Menu

devteam

About devteam

Posts by :

SCP Standing In Scottish Parliamentary Elections

The Scottish Christian Party Is Standing In 5 Of The 8 Scottish Regions In The Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) Election On 5 May 2016

Listen to the Scottish Christian Party leader on BBC radio 18 April 2016, and follow him on his twitter feed here.  The interview occurs at 7’45 minutes after two traillers in the introduction at 20 seconds and at 2’14 minutes.

Dr Donald Boyd is the lead candidate in the Highlands and Islands Region of Scotland.

 
Watch Murdo Macleod, the lead candidate in the Glasgow Region, explain SCP principles here, posted on 7 April 2016
 

The SCP is standing in five regions in the forthcoming Scottish parliamentary elections with voting being held on Thursday, 5th May 2016.

The five Regions and List candidates are:

HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS
– Donald Boyd
– Andrew Shearer
– Isobel Ann Macleod
– John Lister

John Cormack is standing in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) constituency in the Highlands and Islands Region.

NORTH EAST SCOTLAND
– Tom Morrow
– Norman Ogston

GLASGOW
– Murdo Macleod
– Christine Cormack

CENTRAL SCOTLAND
– Craig Smith

WEST SCOTLAND
– Brian Lally

SCP candidate for the Western Isles

The Scottish Christian Party reaffirms its plan to stand a candidate in Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) constituency in the 2016 Holyrood election to the Scottish Parliament.

The SCP is seeking a suitable local candidate, failing which John Cormack, the candidate in the recent General Election, has agreed to stand.

The need for a distinctive Christian voice in the Scottish Parliament becomes clearer each year.  There has been a succession of laws, with more in the pipeline, which fly in the face of the lessons of history, turn reason on its head and are contrary to the clear teaching of the Bible.

John Cormack said: “Against this secular backdrop, the Christian Party remains the only party willing to go against the flow.  Supposing the whole country opposes the perspective we represent, we will hold fast because we are not motivated by pragmatism, swayed by public opinion nor impressed by the latest fashion.  Instead, we hold firm convictions grounded in Biblical principles. We have a different worldview, informed and shaped by God’s unchanging Word. It is our conviction that obedience to the teaching of the Bible provides the only means of fixing our broken society.  The future of our children, the prosperity of these Islands and the well-being of our nation are at stake. We must take a stand against the ungodliness of our generation.”

The SCP also has a Highlands and Islands Regional List, and List candidates will be announced at an appropriate date.

Anyone willing to help can contact John Cormack on 07888 837302.

Scottish leader explains the need for banking reform

Scottish leader explains the need for banking reform

The leader of the Scottish Christian Party addressed a local hustings arranged by the Federation of Small Businesses during the 2015 General Election campaign in the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency.

In his opening statement, Dr Boyd explained the need for banking reform to deal with the National Debt in order to fund the NHS, schools and social housing.

The hustings took place on 21 April 2015 in Danny Alexander’s home territory of Aviemore.
 
Related stories:
Christian Party Manifesto on Banking reform
11/5/2016: Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England during the banking crisis, in an interview about his recently published book The End of Alchemy uses Dr Boyd’s phrase that the banks are “too big to manage” and his medical illustration of diagnosing before one can treat.
21/4/2017: Banking and Monetary Reform Conference, Dublin, on 29 April 2016.  Presentation by Professor Richard Werner, Centre for Banking, University of Southampton Business School.  An outline of the whole talk is available below the presentation.

Scottish Christian Party’s Scottish vision

The leader of the Scottish Christian Party outlined the Scottish Christian Party’s vision for Scotland at the annual conference in Inverness on 21 March 2015.

Dr Donald Boyd said that the Scottish National Party (SNP) had yet to give us a Scottish Vision.  The SNP wants an independent, nuclear-free and socialist Scotland.  There is nothing uniquely Scottish about this; other countries have the same aim.

In the Scottish Referendum debate, the SNP had abandoned its former policy to join the euro and claimed that it would use the British pound.  This was a device to persuade Scottish people to vote for independence, but Dr Boyd surmised that in an independent Scotland, the SNP would complain that the British pound is designed to help the English economy, and it would agitate to join the euro and become a region of the European superstate.  This is not a Scottish vision but simply an agenda to replace an English speaking union of nations with a larger non-English speaking union of nations.

The Scottish Christian Party has a better vision for Scotland.

