Wings Over Scotland

The ladt from Scotland was very erudite and took the wild out of the interviewers sails.

BBC going he’ll for leather on the drug deaths in Scotland. No mention of the unemployment and poverty caused by the uk government of course.

The bbc is very bad for your health

Wow that’s some inferiority complex. Look at mine its bigger and the rest of the world pissed itself laughing.

The BB Collaborators were the enemy in 2014, remain the enemy now, and will always be Scotland’s enemy.

So far the SNP have yet to publicly acknowledge that fact.

The very, very least is they should always be referred to as collaborators. And their more outrageous lies should result in legal action.

Glenn Campbell,sarah Smith and Kaye Adams should have had to defend their lying in court.

I assume the SNP is too busy wasting money on genderwoowoo and defending those responsible for the Alex salmond stitch -up.

BBC weather presenter Tomasz Schafernaker apologised after calling the Western Isles and the west Highlands “nowheresville” during a live weather broadcast.
BBC News Channel 1703/20 February 2007.

Pillow Talk ..

Here’s NS quoted in the Daily Record in 2012:

“Being in the same kind of line of work (as my husband) has its upsides and its downsides. The upside is that Peter .. understands what’s going on and why I am so late home all the time. The downside is that you just end up talking about it all the time and you never leave it outside”.

And here’s NS speaking to the Scottish Parliament last week:

“I deal with confidential matters every day of my life … I do not gossip about those things, even to my husband. I am the First Minister of the country, not the office gossip, and I take my responsibilities in that role extremely seriously”.

Source for both quotes: Alex Massie in The Sunday Times, 13 December.

I remember the days when some of independenistas spend out time at Pacific Quay ( Shouting at windies ) as the good Rev described it , we knew who the enemy was way back when same enemy as today BBC .

The camera should have moved up to show how Scotland is so very different. That it did not show instead of tell tells us evertything which is wrong about the BBC and Scotland.

@John Digsby
Because then London and its contribution and Manchester etc as well would be too tiny to discern properly. Making them equal sized shows the distribution much better.

Stuff like this used to get under the skin, (although in fairness I always thought it was calculated to do so), however these days, I look at stuff like this and see how pathetic it looks, but find myself thinking how much happier the BBC and UK Establishment would be if they were suddenly freed of the burden to include all of us ungrateful rebellious types, and were free to bask all day long in unadulterated Englishness.

I think the best thing we Scots can do for our neighbours is to set them free, and make them a magnanimous gift of their Independence,… maybe even this Christmas? We Scots will all then feel the traditional sense of inner well being, that we have done the right thing and given a caged bird back it’s liberty, but freed two souls by doing so.

Breeks@noon

I like the sound of that, us being magnanimous and that, has a certain ring to it.

Like the cut of your jib young man

This is James Robertson reading one of his “365” stories. He wrote a story of 365 words every day for a year – published – not surprisingly – under the title “365”. They are wonderful. Highly recommended. Inspired by the book, Scottish fiddler Aidan O’Rourke composed a piece of music to match each story – all 365! You can subscribe to the stories so that each story and accompanying piece of music is sent to your inbox every day. Sending a link is sadly beyond my tech skills but it won’t be hard to find.

hope this works.
Scotland adjacent waters map.
if not google here British Isles adjacent waters map

&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Ftraquir%2Fstatus%2F1010473447355396096&tbnid=ODLfSoDp36C5MM&vet=12ahUKEwj-rcPU_M_tAhWOwoUKHUAHAj0QMygEegUIARC0AQ..i&docid=ynFekzcNpYsHZM&w=768&h=768&itg=1&q=British%20Isles%20adjacent%20waters%20map&client=safari&ved=2ahUKEwj-rcPU_M_tAhWOwoUKHUAHAj0QMygEegUIARC0AQ

The only MSM news that is allowed out today is to scare the pants of of you, it is either were bad, your bad, corona virus, bird flu, mysterious Indian flu, Tesco Aldi or some or food retailer recall unsafe food, climate change, Brexit, your bad we’re bad, Royal Mail scam, weather bombs, don’t hug each other, terrible teirs, Biden and trump, Northern Ireland, Boris, China, Russia, rubber bendy knees, were bad your bad, mind stay at home, lose your job and create havoc to the economy.
Ratching up forthcoming wars, which we of corse will be of unable to attend because Britain is in lock down, and remember when your go to your family for Christmas meal, first remember to feel guilty, take your own knife and fork, and your own food which has to be a substantial scotch egg, and stand miles apart as if your family in front of you are strangers at a bus stop, do not dance sing or play board games while having alcohol, and expect to be followed there and on the way back by cap doffing, bendy knee people in uniform.
Besides wanting a better world and government One and a half years ago most of us were all sane ordinary people,

I think if I supported the Union I would be more concerned than independence supporters we realised years ago we don’t matter never have ,
Now if they hadn’t realised before this part of greater England doesn’t register on the radar of most English people and definitely every part of the English establishment , defending this situation just makes complete fools of these delusional people, ” YOU DONT MATTER ” your just like the rest of the sweaty Jocks we are all treated the same with CONTEMPT they don’t know you exist .

