Wings Over Scotland

“Oh No it doesn’t”

I’m presuming the fine detail of the Brexit deal
reveals the true horrors within otherwise it would
have been extensively covered by Bojo’s media.

Thank goodness it only 4 years away until England
gives Boris another 5 year term.

Time someone speared the bastard with the trident he’s holding in his left hand before he and is ilk roast us all on a spit.

All gas and gaiters. Which I think was the title of an English sitcom back when people did the football pools. Don’t know if the old one was funny, but this sitcom we’re in isn’t.

… was reading yesterday that the U.K. gdp growth is forecast to outstrip the Eu by over 5% over the next few years.

Keep decrying the U.K., the English, etc, keep underestimating us, keep belittling us, our politicians and our institutions. Keep telling us there would be no cherry picking. Keep telling us what we can’t do “sarf of the border”.

Meanwhile, “darn sarf” we vote for something, we vote for someone, they promise to do something, they do it.

The contrast couldn’t be more vivid … so have fun with your little cartoon, carry on getting everything wrong, carry on getting nowhere, carry on with the bitter infighting and division, carry on with it all …. whilst the rest of the U.K. moves onwards and upwards.

Happy new year!

The english media telling us everything is going to be just fine.

And that we have to “stick with it” to appreciate all the benefits that will come flooding our way.

I have a better idea,,, let’s just vote to become an independent nation and let engerland get on with it’s self inflicted death.

Ottomanboi

… written on dec 1st by the Gruduan! Ffs!

But your comment proves my point. You desperately seek news and stories to bolster your negative views about my country and my fellow citizens. You rarely seek to inspire Scots with a positive story about a positive future based upon positive steps. No, you need/want the U.K. (England) to fail …you rely on mealy mouthed, one eyed negativity about the rest of us.

With the greatest respect, IT ISNT WORKING!

I have been commenting here on Wings for many years and, frankly, it is hard to remember a recent time where indyref2 (or indyreg2 being won by Yessers) is less likely.

And the French now have the english just where they want them. They have the power to let the english economy grow, or they could shut the english economy down.

All it would take is one small blockade at Calais and the english economy comes to a stand still.

Similar to the way Israel decides whether The Gaza Strip sinks or swims.

So a wee warning to all you mouthy Englanders,,,be careful how you treat your neighbour across the Channel.

Anyone else think Boris capitulated on fishing as a consequence of the French closing the Border?

Seems to me like the French have the UK exactly where they want them but no-one in England seems to have recognised it.

I don’t see why the French will continue to hold back refugees so will Brexit be the start of an influx of asylum seekers landing on the South Coast?

Oh you plebs.

You just don’t get it, do you?

The UK has the BEST genomic sequencing in the world!!

So you silly Scots can’t go independent. How would you fare in the next pandemic without the BEST GENOMIC SEQUENCING IN THE WORLD???!!!!???!!!???!!!!!

Thank goodness for Bojo and his conspiracy of English nationalists for keeping support for Scottish independence so high by highlighting again and again that this is not a Union of equals. Instead it is the absolute domination by England’s ruling elite over Scotland, treating Scotland like a colony.

Thank goodness for Bojo for the blatant attacks on Scotland’s common sovereignty and democracy.

Whereas the SNP and Scottish colonial Parliament are like the enemy within, undermining and attempting to suppress the desire and means for the restoration of Scotland’s national sovereignty.

The SNP talk the talk. At the same time they and Scotland’s other politicians undermine and put obstacles in the way of Scotland gaining her freedom. They also facilitate and give credibility to English constitutional arguments of “(England’s Crown in parliament sovereignty”.

Ronald Fraser says:
27 December, 2020 at 10:15 am
In the hopefully not too distant future, the Englanders will have EU Nations to the North, South, East and West of it.

Bringing home the true meaning of being “isolated” to the detested, racist english.

I think you will find that most of us do not ‘detest’ the English and accept that the majority of English people are no more racist than the average Scot.

How you think these absurd Siol nan Gaidheal rantings help the cause in any way is a mystery – unless of course your purpose is to deliberately damage the public image of the independence movement?

ScotsRenewables

Go on say it numbnut,,, I’m from the 77th, 78th and 79th.

The majority of Englanders are racist little isolationists.

They fuckin hate the whole of humanity,,, unless you are a white Anglo Saxon.

They think the world owes them a favour.

So IMHO, the english are racist (Brexit Vote), and I can’t wait to see them wither and die.

Engerland will not be missed.

I’d like someone to tell me why a serious news programme thinks the photos released by Number 10 of the P.M pretending to make BIG Brexit decisions , is somehow worthy of public presentation.

Anyone? ITN????

“Thank goodness for Bojo for the blatant attacks on Scotland’s common sovereignty and democracy”

From where I am sitting, the biggest assault on Scotland’s democracy, Scotland’s rights and popular sovereignty did not come from Bojo. It came from Sturgeon.

She is the leader of the party sent to Holyrood in 2016 with a mandate to hold indyref if we were dragged out of the EU against our will. In line with the UN charter, she should be fighting for the powers to hold that referendum to be delivered to Holyrood with no delay. Today there is absolutely nothing to stop this woman calling the referendum. All what she asked for is now in place. Do you see her on a hurry to bring those powers to Scotland and call that referendum? I don’t. I see her attempting to distract with potato seed nonsense and engaging in one of her favourite games: to hide her inaction behind criticism of the Uk government.

Her government is even fighting Mr Keatings in court to stop the people of Scotland finding out if we already have those powers. The denial of Scotland’s exercise in self determination is not just Bojo’s. It is a collusion between Bojo and Sturgeon.

She is the leader of the party that was given 45 seats in 2019 with a mandate to stop brexit. She could have attempted to stop brexit by removing the MPs from Westminster denying its legitimacy, albeit temporarily, to continue acting on behalf of Scotland. At that point, she could have demanded that either brexit was stopped or the union ended. If laughed at, she could have taken the Uk gov to the ECJ for unconstitutional triggering of A50 in violation of Scotland’s claim of right and equal status in this union. She could have taken the UK gov to the UN court for a direct breach of international law in attempting to force over Scotland its own interpretation of the treaty of union and for abuse of power aimed, in bad faith, to taking control of Scotland’s assets. At least make the world aware of what is going on.

