Today, Thursday, The National is publishing a special edition to mark the commencement of a new stage in Scotland’s campaign for independence. Make sure you buy a copy. Give it to your friends and family. The disgraceful treatment of Scottish concerns by the Conservative government in Westminster this week finally puts to rest any pretence that Scotland can make its voice heard in the Westminster parliament. That’s why it’s all the more important that those of us who do have Scotland’s interests at heart refuse to be silenced, refuse to be quiet, refuse to be well behaved and compliant good little Jocks and Jockesses.
It’s not merely that Tories are gonna Tory, it’s that the rules of the Palace of Westminster and its archaic pretendy democracy mean that Scotland was not and is never going to get a fair hearing in that place. The rules of Westminster mean that Scotland will always be marginalised, ignored, and infantilised. When the best you can hope for from a supposed parliament is that they might just, if you are very lucky, patronise you, then it’s time to recognise that the parliament is not capable of serving as a democratic representation for the will of the people of this country.
Make no mistake, what this debate is now about is about whether Scotland is a country and a nation or whether we are content to resign ourselves to the same status as an English county council. Today on social media, British political commentators who really ought to have known better have been asking with faux outrage why it is that Scotland demands special treatment, demanding to know why Scotland deserves more consideration than Manchester does. Well last I checked Manchester wasn’t a signatory to the Treaty of Union. Last I checked Manchester was a city and not a nation with a much longer history than the UK. Last I checked Manchester didn’t have an independence referendum and narrowly voted to remain a part of the UK because it was promised that it was going to be an equal and valued partner in a family of nations.
But it is precisely as a region that the British establishment regards Scotland. There is no significant difference in the mind of the British establishment between an English provincial city and an ancient nation that is one of the constituent parts of this so-called union. Our trappings of nationhood are just so much fancy dress, costumery and pageantry to be dragged out on special and officially sanctioned safe occasions in order to give British nationalists a warm cosy glow and to let them feel that their British nationalism isn’t really just another name for English exceptionalism. We are the tartan drag on English nationalism that allows it to believe that it’s not nationalist at all. We are the lipstick on the pig.
This is not a union. A union implies equality. A union implies respect. A union implies that partners listen to one another. But when Scotland tries to speak we are answered with the jeers of a British nationalism that won’t countenance anyone or anything standing in its way. We are only in a union on their terms and on their sufferance. We are only in a union as long as it is cost free to the British establishment. We are only in a union that suits the braying donkeys of the Tory backbenches and the complicit abstentions of the Labour party. And that’s no union at all.
Our choice is a silence dressed up in the fancy dress of shortbread and tartanry bereft of content and self-knowledge, and resigning ourselves to the reality that Scotland is the gagged possession of a Brexitland Britain, or saying out loud – “Nae mair. Fuck this fur a gemme o sodgies.” Theresa May tells us that now is not the time. We’ll be the judge of that Theresa. We don’t need your permission, we don’t need your consent. And we’re not going to ask for it. It’s time to play by different rules. Scottish rules.
There are no certainties any more, except the certainty that Westminster offers Scotland no control over its own destiny. We have no choice about living with uncertainty, but I’d rather live with an uncertainty where Scotland can navigate its own path through the darkness, can make its own choices about heading for the light, rather than depend helplessly on a British establishment that offers us no choice at all and shipwrecks us on the vanities of Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg.
Get what you’re given Scotland, or make and take what you need. That’s the difference between dependence and independence. Choosing independence means choosing self-respect. Choosing independence means choosing never to be silenced. Choosing independence means refusing to allow others to define you.
What has happened in the House of Commons this week means that there will most definitely be another independence referendum in the not too distant future. That referendum will be fought against the background of a Westminster which has treated Scotland with contempt and disdain. It will be fought against the backdrop of a Westminster which has destroyed the devolution settlement which the people of Scotland were sold as being the great British constitutional alternative to independence. There can be no Vow Mk II. There can be no more promises of love, no more commitments to improved and entrenched powers for Scotland. There are only the brays and boos of backbench Tories, and the handsitting compliance of the Labour party.
In the words of the German philosopher Meister Eckhard, “And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.” Now we all know what the Conservative government thinks of us. We all know what they believe Scotland’s place to be. We all know that we can continue to be sidelined and marginalised and the interests of this country can be traduced. We all know that the devolution settlement that Scotland fought for so hard for so long lies dead and bleeding on the floor of the House of Commons. We all know that we are nothing more than an English county council dressed up in a tartan ribbon as far as the British establishment is concerned.
