The world's most-read Scottish politics website

Wings Over Scotland


The integrity of a nation 369

Posted on January 14, 2021 by

This time almost exactly two years ago I sat in a cafe close to Holyrood in a state of what I can only call shock. The enormity of what I’d just heard was sinking in; over the preceding nearly three hours I’d been introduced to all the gory detail of the plot against Alex Salmond. The last two years has at times been surreal for me as a result.

To explain what I am going to write next I need to tell you something about my fundamental beliefs. I have worked close to the power of government my whole life. I have studied and read widely on power. I am also a strong believer in social change.

Everything I have seen has driven me to the same conclusion: that nothing is more important than integrity in public life. That may seem anachronistic to some (given modern political culture) and not particularly left-wing. But the positive change I want cannot be built on anything but the firmest of foundations; when corruption or misuse of power creeps into those foundations, nothing good can be built on them.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags:
Category comment, corruption, disturbing, scottish politics

  • About

    Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)

    Stats: 6,729 Posts, 1,215,343 Comments

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Tags

    and finally and firstly arithmetic fail braveheart klaxon britnats captain darling cartoons Chris Cairns confused cringe crybabies dateline debates Devo Nano Douglas Daniel Federalists Unionists and Devolutionists flat-out lies foreigner watch from the archives fundraisers galleries Greg Moodie hamish hypocrisy liars light-hearted banter lizards memogate misinformation one nation perspectives poll project fear project feart qft Scott Minto smears snp accused soapbox the positive case for the union The Vow toldyouso too wee too poor too stupid unionist of the day vote no get nothing

  • Recent Comments

    • GeoffC on The more you change nothing: “17 of them, so one for each year in “power” at Holyrood – but what do they do to further…” Apr 11, 16:05
    • Michael Laing on The more you change nothing: “@ Yoon Scum: Please hurry up, then. I, and I’m sure many others, will be very happy to see the…” Apr 11, 15:28
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “Quick question Apart from calling me an English scumbag and marching ALOT Any ideas on showing that Holyrood is more…” Apr 11, 15:23
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “Why Bother? The UN are sending in troops to free us next week no way can they ignore a petition…” Apr 11, 15:22
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “I’m going to slightly disagree with you Grangemouth is closing not because it suits Westminster but because it has been…” Apr 11, 15:20
    • sarah on The more you change nothing: “www.barrheadboy.com” Apr 11, 15:18
    • sarah on The more you change nothing: “Thanks, Michael. It seems that the grassroots are sprouting this spring! There is a Yes Brechin meeting of 5 parties,…” Apr 11, 15:07
    • sarah on The more you change nothing: “HURRAH! An umbrella group of independence parties for 2026 Holyrood election IS happening. See Barrhead Boy’s blog today.” Apr 11, 15:02
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “Tim Rideout Is he the one who claimed all the IT for the new central bank could be bought for…” Apr 11, 14:14
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “GM I live in scotland Should I be locked up after the UN free’s Scotland to stop me holding the…” Apr 11, 14:11
    • GM on The more you change nothing: “Absolute waste of his old mans efforts that cunt. Hope his bairns dinnae get tae ken what he does for…” Apr 11, 14:01
    • Michael Laing on The more you change nothing: “Apologies if others have already posted the following information, but here is a link to a flyer for the Scottish…” Apr 11, 13:48
    • Michael Laing on The more you change nothing: “@ Dan: I’ve just been reading Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, which includes a chapter on the toxicity of Facebook…” Apr 11, 13:41
    • Young Lochinvar on The more you change nothing: “Hmmm.. What a transcendent form of uber b0ll0cks. Suppose you had to get it off yer chest..” Apr 11, 13:40
    • Jay on The more you change nothing: “Viv O’B, you did not reply to my enquiry relating to your comment on the matter of a lost M88…” Apr 11, 12:03
    • bobo bunny on The more you change nothing: “Fair comment. If we’d got independence when Salmond was in charge, who knows where we would be. But with this…” Apr 11, 11:37
    • Lorn on The more you change nothing: “Nope. They’re actually doubling down on everything. It is going to take a couple of generations to eliminate their rotten-to-the-core…” Apr 11, 11:36
    • Jay on Mad caps: “Saarah: thank you for acknowledgement and good luck. Those rhizomes are troublesome, go anywhere.” Apr 11, 11:28
    • Hatey McHateface on The more you change nothing: ““spout their inane drivel on” But one man’s inane drivel is another women’s self-evident truth. And vice versa. And there’s…” Apr 11, 11:19
    • nutty slack on The more you change nothing: “I was walking on a piece of wasteland when I came across something moving about under a big cover. I…” Apr 11, 10:55
    • James Barr Gardner on The more you change nothing: “Who were the office staff who left or were pushed ? I wonder how the hierarchy decided who and why…” Apr 11, 10:43
    • Michael Laing on The more you change nothing: “@ Geri and Charles Findlay: I suspect the demand for video selfies is so that they can use your image…” Apr 11, 10:42
    • Hatey McHateface on The more you change nothing: “That all sounds utterly horrifying! The capturing your face at different angles bit, that is 🙂 Fit’s yer problem wi…” Apr 11, 10:41
    • Dan on The more you change nothing: “Last week with regard to the tariff “wars”, diabloandco asked just what do we import from the USA other than…” Apr 11, 10:37
    • Charles Findlay on The more you change nothing: “Hi Geri, I’ve had that facial recognition request a few days ago when I tried to join The Union Steam…” Apr 11, 09:57
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “Cold hard fact 1 Support for indy is a minority Cold hard fact 2 NO ONE who is a soft…” Apr 11, 09:34
    • Geri on The more you change nothing: “OT but anyone else had this Big Brother bullshit from Facebook? “Confirm your identity with a video selfie To make…” Apr 11, 09:25
    • Shug on The more you change nothing: “To be honest anybody with any skill or competence would not want to work for the organisation. Who would want…” Apr 11, 09:02
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “To show I am at one with the Scottish government how reply is as follows “REDACTED”” Apr 11, 08:15
    • Yoon Scum on The more you change nothing: “I was told by one of your faithful followers back in 2014 if we voted NO then the proclaimers would…” Apr 11, 08:13

  • A tall tale



↑ Top