I am greatly honoured to have been targeted for censorship in the same weekend as two great artists as rightly esteemed as Salman Rushdie and Jerry Sadowitz. (Though thankful to have not yet been violently physically attacked for my views, as both have.)
To be honest, I was amazed my most recent Twitter account lasted three months. I set it up in May for the sole purpose of a throwaway rude reply to Darren “Loki” McGarvey and Kenny Farquharson of The Times, expecting it to be banned within hours, then somehow it had thousands of followers and I figured I might as well have a bit of fun with it for however long it lasted against the barrage of shrieking outrage and mass organised complaints from the SNP Twitler Youth.
Which turned out to be until Saturday night.
Twitter has declined to identify who I supposedly incited the harassment of, or to offer any examples of the offending tweets. Obviously I did no such thing, but it’s good to know that “in order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs on our platform”, only some opinions and beliefs may be expressed.
Which even in the hopelessly politically-debased world of the modern Scottish judiciary might be one of the most extraordinary miscarriages of justice in the nation’s history.
When I entered front line politics in 2012 as an SNP councillor, I was clear that my guiding ambition was to play a full part in the restoration of independence to Scotland. Over the past 10 years that commitment has only strengthened as the need for independence has grown ever more urgent. From oil and gas, to wind, tidal, wave and hydro Scotland’s vast energy resources keeps the UK powered and Her Majesty’s Treasury pumped full of cash.
Make no mistake, Scotland IS the broad shoulders of the UK.
Our reward for that vast contribution of energy, food, drink and water? To be fleeced of those resources, charged for transmitting our energy, denied access to associated revenue and berated, and ridiculed in the “mother of all parliaments”.
But it’s the social injustice that results from this distortion of governance that is finally beginning to dawn on many as the cost-of-living crisis deepens and more Scots find they are paying through the nose for energy when Scotland produces far more than we could possibly need.
When I rose to my feet on Wednesday 13th July, I had no doubt about the words I was going to say. I had no doubt about who I would be speaking to, and I had no doubt about who I was speaking for.
As you can see, she’s part of the hyperwoke “Aberdeen Independence Movement” faction which recently took it upon itself to issue a “code of conduct” for independence campaigners, demanding that everyone in the Yes movement should debate things:
By now Wings readers will likely have already seen today’s events in the House Of Commons, where Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle completely lost his rag at Alba MPs (and Wings contributors) Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey for protesting against the UK government’s refusal to respect Scotland’s mandate for an independence referendum.
‘Get them out’ demand Tory benches as Speaker Lindsay Hoyle orders ALBA MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill out of the chamber for heckling Boris Johnson. #pmqspic.twitter.com/RiADdSwKZA
Every one of the SNP’s MPs, meanwhile, sat meekly on their hands and didn’t squeak a single word of protest even as the Speaker flagrantly disregarded the House’s rules and subsequently improperly suspended the two Alba members for a week.
You know how the SNP are always going on about how bad the Tories are and how urgently we need to get rid of them? Well, it turns out they don’t want that to happen for at least a couple of years. They just want a different Tory as Prime Minister, even though they keep telling us that Boris Johnson is the greatest recruiting sergeant for independence there could be.
One might almost imagine that once every Parliament, a drawing of lots is conducted at The Times’ offices in Scotland and the loser is obliged to write this column, on pain of a ceremonial debagging and a jolly good paddling with an old cricket bat from all the other chaps in the newsroom.
Perhaps the fear is playing tricks with Alex Massie’s memory.
We were sent something disturbing recently. It’s from a training course civil servants are being sent on by the Scottish Government.
As you can see, one of the sites that staff are directed to is something called The Trans Language Primer. We thought you should see some of its content.
