Wings Over Scotland

CHOKE

She should have stopped 1/2 hour ago, so false

All that’s needed are paramedics with a stretcher for a finale.

Lol, Nicola must be shaking in her shoes.

‘Oh please tell me that really happened?’

You know what, if someone tells me I actually dreamt it, I would believe that.

i am sure the BBC can edit it down to coherent SNPBADness

At least two digs at the nationalists and a declaration of being a proud Unionist. They must be worried.

I have never been so less intimidated by an InyRef2 block statement by anyone, ever.

@ Valerie says at 12:49 pm …. ”All that’s needed are paramedics with a stretcher for a finale.”

Ha, ha, ha! Well it nearly happened Valerie. As she was walking off of the stage and down the stairs she tripped and nearly took a nosedive. Just as well wee Phil was there to hold onto her. Wee Phil that raced onto the stage (thought he was going to go on his neck) to hug her like a scene from Romeo and Juliet. Must have been practising it all last night.

God the Tories are finished. Destroying themselves. Next up Corbyn.

The P45 video. Courtesy of the National. Thanks guys and gals.

link to thenational.scot

The F falling off said it all … F off! LOL!

Vid for moment the F fell off the sign. The E also fell and BBC went in tight on her face, like the gimps they are.

link to twitter.com

Valerie@1:15pm
Shortly after the “F” fell off Theresa was heard to utter: “Sorry about the ‘F’ in FOR!” 😉

Golly, BBC r4 vote tory gimp lunchtime news just had Laura Keunsbergers read out this!

Nicola Sturgeon?Verified account @NicolaSturgeon 8m8 minutes ago

Spare a thought for those of us still to deliver our conference speech and now fretting about all the things that could go wrong ? #SNP17

Message for RD, your boss says no racists/bigots etc so that gets rid of half of the conservative councillors at one stroke.

Indy Ref2 ‘denied’ in her dreams. There already is a mandate and the snp will know the right time for this.

…the majority of Scots thought it better that their nation be run by clowns like this…Why are so many Scots so lacking in confidence in their own nation?

A nation dreaming of Empire status and military capability to RULE them instead of building a better society at home.

I hope this next generation of Scots has more guts

Despite the inept use of fuzzy felt letters – what does ‘Building a country that works for everyone’ mean? Building a country to work for us?? Wasn’t it JFK who said “ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country”?

The letters falling off, the P45, the cough, the lozenge, the breaking voice, the cheesy clinch from Phil at the (blessed) end, the exit trip and the tears – did she say anything interesting, I seemed to have been distracted.

While nearly everyone will remember the speech for her coughing fits, the P45 and the set falling, I will be remembering her it for her statement, that the second referendum was ‘denied’! The decision to hold one was taken after a democratic vote by the Scottish Parliament. At the time, she said ‘Now is not the time’. Can she do that?

Jings …I think that slack rope they cut her just tightened up!

Is Ruthie standing by? 🙂

Independence is the only way out of this madhouse all we have to do is wander down to the polling station and vote when Indy2 is called.

Time to go with grace, me thinks Mrs May!

TMay … ” I take comfort that the General Election saw the threat of nationalism set back “

In the sense that the Tories took a bit of a hammering, I would tend to agree. 😉

Not what she meant, though.

Choice is still hers. Hard Brexit and IndyRef2 follows.

Y’know, there’s an opportunity here.

If you wanted to trash the reputations (cough) of certain elements in the media and kick both Ruth and May into touch, you could do worse than to remind everyone that independence is very much still on the table and a very viable option at your own conference.

They’ve both made a real public spectacle of themselves trash talking the possibility of Scotland’s independence as any kind of option for our electorate. In fact Ruth’s status in Scottish politics hangs on one policy, yes? What d’you reckon would happen to Ruth, or PM May, if that statement was countered by our FM simply restating (for the umpteenth time) that the Scottish electorate WILL have a say once the Brexit deal becomes clear.

Popcorn anyone? 🙂

Love the letters falling off and how on earth did the comedian evade security?

