I had my Road to Damascus moment over Scottish independence in 1968. I was still a schoolboy but even then I had an interest in politics. My particular school did teach Scottish history, and I come from a very politically minded family. Back then of course, supporting the SNP, had you categorised as a bit of a joke. With only a few % in the polls and a couple of councillors throughout Scotland, nobody took us seriously.
What I could not figure out then is the same as I struggle with today. How can anyone born a Scot not want independence for their country of birth? Why would anyone want or accept an English Parliament with a majority of English MPs and an English Prime Minister ruling over them? What other nation in the world has fellow indigenous peoples supporting a foreign land, Parliament and culture dominating them? No Englishman would want or tolerate Scotland, Wales or Ireland ruling over them. Look how much they complained about Tony Blair and Gordon Brown being England’s Prime Minister. Two absolute House Jock Anglophiles however, still not pure enough for the Little Englanders.
The English cannot even share sovereignty inside the British Union and so it is no surprise to some of us that the Little Englanders (a huge majority in England!) were never at ease in the European Union. To England, all Celts, European Johnny Foreigners, their languages and cultures are inferior to anything English.
How then can some of our own people hate their own country of birth so much? While our neighbours are so full of themselves, it seems as soon as you cross the border us Scots like nothing better than talking ourselves down. ‘Don’t get ideas above your station. Know your place. Be grateful for what you have, there are others far worse off than you.’
It is the people who have taken these things on board that are the ones it seems that are most willing to accept the colonial status of Scotland. The answer is really quite simple, 315 years of colonialism and propaganda. Today Scots are more anglicised than ever. London controls everything important. Our economy, foreign affairs, immigration, newspapers, our radio, our television, our drama. Every single narrative comes from London. Every time we switch on the television or radio or open a paper, the propaganda is being rammed down our throats. They have convinced many that being Scottish is somehow inferior, being British is better. British is of course, synonymous with being English! Complaining about the imperialism makes you a bad person, a racist, anti-English. Demanding fair and free elections or referendums makes you a blood and soil nationalist and anti-English!
It is something we have to address and correct if we are ever to become independent. If someone has an addiction, the professionals will tell you that the first step on the road to recovery is to admit you have a problem.Only then can you address the addiction. Too many in Scotland refuse to accept the reality. Scotland is to all intents and purposes a colony of Greater England! That is something we need every Scot to accept and understand.
To those that refuse to accept that let me ask a couple of questions, if Scotland is not a colony and indeed an equal partner in this union why do we need permission to leave? If we are an equal partner why can we not decide who and how many immigrants are allowed to settle in our nation?
Just this week the new English Prime Minister decided to go on a round of Jock bashing. She would face the Separatists head on she stated at The Tory Party Conference, cue lots of applause and cheering. How dare these colonised upstarts dare question Mother England’s rule over them. No matter how you vote, no matter what the Law Lords in the Supreme Court say, Westminster and the English majority will not permit any referendum or plebiscite that would give Scots a voice.
https://ukdaily.news/london/no-independence-referendum-even-if-the-supreme-court-thinks-its-legal-says-liz-truss-49786.html
Meanwhile, our countryy is filling up with English immigrants fleeing the draconian and cruel policies of Tory England. More and more English have decided that selling their tiny houses in England for a King’s ransom allows them to move to much larger homes in Scotland.
There are added benefits too, especially for English retirees, free prescriptions, free home care for the elderly, less crime, lower council tax bills, lower NHS waiting times. Wherever the English go in the world they create little England enclaves.In Scotland no need it has been so Anglicised they feel right at home. They can still have their Daily Mail and BBC. They can still vote Tory and still have Westminster in overall charge. Add in that after selling and buying their new house in Scotland they have probably banked a substantial sum into their bank accounts. The banks which of course are protected and controlled by London and not those nasty nats in Edinburgh! Also if the Scotch ever try to separate the incomers get a vote to keep the Jockos in line. What’s not to like, if you are English?
I can fully understand the Plantation voters in Scotland that vote Tory, Labour, Brexit and No to independence.The 73% of English immigrants in Scotland that want all the benefits of Scotland but still want an English political safety net. Why wouldn’t they? They have been told all their lives that as an English person they are superior in every way to their Celtic neighbours. Why would they want an inferior Scottish Government ruling over them when they could have an English Government?
