, or meet with their state representative, they can tell their children and grandchildren they made a difference in the fight to preserve liberty.

We expect many more states to follow Georgia’s lead in the months ahead. These are historic times—I encourage you to remember this day and what it will mean for the future of our great country.

Scotland has a moral obligation to break free from Westminster and the Royal family.

That is such a good topic, Jane, I really think it deserves its own thread.

If you don't have any objections, I'd like to ask the mods to split the thread cos I want to discuss both topics.

The reason I added it is because as I said, there are backroom boys behind all this...not just yo do with oil/gas/energy.
Just a suggestion, but why not just change the title of the thread? Just my view that whether it be Scotland, Ukraine, Georgia, Chechnia , or all the various countries in the EU (including ourselves)....people every where are starting to demand their self governance back from banksters/oligarchs/federal etc systems.

Aidan O’Neill said only Westminster has the authority to hold a vote on breaking up Britain, but Mr Salmond may seek “political advantage” by crying foul when his proposals are declared unlawful.


The UK Supreme Court would ultimately decide on whether the referendum was legal, but Mr O’Neill noted that both the First Minister and Kenny MacAskill, the Justice Minster, have “form” in attacking its judges.


David Cameron yesterday used his first Downing Street meeting with Ruth Davidson, the new Scottish Tory leader, to hint he will take charge of the referendum if Mr Salmond continues to refuse to ask a single “straightforward” question.

angelchemuel wrote:
That is the kinda topic that deserves its own thread, as I said.

The issue of Scotland and independence is a little closer to home and in fact, for many folks IS home. That makes it easily worthy of a thread in itself. This one is not the first by a long shot and will undoubtedly NOT be the last. In fact this thread is to draw attention to the shenanigans of the current PM during the lead up to the referendum. This will not be the last dirty trick that Westminster will have up their sleeve and so, rather than one mega thread about the wider issue of independence, I gave this thread its narrow focus.

Looking forward to that thread you suggested.

Sorry, I thought you were suggesting another thread about secession in general and changing the thread title. I look forward to the thread but I just want to focus on Scotland right now, especially the dirty tricks (plural now) that they are playing.