Tory MP and Brexit campaigner Chris Grayling has dismissed talk of a second Scottish indyref if Britain votes to leave the EU but Scotland votes to remain. We’ll be having none of that nonsense, said Chris, we’re voting as a single UK and Scotland will do as it’s told. That’s why Chris introduced English votes for English laws to prevent Scottish MPs from voting on English issues and to ensure that Scottish MPs became second class citizens at Westminster, because he didn’t simultaneously introduce a measure to prevent English MPs from voting on Scottish issues.
Days after the independence referendum Chris warned that it would be a travesty of democracy to allow Scottish MPs any say over English laws. Chris wrote an article in the Telegraph just after the indyref in which he fulminated against the injustice and unfairness of allowing Scottish MPs to foist socialist policies on England. Funnily enough, he’s pretty laid back about the idea of allowing English MPs to have a say over Scottish laws and foist reactionary conservative policies on Scotland. Scotland having its laws made, its budget set, nuclear weapons imposed on it, and its social security system ravaged all on the say so of a single Scottish Tory MP with the aid of his English Tory pals isn’t a travesty of democracy, it’s just how Westminster works. Suck it up Scotland, is the message from the Tories.
If there was any fairness and justice in the Westminster Parliament it would only be Scottish MPs who would vote on matters that affect only Scotland. But then expecting fairness and justice for Scotland from the Westminster Parliament is like expecting self-effacing modesty and shyness from Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
Scotland sits at the back of the Westminster bus, and the driver will always be a Tory. Or possibly a Labour Prime Minister who could only get elected by pretending to be a Tory, but it is reasonable to expect that’s pretty much the same thing. This is also the only context in which the word reasonable appears alongside the words Chris and Grayling. Whoever is in charge at Westminster, thanks to Chris and Davie Cameron it’s not going to be a Scottish MP ever again, although of course a Scottish MP only gets to become Prime Minister in the same way that a Labour MP does – by transforming his or herself into a Tory with the interests of Daily Mail voting Middle England uppermost in mind. Scotland will no longer even be able to console itself with the fiction that we’re equal partners in this Union.
Naturally Chris repeated the once in a generation quote from Alex Salmond and insisted that “we” should hold him to that. By “we” he of course means “me and my pals but not you”, because he was certainly not addressing his comments to the people of Scotland. In Chris’s mental universe, Scotland doesn’t get to decide these things. That’s what his whole English votes for English laws and Scottish laws as well was all about. Anyway, he added, the SNP lost its majority in May’s election.
This is of course relying on the possibility that Scottish independence supporters have a) forgotten that the Eckness specifically stated that he was expressing a personal opinion, b) that we all think that it was Alicsammin’s Referendum and not Scotland’s, c) that the current Scottish Government is still headed by the Eck and he still has a say in the matter, d) that the question on the ballot was “Should Scotland become an independent country and should this question never be asked again until Chris Grayling and the Tory party say that it’s fine by them?” and e) that we overlook the fact that there’s still a majority of pro-independence MSPs and the Scottish Greens have explicitly stated they’d support another indyref if the UK votes to leave the EU but Scotland votes to remain. That’s a whole lot of very dubious bullet points which anyone who is remotely aware of the realities of Scottish politics realises puts a bullet through Chris’s argument. The UK media might swallow his line, but it’s not going to go down very well amongst the half of the Scottish population who already support independence and those who don’t have a firm commitment to remaining a part of the UK. We don’t need an English Tory MP pontificating about Scotland from a pedestal of ignorance, we have the BBC for that sort of thing.
Funny how it’s only ever Alicsammin and the SNP who need to be held to their word. Chris may not recall, or may not choose to recall, but those of us in Scotland who were following the Scottish independence referendum campaign, which is a lot of us, distinctly remember that one of the key promises of the No campaign was that Scotland could only ensure its EU membership by remaining a part of the UK. We remember the Better Together slogan saying that the process for removing EU citizenship from Scots was to vote yes. We remember Alistair Darling accusing Alicsammin of playing EU roulette by holding the indyref. Yet here we are not even two years on and it’s Westminster which is playing EU roulette because the Tory party wants to settle its internal Eurodispute and the process of removing Scots’ EU citizenship appears to have been putting our future into the hands of a Conservative government in Westminster.
