The Long Unravelling
You’ve got to admit, that’s a zinger.
Craig Whyte is a man who knows all about financial doom looming on the horizon of a once-powerful institution. But it doesn’t take an expert with lived experience to spot what’s coming down the line for the SNP.
There are nine months still to go before the party’s 2024 accounts will be published. But they’re going to be abysmal. 2024 was a general election year, and even though the party was parsimonious in its spending compared to previous years (the figures haven’t yet been published by the Electoral Commission, but every SNP officeholder we’re on speaking terms with says they were working on a budget of crumbs), that’s still likely to put a seven-figure hole in a bank balance that was already barely above the waterline.
The last published accounts, for 2023, showed a surplus of £662,000 which was in most senses imaginary, because it was achieved by essentially stealing money that was owed to branches in the shape of the “branch dividend”. But that still only left the party with £42,000 in the bank.
That’ll barely be enough to cover a redundancy payoff for Chief Operating Officer Sue Ruddick, who Wings is told is one of the victims of the purge of HQ staff. The publicity-shy Ruddick has been with the SNP for 16 years, and given her pivotal role in burying the bodies of the Sturgeon era, we very much doubt the party will be keen to make an enemy of her by trying to cheap out on her golden handshake.
Meanwhile the party’s membership, and the income derived from it, continues to fall. The Sunday Post piece above notes that staff costs swallowed up 81% of membership income last year compared to just 35% in its halcyon days of 2015. But the shorter-term trends are also alarming.
Sam Taylor of Unionist propaganda outfit These Islands noted in a series of tweets yesterday that the equivalent figure last year was just 64%.
Now, Wings readers will know that there’s a curious lack of correlation between the number of members the SNP has and the amount of income it reports receiving from them. The party made MORE money from membership fees in 2022 than it did in 2019, despite member numbers having fallen by around 45,000 over that period.
Of course, the SNP’s claims over its membership figures are not to be trusted – the party has lied about them for years and years, finally being caught out publicly in 2023 when its then head of comms Murray Foote had to resign for denying a drop of 30,000 that had been accurately reported by the Sunday Mail.
(Although Wings readers had known the numbers were a lie since 2020.)
There is no compelling reason to believe that the current claimed figure of 64,000 or so bears any resemblance to reality. But it appears that at a minimum, if it does, then those members are handing over less money each. Whichever explanation is true, the amount of income from membership fees is falling.
It certainly isn’t being replaced by donations, either.
The party has struggled to attract major donors for years, since Nicola Sturgeon (and later Humza Yousaf) scared off its wealthier benefactors from the world of business.
The problem has been especially acute more recently, because who in their right mind would donate money to a party whose finances have been under a seemingly endless and intensive police investigation on numerous grounds, and whose former CEO has already been charged with embezzlement?
And whose accountants – a tiny Manchester-based firm employed at extortionate expense after the party had spent six months searching for anyone willing to do the job – litter the annual accounts with disclaimers saying “Look, to be honest this could all be complete rubbish, we can’t verify quite a lot of it and we’re just going by what the party has told us”.
You’d be as well setting your cash on fire.
The SNP’s battering at the general election will also cost it around £1m a year in Short money from the UK government, as well as other funding. So it’s really going to be struggling. Could it borrow or get an extended overdraft facility to fill the gap?
Unlikely, because for all the reasons above and more, it’s a complete financial basket case, being kept barely afloat by robbing its own branches and piecemeal bailouts from the dead, which are of course intrinsically unpredictable, since you don’t know who’s going to die.
(The SNP still owes £60,000 to the man accused of embezzling from it, a sentence which all by itself would send many lenders running for the hills.)
And barring another lottery winner or a sudden lethal virus pandemic primarily affecting wealthy SNP supporters (hey, maybe THAT’S why they stuffed the care homes with COVID patients), there’s no salvation anywhere in sight. Nothing’s going to get better. Membership will keep falling. There’s a costly Scottish general election due in a year and a bit, which will be like firing a torpedo into the Titanic.
Sacking 10 people might conceivably save maybe £500,000 a year (and especially if they include a smattering of highly-paid execs like Sue Ruddick), which is a non-trivial sum, but it’s not even half of what’s going to be lost in Short money alone, and the SNP’s underlying fundamentals are about as healthy as those of Rangers Football Club in 2011 when Craig Whyte rocked up with his pound coin.
Remind us again how long the club lasted after that.
We could do a fundraiser to try and get the £1.. 🙂
Great idea Graf!
But, don’t forget to make sure it is ‘ringfenced’ ….
Looks like the SNP will be destroyed
Completely and forever.
Yay.!
I’m as angry as you are about what the current mob have done to the SNP, Zander, but I don’t share your glee in their destruction. This is the party I have voted for since I first got the vote at 19, which shows you how long ago that was. The party of Winnie Ewing,Margot McDonald and Alex Salmond, to name a few. There is nobody about in the Independence movement to realistically take power. I am saddened to my core.
I appreciate and understand your response completely Joan.
FWIW, I voted for the SNP for over 30 years.
It was in October 2020, that, thanks to Stuart Campbell and others, the veil of blind loyalty was lifted from before my eyes.
The sense of searing betrayal was overwhelming then and remains so to this day.
For me, the SNP is beyond fixing and beyond redemption.
Collectively and individually they are ("Tractor" - Ed)s all to the people of Scotland and if you believe in the concept of guilty by association, then they are all criminals as well.
As to the future? There is always hope.
Scotland is full of very talented people, none of whom reside within the realms of the SNP.
My best wishes to you Joan.
Ed’s tractor should, of course, read ("Tractor" - Ed)s.
Ok Ed, how about some organisation that betrays it’s own people.
It should never be about the Party. It was about Self Determination for Scots. The people you listed believed in that. The current batch don’t.
Moves are afoot for an Independence summit. Look out for news of it – coming soon.
If a summit is to be forthcoming DR, then the SNP should be left to dwell in the caves just like the Morlocks they are.
No, not Morlocks.
They are clearly basing themselves on the Eloi.
In my opinion the clock is ticking on the NuSNP, the electorate clearly is spurned.
A focus must surely be on promoting the non “Eloi” independence seeking political party to give independence supporters a legitimate voting option or continuing voter disengagement will inevitably result.
Just imagine if that party worked with the wider YES movement (I do not include the Khmer Vert in that description) and all the good work, drive and passion that exists there?
You do know your Time Machine YL.
If you want change but you willnae vote for the change parties on offer such as ISP then nothing will ever change.
I’ve read the article and I’m gutted.
Gutted!
No- I fancy that you are ‘disappointed’- it is they who are gutted. I’m filling up myself…!
What about another book “Women Hold Up The Other Half Of The Sky”? Maybe adopt an innovative definition for the word “women”.
She could allow Humza a chapter or two for some of his speeches. Surely people will want to read and enjoy his “White! White!! White!!!” effort again. Or is it just me?
Millions of Scots are still looking for stocking fillers, but obviously, time is of the essence. 38 shopping days left until Xmas.
Like me, I guess most true Scots would want three or maybe four copies. One to read, one for display, one for best, and maybe one for handing down to the great grandkids.
That fair cheered me up! May their end be swift, painful and very, very public.
It is not the end of the SNP I will cheer its the arrest, trial and imprisonment of those who have been in control of it these past 10 years. We could see the SNP disappear as a political party and Sturgeon, Lloyd etc getting 10s of thousands for appearing on TV. Swinney and Robertson continuing to be quoted in the press, retaining their status and wealth and with more money rolling in. They milked the SNP dry then deliberately and methodically destroyed it and with it Scotland’s only chance at Independence. Sturgeon, Swinney, Robertson and Murrell are evil people. They caused it all.
An accurate appraisal.
Sad for the SNP Naw worried for Scotland Yes. For me people should have stayed in the SNP and got rid of the leadership, we would have been in a better place today but I never did I left in 2015. After hearing the likes of Flynn wanting now to be an MSP make me think the best thing for the SNP is to go bust and it can’t come quick enough. You really can’t believe how one person could have destroyed a 90yr old party in just ten years and the strange thing about it these still in the SNP believes the sun that rises every morning comes from her arse.
She and her cabal changed the NEC rules deliberately so that ordinary members and their branches had no say.
The following (from “1984”) could apply to SNP supporters as well:
“It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for raising the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be REDUCED to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours? Yes, they swallowed it.”
Soonds mair like Treaty o Union trade/tax violations and Holyrood’s peedie colonial budget, naw. An some Scots still think we’re in a ‘Union’! Whit a hoax, eh.
Sounds more like the “useful idiots” (Fanon) who take “Salvo” and “Liberation Scotland” seriously.
The next few months are going to be seriously hilarious (Cesaire)
I’ve waited (Fanon) a long time for this lol. ?
Perhaps not hilarious, but according to Freire “laughter can be heard” as an oppressed people finally start to realise the colonial hoax that has been played out at their expense.
According to Freire “laughter can be heard” as the people start to realise that the Salvo hoax has been “played out” (Fanon) at their expense.
There might not be much laughter from those that have been daft enough to make a donation. Perhaps they’ll be a Salvo motorhome knocking about somewhere?
Alf Baird (Fanny)
Robert Matthews demonstrating the robustness of his point of view with infantile insults, as usual.
Sizzlin’ post , Stu .
I reckon you def deserve a wee treat curtesy of our auld mate – Shady Freude , an opportunity for dark n satisfying laughter ; looking at the total , barely believable shambles whatever malign spectre that has possessed it these last ten years has brought the SNP to , surely offers that .
The worse of it is that the people responsible for the murder of this once honourable , trustworthy & dedicated Party have either walked away well-remunerated ( ” rewarded ” ) for their * service * – usually to other generous-salaried jobs , or are still receiving such from the public purse , and no doubt will fall through some revolving door into a ” nice wee number ” when the time is right – for them .
No penalties , no consequence for – not just – failure to progress it’s raison d’etre , but the ruination of a Party that had been around for 100+ years . Nothing , not even mild censure .
Maybe they’ll be awarded a prize for the fastest ever destruction of a Political Party .
Ten years .
Truly ” World Leading ” result
Unlikely to misbehave themselves too terribly between now and the SGE (heavily caveated, of course), the SNP in its chastened, skint timidity, is now acting like a huge avalanche blocking the road to anything worthwhile happening regarding independence or anything else in Scotland. Get them gone, that once great party is beyond irreformable, despite what its deluded rump of a membership might believe.
Agreed . Theoretically , the SNP could be saved ; but there’s no-one within it that could/would initiate the radical surgery that would be required .
A Voodoo priest might be more useful ; don’t they bring the dead back to life ?
Good. Feck ’em.
