Robert Burns was well known for liking a wee dram. He grew up in the aftermath of the failed rising of 1745, living through the harsh and brutal consequences inflicted on Scotland by the Act of Proscription.
In “Earnest Cry and Prayer” the Bard was responding to the UK Parliament’s Scotch Distillery Act of 1786, a protectionist act aimed at supporting London’s gin industry by hiking duties on whisky sold in England and by taxing Scottish still capacity. It was a call for action to Scotland’s 45 members of Parliament from a man who understood the destructive power of such acts.
He asked which Scot would not feel his blood boil at seeing the resources of the nation’s stills destroyed and its wealth plundered, roaring to the MPs:
“God bless your Honors! can ye see’t, The kind, auld, cantie carlin greet, An’ no get warmly to your feet, An’ gar them hear it, An’ tell them wi’ a patriot-heat, Ye winna bear it?”
As the UK Parliament is set to return from its summer holiday it is hard not to see continued parallels over the ages and again today.
For anyone with the slightest remaining grip on their critical faculties, the cat was truly let out of the bag on the day of the First Minister’s infamous “broom cupboard” video last January, in which she abjectly grovelled at the feet of a tiny handful of adolescent transactivists who’d left the party in a loud and choreographed public tantrum because it still hadn’t burned Joanna Cherry at the stake for believing in human biology.
One of those she was abasing herself to that day was the repulsive and now mercifully deceased drug dealer and abusive racist misogynist Leeze Lawrence (above, left), but he was only the tip of a filthy iceberg.
I am greatly honoured to have been targeted for censorship in the same weekend as two great artists as rightly esteemed as Salman Rushdie and Jerry Sadowitz. (Though thankful to have not yet been violently physically attacked for my views, as both have.)
To be honest, I was amazed my most recent Twitter account lasted three months. I set it up in May for the sole purpose of a throwaway rude reply to Darren “Loki” McGarvey and Kenny Farquharson of The Times, expecting it to be banned within hours, then somehow it had thousands of followers and I figured I might as well have a bit of fun with it for however long it lasted against the barrage of shrieking outrage and mass organised complaints from the SNP Twitler Youth.
Which turned out to be until Saturday night.
Twitter has declined to identify who I supposedly incited the harassment of, or to offer any examples of the offending tweets. Obviously I did no such thing, but it’s good to know that “in order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs on our platform”, only some opinions and beliefs may be expressed.
Which even in the hopelessly politically-debased world of the modern Scottish judiciary might be one of the most extraordinary miscarriages of justice in the nation’s history.
When I entered front line politics in 2012 as an SNP councillor, I was clear that my guiding ambition was to play a full part in the restoration of independence to Scotland. Over the past 10 years that commitment has only strengthened as the need for independence has grown ever more urgent. From oil and gas, to wind, tidal, wave and hydro Scotland’s vast energy resources keeps the UK powered and Her Majesty’s Treasury pumped full of cash.
Make no mistake, Scotland IS the broad shoulders of the UK.
Our reward for that vast contribution of energy, food, drink and water? To be fleeced of those resources, charged for transmitting our energy, denied access to associated revenue and berated, and ridiculed in the “mother of all parliaments”.
But it’s the social injustice that results from this distortion of governance that is finally beginning to dawn on many as the cost-of-living crisis deepens and more Scots find they are paying through the nose for energy when Scotland produces far more than we could possibly need.
When I rose to my feet on Wednesday 13th July, I had no doubt about the words I was going to say. I had no doubt about who I would be speaking to, and I had no doubt about who I was speaking for.
As you can see, she’s part of the hyperwoke “Aberdeen Independence Movement” faction which recently took it upon itself to issue a “code of conduct” for independence campaigners, demanding that everyone in the Yes movement should debate things:
By now Wings readers will likely have already seen today’s events in the House Of Commons, where Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle completely lost his rag at Alba MPs (and Wings contributors) Kenny MacAskill and Neale Hanvey for protesting against the UK government’s refusal to respect Scotland’s mandate for an independence referendum.
‘Get them out’ demand Tory benches as Speaker Lindsay Hoyle orders ALBA MPs Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill out of the chamber for heckling Boris Johnson. #pmqspic.twitter.com/RiADdSwKZA
Every one of the SNP’s MPs, meanwhile, sat meekly on their hands and didn’t squeak a single word of protest even as the Speaker flagrantly disregarded the House’s rules and subsequently improperly suspended the two Alba members for a week.
You know how the SNP are always going on about how bad the Tories are and how urgently we need to get rid of them? Well, it turns out they don’t want that to happen for at least a couple of years. They just want a different Tory as Prime Minister, even though they keep telling us that Boris Johnson is the greatest recruiting sergeant for independence there could be.
