A Guest Post by Mark Harper.
I grew up in 70s Scotland, I went to a Catholic school and was classed as a troublemaker by a music teacher who while giving a religious education class, made the ridiculous claim that “God never intended man to fly”, I raised my hand and pointed out that, “If that’s the case, why did God give man the intelligence to build airplanes?”. This, among other things, added to my suspicion that religious belief, wasn’t good for the brain.
Religion doesn’t have the same hold on the public these days. Many though still need ‘something’ to believe in, ‘something’ to follow. Just like religion some people can become quite devout to ideologies or indeed political personalities. Trumpism in America being an extreme example of such blind faith where fantasy replaced reality. There have always been people that others can manipulate and control. To some the SNP and its leader have become some sort of substitute for other belief based doctrines.
Nicola Sturgeons SNP is now a cult. Nicola is the High Priestess who can do no wrong in the eyes of the enlightened. These true believers in the one true light have a mission to enlighten the populous and cast the unclean into the pit. The unclean being those who ask questions. Ask a question and be branded “Transphobic” or “Unionist Quisling.”
The question I’ve been asking is “what rights do transgender folk not have, that the rest of us have?” The answer I think is “None.” Scotland today is more tolerant now than at any time in its history. The 70s I grew up in had TV shows like “Love Thy Neighbour”, where a working class white family lived next door to a black family. The jokes were all misogynistic, racism that the people of the day loved! You’re a Poof, was a common insult among us kids. From this perspective, I can see a Scotland transformed today. Where people are people and sexual preference is of little or no consequence for the young and enlightened. We’ve largely crossed the finish line regarding gay and race rights since those days when kids were stung by leather belts across our hands for even the slightest misdemeanour.
Religion is slipping away, but some people still require something to believe in, and the banner they’re hoisting is Transgender Rights! Because we all know transgender people who are being abused in our streets, don’t we? We all know that they suffer terribly because while they are still in male bodies, they can’t have access to womens changing rooms or toilets? The supporters of GRA Reform would have you believe that this is the most pressing problem in our country right now. This is what the SNP are doing right this minute, passing legislation that allows a man to self-ID as a woman and have access to all female safe spaces. Did any of the voters who voted SNP1& 2 even know about this legislation when they crossed those boxes?
I am just an average Scot who identifies as working class. I am a Methil Mongrel of doubtful pedigree who, at 15, walked out of school into Thatchers Britain. I never read a book until after leaving school. I’ve lost friends to drugs, been in the house of heroin addicts I’ve seen children’s eyes when I saw them hiding. There are far more pressing problems in Scotland than accessing changing rooms, or bathrooms with the wrong sexual organs.
Scotland needs independence yesterday, it should be the Scottish National Party most pressing issue. But when we were presented with the greatest opportunity to grasp our dignity, our freedom. Sturgeon’s SNP instead tried to prevent the English Brexit. They argued that Scotland voted to stay, and you’re trashing democracy, while trying to trash the English democratic right to leave the EU!
England voted to leave the EU, dragging Scotland out with them. It should have been the starting gun for independence campaigning. That is when it should have started. However instead of discussing or campaigning for independence, the SNP National Executive Committee (NEC) were discussing Transgender rights instead!
The SNP has lost its way.
Great Mark.
I agree with every word.
Thank you Mairi
I left the SNP last August because I thought it lost it’s way. Your very words.
Yes, Mark. Thank you! I agree. That is exactly what is happening in Scotland.
Mark,
Excellent Post.
Does anyone have any evidence of Sturgeon and the new SNP pursuing GRA reform before England decided to vote for Brexit? The timing of this stinks.
When GRA reform first came to prominence, it was asserted that it was a commitment in the SNP’s 2016 Holyrood manifesto. I hadn’t bothered to read that document, so I was horrified by the thought that I might have endorsed what was now happening. So I went back to look; there is an extremely generalized and vague commitment to “GRA reform” (much like the one in this year’s manifesto) with absolutely no details, let alone full on self-ID.
But that vague aspiration did exist. The 2016 Holyrood election was less than 2 months before the EU referendum, which most people assumed would be won by Remain.
