The recent opinion poll from IPSOS-Mori for STV was a huge boost for hopes for independence, putting support for independence on 55% and giving a clear lead to independence support in every age group in the country except the over 55s. The poll even shows a majority for Yes when don’t knows are included. This poll comes after a run of polls which have given a narrow lead to opposition to independence, leading apologists for Westminster to dismiss it as a rogue poll which does not accurately reflect the true position on the ground. This poll is significant however, and cannot be dismissed so easily despite the hopes of British nationalists because it is the first telephone poll in a very long time. All the other polls have been online polls which perforce have a very different methodology. Time will tell which polling company has got it right.
What it does tell us, and in the most resounding way possible, is that the oft repeated assertions by anti-independence politicians and commentators that support for independence is declining cannot be substantiated and can be dismissed as fond hopes and attempts at wish fulfillment rather than facts. A massive 80% of people in Scotland say that they are dissatisfied with the performance of a Prime Minister who leads a party which is constantly mired in allegations of sleaze and corruption and who repeatedly demonstrates a casual contempt for the standards of behaviour expected of the rest of us. Across the UK three-quarters of the public are concerned about corruption in government, including seven in 10 of 2019 Conservative voters, according to recent polling. In Scotland just a mere 10% of the public think that the ruling party of British Government does not give the impression of being sleazy and disreputable.
Under such circumstances, and amidst such widespread dissatisfaction the so-called Union cannot in any way be described as safe. There is one thing we know for certain about Conservative corruption scandals. While the British Government aided by a media which prefers to look the other way will do its utmost to move public attention away from this story, nothing meaningful will change and some new Conservative sleaze scandal will come along later.
It should be clear by now that sleaze and corruption in the Conservative party is not the limited aberration of a few bad apples, it is a property of the entire Westminster orchard. Those aren’t apple trees, they’re sleaze trees growing entitlement and privilege.
From a royal family which erases the line between public and private for the personal enrichment of its members and which is treated with a sycophantic deference which places it beyond any accountability to an unelected and undemocratic House of Lords which is a machine for patronage and a House of Commons which awards absolute power to a party which can win even less than 40% of the popular vote and a Prime Minister who suffers few effective checks on his or her authority, the Westminster system is designed to perpetuate the privilege and entitlement of the few over the many. Corruption and sleaze are not unfortunate occasional lapses in this system, they are what it is designed to facilitate.
Expecting Westminster to take effective action to crack down on the sleaze and corruption of senior members of the Conservative party and to introduce meaningful checks and balances on the power of the Prime Minister, never mind democratic reform of the House of Lords or cutting down to size the bloated entitlement and greed of members of the House of Windsor is like expecting the most narcissistic vampire to take up veganism and then not to remind you every five minutes that they’re a vegan. It’s simply alien to the nature of the beast.
As supporters of Scottish independence, one of the most crucial messages for us to get out to the people of Scotland is that meaningful and lasting change is only possible with independence. If we want to live in a country which is truly democratic and where everyone is held to account equally, there’s only one way we are going to get it. Under Westminster we are condemned to a perpetual Groundhog day of Westminster sleaze and corruption stories which are met with promises of reform which are carefully calibrated to placate the media and to take the heat off the government of the day and solve its short term political embarrassment but which have no meaningful effect at all.
The Tories are easily the worst offenders but the intrinsic corruption of Westminster infects all parties who attain control of Parliament. The Labour Government of Tony Blair was no stranger to allegations of corruption and the selling of peerages to party donors.
Fundamentally the issue of Scottish independence is about democracy and accountability and ensuring that those who have the powers to change our laws, make public policy and determine the path that this country takes are answerable to and led by the people of Scotland. The Westminster Parliament with its carefully constructed veneer of democracy is designed to ensure the perpetuation of entitlement, privilege and inequality. It has had several hundred years of practice at co-opting and neutralising any radical or democratic threat to the ability of a small minority who are well-connected to continue to enrich themselves and to arrogate to themselves the ability to direct public policy and the course of the state. It is a system which has well-developed mechanisms designed to protect it from the threat of reform. The current public outrage about Conservative corruption will go the same way as all the other bouts of public anger about corruption and sleaze in the British establishment – nowhere.
The message of independence is a message of change and a message of hope. We can live in a better country. We can replace the weary cynicism generated among the public by Westminster as a self-defence mechanism with a realistic vision of a country where public office is not a route to private enrichment and where the priority of those in power is the common good not personal gain. It’s a better country which is within our grasp, all we need is the courage and confidence to grasp it and to root out for good the poison apple trees that constitute Westminster orchard of greed and privilege.
I have been in a lot of pain and discomfort this past week, so much so that I am having difficulty walking and am experiencing a lot of fatigue and exhaustion. I have a physiotherapy appointment on Thursday and an occupational therapy appointment on Monday, so unfortunately I am not operating at full capacity and consequently won’t be able to get new blog pieces online as frequently as I would like to.
My Gaelic maps of Scotland are still available, a perfect gift for any Gaelic learner or just for anyone who likes maps. The maps cost £15 each plus £7 P&P within the UK. You can order by sending a PayPal payment of £22 to weegingerbook@yahoo.com (Please remember to include the postal address where you want the map sent to).
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Wee Ginger Dug 
The Unionists can say the poll is an outlier or a rogue suggesting support for Scottish Independence is up, or any other descriptions or adjectives they care to come up with but anyone looking at any poll can also say 55% for Independence may just as well be an understatement of the facts and that the numbers are indeed much higher, the polls will only reflect those people polled, the real poll is the ballot box and if the Tories and their allies are so confident in their assessment there’s an easy way to test it isn’t there………..the longer they delay the worse it will get for them and they don’t know what to do except act tough and we’ve seen all that before
Unless they intend to employ the Labour MP Lisa Nandy option and I heavily doubt that’ll happen
Scotland is not Catalonia and the world won’t hide their eyes behind their hands post British Boris’s Brexit Bungle Banana Boat Republic
And this just in:
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/commons-speaker-goes-police-over-134027559.html
The Independent
Commons Speaker goes to police over claims of cocaine use at Westminster
Andrew Woodcock
Sun, 5 December 2021, 2:31 pm
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said he will call in police over “deeply concerning” allegations of drug use in the Palace of Westminster.
And in a warning to anyone bringing cocaine or other illegal substances into parliament, the Speaker said he was treating the matter as a priority and wanted to see “full and effective enforcement of the law” with serious sanctions for those flouting the rules.
Sir Lindsay’s move comes after the Sunday Times reported that an investigation found evidence of cocaine in 11 out of 12 locations tested in the building.
One senior MP said it was time to consider bringing in sniffer dogs to detect illicit substances.
[…]
Michael Gove’s snail trail will lead the dogs to the *powder room*
Hi Paul
Great and uplifting as always.
DO NOT PUSH YOURSELF.
We need you well and firing on all literary cylinders for the forthcoming referendum.
YOU come first!!!
Get well.
The Westminster Parliament with its carefully constructed veneer of democracy is designed to ensure the perpetuation of entitlement, privilege and inequality.
A classic giveaway for countries that are are not democratic is them calling themselves e.g. the ‘People’s Democratic Republic of…’ or that saying that they are the ‘cradle of democracy’ with the ‘mother of all parliaments’.
Suffice to say nobody in the world thinks Westminster is the ‘mother of all parliaments’ apart from the English Tories.
Everyone else knows England as the cocaine capital of Europe, with it’s parliament the cradle of snorting the white stuff, amongst other less salubrious attributes.
Cocaine use at Westminster to be raised with Met Police, Lindsay Hoyle says
THE Speaker of the House of Commons is to raise accounts of drug use in the Westminster Parliament with the Metropolitan Police.
Lindsay Hoyle, who has acted as Commons speaker since the 2019 General Election, told the BBC he would speak to the police about reports in the Sunday Times.
An investigation by the paper tested 12 men’s, women’s, mixed, and disabled toilets across the Parliamentary estate for traces of cocaine on a single day. All but one returned a positive test.
All 12 of the toilets in question were available only to people with a parliamentary pass.
Take care Paul.
Opps. Forgot link: https://archive.md/LUO3d
Beat you to it this time, SS! 🙂
(See above).
Makes mental note tae check page for latest comments before posting. 🙂
Aye, the “message of independence is a message of change and a message of hope” is an excellent synopsis of Scotland’s position but perversely the dream of large swathes southward.
Many in England are convinced only when Scots say “enough” and go their own way, the rest of England may be jolted from their delusions.
“England expects” has had a long pregnancy…
A whole empire couldn’t put up with them, did they learn? they’re incapable
Good article paul, the “corruption and sleaze” in British politics has become so endemic that it appears to have become the new normal and itis never a surprise when politicians are caught lining their pwn pockets and with their noses in the trough.
People just don’t seem to care enough to do anything about it and as for the mefis, they are absolutely hopeless and a good many are in the pockets of the polticians and political parties themselves.
What really gets me though is the myth that the media have pushed for years and is far too often said by the ordinary punter, it’s the lie that “they’re all the same” which really pisses me off. They clearly are not “all the same” the Tories are well out there in a league of their own when it comes to graft and corruption. I really do believe that a good few Tory voters are willing to dismiss underhand practices because if push came to shove they would do it themselves if it meant them being better off!
In Scotland though I’m so pleased that attitudes such as that are very much in a minority, there is only one way to clean up politics here and that is to support Independence.
” You know I don’t really have faith in politicians – this is quite a sleazy business . But there is no law which says all politicians will turn out to be scumbags ! ”
Quote from a fine upstanding Tory politicians – Zac Goldsmith . He certainly would not want to be associated with any sleazy goings on .
Like being rejected by his constituents as an MP and , before you could say ” Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park ! ” , he was in the House of Lords .
Or , like hosting his sleazy PM boss at his Mediterranean villa , free of charge !
It is just one poll. It might be an “outlier”.
The direction of travel, however, is ever upward to the “sunny uplands”, etc.
When I was young, every top Scottish team had at least one player who could be an international–Ayr had Cutty Young, Hibs had a great team (under Eddie Turnbull), Aberdeen etc.
And every political party had people of quality; people ANYONE could vote for. George Younger or Alic Buchanan-Smith in the Tory party, for example. The Liberals had a few worthies and the deck was stacked with “donkeys” for Labour.
Now there is not a Tory I could ever vote for. Labour are worse and the Lib Dems are but a shadow.