Did you see this woman making a move, any move at all, towards that? Did you see any attempt by this woman to educate the world of what the UK is (not a country) and what Scotland’s fundamental part in it is?

Did you actually see her making any real move towards stopping brexit apart of wasting our time with the nonsense of joining England’s parties asking for a meaningful vote that did not matter to Scotland an iota and did not have a chance in hell?

I didn’t.

In conclusion, she is the leader of the party that so far has refused to uphold Scotland’s popular sovereignty, refused to deliver our democratic mandates and has endorsed the power and asset grab by allowing its MPs to continue sitting in Westminster and allowing those votes to go through.

She is the leader of the party that has point blank denied us our right to self determination and continues to do so to this day by forcing upon us the need of a S30. To add salt to the wounds, her government is happy to use taxpayers’ money to fight in the courts against Scottish people themselves and that are paying from their own pockets, so her government can ensure the need of that S30 is upheld against Scotland’s interests and be used as a blackmailing tool to ensure an SNP win in 2021.

From where I am seating, all what I see points to the fact that Sturgeon has been doing against Scotland the Uk gov’s dirty work for the last 5 years.

Time of course will reveal the real level of participation of Sturgeon in Mr Salmond’s conspiracy to destroy his reputation and credibility before voters. But looking at the bigger picture, smearing Mr Salmond was just another tick in the list of the British state’s dirty work tasks in Scotland.

Scottish renewables

I think you are a Scottish Greens diehard, who has moved to Bonnie wee Scotch Land from the Saff of racist Engerland.

Up here to tell us not to mention how racist the english really are.

You’ll be fully behind this new Hate Crime Bill???

The english are the most detested, racist nation on the face of the earth.

There you go Renewables,,,sorted.

Mia,

A few points offered in a non-combative manner:

Seed potatoes are not a nonsense, they are a valuable Scottish export. However, the hurt will most be felt in rural Tory constituencies, so maybe the EU have given us a hand here.

The SG are not opposing Martin Keating’s case, they merely decided against participating in it having originally agreed to. This has cost time for Martin and money for the Scottish taxpayer but heyho, the case is till going ahead and the SG’s non-participation is unlikely to affect the outcome.

As for ‘not stopping Brexit’ – well, she never had a hope in hell and in truth why would she want to? A hard Brexit is Scotland’s ticket out of the UK.

I am all for holding the SNP to account and now is the time. Now, not a year ago. Now, with Brexit finally behind us, a Covid vaccine rolling out and support for independence at an all time high.

To say that now is the time to ditch the SNP, to ditch therefore all hope of independence for a decade, is either a council of despair or a classic BritNat intelligence divide and rule tactic. My money is on the latter, and I am sad that so many have fallen for it.

Sturgeon reads this, she knows we are unhappy, she knows that we must see action now or her coat is on the proverbial shoogly peg. The NEC elections were a clear sign, the rumblings of impatience within the party are growing.

Best suggestion yet is to demand that Sturgeon sets a referendum date in the manifesto for the May elections, with or without an S30. Probably best to wait for the Keating court result first though, for which I am sure we are all keeping our fingers crossed.

As for the suggestion that all Nicola wants is 5 more years in Holyrood . . . she’s not a stupid woman, and I think she has more ambition than that. I think she will either bow out on a high quite soon to take up some highly visible public office or pick up the dropped indy baton and run with it. (Which depends on how likely it looks that the Salmond enquiry will finish her off).

My fear is that she hands the baton to that pompous, useless tool of a man, Angus Robertson. That WILL be the end of independence.

My other hope is that someone of substance steps up to the plate to front the ISP, and that the other wee pretendy indy parties then have the decency to quietly fade back into the woodwork.

SENSIBLEDAVE
Guardian reporting the OECD…Do get it right.
Plenty more where that came from in European press.
Why are UK nationalists so purblind.
Best this, best that, at the top of the other….all rather immature.
Latest Brit vaccine comes with World’s Best Buy sticker….omg!
Enjoy the fantasy….Impressionabledave.
Enjoy the Great Reset too.

@SensibleDave
It is not in Scotland’s interest to neighbour an economically depressed helhole. if you recall last indyref white paper proposed to open development banks in Nothern English cities.

I wonder if we will still have to do that. Based on past performance any growth will just be in service intdustries in the SE leaving the North as depressed as ever.

So good luck with the national project of England and I mean that genuinely. Meanwhile we will be going our own way.

on a zillion poscards:

The 2021
Scottish Parliament Elections
are
the Indyref2 Elections

“We believe that the Scottish people are sovereign,
and we hereby announce our intention
to declare Scotland independent
and submit that intention to the will of the people
in this election for their approval”

I think what got Sensible Dave all rattled is the fact that Boris and the Brexiteers got humped.

Only the other week they were threatening gunboats, and now no change, they’ve thrown in the towel.

And Northern Ireland. Not so long ago they were going to build an ROI / NI border. Now it’s effectivly a united Ireland in the EU with a border down the Irish Sea.

And UK trade into the EU. Conditional on the UK keeping its nose clean, doing what it’s told, or else.

Now that’s why Sensible Dave is rattled. The Bexiteers got humped by their own ptard.

@Scots Renewables,

Try to remember that Mr Woolfe tried to have the case thrown out because the Scottish Government were thinking of introducing a PROPOSED Bill for a referendum in Holyrood this year. They opposed Keatings action.

The judge ddcreed that the proposed Bill didnt amount to anything of substance whereas tbe case would define it definitively. Thus she allowed the case to proceed.

The Scottish Government were none too happy.

ScotsRenewables

Getting rid of colonial oppression, which is by definition racism, is the reason most ‘peoples’ have sought independence. Yet it seems difficult for some Scots (I assume you are Scottish) to come to terms with Scotland’s colonial status, or what Hechter (1998) described as Scotland’s enduring ‘internal colonialism’ and its entirely negative cultural, social, economic and political etc impacts.

Colonialism, lets remember, “is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.” These are hardly the acts of a friendly neighbour. Why do you think Scots seek independence, which is liberation from oppression, colonialism being what the UN term ‘a scourge’, a form of punishment?

Colonialism is also regarded as racism (see for example ‘British Colonialism and Racism – The English Patient’ by Michael Ondaatje: link to litcharts.com.

It should be appreciated why Scots who have been and remain subject to colonial oppression and hence racism (the latter also ‘internalized’) think the way they do.

