Like our independence politics I have very much been in limbo this past week or so.
There has been lots happening however very little of it that pushes our cause any further forward.
As with so many of you only independence floats my boat.
All the other things surrounding politics grab my attention only when it relates to my special interest, Scottish Independence.
Our wonderful FM is in North America doing the ‘day job.’
Our PM is in Brussels, doing something?
Actually, Teresa’s latest jolly to Belgium is what got me thinking and writing again.
It got me to thinking about my poor wee mammy.
She past away over a decade ago and I still miss her to this day of course.
She had been a qualified nurse all her days since WWII.
She had a natural instinct to care for others.
When she passed and my brother and I were sorting out all her stuff we were humbled and amazed at the letters and cards from grateful patients and their families.
She had a great way it seems of making every single patient feel they were the only patient in the world, a true gift appreciated by many.
My mum was gentle, kind and loving, ah I miss that woman every single day.
You might already be wondering how such a beautiful description of a lovely human being has any correlation with that complete fucking moron, Teresa May.
The sad part about my wee mammy is her demise.
The last 10 years of her life were spent fighting the horrible ravaging Alzheimer’s disease.
Those of you unfortunate enough to have experienced this vile condition with a family member will understand the horrors of it.
When she was in the nursing home and I visited her it was torturous.
Sometimes she thought I was my dad, my brother, my Uncle Johnny, sometimes her doctor.
It left me emotionally drained each time I left her and god forgive me, dreading the next visit.
She had this one question obsession.
She always wanted her pension book.
Eventually, we developed a stock answer to her whenever she asked “where is my pension book?”
I would reply, “I have it here mum I am just about to go to the Post Office to collect your money and I will bring it right back to you.”
This would satisfy her for a few seconds then she would repeat the question over and over again.
Sometimes an entire visit would consist of the Pension Book.
When I saw the pictures on social media of Jean-Claude Juncker sitting with Teresa May, I thought about my visits to the nursing home.
The difference being the characters and the question only.
Our PM is like someone with Alzheimer’s that keeps asking the same question over and over again, getting the same answer only to repeat the same question a few minutes later.
“Jean-Claude can we just forget this Backstop and screw over the Irish?”
Non, Prime Minister, that is not possible in our union we treat our nations as equals and protect their interest.”
A few days later Big Tessa is back, Jean Claude can we just forget this Backstop……..
Like someone with Alzheimers the PM just cannot get her brain to compute simple facts.
This week however her latest tour de force to Belfast and Brussels got her a reaction, albeit not one she either expected or wanted.
Step forward my new heroine, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald.
The patience of the Irish Nationalists finally snapped this week.
Like the rest of us they have watched this circus week after week and this was the week when they said “Enough!”
Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald tells the British Prime Minister that she has come to Ireland with no plan, no credibility and no honour and that in the event of a hard Tory/DUP Brexit she must prepare for an Irish Unity Referendum. pic.twitter.com/arcGmKvngg
— Phantom Power (@PhantomPower14) February 7, 2019
To paraphrase it all Mary Lou said the Brits had no honour, had lied and were a danger to Ireland’s interest, stability and peace.
That the Brits as usual were not negotiating in good faith.
Should they continue down this path then the nationalist community would invoke their democratic right and demand a Border Poll.
Sinn Fein did what I have been begging the SNP to do for months they took the initiative and the fight to the Brits.
I advocated some time ago when London was preparing to take the Continuity Bill to the English Supreme Court that we should have laid down our ultimatum.
Withdraw the court case immediately and commit to returning all the EU powers to Scotland, or we will immediately call an independence referendum.
Instead, we appeased, played the British game with the British rules.
We can never win that kind of game it is their rules, their ball, their pitch, their referees, their scoring system.
As soon as we get to understand those rules and scoring system they change the rules and scoring system.
I believed then and still believe we should have held our plebiscite in autumn 2018.
We should by now be negotiating our secession.
However, we are where we are, our independence should not be dependent on Brexit, or a Section 30 or the goodwill of the English Parliament.
It is time we took a leaf out of our Irish cousins playbook and took the fight to the Brits.
It is time for us to dictate the rules of engagement, it is time for us to set the red lines.
It is time for us to tell the Anglo-Brits what is acceptable and what is unacceptable.
It is time for us to tell them this, it is simple and it gets the job done.
Revoke Article50 this week or we are calling a Scottish Secession Referendum.
We are not asking your permission we are merely informing you, it is going to happen.
It really is that simple, the Irish have shown us the way it is now time for us to act.
Scottish Independence won’t be gifted to us, we need to fight for it!
Saor Alba gu brath!
Absolutely spot on, as ever. Everyone is hoping NS has some secret Joker to play, I sure hope she does, or these will screw us over yet again.
I agree completely and am getting tired of waiting for the SNP leadership to show some courage.