Alf Baird, it is good that you want to hold onto your language, I believe every nation should.
However do not for one moment think your identity as being Scottish is lost upon others.
When I moved down to England in my teens and still at school, we were called haggis’s, even although the children had no idea where loch long was, and we did not have red hair an didn’t wear kilts or go around playing bagpipes all day, which is the stereotype,
We were still labelled Scottish.
It’s great to be known elsewhere as distinctive and unique, after a while we moved to wales and as Scottish people we were treated well, there were remnants of burnt out house and homes, so the English would not buy up houses, out pricing locals,
We moved back to Scotland long ago, but the Scottish people are received and treated well, recognised not just for a language, kilt, red hair or bagpipes, but for uniqueness that is distinctively Scottish.

Glad im of the generation that doesn’t watch tv.

David Ferguson @1:12pm.

I don’t think we need to be so aggressive but I do think we need to man the border. And agitate for a referendum on Berwick rejoining Scotland.

The only good thing about that map is where East Dunbartonshire turned from Libdem orange to Snp yellow when Amy Callaghan beat Jo Swinson to the seat, LOL.

hope this works
the real size of Scotland in comparison to that other place

link to google.com

Leggy peggy
Jo Swinson shot herself in the foot when asked on a radio show (and also filmed) “is a man who puts on a dress 2 days a week a woman”?.
Spent a few minutes umming and ahhing, asked again and still didn’t answer the question.
Hilarious

That link was priceless, hadn’t seen that before.

As for perspective, one of the best tools in the arsenal is Mapfight; if only because it needs no dialogue, no Indy exposition – just bring it up with your Nation of choice (Netherlands tends to be the starter for ten)

The most common first reaction is silence, often followed by incredulity. Overall the reaction is interest and a whole new line of dialogue.

link to bit.ly

Thing is, none of their disrespecting would matter a tupenny-damn if SNP had been remotely interested in gaining Scotland its independence, some balls, a confident, global attitude.

We all were brutally conned.

Another thing that occurred; I came across my cancelled SNP Direct Debit bank details the other day (I cancelled it earlier this year) and I immediately thought; ‘That’s Salmond’s Direct Debit I cancelled – I subscribed because of him, no one else’..

We all were brutally conned and robbed.

I do wish you wouldn’t do that Stuart – insert the word “Fun” in the text of your articles. As soon as I see it I know it’ll be anything but. BP gone sky high again.

Reminds me of that wonderful piece that appeared around the last referendum time “The news where you are etc”.

Oddly enough the very first protest march I ever attended was the anti BBC one in Glasgow. I well remember a young woman, well dressed, holding a toddlers hand, her face red with rage, howling “nationalist scum” as we passed.

Yes the BBC have done well for their masters.

I see this debate takes place this afternoon from the Scottish Parliament website ,

Stage 1 Debate: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill

S5M-23682 Humza Yousaf: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill—That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. followed by Financial Resolution: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill

S5M-23531 Kate Forbes: Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill: Financial Resolution—That the Parliament, for the purposes of any Act of the Scottish Parliament resulting from the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill, agrees to any expenditure of a kind referred to in Rule 9.12.3(b) of the Parliament’s Standing Orders arising in consequence of the Act.

The linked video at the end was brilliant – made my day.

Scotlands 2/3rd the size of England…2 or 3 bezels more like say Graphic Dept at BBC!

(talking of “news distortions”)

I think I know what will be leading the BBC news tonight, oh yes … junkie death rates

but really : “scotland’s” drug problem is a west coast + dundee drug problem, mainly caused by “weegie crack” – this is when you mix “benzos” with opiates

– why this “fashion” caught on, you would have to ask the dealers/users; these mixtures tend to be “innovated” when there is a supply problem with the “good stuff” – but if the hybrids prove popular then that represents a commercial opportunity not to be missed. Edinbuggers love their drugs, their charlie, but like it purer – its like the east-west “salt or sauce”-thing.

the introduction of benzos in the past few years has fuelled the spike in deaths, presumably because there is a worse safety margin – the interval between a “therapeutic dose” and a dangerous one, is relatively small. Remember, addicts don’t use electronic scales in medical environments, or know the purity of their product. There is also talk of a “demographic”-bomb, i.e. a generation of junkies, living it hard, being called to the great teaspoon and cotton pad-in the sky, in their late 40s, 50s.

