Cowering From Destiny
Posted on
September 24, 2026 by
Rev. Stuart Campbell
Alert readers will recall that last year the SNP convened a summit in Glasgow for the sole purpose of uniting the nation in preventing Nigel Farage becoming Prime Minister.
The party also regularly tells us that to actually achieve independence, support would have to build to an overwhelming consensus into the 60-65% range, rather than the 50% +/-3 that it’s been stubbornly stuck at for the last 12 years.
So, y’know, now we know why they’re so frantically desperate to keep Farage out.
No need big John has just announced that he wants to create six supra regional supra authorities.
Like the NHS reorganisation proposal he made to reduce boards from fourteen to two his ‘ made in Scotland ‘ plan has an uncanny similarity with the plan in England to abolish NHS England this year and reorganize the forty two health trusts into twelve Integrated Care Bodies that will come under the wing of department of Health and Social Care.
With no NHS England anymore a road to privatisation perchance and then you hear that the word on the wrong wards in Scotland is privatisation .
But back to big Johns creation of five supra regional councils. What place for a Scottish Parliament on its road to Burnham’s UK of the regions.
Centralization by sleight of hand boundary reordering.
Autonomy max regions for example, from which a geologically diverse country might benefit….never on your life, we’re not Swiss!
Spot on, Turabdin. Take all autonomy away from the local areas. It is at this level that resistance is often highest, but Scotland can’t have that. Oh, no, sir! We might actually resist.
A very valid point.
I would enjoy watching a stand alone England ruled by Trump style absurdity and corruption but I would never expect a right wing party paid for by immoral billionaires and supported by fascists thugs to keep their word.
If Farage gets in the NHS is finished, workers rights and human rights will be flushed away the minimum wage and welfare support.
Let’s go for it and sign some form of legal agreement.
Just 6 weeks to save the NHS is it?
‘sign some form of legal agreement.’
How about on the back of a cigarette packet or a napkin. Nothings new.
So the sovereignty issue is out of the window? Just preserve the Gravy Boat of public parasites and sexual deviants who are systematically bankrupting the country.
Until Blairism is purged from every institution in Britain this country will continue the downward spiral to oblivion.
The Globalist Left wing agenda just got dismantled in New York. The Western nations must now follow suit.
NHS England is this year being abolished. No if, no buts. Privatisation is coming. All the benefits of the corporates together with the freedom to buy as much health care you need. Or am I picking up the wrong end of the stick as we all enjoy the benefits of the big yellow Brexit bus that was to bring tens of millions every week.
But yes uncanny how Big John appears to march in step with what his chums across the border are doing.
Synchronicity. That’ll be it!
“Enjoy watching a stand alone England ruled by Trump style absurdity and corruption”
You seem to miss that we’re already there, and have been for some time. Have you been asleep since 1997?
President Blair The War Criminal stuffed the state full of his disciples, whilst Gordoom financially went at Warp 9 over a precipice. CMD aped The War Criminal – even trying to warmonger in the sandpit again, until parliament stopped him – and was then followed by a comical set of no-hopers who were quite unashamed about putting their fingers in the till, and even less concerned about getting caught. May the EU stooge, Boris the Lockdown Fascist and warmonger, Rishi Rich… Followed by Two Tier Kier who symbolised the very epitome of everything wrong with the British state in the current age. We now have a vain guyliner-wearing simpleton committed fully to repeating the extensive and damaging mistakes every one of his predecessors made (both Red and Blue), banging the drum of war whilst determined to sink the whole of the UK financially, tie us to the autocratic EU and jail whoever is left over after all that for minor misdemeanors.
Wake up.
Bit of a bee in your bonnet about “banging the drum of war” there.
It’s not your insistence that “if everybody would just be nice, aggression would wither” that irritates me. Any normal Scot learns the folly of that world view in the primary school playground. Perhaps you were one of the bullying cants – that would explain it.
No, what grinds my gears is how you can ignore the years of bombs, missiles, drones, abductions, rapes, tortures, mass graves, and billions of dollars worth of urban and ecological destruction whilst still bleating “just be nicer to them and you’ll see, they will stop”.
It’s an astonishing perspective. I guess that to see it, you have to be perched on the very peak of the moral high ground, with your heid rammed firmly up your arse.
So, as the committed pacifist you like to self identify as, tell us which Eastern European independent countries you are happy to sacrifice as part of your drive to “just be nice”. At least then, we might have a baseline for debate.
Mind and enunciate clearly. We’ll struggle to hear you while your heid remains immovably embedded up there.
Yes, I do have a bit of a bee in my bonnet about it.
I’m not ignorant of what Ru**ia are doing, which is appalling. Not do I think “be nice and they go away”. Ru**ia is a malicious and hostile state. I’m not even bothered that you think my head is up my backside. I really don’t care.
No, my ire is reserved fully for our politicians which, time and time again, involve us in conflicts – including this one – that have nothing to do with us. We are told it is to “defend our interests”. Eastern Europe, to be blunt, is not and never will be “our interest”. Our interest starts and ends at our borders.
These conflicts actively invite hostility on our nation and its people. Blair’s warmongering invited terrorism on these shores and has been cited as a justification in most acts within Britain since 2001. We are doing the same with Ru**ia.
“This conflict needs to end!” Ok, so where’s the peace process? The jaw jaw?
“But Europe is vulnerable!” Ok, well that’s Europe’s problem to sort. There’s enough of them to band together.
“But they’ll come here!” Our own government represents a much greater threat to the population than any external actors.
“Do you not care?” Quite frankly, no.
“Our interest starts and ends at our borders”
What can I say?
Irrespective of whether the borders you write about are Scotland’s or the UK’s, anybody making a statement like that one demonstrates the fundamental problem with democracy.
No country can ever expect wisdom to magically appear through the process of sampling the collective stupidity of the masses.
On top of that, the statement “Our interest starts and ends at our borders” betrays a jaw-dropping ignorance of history. There have been few times since the Romans when Scotland didn’t need to defend itself against hostile outsiders. Back in the days of oared galleys and swords, failure to maintain an army and navy to protect our borders against the enemy invited the usual bloody punishment for our ruler’s carelessness.
What would you have been claiming back then? That the king is “banging the drum” for war? Why can’t we just sit down and talk to the Romans, the Irish, the Norse, the Normans, the English, etc?
We obviously disagree, however your response is to call democracy and views different to yours as “stupid”.
I’m not feart of disagreement or a bit of a debate, even to the point of being ridiculed. It really doesn’t bother me.
Your argument refers to defence on these shores against external aggression, in more savage, feudal times preceding modern borders, democracy and government.
I’ll maintain my position that we should not be involved in any overseas conflicts and that the best way forward for all of humanity is peace and dialogue. I’m sorry you disagree with that.
“in more savage, feudal times preceding modern borders, democracy and government”
Hmmm.
I don’t quite see what was more savage about the past.
Or what is less savage about the present.
Admittedly, here in Scotland, we mostly have it sweet and easy ATM. But it’s not at all difficult to inform oneself about the lived experiences of uncounted millions around the globe right now, who can barely comprehend our good fortune compared to their miserable lot.
“your response is to call democracy and views different to yours as “stupid””
Now now, Spartan, stones and glass houses and that.
nige won’t be PM now since he pissed off the wrong people; the people you can’t make jokes about
The Teletubbies?
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen or heard a joke about them.
You haven’t heard the stinky pinky joke then.
No talent. No money. No plan. No grassroots support.
What could possibly go wrong?
Until a majority of Scots get it through their brain box that independence and only independence has any chance of saving them from Third World status, then we are going nowhere.
The oil and gas have been taken from us, Grangemouth refinery, the pipelines have been agreed (forced on us) as have renewables, so, now, it’s a minimum of 20 AI data centres now to gulp down our water supplies. Thousands of jobs predicted. Well, the labouring kind, because none of the high heid yins will be Scots. Remember Aberdeen? Remember the ports?
How many of these data centres have been earmarked for England? At the rate they swallow water, I’d guess it will be few, although all the management, the HQs and the vast majority of the real jobs will be down there or abroad.
Will Swinney and his cohort of Fearthearts cave in with a minimum of resistance? Is the Pope a Catholic?
AI jobs won’t go to Scots?
We get everywhere around the world and rise to high levels cos our talent, confidence and objectivity (no bullsh*tting) outperforms the competition. We’ll get as many of these jobs as we want.
I’m sorry you can’t see that.
Despite a terrible, politicised education system now and useless NHS Scotland, we are still producing excellent talent.
Most of them leave because they are totally discouraged by the pettiness of the home buddies and the suffocating, incompetent politicians.
You think, Wally? Yes, Scots can get jobs anywhere, except in Scotland – certainly not the high heid ones.
My partner has just had a heart operation at the Edinburgh infirmary. The quality of care she recieved from the staff there was second to none. Truly extraordinary. NHS Scotland Staff are doing an amazing job, despite the shite that is being thrown at them by arseholes such as you, and you should shut your fucking mouth before someone shuts it for you.
Data centres employ tiny numbers of people. They only need a handful of junior techies (not very well paid IT jannies), and security guards after construction is finished.
The high heid yins are all in London, California or Seattle, where the corporate head office is.
They’re demanding – and they’re getting – subsidised electricity, paid for by us, the mugs who have to pay full price for some of the most expensive electricity in the world. Just so multi trillion dollar corporations can try to make people redundant and replace them with AI.
That means grannies freezing to death in Scotland so the Google share price goes up by 0.00001p
You’re right to be wary. There won’t be any jobs boom, that’s as mythical as those ‘green jobs’ we’ve been promised for 25 years……
Between 25 and 30 now. The total rises every day. Three have already gained outline planning permission. The Central Belt will be festooned with them. Watched a short piece on the data centres in Inner Mongolia (China). The poor folk there got labouring jobs and those who did were all farm workers, scratching a living. The big jobs never materialised because they were never intended to, of course. Once the data centres were built, it was back to the land.
If the SG simply acquiesces again, in yet another asset stripping and resources theft exercise, they had better run for the nearest bunker.
They’re already telling us that AI will render millions of us unemployed and unemployable. Seems that most of us aren’t listening.
What they’re not telling us is that once AI becomes ubiquitous for answering every question we might have about anything, that perfect monopoly can be monetised. Did you think the stuff on the net would stay free forever? Are you planning to go back to getting everything from books? When was the last time you read a book?
What they’re not telling us is that once AI runs most things, government will be no exception. Obviously, high-level government jobs will be protected – natch. But the people in them will spend their days using AI to make the decisions, write the legislation, and issue the directives down the chain.
You don’t think this is already happening?
H McH: the technology exists and we can’t turn the clock back. We can, however, use everything at our disposal to halt the vast numbers, the massive consumption of energy and the millions of litres of water being taken without a by-your-leave.
Apparently, some of these data centres use a different cooling method. They are sited in England. I suspect that those in Scotland will be voracious mega structures. However, having said that, it seems likely that they will shrink in size eventually as better technology is developed – just as computers did.
What that means for the future of humanity, I do not know. I do have a fair inkling about what will happen to Scotland and the Scots in the meantime: we will be further impoverished because we appear to be incapable of saying no to any and every exploitation. There will be no need for any Scots at all when the total and simultaneous opposites of de-industrialisation/re-industialisation are complete.
Who will pay for the water consumption? It is still state owned – just – so that would be the SG through taxes? The energy? Word is that the new grid will have to be diverted at each point where a data centre is sited, so expect bills to rise exponentially. Will our farmers be persuaded to give up their land (from growing crops and raising livestock to feed us)? These megaliths take up acres upon acres of land.
Burnham restated today that we are not going to get any referendum. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
@Lorncal
Here’s an interesting read on the qualitative differences between Yank and Covid AI:
link to unherd.com
Spoiler alert: The Covid approach will win. But for us humans, there may be no winners.
“Burnham restated today that we are not going to get any referendum. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?”
Of course! Surely you’re not one of those who support Indy only because you believe it will be an effort-free walk in the park?
