John Swinney smiled, broadly, Scotland's First Minister posing with English mayors and the like, all neatly tucked in behind Prime Minister Starmer. Alex Salmond tweeted his last tweet pointing out that "Scotland is a country not a county" and no more needs saying.
Straight into the Gold. This is why I do not trust John Swinney, nor the rest of the political level of the SNP, I've met plenty of decent and honestly committed SNP members but there seems to be a sharp discontinuity between membership and political representatives. You've articulated the blatant contradictions. This, added to the unwillingness even to acknowledge, let alone cooperate with, other active groups in the broad independence movement is a serious obstacle; intentional, I suspect.
Absolutely spot on Peter...you have quite clearly denounced the treachery and double standards of swiney and his squad of living dead now squatting in Unholyrood.
'By his words j. swiney holds the people of Scotland to be SOVEREIGN
By his ACTIONS he accedes to the sovereignty of westminster.' (ref: Peter A Bell)
Perfectly put.....now how do we educate/remove this traitorous man...betraying Scotland and her people. By what mechanism can we remove him and put an honest Scot in his place..are there any honest Scots in politics?... embezzlement ...failure to stand up for our nation, lands, wildlife and industrial potential..not calling out racism towards our nation by the hostile INVADING foreign invaders...failing to point out the ongoing theft of our resources for 300 years by Westminster..to whom swiney bows downs before......( Uriah Heep comes to mind)
Occasionally we hear him pontificate..'Scotland is a country not a region'....so why are we not a free and independent COUNTRY as he suggests...instead of a REGION begging for permission from a foreign nation?
'The erosion of sovereignty over the years '..pointed out by DR. Clever assessment..
'The team of phony freedom fighters '...pointed out by SD..well spotted..and well named.
Yet we do nothing and so it goes on supported by the malevolent foreign english media that Scots read in their droves...and worse ..ACTUALLY BELIEVE!
My inclination has homicidal leanings as I can see no alternative way of freeing ourselves from the morass that we are floundering in and have been for over 300 years.
If someone has an answer that won't frighten the infantile Scots ..let me know...
The World Cup has shown what we are like....not fit enough..not believing in ourselves...but bloody good at putting cones on other folks statues...anything but fight for their rights.
Very sad but unfortunately true. They cannot get past the idea of getting permission from London, so obviously do not understand the concept of Sovereignty.
Is it ignorance, a blind spot or an unwillingness or fear of the responsibility that would fall on them if they ever asserted Scotland's Sovereignty?
Mind you, I don't think they have the political ability to deal with that responsibility as they have no plan on progress.
All of the above, Ann. Or some permutation thereof. I would add bad advice. The people advising MSPs are careerists every bit as much as the politicians. They play safe. and they tell the politicians what they think they want to hear. So, you get this self-reinforcing feedback system that generates mediocrity. The politicians want to play safe. So, their advisers tell them what they have to do – or not do – in order to be safe. The politicians do the safe thing and so reinforce the motivation of the advisers to tell them what is the safe option. When was the last time you saw an adventurous politician?
It's like the procrastination loop. When waiting becomes the strategy, advisers feed the politicians justifications for delay. Pretty soon, waiting is all that can be done because the ability to act has atrophied while waiting was the imperative.
Every once in a while, the system needs a disruptor to shake loose the hyper-caution and procrastination. It can be a good disruptor or a bad disruptor. If there is no good disruptor, people will turn to the bad disruptor. Reform UK is the bad disruptor. We don't have a good disruptor.
"If Andy Burnham genuinely believes people should have more control over their future, he can recognise that by confirming Scotland’s national right to self-determination."
Somebody should tell John Swinney that there is no requirement to solicit the opinion of a recently elected English MP on an entitlement that is already guaranteed by the UN Charter.
Swinney and his team of phony freedom fighters are the immediate blockage to restoring Scotland's full self-government and independent statehood.
Historically England has consolidated its power over Scotland, from the act of union through to most recently with the formation of the UK supreme court. There is a case reported this week of that court operating with criminal cases in Scotland, and up until the 90s the Scottish criminal system had no appeal to House of Lords as the system was then. Point is it seems to have been changed; that is how Scottish sovereignty has been eroded gradually over the years and is now effectively gone. Therefore the system is stacked against the Scottish people sovereignty argument. The SNP accede to this as you point out; they are now effectively a devolution party.