– that is the truth of the matter; a local curiosity involving “benzos”, or you can go with

SCOTS ARE DEGENERATE JUNKIES

– who cannot handle independence, and without the firm-but-fair “pimp hand” of the wise-anglo, we would not survive

and thus stealing all your resources is an act of benevolent philanthropy, much as we colonised africa so we could give the hottentot and bantu, the railroad

OF COURSE YOU CANNOT HAVE THE OIL REVENUES, YOU WOULD ONLY SPEND IT ON HEROIN

The BBC are certainly the propaganda arm of Westminster, but it is true that Scotland has a lousy drug death record which can’t and shouldn’t be hidden. Anybody know or can surmise why this should be?
Some of it must be due to criminal gangs pushing drugs to young teenagers but the deaths are largely in the 40 to 50 year olds.
One guy interviewed said he was in his fifties and had been a heroin addict fo forty years. What a waste of a life and what a drain on society. The reporter did not ask him what could have been done to change his life.
Personally I think pushers should get massive jail sentences and long term addicts should have compulsory treatment in closed clinics. It would be cheaper and better for society than continuing with the failed policies.
Is that too harsh? Interested in others thoughts.

The irony is that a lot of England that’s covered in blue in that map will be underwater eventually. Will England still try to ‘punch above its weight in the world’ when its an archipelago? They can always select one of their new islands to house the nuclear subs they won’t be able to afford but won’t be able to bring themselves to give up.

One of the huge advantages of being a small country is that it’s a lot easier to innovate. Portugal had essentially the same problem – a heroine epidemic. Here’s how they tackled it, link to archive.is

You still see the mobile clinics dispensing methadone in some of the poorer areas of Lisbon often enough so it’s still not a solved problem but the death toll and the crime rate is a lot lower than it would be otherwise.

This is a situation an independent Scotland could turn around quite easily. It would simply be impossible in England where a desire to dispense punishment dominates all the political and cultural thinking.

@ PhilM at 11.05

I think the speck you are identifying as the Isle of Man is Ynys Môn.

The IoM would not be represented, because it has its own parliament and is not in the UK. The simultaneous distortions introduced by making constituencies the same size and tilting the map cause North Wales to be almost invisible. The constitiuencies there are mostly green, which doesn’t help their visibility either.

Ayrshire Rob @5:19

It’s inappropriate that it looks like a Blockbusters map because there’s no sense of Holness about the UK.

@ firefroofjim 4.32pm , I watch some police programmes on TV and what is becoming more apparent is the total lack of respect or adherence to the police and the law , every day there are more break ins , car chases ,car thefts , shoplifting and acts of violence , usually caused by drink and or drugs , yet at the end of these programmes there is usually a summary of the charges and the penalties inflicted on the offenders

In a lot of cases the english CPS refuse to prosecute or when EVENTUALLY prosecuted they end up with suspended sentences of a few months or seldom 1 year , some of the car chases result in damage to the stolen cars and the police vehicles and put innocent people in great danger yet these criminal scum are NEVER asked to pay for their lawlessness , and yet every year car insurance and home insurance increases to pay for the damage these arsewipes cause

As a supposed civilised society it is unbelievable that this is the best way our politicians and legal services can come up with to benefit people’s lives

It is a result of British Imperial Legacy @Fireproofjim

Look at the substance abuse statistics for First Nation peoples of Canada and America, New Zealand’s, Maori, The Australian Aborigine and not forgetting us “Verminous Scots” as per the Spectator poem published under PM BawJaws stint as Editor!.

As Alf Baird (amongst others) has pointed out it is a combination of low self esteem generated by the imposition of English Imperial Culture, the lack of opportunities afforded them etc.

Thatcher destroying Scotland’s Heavy Industry (to protect England via EU dictat re Polish Coal and Steel) was an additional socio economic factor when thousands were left to “rot on the sofa”.

@Col

Scotland records all deaths where drugs are found in the deceased system as a ‘drug related death’

I don’t believe the rest of the UK Home Nations do.

Similar to Covid!

@ Col
Lenny mentioned there is a difference is how the stats are collated.
I understand it is something along the lines of: If any person in Scotland that dies has drugs in their system, it is counted as a drug death in Scotland, even if the drugs were not the cause of death, where as elsewhere drugs need to be the actual cause of death to be counted.
Happy to be corrected on this but previously recall reading this is the case.

Shug says: 15 December, 2020 at 11:01 am

BBC going he’ll for leather on the drug deaths in Scotland. No mention of the unemployment and poverty caused by the uk government of course.

Hope so as it is the UK government whichis stopping fix rooms being set up here which will help deal with this public health issue.

@ Fireproofjim, re ‘The BBC are certainly the propaganda arm of Westminster, but it is true that Scotland has a lousy drug death record which can’t and shouldn’t be hidden. Anybody know or can surmise why this should be?’