I honestly thought Scotland had moved on from referenda and had realised by now that until a new Scottish plebiscitary party forms and builds majority democratic support, Indy is dead.
I honestly thought Indy supporters had by now twigged that Indy isn’t gonna come from them sitting on their arses, holding out their hands, and saying “Gonna gie us oor Indy, pal?” at WM or the UN, or anywhere else they think the grift might sucker in some narks.
Maybe I’m wrong.
“… Indy isn’t gonna come from them sitting on their arses, holding out their hands, and saying “Gonna gie us oor Indy, pal?” at WM or the UN, or anywhere else… Maybe I’m wrong”
Not wrong. Exactly right in fact.
Independence isn’t going to be delivered by Westminster, the UN, or anyone else. It only comes from Scots themselves deciding, organising, and building the democratic support needed to make it happen.
Waiting for external actors to hand it over has never worked and never will.
The hard truth is that until a movement exists that can win a clear majority, independence stays stuck. Facing that reality is the first step toward actually achieving it.
H McH: I respect your views, and everyone else’s, enough to actually read them. When have I ever said that I believe indy would be easy? On the contrary, I have pointed out umpteen times that it will not be a walk in the park but a slogging uphill endeavour. I have absolutely no time for referendums, not after 2014 which we allowed to be wrested from us. I also want a plebiscitary election and UDI immediately thereafter, assuming we win. I have always tried to point out that the Treaty breaching – eminently provable – should have been the parallel route because that Treaty will pop up to trip us up if we are not prepared. I will read/listen to the piece you recommend, but I really don’t believe that we have time on our side to change the political landscape before we are fleeced yet again, and, in our case, the Lord will not temper the wind to the shorn lamb. We will need to do that for ourselves.
Farage is a disruptor and represents a significant threat to The Blob of Fabians, Scroungers and Crooks, which the SNP are very much a part of, hence why they’re dropping farts with lumps at the thought of a Reform government.
I mean, the thought of a government with the aim to actually be *on the side* of the population and make things *better* for them… How radical and unacceptable to those currently ensconced in power at the foot of Arthur’s Seat and on the banks of the Thames.
I’m skeptical of Farage, viewing him as another self-gain-seeking bullpats artist – in addition to Reform being polluted with odious ex-Tories – however he does say a lot I agree with… Binning Net Zero, cutting the bloated state, reducing excessive taxation, enforcing the law regarding migration among other things. If a Reform government delivered even one or two of that list it would be a vast improvement to the whole country compared to the omniclusterfuckpermashambles we currently have.
Time shall tell. I’m not holding my breath though.
“Farage is a disruptor and represents a significant threat to The Blob of Fabians, Scroungers and Crooks, which the SNP are very much a part of, hence why they’re dropping farts with lumps at the thought of a Reform government.”
Quite.
“Binning Net Zero, cutting the bloated state, reducing excessive taxation, enforcing the law regarding migration among other things.”
Indeed. What’s not to like?
“What’s not to like?”
We can’t have the little people happy and *enjoying* themselves, can we.
No, instead we *really* need Big Tax, Big State, Authoritarian Internationalist Interventionism, weak law and order, managed accelerated decline, shrinking living standards, warmongering, mass migration, dysfunctional yet bloated public services, nanny state, ban-and-tax, Net Zero, offshored/outsourced overseas unaccountable governance and democracy and constant fear/guilt tripping of the population because…. er, some reason or other.
Tsk tsk, Spartan. Oh dear!
It would appear that you are FAR RIGHT. Take yourself off to the reprogramming booth forthwith – albeit there is a 14 month backlog as it’s run by civil servants WFH and on a 3 day week.
Guilty as charged, Cap’n. I tick all the boxes.
White – check
Indigenous – check
Christian (not a very good one) – check
Libertarian political views – check
Traditional social views – check
Straight – check
Married – check
Kids – check
Homeowner – check
Full time employed – check
Have a profession – check
45% Scottish Income Tax rate payer – check
Engages in fossil fuel-burning libertarian hobbies – check
Climate change skeptic – check
Vehemently opposed to Net Zero – check
Believes in individual liberty over the power of the state – check
Yep, I’m earmarked for the Gulag.
Oooh, not good…
I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes when they clamp your eyelids open so they can torture you with pictures of Pride parades, heat pumps, dingies and stuff. You’re going to have to be strong, Spartan, stronger than you ever thought you could be 🙂
Acht, I’ll be fine, Minceheid. I’m a 7ft 2 genetically-enhanced space marine clad in Mjolnir armour. I’ll survive.
In all seriousness, I’m not in the slightest offended or triggered by any of that stuff. What bugs me is the politics and the sociopathy behind it all.
“Engages in fossil fuel-burning libertarian hobbies – check”
OH MY DAYS SAVE US FROM THIS HERESY… YOU BEAST!!111
😀
Oh man alive, we jest an’ all that, but this stuff is real….
There’s a new Facebook called ‘whynotscotland.com’ looking at all the reasons to support independence. (Not to be confused with Why Not Scotland? which is YES). Created by Carter Langley.
They can hardly appear to welcome a Reform govt. Or indeed want one as it would be bad for everyone. That’s not a look they will shake off.
Remember “Tartan Tories”
We’ve got to keep Farage out, because he wants to reduce immigration and also enforce border laws, and that’s what fascists do. Hitler was infamous for being against illegal immigration and foreign rape gangs. You’re not a Hitlerist, are you?
We need an independent Scotland, so we can allow an unlimited number of Somalis, Afghans, and Albanians to finish the job of repopulating Scotland and take up housing, university places, public services and job opportunities that would otherwise be wasted on Scottish people. Because everything will be great when Scottish people are a hated minority in Scotland but also forced to pay massive taxes to house and feed our replacements from the Global South.
When every town and village looks like the filthy, tramp-infested sanctuary city of Glasgow, racism will disappear and we’ll all celebrate World Hijab Day without fear, and Susan Aitken will lose weight.
We need to be ruled by an antidemocratic transnational bureaucracy in Brussels, because that’s independence. That’s what Wallace and Bruce fought for.
And we’re definitely not going to do any deals with Farage that might lead to an independence referendum, because working with democratically elected parties we don’t like is eh… also fascist?
Wur aww Jock Tamson’s bairns intit? Intit though? I saw it on a sign so it must be true. Except Reform voters, obviously.
Incidentally, Anas Sarwar and Humza Yousaf’s ancestral homeland of Pakistan has much tougher immigration laws than we do, and don’t allow Christians to build churches in their country. But don’t mention this because noticing things is RACIST.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to looking for fascists and far rightists (anybody who thinks the Scottish people have a right to our own country)
I am very clever. Sore Alba.
Blimey, and I thought *I* was being sarcastic.
Well said Red. We think alike.
I’m glad someone else agrees Susan Aitken could benefit from losing weight.
Fascist!
All smoke and mirrors as per the usual… And ‘we’ go round and round and round in the circle game.
I did see a clip of some eejit reform politician today saying that the PISA results were PLUMMETING and NOW was not the time….
FURFUCKSZAKE!
Anyway, having had enough of all this bollocks, I joined the monastery today.
“FURFUCKSZAKE
Anyway, having had enough of all this bollocks, I joined the monastery today.”
===========
NOT The Trappist order, I take it ?
you’d have to submit an FOI request, mate.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) response from the Electoral Commission about the SNP indyref and indy booklet fundraisers monies and their involvement in the initial Branchform investigation of the SNP can be reasonably summarised as:
“xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” or “Nah nah nah, no telling ye.”
If you want the exact wording, read on:
“Part A
“Please provide the information held by the EC regarding James Kelly’s 2017 communication to the EC, such as, but not limited to, the request for investigation, what the EC did in response to these concerns such as any investigation, the conclusion reached by the EC. If parts of it cannot be released, please provide the parts that can be released.”
The Commission has considered this part of your request.
Following searches of the Commission’s records, no information has been identified as being held within the scope of this part of your request. Accordingly, pursuant to section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we can confirm that the requested information is not held.”
It begs the question: Did James Kelly follow through on his assertion of complaining to the EC about fundraising by the SNP?
“Part B
“Please provide the information held by the EC such as when it became aware monies in those two SNP specific-purpose fundraisers were being spent by the SNP for purposes other than the asserted purpose of the fundraisers and whether the Electoral Commission assessed whether the SNP were potentially acting illegally / unlawfully in doing so.”
The Commission does not hold information falling within the scope of this request.
As explained publicly by the Commission, our regulatory remit concerns compliance with political finance legislation, including the permissibility, recording and reporting of donations and loans. The purposes for which a political party seeks, obtains or uses donations are matters for that party and do not generally fall within the Commission’s regulatory functions.
Accordingly, accordingly, pursuant to section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the Commission does not hold information recording when it became aware that funds had been spent for purposes other than those asserted by the fundraiser, nor does it hold information recording an assessment of whether doing so was unlawful.
Part C
“Please provide the information held by the EC regarding who within the SNP authorised / had the authority to spend the monies raised in the above fundraisers.”
The Commission does not hold the information requested. The Commission does not regulate the internal governance or spending authorisation arrangements of political parties. Accordingly, it does not hold information identifying who within a political party authorised expenditure from particular fundraising activities unless such information was provided to the Commission for some separate regulatory purpose.
Thus, no information is held within scope of your request.
Part D
“Please provide the information held regarding where the Commission is given a remit to have an active role in working with police investigating potential criminal activity that is not covered by PPERA/electoral laws.
Specifically, please provide the information regarding the Commission’s input regarding allegations of embezzlement of the 2017 and 2019 SNP fundraiser monies made to Police Scotland in 2021 resulting in Operation Branchform.”
Information explaining the Commission’s role is publicly available.
Under PPERA, the Commission is responsible for regulating and enforcing the political finance regime. The Commission may investigate suspected breaches of PPERA and works with police forces where appropriate. The Commission has published information explaining that police can investigate PPERA offences and that certain offences can only be investigated by the police. The Commission also works with police where it believes police action is more appropriate or where offences fall outside its own powers.
This information is reasonably accessible to you and is therefore exempt under section 21(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The relevant information can be found at:
link to electoralcommission.org.uk
link to electoralcommission.org.uk
Information regarding alleged embezzlement and Operation Branchform:
The Commission can neither confirm nor deny whether it holds information within the scope of this part of your request.
Section 31(3) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies, by virtue of sections 31(1)(g) and 31(2)(c).
You refer in your correspondence to statements made by the Commission regarding its general approach to working with police forces and its publicly acknowledged support for a particular police investigation.”
(Seems they can’t even bring themselves to specify the part of Branchform that consisted of the investigation into embezzlement by Peter Murrell).
“However, those public statements do not remove the Commission’s ability to rely on section 31(3) in relation to different requests seeking information about specific regulatory engagement, discussions, assessments or communications concerning particular allegations or matters.
Confirming or denying whether information is held in relation to the matters specified in your request would itself reveal information about the Commission’s regulatory activity and engagement with other bodies in relation to a specific matter. This would be likely to prejudice the exercise of the Commission’s functions for the purposes set out in section 31(2)(c).
Section 31 is a qualified exemption and thus subject to the Public Interest Test.
The Commission recognises the public interest in openness and transparency concerning the regulation of political finance and engagement between public authorities.
However, there is a stronger public interest in avoiding prejudice to the Commission’s ability to carry out its regulatory functions effectively. Confirming or denying whether information is held could reveal information about the existence, nature or extent of regulatory engagement in relation to specific allegations and could discourage the effective exchange of information between regulatory and law enforcement bodies.
Having considered the competing public interests, the Commission has concluded that the public interest in maintaining the exclusion of the duty to confirm or deny outweighs the public interest in confirming or denying whether the requested information is held.
The Commission therefore neither confirms nor denies whether information within scope of this part of the request is held.”
The SNP’s leadership is for Leftism, first and foremost.
Indy is NOT their number one priority.
Liberals man not left wingers. The individual and self interest over the people and the common good. More that way than left wing. Pretty extreme economic liberals, social liberalism is just a mask.