The SNP may be a disappointment, but they are only a route to a destination.
That is in Scotland. I gaze southwards and shudder.
That diminution of political quality across the spectrum of the Unionist opposition is well-observed. One can’t help but wonder what might pass through the mind of past luminaries such as the intellectual giant Grimond about his tailor-dummy successor (and his telephone kiosk party), or the decent Buchanan-Smith about multi-trougher DRoss, or the energetic Tom Johnson about the policy vacuum that is Sarwar Jr. I just shudder to think about it.
Until the recent past, most political hopefuls went south for advancement, and made their mark on the wider UK stage, which is why the present generation of SNP leadership from NS downwards stand head-and-shoulders above their opposition contemporaries, because their quality people mostly chose to remain at home, and cultivate eventual successors likewise. On the other hand, nobody with political ambitions sees any future in Brittle politics in Scotland, so the opposition decline continues inexorably towards irrelevance. Recognisable irrelevance. As a people, it’s high time we fully embraced this and put a communal end to their misery. Only as an independent sovereign country can we hope to see a renaissance of political life. To the benefit of everyone, actually.
You add though that the SNP “may be a disappointment”, which for a few may possibly be true, if only for their own narrow motives. But what do you expect? No political party is perfect, and never has been. Which is why these days I, for one, prefer to remain unaligned but willing to lend my positive support where I believe it will most likely bring about the restoration of the full sovereignty that I seek. And that is unquestionably the SNP, and likely to remain so.
“SNP may be a disappointment” only disappointment is a former leader stupidly saying that “the referendum could be once in a generation” in 2014. This now seems the get out phrase for Unionist parties to block the democratic will of the Scottish people. We might have to take our country back as the Independent Nation it has the right to be, how it happens I don’t know ?
Was it equally stupid for the current leader to say that, in her party’s view, “these kind of referendums are ‘once in a generation’ events”?
It’s not Alex Salmond’s fault the entire Tory apparatus and propaganda machine abused the comment out of context as excuse to stall getting slaughtered at the next Indyref.
“Once in a generation” is the rhetorical flourish of hundreds if not thousands of politicians throughout history.
Ironically, even after the propagandists began this wheeze, exactly the same comment was being made by politicians trying to sell their schtick at the GE of 2015, yet General Elections followed in rather quick succession.
So let’s get a bit of perspective here – If we are to point the finger of blame at any, let it be the media and propogandists so desperate to prevent their little empire with the London Mafia going down the stank.
Indyref2 is coming, don’t be distracted by it’s a party or a person thing, it’s a nation thing and we WILL have our say.
When anyone bring up that quote, bring up the vow.
I’m sure that Sarwar the Millionaire Sweay Shop Dentist will get to his feet next week and ask the FM to agree with him that there must be animmediate Public Enquiry into cocaine use in WM, and demand that the Linesman dross resigns from the Enlish Blue Tories indisgrace.
After all, Sarwar rhe FM in Waiting has made ‘contaminated water’ his cause celebre.
While I’m at it.
Dross the Linesman hasn’t attended WM for weeks, yet pockets the wages.
A question in The House on absentee MPs from the SNP would not go amiss.
4 Jobs Dross is and unprincipled as Cox, Paterson, Johnson, Rees Mogg, and the rest of the Troughers who treat the job of MP as a sideline.
It’s all too ridiculous for words.
Today the news was Omicron.
No boat people in La Manche; no sleaze; no Brexit shortages. Norn Irn Protocol, no HGV shortages…every crisis has magically disappeared or rather, Marr, robertson and the Media have shoved them down The Memory Hole, on instructions from their masters in the Iron Heel oligarchy.
Last year’s Christmas Party revelation is a gift from the devil for Johnson, who has once more disappeared from public.
All they want to talk about is Omicron, and the Deadly New Plague coming to our shores.
They’re clinging on like grim death until they can disappear from view for 3 weeks at Christmas.
There has never been corruption and tyranny in modern times.
It’s all too ridiculous for words.
Excellent Where We are Now piece, Paul Take it easy.
Jack, I hear you……like me and many others on here I think we are all past the point of……….???????
Keep on keeping on Jack……….
I once had an idea for introducing ‘Screaming rooms’ where you could go into a soundproof room and scream out all of your anger and frustration………I think Now is THE Time , as good a time as any, to consider pitching it to who ?…………The NHS…..nope directly to the Tories , as an individual from the PRIVATE sector…..rumour is if I donate to them first….I’ll get awarded millions in a government contract……………ps. or PPE(S) Will NOT tell them the REAL reason that I feel ‘Screaming rooms’ needed.
Have a nice evening
Alas, BoJo hasn’t disappeared from public view, he has been on the telly all day wearing a police uniform (isn’t that also illegal?) and presiding over a police drugs raid in Liverpool (where he isn’t in charge and isn’t an MP). Just to introduce some more distraction and show just how much of a “top dog” in Law enforcement he wants people to believe he is (and not merely a uniquely insouciant and irredeemable lawbreaker).
Whatever happens in Scotland after independence,as a matter of urgency,establishing a written constitution will be paramount.
The excuse of not binding one parliament with another’s decisions allows the government of the day free rein to do as it likes in Westminster.
The result is rampant corruption.
While I heartily agree with you that a written constitution is necessary, we cannot afford to stall independence until a suitable one is properly worked out. Which will take some time, since it needs to be properly worked out, and by experts in constitutional law who know what they are about, not eg. via some kind of online political wish list, because it has such fundamental importance for the proper working of the country thereafter, as I’m sure you appreciate.
By your later wording though I fear you may be in danger of misunderstanding the proper role of a constitution. (An unfortunate tendency which anyway seems too prevalent these days by those in support.) It is firmly not to constrain the actions of future governments except in the restrictive sense of preventing them from usurping citizens’ fundamental human rights. Since the future can’t be predicted, it is unwise to further constrain any other choices a legitimately-elected democratic government might need to take at some later date. Decisions on political matters should always rest in the hands of the people, where they rightly belong.
O/T :
Watched an entertaining Scottish Women’s Football match this afternoon from Firhill on the Alba channel – Cup Final of the Premier League Cup between two talented professional teams ( Glasgow City and Celtic ) .
Imagine my surprise when watching the Nine on BBC Scotland later in the evening that their coverage of ”Sporting News ” comprised the results of the games between Dundee Utd v Celtic , Livingstone v Hearts and the Women’s ENGLISH FA Cup Final ( Chelsea v Arsenal ) – but NO mention of the Scottish Women’s Cup Final !
I know that English football is heavily supported by Scottish licence-payers’ money – but what does it cost to do the minimum and report THE RESULT of a Scottish game on the , nominally , local broadcaster ?
Know your place , Scotland !
[…] Source […]
As a general thought on this topic and Scotland, I personally don’t ‘have faith’ in any politician, certainly not unquestioningly. My view on Sturgeon et al. is continuously updated every day. Same even for Bozo; if he suddenly turned around tomorrow and said ‘OK, fair enough on the S30, it’s a decision for Scots’ while suspicious, I’m still be open to raising my estimation of him.
I expect the SNP to deliver iref2 this term unless there is the most incredibly valid excuse not to. I can see why they stepped back last time (Scots sent them a clear polling / election message), but at the same time they cleverly progressed all the groundwork in the form of the referendum framework and franchise legislation. As a result, all that’s needed for iref2 this time is a 6 pager instead of the 154 page thesis for 2014*.
They have got 96% of the work done and passed into law without challenge. All that’s left really is the date based on the same, pre-approved question. And that, they’ve cleverly allowed for last minute changes to give them room for manoeuvre.
All this does not strike me as the actions of a party not really wanting indy. If that were the case, they’d have been better with another big PhD thesis which the lawyers could have a field day picking holes in, so ensuring no iref2 this term.
Also, the whole ‘SNP don’t want indy as they are power hungry and love the trappings of office’ is based on the ridiculous idea that an independent Scotland won’t bestow more powers on its parliamentarians and won’t pay them well either. In addition, it assumes Yes parties won’t ride the indy wave, dominating post-indy elections as has happened in countless other newly indy countries. This is just stupid. Give me some logical motives please, like Sturgeon secretly ticked the ‘British’ box in the census and is hoping for some ermine.
Anyway, if we don’t see Iref2 in the next few years even though the public are clearly ready, I certainly will be holding up my hands and considering my voting options. At the moment, that won’t include Alba for reasons I’ve explained a number of times. Maybe under new leadership and positive direction it could, but not for now.
However, I suspect that if Sturgeon was a secret unionist, it would be her own party that would move to take her down for there’s no doubt about what members and MSPs want, and that’s indy.
—
*
https://www.gov.scot/publications/draft-independence-referendum-bill/documents/
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2013/14/contents
Also, the whole ‘SNP don’t want indy as they are power hungry and love the trappings of office’ is based on the ridiculous idea that an independent Scotland won’t bestow more powers on its parliamentarians and won’t pay them well either. In addition, it assumes Yes parties won’t ride the indy wave, dominating post-indy elections as has happened in countless other newly indy countries.
I don’t think there is such an assumption. They may remain dominant after independence, but they also may not: see UKIP as a recent example of a party going down the pan immediately after achieving its main goal). Meanwhile, they’re dominant now with no credible replacement in sight for at least another parliament. For the SNP (and the Tories), the current formula seems to be a vote-printing machine. As we saw from the demographics of the referendum itself, those who feel they have a lot to lose personally tend to be most risk averse.
So I would expect there to be competing internal tensions about this. The SNP has supplanted Labour as the most attractive vehicle for anyone who fancies a well-paid, high-status career in politics and doesn’t have any particular ideological inclinations. To those people – especially those whose jobs are dependent on Westminster – rocking the boat now must seem idiotic. The SNP has gone beyond a “movement” – it’s now a business upon whom hundreds, maybe thousands of livelihoods directly or indirectly depend, and those in it who do feel sympathetic to the cause have to balance that when deciding whether to roll the dice.
However, I suspect that if Sturgeon was a secret unionist, it would be her own party that would move to take her down for there’s no doubt about what members and MSPs want, and that’s indy.
MSPs, at least, also want to stay employed, and the current leadership has proven to be very effective at making that happen. Getting rid of the most electorally popular leader for decades in favour of a more radical unknown quantity, in order to take *another* huge gamble on a referendum – well, you can see how all but the most selfless parliamentarian would have mixed feelings about that.
