A Thousand Islands In The Sea
We’re getting so much correspondence from Police Scotland at the moment that we’re starting to feel like their guiltily-neglected penpal.
This one, though, is slightly more involved than their usual two-paragraph brushoff.
Don’t get too excited, though – it amounts to the same thing.
This is self-evident gibberish. Nobody was prosecuted, let alone convicted, over the misappropriation of the fundraiser money specifically (as opposed to the SNP’s general funds, which are what Peter Murrell was convicted of embezzling).
The only way that knowing the reasons they weren’t prosecuted could possibly “prejudice the prevention or detection of crime and apprehension or prosecution of offenders” is if those reasons revealed either some sort of loophole in the law, or some inappropriate interference with its natural processes on the part of the Crown Office, Police Scotland or both.
Neither is a legitimate reason to refuse disclosure. Any loophole should be addressed by Parliament, and inappropriate interference is itself a criminal matter. (Albeit one you could only report to… Police Scotland and the Crown Office.)
The response then attempts to add further excuses.
This is equally obvious nonsense. Everyone already knows who the leadership of the SNP was during Operation Branchform, and who we were asking about in the FOI request – Nicola Sturgeon, her chief executive Peter Murrell and her treasurer Colin Beattie. There is no need to conceal their identity when everyone already knows it.
This is extraordinary. It says, entirely correctly, that:
“It is in the public interest that an understanding exists as to the processes involved in police investigations and in their relative success. This is particularly true in investigations, therefore, accountability and transparency relating to the actions of Police Scotland and its officers would favour disclosure of the information.”
But then it point-blank refuses to actually disclose the information because… well, for no actual valid reason that we can detect. As far as we can make out from those last three paragraphs, Police Scotland is refusing to disclose the information because Police Scotland holds the information and it might reflect poorly on the actions of Police Scotland.
Honestly, folks, we’ve read those three sentences over and over again trying to find any other sort of coherent meaning in them and it simply isn’t there. The whole passage can be accurately summarised as:
“We should give you this information, but it’s important that we don’t because it might make us look bad therefore we’ve decided you have no right to know, even though that’s pretty much the entire point of Freedom Of Information law existing in the first place.”
And it keeps getting madder.
The question asked was about the very specific distinction between the original enquiry into misappropriated fundraiser money used for SNP purposes other than a second referendum campaign, and the subsequent enquiry into general SNP funds embezzled by Peter Murrell for his personal benefit.
We know when that change happened, because the police themselves briefed journalists about it back in June after Murrell’s sentencing.
It was some time between October 2022 and “early spring 2023”. So why are we now being fed some rancid cobblers about it being March 2025? And why did the police submit an “advice and guidance” report to the Crown Office in August 2024 asking them what to do about the original complaint, separate to the embezzlement charge, when by their own assertion they’d already concluded 18 months earlier that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge anyone on the former?
What did that report say, exactly? “We haven’t got enough evidence to charge anyone, but should we charge them anyway and waste a bucketload of public money just for laughs?”?
What evidence was missing? There is no conceivable credible dispute that the money was misappropriated, as assessed by Scotland’s most respected lawyer, the Dean of the Faculty Of Advocates.
The Dean’s analysis was crystal clear:
Nor is there any possible doubt as to the small cohort of people who could have been responsible, both practically and in law: one or more of the three party officers who signed off on the SNP’s accounts and controlled its expenditure.
The money was visibly misappropriated, and we have a very small list of suspects. The job of the police and the courts is only to establish which of them it was.
There are no defensible grounds for simply not even bothering to try, and then telling people there wasn’t enough evidence. The evidence is abundant and unquestionable, and as we saw yesterday, Police Scotland have flat-out refused to identify a single item in the Dean’s analysis with which they disagree.
“La la la we’re not telling you, please go away now” is not acceptable.
We will of course be raising the matter with the Information Commissioner immediately, and we have grounds to believe he may look on it sympathetically.
The SNP’s response, of course, has been to try to pre-emptively cripple the office of the Information Commissioner and render it completely impotent in terms of any information which could be damaging to the government.
While also starving it of funds.
The Scottish Government REALLY doesn’t like the Information Commissioner.
And that’s because along with the Auditor General, he’s just about the last public official anywhere in Scotland who is (a) bothered about doing his job properly, and (b) competent enough to actually manage it.
Our appeal to OSIC will take place alongside our application for a judicial review of Police Scotland’s decision not to bring charges in respect of the original Operation Branchform complaint, and such is the time it takes to get anything done in Scotland nowadays, it’s anyone’s guess as to which will make progress first.
But readers, we’ve got nothing else to do. This is our job, and just like David Hamilton, we intend to stick at it.
Stick to it, Rev.
“Scandal begins when the police put a stop to it.”
“The Policing begins when a scandal puts a stop them “
You are doing God’s work, here – as a Reverend should, of course.
These SNP serpents need trampled underfoot.
“It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone.” – Hans Froði Hansen
This is honking.
Keep at them and don’t let up.
*sigh*..ah, well. Better check out this year’s pension rise. I think I feel a crowd funder coming on. More power to your elbow, Stu.
Good to see that the Chief of Scot Squad is now in charge of Police Scotland as well, ensuring that no apologies are made and that all Police Scotland correspondence is anonymised. I hope I don’t have to explain the difference between a Polis Scotland vehicle and a pair of women’s knickers.
Proud of you Stu.
I’ll have a guess at why Sturgeon wasn’t charge, it was her looks and personality.
I wonder if the problem of a prosecution lies not in the problem of ‘responsibility’ – which as you point out – is quite easy to ascertain and anyways, all four could be assessed as equally to blame before the law BUT perhaps it might be more of a ‘problem’ to reveal who/what has benefitted from the ‘stolen’ cash.
A trivial point, but I think it is unprofessional for PSoS Legal Services team to be sending anonymous letters “How sad, too bad, never mind…” when replying to a fellow solicitor (unless you have removed the person’s name). It’s simply discourteous. More power to Commissioner Hamilton’s office, and as you observe Rev Campbell, he is one of the few public servants willing to stand up and effectively scrutinise public bodies. What an omnishambles this saga has become.
No, I haven’t removed anything.
Police Scotland and the COPFS are corrupt and as an asset of Thames House, Sturgeon is being protected.
What more is there to deduce from all this procedural and administrative smoke and mirrors?
Many thanks for not taking no for an answer Stuart. It feels to me that your determination and tenacity in pursuit of the truth, is the last glimmer of hope left in the corrupt banana republic of Scotland. This nation and its future is in limbo until the festering boil created by Sturgeon, Murrell and their cabal’s making is well and truly lanced. More power to you Stuart.
“ We’re getting so much correspondence from Police Scotland at the moment that we’re starting to feel like their guiltily-neglected penpal.”
==========
It might have more to do with the fact that your efforts were widely publicised yesterday. The Herald , the Daily Record, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, the Daily Mail and The Daily Express and possibly others have carried your story. It is also all over social media, I am told.
The comment, BTL in WGD was not at all favourable to you. Try hard not to grieve over this. One lady even opined, “Nicola should sue this twerp for harassment.” I bet that you’re shaking in your boots.
I recon 75% of the Wee Ginger Fud brigade have no idea what day of the week it is and if asked who they’ll be voting for in the next election would say Winnie Ewing.
😀
Did they say ‘It would not be in the public interest to know we’re corrupt as that might make policing difficult’?
Slightly off topic perhaps, but as Murrell was sentenced to a bit over 5 years, how long will he actually be inside?
Bearing in mind that every “sentence” is normally reduced, plus Scotland is going for its own early release scheme to free up prison space.
I’m wondering if taking a punt on Murrell being out, before the ongoing legal shenanigans over the missing ring-fenced money have completed, could be a smart move.
Why would it be a smart move?
Because in the hypothetical, decent, respectable, law abiding Scotland, the idea that Murrell will be out of prison, while the cover up over the missing money is still being strung along by those people with something to hide, would be risible.
Whereas in the real, depraved, third-world, law breaking Scotland, the idea that Murrell will be out of prison, while the cover up over the missing money is still being strung along by those people with something to hide, looks perfectly plausible. Perhaps even inevitable, given the timelines for some of the other ongoing investigations into ScotGov malfeasance.
I have to hope that the supine, apathetic indifference to this story (and the Salmond stitch up story, and others) by most Scots arises because they still believe in the hypothetical Scotland, and hence write off these stories as outlandish fiction.
If the bookies share their misguided faith, then by betting big on the real Scotland being shown to be institutionally corrupt, I stand to make a pile of money.
I see now why I was confused. I read ‘taking a punt’ as metaphorical and the person taking a punt was someone else. As the rest of your answer makes no sense whatsoever am I right in thinking this is just a rhetorical scenario?
Maybe Big John Swinney, assuming he’s not in pokey too, could have his old mucker Murrell back in post helping steer the good ship.
But meanwhile the word is that for the present and the requirements to give testimony at the Salmond trial, big John is more interested in investing in a supply of super strength Pampers.
Stick it to them Rev!
It’s a shame.
‘POWER, CORRUPTION & LIES’
Bit of research on article title ‘A THOUSAND ISLANDS IN THE SEA’.
Line from ‘Leave Me Alone’ on 1983 album ‘Power, Corruption & Lies’, by band New Order.
The textless album cover is by Peter Saville. Initial idea was to find a Machiavelli-type image but he then opted for the painting ‘A Basket of Roses’ by Henri Fantin-Latour. Flowers “suggested the means by which power, corruption and lies infiltrate our lives. They’re seductive.”
Lyrics from ‘Leave Me Alone’ include:
« On a thousand islands in the sea
I see a thousand people just like me […]
From my head to my toes, to my teeth, through my nose
You get these words wrong
You get these words wrong
Everytime
You get these words wrong
I just smile »
Link to Youtube featuring album cover image with audio of LEAVE ME ALONE —
link to youtube.com
I see some firey Greek madam absolutely tore Empress VDL a new ring in the EU Talking Shop, sans lube. Carpet-bombed with truths B-52 style.
And yet this is the organisation many want to wed us to?
Stu,
The Law Society of Scotland, 2007.
Article XV 111 private Rights.
Which is unalterable by the parliament of Great Britain,
The Question is, was the money nearly all “private money” of the people within Scotland designated for a specific purpose for and within Scotland,
And are the police and Crown offices aware to withhold private information regards their private finances of the subjects within Scotland, against a political party ( SNP) that were given by the Subjects within Scotland and this money being for 1 reason named.
Would police in Scotland and the and the Crown office on holiday in Scotland wander into Breaching the 1707 Treaty of Union,
The main purpose is,
1:
The money was Private money.
2:
The people/ subjects within Scotland privately, gave the money for one named reason.
Do the Subjects within Scotland pay out of….their private incomes within Scotland for the Police or Crown offices in Scotland.
Or does the Great Britain parliament solely pay, ” police Scotland” with only English finances from English taxes.
If Scotland pays for it, from their privately earned incomes within Scotland then police Scotland are answerable to the people within Scotland over private matters within Scotland,
It matters because these finances were given in Scotland to the SNP for the one purpose, Scottish independence,
Not independence for all of Great Britain.
It was a private matter of the subjects and people of Scotland Scotlands people and subjects within Scotland,
This is Where the two separate Constitutions of Scotland and England fail to come into alignment in Great Britain
I surmise that the SNP have also dedicated themselves to the people/ subjects within Scotland as they are a Scottish national party by name and registered privately as a business in and for Scotlands people/ subjects within the Country of Scotland
They have not declared themselves within Scotland as the Great Britain party, or the English national party within Scotland to Scotlands subjects within Scotland,
Article XV111 in the treaty of union which is unalterable by the parliament of Great Britain requires that it is always in force as Scots Law,
Police Scotland’s response to FOI requests within the 20 working days timescale is abysmal. I might submit a FOI to see exactly how many they fail to respond to and write off with a “Please accept our apologies…..”
On a similar theme….
link to ico.org.uk
11 September 2026
An ICO spokesperson said:
“A subject access request (SAR) is a fundamental right that allows people to know what information organisations hold about them and how it is being used.
“We are investigating Police Scotland’s compliance when handling SARs. The investigation is seeking to establish whether Police Scotland has failed, or is failing, to comply with its legal obligations under Articles 12 and 15 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Section 45 of the Data Protection Act, including responding to requests within the statutory timescale.
As this is a live investigation, we are unable to comment further.”
When you go on to the ICO’s website about the investigation into Police Scotland they state that
” Where we identify compliance failures, we can use our regulatory tools such as providing advice and issuing assessment notices, warnings, reprimands, enforcement notices, and fines up to £17.5 million or 4% of the total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year”
Is anyone else not infuriated by this ongoing con of these regulators fining all these organisations for FAILURES to uphold the law
FFS NONE of these organisations pay the FINES for their blatant FAILURES it always falls on the TAXPAYERS or CUSTOMERS
E.G. water companies failures, FINED , customers pay the fines through increased charges , Health board Failures , FINED, tax payers pay the fines through their taxes ,Police Scotland, FAILURES & FUCKUPS , FINED , tax payers pay the fine through their taxes , CMAL ferry responsibility , Millions overcharged , YEARS late, NO penalty , taxpayers foot the bill
NOT one of these CEO’s or heads of the failed organisations pay the fines ,they carry on with their full salaries and generous pensions whilst uttering the same MEANINGLESS phrases , Lessons have been learned , we have taken the actions on board and will do better
Obviously these bastards know they will not be prosecuted so there is NO DETERRENT and they will just keep on doing the same thing
THAT is why I say the whole edifice has to be FORCED to change , when the Chief Constable takes his generous salary and his generous pension HE is responsible for the operation of that organisation , so consequently when that organisation fails , HE should be responsible for any fine or there is no encouragement to DO BETTER
A proper political party of governance led by Stuart Campbell incorporating DIRECT DEMOCRACY would ensure that these incompetent shysters were nowhere near the head of these FAILED organisations
Exactly that. They got a 50% reduction in the fine because its a public body/tax payers money and the impact on services.
Police Scotland was fined £66,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for breaching data protection laws. This fine was part of the ICO’s enforcement actions to ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
link to ico.org.uk
“206. However, the Commissioner is mindful of the fact that, as the payment of fines comes directly from the budget for the provision of services, the negative impacts of fines on public sector bodies are often visited upon the victims of the breach, in the form of reduced budgets for vital services.
207. Taking this into account and having considered the approach taken by the Commissioner in other cases, the Commissioner has decided to reduce the amount of the monetary penalty by a factor of 50%. This results in the imposition of a penalty on Police Scotland in the amount of £66,000.”
When you see so much prevarification, you know there was not just one bad apple.
The whole basketful is rotten.
Hopefully after independence we can gut this lot.
“The Port of Rosyth is an important asset for Scotland and we are committed to exploring a number of business opportunities for the port which will deliver and sustain long-term job creation and economic growth.
“The Port of Rosyth remains a key area for development of the Forth Green Freeport and our focus will now shift to delivering alternative activity at the port.”
One can only ponder the genius ideas for a port if it doesn’t include a ferry service…
link to bbc.co.uk
come on now, Dan – everything Scotland runs on must come through Carlisle on a lorry. That way if the uppity jocks get ideas we can just stop the food at the border.
– look at how bad indy is, the fools are starving.
Those houthi boys are doing great things right now. Makes you think, it’s right out of “Dune” – he who can destroy a thing, controls a thing. Bleed england and it will fuck off on its own.
Sure, Confused, £2 for a liter of diesel is one of the greatest things ever.
I guess the death toll in the Yemen war, estimated at 350,000, doesn’t matter to you because it’s not the people you want to exterminate doing the killing.