These so called and sometimes self described left wing politicians seem to despise the native poor and the working class? Conservatives don’t exist in elected politics either? plenty right wing economics but very little conservatism. These arguments ring much truer to me.
Leftism always has had a pathological hatred for society. A look through history’s Communist regimes gives an endless example of millions of victims to it. Soviet Union, Chi*a, North K**ea, Vietnam, not the mention innumerable post-colonial basket cases in Africa (e.g. the former Rhodesia, which was destroyed under Robert Gabriel).
Leftist regimes in Britain have a well-established track record of inflicting economic ruin, social decay and declining freedoms. Examples are 70s Wilson/Callaghan, 97-2010 The War Criminal/Gordoom, the multiple iterations of the “Conservative” admin 2010-2024 and the current continuity Tories permashambles of TTK followed by Guyliner. The names and tie colours changed, the policies didn’t.
It’s an interesting observation, for sure.
Underlying “metropolitan lefty-ism” is most certainly a rich seam of misanthropy, (together with the usual politics of envy). Lefties don’t tend to like people very much, by and large, and often – not even each other.
Seem to spend most of their time condemning, cancelling, banning, doxing, hating, censoring, criticising; endlessly and desperately searching (and yearning) for NEW stuff to be eternally and mortally offended by.
It must be a miserable “fun sponge” existence right enough, which explains a lot IMO.
The greatest problem for the hard left which is essentially urban, and which has been adopted by the middle-class luvvies, is that it cannot understand – or even wants to – human nature which will always veer towards freedom, free speech, being able to make one’s own decisions about one’s own circumstances. It does, however, make allowances for the practitioners as opposed to the receivers of its ‘wisdom’. In other words, it’s “do as I say”, but not “as I do”. They exempt themselves from their own restrictions and constraints.
They eschew the very reasonable assumption that, if the mass of the population is unwilling to accept certain things, it simply is showing that whatever is being forced down its throat is, instinctively, going to make it vomit very quickly. ‘Wokeism’ has been a disastrous imposition by our governing class and its cohorts in the wider population, imposed, against all sense, and instigating a massive backlash that could end in real revolution of a kind we have never really seen in the UK. The cleverness involved in governance is to encourage people, slowly, towards reasonable and achievable change, but never to force-feed it, and to keep it within certain perameters that will not induce societal boak. We are already way past that point when things can be turned around.
Indoctrinated and essentially stupid people within the elites and the ruling classes, as we are seeing, are prepared to remove all freedoms in the name of whatever ridiculous and unworkable utopia they envisage. Nothing so terrifying and so ultimately tyrannical as the hard leftist ‘equality for all’ advocate.
Very good post, Lorncal, which I very largely agree with, albeit I don’t think the fundamental issues you describe are the sole, exclusive preserve of the hard left. In actuality, they are equally applicable to the “progressive” left, the “woke” left, the “metropolitan” left – in fact, just the bloody (ever smug, conceited and misguided) left full stop.
“The cleverness involved in governance is to encourage people, slowly, towards reasonable and achievable change, but never to force-feed it, and to keep it within certain perameters that will not induce societal boak.
Quite so, eloquently put. In a nutshell: the difference between left and right, the latter recognises the basic attributes and tendencies of human nature (warts and all) and seeks to harness them to achieve things (sometimes in spite of said tendencies), whereas the former pretends they don’t exist (with predictably poor results, despite sometimes being well-intentioned).
“Indoctrinated and essentially stupid people within the elites and the ruling classes, as we are seeing, are prepared to remove all freedoms in the name of whatever ridiculous and unworkable utopia they envisage.”
Indeed, another attribute of the left: groupthink deplatforming, cancelling, othering, demonising – up to and including the removal of people’s livelihoods who don’t play along with the “rules”. Whereas, the right promotes free speech and dissent, ironically to such an extent that disaffected lifelong lefties who have somehow fallen foul of their own side’s ever more absurd “requirements” can only now share a platform with their inherently more tolerant right wing opponents, not their (former, intolerant) allies.
As far as “indoctrinated and essentially stupid people” are concerned, one only has to look toward the parliamentary SNP, Greens and Labour – and realise how few of them has ever had the nous to hold down a “real” job and/or made so much as a single pound that wasn’t provided to them by the taxpayer, let alone ran their own business. To many on the working class right, we were never afforded such luxuries in life, and we are all the better for it now.
The SNP seeking (allegedly) Indy is your ultimate example of Turkeys voting for Christmas.
Which is why they’re not in the slightest bit interested in Indy, except in the 6 weeks immediately before an election, following which normal service resumes.
Odd though, isn’t it Bob, that by not pushing for Indy, how the SNP has got itself into that sweet spot that sees it returned to power in Scotland, election after election, decade after decade.
It seems the SNP knows something about the majority of the people of Scotland that you don’t.
The SNP long ago replaced the BBC as the number one enemy of Scottish independence.
Its former leader fled to London to further her fraudulent career.
Like spies fleeing when discovered.
If the SNP are the number one enemy of Indy, how would you describe the majority of Scots who just won’t stop voting for the SNP?
Staunch, committed, no compromises fighters for Indy?
Or big talking, no action, gasbags?
BTW. People in the public eye can’t flee to London. It’s not Timbuktu.
“Like spies fleeing when discovered”
This is what postcolonial theorists tell us: that native elites and other groups who collaborate with colonial powers to ‘haud doun’ thair ain fowk and intentionally prevent independence / liberation, seek sanctuary in the ‘mother country’.
Which is also a sign that the people may be closer to liberation than they think.
@ Alf Baird says: 25 September, 2026 at 9:31 am
“a sign that the people may be closer to liberation than they think”
Wow, Alf, just look at the total apathy in response to your post.
Could that be a sign that the people are further from liberation than you think?
Sturgeon isn’t seeking sanctuary in London, however much you want to blow that up into something it’s not. A person wanted for arrest under Scottish law can be detained in England under various cross borders powers.
It’s perhaps understandable that a Pilton schemie might not know this. From an academic, though, I’m not buying it.
Guardian reporting that for the second year running, balance of trade between USA and the Covids is running at one trillion USD per annum, in the Covids’ favour.
Balance of trade between the EU and the Covids is running at one billion Euros per day, in the Covids’ favour.
That used to be a big thing for Scotland and the UK, back in the day. Did we export more than we imported? Because only a country that does, can ever become and stay wealthy.
If you want to understand political power at its simplest, look to who you have to give your money to, and consider how you would fare if the people who sell you everything you want, perhaps even need, suddenly turn around and say they don’t want your money.
“That used to be a big thing for Scotland and the UK, back in the day. Did we export more than we imported? Because only a country that does, can ever become and stay wealthy.”
Valid point, Hatey. Its called balance of trade.
When Scotland sorts out the underhand economic plunder from our land we too will have a very positive and valuable trade balance; just like our Asian and Ru**ian friends, and unlike the greedy warmongering imperialists who think they own us and who are now in freefall and rapid socio-economic decline.
Bullshit, Alf.
After 40 years of deliberate destruction, these industries, jobs and added value chains aren’t coming back in our lifetimes.
Manned by geriatrics, they’re certainly not.
I’m not expecting to hear you’re working 12 hour shifts on an assembly line or down the pit and you know it.
It took the Covids a generation of centrally planned, ruthlessly applied graft to turn their country around, using methods of oppression and coercion the likes of which we’ve never known.
We’ll need at least the same, probably more, because the catch up bar is now so much higher.
Correct Professor. “freefall and rapid socio-economic decline”. The future is Eurasian.
About 5,000 people a year die from tuberculosis in your beloved Ru**ia. More than get pushes out of windows for criticising the government on Facebook.
“When Scotland sorts out the underhand economic plunder from our land we too will have a very positive and valuable trade balance.”
Please explain how, taking into account a) the majority of employment being in the state, b) few manufacturing facilities and c) much of oil and gas – the big money – being shut down.
I want it to be true Alf but the sums dinnae add up, not without a serious cull in state employment and a complete reversal of the oil and gas decimation. Tech provides a fair bit of employment – my early career before aviation was in what used to be called “Silicon Glen” – but the threats of AI and Leftist governments in FollyRude and within the M25 toilet that are hostile to enterprise and weighing the Climate anchor around anyone and everyone reoresent a threat to anything resembling progress or what could indeed make an independent Scotland wealthy.
Tartan tat shops, malt whisky and Cooncil jobs won’t keep our independent country afloat.
The fucknuggets-on-Thames are finding this out the hard way, it turns out inviting the world’s pikeys and plying them with freebies whilst simultaneously taxing employment and business out of existence doesn’t make a country run very well, yet still Guyliner and his eighthwit pals stand aboot looking glaikit wondering why everything’s turned to liquid shit.
@Marie says: 25 September, 2026 at 10:08 am
“The future is Eurasian”
You’ll be able to get surgery to sort out your eyes being the wrong shape.
How are you with pronouncing “Eulasian”?
“The party also regularly tells us that to actually achieve independence, support would have to build to an overwhelming consensus into the 60-65% range”
The stick holding the independence mandate carrot has just grown 15% longer.
What else could we expect from a party that doesn’t know what a woman is, or can magically ‘ringfence’ £650,000 into a black hole?
Maybe time to stop talking about independence and speak of sovereignty instead.
A country may be notionally independent but does it excercise sovereignty over the externals which might challenge that independence?
Sovereignty is an absolute. Its restoration ought to be the aim.
As a matter of interest, just how “sovereign” do you think a small country with no military to speak of actually is in reality, especially when one of the Big Boys Club decides it wants something of theirs, hmmm? Maybe ask Greenland or even NATO Member Denmark that particular question, or perhaps “U” or Venezuela.
Realpolitik is always utterly lost on you wide-eyed “Sixth Form Common Room Types”, isn’t it TURABDIN. Perhaps you’ve not yet noticed that the international law rulebook has been luzzed out of the window?
You’ll learn.
“Sovereignty is an absolute. Its restoration ought to be the aim”
The unicorn believers are convinced individual Scottish Sovereignty never went away. I’m very happy to be a Sovereign Scot, even although I didn’t discover it until late in life. I now fully understand that my Scottish Sovereignty is absolute and inviolable, right up until the moment when I try to use it.
Applying the same “logic”, a nation of 5.5 million Sovereign Scots is already a Sovereign Nation. How could it be otherwise?
Doubters and nay sayers like yourself, TURABDIN, can be discounted as jealous, or perhaps incapable of understanding the subtle concepts involved.
Get Xaracen to explain. This stuff is kindergarten level to him.
@CAPTAIN CAVEMAN & HATEY.
I come from a ethno cultural entity which lost its sovereignty some time ago. I know exactly what I’m talking about. One day you have it as a people or nation, then it is gone.
Individuals may be as «sovereign» as they imagine but that is particularist dreaming. Waking up to the bitter reality that Scots are not special or exceptional in this matter is called maturity. It is where wisdom begins.
Albeit English isn’t even my third language I am staggered at the prejudging of the text of my post, it seems to happen at lot.
Chippy little foreigner put him in his place, maybe. I may be young but i am not unwise as to ways of the world.
Hang on in there TURABDIN. Your experientially informed contributions are appreciated.
”i [sic] am not unwise as to ways of the world.”
Well, I’ll be the judge of that, son. In my opinion, you appear to have much of the accumulated bitterness of years beyond your youth, but sadly not the wisdom. All rather tiresome, actually.
It stands to reason that a Westminster government even more unpopular in Scotland than present would boost support for independence. But when that ruling party is hard right, neo-liberal ultra British nationalist and Unionist, and who of course would have jurisdiction over all of the UK, the schadenfreude would come with a rather bitter taste.
Reform have the capacity to be highly authoritarian and would have even less truck with the idea of Scottish independence than currently in Westminster and like their mentor Trump, would seek to suppress dissent, press freedom and increase the current prevalence for right wing cancel culture.