It’s not possible to do a short post on this and I’ll nest under my own post to trying and keep the size down…
I do see how some worry about this, but to me it makes no sense.
Firstly, the SNP and UKIP just cannot be compared. Alba are to the SNP Scotland’s attempt at UKIP to the British Tories. UKIP/Alba were both set up to pressure main parties rather than be serious contenders. UKIP were the ‘Tories are not doing enough for brexit – we are the real brexit supporters!’ party.
Having said that, the UKIP-Tory situation that developed is a great example of why the SNP need to deliver on iref2 just as the Tories needed to on Brexit. The Tory future was put in jeopardy by not backing brexit strongly; it was causing serious division and splinter parties. As a result, they had to deliver the referendum or lose power. When they did this, they soared in the polls and now dominate UK politics post Brexit as yet another example of this classic pattern. It was the same in Ireland with the Irish parliamentary party. They didn’t deliver ‘home rule’, so Sinn Fein ousted them, and it was Yes parties that have ruled Ireland ever since.
Coming to Yes politicians… For them to back the UK and Brexit, we must assume they’ve completely changed their national identity, which would be quite something. Am I really to believe Sturgeon is now British and supports Brexit? That Swinney would put an X next to ‘No’ in iref2? This seems hard to believe. It would be like my wife ceasing to see herself as French.
And are the Greens now anti-indy too? I mean what on earth are they doing working with the SNP on indy if the SNP aren’t really interested in it? If the SNP were not that interested in indy, the Greens could have used this against them in May and gained more votes. Or are the Greens also proudly British and pro-Tory brexit too? This seems farfetched.
Also, why did the SNP + Greens bother with the whole referendum framework and franchise legislation last term? Why make such a concerted effort to prepare for iref2? It’s not as if anyone but a few geeks like me have noticed that we have 96% of the indyref2 legislation in place without legal challenge. All that’s left is a date really, assuming the question used last time passes muster again. If you wanted a good excuse to delay iref2 and/or make it much easier to challenge, then you’d not have got 96% of the legalisation already in place for it, but you’d have left the whole thing to do this term, and put it all in a single bill like 2014, allowing for much more ease of legal challenge. Nope, only parties wanting indy would do what the SNP and Greens did here.
And what on earth was Sturgeon doing at COP26 fostering international relations? I’ve heard the anti-Sturgeon mob saying ‘She just want’s a cushy job at the EU/UN once her time as FM is over’. If so, she needs to secure indy for Scotland obviously! No EU/UN job for former leader of a ‘regional assembly’ of a non-EU country. If she wants the British trough, then she needs to head to Westminster; Salmond’s favoured haunt.
And why do unionists and associated media hate the SNP with a vengeance if they are no threat to the UK? If the SNP is stuffed full of Labour type troughers with no interest in indy, Sturgeon should be their new darling. She should be getting the full soft touch from Jackie Bird etc.
Also, with all the indyref papers they’ve been sending out? Again, why bother with such an effort? It’s not as if there’s an election any time soon. All those papers will do is hurt Sturgeon’s ratings and possibly damage the SNP’s chances ahead of the council elections. By putting indy firmly back on the table, Sturgeon has seriously hurt her personal ratings. When she talked just about covid and put off iref2, unionists loved her, the SNP VI increased in polls, and Sturgeon soared in ratings. Her and the party took a notable hit by committing to iref2 in this term and it cost them seats according to polling:
https://whatscotlandthinks.org/questions/do-you-think-nicola-sturgeon-is-doing-well-or-badly-as-first-minister/?groups%5B0%5D%5B0%5D=Very%2Bwell&groups%5B0%5D%5B1%5D=Fairly%2Bwell&groups%5B1%5D%5B2%5D=Fairly%2Bbadly&groups%5B1%5D%5B3%5D=Very%2Bbadly
20% knocked off Sturgeon’s sat ratings by her backing indy with the SNP taking a notable hit. They could have got 55% by sticking with devo.
Their future depends on indy because they can’t stop the march of the population towards support for that. It’s not driven by them, they’ve merely found a growing voter base looking for a pro-indy party to vote for, as have the greens.
If the SNP don’t deliver this term, they face severe decline without doubt; they will probably lose their majority next time to be at the mercy of a new pro-indy start-up or SNP faction that breaks away (which I’d support). At the same time, when indy came, as a party that didn’t push for it, they’d lose out to the Yessers that did.
I’m open to logical alternatives to all the above points, but so far nobody has every provided any to me.
I know that the main reason we are not independent Yes isn’t the SNP, it’s because it hasn’t become the settled will of the people yet. It looks like we may have crossed that threshold now, and in a couple of years a vote will be a forgone conclusion.
In the face of that, any party not backing it will be doomed to increasing irrelevance.
My thoughts anyway.
Firstly, the SNP and UKIP just cannot be compared. Alba are to the SNP Scotland’s attempt at UKIP to the British Tories. UKIP/Alba were both set up to pressure main parties rather than be serious contenders. UKIP were the ‘Tories are not doing enough for brexit – we are the real brexit supporters!’ party.
Isn’t that true of all nascent political parties? The SNP hasn’t been a contender for government during most of its existence.
But I take the point that, given their now-established status, independence isn’t going to do to the SNP what Brexit did to UKIP. It’s its total dominance which is at risk, not its very existence (not in the short-to-medium term, anyway).
Having said that, the UKIP-Tory situation that developed is a great example of why the SNP need to deliver on iref2 just as the Tories needed to on Brexit. The Tory future was put in jeopardy by not backing brexit strongly; it was causing serious division and splinter parties. As a result, they had to deliver the referendum or lose power. When they did this, they soared in the polls and now dominate UK politics post Brexit as yet another example of this classic pattern.
Delivering an independence referendum without an S30 is a much more fraught and uncertain route for Sturgeon than the EU referendum was for Cameron. That aside, I’m not sure your example even stands on its own merits: the Tories may have eventually benefited as a party from holding the referendum, but it destroyed the political career of the PM who actually called it. Didn’t do his successor much good, either.
It was the same in Ireland with the Irish parliamentary party. They didn’t deliver ‘home rule’, so Sinn Fein ousted them, and it was Yes parties that have ruled Ireland ever since.
There is no Sinn Fein here. The only electoral opposition on the Yes side polls around 1% and is probably about to be finished off in the local elections. Provided the SNP keeps at least nominally expressing pro-referendum sentiments, any major threat to them is a long way off.
Coming to Yes politicians… For them to back the UK and Brexit, we must assume they’ve completely changed their national identity, which would be quite something. Am I really to believe Sturgeon is now British and supports Brexit? That Swinney would put an X next to ‘No’ in iref2?
That’s a straw man. Of course if a referendum actually takes place, it’s in Swinney and Sturgeon’s interests for it to be a Yes rather than a No. My argument is that the very event of a referendum injects a massive dose of uncertainty into a comfortable status quo.
And are the Greens now anti-indy too? I mean what on earth are they doing working with the SNP on indy if the SNP aren’t really interested in it? If the SNP were not that interested in indy, the Greens could have used this against them in May and gained more votes. Or are the Greens also proudly British and pro-Tory brexit too?
Again, the argument isn’t that there’s been some big ideological change here: it’s that that ideology and self interest are in conflict. What makes you think the Greens would have gained votes by attacking the SNP from a pro-Yes angle? The party which did try that didn’t get anywhere.
Also, why did the SNP + Greens bother with the whole referendum framework and franchise legislation last term? Why make such a concerted effort to prepare for iref2? It’s not as if anyone but a few geeks like me have noticed that we have 96% of the indyref2 legislation in place without legal challenge.
I’m not sure how you can quantify legislation in this way. That aside, of course it’s a good sign that groundwork is being done. Put that in the pro column. It was good when New Labour introduced the minimum wage, but it didn’t mean much about the ultimate direction of travel.
And what on earth was Sturgeon doing at COP26 fostering international relations? I’ve heard the anti-Sturgeon mob saying ‘She just want’s a cushy job at the EU/UN once her time as FM is over’. If so, she needs to secure indy for Scotland obviously! No EU/UN job for former leader of a ‘regional assembly’ of a non-EU country.
Where is that written? The Deputy Secretary General of the UN is the former Nigerian environment minister. Is that a more illustrious position than FM of Scotland?
And why do unionists and associated media hate the SNP with a vengeance if they are no threat to the UK? If the SNP is stuffed full of Labour type troughers with no interest in indy, Sturgeon should be their new darling. She should be getting the full soft touch from Jackie Bird etc.
When an old system of political patronage is replaced by a new one, its beneficiaries aren’t going to be best pleased. I don’t see what that has to do with independence.
20% knocked off Sturgeon’s sat ratings by her backing indy with the SNP taking a notable hit. They could have got 55% by sticking with devo.
This is rather confused. You’re just after saying that the SNP have to hold a referendum this term or their support will plummet; now you say that when any evidence of such a referendum materialises they take an electoral hit?
If the SNP don’t deliver this term, they face severe decline without doubt; they will probably lose their majority next time to be at the mercy of a new pro-indy start-up or SNP faction that breaks away (which I’d support). At the same time, when indy came, as a party that didn’t push for it, they’d lose out to the Yessers that did.
Based on what? The polling evidence you’ve provided suggests the opposite, that they pay a price when they talk about independence. I suspect and fear that that’s correct, and that the SNP’s calculation is that broken promises on the constitution carry less of a hit – they do seem to have got away with “Scotland will not be dragged out of the EU”, after all.
O/T
The UK Government to reveal its latest plans to crackdown on drugs…meanwhile….an investigation has uncovered parliament itself appears to have a widespread problem with class A’s.
Yesterday , on Andrew Marr show, the so called Justice secretary one Dominic Raab declared this when asked if he would support an investigation that No 10 broke Covid Rules : :
“”The police don’t normally look back and investigate things that have taken place a year ago”
This morning on BBC Breakfast show Kit Malthouse the so called Crime and Policing minister stated re the No 10 Xmas party but NOT a Xmas party when asked if he would support an investigation that No 10 broke Covid Rules :
“I’ve been assured no rules were broken… I don’t even know if an event took place, but if it did no rules were broken”
Given the above two statements by Tories…..that we, here in Scotland, are currently living with on the same planet, we Scots are expected to believe that us Scots and others who live in Scotland are roughly undecided on independence and that percentage wise there is not much difference between support for the Union and support for Indy…..AND the above examples of Tory UK ministers are a mere TINY TINY TINY smitten of the cacophony of lies, mismanagement and general chaos that exists 100% BECAUSE of the UK and who, AS A GOVERNEMENT, the one dominant country within it’s borders has decided is best to govern it…….translated…..TO GET BREXIT DONE.
