Whilst the shambolic bogus Winston Churchill figure catches a bit of late in the year sun in his pal’s luxury villa in Marbella (in part exchange for a seat in the Lords) indulging himself in the completion of a portrait of a chestnut pony from his painting by numbers set, real politicians, states-people, are getting on with the business of governing, the business of moving pieces into position, manoeuvring ever closer to the end game.
It was never going to be easy to extract Scotland away from our ‘benevolent’ rulers to the south, who will try every possible trick in the book, without fear or conscience to hang on to us, like a thirsty drunk at a party who has seen off his own cairry-oot, or to be more accurate, given the relationship, like a perpetrator of domestic violence, promising faithfully through tears yet again, that they will never treat us badly again, as long as we stay with them. For to lose control of Scotland would dilute their already diminished status in the 21stcentury world to third rate. They’ll do anything to stop us going. Their media will spew forth propaganda on an unprecedented level to cause confusion and instil doubts in our people about our ability to govern ourselves and manage our own assets, resources and economy. That is why we have to get this right. That is why we must be patient,
Nicola Sturgeon is currently taking advantage of the run up to the COP26 climate change summit due to take place in Glasgow to make, renew, and strengthen connections with the leaders of other nations, further legitimising and normalising the notion of Scotland as a separate entity to the disaster of what passes for governance down Westminster way. This in the days leading up to an event which Boris Johnson said last year he would only let her attend over his dead body ‘guffaw guffaw!’ Her predecessor in the job of First Minister did the same networking and relationship building.
The same strategy is demonstrably noticeable by looking at the steady increase in the numbers of Scottish Government trade offices opening up around Europe and further. These hubs are all about building a base, establishing relationships and maintaining credence as an independent nation. In the struggle that is to come all of this groundworking is going to become important.
At the time of the recent state opening of the our Parliament I read a few comments on social media from supposed independence supporters disgusted at Nicola Sturgeon’s speech in response to the official address made by Elizabeth 1st of Scotland (2nd of England) in the Holyrood chamber that day, accusing her of cow-towing to royalty and the establishment.
Have these complainers considered that the position of First Minister of Scotland, the role of leader, hopefully soon of an independent progressive social democratic European nation, involves being the public servant of all of the people of Scotland, not just the ones who voted for her, and (myself I would do away with the system of hereditary royalty in a heartbeat if it was left to me) that currently Scotland’s history ties us to a royal family, a royal family, which it may still be tied to as an independent country, unless by democratic vote we (hopefully) decide otherwise? These detractors may wish to note that Alex Salmond on many occasions whilst First Minister representing all of the people of Scotland acted in a similar gracious way, which, in that position, is the correct thing to do. Get off her back. She is doing the job she has been elected to do.
We can all be frustrated with the speed in which we are moving towards calling a referendum. My goodness after watching the recent Indy debate, hosted by Lesley Riddoch, which I think was organised by Edinburgh Yes, with a panel of Robin McAlpine, Colin Fox, Michelle Thomson, Mike Small et al, I was left for a moment thinking we’ve actually gone back the way since 2014 in terms of progressing to independence, but then I thought better of it. We’ve got to have hope. It’s what keeps us doing what we do. The British state over the last seven years is eating itself. It is losing control. The level of incompetence on display in the Cabinet Office in Downing Street is astonishing. But the timing must be right to ensure success.
There is a drama to be played out yet. One which will see Johnson’s government having to resort to law to stop Scotland’s democracy from having its way, which will be a massive near fatal blow for the Union of ‘consent’. In their arrogance they won’t see that this is an issue. Then? Then it is up to us, the many thousands of advocates of an independent Scotland, to make sure that our not-yet-convinced loved ones, friends, and colleagues are fully aware of the facts, as set out so eloquently by Professor Tom Devine, the pre-eminent historian of our time, when he recently said:-
“We have now moved quite dramatically, and very swiftly, from a Union by consent to a Union of enforced law.
A Union of that type cannot stand!
Remember, 1707 was an agreement between two historic nations. It was not an imposition. What we have now is an imposition.”
In my view I think it’s then only a matter of time, and game over.
itisintruthnotforglory 