The reality of a Reform government would not be aligned with a greater chance of independence for Scotland, whatever opinion polls might say. If you are frustrated with the Labour and Tories ‘now is not the time’, then a Farage, ‘get to fuck with that for good’ is not going to be better, is it?
You might be interested in this, published on Sept. 14th. Yougov survey. ( Both online.Pollcheck did not include Yougov in its list of pollsters it covered.)
Looks pretty volatile
Key takeaways
69% of Britons now see Nigel Farage unfavourably, the highest recorded by our tracker to date, while 24% have a favourable opinion of the Reform UK leader
While an unchanged 46% of Britons see Andy Burnham favourably, the proportion viewing him unfavourably has risen six points to 39% in the last month
Britons tend to see Kemi Badenoch unfavourably, by 47% to 32%
Zack Polanski’s latest net favourability rating is -29, while Ed Davey’s is -8
27% of Britons have a positive opinion of Ed Miliband, up four points since July, though 52% hold an unfavourable opinion of him
Pollcheck did a more recent survey on 23rd Sept.It tracks net favourability of party leaders from all major pollsters.
Burnham + 11.6
Badenoch +1.8
Davey -4.9
Lowe -11.6
Polanski -23.7
Farage -24.7
Interesting stats Sam. Trouble is they are so volatile they could all be reversed by events, then reversed again.
The upcoming by-election in Holborn and St Pancras is a big test for Burnham, and Polanski.
My backing is for Sagal Abdi-Wali (Labour). She seems like a good candidate with excellent experience. I don’t need to say much about Polanski on here. Polls predict Labour win, but who knows.
Typical, isn’t is, SBS?
They’ve got a chance to put into power somebody who could increase the bust size of half the adult occupants of an entire constituency and it looks like they will pass up on it.
I believe Labour currently has a majority of 166. If Davy Paulden (Polanski’s real name) wins, they’ll have a majority of 165. The idea that this will in some way be “seismic” is so ludicrous, only those selling newspapers and click bait could dare to make that claim.
Burnham should be secretly hoping for a “Polanski” win. Not only will it put the frighteners on some of his more fractious back benchers and instill some discipline into that under-occupied rabble, but it will allow better scrutiny of the sleazebag and clueless chancer that is Davy Paulden and his fifth column of reality deniers and antisemites that is the Green party.
Interesting points Hatey. I dunno, the media down here would have a field day questioning Burnham if Labour lost to the Greens.
I was genuinely surprised at that motion the Greens will put forward for their conference about declaring zionism racist, that calls for a single Palestinian state, with the risk members who support Zionism being disciplined for racism. Polanski has recently said this motion is ‘unhelpful’ (Ha!)
If they actually passed this motion it would certainly expose Polanski if he won!
I read this from Will Self recently about the local council election in Lambeth in the spring that really rang true:
‘. . . This is what irritates me so profoundly about the current spectacularisation of politics. The tail now wags the dog entirely. Fleas crawling over the hide of the political animal become the entire object of mediated fixation while the underlying material organism disappears from view. G*za, social-media outrage, performative radicalism, algorithmic tribalism, endless affective signalling — all of it floods the informational battlespace while the actual municipal problem remains brutally concrete: who can still run the borough with some semblance of distributive equity under conditions of systemic strain? . . .
That is why the recent remarks by Green figures and fellow travellers around antisemitism have struck me as so spiritually repellent. Zack Polanski’s comments about Jewish fear and antisemitism were not merely tactless. They were corrosive to the ethical core of environmentalism itself, because genuine environmental consciousness depends upon attentiveness to lived interdependence and vulnerability, not the ranking of historical traumas into fashionable and unfashionable categories. I am probably among the very few voters in today’s Lambeth election who literally does not fly. I live with the material consequences of aviation, extraction, overdevelopment and urban acceleration every day. Yet I cannot support a politics in which environmentalism dissolves into a species of performative anti-Western spectacle detached from municipal reality and increasingly tolerant of conspiracist or antisemitic atmospherics . . .
The Greens may function effectively as a moral weather vane for metropolitan frustration. But weather vanes do not run housing departments, adult social care systems, planning committees or temporary accommodation networks. The current wave of radicalised spectacular politics risks mistaking expressive intensity for governance itself. Lambeth cannot be governed through vibes, hashtags and symbolic alignments alone. It requires structures capable of absorbing contradiction without collapsing into pure performative moralism.’
“Reform have the capacity to be highly authoritarian”
Another one asleep since 1997. Were you in a coma post-9/11, during the Tory-imposed lockdowns, or Labour’s arrests for unapproved social media posts?
Swinney and co are petrified of Independence support rising! They are captured by the british state!
Make no mistake, Sturgeon is still pulling the strings for the union.
I guess you won’t have sussed why Swinney, Sturgeon and co are petrified of Indy support rising.
Hint: It’s the same reason BoJo and co were petrified when they discovered Brexit was on.
Just like BoJo with Brexit, Swinney, Sturgeon and all the rest of the incompetent, delusional reality deniers lack all ability and capacity to make a decent fist of Indy. And a pronounced aversion to putting in the crushingly hard graft too.
Didn’t you ever stop to wonder about the enthusiasm for handing the entire sorry mess over to the grown ups in Brussels, taking the pay rises and the expenses packages, and then heading overseas to “fight Scotland’s corner” whilst sometimes popping back to explain why under EU rules, their “hands are tied”?
Remember “Independence In Europe”? That was the SNP admitting true Independence was a non-starter.
Surely you can’t still be struggling to get yer heid around this?
Sums it all up pretty well to be honest, Hatey.
It’s easier to sit back on your taxpayer-funded meal ticket and blame everything on “them” rather than put the graft in and fix the issues yourself. That also incurs *responsibility*, something the lazy, feckless, unless grifters completely shirk.
Brexit was a shining example of this in action; it simply *couldn’t* be seen to be a success. Firstly, it would upset the Bruxelles lords and masters; secondly, it would mean the M25 omniclusterfuckpermashambles having to unclusterfuck itself and actually start *doing* stuff. No, easier to deliberately bungle it, claim it was unworkable and then make moves to force our way back in. Scottish independence is exactly the same. Too many vested interests and incompetent hangers-on at present to make it a success.
The Ministry of Truth
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Fear is Hope
In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy.
Colder houses are warmer houses.
Damper houses are healthier houses.
Men are women.
Higher taxes is more spending money in your pocket.
Independence is doing what Brussels majority rule says.
De facto legalisation of Class A drugs saves lives.
Potholes make roads safer.
Nobody cares about the missing money.
Whoops! Sorry about that last one. Don’t know how it found its way into the list of obvious falsehoods 🙂
“The Proles are free”
AN TEACHDAIRE PÀRLAMAIDEACH
(Bilingual Holyrood Newsletter, issue 25 Sept)
« […] Tha sinn cuideachd ag aithris air Aithris Bith-iomadachd na Pàrlamaid a chaidh fhoillseachadh bho chionn ghoirid agus tha ri faighinn sa Ghàidhlig. Bheir sinn sùil air bith-iomadachd agus Gàidhlig a-rithist a dh’aithghearr sa chuairtlitir. Tha am fios naidheachd againn Farpais trusaidh ga cur air bhog gus a’ chiad Choimiseanair Luchd-fulaing is Luchd-fianais a chur an dreuchd ri fhaighinn sa Ghàidhlig cuideachd. Tha gealltanas sa Phlana Ghàidhlig againn a bhith a’ beachdachadh air sgrìobhainnean nach eil sa Ghàidhlig eadar-theangachadh ma tha daoine gan iarraidh. Cuir fios thugainn aig an t-seòladh àbhaisteach ma tha thu airson lethbhreac Gàidhlig iarraidh de rud sam bith. »
« […] We also report on the Parliament’s Biodiversity Statement which has recently been published and which is available in Gaelic. We will look further at Gaelic and biodiversity in a future newsletter. Our news release Recruitment competition to appoint Scotland’s first Victims and Witnesses Commissioner launched is also available in Gaelic. Our Gaelic Plan includes a commitment to consider translating Scottish Parliament documents not currently available in Gaelic if there is a request for them. Contact us at the usual address if you would like to request a Gaelic copy of Scottish Parliament information. »
link to campaign.emailblaster.cloud
‘You can count on us to stand up for fairness and justice. You can count on us to bring people together’
Andy Burnham to the UN.
Does anybody know what this means?
I’ve stated on comments on previous articles that the future of the NHS is in doubt,why doesn’t the Scottish Parliament hold a referendum to oppose privatisation it would defeat reform and continue to oppose them and the reckless people who support abolition of the Scottish Parliament and when will the members realise that Holyrood for all its faults will be able to protect it.
In regard to data centres could they not have desalination plants and be charged a fair price for electricity.
If reform speak of government wasteful spending will that include the UK government office in Edinburgh.And will Holyrood abolish the Supreme Court if it disagrees with or opposes the decision.
There is absolutely no doubt that there are plans to privatise the NHS.
South of the border NHS England is being abolished with the 42 trusts being reorganised into around 16 Integrated Care Units which will form part of the Westminster government Health and Social Care Department. 15,000 jobs are to be shed between 2027 and 2028. With NHS England abolished, is not difficult to see the plan for privatisation.
And then uncannily Big John Swinney announces a plan to cut health boards across Scotland to two with attendand cost cutting. And since that announcement, surprise surprise it has emerged that the Scotish Boards will be answerable to a new health and social care regime. Uncanny that how Big John is so aligned with down south.
And then theres Big John’s plan to reorganise Scotland’s 32 local councils into just 5 supra council regions. Uncanny hownthis so called made in Scotland decision mirrors Burnham’s vision of a UK of the regions.
What place then for a Scottish Parlisment rendered obsolete on its way to abolition.
So yes, the Scottish Parliament could and should call a referendum on the NHS but they wont. Not under Swinney it wont.
“the Scottish Parliament could and should call a referendum on the NHS”
Make it a twofer with a second question on the ballot.
A referendum on the wee, pretendy parly itself.
If we are promised that the money saved by abolishing the world laughing stock that is the HR parliament and its corrupt and incompetent occupants will be diverted to the SNHS, everybody’s dugs will be able to predict the results.
And meanwhile in Edinburgh where Edinburgh Univesity is culling some ninety arts and humanitues courses of which very very many are degrees in Scottish History, Scottish Literature, Scottish Language it now emerges that Scottish Theology minister courses are going too.
link to archive.ph
Not difficult to see the eradication of Scotland from this once Scottish university. Destroy the culture, destroy the language, destroy the history and destroy the politics it very much seems Scots go like the North American Indians – but without the glass beads.
“this once Scottish university”
Havers, Willie.
Even back in my day, Edinburgh was one of the two English unis in Scotland. The other being St Andrews.
Got to say, if there’s a genuine demand for the courses you mention, then some other institution will step up to the plate to fill it. Presumably it will be able to offer employment too to staff who may lose their jobs.
And if there’s no demand, then there’s the answer right there.
““this once Scottish university”
You are the ‘haver’ Hatey, Willie is right.
With some 90% of its academic staff and most of its students coming from outside Scotland, these so-called ‘elite’ universities are no longer Scottish in any meaningful sense.
Colonial institutions are a fundamental part of everyday reality in a colonial society, the native made ‘a bystander’ in thair ain laund:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
“these so-called ‘elite’ universities are no longer Scottish in any meaningful sense”
As that was my exact point, I don’t see what you’re getting at.
My other point, which you’ve ignored (as usual), is that no academic institution closes courses for which there is a healthy demand.
The days when students (perhaps more accurately, their parents, or the state) could afford to spend 4 years earning a degree that provided them with no useful skills or learning are gone. AI will be the final nail in that coffin.
Anybody suggesting that it’s the job of our institutions to keep alive a culture that few want to bother with in their ordinary, everyday life, should heed the words of Ardnamurchan’s last crofter, Alasdair Maclean.
Must be near half a century since he wrote that a healthy culture breathes the open air of its streets and countryside. It’s part of people’s lives. It’s what they want to know and learn about, be part of, and celebrate.