Now call me simple…..but the above statements from Raab and Malthouse is nothing more than their pure unadulterated trolling of the public……I mean I think the FM is entitled in subsequent FM’s questions when asked ANYTHING by DRoss to just say ” Sit doon you and shut it naebody wants to hear you”…..and you know with EVERYTHING that the Tories have done , are doing and will do in the future….the FM saying that will be the least shocking thing to ever happen in any political chamber within the UK past, present and just now……..and she should be applauded for it.
I am sick sick sick to death of Sarwar, Starmer, Murray, Nandy, Blair, Brown, Johnson, Dross, the Baroness, Bowie, Kerr, Cole-Hamilton, HOL’s, HOC’s, Tories, Lib Dems, Labour, DUP, BBC, GB News, Channel 4, ITV, celebrities voicing meaningless cliched platitudes towards us Scots to stay within THEIR (non) Union, so called political commentators, gutter press, Royal family…………sick of others within the Indy movement who seek to divide the YES movement to actually benefit the NO movement (Divide and conquer), the uber yoons who worship , for shallow reasons, the failed state of the UK and to be honest I do not care what they all say, what they all throw at us and what they all pretend to know what is best for us when really we all know tis best for THEM and THEM alone……as far as I am concerned if this here and now is their Union and is the best that they ALL have to offer us…. then a huge NO THANKS as it is not working for me or mine….so independence it is………now and always.
Is there any rational person living in Scotland who thinks this , since 2014, is their dream country to be a citizen of…….if they do then they either do not care or are ignorant of what is actually happening…….if they don’t think it is best for them and their families then the solution is obvious….independence…no if’s and no but’s…..very very much simples.
You know it would be easier to tap dance in treacle ……….than to live happily as a citizen of the UK.
Love it
O/T
Scotland leading the way on helping young refugees..
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/06/they-will-fight-for-you-how-scotlands-guardians-change-young-refugees-lives
“Is there any rational person living in Scotland who thinks this , since 2014, is their dream country to be a citizen of”
I think that perhaps many people are hanging on in there thinking that “the next lot won’t be as bad as this”
I’ve thought for a while that focussing on the johnson’s behaviour isn’t enough. Even if the entire ukgov was kicked out, it wouldn’t be enough. Not unless the union was dissolved and an enitrely new one put in its place. Along EU/EFTA lines with 4 equal countries, all with full autonomy and equal say on joint projects.
That won’t happen, of course. And even if it did and was signed and sealed on the global stage, there’s no saying they’d stick to it.
End even if this lot, or the next lot did, it could always happen again.
This may be worth emphasising. That the ‘next lot’ may be OK. They may be OK for ever after. But they still have the option NOT to be OK and there’s little and – if the current shower get their way – there may soon be nothing we can do to stop it.
To fully protect Scotland we need out.
Hi iusedtobeenglish re :
“I think that perhaps many people are hanging on in there thinking that “the next lot won’t be as bad as this”
You may be right some people may be deluded into thinking (forcing themselves to believe) the new UK bosses may not be as bad as the old bosses….but…….for those who support independence they are all one and the same…as in been there, done that etc etc……
I personally, like you, do not think the “problem” is solely down to Boris Johnson but tis the whole Tory party….they support him, justify his actions and vote with him on his policies so they are all to blame for Brexit and every other awful policy and bill they pass that undermines justice, democracy and decency that one should expect from a government that CARED about ALL of it’s citizens irrespective of their social class or country of birth.
It matters not a jot WHO leads the Tories at WM……the fact is they will continue what Johnson has started though they may, to the public, not be as obvious in their true intentions……and thus continue to gaslight the gullible who live among us while perhaps be more proficient, unlike Johnson, in hiding truths/intentions from the rest of us.
Labour or New New Labour under Starmer are just a tribute party to Blair’s ideas and warped vision of his UK as a alternate supposed acceptable version of the Tory party to the ***English electorate***……and to the disillusioned socialists in labour both here and elsewhere in the UK well they will just have to suck it up….. as what is emerging is a re-emergence of Blair’s New labour under the guise of Starmer’s New New Labour……same old same old….Labour an alternate Tory party disguised as a party that is to be seen as presented by them as somehow different….but only different in party name….and when needed, like say for the “Scottish problem” are there to do the Tories bidding.
BTW re ***English electorate I am saying this, as in order for any UK party to win in the UK, they must, by a majority , gain English seats predominantly to become next UK government….so not a slight on English people……as for them to win Scottish seats it is seen as predominantly a win for the Union not for any political party’s individual tally of seats.
Federalism is the last roll of the dice for Labour and is being used to halt support for independence….i.e. independence being seen as THE only real alternative for those of us who live in Scotland to escape this madness currently being played out via the UK …….and a madness that is shamefully represented, by the usual suspects, as being OK and NORMAL ??????
Anyway…..your points are well made and like other posts on here from other contributors, including the owner of this site, are some of the only things that gives me some of the hope I have to hold onto amidst all of the madness…..hope that there are those, like us, who will never ever give up hoping and believing independence will happen…..I mean it’s madness NOT to want Independence if you are “firing on all cylinders” so to speak…..to want the opposite well you must definitely, as an individual, NOT be “up to speed” on what is going down…..and I mean down…as in down in the UK under ALL Unionist parties……….
Have a nice evening
Honestly, I don’t think that “federalism”, in any shape or form, is at all in the mind of the UK Labour Party as a whole, let alone its current leadership. It’s not even in the mind of most of its Northern Twig-not-Branch members (of any inclination or none), and certainly not its current {ahem} “leadership”. At most it’s just a forlorn fig leaf used by a small coterie of political cowards to cover their own awkwardness, past failures and current denialism. They understand well enough the real situation with Scotland, but don’t possess sufficient moral fibre to break decisively with the past and think anew. Preferring instead to put their own party’s tribal interests before all else, and thereby only endangering its position further. That is their tragic paradox.
Self-rendered and very public futility.
Correct as usual grizebard…..I believe though some , in Labour , are now calling it RADICAL federalism ……as in Round and round the RADICAL road the RADICAL rascal(s) ran…….what can I say…the Union as is , is for some Unionists, apparently not fit for purpose so they turn to offering other things that have names but no real meaning or significance………..especially for Scotland.
Have a nice evening
{guffaw} Is “radical” the new “new”?
Just how far down the denialism road can these clowns go before they realise that the road ran out many kilometres beforehand? They may be fooling themselves, but nobody, bar nobody, else is in the least interested. What is needed now more than anything is a neat shot of realism and honesty. It might burn at first, but it would do them so much good. And spare the rest of us too.
Federalism would be great for England, but not for Scotland. Even if we were still in the EU, Scotland would need EU-type ‘one nation one vote’ status within the UK consistent with UN conventions on the equality of peoples / nations, no matter their population size. Otherwise, it would literally be reduced to the status of an English federal region.
Scotland has 9% of votes in Westminster. Having 9% of votes in a lower house and 1/11 senators while England keeps 82% and 8/11 would not meaningfully improve its status. To make Scotland and England equals, Scotland voting for something must be able to cancel England voting against, just as Denmark can do with Germany in the European council.
“literally be reduced to the status of an English federal region” is dead right. What an shrivelled ambition, and that’s among the very few who have ended up there. The rest of them aren’t even in the same universe, let alone the same book or the same page.
I think that second sentence of yours is particularly apposite, not least with regard to the very people we still need to convert to cross the winning line. And your follow-on about BoJo likewise. He is a good exemplar of how unprotected we are, but he can indeed be discounted as an exception by those inclined to seek excuses. Not least those Labour supporters who still hope, however futilely, to benefit from an eventual Buggins’ Turn. We really do need to find some way to disabuse them of any notion of rescue from that quarter, and convince them instead that there will still be a place for them in a new disposition. I suspect that many of them fear further loss of influence post-indy, and we need to persuade them that the far greater loss – possible descent into irrelevance, even – will come from desperately hanging on to a Union that everyone else is steadily giving up on. Labour can’t even commit to a reform of the WM electoral system, so what realistic hope of anything better even if – against all current odds – it does eventually prevail in England?
(Oh, and incidentally, your later comments remind me of the proposal for confederation which I submitted to the Smith Commission back then. I was by no means the only one either, trying in some way to genuinely respect the result of the referendum from both sides. And what a sour joke that turned out to be! Not least due to the abject failure of the Unionist “winners” to rise to the occasion. In any way. No, we need full autonomy over everything now, defence and foreign policy most definitely included. Afterwards I’m absolutely sure we will, as proper equals then, be able and ready to arrange mutually satisfactory co-operation with the rest of GB over a wide range of matters. The break might even just possibly help a little with Ireland. I wouldn’t make any such claim beforehand, though, because it would only create political hostages to fortune that would undoubtedly be cynically misused by our opponents.)
Firstly Paul, thank you for this piece and PLEASE take any time out that you need.
Your description of the various shades of Tory and the inbuilt lack of democracy in the British system of government is spot on. Independence is the only way to a better and democratic form of government, the focus of which is on Scotland and its people.
In this context I am just a tiny bit surprised that there are people who lay claim to desire Scottish independence but even on this site carefully sow seeds of doubt and suspicion as to the commitment of “Sturgeon” and the SNP. When I write “a tiny bit surprised” I probably come across as a bit naive.
In truth I’m not a bit naive, I just don’t want to come across as too strident. I don’t want to access and use my extensive vocabulary of swear words and insults in this comment because I don’t want to hurt the feelings of innocent people reading it who are not the target of my ire.
The British politicians and their media chums have long been exposed as a shower of shysters who, almost to a person, are in politics to feather their own nest. By contrast, Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP in government have, almost to a person, shown themselves to be people of principle working for the wellbeing of Scotland and its people. Sleekit attempts to tar both groups with the same brush are just part and parcel of the usual unionist approach of discounting any possibility that Scotland is served by politicians who are in any way less corrupt than their British counterparts – regardless of the years of evidence.
But I have no doubt that ever increasing numbers of Scottish people see the truth and that truth is going to be significant. It is going to give a majority of Scots the confidence to bring about Scotland’s independence, in the knowledge that politics can actually be done differently. That will be despite the sleekit efforts of people who want to undermine the trust that Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have worked diligently to build.