Haha, hark at me! If you could be bothered, you’d accuse the Jews of being behind it in a moment.
it is for the houthis. They think strategically.
Trump started a real stupid war because the “epstein people” were probably blackmailing him. He has destroyed the empire – failed to impose his will, failed to control sea lanes, spraffed a lot of weapons away, for no reason; now persia and the houthis can squeeze the world.
the people who rule over you
link to archive.ph
educate yourself
link to youtube.com
– and stop humping my leg, it was funny for a while
“stop humping my leg, it was funny for a while”
It’s still excruciatingly funny.
As in like those Victorians who would slip the keepers a half sov to look the other way while they pelted the asylum inmates with pellets of stale bread. That kind of funny.
So, as Thatcher seemingly closed the asylums, leg humpings it’s gonna have to be.
Besides, you should be grateful. It takes your mind off the shirt lifters, the Anglos and the Jews for a few minutes.
Yet another failure by the SNP executive. They and Westminster were each putting up £3million to get this ferry service going. Absolute peanuts. They give far more on aggregate to all the woke scams and “consultants” they use.
Why isn’t the Scottish executive just paying for the whole thing? They could even build a ferry in the Clyde yards – er, well…
Possibly because it was Douglas Chapman’s pet project, the last of the principled, decent MSPs?
What a odd thing to say, other than a ferry service a port can be used for:
– exporting and importing goods
– servicing the offshore industry such as oil and gas or renewables
– providing marine services or ship storages or repair
– providing morings for private vessels
– providing capacity for the Royal Navy
No shit Sherlock, that’s why I said a ferry service could be included in future port plans, not be the sole purpose of a port…
Having worked in the oil and gas industry on various types of vessels, over the years I’ve spent a fair bit of time in various ports carrying out mobilisations / de-mobs / maintenance of systems, and also been involved in development trials of subsea infrastructure, so I am well aware of the numerous activities carried out in ports.
You wanted and got the overpriced shitey trams so Auld Reekie could be like other modern cities, but you apparently harbour no greater vision or support for developing Scotland’s current future transport links to mainland Europe with all that could bring.
If a Rosyth port could be used for importing and exporting then why has quite so much of that activity been getting transported by road down to and back up from England thus creating jobs down south rather than here.
Talking of jobs, maybe the MoD could finally get off its arse and create some employment and economic benefit to the area by getting round to clearing up the old rusting nuke sub hulls laid up there.
No doubt the economic aspect will be used to justify all this…
The UK is a fucking joke and all over the place with its priorities. Spends srious coin on weaponary for security like welding up new missile tubes for nuclear subs at Rosyth, whilst still buying in all sorts of stuff from the countries it deems as security threats, rather than making the stuff here.
If a private operator wants to run the Rosyth to Europe ferry and they can do so on a commercial basis, then I’ve no objections to that. However, I don’t want to see large amounts of taxpayers money spent on subsidising a service that customers and hauliers aren’t willing to pay for. If there is money in the transport budget, I’d like to see it spent on the A9.
The reality is – if you are a haulier you’re better off having your truck going at 60mph down to Newcastle, Hull or Dover/Folkstone, rather than having it going at 20mph down through the North Sea. Likewise – it will get some summer traffic, but in the era of cheap flights it’s massively cheaper and normally more convenient to fly that spending 17 hours on a boat just to get to the north coast of The Netherlands.
In contrast, the tram (once we got passed the major construction overruns) has been an economic and a transport success, taking a lot of traffic off the roads of what as you well know is a very congested city. That’s why it’s been extended as is due to be extended further.
Not much consistency with you is there.
So you were happy for shitloads of taxpayers money to be spaffed on trams in Edinbugh when a private operator should presumably have made and covered the the economic case for it; Even though buses could easily have accomplished the same task without so much disruption.
But it took traffic off the road… and so could ports but you seem content that loads of HGVs still have to travel round the bypass and head south to reach a port.
Strange that Scotland as a net exporter doesn’t have decent port infrastructure.
Cheap flights? Jist how is that, tax breaks and subsidies for serious polluters and to heck with the emmsions, and folk endure high tax bands for vehicles even if they only do low miles.
Tourists must love having to try to check in their motorbikes, cars, campervans for a flight, or drive the extra miles to reach an English port, rather than enjoy an overnight ferry to get here from mainland Europe.
Dualling the A9, another pitiful lack of vision building a main trunk road without hard shoulders, meaning big safety implications should a vehicle breakdown and not be able to make it to safety at the side of the road, and not be sitting duck stuck on a lane waiting to cause pile up carnage.
All that effort to plan and build a decent road and just couldn’t have the aspiration or be arsed to add the extra width of hard shoulders during the build when all the equipment was there.
Plus let’s not forget the added hazard bonus of the junctions having no consistency and looking like they were designed by someone tanning amphetamine or having a seizure whilst playing with an etchasketch.
Couple of good mates are Fireys and sick of dealing with RTAs on the road.
Dan – bang on. The Edinburgh Trams (read: Shams) was a tremendous waste of public money that caused untold suffering and disruption for residents, commuters and businesses (I lived in Edinburgh at the time) and delivered not even a fraction of what was promised – basically just mirroring the No. 22 bus route. A farce, and an expensive one at that. A rail link to Edinburgh airport would have been a more useful and wise project.
And, as an Invernessian, don’t get me started on the A9; an entire family along the road from us (youngest being 3) were wiped out a couple of years back due to an idiot Yank tourist driving in the wrong side of the road. That and the A82 are completely unfit for purpose, as is most transport infrastructure in this country.
“Strange that Scotland as a net exporter doesn’t have decent port infrastructure”
Scotland is only a net exporter because of offshore resources. Remove them and we’re a net importer.
The offshore resources businesses already have all the port infrastructure they need.
Perhaps, as a net importer of stuff that could use ports, it’s strange we don’t have more port infrastructure. But that’s not the argument you’re trying to make.
@Dan – I appreciate you want to rant and rave here, but let’s deal with some home truths:
– the Edinburgh trams take a significant amount of road traffic out of central Edinburgh, which is extremely congested, that’s both from buses (which don’t do the same job, because they have to travel on the same congested roads) and from private cars (people would rather sit in their own cars in congestion than on a bus).
– whether the ferry departs from Rosyth or Newcastle has no impact at all on congestion in central Edinburgh. The M74 has been significantly upgraded in the last 20-years so congestion heading south on the motorway is much less of an issue.
– Road hauliers will continue to use the short straits because it’s much cheaper and quicker than using the Rosyth – EU ferry, and also it’s much more flexible given the Rosyth ferry might operate 3x per week, and the short straits operate pretty much 24/7.
– the ferry will create virtually no jobs, a few jobs in border control, a few jobs piloting, refuelling etc. the service isn’t worth subsidising on that basis.
– Aviation is a net contributor to the public purse, most other public transport costs the taxpayer money.
– Finally, on tourists. I don’t doubt the ferry could be filled profitably from June to August, but Scotland has a very short tourist season, particularly the Highlands and Islands (where a car is essential) so what does a ferry operator do for the rest of the season.
But let’s have the discussion, you rightly complain that there’s not enough discussion of substantive issues so tell me why I am wrong, I’m not emotionally attached to this subject and I’m happy to change my mind.
another thing – you can’t let the anglos control your food supply
they have a bit of previous
ireland
and also : bengal, the funny part of which is churchill was doing in the street shitters and getting away with it while hitler was gassing millions of the special people in chambers (with wooden doors)
– just shows you how important good PR is and also the winners writing the history
Scotland, too during the famine caused by potato blight and gubmint policy.
Charles Trevelyan, senior Treasury civil servant described Scottish Highlanders as part of a “diseased and damaged part of our population” and expressed a desire to remove them to make way for what he considered a racially superior people. Germans.
Trevelyan did not want any public support for the Highlands as it might induce dependency and thought local help would suffice.
That was true to a point. But not in the western islands where many died from the famine.
Fishermen and women battled against the selling by farmers and landlords of grain out of the highlands to make a profit as it rose in price. the book, “Insurrection”, by Iain Hunter is well researched and written.
There’s a famine in Yemen right now, sam, if you woke up this morning and discovered you’d been struck by a raging concern about famine in the night.
And the barsturt is showing no signs of moving on.
Why not sleep on it and report back here in the morning? You’ll likely find it was like a 24-hour flu – something to get briefly exercised about – gone and forgotten after a good night’s sleep.
However, Forth Ports said its focus had shifted to “delivering alternative activity at the port” after considering “a number of important economic factors”.
Both the Scottish and UK governments said they were “disappointed” with the decision.
Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha I’m sure they were , Swinney would be DELIGHTED that Forth ports binned the proposal because he would have to have had some part in it , and that would have meant thinking
WM would have been delighted that their instructions had been implemented otherwise those uppity sweaty socks would have had a direct link to the EU , and that would have been dangerous because we would lose our control of that port
WHY are our ports privately owned anyway , they are a national necessity and should be state owned
Sure, twathater, state ownership would guarantee the ports were run competently, transparently, and with the best interests of Scotland at heart. Aye, right.
You should read the post from twathater at 2:59, listing some of the state-run organisations being badly and secretly managed, costing Scottish taxpayers vast sums. He’ll keep you right.
That’s even before you start to consider the barely concealed malfeasance and criminality infesting ScotGov and its captured bureaucracies, as evidenced by the article at the top of this page.
yeah I am sure this lawfare will work this time
negotiating the legal system in Scotland is easy
– apply for an interim interdict lorum ipsum pari passu from the nobile officium
– address the court with your thumb in your lapel
– use dazzling verbal sophistry and schopenhauers 47 fallacies with in the know verbal tics like
“I put it to you …”
– and once you have taken on the entire speculative society on the chequerboard floor with a 2 litre bottle of cooking oil …
THE GEMME WAS MINE
add in the masonic touches : drop in a “so mote it be” or a “have pity on a widow’s son” – “how old is your granny” and take the oath to JahBulon, a composite deity comprising Yahweh and Baal. Also – the masonic sign of distress works wonders.
the capacity of the legal establishment to stonewall and withstand any ridicule, apparent surreal idiocy, or logical impossibilty or paradox, is far in excess of the constraints of the human lifetime, or anyone’s wallet (short of elon musk)
– it comes down to a general principle : you can’t win a game which is controlled by your opponent
Even easier to refute than usual, and that’s saying something.
Belgium 4, USA 1. 6th July 2026.
Oh dear, Confused, look at the state of your breeks. That’s gonna need a boil wash.
Why don’t you get yourself a new handle? “Gubbed” seems apposite, considering the gurning, greeting defeatism that is your most recent post.
You keep posting about your yearning for some kind of conflict situation. In a real conflict, they’d have to shoot you for spreading defeatism.
leg hump
you’ve never refuted a damn thing, never won an argument, you are like the black knight in monty python, an old dog chasing parked cars and claiming victory.
– it is just as well on the internet you can pretend you don’t get your head kicked in every day
I have tried my best with you – clausius, kinetic energy, “higher and lower”, but nothing gets through. You can only lead a horse to water, eh?
TBF Hatey probably can’t hear much due to blasting out da Ed Sheeran tuneage…
No sane, rational, or productive human being with any self-awarenbess could spend quite so much if its life shitposting online on one site.
Yea chaps, ol’ Hatey’s a “leg humper” – as according to some barely coherent nutcase spewing 1.1.1 Trichloroethylene-inspired drivel and bile, seemingly completely impervious to the sounds of derisory laughter aimed in his direction from innumerable disparate sources, and with an irrational hatred of neck lamb based slow cooked dishes harking from Lancashire to top it off.
Oh, and some oddball with an unhealthy obsession with beavers (no, beavers not “beavers” in a Naked Gun sense).
Riiiiiiight.
Yes, I bet he’s crying himself to speak as I type these words. 😀
@ Dan says:17 September, 2026 at 6:34 pm
“No sane, rational, or productive human being with any self-awarenbess”
So true, Dan. I lack all self-awarenbess.
I’m perplexed by your need to join Confused’s pile-on. Surely a man of your multitude of talents could connect a few sentences together to construct a coherent narrative?
Is this all because you’re pissed because I pointed out that Scotland’s not a net exporter through its ports because oil and gas, and leccy, aren’t landed or shipped through ports at all?
Surely all that time you spent offshore, you didn’t think they were pouring the oil into barrels to be craned onto the quayside back at base?
Maybe you did. Maybe you were in the galley the entire time, making soup.
The private finances from the private subjects within Scotland that gave to a private matter of Scottish independence within the Country boundary of Scotland to a private Company registered as a Scottish National party,
requires that the police and Crown offices acting for the subjects within Scotland and for those whom have no trace of their have missing money to thoroughly investigated under Scots law.
Which is still in force if the treaty of union is still in force, No later ramification of that treaty of union or alterations can be made to legally bind Scotland,
Article XV111 states that the law in Scotland on private matters which will remain in force is for the evident Utility of the subjects within Scotland, ( the People )
Not for governing Bodies, police or Crown offices under the later “Scotland Act” from Westminster parliament,
The question will always be here in Scotland, do we use the laws of Scotland as wrote down as part of the Scottish Constitution or the laws of England or Englands Great Britain State which are not wrote down as their Constitution,
Which ever way the two sets of Constitutional laws that make the State of GB are construed, or can be used only one is legal in Scotland when it comes to private matters, wether that is our personal finances, our gender, our religion, our private data, and one may go as far as our resources.
Yes I spend ages on this matter because there are only two possible legal outcomes.
There is a treaty of union between Scotland and England.
Or there is not a treaty of union between Scotland and England,
And certain laws would apply either way. But not necessarily both
Which is what Stu is having to deal with, confusion causing conflicts of interest, in policing and Crown offices , mixing laws,
whereas it states which laws are Scottish in the treaty of union.
THE PROCLAIMERS: ‘TRANS ACTIVISTS ARE TRUTH-PHOBIC’
The belief that a man can be a woman is pure myth, Scottish music duo The Proclaimers have said.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, 64-year-old twins Craig and Charlie Reid — who hit the charts with I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) in the 1980s — expressed astonishment that people are being vilified for defending biological reality.
Explaining the reason behind their new album, ‘You May Offend’, Craig warned: “We’re getting to the stage now where people are getting scared to say what they think because people are being cancelled.”
FREE SPEECH
Questioned on whether the duo feared being branded ‘transphobic’ due their views, Craig responded that all he was opposed to is a man “saying that he actually is a woman when he’s not a woman.
“A lot of these folk are basically truth-phobic. They’ll deny the biological reality. Then if you insist on it, they’ll say that you are hurting their feelings. That you’re disrespecting them. But I respect reality and scientific fact, not myth.”
He continued: “There’s women, actual women, who are threatened with violence — sometimes get violence — and de-platformed because they have the temerity to say that a woman is an adult human female.”
Charlie defended Graham Linehan and JK Rowling for speaking out against transgender ideology, arguing, “you’ve got the right to stand up for science and logic”.
GENDER SELF-ID
Craig described his “anger” at the “self-ID bill” — the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, tabled in March 2022, which sought to allow 16-year-olds to change their legal sex by self-declaration without a medical diagnosis.
In January 2023, the then Scottish Secretary Alister Jack – exercising powers under Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 – prohibited the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from submitting the Holyrood-backed Bill for Royal Assent.
A subsequent legal challenge by the Scottish Government proved unsuccessful, after the Court of Session ruled that Mr Jack had ‘reasonably and lawfully’ blocked the plans in order to protect the integrity of UK-wide equalities legislation.