A culture on life support, surviving on oxygen in the ICU, or as in this case, taught by lecturers to bored students, is not long for this world.
It’s worth remembering that Scottish universities have been international for decades.
They actively recruit staff and students from all over the world because that’s how modern universities survive — especially in a small country with a limited population.
A big intake of foreign students isn’t a political statement, it’s a business model. And a large proportion of staff from outside Scotland isn’t unusual either — it’s just how global higher education works.
None of that makes an institution “un?Scottish”. It just reflects the reality of a globalised sector operating in a country of only five million people.
I often hear the question ‘was Surgeon a plant from the beginning, did they get something on her; or both’?
Same question is also asked about Swinney, of course.
And now ‘Northcode’, too.
Tragic.
Turncoat or doppelganger? Hopefully the latter.
Ramsay Mac Donald in Socialism: critical and constructive, published in 1921, wrote:
«The Anglification of Scotland has been proceeding apace to the damage of its education, its music, its literature, its genius, and the generation that is growing up under this influence is uprooted from its past»
That was over 100 years ago, things now far worse.
Scotland is now on the critically endangered list.
Scotland’s «great & good» care not a fig.
The funding model in Scottish universities is broke. Financially and structurally.
The business model that relied on income from foreign students put all the eggs in one basket. The overall loss of income from the fall in foreign student numbers is, across the board, about £200 million.
The universities making staff cuts are Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow Caledonian, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde.
Look at Sweden’s death rate say 1950 to present. Pin a pandemic on it. Try next door with its rising death rate. Now briefly google how much better Finland did and how dumb Swedes are and you’ll remember how super your own leaders did at popping you off and getting voted back in.
Re Edinburgh University –
a very engagingly readable autobiographical essay by Kevin MacNeill –
‘A Subject That Taught Me I Existed’
link to bellacaledonia.org.uk
1995 a wee bit before afore maist folk ?????
The comment about convening a referendum on the wee pretend parliament very much reflects union fear about Scottish independence.
We all, or at least most of us now know why a devolved government was granted. For Westminster it was a trojan horse to stymie independence. For people like Alex Salmond it was a stepping stone to independence. And stepping stone it was when in 2014 a referendum took us closer to independence than we may realise.
And that could not be allowed to happen. The support for independence put a shiver down the establishment spine. So what better way to try to turn the tide they fear.
Nicola Sturgeon do I hear you say. Unpopular policies. A move away from pursuing independence. A squandering of huge parliamentary majorities. Unpopular policies. Getting rid of Alex Salmond lest he came back
An now a reorganisation of Scottish local authorities to just five. A huge reduction in elected councillors. Controls ceded back to Westminster. Andy Burnhams policy of a UK of the regions. What need for a pretend parliament rendered obsolete on its way to abolition.
Its a good question. The establishment fear the devolved parliament that emerged under Alex Salmond. Understand that and you can understand what sits behind the sentiments about the Scottish Parliament being pretending parliament
And, if further thought be needed, contrast the once Saint Nicola now fled to London with all the protections of the hidden hand and how she compared to her predecessor.
Colonialism you bet. Straight out the Empire playback
with maybe a read of Brig Gen Sir Frank Kitson for further insight. And his books were over fifty years ago.
‘Socialism is the reason I believe in free speech. How else can you tell who the idiots are’
Senator J Kennedy
KENNEDY, the consummate coldwar fantasist who almost started a WW over Cuba and initiated the wars in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia?
“Saint Nicola now fled to London”
Jeezo, Willie, but you need to get out more.
It’s an hour or so away by plane.
A day’s drive from the Central Belt, meaning it’s quicker to get to than Shetland and many other parts of Scotland.
Yet again the SNP government has failed Scotland BBC Scotland
news website stated that Alexander Dennis did not meet the conditions for furlough.
Disregard conditions keep both factories open.And don’t give taxpayers money to any company that buys there vehicles elsewhere.
The Scottish Parliament must remain in its present form no debate no vote.
They should also preserve the distinct Scottish courses at Edinburgh University,as for no demand if you get outsiders hostile to Scottish culture and identity they will demean and diminish it by restricting access and say nobody wants it.
Young Scots students have been leaving universities citing bigotry from fellow students and staff, the foreign students complain that they cannot understand the language and accent of the Scots students
It is a sad day when indigenous Scots are considered inferior to outsiders because they speak in their native tongues
Could this be a consequence of making everyone who sets foot in Scotland irrespective of where they came from NEW SCOTS , or is this a consequence of Alex Salmond determining that everyone in Scotland no matter where they came from or their motivation in coming here was GIVEN the ability to vote on our constitutional future
@Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh
Tapadh leat!, i’ve experienced more nastiness in my life than most.
It has made me, i conjecture, wise in regard to charlatans and political carpetbaggers.
Not fazed by the petty stuff btl.
A couple of new books of Gaelic, Edinburgh, and Hillwalking interest:
‘A’ Ghàidhlig ann an Dùn Èideann tro na Linntean
/ Gaelic in Edinburgh through the Centuries’
« In 2024–25 the Edinburgh 900 celebration marked 900 years since Edinburgh was founded as a burgh. Ionad Gàidhlig Dhùn Èideann felt that it was important that Gaelic and the Gaels should be given due recognition in the story of Edinburgh. This short bilingual book looks at the role of Gaelic in Edinburgh through the centuries and the language’s presence in the city in the modern day, considering history, demography, place-names, literature and education. »
link to gaelicbooks.org
_____
‘Beanntan na h-Alba / Scottish Hill Names’
by Peter Drummond
Scottish Mountaineering Press, 2026. 360 pages. Paperback.
« This thoroughly researched, fully revised and expanded new edition builds on the success of its predecessors and there is much new to enjoy: wider coverage of the Borders, a chapter placing Scottish hill names in international context, and older forms of many names drawn from 17th- and 18th-century maps. Drawn from Gaelic, Norse, Brittonic, Scots and Pictish tongues, Scotland’s hill names carry over 500 years of social and cultural history. For anyone heading for the hills, this book opens the door to that fascinating world. »
Sorry. Forgot to add direct link to above-mentioned book:
Ainmean Beanntan na h-Alba/ Scottish Hill Names: Meanings and Origins’
by Peter Drummond
link to gaelicbooks.org
“When they tore down the Berlin wall, what people went in which direction? Socialism is for morons.”
Senator J Kennedy (Not to be mistaken with President J.F. Kennedy.)
Mea culpa….the wrong Kennedy it would appear.
It does however rest on the definition of socialism.
«socialism is a noble concept yet to be practised»
The brutal soviet experiment was designed to fail.
.
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”
Margaret Thatcher.
An interesting article on what’s wrong with the left:
link to unherd.com
You have to pay to read it. Why don’t you just give us a summary.
Mark, here’s an archived copy of that article:
archive.is/I7Uhr
I don’t have to pay.
Perhaps “they” are limiting your access. You must have upset somebody.
An utterly apt critique quote by Yanis Varoufakis –
” Andy Burnham’s new government is a case in point. Having ridden into No. 10 on a wave of hopeful vibes, his unwillingness to clash with the fat cats responsible for Britain’s stagnation will deliver another Budget that taxes the overtaxed and punishes the weak. Thus, the road will have been paved for the fascists to further infect the majority’s broken hearts. Whether this will be Reform, Restore or some even more radicalized Tory party, only time will tell “
The scandal of housing un-affordability in Spain:
link to theguardian.com
It’s the Guardian so all the usual reality-denying shibboleths are trotted out to describe why the situation is so bad.
Not a peep about the hundreds of thousands of migrants, recently fast-tracked to permanency by Spain’s lefty, progressive government.
Perhaps the Spanish have also been brainwashed into believing that migrants don’t need roofs over their heads.
Spain’s housing crisis has the same root cause as Scotland’s, which is people from other countries (including ‘Brits’) being allowed to buy up much of the national housing stock, leaving fewer houses for ‘nationals’.
So, there are no expat Scots resettling in Spain and/or Spanish islands, eh Alf?
Like as if, pal. Isn’t being handed your arse once this last week on the forum not enough for you?
Well said, Alf.
Course the thousands of immigrants -sorry “ex-pats”- from Engerland won’t help things.
Full English, anyone?
Grrr, They Inglish.
How dare anyone seek a better life for themselves away from their origin.
*Awaits the inevitable Grassy Knollington rant referencing “Colonialism”*
So the mask finally slips.
9.08am says ” it not fair that people in England that unlike elsewhere people do not get free personal health care ”
He then goes on to talks up the NHS before going on to talk up hard choices for taxation. No doubt that is why NHS England is being abolished and the forty two English health boards restructured to form around a fourteen Integrated Care Units to be part of the Department of Health and Social Care.
What does it mean. Here is Scotland where we are supposedly responsible for health care and where uncannily Big John of the Swindle and independent mind announces a similar plan whereby the fourteen health boards are to be cut to two – and where a department of health and social care is to be created.
Looks very much that together with Big John of the independent mind’s announcement that 32 local authorities are to be chopped to 5 supra regional authorities, with a halving of the number of elected councillors, one wonders to what extent this will create part of the UK of the regions.
Anyway, Burnham, whilst saying its not been a great decade says that Britain is the best performing economy in the UK.
Well you could have fooled me with that one. But hey hoe, with Big John Swindle of the independent mind at the helm, what can go wrong.
Ah well to change the dial a little too focus on third rate Scotland how many folks know about the absolute scandal of Glasgow’s Polmadie waste to energy centre.
Not that the Scottish government would tell anyone but since this plants opening in 2021 it has been an environmental and technical and safety disaster.
Now with the plant completely shut down for over six months and with no date for it to become operational again it is a grim example of the appaling standard of public procurement.in Scotland.
The Glen Sannox only recently emerged at having been at catstrophic risk when nearly.a tonne of methane gas escaped over some 12 seconds to be sucked into the engine compartment.With gas alarms going off everywhere there were 82 passengers plus crew on board. But the government say they knew nothing about it.
Well maybe they dont know anything about Polmadie either. Since it’s opening it has consistently breached pollution limits by discharging poisonous toxins plus excess carbon into the atmosphere.
The surrounding area has also had to sustain obnoxious smells from what in effect is decomposing waste.
But worst of all the plant has repeatedly had to discharge huge volumes of bio gas to avoid catastrophic explosions.
And now with the shutdown of a plant that has no timescale forcrepair, might not bevcapable of repair, that’s if it can be repaired, until the prolonged failure of the city’s primary incinerator has triggered an escalating local waste sector capacity crisis where new land filling has had to be secured s required to accomodate the crisis.
And not a cheap from our Scottish Government under whose watch this absolute time bomb of a plant was built. Ships, hospitals it just goes on and on. This is third world standards.
Or am I missing the first world net zero country that our government repeatedly tell us we are.
That’s far from an ideal situation. Viridor are a big company that run many ERF sites across the UK so presumably have the technical designs of their plants pretty well sorted or we’d be hearing of other significant problems with their other sites.
link to viridor.co.uk
So what is the specific issue or fault with the one at Polmadie that it will be out of commision for so long?
Various other private companies run energy from waste incinerators in Scotland, and it will undoubtably be a fairly complex business model dealing with matters such as environmental policy, and access to supply power to the leccy grid to give a return of investment.
Interesting comments Dan.
Seems that there is a major issue with gas boiler tubes. But the plant has been beset with problem after problem, outagecafter outage since commisioning. The construction was also hugely impacted with problems.
But the issues have been very much hidden like so much that this government hides. Might be of interest to have a nosey into the monster disgrace that is the repair works on the Woodside Viaduct which is a section of the M8 that is an elevated highway that most motorists drive over not raalising the structure underneath.
Unkown to the vast majority of citizens this 1960s structure is 9ne very very sick bridge. A flyover with a risk of collapse Transport Scotland have had the road restricred for around four years now with hundreds of millions spent. Seems no one told Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government how dilapidated the bridge was. Or was it they were told but didnt wantvto spend the budget.