Ok, following the UK government ending free movement for British citizens, now we are seeing the early signs of passports being removed from people too, notably skilled professionals.
The UK is losing skilled workers at an economically unsustainable rate; something that always occurs when a government turns inwards and become dictatorial / authoritarian.
In response, like night follows day, the UK government are now looking for ways to stop people leaving. Taking away passports is an obvious one. Expect an increasing number of similar minor offences to be punishable by removal of the right to leave.
If the outflow cannot be stemmed, next up will be British passport holders requiring an exit visa to be able to leave the UK, and if you are on a skills shortage list, this will be refused.
I’d suggest that if you can get another passport, do it now.
https://archive.md/bSpps
Middle-class drug users could lose UK passports under Boris Johnson’s plans
Middle-class drug users are to be targeted as part of a 10-year strategy to be announced by Boris Johnson’s government with a heavy focus on war-on-drugs-era punishment.
Observe, learn, react.
Boris Johnson plan to let ministers throw out legal rulings will lead ‘to tyranny’ says Welsh MP
06 Dec 2021 2 minute Read
https://nation.cymru/news/boris-johnson-plan-to-let-ministers-throw-out-legal-rulings-will-lead-to-tyranny-says-welsh-mp/
A Welsh MP has said that Boris Johnson’s plan to allow ministers to throw out legal rulings they don’t like will lead to “tyranny”.
Boris Johnson wants to further curtail the power of the courts after legal clashes over the Brexit process, government sources have told the Times.
He has ordered Dominic Raab, the justice secretary, to curtail judges’ powers to rule on the legality of ministerial decisions.
But Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts said that the change would place the Prime Minister “above the law”.
“The law protects the powerless against the self-interest of the powerful,” the Plaid Cymru MP said.
“The Tory govt wants unfettered power. PM Johnson already acts as though above the law. But this isn’t sleaze: this is tyranny in the making.”
[…]
YES Welsh Sion…………..BREXIT for the Tories is all about THEM taking back control…control to destroy all opposition to their policies and suppress all dissent……..to do with what, when, how, where they like ……….clue Scotland bottom of their priorities……with only 6 Tory MP’s, a total that is likely to decrease even further, it’s just not worth their effort, time or money.
Gove is planning to address local councils in Scotland directly on funding in order for WM to bypass the Scottish government……….BREXIT taking back control NOPE tis TORY government taking back control of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE……you’ll have had your devolved powers Scotland and Wales…..now be prepared to LOSE them and for us the UK government to decide WHO and WHERE money will be spent…..to shore up support for us the Tories…..like say in DRoss’s constituency, Bowies’s constituency, Jack’s constituency etc. but the money Scottish constituency councils receive may come with some caveats and obvs will be a mere pittance as to who and where the vast amount of money is directed towards elsewhere…..
Money as in loose change compared to what Tory donors got via PPE contracts obvs.
South…East…England will get more than their fair share….as in a English region disproportionate unfair share compared to Scotland an actual COUNTRY…. with some meagre morsels doled out to other more Northerly English regions to keep them on side…….of both Brexit and the Tories.
Labour stooges like Kate Hoey, Gisela Stuart being an integral part of the infamous Brexit campaign where they were used as stooges representing the supposed opposition party….. und not forgetting the other , in name only, Labour MP’s like Ian Austin, John Mann, Frank Field and John Woodcock who did not all vote Brexit in referendum but willingly backed Johnson’s Brexit deal to once again help the Tories in THEIR time of need …….and they have ALL been rewarded with undeserved peerages and sit as UNELECTED BUREAUCRATS…..the absolute irony….see how it works in THEIR UK……NONE of them cared about the potential of both Wales and Scotland losing devolved powers or indeed the Good Friday agreement……..but the one good thing they did do was show Scots who Labour had as MP’s and THAT was very revealing……the other one and she WAS a Brexiteer namely one Caroline Flint lost her Labour seat and now works for …….GB NEWS…….oh my God…..will this never ever end ……………….though for Flint seems such a natural and fitting place for her to end up………
They are all pulling the wool over our eyes…..well not OUR eyes cause we on here can all see them for what they TRULY are……not so much wake up and smell the coffee Scots but wake up and smell the STENCH that they ALL ,as political Unionist parties, generate as part of the Unionist establishment…………..aka UK ……outwith N Ireland can also be known as Great Britain….Great…there’s another irony.
In a previous comment I said “Tap dance in treacle”……perhaps BREAK dancing in it is more apt……just like the inevitable BREAK up of THEIR UK…….
ps. I think I am 99.9% sure I will , as a form of dress, need to be wearing a straight jacket to restrain me from tearing out my hair at the lack of action/anger from fellow citizens in Scotland…..in some countries our size……millions, not thousands, would be out on the streets in protest at the sheer sh*tness currently going down via ALL ALL ALL ALL of the UK Unionist parties but currently directed at Tories especially………..is it too late to chain myself to some railings…..say the Scottish office ones…..Scottish office….another irony…….so many ironies but not enough for some Scottish people to see Independence as a PRESSING need that we need to support NOW….IRON that one out….cause I can’t…..is that ironic ?
The folk waiting and hoping for the Westminster government to either change or be voted out of office for a Labour government or a better Tory government are pinning their hopes on the electorate of England deciding to reconsider their own decisions and think about the other three nations situation, why on earth would they do that and how on earth could they do that
England has no alternative to what they now have as a governmental system so why or how would they change that given that the entire nation of England believes they are entitled to be in charge of other countries, it’s their birthright or so they have been indoctrinated to think so, Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland are nuisance provinces or territories to them that they maintain financially for the sake of maintaining *Britishness*
It matters not a jot to the electorate of England in any general election what happens to or about the electorate of the other three nations, they consider themselves and England first as does any normal country, and that’s the problem, you can’t tell most English voters that the UK is not a country, because they believe it is, so waiting for those folks to do something is an already defeatist argument
Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland are governed by whatever the English electorate vote for because they outnumber the rest of us by ten to one, plus have been *educated* to understand that that is the only system there is so what’s the problem with the rest of we moaning Jocks Taffies and Paddies ?
Pose any questions of democracy to the average English voter and the misinformed answer you will always receive is “But you have your own Parliament”? followed by a puzzled expression because they have zero understanding of the devolution settlement or how it works or how the finances are arranged
The UK is run on the basis of weight of numbers equals English sovereignty and they know no different because it works for them, would England accept the same system if any of the other countries had been *allowed* to grow and became the government of the UK by the same system?
Of course they damn well wouldn’t
Of course not. Funnily enough, if English people were truly apprised of the situation that Scotland is in, I think many would be rightfully appalled on our behalf! How many of them would be at all comfortable with the notion that they are our jailers? Currently most of them, if they consider us at all, just think of Scotland as sort of “tacked-on” and doing its own thing, like India or whatever used to be. Deep ignorance is the problem down there, partly due to their notorious insular self-regard and partly due to deliberate misinformation from all the usual suspects.
No, the real problem resides with US. If there had ever been a clear and obvious wish for independence here at home, we would be independent already. It’s this damnable “will we, won’t we?” that is the real stumbling block, both for ourselves and for everyone looking on. It’s a frustrating situation, this glacially-evolving self-realisation. (Hindered as it also is by a plurality of one-sided media propaganda.) To make progress we have to somehow disabuse the mentally-instutionalised among us, who still somehow need England to take care of us, that it won’t. And actually never has. For exactly the democratic realities you mention. What we need more than anything now is effective means to blow away these clinging cobwebs of self-delusion.
With a complicit news media both in England and Scotland the importance of pro independence blogs supportive of the Scottish Government continues to be important.
Attacking the unionist lies and deception is difficult with only 1 pro independence paper and all other news media outlets being Brexit unionist.
Part of the answer is to be prepared to ask awkward questions in public of unthinking supporters of the supposed “status quo”, for example with the recent carbon capture announcement: “Scotland had a “shovel-ready” carbon capture plan for Peterhead set up ages ago which was ignored by London in favour of two for England alone – do you think that’s fair?”
One possible way to break the media freezeout that we haven’t fully developed yet, it seems to me, and yet surely ought, is to have our own electronic billboards set up in strategic locations or on the side of moving vehicles. Infrastructure like this should be up and running well before a campaign is launched, to pre-establish suitable framing on critical issues.
(Maybe of course it is already in planning, and just awaits a time when people will be more receptive to it, like next spring, for example.)
You could also mention the Longannet CCS scheme which preceded the plans for Peterhead. A successful pilot scheme had been completed at Longannet and they were ready for a full scale conversion but the UK Gov – GB as PM – would not release the money then the Tory Gov pulled the plug.
If it had gone ahead Longannet and its jobs would still be functioning
Another day, another UK step on the road to fascism / authoritarianism.
https://archive.md/BlRPL
Boris Johnson ‘mirroring tin-pot dictators’ with plot to rip up court rulings
BORIS Johnson is acting like a “tin-pot dictator” with his plans to allow ministers to rip up judicial rulings which they do not agree with, the SNP have said in a fierce attack on the Prime Minister.
The UK is ticking every box here. No Section 30 and No 10 taking control of the EC takes us into fraudulent elections, i.e. where democratic results are overturned / results manipulated. If we can’t freely vote for indy anymore, don’t be angry, be scared, for the path the UK is a dark one.
Sorry about the huge image. I forget it embeds at near full size.
From our old friend David Torrance of the HoC Library these days:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/a-century-since-the-anglo-irish-treaty/
He’s had his weetabix!
It is a stretch to describe David Torrance as the ‘author of this cut an pastry compilation of abstracts.
It may be argued that it has been ‘published’ now, as we approach IR2, to resurrect Torrance’s ‘Ulsterisation’ of Scottish politics nonsense, to frighten the peasants into believing that, in the event of the expected YES outcome this time, Scotland would be a country divided, and Civil War break out, as the Loyal Sons of William and 15,000 RFC hooligans take to the streets again, just wot they did, unchecked, when Gerrard’s The Queen’s Eleven, rampaged through the streets of Glasgow in the Spring, all powerful, unstoppable, and destroyed everything in their path as they stormed George Square, and terrified the good citizens of Glasgow.
It was a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the implied carnage contained in the Jock Brits message that IR2 and the Independence movement is ‘divisive’, and over 50% of us as vile ‘seperatists’ who won’t rest until we have plunged Scotland into bloody civil war.
