Robert Burns was well known for liking a wee dram. He grew up in the aftermath of the failed rising of 1745, living through the harsh and brutal consequences inflicted on Scotland by the Act of Proscription.
In “Earnest Cry and Prayer” the Bard was responding to the UK Parliament’s Scotch Distillery Act of 1786, a protectionist act aimed at supporting London’s gin industry by hiking duties on whisky sold in England and by taxing Scottish still capacity. It was a call for action to Scotland’s 45 members of Parliament from a man who understood the destructive power of such acts.
He asked which Scot would not feel his blood boil at seeing the resources of the nation’s stills destroyed and its wealth plundered, roaring to the MPs:
“God bless your Honors! can ye see’t, The kind, auld, cantie carlin greet, An’ no get warmly to your feet, An’ gar them hear it, An’ tell them wi’ a patriot-heat, Ye winna bear it?”
As the UK Parliament is set to return from its summer holiday it is hard not to see continued parallels over the ages and again today.
For anyone with the slightest remaining grip on their critical faculties, the cat was truly let out of the bag on the day of the First Minister’s infamous “broom cupboard” video last January, in which she abjectly grovelled at the feet of a tiny handful of adolescent transactivists who’d left the party in a loud and choreographed public tantrum because it still hadn’t burned Joanna Cherry at the stake for believing in human biology.
One of those she was abasing herself to that day was the repulsive and now mercifully deceased drug dealer and abusive racist misogynist Leeze Lawrence (above, left), but he was only the tip of a filthy iceberg.
I am greatly honoured to have been targeted for censorship in the same weekend as two great artists as rightly esteemed as Salman Rushdie and Jerry Sadowitz. (Though thankful to have not yet been violently physically attacked for my views, as both have.)
To be honest, I was amazed my most recent Twitter account lasted three months. I set it up in May for the sole purpose of a throwaway rude reply to Darren “Loki” McGarvey and Kenny Farquharson of The Times, expecting it to be banned within hours, then somehow it had thousands of followers and I figured I might as well have a bit of fun with it for however long it lasted against the barrage of shrieking outrage and mass organised complaints from the SNP Twitler Youth.
Which turned out to be until Saturday night.
Twitter has declined to identify who I supposedly incited the harassment of, or to offer any examples of the offending tweets. Obviously I did no such thing, but it’s good to know that “in order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs on our platform”, only some opinions and beliefs may be expressed.
Which even in the hopelessly politically-debased world of the modern Scottish judiciary might be one of the most extraordinary miscarriages of justice in the nation’s history.
When I entered front line politics in 2012 as an SNP councillor, I was clear that my guiding ambition was to play a full part in the restoration of independence to Scotland. Over the past 10 years that commitment has only strengthened as the need for independence has grown ever more urgent. From oil and gas, to wind, tidal, wave and hydro Scotland’s vast energy resources keeps the UK powered and Her Majesty’s Treasury pumped full of cash.
Make no mistake, Scotland IS the broad shoulders of the UK.
Our reward for that vast contribution of energy, food, drink and water? To be fleeced of those resources, charged for transmitting our energy, denied access to associated revenue and berated, and ridiculed in the “mother of all parliaments”.
But it’s the social injustice that results from this distortion of governance that is finally beginning to dawn on many as the cost-of-living crisis deepens and more Scots find they are paying through the nose for energy when Scotland produces far more than we could possibly need.
When I rose to my feet on Wednesday 13th July, I had no doubt about the words I was going to say. I had no doubt about who I would be speaking to, and I had no doubt about who I was speaking for.
As you can see, she’s part of the hyperwoke “Aberdeen Independence Movement” faction which recently took it upon itself to issue a “code of conduct” for independence campaigners, demanding that everyone in the Yes movement should debate things:
By now Wings readers will likely have already seen today’s events in the House Of Commons, where Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle completely lost his rag at Alba MPs (and Wings contributors) Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey for protesting against the UK government’s refusal to respect Scotland’s mandate for an independence referendum.
‘Get them out’ demand Tory benches as Speaker Lindsay Hoyle orders ALBA MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill out of the chamber for heckling Boris Johnson. #pmqspic.twitter.com/RiADdSwKZA
Every one of the SNP’s MPs, meanwhile, sat meekly on their hands and didn’t squeak a single word of protest even as the Speaker flagrantly disregarded the House’s rules and subsequently improperly suspended the two Alba members for a week.
You know how the SNP are always going on about how bad the Tories are and how urgently we need to get rid of them? Well, it turns out they don’t want that to happen for at least a couple of years. They just want a different Tory as Prime Minister, even though they keep telling us that Boris Johnson is the greatest recruiting sergeant for independence there could be.