“And barring another lottery winner or a sudden lethal virus pandemic primarily affecting wealthy SNP supporters (hey, maybe THAT’S why they stuffed the care homes with COVID patients)…”
You know, that is the ONLY ‘rational’ explanation (or as close to it) that I have ever heard for doing what they did (putting positive covid patients in with the most vulnerable).
Wouldn’t surprise me.
Told you so, way before the last GE.
Anyone who’s been involved in a branch knows how disorganised first, draconian top-down after the SNP was.
Unprepared, messy, weak and confused middle management right after 2014, when the wind was in their sails.
Outright hostile, dictatorial, ostracism-addled leadership circle protecting the new Impostor Queen followed.
Invariably, when the “leader” is so weak that to survive it needs yes-men and doormats, the quality and adequacy of the whole ranks tanks.
What we’re left is a hollow shell with a name tag and absolutely no value.
It’s past its sell by date. Bin it.
I remember in 2015 the chairman of my local SNP Branch boasting about how fiscally able ‘honest’ John was due to his Uni qualification in Accountancy or Economics…
One thing is likely to be very certain…. if debtors come looking to the NEC for repayments, it’s unlikely the senior, elder statesmen of the party will be called upon to reach for their bank cards.
The ultimate sadness, is the Sheeple who voted, and kept voting for this rogues bag of sell outs are unlikely to see the part they played in enabling it.
We were not bought and sold for English Gold… we were given away on a solid gold platter and they even let them keep the plate.
Bring a tear to a glass eye, so it would.
Fast forward 10 years to Sturgeon, having been released after completing 4 years of an 8 year stretch, is stood outside the St Enoch Centre with six battery powered, drumming kittens at her feet, bopping along to Taylor Swift hits for small change.
Can’t f***ing wait!!!
I really like the drumming kittens, but can’t donate to them playing Wee Frankie’s favourite hits. Dilemma!
We have got Operation Koper, Operation Branchform, Operation Branchfoot and Operation Perjury to go. A penny for the lot.
Apologies Operation Broadfoot. There is so many Operations I can’t keep up with them. Let’s take a standard fraud case it can take up to 2 years for the Police to construct a case. What is historical is the length of decision time for COPFS to deliberate on an action. Could that be something to do with the dual role of the Lord Advocate?. Exempt from the decision making process so we are told. No more excuses charge or exonerate. Restore our believe in the Judicial system.
“Apologies Operation Broadfoot”
=========
I think our host will agree you need not apologise. It is as easy a mistake to publish “Branchfoot” for “Branchform” as he himself did, but more memorably. Half the MSM, hilariously, cut and pasted his error, without crediting him as a source.
I spotted a typo in that photo of John Swinney…it should read FRO SCOTLAND.
Honestly…you just can’t get the staff these days.
As I commented on the last 2 posts SURELY there must be someone on the redundancy list that is ENRAGED that they are being sacrificed because of the gross INCOMPETENCE and corruption of the hierarchy in the snp
THEY are going to face economic hardship while the ones who CREATED this mess are STILL receiving their salaries and padded expenses (good old pishfart) the 22 year MP who has pocketed millions for sitting on his lardy arse and doing nothing for indy
These clowns and imbeciles have destroyed the membership and the membership fees that paid the staff’s wages hence redundancy and pay offs, BUT the MP’s and MSP’s are STILL being paid exorbitant sums to fuck things up
Maybe ms Ruddick will be scared that come the criminal trials she will be charged as an accessory to criminality with PRISON as a punishment sharing a cell with some trans female built like a brick shitehouse, or there again maybe ms Ruddick would prefer to be a witness for the prosecution
Based on David Davis’s exposures in the WM parliament it appears ms Ruddick was deep in the bowels of the set up
The thing that intrigues me is whether the Woka Nostra will go for the voluntary redundancy option, that seems to be on offer, or if they’ll hang on to the bitter end because they will be pretty much unemployable by any other sane employer.
I can’t imagine that any capable non-cult staff member would want to remain.
If that happens, then the party is truly suicidal.
Aye, an mibbaes when thae ‘bowels’ is evacuated a wheen o’ shite will flee fae Jacksons Entry!!
This is all very sad. But those who seek independence really, really need to wake up to the harsh reality coming down the tracks. Who can properly take Scotland forward?
Come the next Scottish election, if their is a unionist majority, then be in no doubt, that will kill independence for the next ten years – UNLESS SOMEBODY STEPS UP TO LEAD THE INDEPENDENCE CHARGE.
I am in Alba, but even I doubt they will win the next Scottish election, so when the SNP get booted out, we will be back to the bad old days of Labour/Libdem, running Scotland on behalf of their English colonial masters.
Free tuition, that will go, free prescriptions, that will go, free social care, that will go. Make no mistake, the English parties, like Labour have hated how the SNP government under Salmond, did things differently and better.
The last Labour governments in Scotland, were dreadful, dancing to England’s jig, at every turn, to curry favour in London, so they too could get selected for the English parties as potential MP’s.
Could the SNP recover/survive? Yes, but only by changing completely, embracing the WHOLE independence movement again, and making independence what their focus is. They need to talk to the other pro indy parties (which is NOT the greens, btw), and start talking Scotland up again.
If the current SNP lot do not sniff the freaking coffee and wake up, then I am afraid they will have condemmed Scotland to possibly ten or twenty years of regressive, England-loving, colonial government by English Labour.
Those in the SNP who DO have power, and who DO want independence as a matter of urgency, need to start shouting about this.
Whilst we sit and watch the rightful demise (and, hopefully, imprisonment) of certain people high up in the SNP, we need to seriously ask ourselves, do we really want to throw the baby out with the bathwater??
The baby, what’s left of it, floats face down in a tub of bin juice and is beyond saving.
The SNP has become synonymous with I’ll judged and poorly implemented, if not completely abandoned at the tax payers expense, policies, Woke extremism, corruption, in-fighting, criminal behaviour, nepotism, greed and incompetence.
What it shouldn’t be synonymous with is the campaign for Scottish Independence because for the last decade it’s deliberately fluffed every sitter over the bar.
The sooner they’re consigned to the history books the better the prospects for Scottish Independence.
Seems to me that Alba are pulling the same shit as the SNP with thier dodgy ‘elections’. If you dont toe the line, then Chris McElendy kicks you out. When did Alba become his personal fiefdom – he’s a poundland Angus Roberstson – and the party has lost credibility. Forget free speech.
link to scotgoespop.blogspot.com
If you banking on a Holyrood election bringing Independence then you’re a dreamer, no offense. I’m afraid the route to Independence is a long haul and it could be shortened by the demise of the SNP. From the moment Sturgeon took over the SNP after referendum she made it clear during her Grand Tour that we had a referendum and we lost it wouldn’t be fair on the other side if we had another, my wife and I were at the corn exchange in Edinburgh 29.10.14 when she said it, at the time we came up from England and couldn’t believe the words that came out of her mouth for us she had made it perfectly clear Indy was dead when she should have been continuing the momentum.
You cannot cure terminal cancer and the SNP is the cancer within the Indy movement. If I was to describe the SNP ROTTEN TO ITS CURE and it can’t be reformed. Will the SNP deliver Scotland to Independence never it’s the party and leadership who’s blocking it. Democracy starts a home and it’s our own people who dying us democracy.
Does the membership want Independence first, few at best their more interested in protecting trans rights then saving Scotland?
In 300+ years Scotland has never been more threatened than it is today and at the heart of this is Forbes, Swinney, Sturgeon and the SNP membership.
The reality is the SNP is a bigger threat to Scotland its people and our way of life the party its followers and its leadership need to be brought down and fast and if it goes bust then thank god something for once has been on Scotland side.
Everything that’s happened over the last ten years has all been done by design by the SNP’s leadership at the behest of the UKG but what they didn’t expect was for Independence to still be riding high, in fact I bet the percentage is already 60% or more but the Unionist pollsters will never reveal it.
“I bet the percentage is already 60% or more”
So we can count on you to stand as an Independent for Indy in 2026? On a plebiscitary election policy? You will only need another 100 or so Scots who think and bet like you.
I’m not having a go, but I can’t believe no political movement would arise in the circumstance you claim. Politics abhors a vacuum as much as nature does.
How long have we been telling people the SNP will never delivery Independence for me its been since 2015. What is it I’ve been hearing and seeing thats truck a cord with me and not other people for god sake I though Scotland and its people where engaged with politics.
I keep hear people saying its needs to be done legally WHY when the UKG has made it perfectly clear Scotland if FREE TO LEAVE then lets test it by saying the Treaty of Union Scotland is withdrawing from it.
I agree, 100%. 2015 was the year that the SNP betrayed its core raison d’être. That was the year that many phone hard left wokies infiltrated the party and, aided and abetted by the devolutionists and careerists already within its ranks, sucked its marrow and left a husk. They were and are parasites, interested only in power and fat salaries, and pushing an agenda that is a death cult.
Yes.
I’ve said this (as have many others) for a long time.
The question is will the phoenix party from the SNPs pyre prevent itself being similarly infiltrated and diseased?
It’s a troubling thought, meantime handing power to Unionist jolly boys and girls on the make power again..
She whose name shall not be uttered and her Green swinger friends; a special place in deviant hell and all that..
The SNP are Donald Ducked. If they survive it will be the UK state funneling them money somehow. Got to protect their assets…
Scott Ritter making me a lot feel better about Trump’s neocon appointments, Rubio for one…
link to youtube.com
An interesting discussion but the clip of Trump’s recent statement (26 minute mark) is extraordinary. Fucking wow! I’m back on the Trump train, for now at least.
The fact a US President (elect) is saying this stuff so bluntly, so honestly, is something completely new. There is no going back from this.
The SNP could learn a lot from Donald Trump simply because Trump is a raging nationalist, something they are not even slightly. P-u-t-in. is another one. That is why they get on. And it is why all these globalist wanks hate them.
Ritter also has some very interesting views on the gen0cide and ethnic cleansing in P@lestine. And why Trump and the whole US are locked in on that one…
It’s the hope that gets you… lol.
Trump has become very interesting. No longer just a ‘Baby Blimp’
I listened to what he said at 26 mins and though if only we had someone in Scotland like Trump.
Someone who would ‘Put Scotland First’
Where is our Scott Ritter were is our Donald Trump?
Are they all in jail?
OK we have Craig Murray.
Getting back to the article ‘The Long Unravelling’ the question is where are the ‘SNP Whistleblowers’.
“Getting back to the article ‘The Long Unravelling’ the question is where are the ‘SNP Whistleblowers’.”
Where do you think half our stories about them came from?
Well…I’m no fan of Trump and I never thought we would be hoping for the Donald to save the world. Let’s just hope he’s being truthful as we sure are in a pickle right now with the US neocon warmongers running the show.
The whole programme is well worth viewing, and if we survive till January 20th there could be some hope left.
“gen0cide and ethnic cleansing in P@lestine”
And here we go again.