Therefore, the strict answer to your question, I think, is that yes, there was some intention of changing things prior to the decision to Brexit. We can’t know, of course, whether that decision speeded things up as a diversionary tactic.
SF, thanks for the detailed response.
I’ve always been of the mindset this was introduced along with the HCB to damage the SNP and by extension our chances of Independence. I’m basing this purely on who in their right minds would focus on these most divisive pieces of legislation when the Union was at it’s weakest and we could have gone for the jugular on multiple fronts? I also simply don’t believe Humza and St Nicola et al. have the brains to devise this on their own.
Can’t disagree with anything you’ve said here Mark. The wider public needs to be made aware of exactly what is going on and the implications. Nicola Sturgeon’s New SNP is turning Scotland into an authoritarian state where you can be prosecuted for saying the wrong thing. They are shutting down debate as we speak.
Quite agree, it worries me that it’s been stated that the Scottish government is fighting the corona virus, which of course is commendable and necessary, but surely there must be a team in the Scottish government who are engaged in ensuring pensions will be paid, that people can still pay their mortgage, what the currency will be etc. If there is such a team then we should hear about them and what they are doing?
It should be pointed out that while the political parties did absolutely nothing to further Scotland’s statehood, and in fact went out their way to deny it, the grassroots movement never stopped campaigning and when the call went out from those in the grassroots movement and Alba (and a number of small indy parties united with Alba) to make the 2021 a de facto indy campaign the people answered that call. That the SNP have once again ignored the mandate given to assert Scotland’s statehood, the people having decidedly stated yes to indy in the election vote and Alba MPs having to include an amendment to the queen’s speech to recognise that mandate, it is clear the queen of mandates has no intention of asserting Scots statehood now or in the future. The SNP in their elation to what they perceived to be the destruction of a pro-Scotland, pro-indy party while celebrating 56 MSPs representing the English establishment getting seats in the so called Scottish administrative parliament spells it out clearly. They are not pro-Scotland nor pro-indy. They have morphed into the Labour party who would dangle home rule while doing everything possible to thwart it including introducing the 40% rule which counted the dead among its Devo voters. Today it is s30 and counting English establishment supporters. And while the dark age policies that are being championed by the SNP and Greens are being pursued Scotland is actively being destroyed by the English government with the Scottish government’s blessing. Who would have thought when SNP first appeared on the political scene that this would be their legacy.
Honestly, I’m afraid that you are spot on. It’s sickening that the knife in Scotlands back is being weilded by the SNP.
@Gayle
please would you explain what you meant by this:
“Alba MPs having to include an amendment to the queen’s speech to recognise that mandate”
Thanks.
Mark, you are so right in this post. I cannot understand the SNP’s failure to push for independence. Trans people, like any other minority, are entitled to be protected from prejudice. There is, however, an unacceptable demand from some trans activists to be allowed to infringe the rights of others. Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP have aligned themselves with this extremist view and have placed the implementation of these demands above the pursuit of independence. I am an SNP member and have been unwavering in my support for decades, but I now realise that the trans issue is just another in a long line of excuses to put off the fight for independence.
Totally sound arguments Mark.
I agree entirely. Sturgeon is using these people and killing Scotland’s independence hopes in the process. We must find a way to stop the destruction.
ALBA
How’s Alba doing?
Better than any Unionist party or the SNP it has no thieves or Biology/Science deniers why do you ask?
❤️🏴Doing Great❤️🏴
Spot on… and one of the reasons they lost my vote in May, for the first time in my voting life.
Sturgeon has undone the decades of toil and graft and success of Alex Salmond, and turned the Snp into one big cess pit.
Are you all saying that the paid up members of that huge, potentially very ,very powerful political party , called SNP— which has been around for decades, have no power over there NEC, who equally appear to have even less power over those in government, whom they manipulated onto the voters list initially.
Do the members pay by coercion? Else why do they keep paying? One is led to assume every one of them is willing to become implicit in the detrimental changes being perpetrated by their party, on the innocent victims in this country, our children and young people, and their families.
Let those of clear vision start behaving like”Mrs Barbour” types and waken up the decent women living here in Scotland to-day , The human beings of all shades of common decency. move into ALBA and start exposing the quislings, fifth columnists and dark estate traitors working in plain sight., and always minding your back.