(The Christian Institute, 17 Sept 2026)
link to christian.org.uk
This matters to everyone in Scotland, regardless of views on independence — because we already have a degree of governmental, fiscal, and judicial independence, capable of producing this mess, which reeks of corruption, cover-up, and old-fashioned incompetence. When the time comes, I will donate. I’m done watching the police and Crown Office act as if they are untouchable — stonewalling until you give up. They were never going to investigate themselves. And the SNP are just as bad: dirty, corrupt, and no longer serving Scotland — serving themselves.
And we point at other countries as being corrupt? Clearly, as our education system tanks on the international scales, the aim of the SNP is to de-educate people so no one will eventually have the ability to ask difficult questions.
.
The Most Reverend Stuart Campbell, Bishop of St Bartholomew., Patron Saint of Truthfulness, Church of The Clean Bath, County of Somerset.
Yo Bishop Stu.,
You deserve a promotion.
Rev., I am not sure if you recall, but this old plod did warn that the “Moorov Doctrine” may be deployed to stitch up Alex Salmond.
In a similar vein, but with the boot firmly on the other foot, and thankfully your valiant efforts and the fascinating mind of that awesome Advocate Roddy Dunlop KC in the vicinity, here is another piece of law to contemplate.
Well it is a Bill just now, but given Mayor Andy Burnham wanted the “Hillsborough Law” long before he got promoted to prime minister, the received wisdom is the new Bill will receive Royal Assent by the end of this year and become a very potent Act in law.
It already went through second reading in the House of Lords at the beginning of this month (September 2026).
Stuart, I would wager £1,000 that this new law will likely evacuate the bowels of those arrogant, over-promoted dissemblers at COPFS and Police Scotland.
Well worth studying the general thrust of this new law as it is as powerful and highlyy consequential.
On par with the excellent Freedom of Information Act.
The full title is…
Public Office (Accountability) Bill
The DUTY OF CANDOUR, along with 2 to 14 years in jail for miscreants is likely to see several dud senior lawyers and that utter embarrassment of a semi-literate, legally clueless T/DCC Houston take rapid early retirement.
Stuart, the Public Office (Accountability) Bill seems specifically designed to cut through a ton of the BS and vexatious replies you have been getting from Polices Scotland and COPFS.
True justice might just be restored with this nuclear powered legal instrument…
link to en.wikipedia.org
Some laws need to be struck down and some raised up. This statute is one to raise and I for one am thankful it is headed for the statute books.
Enjoy it my friend.
The Duty of Candour is already activated in the Police Scotland Standards of Professional Behaviour and to avoid this, carelessly, negligently or maliciously would likely be assessed as an act or omission of gross misconduct. But it’s not T/DCC Houston we should worry about, it’s the puppet master and architect of the many governance and operational failings of PSoS, DCC Alan Speirs, who is in charge of Professionalism and Enabling Services, gadzooks!
I’m so proud of you too. Keep it up. You and the Hamilton bros, plus Paul McManus and Roddy make a fab team.
It’s the 87th anniversary of the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland today.
Polish PM Donald Tusk has made a lengthy and sombre speech about the new threats his country faces from the same old imperialist colonizer to the east. The political systems come and go, but the Orcs don’t change.
Details are all over the MSM if anybody is interested.
In other news, high-level talks between the US and Germany seem to be leading to enhanced collaboration on re-arming.
The key to these is “high-level”, not “top-level”. I’m getting the impression that the grown ups have finally started to understand that Trump needs to be sidelined with his colouring books and pens so that something can be salvaged from his train wreck.
Hopefully, in just a couple of months, the mid-terms will see Trump confirmed as a lame duck president for his last 2 years.
Vasily Grossman was reporting on the invasion of the Motherland in 1942 and found himself on the run from the invading army. He took refuge in an old woman’s house. She had a picture of her son who’s regiment had been wiped out. She gave him the last of her food and vodka because in the morning they had to leave everything and run. As they sat in front of the fire she told him of her dreams;
‘Last night I dreamed the devil came. I prayed to all the Saints of the Motherland but he kept coming, gripping my arm, so I told him to Fuck Off’
The Orcs will never change.
God bless you. Please keep going and if/when you need financial help, let us know.
Guardian Opinion piece gung ho for Indy:
link to theguardian.com
If Jenkins has even heard of Fanon, Memmi, etc, he sees no need to get them involved.
Interesting that he thinks Indy will save WM £25 billion PA, so justifiable on economic grounds if nothing else.
An interesting article about the people who are going to have many BTL readers unable to afford to keep themselves warm by January:
link to unherd.com
Ah well, as energy and food price inflation makes for serious choices between heating and eating in 2027, perhaps we’ll feel better for being able to navigate the intricacies of the numerous warring sects within the religion of peace.
It’s also interesting that the author states that so far this century, only one state actor has succeeded in putting them back in their box. That’s the state we used to be allied with, but now for reasons of ideological purity, are busy alienating and cancelling, at great cost to our own interests.
Still, though, when it comes to Scottish Indy, ideological purity is all, so my words of wisdom will be wasted.
“Words of wisdom”; you have none.
You have hate and death supporting obnoxious rants and that’s all.
Who’d be Hatey?
An insightful, forensic dissection of my post and the article I link to from Dave.
Whilst I may not agree with all of his conclusions, I support his right to his opinions as an (assumed) Sovereign Scot.
Good to see that he reciprocates, limiting his disagreements to substantive, facts-based issues, not personal ones.
On the subject of facts, I think we all owe Dave a vote of thanks for his constructive, practical suggestions for how we can all ameliorate the coming perfect storm of high energy and fuel prices, rising food prices, and rising inflation.
And for those unfortunate Scots still clinging onto their jobs, likely tax rises and interest rate rises too.
Still though, let’s not lose sight of the important things. As Confused would say, and perhaps Dave too:
“C’moan the Houthis! Get it right up they western cants!”
There are several others regularly contributing BTL who post nothing but hate, single-minded psuedoacademic wibble or just plain unintelligible drunken ranting.
Happily, most others contribute valid points in a civilised manner and offer a variety of views which help expand ones horizons, even when in disagreement.
“There are several others regularly contributing BTL who post nothing but hate, single-minded psuedoacademic wibble or just plain unintelligible drunken ranting”
That sums it up beautifully.
“when it comes to Scottish Indy, ideological purity is all”
There you go again, Hatey, blaming the colonized native for all their ills. When what you are really searching for is a psychoanalytic account of imperialist ideology and compensation for England-as-UK’s ever diminishing post-imperial status and colonial legacies, Scotland included.
History and current events tell us that ‘imperial nationalism is the most aggressive form of nationalism’ (Elkins), and colonized peoples ‘only become nationalists to free themselves’ from an oppressor (Memmi).
The difference here is between the ‘aggressive nationalism’ of the colonizer and the ‘defensive nationalism’ of the colonized group.
And that British nationalism for assimilated groups such as Irish and Scots or the Indian and Kenyan – is ‘a culturally-intertwined political identity’ (Pettigrew), which creates ‘a manufactured being’ (Memmi).
Here British nationalism may be defined as a mix of ‘Imperial nostalgia and postcolonial melancholy’ (James Foley); with perceptions of ‘Britishness’ (i.e. Englishness) for all Anglo colonized peoples merely a cultural illusion (Fanon; Nandy), a colonial hoax, no matter what is written on a passport.
An, as we aw ken, leeberation is the anely remeed!
Ah huv tae sae Alf, how come ye’ve nivver gien ony o’ yer lectchurs or speeches thit ‘uv been watchin’ an’ listenin’ tae oan YooChoob in Scots? Is this tae dae wi’ thon Colonialism yur aie haverin’ aboot?
Or ur ye jist a plaistic Scot pittin oan the Morningside patter so ye dinnae associate yersel wi us Teuchters an’ Neds?
The theorists you’re quoting are dealing with systems defined by racial hierarchy, settler replacement, cultural erasure and coercive domination. Those are serious histories, and they deserve to be understood in their own context.
Scotland’s constitutional position doesn’t map cleanly onto those categories. We have representation, devolved institutions, legal autonomy in many areas, and political agency — imperfect, certainly, but structurally real. Gaelic and Scots are both formally recognised as Scotland’s indigenous languages. That kind of formal recognition simply isn’t characteristic of genuinely colonial systems.
If we apply frameworks designed for racialised, violent anti-imperial struggles to a non-racial, non-occupied, non-settler context, we end up misdiagnosing both the problem and the remedy.
Scotland’s challenges are constitutional rather than colonial, and they’re best understood through the lens of law, power and procedure rather than analogies to very different historical situations.
Using language that fits the actual structure of the issue tends to make for clearer analysis — and clearer paths forward.
“a culturally-intertwined political identity (Pettigrew), which creates ‘a manufactured being’ (Memmi)”
As always, Alf, you give us much to think on, especially as the postcolonial boy’s gang seems to be growing. Say hello to Pettigrew and Foley from me.
When you do see them, can you ask how the “manufactured being” concept applies to the Poles, Ukr***ians, Italians, Indians, Pakistanis, Somalis, Iraqis, Ir**ians, Yanks, Nigerians, South Africans, etc. etc. all busily (and perhaps more or less happily) residing as citizens of Scotland? Particularly when so many of them have braved personal danger and expended personal fortunes in getting here to be “manufactured”.
Heck, ask them how the “manufactured being” concept applies to the Gaels who must forever be resigned to their language and culture playing second fiddle to your Scots/English hybrid.
As always, Alf, your “colonialism” take is selectively applied to but one group – those you believe to be True Scots – and in order to maintain your fiction, you have to invent a mythical “oppressor” (Memmi).
The reality, seen and experienced by ordinary Scots on the streets of their own towns, is that those who have experienced real oppression can’t believe their luck when they get here.
“Is this tae dae wi’ thon Colonialism yur aie haverin’ aboot?”
Colonialism is ‘obscured by assimilation’ (Memmi), and the colonized suffer from what’s known as ‘the torture of colonial bilingualism’ (Fanon), forced to ‘mimic the colonizer’ maist o the time.
Tae be free the colonized fowk hiv tae grasp thair ain mither tung, tho gey roustie nae bather whan ye pit yer mind tae hit:
link to salvo.scot
@ Spartan 117 says: 18 September, 2026 at 10:34 am
I think Alf finds himself in a bind. Although he likes to claim that the majority of Scots are fluent in Scots, he knows full well that to write extensively in Scots (assuming he could) would just result in few being able to understand his efforts.
I note that he’s toned down his calls for a post-Indy Scotland to make employment conditional on being fluent and literate in Scots (probably public sector employment, but I don’t think he ever did clarify that). Even he eventually twigged that was a daft idea that would kill Indy before birth. Vote Indy to be thrown out of work? Naw.
I’m interested in expanding my own small knowledge of Scots and have frequently requested that more contributors here post and debate in Scots. But naw, Alf and Northy and usually that’s about it.
Although I see you’re now having a go too!
The main point here is the need for a colonized people to understand the linguistic and cultural impacts of colonialism, and associated psychological effects, which we see demonstrated btl here and elsewhere every day:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
@ Alf Baird says: 18 September, 2026 at 12:34 pm
“The main point here is the need for a colonized people to understand the linguistic and cultural impacts of colonialism, and associated psychological effects, which we see demonstrated btl here and elsewhere every day”
Crivens, Alf. That post was sheer “torture” (Fanon) to read.
WTAF are you about, “mimicing the coloniser” like that?
“It’s bad enough everybody else doing it, without you joining in” (Hatey).
Shame on you, Alf!
@Alf
– repetitive, excessive, and largely meaningless writing focused relentlessly on the same subject, often to the point of becoming tedious, incoherent, or irrational.
– unwanted, unsolicited, or irrelevant messages sent repeatedly or in large quantities, typically with little or no value to the recipient.
– unnecessarily long-winded writing that uses far more words than necessary while conveying little substantive information.
– writing that lacks meaningful sense, coherence, or logical connection, and therefore communicates little or no valid or understandable information.
Do you think you or “James Che” might relate in some way to any of those definitions?
Ah Alf, so it’s somebody else’s fault ye huv tae yaise thon Coloniser’s tung, nae yur ain?
An whit “Scots” vershin ur ye referrin tae when ye say “Scots”? Ur wi talkin aboot Embra’ Scots (ken, ya radge yi) or Weegie (yer tea’s oot ya dobber), or Tayside (awa wi yi, ken) or Invernessian (right enaafff, what’s the craic like eh), or Caithness (ivry o’er sill’bul dropped wi’ loads o’ sweareen mixed in, eh), or Hebridean which huz the influence o’ the Gàidhlig, like thon guid Runrig recurds ah like Tae listen tae.
A mean, ah’m a mixchur o’ Sooth-East Embra’ ind Invernessian masel, so ah dinnae ken where aboot ah fit in. There again it’s no sumhin a tend tae gie much thought tae, mair important hings gon oan tae deal wi an worry aboot.
Onybidy wid hink yur a culchural supreemasist, hinkin wur aw the same. Soonds a bit “Colonial” tae me.
There again, it’s hard work trying to type it when Android’s autocorrect keeps changing everything. Grrr, colonialist programmers.
Weren’t the Picts assimilated by the colonising Scots?
@Dunx
According to the Declaration of Arbroath, the Picts were genocided by the Scots.
That’s an awkward truth that can’t be airbrushed out of history because the DoA is too valuable to the believers in the Ancient Guff. So they just quietly hope nobody will notice.
Alternatively, some claim the descendants of the Picts still live quietly among us Scots. That comes with its own dangers now that the fashion for historic reparations is gaining traction. We Scots could yet find ourselves on the hook for hundreds of billions in compensation!
They are mnoe starting to really panic. Their attempt at distancing and evasion wont work. They will be held to account. Their attempt to flood the issue with paperwork displacement and lies is evident. They will not be able defend their position to proper scrutiny.
@Hatey
Have you become Alf’s Feeder?
Shame.
Naw, Mark.
Every time Alf reads one of my posts he starts choking and somebody has to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on him.
Maybe somebody should get Alf an epipen, just in case.
But all you get is the C word nicely feathered in a word salad. Maybe you could ask him to explain how the Bufta Girls fit in to his ideology. I’ve tried asking but you just get the word salad with a prawn on top.
Book review:
‘SUPERHERO COMICS AND SCOTTISH IDENTITY: The Comics Art Of Frank Quitely’
« The authors are academics, interrogating Scottish identity from the perspective of a Scottish-American and Breton team. Their investigation is rich in historical depth and comprehensively researched. Identity is a fascinating subject and ideas of what Scottishness means are necessarily complex. The authors recognise this complexity and even embrace it to draw out the nuanced approaches an artist brings to their craft. Here they use highlights from Frank Quitely’s work to illustrate what being Scottish can mean and how the artist brings aspects of their Scottishness to images and stories. »
« […] What does it mean to be Scottish? Who are we? In the light of devolution but no independence, suddenly these become quite big questions, fraught with tension. Where does the tension come from? Being colonised or unable to govern itself has implications for any country. »
« […] In 2017 the exhibition Frank Quitely: The Art of Comics opened at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It was the largest collection of his work ever displayed, and he hoped it would inspire other young people to follow their dreams. »
link to thebottleimp.org.uk
@ ALF BAIRD
Those who attack you make your case. Scotland did not start out as a unionist colony but has become one by stealthlike anglicization and the cooperation of the democratically unaccountable ruling élite who prospered as a consequence.
It is not rocket science to see the process at work during Scotland’s associations with England. The «stronger» inevitably absorbs the «weaker» is the convention. However, Scotland was not actually so weak that as an independent state, albeit with the same personal monarch, its politics did not pose an existential threat to England during the 17th century.
The 18th century Union did not end that threat but it allowed England to intervene on Scottish soil with «legitimacy», no longer as an invader but as a protector of state integrity.