As of 5 November 2024, 43,391 P@lestinians have been reported killed. About the same number of casualties as Bomber Command might have claimed on a good night in 1944. Nobody called it gen0cide then, which is why your never-ending bleating that it’s gen0cide now is so pathetically risible.
Plus, of course, some of the casualties being reported now might just be yellow, skulking sewer-rats – burners of babies and carver uppers of teenage lassies.
You’ve invested so much in your fantasy that you can’t change tack now, I get that. There’s no fact that can make you change your mind, not even when the top Islamic authority of G@za issues a fatwa against the humous boys for the cataclysmic disaster they’ve brought down on the heads of their own people.
But still, when you’re so wrong about this, alert readers just have to ask, what if he’s wrong about Indy too?
And in that context, that’s the true impact of your delusions, Mac. They harm Scotland and they harm Indy. Both are tainted by association.
‘kin hell ! The Trumpster takin’ it to church with that speech .He didn’t hold back on identifying the forces that are causing so much carnage in the US and * elsewhere * . Startling to hear that kind of talk from any politician , never mind a POTUS .
If he’s serious/genuine about taking all THAT on , he’s declaring war on some extremely heavy duty ” interests ” – Corporate & ( Permanent ) State .
He better have the very tightest , most trustworthy personnel around him .
They might not miss next time
He’s the first president [elect] to have made such vows since Jack Kennedy.
They sorted it though….
?We should note, Short money isn’t ancient Parliamentary practice, it was first introduced in limited form in 1974 and has subsequently expanded. Its inception was justified on the grounds of enabling “research and policy development”. How many policy papers have the SNP generated in these last few years?
This degree of blatant misuse of Short money should be actionable, but there doesn’t appear to be an auditing function in the secretariat that manages the system. This is superficially curious, but I suspect this suits the British state just fine, Short money is the bait for the dependency trap.
The British Permanent State is invested in the SNP. Their assets and agents are woven into the foundations of the hierarchy. The SNP must remain afloat and Thames House will funnel funds from their £4 billion budget to ensure this is the case. The conduit for such a cash transfer is irrelevant. For years now, annual accounts have come with qualifications that receipts and record keeping at Jackson’s Entry are poor to nonexistent. This predates the transfer of contract to the current Accountancy firm. Poor record keeping is fundamental to criminal enterprise that is the SNP. The injection of funds will doubtless be concealed as increased membership subs, a double dunter in nefarious ends.
Scotorum Nationalibus Partem delenda est.
Spot on. While the corpse of the SNP is in any way useful it will be funded to keep it shambling along, if for no other reason than to act as a reminder of how we Scots can’t and shouldn’t get ideas above our station as ‘this’ is what happens. Soft colonial power.
Surprised you missed Craig Whyte’s inadvertent pun – ‘distressed assets’ – at the top there.
Good article
The sooner the SNP folds the better it will be for the indy movement – for SNP Governments of the last decade are the major road block – to ridding Scotland of this illegal union.
Pity there’s not a clear out at the COPFS as well.
Guess it depends who the political equivalent of Stevie Gerrard might be – Trump & Farage being proven winners against all odds, & even when the going got tough, whereas an old reds favourite like brown could fairly set the heather alight too
🙂
Isn’t it strange that, at the end of the day, it all comes down to MONEY (Fanni). If you have it ,you can do things, if you haven’t, you can’t (Ceaser). Money makes the world go around (Mummi).
Of course, our Government have loads of lovely cash. Why else would you waste hundreds of millions on building a couple of unfinished boats, free prescriptions to millionaires, free bus passes to Neds, failed court cases-past and present, endless number of inquiries. The list goes on and on.
As expected. the site regulars will spout that Sturgeon, Swinney etc were ‘bought out’ with English gold, however the truth is actually closer to home. They are all simply incompetent and corrupt. It comes as a shock to me that there are people in Scotland who still think they are competent and will continue to vote for them. It defies logic.
Until some Political Party can advise what it could be like in an Independent Scotland, financially, mentally and physically nothing will change. Until then we will see the bitter, bigoted regulars on Wings posting the same greetin faced bilge every single day. Most are 60+ with nothing else better to do with their time. Apologies for saying this but sometimes the truth hurts.
It is said that around 50% of Scots want Independence. I do not dispute that figure-I am one of them. However, if there was an Independence referendum tomorrow, I would be surprised if YES achieved 20%. There is far too much uncertainty, financially/economically. of what Independence would mean for ordinary Scots. No one is addressing this and you have to ask WHY?
The economic case for Independence is a mystery. No doubt the likes of Dan can post, yet again, his list, which in reality is totally meaningless.
Too wee-NO
Too poor-Maybes AYE, maybes NAW. Somebody convince us
Too stupid-We keep voting in the SNP
99% of people posting on here have contributed to the ‘too stupid’ although I do think that most have now ‘seen the light’.
To gain Independence somebody has to reconcile the various factions and the soft NO’S. Where do you even start with the Wings faction versus the WGD types? I don’t see anyone capable. Do You?
Bring on the downvotes, ignore reality and churn out the old tired posts yet again. 10 years ago seems like yesterday. 10 years into the future seems light years away. Fail to plan. plan to fail. Where is the vision?
“The economic case for Independence is a mystery.”
Not really. Colonialism is basically about economic plunder. This leaves the colonized nation and people under-developed, devoid of growth, and lacking in opportunity, which is what we see. Colonialism is costing us Scots £150 billion+ a year:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
The usual mince Alfie boy. I would have expected nothing less. Can you or anybody else provide a projected Profit & Loss account for an Independent Scotland. Maybe even an Income & Expenditure account. Remember and include things which do not appear in the estimated GERS figures. I am certain you will know what these are! I glanced at the subjective GDP figures and these coupled with a meaningless narrative do not convince any one with even a hint of a financial background.They apparently do convince you!!
A GDP-per-capita analysis of Scotland compared with our near neighbour countries is hardly ‘meaningless’, except for those in denial.
Fact: being part of the UK ‘Union’ charade ensures Scots are currently the poorest people in NW Europe in terms of GDP-per-capita;
Fact: Scotland has far greater resources than most other countries in NW Europe;
Question: if Scots have far greater resources than most other countries then why do we have a far lower GDP-per-capita than them?
Conclusion: Scots would be much, much wealthier outside of the UK colonial corset, i.e. independent and prosperous instead of a poor and impoverished under-developed colony still holding a worthless violated treaty.
Another belter Alf – keep-em comin.
You really are a financial wizard. From some dubious GDP figures you have managed to extrapolate the financial cost to Scotland in staying in the Union as being anywhere between £150/200 billion per annum. The very fact that there is a discrepancy of some FIFTY BILLION POUNDS simply highlights figures being plucked out of the air. As a glorified teacher, I am sure you have come across the phrase. often used in marking test or exam papers-‘Show the Workings’.
You should maybe apply for a position at SNP headquarters. It appears that they are also fond of creative accounting!
LORNA
It seems reasonable to me that if someone/anyone wants a body of people to adopt an alternative course of action to that which is currently being pursued, it would make some sense in giving them some information which would make them think and possibly change their views. The days of blind faith are long gone for sane and sensible individuals. I admit that this does not apply to many on here. Thankfully, the individuals posting here, represent a lot less than 1% of the electorate.
The bulk of Wings posters would accept Independence tomorrow and not care one jot about what this would mean for them, their families, jobs, pensions, defence etc etc.
Stirring words at the end of your post. Elections are won by votes, not willpower. It also helps if there are competent individuals in power or in waiting. Where are they? Can you see them?
Open the books then. Let us see what the future holds for England & Scotland as separate nations.
It’s a simple request.
Ha! Not a chance of that happening.
For obvious reasons.
*sigh*
Scotland’s Imaginary Debt;
In 2022-23 Scotland raised £87.5bn in tax which goes directly to Westminster. However, the Scottish Government only received a budget back of £59.7bn, a difference of £27.8bn staying in London .Scottish Budget: 2024 to 2025 – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
64% of revenue is reserved to London and 36% devolved to Edinburgh. While 41% of expenditure is reserved to London and 59% is devolved to Edinburgh.
The Scottish Government can borrow £3 billion for capital expenditure in the term of a parliament with the annual limit for 2023/24 set at £450 million. Resource borrowing is set at £500 million annually. The Scottish Government legally can NOT overspend its budget outside of the agreed borrowing limits, which leads me to my next point. link to gov.scot
It was reported for 2022/23 Scotland had a deficit of £19.1bn. The media and unionist politicians mistakenly or deliberately report this as Scot Gov overspending. However, it is a lie. There are some very interesting figures within Scotlands ‘deficit’, for example: the figure of £9.1bn under the name of ‘Reserved public sector debt interest’ is Westminster debt being allocated to Scotland; debt Scotland had no part in creating or spending. That is 47.6% of Scotlands ‘deficit’, almost half is being created by debt loading from Westminster. If this debt was not being allocated to Scotland, the nation’s deficit would go down from 9% of GDP to 4.7%. I would like to note another interesting point: this debt Scotland is allocated actually stems from the 1707 Union. One of the terms was that Scotland would be paid £398,085 to offset Scotland being allocated a share of England’s debt for all of time. That in 2021 prices is £71,260,439 million. As you can see, that was not nearly enough to offset the burden on Scotland of England’s debt, Scotland has paid more than £9 billion more in one year on their neighbours debt than the whole amount that was supposed to offset it forever. link to gov.scot
Scotland is also allocated £4.5 billion for defence, but the UK government only spends £1.9bn on defence in Scotland. £2.6bn of Scotland’s money is being spent outside of Scotland, where it would better be used in the country to bolster the nation’s defence.
I want to finish off with a question; first let’s look at the statement: Andrew Bowie, Tory MP for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine admitted in an interview for the BBC “We now tax oil and gas companies 75% on their profits that they make, that 75% tax has gone towards paying for half of everybody in this country’s energy bills over the past winter. Oil and gas is important and it will be with us for the next 25-30 years.”
How can a nation of 5.5 million that has 90% of the UK’s oil reserves and roughly 60-65% of the gas reserves subsidise 34 million peoples energy bills for a whole winter but run a deficit and apparently be subsidised by its southern neighbour? The answer is; it can’t. Someone is lying: it’s the establishment in our neighbour’s capital that benefits tremendously by having Scotland shackled to it.
Alf is right, but, to an extent, so are you, Chas. We are ruled by, mainly, corrupt and totally incompetent people. The uncorrupted and competent are kept far from the power centre. Your demands for a Profit and Loss spreadsheet is laughable. You know that countries do not work on that principle. When independence comes, and it will, it will not be achieved by accountants or gently, gently catchee moneys, but by those who have had enough and no longer care how they achieve it. They will achieve it through sheer willpower, and too wee, too poor, too feart will be a thing of the past. They will do what it takes to make England-as-the-UK want to let us go.