Scot Govs Medical Health expert – retired now, Surgeon – Sir Harry Burns. He did a whole lot of research into this very thing. If you ever get a chance to go and listen to one of his talks, take it, he’s fab. From memory, this is what I took away from his lecture in 2-13.

When you look at the history and data, of Scotland’s health and death record – certain facts emerge.

The image of Scotland as historically being the drunk man of Europe – not true. A memo exists from the Alcohol companies, back in the 1920’s highlighting that they need to persuade the Scots to buy more alcohol… and recommending targeted advertising.

Then if you drill down into the age groups, and sex, of the death statistics, and compare that to other countries worldwide – generally speaking not a lot of difference.

The one area, where the statistics really, really spiked – and had a significant knock on effect – on the entire stats – were young adult males.

And if you think about it – if someone dies at age 64 instead of 69 – it does not alter the stats very much.

But if someone dies at age 22 – it really moves them.

So then he analysed the causes of death among young adult males – Accidents, Suicides, Ill health, Drugs Overdose, and as a result of Violent crime.

Death as a result of Violent Crime was the statistic which was really high compared to other countries worldwide. The other groups were very similar.

Then he looked at studies about what ‘successful’ people had in common. Studies were done after the Holocaust – with survivors, survivors who went on to build new families, businesses, and lives after having suffered and lost so much.

The thing they had in common – was that in the early years, whoever was bringing them up – instilled/empowered in them a self belief that they always have choices.

From his own working history in the Glasgow hospitals – he saw such a correlation of ill health, coupled with poverty, and mass unemployment.

He then looked at extraordinary examples of ‘no hope cases’ that had managed to get their lives back on track.

What he found was that having been passed from pillar to post, through every official organisation, they quite often were written off, and ended up with willing, but inexperienced volunteer organisations. And the first thing these organisations did, was sit the person down, admit their lack of experience, and get the person to ‘write their own’ program/schedule of wellbeing.

In other words – they empowered the person, instead of ‘doing things to’ the person.

It was on the back of this research that the SNP (under Alex) instigated 2 highly regarded – and successful – projects. One was the high profile clamp down on gangs and knife crime in the West of Scotland. The other was the Early Intervention program.

As I say the above is from memory. His talk was evidenced at each stage.

With regards drugs and addicts. The old cliche about jailing the pushers, and rehabbing the addicts – is just that. All the addicts sell the drugs to each other. And while there are folk making big money as top sellers, by the time the Police deal with the shop liftings, Housebreakings, feral kids, false claims about thefts (made by Drug Addicts looking for a crisis loan), and fights between drug addicts over debts – during which time both parties make false allegations about the others) – the very last thing the cops on the ground have time to do, is gather and submit enough intelligence entries in order to then draft and crave a warrant from the a Judge – and then get enough staff on duty in order to execute the warrant….

The biggest drug, with the highest Policing Bill is Alcohol. Prohibition does not work. Dealing with it as a Health issue has been by far the most sensible approach. ultimately narcotics are a Health Issue.

Stuart McKay @ 5.05
BBC News – Mobile ‘fix room’ begins operating in Glasgow
link to bbc.co.uk

Scottish government already looked at providing ‘safe consumption rooms’ for drug users. Good results for saving lives in parts of Canada and some US states. They basically take the view that drug users, use. Might as well provide medical help to keep them safe.
Bottom line- Scotland was not permitted. WM takes the view that drugs are illegal and in providing safe spaces, Scotland was legalising by the back door.
I take the view that others here have expressed. Grinding poverty and despair. With some it’s childhood trauma. Pal worked in a stress clinic in a deprived area, she says 90% of the younger people she saw were victims of sexual abuse and invariably it was a close family member.
Brexit promises more families falling through the cracks. I’m not optimistic of any improvement in the figures.

Tiny little Scotland. It came as a shock to me when I found out we were about average in size in European terms. Too few people realise scale, unless a country is either tiny or huge. USA is pretty small compared to what I’d imagined as a child and Russia much bigger.

Stuart MacKay says

‘a heroine epidemic‘

🙂 about time we had one of those

I agree that drugs should be mzde available and be the responsibility of a service which is NHS attached.

Drugs are more than a habit. They become a lifestyle, and everything in life is geared to fulfilling the need.

Cannabis usage is rife in Scotland and in some ways is less problematic, though research does show in very young adults it can lead to psychosis eventually.

Then we have the drugs classed on the street as for social usage shch as Cocaine and ecstacy. The type used for parties ,dancng, nights out,etc.

Some of this group will graduate to heroin and Crystal meth.

After that its always a downward slope.

Its a very difficult thing to refuse for young people who want to maintain their social kudos and acceptance when al! their friends are doing it.

I have spoken to people who think they are “cool” because they know drug dealers, like some badge of honour.

We do indeed need a different approach.
Something radical.

