A Loyal Address:

HM Queen of Scots
Buckingham Palace
London


January 2020

Madam,

As we enter the third decade of the 21st Century and you come close to completing your 7th decade as Queen of Scots I ask you to 'tak tent' of this Scot's concerns and petition.

I understand the night before you were crowned Queen of England, her Colonies and Commonwealth you took the oath as required by the "Claim of Right" of the Scottish Parliament (1689) before the Lord Lyon, the Lord Advocate of Scotland and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland as representatives of the "Thrie Estaites". The oath requires one main obligation of your majesty which is to respect the considered will of the sovereign people of Scotland (through whom you hold the Crown of Scotland) and protect their sovereign rights from tyrannical politicians and aggressors who may seek to circumvent their ultimate sovereign authority.

It is in this matter I wish to humbly draw your attention.

You can not fail to be aware that in the recent referendum on exiting the European Union the Scots expressed their sovereign will to remain as part of the European Union nor you can not be aware the Scots have sent a majority of SNP MP's once more to the Union Parliament at Westminster as a clear expression of their considered will to hold a further referendum on whether it is their considered will to exit the current parliamentary union between Scotland and England (as provided for in the original Treaty of Union).

Mrs Thatcher stated " Scotland need only send a majority of SNP MPs to gain their independence".

The current Prime Minister recently stated, "No country can be forced to remain in a union against its will".

Yet on both counts your Prime Minister seeks to refuse Scotland the right to choose its own destiny.

Scots Law does not recognise the solely English Law concept of the "Crown in Parliament" which your Prime Minister claims to give him the right to ignore the considered will of the people of Scotland on both the matter of the EU and the matter of a new referendum on terminating the UK Parliamentary Union.

Your oath to the sovereign people of Scotland requires you to oppose such a claim by your Prime Minister as it is tyrannical, aggressive, is against the considered will of the people of Scotland and is a threat to their sovereign rights deponed and established by the 1698 Claim of Right of the Scottish Parliament which "remains in law", by which you hold your regnal title over Scotland and which is for "all time" in accordance with the Treaty of Union.

Your failure to undertake this duty of care to your Scottish subjects, coupled with the continuing tyrannical attitude of your Prime Minister may force me and others who are your subjects and of similar mind, to petition the Court of Session to seek your removal as Queen of Scots on the basis you have failed in your solemn oath as Queen of Scots to the sovereign people of Scotland, namely, to protect our sovereign rights.

I am, yours faithfully,

It was the best of times: it was the worst of times.

So what did we learn from the GE of 2019?

First the UK Parliamentary Union is on its last legs in Scotland and Ireland where the Union "fleg" carriers got their arses tanned with the majority voters in both voting for independence or, in NI's case, reunification.

We are in the end game of a UK Parliamentary Union which no longer serves any of the constituent parts or nations needs.

England wants a Brexit and to get it voted for a Conservative Party run for the benefit of itself, millionaire and billionaire benefactors; a politics normally referred to as fascist.

A left of centre, social democrat Scotland wants to stay in the EU and has now consistently voted to stay or for a party whose primary intention is to remain in the EU either by negotiation or independence, since 2010.

Northern Ireland finds itself wishing to stay in the EU and increasingly understands this can only be effectively achieved by the reunification of Ireland, even if it is through gritted teeth for many in the Province.

The Principality of Wales is beginning to waken up to the reality that voting Labour just gets it Tory Governments it does not vote for nor have any real interest in Wales as it has nothing left they can sell off except its water.

Listening to yet another vacuous speech from Bawjaws Johnson on Friday on "one nation", made it clear that the "one nation' he is talking about is England.

The situation in Wales is they are a principality of the English Crown and Northern Ireland is an English Crown Province and thus are subservient to the English Crown in the English Parliament and are dealt with on the whim of the Tory Government.

Scotland is a nation state, with its own crowned head backed by its singular legal and constitutional laws, all bound by the fundamental principle that the people of Scotland are sovereign and that their considered will is paramount. This was enshrined in the 1689 Claim of Right of the Scottish Parliament which remains in law and is the legal basis by which Elizabeth, Queen of Scots holds her crown. There never has been a "union of the crowns" the reality is one head, two crowns.

The Treaty of Union enshrined the 1689 Claim of Right in article 19 and stated the separate crown, legal system and constitutional considerations of Scotland would be sacrosanct "for all time". Lord Cooper in his comments on McCormack vs The Lord Advocate (1952) pointed out that "for all time" meant exactly that, further the assumption that Scotland had been subsumed by England and thus was constrained to follow English constitutional practise was wrong in law and constitutional practise. He also made clear there is no legal or constitutional construct in Scots Law or constitutional practise such as the "Crown in Parliament" as the people of Scotland are sovereign and their considered will is paramount.

This view was upheld by the UK Supreme Court in Axa et al vs The Scottish Parliament (2010) where part of the judgement stated the UK Supreme Court had no power to over turn a bill of the Scottish Parliament which reflected the considered will of the people of Scotland. Lord Cooper also suggested the issue of the where the 'considered will of the people of Scotland' lay had never been resolved in the UK Parliament, none of the current or past fudges had resolved the issue and, at some point in the future, the issue, if unresolved, would cause the Parliamentary Union's collapse. Current constitutional experts, such as Andrew Learmouth, argued in the National Sunday Paper it is not that simple and is far more nuanced a legal and constitutional "Gordian Knot" which is not simple to unravel without a major legal tussle whose outcome would be highly uncertain.

I spent the latter part of my career looking at the Gordian knots organisations and businesses had tied themselves into, Gordian Knots which impacted on their effectiveness, end result and future sustainability. I did this mainly by dragging management back to remember what they were in the business of, what they were actually doing and how did that impact on what they were trying to achieve. My friends asked what my job actually entailed and my reply was, "Stating the Bleeding Obvious".

The Alexandrian Sword to be taken to the false constitutional knot tied by the unwritten English constitution practises is to hold a referendum on the issue of Scotland's future, whether a section 30 order is given or not. If it is the considered will of the sovereign people of Scotland to seek the repeal of the 1707 Act of Union of the Scottish Parliament, then that is paramount over any claims made by Bawjaws and his billionaire backers or any legal arguments in the UK Supreme Court over whether a section 30 order was required and the Scotland Act's of the UK Parliament be damned.

The UK Supreme Court has already stated (in Axa et al) it has no power to overturn an Act of the Scottish Parliament which represents the considered will of the people of Scotland. The Referendum Bill of the Scottish Parliament, currently completing its passage in Holyrood, reflects the considered will of the people of Scotland for a second referendum as once again iterated by the sending a large majority of SNP MP's to Westminster.

In the words of Bawjaws and his ministers on Brexit, "You can not hold a country in a union against its will."

The words are about to rebound on his fascistic government over the next few months with regard to the failed UK Parliamentary Union.

ITV Debate; debate?

Many angry column and blog inches have been written about the affront to Scotland over the ITV "Debate" only featuring two of the weakest Labour and Tory Party Leaders in my life time, Worzel Gummage Corbyn  and Bawjaws Johnson.

The British (English, Anglo/Scot) Establishment is feeling the heat. Their chosen man, Bawjaws, has too many skeletons in his closet, so many the door keeps bursting open as another one escapes to reveal another sexual escapade, corruption, buying of politicians and political favours (home and abroad) or sheer incompetence - wasting millions of tax payers cash, the serial failure to help folk in Yorkshire effected by flooding.

The last thing the British Establishment could deal with is either Ian Blackford or Nicola Sturgeon pointing up the serial failures of the Westminster Government's handling of health and welfare in England. So Bawjaws and Worzel it must be while those watching it will be entertained or not, by the sight of two dead sheep savaging each other with all the usual lies and bullshit they know they do not believe will ever be allowed to happen if they even become Prime Minister.

The other angle is this: Labour and the Conservatives have given up on Scotland.

Their tacticians know that in Scotland both are minority parties, their Scottish polling figures are most likely showing their Unionist vote is melting away in the hot blast of Brexit and one too many insults. Both of their branches in Scotland are diseased and wilting away, their Branch Managers increasingly out of touch to the extent they are embarrassing in their constant "SNP Baaad" bleating, the "crying wolf" the average Scots punter no longer listens to.