Never trust a Campbell.
“They will achieve it through sheer willpower”
Nah. That’s a heart-warming fuzzy feel-good fantasy. Sorry, Lorna. Indy will be achieved by hard work, careful planning, pragmatic bridge and majority building, aggressive drive and keeping the mouth-breathers safely corralled away from the high achievers.
“too wee, too poor, too feart will be a thing of the past”
Sure. Right now though, to mimic what they say across the pond, we have a surplus of people who talk the talk.
And a mere handful of people who walk the walk.
There’s plenty of time to turn that around before 2026, but so far, there’s no sign of anything happening.
Meantime, in Europe, in America, in England, in the Republic of Ireland, democratic politics is being changed out of recognition by new people, new parties and new policies.
Only in Scotland is it tumbleweed time.
Why don’t you convince Westminster to open the books and let us all see exactly what the profit and loss account is for England?
I’m sure it’ll expose all ?e need to know.
Things would then be so much clearer for you to understand.
And I’m confident that without the theft of Scottish resources, England is a basket case!
Good points.
Can you do the same for Westminster?
Well said Alf.
“It is said that around 50% of Scots want Independence. I do not dispute that figure-I am one of them.”
LOL!
“However, if there was an Independence referendum tomorrow, I would be surprised if YES achieved 20%…”
Big LOLZ. You’re kidding no-one. Jog on.
“It is said that around 50% of Scots want independence.” It is also said that 50% of WoS comments are pure fantasy.
The actual vote in 2014 was 44.7% yes.
The actual 2024 vote for even nominally “Indy” (SNP, Alba etc.) parties was 35%.
The latest polls show around 30% support for Indy Parties for the Holyrood elections.
The four latest polls show 34%, 37%, 40% and 47% support for Indy.
We don’t like being lied to by the SNP. We also shouldn’t like being lied to by Indy supporters.
Hello Camel TransMan.
What was the result of the very very latest and right up to date poll as reported on the 26th October this year Camel?
Don’t take the hump when you discover the answer.
The actual vote in 2014 was 44.7% yes.
The actual 2024 vote for even nominally “Indy” (SNP, Alba etc.) parties was 35%.
The latest polls show around 30% support for (nominally) Indy Parties for the Holyrood elections.
We don’t like being lied to by the SNP OR by Indy supporters.
Oh dear.
Camel just took the Humpty Dumpty without even answering the question.
Let’s try again.
Right Humpty, what was the result of the latest Scottish Independence poll published on the 26th October this year?
We’re waiting Humpty.
Personal abuse, plus no facts, plus no proof of any assertions, plus lies–the usual comment of an Indy moonhowler.
The latest poll on Indy was Norstat’s, Nov. 1st. Which I cited.
Why do Indy moonhowlers feel the need to lie? Is it because your case is so weak?
Ok Humpty.
Norstat mm?
Yes 47.4%
No 46.9%
A win for yes.
The October 26th poll.
Yes 52%
No 48%
Another win for yes.
Now don’t you choke on your Bleach Schnapps on those facts Campbell SoupMan.
Are your mental health issues improving?
Seems not Crumple DumpSkin.
The reality: 2014 vote–44.7% yes
2024 vote–35% for Indy Parties
Norstat Nov. 1st poll–30% for Indy Parties for MSP, 47% yes (actual result–see the link below)
Alba Party poll, Oct. 23rd (not the 26th. It was taken from the 16th to the 23rd)–48% (not 52%) (and it’s a partisan poll)
Survation poll, Sept. 13–42% yes
More in Common, Sept. 13–44%
Opinium, Sept. 11–45%
YouGov, Sept. 3–37%
Norstat, Aug. 22–45%
See link to en.wikipedia.org for more.
Not one recent poll has Yes at 50%+.
Sane people can see the trend here.
Perhaps Scots are like the unfortunate Kanaks of New Caledonia where due to in-migration once the indigenous people and culture fall below 50% of the population independence becomes less likely. You would no doubt rejoice at the perishing of a people and culture.
They’ve had three referenda, Alf, with Yes losing every time.
I guess we could have a serious and sensible discussion about the resettlement of the 60% of the population who don’t trace their descent from indigenous Kanaks (Wiki figure). Maybe we could relocate some of them to here in Scotland!
But not on Wings BTL, obvs, this place isn’t suited to serious and sensible discussion. 🙂
I said published on the 26th Dumpty. The National reported it then and it is:
Yes 52%
No 48%
Norstat also showed a win for YES.
Dems the facts and dats da truth.
So Campbell Chicken SoupMan, the trend is clearly there.
Farewell England. Farewell Wales. Farewell NI.
May you all live long and prosper.
You too Camel Humpty Dude.
Gloriana; you are simply mendaciously playing arithmetical sophistry using figures for polls, figures as voted and figures per capita to suit your Unionist agenda.
Sorry to trouble you Xanadu but could you possibly explain to me where you’re getting those Norstat percentages from? I’m seeing these figures instead:
Yes – 47%
No – 47%
Would not vote – 0%
Prefer not to say – 5%
What say ye, Zandra? 🙂
Greetings Fido.
The National reported the Norstat poll as
Yes 47.4%
No 46.9%
And that is a win for Yes.
Always happy to help Fido Doggy Dude.
That’s a very wee bone you’ve got yourself there.
0.5% difference between these numbers. Meaningless in the context of a poll.
Ask a grownup what a margin of error is. And what its value is for this poll.
That wee bone however would have momentous impact in an election or referendum.
Ask politicians who seek recounts.
Just saying.
Oh and on the question of personal abuse Cammy, do you hold the copyright on the term “Moonhowler”?
You need to cut Zander some slack.
He’s found what he thinks is a fact and like a toothless dog with a worthless bone abandoned by the bigger dogs, he’s going to growl and gummily snap at anybody who tries to take it away from him.
Let him have his moment of illusory triumph. Think of it as a charitable act.
He’s just an old, worn-out dog. He voted SNP for 30 years and if that doesn’t move you to pity, you must have a heart of stone!
What was the result of the election, held on November 5th, that the entire world spent the previous year waiting for and anticipating?
And how did that result compare with the almost daily polls that were being reported on everywhere, in the run up to said election?
FFS!
We’re barely two weeks past one of the biggest polling snafus in history, and here’s Wings BTL’s “finest” using poll results as the foundations to build their arguments on.
30 years you supported the SNP, Zander? It figures.
Ha ha ha. Dumpty you are a true comedian.
Listen Dumpster, you’ve been banging on about polls for days now and you have the perverted gall to talk about foundations.
So Humpster Dumpster, for the third time what was the result of the latest Scottish Independence poll published on October 26th?
We’re still waiting Humps.
I bet you chant along to your primary school playground name calling in a shrill, sing-song voice.
Unsettling, even worrying, behaviour in an adult.
Snap out of it, Zander, before your neighbours start to talk.
All hail! The smart-arsed half-educated sophistry merchant speaks!
Quite so James.
Some days ago I gently advised posters here to do 3 things when it comes to the IDF Fanboy Cokey McCokeHeid.
1 Skip his shite.
2. Hit the red minus button.
3. Do not reply.
Seems to be working just mighty fine.
Enjoy your evening James.
Hemingway writes again!
Exactly 70 years since his last Nobel.
Mind, that was for original work, no plagiarism.
Remind us again – what does sophistry mean?
In the true spirit of the incestuous nature of the SNP Sue Ruddick is married to Jamie Hepburn. So many examples of this.
Hmm, I’m thinking Julie Hepburn may be surprised to learn of this breaking news.
Oops. Mea culpa.
The government is just an eternal ‘ gap year’ for Post Grad Brats. What happened to the adults? If Woman are needed in politics why is there only girls, very confused and unstable wee girls.
To mix metaphore, if the SNP hits the fan it could leave nationalists up a creek without a paddle, potentially to drown in a sea of irrelevance.
Something devoutly to be wished by the status quo of the British state in its rice bowl mendicant decline.
Moles, spooks, agents gu leòr.
The term «a wilderness of mirrors» has been used to describe this intelligence otherworld where trust is illusory.
Wow, such incredible deep thinking insight there…
Alternatively the ongoing demise of the faux nationalist NuSNP removes the roadblock they have become, and clears the way for a new force to take forward the cause.
Well it would if all these supposedly great political strategic minds that people put far too much faith in stopped pissing away time punting the notion that there’s nothing going on in Scottish politics.
These people through their actions are now effectively becoming a new roadblock holding Scotland back.
It’s tactically idiotic to spend so much time focused on destroying an entity without putting any significant effort into creating an alternative, because something less than useful will fill the void.
There is plenty going on in Scotland that requires ongoing scrutiny and which could yield political capital.
It is truly tactically idiotic and not «professional».
When will the role playing of the amateur actor cease?
” It’s tactically idiotic to spend so much time focused on destroying an entity without putting any significant effort into creating an alternative, because something less than useful will fill the void.”
Yip , I said exactly that a while back .
ALBA was supposed to fill that void , but they – sadly – have failed thus far to achieve any kind of breakthrough : in large part due to the biases of ” Scottish ” MSM , eg the lack of exposure/interest . Ditto with ISP
ALBA has also given the impression of falling into the same boringly predictable tropes , eg internal discontent about the distribution of power/influence that every Political Party seem unable to avoid : and who knows how the death of their leader will impact on the Party ?
I’m with you in thinking the future lies in I41s – for the reasons you gave in a previous post .
Political Parties will , of course , still dominate the electoral landscape for the foreseeable ; but , incrementally , candidate-by-candidate , that landscape could change – in time , beyond recognition and for the better .
For that to happen though , a prerequisite would be a change in the overall Political System , eg a genuine PR electoral system – not the ersatz mangled version we were saddled ( hobbled ) with . Then again …..having more quality I41s in the Scottish Parliament would make the possibility of a total reform of the existing set-up more likely !
Go for it , D .
” Your Country Needs You ” ( even if the beavers don’t )
I believe we must ignore incompetent self serving politicians hoping that they will get us freedom. Get behind a valid alternative, Salvo/Liberation.
Regarding the SNP they get what they sow. The latest being greed from Mr Flynn.
Totally agree.
And that’s what will fill the void.
The question is – would the deep state operators in its ranks be more compromised if the SNP were allowed to flounder?
The SNP became dependent on Short money and therefore lost any desire it may have had in wanting to permanently remove its MPs from Westminster through independence or a policy of abstentionism?
As far as abstentionism is concerned I believe abstentionist Sinn Fein MPs and their constituents can still take any issues they may have to Westminster for direct contact and consultation with uk government ministers and civil servants and they are entitled to claim expenses to cover the costs of transport and accommodation.