The ballot box AND the Armalite?
Johnson was all over the news yesterday, the Secret Policeman’s Other Bollox ,his fat frame bursting out of his Panto Police riot gear, as Merseyside Police, followed by gangs of snappers, TV camera crews and obedient hacks, recorded England’s Brave PM ‘taking back control of our laws’ on the Front Line.
Nobody mentioned the cut of 20,000 Police since the Cameron Clegg, May, Johnson, Blue Tory regime plunged England into a downwards spiral of deprivation and social collapse.
Brexit, the free fall of England’s economy, and its diminishing status in the world, make way for show piece CrimeBusting stunts like this farce.
And it will keep the lilac rinse brigades of the Home Counties and Middle England happy.
Bang them up and throw away the key.
Take their passports away from them?
My many posts referring to England’s Iron Heel Oligarchy seem less frantic and paranoid now, even to this scribbler, who is not averse to mock indignant hyperbole on occasion.
They will take your driving licence away for smoking blaw.
Why not shoplifting too? Why not illegally gathering in groups of more than 3?
It has started.
The Jack as England’s swastika.
Did Torrance blot his copybook at the Herald?
He is working in the basement in the HoC library, and suddenly he is re-emerging from the stoor covered library shelves? Did he get time off for good behaviour?
The WM Brits have managed to make it until the Christmas Break without Brexit exploding in their faces.
Covid has been a gift from their Master Beelzebub.
‘Illegal immigrants’ drowning in La Manche didn’t hurt either.
In January, the fight continues in earnest.
We are already a sovereign nation.
Time to kick out our English Masters.
“And it will keep the lilac rinse brigades of the Home Counties and Middle England happy”.
Blue rinses too Jack…don’t forget the BLUE rinses…..
“Panto Police”….Lol………….
Yes he does like to dress up….and then dress down as PM…..
“England’s Brave PM ‘taking back CONTROL of our LAWS’ on the Front LINE”.
Meanwhile …also as PM ….he constantly loses CONTROL , rides roughshod over the LAW and is usually at the back of the LINE when questions need answered……….
So…….
1.He loses control over most things he instigates, tries to implement and then epically fails.
2.He likes to make the rules but not follow them….in a ‘rules are for YOU not I’ kinda way .
3.He is never available when the going gets tough….which with his record….is constantly.
Yet we live among those who STILL :
Vote for his party.
Think he’s a lovable rogue.
Think he is doing his best ( actually he is….but HIS best would be, for others, THEIR worst).
Believe he HAS got Brexit done ( where in reality what he has actually DONE (in) is HIS country and the other countries who also have the misfortune to be chained to his country).
Think that he is clever (more like clever as in him trying to be too clever which will inevitably be his downfall)………
But Jack McConnell is apparently worried about the state of devolution in Scotland…….as in worried not really worried ….but REALLY worried more about the state of the Union in HIS UK….and also more worried about Scotland perhaps starting to wake up to people like him, his party and all of the rest………and Scots now thinking you know perhaps independence will be better than this…..no perhaps about it………..an eternity comparing and testing the quality/difference between Norwegian and Scottish oil in the fires of Hell wearing a rubber suit ,fitted for someone two sizes smaller than you, would be better than this…….
BTW Paul that was a cracking article you wrote on McConnell in The National today….sublime.
“It may be argued that it has been ‘published’ now, as we approach IR2, to resurrect Torrance’s ‘Ulsterisation’ of Scottish politics nonsense …”
Possibly Jack. It is the anniversary, but also the NornIrn Protocol is still under discussion, put off basically I think until the new year which is a good idea.
So it informs that a bit, but also might be there for anyone in the EU or Ireland to have a look at. There’s often a thin line between “information” and “Propaganda”.
It’s been suggested that the UK is planning to publish an “Official History of the Troubles”. With Torrance as the author?, or Ruth Dudley Edwards instead?
Reading Torrance’s antiseptic and quite frankly insulting summary of Irish history, 100 years of bloody battles, as Imperial England did as it always does, splits the indigenous population into warring factions, then stands back as the natives pick each other off, (Palestine, Cyprus, India/Pakistan et al.,) I remembered an incident, a personal memory from the euphemistically described ‘Troubles’, the period between 1969 and the late ’90s.
My Everlovin’ was driving us along the Westlink in Belfast, and I was her lovestruck passenger.
It was, oh, the early nineties, and I was still a jittery ‘tourist’, in awe of the heavy military presence, while marvelling at brave shoppers doggedly carrying on as usual in the rubble strewn City Centre, seemingly oblivious to the burnt out cars and buses.
A convoy of RUC heavily fortified Land Rovers and Brit Army Saracens overtook us, and, idiot that I was, I pointed at the receding convoy in innocent wonder.
A young lad in uniform who was riding ‘shotgun’, the speeding convoy’s Tail end Charlie, trained his rifle at me, and The Love Of My Life shrieked at me to stop pointing my finger at the poor lad.
My finger could have been mistaken for a weapon she explained, and the lad may have been raw and spooked enough enough to shoot first and ask questions later,
Torrance would be their Go To Man to concoct a Brit Unionist version of ‘the Troubles’, that’s for sure.
En passant, I note that 4 jobs Dross was at the WM Scottish Affairs Committee meeting on Monday, feeding Jack and the unelected Cash Lard Offal with Cambo oil questions, and yet today he is in Holyrood today politicising Covid deaths.
I muse: who was doing his ‘Scottish” job yesterday, and conversely, who was doing his ‘English’ job when he was in Edinburgh today?
He cannot be in two places at the same time.
He collected a day’s wages for both jobs, yet, he clearly cannot be functioning as MP and MSP simultaneously?
Why do we let these Money Grubbers treat us like powerless mugs?
I just skimmed it, so will have to have a proper read, and the links. Busy at the moment doing one of those jobs any excuse is a good one to avoid. Nearly done though.
Got the link to it from Aileen McHarg’s twitter; she made some corrections to a previous article by him about Scotland’s legal position.
OT, but nice to see Scots enjoyed and celebrated in other countries where it is also a native language. My Irish gran was a speaker from Donegal. She was of course an ‘Orange’ (protestant) republican.
If only the Brits could do this when it comes to minority peoples / languages in the UK, the union might not be in such trouble.
https://www.donegaldaily.com/2021/12/06/donegal-man-wins-inaugural-ulster-scots-writing-competition/
DONEGAL MAN WINS INAUGURAL ULSTER-SCOTS WRITING COMPETITION
A man from east Donegal has expressed his ‘delight’ at emerging top in an inaugural Ulster-Scots writing competition, organised by the Linenhall Library in Belfast and the Ulster-Scots Agency (USA).
Journalist and poet Alan Millar, who is originally from St Johnston but is now based in North Antrim, scooped first prize in the prose category for his story ‘Sam an Jeck speel Parnassus tae see Rabbie Burns’.
The tricolour is of course, green, white, and orange, SS.
Not a lot of people know that.
The country of England who gave us 27 borders with Europe and a wee extra one in the middle of the Irish sea is complaining that not enough Scottish people are up in arms with the SNP Scottish government about Englands threat to impose yet another border on Scotland
Those terrible people in the SNP should be warning us all that considering Independence as the way forward for Scotland might incur the wrath of the government in Englands desire to express even more xenophobia than it already does
England is threatening Scotland and it’s the fault of the SNP for refusing to pass that fear on to the nation they say
Remember that TV programme ‘Kids say the funniest things’
Well funnily enough so do Tory Justice secretaries ……
“”The police don’t normally look back and investigate things that have taken place a year ago”
Difference is though kids say funny things because they are INNOCENT …….
However to be fair to Dominic Raab he was talking specifically about the Met police…..but forgot to add that they, the Met police, also do NOT apparently look to investigate current “THINGS” as well especially if it involves Tory party…….courtesy of DAME Cressida Dick.
I mentioned this quote in a previous comment I made yesterday but I am still so astounded by the sheer idiocy of it that thought it worth mentioning again…..how many Tory MP’s are in the HOC’s again ? I ask because if Raab is considered to be one worthy of a ministerial post then what does say about other Tory MP’s who were NOT chosen………..did Boris Johnson pick names out of a hat when he picked his cabinet…..perhaps out of DUMBledore’s hat …….
I know the Tories are not actually levelling up ..that’s for sure….. but they are certainly dumbing down on who is picked as a cabinet minister…….courtesy of a so called PM who obviously chose to pick the WORST out of a BAD bunch………where there was obviously no best on offer……….as if a Tory could be within any category considered as being ‘The best of’…….not in this Universe anyway…..
Cressida Dick, what other country would give the top job and a Dame-hood to someone who was in charge of the Jean Charles de Menezes assassination, it pretty much sums up the corruption of in the English capitol, ‘Oh! you shot an innocent person, it’s mistake we all could make, we must reward you for the anguish you have suffered’.
Unless of course this was part of their future crimes detection system and they saved us from some heinous crime he would perpetrate at an unknown date.
“”The police don’t normally look back and investigate things that have taken place a year ago”
The UK is fairly unique in having no Statute of Limitations (such as they have in the USA) except in certain specific cases so has someone introduced a new ‘Statute of Limitations’ without telling us? Just think what a wonderful time we could have, breaking the law all over the place, lying low for a year, then thumbing our noses at the police. Or …. does it only apply to those and such as those?
I may be wrong here but did Cressida Dick not make the same outlandish comment ?
Unless you catch criminals in the act, all detective work and prosecution is retrospective, but bear in mind Dominic Rabb’s grasp on history is probably as bad as his geography when the importance of the English Channel was pointed out to his considerable and theatrical surprise..
Judging by the latest revelations, Raab doesn’t have much of a grasp of anything he’s put in charge of. I suspect he’s only kept on because by comparison it makes his boss seem relatively competent.
Gotcha – for Bob Lamont (sorry it’s BBC):
_________
Covid: Met reviews Labour MPs’ complaint over No 10 party claims
[…]
In a statement, the UK’s largest police force said it was “aware of widespread reporting” of “alleged breaches of the Health Protection Regulations” at a government building on two dates in November and December.
The Met added it was the force’s “policy not to routinely investigate retrospective breaches” of Covid laws but said it would “consider” the letters it had received.
[…]
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59532066
Cheers
I see the juveniles want to “have a go” after 4pm at the school gates. Sorry, why would we wish to promote your ego’s.