In the morning session, Dr Boyd placed the subject in the context of the wider United Kingdom, then he dealt with it separately in the afternoon session.

The SCP Vision for Scotland covers:

  • Rebalancing and redirecting Scotland’s international trade
  • Improving international links
  • Opening the Highlands and Islands of Scotland to central belt and countrywide trade
  • Developing the transport links through Inverness to accomplish this
  • Banking reform
  • Education reform

Dr Donald Boyd, the leader of the SCP said: “I am very pleased that we have a better message for Scotland than the SNP, and that we have a manifesto for the whole United Kingdom, with the opportunity through our campaign The 2015 Declaration of British Values to help every constituency in the UK at the approaching General Election.”  

Scottish Christian Party Annual Conference and AGM in Inverness

The Scottish branch of the Christian Party will hold its AGM and Conference in Inverness on 21st March 2015.

The key speaker will be Gordon Macdonald, Parliamentary Officer for CARE Scotland, who will speak on The Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill.

The 2015 Declaration for British Values will also be explained.

The details are in the notice on the right.  Advance booking is simply for catering purposes, and everyone is welcome to attend and meet the SCP activists. 

This conference is important as a platform for the General Election on 7th May 2015.

Booking for the conferences can be made by emailing 
Scottishoffice@ukchristianparty.org or calling 01698 536 421. The Conference fee of £10 per person includes lunch, with a lunch reservation booking deadline of 7th March. 

If you are on Facebook then please go to our page, 
www.facebook.com/ScottishChristianParty like it, and to
twitter.com/NewsSCP and share it.

Dr Donald Boyd will stand against Danny Alexander MP in Inverness.  A recent poll by Lord Ashcroft has predicted a swing of 29% from the Lib Dems to the SNP, so that he will lose his seat.

The Unionist vote will be divided, so that the SCP is advising tactical voting to unite behind Dr Boyd to prevent the SNP making the predicted break-through in the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency.

The annual Conference and AGM of the parent Christian Party is scheduled for autumn 2015 at a venue to be determined, possibly in Birmingham.

7th February 2015
Kingsview Christian Centre IV3 8TF
AGENDA AVAILABLE HERE
To download as a PDF: right click here and ‘Save Link As..’ 
You can download this PDF,
post it on your noticeboard,
and send it to your email contacts.
 

Scottish referendum – what independence?

The Scottish National Party (SNP) government of Scotland wants to leave the United Kingdom to become a separate country.  It has organised a Referendum on 18 Sep 2014 with the question “Should Scotland become an independent country?”

The problem is that Scotland will not be independent.
It will be dependent upon the UK pound.
It will exchange one union with the UK – whose language we understand – for another union with the EU – whose languages we do not understand.

Holyrood’s shame

The Scottish Parliament has debated and voted on the SNP Government’s Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill.

Stage 1 was the opening debate in the Scottish Parliament, with a vote in principle to progress legislation to redefine marriage to include homosexual couples.  It was passed by 98 votes to 15, with 5 abstentions.

Most supporters of redefining marriage put it within the context of equality.  This is not new.  Not only did George Orwell demonstrate in Animal Farm how equality is used as the methodology for change, but it is as old as the Bible itself, in which people complained that God’s laws were not equal.  The Lord’s response is that their ways were not equal, and so the rebellion against God’s laws continue to the present.

Alex Neil, the Minister who introduced the Bill, thought that this was one of the most wonderful debates in the Scottish Parliament.  He denied that it redefined marriage, but that it extended the eligibility of marriage to those who had been denied it.  Newspeak is much in evidence.  Jackie Baillie, a Labour MSP, called it “an idea whose time has come”.  Two Church of Scotland elders spoke in favour of the change.  Referring to the Bible, John Lamont, MSP,  said that we had moved on from Mark’s opposition to divorce and Timothy’s prohibition of wearing pearls or gold.  There is much to lament in Lamont’s interpretation of Scripture; and why did he not plainly say that it was Jesus’ teaching on divorce?  Some argued that we need to “accept people the way they are”.  This undermines the message and aim of the Christian Gospel, which teaches the need for people to change.

If Christians wonder why we need specifically Christian MSPs, they might consider the number of homosexual MSPs who spoke in favour of redefining marriage.  Patrick Harvie, MSP, argued that “we” (he didn’t explain who these were, but it seemed to be the Holyrood Parliament, whom he was addressing) should confront and defeat the arguments against homosexuality.  He said that he did not regard marriage to be the gold standard relationship.