You will know far more on this particular than I do but being in denial, stubborn pride maybe, regarding Scotland’s current status is a psychological aberration which the thinkers you quote would recognize as the colonized mind in conflict; antisyzygy in all its glory.
“being in denial, stubborn pride maybe, regarding Scotland’s current status is a psychological aberration which the thinkers you quote would recognize as the colonized mind in conflict; antisyzygy in all its glory”
Yes indeed, my research on the subject always comes back to the realisation that ‘colonialism is based on psychology’ (Cesaire); why else would certain elements of the oppressed group (the more assimilated etc) reject their own liberation and deny their own freedom (i.e. ‘No’ voting Scots) but because they are subject to a colonial mindset?
“why else would certain elements of the oppressed group (the more assimilated etc) reject their own liberation and deny their own freedom (i.e. ‘No’ voting Scots) but because they are subject to a colonial mindset?”
Possibly because they are intelligent and can follow logical argument (and evaluate BS that compares colonial Algeria with 21st century Scotland for what it is)?
…and this is why the colonizer (and his group acting collectively btl here) ‘hates theory’ (Memmi) – because it unveils the oppressive reality.
There’s no oppressive reality in my neck of the woods, Alf.
Maybe you just need to move house.
There’s something stunningly ironic (some would even say offensive, but I’m not easily that way) in a non-Scot lecturing *me* as a Scot about my own country that I’ve lived in since birth almost 40 years ago.
I do not “attack” Alf, he has his views which he is entitled do, I do disagree with many of his repetitive points (and hypocrisy) however I also appreciate some points he makes regarding Scotland’s potential and that we have been held back by the system of governance within this country, which I find agreement with.
Others are likewise perfectly welcome to pick holes in my points or disagree, for all it matters. I’m just another layperson who isn’t even that political but am fed up with crap politicians and their crap politics.
Maybe a wee oversensitive? Considering the west has been lecturing, and worse, my part of the world for centuries about our perceived primitivism & moral short comings, some observations were, however, not without foundation.
Scotland is not unique in having an overweening neighbor, unfortunately too few appear to register the fact.
@TURABDIN
As recently as 30 years ago, you could have gotten away with claiming the allegations of primitivism and moral short comings were unjustified.
But since millions from “your part of the world” flooded into Europe, I’m afraid we’ve all now seen that, if anything, they failed to do the subject justice.
Whether it’s grooming gangs, wee lassies being slain en masse, women reduced to fear and terror, or blokes being beheaded on our streets, the last half of the twentieth century in the U.K. was mercifully free of these blights.
But not any more.
Informative exploration of MacDiarmid’s use of the term ‘antisyzygy’. (I don’t necessarily endorse Malgrati’s entire pitch.)
‘ANTISYZYGY’: AN ESCAPE ROUTE By Paul Malgrati
link to thebottleimp.org.uk
Yes, Malgrati in his review does not quite get as far as ‘Doun-Hauden’ which would have helped him explain the Scottish psyche and our colonial reality, as well a its only ‘escape route’, liberation.
Pathologising dissent isn’t just rude — it’s a form of control based on authoritarian logic.
It’s the same manoeuvre used in:
– cult dynamics
– ideological zealotry
– grievance movements
– mythic nationalism
– doctrinal purity systems
It’s the move that says: “If you disagree, you are damaged.”
That isn’t politics.
That isn’t theory.
That isn’t analysis.
It’s control.
It’s an insidious rhetorical manoeuvre because it collapses disagreement into mental illness. It’s not only insulting — it’s structurally authoritarian.
It converts:
– dissent into pathology
– disagreement into inferiority
– counter-argument into psychological defect
– institutional reality into “colonised mind”
– factual correction into “internalised oppression”
Postcolonial theorists like Fanon were describing the psychological damage caused by actual colonisation. Their framework has real legitimacy — but it becomes distortion when applied to contexts where colonisation did not occur.
It’s also a self-sealing mechanism. Once disagreement = pathology, the doctrine becomes immune to challenge. It can’t be wrong. It can’t be disproven. It can’t be falsified. It can’t be debated. It can’t be corrected. Because any attempt to correct it becomes “proof of your colonised mindset.”
This is exactly how myth-logic protects itself.
Pathologising dissent is inherently anti-social. When someone says, “If you disagree with me, you are psychologically damaged,” they are breaking the basic social contract of conversation.
If you should ever choose to stand for office in Scotland, New Northy, I’ll be paying close attention to your policies and plans, with the hope I’ll be able to vote for you as somebody demonstrating mature judgement and wisdom.
Apologies in advance if my endorsement loses you the support of some on here, but they’re a minority among the rational, sane, Scottish electorate.
Hopefully you may be able to present evidence for your revised thesis that Scotland is not now a colony?
Much work has already been done to establish that Scotland is a colony of England, including via the necessary application of postcolonial theory, also taking into account evidence for the pathology that accompanies colonialism, as explained here:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
When posters invoke antisyzygy, they’re not using it as a literary concept. They’re using it as:
– a psychological explanation
– a nationalist myth
– a rhetorical flourish
– a way to pathologise disagreement
– a way to imply Scots are “internally divided” because of oppression
– a way to make political claims sound profound
In formal logic, this is a category error.
They take a poetic metaphor and use it as a diagnostic tool.
They take a literary observation and use it as proof of colonisation.
They take a stylistic trope and use it as evidence of psychological damage.
This is not diagnostic – it’s rhetorical inflation.
It seems to me some people confuse:
Caledonian Antisyzygy (a literary trope)
with
Malgrati’s critique of ideological contradiction (a philosophical argument)
and are using the hybrid as a psychological diagnosis.
Either way they’re wrong.
Let’s just say, playing the victim now is not got the payback that one might have thought. Perhaps the victim is the very core of the downfall after all. Be Right. Don’t be stupid. Believe in your country.
The yoons on here constantly moan whinge and cry about various btl posters, sometimes demanding they just stop posting their ‘drivel’ etc. other times creeping and begging Rev Stu to stop them.
They’re bored to death, made comatose or brain damaged by the posts and posters they love to hate. They claim all sorts of things, chief amongst them being that these posters will do nothing for independence, will even put yessers and potential yessers off altogether. Why then would they want them stopped?
It’s been said often enough on here that when your enemy’s making a mistake you should let them carry on, even encourage them to continue. But no, those posters they deem to be detrimental to independence must be stopped, silenced and banished (never mind ridiculed and abused)
It’s kind of strange really but then that’s yoons all over.
Dave L , with you there , never ceases to amaze me how much time they spend on here relentlessly criticising and adding nothing to rational debate or conversation presumably in a desperate effort to kill the blog stone dead.
Or, you know…in the real world, it’s not the yoons contributing to BTL discourse that are the issue it is those who are (or purport to be) supporters of independence who have contributed to rendering this place the relative intellectual and discussion desert that it now is.
The likes of Alf Baird, James and their posse of generally abusive and invariably moon howling compadres are the ones chiefly responsible for the sad decline of this place. The Rev Stu famously avers that he doesn’t read BTL comments, and the seldom intervenes unless needlessly provoked.
He can hardly be accused of lacking patience given the propensity of too many in this place to hijack this place as a platform to air their woo-woo extremist views, which they know would find zero traction if they tried to advertise them elsewhere.
Much like the movement as a whole, the problem this place has isn’t the opposition, it’s within its own ranks. Small wonder the cause as a whole is up a political and strategic cul-de-sac.
See, Dave?
You can string a few sentences together when you’re prepared to make the effort.
Why don’t you build on that foundation and start posting about the great things the grassroots Indy movement will bring to Scotland. There’s an enormous amount of work needs done to remove the SNP from power for starters. Maybe you could apply your energies to that.
And mind at all times. There’s only one gets to say who can and can’t post on here. And it’s not you. If that’s really too much for you to thole, get your own blog.
Many of the people you refer to as “Yoons” are independence supporters, myself included. (I was recently accused of being a “Yoon” by one BTL poster, despite me clearly stating on several occasions I support independence).
I’m not sure if it’s ideological puritanism or just sheer ignorance, but it does reinforce the impression that many of the regular and more vociferous BTL contributors here are either inebriated, of sub-100-IQ or are genuinely sociopathic.
It’s the usual MO of the hard of thinking contingent which has (sadly) come to dominate BTL discourse in here. anyone who disagrees with their hobby horse issue is by default a yoon, MI6 plant, in the pay of Soros / space lizards / the illuminati [delete according to zoomerism of choice].
If it weren’t so depressing it would almost be as laughable as what passes for most of their arguments. Why they think their hot takes on post colonial theory, the Treaties if Union, or the relevance of Jockistinian affairs (other than to turn off the vast majority of ordinary Scots, whether pro or anti independence) is a great myster.
It certainly doesn’t advance the cause of independence, nor does it improve this place, or make it something that supports that aim. Quite the opposite in fact. The ranters in here have done more to harm the cause of independence than the “real” yoons have the capacity to in the current political environment.
FUCK OFF AMERIKA….
What’s that in Inuktituk?
If you’re referring to the US-Denmark-Greenland deal, the reality would appear to be more nuanced.
And it’s yet to be signed. Probably in pencil, as Carney recently observed.
Why would anyone trust a word Trump – or indeed any of his GOP successors say? Even if the Democrats get back in, some other sub-Trumpian dolt will no doubt be elected by clueless rednecks in the flyover states in due course.
The Europeans, Canadians, Australians, Kiwis, Japanese, South Koreans and Taiwanese need to learn the lessons of recent years and look to their own defence and security: we certainly can’t rely on the US in future. The Nordic and Baltic states and the French at least seem to be making an effort.
If only we had a party or “statespeople” here capable of galvanising the public to ensure we rejoin the EU and replace NATO. Much like the prospects of Scottish independence, I fear I won’t be holding my breath.
I do not associate Trump or his MAGA foreign policy, or deals as he calls his «ploys», with nuance. The Danes are supposedly loyal Natoists but their government is a coalition so things may turn out awkward for all concerned.
The autonomous government of the island does not appear to have been consulted on the matter of allowing the US a virtual free hand on a landmass known to contain sizeable quantities of rare earths.
So like his Trump towers a crude & ugly statement of US fundamental insecurity.
Curiously, I have yet to meet an American, despite significant evidence, who thinks Trump is anything but «normal».
Normal for Americans, maybe? .
I admire their loyalty to their mad monarch.
When will we see him at Saxa Vord?
@Hatey McHateface
Thirty years ago i wasnt around however the flooding as you term it may have had something to do with the interventionist foreign policies of certain anglophone countries.
The media are good at cherrypicking on this matter of immigration selecting the bad fruit as typical of the crop.
A reminder, the porno industry earns billions per annum for the USA.
It is probably the mainstay of the contemporary internet.
My part of the world had zilch to do with that and its social consequences.
Are Sweden and Germany Anglophone countries? How about Greece, Austria, Italy and Ceuta (Spain)?
Your response is just more of the “they have it coming”.
I earlier listed some ghastly occurrences that have become almost routine in the UK and Europe, yet were vanishingly rare only 30 years ago. I would like to return to the situation we enjoyed 30 years ago by whatever means necessary.
If that means mass deportations, bring it on.
And sure, that means millions of innocents will get caught in the net, but tough. They had 30 years of a better life than they would otherwise have had, so they could just take the win and be grateful, remembering that nothing lasts forever.
As the Post Colonial Boys tell us, colonialism is racism, fascism, misogyny, antisemitism and every other ill known to human kind. We need to twig that colonialism is just as evil when it’s brown people doing it to white countries as when it’s the opposite.
We might also ‘twig’ that Imperial England has long since became a refuge and right of abode for millions of collaborative colonial natives from around the world who fought and acted against their own peoples’ national liberation from English colonial rule, and; who were led to believe by Imperial England’s rulers that they were all bona fide ‘British’ citizens by virtue of giving up their own sovereign rights and nationalities in colonial territories.
Is Scots craving for ‘British citizenship’ really any different, i.e. via such craving by implication one sacrifices one’s ain country’s sovereignty?
@Alf Baird – Do Liberate Scotland have any links to Russia?
No psychology, no theory, putting meat on the bone through the records of Westminster parliament, from the Horses mouth one might say,
The Scottish parliament was dissolved by the Monarch of England on the 28th April 1706 in England.
The reason for Queen Anne being only the Monarch of England on the 28th April 1706 was the Act of Settlement passed by the parliament of England.
By the timeline and date the 1st May 1706 Treaty of union took place and was ratified in England.
The Scottish parliament had already ceased to be, it was dissolved.
The old parliament of England in its last session was transferred into the Parliament of Englands/ Great Britain by the Monarch of England.
There was and….is no old or modern parliament of Scotland in the Great Britain parliament, due to being dissolved prior to that date.
The dissolved old parliament of Scotland was unable technically and legally to enter into a parliamentary Or political Union of parliaments to the parliament of England to create and unite to two Kingdoms of Great Britain.
The Great Britain parliament today is the duel parliament of England and Englands Great Britain parliament since the 1st May 1706.
Alf,
Even you and the UN have to chronologically apply dates and time lines to arrive at the ” theses” not theory, of why The Country of Scotland is subjected to the Status of Colony rather than in a union and joint international treaty with the parliament of England to produce a united State of Great Britain of two supposed Countries.
For these details and dates are the only way that evidence lies and is provided for Scotland and its dissolved parliament falling foul to a Colony of Westminster parliaments Great Britain of England.
This has nothing to do with the people of either Scotland or England,
The Hoax treaty of union is a result of hoax Commissioners, politicians, and a false Monarch of Scotland. not being honest as to when the old parliament of Scotland was actually dissolved. Prior to ratification of a union treaty.
And that the Monarch that was once shared had become the monarch of England under the Act of Settlement,
The Westminster parliament records do not float an idea or theory that Scotland is Colonised , it proves it into reality.
The records need to be held by all of Scotlands and all of Englands people, for the Way in Which that supposed hoax parliament is treating the people today has false foundations and authority.
Both the bill of rights and the act of Settlement were passed by the parliament of England prior the Scottish parliament being dissolved by said monarch.
The Scottish parliament was dissolved prior to the treaty of union and ratification dates.
Timeline of the 1707 Union
January 16, 1707:The Treaty of Union was formally ratified by the Parliament of Scotland.
March 25, 1707: The Scottish Parliament adjourned its final session.
April 28, 1707: The Scottish Parliament was officially dissolved by royal proclamation.
May 1, 1707: The Act of Union took effect, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain and replacing the separate parliaments with the new Parliament of Great Britain at Westminster
Aye, hunners o dodgy one-sided ‘annexation’ and ‘we’ll hiv yer sovereignty, thank you’ treaties are the wey it wis done by the English-as-British Croun, nae maitter whaur, includin Scotland:
link to nzhistory.govt.nz
Simply said for late comers,
The ratification of Scotlands side of the 1707 treaty of union occurred after the parliament of Scotland had ceased to exist , voided and dissolved on the 28th April 1706 in England.and prior to the two union of parliaments Completion.
This makes the “Scotland Act itself reservations and restrictions on Scotland from the legislation and Statues of then Westminster parliament for England and Englands great Britain parliament a distinct Colonising Act,
The Scotland Act from Westminster parliament was the attempt to bring Scotland back into its grasp in what they thought was a legal noose after three hundred years of of a absent and voided dissolved Scottish parliament.
It also creates false laws and Crown offices of Colonisation, from the Colonising parliament in Englands Westminster parliament of Great Britain,
So this conflates for ‘Stu’ finding his way between Laws of England, laws of Scotland and laws of Colonisation.
And the hoax of a Colonising Scottish parliament being held to account on laws in Scotland.