Still, try getting elected next then we can talk as to your failure to convince the Scottish public.
What’s the prediction 1% _ double it to 2%?
lol 🏴
Whether you like it or not ( and they don’t- like the unionists) the only way forward is supporting the 2023 referendum plan.
Ignore and don’t read it Hamish, it’s just another bunch like the closed down bunch, they’ve been found out by the electorate and bad behaviour’s all they have to offer
🏴🖖
It’s sad. I’ve never seen anything quite like that, and I started my posting on disn and dha for a demonic TAM, and 1p a minute phone number.
Not that it’s really anyone’s business unless they are voter in Scotland, but…
https://web.archive.org/web/20211207150108/https://www.thenational.scot/news/19767727.poll-shows-backing-second-scottish-independence-referendum-uk/
Poll shows backing for a second Scottish independence referendum in UK
A MAJORITY of voters across the UK expressing a view support an independence referendum being held within the current term of the Scottish Parliament, according to a new poll.
The Savanta ComRes poll found that 37% of people in the UK support Scotland holding a referendum before 2024, with 31% opposed. That equates to 54% against 46% on a binary basis.
[This comment has been edited to remove the unwarranted casting of generalised and unsubstantiated aspersions that have no place here. Further persistent attempts to do so will have consequences.]
I apologise for my rule breach.
However, in my defense, I note the first minister has already called the views of the 30% ‘Anti-democratic and unthinkable’ because that’s true. I was a bit more forthright with my description, and accept a rap on the knuckles for that.
Maybe people didn’t notice, but the English/rUK electorate were not asked if they supported / opposed iref2, but this (see tweet small print):
To what extent do you support or oppose Scotland being allowed to hold a second independence referendum before 2024?
The English electorate were asked if we Scots should be allowed our referendum by them/their English government, and 30% said no. I agree with Sturgeon / the SNP that such views are wholly undemocratic, show support for Scotland being ruled as an English ‘tin pot dictatorship’, with consequences which are ‘unthinkable’.
I didn’t put words in anyone’s mouths; the 30% gave a clear answer to a clear question. They said their government should take my vote away. But maybe that was not clear from the poll headlines, which did not present things well.
Of course 30% are greatly outnumbered by those across the border that respect Scottish people / Scotland, including those ‘DKs’, many of whom were likely trying to say ‘This isn’t a matter for England at all!’ but didn’t find that option available as an answer.
Unfortunately, the 29.4% (of the electorate) put the English Trump in power under FPTP. They are his ‘base’ and it’s who he’s listening too. If he listens to them on iref2, dark days are ahead.
I hope this clarifies, and sorry again.
I see that another blog is now apparently entirely obsessed with the occasional passing remark about them on here. Well, unlike those few hard-beset souls, we do have many other more pertinent and interesting matters with which to usefully occupy ourselves, and I suggest that’s by far the better place to be.
Kind of an end of an era really. Remember driving around Scotland and there you go, Rapier a few yards off the road, or on top of a hill, or anywhere basically? Hasn’t happened so much these last few years, but also the Nederlands Army don’t seem to exercise here either.
Anyways, that’s Rapier (air defence) on its way out, and the first delivery of Sea Sabre to the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Range up to 75 miles, capable of intercepting one of Andy Murray’s tennis balls hit at the speed of sound. Otherwise known as CAMM. No idea of unit costs of a missile, 8 missiles on a launcher. I’d guess something over a million! It could potentially make air defence cheaper for Scotland though, seems to me.
Even that, your fave topic! {laugh}
(Haven’t ever seen hilltops bristling with Rapiers myself, mind you. Probably don’t get around enough. I just hope though the entire breed of them can dodge all those pesky windmills!)
Note to Unionists in Scotland and people in general of England:
Scotland like Wales is not never was and never can be devolved countries, the limited powers exercised by the parliaments in both countries are devolved from the parliament in Westminster to Scotland and Wales Parliaments who do not have full fiscal control over their own taxation which is in the total governance control of Westminster
“Having power transferred or delegated” is the definition of the word devolution
You can’t transfer or delegate a person or country down from being a person or country much though most Unionists or Tories might enjoy that notion
With the poll showing plus 57% for SNP & Greens I wonder if this second poll in 2 weeks will gather a response from the BBC other than censor it’s findings?
Does NUJ and other TU’s not have a view on the biased reporting?
Overwhelming response from the media in Scotland has been beep…..beep…..beep…..beep….beep….beep buzzzzzzzzzzz pft
Just saw this tweet :
“Remember how some parties claimed the SQA appeals process would see massive numbers of awards being downgraded and pupils’ being disadvantaged?
Turns out the number of downgrades was just 13.
Not 13%.
13. In total.
Oh, and 44 went up”.
So see when an opposition Unionist politician goes on TV and states Education is terrible in Scotland and the SNP are failing Scottish children………they should be made to back up their claims with checkable facts and figures…….plus comparison should be made with all other countries within the UK…….that way they don’t just get to make sweeping statements with no substance to reinforce or prove their allegations or without comparison to the other countries performance(s) within their UK….mind you there are sources and then there are sources for information/facts/figures….. and minor but really not minor details can be omitted when sources are sought that are credible sources……….it’s uncannily like when Reporting Scotland used to say “some critics” which could mean ANYONE even sacre bleu opposition politicians………and in many a case it WAS opposition politicians…….and those others OPPOSED to the Scottish government….just as they find some opposed to the Scottish government…I am sure if they tried harder they could also find those who were in favour of what the Scottish government were doing…..and why too.
I mean I could go on telly and say a lot of things about the Tories/Labour/Lib Dems…….with no data to verify if what I was stating was accurate…..but I bet I would be asked by journalist how I formed that opinion…as in based on what ?….but I bet the public wouldn’t need the data to back up what I was saying ….in fact many of them would be of the SAME opinion as me………….
It’s like the random passer by being stopped by a journalist in the street and asked , when unprepared, their opinion on some political matter, and the person interviewed making some sweeping statement with no evidence to substantiate what they have said or indeed no semblance of reality or truth in their ‘opinion’………same goes for BBC QT & Debate Night audiences…….they make a comment but to the viewer at home they are left clueless as to how they, the audience member, came to this conclusion/opinion other than it being what THEY, the audience member, believes (wants to believe) to be true……why ?……..why indeed……..well they are either supporters of an opposition party thus are stirring the political pot, they are just (politically) ignorant or based on their demeanour, tone and the content of their statement they obviously read newspapers such as the Sun, Torygraph or the Daily Express and saw it in there and thus quote verbatim some headline they read etc etc
See I am no journalist..as if… BUT if you KNOW what you are going to ask an interviewee prior to the interview , especially a politician…..and you are supposed to be a professional then is it too much to ask YOU as a journalist to have notes on the questions of the subject you intend to ask about ….just so that you can refer to these notes so that YOU can quote the figures/facts back to the interviewee should they make random sweeping assertions which are CLEARLY politically motivated to attack their opponents and also gaslight the viewers……also why is there never the killer follow up question ……but instead a ask once and move on line of questioning….I mean I could do what they do for less money and with less training …………training….as what ?…professional one question askers on each subject ????…that’s called reading !!!
Just another wee moan… but the above tweet is not unique as an example…..our NHS is also targeted as failing and the worse in UK when the opposite has been the case……once again with sweeping statements and skewed presentation of dubious information based on some partisan Think Tank’s findings or other partners in slime….while the rest of the UK’s Health services are never mentioned in relation to how they perform against Scotland’s…….
I do know why the spotlight is ALWAYS on Scotland and how WE perform as opposed to say Wales, Northern Ireland or even God forbid ENGLAND …it’s independence….they need to try and pretend that the SNP as Scottish government cannot control or perform as a government with devolved powers and thus in doing this they are trying to highlight their (non) fact of how then can they , i.e. the Scottish government, perform and control an independent Scotland….of course in THEIR equation they miss out the fact that the Scottish government does NOT have full financial control or powers just now………….. like say……..other independent countries have….by coincidence neither do the journalists either…… as if a Journalist with a yoon mentality would ever highlight what to the public seems like an obvious missing link in the Unionists equation on EVERYTHING related to Scotland and the state it is in…..the state being the UK one….and what a state it’s in.
Seems to me you have more of an inherent sense of what journalism should be about than the so-called “professionals” we here have to endure, who appear to regard themselves as nothing more than a “B team” for the political opposition rather than an honest purveyor of well-informed facts.
The use of “vox pops” are a particular concern, because one or two selected uninformed opinions signify absolutely nothing, and can so very readily be subverted by editors to promote a hidden agenda. They ought to be declared an anathema by any self-respecting news source.
It seems the tipping point with the Public has been reached for many.
They just do not believe Westminster. They can see Scotland can govern itself warts and all but they are our mistakes and achievements. For the latter even more progress is held back due to the unionists controlling the media and Westminster. For the media read the established media.
Our young people go elsewhere for information, they saw the demonising of the Europeans when they only saw good things travelling abroad. The loud brexiters like Farage are a turn off to a “social Democratic “ leaning Scotland. Johnson and his crooks are seen to laugh at the public by having Xmas parties while they suffered. England has chosen its bed.
Scotland has the opportunity to move on.
“Johnson and his crooks are seen to laugh at the public by having Xmas parties while they suffered.
Loosely related to the parties. Did anyone catch the Ben Jennings cartoon in the grauniad?
Our revered PM in an ill-fitting Santa suit, bottle of Bozzinger Brute in 1 hand, karaoke mike in the other singing:
“Last Christmas
I partied real hard
And the very next day
Your mum passed away…”
Viciously accurate and I wish I was on twitter just so that I could re-tweet it.
The thing about music is that it often sticks in the mind better than words. I’ll never ever hear that song again without hearing the above.
A jingle may be worth a thousand words… 🙂
Here’s a more cheerful, festive one for you, then, iusedtobeenglish.
(We can live in hope for the Herald to see sense – but peace and goodwill to all at this time.)
3. (of 21.) Hark! the Herald journos sing
Hark! the Herald journos sing:
“Scottish Indy’s just the thing!”
Joy at home and mercy mild;
No and Yessers reconciled.
Joyful let our nation rise;
Join the triumph of the ‘Ayes’.
With th’angelic host proclaim:
“Scotland’s re-born to much acclaim.”
Hark! the Herald journos sing:
“Scottish Indy’s just the thing!”