So let’s start something new and trust in the magic of beginning a better Scotland. This is the time. This is the time to be bold, to be brave, to be imaginative. This is the time to play by our own rules. We will win that better Scotland, but we will only win it by not being silent.
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when I saw the SNP walk-out today I heard a 19th C irish song ring in my ears. Here it is
A Nation Once Again – just substitute scotland for ireland
Marvellous! Not that heard inspiring song for several decades past.
Not heard that…(Tut Tut JB).
We are indeed a nation, one of the first in Europe, just denied a voice. We are treated like the last colony, to be stripped of resources, tightly controlled, dumped on and demoralised as an expendable asset. But we’ll be singing that song as a free country very soon.
Rousing stuff, you get better and better. Join the movement.
… and this time we’re putting on the new members *before* the IndyRef; not afterwards
Oh, yes! The time is NOW and we shall not be silenced again! Never in my life have I felt so disgusted with and ashamed of the country of my birth, the farce of the so-called “Mother of Parliaments”, and those of my former countrymen (and women) who encourage and facilitate this appalling travesty by voting Tory. Onward, Scotland, and upward! If I was anywhere near a barricade I’d be manning it!
Remember,Wendy, 48% voted Remain who have been completely discarded.
Half of England voted to remain within the EU, May leads a minority Government propped up by Irish religious fundamentalists who would chemically castrate some of our citizens who do not ‘conform’ sexually, believe that many of the people whom they are supposed to represent are religious heretics who are damned to Perpetual Suffering in a Protestant Hell, and therefore can be marginalised as mere infidels.
The British people decided….no they didn’t.
17 million voted for a slogan on the side of a bus, and kick the Furriners oot of our Green and Pleasant Blackburn..
I have friends, relatives, and ex colleagues trapped in Rees Mogg’s Victorian Wet Dream, although that’s a mortal sin to Fundamentalist Catholic zealot Mogg.
When we attain nationhood once more, we must do all we can to mitigate the excesses and privations of Johnson’s 51st State on our near neighbours, friends and relatives Down There.
We are concentrating on Scotland’s resistance to imperial diktat.
However there is a sleeping giant in England, a huge disenfranchised body numbering tens of millions who will resist No Deal, Hard Brexit GM Crops, No Human Rights, Empire II from the get go.
Think Poll Tax and the London riots.
There already is a region of the US ‘New England’, encompassing all those Plymouth Brethren early settler States like Maine and Massachusetts.
Our MSM has had wall to wall coverage of Trump in Korea, as though England was already a US Colony/nascent State.
There are already the trappings of US acquisition everywhere. McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chlorine, Starbucks, and Netflix.
‘Old England’ the 51st state is just around the corner.
Maybe King George wasn’t so mad after all.
There will be no smooth transition in March 2019 or December 2020.
Scotland must be on its way out of the Union by next Spring.
Great piec yet again by Paul.
Radio Scotland’s phone in today frames the walk out yesterday as ‘a stunt’, repeating sarah Smith’s and Laura Kuennesburg’s (Spelling?) BBC National assertions on BBC England at teatime. It was a stunt.
Good Scots lasses the both of them.
Aye, right.
,
Aaah, Jack! As always, you are more generous than I. I know that many of my family and friends did not vote for this shambolic excuse for a Government … but I cannot forget that the majority of English voters DID do so. My heart bleeds for the millions of disenfranchised English voters … but I am still thoroughly ashamed of the country of my birth and its “pretend” democracy. I feel as Pontius Pilate (another Scot, from Fortingall, if the legend is to be believed) is said to have done. I wash my hands of England now and henceforth.
Your heart must be heavy saying this, Wendy.
Consider yourself cuddled.
Bisous.
Thank you, Jack. Much appreciated.
They are not Irish religious fundamentalists, they are British Nationalist fundamentalists who despise anything Irish, and in terms of liberality, make Irish Catholics look like San Francisco Hippies. Besides this point, you raised many good observations.
I am aware that I am walking over your eggshells, ‘Bullykiller’.
I hope your happy,sir (?).I cannot get the disturbing image of Rees Mogg ogling the talent on Muscle Beach.