On the letters and in the spirit of Life of Brian….its a sign!

That pakistani bus driver gets about. He was in Nicola’s speech too.

Damn they also spell “We love EU”

Are Tories sociopaths?

The Mind of the Authoritarian
What is the nature of authoritarianism? Whence the origin of ethnocentrism?
Authoritarians are nearly always ethnocentric in that they have a certain, simple and unshakable belief in the superiority of their own racial, cultural and ethnic group with a powerful disclaim for all those in other groups. This can easily lead to brutality, aggression and naked open prejudice.

link to psychologytoday.com

Right-wing authoritarianism, political affiliation, religiosity, and their relation to psychological androgyny
link to link.springer.com

An Introduction to Social Dominance Orientation
link to sites.psu.edu

What a day for a MayDream.

And that wee cough? Well.

link to whiskyboys.com

Do you think the Tories ever sit in a room, shake their heads and say,’You know what, it’s just not working is it’.

i guess the pish she was spouting was even giving her the boak ,just imagine the poor fk/rs who had to listen to it as part of their job .

this tory mob removed from reality just like the labour mob , what they say and what they do are worlds apart ,thats when an inquiring media should be investigating not fawning over useless bloody liars .

I don’t think the Tories at their “conference” have got the Laurel & Hardy tribute act quite right yet.

But it’s not through lack of trying, and they’re getting there.

Jeezo that was unbelievable.

So glad I am going to SNP Conference on Sunday. My pass came in this morning. Can’t wait.

Angela Rudd waiting in the wings

link to caltonjock.com

The idea that Tankgirl would be acceptable to Tory England is laughable.

There’s two basic problems :

1) She’s gay;
2) She’s Scots.

Now depending on age groups 1) and 2) will alternate in preference but there’s no way in hell the people where I live would vote for anyone Scots as a tory MP. I live in the Charnwood constituency in Leics but that attitude is prevalent throughout the shire contituencies – with a couple of notable exceptions (ex-coal/steel areas where lots of Scots moved to decades ago).

Now you move onto the basic problem for a lot of what’s left of the tory party membership. She’s gay, they’re christian and they’re not comfortable with this.

I await more canonisation of Tankgirl by clueless tory MPs with interest. It’s not going to end well 🙂

Another Great British Dream on

Breaking news… Queen sends aide to count ravens at the Tower….

Vestas @ 15:21,

Yes, I can see that. It’s a measure of how desperate the Tories are for success that they are clutching at straws with their only “winner”. =cough=

It’s likely to be a passing fad, as most of those sometime fancied for leadership of the Tories very quickly discover. Once the English spotlight gets properly turned on empty barrel Rude Gal, her star will quickly fade, I expect.

But there’s no bigger turn-on for the Tories than a strong prospect of winning, and there would only have to be one “safe seat” willing to take her (almost certainly urban).

And there are precedences, for the “Scots” part at least. Dr Foxy for one, the late Teddy Taylor who decamped from Glasgow to Southend, and pet hate of my Mum (bless her!), serial loser Gerry Malone, who eventually found a safe berth in Winchester after being ousted from Aberdeen South.

She’ll have a P please, Bob.

I guess a lot of union supporting Scots have a definite hearing problem , despite being told and reapedidy warned about the consequences of voting “NO” , deaf ears .

They have chosen to ignore all the good natured wee funny endless jokes from their friends in the south who of course speak english properly , and laugh at their funny monopoly money , their indecipherable accents , their national dress , their backward literature and their mundan authors , their small contribution to the modern world , their football teams ,The list is endless ,

And they believe they are wanted and respected by a nation who treats everyone who isn’t one of them as grubbly foreigners on the take , best of luck chaps and it’s probably a good thing you are a bit deaf , it might help .

Even the Tory posters aren’t strong and stable.

Expect a visit shortly from Mr C Alexander ,he of the dug tail docking mission, well he got his wish curtesy of some SNP branches, pounced on gleefully by our BBC, ( Struth ) that’s it help them out boys oh and girls ,

Please Pay Attention any ammunition will be gratefully absorbed and used , don’t help them.