Take Carlaw's "SNP Health Baad" over 18% of cancer patients not being seen with in six weeks.  Forget for a moment the reality that an amazing 82% were and ask why could this be?

As a Quality Assurance consultant who worked in health care where would I look to see how this 18% figure is derived?

Here's a wee list of potential causes:

• Patients not showing for their appointment (usually around 10% of appointments)
• Staff sickness or unavailability; hospital / pathology departments / radiology
• Equipment breakdowns

Based on my own knowledge of health care; 8% will be from factors other than patients, so in terms of ability to meet patients expectation and needs the figure is 92% effective, a level of delivery most service based organisations would be more than happy to run at.

A very different comparison if you are Yoplait and ditching 8% of all the yogurt being produced across Europe, that is not good for your bottom line, but the point is Quality Assurance looks at sector norms and expectations. NHS Scotland's figures of staff sickness (5.4%) are slightly lower than the UK Civil Service (5.6%) and around the UK national average across all sectors.

Basically Carlaw is talking total crap yelling about NHS targets, targets are to be aimed for, politicians always forget this in their desire to have a rant.

So down in Londonstan the Tory and Labour Parties voter algorithms are telling them to forget Scotland where their support is simply a declining rump. This being the case, a debate only between Bawjaws and Gummage makes perfect sense to them because the English swing vote is the only one that counts.

This leaves only one answer, Labour and the Conservatives have given up on Scotland in expectation of SNP dominance in Scotland after December 12th. It is tantamount to them accepting Scottish independence is now inevitable.

The message from the Tories and Labour over the ITV Debate is "Scotland is not worth the effort, it is already gone" while they focus on the confused little Englander vote, spinning the usual crap in the hopes it will buy them some time.

Walking the Dug

Sunny, sharp afternoon in SW Scotland, the wee dug and I set off along the Dee Estuary heading for Tongland Bridge, take in the peace, fresh air, sun glittering on the water, pintails settling in for the winter, widgeon doing their thing, wondering why the redstarts and redwings have not been along to clean off the hawthorns along the dyke.

The wee dug sees a pheasant and like most old men (he is 12 next year) still thinks he is a puppy and scarpers off after her. The pheasant takes flight with a squawk when he is still 10 metres away. He looks round at me in satisfaction, a job well done - as far as he is concerned. Ten years ago it would have been 1 metre but fair's fair I can no longer do 100 metres in under 12 seconds, anymore, either.

I chat to others walking along the dyke, some we know with their dugs, others are strangers but with a friendly wee dug everybody wants to stop a while and give him a bit o' a clap. I wish he could teach me his way with the ladies, at 11 he is still a babe magnet.

Then we get a stretch where there is no one, just the silence of nature, a dropping tide and a wee old dug happily sniffing shrew, vole and field mice tracks in the hopes one will be stupid enough to give itself away whilst checking which of his dug pals have pee'd where, how they are keeping then leavin a wee message aa his ane.

So. I have a wee ponder about my own wee world.

Whit I cannae understand, inside o ma heid, is jist why fowk prefer believing oot richt fibs thir telt by Unionist politicians?

Lets stert wi' the ane aboot Scotland's deficit.

Ah ken, its wan if fowks thocht a wee bitty aboot it they'd ken its oot richt skelly. We send aa oor Scots tax pennies tae thon UK Treasury. They gie us a wee bitty back which oor fowks in Holyrood spreddit aroon tae dae the best fir us they can. Thon being what is, hoo can wee hae a multi-million pund defeecit?

Its utter pish, bit fowk swally it whole cos thir telt it by the BBC.

I cud rant oan a bitty aboot aa sorts lies, fibs an itter skitters the Unionist gang oan aboot bit aa fund it scours ma guts an pits ma heid intae a coal hole aa nicht. Whit I cannae thole is fowk swally them wi nae thocht tae whit thir hearin.

Mayhaps its jist if they thocht aboot it, they'd hae tae deal wi the stramash o wakin tae ha'en been leed tae aa thir lives an thons naw guid tae thole. So pittin the fingers in thir lugs an going "LA,LA,LA" is better thin dealing with aa thon Unionist keech they've swallaed aa thir livin days.

The wee dug looks up at me as I chunter tae masel' and gies me a look only a wee dug can, the ane thit says "Are ye gangin' skelly pal? Are we fir hame?"

So we saunter back niether o us much the wiser.

How Green is your Valley?

There is a lot of argy-bargy about whether Greens should stand candidates for the general election in Scotland.

"Me? Well, I am indifferent".

"How so?", you may or may not ask.

It is the Green Party's right under the democracy and sovereignty of the Scottish people, we independista's claim to wish to preserve, to enter lots or no candidates at all. There can be no issue there.

The real argument is not whether the Greens should stand candidates (see above) but whether the Scottish electorate will dwell the important marching pace and ask themselves whether by giving their vote to the Greens in Scotland they will damage the real chance to gain Scottish independence reducing a maximum return of SNP MPs to Westminster.

This is not a normal election for Scotland, it is not a General Election where the degree of your "green" credentials actually matters one jot. The only issue which matters, for independistas of what ever political persuasion, is to reduce the current cadre of Unionist MPs in Scotland returned to Westminster to the smallest possible number where zero will be optimal.

The real argument is if Green voters really wish to see 'Green Policies" coming to the fore in Scotland, if they really wish to see Scotland do its bit to "save the world from itself", then voting Green and risking returning a Unionist MP in their Scottish constituency is not the way to go about it.

The only way Scotland will see a future for minimal carbon output, maximal use of renewable energy resources, energy efficient homes and offices is as an independent Scottish nation. Westminster is "owned" by fossil fuel and associated financial vested interests who continue to lobby for fracking to be allowed. INEOS, in its many guises, has not gone away. INEOS has invested millions in UK fracking licenses for which it expects a return from, having put money in the coffers of Westminster Unionist Parties, especially the Tory Party.

Now whether the Scottish Greens would fare any better in an independent Scottish Parliament, than at present, is of course moot but their voice has a better chance of being heard in a future independent Holyrood Parliament, of being an influence in a future Scottish Parliament's decision making than as even one MP at Westminster.

Maybe, for all of us, it is time not to think about narrow party issues, membership of the EU / EFTA, who you can or can not stand as an individual but what will be best for the Scots as a nation.

I have only one answer:

If you want independence for Scotland there is only one vote which will count, one for the SNP, no matter how much it may stick in your craw to do so.

A Coiling Spring

I am in Ireland at the momment, an Ireland where below the surface you can sense the pressure rise over whether the Northern Counties will go with UK Brexit or once and for all time get rid of the UK Government border in Ireland.

There are little things, after seven years of regularly visiting family in the North, I am noticing. I walked past the local Catholic Primary at the bottom of my daughter's street and some of those at the gate waiting for their kids to come out eyed me up. I was not from around here, they did not know me, it was not so much hatred as concern in the eyes that met mine. Then one of the Mum's saw my dog, another recognised me from previous visits and there was a palpable sigh and a relaxation.

The town where my daughter stays is pretty well 50:50 with a couple of religious ghetto's where hatred still lies at the surface and flags abound during the marching season. The town has had its sorrows. An IRA car bombing of the local mayor and president of the local Orange Lodge and his wife, a retaliatory UDF drive by on a "Catholic" pub in the town in which one of my daughter's partner's uncles was killed having a pint after work. All in the late 70's and early 80's but still sore. Wounds with a thinly scabbed crust which will not take much picking to become an open wound again.

I went for a drink, on my own, the looks were there as I went to the bar, then my Scottish accent eased the atmosphere and I was asked was I over on holiday. I replied I was over looking after my grandson.

"Oh, what age will he be?"

"He's just started Primary."

"Which one will that be?"

The million dollar question still in Northern Ireland is "What school?"

I told them it was the new non-denominational primary school in the town. That left them in a quandary as to whether I was a "taig" or a "prod", there remained a blurry line they were not used to, a line which is very common now in my daughter and her partner's generation who have mostly known peace but also know what it is like when things go wrong. They are looking forward to when the line is no longer "blurry" but gone completely but worry the nutters on both sides of the divide, the "RA" and "UDF", are re-arming, looking to put the dividing line back by force.