Seoras Liath @ 5.48 pm , You wrote ,

“ Thatcherism brought the worst recession since the 1930s between 1981 and 1983, destroying one fifth of our industrial base and doubling unemployment – and that was before war was declared on the miners.
In 1983, one in six of Scotland’s workers was on the dole and the number of unemployed under-25s had doubled to 1.5million. “

That’s exactly what caused most of the problems regarding drugs in Scotland and 2 or 3 generations of many families (grandfathers, fathers and sons ) all lost their jobs at once and for the under 25s , Thatcher brought in her YTS schemes which were just cheap labour for many companies .

Before Thatcher you could leave a job on a Friday night and you would have a new job lined up ready to start on a Monday morning . Labour weren’t any better for Scotland when you consider the poverty that many areas suffered under them as well .

Also don’t forget that both the Tories and Labour hid the McCrone report regarding what Scotland’s wealth could have been through oil .

MAY THEY ALL ROT IN HELL .

As far as I can gather England had over 4 and a half thousand deaths from drugs . Certainly they may record them in another way, but drugs deaths are not like Gers figures . They may differ for many reasons.

Update no 2 ,

Update on Peoples Action on Section 30

Dear Backers,
I am writing to advise you about a small development in the case.
As I have said to you on a number of occasions, the Lord Advocate, who was called in this case to represent the interests of the Scottish Parliament by a qwerk of constitutional madness, is also a member of the Scottish cabinet (Scottish Government).

We called him to represent parliament, not the Scottish Government. This is why we separately called the Scottish Ministers on their own. The reason we did this was to stop a conflict of interest with respect to the separation of powers, namely because the interests of the Government and the interests of Parliament are not always the same.

The Scottish Government entered proceedings, then dropped out (we don’t have to recount that particular saga for you) but it seems that the Lord Advocate has continued to advance matters of the Scottish Government despite them having withdrawn. The Scottish Government Legal Directorate also seems to be deeply involved in directing the Lord Advocate.

It is right and proper to be clear as to precisely what “hat” the Lord Advocate is now wearing in his continued defence to this action. The Lord Advocate’s defence substantively mirrors and repeats the now withdrawn defences of the Scottish Ministers. The Lord Advocate in these circumstances is constitutionally obliged to clarify to the court whether he is, in his maintained defence:
(1) acting as a representative of the Scottish Government (of which he is a member under Section 44(1)(c) of the Scotland Act 1998; or
(2) distinct from the statutorily guaranteed independence of his decision-making function in his capacity as head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland under Section 45(5) of the Scotland Act 1998, he is acting in the broader public interest as defender of the Scottish Parliament independently of the Scottish Government.
He cannot act as both.

In a number of hearings (and written documents) we have reasonably asked the Lord Advocate to tell us whether he is acting for the Scottish Parliament or whether he is acting for the Scottish Government (who I repeat have supposedly withdrawn).
He has declined to answer when called upon to do so.

We, therefore have concerns that he may be trying to act as a jack of all trades, and a master of none, which could be detrimental to both the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.
Because the Lord Advocate has, despite repeated invitations, failed to clarify his position on this fundamental constitutional point, I have authorised counsel to intimate the case to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (who represent the Scottish Parliament in its day to day operations) so that they are duly and fully aware of this action, and of the arguments being advanced in their name on the matter of its powers and legislative competence which is, or is not being offered by the Lord Advocate – This is so they can decide for themselves if they are being properly represented by the Lord Advocate or not.
As always, I hope you are all safe and well, and I shall send you more updates as they are forthcoming.
Sincerely,

Martin Keatings

Is it drug use that causes poverty or poverty that leads to drug use,

and why have/do so many rich people take, the class A drug,cocaine, like UK Tory MP Gove and UK Tory Prime Minister Johnson.

Will the vaccine work with this `new strain of Covid`.

`New strain` will think it`s Christmas on Christmas Day,

St Nic needs to cancell Christmas nowish.

“Thou must not hug thy Mother.”… Unless the crazy old roaster voted No and kept Scotland locked down in this all encompassing shitey situation where we can’t do anything to properly address dealing with covid nor a myriad other bad shiz!

Just a bit of bantz…

BritNat Brainwashing Channel

‘Nuff said!

Polly @7:04pm

And of course, you’d be at the top of my list of heroines.

D’Oh, stupid spellchecker

Could our MPs and MSPs please take to referring to the Conservatives as the English “Nationalist” Party at every opportunity.

Ross and the Vichy Scots would love it.

@ solarflare

Re. Proportional representation of population…
It’s also just a current snapshot in time which fails to capture the differing population growth rates of the two kingdoms over the 300 years of the union.
England’s population was approximately 5 times larger than that of Scotland in 1700, but over the 300 hunner years since then, England’s has grown to approximately 10 times larger with all the benefit that yielded for England in infrastructure development and economic activity.
This matter breaches aspects of the union that states no constituent part should have an economic advantage over another.
Significant and continual divergence in population growth rates between the two kingdoms over the course of the union clearly highlights that the UK Government failed to develop and implement policies to address this situation.