Their next wee piece Scottish growth rate slows , we can’t have laughter at the Tory party leader without a wee kick at the SNP government in retaliation can we now , I mean fairs fair equal measures for all eh .

Tories build new houses, fix the country, they can’t even build a stage set.

Lets see a real conference next week here in Scotland.

I gather Theresa May was boasting about graphene as a British discovery.

Well here’s what the Nobel-prize winning leader of that group of mostly non-British, EU-funded scientists had to say about Brexit.

At about 4am it became clear that the Remainers were likely to lose …. I went to bed acknowledging the human species were not very smart animals.

Fine article archived.

link to archive.is

If Tories have had enough of experts, it looks like experts have had enough of Tories.

This was last year the makeup of the EU Parliament (might not be totally accurate now):

Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) 216
Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP 189
European Conservatives and Reformists Group 74
Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe 69
Confederal Group of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left 52
Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance 50
Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group 44
Europe of Nations and Freedom Group 39
Non-attached Members 18
Total 751

From the Catalan debate from Alyn Smith’s twitter, it looks like the ECR, the Socialists and the Greens spoke out against the violence in Catalonia in this afternoon’s Strasbourg debate, for a total of 323 out of 750 – less than half. But that’s just from Alyn Smith’s twitter, there may have been more.

On-topic, didn’t hear nor want to hear May’s speech, did read Settle in the Herald, and I’d say her croaky voice was a ploy to engender sympathy, pretty standard stuff for the weak. “poor thing”.

Surely could have run to a projection backdrop instead of those fuzzy stick on letters?

Mind you only 100,000 members?

Or are they living in a UKOK Blue Peter past of toilet roll tubes cardboard and “sticky backed plastic”?

And link!

link to archive.is

I know both of them suffer from Unionitis – but is la Baillie also suffering from the same cold as the PM?

I think we should be told …

link to twitter.com

See what happens when you leave home in a hurry and forget your lucky iron necklace chain?

Bad shit happens. That’s what.

I’m guessing you could add the GUE/NGL – European United Left – Nordic Green Left with 52 MEPs, since they also called the debate, so that would make 375 out of 750 – exactly half. Plus some others like Farage I guess, but it is a question if those who spoke out guardedly would vote for any strong motion.

Can’t find any analysis of the debate so far, and don’t understand Italian enough to get this ending EP (European Parliament) president’s speech:

link to audiovisual.europarl.europa.eu

Here’s also an interesting article. The EPP, the largest group (216) who spoke up for Scotland in Brexit, are in a bit of a bind as that contains Rajoy’s party.

I haven’t given up on the EU yet, but am moving towards EFTA and the EEA plus our own trade agreement with the rUK, get a “Nordic Rim” future for iScotland. For me, the EU is failing its strongest test since Greece (and Brexit). It hasn’t learned jack shit.

But it does depend on what’s going on behind the scenes which looks to be – not a lot – as Spain is sending in a “miltary logistics” unit. Which presumably is the same as the Yanks in Vietnam.

Weak and wobbly

re;mike@3.54pm

Blimey, sounds like they are coming over all hippy mann. Bits of paper on pretendy trees, whatever next. Usually they would pledge money, now they are pledging allegiance to Britnat british farming with paper apples. Where is all of the spare land going to come from for housing all that cattle and growing all those veg I wonder.

Just at shops earlier, can’t avert your eyes from huge britnat flags on the veg that is being grown in little britain, just a wee bit in your face. The courgettes looked minging, better get growing more veg folks,small organic farms are going be in huge demand as well.

A good year for apples, and plums. Means next year could be bad, expect huge hikes in veg prices next year folks.

Talk of Tories axing Mrs May are somewhat over hasty but when / if they do select a new leader they have to be very careful. It is possible to think of possible successors who would appeal to English constituents but might have the opposite effect on voters in Scotland.