It is into this brew of concern, worries and nutters looking for an excuse that Boris Johnson's rehashed plan on a border solution for Brexit lands.  My daughter's partner's brother calls it "an absolute clusterfuck" in a conversation with me. The only people this rehashed and already rejected (twice) plan for the border will encourage is the nutters, is his view. It has little to do with what Northern Ireland wants and everything to do with placating the DUP. How can an assembly that has not sat for the best part of three years ratify Boris' plan for the border?

The husband of my daughter's friend, while walking the dogs behind Belfast Castle, started a conversation about Brexit. I was surprised because my daughter had asked me to avoid any such talk. He confessed that his dead father, East Belfast born and bred, would be spinning in his grave if he knew his son would vote for a United Ireland, given the chance. His job takes him all over the EU but mainly handling contracts in Ireland, many of them only getting off the ground courtesy of EU seed funding. He likes the outward looking Northern Ireland that has arisen from the ashes of the "Troubles" and only sees the abyss opening up again if Northern Ireland is dragged out of the EU by Brexit.

I have a sense he represents the silent majority in Northern Ireland on both side of the still present religious divide.

Without Stormont and its assembly they have no voice to challenge the Boris' Irish Bullshit. There is a sense of powerlessness as a result of the high profile the DUP are being given by the UK Government, the DUP, a group of politicians still stuck in the divide of the Northern Ireland of the "Troubles", no longer representative of the silent majority of people in Northern Ireland's desire for continuing peace and to continue to resolve the tricky issue of reconciliation between communities.

Boris Johnson's Brexit will do little to help the growth of an outward looking Northern Ireland and do much to trigger the nutter's on both sides to resume tit-for-tat violence that scarred the people of the North and South for so long in the 70's and 80's.

OoooH! Hwow Whood!

It now comes to this; the right wing Brexit supporting media are seeking to shift the blame for Boris "Custard Spine" Johnson bailing out of the post meeting press conference because of the "rudeness" of those protesters outside the building in Luxembourg. They are claiming it was the "right thing" for the Prime Minister to have done because he would not have got a "fair hearing".

It turns out the protesters were a group of British Expats who live in Luxembourg who now have no security of tenure in Luxembourg if a "No Deal" Brexit goes ahead. If losing their homes is not bad enough they are also concerned that Johnson has no plans (or probable idea) of how to repatriate them or if they will be compensated for the loss of their homes and, in some cases, jobs in Luxembourg let alone all the other potential UK citizen job and asset losses across the EU.

The idea that this was not cowardice but a shrewd political move might just have wheels except Johnson bailed out the backdoor of Bute House when faced with a less than adoring public at the front door and has done similar fliers when confronted by hostile crowds on his recent  UK "meet the people" tour which was going to bring every one onside with the Johnson mantra for Brexit.

The real problem for Johnson and his media minders is ordinary people across the UK are starting to look askance at Johnson and his blustering palaver act. The Scots, the Irish and, increasingly, the Welsh have seen through what Boris is about. It has little to do with what is best for the UK or any of its constituent parts and has been exposed as a way for many of the richest folk in the UK to make even more money by short selling Sterling on a "bet" the UK will leave on the 31st of October 2019.

Rees-Mogg's Dublin operation has been short selling sterling, other commentators are saying there are other UK finance companies doing the same, there is a potential gain of many billion pounds for those taking the gamble; if it comes off. It matters not to Johnson nor his kith and kin that the people they are, in effect, robbing are the majority of current UK taxpayers and savers; the people who will actually pay for their foreign exchange gamble; the folk whose already reduced purchasing power will be hit further and whose savings will become next to worthless. Remember the £1 in your pocket is now worth 69p compared to 2010 and that is before we get the short selling hit on sterling's value after Brexit.

So according to right wing commentators Johnson should not have to face these UK citizens who are justifiably angry and frightened to the point they actually came to protest during his visit to Luxembourg. Their catcalls were not defamatory as Johnson is a proven liar and just like that other stalwart of the UK Union, Libdem, Alistair Carmichael, he has now been condemned a liar by the courts.

A real leader faces his detractors, a good leader actually listens to his detractors and a great leader can either defend their position or have the grace to admit they were wrong.

Johnson did none of these and, like a latter day King John when faced with his failure, ran away with his tail between his legs carrying his ill-gotten gains. We can but hope Johnson eats a surfeit of lampreys and goes the same way as King John while the rest of the sad troupe of Tory Brexiteer gamblers lose all their cash in the muddy wastes of a metaphorical Wash.

There is 44 days left to Brexit as I write this and I have personal concerns to do with my Military and NHS disablement pensions if the financial sterling crash on Brexit is the estimated three times as bad as in 2008.

Will the UK Government have the funds to pay me and all the other War and NHS Pensioners or will they cut and run from their obligations. Given Johnson's performance in Luxembourg along with all the millionaire Tories and Brexiteers looking to take their slice from Sterling, I have little faith other than they will just cut, run and leave folk like me with next to nothing. Just look at their "austerity" actions via the DWP with the disabled, sick, dying and ask yourself if you really believe the "No they wouldn't do that, surely." which is currently coming onto your lips.

After all "Hwow Whood!" for folks like me to protest against UK Government incompetence, usury and failure.

THE SILENCE OF THE BAMS

In the Shetland Isles the Scottish Tories are too scared to admit who they are and have morphed into the "Ruth Davidson's Party"

Today Boris (chanelling Oliver Cromwell) Johnson's move to prorogue the UK Parliament to avoid being scrutinised over his car crash, "No Deal" Brexit must be on the way to reducing his party's vote share in Shetland even further from its already low 7%. I just wonder what the LibDems, the only Unionist Party with a chance in the same bye-election, are thinking, the silence of Willie Rennie et al speaks volumes. Just how many each way, Libdem voters will Boris' prorogueing pish push into the SNP camp in what is already going to be a close run thing.

You would think the Scottish Tories would be howling at the actual Tory Party's stupidity announcing this sort of move, the day before a bye-election.

In one move Boris Johnson has highlighted in 40 foot high, lighted letters why Scotland is wanting out of the UK Parliamentary Union, Scottish Tories and Scots in general do not matter in his new British Empire.

Neither is it a good look for Boris' "Toom Tabard" in Scotland, Alistair Jack, to be seen actively avoiding interviews today and running away from a pre-arranged interview with BBC Scotland while trying to media manage the idea this is all the narrow nationalist SNP's fault (again). Jack gave the game away when he stated the narrow minded SNP were stopping Boris' glorious plan for Brexit rather than co-operating to ensure it was a success.

Ruth the Mooth has disappeared or been disappeared, no reply to the First Minister's challenge to condemn a no deal Brexit and how was she going to make her Scotch MPs stop a no deal Brexit. No point Ruth trying to answer, I suppose, because Ruth's Scotch MP's ignore her and do what they are told to by the ''Toom Tabard'.

(1800 update, it appears Ruth is going to resign as Scotch Tory leader, some time on Thursday)

Nothing either from that other 'empty jaicket', what's his name, leader of Scotch Labour, you know who I mean or maybees naw?

Just what have the Unionist Scottish limbs to say as their great Unionist Parliament has been turned into the biggest democratic black hole since Hindenburg prorogued the Riech Stag in 1933 on Hitler's request. The First Minister's Questions are going to be fun, on their return, next week.

I have been a supporter and defender of Nicola Sturgeon's long game, the independence gold standard she is seeking to create through the Scottish Referendum Bill which is now in its final stages at Holyrood. I think, after Boris' move today, that events, the prorogueing of the UK Parliament, are now moving against this ethical measured approach for international approval and sanction of Scottish Independence.

One approach, given the 1707 Act of Union of the Scottish Parliament was made under Scots Law and constitutional practice and has nothing to do with the UK Union Parliament, except it is one of two instruments that allow the UK Parliament to exist in its present form, would be for the current Scottish Parliament to repeal the 1707 Act made under Scots Law and constitutional practice of Scotland which remains extant.

