Through A Scottish Prism Podcast.
From Noon Sunday.
It was billed as an address to the nation by the SNP spads. John Swinney trying to be Presidential? In reality, what was contained in his 26-minute diatribe was the same regurgitated carrot soup of the past decade plus.
This was not an address to the nation, it was a sop to the 43 branches and an ever-growing unhappy membership. John articulated many of the reasons why Scotland would be better as an independent nation and out of this accursed British Union.
We on this podcast agreed with all of those criticisms of the union. What John omitted to tell us was exactly how and when he intends to lead Scotland to independence. He also reaffirmed that he will not unify the movement or try to mobilise the movement. In John’s world, only the SNP exists.
Therefore, we have to assume his last venture into this topic remains intact. SNP 1-2 for the Holyrood Election. Then John hopes to “win big,” and then Starmer will quickly roll over and agree to a Section 30 Independence referendum.
John wants you to believe this nonsense. How anyone can think that any English Prime Minister will ever again agree to a Scottish Independence Referendum is beyond comprehension. What is even harder to understand is that John and his SNP leadership colleagues think that Scots are too stupid to see right through his nonsense!
The real reason behind John’s speech is to get five more years of government for his party. The SNP now are only interested in power for power’s sake. The so-called raison d’etre of independence was long ago jettisoned in favour of Stonewall Queer Theory.
The SNP elected have grown used to the trappings of being at Holyrood. Huge salaries, unlimited expenses, housing subsidies, and in some cases, chauffeur-driven limousine travel to go and watch your favourite football team.
Who wouldn’t want those perks? True Scottish patriots is the answer to that one! The ones that want outcomes, not incomes. The ones that tell you “Independence, nothing less!”
Another of John’s interventions this week saw him commiserating with the sacked Governor General, Ian Murray MP and give his good wishes to his replacement, Douglas Alexander MP!
John won’t talk to other independence parties however, he is happy to break bread, commiserate, and congratulate with our colonisers and their Scottish collaborators!
Our usual panel this week of Allan Petrie, Eva Comrie, Lloyd Quinan and Phil Boswell are joined by Denise Sommerville one of Liberate Scotland’s prospective candidates for Holyrood.
This group of devoted independinistas discuss and dissect John Swinney’s midweek speech and much more on your favourite Scottish Political Podcast.
Yes, independence, nothing less. Spot on, but not independence, nothing else. We cannot allow our country to keep on in the way it has been for so long: economic decline; population decline; our culture destroyed. Everyone with two brain cells to rub together knows this is the only way forward, and John Swinney knows it, and always has. However, he has always been a devolutionist, too, so, since before the 2014 referendum – well before it – he has been in the wrong party. No second referendum will ever be granted, so there is no other way but uniting to achieve independence.
Unionists must know, in their heart of hearts, that remaining within the Union is a political, economic and social cul de sac or else they are blinded by patriotism for a Britain that does not exist or they are so foolish, they would prefer for all of us to go down with the ship rather than admit that the ship has been holed below the waterline. I say that as someone who actually likes the English and believes that they, too, would be better off without the rest of the UK. Same goes for Wales and NI.
I have been glad to see the English fly their own flag at sporting events rather than flying the Union Jack because it shows that they, too, are distancing themselves from the concept of Union. Does that mean that Scots in England and English in Scotland will be forced back across the border from either side? Of course not. We actually need our two nations to be friends when independence comes our way – and theirs – along the lines of the Scandinavian nations who co-operate across a range of issues. Scotland, England and Wales all share this island and the wee, satellite islands around it, just as the Scandi nations share their land borders and seas.
No Unionist party has Scotland best interests at heart, and Reform UK and Corbyn’s new party will not either. No socialist wants the UK to break up and no ultra conservative either.
Lloyd is quite correct. I remember Mr Swinney’s last leadership spell and how so many were praying that Mr Salmond would return to that role. The calibre of the people around him is also questionable to say the least. Almost 100 years of an organized nationalist and independence entity, which has evolved, but not to the point of independence, and we are still feart to dip our big toe into the cold waters of the North Sea and Atlantic. The Irish, once they became really serious about leaving their Union, started to up the ante. No one wants Scotland to enter into conflict with Westminster, so we need our people to be strategic thinkers, tacticians and, above all, they need to have a spine that doesn’t snap at the first blowing of the cold wind of reality.
They don’t need to borrow: every sovereign government can create its own money, taking into account inflation and deflation. They do so because the financial services system has been set up to make money out of debt – government debt and personal debt.
Eva, absolutely agree but remember the billions that have been wasted by the SNPG in fighting ridiculous court cases, for starters, in throwing good money after bad to organizations that, in any civilized society, would be proscribed as anti child and anti female safeguarding. In effect, the SNP deliberately abandoned and sacrificed both Scottish children and females at the behest of big money and big fetish/paraphilia. Why? Well, the first is obvious: big money speaks loudly and persistently. The second? You have to ask what they are getting out of backing porn and deviancy. Draw your own conclusions.
I am not pro immigration or pro Palestinian. Neither am I anti either or both. I believe that immigration – all immigration – should be managed and families given priority – but in their own countries, where they can be processed before ever being given immigrant status or being tempted to come via the boats. The Palestinians needed to have been condemned globally for what they did on 7 October, told in no uncertain terms at the UN that their actions have given them no status either, but the UN is peopled overwhelmingly now by countries that are former colonies and also Islamic. Instead, millions of people stated on-line that the Israelis had made it all up and little sympathy was shown to them. Unfortunately for the hard of thinking, Hamas fighters themselves sent their body cam footage to the internet.
Even South Africa has seen a large conversion from Christianity to Islam in the ranks of the ANC and all government departments, and explains their stance on Palestine. No one is saying that the deaths in Palestine are not horrendous because they are, no one is saying that Israel is always doing the right thing because they have made mistakes, but demonizing them is going to lead to the downfall of Netanyahu and his replacement with the ultra right. We should be asking why no neighbouring state will take the Palestinians in, but any glance at the history of the area explains it: the Palestinians have sown dissent in every country in which they sought refuse in the past. Sorry, but it’s the plain truth.
We should also be concentrating on Sudan, Yemen, Congo, Rwanda, Northern Nigeria, etc. where the death tolls are very much higher than in Gaza, as well, not just Gaza and the Palestinians. People everywhere deserve not to die in conflicts stated by politicians and bloodthirsty groups, and they deserve to be supported in the same way that Palestinians are supported – and most of them actually have states of their own. Does that mean the Palestinians should not have a state of their own? No, of course not. However, that will not happen until Hamas is gone and a form of democracy compatible with the Middle East is established in Gaza. The West Bank is another question. It is ancient Israel and I doubt very much that the Israelis will give it up now.
When we gain our independence, we will discover just what that means in relation to the rest of the world. It will have to be much more nuanced than this. Of course, areas manufacturing is lucrative, but try closing them down and hear the shrieks of outrage as people are thrown on the dole. I’m not supporting arms manufacture, but real life is far, far more nuanced than anything we’ve seen so far and independence will require us to be much more discerning, tactical and strategic. It is easy potting from the sidelines. Try investing in morally-clean endeavours and you will find that there are none. Nary a one. Anywhere. Not even in Norway.