O/T

The map on the front page of this SG document looks good does it not?

link to gov.scot

yesindyref2
Thanks for the EU update, still too early to tell. 😉

Dave McEwan Hill,

“A constitution and its laws are only legitimate if they are supported by a majority of the people who live under them.”

What utter nonsense.

The “plebs” have zero control over the constitution and its laws.

In any legal case, the constitution and its laws will be looked at, not what the “plebs” think of them.

In our own backyard, the Scottish justice system is rotten to the core and the vast majority of lawyers, especially judges, are the lowest of the low.

They don’t give a damn of what the “plebs” support.

I can say with 99% confidence that Nicola will not dare defy Westminster and hold an independence referendum once Saint Theresa has refused permission.

But if by 1% chance she does, I can say with 100% confidence that the “the constitution and its laws” will not be on her side.

The fascist British state is much much worse than the fascist Spanish state.

yesindyref2 @6.09pm I’d say her croaky voice was a ploy to engender sympathy, pretty standard stuff for the weak. “poor thing”.
____

agree, pretty much the same for the recent clip I’ve just watched of Jackie Baillie (especially given her recent claim to fame)

@stewartb
Yes, that map does look VERY good. Interesting to see Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania included. I did a google map 🙂

@CameronB Brodie
Indeed it is too early, but I don’t think it looks promising so far.

It only takes good people to turn a weak blind eye for wrongness to prevail.

mike cassidy @6.58pm

Basically the website is telling you that there were 844 wounded according to the separatists and 33 police according to the interior minister. Lots of images were tweeted and relayed on social media but some are in fact manipulated and not true records of the so-called events described in the title.

Sunday has been marked by shock images of police violence in Catalonia but certain shock images have been manipulated:
Photo one:
A video which has been shared thousands of times on twitter shows the police abusing several people in the street, among them a young ma n and a young woman.

True or false -use outré site to search( click to access)
To recognise a ‘trick of the eye’ use our download our programmes from Chrome or Firefox
If you want to read true information online, read our advice to avoid false info.
Need help verifying an image/ Use our Facebook robot…

Mike Cassidy @ 6.58

Mike, I am a professional trilingual translator and if I wasn’t doing paid work ATM, I’d happily shape this better.

However, this is for you courtesy of Google Translate (which I rarely use in professional contexts.)

I hope it helps you in some way.

____________

Police violence in Catalonia: watch out for misleading images
The day of Sunday was marked by police violence in Catalonia, but some shock images were manipulated. Explanations.
THE WORLD | 02.10.2017 at 12h20 • Updated on 02.10.2017 at 18h19 |
By Adrien Sénécat
Subscribe from 1 € Share Add Share (22 381) Tweet
Real violence, but sometimes false images. The clashes between the riot police and the independence sympathizers made 844 wounded on Sunday October 1st, according to the regional government. At least 33 policemen were also injured, according to the Spanish Interior Ministry. Some scenes of violence have been immortalized by Internet users and have circulated widely on social networks in recent hours. But other messages, equally relayed, put forward images manipulated. Return on four of them.

1. Police officers beat citizens … in 2012

WHAT RUMOR SAYS
A video shared thousands of times on Twitter shows police officers raping several people on the street, including a young man and a young woman. “The Spanish police attack Catalan voters”, denounces the message that accompanies the images:
  
WHY IT IS FALSE
These images have nothing to do with the vote held on Sunday 1 October 2017. They actually date back to 14 November 2012, during a demonstration against austerity in Tarragona (Catalonia), where participants were repressed by Mossos d’Esquadra (the Catalan regional police force).
14N: Brutal paliza de los “mossos” has a menor

Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames.
Click here to visit our HTML5 video.

