A great question, why indeed? It is the question we ask this week. However, our first question was what was Graeme McCormick all about? He didn’t just get the backing of 100 signatures from 20 different branches. We hear he got double that amount over 200 signatures from 40 branches. The ordinary members were thirsty for a contest and a debate. Sadly, for them, the party and the entire Yes Movement, it never happened.
Between AUOB in Glasgow on the Saturday and Monday morning, Graeme did a volte-face in the space of a few hours. Was he bought off? Was he scared off? Was he threatened off? My panel of Phil Boswell, Eva Comrie, Lloyd Quinan are joined by Iain Lawson of Salvo/Liberation to discuss this and all the matters affecting Scotland from the past week.
We discuss some of John Swinney’s first moves and statements. He has already told us he is sticking with Humza’s Independence strategy. The problem with that is Humza kept changing his so-called strategy. One day he was for all elections being independence plebiscite elections, the next day, presumably after a phone call from Sturgeon Towers he was back to asking for a Section 30 like a good little Brit Jock. So today, we are none the wiser.
One of John’s first acts was to remove the post of Independence Minister from his Cabinet. It has sent the immediate signal of his intentions. It seems we have Mr Continuity Mark II. Steady as she goes seems to be the plan. We have heard the old guff about converting more Soft Nos before making moves on independence.
Let’s be quite clear there are more unicorns in Scotland than soft nos. There is a majority in Scotland for independence. What there is not is any political will or leadership to make that independence a reality!
While he got rid of Jamie Hepburn’s little earner he did bring back Kate Forbes. She is to be DFM and in charge of the economy and the Gaelic language. She though will not be in charge of Finance! The panel discusses that particular conundrum. How can you be responsible for the economy, but not the finance brief? Indeed, the panel discusses how any Scottish Government can make any meaningful difference to the economy when Westminster retains overall control of all matters economic?
It was though a nice bit of trolling when Kate arrived to receive her new ‘job’ wearing a green dress and waving bye bye to the Greens! We all liked that!
The Greens themselves as expected have not been taking their sacking graciously. Indeed, wee Paddy has been spitting fury all week about intolerance while he and his fellow Greens Greer and Slater have been showing their religious intolerance towards Kate Forbes. It seems the Greens don’t only not do science they don’t do tolerance either!
The Cass Review only added to the Greens rage. Wee Paddy in his rant suggested that this new Cabinet and leader was taking Scotland back to the 1950s. The anger is because the Greens with Harvie at the helm want to take Scotland back to the 1850s where women and children had zero protections.
In midweek the SNP thought it would be a good idea to release their latest PPB starring, Anum Qaisar and Lord Bla Bla Blackford himself. They were extolling the virtues of voting for the SNP with all the cliches you would expect, independence, Scotland’s voice, returning to the EU etc. What they failed to explain as our panel does, is how do you go back into the EU with Freeports and using another nation’s currency? Spoiler, you cant!
We could not let this week go by without discussing our friends from the English Labour Party. Ian Murray MP Labour’s equivalent to the SNP’s Pete Wishart made one of his interventions. He told us all that no matter how we vote in Scotland Labour will never agree to a Section 30. The reason is quite simple, he knows if Scots get to vote again they will choose independence! As neither Ian or his English masters like that idea it will never be allowed to happen.
Meanwhile, his ex-colleague, Kezia Dugdale was suggesting that if Labour retake Holyrood anytime soon it is likely they will reintroduce Tuition fees.The panel asks what other fees might they reintroduce?
While Anas Sarwar was being his opportunistic self by accusing the SNP Government of a shift to the right his bosses in London were welcoming ex-Tory and member of the extreme right ERG, Natalie Elphrick into their midst. Unionists do love a bit of hypocrisy and double standards.
We end the show with a couple of cracking videos. I won’t spoil your entertainment by describing them here. Just enjoy and realise the people who oppress us and try to pretend to know best are not really that smart after all!
Will be interesting what comes out of the discussion.
I fear independence is now back 20 years and deals with UK Gov by Swinney et Al just finalises this.
God help us if Labour win back control in Scotland.
We the ordinary folk, will be punished with excruciating polices raising the cost of everything from prescriptions to university fees, council tax to name but a few.