And has no authority to decide if referendums are allowed or not, in either Scotland, England, Wales or Ireland as a false constructed parliament of Scotland and England,
Ben Gvir recently had a rant on X
“It’s time for the State to publicly recognize that the Malvinas Islands are Argentine territory under occupation, which the British violently steal from the Argentine people. The British are not content with merely occupying the territory; they also carry out oil drilling there and steal the money from the Argentine people,” he writes.
“I call upon Prime Minister to recognize Argentina’s sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and to impose sanctions on Great Britain as long as the occupation continues.”
England is being shat upon by its “special relationship” and by people they slavishly support – we need to join in on this shitting. They are awful people with no friends in the world.
But opportunities come and go, and you need to grab them when they appear. They don’t hang around forever, not even 2031.
This “celtic alliance” meeting – I don’t have much interest in, it’s a photo op, but the reaction to it is interesting – the anglos are furious, absolutely fucking mad that they weren’t invited (so they could control the agenda, and generally “shit the place up”); it was like a wifebeater finding out his wife had gone to meet a divorce lawyer. More of this, please, since it winds them up. As for Swinney, the prospect of “really going for it in 2031” is about as credible as all the other false promises.
Scotland needs to be careful about this, looking out for its own aims; a grand alliance is logical, but the practicals are disturbing. If ireland was united before Scotland was independent, we would end up with a tsunami of immigrants from nornirelund, at least 500K, coming over to the UK and mainly settling in ayrshire, lanarkshire and glasgow, all slope headed gammon necked yoon hun loyalist bastards, who will want to setup stormont on the clyde and will set us back 50 years. This is a triple whammy – we are being swamped by Anglos, BAMs right now, what we don’t need are half a million HUNS.
A bit early to be pished.
Someone obviously left the COSHH cabinet unlocked last night. Snorted the Denso and necked the meths. What a state tae get yersel in.
Confused makes a good point.
As Professor Edward Said wrote:
“The imperial relationship is there in all cases. Irish people can never be English any more than Cambodians or Algerians can be French. In every colonial relationship an absolute hierarchical distinction remains constant between ruler and ruled.. ”
Scots should take note of “the imperial relationship” and its implications for ‘subaltern peoples’.
Havers, Alf, Confused wants the gas chamber for those who disagree with him. His kind don’t make good points.
You’re following in the well-trod path of academics and intellectuals who believe that, come the revolution, they’ll be the ones to steer the grateful proletariat in the “correct” direction.
The likes of Confused always have these delusional saps in front of the firing squads by Day 3. You need to study history more closely.
Talking of ‘delusion’, Hatey, the comment below from Ambassador Murray tends to reject yours and your colonial cohorts claim that there is no UN or international support for Scottish independence or for the ongoing Liberation Scotland UN initiative:
“In response to the Celtic nations meeting, Lavrov stated explicitly that Ru**ia supports Scotland’s right to self determination. He said it on two consecutive days.
He also spoke of the need for UN reform and the P5 after the break-up of the UK.”
link to x.com
No shit, Sherlock, erm, Alf.
Who’s this Ambassador Murray boy? I don’t waste my time on X.
Fuck me Alf – so we’ve got Vl@d, perhaps we can look to get;
– Bhaal
– Bughuul
– the balrog of morgoth
– Lord Voldermort
– Myra Hindley
– Beezlebub
To campaign on our side. I think you have lost the plot posting that.
Loving how the Argies, descendants of genocidal, colonising Europeans, are now setting their sights on their next colonialist conquest – The Falklands – while sanctimoniously preaching to the knuckle draggers of the world as they do so.
Loving even more how the self-identifying Scots Nats are salivating at the prospect of another small place being denied its right to self determination.
Keep em coming, Confused. It’s of the utmost importance that sane, rational Scots never lose sight of what lurks in the slime sticking to the bottom of the Indy movement.
The simple fact about The Falklands that all anybody needs to know is that it never had any indigenous occupants and was thus fair game for anybody to occupy. The Brits, as in the Scots, English, Irish and Welsh, got there first, while the Spanish were exterminating by the million on the South American mainland. The Brits never exterminated so much as one hapless indigene while doing so.
Yes, the island group was ‘colonised’ but in the basic sense of the word in simply colonising an uninhabited place, and Argentina did not even exist then as a nations state.
The history of it is quite complex but the occupation was basically a result of a colonial power, willy-waiving dispute with the Spanish, who backed down, fortunately, without a war.
I say fortunately due to the lack of deaths, but what did we get? Nothing really. And so what can be said is colonising the place was basically pointless (and was said so at the time) and once it was colonised with British people it became a colonial outpost we are stuck with today (and at considerable expense).
There is no obvious solution beyond the status quo – Argentina have no obvious right to it other than proximity (though it is hardly close) and 99% of the people there voted fairly recently to remain British. And even if we did decide enough is enough and wanted to hand it over to them, those in power there who have demanded it have been neo-fascist dictators, not exactly encouraging such a move. It would need a much more benign regime for that kind of persuasion to succeed.
bbc shilling for war on the front page
link to bbc.co.uk
delusions of a fool, pining for the past
link to archive.ph
getting involved in war is bad, especially as you are doing it with a guy whose only crime is to try and sell you cheap gas on long term contracts
having a daft wee war with wee dafties who can’t hit back is one thing; we go in and wreck their place then leave, but picking a fight with people who can hit back, how dumb is that?
if the real war starts then the satellites will be first to go; both sides have weapons to do this. If your satnav goes down, get worried and get to the supermarket and the pharmacy and B&Q. Internet cables, then critical infrastructure is all very vulnerable; the grid goes down the country is fucked, the petrol stations gone, no lorries – the food shelves will empty in 3 days due to “just in time” logisitics which corporate profits love … then its mad max time, but it won’t be all about looking cool in leather and driving a V8 interceptor. Young, old and sick people will be in trouble; street thugs and those prepared to use extreme violence will prosper. Most people will go down because they simply won’t accept what is happening. The rich will cower in their bunkers.
still – “anyone but england” – applies. As it always does. Never on the right side of nuthin (except for maybe that one time, but even that needs a good look at)
kill them all, vlad – I will send you an annotated map
link to archive.ph
– there’s 100 quid behind the bar for youse if you want to visit
“come friendly bombs and fall on slough”
It’s how they would have wanted it, in a modern reprise of some “great game” bullshit – and in any case, it’s not england any more, is it? For example, it now has an islamabad.
The BBC along with the rest of the British MSM are indeed shilling for war, as is the FSL in that other article. Boris was even at it in the Mail this morning, demanding Imran Khan be released from jail in Pakistan. Why this is any of our business is a total mystery, there again Boris did directly involve us in a conflict with absolutely nothing to do with us, deliberately blocked any peace process and then poured petrol on the situation; bizarrely, three lame duck Prime Ministers later, we still carry on this policy of warfare over peace in an irrelevant conflict.
The rest of it… Wibble. Imagine being absolutely trollied before 12 noon on a Saturday.
They’re saying war is coming whether they shill for it or not.
Odd, really, I thought it was obvious near 5 years ago.
There’s only one decent military power in Europe right now. If it goes down, every other country the Orcs want will go too, not just because they’ll have the weapons and the troops, but because after taking over the defeated, they’ll have their industry and technology too.
It really is analogous to the 1930s when the Germans took Czechoslovakia and got their munitions factories. The progress to war was inevitable after that.
It’s a shame that Indy still harbours those still pining for the Soviet era “workers paradise” they were told about on their grandad’s knee. Plus they would have been told the Orcs like Burns, so in their sorry heids, they expect the death and destruction to stop at Hadrian’s Wall.
Such a shame they never spoke to some of our Polish immigrants to learn at first hand exactly what the Orcs are.
…but we keep being told by the MSM and you (wee Adolf AKA Hatey) that the Rus are losing the war big time. Their economy in the dustbin and isolated from all other countries in the world. And yet here you are saying that should your ‘fighting friends in the east’ lose the Rus will take Europe and whatever other countries they fancy.
Which is it Hatey? Losing and isolated or winning and on a roll? It can’t be both. Please explain, but before you do please read my post carefully several times because everybody knows your reading comprehension is severely lacking, and it is.
Aw, Dave, it breks ma hert ye’ve nae ither cant tae play wi.
@Hatey – The West collectively is doing its best to actively fan the flames of conflict. The nations involved are both corrupt puts that should be left alone to slug it out. And if Europe is worried, then Europe needs to defend itself, rather than the meddling UK and US, which have done their best to put themselves in the crosshairs.
As for who’s winning, don’t trust anything you read on either side, not that I’m interested anyway, aside from the utterly tragic and senseless waste of human lives on both sides.
@Spartan
My view is that anybody who is willing to sacrifice Ukr, or Isr for that matter, in exchange for a quiet life and “cheap gas” should be prepared to tell us how many refugees Scotland should take.
The populations are approx 45 million and 11 million respectively. Do the math and report back. Unless you’re hoping somebody else will do the genocides while you keep your hands clean. Real ones, not like the wee pretendy one the progressive left like to wang oan an oan aboot.
There’s plenty yearning for genocide and happy to say so so dinna be shy.
Incidentally, if being corrupt is justification for destruction, when will the missiles start hitting Edinburgh and Glasgow?
Finally, if you want to reply to my posts, please reply to what I write. Not to what Dave says I write. They’re substantially different things.
@Hatey. Who’s suggesting we “sacrifice” anyone? My view is it’s naff all to do with us so we should keep well out of it, as with the shenanigans in the sandpit. Enough lives from these isles have been spent over the past 25 years on other people’s problems we had nothing to do with (and invited trouble upon our shores into the bargain).
Same with any ‘fugees. Not our problem. Plenty other places to go to first, but we all know why they skip a whole continent to come to Albion’s generous and lucrative shores.
Agentx,
The old Scottish parliament was already dissolved by the Monarch of England on the 28th April 1706 in England,
The confusion seems to be over the Calendar dates on your behalf,
England did not alter its Calendar dates until 1752: also immediately Altering what was supposed to be a International treaty by the way, causing England to loose 11 missing Calendar days to Englands side of the treaty of Union,
That does not change the recorde fact that Scotlands parliament was missing and dissolved on the 28th April 1606 prior to the treaty of union dates of the 1st May,
1706 in England, and 1707 in Scotland respectively.
In Hugh MacDiarmid’s essay ‘THE CALEDONIAN ANTISYZYGY AND THE GAELIC IDEA’, he quotes a Gaelic proverb which coincidentally chimes with Stuart Campbell’s anbove article. The essay was written in 1931-2, nearly a century ago. Some extracts:
« […] and, above all, Dostoevsky. I am not referring only to ‘Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without improvement are roads of genius’ (of which, and its opposite, I have suggested that we in Scotland have a higher synthesis in the Gaelic saying: “Is cam ‘s is dìreach an lagh”; “Crooked and straight is the law”), or to his extraordinary appreciation of the stratification of the human mind and its power of entertaining all sorts of irreconcilably opposed beliefs at one and the same time [just as] we in Scotland have carried our essential national principle of ‘antisyzygy’.
« […] I cite these Russian names advisedly. We in Scotland are at the opposite side of Europe. The old balance of Europe – between North and South – has been disrupted by the emergence of Russia. […] Only in Gaeldom can there be the necessary counter-idea to the Russian idea — one that does not run wholly counter to it, but supplements, corrects, challenges, and qualifies it.
« […] The point is that Dostoevsky’s was a great creative idea — a dynamic myth — and in no way devalued by the difference of the actual happenings in Russia from any Dostoevsky dreamed or desired. So we in Scotland […] proclaim that relationship between freedom and genius, between freedom and thought, which Russia is denying — help to rebalance Europe in accordance with our distinctive genius — rediscover and manifest anew our dynamic spirit as a nation.
« This Gaelic Idea has nothing in common with the activities of An Comunn Gaidhealach, no relationship whatever with the Celtic Twilight. It would not matter so far as positing it is concerned whether there had never been any Gaelic language or literature, not to mention clans and tartans, at all. It is an intellectual conception designed to offset the Russian Idea: and […] it calls us to a redefinition and extension of our national principle of freedom on the plane of world-affairs, and in an abandonment alike of our monstrous neglect and ignorance of Gaelic and of the barren conservatism and loss of the creative spirit on the part of those professedly Gaelic and concerned with its maintenance and development.
« The essential point is that all fixed opinions — every denial of the relativity and transience of all thought, any failure to ‘play with’ ideas — and above all the stupid (since self-stultifying) idea that it is possible to be over-intellectual — are anti-Scottish — opposed to our national genius which is capable of countless manifestations at absolute variance with each other, yet confined within the ‘limited infinity’ of the adjective ‘Scottish’. »
(‘Selected Essays of Hugh MacDiarmid’, Edited and with Intro by Duncan Glen’, 1969)
Agentx,
It was and is of no account what Scotlands old parliament did when adjourned in Scotland in 1707. To England,
As Englandsn monarch by Declaration had already canceled it out of the treaty of union on the 28th April 1606.
Stretching the neo colonial theme,
kinda Woody Guthrie..ish
These lands are our land, no longer your land
From the icy poles to sultry Venezuela,
from the Hawal’i islands to the waters of Persia
God blessed your lands for the USA
Beware you Canadians and you Cubans
There’s no high wall that’s gonna stop us
No sign painted Private Property, –
God blessed your lands for the USA
Indeed God Bless Amerika!
The parliament of England, the monarch of England the politicians, the Commissioners all held the two mistakes and errors.
1:
that the Scottish parliament was dissolved 28th April 1606, in England , prior to the the union of two parliaments and union again of Monarchs,
2:
That the parliament of England dates for the treaty of union did not match or coincide. And the parliament of Englands Great Britain had to try rectify this in 1752, without the parliament of Scotland,
3:
This completely messed up the authenticity of a International treaty a union date with the parliament of England and the now already 28th April 1606 dissolved parliament of Scotland in England.
Just asking. Maybe Northcode?
Wales was annexed into England with Acts of Parliament to support it. What, if anything, has happened to change that constitutinal position?
The North of Ireland, before partition, was a part of colonised Ireland. After partition, the coloniser settlers held power and discriminated, unchecked by the UK, against catholics in Northern Ireland.
What, if anything, has changed Northern Ireland’s colonial status.
Can’t promise to read any replies today.
@Alf Baird
EDWARD SAID was a singular man who became a virtual icon. I should have enjoyed exchanging my childhood experiences with his. He had little to say about the minorities in the Dar al Islam and the internal colonization by Arabs and the identity problems that brings.
His early youth seems more screwed up than mine giving him a preference for the seclusion of academia than direct engagement with matters political.
Theory is important but it does not feed mouths or keep out those who would steal your food.
Orientalism inspired many westerners to study the languages and cultures of north Africa and south west Asia, it was not entirely bad. What was bad was the homogenizing impressionist engagement with the cultures of the region selecting the «exotic», particularly the sexual, to stand for the entirety. That propels some of the fevered rhetoric about immigrants in the contemporary media too.
He was a man of his time and the history of that time and his perceptions were particular to his localized experiences. A Syrian protestant called Edward is rather a deracinated novelty.
His 40 year tenure, ended by his death, at Columbia university plainly suited his need for an academic comfort blanket in the face of the mess called The Politics of the Middle East.
What might he have made of King Donald and his wet dream of Gaza as the new Florida? Costa Trump?
Confused.
If it is possible where do you envisage The Westminster parliament and government war being Scotlands if Westminster dates are followed,
As the old Scottish parliament never entered the 1707 parliamentary and political union with England.
It was dissolved on the 28th April 1606 in England by the monarchs public Declaration.
It was gone before the 1st of May 1707.