0:00 / 0:38
2. A disabled person assaulted … in 2011

WHAT RUMOR SAYS
A photo shared thousands of times on Facebook shows a man on a wheelchair taken to task by a policeman, baton in the air. “The day when Catalonia wants to vote for independence, this is one of the images I hope to make around the world,” comments this page, which denounces police violence:
  
WHY IT IS FALSE
The photography is real, but there also ancient. The cliché was actually taken in 2011, during a police intervention against the movement of “outraged” in Catalonia.
3. An emblematic but manipulated cliché

WHAT RUMOR SAYS
More than 10,000 Internet users have relayed this image, presented here on Twitter as worthy of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. There are Catalans opposed to representatives of the forces of order, a Catalan flag emerging in the midst of the crowd:
  
WHY IT IS FALSE
The image seems to date back to the day of the vote in Catalonia, but it was retouched, the Catalan flag having been added to the middle of the crowd.
  
4. An old photo of firefighters who oppose the police

WHAT RUMOR SAYS
“A valiant Catalan firefighters”, “a symbolic image of the policy of division of the government Rajoy …” Many observers have relayed this picture featuring firefighters standing at the front against armed policemen in the context of the referendum of independence:
  
WHY IT IS FALSE
The photo, however, has nothing to do with actuality. This is an image taken by AP Paco Serinelli’s photographer during anti-austerity protests on 29 May 2013 in Barcelona, ??a protest movement in which firefighters took part.

Eh silly question is Rock always this cheerful ?

I haven’t really followed his posts, so just asking .

@Meg merrilees
Without commenting on the specifics, there are almost certainly some false images that were sent around the world, and retweets. There was a retweet on Catalans for Yes for instance supposedly from Tusk condemning the violence against the citizens on Oct 1, but as that seemed unlikely I did a very quick check on Tusk’s quite short timeline and found the tweet was from Aug 17th about the Barcelona terror attack.

Supporters of a cause – the Catalans and us – should be very careful about rebroadcasting such things, and should check them out before enthusiastically endorsing them, as it only needs one or two false flags to allow the other side to discredit the lot, including genuine stuff. And we ourselves should repudiate them.

Puigdemont has accused King Felippe of ignoring millions of Catalans – looks like they will declare Indy next week.

Yesindy ref2

Wasn’t Joanna Cherry herself caught out by something recently!

yesindyref2 @ 7.32

“”I haven’t given up on the EU yet, but am moving towards EFTA and the EEA plus our own trade agreement with the rUK, get a “Nordic Rim” future for iScotland. For me, the EU is failing its strongest test since Greece (and Brexit). It hasn’t learned jack shit.””

How did the EU do in relation to NI and the troubles? Was that a test?

BBC news saying the big worry in Catalonia is civil War between Yes and No Catalan’s WTF they can’t help their selfs.
Toodlethenoo reckons the Maybot is toast
Florence and the Machine saying they did not give permission for their tune to be used .
Omni Shambles of a conference, No chance of an early general election (again) although I can see her getting ousted soon. Just a thought the coughing fit started after she got her P45 , can stress bring it one? Think she went to pieces like her graphics after the P45 stunt, not the calm and reassured type of person who has control of the Nucleur button is it?

@Legerwood
The EU seems to be doing OK over NI, but then it is a co-signator with the UK over the Good Friday Agreement, so it is observing the treaty. What the EU needs to be able to do is work outside treaties if they don’t be specific on anything, and be able to move faster and particualrly, even-handedly. Spain is difficult for it, but it really needs to be more flexible and less lethargic.

How it does this while respecting the sovereignty of its members is anyone’s guess.

A view from Catalonia and why the leaders of the EU need to show fortitude and leadership in their condemnation of the Spanish Government;

‘The critical question after Sunday’s Catalan referendum and the violent response of the (Spanish national) police now is: how long will the Catalan people resist peacefully the police attacks? Someone in Madrid is maybe dreaming that terrorism will wake up in Catalonia in order to transform a political problem into a public order problem?…

Instead, what we urgently need is the EU to wake up. Not to push for Catalan independence, of course, but to push for democracy and to defend its own principles and values: that a EU member cannot use its armed forces against its population and to preserve the EU subsidiarity principle, which does not end in the EU/Member States relation…

To pretend that Catalonia’s claims are a domestic Spanish affair and be silent once again is not a democratic option. To prioritize nation states over citizens is not a European option. The EU must intervene and mediate in the conflict. Even independence supporters in Catalonia thought that the conflict would end as the Scotland/UK one: with a devolution max promise and an agreed referendum. This is the democratic solution that Spain is surprisingly rejecting and the EU must try and force…

Today, Europe must decide if it serves the citizens or the states, if it is an economic cartel or a social construction’

link to socialeurope.eu

The world desperately needs a new model of democracy that is achieved through a peaceful consensus by an engaged and educated electorate that has been given the time and the available resource to understand the arguments for its autonomy- that would be Scotland.