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “A stomach-churning glimpse into the hideous human cess-pit over which Redactor-in-Chief Swinney now presides post amnesiac Sturgeon’s tenure.” Apr 10, 13:47
freshmint on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “His left ear appears to be lobed while his right ear isn’t. Can’t be too many people around with that…” Apr 10, 13:47
Lorncal on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Looks like an AI-generated image of what a human male might look like if you’re trying to get a hang…” Apr 10, 13:45
Mark Beggan on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Ban the lot. Problem solved. Pull the cash and watch them dash for cover.” Apr 10, 13:42
J Robertson on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “His bio ( such as it is ) bears the hallmark of carefully curated crap” Apr 10, 13:42
lothianlad on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “your last few articles highlight the levels of brit state interference in scottish politics. The SNP is utterly complicit!” Apr 10, 13:40
lothianlad on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Well Done Stu!!! yet again, the scottish govenment SNP brit friendly weirdos are being exposed. Thanks to you!. their brit…” Apr 10, 13:37
Rab Dickson on Not So Octopus: “I am almost sure that there would have been a few absolutely delightful people in the Nazi Party in 1930s.…” Apr 10, 13:11
M.E. on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Nono you got it wrong. He’s clearly an android. He’s Tim *Westworld*.” Apr 10, 13:07
Sven on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “Great and illuminating article, however I’m still grappling with attempting to get my poor, bewildered head around the concept of…” Apr 10, 12:56
Aidan on Do You Believe In The Westwood?: “I think we can say with virtual certainty that this so-called Mr Westwood did not go straight out of the…” Apr 10, 12:54
desimond on Not So Octopus: “Not exactly sure whats to nitpick regards Cllr Williams statement as it seems to make perfect sense, and sum up…” Apr 10, 12:52
Captain Caveman on Not So Octopus: ““This song is brilliant lol” …… Riiiiiiiiiiigght. 😀 Good that we’re finally getting a glimpse of your (ahem) sources, “Geri”.…” Apr 10, 12:07
Geri on Not So Octopus: “Northcode The knives will no doubt be out for him cause the Union fears him. He “speaks for the millions.…” Apr 10, 12:04
Captain Caveman on Not So Octopus: ““This country jails ppl” You’ll have to enlighten me where “this country” is for you, “Geri”, given that you don’t…” Apr 10, 11:55
Geri on Not So Octopus: “This song is brilliant lol “Yer sister knew all along. The enemy was always you” “Stealing from yer own people,…” Apr 10, 11:53
Captain Caveman on Not So Octopus: “Another imbecilic non-answer from “Geri”. Who is talking about “bombing ppl to fck” (apart from you, natch). The point -…” Apr 10, 11:53
Aidan on Not So Octopus: “I’m sure you would vote for Tommy Sheridan because you aren’t very bright and that kind of rabble rousing demagoguery…” Apr 10, 11:42
Geri on Not So Octopus: “Have you thought of bombing them tae fck? A spot of regime change perhaps for being evil dictators? They don’t…” Apr 10, 11:38
Captain Caveman on Not So Octopus: ““Have we seen the latest Lego song to drop? LOL” “They started the Hollywood meme shit glorifying Top Gun FFS”…” Apr 10, 11:37
Aidan on Not So Octopus: “In fact, I believe she did call for the complete abolition of prisons, I think she actually used those very…” Apr 10, 11:22
Geri on Not So Octopus: “Arsey, Have we seen the latest Lego song to drop? LOL You’ve more to worry you than an Independent Scotland’s…” Apr 10, 11:16
Northcode on Not So Octopus: ““Say what ye like about Tommy Sheridan…” Well said and a good comment, Geri.” Apr 10, 11:03
Geri on Not So Octopus: “Say what ye like about Tommy Sheridan but he is exactly what Indy needs. He knows his stuff. I remember…” Apr 10, 10:54
Captain Caveman on Not So Octopus: “How much petty and/or violent crime is there in, say, Dubai – where punishments are dire by our standards and…” Apr 10, 10:50
Alf Baird on Not So Octopus: “Yes Northcode, ‘codification of justice’ as applied by Memmi refers to the laws as set out and administered according to…” Apr 10, 10:41
Peter A Bell on Not So Octopus: “Kate Nevens did not call for the “complete abolition of prisons”. Her point was rather more nuanced and perfectly reasonable.…” Apr 10, 10:28
Northcode on Not So Octopus: ““… codification of justice” (Memmi).” Did you mean to write “the codification of injustice”, Alf?” Apr 10, 10:10
Aidan on Not So Octopus: “That doesn’t answer my question though Alf, Tommy Sheridan was found guilty of perjury by a jury. Would that not…” Apr 10, 10:05