But now after four years of repairs and hundreds of millions of pounds it now emerges that the flyover may have to be demolished. Shit happens to coin a phrase, ageing infrastructure is a reality, but why no public comment about something as major as this. Having to ‘ shut’ the M8 or restrict it too even more than it is just now whilt the structure is demolished and rebuilt is major, major, major, both in terms of massive construction cost but also in terms of social and economic cost.
Think of the cost of all the queing crawling cars buses, lorries and vans every day and the economic cost. Yet not a cheep from our SG.
But maybe I look on the black side, we have net zero, have green policies, have gender equality, have anti hate crime legislation what not to like. Open, honest and effective governance really!
And then you look at the energy Klondyke thatvSco5land is become. The Saudi Arabia of not just oil and gas but hydro, pump storage, wind and so much more in our threadbare nation.
Had a quick search and aye, the boiler issue was mentioned in the following article; Which also points out the big issue is that our society really are a bunch of lazy clarty buggers that could be doing way more on a personal levelto reduce general waste creation if they summoned some inner public duty spirit and managed to put their waste in the correct recycling bins…
link to bbc.co.uk
The problem with the boiler would suggest flaw in designed spec, or incorrect manufacturing process or metallurgy selection meaning it can’t cope with the operational parameters of heat cycling temps, and chemical exposure during combustion of whatever variable of fuel feed stock is being burnt.
Interestingly just before the fault was discovered an appliction to alter SEPA operating permit and consent had just been given to increase the tonnegae of waste the site was going to process.
It does seem there are indeed a lot of technical issues in all manner of infrastructure developments. But is what’s happening here in Scotland really that worse than what happens anywhere else though?
We know we get highly selective and politicised reporting of issues with the MSM loving hyperbolic headlines used to stir emotion in folks that likely haven’t much of a scooby about most of the details behind the headline issue.
No one quite whines like an Anglo
– but oh no, the end of empire
link to archive.ph
everyone wants rid of the filthy anglo, and no one wants him back. Boo hoo.
Still full of lying shite though I mean its some tory p0of (all tories are p00fs, all english are tories) in the telegraph, but they usefully give themselves away
The loss of the naval base at Faslane in Argyll and Bute, for example, would put all 70 million British citizens at risk,
– there is no logical construction in which any of this is true; even if you love nukes, then the 7000 warheads the USA has and the NATO treaty are doing the heavy lifting; our nukes are useless, defend no one and nothing and the yanks would never let us fire them. This is typical lying anglo shite – its not just shite its a tsunami of blackest shite from the devils behind; but here is the money shot …
so why should JUST five million Scots be consulted about it in a putative plebiscite?
– there you see it, there is the contempt; for that single sentence I would horse every anglo good or bad out of Scotland and dump them at the border, or better the north sea
CONTEMPT IS SOMETHING YOU SHOULD NEVER TOLERATE FROM ANYONE
– it deserves an immediate response; for a little taste – why not run the anglo students out of their little den at St Andrews. Send them homeward.
The article follows with more lies about “economic benefits” to the smaller nations. There are none, there never were – empire is a looting operation, or did we get on our ships to traipse around the globe making everyone else richer at our expense? I think I missed that – was it in the oxford big book of ripping yarns of history of how the english are the good guys, and it “wuz all the forunners, honest” – wot dun it? Our peer nations, Norway, Ireland, are absolutely filth fucking rich – with less resources than we have – all because they avoid the anglo parasite attached to their face.
People should read the telegraph to remind themselves of the reality here : THE ENGLISH ARE FUCKING SCUM
– and karma is upon them. Cut the rope. Get rid now.
That’s all very well, Confused, but may I ask: what’s your favourite cheese?
Someone really needs to keep you away from the COSHH cabinet. It’s bad for your liver.
Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear. Alcohol does such damage to the brain.
– as for this war game shite :
The UK army is 50K men with guns, 2 aircraft carriers with propeller problems, without enough aircraft to fly from them and without enough frigates and missiles to defend themselves. They got routed recently in a big exercise by the U boys, who were using drones. The continuing reputation of it is mainly about the specialist capabilities of a small number of light tactical units, like the SAS, which seems to be mainly about aspiring writers who want to get into film and television (“the next statham …”)
Rus ha can’t do “force projection” more than 1000km from its borders (warfare is logistics); its not setup for expeditionary (imperialist) warfare like the US with carrier battle groups and the network of bases and forward deployed weapon systems.
UK wouldn’t fight anyone alone, it would be as part of NATO.
– so if you want a fight with rus ha you have to head over there yourself and start something … which brings us to U, which is a NATO proxy army. Would they ever decide to make it a full on non-proxy bashup? 2 cases – it’s desperate, like U might be lost entirely, or – R is in a desperate state and you think you can win; wall st has been salivating over the idea of breaking up the country to steal its resources for a long time. Rus ha will sell you all it has, but it’s not taking cents on the dollar and that’s a problem – it’s how all this shite started – Khodorkovksy, Yukos, Lukoil etc and P putting a stop to it, the looting of his nation (as any good nationalist would do).
If NATO wants a war it will use a false-flag and claim provocation, as is the normal way : “we wuz attacked” – more likely they just let U get crushed, and the hedge funds rape what is left of it; Blackrock is buying up all that rich, black land.
– those of you who now understand what “mackinder” means (or know “the grand chessboard”) will get all this, but the fact remains, according to Montgomery no less : “rule 1 on page 1 of the book of war is : do not march with land armies on china or rus ha”. Napoleon and Hitler were a bit tasty, for a while at least, but were then handed a couple of the worst FAFO moments in history.
If the UK really wants to prepare for real problems it should consider the likelihood of civil war by 2035 (or even before) – we should have another 10 million muslims by then, once they have the numbers they will go for it. They always do. Note that nukes won’t help you with this, nor will jet fighters – imagine “the troubles” times 10. This is what multiculturalism really is : it is a multi generational “betting of the farm” that diversity, vibrancy, civic nationalism and “wir aw jock tamsons bairns” will win out over nature, and succeed for the first time in history.
As the great Oscar Wilde once put it :
“The dildo of consequences always comes un-lubed.”
– one way or another, the UK – England – is headed for an absolute ramming of some kind, off someone. Don’t be attached to it when it goes down. Cut the rope. There is no alternative as these times are merely the fruition of a 1000 years worth of karmic blowback for the anglos; their time is coming. All debts paid in full.
You almost made a sensible post there for once, 8 Ace.
“Don’t be attached to it when it goes down”
Foreign Minister Lavrov can also see it coming. Evidence here that the Liberation Scotland UN initiative is gaining ground, and on the matter and principle of Scots inalienable right to self-determination, Foreign Minister Lavrov specifically noted that:
“It will be interesting to hear the Secretariat’s reaction to possible questions from journalists about the plans of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.”
Which indicates the UN Secretariat will in the not too distant future be expected to determine the matter of Liberation Scotland’s petition in respect of Scotland’s unlawful annexation and ongoing colonisation by England-as-UK:
(See @ 15:30) link to facebook.com
“Foreign Minister Lavrov”
Ah, the “R” guy at the UN. Figures, eh Alf.
Hilarious to see you being a fawning cheerleader of that despotic regime (including senior members of their political class), yet the hapless everyday folk of England daily attract your bigoted ire. You really are a bellend.
Quoting Lavrov has to be an academic’s nadir.
I’ll respect your democratic right to your views but sorry, you’ve lost any credibility there.
England-as-UK Foreign Minister Miliband sure as hell won’t help liberate us Scots, he’s there to keep us ‘doun-hauden’ and to take us into yet another colonial conflict – 150+ since our 1707 annexation.
The Scots have a great many international friends whereas the folk in Westminster we can weel dae withoot!
LOLZ. Alf posts a factual post and as usual gets half-witted responses from
The Daily Mail
The Daily Star and
The Beano.
Well done pea brains.
Nowt wrang wi the Mail, Star and Beano. All are hilarious comics.
I’d recommend The Viz as well but it’s probably a bit too high-brow for someone of your intellect. Best sticking to the Ladybird books or, if you they’re a bit too advanced, The National.
“Factual post”
No one is denying the accuracy of Lavrov’s quote, Shit-for-Brains, merely the act of quoting him at all, least of all in supposed counter to “colonialism” (which has been repeatedly demonstrated as false earlier this week by Northcode et al, great reading).
I mean, I do realise you are pigshit-thick, but does it even dawn on your two remaining brain cells that pass for your minuscule mind that y’know, “R” – country actually waging terrible war on a sovereign neighbouring state NOW (not c.300 years prior, and even that being a proxy war), might not be an entirely apt fucking exemplar?
There really is no end to this fuckwitted poltroonery.
Loving how English colonialism supposedly made them the world’s most hated nation, whereas Scottish colonialism supposedly gained us many international friends.
I guess the enslaved, the ethnically cleansed, and the genocided just accepted their fates happily when it was a Scot with a cute accent doing it.
Thats an anger i can relate to!! truly
The usual masterful insights from Confused.
His conviction that R can’t do force projection gives us hope that when everybody else is taking cover due to advance warning of a credible threat, Confused will still be out in the open.
It continues to be a source of wonder and incredulity that Confused, and a few others, still believe absolutely that 21st century warfare still involves getting half a million men and 10,000 tanks and telling them to march and trundle 2,000 miles in the direction of the enemy.
Todays threat level in Scotland is at level 4.
Severe attack is highly likely.
Make sure you have batteries for your torch.
Have a nice day.
This morning’s event seems to have been an extremely lucky escape instigated by the vigilance of a good citizen (who allegedly treble 9’d after trying the base security first whom were incommunicado); conversely,the State apparatus has flung the borders open to anyone and everyone and actively invited this sort of thing upon us.
Trumpy just said to the press that the US was investigating the group from the start. The UK media are suggesting that the Britsh security were unaware. The murky world of counter inteleigence. On the day of the Labour conference. The ramifications are going to be stupendous.
I expect behinds will be felt for this one, especially if the guardroom call going unanswered has any truth to it. Rather embarrassing for the Ministry of NoDefence and Uncle Chas’ Flying Club. The Septics will be raging.
Big Don might just be slavering as usual to save face from Washington’s end, as you say though concurrence with UnipartyRed’s annual talking shop is incredibly awkward timing for Guyliner and his fellow Godless Commies. Interesting times ahead.
Guantanamo is still open.
Should be a cinch to organise a direct flight from Fairford. The Yanks will have no problems with throwing away the keys once they’re behind bars.
The discomfort of Burnham, as he tries to deal with the hysterically selective outrage of the tea towel wearing classes, will be the icing on the cake.
A “Compromise” might have been to not hold the highly contentious march in that particular area in the first place…
link to bbc.co.uk
And as Joan asks.
link to joansjigsaw.uk
Because there’s past precedent for that sort of thing.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
(Contains one of the best chuckles moments ever on Wings… “There was a guest appearance from the fabled Red Honda (Ulster).“)
Indeed. NI is a warning to us all of the consequences of people keeping ancient irrelevant grudges festering instead of chucking all the bygones in the bin and making an effort to just get on with each other as human beings.
Have you tried popping across to explain that to them face to face?
Could be that it has never occurred to them.
Oh, the fucking irony!!!
This site’s btl is being take over by warmongering TurboTory Yoons.
THEY’RE BEHIND YOU, JAMES!!!
Oh dear, I shouldn’t have startled you like that. My bad.
I’ll put some sand doon, but you’re on your own with the wet wipes. Quick now, get those breeks in the wash if you want to save them.
I’m assuming ‘Yoons’ refers to independence supporters who happen to disagree with the pissed low-IQ ramblings of the more loony fringe BTL and ‘TurboTory’ refers to those who reject the rampant misanthropic Fabianism that has crippled these isles for the past three decades (ironically, the Tories being the key architects of Blairist Socialism, as evidenced from their ruinous 14 years in power).
Hatey and I don’t see eye to eye on world matters (he likes to white-feather me regularly) but calling him a ‘warmonger’ is probably a bit much.
Naw, Spartan, I think “white feathering” is to accuse somebody of being feart. I’m not doing that.