@ Bob Mack

Peoples Action on Section 30 second ‘stretch’ fundraiser now open, with 6 days to raise £125,000

link to crowdjustice.com

Well worth a few Wingers’ pennies, surely? The case should be heard fully in a 2 day hearing in the Court of Session on 21 and 22 January 2021, so not long to wait now.

@Scots Renewables,

Just pledged again. Well worth it if only to force the Scottish government to actually act on something.

If anybody values our liberty they should contribute .

Bob Mack says:
27 December, 2020 at 12:33 pm
@Scots Renewables,

If anybody values our liberty they should contribute .

Yep. I’ve just contriibuted again, shared on FB and with all the Indy groups I am a member of. Let’s make sure Martin isn’t worrying about money when he goes into court.

That link again, folks:

link to crowdjustice.com

Hazily, read that as “a golden Bra…”!

BawJaws may be an arse. Correction, IS an arse, but as head of the Westminster Government he at least looks out for his constituency – Brexit voters/English Tories.

Pity the same can’t be said of the head of the Scottish Government. She just fiddles while Rome burns.

“We believe that the Scottish people are sovereign….

Important tweak Dan… It’s not a matter of mere belief. The Scottish people ARE sovereign by legal definition.

We should leave the ambiguity of “belief” to all the charlatans and colonial usurpers who “believe” In Westminster’s ‘convention’ of parliamentary sovereignty, and propagate the fallacy that Scotland’s sovereignty was extinguished, and the further fallacy that an Independent Scotland would ‘secede’ from the UK.

Scotland’s shame and humiliation is that currently, we must include our own Devolved Assembly amongst this rabble of charlatans, pedalling sophistry and disinformation about the Union.

Sadly, Scottish politicians seem little better informed than the propagandists posing as Scottish news media, who seem to have no appetite for the truth or constitutional probity.

ok
on a zillion postcards:

The 2021
Scottish Parliament Elections
are
the Indyref2 Elections

“the Scottish people are sovereign,
and we hereby announce our intention
to declare Scotland independent
and submit that intention to the will of the people
in this election for their approval”

@Sensibledave,

Please! Your sense of superiority and arrogance shines through like a beacon. Do you read your own posts?

You try to belittle. You try to rub salt in wounds. You think you will show us how foolish we are by the benefit of you being “down sarf”, as if that somehow is something we should envy.

At least have the courage to say what you mean rather than the condescending innuendo you prefer.

You do have an air of superiority about your scribblings which I suppose comes from being successful in history on the backs of others. It’s ingrained I suppose.

OT/ I would like to wish everyone a very belated merry Christmas and wish everyone a very happy prosperous heathy new year for 2021.
I would also like to thank everyone for the help and advise they gave me in trying to submit my comments, on previous blogs, and I never had the time to reply, as I was busy painting families houses as Christmas presents on canvas, a big take on, and it took two months leading up to Xmas.
One again many thanks and a happy new year to everyone here.

Xmas Cracker, Chris, looking forward to more of your gems in 2021 !

Bob

… do not confuse my words. When I say “be careful what you wish for” I mean do you really want the May elections to be a proxy for indyre2? If you do, then expect some serious fire from the other side. Have you got your ducks in a row? Currency, deficit, borrowing? Not being in EU and not being in U.K. … for 10 years?

The only time I see SNP types being interviewed on those subjects, all hear is “wing and a prayer” stuff … nothing that would convince a floater I’m afraid.

I see the Scotsman spouting retoric regards cars in Scotland being charged to travel by the mile instead of car licenses,
I deeply oppose this, this could not only hit the disabled and vulnerable, it would be excessive for many people in Scotland, perhaps more so than anywhere else in Britain as many people live in isolated places with great distances to travel just to get shopping, hospitals, school, or to a train station, never mind a regular bus service,
I was raised on the west coast of Scotland, and I had to walk miles if we needed anything, across hills and in all kinds of weather.
We’re supposed to live in a modern world for goodness sake, and those people making a living in the middle of nowhere, while raising a young family or needing to take their parents to hospitals need help not penalising.
I now live in a different area in Scotland, but remember how difficult it was to travel through miles of hills, forests and boggy heather in bad weather when a bus didn’t show, and deliveries were unable to get through.
We’re stepping back a century in time to do this experiment in Scotland first.

@Sensible

Sorry, but I for one, do not want to attract any ‘floaters.’

Some animated discussions above!

Can we get this on Zoom? 🙂

The far from Sensibledave is into fear, the promotion and threat of, the last refuge of the psycho bully.
A government functionary called Osborn, who remembers him, was full of it too.
Petty, juvenile school yard stuff.

@Ottomanboi

I must confess, I did stoop to a little playground humour.

Bob

… Ah! Classic!

So Bob, you seek to win the debate by claiming that my words should be ignored… because you are so clever that you, uniquely, know what is going on in my mind.

Your desperation continues.

Btw … I note that you have not responded to my challenges above. Just the usual swivel and swerve when asked to justify a comment.

On the generality, I have explained my presence here many times. I am here to educate and inform. If you listened more to folk from outside of this echo chamber, you might learn stuff and start to understand why Scots didn’t vote for Indepenence last time and, unless you come up with a positive and attractive picture for an independent Scotland, they won’t next time.

Pursuing the line that everything is the fault of the English, English politicians, English institutions, etc clearly hasn’t worked … and it won’t work in the future. But knock yourself out Bob. Keep applauding the xenophobic, jingoistic, dog whistle stuff … and you will be in the same place next year, the year after that and the year after that.
Horror of horrors Bob, have you considered that the U.K. might actually make a success of Brexit? What then Bob? Does that help or hinder your desired outcome? Have you put all your eggs in one basket …. again!?

Like Dan, you appear not be able to see past the end of your nose.

@Sensibledave,

Not ignored Dave. Just understood in context. You are just not honest enough with yourself.

@Sensible

You appear to have taken umbrage, at my playground humour. I used floater in the context of something that will not flush. As to your dual posts berating my contribution, try to get a sense of humour, it does help to navigate the cesspit of current UK politics.

Nice one Chris, though in my opinion Johnson doesn’t give a toss about all that sentimental shite, its more about lining his pockets and the pockets of his party donors, business pals, and anyone who can further his ambitions.

