This as they are shredding your social safety net?
"Britain pitches unity to Scots; Cameron hopes to forestall bid for independence" by Alan Cowell and John F. Burns | new york times, February 17, 2012
LONDON - Arguing that the centuries-old “ties that bind’’ the United Kingdom together were under threat from Scottish separatism, Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron traveled to Edinburgh yesterday to meet with First Minister Alex Salmond in what was seen here as the first, sparring bout of a longer battle over an independence referendum.
Related: Scotland Seeks Secession
But the meeting suggested just how drawn out the dispute could be, with the two leaders casting the results of the talks in starkly different terms.
Salmond said the talks had “moved on quite substantially’’ and that the men had narrowed the areas of disagreement, The Associated Press reported. But Cameron said that “on the issue of independence, separating Scotland, leaving the United Kingdom, I am afraid there wasn’t much progress.’’
“I am 100 percent clear that I will fight with everything I have to keep our United Kingdom together,’’ Cameron said. “To me, this is not some issue of policy or strategy or calculation - it matters head, heart, and soul. Our shared home is under threat, and everyone who cares about it needs to speak out.’’
The meeting scheduled with Salmond was the first since the Scottish leader, whose Scottish National Party triumphed in elections last year, took an initial formal step last month toward a referendum on Scotland’s fate. His government hopes to secure a mandate from Scotland’s 5 million people for the country’s withdrawal from the United Kingdom within as little as five years.
But Cameron and other British leaders say they have the power to decide if there should be a referendum and how it should be conducted, and they dispute many of the terms Salmond is seeking for the ballot.
Salmond has suggested late 2014 as a time for a referendum - the 700th anniversary of a famed Scottish victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn - and wants people as young as 16 to be able to vote, two years younger than at present. He is also pressing for the referendum to pose two separate questions to establish whether voters want independence, greatly enhanced autonomy, or neither of those.
But Cameron, who fears a vote for autonomy will pave the way to independence, is seeking a yes-or-no vote on whether Scotland should break away. He also wants an earlier date for the ballot - an apparent effort to limit the ability of Salmond, a formidable campaigner, to win over skeptical Scots. Opinion polls in recent years have suggested that a minority of Scots favor independence, and many of them are fearful of financial upheaval if they break away.
Cameron spoke to those and other worries yesterday, arguing that membership in the United Kingdom is “stronger, safer, richer, and fairer.’’
“We’re stronger, because together we count for more in the world, with a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, real clout in NATO and Europe, and unique influence with allies all over the world,’’ Cameron said. “We’re safer, because in an increasingly dangerous world we have the fourth-largest defense budget on the planet, superb armed forces, and antiterrorist and security capabilities that stretch across the globe and are feared by our enemies and admired by our friends.’’
“We’re richer, because inside the United Kingdom, Scotland’s 5 million people are part of an economy of 60 million, the seventh-richest economy on the planet and one of the world’s biggest trading powers,’’ he said.
For his part, though, Salmond says Scotland will be better off with unfettered access to its own resources. Late Wednesday, he told an audience in London that, with exclusive access to North Sea oil, which is also claimed by Britain, Scotland would be able to build a sovereign energy fund worth more than $45 billion within 20 years.
“The debate about independence is about looking forward and creating a better future for Scotland,’’ he said.
Salmond also has said that the referendum is an issue for Scotland alone to orchestrate, rejecting assertions by British ministers that his government does not have the authority to do so.
A spokesman for him said the “key point’’ was that “the terms of the referendum must be decided in Scotland.’’
Cameron also suggested yesterday that if Scots do reject independence, his government would consider granting Scotland more powers.
Salmond was dismissive of the notion, saying that if Cameron had an offer to make, he should spell it out now, according to an AP report.
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Another piece of the empire to which they are clinging:
"Britain rules out talks over Falkland Islands" February 09, 2012|By New York Times
LONDON - Britain ruled out talks with Argentina about the status of the Falkland Islands yesterday after President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said her government would formally complain to the UN Security Council about British “militarization’’ of the dispute over the remote archipelago.
The exchange between the two countries, which have rival claims to sovereignty and fought a 10-week war over the islands in 1982, was interpreted in London as raising tensions at a time when the Falklands are again making headlines.
Kirchner’s accusation Tuesday followed the arrival in the islands last week of Prince William, who deployed as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force to begin his first overseas military tour at an air base there.
Britain has also angered Argentina by announcing that it will send one of its most advanced destroyers to patrol the Falklands waters, replacing an older frigate. Argentina has interpreted the move as saber-rattling on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Argentine invasion that led to war.
In a statement yesterday, a spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: “The people of the Falkland Islands are British out of choice. They are free to determine their own future, and there will be no negotiations with Argentina on sovereignty unless the islanders wish it.’’
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