Andy Wiltshire on The End Of Law: “Morning Rev. Do you have any inside info on whether the BBC programme coming up on Tuesday, ‘The Big Cases,…” Jun 21, 11:18
Mark Beggan on The End Of Law: “The Supreme court has to keep stepping in to stop the stupid, thieving perverts from committing offences against humanity. Just…” Jun 21, 11:13
TURABDIN on The End Of Law: “THIS may be of interest to those whose sense of ethnicity encompasses language as a cultural sign. https://archive.is/Qr9bX The dominance…” Jun 21, 11:11
Tommo on The End Of Law: “Surely the time is long past to abolish these devolution disasters; all they have enabled is the emergence of an…” Jun 21, 10:44
Captain Caveman on A Fishy Tale: “It’s more a case of I know what’s best for my hard-earned cash.” Jun 21, 10:43
Hatey McHateface on A Fishy Tale: “Not opposed to drill, drill, drill or charity beginning at home. But then I’m not living near current sea level.…” Jun 21, 10:04
Hatey McHateface on The End Of Law: “Does anybody know if any of our Scottish trannies have infiltrated the Tartan Army? How are they faring, barging into…” Jun 21, 09:10
Captain Caveman on A Fishy Tale: “Nope, still not buying it – on either count. Soz. We should drill, drill, drill and also remember that charity…” Jun 21, 09:09
Onlooker on The End Of Law: “Who cares what the ENGLISH so-called ‘Supreme Court’ says? It was set up in ye olde days of 2009 down…” Jun 21, 09:02
Hatey McHateface on A Fishy Tale: “You can do your own research by looking at SEPA and UK Environment Agency projections, CC. Perhaps they’re lying or…” Jun 21, 08:57
Hatey McHateface on The End Of Law: “You could just have posted “Some big, English bastards did it and then ran away”, Jay. Then you might have…” Jun 21, 08:20
Captain Caveman on A Fishy Tale: “No Hatey, I don’t believe that poot is about to launch a full ground offensive against Western Europe, even up…” Jun 21, 08:01
Captain Caveman on The End Of Law: “This perpetual blaming others and “it’s not a left wing thing” schtick (when quite plainly is most assuredly is, as…” Jun 21, 07:56
Hatey McHateface on The End Of Law: “You don’t understand how this “sovereignty” thing works. The more we don’t use it, the more powerful it becomes. The…” Jun 21, 07:40
Captain Caveman on The End Of Law: “Ah, I note that I’m still living rent-free in your echo-skulled head I see, [capital “J”] Jay. It’s very commodious,…” Jun 21, 07:38
robertkknight on The End Of Law: “Posted upstream, but I’ll state again… Almost two-thirds of transgender prisoners have committed sex crimes. Compare that to the the…” Jun 21, 07:31
Angus on The End Of Law: ““Because our wee country has been stolen by arrogant gangsters and there appears to be nothing we can do about…” Jun 21, 01:10
Jay on The End Of Law: “Casper, the SNP are the rats on the ship. Alf Baird has been explaining the underpinnings of the rotten situation…” Jun 21, 00:40
Jay on The End Of Law: “Lorncal, can you add a link for seeing the 1960’s video, please?” Jun 21, 00:25
agentx on The End Of Law: “It looks like Murrell appearing for sentencing in tight pink leggings isn’t going to work now!” Jun 21, 00:19
Jay on The End Of Law: “049/26 from L. Pollock shows that she has no intention to comply with the findings of Lady Ross, an insolent…” Jun 20, 23:37
Lorncal on The End Of Law: “That was how the narrative was changed by Stonewall. Previously, these men – the autogynephiles and fetishists – who were…” Jun 20, 23:05
Phil on The End Of Law: “It’s the only way forward. https://capx.co/is-it-time-to-abolish-holyrood” Jun 20, 23:03
Lorncal on The End Of Law: “gm/Dave G: that is why it now has to be brought under the auspices of the criminal law. ALL biological…” Jun 20, 22:48
Lorncal on The End Of Law: “The judge left a loophole through which the ‘trans’ lobby will slither: that certain ‘trans’ identified men who are especially…” Jun 20, 22:42
willie on A Fishy Tale: “Ah, and supported by Brendan O’Hara a man who publicly declared that Nicola Sturgeon was the greatest ever Scots Woman…” Jun 20, 21:27
Red on The End Of Law: “The far-left position that trans individuals — particularly those who are biologically male — pose no statistical or situational risk…” Jun 20, 20:54
gm on The End Of Law: “Cheers Dave. I was thinking along the lines of a complaint being made against the SPS by relatives of a…” Jun 20, 20:53
Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on The End Of Law: “Worth a watch. Episode on trans issues from online channel of veteran club-bouncer, street-violence survival advisor, and mainstream defence sector…” Jun 20, 20:34
Dave G on The End Of Law: “Failing to comply with Lady Ross’s ruling is potentially contempt of a civil court but it is not a criminal…” Jun 20, 20:30