Apologies if I’m wrong. If I’m right it takes away the excuse that SNP MPs can only represent their constituents in Westminster by taking their seats and by taking their wee oaths of allegiance. Abstentionism would not deny them that ability.
You are correct. Sinn Fein can do all the constituents business at Westminster perfectly well without taking a bit part in the tragic farce of the chamber.
A key difference between Scotland and NI may relate to the fact that according to the Articles of the ToU it would be unlawful for Westminster to continue to legislate for Scotland without Scottish representation there.
This makes it even more dispiriting that the SNP didn’t withdraw in 2015 in order to highlight this fact. Although the rump of 3 might have fulfilled the letter of the law it would have drawn attention to the inequity.
Indeed.
Alf’s comment arose from the details of a report of the Lords Privileges Committee, which had been asked to determine if an Act abolishing the right of hereditary lords to attend Parliament would breach the Treaty of Union.
The Committee argued that it wouldn’t, on the grounds that they only represent Scotland’s peers, and not Scotland the kingdom. It is only Scotland’s MPs who represent Scotland in the Union, and the lords referred several times to the need for Scotland to have adequate MP representation in the parliament if the Treaty was not to be breached and Parliament to be legally unable to function.
But at no time did they define what ‘adequate’ meant in the context of that representation.
Scotland’s representation is seriously inadequate because it is patently obvious that our MPs cannot effectively defend any of Scotland’s interests under the current voting system used in the Commons from predatory activity by England’s MPs, who can simply overrule the Scots MPs on any matter by nothing more meaningful than hugely asymmetric raw MP numbers.
Sovereignties, constitutions, Treaty obligations, reasoned arguments, even the simple fairness of a properly nuanced vote acknowledging the two sovereignties of the kingdoms that founded and empowered the Union and its parliament, as opposed to the 558 (now 650) non-sovereign constituencies that didn’t, all conveniently ignored and set aside as irrelevant by a hopelessly inappropriate flat vote in the Commons.
How many times does it have to be said?
Scotland agreed to joint governance WITH England, not unilateral governance BY England!
You can say it another 1,000 times, but you’ll still be glossing over the fact that the near universal opinion is that the Treaty of Union has become extinguished to the extent that Parliament can chose to amend or overwrite its provisions. That was the actual reason why the House of Lords committee decided that the removal of the life peers did not breach the ToU. It’s true that the commitee also considered whether the removal would breach the Treaty, but that was not the basis for the committees conclusion.
The point is in any case mute, the functioning of Parliament, as upheld by the Supreme Court over decades, allows for bills to be passed in Scotland without a majority of the votes of Scottish MP’s. That is indisputable, even if you wished it to be different. Secondly, if “Scotland” agreed to joint governance, then what provisions did it agree to protect that joint governance. Nowhere in the ToU does it say that for a law to be passed, it needed to be passed with a majority of MP’s from both England and Scotland. It is blindingly obvious to anyone anticipating the post-Union constitutional arrangements that laws could be passed and applied affecting Scotland which were not supported by a majority of Scottish MP’s. If we take two relatively recent examples, the legislation introducing tuition fees and foundation hospitals was only passed with a majority of MP’s because of the votes of MP’s from Scotland, but the legislation did not apply in Scotland as the matter was devolved.
Therefore, what you are saying above about the intent of those drafting and approving the Treaty of Union is complete nonsense. Likewise, the idea that laws would not be effective in Scotland without MP’s from Scotland sitting. Notwithstanding that the Treaty of Union is almost certainly extinguished, provided that the Westminister Parliament had not excluded Scotland from sending representatives to Parliament, the condition under Article 22 would be complied with.
Aidan, your ‘near universal opinion’ is plain wrong, and based on deep ignorance of the true constitutional basis of the Union.
The Treaty’s alleged extinguishment was certainly NOT the reason the Lords Committee came to its conclusion. If it had been, A, it would have said so, and B, if the Treaty’s irrelevance was already well understood by the Parliament’s establishment as you suggest, the Committee wouldn’t even have been asked the question in the first place. That it was asked, and that the lords made the point several times that Scotland’s representation in the Union parliament needed to be adequate or the Treaty and Union would fall, makes it abundantly clear that the Treaty is still very much a live constitutional contract. Ignorance of constitutions and sovereignties and even what good democracy looks like is no excuse.
Westminster does NOT have full authority over the Treaty. Some of its terms or articles allow for some amendment, but others do not, and both the Union and its parliament are formal creations of the Treaty, and therefore subject to its authority, and not the other way around.
All you are doing here is falling for the English establishment’s oft repeated and unwarranted presumption of the Union Parliament’s ‘unlimited parliamentary sovereignty’, a sovereignty it acquired from England’s Bill of Rights pre Treaty. That sovereignty only has standing over the territories of the English Kingdom, and has none whatsoever over Scotland. The only authority the Union parliament does have over Scotland is that which was delegated to it from Scotland in the first place via the Treaty. Note! Delegated to the Union parliament, not to England’s MPs! And that delegation turned up as Scotland’s MPs on Westminster’s doorstep, carrying with them the right to exert Scottish authority on behalf of Scotland as part of Westminster’s suite of powers over the Union.
Scotland’s delegation did NOT include ‘unlimited parliamentary sovereignty’ over Scotland, because such parliamentary sovereignty never existed in Scotland to be delegated. And the authority that was delegated came with limits.
One of the limits is the obligation to maintain permanently the authority of Scotland’s constitution as cited in Scotland’s 1689 Claim of Right. That is therefore still on Scotland’s statute books, and is still in force today, and as Alex Salmond pointed out on King Charles III’s accession; “It can hardly be argued that the Claim of Right is merely a historical curiosity, when one of the first acts of the new King is to be required to swear an oath to uphold it!“
As for the UK’s Supreme Court, its position simply mirrors the English establishment’s bogus position. Did you seriously expect otherwise?
You can read the Opinion of the committee online, you’ll clearly see that the unanimous view is that the application of the treaty is “not an issue that needs to be resolved here”, because it is a matter for the courts, and that the courts have consistently upheld the principal of unlimited parliamentary sovereignty. That conclusion is ever stronger today in the aftermath of the UNCRC and S30 Supreme Court cases. The former contains the authoritative phrase “parliament has unlimited power to pass laws in Scotland”.
The Lords specifically and explicitly did not say that a lack of Scottish representation would make the Treaty of Union invalid. In fact, they said the opposite. What they did consider was IF the ToU were to apply, would the proposed removal of certain members of the House of Lords be in breach of it.
But in any case, none of the above matters because you’ve already admitted above that your legal view of the world is wrong, because you’ve admitted that the judgement of the Supreme Court finds it to be wrong. The judgement of the Supreme Court is the highest authority on what the law is. The judgement of the Supreme Court is law by virtue of the fact that it is the judgement of the Supreme Court. Your opinion, in contrast, has no more authority than anything any other private citizen says. It does not guide any of the functions that the law carries out, and it is not recognised by any competent organisation or authority.
The practical problem at the height of your fanciful view of the law is this. If the Westminster parliament does not have the power to amend or overrule the ToU, then the ToU becomes unalterable law which forever applies to the U.K. and which can never be changed, given there is no other body in existence with authority to do that. That would mean, for example, that there is no legal route to Scottish independence since the Treaty of Union proscribes that the union exists. It would also not be possible for the U.K. parliament to create a body to act as counter-party to the treaty, since the U.K. parliament would not have the power to create that authority.
In summary, it is therefore legally wrong and practically impossible.
Your analysis of the matter is inept. The committee clearly took the view that the provisions of the Treaty’s Article XXII did not deny Parliament the right to amend the numbers contained in it with respect to Scotland’s representation in the two Houses, and anyway Article XXII of the Treaty had already been repealed in its entirety in the 19th century.
They agreed, quite rightly in my view, that the peers of both Scotland and England did not and do not formally represent either kingdom; they only represent their peerages. They agreed that it was the MPs in the Commons that formally represent their respective kingdoms, and that those representations must be adequate to their purpose, of “their rights, interests and aspirations”. But Scotland’s rights, interests and aspirations are fundamentally undefendable by Scotland’s MP representation because of England’s huge MP numbers deployed in the Commons flat vote system used for settling the outcomes of debates. Thus it is clear that Scotland’s representation is not remotely adequate in the context of that flat vote.
It also the case that your “application of the treaty is “not an issue that needs to be resolved here”, because it is a matter for the courts, and that the courts have consistently upheld the principal of unlimited parliamentary sovereignty” misrepresents the context it was made in. That context was that the Committee did not have to resolve matters of whether or not the Treaty’s provisions were justiciable, since “the court has always been able to find another route for the disposal of the argument, making it unnecessary to resolve the question whether there was a breach of the Union Agreement.” And the phrase “and that the courts have consistently upheld the principal of unlimited parliamentary sovereignty” appears to be your addition, not contained in the Committee’s considerations. At least I couldn’t find it, or anything similar. Not that that matters since I routinely deny any argument regarding Westminster’s so-called ‘unlimited parliamentary sovereignty’, UPS for short, as the fundamental basis for any denial of the rights of Scotland within the Union, since that UPS has never had any basis in Scotland, and there is no mention of it in the Treaty or Acts of Union, and Scotland’s own sovereignty isn’t subordinate to England’s anyway.
As for your “What they did consider was IF the ToU were to apply, would the proposed removal of certain members of the House of Lords be in breach of it.” They said no such thing at all, there was no IF about it; there was a clear presumption that the Treaty’s provisions would apply, and thus the relevant provisions needed to be evaluated for the context of the question referred.
Bottom line, you are just bullshitting!
You need to go back and read the Opinion of the committee, particularly the last paragraph under the title “Background” where the legal routes to a continued application of the ToU in this way are described as not to be “dismissed as entirely fanciful” and “not inherently absurd”.
In the paragraph above, the idea of continued application is described as follows; “But Colin R. Munro has pointed out that the argument that the Union legislation enjoys a special status, so that the United Kingdom Parliament is unable to alter some of its more important terms, is difficult to sustain in the face of the evidence as to what Parliament has done without objection and in the absence of any positive indication, when objection has been taken, that the Scottish Courts would be willing to regard such issues as justiciable”. Taken as a whole it is clear that Lord Hope (formerly Deputy President of the Supreme Court) does not believe this legal argument is effective, and goes on to resolve compliance with the ToU as a theoretical and academic exercise.
This all has the feel of a bit of a sandcastle. Firstly, Lord Hope clearly believes it is very unlikely that the ToU has any legal effect that the U.K. parliament cannot overrule, even if he does not dismiss it entirely outright. If you’re so convinced of your belief, can’t you find an authority providing a positive statement that the ToU does apply in the way you describe.