@ James Che

Re. Road Vehicle Excise Duty. A proportional system based on fuel used has its merits. A fuel used system is different from a charge per mile.
If someone drives a big thirsty car they pay more than someone driving a more economical car, if someone drives loads of miles they pay more someone driving a lesser amount.
That system works on two levels as there is a punitive element for those driving a thirsty environmentally unfriendly vehicle, and also a proportionally higher levy for those racking up loads of miles.
With the small amount of Vehicle Excise Duty added to the price per litre and collected at point of sale, it means that if the vehicle is moving under its own power, it has paid the duty, and thus does away with the offence of driving without VED.

No doubt there will be winners and losers as in any system, but the current “norm” (well until covid hit) of folk traveling excessively is an issue, when we should be looking at reducing our fuel usage by developing ways of living more locally.
Getting folk to even consider doing things a different way is the problem.
Consider the potential of raising Public Spending revenue through Annual Ground Rent as a concept proposed by Graeme McCormick.

Scotsrenewables doing his NS act of just one more mandate will do it CON , and his wish ALL you nasty wingers who decry the sainted one would all go away , so this site can go back to Nicola worshipping with all the old wingers coming back

And he knows Nicola reads the posts on the site and is well aware that her policies and inaction are raged against but will just continue ignoring all our criticism , because one more mandate will do it you know it makes sense vote Nicla

He supports Martin Keatings but Martin must be wrong or delusional when he posts that the SG are being obstructive and objecting to Martin’s case through the lord advocate and therefore the SG , SR maintains it was only an in out hokey cokey scenario and ONLY meant more paperwork , but SR neglects to say that the paperwork revisions required a massive amount of work by Martin and the lawyers which cost
the case additional thousands of pounds which Martin has to find , meanwhile the clusterfuck created by the SG are using our taxpayer money to fund their legal fees

Twathater. @3.39pm.

It wasn’t that long ago that SNP minister said that there’s no indyref 2 imminent, and that Martin Keating shouldn’t be allowed to to take the course of action he’s taking on the S30 because he’s not an MP.

link to archive.is

Love the latecomer Chris. I just thought you were on holiday to be honest – I looked out for you at Trump Turnberry:-)
Hope you’re enjoying a wee break from all the sweat and toil

@ Sensibledave

Any chance you could live up to the “Sensible” you include in your btl name, because the sensible thing to do would be to properly identify who you are quoting or responding to so as not to cause confusion.
TIA

Dan , have you ever actually lived in the middle of nowhere for a good number of years to actually have it in practice rather than theory.
(a) Imagine that you are a forestry worker, you have to fill your vehicles in a village or town, but you have to drive there first, from your house. then once you have filled your vehicles and petrol in cans, you have to drive to your place of work, leaving the main road and travelling miles and miles up a hill on isolated forestry roads to fell trees, you spend your day up there, then when your work is done for the day you drive miles and miles back down the hill to rejoin the main road, then you travel along that road to get home again, the next day you have to do the same all over again, except maybe you will be sent to a different forest in a different glen, perhaps even further away and more difficult to reach,
How does that work for locals who’s choice of employment is limited in these remote areas, they would be financially penalised, and probably go broke.
(B) imagine you are employed as a gardener, again you need to top up fuel for lawn mowers and other gardening equipment, taking cans of fuel with you in case there is not a supply nearby, and again you have to travel miles to get to different places of work, and then back home, home to do the same routine all over again the next day., you are penalising the self employed, and you won’t find any electric charging point in loch ran o high forest or up the top of tynedrum. You certainly don’t find spare batteries or charging points in the middle of the country side when your a gardener either,
These are just two instances where someone in theory had an idea, but hasn’t a clue how it works in reality,
I am sure others will provide plenty more.

Ethnically informed populist constitutionalism does not a healthy democracy make, as it is not supportive of cultural pluralism. If you acknowledge that economic health is dependent on cultural health, Brexitania is likely to experience an increasingly rapid spiral of decline. Westminster’s and Holyrood’s lack of attention to the “rule of recognition” and Natural law, means Scots will never enjoy the benefits of democracy. As our legal environment will actively prevent the actualisation of our cultural potential.

A general theory of constitutional patriotism
link to academic.oup.com

“This article offers a theory of constitutional patriotism independent of the controversial social theories of modernization and rationalization with which Jürgen Habermas’s version of constitutional patriotism is associated. It argues that the purpose of constitutional patriotism, as a set of beliefs and dispositions, is to enable and uphold a liberal democratic form of rule that free and equal citizens can justify to each other.

The object of patriotic attachment is a specific constitutional culture that mediates between the universal and the particular, while the mode of attachment is one of critical judgment. Finally, constitutional patriotism results in a number of policy recommendations that are clearly different from policies that liberal nationalists would advocate.”

@ James Che

FYI I have lived out in the sticks for years and I’m a mechanic that runs cars, motorbikes, lawnmowers and chainsaws, has dabbled in motorsport so well aware of country life and what it entails with regard fuel costs.
Maybe before we either completely slate or support the concept it would be best if we actually knew just how much would be added to the price per litre in such a scenario.
It’s surely unlikely to be more than pennies per litre so no more than the price variation / fluctuation seen at the pumps already.
It would effectively be pay as you go rather than the monthly, bi-annual, or annual financial hits we current have.
Some efficient new cars are free from paying VED, but owning a new car is out of reach for many folk so many have to run older cars which have higher VED rates, so there is already unfairness in the system. Plus continually manufacturing what are becoming pretty much disposable cars isn’t the most environmentally sound practice.
Electric cars are pricey as fook and still plagued with aspects of battery tech.

If fuel prices were such an important factor in the economic survival of certain areas, then the opposite of the alcohol minimum pricing policy could be implemented in the form of a fuel maximum pricing policy.
It would be uneconomic for folk to travel to areas where cheaper fuel was available.

link to wingsoverscotland.com

So Brexit is Sturgeon’s fault. That’s a good one.

She also caused Covid, child poverty, all the drug deaths and tailbacks on the M8

Once she is gone independence will just happen and we will all live happily ever after.

Bunch of fantasists on here, you know who you are. When Stu began to point out the failings of the SNP and its leadership I imagine he hoped for something more productive than a lynch mob.