Englands ramp up of war belongs to the Westminster parliament of Englands Great Britain version with no Scottish parliament in it since the 28th April 1606.
@Alf Baird
Trying to avoid moderation traps…so here goes sans triggers….
Edward Said was a singular man. I should have enjoyed exchanging my childhood experiences with his. He had little to say about the minorities and the internal colonization by the majority culture and the identity problems that brings.
His early youth seems more screwed up than mine giving him a preference for the seclusion of academia than direct engagement with matters political.
Theory is important but it does not feed mouths or keep out those who would steal your food.
Fascination with «the Orient» inspired many westerners to study the languages and cultures of the vast region, it was not entirely bad. What was bad was the homogenizing impressionistic engagement with its cultures selecting the «exotic», particularly the sexual, to stand for the entirety. That propels some of the fevered rhetoric about immigrants in the contemporary media too.
He was a man of his time and the history of that time and his perceptions were particular to his localized experiences. As a protestant boy called Edward he was probably bullied.
His 40 year tenure, ended by his death, at Columbia university plainly suited his need for an academic comfort blanket in the face of the maelstrom of regional politics.
What might he have made of King Donald and his wet dream of a levantine Florida complete with trumpian edifices.
Welcome folks to the Costa Trump?
Our resident professor comments approvingly
“In response to the Celtic nations meeting, Lavrov stated explicitly that Ru**ia supports Scotland’s right to self determination. He said it on two consecutive days.”.
The same Lavrov who is speaking on behalf of the country that is killing thousands of innocent Uk****an civilians every week because they will not allow themselves to be occupied by a colonising enemy? This is the man whose opinion the professor respects and endorses?
Remarkable.
Herman Munster couldn’t find Scotland on a map if his next hit of amyl nitrite depended upon it.
The Celtic nations meeting is doomed to generate nothing other than tomorrow’s fish and chips wrapping because the SNP is involved, and the SNP is only interested in keeping it’s collective snout in as many troughs as possible and to hell with Scottish, Welsh or any other form of independence or indeed Irish reunification.
One cannot be too choosey about ones friends or you might end up with none.
One may sup….with a long spoon.
Lavrov is a wily individual, Armenian aristo ancestry, with high aspirations.
Scots might try to be less uptight about consorting with the allegedly «devilish».
Two words BRITISH EMPIRE should fix the prob.
@Factchecker – To be fair to Alf he was merely quoting 2nd hand, however his selection of sources/quotes does raise eyebrows (and not for the first time).
@Robert – agree.
“Subaltern peoples” refers to social groups, classes, or populations who are structurally excluded, marginalised, and denied a voice or agency within the dominant power structures of society or empire.
———————————————-
Does that sound like present day Scotland?
assuming your post is not ironic, which i believe it might be, the current UK cabinet has one Scot in it. rather less than subaltern i feel, more tokenism. unionist northern voice Burnham at large.
In the last 30 years, on a population basis Scotland should have had a Prime Minister for 3 of them. In fact, there has been a a Scottish Prime Minister for 13 of them, i.e. almost 50% of the time.
In that time we have been hugely over-represented as leaders of the UK.
Hardly a ‘subaltern people’.
“In that time we have been hugely over-represented as leaders of the UK.
Hardly a ‘subaltern people’.”
WM decisions are made by its MPs, not the PM, and Scotland is vastly under-represented given the simple majority voting system that lets Scotland’s MPs outvote England’s on average about 6 times in every 1000 divisions. So, yes, very definitely a subaltern people!
The self proclaimed factchecker speaks! Who takes any notice of you? You claim at 4.22pm that ‘thousands’ of innocent civilians are being killed every week. As far as I know not even our lying criminal overlords or the equally as dishonest lickspittle MSM have made such a claim.
Maybe you could provide a reference?
“WM decisions are made by its MPs, not the PM”
Jeezo Xaracen. How many suns do you see in the sky of the planet you live on?
Factchecker! Ho ho ho!
What a lot of keech being spraffed here.
Two PMs since 1997 were Scottish, serving a total of 13 years; one delivered devolution, flooded the country with immigrants, severely inflated the state and welfare system and warmongered with his mate across the brine… The other crashed the economy off a cliff at Warp 9. Not a great record.
There are 59 Scottish MPs within Westminster out of 650 (achieving the square root of f**k all). UK population as of 2026 is estimated at 70m, with Scotland’s estimated population as of 2026 5.5m. The proportional representation per head is very roughly comparable. Cabinet-wise, yes I agree, there is effectively zero representation. All moot anyway considering they are all metropolitan Fabians with zero interest in any of the population, Scottish or otherwise.
Massively wealthy UK “businessman” and tax resident in Monaco who lays off loads of folk from companies he is involved with in the UK, then complains about number of folk on benefits and says the
countryState is on the slide…link to bbc.co.uk
link to bbc.co.uk
But the braw news for Jim is that, high benefit and tax costs aside, da UK is not too much on the slide and skint for the UK to give a 600 million quid structured loan for “poor” Jim’s INEOS’s Project One to set up a refinery in Belgium…
And let us NOT forget Dan the amount of “IN WORK BENEFITS”being paid out by successive governments
People who are WORKING but can’t survive on the paltry wages needed to live
But all our yoonionist greedy bastard capitalist entrepreneurs neglect to complain about the amount of money being spent to SUBSIDISE failed economic businesses
If a business is NOT profitable it should be allowed to FAIL
Brewdog failed and was sold owing HMRC approx £2 million pounds, what a lot of benefits that would have paid , instead workers had to be paid from the insolvency service
So TH LOVES benefits but HATES business. Is that because a private employer is likely to frown on drunken ranting on a public forum at 3am, whereas the benefits office don’t care?
@FACTCHECKER,
depends on how one might define «Scottish».
Pedestrian anglo-unionist clones or a Scot with a functioning individuality.
Blair & Brown were archetypes of the former.
Both functionally, from a Scotland perspective, useless.
Ah, now I understand.
Being born and bred in Scotland, going to a Scottish comprehensive school and a Scottish university as Gordon Brown did is not enough.
Only Scots that think TURABDIN’s way are real Scots.
Hitler and Stalin had the same mindset.
Described as ‘House Jocks’ on Through A Scottish Prism
There are many other examples of the subculture
By linking aspects of Scotland’s political and economic situation to institutionalised slavery, demonstrating the cretinous ignorance and self pitying grievance of those who originated and use the term “house jock”.
There are some of the mindset that a pejorative is only valid if it comes from HQ.
To change the dial a touch this Saturday evening I was just catching up on the questions being asked in parliament regarding the near tragedy that could have occurred on the new Glen Sannox ferry.
As folks will see from the committee meeting it seems that, or at least the minister Flynn says he knew nothing about the incident and his performance, and indeed that of the agencies involved is utterly outrageous
As folks will see there was a very serious incident whee nearly a tonne of explosive methane gas escaping over something like 12 seconds and was sucked into the engine compartment of the new Glen Sannox ferry.
With every gas alarm going off and with the potential for the ship to literally be blown up with 82 passengers plus crew on board the Scottish Government and Flynn say they knew nothing about this.
But how on earth could this be.
This was a potential disaster big time, Herald of Free Enterprise scale potential disaster and then you listen to this utter waffle from the SNP minister. They or he knew nothing.
I don’t know about anyone watching this but this reinforces how rotten and corrupted the Scottish Government and their agencies are. Scotland under the SNP.
Herewith link to video –
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DqAslrO1No
@ Willie: thanks for raising this matter. It is yet another example of the failure by so many people who are meant to be responsible for public services.
Time for an apology.
At at 4.22pm I posted in reply to our learned professor’s delight at Scottish independence being endorsed by Lavrov, speaking on behalf of the country that is attempting to bomb its neighbour into submission by targeting civilian infrastructure, that ‘thousands’ of innocent civilians are being killed every week.’
I am guilty of hyperbole. The numbers are not that great I can only plead in mitigation that I was temporarily outraged (although not entirely surprised) at our professor’s incredible hypocrisy in applauding the opinion of the representative of an aggressive imperial power attempting to add a new colony to the collection, while at the same time preaching endlessly about the evils of colonialism.
Still, I was factually incorrect. I apologise.
Apology accepted. It was a forced error in the heat of the moment, no more than that.
And Alf’s hypocrisy is indeed off the scale.
I think we will find that in a colonial society, and based on the hoax of ‘union’, it is a fact that the colonizers “hypocrisy is indeed off the scale”; for it cannot be otherwise.
As Cesaire reminds us, the colonizer and his necessary local helpers “takes refuge in a hypocrisy which is all the more odious because it is less and less likely to deceive”.
Thus, the most ‘odious hypocrisy’ aimed at deceiving the people is precisely what we see in colonial governance, with the national party elite tied into an unsavoury and oppressive regime as willing functionaries ‘brought under the wing of colonialism’ (Fanon).
It’s Sunday, Alf.
Take the night off, why don’t you.
If you give it a rest until the morn, maybe some of the readers will forget you’re happy to have an apparatchik of the foremost European imperialist, colonialist regime on your side.
A regime currently holding “elections” where all credible opposition has been banned, exiled, imprisoned or murdered.
Maybe some of the readers will forget that if that’s the kind you choose to associate with, that’s possibly how Scotland would end up if you and your fellow travellers ever got their way.
“hypocrisy is indeed off the scale”
Hatey, as regular cheerleader here for England-as-UK supporting the Pales**ne bombing and gen*cide, as well as supplying bombs to Ukr**ne thus fuelling another conflict, and doing whatever else to enable USA to bomb Ir*n, your imperial hypocrisy is as we would expect – off the scale.
Those serious about independence desire only peace and the imperial noose off our necks, whilst you on the other hand applaud the imperial warmongers.
As Cesaire put it:
“..a civilization which justifies colonization – and therefore force – is already a sick civilization, a civilization which is morally diseased..”
As usual, Alf deliberately avoids answering the point, instead dressing up his “reply” in a load of psuedoacademic wibble full of quotes other people made. Dodgy people, at that. It’s all the fault of colonialism, apparently. Including his own behaviour.
If this is the state of academia in 2026, Lord help us, because our country is stuffed and we’ll never see independence or freedom with the likes of Alf in the spotlight spreading such absolute unmitigated guff.
“Those serious about independence desire only peace”
Aye, right, Alf.
Never an asthmatic peep out of you when those regulars who self-identify as “serious about independence” are fantasising about setting up the machine guns or deploying the mobile gas chambers.
I note you’ve used another word you can neither spell properly, nor comprehend its meaning – genocide.
And if you’re in the mood for quoting deid cants (and you always are) why don’t you learn a new one:
“If you want peace, prepare for war” (Vegetius)
With an apology like that I would expect a weeks worth of self flagellation to be in order as well. Get back to us when you’ve healed up.
As for Hatey, well with his usual miscomprehension of how words work he thinks it’s a personal apology for him. However he accepts your apology and as usual includes a moan about posters he doesn’t like just for you. What a winner!
Who’d be Hatey?
So in FACT you are NOT a factchecker YOU are just another LIAR posting LIES in the manner of the BBC who also claim to factcheck but also JUST LIE
Oh and by the way Hatey, you didn’t answer my earlier question with anything substantial; I’ll ask again.
Are the Rus defeated isolated and skint or winning and going to attack the rest of the world?
Take your time in answering and if you have difficulty understanding the question consult the other members of your btl polymath club, I’m sure they’ll be willing to help you out.
Well there you are, I don’t expect any answer that makes sense but I do expect a similar fluffy mince you spewed when I asked you about your ‘fighting friends in the east’ psychopathic national hero Stepan Bandera.
NEITHER.
Russia is neither bankrupt, nor an invincible superpower.
Though what this silly question has to do with the SNP scandals, or Scotland, is beyond human comprehension.
Why are you so keen to get an answer that doesn’t make sense?
When you go to the shop, do you buy food that’s inedible?
How do you get to the shop anyway? On a bus that’s been cancelled?
Know what you should do, Dave? Buy all your stuff at Woolies, Birrels, and Willie Low’s.
Try again, defeated isolated and skint or winning and going to attack the rest of the world?
@DaveL, don’t expect any intelligible answer from warmongers. You’re trying to find reason and logic amongst the unreasonable and illogical.
For some the fetish for death, suffering and destruction is so overwhelming they wish to involve themselves in others’ fights and willingly offer up others’ lives as sacrifices to feed their appetite. We all knew the sort at school. These sociopaths are now adults and walk amongst us. Many are even in power.
@Spartan 117, I really don’t expect anything more than the drivel he usually posts, but I must admit his reply at 8.54am is a step up and surpasses the usual dross for absolute stupidity.
He’d really be better off saying nothing but can’t help himself, he just has to post. I’m sure there’ll be a medical term somewhere for whatever it is that afflicts him.
Who’d be Hatey eh? What a winner!
Then again, Spartan, Scotland’s a wee place shortly to be Independent and walking alone on the world stage.
Free to choose those countries we will wish to be allies of and trading partners with.
Free to choose those countries we will shun because we will find their behaviour incompatible with our values, which I hope and trust will be moderately enlightened ones.
Perhaps we’ll want to operate within some kind of World Order, where certain minimum standards of behaviour will be observed. If we do, we’ll be expected to pay our dues, and turn up when the roll call is sounded, because that’s how things work in the adult world. The days when Uncle Sam picked up the tab and did all the work, whilst still being aggressively criticised and condemned by the Student Grant types, are over.
You’re lucky enough to be one of those who can personally keep your head down, cross to the other side, keep your nose out, and not get involved.
Well done you. Long may it last.
Should the day ever come when some big, bad cant decides to lean heavily on you, I guess you won’t be looking for any help.
The parallels between your personal situation and Scotland’s national situation are obvious. You personally ignore them while crossing your fingers and believing deep down, everybody just wants to be “nice”.
It’s not like that for politicians and leaders. People who think like you need to be kept well out of the way when international diplomacy is being settled, as all the lessons of history teach us.
Anyhoo, I’m gonna be “nice” and suggest that to make yourself feel better, you hurl some names my way. Sociopath and warmonger were good starts – and there’s always the primary school playground lexicon to fall back on – so knock yourself out.
@DaveL says: 20 September, 2026 at 12:25 pm
“I must admit his reply at 8.54am is a step up and surpasses the usual dross for absolute stupidity”
Cheers, Dave!
You wanted an answer that made no sense. Looks like I delivered and more.
Glad ye’ve found a new pal tae play wi. Taks some o’ the pressure aff me, as ah’ve goat stuff tae dae this afto.
@Hatey, there’s a lot to unpack there.
Firstly, the term “warmonger” was used as a statement of fact rather than any attempt at insult, I assumed you have an apparent enthusiasm for armed conflict – I’m happy to be corrected if this isn’t the case.
Secondly, the term “sociopaths” was not directed at you specifically and was aimed at those generally who have an insatiable appetite for conflict. I’m sorry if you took this personally.
Regarding your other lengthy points, I am of the firm belief that the taking of any life is not only a grievous act it is also senseless, the world’s problems cannot and should not be solved by taking up arms, “Jaw Jaw is better than War War” to reference and old quote from history. The world’s problems can be solved by serious, intelligent dialogue if people want. I make no apology for this conviction.
“Scotland’s national situation”
Returning to postcolonial theory (Fanon etc), as we must, reveals that a colonised people:
– are ‘out of the game’;
– ‘bystanders’ in their own land;
– have no say in ‘matters of war or peace’.
Which explains why England-as-UK used Scots, Irish, Indian, Kenyan etc soldiers in its many (160+) colonial conflicts since the 1700s. The Irish Republic has remained neutral since independence in 1922, avoiding over 80 of these conflicts which the Scots keep getting dragged into.