Whether there would be a majority to pass such a bill at Holyrood is possibly moot but I doubt, as it would be a matter of Scots Law, this could be delayed by the presiding officer shifting it the the Supreme Court, yet given the split on the vote to hold a referendum on independence if Scotland was taken out of the EU against its will, a repeal bill would have a good chance of succeeding whether Labour voted or as, per usual, sat on their hands.

"Do you still hear it, Clarice, do you still hear the Silence of the Bams?"

Scottish Secretary: J' Accuse!

According to Mr Jack (MP for Dumfries and Galloway) all those who vote for the SNP are guilty narrow minded nationalism.

The injunction from many years of old school Sunday School, “Take the beam out of your own eye before picking at mottes in other folks” is one you should have a good look at Mr Jack.

In "Brexit goes forth”, Mr Jack is General Melchett with Ruth Davidson as Captain Darling, the Scottish Tory Party members who recognise the dangers of Brexit are Blackadder which makes Jackson Carlaw, Baldrick and Boris Johnson Lieutenant, The Honourable George Colthurst St. Barleigh.

Brexit will be Scotland’s 21st century’s equivalent to the “Somme” where the only beneficiaries will be the General Melchett’s while the Scots and those from England’s Northern reaches will be thrown to the dogs in the best interests of the British Empire, yet again.

It will not be funny for those on the receiving end of Mr Jack’s narrow British nationalism.

Electrifying News

So the SE is in trouble with out Scotland's energy subsidy to England ... you don't say.

On Friday we saw what happens in England when the 7000 megawatts a day from Scotland does not get through. It has happened before on this scale in 2008 because Longannet had a generator failure when it was asked by the National Grid to pick up load.

On that occasion fires in computer main frames were reported in Oxford, in London and the SE trains and the tube stopped running, electric substations caught fire, England's nuclear plants shut down to protect them from surge making the whole problem far worse.

Now think; just how will old Greater Engerland fare post Brexit if the HVDC cross channel interconnectors are switched off by France, Ireland and Holland while an independent Scotland chooses to send its surplus energy via HVDC to Norway and the EU for commercial reasons rather than across the border to Greater Engerland.

On Friday 1 million homes in England and Wales were directly affected by a one hour loss of Scottish interconnector and the knock on effect and damage to local distribution and transmission systems which is taking days to fix. All this during summer when loads on the National grid are at a seasonal low. What would it have been like if it had been a cold day in February?

The National Grid warned successive UK Governments the SE was routinely within 10 minutes of transmission collapse due to lack of capacity and aging supply systems.

Welcome to Brexit England; and you are.

Simplifying the Complications

I have spent all my adult working life dealing with large amounts of often contradicting information and seeking to find out what actually is happening (better known as diagnosis).

For some reason humans appear to have a preference for over complication, over thinking and generally disappearing up their own fundamental argument. This is clear when you read letters pages of any newspaper or similar media. The problem for the readers of the letters is to make sense of what is being written within their own over complicated views and bias. Sadly so much of what is purported to be "fact" is in reality an assumption which fits with that person's experience and so becomes "fact" by being repeated; for example the Daily Mail meme that "Scots (or Scotch) hate the English". This is also true about many "facts" about Scottish Independence.

Take the claim that Scotland needs Westminster's approval to hold an advisory referendum because the Scotland Act says so. The reality is that Holyrood can run an advisory referendum on any subject it likes, even on supposed "reserved issues" as long as it is the majority opinion of MSPs, representing the considered will of the people of Scotland at Holyrood, that such an advisory referendum should be held. The new Scottish Referendum Bill passing through Holyrood will establish and fully protect this right under Scots Law.

We need a Scotland Act section 30 approval to have an advisory referendum. A section 30 order is a mechanism in the Scotland Act 1998 which can – temporarily or permanently – grant legislative authority to the Scottish Parliament in certain areas. For example if Scotland wanted to hold a binding referendum on independence, as happened in 2014 with the Independence Referendum.

Westminster can not stop the Scottish People from holding an advisory referendum on independence. They could if they had an army to stop us. Luckily the Tories have wrecked the UK Armed Forces to such an extent this will not happen and under Scots Law the UK Military would have no legitimate basis to do so. Equally, Police Scotland are beholden to the people of Scotland, the Scottish Parliament, Scots Law and not Westminster. Then there is the small problem of international opinion if Westminster tried such a move as the EU would ensure Brexit UK suffered severe repercussions in the UN for stopping a nation state from seeking its independence under UN Statute. The Russians and Chinese Governments would cynically get behind any such EU move on human rights, simply to embarrass the USA.

The smart part about the current SNP strategy is if, as is expected, independence would be voted for by the majority of the Scots who exercised their franchise in this advisory referendum, just where does that leave Boris Johnson and his Brexit Pals? The sovereign people of Scotland will have expressed their considered will on the form of government it wishes and where it directs its sovereignty to lie; in the Scottish Parliament, not at Westminster, subverting the need for a Section 30 order.

My suggestion is the SNP will ensure the Referendum Bill (Scotland) will be in law before the end of October this year and a "No Deal Brexit", leaving the way open to run an advisory referendum on independence well before the assumed September 2020 date.

So to those who continue to claim Westminster will stop us having a referendum on independence by not giving a Section 30 order I suggest you look at the facts and not Westminster's , The BBC's and Unionist media's misbegotten assumptions.

Calamitous Reign

From the Tory Production team which brought you the disastrous "The Cameron is coming" and the utter failure of "May's Days" their latest production stars Boris Day in a predictable flop musical "Calamitous Reign"

Listen as Boris repeats the old lie, "The Brexit Stage is comin' right over the hill". Grate your teeth in agony as Rees-Mogg joins in the "Chief Whip crack away" chorus. Head for the sick bag as Boris pours his heart out in " A Million Gallons of Slurry with Priti Patel on the Top" (I have lost the will to go on with the review)

The web site "Rotten Tomatoes" refused to review the film stating, "Our reviewers would rather sit in a sauna having their eyes pricked with blunt needles in the expectation of a red hot poker up their rectum than go anywhere near this dissembling crock of shit."

The Charge of the Shite Brigade

" Half a league, half a league, half a league onward,
Into the Central belt rode the Unionist hundred."

So the worst prime minister in recorded history is coming to Scotland to tell us to get back into our box and "dae is wir telt" at some press shoot, some where she will not have to face any actual ordinary Scots folk except for those in her selected audience of Scotland in Union supporters.

We are no doubt going to be told our "narrow nationalism' is a bad thing where as British Nationalism is the best thing since sliced bread. We will be given the "Paul Birrel"  view of a too poor, too wee, too stupid Scotland - yet again - by Mistress May along with the threat of cutting ourselves off from our biggest market without any explanation of just where highly dependent England will get all the goodies it needs from Scotland from elsewhere under WTO tariff restrictions.

Hey Meggie May just what happens when Scotland switches off the 7000 mega watts a day, in electricity supply, England needs from Scotland to keep the lights on in London or screws down the North Sea gas tap?

A tumble weed twists and bucks across the stage; as this, like most questions on not so subsidy junky Scotland, is met in silence.

OK then what about UK white fish landings, Meg, you do know 62% of all white fish landings are in Scotland?

The silence only becomes ever deeper as we sink into the Atlantic sized trench of Tory denial.

Maybees you could tells us about the export value of the Scottish economy, in foreign currency exchange alone, to the UK Treasury?

You must be making a few bob in excise tax from the 5 bottles of whisky a second that are being exported, according to the industry's own trade body.

What about the increasing problems of fresh water supply in SE England?

You do know that Loch Ness holds more fresh water than all the lakes in England and Wales combined? Oh, you have plans to sell Loch Ness to Nestle to bottle water as fresh water is now a commodity and not a universal right, Good luck with that one then.

That nice, comparatively, Mr Hammond ( the man who does the actual UK sums) says England and Wales are screwed if Scotland becomes independent, taking its £200 billion economy into the EU. The analysts over the pond reckon the new Scottish currency will rapidly increase in value over the "pound" to an exchange rate of 1: £1.20 sterling. Any comment on the rising cost of imports to England and Wales from Scotland in terms of exchange rate alone? What about the impact of an EU backed Scotland imposing WTO tariffs on England?

That's not going to happen, how so?

Oh, you will refuse Scotland the right to decide its own future and fate because the worst UK prime minister on record says so.