I’m accusing you of being misguided. Pacifism has a long tradition behind it of never deterring the kind of perambulatory shites who will always take advantage of any perceived weakness in the people they choose to victimise.
Translated to politics and economics, a small country (iScotland, say) will always have interests and foundational values that won’t be recognised or valued by others. At the national level, it makes sense to ally with and trade with countries with similar outlooks. That way, both iScotland and our allies thrive, while those that don’t share our values are at least not benefiting from us.
Pragmatically too, whilst no fan of the EU, I acknowledge that a misguided majority of Scots yearn for the comfort of its suffocating embrace. Parts of the EU face existentialist threats. We can’t both yearn to be members and determined not to take sides.
If you can recognise these fundamental realities, and frankly, they should be ingrained from your experiences in the primary school playground, then you should be able to understand that our politicians have to always act in the national interest, not in line with their own, personal morality.
Of course, the likes of Confused would have us believe our national interest requires us to turn a blind eye to the annexation and ethnic cleansing of 45 million people so that we can “enjoy” cheap gas. Again, the primary school playground can be our guide. The bully will always return for more extortion with menaces.
Our politicians don’t act in our national interest though, and haven’t for some time.
The EU is a great idea on paper but in practice it’s yet another empire based around autocratic bureaucracy that removes democratic power from the peoples of sovereign nation states. I remain completely opposed to being a part of it. What the fascination a majority of Scots have with it is lost on me I’m afraid – especially those who seek independence from London yet bizarrely want to shackle us to Bruxelles.
Whilst Ru**ia remains a rogue state, a large part of current events are related to aggressive EU and NATO expansionism, not to mention extremely dodgy goings on in Uk****e since the mid-2010s. Hence my stance of keeping well out of situations that a) have zero interest to the UK and b) letting Europe sort its own problems out, especially if they are if their own making.
Not so sure about “irrelevant grudges” being a part of the picture in Garvaghy road. This part of Portadown is a deprived area. The residents are being reminded of the continuing inequalities. It is not hard to see the wish of the Orange men to parade here, given the rioting that was part of it not so long ago as coat trailing.
Many of us, myself included, grew up in very deprived areas. We also got bullied at school for being different and showing aspects such as intelligence, critical thinking and paying attention to wisdom.
Many of us didn’t riot or go on marches or join in with the animalistic behaviour in school. We worked hard, used our noodle and made not only a better life for ourselves but made a conscious and determined effort to make the world a better place by contributing positively in everything we do rather than being just another resource-consumer blaming all our ills on other people.
Some of us even grew up as teenagers in the Blair years and, having witnessed first-hand warmongering and the lies that were told to enable it, twigged pretty early on regarding the utter senseless futility of all armed conflict. We also developed a healthy cynicism of political dogma and those engaged with it, not to mention looking in puzzlement at mindless factionalism.
I’ll await the usual white-feathering or accusations of my being a hopeless, misguided Star Trek utopian. Perhaps you may be right. Personally, I don’t care, as I decided a long time ago that living a life guided by hatred wasn’t for me.
I do agree with a lot of what Spartan has said there. Have we not now finally learn of the futility of foreign wars that do not concern us? Isn’t the events of the last day or so yet another timely reminder of what happens when we stick our beak into the affairs of others? (In the case of “U”, let the EU (finally) sort themselves out, about time too).
The UK is broke. We have enough problems of our own – in spades. We should work on fixing them (boring I know). Even from a purely pragmatic view, our depleted military with its empty coffers is in no position to indulge in such things. Time for others to step up, if needed, to do the heavy lifting.
Time to stop billions in “foreign aid” to countries with their own space programs etc. whilst we are at it, too.
Read this week that the Ira-ni-an man arrested for apparently trying to gain access and attack the submarine base at Fa-s-lane has now been released with no charges to answer.
Notice also that the 5iM website as a previous poster has noted is that the threat is Severe – attack highly likely. And so predicting the threat it seems now to have happened.
Not suggesting false flag ops because we all know that would never happen. But remember to take heed and take the government advise to stock up on essential food stuff, water and other essentials. Seems that adverse weather could be coming.
Even if the conspiracy theories were incorrect, the SNP stance is completely undemocratic – and thus guilty of the same democratic deficit they decry about the UK. It harks back to their “Stop Brexit!” nonsense, whereby instead of using their clear mandate to seek independence, they argued (correctly) that Scotland was being taken / was taken out of the EU against its clearly expressed will, but responded by trying to keep England and Wales INSIDE the EU against their will.
A decade or so on, the same principle should apply; if England and / or Wales votes for Farage as PM (I still have my doubts, a hung parliament is probably more likely, but we’ll see) they get him, simple as that. The SNP’s job is to seek independence regardless of what rUK decides for themselves.
If only there was some way to get £5 from every delusional who really believes that Scottish Independence is synonymous with majority rule from Brussels, the economic and fiscal rules under-pinning the Euro, and the freedom of movement to allow Scotland to become overrun with grifters seeking free health care and generous benefits, courtesy of the Scottish tax payer.
I guess I could just ask.
Gies £5 Chris. I’ll compromise on £10 or £20 if that’s the smallest you have.
“every delusional who really believes that Scottish Independence is synonymous with majority rule from Brussels”
Indeed, Scottish self-determination has absolutely nothing to do with EU membership, and it is very odd that the SNP leadership seem to think otherwise.
Similarly, also unbeknown to the SNP, Scots ‘inalienable right to self-determination’ (UN) has absolutely nothing to do with Westminster either as ‘liberation is a matter for the oppressed group only’ (Memmi), much as R Foreign Minister Lavrov stated.
@Alf – For the SNP, EU membership represents a good backstop on the event of independence actually being achieved (which they don’t want, hence the contingency plan of EU membership).
It ensures democracy and accountability will be offshored/outsourced, meaning that professional politicians here can still sit on their taxpayer-funded backsides doing nothing whilst blaming all our ills on someone else when required.
I don’t think Lavrov (a horrible slug of a man) said anything approaching: “liberation is a matter for the oppressed group only’ (Memmi)”.
That’s certainly not their approach to U currently is it?
LOL. Oh, Adrian; even you know this is disingenuous Bollox.
Divert, distract, divide, remember?
Must try harder.
Oh aye of course it isn’t James – let me guess you sit all day in your pants drinking cheap super-strength beer and watching R propaganda videos.
Why don’t you tell us all about what’s REALLY happening then? U was about to invade R, CIA coup, bio labs the lot, can’t wait to hear all about it.
Aw, Adrian, sweetie – don’t be coy.
You know it all basically goes back to one broken promise;
“..not one inch eastwards..” – remember that old gag?
Course you do, or did you not get the briefing?
So because some independent sovereign countries joined a defensive alliance, that provides a lawful excuse for an aggressive expansionist dictatorship to invade a neutral country that hasn’t joined that alliance? NATO did not pose a threat to R in 2022, and actually had sat by whilst R committed all sorts of heinous crimes like murdering people in the U.K, invading their neighbours, and shooting down a civilian aircraft.
But I suppose if rUK gets pissed off for the most minor and irrelevant grievance with post-Indy Scotland, you’ll accept it’s fine for rUK just to roll the tanks across the border right?
Utter bollox. But you know that, eh?
Distract, divert, divide.
Great argument James – are you off to the UN? You’d undoubtedly be a huge asset to the cause.
What has R* ever done to Scotland – or rUK for that matter? I’ll tell you as you’re obviously too far gone in your R* phobic pathology to know/admit the truth……N.O.T.H.I.N.G – that’s what R* has ever done to Scotland/rUK: in fact R* has long contact with and respect & admiration for aspects of Scottish Culture/History, eg Scottish Philosophers and Poets like Hume and Burns; the latter almost an adopted National Bard. Yet there you are, babbling the most barrel-scraping childish Propaganda 4 Idiots whilst imagining you’re making some kind of valid point.
It’s a total disgrace the way the snakes, scorpions & slimy toads of the West Political Class/MSM lacking anything even remotely resembling a capacity for human solidarity, the understanding, belief, that whatever cultural/political differences people have, we all suffer the same pain and heartaches, the same fear and concern for our families, friends, our countries and for the natural environment we all share, and depend on; lacking that type of imaginative empathy, the Western Scumbaggery can only project THEIR moral degeneracy onto whatever this week//year’s designated enemy is – for England-as-Britain, R* has filled that role for centuries.
So now we’re instructed to hate & fear R*: well, naw, fuck right off: ram yr hate-filled propaganda up yr fiscal black hole.
I try not to hate anyone; but it’s getting very difficult not to orbit that corrosive emotion when we have these posturing ponces in the EUK/NATO Coalition of the Imbecilic manufacturing the conditions in which – in their utterly delusional minds – they can ‘ defeat P* tin ‘, ie kill millions of human beings, because that is the ONLY way they’ll ‘ defeat P* tin ‘. To actually defeat R* would entail the end of life on Earth as we know it.
Course, the usual Pricks, delusional Armchair Generals and arms-industry shills on here bleat ‘bring it on…’
Prick.
lol – what has R done;
– invaded its neighbours in an aggressive territorial expansion campaign. The latest one, which has been ongoing for four years now has killed or seriously injured a million people.
– murdered British citizens with chemical weapons on our streets
– killed 10 British citizens when they shot down a civilian aircraft, killing nearly 300 people
– launches cyber attacks continually against the U.K. and sponsors physical attacks against our infrastructure.
That’s before we get into all the murderous violence in Syria and in the Sahara.
I take it you aren’t concerned about the people of U being murdered in their own homes by an invading army are you? Or the young men getting slaughtered at a rate of 20,000 a month at the moment purely to satisfy a dictators expansionist ambitions. Of course you don’t, because all of the above you’ve just copied from somewhere else, even being the emotive vacuous babble that it is, it’s still beyond your literacy skills.
I’ve been to R James, have you been? Do you know any people from that country or work with them like I do? “RPhobia” – what a load of nonsense, R is a fantastic and interesting country and culture, but none of that detracts from the level of threat the leadership of that country poses to world peace, democracy, prosperity and the rule of law. I don’t hate you, I know the only reason you think these things is because you’re pig ignorant and gullible enough to believe whatever paid-for influencer you spend your time listening to. It’s a sad state of affairs, but just know whoever you listening to almost certainly doesn’t believe it either. You wang on about the 77th brigade (who aren’t posting here) whilst lapping up the most transparent, shameless GRU propaganda.
LOLZ. Comedy Gold.
“I try not to hate anyone”
Dinna hold yersel back, James.
Nobody you hate will ever give a damn.
Yeah it’s hilarious isn’t it James – all those people being murdered
Bill Browder’s backstory is engaging and informative.
link to youtube.com
Anyone who gives a shit about U is suspect – if you care enough then fuck off over there and signup, but don’t drag anyone else in.
So, let’s give a brutal re-cap for the historically illiterate.
U pre war had 40million people, now it has 25 – 2 million dead and the rest fled, particularly the young women, some of whom are well tidy and have prospects. They won’t be coming back and now Z wants to mass migrate infinity africans.
– what went wrong?
Well, U put 2 jews in charge – hostile hate filled foreigners – and got involved in an unwinnable war against a country that fucked the grand armee and the wehrmacht; Z has loyalty to one nation only and it aint U.
U, is a proxy in wider geopolitical struggle – see “Mackinder”; the plan for U and R was laid out in the RAND report “extending R” from 2019. Extending was a weaselly euphemism for attacking, but you can’t say that in respectable foreign policy circles, too honest.
The situation could have been avoided – there was a peace deal – the minsk accords; P tried to maintain these, even as people were crying for him to intervene, but he realised he was being played. For the in depth detail read Jacques Baud, a swiss analyst, who is currently being persecuted by the EU.
Stories about U are downplayed in western media; R early on took its objectives and smashed the U army, but the west continues to keep re-arming U, so it goes on. Unfortunately tales of R running out of weapons have never been true and it has ramped up its entire economy for war production – you have made it “match fit”. Not smart. U has become a petri dish for modern warfare experimentation, especially the use of drones.