The Unionist media and politicians aren’t demanding to hold to account those who threatened Scotland with the loss of our EU membership if we voted for indy. They’re not insisting on the accountability of those who claimed that all devolution options were on the table in the event of a No vote to independence only to wheech them off the table the second that their slight majority was won and then crowed that the new devolution settlement was going to be a trap for the Scottish government. They’re not holding to account those who said that pensions were at risk if we voted for indy only for us to discover that they’re at risk because we’re in an austerity Tory state. They’re not demanding that those who told us that jobs in tax offices and shipyards could only be secured if we voted no keep to their word. They just wring their hands when the jobs are lost and the pensions put at risk and hope to keep the focus on who it is that some SNP MP is shagging.
Scotland’s parliament will decide if there’s going to be another independence referendum in the event of a Brexit. For all the whining of the Tories, for all their crowing that they won a great victory when they came a distant second, the Scottish people voted for a parliament with a majority of pro-independence MSPs in the full knowledge that a Brexit against Scotland’s will would be a trigger for indyref2. It’s Chris Grayling and the Tories, not Scotland, who is the powerless one in that equation.
Donate to the Dug This blog relies on your support and donations to keep going – I need to make a living, and have bills to pay. Clicking the donate button will allow you to make a payment directly to my Paypal account. You do not need a Paypal account yourself to make a donation. You can donate as little, or as much, as you want. Many thanks.
Signed copies of the Collected Yaps of the Wee Ginger Dug volumes 1 and 2 are available by emailing me at weegingerbook@yahoo.com. Price just £21.90 the pair plus P&P. Copies of Barking Up the Right Tree are available from my publisher Vagabond Voices at http://vagabondvoices.co.uk/?page_id=1993 price just £7.95 plus P&P. The E-book of Barking Up the Right Tree is available for Kindle for just £4. Click here to purchase.
Wee Ginger Dug 
[…] Wee Ginger Dug Chris Grayling and his pedestal of ignorance […]
Paul, you identify our main obstacle in one phrase. “The U.K. media might swallow his line”. Not might I believe, but will. The M.S.M has, and always will be, because they are the compliant mouthpiece of the Westminster establishment, our greatest barrier to achieving our independence.
Despite the falling numbers of newspapers sold, they still influence a great number of people with their propoganda, aided by their greatest ally, the B.B.C.
So we still have some way to go, but eventually we’ll get there.
I hope more and more people refuse to buy britnat newspapers and refuse to pay the bbc tax.
The only way forward at the moment, Dan.
Police Scotland are looking into allegations of criminal conduct while Grayling was DWP Employment minister:
http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/scottish-police-assessing-possible-investigation-into-ids-and-grayling/
Good news! Thanks, John.
Thankfully great up-beat final paragraph, Paul, as these Tories are a horribly depressing crew.
They’ll wriggle out sure as eggs is eggs!
The main obstacle is the missing 30% of the Scottish electorate between 2014 and 2016 who did not get off their collective arses and vote for SNP and so the loony yoon vote was magnified and allowed to coalesce around Ruthie.
What Grayling really wanted to say was, “Jocks! Know your place!”
I genuinely hope that more can be done for those affected – however – all that ‘pooling and sharing’ we were ‘promised’ that e.g. jobs in the North Sea sector would ‘be protected’ under the Union – again proved is Not the case-simply market forces apply for the Oil companies. All those years of boom-perhaps something saved in the bank in say an Oil Fund for a rainy day might have been a sensible plan.
In the past week alone:-
‘Shell is to cut 475 jobs in the North Sea, with most of the losses at its headquarters in Aberdeen.
Some posts offshore and at its plants at Mossmorran in Fife and St Fergus in Aberdeenshire will also be affected.
The job cuts follow Shell’s takeover of oil and gas exploration firm BG Group, and what was described as a “lower for longer” oil price environment.
The cuts come on top of more than 10,000 job losses Shell announced over the past two years”
I think it is possible to have a better plan for the future for Scotland.
Paul an excellent article, that will, unfortunately be accepted and acknowledged mostly by politically aware persons already inclined towards independence.
We need to shake the tree over global matters, and be informed, and inform, on how they will affect us in Scotland, and democracy generally – and not via the BBC. Perhaps then the waverers over independence will view and understand the wider picture on why independence is necessary.
Instance, what on earth is Israel about these days? I was largely sympathetic to an Israeli State, but informed – not via the BBC, but via the internet – I’m astonished at the brutality being laid upon the indigenous Palestinians.And why is the USA bankrolling Israel’s behaviour?