Hen, your actual legacy as worst UK prime minister has a very short life span as Boris the Hunt will quickly demonstrate.

Aye, and please don't let the door smack yer erse on the wey oot, as ye bugger back aff doon sooth.

I am an SNP member who voted for the Brexit Party

So started the long letter in Wednesday the 29th's National.

My polite response was as follows:

"I read Wednesday's long letter with care and then précised the letter in my head and came up with, “ I threw my toys out the pram and voted for the Brexit Party”. 

The rest of the content was simply justifying why the author was right to throw their toys out the pram.

The “recognition of SNP members who want “Scotexit” is a strange trope. The SNP Membership has had many passionate discussions on Scotland’s place inside and outside the EU over the decades and despite the likes of Fisher and Ross passionate and deeply held anti-EU speeches at SNP conference and on other stages, the current membership, by a majority, has agreed to the SNP position of an "Independent Scotland in Europe" as do, according to a recent Progress Poll, 63% of Scottish voters.

Now if you believe in the power of a membership party, like the SNP, and the democratic votes within Branches, Constituencies and Conference on key issues of party policy, if you then find yourself on the minority side, you just have to thole you lost the debate and back the party majority line. Many did this over the SNP’s change on its position over NATO, they did not like the change but swallowed their disappointment of losing a democratic vote of conference delegates, just, and got behind the party once more. Most recently the leadership of the party have been told, by a vote of conference delegates, a currency for Scotland is a priority on independence rather than the wishy-washy position of Professor Andrew Wilson’s paper of if, maybe, never. 

The position of where a future independent Scotland will lie within the different layers of EU membership can not be decided until we once again have a truly sovereign parliament, to represent the considered will of the sovereign Scottish people.

What is important is to achieve the dissolution of the failed, corrupt and inept UK Parliamentary Union and remove its leaden hand from Scotland.

Now is not the time for any "throwing of toys out the pram” by the SNP membership. 

The SNP are the only party who will achieve independence for Scotland and this must be the SNP memberships’ focus, not taking the huff over positions on EU membership already decided by the majority of the SNP membership and which has the support of the majority of Scottish voters."

***********

The other more Machiavellian part of me ponders just how could any SNP member who understands just how much control the membership have over the centre, can write this load of old cobblers on voting for the Brexit Party.

As I write the "Brexit Party" are not a recognised political party but a limited company funded in a less than open manner by the likes of Aaron Banks whose source of funds is less than transparent and over whom the stench of money laundering lingers long. Farage's Brexit treasurer has already faced charges of money laundering in the USA using the same Paypal scam as it appears is behind the current Brexit Party's funding platform. The Electoral Commission and the EU are taking close interest in Farage's financial status and, in the case of the EU, have already deducted sizable sums from money due to Farage as an EU MEP, due to clear financial irregularities.

The Brexit Party's current "Policy Document on ?" has yet to make it onto the back of one of Farage's fag packets, let alone be presentable to the public as any sort of manifesto. What is there to vote for except a promise of Brexit sometime, maybe never because he has no MPs in his Brexit Party to drive the vote his way at Westminster and the Tories will be looking to avoid calling a UK GE any time soon in the hopes 'Boris the Blowhard' can turn their current support collapse in England, around.

How long will it be before the "British (aka English) Establishment" try to bring their errant schoolboy, Farage, back to heel?

Maybe as their favourite errant schoolboy "Boris the Blowhard" is facing a court case which could blow the gaff on the whole sordid Brexit Campaign they will keep their knives in hand for now, as Farage may end up being the best of a bad bunch to ensure Brexit.

I do not wish to believe a true SNP member could stoop this low and vote for a party which is currently a phantom, a miasma, a silent fart lurking in Farage's underpants.

Abstain; OK, but vote for Farage - I just do not see it.

This leaves only one thought, the author of the long letter is a British SIS plant.

The buzzing of the bees

It would be tempting, on this fine day, to rip large into Ruth the Mooth's toothless Tories or Dick Dastardly's Labour failures but across the Scottish blogosphere and media, lots are already at it. I could mock Rory the Tory's attempt to become leader of the ailing party he is an MP of but, given he is not the snake oil salesman the Tories think they need to kill off Farage, I would rather bet on a snowball's chance in hell.

It was a chat I had with a local organic farmer that has me thinking, today, as I listen to bees buzzing in my herbaceous border and noted the wide variety; Honey, Golden bears, Red tales, Bumble, White tails and a Masonry bee which is busy nesting in the UPVC drip strip end of my kitchen window. His gripe was there are only five grass types grown in the commercial agri-business fields in Galloway to either feed the cows and sheep in the field or provide them with silage or hay for the winter months.

On another day I was out on the golf course with one of said agri-business farmers and I asked him about this. His point was most of the grass crop was grown to achieve certain markers in terms of cattle and sheep's muscle to fat ratios or, on the dairy side, to ensure the consistent fat content in the milk the creameries require for cheese and yogurt production, all year round. He also stated the use of antibiotics in commercial farming, in the area, was now far less than ten years ago and now being used for specific vet identified conditions and not, as in the past, as a mass preventative for the whole herd.

His view on the mono-culture fears of organic farmers in Galloway was the acreage being cultivated in this intense manner for grass production was minuscule in comparison to the total land acreage and land use in Galloway. It was his next point that really got me thinking, he pointed out that spraying on these fields for weeds, using glyphosphate, had virtually ceased because of the vigour of these high yield commercial grasses. He also pointed out that most fields, locally, were sprayed with liquid manure, after they were cut, rather than use commercial fertilisers and even there the technique increasingly being used was drip bar which reduced the impact on worm populations compared to the old spray techniques.

So is the reason I still see such a thriving and varied bee population in my garden is, in part, because the local agri-business, while being intensive and a major earner for Galloway, are not so heavily chemical dependent compared to the agri-businesses of the Wiltshire plains?

I lived in North Dorset for a wheen of years, the local fields had not changed much since Constable had painted Hungerford Mill and the farms were, by and large, dairy and fat stock; much like Galloway. The Wiltshire Prairie started about seven miles away after you crossed the Wiltshire Downs. Fields of many hundred acres, designed to enable farm machinery to operate at optimum efficiency and cost effective harvesting. Copses and hedgerows had been obliterated and yields are ensured by use of fertilizers and chemical spraying to prevent weevils, slugs, rust and weeds impacting on yields of wheat or barley.

Now look up and eastward and this intensive farming of single crops in massive acreage stretches from Wiltshire across Oxfordshire, through Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and up into the Lincolnshire fens. We want our cheap bread, carrots, cabbage, cauliflowers and the rest. The supermarkets want a consistent quality of product and to make a profit the farmers have to get over 80% of any acre to supermarket standard. This can only happen through the use of chemical sprays of one sort or the other.

Then consider the predominant wind over the British Isles is from the west. What is the cumulative impact of all this spraying and the drift of the aerosol fall out as it is blown from Wiltshire to Norfolk? There will inevitably be overlap zones where the chemical concentration exceeds safe limits. Then ask; just how can this not impact on insect and other life in a negative way?

One last point. On the English Prairies they now use a technique called shallow ploughing which enables them to plant the next crop within a couple of days of harvesting. To do this they spray Glyphosphate on the crop two weeks before harvesting to ensure weed free ground. A new piece of medical research into Gluten intolerance is suggesting the problem is not glutens, as such, but Glyphosphate residues in the flour. The study needs to be repeated by other researchers to consolidate the data and confirm the initial findings of the research group but it gives pause for thought.

Maybe it is not just bees modern agri-business practises are killing off

A time for calm

One of the pieces of thinking I brought back from my experience of Buddhism in Nepal is this:

"The purpose of life is to do more good than harm."

This simple statement guides how I seek to act on a daily basis and yet it is a realistic philosophy because it accepts that I may well do harm through what I believe are good intentions, there will always be others who feel threatened or harmed by what I consider good decisions for the betterment of the majority.

Now multiply this by the millions of independence supporters across Scotland and it is self evident no matter how good our intentions are there will always be some one who will disagree, feel threatened or harmed by our view or activity. A sample from the letters pages in the National over a week and you can see this in play where folk think a future referendum rushed into will be a disaster while others want a referendum yesterday. This is just human nature and neither side actually wishes harm on the other but their divergent views are viewed as harmful to the independence movement by the Unionist side who fall on any scraps they can, in their desperation.