Alf Baird on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““Sometimes I wonder where Scotland would be if we weren’t “colonised” Probably aroond aboot £150 billion a year better aff,…” Jul 24, 21:29
Hatey McHateface on The Wheels Of Industry: ““No one is talking about expunging people” Oh yes they are. Just about weekly. You ignore it, Northy, because you…” Jul 24, 20:48
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “All very well, sam, but what does Cuthbert know of Fanon, Cesaire, Memmi and the rest? That’s the yardstick by…” Jul 24, 20:38
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Cheers, James! Although your obsession with my tackle does raise a few red flags. But hey, a child could see…” Jul 24, 20:29
Southernbystander on The Wheels Of Industry: “Just needs a ‘like’ really as I cannot disagree with much. Just one thing, ‘recover’ is a bit of a…” Jul 24, 20:16
sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Jim Cuthbert has a M.A. in mathematics and economics. A M.Sc. in mathematics and statistics and a D Phil in…” Jul 24, 20:01
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@Onlooker An analysis of Confused’s posts suggests you missed one: Confused’s parent’s home. How else to explain his recurring, extreme…” Jul 24, 19:56
Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “@ factchecker Thanks again for confirming the significant and negative predicaments Scotland endures whilst being in a Union with the…” Jul 24, 19:27
Onlooker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Lorncal says: “There has never, to my knowledge been a matriarchy in human history…” Wrong. https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/ancient-cultures-matriarchal-society-0011588 https://historified.in/2024/12/24/matriarchy-a-historical-and-cultural-perspective/ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/angela-saini-patriarchy-matriarchy-gender-equality https://www.maloriesadventures.com/blog/the-forgotten-matriarchal-societies-that-still-exist/” Jul 24, 19:26
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Thank the Good Lord ScotGov doesn’t have control of North Sea licensing, eh? They’d have shut in the entire place…” Jul 24, 19:22
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Good post, FC. You’re understanding why, outside of the UK, Scotland is as likely to split apart as it is…” Jul 24, 19:10
Hatey McHateface on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““tartaned up and kilted bourgeoisie strutting about” Crivens, help m’boab! Some cunning cant maist hae telt them they were aboot…” Jul 24, 19:01
factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Nothing inadvertent almost it, Dan – just a statement of the obvious. Please name me a democratic union of formerly…” Jul 24, 18:20
Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Well aye, guilty as charged Judge Mark, but when one’s talking about the proper sensible governance of an entire country…” Jul 24, 18:17
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: ““we have to grow our tax revenues…” You have to pay some Tax in the first place. Talking of which,…” Jul 24, 18:17
100%Yes on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Dan, The funny thing is the Scot hater who where born in Scotland, when abroad call themselves Scottish and when…” Jul 24, 18:04
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “For a wee guy you talk really big. You and the rest of the pure Yessers are going to do…” Jul 24, 17:53
Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “^^^ That’s a very lame post, but I guess Mark jist tried to squeeze in as many derogatory digs as…” Jul 24, 16:53
factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Fair enough, sam; but you are quoting the opinion of Jim Cuthbert, a single civil servant, albeit a well-informed one,…” Jul 24, 16:40
Lorncal on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “I’m not into male-female rivalry, Mark/H McH. There has never, to my knowledge been a matriarchy in human history because,…” Jul 24, 16:39
Lorncal on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Proselytise means to aggressively push your religion/ideology/whatever on to others, not to give them a wee lecture and a couple…” Jul 24, 16:21
sam on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Factchecker says: “Please note: Analysts from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre concluded that the fiscal changes set out in the…” Jul 24, 16:16
factchecker on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “100%Yes says: 24 July, 2026 at 1:36 pm Scotland had a referendum in 2014, I know the Unionist mention it…” Jul 24, 15:24
Mark Beggan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Colonial. This word is getting thrown about here as if it has some sort of special powers. Just add “colonized”…” Jul 24, 14:15
100%Yes on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Scotland had a referendum in 2014, I know the Unionist mention it all the time. The day before the referendum…” Jul 24, 13:36
Northcode on The Wheels Of Industry: “There’s a lot of interesting history in your comment, but I think you might be mixing together several different concepts…” Jul 24, 12:51
Dan on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Let’s see if this makes it through moderation filter. It states it is just over an hour’s read. https://www.decolonise.scot/scotland-stolen-scotland-restored-non-alignment-and-decolonisation-the-foreign-policy-of-a-nation-liberated-from-the-english-colonial-state-beyond-jim-sillars-discussion-paper-from-colo/” Jul 24, 12:32
MaryB on Ain’t it funny how things change?: “Rather than watching the colonial games, it’s much better to spend your time reading Christoph Doigne Thompson’s paper: Scotland Stolen,…” Jul 24, 12:18
