SEASON'S GREETINGS FROM MUNGUIN

Munguin doesn't much go for all this Christmas stuff. He thinks that it just disrupts life (and he has to give Tris the day off, and with pay too!)

He, as a political beastie, is also very aware that while he is sitting comfortably in Munguin Towers with peons serving him food and wine, there are many people out there who don't have his luck and who are cold and hungry on Christmas day.

There are kids who didn't get any presents; there are old people who will spend the day alone wrapped in coats and hats; there are people at the start of their adult lives who, despite working hard in the period up to Christmas, will only barely have enough to feed themselves, and who may have gone without so their kids could have a present or two. 

Munguin knows a guy who, a few years ago, walked 5 miles to work and 5 miles back every day in December, through rain and wind, to save money for presents.

He understands that Independence won't solve all the problems that make our country one of the most unequal in the developed world, with people like David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and of course Munguin himself, being able to push the boat out with an orgy of food and drink excess, while others shiver, treat themselves to a plate of hot porridge and go to bed early to save electricity.

However, it will give us the tools to start to address some of the iniquitous conditions that people in Scotland live in. 

As a member of the British government recently said: London is sucking the life out of the rest of the UK.

We should cut its straw.

All that said, Munguin has instructed me to thank his readers for their support throughout the year, and say that he hopes they will have the kind of festive season that they wish for themselves, be that riotous or quiet. 

He also hopes that in the nearly 9 months to come, we will all redouble our efforts to get freedom for our country so that by next Christmas he we can start to put things right again.

Nollaig chridheil 

Frohe Weihnachten 

Mele Kalikimaka

Joyeux Noël

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Natal

Καλά Χριστούγεννα 

Nollaig Shona 

Gleðileg jól 
Nadelik Lowen

(with grateful thanks to Google Translate!)