Consequently then freezes of wages ,pensions and more.
The electorate would be better not voting if no true independistas are standing in their constituency.
A spoiling vote is a vote against austerity, social and financial injustice being enforced on the electorate.
Here is the (redirected) donations link from the QR code at 5m:06s
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=KAAZC4VVFR7A8
Newspaper stories from this weeks show:
“John Swinney backs Humza Yousaf’s Scottish independence strategy”
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24301897.john-swinney-says-still-backs-humza-yousafs-independence-strategy/
“Kezia Dugdale: Labour may scrap free tuition fees in Scotland”
https://www.thenational.scot/news/24305645.kezia-dugdale-labour-may-scrap-free-tuition-fees-scotland/
Serious stuff today, Roddy, leavened with lots of laughs. You really couldn’t make up some of this stuff or the fact that so many people are pig ignorant yet hold top job positions.
My Dad said to me, before he died, that the SNP would never bring us independence. In 2014, on the night of the vote, I remember thinking: you were right, Dad. We haven’t made it over the line. That was well before the polls closed. I just knew in my heart that we had not done it, and I went to bed – although, having helped to man an independence hub, and having seen nothing but positivity from all age groups, I should have been positive, too. Of course, I said to anyone who’d listen, we’d win, fearing that we wouldn’t. I kept hoping that a miracle would happen. I just knew we had lost, though. Don’t ask me how.
The proposed duality of the leadership for 2014, later ratified, had always been a matter of unease for me from the evening I attended a hustings where Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon appeared to speak. I cannot explain that unease either, but it was there from that evening until Mr Salmond stepped down. Something about Nicola Sturgeon just did not ring true that evening. I’m not claiming prescience. I think we all have the instinct – because instinct it is – to know when something or someone is off, is wrong. It is very likely an evolutionary survival mechanism.
Both the SNP and the ‘gender woo’ have been ringing alarm bells for years now and I believe that we are in very dangerous territory right now because either could turn on a sixpence and catapult us into mayhem and upheaval. We really need to get out before that happens, but that will take unity and the willingness to go into a plebiscitary election, and, assuming we win, a UDI before we enter any negotiations with Westminster, and based on laying our case before the international community at the ICJ.
Can we do it? I think we have to or Scotland will go into a tailspin under Labour. If we don’t, we will have people so pressed down that, though, initially, they will lose all hope, they will come to the conclusion that they have nothing more to lose and we will enter a very dangerous state, indeed. This is what happens when a people are held down against a majority desire for independence or any other form of autonomy. Unionists beware, but the ‘gender’ lobby beware, too, because women are a hair’s breadth from having had enough, as well. If these two angers coalesce, and they might well, who knows what might happen.
Selfish people who cannot see beyond the end of their own noses are always dangerous. The terminally pig ignorant or wilfully blind, and the haters, are even more dangerous. Anyone who believes that the possibility of Scottish independence is not the subject of hatred for fear of loss, coupled to an abiding sense of superiority, or who cannot see that the ‘gender woo’ is based entirely on age-old misogyny, rampant and unchecked hatred of females for being female, is deluded beyond saving.
I have always thought that there should be a debate every year to challenge the leader, no matter how capable and honest the leader is. But since 2014 the leader has been evil and/or incompetent so it has been even more important that there should be a challenge.
There should be several members nominated for safety reasons – it is harder to punish and cheat several people. The challengers should be organised to recommend which one their supporters should switch their vote to at each stage.
Given that Lloyd and Phil are still in the party, could they not organise such a challenge in time for the next Conference opportunity? They are high-profile so if they were candidates it would attract a lot of support from the membership.
Westminster can see the political fear in the eyes of the likes of Swinney. SNP politicians are terrified of losing their jobs and positions within the devolutionary framework. It’ll be ironic when many of them lose their jobs because of that fear at the the next Westminster election. And by the look of things at the next Holyrood election as well. Yessers are fast losing something too; their faith in the SNP.
Alba has an opportunity to boost support for themselves, and for the independence movement, if only they didn’t show the same kind of fear as Swinney, Foote, Flynn etc. You know what I advocate… abstentionism.