Secondly, a House of Lords subcommittee is not a court, and the judgement of the highest court in the land clearly is greater authority on the law than a parliamentary committee. Your argument that the Supreme Court mirrors a bogus position is particularly odd, since it implies that that court is not legitimate. Yet the very same Lord Hope who was deputy president of that court has legitimacy when writing an Opinion for a U.K. parliamentary committee. I’m interested to hear how you rationalised that one in your head. It has the feel of “opinions that agree with mine are legitimate, opinions that do not are not legitimate”. If I’m wrong, then signpost me to where your interpretation of the law has guided the resolution of a legal issue or been recognised positively by the courts in some way.
The key point (from that report and other material, not least the Articles of Union) is that the joint Anglo-Scottish legislature arrangement is ‘conditional’. That is why there is a Treaty and Acts of Union, which set out the ‘conditions’.
One of these conditions is that there must continue to be Scottish representation at Westminster, failing which the joint parliament cannot lawfully legislate for Scotland.
The Anglo-Scottish Westminster parliament is therefore ultimately subordinate to the treaty parties, the kingdoms of England and Scotland, which still exist.
The report does not use the word “conditional” anywhere and certainly does not describe the ability of the U.K. Parliament to legislate in Scotland as being subject to conditions. The view expressed against unlimited sovereignty is that the Treaty of Union is incorporated as fundamental law into the U.K. constitution, which the U.K. Parliament cannot change. The effect of that is that any measure breaching the ToU is ultra vires and therefore not applied, not that the ToU is dissolved or disapplied. That would be manifestly absurd, since the purpose of the ToU being fundamental law is to ensure that it continues to be applied, so disapplying it would achieve the opposite of that objective.
I’ll pose the same problem to you as the other poster has failed to answer. If the U.K. Parliament cannot alter the ToU, how could Scottish independence be implemented legally? You say that the Kingdom of Scotland continues to exist, if that’s true then what institution using what process has authority to renegotiate the ToU.
“… is difficult to sustain in the face of the evidence as to what Parliament has done without objection and in the absence of any positive indication,….”
That there was and has been routine indifference and supine complicity in the face of Scotland’s constitutional rights being violated, is probably as strong an argument as Unionist voices can muster to defend the injustice and diffuse the outrage.
However, the inglorious history of Scotland’s feckless and corrupt “nobility” and ruling elite is also the simple corollary of all the decades and centuries of bribery, coercion and inducement which the Westminster Government and UK monarchy is reknowned for worldwide.
I thus remain hopeful that any “proper” justice or arbitration which examines Scotland’s history of unlawful and unconstitutional abuse, will favour Scotland in it’s conclusions. Given the UK’s dubious instigation, that remains the only rightful conclusion which can be reached.
That said, if Scotland was to begin the actual prosecution under Scots Law of certain individuals who were notably complicit in Scotland’s subjugation, and even sought to impeach the dysfuntional farce of devolved “government” in Holyrood, then the action would have my fullhearted support.
The “Supreme Court” was a creation of Teflon Tony and crew and obviously post dates the Act of Union so the one could not forestall specifically and by name the latter.
Indeed it’s been argued that the “Supreme Court” and Tony’s other git “The Scotland Act” both break or flout the provisions of the Act of Union.
Using these recent “manifestations” to justify themselves and their political motivated legal interpretations is legalese sophistry which if the tables were turned they would undoubtedly argue to the contrary.
The “Supreme Court” as an entity runs contrary to the terms of the act of Union, the passage of time in no way waters one down to suit a later artificial construct; otherwise what of Constitutionally devoid merry old Englands Magna Carta?
I suspect the “Supreme Court” would act differently there..
The Supreme Court is the successor to the House of Lords in that it acts as the highest appeal court in the land.
The U.K. Parliament court repeal or amend the Magna Carta if it chose to.
?Dodgy record keeping is not limited to Jackson’s Entry. Reviewing Education Minister, Jenny Gilruth’s Register of Interests at the Scottish Parliament, its a complete blank!
No mention of her 2016 all expenses paid, two week trip to the US of A, under the State Department’s International Visitors Leadership Program. All the more curious because it used to be included. The $11,105 gratuity is archived on this very site under the article “All the jolly boys and girls”.
What a dream world the SNP source live in.
Flynn is a slime ball and laughing stock.
He will fail in his attempt to oust a sitting SNP MSP and I will laugh when he tries to explain his downfall.
To summarise – he is a nothing piece of shit.
Oh by the way Flynn – how is the ceasefire going?
How did your apologetic speech to Hoyle go?
How many MPs did you lose in the GE under your leadership?
How many times have you been called to speak in the HoC since the GE?
Johnicide Main pathologically obsessed with denying what the whole world can see in full technicolour.
It is hilariously insane. Keep going. Don’t stop!
Thanks! It’s no biggie.
“Whole world” eh? Strong, the fantasy is, in you.
But credit where credit is due, “Mac”. Most people look over their shoulders before openly scoffing at a fatwa – our Muslim brethren takes these things quite seriously, as we have all observed, even to the point of issuing a death sentence on those at the receiving end.
So people might expect that a fatwa issued against the humous boys would be paid just a little respect. A lot of respect if you’re a Muslim – a group last counted as making up quite a chunk of the “whole world”.
It’s still no a gen0cide though, not in technicolor. And not even in HDD either.
It’s also still interesting and instructive that you, as a no doubt self-id-ing Scottish patriot, have not one word of criticism for the humous boys – a nihilistic, medieval cadre of murderers, torturers, rapists, extortionists, etc. who have destroyed their country and brought down armagedon on their own people.
So far, all you lot have managed to inflict on us Scots are the SNP nutters.
We all need to make damn sure that’s as much damage as you ever get the chance to do.
.
Most sense you’ve ever made.
Remember teen warblers Kylie&Jason singing “Especially for You” all those years ago?
Well this is “especially for you’ Wee John;
“If you have not by now seen through the Biden administration’s pretence of “trying to restrain” I*rael, whilst providing ever greater funding and weapons for the genocide, then you are such a fool that I cannot help you.”
Craig Murray
Reporting From Lebanon
Looks like they have just had a much needed Captagon break at Johnicides hasbara centre.
Phew, that’ll fix it.
Feels like it is too long since I mentioned the gen0cide and ethnic cleansing though.
G&EC = John Main
Thought I would check out today’s “gen0cide” numbers.
“at least 34” reported in the MSM. Could be 40 or maybe even 50. It’s “gen0cide” Jim, but not as we know it.
Also reported in the MSM, the humous boys hijacked 97 out of 109 UN aid trucks and stole the lot.
Facts, eh “Mac”? Awkward chiels.
Big scoffs in the tunnels tonight then. Bet some of that aid will find its way back to the women, children and other non-combatants the humous boys are supposedly looking after.
At a price, natch.
Moan, “Mac”, be honest. That’s the kind of hellhole you would bring down on us Scots too, just as long as it was you down in the tunnels with the money, food, guns, and hostage teenage lassies to keep you entertained.
I don’t want to speculate about whose women and kids you would want for your human shields.
Glad to hear Hamas are kicking their Captagon habits. It was found on (dead) October 7 attackers, but note that amphetamine high does not excuse atrocities they committed.
Stuart wrote:
“That’ll barely be enough to cover a redundancy payoff for Chief Operating Officer Sue Ruddick, who Wings is told is one of the victims of the purge of HQ staff. The publicity-shy Ruddick has been with the SNP for 16 years, and given her pivotal role in burying the bodies of the Sturgeon era, we very much doubt the party will be keen to make an enemy of her by trying to cheap out on her golden handshake.”
Too true! Over the yeasr when was a local councillor and eventually MSP in the town where Ruddick lived, we never had her attending a single SNP meeting, event or function! But she knows where all the bodies of the Sturgeon era are buried!
Yup:
Be sure your sins will find you out..
Reality: Four council by-elections were held Nov. 14th. Unionist parties won all four.
Embarrassingly, Alba couldn’t even find a candidate, and the SNP averaged 21% vote share.
Even assuming SNP is pro-Indy (which many here dispute), that means yet another overwhelming rejection of Indy parties.
Anyone wish to wager on how well Indy parties will do in the next round (Nov. 21st) of council elections?
Calm down Gloriana and give yourself a wee personal rendition of Britannia Rules the Waves; otherwise by the looks of things you’ll give yersel an aneurism..
If Flynn, Gethins and Dougan are selected for Holyrood and the dual mandate is banned the there will be 3 by-elections immediately after a Holyrood election, should they be successful. The NEC may bring in a rule that if you want to double job then you need to donate £100K to HQ.
random bits n bobs …
this is fascinating
link to youtube.com
england is a floodplain
link to archive.ph
the worst people in the world want your land
link to archive.ph
new SNP youth education czar
link to archive.ph
problems, problems
link to archive.ph
one easy way for Ireland to solve this problem would be to rejoin the UK “the most successful political union” in history, bar none. Would never be a problem, ever again.
Stupid micks. Potatoes. What are they like? Next up they’ll be asking for reparations like the hottentot rastafarians.
It would be funny if o w of the Vietnam group were made redundant.
Given the poisonous wee shits they are at least one might cash in the whistle blower ticket and sell the story
Should be one of
The National: Donald Trump set to visit Scotland, Eric Trump confirms:
“During a visit to Scotland on Tuesday, Eric Trump told journalists that his father “is not going to lose any sleep over” the First Minister’s remarks, adding: “I’m not sure it bothers him one bit”…
Eric Trump (below) said the Scottish Government had made it “virtually impossible” to do business in the country, suggesting that it was only his family’s “love” for the country that kept them investing… said the intervention was “a shame” and did not help either the US or Scotland.
He added: “And now, all of a sudden, you have two countries that could have the greatest political relationship.
“Again, my father adores Scotland, and you have a First Minister coming out and just being fairly nasty in the days leading up.
“I mean, who did that benefit? Did that benefit Scotland?…”:
link to archive.ph
Exactly as predicted ; the clownish , bandwagon-jumping statements by the First Idiot has recoiled back into his – and the SNP’s face .
What need was there for Swinney to make that pre- US Election declaration of support for Trump’s rival , what did he hope to gain by it ? What has he gained – more importantly ….what has Scotland gained by it ?
Precisely fuck- all . Zero . In fact , all this latest misjudged idiocy has done is alienate someone who * may * have been willing to help our cause . At least , not be hostile to it .
Every single thing these buffoons in the SNP do is blowing-up in their faces .
re. “Every single thing these buffoons in the SNP do is blowing-up in their faces.”
If this rotten and malicious SNP Regime isn’t blowing-up now – it certainly will…
Zero One: Blind EP: What Do You See?
link to tinyurl.com
#NoSNPEscape
For the arrested development studenty politicos currently running Scotland into the ground at HR, ideology will always trump (pun intended) pragmatism. They’ve got their snouts clamped on the firehose of taxpayer’s largesse. They in the wee, pretendy parliament will never have to experience the consequences of their elitist virtue signalling.