Update on Peoples Action on Section 30

Dear Backers,
I am writing to advise you about a small development in the case.
As I have said to you on a number of occasions, the Lord Advocate, who was called in this case to represent the interests of the Scottish Parliament by a qwerk of constitutional madness, is also a member of the Scottish cabinet (Scottish Government).
We called him to represent parliament, not the Scottish Government. This is why we separately called the Scottish Ministers on their own. The reason we did this was to stop a conflict of interest with respect to the separation of powers, namely because the interests of the Government and the interests of Parliament are not always the same.
The Scottish Government entered proceedings, then dropped out (we don’t have to recount that particular saga for you) but it seems that the Lord Advocate has continued to advance matters of the Scottish Government despite them having withdrawn. The Scottish Government Legal Directorate also seems to be deeply involved in directing the Lord Advocate.
It is right and proper to be clear as to precisely what “hat” the Lord Advocate is now wearing in his continued defence to this action. The Lord Advocate’s defence substantively mirrors and repeats the now withdrawn defences of the Scottish Ministers. The Lord Advocate in these circumstances is constitutionally obliged to clarify to the court whether he is, in his maintained defence:
(1) acting as a representative of the Scottish Government (of which he is a member under Section 44(1)(c) of the Scotland Act 1998; or
(2) distinct from the statutorily guaranteed independence of his decision-making function in his capacity as head of the systems of criminal prosecution and investigation of deaths in Scotland under Section 45(5) of the Scotland Act 1998, he is acting in the broader public interest as defender of the Scottish Parliament independently of the Scottish Government.
He cannot act as both.
In a number of hearings (and written documents) we have reasonably asked the Lord Advocate to tell us whether he is acting for the Scottish Parliament or whether he is acting for the Scottish Government (who I repeat have supposedly withdrawn).
He has declined to answer when called upon to do so.
We, therefore have concerns that he may be trying to act as a jack of all trades, and a master of none, which could be detrimental to both the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.
Because the Lord Advocate has, despite repeated invitations, failed to clarify his position on this fundamental constitutional point, I have authorised counsel to intimate the case to the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (who represent the Scottish Parliament in its day to day operations) so that they are duly and fully aware of this action, and of the arguments being advanced in their name on the matter of its powers and legislative competence which is, or is not being offered by the Lord Advocate – This is so they can decide for themselves if they are being properly represented by the Lord Advocate or not.
As always, I hope you are all safe and well, and I shall send you more updates as they are forthcoming.
Sincerely,

Martin Keatings

Stuart MacKay says

‘And of course, you’d be at the top of the heroine list.’

And so good you said it twice! 🙂

I’m reminded of a short tv broadcast decades ago by an SNP guy who I think was a Dundee teacher.

In it, he broadcast the UK news but with a Scotland bias. The map was centred on Scotland and every organisation mentioned was the Scottish one by default with English ones as an afterthought. It was really striking for its difference and how we’ve become conditioned to just accept Anglo-centric news as “the news”.

BBC weather map was fixed a few years ago now, possibly due to Meteogroup taking over the contract and using their data. Sky News one is now angled.

Unless the presenters can stick to a wall like Spider-Man I don’t see how they can have a vertical projection of that AR election map. But yes it does look rather crap at that perspective.

OT…

For all those suggesting that Bill Gates has a counter agenda.

On the one hand he thinks the world is over populated.

and on the other, he is funding vaccines in third world countries – which might not be kosher??? Might actually make people more vulnerable?

What if ? It is all a double bluff! And he’s trying to separate the wheat from the chafe and anyone who signs up to the vaccine is IN, and those who don’t are OUT?

Asking for a friend.

I doubt if we will ever know.

o/t again

Gates check out what he has and is involved in approach it with a open mind , and just look at verifiable facts and the history of his family and their circle.

Now draw your own conclusions ,

Microsoft applied for and were granted a Patent to gather human generated activity and moyterise the data gathered into a Bit coin tradable commodity still think that’s normal activity for a multinational company ? .

I can’t remember the Patent number but it was granted this year and can be found by checking Patents granted to Microsoft 2020 in the US patent database it’s not fake news it’s all there

More on the Gates’ benevolence.
link to fort-russ.com
This is a Russian site so just propaganda and conspiracy theory, isn’t it?
The good Gates from Huff Post.
link to huffingtonpost.co.uk?
Just propaganda too?

Sturgeon’s gotta go. Since she’s been in charge the SNP have won election after election. Or as she’d put it “I’ve won election after election”. Whaur’s wur indyref? Somewhere over the friggin LGBTQ rainbow?