Meanwhile the rest of us will quietly work away, actually doing stuff to further progress instead of giving up and blaming everything on the bogey man. When my grandchildren ask what I did to help Scotland gain its independence I will be able to tell them I made a few modest but positive contributions, converted a few No voters.

Those whose main contribution is an endless torrent of bile and negativity pouring from their keyboards are going to find it a bit more difficult to identify exactly how they helped.

Scott Finlayson, spot on, wonderful, Robert B Cunninghame Graham..

To paraphrase Irvine Welch.. ‘Trainspotting’,
‘Some people blame the English’..
I dinnae, I blame Sturgeon/Murrell, Swinney, Smith, Russell, Strickland, Mckelvie, Black and Brown..

@Republicofscotland says:
27 December, 2020 at 3:32 pm
“Meanwhile Sturgeon is to ask Johnson if Scotland can remain in the Erasmus programme, even though Johnson is promising some sort of programme based on Bletchley park bollocks and Alan Turing.”

Students currently on their Erasmus schemes will be allowed to complete them. As for the Turing scheme, if it is global then it would be expected to be in place for next September. At least wait until we see the detail before you shoot it down.

It’s a very long time since I’ve looked at constitutional law, but I thought this might provide a little light on the subject.

FAREWELL TO THE RULE OF RECOGNITION?
link to biblat.unam.mx

With the talk of English on this article BTL, this article from just before the referendum needs to be brought back:

link to nflg.co.uk

With a population of about 14 million within a couple of hours travelling distance from the Scottish central belt where most economic activity occurs at the moment, it would be madness not to form link to the North of England and in particular as we have seen with recent events, Mayors of the cities in these regions have been given a more prominent media profile.

We are more or less politically aligned with them despite the recent movement to the Tories and Brexit which reeks more of dissatisfaction with Labour and having no alternatives like we do here with the SNP.

I’m genuinely surprised that the Scottish government hasn’t been cooperating more with the likes of Andy Burnham in dealing with the virus because it’s obvious we have common goals as the UK governments response seems to be focused solely on London and the South East.

If the SNP isn’t interested in a referendum, surely they should be seeking closer ties with a large market right on our door steps that requires little or no additional infrastructure to reach?

Dan, I understand where your coming from in making a cleaner environment, but we all ready pay as go on fuel, because it is taxed at the moment, and I believe the Scotsman was indicating by mileage, not necessarily by petrol tax alone,
We also have to not be so paranoid about our carbon footprint here in Scotland. Per head of population equating with land mass, England is way ahead of us in population per land mass, (carbon footprint)and I hate to think about China or America to name a few.
Our carbon footprint is minuscule in comparison.
And how far are you personally willing to go in contributing to lowering your carbon footprint,
Lithium batteries take an awful lot of mining to produce, which of corse use petrol and diesel vehicles to obtain these minerals, then they become a problem at the end of there life, in safe disposal.
The shell of these new battery cars is also produced in means not friendly to the environment,
Looking at the hidden environmental cost these end up not being eco friendly at all, and I would suggest that most people spouting these issues have a stake in the game, more likely than not, as the saying goes.
Are you going to get rid of your computer and your mobile phone, do without electronics as these are all plastic coated, including in new battery cars, are you going to get rid of your tv, or the tyres on your car and go back to iron rimmed wooden ones, are you going to get rid of your fridge and tie your meat into a stream to take the salt out of it for a few days, or be prepared to bury it in the ground to preserve it, are you going to give up your cooker as these things are pretty much made in and with the same materials, as your cars, will you have to go back to cooking on a fire, how far will you go. How far do think you can go, choosing cars, is nit picking.
I was raised without any mode cons until near my teens, including not having washing machines, we washed clothes in the stream in cold winter days too and amongst the fish and eels, electric lights was a great novelty when we got them, being able to turn light on and off by a switch, wow.
How prepared are you to go back in time and live in a less damaging way to the environment, no showers, no pipes to your bathroom as copper pipes have to be mined by big bad vehicles in big quarries that damage the environment and wildlife, perhaps you will have to cancel your hairdresser/barber appointments because of the chemicals they use, the plastic seats and accessories, and the metals that are quarried for copper pipes,
Are you genuine in wanting to save the world and the environment,
I am quite willing to show you how not to have a carbon footprint, how to build a wooden round house, or even a drystone bothy without any mode cons, and once you lived this way with no carbon footprint or the lowest it can be for a few years, then come back to me with some common sense suggestions. And a alternative to the replacement of fossil fuels that does not have a long term cost to the environment.

And here’s a look at the “rule of recognition” from a perspective informed by linguistic theory and stuff.

Finding Wittgenstein at the Core of the Rule of
Recognition
link to core.ac.uk

“….Wittgenstein believed that when we make an intelligible statement in a language, there is no abstract or “superlative fact” that can govern the formation of the statement other than the language in which the statement is made.”‘ There can be no “theory” behind a rule other than the practice that made the rule comprehensible to start with: “nothing…keeps our practices in line except the reactions and responses we learn in learning them.”””‘

If asked by Fuller why a core instance was a correct
application of the Rule P, ultimately, for Hart, this question makes as much sense as if Fuller had pointed to a patch of red and asked “why” Hart had called it red.102

Thus, in the core, there is no interpretation, although different people may apply the same rule differently. Fuller thought that every act of rule application was an act of interpretation because he believed that every rule is open to at least two applications; one needed an interpretive theory
to know “how to go on.”

Fuller used interpretation to escape a paradox that Wittgenstein had identified in his critique of traditional views about rules. Wittgenstein argued that it is impossible to explain a rule by reference to concepts that transcend our experience of the rule itself. Our application of a rule cannot be explained by reference to a concept revealed by our experience of the rule because there is (in theory) an
infinite set of hypotheses that are compatible with our empirical experience of the rule.

As Wittgenstein famously argued, any mathematical sequence
is theoretically compatible with an infinite number of equations: for example, the sequence 2, 4, 6, 8 …. might represent the rule “[a]dd 2,” or it might represent the rule “[a]dd 2 up to 1000, 4 up to 2000, 6 up to 3000 and so on.”‘ 103 The “paradox” that interested Wittgenstein was that the view that a rule was an abstraction revealed by or contained in a set of empirically observable facts led to the skeptical conclusion that rules did not exist. “This was our paradox: no course of action could be determined by a rule, because every course of action can be made out to accord with the rule.”104

There were at least three directions one could take in response to this paradox. The first was to embrace scepticism, which is what Saul Kripke has recommended, and many legal scholars have followed his lead.105 The second
path was to insist, as Fuller did, that there is a transcendental scheme of norms and that the meaning of a rule is determined by its place in that scheme.106 The third path was to reject both scepticism and idealism, which is what Wittgenstein did, and to argue that rules could have meaning
and could guide their own application, but that the rule application was a practice or a way of life, not an interpretation of another abstract entity.”