The point we all miss in our frustration and anger caused by the "other side" not seeing our point of view is this, fundamentally we all want the same thing: for Scotland to return to being outside of of a failed UK Union as a sovereign nation in its own right, taking its place amongst the nations of the world.

You will have a hard time getting Commonweal and Micheal Fry agreeing on anything to do with the economic pathway for an independent Scotland but they both agree the only future for Scotland is as an independent nation state free from Westminster's poisonous grip.

We hear of the splits in the independence movement, the SNP, AUOB from the usual sources in the UK media. The wheels have been coming off the SNP Government on a weekly basis since 2007 and yet the Unionist bounce back has never been seen. The opposite is true with the vote share of Labour, Tory and Libdem parties dropping to lower than ever levels in Scotland while bye-elections which would normally see the government of the day lose are still being won by SNP candidates, still taking seats from Labour and the Tories across Scotland. The unionists now hold on to seats under threat by encouraging Labour voters to vote Tory and vice versa.

We are seeing the final flailings of the British Establishment. They are destroying themselves at Westminster for their own, perceived, narrow political gain with out any consideration for the people they claim to represent. The British Establishment needs to rig BBC Question Time in Scotland to prevent Scotland's actual voice being heard by the rest of the UK. The BBC and Murdoch's minions at Sky do the same everytime Angus Roberston gets to his feet in their increasingly dysfunctional House of Commons. We think it is to silence Scotland's voice but ponder this:

"Maybe it is the British Establishment who do not want the English voters to hear Scotland's voice, out of the fear of waking up the English voters to the British Establishment's own mendacity."

What the Scottish independence family have to accept is we will never agree with others in the family on many things except for one key issue; Scotland needs to be an independent nation once more, free to decide its own future, using its wealth of resources, its people and their commitment to the betterment of all in Scotland.

All else is moot until we have terminated the Treaty of Union.

More a whimper than a bang

So we are off on the next instalment of independence for Scotland, Yes 2, The Sturgenator's return yet when it comes to the usual media and political squalor and squealing from the Unionistas, it is as if 2014 is back with a vengeance.

Jackson Carlaw peddling the same pish as he peddled in 2014 at FMQ's today, except, except; he appeared to be contradicting what he said in 2014 with regards to his precious, his sterling. It used to be it was "all mines'is", all Gondor at Westminster'is. Yet today the latest version of Jackson Gollum was annoyed the SNP membership voted to dump "mines'is" asap after a "Yes" vote. He seemed very upset the currency of Gondor was getting the heave-ho by financially reckless and stupid jocks.

Much has been written by many folk about what happened at the SNP Conference or what they would like to pretend happened - if you are the BBC or a Unionist Journalist - but here is my slant.

At my branch meeting we talked about the Growth Commission Report and generally decided it was mainly academic gobbledy-gook, wrapped up in a sweety wrapper while failing to address reality with respect to establishing a stand alone currency for Scotland. The six tests were much like the ephemeral question, "How long is a bit of string?", far too open ended. Luckily; unlike the "concerns' pressed by Common Weal on how the SNP membership were wrapped around Ms Sturgeon's finger and would rubber stamp it; we the membership, through our delegates, said, "No way! There must be a new Scottish currency within the term of the first independent parliament."

Why?

Well I being a bit of an OCD nerd, once something gets my interest I began to follow what is actually happening, in this case to Sterling:

• which is it has lost 20% of its value since 2016 and is still going down
• has already seen £600 billion worth of cash and bond holdings move to the likes of Dublin and Frankfurt
• has seen the London Stock Exchange is lose value hand over fist as a result of Brexit since 2016
• is going to be dumped as a reserve currency on Brexit
• which will then trigger a sterling collapse and bring about rampant stagflation in the UK
• will then return the UK economy to the disastrous days of the early 1970's
• will end up needing a bail out from the IMF as the £7+ trillion of UK Government borrowing becomes unsustainable as UK Government Sterling bonds become worthless on the international markets
• will end up with ordinary taxpayers paying the price, as per usual

As a University student in the 1970's I remember well when hyper inflation was the norm. While not quite the situation of the Wiemar Republic, where you were taking wheelbarrow loads of marks to buy a loaf of bread, it was still a concern to a student on a basic grant. When shopping for food you first headed for the bent can / burst packages section in the supermarket. We lived on pasta with chopped tomato sauce made interesting through the use of herbs and curry powder. We made use of the Student Union's subsidised food and booze, occasionally splurging out for a white pudding supper from the local chippy. If you were sensible you either had a good paying job lined up for the summer break, mine was as a 'clippy' on Alexanders Buses at Dunfermilne or worked as many nights as you could as a bar person in a very competitive market in Edinburgh. Didn't do me any harm and when you are young and a student there is a bit of excitement and fun in living like that. It was not so much fun for my parents whose mortgage repayments went up with an interest rate of 24% for a couple of years. By the time I bought my first house in early 1980, mortgages were down to 18.9% interest rates.

If I compare to where most folk were prior to the 1973 collapse of sterling and now, the poorest in our society are already on their uppers and struggling, many in work are struggling with rent and bills that two salaries a month barely cover and "May their God help them" if one or other goes sick. Currently the UK economy is in a far worse state with higher levels of true poverty than it was prior to 1973. Throw in stagflation and ordinary folk are in the shit up to their neck courtesy of Brexit.

The Catch 22 is, according to money market commentators on USA Bloomberg and across the EU, a free to trade new Scottish currency would quickly head upward of sterling £1.20 / Eu 1.50 to £1 Scots. That is why, until all pensions, benefits, taxation, vat and other UK Agency payments, such as War Pensions, are transferred to an independent Scotland's control, these pensions / taxation income would continue to be paid in a devaluing £ Sterling. Until the transfer process is completed 1:1 parity makes sense. My research tends to suggest the transfer of these fiscal activities will take between two to three years to complete fully. The side effect of such an arrangement is it may well help to prop up sterling over the same period which is a win / win for Scotland while we find our fiscal feet as an independent nation.

As to Scotland raising the reserves required to back the new currency; most of the commentators, outside of the usual unionist suspects who only see doom, gloom and disaster for too poor, too wee, too stupid Scotland, see little problem in an energy rich (fossil and renewable), unique product rich, financial services rich, innovative Scotland raising the reserve finance required on the world money markets.

So when folk ask me what about an independent Scotland's economy I do not answer with a whimper but with a bang.

The evidence is clear; Scotland's economy is going to be far worse off as part of the Brexit UK Union, no matter which ever way you wish to look at it. The future for Scotland's people both politically and economically, is as an independent nation.

As my old accountant would say; "and that is the bottom line."

No More Brexshit, please, SNP.

I was on line chatting to a Dutch friend who is a senior midwife in a NHS Trust in England. After 26 years working in the UK she is seriously considering a return to Holland. She has already gone as far as accepting a part-time teaching post in Holland and is reducing her NHS hours, whether she leaves completely will be determined whether on her next annual re-registration she will be accepted on the RCM as at present or if she has to register as a new overseas registrant, with all the attendant requirements, certificates and affidavits, post Brexit. Currently the RCM does not know what will happen because the UK Government still has not made clear the legal status of EU residents working in healthcare as Brexit ends the equivalent qualification rule under which many EU citizens are currently registered on UK Health Registers as practitioners. Along with all of this she is routinely working double shifts in the health trust due to the non replacement of midwifes by said trust as they trust is skint. I suggested that regular double shifts must impair her clinical decision making but her view is a knackered midwife is still better than no midwife at all.

The SNP Government in Scotland has, so far, mitigated the same impact of Tory cuts on the NHS in Scotland. Sure, it is by "robbing Peter to pay Paul" and can only continue in the short term as an active policy. The big problem for NHS Scotland is that current Scottish practitioners are registered by UK medical registration bodies. If the concerns of my Dutch friend are correct the registration bodies do not have a clue as to the legal status of EU citizens working within the NHS, post Brexit. Scotland, on Brexit, could see a number of currently active EU healthcare professionals unable to work as they will not be legally entitled to practise until their new registration is processed which for a new "overseas applicant' takes between six weeks and three months and under current UK wide regulations; there is nothing the Scottish Government can do about it. Not registered - can not work.