Lorna Campbell replied to a Peter A. Bell post with the following, which gave me shivers about the possibilities. Thoughts?
“That is why I have always recommended the presentation of a powerful legal case (based on repudiation of the Treaty of Union, 1707 as being breached to the point of absurdity, unilaterally, by England) before the international courts, parallel with a petition to the UN on three counts of its charters, the withdrawal of our MPs from Westminster and the absolute undertaking to hold a ratifying referendum after independence – all simultaneously, and with a demand, to be agreed to within a specified and small timescale, for negotiations to leave the UK to be agreed upon. This would leave Mrs May, or whoever, little time to prevaricate with “now is not the time”. That is not UDI, but the stated intention of wishing to start negotiation, for those who believe it is.”
Laudable sentiments Monica and while I have a great deal of sympathy with this view I cannot endorse it.
The reason being we have always spoken about the sovereign will of the Scottish people.
We cannot advocate that then take constitutional action without their approval.
Whatever way we move I feel it is necessary to involve the sovereign people at every juncture.
The Scottish government has an obligation to protect Scotland against massive harm. Declaring us independent would be respecting what Scotland voted for in the EU referendum. A confirming indy ref afterwards would check that what they did was approved. I don’t see an issue with this. We’re never going to get a section 30 order. Particularly as the percentage supporting indy increases. What’s the alternative?
I agree about the Section 30 and as I say in my blog I would not even ask about it.
Why should we that is us acknowledging another country’s right to decide our future and on that I am vehemently opposed.
We need to put some proposal to the Scottish electorate with no outside interference.
The SNP are going to let Brexit happen first. Nicola has as much as said that with her various press releases. They are taking a gamble on it being so bad that people will rush to vote yes.
The only chink of light I see is when Blackford has often stated:” Scotland is a European nation now and will be after 29th March” So there might be some mechanism to prevent Scotland leaving the EU , while we get on with voting for independence.
Let’s hope.
Correct.
In matters constitutional and Scottish the people of Scotland are sovereign. We cannot delegate that decision to any court. Any grant of authority or power to our parliament and/or any other legislature(s) to act in the name of Scotland is in the gift of the People and the People alone. At the moment of a YES vote the Scottish Parliament and/or any other duly constituted legislature(s), derives its legitimacy and authority directly from the People, not Westminster. At the moment of a YES vote the Union with England is dissolved. That is to say, the UK ceases to be.
Negotiations thereafter are not then, with the UK Government, but with England as the fellow successor state.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain is a legal and political entity formed by the Union of two and only two countries – the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England (incorporating Wales). It was created by a bilateral internationally recognised treaty.
It is the case that upon dissolution of the Treaty of Union, its associated enabling acts of parliaments, and any subsequent contingent intra-state treaties and agreements derived therefrom, the United Kingdom of Great Britain will cease to be.
Excellent post Roddy, I agree with virtually every word you say here and certainly share the sentiment expressed.
On timing, I find myself strongly agreeing with Paul Kavanagh in that in order to have a cast iron mandate we need to wait until we’re actually ‘taking out of the EU against our express will’ or until that becomes unavoidable under the ancien regime.
This would then have Brexit not as the cause of a move toward independence, but in ignoring the clearly expressed will of the Scottish people on no less than 3 occasions as the catalyst for it.
Though my heart soars when I see folk discussing things like dissolving the Treaty of Union and declaring UDI.
I’m afraid that my relational and practical brain kicks in and protests that the only way we will win independence is when the
majority of my fellow countrymen are actually willing to vote in favour of it: in whatever shape or form the coming plebiscite shal take. Personally, I see it coming via an Election of some kind. In addition, I see this happening sooner rather than later.
That is why it is so necessary that all pro-independence supporters are put on a ‘Def Con 1’ footing ASAP.
As Roddy so rightly intimates anyone who supposed that the coming ‘battle’ will be played by the Marquis of Queensbury rules will be swiftly disabused of that notion. The British State will use every coercive tool at its disposal up to and including the use of force to prevent us achieving independence. By that I don’t necessarily mean tanks and guns on the streets of Scotland, though in extremis it’d be a fool who would rule anything out at this stage. We need only lol to Catalonia to see the lengths a so called-liberal democracy will go in defence of what it perceives as its legitimate national interest.
As Monica Worley said: The Scottish government has an obligation to protect Scotland against massive harm. Even if it means breaking the rules Westminster plays by, the SNP must do something before March 30th to prevent a hostile takeover and the closing of Holyrood. I would suggest adopting the new Constitution and dissolving or suspending the Treaty of Union, which might give protection in the short term. We know there is a new Treaty of Union being created by Westminster which could be signed by David Mundell on behalf of the people of Scotland as soon Brexit begins. Sometime after Brexit is completed a confirmatory referendum or general election for Holyrood would complete the deal. But waiting for the optimum moment to hold a referendum when your opponent is the British State is not a good idea.