‘you’re’ even.
Inasmuchas you are eggshells, Bullykiller.
Well said.
This is the time for independence. Scottish Labour once again have failed us & we can no longer tolerate the supposed farce of the ‘Vow’ or ‘more devolved powers for Scotland’ – not an option anymore…..
Beautifully expressed, Paul, as always.
Our time has come, all we need is the courage to embrace it.
Sometimes when you believe things are pretty quiet and the slow drudge is a pain in the arse ,
Something unexpected just happens and from the most unexpected set of circumstances it just all comes together .
Well I believe that flash just happened ,that kick start we all needed was provided by a insignificant tory minister trying to be f/n smart ,
The few minutes he wasted waffling on about probably total tripe must seem like hours to the tories now , arrogance got the better of them ,
They provided the fuel last night and Berco lit the fuse with his actions today ,we should thank the tory party for their assistance , because they are about to find out the consequences of their actions ,
Knighthood for berco ,the Ayes have it ,the Ayes have it well done chaps .
Honestly, this manufactured crisis is utterly insignificant compared to the clusterfuck that is Brexit. No one cares beyond the hard core. Anyone else who’s paying attention assumes this is just the SNP doing what the SNP do, nothing to see here.
The guy who was the architect of the Vow, Murray Foote the former editor of the Daily Record, would appear to disagree with you. He’s just come out in support of independence.
This is part of the clusterfuck that is Brexit. Amongst other unintended consequences, Brexit will lead to the end of the UK and the birth of an independent Scotland.
Hear! Hear! Ian Blackford, being interviewed for the Biased Bullshit Corporation, described yesterday’s events as a “constitutional crisis” and the interviewer nodded his head in agreement! People ARE paying attention and many seriously disapprove of what they see.
Wrong John. This will push Indy supporters to a new effort to make many more people understand. Talking personally this post and Paul’s last one will be in the inbox of everyone I know, Even those I have been slightly reserved with on the subject of Indy less I loose their friendship.
[…] Wee Ginger Dug Scotland won’t be silenced Today, Thursday, The National is publishing a special edition to mark the commencement […]
Inspiring words Paul.
Putting this just after your previous post about the lies and failure of our UK government, regarding all of its people, not just Scotland makes for me two powerful pieces of condemnation. Condemnation of a failed state, a massive failure of the UK to govern for its people. Shameful does not even come close to explaining it. The new word of ‘clusterfuck’ surely does.
I am angry now.
Seems like you didn’t get back a day too soon WGD. Did you know something we didn’t know 😉
Seriously though, I hope and trust that the SNP have made their contingency plans so they can continue to keep the initiative and wrongfoot WM …
Could we say that when the Tories lost their head, the Scots found their feet? (sorry …)
Noo’s the dee, aye noo’s the oor …
Last line spot on.
“See the front o’ battle lour”. Yes, this is it. Brexit has been a Trojan horse which the UK government has used to cover its attack on devolution and our human rights.
“Could we say that when the Tories lost their head, the Scots found their feet?” Nice one, Marconatrix! Noo is indeed the day and the hour!
Thank you for putting up with my terrible pun and random associations 🙂
Here Scottish MPs finally get a say, or at least a chance to close the stable door after the constitutional steed has fled :
Very interesting comments. Thanks for the link.
Just read this tweet from the Wings site.
The Commons just voted in a razor thin majority to take away the Charter of Fundamental Rights after Brexit, eroding equality, privacy and fairness in the U.K. and caving to the Government’s exploitation of Brexit to advance an anti-human rights agenda.
Shame!!! (And the English are supposed to be renowned for Fair Play)
😦 😦 😦
The English are the most shameless cheats as long as they win they don’t care how it’s done it’s only cheating if they lose.
I would include all three Tory Parties in that, after their disgraceful, gleeful comments on TV. The sooner we are out of thae hellhole for good the better. Even at this minute the EBC Is still erroneously talking of the Scottish “Nationalist” Party.
After the scenes we’ve witnessed in the past few days? It IS just about that time. Just a little longer (no too much you understand)
Scotland’s representation, our parliament, our democracy and our will weren’t just treated poorly. The were treated with contempt, arrogance and ignorance.