Delivering election results is just meant to be the precursor to action. Too many cosy bastards in the National Party (oh how Nic cringes at that word National in the party name), too many take election wins to be the action itself.

Even if by some fluke indyref2 came about under her so called leadership, all the murk about the Murrells would be used to derail it during the campaign.

Ottomanboi

In answer to your questions.Aye conspiracy theories. Next?

Tell me how many people in world would die each year if we didn’t fight viruses and bacterium’s ?

Would we all still be here ?

kapelmeister @ 9.20

The post-colonial literature informs us where we are at (Fanon 1967):

“The masses have two oppressors now, the mother country and the single National Party dictatorship” with its “pampered bourgeoisie elite”, who have “made their own accommodation with colonialism”. In this ‘semi-colonial’ situation, “civil servants… sabotage the national economy and throw its structure out of joint..”. What we see is a “decline of morals, the installing of corruption.. , economic regression,.. and an anti-democratic regime depending on force and intimidation”. Features include an expanded and further empowered police force as one of the “pillars of the regime”, overflowing prisons, and a ‘justice’ system prone to malicious prosecution, and worse. In all of this, “the party helps the government to hold the people down (and thus becomes) an implement of coercion”. The party’s mission is merely “to deliver to the people the instructions which issue from the summit”.

This is “the dialectic result of states which were semi-colonial during the period of independence”. For ‘semi-colonial’ read ‘devolved’.

@ Alf Baird

Thanks very much for the information, Fanon 1967. Your use of quotes besides being on point in our present situation look to be interesting to view in their originally meant context. Do you mean the 1967 translation of Black Skin, White Masks, originally written 1952? Knowing little about post colonial scholarship I haven’t come across him before, but had heard much, and read some, of those who followed and were inspired by him, yet had never heard of him. He seems a rich and rewarding individual to read up on, thanks for the information.

@MaggieC and @Effijy

re The Lord Advocate…who is he billing his time to?
That should clarify who he thinks he is representing.

Alf, your Fanon quote could be a description of Scotland today. I predicted we’d end up in this predicament around 3 years ago on Craig Murray’s site. Naturally everybody thought I was insane – Sturgeon back then was still the darling of the Indy movement.

We are in a fairly typical neo-colonial situation now, with a corrupted puppet government serving the interests of the imperial masters. These sort of arrangements tear countries and societies apart and sadly we can expect the situation to get worse and last several years, decades even.

Corruption is at the heart of these relationships and they usually involve money going into safe offshore banks. The puppet government and its powerful allies will ensure it’s all kept secret and out of the media, strengthening their bonds and tightening the stranglehold on the country further.

I asked the other day what the Indy equivalent of the term “red tories” was. Nobody answered. Maybe you with your interest in language will understand the relevance and come up with something.

Polly @ 10.46

The reference is:

Frantz Fanon (1967) The Wretched of the Earth. Penguin Books.

I believe it was first published in French in 1961.

kapelmeister @ 11.06

Yes, I have found Fanon’s analysis of colonisation to be rather a fine template, virtually a mirror to the current SNP behaviour and related developments.

Thanks for the Memmi reference. I see it also has a forward by JP Sartre, like Fanon.

Hatuey @ 11.20

You are right in that corruption is at the heart of the present semi or neo colonial arrangement, much as Rev Stu, Craig and other intellectuals here and elsewhere have repeatedly highlighted.

On the terminology as in ‘red tories’, I don’t have a ‘name’ for them however Fanon again probably best describes the semi-colonial status quo picture as along the lines of: “The behaviour of the national bourgeoisie … is reminiscent of a gang…scandals are numerous, ministers grow rich, the members of parliament feather their nests and there is not a soul down to the simple policeman or customs officer who does not join in the great procession of corruption”.

It took years for Scotland to realise that beeb was a properganda channel, against Scotland, until the referendum. nowadays most people do not, and quite rightly so, pay attention to its messages,
it took Scotland and its people a lot of denial, and internal wrangling with ourselves before we excepted the truth about our main Independence Party, that we voted for, not having our best interests at heart, and some still find it hard to believe,
No one in Scotland would have thought that a hate crime bill, a male/female argument, or internal market bill would be taken up by those who rule us from above, as the people with money have nothing to gain, do they?
I think this will be the the same case with bill gates and the other elites that run and plan the whole worlds direction, within the world economic forum, and the ordinary man on the street like you and I, will at first believe they have our best interests at heart,
From a personal perspective, I have stopped believing long ago that the richest people in the world have the poorest people’s best interests at heart,
If I were to ask any questions it would be, does bill gates, or any of his companies gain financially from vaccines,
Another question that springs to mind, is more than relevant to Scotland, as this actually happened in Scotland’s history.
If we, the supposed lower classes are not a hindrance, if we are not in the way, that we are not taken up to much resources, and therefore expendable, would they treat us kindly.
they wouldn’t think twice, or with compassion about when you or I may be blocking their route, remember the profit of sheep before people scenario in Scotland, highland clearances? remember how they lied and kept Scotland in poverty over oil. To name two,
Now make up your mind to believe anything your told or retain a reasonable doubt.