We have had a hint this week the SNP Brexit story is being reframed from "We are trying to save England from itself for sensible economic reasons for Scotland" to one which is heading more towards "hell mend them". Nicola loosing it, very politely, with a BBC interviewer over the independence referendum mandate, Mhari Black's devastating critique on Unionism and its Brexit failures on Wednesday, Ian Blackford's statement about the Labour front bench "having a shiver with no spine to run up" along with more and more SNP MP's reminding the English rabble opposite Scotland retains the option to walk away from the Treaty of Union as a sovereign country; something both the Attorney General and David Davis have stated, this week, is a right, proper and legitimate course for a sovereign country to take when a treaty no longer meets its needs.

The SNP Spring Conference is nigh. All I want from Ms Sturgeon's speech to the conference is to hear the following words:

"Finally: Conference, we in the Scottish Government and through our MPs have tried as hard as we can to mitigate the economic suicide and international lunacy that is Brexit but time after time our sensible suggestions, compromises and alternatives have fallen on deaf ears at Westminster and within the UK Government.

Time and time again we have seen the utter disregard Westminster Government has for the views of the sovereign people of Scotland and their representatives displayed in the House of Commons, not just on Brexit but frequently on other issues as well. It is my view that there has been a substantive shift in Westminster's considerations of and about Scotland and the position Scotland now finds itself in; being taken out the EU against the wishes of the sovereign people of Scotland. The predominant policy decisions made at Westminster are focused on the narrow needs of Tory or Labour Party political or partisan interests. Westminster and the UK Parliament is a failed institution as the bourach and stramash of Brexit has made perfectly clear. Given, even with an extension to Article 50, Westminster will continue to follow this destructive path of EU exit with no regard to the people of Scotland's needs or wishes I will be bringing forward, with the utmost urgency, a bill to hold a new Independence Referendum. It will be my desire to hold the referendum within 3 months of the bill's successful passage through the Scottish Parliament. If the referendum brings forward a "Yes" result there will then be a new election to the sovereign Scottish Parliament where a decision to join EFTA or become a full EU member, the latter being my preference, can be properly decided.

Let us be very clear, without a "Yes vote", and independence, Scotland will continue to be governed from a dysfunctional UK Parliament at Westminster by parties who are in the minority in Scotland. Ruled over by a crazy, corrupt, pretend democracy where minority parties get £1 billion bungs from the UK Government and their ten representatives have more say, as a result, over Scotland's future, than Scotland's elected MPs.

Without a "Yes" vote, arguments about currency or what sort of Scotland we can be; are moot.

Our message is simple, "Vote 'Yes' to be able to create Scotland that is fair and prosperous for all.""

Something along these lines will do me nicely.

Corbyn, Labour's "Toom Tabard"

To misquote Julius Ceaser; "I came, I blustered, I went and left Labour still split in three parts".

Corbyn slipped silently into Dundee, mumbled platitudes to the faithful and not so faithful in a one quarter full Caird Hall (counting media and other hanger's on) then sidled back down South to England where folk still think he is some sort of Messiah; which, in comparison to the Tories, is not hard.

"Solidarity with workers in Liverpool, that is why Scottish independence is wrong" to which my answer is just "Quhit?'

"Brexit for jobs" - "Yer skelly mun!"

"The SNP want to end the UK Union" - "Aye, so what? That's quhit it says on the SNP tin"

"Scotland does not need another divisive independence referendum" - "Aye, under UK Labour it'll aa be wine an' roses, jist like last time; numpty."

So Labour's empty jacket - "toom tabard", spoke empty platitudes, mumbled through his beard, addressing the nation of Scotland in a grandstanding speech that few Scots, outside the pitiful gathering of what is left of the Labour faithful in Dundee, bothered to listen to. Labour have become the latter day "John Bailliol" of Scotland, too busy doing their English master's bidding to remember just who they are supposed to represent. The result for Labour has been much the same, the Scots have seen through the scam and, like Bailliol, their support has melted away and there is a new game in town. A game they are not fitted to play as they dance to London's tune. The Tories can be forgiven, you may not like them much but at least they are not pretending to be anything but London's cyphers in Scotland. Labour still pretends it is for the "Scotch workers", as the successor party of the "Clydeside Reds" but since the 1990's that facade no longer bears the gree in Scotland. Just ask the Glasgow Council ladies denied equal pay for decades by the self acclaimed party of and for the workers - Labour - and the GMB of Richard Leonard.

"Richard, who?" as he is known to two thirds of Scottish Labour voters or "Richard stop talking mince, yer makin Kelly look affy bricht the day", as he is known in the Scottish Parliament.

I have not bothered to check the usual media sources for Corbyn's "put down of the SNP" stories, I am sure they are there in all their sickening and fawning glory, stories which would be rejected as too fanciful to act as the source for fairy stories by any sane publisher or media producer.

Meanwhile the other "Toom Tabard" in 10 Downing Street is having a tantrum, her ministers are spitting their dummies out warning the EU it is them who will suffer for their intransigence over the Tory's own death wish for the UK and its economy.

"Aye, but, its the EU's tanner ba" an their takin it hame wi them, sae sook it up Tory cry babies, ye maybees shud hae takin a wee breith afore cryin its na fair, its aye weys yer rules, we're naw playin ony mair."

Whom shall slay Grendell?

In an epic poem of the English language, "Beowulf", the monster Grendell stalked the land:

" Thus Grendell ruled, resisted justice,
One against all until the best of halls stood deserted."

" .... Strong men often sat
in consultation, trying in vain to devise
a good plan as to how best valiant men
could safeguard themselves against sudden attack."

It is not difficult to substitute "Grendell" with "Brexit" without distorting the context or meaning of the epic Anglish tale of sorrow, disaster and heroism. The parallels of men sitting on their hands doing nothing sing loud in the ear as we watch the posturing and mealy mouthed ramblings of Tory and Labour politicians at Westminster, yet still, our latter day "Grendell - This cursed creature." rules over the land bringing poverty, death and destruction to those who stand in its way.

In the tale, a great king, Beowulf, hears of the disaster and goes to the Danes' aid with men and purpose to slay "Grendell". The story then tells of what great leaders are made of, their generosity to their men, their consideration for their families, the safe guarding of livelihoods, honest justice and the willingness to face and put down what ever threatens this harmony.

Just where is our modern day Beowulf?

Sadly the SNP contingent at Westminster are now the equivalent of the "strong men", quoted above, and like them are getting nowhere in their efforts to protect Scotland from "Grendell" but continue to prevaricate over the only answer to Scotland's forced Brexit - independence. Who will weild "naegling", Beowulf's sword, to remove Grendell's head?

Just where is the latter day warrior who will slay "Grendell" and his equally evil mother, the Tory party?

Or will the silence in the deserted halls of the Westminster Parliament continue to deafen all, as the cowardly Ecglaf (Corbyn) taunts from the edges while hiding and hoping Grendell will not come for him.

The Danes, in Beowulf, knew they had to take action or be cowed by Grendell yet sat on their hands, Scotland knows it is now in the same position.

Yet, where is the leadership and why the continuing silence?

Doon far the Grim's keep stans alane

Doon far the Grim's keep stans alane,
I heard the corbies makin a main
Wi caw an chuckle they bantered awa
Whilst theekin thir nests fir Spring's new gain.

A Merganser spied hisel' on the Dee
Then douped his heid and swam awa
Tae fin a perch ir roach tae hansel
Fir his denner ir his tea

Ower on the moss a mute swan sat
Imperious tae aw thon stramash
Aa sandpipers sad lament aa exile,
Ir whig-maleries birlin ower tap.

The goudfinch gleamed aa tap a tree
As wi winching ee, lookit fir a quine
Tae hae his way, tae spread
His fine looks tae anither year

Twa riedbreests rauchled awa
In sang, tae haud their land
Frae each an ithers
Wha wid seek tae trespass.

Sae hushed passes by the Dee,
Wae nae tinckle ir chuckle
Nature's sang only brekit
By lorries trummlin by anent the road.