“So Brexit is Sturgeon’s fault”

Brexit is nobody’s fault bar the idiots who voted for it the fact we are being dragged out with them against our expressed will is 100% Sturgeons fault, she was given a clear mandate to stop us being dragged out with them and not only did she fail, she didn’t even f@cking try.

too busy giving access to male perverts, fetishists and other weirdos to girls toilets & changing rooms, taking away our right to free speech, and attempting to imprison an innocent man on trumpted up charges.

Nicola Sturgeon has been an abysmal failure

Nailed it. This is what both ‘our’ parliaments would deny those living in Scotland, as the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty is simply not compatible with international human rights law. Neither is genderwoowoo.

Towards A Relational Paradigm for the Concept of Law:
Uncovering Implications of Hart’s Rule of Recognition to
Develop a Relational Foundationalism, as Expressed in
Preliminary Terms through the UN Right to Health
link to qmul.ac.uk

James Che

That nice, thick blanket of peat that covers a lot of the country soaks up an enormous amount of carbon. It’s a bonanza as far as carbon credits go. It would be even more valuable if estates stopped burning it for grouse shooting.

I’m going to do a Cameron and post a link to a journal abstract “Peatlands: our greatest source of carbon credits?” link to tandfonline.com

There’s not much to read, so here are the essential numbers:

Peatlands are the most efficient carbon stores of all terrestrial ecosystems, containing approximately 455 Pg of carbon, which is twice the amount found in the world’s forest biomass.

Using figures from The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), the world’s peatlands can be valued at up to US$18 billion.

Throw in some decent telecomms networks and software the country could take advantage of the move to remote working to offer smart Scots to the companies all over the world. We’d also go a long way to solving the isolation problems that a lot of the more remote parts of the country suffer from.

So although a complete rethink of how we treat the environment might take quite a bit of adjusting to we already have some innate advantages. All it needs is a little creativity and the right mindset.

Graeme 5.54

…ah, the “only true Scots should be allowed a vote” gambit!

Everyone will be so proud of you Graeme!!!

@ James Che

I suspect my environmental footprint is already rather light! 😉 Also acknowledge that few would ever make the personal choices to live as I do. But it is actually hugely fulfilling and interesting living as I do now.
I grow and catch my own food, still got veg stored including loads of large marrows and pumpkins, along with an array of jars of homemade jam. Going fishing tomorrow if ice hasn’t completely covered the water.
We can but lead by example and try to get folk to at least begin to embrace some basic behaviours that would make a difference.
Old habits die hard though and some folk just seem unable to change from their ingrained routines. It’s possibly a “positive” in this covid “new normal” situation as it may force folk to adapt to better ways of doing things.
It’s below freezing outside so I’ll point out that folk are actually using their fridges and using leccy to keep stuff warm!
My Green voting neighbours are currently burning imported Estonian kiln dried firewood… whilst I am sitting toasty next to my wood stove burning naturally seasoned copiced beech logs from my hedge.
Have sourced more firewood in a deal with local landowner as spent the past two mornings extreme litter picking the steep roadside embankment down to the burn, where numerous clarty bastards have jettisoned an incredible amassed amount of rubbish thrown from their cars.
It’s approx. a 300 yard stretch and probably going to be close to 10 large black binbags full, with each bag containing hundreds of pieces.
Wondering if @redbull #RedBull could incorporate this activity in their next X Games seeing as so many of the fuckin morons that drink that brain melting pish think it cool and rad to lob the empty tins anywhere they want rather than recycle them.
Matters got even more exiting when I nearly found myself up to my waste in beaver action! Steady, not what you’re thinking, it was when the ground I was climbing over collapsed as was obviously the roof of an old bank lodge.
That’s still closer to a beaver than a recent date with a transwomen though! So still got to nail that C Griffiths btl poster that stated here that transwomen are women. The bugger is defo due me a refund for making me join that dating site!

@ ScotsRenewables

Don’t tell me my memory’s short

I remember Nicola wasting 2 years after 2016 fighting tooth and nail to deny the English people what they voted for instead of promoting Independence,

That’s what I remember or is your memory so short you’ve forgot about that

Ottomanboi
Your point about state control of our lives is well taken.
On a personal level myself and my family have continuously disregarded every diktat put out by NS and her underlings.
It is not the state’s business to tell me how to go about my day to day business nor should it ever be.
Only robots and morons should be controlled by the levers of the state, not human beings.

Graeme, you do seem to have a habit of oversimplifying things.

Firstly, independence from a Brexited rUK is a very much trickier animal than independence when both nations are in the EU and have a frictionless border.

Secondly, the Scottish people voted in 2014 to stay in both the UK and the EU. Then in 2015 they voted to stay in the EU by 62% to 38%. It is entirely possible to make the case that, for Scottish voters, stopping Brexit was a priority over independence and that was therefore Nicola’s priority.

And thirdly, there has been no majority expression of support for independence until this year.

I fully understand why an increasing number of indy supporters no longer trust Sturgeon, but if she is going to betray us it has not actually happened yet – though I agree it may be imminent, we must give her a lot more rope before Joe McSoap is convinced.

I also think it wise to remember that Sturgeon and her clique are not the SNP, and that a week can be a long time in politics.

It is traditionally those of a right-wing persuasion who are prone to placing the ideological above the biological, as they are not eager to acknowledge that poverty is a major social determinant of health and social mobility. However, the lefts’ adoption of anti-foundationalism as a means of bringing about radical social change they can’t achieve through the democratic process (see genderwoowoo), actually turns neo-liberal theory against the existing fabric of legal theory and practice that is aimed at resisting neo-liberalism’s transformation of human values and democratic principles.