The homosexual lobby want to take matters further.  Marco Biagi, MSP, said that this Bill is not the last stage in this debate because of transgender issues.  If Christians are unsure what this means, they may note that on BBC’s Question Time programme on 31/10/2013, one of the panelists was introduced as advocating “the right to change one’s gender”.  This goes beyond the question of identifying one’s biological gender, but to change one’s gender.

Highland MSP John Finnie’s support for redefining marriage included dismissing the conscientious objection of Registrar’s opposed to homosexual partnerships and saying that they “need to get on with it”.  No Highland MSP raised their voice in support of real, or traditional, marriage.

Several MSPs referred to the spirit being adopted towards those who opposed redefining marriage, and Elaine Smith, MSP, said: “Since indicating that I did not intend to support the redefinition of marriage, my religion’s been disparaged, I’ve been branded homophobic and bigoted, I’ve been likened to the Ku Klux Klan and it was suggested that I be burnt at the stake as a witch.”

Scotland will learn the hard way.

Will it be a fight, skirmish or walkover

A leading Government MSP will break ranks with his Party and vote against the Bill to redefine marriage.

Fergus Ewing, MSP, is the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism and he has indicated that he will not support the SNP Government’s Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill.  He is likely to be the most senior minister to break ranks in the Government.

The SNP Government’s Bill to redefine marriage was introduced on 26 June 2013 and has been discussed in various committees.  It will now come before the Scottish Parliament next Wednesday 20/11/2013, which will debate the Bill at Stage 1.

The Bill proposes calling homosexual partnerships “marriage” and makes various changes to the law on marriage and civil partnerships.

Mr Ewing has written to one of his constituents: “I do not believe that there should be nor can there be a redefinition of marriage, and shall not be supporting this Bill.  It is also the case that I am aware of very strong opposition to this Bill amongst my constituents, a great many of whom have taken the trouble to write to me expressing their views, and concerns.”

The lead committee is the Equal Opportunities Committee.  In an extraordinary example of the tail wagging (or nagging?) the dog, the Committee advises the Parliament in its Report: “We recommend to members of the Parliament to approach the Stage 1 decision with the same dignified tenor as our evidence sessions and with due respect for a diversity of views.”  Evidently it does not have confidence that the Scottish Parliament will debate this issue with suitable decorum.

Will it be a fight, a skirmish or a walkover?

The Scottish Christian Party welcomes Mr Ewing’s position and commitment to real marriage.

Last year, the SCP called for the organisation of stronger opposition among MSPs.  Instead, most MSPs opposed to redefining marriage have been distinctly mute, with notable exceptions such as John Mason, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Shettleston and a member of the Equal Opportunities Committee.

In the absence of such public organisation by opposing MSPs, defeatism is in the air.  Mr Ewing gives little hope of serious opposition.  He writes: “The Bill will I suspect receive majority support when it is considered on Wednesday next week, but I myself shall not support this bill either then or at the final stage, called stage three, when it comes back to the full chamber of Parliament.”  It is one thing for MSPs to vote against a Bill, but the SCP looks for serious opposition.

In December 2012, Dr Donald Boyd, leader of the SCP, asked: “Is there enough cross-party Christian will to meet publicly to encourage the Scottish Government to follow the lead of the Australian parliament?  Earlier this year the opposition party leaders in Holyrood came together to support each other in pushing through the redefining of marriage.  These politicians have acted cross-party upon their secular principles.  Will Christian politicians act cross-party upon their Christian principles?”  No effective campaign emerged.  This is why we need distinctively Christian politicians in Holyrood to give a lead.

In its Autumn Newsletter, the leader of the SCP writes: “Some eastern European countries, on leaving the USSR, drew up new constitutions.  Seeing the writing on the wall, they took the opportunity to write into their constitution that marriage is between one man and one woman.  On the other hand the SNP wants to redefine marriage and to have a nuclear weapons ban written into Scotland’s constitution.  The first purpose and duty of government is the defence of the nation, but marriage is under attack from our own government, and our defence strategy needs more than Alex Salmond’s smile to ward off our enemies.  We need the smile of heaven, but we are doing much to elicit God’s displeasure.  The European Parliament, like Holyrood, will be the battleground for redefining marriage.  Will it be a skirmish, as it was in Westminster?  “The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle” Psalm 78:9.  We need to train an army of Christian soldiers who know how to stand in the day of battle, Ephesians 6:11,13,14.”

