Thursday 23 April 2015

Na sir 's na eachainn an cath.

The title is an old Gaelic saying;  Neither seek nor shun the fight.

It is a saying which reflects most normal folk in their daily life. You do no go out seeking trouble but when trouble comes you need to take a stand and deal with it or run away, as the Gaels would say; Is beo duine an deigh a sharachadh ach cha bheo e idir an deigh a narachadh - A man overwhelmed still lives, a man disgraced does not.

Trouble is coming to those of us who want a new politic in the UK and seek to achieve this change in the dead hand of Westminster by using our vote to support the SNP. Many of us do not believe there will be real change in Scotland this side of independence but currently we have accepted the majority of the Scots electorate wish to give the UK Union one more chance to get its act together, the chance comes in the form of a large number of SNP MPs at Westminster arguing not just Scotland's case but the case for a shift of UK politics back to the centre ground at least, if not a left of centre core politic.

As the days count down towards the election on the 7th of May we Scots are facing a barrage of anti- Scottish hyperbole and ignorance generated by the British Establishment press and media machine trying to seek a fight where none actually exists. The UK may be, in effect, an elected dictatorship as defined by Enoch Powell in the 1970's but under its 'How long is a piece of string?' constitution we Scots retain the right to vote for who so ever we wish to be our representatives at the UK Parliament. Further under the current 'constitution', protected by article 19 of the Treaty of Union for 'all time' these duly elected MPs represent 'the considered will of the people of Scotland' at Westminster. A considered will the UK Supreme Court has stated is 'paramount' in two judgements when finding for the Scottish people since 2012. The constitutional genie of a non 'main' Westminster party having control of this 'considered will' may well pop its self out of the bottle on the 8th of May, a situation Lord Cooper discussed in his 1953 judgement in McCormack vs The Lord Advocate but could not foresee ever happening.

I will admit to being overwhelmed by the orchestrated hatred of the London media are pouring out over all things to do with Scotland but I am not willing to disgrace myself by replying in kind - which was my first instinct at the beginning of this week. I will stand my ground and, instead, repeat time after time my understanding of just why the British Establishment are so scared of an SNP majority representing Scotland which is it blows up the current self propagating 'After you Cyril - no, after you' carve up of power, privilege and favour, in the faces of the British Establishment and their plutocratic hangers on. The power of the considered will of the people of Scotland being exercised in the UK Parliament by a Scots based and focused party was never in the plans of the British Establishment when the Treaty of Union was agreed in 1707. No, this 'will' was always going to be subservient to the needs of the English MPs at Westminster via the party system, as Lord Selkirk discovered when he moved a bill in the UK Parliament to end the Union in 1714.

This leaves the interesting situation if a majority of Scots MPs are SNP just how will Cameron, Clegg or Miliband row back from their current position when they will have to recognise, under the UK Parliament's rules that UK Bills of  the UK Parliament can not pass into law or statute in Scotland without the agreement of the considered will of the people of Scotland

The SNP's position is powerful if they are the majority of MPs from Scotland and why they do not need a coalition to flex a lot of influence on budgetary and other bills before the UK Parliament. Who ever wishes to be the next Prime Minister will need the support of the SNP in this constitutional situation. The SNP have said clearly it will not be Cameron and is why the Tories are trying to create an image of the SNP as the Devil's spawn via their press and media outlets.

The old way of doing UK politics is in its death throws, Cameron is not waving he is drowning, his (and his plutocrat pals) worst nightmare is rearing its ugly head - a Labour Party no longer in the thrall of Blair's version of 'Thatcherism' which will move back to the political centre under the influence of the SNP and a system where capitalism is chained once more for the benefit of society and not blatant self-interest.

It is time to decouple the City of London from its influence and control of the offices of state. Labour have until 2016 to prove they are up for this task, otherwise I suggest the SNP will get the go ahead for another independence referendum in 2018, from the people of Scotland. This time 'Yes' will win by a country mile.

Cameron, Clegg nor Miliband appear to realise how short the time scale is going to be before the Union is no more. In the meantime they are repeating all the same mistakes the British Establishment made over Irish Home Rule in the early part of the 20th Century; in this the British Establishment is a disgrace.


Na sir 's na eachainn an cath.

No comments:

Post a Comment