An interesting analysis on Rajoy, possible suspension of Catalan’s government and forcing elections there, or even a potential national election to try to strengthen Rajoy’s hand (a la May).

link to reuters.com

Mmm, a la may, alamo, spot the difference. Ground control to Colonel Ruth. Spot the connection!

Dave Mc Ewan Hill @ 11.44

Totally agree. Are you going to the SNP conference? If so I hope to meet you for a wee discussion.

Still Positive at 12.24

I am. I suspect I will be on the voting papers as David Hill, mind you as the party usually refuses to let me use my full name.

@Scot Finlayson says: 4 October, 2017 at 10:46 pm:

“Could someone explain the parameter/boundary as to what size of region can vote to become free and independent from country/nation,
where/when does democracy say “nah you`re too wee”.”

I’m going totally on memory, Scot, but it has nothing to do with size. Far as I remember it went along the lines of, “Any identifiable of people”. The criterion is thus quite loose but one measure was if they had their own language.

For example the Romany people have their own language but are drawn from a large group of countries. Another example is how the native people of North America are called nations not tribes.

As are The Inuit, (Eskimos). These are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada (Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, Nunavut, Nunatukavut), Denmark (Greenland), Russia (Siberia) and the United States (Alaska). Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language.

It is often really a cultural thing. Then we have the Australian aboriginal peoples and the New Zealand Maoris.

Seen a tweet about Maybots speech by a Phillip Sym of the BBC, presumably works at Holyrood as most of his other tweets mention there, for some reason my iPad won’t copy the tweet but referring to the letters of the slogan falling off he says this
“We’ve also dropped an E which actually starts to explain some of the things that have happened in the last hour ”
Superb, can’t see him getting promoted to merika anytime soon!

Dorothy, ain’t watched all the BSB at Aden yet, what race did u see the Saltire?

The Spanish government is falling back on nineteenth century legislation to resolve a twenty-first century difficulty. The UN needs to step-in with an updated statement of policy, confirming it will recognize Catalonia as an independent state based on the expression of free-will by its people.

link to caltonjock.com

Phronesis @ 23:22,

I heartily agree. This unfortunate business is becoming as much a test for the EU as it is for the Spanish Government. Sooner or later the EU is going to have to deal properly with the issue of legitimate* secession within a member country, and not just wilfully “pass by on the other side”, looking the other way.

If members of the EU proceed to maintain that some extra-treaty issue such as the supposed sacrosanctity of existing borders is paramount over any actual treaty provision such as civil rights, the EU will surely fail, condemned as hypocritical.

On the other hand, arguing that somehow the answer is for Scotland to join EFTA instead is a complete non-sequitur if ever there was one. By taking offence at something we think the EU can and should do, we instead have a strop and deliberately choose to render ourselves powerless instead?

We would be foregoing a prime chance to actually participate and influence the further development of the EU in a positive direction for the sake of joining an organisation that has no power or influence whatever. (For about the same cost into the bargain!) That doesn’t make any sense.

We don’t exist in isolation, as if the outside world can be made to disappear by some supreme act of wishful thinking. Surely the whole point of having an independent country is so that we can do as much good as possible in the outside world, as well as doing as much good as possible at home?

*(I use that word very deliberately. The weaselly use of “legality” as a fig leaf to cover embarrassment at supporting brutal state suppression of all peaceful democratic possibilities, is thoroughly contemptible.)