The constitutional ground in the UK has shifted seismically.Westminster itself has stated quite clearly that there is no partnership of equals. No pooling and sharing. No leading with… No broad shouldered bonhomie and clearly no Better Togetherness. That’s not how Westminster government works. Westminster is jealous of its power and entitlement, doesn’t play well with others and is prone to extremes of baby and bathwater syndrome when challenged.
Just to be clear? There’s no point in saying ‘I told you so’ people. No recriminations. No ‘why didn’t you see this coming’? We hold out our hand in friendship to new YES voters. No ifs, buts or mibbies. We need them and they need to know there’s a warm welcome and someone they can count on. Someone and something that won’t leave them out in the cold and alone.
For many, the past few days will have seen their worldview ripped out from under them. They’re going to be hurt, angry and feeling lost. They believed in something that betrayed them on a profoundly personal level. Something I think most folk in the indy movement can relate to, yes?
We can put this wrong to rights, but it’s going to take ALL of us together. We put rosettes and notions of indy pigeonholing in the drawer. There is only the principle of independence. The protection of our inalienable human and civil rights.
Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.
All Scots. Old and new Scots alike.
That’s kinda what makes us a grown up population.
Spot, as always, Sam! “There is only the principle of Independence” – first, last and always!
When asked in Westminster by Ian Blackford what could be done to right the wrong of the obvious lack of democracy in Parliament for Scotland the tory who shouted suicide answered the question for his party in the most honest way since Guy Fawkes ! Except he didn’t realise it was his own party he was referring to .!Especially in Scotland ! Ross Thomson really should be given a geography lesson and advised he is an MP meant to represent his constituents in Scotland after his interview the previous night when kept saying Wales had agreed with Parliament yeah well they voted to leave Europe .Scotland didn’t we are a whole different country.
You don’t get much more blue blood English Establishment than Ian Richard Peregrine Liddell-Grainger, the Tory Elitist who reported shouted for Ian Blackford to commit suicide.
Not for him being ‘thrown out of the House. He’s too big and exalted a member of the Establishment to be manhandled by any jumped up Politician. He is apparently a great great great grandson of Empress Victoria.
BY accident of birth he was born in Edinburgh, but that would be ‘Little England’ Edinburgh, the only bit of Scotland that Ian Murray Ruth Davidson Liar Carmichael Willie Rennie Cole-Hamilton and Neil Findlay are interested in serving.
The 13 Blue Tories are doing what all Tories have done for centuries.. betraying Scotland for personal gain.
The 7 New Labour Ref Tories abstain with the best of them, and Wales is more of a priority for the Lib Dems than Scotland.
The dam has burst. Thwe gloves are off.
That little ineefectual political weasel, Mundell, allegedly promted by the man in the Butcher’s apron suit, Ian Murray, will get on his pins today, quivering, faltering, babbling, and utter some ‘line to take’ SPAD script on devolution, and how Scotland is still a really important nation partner in his now extinct little Union.
He is utterly pointless at any levels of the word.
Check out the typos..I’m as mad as hell, a rage that won’t abate until we are Free.
Me too, Jack! I have to treble-check everything I type just now … my blood is boiling and my brain is WAY ahead of my arthritic fingers!
I see that we share a mutual acquaintance, Wendy, good old Arthur, Arthur Itis.
LOL! Yes, an old enemy, Jack. xx
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Banners in the making.. When and where do we protest??
If you’re in Edinburgh, at the Parliament in Holyrood at 11 this morning.
Cheers Toni, 120 miles from auld reekie unfortunately.. Was thinking of going to my MP Bill grants next surgery and ..’screwing the bloody doors shut!’ Anybody up for that??
Reblogged this on mikeinkwazi.
I am so proud of the SNP’s Great British Walk Out from WM yesterday. The establishment (aided by the media) thought they had everything under control but, as usual they over did it and went just a bit too far. As a result, SNP hailed, grab attention (after weeks of being deliberately ignored), membership surges (again), media exposure all over the world and the british nationalist parties are left looking very foolish. Thought they had it all sown up eh? Now all hell is about to break loose and when the dust settles, Scotland will be an independent nation again.
As Macart has mentioned a few times – just let Westminster be Westminster. The British Nats and their zealous media chums will do the heavy lifting for us. They have never let us down in the past and, true to form they came up with the goods yet again. We owe them so much. 🙂
Since 2014, Scotland has been like a coiled spring, full of pent up energy waiting to explode. We are approaching the tipping point IMO. The people have had enough. If you thought the last Indy campaign was amazing, just wait until you see the next one (you won’t have to wait long now). 🙂
Yep Luigi – Game On , as Macart said dont interrupt them they are Playing a Blinder .