Ma ee keeked a wabster's net
Glistenin' in the winter sun
Ae shout oot fir any insects aboot
Tae gang anither way ir be et.

Aroon ma feet ma wee dug sniffs
A moudie's mountain, richt fresh,
An digs awa tae seek an fin
Thon moudie's naw hame at aa.

Doon far the Grim's keep stans alane,
I heard the corbies makin a main
Wi caw an chuckle they bantered awa
Whilst theekin thir nests fir Spring's new gain.

Open Letter to Dumfries and Galloway MP - Mr Jack (Conservative)

I can not be alone in Galloway in wondering just when our Brexit loving MP is going to explain how well his “no deal’ Brexit is coming along to the people of Galloway.

I await with bated breath when he tells us how he is going to replace West Coast Sea Products markets in Spain and France, worth around £7 million to the Kirkcudbright local economy, to prevent job losses a rural area where employment is hard to find.

Maybe Mr Jack can explain where the Kirkcudbright scallop fleet is going to get replacements for its EU and non EU crew members on the end of freedom of movement.

How about what happens if the Swedish owners of Castle MacClenan Foods decide to shut up shop as its EU export markets are cut off?

Where are the local farmers going to sell the lambs and beef that are currently being born with their main market, the EU cut off to them?

Then there is the Ferry port at Loch Ryan which will see a reduction in services as Eire road hauliers avoid Brexit Scotland like the plague.

Just why is Mr Jack so silent on the real problems his “Brexit” is bringing to Galloway?

Oh, I see, the Tories prefer to whine on about the A75, council funding cuts (as a direct result of Tory Policy at Westminster towards Scotland) or anything else but the impact of Brexit on Galloway.

It is all the SNP’s fault, talking about independence, is not going to work this time, Mr Jack.

Please Don't Upset anyone

There is a small but vociferous faction writing in the National about how important it is not to upset the 23% of folk who did not vote for Scotland to stay in the EU ..... because .... well just because. We better not upset all the hard core Unionist voters .... because .... well just because.

The point all these folk wishing not to upset other people are missing, is simple. These people by and large want to be upset and write letters about how terrible it is their minority views are being largely ignored and how it threatens the future of Scottish Independence in some way or another.

The fundamental problem of any human society is you will never get all the people to agree on anything at any point in time. There will always be a minority who feel the rest of us are doing things the wrong way whether on the EU or independence. Pandering to their minority objections as if they were in the majority has no future in it.

Accepting they hold these views against the majority view or decision is right and proper but it does not allow for these views to become the raison d'etre for the entire political process of independence.

Independence is the core requirement for the future of Scotland now and for future generations as we are dragged ever closer to the Brexit abyss. We can not allow side shows or upset avoidance to allow us to deviate from what is the most important political decision we have to make.

Do we stay in an English Establishment run oligarchy, drifting towards fascist, UK Union or not?

Do we stay outside the biggest potential market for Scottish goods and services, the EU, or not is a question for after Independence but currently the majority of Scottish voters wish to be part of the EU .. so the anti-EU faction for all their noise are in a minority.

As for those who think there is milage in being nice to hard core Scottish Unionists, in your dreams. To even meet pro-independence voters half way they would have to begin to accept they have been lied to for all their Unionist voting lives about poor, too wee, too stupid Scotland. Their only negotiating position is "They hate Nicola Sturgeon". If you ask why? They come up with all sorts of rhetorical answers and unpalatable ignorance which only hides one fear, what if they have been duped and an independent Scotland ends up highly successful and a beacon for fairness across the world. It is easier to hate Nicola Sturgeon than face their real fear.

People are entitled to their views on the EU but for all its faults it has brought about a lengthy peace in Europe unkown for centuries. The EU has brought disperate countries together to agree one thing, peace across Europe is worth giving up 10% of national sovereignty for and, no matter the size of the country their vote matters in the council of ministers whether they are Germany or little Luxembourg. The Luxembourg MEPs can work with MEPs from other countries to get their ideas for the betterment of Europe heard, debated and voted on. Compare this with the situation currently at Westminster where Scotland is unable to sway any argument compared to England's MPs over whelming majority.

So let us be very clear no matter how well the independence referendum is run, campaigned for and conducted people along the line will allow themselves to be "upset " because they or their veiws have been "ignored", that is the way of the minority of people who always wish to rain on someone else's parade.

They will just have to be upset because compared to what is really important, Scottish Independence, their moaning and upsetness is irrelevant.

LABOUR : too late to the table?

In my last post I sought to argue the time was nigh to release the independence parachute, nothing that happened, this week, in the English Parliament has given any suggestion that holding on for much longer is at all sensible.

When a Tory politician seeks to compare the "British" Imperial history of concentration camps in South Africa with comparisons of death rates from disease in Glasgow of the same period you really get to know just how ignorant, appallingly ignorant the Tory Right is, for all its "Oxbridge" education.

The question arises:

"Why were the death rates in the Empire's second city, in the richest Empire of its time, so high?"

As Scots, we know the answer the self same "Tory" folk (whose descendants are currently whining about the disaster of Scottish Independence) made a mint out of sub-standard accommodation and working practises that skinned pay to the bone. The same world Mogg and his cohorts want to re-introduce across the UK, for the same "Tory" folk's benefit. The only problem for Mogg and his ERG pals is the UK economy has already been cut to the bone, there is no meat left having sold off all the public services over the last three decades (they call it outsourcing, opening internal markets to competition but it has been a sell off of publicly paid for and resourced assets) as the plunging pound, collapsing GDP and any other UK economic marker, you wish to use, clearly indicates.

In all this disaster fest where are Labour?

Sadly, when a real difference could have been made they continued fence sitting, for their own political advantage. Even at the last minute they could not force themselves to set aside their antipathy for the SNP and vote through an extension to Article 50. Once more Scotland watched as Labour sat on their hands then listened and watched with joy as Mahri Black gave the Labour front bench "a guid auld Timsoning".

Today we have the sad sight of Ian Murray (Labour Edinburgh South) waking up to reality either via a UK General Election or positive independence vote, "his jeckits oan a richt shoogly peg." Rather than saying Labour were wrong not to support the SNP Article 50 amendment, he is currently spouting on about how hard its is to get the SNP to agree to his Article 50 extension amendment, its "naw fair" - he cries - the SNP do not like my version because it locks out a Scottish independence vote by default. Why is he surprised the SNP political operators at Westminster are "gien him the bum's rush?" on his retread Article 50 amendment, at what point will it occur to Mr Murray he has missed the bus with 50 odd days to go?

Anyone with a wee bit sense can see this is Labour seeking to do a Guiness bottle job to let all the blame of Brexit fall from their own shoulders. It is up there with Corbyn's, on the last faltering foot steps to Brexit, Damascean conversion to the idea of membership of the EU Custom's Union two weeks ago. I mean the stupid, narrow, insular, independence seeking SNP have only been saying this ever since the Engish voters lost the plot in 2016. To the London media this was a big, bold move by Corbyn, to those who understand; it was Corbyn seeking to save his own arse as his own party comes apart at the seams and opposition from ordinary rank and file Labour members builds to his abstention policy on Brexit.

I understand why Ms Sturgeon continues to seek away out of the Brexit bourach, for the current UK, on the grounds we do not want an English economic basket case / nigh on fascist state on our southern border. I give her her due, she has tried hard since 2016 to bring some common sense to the whole Brexit debate, a sense of reality sorely missing from either Unionist party yet I now appeal to her, along with many Scots, it is time to leave England "tae sort oot its ain biggin" and get on with the job of using the mandate for a new independence referendum. No better time to strike than when your presumed "Imperial" master is on its knees with both Unionist Parties in disarray, fighting among themselves over Brexit scraps.

In my last post I asked a decision to be made by the end of February to hold the referendum, now I am up there with Peter Bell and other longstanding foot soldiers for independence, Why wait any longer?

There is no saviour on an EU white horse, for Scotland, on the horizon.

Time to be gone from this corrupt, increasingly fascist and failed parliamentary union.

As for Labour: they never made it to the table.

PS: I note I have failed to mention some other party, hanging onto the Unionist coat tails. Their name and policies are simply a dark void to me as they probably are to the party itself.