International law in the times of the coronavirus
Legal experts at the MPI for Comparative Public Law and International Law examine the responce of WHO in curbing the coronavirus pandemic
link to mpg.de

Cameron Brodie, yeah yeah, give it a rest. You are pitching way too high for folk on here, some of whom don’t even realise that the SNP has run a minority government since 2016

ScotsRenewables
I appreciate that but I don’t know any other way of resisting institutional Torydum.

link to justsecurity.org

Great cartoon again Chris ,

Thank you for keeping us laughing throughout the year especially this year .

Tartanpigsy, your comment at 9:10 pm is really superb, particularly the last couple of sentences.

Ottomanboi, thank you for your link regarding the WHO changing their definition of herd immunity. Shocking but not unexpected.

ScotsRenewables says:

“I fully understand why an increasing number of indy supporters no longer trust Sturgeon, but if she is going to betray us it has not actually happened yet.”

Surely it will have happened definitively by the end of the year?

“all the evidence from 2016 up to the beginning of this year suggested we would have lost any referendum”

I don’t think that is true. Not if you had set in place the right conditions for a serious referendum where the interference from the British state was blocked and where the franchise was set up in a way that natives would not see their pro independence vote blocked by settlers as it happened in 2014. Sorry, but apathy and disinterest for setting up a robust plebiscite that respects the right to self determination of the natives is no an excuse for not holding one.

In 2015 the percentage of pro indy vote in the GE was 50.5%. Over 50% pro indy vote, 56 out of 59 seats in Westminster and the majority of the seats in Holyrood. Did this woman do anything to take advantage on all this to progress Scotland’s autonomy? No. She waited for the support for independence to go down so she could justify going in to the GE2017 without even mentioning independence. One can only wonder what Mr Salmond would have achieved with all that. God gives bread to those who have no teeth, eh?

Polls conducted by Ipsos mori and TNS between 24th August and 1st September 2015 put Yes ahead too, so the percentage was sustainable. If only it had been fed by an official campaign…

2 polls conducted by Survation/Daily Record and one by PanelBase/Sunday times between 25 and 28th June 2016 (immediately after the EU ref) put yes ahead too. What did she do about it?
She attempted to sell Scotland down the river by immediately surrendering our expressed democratic will and settling for the single market. She, allegedly a Scottish Nationalist heading a party with a democratic mandate for a referendum to end the union, even went to the lengths of preparing a document for the entire UK to remain in the EU! WTF?

If you look at all the polls conducted on Scottish independence, what you see is that the people of Scotland is responding to the assaults from the UK gov prompting increase in yes vote, but then the total apathy of Sturgeon and her total disinterest in capitalise on that brings that increase down.

We are subjected to intense heat from the UK gov and cold showers from Sturgeon. It is a process of starting, stalling, starting, stalling, starting, stalling and it has been like that since 2015. Are they attempting to exhaust us morally? This is clearly a collusion between two governments aiming to contain the Yes movement and to keep it on a leash. No other explanation makes sense. This kind of collusion is what you would expect from a labour gov in Scotland, not form an SNP one.

A poll conducted by IPSOS Mori/STV between 24 Feb-6 March 2017 (A50 was invoked on 29th March 2017) put yes ahead. Immediately after Sturgeon announces her first attempt to seek a S30. On that same week, the polls collapse again.

The recent over 50% in the polls has been sustained now since at least June 2020 due to the continuous assaults of the British state on Scotland’s rights and powers, so much so that Sturgeon’s ice cold showers cannot longer damp it down. That is 6 months of positive polls. How long does this woman need? An eternity of pro-yes polls?

She started a collection of mandates in 2016. Is she now holding a collection of polls too? Or is she hoping the polls will go down again so she can go into the next Holyrood election without “scaring the soft no’s” and without mentioning independence again.

17 successive polls, one after other putting yes ahead over a span of 6 months and the best this woman could come up with is denying our right to self determination by forcing on us a S30.
What do you thing is going to happen again if the SNP does not move her aside and starts to do something serious to move Scotland towards independence and to deliver that referendum?

Yes, you guessed it right. The polls will go down again.

Let me tell you what the evidence shows. The evidence shows that this woman never had any intention to deliver indyref. The evidence also shows that if you do not capitalise NOW in the current circumstances, launch a proper campaign and move on, the chance will be lost again because if you wait too long, you will reach the point where after all the turmoil of the theft of powers, the internal market bill and the noise of the crap deal has passed, things will settle. People gets used to “the new normal” and people do not normally seek change if they are in a comfortable position. Remember the old said “Better the devil you know…”.

So, is this what this woman is waiting for? For the polls to go down?

Sorry, but in my eyes her credibility as a trustworthy pro independence leader is zero.

Republicofscotland @ 8.41

You are right, a majority of Scots did vote for indy in 2014. Due to the residence-based franchise “Scotland only remained in the Union because of the views of those who were born in other parts of Britain and further afield” (McIntosh 2015).

In Scotland’s case the national government used a more open local government franchise for a national referendum. No other country would ever do such a thing. A national referendum is clearly of far greater importance than local gov elections, and even more especially on the subject of constitutional change and matters of sovereignty.

ScotsRenewables @ 8.58

Place of birth is arguably less important than parental descent. For example, a child born in Malaysia to parents of Turkish nationality is not a Malaysian national.

Nationals of other countries resident in Scotland who desire Scottish citizenship may apply for it after indy, same as anywhere else. What we are doing with a local gov residence-based franchise for a national referendum is giving other nationals the power to block the very existence of Scottish citizenship and nationality. People of other national identities who actively block Scottish citizenship from existing clearly don’t want it anyway and by voting No they are making sure nobody else gets it either, not even the Scots for whom the self-determination process is primarily aimed at. This outcome should also be viewed as significant external interference in the self-determination process, which the UN is opposed to.

In other words the unique and non-reciprocal Scottish Government referendum franchise is designed to inflate the No vote, as it did in 2014.

@ James Che

I’m wary of continuing to take up more btl space with this potentially protracted conversation.
Will try to keep it short and point out that we are where we are in a world at this moment in time, and this moment is different in many aspects from what proceeded so comparisons to different times are not always appropriate.