Game on more like game over for the britnats now they are trying to say Nicolas can’t go for indyref2 as it’s illegal they’ve turned into Spain in there desperation to stop independance.
Everything is coming together beautifully now all thanks to the total arrogance of the English parliament in Westminster. As long as Nicola keeps the heid (which I am confident she will) we just need the English Supreme Court to throw out the Scottish Continuity Bill and the job’s done – Act of Union broken irrevocably by the very people who claim to cherish it!!
Karma or what?
Agreed Anne, I believe there are certain stages the tory government have to go through before its deemed a breach of the Act of Union , saying saying they are going to do something dosent break the Act starting the proceedings does , thats why i believe Nicola and the SNP are well aware of the sequence and timetable, The first as you point out will be the Supreme Court doing the work for us , this was instigated by our Useless Scottish Secretly Fluffy Mundell , Sometimes he can be so smart he is blind to the consequences , Just like the Tory minister being smart and egged on by his own he missed the big picture , oh dear how sad these fools are doing the work for us .
Well can everyone feel the Buzz ? ,
Its starting to come together and from a unexpected Source One Insignificant English Tory Minister started it off , Mr Speaker Berco lit the touch paper and helped it along ,Knighthood Guaranteed.
The BBC in Scotland at last were forced to report on the consequences of this Power Grab having deemed it trivial for the last few months , I think Brewer refered to it as the consistency of Paint and food labeling nothing to be concerned about now go back to sleep viewers.
BBC Scotland really misjudged to situation yesterday by willfully failing to report Tuesday nights proceedings that led up to the stramash at PMQs , most people would question how did we get to this situation when the BBC forgot to report the events that led up to Ian Blackfords dismissal from that den of thieves known as the house of commons.
My Wifes membership of the SNP now renewed and my lapsed subscription to the National renewed , this time i won’t hold back and watch ,i aim to get in there and get involved .
I to have also become active outside the circle of people I know or meet. Joined my local Yes group last month and going on AUOB marches. See many of you in Stirling.
Good on you Andy. If everyone who went to the Glasgow march brings along one additional person to Bannockburn then the crowd will be massive.
I like the fact that the guy who was editor of the Record in 2014 has come out for indy. Reported in the Times.
Also yesterday on the Beeb, did you notice that the BBC had been tipped off to be at the side gate of Westminster to show the SNP MP’s leaving. Later on the 6.30 news Brian Taylor stated this ” …you can bet if they (WM) had wanted to give Scotland time for debate they would have”
I fear the approach of Catalunya Mk II. I also think the police will be used, as they were during the miner’s strike, as the Paramilitary Wing of the Conservative Party.
I hope they do try that, we will be free about 5 mins after they do. How many countries have gained independence without some form of violence from the larger country… only once in Czech and Slovakia . They can’t help themselves they live in a time warp of empire and Johnny Foreigner.
The two BIG NEWS stories in the Daly Record online version today. Steven Gerrard snapped arriving at the Training ground, and Steven Gerrard leaving the training ground.
What a tawdry little rag.
Had bother getting s copy. One shop said Menzies hadn’t allocated them any and they have regular orders for at least two. Mind you, they’ve managed to b****r up the crossword – 3 clues missing – and it was a stinker. Still, I see the Vow man is now on our side and it’s rumoured Kezia is too. Strange times:-)
Got them all except 17 Dn,.
Bannockburn next week, pole ordered. Could be busy.
Ruthless very carefully avoiding any opening for Nicola to pounce and jump down her lying throat , but it’s early yet .
Update on SNP membership surge confirmed.
“Peter Murrell
@PeterMurrell
BREAKING @NicolaSturgeon confirms 5,085 people have joined @theSNP in the last 24 hours. Stand with us in opposing Tory attempts to rip up the devolution settlement and grab powers from Holyrood. “
5085… since yesterday.
Make that 5086 Sam. It has been almost impossible to do it on line, due to not having a Phone number for there. After the stramash this week, I was on the phone to SNP this am….signed up! Next step, the march in Edinburgh.