And the French, brought into the Western Front some 500,000 African soldiers from their colonies, where such ‘colonial armies’ were established to keep their own people in line. This was a bit less than the number of Scots ‘used’ in WWI, a war between imperial powers, of whom some 250,000 men were killed or injured, with injury usually meaning an early death.
The Black Watch was originally established in the 1720s by England-as-UK as a military police ‘Watch’ to patrol the Highlands of Scotland, subsequently used as a colonial force in England’s empire.
And today, England-as-UK are setting up a new Ru**ian Front hoping that Scots don’t notice the ongoing imperial deceit. Which reflects the great urgency of Scottish independence.
link to decolonise.scot
For once, I agree with you Alf.
If Indy is a matter of great urgency, Alf, why don’t you apply your efforts to doing something useful and practical to bringing it about?
I’m not accepting that you believe endlessly quoting the post colonial boys is all that is needed, with perhaps a yearly junket at the UN, subbed by the gullible.
The UN stuff is a changing cymbal, an empty vessel making a lot of noise yet achieving and signifying nothing.
It’s some desperate attention-hooring psuedoacademics and political obsessives getting their 15 minutes in the spotlight and their names “in the know”. It achieves, and will continue to achieve, zero for Scotland.
As I’ve repeatedly said here, the only way the independence argument will be won is with cold, hard facts, presented clearly without bias or prejudice, a clear and workable plan for independence published, clear communication with the public as to how it will make our lives and our country better, involving competent and brave politicians committed to their country AND its people and, crucially, a written constitution enshrined in law, putting the people at the very centre.
The history guff, colonial this, stolen that, fart belch pish etc will not advance our country’s journey to a freer and more prosperous future a single inch.
Well done Willie,
We do not have politicians nowadays that carry out their employment with due diligence, simple actors maybe,
This can be witnessed across these isles.
For as long as the pretense carries on that we are in a union and that the GB parliament is allowed to continue to run all the nations into oblivion with excess asylum seekers and wrong doings.,
Politicians of old might have known something about Ferries, but modern day actors pretending to be politicians living in a hoax State do not care,
They have no reason to, as no one loses income or employment just moved to a different department,
When the people of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland recognise that there is no such Great Britain union parliament…….
Factchecker never checks all facts but simply avoids those he cannot cope with when they do not fit his narrative,
He certainly avoids checking thoroughly from source dates and timelines of a union between Scotland and England ,
And yet he could help rescue all the four nations if carried out correctly with diligence.
A bit of a challenge there for you Factchecker. Although one suspects future excuses in the ready for avoidance sake.
You’ve thrown down the gauntlet for FC to pick up, if he dares.
Can we now look forwards to double the posts about the hoax union of 1707, what Queen Anne may or may not have said/meant, the real meaning of the WM parliament, and how there’s a direct link from these subjects to the Glen Sannox “near miss”?
Over to you, FC.
Xaracen,
The old Scottish parliament was dissolved in England by the monarch of England declaration on the 28th April 1706.
Months ahead of the supposed union of parliaments between Scotland and England on the 1st May 1707.
The old English parliament on the other hand were Transferred by the monarch of England into the new rebranded Westminster parliament, naming itself the Westminster Great Britain parliament,
Those events took both the Scottish and English parliament in opposite directions.
Would you be kind enough to clarify why and how the dissolved non existing Scottish parliament in England as of 28th April 1606 came alive and active again to enter the Transferred English parliament of Great Britain.
As far as I am aware Scotland has not and did not make a treaty of union with the Great Britain parliament on the ( 1st May 1707 Scotland) (1st May 1606 England,)
That the people from Scotland came from a dissolved parliament of Scotland via the monarch in England, that entered the English Great Britain parliament,
The reason for questioning events is to discover where , why and how there are members of a 28th April 1606 dissolved Scottish parliament in the Great Britain parliament,
Hi, James;
The date you cite for the dissolution of the Scottish parliament has the wrong year. From 1600 Scotland’s New Year’s Day started on the 1st of January, while England’s started on the 25th of March, and England didn’t come into line with Scotland and the rest of Europe until 1752.
So, on the 28th of April 1707 in Scotland, it was also 28th of April 1707 in England, since that is after the 25th of March, so the years now matched. This means your assertion that Scotland’s parliament was dissolved on the 28th April 1706 is just an error. The year was 1707 in both kingdoms.
Hatey,
I know your’e being kind to factchecker, by giving him hints and clues, but perhaps it is better to let Factchecker work it out for themselves,
After all thats the name they go by. Above yours or Mine….
James Che says:
20 September, 2026 at 8:49 am
Factchecker never checks all facts
Guilty as charged.
I have not checked all facts in existence. I focus only on attempting to address issues that are raised on Wings. I have never addressed James’ timelines concerning the Union as they appear to exist in a convoluted parallel Universe to which few humans have access. Good luck to you, James. Keep up the good work. Best wishes.
Entirely reasonable on the part of the police. You don’t like it, but tough. FoI law has been correctly applied.
Hmmm… it’d not be unreasonable to assume “Janet” works for Police Scotland/COPFS.
Did you pen any of the previous responses issued to the Rev, “Janet”?
Your style and attitude seem vaguely familiar…
Spot the Sturgeonista.
And no, it’s not reasonable at all, nor has the law been correctly applied.
Ah, quite possibly an acolyte of the Esoteric Order of Saint Nicla of Thames House and no doubt a fully paid up subscriber to the world according to Wee Ginger Fud.
The force of Agent Sturgeon is strong with this one!
Janet,
Surely it i s entirely reasonable on the pat of the police,
For What reason if the police police by consent of the people in Scotland under the Scottish Constitution,?
It is the private finances of the people of Scotland that seems to have gone awol, when it was acquired by the SNP party for one specific designation only,
Or does article XV111 of the treaty of union ” for the evident utility of the subjects within Scotland” not apply or include to the police in Scotland.
Not government or the Crown,
There either is a treaty to be ignored and breached or there is no such thing. The police cannot sit on the fence with this matter in Scotland.
Te money belonged to the
And to change the dial a tad again this Sunday morning a most interesting article breaking out into the popular press.
link to dailyrecord.co.uk
What country in the world allows its courts and tribunals to destroy its case records. This is utterly outrageous. With court and or tribunal case records destroyed this stymies legal actions to pursue miscarriages of justice and pursue remedy.
It also destroys potential evidence that could expose criminality. But this is exactly what the Standards Commission Scotland have done. And all backed by the Scottish Government perchance?
Its something that should concern ordinary folks and not just folks pursued by illegal process. This is an utter scandal and this government must answer for it.
Moreover, the destruction of records to conceal is a criminal matter. This scandal is not going away as politicians are now starting to wake up to another aspect of this rotten Scottish Government.
“politicians are now starting to wake up to another aspect of this rotten Scottish Government”
It is a great hope that one day very soon our elected politicians may come to realise that we are ruled by a colonial administration, which is the root of all the difficulties we see in Scotland.
Fowk canna ser twa maisters.
Factchecker,
I knew you would find an excuse,
The facts I Quote are from Westminster parliament site and are also available on google and Wikipedia as back up additional info,
The convoluted parallel universe is the Westminster Great Britain parliaments, hansard and Committee debates site.
Perhaps you should not mock those whom have already done fact checking on the subject ahead of you.
The implosion of the M25 omniclusterfuckpermashambles quickens.
link to dailymail.com
The Fabian tax junkies are so desperate to fund their warmongering and welfare cash tornado they’re willing to risk being dumped out of power. Here’s hoping they do commit electoral hari-kari and get binned.
Meanwhile…
link to bbc.co.uk
For once in his life, “Sir” Ed Davey is *almost* right about something. Albeit it should be a 50p/ltr cut, and permanently.
Who’d be scared of PooTin when our own lot are doing enough catastrophic damage on their own?
Douglas Chapman: I suggested in a previous comment that perhaps the reason why the SNP-run Scottish executive had made so little effort to organise a ferry link to Europe was because Douglas Chapman had been lobbying for it. Today’s news from Geneva seems to confirm my suspicion. Douglas has joined the Liberation.scot team at the UN this weekend.
Douglas was the only SNP MSP, so far as I know, to take an interest in the constitutional aspects of our cause. He attended the SSRG conference one year. The rest are indifferent [or hostile]. Even Angus Brendan MacNeil, a genuine pro-independence politician, seems not to have looked at the Salvo/Liberation material.
The Liberation.scot fundraiser has reached over £18,000 in the first 6 days. The link to the chuffed.org crowdfunding site is on Salvo facebook as well, and no doubt elsewhere. If all who support Scotland escaping from the “Union” bunged in £1, the target of £100,000 would be far exceeded!
I don’t trust Chapman and neither should Salvo. We are all being conned and every single con comes from within the SNP.
Both me and my wife were going to give money to Salvo/Liberation not now. For me Salvo has been doing a GOOD job with the people they had at the moment, watch it all fall apart.
Sarah your a good person but I’m sorry you have to look deeper when its comes to the enemy.
The devil doesn’t come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for.
The more they come up with desperate stuff like this, the more it feels there must be something really nasty they are covering up.
All backed by the Westminster governance sent to Scotland to govern Scotland perchance,
Did Alex Salmond ever give a credible explanation for swearing fealty to King Charles, despite the King’s UK Govt refusing to recognise the right of Scottish self-determination, not forgetting Purring Betty’s intervention to influence the referendum vote?
It’s regrettable that so few people would ever challenge the Salmond’s abandonment of direct sovereign self-determination in favour of a Salmond /Holyrood / England’s government-consent-required referendum.
I know Stu has attempted to defend Salmond’s pro-English Crown subservience with arguments about not alienating independence supporting Royalists (is there such a thing?), but it’s a very weak argument when Salmond’s SNP had no qualms about alienating potential pro-independence voters with a focus on: homosexual marriage, gender-self identification and other policies that have nothing to do with independence or Scottish sovereignty.
The SNP has never been Republican in its outlook, despite the feelings amongst a sizeable minority of members.
The popularity of Betty Windsor was considered to be too embedded in SNP supporters of a certain age and considered too big a pill for ordinary Indy supporters to swallow.
There was also the Irish factor to be considered in anything labeled “republican”.
At the time, Salmond was correct IMHO in avoiding picking that particular scab.
The popularity of Chuck Windsor is however, particularly in light of this week’s headlines, questionable. But this is the age of the SNP that’s feart to discuss Indy let alone a Republic of Scotland… so there’s more chance of Trump getting out of bed tomorrow and voluntarily checking himself in to a psychiatric hospital than any genuine attempt being made by the SNP to achieve its stated purpose.
I’ve been critical of you before, Bob, but fair’s fair.
You got the capital ‘S’ spot on there when you wrote “Republic of Scotland”.
Colon Alexander.
I have no idea why Alex Salmond favoured the English monarch when talking to him he never explained it further,
He was well aware that there was no Queen Elizabeth 11 of Scotland.
Can’t say an explanation will be forthcoming now,
However it was Alex Salmond that explained to myself and Spouse what was wrong with the treaty of union time lines as a treaty and the monarch of Scotland not being one and the same as the family of monarchs descent as in England,
Other than that, maybe Fact checker may be able to help,
sorry I couldn’t help further as you asked a genuine question.
Salmond wasn’t perfect and some of the crap that came out of his month I questioned.
Salmond isn’t a hero of mine, but he was the best we had.
“he was the best we had”
Indeed so. Perhaps the main difficulty with the dominant national party leadership, according to Fanon, is the fact they “have never undertaken a reasoned study of colonial society”, which leaves the understanding of the people at a “rudimentary” level; meantime the party elite is easily “brought under the wing of colonialism”, much as we now see.
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
Alf, I always value your opinion.
FFS, don’t encourage him, 100%Yes.
“Perhaps the main difficulty with the dominant national party leadership” is that they’re collectively thick, incompetent, parochial, criminal, feart and uneducated.
What other combination of afflictions could lead to the mothers of children claiming they don’t know if they are men or a women?
Or the spending of millions on an unworkable jam jar recycling scheme?
Or the closing down of the only refinery in a country with its own oil and gas industry (and the closing down of that industry too)?
Or the theft of hundreds of thousands of pounds from party funds?
You’ve got a book to flog, Alf, I get that. But nobody’s buying that the issues I listed above (and all the others) were predicted by some third-world, racist cants who are lang deid.
You’d get more traction, and flog more books, re-interpreting the writings of the Brahan Seer instead. The tourists would love it too.
Robertknight.
Indeed the monarchs popularity is waning down south, he too seems to be afflicted as a king gone mad just like in history past over religion and protecting the people.
And personally I also think Scotland has been a republic for a great number of years, but could see why Alex Salmond avoided that issue straight away.
A quick search shows no opinion polls in Scotland during the period 1980 to 2022 (Elizabeth’s death) showing a majority in favour of an elected Head of State.
Be interesting if one was carried out next week…
If you think Scotland has been a republic for a number of years, and you think the union is a hoax too, I wonder why you just don’t believe Scotland is independent and have done with it.
Remember what happened to the last Charles when he tried to impose the Jiggery Popery on the Scots. It ended not good for him.
The majority of Scots cared about their religion back then, Mark. Only a declining minority care today.
Within the burgeoning majority of the irreligious, you have an unholy alliance between the progressive saps who like to atone for their “privilege” by elevating the perceived victimhood of the “ethnics” into protected characteristics, and the knuckle dragging misogynists who wish to piggy back off the “ethnic’s” institutionalised oppression of women and girls to get in some oppression and abuse of their own.
Throw some fear into the mix. The realisation that if you insult Jesus or a Christian you’ll get some finger wagging back. But if you insult some “ethnic’s” belief, you stand a reasonable chance of being hunted down and killed, while the authorities hum, haw and pretend it’s not happening, and we are where we are.
So cut out the pretense that we’re still the same people as the Scots of yore, Mark, cos we’re nae. Those Scots are all lang deid.
My view is that the core foundation of the Scottish independence cause is Scottish sovereignty – the sovereignty of the people.
It is anti-Scottish sovereignty / anti-independence to swear fealty to England’s Crown: the English Crown being the basis of English Crown in Westminster sovereignty.
The restoration of an independent Scotland is the measure of success, not losing a rigged /non-binding indyref or keeping the SNP in perpetual colonial administration.
Colin Alexander,
I apologise for your misspelt name above, the tech equipment is old and pleases it self. My apologies.
@ James Che
Cheers, nae hard feelings.
@Sam – 19 September, 2026 at 1:48 pm
I’ve only just noticed your comment, Sam.
And you pose a couple of good questions given that we often discuss the constitution of the UK in this place, but mostly only where it concerns Scotland..
Here’s my understanding based on historical records, but you might want to check for yourself to confirm.
1. Wales:
Wales was annexed into the Kingdom of England in the 16th century.
That part is historically correct.
However, its constitutional position has changed substantially since the mid-20th century:
– the Welsh Language Act (1967) recognised Welsh identity in law
– the Government of Wales Acts (1998, 2006) created a legislature and executive
– the 2011 referendum granted primary law-making powers
– Wales is now treated as a distinct nation within the UK’s devolution settlement
– and since 2017 it has a partially distinct legal jurisdiction
So while the original annexation is a matter of record, and while Wales is still not a sovereign state, it is no longer constitutionally part of England.
2. Northern Ireland:
Before partition, the whole island of Ireland was governed as part of the UK.
Colonial dynamics certainly existed — especially around land, culture, and political exclusion — but the constitutional category was “United Kingdom”, not “colony”.
After partition, Northern Ireland was governed by a local majority that discriminated heavily against the Catholic minority.