_________
[With acknowledgements]
Songs for the New Politics
2013-2021
………………………………………………………..
This one may be more realistic, however:
21. (of 21.) Hark! the Herald journos spin
Hark! the Herald journos spin,
“Let our new-born stories ring!
Lies we write for all our readers,
Yoon HQ – our loyal feeders.”
Joyful, let us spout our lies,
“Nats are bad!”, (that’s no surprise).
Let’s proclaim with fellow yoonies,
“SNP – a bunch of loonies.”
Hark! the Herald journos spin:
“Let our new-born stories ring!”
___________
[With acknowledgements]
Songs for the New Politics
2013-2021
A nice wee song from a new musical, songs called ‘ Mother Scotland ‘
Hope it links ok.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/215556435841901/permalink/1006381790092691/
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19768681.home-office-dismisses-douglas-rosss-bid-approve-scottish-drug-consumption-pilot/?ref=ebln
(sorry it won’t archive)
Further evidence that Tory MPs are irrelevant from The National:
https://www.thenational.scot/news/19768567.scottish-tory-mps-not-engage-uk-carbon-capture-funding/?ref=ebln
This is a bit of grandstanding by him to garner some good headlines. If not then he will vote against the current NHS bill (it’s for England but he still has a vote at the third reading) which has been described as:
‘But this bill goes far further – even, according to the lawyer Peter Roderick and public health doctor Allyson Pollock, removing the current legal duty to arrange the hospital care people need, from surgery and consultant care to physiotherapy.’
So it would seem he wants a legal duty to be imposed in Scotland at the same time his party wants to remove the legal duty in England.
He seems to don a different hat depending on where he is, and receives no scrutiny on his hypocrisy from the Scottish media. We expect this from BBC Scotland as it is in effect set up as a regional broadcaster, with a remit to be parochial, but the rest you would think would have more ambition.
Funding is also an issue, a financial obligation laid at the SG’s doorstep if his bill is passed without any additional funding from the UK gov.
I don’t think Dross has the brains to come up with this quite Machiavellian type of manoeuvre all by himself.
Yes indeed. I posted a link to a Free Press article on Douglas Ross: Britannia’s Snake-Oil Salesman a while ago. It shows how slippery DRoss is. He hardly ever rebels, he wants Gypsies hounded and votes against equal rights, climate change action and remaining in the EU.
https://the-free-press.co.uk/2021/02/22/douglas-ross-britannias-snake-oil-salesman/
A little more for you:
https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25531/douglas_ross/moray/votes#home
Useful – thx
One in there for you 🙂
“Generally voted against transferring more powers to the Senedd/Welsh ParliamentShow votes
3 votes for, 11 votes against, between 2017–2020. Comparable Conservative MPs generally voted against (14 votes, between 2017–2020).”
“This is a bit of grandstanding by him to garner some good headlines”
Spot on. As that is part of his remit…..he is permitted by HQ to exclude himself from votes in HOC’s on bills that would be considered contemptible in Scotland, while his other colleagues aka Scottish Tories side with the government……while also supposedly being seen as one who raises issues concerning Scotland with the UK government but DOES he ?….or is he allowed to, via necessity, to claim he has discussed/raised issues with them in order for him to look good in the eyes of the Scottish public….if so then how come he always comes back with a NO answer…..that does not look good…and even when he sees it (not really though he’s lying) important enough to raise with UK Govt. and then is apparently knocked back time and time again (also a lie as doubtful he raised it but he is allowed to play pretend)…….but if we too play pretend….why then, if knocked back by HQ, does he time and time again STILL support being a TORY ?…Confucius says that disnae make sense…..or rather it didnae happen.
“He seems to don a different hat depending on where he is, and receives no scrutiny on his hypocrisy from the Scottish media”
Also spot on…as another part of his remit is to be one of a constant opposer of Scottish Govt.’s policies and initiatives also a denier of strong performance(s) achieved by Scottish Govt against his own HQ party’s weak and poor performances…….I mean Vaccine passports…SNPBAD and TORYGOOD…….that’s his argument….vote against it and oppose it if SNP derived and support it if, as same initiative/policy, it is derived via Tories……does he have a split personality ?………..or is he just a Tory plant shooed in as branch office leader to act as a constant thorn in the side of the SNP…..commonly known as a …..( 5 letter word starts with ‘P’ and ends with ‘K’)……also is what happens when you come into contact with a thorn via your finger…………
Ross has been given a mission impossible by HQ….to convince Scots and others who choose to live in Scotland that somehow both he and his party are best for Scotland….and also not forgetting his main purpose of maintaining the Union and promoting it as best option for Scots…………….against everything that has and is going down in the UK….because of HIS party and HIS Union…….if it were not for the BBC in Scotland cutting him some (huge amount) of slack in NEVER holding him to account for his HQ party and his Union then he would be exposed for the charlatan that he is….exposed that is to a lot more people than those who read The National and read social media…..i.e. those who rely on MSM Union style for info on politics.
The fact that it also been revealed that “NO Scottish Tory MP spoke with the UK Government about a Scottish carbon capture project before it missed out on major investment, it has been revealed”….is of no shock to those of us on here and outwith here who get the REAL news and info via social media sources and sites such as this one…….they are not , as Unionist MP’s, elected to support or gain advantage for Scotland but are elected because they will pledge allegiance to the Union, their Unionist party and also those individuals who financially support their party and also financially support the Union’s campaigns and their own respective party’s campaigns in elections..
Party……seems to be what everyone is talking about today…….BUT not the kind of party DRoss will want us Scots to focus on……apparently there was an empty chair event on this morning via various TV news programmes…where no minister was available to speak to them on latest revelation on video showing laughter at supposed questions, if asked, as in was there a party at No 10…………………now THAT non availability speaks VOLUMES to the public…….sure DRoss will also be unavailable…though the BBC in Scotland will, as I write, be desperately trying to find a non issue to generate to promote another SNPBAD non story.
Still every little bit (big bits actually) help the cause of independence……the rot sets in….where’s Gordon Brown when they need him……mind you sure Ian Murray will do his little bit…..has he written up 10 questions for the Union for DRoss and his boss to answer ?
What say Starmer on the party….well apparently an apology is all that he needs/seeks from Johnson….an APOLOGY…..when people died and their loved ones were forbidden , because of Covid rules, to visit them and spend time with them last Xmas………how very stiff upper lip of him……but also how very very predictable……not slow at saying FM should consider her position though…is he ?
I mean what, if any, redeemable features are there for the Union for some , within Scotland, to still support and want to maintain it as is ?………..it seems to me that NO political Unionist party EVER considers Scotland FIRST and FOREMOST but instead always promotes it within the constraints of a dysfunctional and unequal non partnership NON Union…..where one country within THEIR so called (non) UNION must be THE dominant and most pandered to country within it’s borders…no clues as to whom I refer……….
Independence…I mean come on…it’s not rocket science is it ,,,to see it as THE BEST option for Scotland ?
Just listened to the R4 news. Even the BBC has given up defending Johnston. Even his own colleagues have given up. Sounds like Paul will have to take up his pen again soon to pronounce on the successor.
My money’s on Hunt. Gove is surely out of the question though, from our pov, the better choice 😉
Also as an update…the Baroness has been saying how “indefensible” it is (via Twitter)…and DRoss also apparently furious ( as in furious it has been exposed thus exposing him as the charlatan he is as a Tory politician)….yep…..they take us for mugs…the same two people who many a time defended Tory policies and THEIR HQ leader NOW when there is nowhere to hide and no defensible position to take….they are conceding…THE GAMES UP…….but is it ONLY Johnson to blame ?
They are all complicit surely…………or is Johnson the new fall guy……will he fall on his political sword…..to save the party…….as in move on now nothing more to see here…..Who else as a politician was at this party….are they too complicit ?
Surely this is the lot of them just conceding the obvious but all too late and also too little previously said by them on other Tory scandals/stories…..as TORIES ?
What about all of the other policies endorsed and voted for by ALL Tories in HOC’s ?
What about Brexit ?
This faux outrage by the Baroness and DRoss is sick inducing……..tis the Tory party themselves who are “indefensible” constantly and tis us who are “furious” constantly at them, as a party, and their awful policies and decisions that destroy lives and hopes for many who are forced, because of the religion that is Brexit, to be (over) ruled by them as a UK government.
Spare me the condemnation……long overdue and no matter who is their HQ leader it will be same old same old……………Tories gonna Tory…..
Nice to see you back Capella…..missed your contributions
Have a nice day
Thx NMRN – was off grid due to the Great Wind. Huddled round my wireless to keep up with the news while awaiting the Great Reconnection. Loved it – introvert heaven 🙂
It does sound as if England is getting ready to be shot of him. If only to get a more effective front man for the same vile policies. Though BoJo’s exit, whenever it comes, might cause a little bit of backsliding here from those tempted to suppose the danger to Scotland is over.
From the sound of the gloomy R4 presenters it could come this afternoon. Who’s the starters and runners?
Your first choice above seems very plausible (if the Tories are inclined to return to a better semblance of normality anyway). Though slimeball Gove will surely want to have a try. You could be right to discount him, though – would English Tories be eager to be led by a lone dad-dancing Scot, even one with an assimilated faux-posh accent?
Jacob Rees-Mogg? {guffaw} But maybe I shouldn’t mock too soon…?
I suspect word has gone out from those in charge Johnson is no longer a protected species, which may explain Kuenssberg’s “schlock” over parties she would have known full well were going on, yet meticulously erased from memory and publication…
Ultimately it doesn’t matter who is appointed “head”, all you may expect are a few cosmetic tweaks whilst the Mafia protect their own rarified world….
It has been a very long game “the City” has played – It takes a long time indeed to convince a populace to vote against it’s own best interests – I saw this over 20 years ago and left in despair, and I see no prospect of that changing until Scotland unshackles itself from being “willing” prisoners of the same delusions.
The City have been at this for centuries, the state within a state which pulls the strings…
Every PM has been a self centred bar-steward, yet only from Thatcher, Blair, etc right through to Starmer and Johnson era could you slide a fag paper between them in terms of fundamental principles.
As for any who believe UKIP or the Brexit Party were other than deliberately set up by the Tories as a false “challenger” I have a bridge for sale, going cheap…
It was a palpable thumbs down from Empress Keunssberg at lunch time. He may be served with the scones and poisoned jam at afternoon tea.