Ayup. I’ll miss Bannockburn because of a care issue, but I’ll have the walking shoes on again for Edinburgh in the autumn. I tend to wander over to the Wings marquee when there’s one on show to say hi to friends.
I’ll hopefully catch you there Sam 🙂
Sam, thanks for the heads up, hope to see you there
Great article Paul, no punches pulled.
Not read comments yet, but I don’t remember reading anywhere that Manchester having it’s own parliament or signing a ‘treaty of union’ ever. History shows that once upon a time, Scotland had it’s own parliament, and as far as we know, it has it’s own parliament now, and it’s legit, for now.
Have only seen comments on FM’s questions today, FM looked a bit er, lets’ say, deflated, and the britnats obviously continued their agenda of demeaning the importance of Holyrood, belttling the democratic process, and portraying the Scottish parliament as a wee council chamber! It’s totally orchestrated, in prep for when the UKgov dismantle Holyrood as an ineffective administration, moving Mundell into the building with hiw 1000s of ‘civil servants’ flown up from south of England. Far fetched, but put nothing at all past the UK gov they play dirty!
A bit o/t – If anyone is still under the impression that Mrs Mayhem was a bloody awkward woman to deal with,
Well she has a contender for the Top Spot Andrea Leadson takes the prize , on a question put by Tommy Sheppard requesting the update of the medieval voting system , after her useless reply , she then embarked on a tirade of rebuke of the SNP because they walked out , so much for the question put never mind that get a bloody political diatribe in ,
Tories I wouldn’t piss on any of them, wasters every one.
The Strange Case of The Humming Bird’s Beak.
I think Leonard must be on something.
As expected the Brit Nats at FMQ nervously twittered on about ‘local’ issues.
Davidson on leg clamps for prisoners on release, a follow on from her FMQ last week.
Leonard who deteriorates with age, began by asking the FM if she knew what a Humming Bird’s Beak was, before announcing that five year olds are being ‘crushed’ because of numeracy and literacy assessments which ‘a teacher’ told the Scarf were rubbish.. and so on..
Neil Findlay demanded that the FM sort out bus cancellations, and big Miles Briggs, a young man who inexplicably rose from nowhere to become second in line to Ruth Davidson on the Tory list of constituency failures, banged on about waiting lists for hip operations, and so on and so on.
Don’t mention the Walk Out.
Of course there were plenty of opportunities for the SNP delegates to prompt the FM to comment on the Power Grab and the farce of yesterday, and she gave Ruth both barrels, while Davidson chuckled and walked two fingers across her note pad while cackling her head off.
She is really that lightweight and irrelevant.
Carlaw wisely kept his head down; he’s got to step into the breach in the autumn when the Brexshit hits the fan and the Branch Office Manager is conveniently off on Mat Leave.
Harvie actually postulated that the Growth Commission Report was recommending the previous New Zealand Government’s Austerity Package, an Alt Right purge similar to WM’s, which made me question his judgement, not for the first time.
Toodle Oo The Noo and Roddie and Jenni didn’t have much to talk about, so trite and ‘parish cooncil’ were the Opposition’s issues…
T
The Walk Out has taken the wind out of all of their sails.
I watched Mundell at WM immediately after FMQ.
He really is a gibbering faltering little Make Weight.
Ian Murray and Hilary Bomb Syria Benn backed him up. Better Together limping along nicely.
Mundell announced that we should forget the 62% who voted Remain, it’s the million who voted Leave in Scotland who really won the EU Referendum.
As SoS he represents them, not the majority.
It was the usual ‘Scotland decided in 2014’ so fuck off, from a tired wee excuse for a Scotland Champion.
He genuinely thinks that everything in Scotland must go through him and meet with his approval.
The man’s an idiot, probably why he was put in the job.
Off out now.
Doubtless the ether will be buzzing soon.
He was asked repeatedly to resign today. Let’s hope he doesn’t.
He’ll be worth hundreds of thousands of converts from No to Yes.
He really is an arrogant man.
The Union is dead.
Deid it is Jack as far as I am concerned.
Extinct, shuffled off this mortal coil, passed over, gone to join the c
Celestial Choir, Andy. A dead parrot if ever there was one.
It’s too bad that Nicola didn’t have the chance to say ” it’s a Bill, Dicky, you know, like the things we get passed here”.
Don’t cry for me England.
I will be okay.