There does seem to be a neocon globalisation of world resources happening:TTIP behind closed doors, to benefit who/what? Wars in Afghanistan/iraq/Libya?We in Scotland are unable to distance ourselves from these actions.
And UK politics:
Want to bet on any of the 29 (?) Tory MPs being charged, and so bringing about another general election?
Astonishing that Carmichael continues to be an MP, but then, astonishing that people voted for the LIBDems following from Carmichael’s, and his supportive LIBDem party’s behaviour.
But then, we already know that not all people are considerate gentle beings. And that we need to protect ourselves from the seemingly alien creatures amongst us.
Libdems don’t exist, Gavin. They are Tories and that’s why we still have to put up with them, whether or not they are useless, political/personal liars or just downright irritating.
Fresh from scotgoespop:
“The earth shakes as Leave takes the lead in astonishing TELEPHONE poll from “gold standard” ICM”
Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? (ICM, telephone)
Remain 42% (-5) Leave 45% (+6)
Agree with your every powerful word, Paul. The English Establishment has always had a massive sense of entitlement and an almost total ignorance of history and of other cultures. As the Speaker of the English HoC said in 1707, “We have catch’d Scotland and will bind her fast.” They have never really understood that Sovereignty Thang, have they?
And this Chris Grayling chiel? Sounds like he’s the Willie Rennie of English politics, minus the charisma and capacity to front animal husbandry.
The latest ICM telephone poll suggests Leave is in the lead. Time for a Supermax EUROvow, Gordy and Cams?
What we need is a narrow English leave majority and an overwhelming Scottish remain majority which is enough to tip the balance in favour of remain.
Then just sit back and watch as the MSM goes apoplectic at the uppity “sweaties” overturning the will of the “majority”. See how they like thems apples and if “the vote is for the entire UK” still applies.
This is my favourite fantasy at the mo’.
Imagine MSM & BBC anti-Scots trolls terminal apoplexy if we ‘Jocks’ kept England in Europe, when it voted ‘leave’.
Scots would be the toast of Europe. Announcing in a bar in Germany or France ‘I’m one of the Scots who voted Remain’ would see one in free beers for the rest of the night.
I’m just wondering if there is the will to turn out for the EU Ref in Scotland.
Reblogged this on Bampots Utd.
I sent the following comment to both the Glasgow Herald & the Guardian and to my surprise neither have deleted my comments; what am I doing wrong?
This pretendy EU Referendum campaign in the UK is getting very tiresome, with PM Cameron and his bestest friends fronting both the Remain and Leave campaigns. Thereby “managing” both sides, getting all the media coverage and excluding all other opinions or interests. The ongoing results of this “management” of the campaigns are to give ordinary people the impression that a real democratic debate is taking place into whether the UK remains in the EU or leaves. In fact the exact opposite is the case, the result is already pre-determined and there is no chance whatsoever that the UK will leave the EU; despite all the so-called heated words between the two sides, the fix is already in and we are only witnessing a democratic charade. The losing leaders of the Leave campaign will claim after the vote that they tried their “very very best” to achieve UK independence from the EU and will quickly get back to business as usual. Following the pretendy Referendum vote on the 23rd of June there is an EU head of government meeting on the 28th of June to discuss the final details of amongst other things the setting up an EU military organisation (something that PM Cameron agreed to several years ago, despite still today pretending to be against it). The embryonic EU Military organisation has already carried out a number of missions on behalf of the EU with active participation by the UK in Africa and the ultimate aim of the “EU Army” is that it will project military power globally as well as possibly (and this is being very much underplayed at the moment) to act as internal guardians of the EU; to carry out the wishes of the EU against any threat of rebellion or dissent within the more troublesome regions of internal EU countries. None of this information is being kept secret from the general public as everything is published quite openly on public EU websites; you just have to know where to look! Just type EU ISS into your internet browser and a world of delights on what is actually going on within the EU will be placed before you.
Except that the degree of involvment remains with each member state. And Spain will of course accept British tanks on the streets of Barcelona? Pfft.
One of the “outers”, former Tory leader Mr Howard, was on the box just yesterday claiming to be the only person in the debate with “facts”, and how the EHCR made British security less secure. Because we can not ban “known” terrorists from entering the UK if they are EU citizens.
Yeah right. Don’t trust the EU, ’cause British security is not up to the task of protecting us from a potential threat? I mean, if other EU states have followed and monitored a threat, British intelligence can’t be relied upon?
Ooo… Am really feart noo.
So well said WGD. Always as good as ever!