“We believe that an individual must endeavour to assume the universalism inherent in the human condition.”

Frantz Fanon

Dear Alf,

Interesting that you mention “Michael Hechter who wrote of ‘internal colonialism’ in the UK and who likens the plight of the ‘Celtic Periphery’ peoples to that of the black American community.”

That was the only thing that seemed to me slightly out of place in the Fanon quote you gave, that “The masses have two oppressors now, the mother country and the single National Party dictatorship”. Forgive me if I have interpreted it wrongly, but the difference to me is that our mother country IS Scotland (not the UK which is a political construction) and therefore Hechter is right, we are under “internal colonialism”.

And I agree that the plight of the Celtic periphery is very similar to that of African-Americans and we have common cause. I also agree it is more important to understand the universalism in Frantz’s work, but he was also proud of his African heritage. The following is one of my favourite quotes of his:

“I am black; I am in total fusion with the world, in sympathetic affinity with the earth, losing my id in the heart of the cosmos – and the white man, however intelligent he may be, is incapable of understanding Louis Armstrong or songs from the Congo. I am black, not because of a curse, but because my skin has been able to capture all the cosmic effluvia. I am truly a drop of sun under the earth.”

Dear Alf,

Many thanks for that. That’s what I thought, that “the ‘mother country’ in colonial terms actually refers to the colonial power country in relation to its colonies”.

However, are we not unique in Scotland? We are not a colony like say India and Nigeria were, where the United Kingdom was the external ‘mother country’. We are not in fact a colony at all having never been defeated by the English.

To me Scotland is the mother country and the UK can never be a ‘mother country’ to Scotland because I) we are one of the two founding partners of the United Kingdom and II) the United Kingdom is not even a country at all – it is a political construction. Scotland and England are countries.

I think, therefore, that a study of colonialism is pertinent and essential to Scotland but we should always remember and remind Westminster of our unique position as an undefeated nation. Unfortunately, as you allude to regarding the Scottish Cultural Cringe, act like a victim and you will get treated like a victim. Or to put it another way, act like a colony and you will get treated like a colony!

Saffron Robe

‘We are not in fact a colony at all having never been defeated by the English.’

Haven’t we been? Are you sure about that? If not by force of arms then by force of oppression and coercion we certainly have been thoroughly overcome during all these years of union. The present situation with brexit surely proves how very little power we have. Westminster has all the power, our MPs there unable to effect change for Scotland and Holyrood has been shown to have no real power at all. England in that sense is supreme and we are utterly vanquished.

‘We are not a colony like say India and Nigeria were, where the United Kingdom was the external ‘mother country’ ‘ Again, aren’t we? All the power within the UK is centred in England, Westminster I know which is located in England, and the mass of population is there. Because the internal structure of the UK is like that then for Scotland (or Wales/NI) the power is located in an external country – and since by your argument Scotland is your mother country then you must agree power is in an external country for us just as much as it was for Indians, or Nigerians. We weren’t conquered in the same way they were, but that doesn’t mean we were never defeated.

Dear Polly,

Yes you are right. I don’t disagree with anything you say. I was referring to having never been conquered militarily, but just as you explain we have been defeated in many other ways and exhibit the traits of a defeated people.

However, I think it is crucially important that we were not defeated militarily because that is where our status in sovereign terms differs from other nations or places seeking independence such as Wales and Catalonia. Simply put, our ancestors died in battle to establish our sovereignty so that we would not have to. It would dishonour their memory if we were to take up arms. And understanding our status as a sovereign nation under the Treaty of Union, just as England is a sovereign nation under the Treaty of Union, is the key to independence. But we have to demonstrate the same fighting spirit in a legal and democratic way that our ancestors showed in battle although, for all the reasons you cite, the odds are heavily against us. Having said that however, the odds were massively against us at Bannockburn! If only we had a modern day leader with the stature of William Wallace!

PS I agree with your point that, to us, power is in an external country (i.e. England), but that is the trick that the Treaty of Union pulled on us. It allows England to act as an internal power (under the banner of the UK), as well as an external power to us. At the bottom of all the injustices we have suffered and are continuing to suffer lies the Treaty of Union. All the laws affecting our sovereignty which have been passed since the Treaty of Union are like books on a shelf. The Treaty of Union is the shelf, remove the shelf and all the books come crashing down. Independence means returning to our pre-1707 status with all our land and sea borders intact.

Hear, Hear 🙂