It’s a good time for ordinary Scots to embrace the zeitgeist arising from the pendulum of progress finally swinging away from the progressive hyper-lunacy and back towards something more recognisable as normal to rational adults struggling to survive in the real world.
“Hail to the new chief!” has a good ring to it.
Maybe Trump will lend us Musk when he’s finished firing the legions of anti-productive drones infesting the US federal government. Something like one third of all working Scots are “employed” by our government, while everything from potholes, bin collections, through social care, to doctor’s appointments continue to deteriorate.
As somebody said recently, “Go into any government office and ask them what they do there. If you don’t understand the answer, tell them all to clear their desks”.
A bit extreme, certainly. But if we don’t start doing it humanely and thoughtfully now, it will ultimately come down to that in a few year’s time.
” For the arrested development studenty politicos currently running Scotland into the ground at HR, ideology will always trump (pun intended) pragmatism. They’ve got their snouts clamped on the firehose of taxpayer’s largesse. They in the wee, pretendy parliament will never have to experience the consequences of their elitist virtue signalling.”
In this , if nothing else , we’re in agreement , Mr Main .
Your * dilemma * , as I see it , is how you can reconcile ( what I’ll assume ) is your broad concurrence with what Trump’s * mission * appears to be with your support for the Proxy War – n c’mon now John , yr too smart to NOT know what the antecedents and intentions were/are behind it – and the other festival of bloodletting in the M.E .
You rightly identify the brain-numbing effects of ideological dogmatism within the SNP , yet fail to recognise how your own ideological biases blind you to the reality of where they lead to – absolute global catastrophe .
We’re now well past the point of this simply being a case of people holding different opinions .
The ONLY relevant question is ……do you want to precipitate a potentially life-on-Earth-ending Armageddon .
Or not ?
NOTHING else matters
“do you want to precipitate a potentially life-on-Earth-ending Armageddon”
Dammit – busted – OK, I’ll stop.
Wait until I tell friends and family I hold the future of life on Earth in my hands. Bwaha hahahahah! Cower before me, mere mortals. 🙂
Seriously though, any discussion of folding on the Eastern Front needs to address the realpolitik outcomes of the annexation of the people, industrial capacity and natural resources of U. The mass migration of penniless refugees in their millions. The renewed and incentivised holy mission of a Tsar who after swallowing U, will be up against a new set of international borders, on the other side of which will be all the “provocations” (missiles, military build ups, NATO, etc.) he adopted as pretexts for war last time around.
Not to mention tens of thousands of Asian mercenary troops in Europe, ultimately given the nod by the PRC to do what they like. Who here wants to know the fate of their daughter if she falls into the hands of that lot?
A serious discussion of folding on the Mediterranean front needs to at least pay lip service to the ultimate fate of 7+ million people, as the medievalists make good on their river and sea holy vows. Another mass migration, another incentivisation of the prime mover, Ir, and another ratcheting up of the tensions affecting the other countries of the region and the schisms within Islam.
Remember teen warblers Kylie&Jason singing “Especially for You” all those years ago?
Well this is “especially for you’ Wee John;
“If you have not by now seen through the Biden administration’s pretence of “trying to restrain” Is* ael, whilst providing ever greater funding and weapons for the genocide, then you are such a fool that I cannot help you.”
Craig Murray
Reporting From Lebanon
Zat the same CM who posted he supports the humous boys?
Haha, just another rhetorical question.
Scottish Indy making common cause now with the baby burners and the boys playing pass the parcel with the soft body parts they’ve carved off living teenage lassies.
After they’ve raped them, natch.
Be I the most foolish fool, chock full of foolery, I’ll be continuing to despise these yellow subhuman scum.
Still no a jenny side either. Any fool capable of counting on his fingers can see that.
I tried to see if there was a core beneath the * online * persona that was amenable to Reason : I see there isn’t ; just the same utter pish yv been coming out with since the start of the US instigated Proxy War – subsequently the same Daily Mail-type moronic flag-waving for the demented , sick fucks in Tel Aviv .
My experiment in rational dialogue with you has failed .
There won’t be second attempt .
You’re exactly the ideologically-perverted , warmongering , moral leper I always thought you were .
“…if we don’t start doing it humanely and thoughtfully now, it will ultimately come down to that in a few year’s time.”
…Filthy SNP/Scot Gov Regime can carp from the sidelines
Scotland’s redemption has already begun…
Fake National News is already thinking about it (re. carping)…
The National: Why The National is staying on Twitter/X … for now:
“…the demise of Twitter is incredibly sad. Of all social media, it was the best for following live news events, finding untold stories and starting a conversation. To see it run into the ground by capitalism’s cringiest super-villain, filled with excessive bot use and malicious disinformation is heart-breaking…
Is the answer to leave altogether? The Guardian certainly thought so,…
For now, The National’s position is this: If all the people who care about truth, justice and fairness leave the platform, we are silencing ourselves. If we give up, we allow the disinformation and extremism to win…”:
link to archive.ph
(The National has exclusively hidden public comments behind a paywall).
I tend to the view that Scotland is in danger becoming a latter day Québec. Thanks to the nature of contemporary politicians and their works people are showing mental fatigue with the current political dispensation.
Something extraordinary is needed to restore interest.
Shock and awe, hearts and minds to borrow the jargon of quondam «liberators» or maybe a methodology with a degree of cerebral sophistication yet to manifest in contemporary political discourse, and not just in Scotland.
«Power attracts flies as to fresh camel dung» as we skeptics say.
‘a methodology’ to help explain our ‘condition’:
link to salvo-cor.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
Why do you continue to post links to pish?
Is it because you write half of it?
Blink 182: Flyswatter Demo: Time:
“When the clock strikes two
There’s just so much to do
And I can’t explain what I?need
Jobs?and social groups
Hearing?the latest news
Keeping your reputation clean
And?I don’t want to worry
About being on time
I see the way you worry
And time runs your life again…”:
link to tinyurl.com
#DontWorrySkeptics
#PanicDeepStateLosers
Panic:
“A sudden strong feeling of fear that prevents reasonable thought and action:
A state of panic.”:
link to dictionary.cambridge.org
Zero One: Zero One: Panic:
link to tinyurl.com
#RealityWins
Swinney should be forced to resign.
To back the wrong horse in a US presidential election and get it so wrong, so badly, means his position is now untenable as FM.
If you are going to take a massive gamble and then get it so wrong, he has to pay the price personally. He is not fit to represent Scotland as he has pointlessly alienated the most powerful leader on the planet before he even takes office after a landslide win.
That is totally unacceptable and Swinney now has to go. His reputation in the US is in tatters now and he is therefore completely unfit for purpose and should immediately resign.
Of course we all know he is too much a slimy two faced greaseball to do anything remotely resembling what is in Scotland’s best interests.
It really does show whose real interests the Sturgeon SNP and Swinney serve and where the corruption of the SNP has been driven from IMHO.
The fact that Eric Trump says they make inward investment into Scotland almost impossible is the real story there. I don’t doubt that is what they have been doing this last 10 years plus.
The non response to saving Grangemouth… these people are total cunts. They really are.
The Mayor of Scotland (Swinney) talking out a hole in his arse – we must get him and his wretched party out of office come the 2026 elections.
“John Swinney has insisted the SNP is “financially strong” in the wake of an announcement its staff numbers could be slashed from 26 to 16.”
I really don’t think we can comprehend the damage that Sturgeon has done to Scotland. Her total betrayal of Alex Salmond and the independence movement are just the visible damage.
What we can’t quantify is all the lost opportunities of having an intelligent, pro inward investment, government instead of this cabinet of woke imbeciles and Sturgeon slaves.
The cost to Scotland is colossal. And then you add in selling off our assets for pennies on the pound…
It is everywhere you look.
Team Sturgeon were not just dismantling the independence movement they have been effectively doing the same to Scotland as well. De-industrializing it.
I dare say the next move is well underway, to make us a minority in our own country. That is why Sturgeon was constantly itching to devolve control of immigration to Scotland.
There is a sensible discussion to be had about immigration but we have to recognize what we are seeing now is that it has been weaponized. This is especially obvious in the US but really it is just as true in Europe, maybe even more so.
Then you add in the very carefully crafted woke poison…
It all begs the question, who is our real enemy here.
Ask yourself why Angus Robertson, Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture came to be in charge of the 2023 contract which gave Norwegian utilities giant Equinor sole proprietorship of Hydrogen generation in Scotland. The seeming “best fit” would be Gillian Martin, Minister for Energy and the Environment. In a Cabinet chock full of Humanities graduates with zero commercial experience, Martin actually worked in the energy sector before entering politics.
Angus Robertson is the bad penny that keeps on turning up at the wrong time in the wrong place. Almost as if on queue.
Angus Robertson, who rarely gives an interview these days, appeared on C4 News with Cathy Newman on the evening before Liz Lloyd appeared with Cathy Newman. Then he went back home to be with his wife and kids.
Both interviews were filmed on the same evening in front of Holyrood.
“The cost to Scotland is colossal. And then you add in selling off our assets for pennies on the pound…”
Yes indeed, the cost of colonialism for Scots is £150+ billion a year, making us the poorest people in NW Europe:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
….plus the ‘opportunity cost’ of this interception of our nation’s wealth, i.e. what we might be doing with it to create even more value for Scots.
All facilitated by the SNPs pensioned-off Trojan colonial administrators.
Which means Scotland fits the decolonization template like an auld manky glove:
link to yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com
Will the Vichy SNP government contact the victims to let them know these prisoners are out early.
“Hundreds of Scots prisoners serving short sentences could be released in the New Year under SNP Government plans.
Angela Constance, the Justice Secretary, previously announced the Scottish Government planned to change the automatic release point for prisoners serving less than four years from the current 50 per cent to 40 per cent.
Under the plans – which SNP ministers are trying to speed through Holyrood – between 260 and 390 prisoners could be released by early February in three tranches over six weeks.”
why? what is the rational for this, do they need more berry pickers?
Jeezo that’s barbaric.
It’ll be fucking freezing in early February.
Wonder if the devolved administration would consider operating a swap scheme which could see some of us pensioners moving into vacated cells as a replacement.
My spouse and I would be much more co operative detainees and would jump at the chance of taxpayer funded central heating, hot showers and baths, access to dental and health professionals. Plus 3 hot meals daily provided for us.
However, since this seems unlikely we’ll just remain heating one room in the home with a single bar of the electric fire and dreaming of the “bad old days.”
We need to build more jails.
Especially if a few weel kent faces in the SNP are headed that way – as they should!
I don’t know if it is dawning on many people across Europe just how fucked we are right now…
By allowing the US to destroy Europe’s relationship with Ru$$ia and then bombing the nordstream pipeline, we have allowed the US to greatly enrich itself while impoverishing Europeans. A massive wealth transfer that is on-going. The richest country in the world stealing from it’s poorer ‘allies’.