The propaganda has always been, Scots are aggressive drunks, uncouth and not very intelligent. The Irish are all terrorists and even thicker than the Jocks. The Welsh are equally stupid and only good for male voice choirs and rugby.
It doesn’t prevent the English coming to live among us in the Celtic lands, but it prevents the majority of them supporting us in our desires to be normal democratic and independent countries. They want English rule from London but free prescriptions, student fees and bus passes from Edinburgh.
I understand it and do not condemn the English immigrants. It is the best of both worlds for them. My problem is why Scots so meekly accept this quite unique and unusual arrangement called colonialism.
Let me give an exemplary story to highlight the stupidity of Scots. I live most of the year here in Catalonia I will never be a Catalan. I do by my actions, blogs and podcasts show that my allegiances and heart remain forever Scottish. Why then should we expect an English person in Scotland to be any different? I will never feel the same attachment or deep love for Catalonia that I hold in my heart for Scotland. I love where and how I live here. My health and well being benefit from me living here. It is my house but it can never be home! Sooner or later I will return to Scotland if not for the entire year certainly for a large part of it. It all depends on health issues.
In Spain I am only allowed votes at local elections and I believe that is correct. Why should I have a say on anything to do with Catalan/Spanish Constitutional matters? However, if I was given the choice of rule from Barcelona, Madrid or Edinburgh I would vote for Auld Reekie every time!
I would still have the climate which suits my health issues. I would still retain my access to a fantastic healthcare system. I would still have a cost of living which in comparison to Scotland is minute. I could still have my citrus and olive trees, my swimming pool and a far larger house than I could ever have afforded in Scotland. Just as most English can buy bigger and better homes in Scotland than they ever could in England. So yes every election or referendum I would vote for a government in Edinburgh that would always be there for me if I needed it. Selfish, yes but human nature.
Edinburgh could then ensure I get votes, and an equal say on everything in Catalonia. Any indigenous Catalan that suggested it was wrong to let me have a say on their nation’s Constitutional matter we could attack as a blood and soil Catalan nationalist and a hater of Scots, a racist. All the while my fellow Scots and myself would be protecting Edinburgh’s interests over those of Barcelona. A win-win for Scots and Scotland and a lose-lose on Catalans! It means Edinburgh would always have control with no obligations or threats to it.
It would be even better if Edinburgh could remove the Catalan MSM and replace it with just Scottish newspapers. Take away the 15 Catalan radio stations and only have Scottish radio stations pouring out 24×7 Scottish propaganda. The 5 Catalan TV stations would have to be replaced by Scottish headquartered television companies. We could have STV Catalonia and BBC Catalonia but it would answer into Edinburgh and take all its programming, news and current affairs from Edinburgh. Edinburgh, of course, would hold a veto over all journalists employed and total editorial authority.
The speaking of Catalan or Spanish would be traduced and ridiculed especially if these languages were used on any road signs. We would allow them a tiny underfunded TV station for their quaint language, reminding them regularly it is a dead language.We would however ensure it was never promoted or budgeted in such a way to ever question Scottish supremacy, language or culture!
Not to forget we would control all the natural resources and taxes in Catalonia. Incidentally the richest part of the Iberian peninsula. We, of course, have to have our media telling the locals every day how inadequate they are.How inefficient their transport, hospitals schools and politicians. That Mother Scotland knows best.
I know the Catalans and they would not tolerate such a thing. They have guarded their culture, language and media most fastidiously. The English would not tolerate it, indeed I cannot think of another nation on the planet that would tolerate it. Why do we? Are we so beaten and broken? Is their no fight left in us? If we are serious about independence, we really need to start showing it. A Facebook Page, a Twitter account, a blog or podcast is not enough. Action is required, boldness and bravery to face down our enemies and say No more, Enough is Enough!
If the people who are meant to be getting us independence are not up to the task then we have to cast them aside and find others that are up for the fight. This needs to be people led, the politicians have shown us they are not up for it. Are we really going to allow a political lightweight like Liz Truss tell us what we can or can’t do.
First and foremost we need Scots to recognise the problem. Ask these questions of every doubter and Scottish Unionist. Is Scotland a nation? Isn’t it normal for nations to rule themselves? The answers of course, are YES and Hell Yes!
The parliament of GB is not an English parliament. Legally it is the parliament that replaced the English parliament which was abolished in order to create the binary parliament of GB, housing both countries governments as equal partners in both treaty and law.