That system ended with:
– the suspension of Stormont (1972)
– direct rule from Westminster
– and ultimately the Good Friday Agreement (1998)
The GFA created:
– power-sharing
– rights guarantees
– cross-border institutions
– the consent principle
– and international oversight
Northern Ireland today isn’t governed under a colonial model. It’s governed under a power-sharing constitutional settlement that is internationally guaranteed.
Northern Ireland’s constitutional status today is defined by the Good Friday Agreement and the consent principle, not by colonial administration.
To summarise:
Wales: annexed historically, but now a devolved nation with its own legislature and partial legal distinctiveness.
Northern Ireland: colonial dynamics in the past, but its modern status is defined by the Good Friday Agreement, not colonial administration.
Those are the constitutional mechanics as I understand them – no doctrine, just the record. But like I said – you should confirm the details for yourself.
Nice try, Northcode, but it is well established and understood that “colonialism only ends with the removal of the colonizer” (Memmi):
“In order to witness the colonized’s complete cure, his alienation must completely cease. We must await the complete disappearance of colonization..” (Memmi)
“well established and understood”
Ha! I’d wager £100 that hardly any Scot knows of your post colonial boys, Alf.
20% recognition maybe, if you were to stop every brown uni student on the streets of Edinburgh.
But they’re not Scots.
That’s one of the problems with the ivory towers of academe. You lose all contact with reality.
Thanks Northcode,
A constitution is a set of principles and rules that outlines how a country is organised and governed, defining the powers of government and the rights of citizens. It serves as the fundamental legal framework for a state.
What I take from your answer is that Scotland, NI and Wales were colonies up until the time that governments were devolved. Is that your view also.
Thanks Northcode,
A constitution is a set of principles and rules that outlines how a country is organised and governed, defining the powers of government and the rights of citizens. It serves as the fundamental legal framework for a state.
It seems to me that your reply suggests that NI and Wales, having been colonies (and presumably Scotland?), stopped being colonies of England when devolution was introduced to all of them.
BILL ROLSTON: IRELAND, COLONIALISM AND THE UNFINISHED REVOLUTION
Bill Rolston on his new book, co-authored with Dr Robbie McVeigh ‘Anois ar theacht an tSamhraidh: Ireland, Colonialism and the Unfinished Revolution’ –
fl=pl&fe=sh
———
Bill Rolston and Robbie McVeigh interviewed by Bill Fletcher Jr., about their book ‘Ireland, Colonialism, and the Unfinished Revolution’ –
link to youtube.com
It’s a simple fact, discoverable by thought alone, that no revolution can ever be finished.
It’s at the moment that the revolution seems successful and secured that the danger is greatest. Who among the revolutionaries is letting down their guard, or compromising with their ideals, or lacking the fiery fervour of old? Which of the old comrades is now circumspectly feathering his nest, believing he is owed for the years of hardship and peril?
And to the ideologically pure, comes the dawning realisation that with every heresy purged and every heretic exterminated, as the revolutionary regime ossifies into the new establishment – it’s not a revolution any more!
It has become another status quo, ripe for revolutionaries to revolt against.
As I said, all this is self-evident to those who can think. But for those who can’t, there’s books to buy so that others can enrich themselves.
Fearghas, thank you , much enjoyed!
Can I just clarify that the above Vimeo link and YouTube link are to two different discussions.
A fascinating article describing life in the place that has given us so much of what constitutes the modern world, including the Covid that killed millions:
link to unherd.com
I like the phrase they use – “garbage time of history”. It’s apt for Scotland, describing a period when nothing much is happening, but people know big changes are just around the corner, probably bad ones.
Wings BTL aficionados are invited to look for the reference to “hotpot” in the article. Who knew the Covids cared about that?
BTL looked clinically dead a couple of hours ago. Now it’s twitching again. Interesting shift.
That’s just a reflective response from the horses nervous system. It’s dead.
ANGLO PHILANTHROPY is jawdropping in its chutzpah : down the bottom –
link to archive.ph
AT THE MOMENT, the deal is that the FALKLAND ISLANDS KEEP ALL ITS ENERGY REVENUES, given that the territory is meant to be self-financing, apart from defence costs. With Argentina turning aggressive, that compromise clearly cannot hold. After all, AN ISLAND WITH A POPULATION OF ONLY A FEW THOUSAND PEOPLE WOULD HARDLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ALL THE MONEY THE OIL INDUSTRY COULD GENERATE, especially if the proven reserves start to multiply in size, as they almost certainly will.
There is a very simple deal to be done. THE BRITISH TREASURY SHOULD SHARE IN THE TAX REVENUES the offshore energy industry generates – a 50-50 split would seem MORE THAN FAIR – and in return, we beef up defence spending in the South Atlantic and launch a diplomatic blitzkrieg against an Argentine energy grab that has no legitimate justification.
– yeah, those sheep fucking dumbasses – JUST WOULDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT … so we HELP THEM OUT … not that we want to, just a favour
“everywhere wood floats, you will find an englishman stealing all he can … ”
NEVER, EVER, EVER – GIVE THESE ABSOLUTE CUNTS THE BENEFIT OF ANY DOUBT AND ASSUME FROM THE OUTSET THEY INTEND TO SCREW YOU ANYWAY THEY CAN
HARDLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH
HARDLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH
HARDLY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH
all you jocks, you’ll just spend it on buckfast, diazepam, decent pensions for the old, infrastructure projects – you lack the wit to get a new supernuke, a 7th generation fighter, or make the canary wharf towers twice as tall
Note also these very revealing anglo linguistic constructions – “argentine energy grab” – every accusation is a confession when you deal with a psychopath. “energy grab” – yeah, you tell us all about it.
The thing about smarts is – its just another thing you buy/hire (especially with AI) – but I reckon the falklanders can work out some good projects; better infrastructure, islands are best connected by tunnels; the place is a windswept hellhole, so why not build domed “center parcs” style communities – tropical weather, inside a dome, with trees. It’s just a matter of money. As for defence – this is where you tell the UK to GTF – buy a couple of coastal patrol vessels, some land based exocets, and some patriots off the yanks to deal with the air – you now control your space better than the UK ever did for you. You might even put in better transport links to argentina. Now get a nuke power plant from the chinese and enjoy free leccy till hell freezes over.
– when people rob you and give it “wouldn’t know what to do with it” – they are really treating you with contempt.
To be fair though, the anglos are not really on their game – they should take all the falklands revenue, declare the oil fields to exist in “nowhere land”, then hand back a “block grant” to the islanders so they can buy mars bars and thick sweaters, THEN issue a report showing how much the falklands islanders are ripping off the UK and that they should be grateful … but maybe they can’t get the staff these days, diversity hires and all that.
Of course, using Confused’s own logic, allowing “the Anglos” to cash in big on The Falkland’s mucho largesse would wean them off the lucre they steal from resource-rich Scotland.
All that oil, gas and “free” leccy. Who would care when the new billions came on stream? And with one bound, Scotland would be free.
But then, what would Confused have to rant, rave, flail, rage and gnaw his carpets about? OK, the Jews and the shirtlifters, but that’s still only two out of three, and besides, he hates the Anglos more than everything and everybody else put together.
“JUST WOULDNT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT”
When dealing with people who believe that the wind blowing 100 miles out to sea equates to free leccy at your domestic fuse box, I’m afraid that must be true.
I doubt the Falkland Islanders are so daft.
Something to remember the next time somebody starts to tell you that an Independent Scotland could be a lot like Norway:
link to theguardian.com
I’ve always liked the Norwegians. They have their heads screwed on. I suspect they wouldn’t see your typical “red” Scottish peacenik in their road, what with their history of sharing their border with a real, aggressive, imperialist, colonising, empire.
“You’ve taken that one too far”
The hunt for a migrant on an Orkney island and how the searchers will likely kill if they find their quarry:
link to dailymail.com
TRADE UNIONS ‘PUT WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN JEOPARDY’ BY SUPPORTING GENDER ID
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has committed its 5.3 million members to campaign for gender self-identification.
The TUC, made up of 47 different member unions, passed a motion to “Oppose the EHRC Code of Practice” at its annual gathering, which involves campaigning to prevent single-sex spaces being segregated by biological sex in the UK.
The Code of Practice, which applies to services, public functions and associations, was recently updated to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling that ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex.
REWRITE THE LAW
Speaking at a fringe event of the TUC, Labour MP Nadia Whittome described the EHRC guidance as “as bad as it is possible to be”.
The MP for Nottingham East set out: “What we need is a change in the law so that the law properly protects the rights, privacy, and inclusion of trans people.”
However, the Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Joy Morrissey, said: “The court was extremely clear and Labour MPs and trade unions should be supporting its ruling, not seeking to undermine it.
“The Equality Act already protects gender reassignment and the Gender Recognition Act remains in force. The answer is not to rewrite the law simply because Labour MPs and their union paymasters dislike the clarity the Supreme Court has provided.”
SEX-BASED RIGHTS
Journalist Paul Knaggs criticised the TUC motion for not once mentioning the word ‘women’, writing: “It commits the entire trade union movement, nearly five and a half million working people, to campaign for the reintroduction of gender self-declaration into UK law. And it does so while treating the women whose legal protections are actually at stake as a subject too awkward to name.”
He added: “Every general secretary who backed this motion, or let it pass without a recorded objection, owes their women members a plain answer to a plain question: do you believe the Equality Act’s protection of sex-based rights for women is a settled matter, or a temporary inconvenience to be campaigned away?”
The political commentator continued: “If the TUC wants to campaign for trans self-declaration, it should have the courage to say so plainly, and the honesty to say plainly what that campaign would cost the women whose legal protections it is designed to reverse.”
DISMANTLE PROTECTIONS
Maya Forstater, CEO of women’s rights charity Sex Matters, remarked: “It’s extraordinary that union officials would put women’s rights in jeopardy by attempting to amend anti-discrimination law.”
She explained: “The Equality Act already protects people from being fired from work, turned down for housing or harassed because they are transgender.
“The only direction this can go is to dismantle vital protections for the sex-based rights of women and girls.”
(The Christian Institute, 21 Sept 2026)
link to christian.org.uk
I was once a staunch trade unionist until I found out what unions and Labour thought of workers rights
I would advise women workers in large organisations to tear up their union cards and form female workers unions
Women at Ford Dagenham the film was on tv recently and it showed what solidarity of women could achieve ,it also showed the deliberate manipulation and desertion of women, how dare these scum demand that women give up their privacy and security to fucking lunatics
Most countries are rightly not too keen on allowing trade unions based in other countries to influence their national policies.
@Alf – would you like to comment on a key member of Liberate Scotland working closely with the Ru**ian state?
If there is a conflict between western, democratic countries with legal protections for human rights and the rule of law
vs
Despotic authoritarian regimes governed by oppression and violence
(and there clearly is).
What side of that conflict does Liberate Scotland sit on?
“What side of that conflict does Liberate Scotland sit on?”
Once it has been compromised, I guess it will be on the side of the group that will imprison or kill them if they show signs of going over to the other side.
A bit like so many Labour MPs and councilors are now on the side that will kill them or drive them into hiding if they go off message. That’s not the Orcs though, that’s the Religion of Peace.
Getting back to the Orcs, they’ve had plenty of practice over the decades in managing “independence” movements. If these movements show too much independence, they’re liquidated and replaced with more malleable equivalents who know where they are to get their opinions and policies from.
If there’s any truth in the allegation that Liberate Scotland has been compromised please provide a link. Thanks.
All UN Member States are not only entitled to support the right of Scots to self-determination, there is the obligation of all States to observe the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes:
“- that the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights (art. 1);
– that all peoples have the right to self-determination, but that this necessarily includes the right freely to determine their political status and freely to pursue their economic, social and cultural development (art. 2);
– that immediate steps shall be taken, in United Nations Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those territories (art. 5).”
link to legal.un.org
Careful there, Alf.
You should fire off a message of congratulations to poot for his overwhelming victory in the elections just held in the occupied territories.
Just in case, when you posted that “all peoples have the right to self-determination”, he might think you were having a sly dig.
That would be dangerous, Alf. You’ve got to be 100% on message at all times when you’re dealing with that boy. He does not take at all kindly to departures from his rigidly enforced, orthodox POV.
@Alf – There is no general right to independence under the UN Charter, outside of a military occupation or colonisation, neither of which apply in Scotland.
What does apply is the requirement under Article 2(4) to respect the territorial integrity and political independence of other states. Obviously Ru**ia is in breach of this requirement, along with the litany of war crimes that the Ru**ian leadership is also wanted in The Hague for.
Will Liberate Scotland therefore be registering under the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme enhanced tier, or are you hoping to fly under the radar with this one and avoid the criminal penalties that come from not registering?
The issue here is a category merge — two UN domains being treated as if they were one.
It’s merging:
A. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR):
A general human-rights framework applicable to all peoples.
with
B. The UN Charter’s Chapter XI mechanism for Non-Self-Governing Territories (NSGTs):
A specific administrative category for territories formally listed under Article 73(e).
These two things:
– do not overlap
– do not interact
– do not cross-apply
– do not create obligations for NSGT listing
– do not create pathways to NSGT listing
– do not create criteria for NSGT listing
– do not create rights to NSGT listing
They are separate universes — one is a rights framework, the other is an administrative category.
Political sympathy and the UN’s decolonisation procedure operate on different planes — one is rhetorical, the other is procedural..
Individual states can say whatever they like about Scotland’s right to self-determination. It doesn’t alter the UN’s reporting architecture, and it doesn’t create a pathway that doesn’t exist.
The decisive point is procedural: C-24 cannot consider a territory unless the administering state reports it. That gate is immovable. Even unanimous international support wouldn’t change Scotland’s status unless the UK itself submitted Scotland to C-24 for consideration.
So the issue isn’t whether there is UN or international support. The issue is that support, however sincere, doesn’t translate into eligibility. Conflating the two obscures UN procedural terrain rather than clarifying it.
Liberation Scotland frequently:
– merges categories
– universalises obligations
– collapses distinctions
– treats general principles as specific mandates
– treats moral sympathy as procedural authority
– treats doctrine as mechanism
– treats inevitability as evidence
These manoeuvres create the impression that Liberation Scotland doctrine can substitute for UN procedure.
Perhaps you missed it, Northcode:
“– that immediate steps shall be taken, in United Nations Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the peoples of those territories (art. 5).”
“Perhaps you missed it, Northcode”
No, I didn’t miss Article 5 — it’s actually a good example of the distinction I’m trying to make.
Article 5 is framed in terms of:
“United Nations Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories or all other territories which have not yet attained independence…”
But in UN practice, “Non-Self-Governing Territories” is not a general label. It’s a specific administrative category for territories formally listed under Article 73(e) and reported by the administering state (in Scotland’s case, the UK).
In other words: article 5 describes what should happen once a territory is recognised as a Trust Territory or NSGT.
It doesn’t create a mechanism for adding new territories to the NSGT list.
It doesn’t bypass the requirement that the administering state must first report the territory.
So Article 5 doesn’t change the core procedural reality which is:
Scotland is not on the NSGT list, and cannot be considered by C-24 unless the UK itself reports it under Article 73(e).
Until that happens, the obligations you’re quoting simply don’t attach to Scotland in UN terms.
Another example of how misguided the Trade unions are now.
link to archive.is
According to the below article, there is already work done on driverless AI train. I know there is a lot of worry about AI but in South Asian countries like China, Japan and South Korea, they are working on physical AI to solve labour shortages brought on by ageing demographics so this will happen eventually.
link to railwaynews.net
They are shooting themselves in the foot in the vain hope of gaining young members who will never join Trade unions or support them other than clicks on social media.