Scotland is my home now,
and this is where I’ll stay
I missed fmqs because I was at the hoop demonstration outside the building more than predicted must of been around a thousand there today tops even Nicola was in shock at how many of us turned up when she came out of holyrood.
I would not put it past truthless Davidson to take a few years off on maternity leave. Come back after independence and declare she always supported devolution and Scottish independence. I also think there will be a lot more do the same.
When I say a lot more will do the same maybe not the having the baby bit. I mean rewriting their own personal history. When the guy behind the infamous vow is doing it now. More will follow.
This is yer akchul Secretary of state FOR Scotland, telling us the partnership of equals is over.
twitter.com/TommySheppard/status/1007265030352535552
NOT ‘partners’, but Part of.
Remember that when indyref2 comes round folks.
Never mind, it’ll soon be ‘part from’.
The fella didn’t cover himself in glory today tbs. It was one howler after another.
Apparently a debate has been tabled on the Sewell convention. Given the fluffster’s statement on the inevitability of the vote outcome the other night? Should be interesting. 😉
Without doubt the Walk has brought all the pent up Love and affection out from a lot of people ,it’s overwhelming ,
I just wish the proud Scots who support the union are able to see how well regarded they actually are ,
The only problem being the Problem Jocks ” us ” are thought of in the same way as the House Jocks, we all look and speak the same ,
Oops How sad for the folks who believe they are special , ha ha we are all the same yah muppets , one step up from the Irish – the blacks – the dogs , Special my Arse .
Goodness, what a few days it has been for Scottish politics. Watched the walk out yesterday with the great interviews afterwards. Well done to The SNP MPs. Then FMQ’s today. Oh dear, Ruth Davidson and Richard Leonard were struggling to ask a question that didn’t relate to the walk out or the Withdrawal Bill because they knew that they had well and truly lost. They were a waste of space and the First Minister certainly let them know that.
And David Mundell at Westminster certainly struggled too. Now all of Scotland knows for sure how Westminster views Scotland.
Welcome to all the people who have joined the SNP since yesterday. Amazing.
Westminster’s arrogance towards our elected SNP MP’s and to Scotland has made folk realise that Scotland has had enough and it is time to get out of this so called Union.
Thanks again to Paul for great, inspirational writing over the last few days.
Does anyone here think that the ‘Not a Partner of the UK, a part of the UK’ is aiming for the Spanish approach of the UK is indivisible?
Not sure how that would go down though as they have already granted a referendum once already but Westminster already has track record of u-turns and making it up as they go along
I had this thought as well Jimmy. That and the fact the Scotland Office has been renamed UK Government Scotland with more staff. I think maybe, just maybe that when things come to a head they will close Holyrood and make us part of the UK ignoring the 1707 treaty.
“They” might try to close down Hollyrood, Andy, but “they” will not succeed!
Blundell was correct, whether he understood why he was correct, certainly oblivious as to how is words would be interpreted.
Scotland and and England are the only 2 constituent legal signatories to the Treaty of Union. Wales and Ireland were legally part of England, international law defines a country’s or Kingdoms boundaries by legal jurisdiction, Wales and Ireland were bound by English law. Scotland has its own protected by Treaty legal system. England signed up to that in 1707, and it was confirmed by the UK Parliament by passing the Act of Berwick in 1746.
There is absolutely no legal route the UK gov can take now to quash democracy in Scotland and not face criminal charges if it forces through clause 11 and the SC rules against the Continuity Bill.
Thanks for this clarity Stuart. Hope the SG has the legal eagles lined up and prepared.
Indisputable facts.
The taking of these powers after consent has been sought and refused is theft. Therefore – power grab. Scottish Tories voted with the UK government. Therefore they betrayed the wishes of Scotland’s electorate. Labour abstained. Therefore they failed to offer even token resistance to UK gov’s theft of your powers. Their party riven with infighting, their allegiances divided, their focus not on representing the wishes of Scotland’s electorate, but party politics in HoC. Just to be clear? They’re called the ‘Scottish benches’ for a reason. It’s where those MPs supposedly representing the wishes of Scotland’s electorate sit. (DUH)
Not Scotland’s government. Clearly not N.I. (they have their own problems with UK gov and endangerment of agreements) and not Wales. UK gov forced this issue upon everyone. No devolved legislature has the power (LITERALLY) to have initiated this crisis.