But that is not the worst of it. Europe now has no access to cheap energy. That means every industry in Europe in now uncompetitive. It does not matter what you make, it is everything.
Germany is de-industrializing but all of Europe will be the same as energy costs are too high. Meanwhile the German and European politicians are too meek to even stand up for their citizens anymore.
We have a real problem in Europe and we have no leadership to get us out of the mess. We are stuck in the middle and we are fucked…
And all of this was achieved using endless lies. A sea of lies.
At some point you have to say this is not an accidental outcome, it is the intended outcome.
oh and er, Brexit….part of the start of the demise…and the continued and accelerated enrichment of the….vastly rich!
Drill, baby, drill.
All that luvvery oil and gas.
Coal too, centuries worth of it.
The time for Scotland to start worrying about climate change will be when more Scots die of the heat in the summer than die of the cold in the winter.
It’s going to take a few years for this penny to drop for the voters. We still have nearly 5 years of the one-term Labour experiment to get through.
But after they’re done and thrown out, some real changes will be possible.
And if that means WM rationalists riding roughshod over the virtue signalling hand-wringers in HR, then so be it.
“Coal too, centuries worth of it.”
Disingenuous ever-present bot like cunt lacking any self awareness continues to post contrarian drivel.
link to wingsoverscotland.com
TBQFH, Dan, the relevance of your post escapes me.
Don’t feel bad that the task of “building a broad coalition” is beyond you. Just remember your shortcomings and for the betterment of Scotland and Indy, keep a low profile.
Addition, not subtraction. Mind that always.
It would seem, unlike you, I have a memory and can well recall your past flip flopping after we had built a consensus.
Can you not mind that time a consensus was reached where single market access was the compromise position to take rather than full EU membership or isolation.
You quickly dropped that position though, again showing your disingenuous disruptive nature.
Even ever diplomatic consensus builder Ellis couldn’t help but jump in and give you handers because he was pissed off after I reminded him that his daughter uses pronouns.
You’re the second tired old worn out Main I’ve been dealing with today. While you have been sitting on yer arse gaining red ticks, I’ve been working outside in minus temps sorting an engine.
Yesterday afternoon was a quick strip down and rebuild of a gearbox for a rally car.
“I don’t know if it is dawning on many people across Europe just how fucked we are right now”
The above is an understatement – we’re well past the f*cked stage – and many many folk haven’t got a scooby.
That arsehole Swinney has given Scotlands? full support of Uk×××××
Someone needs to remind that idiot that only a tiny handful of his own politicians voted him to take over from Humza.
He has no mandate to put a target on our backs.
Swinney seems to have forgotten that it’s N-A-T-O pressing the starter button
We, of course in Scotland are at ground zero.
WM must have some tasty info on that grade A clown
Aren’t we in NATO? Haha, rhetorical question.
Talking of Uk×××××, it’s them not being in NATO that means they are being blown to bits right now. There should be a lesson there for Scotland, I would think, when we become independent.
All of that to one side, I can think of few things more certain to turn the undecided off Indy than Indy supporters turning their backs on a free, sovereign nation, fighting to preserve itself against a rapacious, merciless, colonialist neighbour.
The parallels with our own situation are so in-your-face obvious, it astonishes me that anyone can be blind to them.
What a fcucking clown act.
Daily Heil superbot.
Been reading that certain security services are now using AI bots on social media sites and blogs – you could be replying to an AI bot – I know for sure, that the vile regime in the Levant uses multiple AI bots now to counter criticism of its evil regime.
“Jay” being a perfect example.
I found this ‘R Matthews’ comment by accident! If only it were clear hostility then it could have been regarded as a compliment.
Are you an expert on ‘Alt. Right’ and Orthodox Church nationalism as well as traditional European fascism? What about the Chinese version of the movement?
Julius Evola – The Yoga of Power: Tantra, Shakti and the Secret Way, should steer you in the Right direction.
You would think Fuckface would want to shut down and unplug itself from the mains every so often, or at least press the ‘sleep’ button and give itself a rest for a while. Its processor is going to burn out and its hard-drive will suffer a catastrophic malfunction pretty soon at this rate!
It can’t and for a number of reasons – it must defend the evil regimes jennoside and the knee-o-knatzzi regime in Eastern Europe – that’s the bulk of its remit, to at least put some doubt into our minds – that both regimes are not evil – when all the evidences shows to the contrary.
Learn that Scotland is spelled with a capital ‘S’ and we’ll talk.
My 8 YO granddaughter already has it sussed. What’s your problem?
I’ll take you at your word that you know FA about what’s happening in U******
“Indy supporters turning their backs on a free, sovereign nation, fighting to preserve itself against a rapacious, merciless, colonialist neighbour.”
Ah, the twists and turns of realty, and real history.
In 2014 I looked out for signs of support for (Scottish) independence from the international/ foreign community.
Obama was decidedly cool, to the point of being frosty. Even Putin did not sound enthusiastic. European nations seemed to be split on the matter.
There were no encouraging shouts of ” Go for it”…. ……..except in one quarter….Donetz/Lugansk.
They were the only people that flew the Scottish saltire in outright support of our cause.
Why such support from so unlikely a quarter?
………because Scots and German officers led the Russian army in its quest to eliminate the troublesome Turks from the near-indefensible borderlands of the Ukraine and Crimea…..the last lands to be settled by Russians, having been previously to forced to settle the Taiga,to the north and east of Moscow, because of the raiding, Turkic “musselmen”
?See Donald McKenzie Wallace and his book “Russia” available,free, on the internet
“He who knows nothing of history, remains forever a child”……Marcus Tullius Cicero.
As someone who was beaten with a leather strap (belt or tawse) in primary school for using the Scots language, the fealty shown by the leadership of the SNP to the regime in Kyiv should be superficially puzzling. Surely they are aware that the residents of the Donbas oblasts rose up in revolt at being required to use a language that was foreign to them, to the extent that they were being coerced at the point of a gun? Swinney is old enough to have shared my experience of cultural repression.
There is of course no true mystery to this. The leadership of the SNP are marionettes controlled by their Handlers in Foggy Bottom.
For the record, I’m neither pro Kyiv or pro Moscow, I’m pro Minsk Accords, and a former Chancellor of Germany and a former Secretary General of NATO have revealed that the West never had any intention of honouring those initiatives.
“I’m pro Minsk Accords”
You sure?
According to Pres P, the Minsk Accords no longer exist.
“residents of the Donbas oblasts rose up in revolt at being required to use a language that was foreign to them, to the extent that they were being coerced at the point of a gun”
I can’t decide if you are ignorant of the reality, or just want to lie to make your point. Prior to February 2022, U was widely and happily bilingual.
Quite bizzare that somebody still resenting being “beaten with a leather strap (belt or tawse) in primary school for using the Scots language” should want to pussy foot around the rights and wrongs of a situation where an escaped former colony is being forcibly recolonised for extermination as a sovereign people, language and culture.
Once again, readers can only marvel at the ability of so-called die-hard enthusiasts for our own Scottish sovereignty to be content with, or even in favour of, the extermination of other nations.
That’s why our standard of living will continue to plummet, and prices will continue rise, as – mega cash and aid, which should be earmark for civilian projects is sent to that vile regime – and the other vile regime in the Levant.
This also applies to Europe as its Atlanticist leaders destroy, not only European standards of living, but European industries as well.
Our Mayor of Scotland (Swinney) and all the treacherous parties at Holyrood are onboard with this – they don’t care they’ll still make a good living at Holyrood.
Oh and energy prices are to rise again in Jan/Feb – in a country (Scotland) teeming with surplus energy, where many many Scots are sitting in their front rooms, with the heating off because they can’t afford to put it on.
Meanwhile the POTUS gave the vile regime in Eastern Europe – the green light to strike deep inside Roooshia – and to deploy anti – personnel mines , in the West for most folk things are only going to get worse.
Please tell all about “…the vile regime in Eastern Europe…”, or at least provide some references to documentary sources. I had no opportunity to visit the area and see for myself. Thanks.
They’re “vile” because they fight for their independence.
It’s a fact that sticks in the craw of the saltire-waving, twice-a-year marching keyboard warriors, furiously virtue signalling from their flat-pack moral high ground on here.
Sticks in the craw? For some it’s more like an anaphylactic shock.
Mmm, minus 9. I checked in case there were any reference sources for further reading. Does no-one have any?
Seems up to 12 Storm Shadow have been fired on Kursk. Way to go Starmer, you just had to out-do the US with their 6 missiles and moved us 1 step closer to WW3.
There was me thinking the deployment of North Korean troops in Europe was what moved us closer to WW3.
People need to educate themselves.
For those unfortunates who found themselves under the rule of the empire of the rising sun during WW2, most preferred the systematic, brutal, inhuman cruelty of the Japanese to that of their ally, Korea.
The Koreans outdid even the Japanese, and that’s saying something.
Now the Koreans are being unleashed on Europe, and soon possibly the countries of the EU that an Independent Scotland is still dedicated to joining.
I’m thinking we need to step up and be counted.
And yet in this world of 24/7 surveillance not 1 single piece of evidence has been shown to the world of North Koreans in Kursk. Nothing but propaganda to justify further escalation.
Strong the denial is, in this one.
It’s you that needs to educate yourself, you jibbering fucking idiot. These missiles, for the first time, have been fired into R*ssian territory, by American forces (only Yanks are authorized to operate them). So effectively the US is attacking R*ssia.
P*tin has warned these clowns repeatedly that if they do this there will be consequences, not just for Europe but for the USA.
And now our hero sock puppet Sir Kid Starver has joined in.
You’re in good company.
Putin is going to do the sum total of fuck all about this because he’s already doing the maximum he can. There is a 0% chance Russia will use a nuclear weapon, thereby guaranteeing the destruction and breakup of the Russian state.
re. “These missiles, for the first time, have been fired into…”
Sigh, long-range US/UK/NATO missiles totally suck (Neanderthal-Tech:) –
It also sucks, even worse at ‘modern unconventional irregular warfare’ –
Because it cannot handle reality (The Undisputed World Champion)…
Those with true evolutionary aspirations (capabilities) will surely enjoy our Team-Reality revolution…
(corrupt Gov/State Ltd, cannot contend and will absolutely detest it:)
#RealityUnlimited #QConsciousness
The Range: Potential: So:
link to tinyurl.com
Absurd Smoque: Evolution: 1804 (Instrumental):
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The Range: 1804:
“Fi one thousand blessings
Give me stability and guidance
Fa protection and deliverance
Against all evil temptation
Fi one thousand blessings…”:
link to tinyurl.com
Absurd Smoque: Q: Q (Instrumental:)
link to tinyurl.com
#SovereignScotland
#RealityWins