@RJS
I think I could maybe make a case for EFTA but Still Positive is right, it’s too soon, we need to wait and see what does happen. Howsoever just as a taster, within the EEA via EFTA we can still contribute to various funds, and get benefits from them. EFTA has some influence even without a vote in the EU, and Scotland would strengthen that influence without overwhelming EFTA as the UK would.

On defence terms Norway for instance is well respected and had or has the secretary General of NATO plus flagship in 2017 of NATO’s Standing Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1), which “From the North Sea to the English Channel and the Baltic Sea to Iceland, the group participated in several multinational exercises and conducted continuous patrolling, providing the Alliance with immediate maritime capabilities and maritime situational awareness.”.

Still in defence there’s NORDEFCO “The main aim and purpose of the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) is to strengthen the participating nations´ national defence, explore common synergies and facilitate efficient common solutions.”

Like the Swedish Red Cross, Scotland could have a Scottish Red Cross, and augment that via the military for instance, with a hospital ship and freshwater producing ship in convoy with a large deck amphibious carrier (perhaps £400 million) with for instance a few F35-Bs, Merlins, but also transports fixed and rotating wing, and escorts of our own and also say with Norway and Denmark. Capable of defence in a combat zone, you let us tend the wounded and give you water or we annihilate you!

And my favourite, a diplomacy degree in several Unis – an advance on the usual boring International Relations. Plus a diplomacy corps, independent of government. Got a conflict or a problem like Spain and Catalonia? Send in a big MacDiplomat.

I could go on …

OT
Headline from Herald: “Scottish accountants lose their independence“. Bad SNP, bad Scottish Government?

Nope, a couple of firms have been taken over by Baldwins in Staffordshire, a bit more you could say, asset-stripping. Like Scott Lithgow being the flagship of the Trafalgar Group sort of thing. How proud Thatcher was of that. I’ll shut up now.

The “knack” with sovereignty is not just what it’s based on, but also the recognition it has.

Even legit sovereignty that is competent in law is worthless if it is not recognised as sovereignty- like Scotland. That is why it is imperative for Scotland to secure a judicial ratification from the Court of Session, or the UN or Europe that Scotland’s sovereignty be recognised, even before the UK splits, even before there is a majority for Indy.

If Scotland has a legitimate claim on sovereignty, that sovereignty like all sovereignty is absolute, and if the international community is satisfied it is competent in law, then it will also be recognised. People are wrong when they say there are different kinds of sovereignty, but that is not correct. Sovereignty is one thing, an indivisible absolute binary condition.

The problem for Catalonia is they had no statue of their own to make their democratic referendum legal, the only statute was Spain’s which had declared the referendum illegal and unconstitutional. The constitutional lawyers in the International community need a bigger peg to hang their coat on than just a democratic vote.

If Scotland goes into the next ScotRef campaign before addressing this issue of Scotland’s constitutional sovereignty, Scotland’s sovereignty too will be unrecognised, disputed, and thus the recognised and undisputed sovereignty of Westminster will prevail. When that is the scenario, Westminster is in very strong position to dispute and bedevil Scotland’s claims on Independence. They can dispute the sovereignty, dispute the legality, dispute the franchise, declare the referendum advisory, and demand it is re-run. We could suffer the same mess and uncertainty as Catalonia.

Scotland is sovereign, we have legal legitimacy, but all of it lies buried under three centuries of constitutional sophistry, broadly accepted convention, mind altering propaganda, much of which is deliberate subjugation.

If we want Scotland’s democratic referendum to stand tall in the eyes of the International community and carry the day for Scotland, then we should stop dicking about with mandates, polls, and aspirational constitutions which have yet to be written, and fretting about the horrors of Brexit. First, foremost, and fast, we need to get our constitutional house in order.

If the people of Scotland are sovereign, then the International community which we expect to recognise Scotland as an independent country will have to be made aware and satisfied that Scotland’s sovereignty has legal legitimacy. Do that before the vote, not after, and we save ourselves an inordinate amount of stressful claim and counterclaim, and constitutional uncertainty of the type which is now going to bedevil the Catalans for months, and probably I fear see some of them losing their lives and liberties.