Only UK government.
The irony? It took a party of independence to stand up and defend a devolution settlement the others created in order to eradicate them. They chose to defend the wishes and interests of Scotland’s electorate.
The media both on the day and the day after? Nothing to see here. Not one of them highlighted what is, let’s face it, a pretty significant story. UKgov endangers its own existing devolution settlement with Scotland, N.I. and Wales forcing constitutional crisis upon the United Kingdom. No. The headlines were covering May’s victory in Brexit vote after Brexit vote.
Who cares about other settlements, other agreements, other pledges? Promises to people are ten a penny, right? Your word? That’s a shifting line in politics. Bit blurry according to need and expediency and anyway that’s the promise we gave yesterday. Today’s is waaaay more important. Until tomorrow.
It took the actions of Mr Blackford and the SNP representation on those benches to bring to screens and news titles across the UK this epic fail of the UK parliament. Good publicity? Bad? It didn’t matter. People saw.
People saw for themselves how parliament treated Scotland’s representation. They saw who voted and for what. They saw who stood for their rights and powers. They saw who betrayed them and they saw who stood by and did NOTHING. Well, nothing but sneer and tut. People who don’t watch parliamentary channel TV, or read past the headline in the daily hate, got a full on view of the democratic deficit in action. They saw the contempt, the arrogance and the ignorance toward the devolved legislatures in all its glory and today? Today they’re a little wiser. A little sadder and a LOT more angry.
Probably why the SNP membership has had a bit of a surge in the last 48hrs.
A picture is worth a thousand words right enough and once you’ve seen a thing, it can’t be unseen.
Well said,Sam.
They had to know that there would be a reaction; the filibuster was deliberate.
It was designed to humiliate our MPs and put Scotland in its place, quite literally in silence while their English Masters gave them a right good telling off.
It backfired badly, and it was there for all Scots citizens to see.
It wasn’t ‘a stunt’, or a ‘hissy fit’.
It was our representatives fighting for the rights of the people of Scotland.
Even Davidson ran away from the Beeb cameras after FMQ yesterday.
A cheery grin would have been salt in an open sore.
They won’t be trying that little filibustering wheeze again.
Even Dominic Grieve on QT last night conceded that the 15 minute Scot-slot on Clause 15 used up by a Tory Minister was a mistake and undemocratic.
We have reached and passed tipping point.
It may go down in my personal chronicles as a Scots victory at the Battle of Humming Bird’s Beak.
The game’s afoot, Macart.
“Battle of Humming Bird’s Beak.” Brilliant, superb, an’ a’ they ither words.
Excellent! I hope that you get independence there. I love Scotland lived there many years
Have the BBC asked Baron Splendid of Darling his views yet?
Or was he too busy writing Mr Mundell’s next magnificent speech for him
Or preparing Ross Thomson’s highly literate tweets?
Update on the membership surge.
Now over 7.5K.
Labour and the Conservatives in Scotland take note. You failed Scotland’s electorate miserably in that vote and what you sneeringly coined a ‘stunt’ made people sit up and take notice.
They saw and they understood what they saw. They saw what you did and more importantly what you didn’t do. You don’t treat people like that and ignore the fact that there will be consequences.
Coming to a ballot near you soon.
Tick tock.
For my friends in Scotland who seek the independence of their country, and with acknowledgements to the original bard.
15. (of 20.)
Scots Wha Hae – Reprise
Scots, wha hae wi’ Salmond bled,
Scots, wham Sturgeon aften led,
Welcome tae yer gory bed
Or tae destiny.
Now’s the day, an’ now’s the hour:
Seize oor chance a’ last fir power.
See the fearties start tae cower.
Scotland will be free!
Wha will be a low appeaser?
Wha will bow tae Lunnon’s Th’resa?
Wha sae base as be a greaser?
Let him turn an’ flee.
Wha fir Scotland’s Pride an’ Aw’
Freedom’s sword will strongly draw?
Bondsman stand or Freeman fa’:
Let him follow me.
By th’ oppressive woes and pains,
Of oor sons in servile chains,
We will drain oor dearest veins
But we shall be free!
Lay Westminster oh so low.
Traitors fall – like every foe.
Liberty’s oors wi’ every blow!
Let us vote fir SNP!
______
Songs for the New Politics
2013-2018
Excellent! I feel The Bard would have approved!