John Swinney smiled, broadly, Scotland's First Minister posing with English mayors and the like, all neatly tucked in behind Prime Minister Starmer. Alex Salmond tweeted his last tweet pointing out that "Scotland is a country not a county" and no more needs saying.
Straight into the Gold. This is why I do not trust John Swinney, nor the rest of the political level of the SNP, I've met plenty of decent and honestly committed SNP members but there seems to be a sharp discontinuity between membership and political representatives. You've articulated the blatant contradictions. This, added to the unwillingness even to acknowledge, let alone cooperate with, other active groups in the broad independence movement is a serious obstacle; intentional, I suspect.
Absolutely spot on Peter...you have quite clearly denounced the treachery and double standards of swiney and his squad of living dead now squatting in Unholyrood.
'By his words j. swiney holds the people of Scotland to be SOVEREIGN
By his ACTIONS he accedes to the sovereignty of westminster.' (ref: Peter A Bell)
Perfectly put.....now how do we educate/remove this traitorous man...betraying Scotland and her people. By what mechanism can we remove him and put an honest Scot in his place..are there any honest Scots in politics?... embezzlement ...failure to stand up for our nation, lands, wildlife and industrial potential..not calling out racism towards our nation by the hostile INVADING foreign invaders...failing to point out the ongoing theft of our resources for 300 years by Westminster..to whom swiney bows downs before......( Uriah Heep comes to mind)
Occasionally we hear him pontificate..'Scotland is a country not a region'....so why are we not a free and independent COUNTRY as he suggests...instead of a REGION begging for permission from a foreign nation?
'The erosion of sovereignty over the years '..pointed out by DR. Clever assessment..
'The team of phony freedom fighters '...pointed out by SD..well spotted..and well named.
Yet we do nothing and so it goes on supported by the malevolent foreign english media that Scots read in their droves...and worse ..ACTUALLY BELIEVE!
My inclination has homicidal leanings as I can see no alternative way of freeing ourselves from the morass that we are floundering in and have been for over 300 years.
If someone has an answer that won't frighten the infantile Scots ..let me know...
The World Cup has shown what we are like....not fit enough..not believing in ourselves...but bloody good at putting cones on other folks statues...anything but fight for their rights.
For OUR Scotland and her childish weans.
Very sad but unfortunately true. They cannot get past the idea of getting permission from London, so obviously do not understand the concept of Sovereignty.
Is it ignorance, a blind spot or an unwillingness or fear of the responsibility that would fall on them if they ever asserted Scotland's Sovereignty?
Mind you, I don't think they have the political ability to deal with that responsibility as they have no plan on progress.
All of the above, Ann. Or some permutation thereof. I would add bad advice. The people advising MSPs are careerists every bit as much as the politicians. They play safe. and they tell the politicians what they think they want to hear. So, you get this self-reinforcing feedback system that generates mediocrity. The politicians want to play safe. So, their advisers tell them what they have to do – or not do – in order to be safe. The politicians do the safe thing and so reinforce the motivation of the advisers to tell them what is the safe option. When was the last time you saw an adventurous politician?
It's like the procrastination loop. When waiting becomes the strategy, advisers feed the politicians justifications for delay. Pretty soon, waiting is all that can be done because the ability to act has atrophied while waiting was the imperative.
Every once in a while, the system needs a disruptor to shake loose the hyper-caution and procrastination. It can be a good disruptor or a bad disruptor. If there is no good disruptor, people will turn to the bad disruptor. Reform UK is the bad disruptor. We don't have a good disruptor.
I reckon it is fear of confronting the British state.
Excellent argument Peter.
"If Andy Burnham genuinely believes people should have more control over their future, he can recognise that by confirming Scotland’s national right to self-determination."
Somebody should tell John Swinney that there is no requirement to solicit the opinion of a recently elected English MP on an entitlement that is already guaranteed by the UN Charter.
Swinney and his team of phony freedom fighters are the immediate blockage to restoring Scotland's full self-government and independent statehood.
Historically England has consolidated its power over Scotland, from the act of union through to most recently with the formation of the UK supreme court. There is a case reported this week of that court operating with criminal cases in Scotland, and up until the 90s the Scottish criminal system had no appeal to House of Lords as the system was then. Point is it seems to have been changed; that is how Scottish sovereignty has been eroded gradually over the years and is now effectively gone. Therefore the system is stacked against the Scottish people sovereignty argument. The SNP accede to this as you point out; they are now effectively a devolution party.