Northern Ireland rioting leaves 24 police injured - Herald Sun

Twenty-four Northern Ireland police have been injured in riots as the protestant marching season comes to a head. Source: AAP(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

POLICE officers in west Belfast came under attack early yesterday from crowds of rioters who threw petrol bombs, stones and bricks, as the Protestant marching season comes to a head.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said a bus was also hijacked and driven at a police cordon, but crashed nearby.(router,verizon wireless,wireless network,wireless internet,i phone,i phone verizon,my verizon wireless,wireless adapter,att wireless)

A total of 24 police officers were injured during the violence, 22 in Belfast and two in Portadown, according to Belfast Citybeat radio station. Four officers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, the PSNI said.
Authorities fired plastic bullets and used water cannon in efforts to disperse crowds of between 100 and 200 people who began throwing stones and missiles at police lines in the nationalist areas of Broadway and Old Park.
Petrol bombs were thrown at officers in North Queen Street and the bus was hijacked on the traditional flashpoint of Falls Road before being driven at police.
Other vehicles were hijacked or set on fire.
There were reports of gunshots in the Broadway area, but no injuries, police said.
On Monday PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay appealed to those with influence to "stay calm" over the next 48 hours, as the marching season - an annual time of heightened tension between Protestant and Catholic communities - reaches its climax, the Belfast Telegraph reported.
Trouble flared late Monday when Protestants began lighting bonfires, the signal for the start of a day of celebrations during which tens of thousands of "Orange Order" men are expected to march.
The annual Twelfth of July celebrations mark the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when King William III, a Protestant, defeated the Catholic King James II, unseated by William two years earlier.
It is feared sectarian tensions could continue to boil over in areas of Belfast and Craigavon, County Armagh, and politicians and clergy on all sides have appealed for a day free of violence.
Every available police officer will be on duty at 19 separate demonstrations, with the largest expected to be in Belfast.
The Orange Order leadership said the parades showcase its history and heritage and attracts tourists.
Grand master Edward Stevenson said, "There is no other single event that can produce crowds like the Twelfth. It is such a special day of religion, culture, music and pageantry."
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Riled Cameron ups ante on independence vote - Herald Scotland

DAVID CAMERON has for the first time warned Alex Salmond that Westminster might stage its own referendum on Scottish independence to pre-empt the one planned by the Scottish Government.

The Prime Minister’s remarkable warning was last night dismissed as “sabre-rattling” by the First Minister but comes as Conservative and Labour politicians express concerns that he cannot be allowed to use most of the parliament to campaign for independence.

One theory is that Mr Salmond will use 2014 to “soften up” Scottish sentiment given it is the Year of Homecoming, the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn and when the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup take place in Scotland.

He will then hope the 2015 General Election will return a majority Conservative Government, with no Scottish Tory MPs or one, as at present, leaving a defeated Labour in disarray. And in the aftermath – in the summer or autumn of that year – he would hold the referendum on Scottish independence.

Last month, Mr Cameron was asked by The Herald if he would consider the option of Westminster bringing forward its own referendum.

David Cameron would do better to focus on the crisis at the top of his own government rather than sabre rattle

The PM made clear he would “not play games over independence”, warning Mr Salmond that he would not stand by and allow the FM to use his office to campaign for separation.

“What I worry about,” he told reporters, “is the Government of Scotland is going to be too much about how to bring about the right circumstances for his [Mr Salmond’s] referendum and whether he wants two questions or four questions or six questions or whatever, rather than actually trying to do the right thing by the people of Scotland.”

But in an interview with The Spectator magazine, while Mr Cameron reaffirms the Coalition’s “respect agenda” towards the SNP Government, he goes further and indicates that his patience might be time-limited.

“I want to treat the First Minister and his Government with respect, it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “But if the whole of the next few years becomes about tussling rather than governing, then there may be a moment where we have to say, OK, we need to answer this question properly. But I don’t think we’re there at the moment.”

His reference to “answering the question properly” is a thinly-veiled threat about Westminster holding a referendum should Mr Salmond drag things out.

A Westminster poll would also mean the Commons setting the question. Most Unionist MPs want a simple yes or no to the independence question and do not want, what the First Minister has hinted at – a second question on more powers for Holyrood.

The prospect of Westminster pre-empting Holyrood would be a huge gamble as the SNP’s charge would be that London is once again dictating to Scotland.

Only this month, an attempt by Conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg to change the Scotland Bill to force a snap independence poll failed.

Last night, the FM gave the Prime Minister short shrift. His spokesman said: “David Cameron would do better to focus on the crisis at the top of his own government rather than sabre rattle about interfering in the affairs of Scotland’s Government.

“The people of Scotland have spoken and given a powerful mandate for the policy detailed by the SNP in the election – the right to choose independence on the basis of one referendum, agreed by the Scottish Parliament, towards the end of this Holyrood term.

“David Cameron should be focused on delivering the additional job-creating powers in the Scotland Bill that the SNP also set out in the election and secured the strongest possible mandate for – which is a key test of his ‘respect agenda’ for Scotland.”

Meanwhile, Sir John Major, a onetime bitter opponent of Scottish devolution, has come out in support of a federalist vision for Scotland, supporting what is often called “devolution max”.

He said: “Why not devolve all responsibilities except foreign policy, defence and management of the economy? Why not let Scotland have wider tax-raising powers to pay for their policies and, in return, abolish the present block grant settlement?”

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