Mind that it was the bolshevik jews who murdered 8M U-ians in the holodomor – so we see history repeating; the holodomor was an act which horrified europe, put an end to the notion of the soviet union as a workers paradise and drove it into the arms of fascism/natsoc as people didn’t want starved or shot over a ditch. In germany, there was extreme polarisation and either the communists would have taken over or the natsocs. We all know what happened next; this is rock and a hard place stuff.
Anyone on a scottish indy site who cares more about U or I more than Scotland can just get to fuck – you are a fucking cunt, a shill, and should top yourself.
– its not my fight and I don’t care and I won’t be dragged into it.
P just wants to SELL YOU CHEAP GAS. Think about that when winter comes, you halfwits with your little blue and yellow flags.
Historically, U doesn’t have much of a claim to be a country; Lenin gave it too much territory in 1919 and the western side of it has been at times, part of Poland or Lithuania (when they had empires); rump U is a little bitty area.
Anyone who promotes warring for U should signup himself, and his kids. No one will stop you.
link to x.com
All antisemites should dig themselves a tunnel, descend into it, and never come up again.
If we’re talking kids, they should pile theirs on top, women too.
Confused’s real desire for gas comes because he’s got it his heid he’ll need plenty for his mobile gas chambers.
Loving how a self-identifying Scot Nat wants to go on record decreeing what does and does not deserve to be a country, which people’s deserve independence, and which peoples deserve extinction.
It’s fundamentally important that Scotland knows that people like Confused have attached themselves to the Indy movement.
And don’t forget; “Pricks” like you too, wee man.
Zat you hating there, James?
Ye can hae a speshul dispensation tae tak yer maw doon intae the tunnel wi ye.
Ah dinnae hate you, son; I pity you.
“Ah dinnae hate you, son; I pity you”
Crivens, James, yer maw will hae ye washing yer mooth oot wi soap.
You best hope she disnae decide ye need a bath and a guid scrub at the same time.
“P just wants to SELL YOU CHEAP GAS. Think about that when winter comes, you halfwits with your little blue and yellow flags”
Yes – and then use the money earned to invade his neighbours, causing untold misery and death and forcing us to divert expenditure from public services to defending ourselves. I’d love some cheaper gas, but I’d love more not to be at risk of heading for an all out war in Europe which I’m young enough to have to maybe fight in. Obviously given your psychological state you’d never be let lose with anything that could cause harm to another person, so I guess your good.
” I’d love more not to be at risk of heading for an all out war in Europe which I’m young enough to have to maybe fight in”
You and other young Scots better hope that Liberation Scotland (or even Swinney, if he gets lucky!) can rapidly free us from English rule then, and make Scotland into a ‘neutral’ country.
Independent Ireland has remained neutral for the last century thereby avoiding being dragged into Imperial England’s 80 or so colonial conflicts since then, us doun-hauden Scots being less fortunate.
A colonised people are always ‘out of the game’ especially in matters of war and peace.
Hilarious, Adrian – stop it! Oh, ma sides….
By “neutral” I assume you mean “undefended”, there will be no remaining neutral for Scotland if all out war breaks out in Europe.
“Independent Ireland has remained neutral for the last century thereby avoiding being dragged into Imperial England’s 80 or so colonial conflicts since then”
Never 80, Alf. You have to make up a number fowks will remember.
57 is good. As is 999.
Plenty of decent Irish fought in both world wars, whether their country was neutral or not. It’s rare to find a country proud of sitting out WW2. Perhaps that shows how deeply rooted the antisemitism, that has recently come more to the surface, always was.
Ireland was the only western democratic country to officially express condolences to Germany after Adolf’s suicide in 1945.
That caused international scorn and outrage at the time. Still does in decent people, even now.
Immigration is ALWAYS a PRODUCTIVITY story.
One feels the current independence movement thinks to improve productivity you need more people. When the truth is we need less.
Why does Scotland import Labour ? What with x amount unemployed, y inactive but want a job, and z part timers wanting full time work, why do we need any more?
It’s relatively straightforward. The British Labour market suffers from the ‘British disease’?—?a vestige of Imperialism. We find it easier to steal resources from other countries than to create our own. When the other countries actually need them for their own development.
There is about 10% of the working population unutilised in the workforce one way or another. And that’s before we get onto people over 65, who are automatically excluded despite the state pension age creeping ever higher.
None of these match the job vacancies on offer. They don’t match for several reasons:
a) The job role demands a skill set that is not available at the price offered.
b) The job is in the wrong geographical location from the people who could do it
c) The job has physical requirements that are not available at the price offered
So the process of filling a job goes something like this:
1. Business advertises for a person to work very long hours for a pittance, often somewhere with ridiculous house/rent prices like Edinburgh or Glasgow.
2. Nobody appropriate applies for it.
3. Business goes running to nanny shouting ‘skill shortage’ and demands visas.
4. Government gives in to business because businesses are treated like pets, not cattle.
5. The job is advertised abroad.
6. Foreign nations, exporting their people like cargo, welcome the visas and encourage people to leave rather than sort their own social problems out at home.
So the elite class in both countries get what they want.The poor country gets rid of their poor people that are competing for what little resources there are and who may send some foreign currency back which the elites can appropriate through taxes, financial discounting or even occasionally producing goods for people.
Scotland gets cheap labour that will stack high in tenement blocks and work all hours for a lower wage. The elite cream off the surplus and socialise the losses onto the school system, the health system and the social services who then advertise for people to expand and find that there aren’t any skilled staff to work in those areas. The public sector then asks for visas, advertises abroad…
Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. It feeds on itself.
What you get, in effect, is the same process at a country level that we had initially in the industrial revolution at a city level. 1840’s Manchester followed the same process, but with the surrounding rural areas rather than areas thousands of miles away in a different country. Birmingham, Glasgow and others followed the same process. It will end up in the same way it always does?—?the rich living in gated wonderlands while the poor live in slums squashed in like sardines. Shanty towns are what happen when you allow market forces free rein. The UK had the first shanty towns, and the way it is run at the moment it will be the first shanty country.
It’s not just at the low level this process happens. Agriculture is notorious for it, but it also happens in IT. The larger firms put pressure on the government to let them import ‘skilled staff’ just as soon as the Scottish workers develop any pricing power. In reality they just want to pay less, and the prevailing economic orthodoxy uses a ‘reserve army of the unemployed’ to keep wages under control. In their belief system, inflation control has to be done on the labour side of the equation, never on the capital side. That why we have concepts like NAIRU, but never a NAIRC (non-accelerating inflation rate of competition). As they hike interest rates to Create even more unemployment to fight inflation.
When you look at a country with a different approach?—?Japan?—?you find, that even with a declining population and GDP relatively static overall, the GDP per capita is rising. That’s because they are automating and treating their elderly with respect. Fast food places are closing because they can’t get the staff. People get their cars washed by machines and their coffee from machines. All that drives forward productivity which then maintains and improves the standard of living?—?because they have to.
It’s not all perfect. The Japanese elite are gripped with neoliberalism like everywhere else. There is unnecessary unemployment and unhappiness. There are strong pushes for more ‘guest workers’. But the language, writing barrier and general culture stops them throwing open the doors. They have developed a different way for an island nation to bumble along relatively happily but with a net migration rate of about zero.
When you read any of the immigration literature put out by economists have a look and see if you can find Japan mentioned. You won’t find them in there?—?because it doesn’t fit the prevailing narrative.
There is another way to improve standard of living rather than going around nicking resources from other nations. But it means treating business like cattle rather than pets. It means elites having to address local problems and innovate rather than sweeping them under the carpet. But to do that you have to dump the neo-liberal economic attitude and the bizarre focus on people overseas ahead of people here who actually may vote for Independence.
Leaving the EU. We have been been freed from the straitjacket. Asking for it to be put back on, because the new movement in your arms and legs is scary, looks a bit bonkers to anybody outside the echo chamber.
The growth strategy of the UK has been for many years “import cheap labour to keep the middle classes in their delusions of grandeur”. It’s actually called The British Growth Model. But Scotland didn’t reject New Labour to have it replaced by Cheap Labour.
Our future must lie in improving productivity and increasing investment so that we can do more things with a stable population and a sustainable ecology. And a constraint on the labour supply is one of the ways that gets done. Employees should always be reassuringly expensive to force the capitalists to invest and innovate.
Our international strategy must be to encourage other nations to follow our lead in pushing productivity and increasing investment, and solve their unemployment problem at home rather than exporting it. That means that activity needs to move to where the people live.
Bizarrely we appear to be focussed upon national GDP figures and international people, when, in a nation, the focus should be the other way around?—?international growth figures and the local people who actually vote for you. It shouldn’t matter where the work gets done as long as it is more productive and less resource intensive than before. But to do that you have to have an immigration system that works. Here’s a precis of one that will (but remember that the devil is in the detail):
An immigration system that excludes immigrants that wouldn’t otherwise get a work visa instantly removes all those people who come here and compete with Scottish working-class sub-median wage earners.
These were the people who voted in the largest numbers for Brexit. These people have paid the heaviest price for EU membership.
Reintroducing a work visa system that is on same lines as every other civilised advanced nation outside the EU, solves that problem.
Then only higher waged, higher skilled individuals come into the country from all over the world, but they compete with a different class of people in Scotland and compete less because they are in areas with GENUINE skill shortages.
From the point of view of the Scottish sub-median wage earner, immigration has ended. So they are happy.
And importantly you need to send out higher skilled individuals from Scotland to the rest of the world to balance those you take in. Otherwise you are stealing skills from other nations which they need to develop internally. That is a ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ attitude and morally unacceptable. Immigration should be more of an informal exchange process than a capitalist ‘free market’.
This is a civilised solution that addresses all the concerns. Eminently reasonable and fair to all who believe in nations and borders. A win-win all round.
The independence movement adore the EU. They think it is some left wing paradise when nothing could be further from the truth. Just look what the EU treaties are forcing Romania to do as we speak. Report on that.
Immigration is always a PRODUCTIVITY story. Because the independence movement loves the EU so much we are about to make the very same mistake as Ireland. Which isn’t independence at all as their parliament is an empty shell.
Now with AI going to destroy jobs what are thousands of unskilled immigrants going to do?
Did any of the remain project fear actually come true ?
Is the shelves empty like they promised ?
Is the £ finished like they promised ?
Are our exporters no longer exporting stuff ?
Trump has slapped massive tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and a massive tariff on Chinese goods, citing concerns about illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Critics say these measures threaten free trade and could spark trade wars.
However, the EU’s CCT—which imposes standard tariffs on imports into the bloc to protect its industries—rarely faces the same backlash. Why are Trump’s tariffs considered reckless while the EU’s are just part of the system? Is it political bias?
In theory, tariffs make imports more expensive, meaning consumers and businesses in the importing country foot the bill. Yet, when it comes to Brexit, we often hear that the UK “pays” tariffs and other non-tariff barriers on exports to the EU—when, in reality, it will be EU consumers who end up footing the bill.
This inconsistency is telling. When Trump imposes tariffs, the media focuses on how they will raise costs for American consumers. However, with Brexit, the focus shifts to how UK exporters suffer while ignoring the cost to EU consumers.
This selective storytelling distorts the accurate picture of how tariffs work. This selective story telling was at the heart of project fear.
You would think the independence movement would have learned to recognise project fear by now ?
Scotland’s independent future was always first vote leave, then vote for Independence. So that we can control our borders and run our own affairs.
Irish left wing economists are now coming out and saying immigration will destroy Ireland and they can’t do anything about it because of the EU treaties. The current Scottish independence movement are running head first into the same mistake.
I’m very surprised Lesley Riddoach isn’t in Romania doing her European videos.
Showing how wonderful Romania is as the EU are enforcing the EU treaties upon the Romanian public today.
As the ECJ takes control of Romania by Imposing punishing austerity measures and selling off the Romanian assets and forcing them to export their way to growth.