Scots classing it as an English parliament simply because England has more MPs permits the Scots to be treated as second class as even their own representatives will and do treat it and Scots in this manner. The reason Scotland has fewer MPs is because when the treaty was drawn up Scotland was governed primarily through kirks and various charters not parliament unlike in England. Likewise, the parliament of GB is not the mother of parliaments. It is at best the child of two former parliaments. Calling it by England’s preferred nickname which they used for their own parliament permits the lie to continue.
Scotland is not a colony. It is an equal partner despite refusing to act as such. You, yourself, demonstrate the problem when you ask how Scots can choose to support the English establishment and all it stands for while claiming the binary parliament is English thus Scots being only there by dint of treaty obligation not equal status and refer to Scotland as a colony, an inferior status of foreign ownership rather than acknowledging Scotland’s true status as a Sovereign nation state and signatory party to an international treaty. If Scots who want the treaty terminated view Scotland as inferior why would those who support the English establishment be any different? You, yourself, view Scotland as less than yet complain that others who don’t, who despite supporting the union and in particular England, should adopt this same inferior mentality when many view Scotland as an equal or agree with the English narrative of having been subsumed into England and thus not as inferior but as a mere English region that should not be treated any differently. While this outlook and belief they hold is the result of centuries of having their country and nation sold out by their own it is at least understandable. The wounded psyche of Scots will take a very long time to repair even after the treaty is long discarded. In the meantime, Scots can help themselves by actually acknowledging their true status instead of playing victim. If they refuse to stand up for themselves, to respect themselves, to acknowledge they hold the power in their own hands to make the changes they want, to assert their sovereign authority when everyone but the Scots acknowledges it, then why would anyone else treat them as not only an equal but with respect? You are treated as you allow yourself to be. Act the victim and you’ll be treated as such. Act inferior and others will take advantage and rule over you.
You ask why Scots do not make their own choices. This is because, as said above, Scots play victim. They view themselves as inferior and act accordingly. Does Scotland need permission on ANY matter? NO! It chooses to waive its sovereign authority and to defer governance. The people choose not to hold their own representatives to account. Many do not even know the difference between their government (MPs) and their devolved administration (MSPs) and even refer to their own rights and authorities as reserved to a foreign government. If you are going to act inferior, you cannot be surprised when others treat you accordingly.
How many times do the English government, its political parties, establishment and even crown have to tell Scots that they are sovereign, that supreme authority rests with them before it sinks in? Legally and constitutionally, Scots have the ultimate authority in and over their country and its people. Choosing not to recognise that fact is why Scots put up with their chosen representatives deferring governance.
If you tell a lie often enough it remains a lie. It is just believed more easily.
If you had the vote in Catalunya, BB, would you use it to keep down the Catalans even if it meant that you might risk losing your Catalan lifestyle? Would you see the mass of Catalans suffer economic hardship and little political control in order to maintain your Catalan lifestyle? I know it is human nature to want to keep what you have and that is why few English migrants into Scotland will actually vote for independence. The more enlightened ones will, I have no doubt, but the vast majority will not because they practise unenlightened self-interest, as we can say safely enough because we are able to extrapolate from the 2014 referendum result.
Nah, I think this goes much deeper and much further than even unenlightened self-interest: it smacks of the imperialist mindset however you slice and dice it. That is why the Treaty of Union and the Scottish constitutional route must be applied. Relying on domestic law to save us and extricate us from the Union lies too much on those who do not have our interests at heart in any shape or form. The anger, rage even, that any suggestion of leaving the Union stokes is down to the knowledge that it is a relationship based on a deep-rooted superior-inferior mindset. That is not to be anti English or lacking in self-confidence as a Scot, but to be wholly realistic about any prospect of a successful outcome in a referendum or GE where the SNP dominates. A full eight years of dithering and spinelessness has brought us to make or break time.
As I said in my blog Lorna the Anglos have been programmed all their life to feel superior and view all Foreigners but especially their Celtic neighbours as inferior. They will always vote for self-interest,common weal has never existed in English society. The enlightened you refer to were the 23% of Anglos that voted YES. If they truly care for Scotland they should have no problem with us excluding them and the 77% from any say on our Constitutional future.
This is it:
See y’all for Glasgow’s Yestival in Freedom Square on the flip side.
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They are shutting down any independence conversation
They have been shutting me down for sometime now. They do not like peaceniks or believers in science and biology.