We can save ourselves the same game of constitutional jeopardy by making EVERYBODY aware that Scotland has constitutional sovereignty. By everybody, I mean everybody, from the 16 yr old voting on his birthday to the Orange Order monkey polishing his buttons, from the bureaucrats in Westminster to the bureaucrats Brussels and New York, EVERYBODY needs to know that Scotland’s population has civic, popular sovereignty, and that Scotland’s “Independence” is not the creation of a new country, but the emancipation of an old one. Everybody in every London news studio has to know that it is Scotland, not Westminster, who has the final say.

Scottish Independence is not about creating anything, it is all about discrediting the lie, and proving the unconstitutional Act of Union CANNOT overturn or usurp our sovereignty. That is the essence of our struggle. That is the point of origin from which everything else is a consequence.

It does not require any democratic majority in Scotland to do this. It is simply good housekeeping for Constitutional lawyers dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It doesn’t sound inspiring, but it will do the job all the same. It is NOT a UDI, because the “U” part, the Unilateralism is nonsense if the International Community recognises Scotland’s Constitutional law, and “D” part, the Declaration, already happened 700 years ago.

Our Independence is delivered because the competency and legitimacy of the Act of Union is discredited, and Westminster is thus powerless over Scottish affairs and jurisdiction.

Once the penny drops and you see the picture in focus, you realise that the ScotRef is a red herring. We do not need a referendum to choose between constitutional rectitude and unconstitutional nonsense. Debunk and get rid of the nonsense, and whatever remains will be Scotland’s inalienable Constitutional Sovereignty. Get rid of the lies and all that remains is the truth.

We will be Independent in everything but name, pending only the formal collapse of the untenable Union, but a collapse we are in a position to manage and mitigate, and hopefully keep peaceful. Indeed with Brexit issues and English public opinion, it might even be amicable… well you never know.

By comparison, hold the referendum first, like the Catalans have done, and we will be Independent in nothing but name, and we will be buffeted and bullied by everyone who then contests our right to sovereignty. It is going to be an acrimonious mess and people are already getting hurt.

If the SNP is serious about our smooth and non violent ascension to Independence, then Brexit and ScotRef become largely academic. Nicola Sturgeon once said the issue between Scotland and Westminster will end up in the constitutional courts. She was right, and wrong. It WILL end up in the Constitutional Courts, but the error is that it ought to be there already.

We should right now be presenting our sovereign credentials to both the UN and ECJ for acknowledgement and validation, pending the constitutional review of United Kingdom’s disputed integrity, with consequences of the Union’s dissolution predicated by a remedial democratic plebiscite in Scotland.

In short, get our Sovereignty in the bag, make the UK Union untenable, and then exercise our sovereign democracy to decide by consensus how we clear up the mess.

Links

link to news.gov.scot

link to indyref2.scot

link to itisintruthnotforglory.wordpress.com

link to snp.org

link to theorkneynews.scot

link to alynsmith.eu

link to audioboom.com

Future in doubt for more than 600 Aberdeen EU academics
link to archive.is

COUGH COUGH: WE’RE OUT WITH NO DEAL
Theresa May quietly resigns Brexit negotiations to the dark cupboard, along with Britain’s future.
link to byline.com

link to uk.businessinsider.com

link to thecanary.co

Strong chances of Brexit no deal, but UK government may collapse – Scottish minister
link to archive.is

Agree with jock McDonnell 8.22am. We should be shouting about our sovereignty from the rooftops,and ramming it down westminsters throat.

Mornin’ Nana

Byline piece is a good catch and well worth reading. I don’t think the author’s wrong and the dissection of the speech was pretty clinical.

nana , coffee at the ready – love the canary video!

Lenny , you must be on a phone or tablet – Assen not Aden, brilliant first race Leon won but Shaky came from 17th on the grid to take 2nd.
Second race was pretty good too Silvain won – which made a wee change!
Big Saltire each time they completed a lap – pretty poor crowd though , nothing like MotoGP size.