Professor Michael Dougan is one of the UK’s leading EU law experts. In this video presentation, he criticises the referendum debate’s “dishonesty on an industrial scale”, as he considers the claims and counter claims from each side.
A Professor at the University of Liverpool Law School, he has spent his career studying EU law as it relates to the UK; contributing to Parliamentary Select Committees, advising government and now helping media fact check the barrage of assertions emanating from the Remain and Leave camps, in the run up to June 23.
This is an extremely valuable source of information and is a 'must-see' in order to appreciate the truth concerning the exit of the UK from the EU.
During the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014, the furnishing of accurate information from one side of the debate was very good. From the other side, it was practically non-existent.
The YES campaign were up-beat and positive. They produced a document (over 650 pages long) crammed with useful information concerning the future of an Independent Scotland.
The NO campaign took an altogether different approach. They used a continual barrage of spin, misinformation, half-truths and fearful claims of impending doom if Scotland voted to end the Union. This campaign was christened 'Project Fear' and, although somewhat underhand and unimaginative, it ultimately won the day for the NO campaign.
We now face another referendum, this time to decide if our membership in the EU will continue or not. With the voting day very close, the campaigning has been deplorable on both sides with little or no accurate information presented. It would appear that BOTH sides have adopted 'Project Fear'.
Two Scottish MEP's (Alyn Smith MEP and Ian Hudghton MEP) have collaborated to produce 'The wee bleu book' (notice the clever use of 'EU' in the word bleu.)
This follows the traditions of the 'wee blue book' published during the indi ref and the 'wee black book' published after Scotland voted NO.
This handy little booklet explains a lot about how Europe actually works and describes many of the benefits that membership brings.
After months of misinformation and scaremongering from the 'Better Together' campaign, the promise of 'near Federalism' or 'Home Rule' was their last-ditch attempt at securing a NO vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum.
On the day of the vote, these promises and assurances were believed by 55% of Scots who rejected the question: "Should Scotland become an independent country" and voted NO.
So where is the promised "Home Rule"? What about all the scare stories that assured us that Scotland would crash and burn as an independent country? What about the protections we would enjoy for jobs, welfare and the Health Service if we remained as a part of the UK?
The Wee Black Book answers many of these questions and debunks the myths created and propagated by the agenda of the UK establishment.
The projected date for Scotland to have officially become an independent nation in the event of a YES vote was the 24th of March 2016. The "Wee Black Book" was published on that date, in order to record the consequences of Scotland’s choice.
The Wee Blue Book was published in 2014 during the run-up to the Scottish Independence Referendum.
With no meaningful support from the 37 daily newspapers in Scotland, the cause of independence suffered from bias reporting - that not only criticised the idea of independence, but also endorsed a multitude of unfounded scare stories, assumptions and misinformations - it did this largely unchallenged.
The Wee Blue book was published in hard copy form and was also made available via social media - a powerful platform that became the mainstay of the YES movement. Authored by Rev. Stuart Campbell (responsible for the popular blog, Wings over Scotland).
The book highlights the various scaremongering tactics deployed by the Better Together campaign and offers valid alternatives to many of these misconceptions.
A positive case for independence is presented and the worst of the Unionist propaganda is thoroughly debunked.
The recent slump in the global oil price has seriously impacted the UK oil sector. Thousands of workers have been temporarily laid off or have lost their jobs completely. Knock-on effects to businesses that service the oil industry have been devastating and Aberdeen, the financial centre of the oil sector is struggling.
In a global industry like oil, prices fluctuate constantly. The causes for this volatility are many and varied but usually centre on issues of supply and demand. If there is too much oil available to buy, the price drops. Conversely, if there is a shortage of available oil, the price will increase. To counteract the periods of low oil price, most prudent governments have an 'oil fund' they can utilise to protect their oil industry and their economy. This keeps things healthy by introducing a financial subsidy from the fund until such time as the market picks up again. The oil fund is grown by transferring a percentage of the oil revenue into the fund during periods when the market price is high.
Despite over 40 years of oil and gas extraction from the North Sea, consecutive UK governments have never created an oil fund. Consequently, we are now witnessing the economic impact caused by no financial protection against low oil prices.
Perhaps it would be useful to compare the UK track record in oil production with another country faced with similar challenges over the same period. Such a country is our near-neighbour Norway, and, as we will discover, the fortunes of both have turned out very different.
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