Saturday, 04 May 2013 04:21

3 Comments

By Kenneth Roy

Earlier this week, I suggested that for many of the people who have been arrested as a result of the extensive phone-hacking investigation on both sides of the border, the process has become the punishment. Months, years, drift by without trial.

In this second article, I want to highlight other victims of a judicial system which seems to be in a state of near-paralysis. They are not suspected of any crime. They do not daily endure the prospect of a prison sentence if their case ever comes to court and they are found guilty. But their suffering is none the less real. It is indeed greater. All of them have lost someone.

Saturday, 04 May 2013 04:13

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By Bill Newman
 
Suddenly everyone wants to speculate on what form an independent Scotland's currency should take and it is not surprising that the No campaign should use its usual scare tactics to frighten the electorate.

It is nonsense to pretend that an independent Scotland would be compelled to use the Euro, just as it is absurd to insist that a link to the sterling would inevitably mean that an independent Scotland would necessitate an economic policy beholden to Westminster.

Friday, 03 May 2013 07:02

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By George Kerevan  
 
THIS week saw the tragic death of three British soldiers in Afghanistan. Their killing takes to 444 the number of British service personnel who have died since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001. However, sad as it may be, these deaths were not the most politically significant event during this week’s launch of the Taleban spring offensive.

Thursday, 02 May 2013 22:16

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By RF Morrison

The pound Sterling derives from its medieval origin of a pound weight of silver divided into 240 silver pennies.  Only after the establishment of the Bank of England in 1695 did bank credit start to replace silver and gold as money. 

Ever since then governments have fought a losing battle against inflation as bankers created credit as a profitable business.  Up until deregulation of the banks in 1986 the law restrained credit creation by imposition of minimum lending rates – virtually rationing the money supply by price.  It was also unlawful for banks to create credit  to finance their own proprietary trading.