I’m not trying to follow a specific “pure” existence or ideology as determined by someone else. We are all individuals that try to live our own lives, but that involves compromises as we are also part of local communities and wider society.
It is extremely difficult to completely opt out these days.
Building my knowledge and awareness that shapes and defines my actions, along with my activism, requires me to engage with the world we live in.
That being the case I meet, speak, and work with all sorts of folk from all sorts of backgrounds. I also use the internet through a laptop and smartphone. Binned TV in 2004, binned BT a decade or so back. 15 quid a month for smartphone calls and data. Think I’ve averaged using less than 2 units of leccy a day for 15 years or so that means minimal overheads, plus it’s a strong basis for offering a justifiable “fuck you” to any sanctimonious green twats that even consider giving me grief. 😉
I could easily produce that sort of power by going off grid with a couple of solar panels & battery, or a generator if needs be, but my property has a leccy supply so why waste time and money setting that up for more hassle with little benefit.
The time and money saved by living a less flashy but efficient existence allows me to pursue other activities that I deem worthy and beneficial, such as the veg growing, as well as committing time to improving the lives of others or the environment, and of course more than a little time on the old activism…
I am already very independent and suppose I could just sack all these other distractions off, disconnect to an extent and spend more time doing stuff purely for my own self interest, and tbh the way things are panning out that may actually be a prudent way to go to create more of a cushion for when shiz goes bad. However I don’t feel overly invested or hyper cautious in living a life in fear, paranoid about every little thing that could harm or end me.
It’s been shit enough the last year and doesn’t look like improving anytime soon. Humans gonna human, and if that means idiots eating shark fins or pagolins coz they think it’ll give them a better stauner, or folk think they can actually physically change their sex, then I’m not sure I really want to be part that species anyway. The petri dish appears close to being overwhelmed by an ever growing bloom of idiotic and corrupt bacteria.
Ach, we’ll all be back to being space compost soon enough anyway… 🙂

Fucking shite Alf Baird, blood and soil seed of the gael bollocks, and a very poor start for the type of Scotland most of us want to see.

Taking it even further now I see, from place of birth to ‘parental descent’

Aye, pure Aryan Scots, ya fucking racist balloon. Away and shite.

Fucking shite Alf Baird, blood and soil seed of the gael bollocks, and a very poor start for the type of Scotland most of us want to see.
————————————-
And who determines who this MOST of us want , is it you renewables or does this come from a vote of the people who live here , or has it been decided by the sainted one because ONLY she knows what is best for Scotland
———————————-
You recently ADMITTED that you had doubts about Sturgeon’s dedication or determination for a indy ref , where previously you were full frontal Nicola wonderful , you even went on to start your own website which I visited at times but it was too much apologist and sycophantic for my taste . Your vehemence in your responses to people who disagree with your opinions and views smacks of the same disregard that Sturgeon displays to independence supporters it is NOT a good look

Everyone is ENTITLED to their views and opinions regarding the voting franchise and on our route to independence , your feelings of superiority , name calling or bullying won’t change that

Dan, I was not intending coming back and comment again on this picticular blog, but out out respect to you I do so,
Without boasting in any way or manner, as I stated I have been there and done that, so have total understanding of how you live your life in the way you want to the best of your ability in the modern day and world,
But you know in your heart that not everyone is able to do this, some people are disabled mentally or physically, and do not the support systems needed, others are trapped in an environment of flats, others are tied to their place of work or responsibilities to family ties, others are not natural nature inclined like you and I, others need to stay close to a government run city or town for facilities as they actually do not drive,
Others may not have the finances to start up and go it alone,
This is Whom I speak up for, I have a plan in place how to find food and shelter if everything goes upside down just as you do,
To start a rollercoaster of a eco world agenda because we can, gives no thought to others, the mess we are able to create while utterly destroying the people lives of people today, to save other people’s life’s in the future, is called sacrifice, not your sacrifice, not mine, but theirs,
I have more empathy towards others than to say, you will do this now, you may have no employment, you might not feed your family, you will give up your mode of transportation, you will have no roof over your head, you will not own anything, you may die of starvation or hyperthermia out in the sticks with no support system, but you will do it. And it is you that has to do it now in this generation.
While you or I sit smug, knowing it will have little or next to no impact on ourselves,.
No this is a slower process than that, it will take a slower generation to generation learning and substancial support in housing, transport, financing and the willingness for big landowners to give the land back to the people, for roads to stop being tarmaced and for concrete jungle towns to stop being made, for people to have space and gardens again.
One glove does not fit all, its has taken a few hundred years of industrial revolution to get here, and it will take that amount of time to naturally return to a better life.
Forcing this change on people in a very short timeline regardless of suffering is for whom find no empathy in their hearts towards the welfare of their fellow man or woman in the present.

@ James Che

There’s a new thread on the go now so will respond.

There seems to be a little confusion on where you think I am coming from. I’ve already stated “Also acknowledge that few would ever make the personal choices to live as I do…
…We can but lead by example and try to get folk to at least begin to embrace some basic behaviours that would make a difference.”

Compromise is needed and that’s a two way thing, as in no way do I expect folk would or could ever make such a radical shift in how they live their lives to align with mine.
But if folk would or could start to make the effort to stop chucking their fuckin litter out of their cars, and actually learn to properly recycle their waste using the current but limited systems we have in place it would be a start.
Their lazy thoughtless actions use up my time that could be spent doing far more beneficial activities for the locale, rather than me just trying to keep the place tidy and safe for bairns and wildlife.
Broken glass from lobbed wine and beer bottles doesn’t biodegrade and deer, beavers, otters, ducks and swans all use that area, and loads of wee mice die in juice tins as they become trapped.

Folk can whinge that their local council is cutting services, but it costs approx £100 a tonne for general waste going to landfill, so it doesn’t take long to take significant amounts from local authority budgets if general waste amounts aren’t reduced by households segregating the recyclable elements out.

Fairly sure we are generally on the same page and know that most of our societal issues are caused by shite government policies, inequality / poverty, lack of land reform, etc
But as you point out, we are sovereign, and still do have the power and capacity to act and do certain things in our lives. Just coz some aspects of our control and power are compromised, we shouldn’t give up and not endevour to use the ones we do actually have the ability to exercise.
Think global, act local n aw that.

Spent another morning finishing cleaning the roadside embankment of discarded waste. Yay for a new item on the list as scored a used nappy! That’s normal behaviour isn’t it, lobbing yer bairn’s nappy oot the car windae.
Too cold for fishing so opened up a pumpkin and got 6lb of tasty flesh for a pie and soup.
Cannae even be arsed commenting on new thread as totally scunnered that it has come to this…