Meanwhile, the SNP Government has pushed ahead with its Bill, disregarding the wishes of the vast majority of the respondents to the Scottish Government’s first consultation document who were opposed to the change.  The Scotland for Marriage petition has over 53,000 signatures from those opposed to this legislation.

Was this a prophetic word in 1967?
Lord Arran said in 1967 when homosexuality was decriminalised: “I ask one thing and I ask it earnestly.  I ask those who have, as it were, been in bondage and for whom the prison doors are now open to show their thanks by comporting themselves quietly and with dignity.  This is no occasion for jubilation; certainly not for celebration.  Any form of ostentatious behaviour; now or in the future, any form of public flaunting, would be utterly distasteful and would, I believe, make the sponsors of the Bill regret that they have done what they have done.  Homosexuals must continue to remember that while there may be nothing bad in being a homosexual, there is certainly nothing good…”

What was Lord Arran reading in the spirit of the campaign in the 1960s?  Why should the Equal Opportunities Committee call upon the Parliament to behave with respect?  Because many people can read the spirit for themselves.

SCP campaigns for consumers

The Scottish Christian Party has begun a Consumer Campaigns page to develop its concern for the consumer.

In its 2012 election campaign, the SCP put the consumer at the heart of its campaignon the basis:
1. We are all consumers – every day; not everyone is a tax payer nor a voter.
2. This is why Government taxes consumption; it is a golden goose.
3. We are only occasionally voters, which is why consumers rarely have opportunity to interact effectively with politicians;
4. Thus ordinary people interact with governmental policy as consumers every day.  Every VAT sum added to your shopping list, the price of goods in the shop, the standard of service your receive, is a constant, daily reminder of government policy, even more frequent than your weekly or monthly pay packet.

The SCP is interested in individual people, which is why we are interested in your income, your spending, your employment, your living circumstances, and how government interferes with these.  Government interferes more frequently than it helps you.  This is why we promote smaller government.

Our largest FAQ is about corruption and incompetence in public life.

Help for the small manWe will fight for the consumer, forgotten in this climate of spending cuts but rising prices.
We propose a radical solution to consumer debt to help the consumer by forcing more prudent lending policies.  It is too easy to hold consumers to ransom.

  • 1 Dec 2012: Extortionate parcel service
  • 15 Feb 2013: Abuse of postal service: some respectable businesses are writing such things as “Recorded Delivery”, “Urgent items enclosed” on the envelope which are not recorded delivery and are not very urgent.  Royal Mail should refuse to deliver items with Recorded Delivery on them, which are not and which surely breach some trading standards somewhere.  Royal Mail then become complicit in this breach.  If a reply-paid envelope is enclosed, the customer can simply tear off the relevant part of the envelope, tell the business to stop this, and post it back to them.  You may want to challenge them whether it is a breach of trading standards

SNP still looking to join the euro

Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister
The SNP plans to join the euro in due course, if Scotland should separate from the UK.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Deputy First Minister, made the statement just after First Minister’s Questions on 13/12/2012, during which Alex Salmond fielded “scaremongering” that Scotland would be forced into the euro.  She said: “just like Sweden, we would not join the euro until and unless it was in Scotland’s interests to do so and we had satisfied the conditions for doing so.”

She was making a statement to the Scottish Parliament on an independent Scotland’s continuing membership of the European Union, in response to recent statements by the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso that a separate Scotland would need to reapply to join the EU.  Miss Sturgeon is more sure-footed than her First Minister and she gave a spirited explanation of the situation as seen from the SNP point of view.  She made the statement in the context of the SNP’s commitment to join the EU.

Ms Sturgeon also said: “I look forward to engaging with other member states, the European Commission and the UK Government—if it will engage with us—on the arguments for Scotland being an independent country, because I think that those arguments are not just compelling, but unanswerable.”  This shows how dogmatism has taken over her thinking.  The arguments are only unanswerable if a majority of the people of Scotland vote for independence.  They have not yet done so.  This is the answer to Ms Sturgeon’s “unanswerable” arguments.  Besides, there is another answer.  The SNP are not offering the people of Scotland an independent country.  The SNP is offering to replace one union – the UK – with another union – the EU.  This is not independence.

Load More