THE UNIONISTS HAVE IT ALL BUTTONED UP...WELL, SOME OF THEM

Now here is a woman with her finger on the button.

And here is one with her finger NOT on the button.

And here's yet another one who seems to have problems with her  buttons.

WHAT DID THE QUEEN TELL MURDO ABOUT HER FOOTBALL PREFERENCES?

The Three Brexiteers. 

In the last post Dean made some observations about Brexit and Scotland's reaction to it. 

In this post I'd like to look at Brexit and what our response might be. 

Firstly, I don't think we should ever give up on what we believe in. Brexit or no, many people simply believe that Scotland is best served being governed for itself, by itself, although clearly working with other countries in international organisations. 

The Brexit débacle may have swayed people in this in one direction or the other, of course.

Let's be clear, Brexit was, and is, made in a perfectly legal referendum decision, not an unreasonable aspiration. I don't knock anyone who believes in it.

Maybe because I see the four constituent members of the UK as separate countries with their own needs and economic and social realities, however, I think that any case that can be made for Brexit is far less compelling if you are from Scotland, or NI, or clearly, Gibraltar. London is rather different, given its status in the financial world. 

Different people in different countries were voting for different things. Northern Ireland for example, already marginalised by Great Britain, is worried that being outside the EU while the rest of Ireland is in it, will be damaging to its economy. It is also a recipient of a great deal of EU money which almost undoubtedly will not be forthcoming from the UK. Scotland, whilst not in the same category still profits from its membership of the EU.

One of the disturbing aspects of the Brexit campaign at least from the 'popular' press, and one that seemed to take root in England in particular, was a level of xenophobia, the likes of which I've never seen before. By heavens the editors of the Sun, Mail, Telegraph and Express seem to either have a visceral hatred for foreigners ... or have worked out that their readers do and from this they can make money. 

How to create a solid wall of hatred.

Of course I will never give up on the idea of independence for Scotland, but like most of us, I have had to accept the will of the Scottish people in a referendum in 2014, to stay in the UK.

But it's fair to say that that vote was based on some assurances, not least one propounded by British politicians of both colours (and probably the LDs) and the EU authorities, that the only way to stay in the EU was to stay in Britain. That Scots voted 62-38 to stay in Europe is a real indicator that that was something that may have influenced them in their 2014 decision.

Aye, Fluffy, whatever...

In any political campaign we know that people lie and politicians of every shade manipulate statistics and facts to their own advantage. Hard though it is for a normal person to understand Mr Mundell's volte face, I'm sure that he and his side are not the only ones to do this. 

Lord knows the NHS staff and some patients may well have been swayed by the implied benefit of £350 million a week from Boris, Nigel and crew.

No, we aren't really being served. But we're only Jocks, Irish, or Gibraltarians.

On our side (independence for Scotland), we have had "the settled will of the Scottish people" rammed fairly hard down our throats for some time. Fair enough. Certainly the politicians at the top, the FM, the cabinet and minister, accepted that, although they continue to work hard to persuade the Scottish people that they made the wrong choice (well the 55%). There's nothing unreasonable about that. You don't give up on a dream if at first you don't succeed. 

Had Nigel lost he wouldn't have said, "oh well, that's it, we'll abandon any hopes of coming out of Europe; I'll just learn French so that I don't have to shout/slur loudly at the bar staff in Brussels".

Our parliament has a majority of members who were elected on a platform that included the proposal that if there were to be a material change in the political or economic situation, then another referendum on independence was possible. Their election too, might be called the settled will of the Scottish people, as might be the 62% for Europe vote in our country.

The 'settled will' in any case is not ever really settled, regardless of what the odious Jack Straw says (in between celebrating  Berexit getting Chilcott and thus his sorry backside off the front pages almost immediately!!) He would have made it illegal for there EVER to be another referendum on Scottish Independence.

To be fair Mr Farage was never one to see irony

Populations are changing all the time, because population is a moving thing: people come of age and people die. People arrive and people move away. It's the way of things. A 'will' in 2014 may have changed dramatically by 2019 because of a change in demographics, particularly given that statistics show that the younger people tend to be much more pro-independence than older ones. So 'settled will' even a few years later, may be very different.

Nicola is doing the right thing in my opinion, to see if the 'will' of the Scottish people, in both referenda can be accepted: ie, Scotland remain a part of the UK and a part of the EU.  That's after all what the Scots said back in 2014 and 2016.

It's not as fantastical as it seems. In the Kingdom of Denmark, part is in and part out. And the Irish situation may well demand a much more flexible viewpoint, for the sake of peace or again the possibility of a part of the UK breaking away.

If, as Westminster seems to be indicating it will, that fails, then the views of the Scottish people may be sought again. Not to do so would be letting down the 62% who are about to be dragged out of Europe with the attendant loss of jobs and increased costs. Particularly because of the specific promise made by UKOKers in 2014.

Well, there you go. The Queen must hate Celtic, Murdo?
Did you ask her how she feels about you telling the world that?

Murdo Fraser, seems to be unaware of what his government is doing in London. He says that the Scottish government must explain what Brexit means, while Mrs May and her Three Brexiteers (Johnson, Fox and Davis) are steadfastly refusing to explain that even to their own MPs. (Maybe that's what Murdo means.) 

How the hell can Nicola, or the Scottish public, possibly know what it means when the folk that are supposed to be in charge won't tell us (or don't know themselves)? And how can the Scottish government plan for something that the Brits haven't sorted out?  This is a good read.

What the Scottish government has tried to do is establish the facts. So Nicola has been to Brussels to meet with people there. What she wanted to know was, what would this mean for Scotland...was there a possibility of a Greenlandic solution in reverse... and how would the EU react to Scotland if it decided independence in Europe was superior to dependence in the UK?

She seemed to get more done in the first few weeks than the mighty British government which acted like a rabbit blinded by headlights from the four winds.

But of course, all negotiations must, in the end, be between London and Brussels.

We are dependent upon people who seem to have little regard for us, and certainly won't much care about our wishes when it comes to negotiating. To be fair they all represent English constituencies and the English population is massive in comparison to ours.

Boris wanted the yacht to travel the world with his two buddies (and presumably Mr Werrity). His boss said NO.

Seriously do you imagine that Johnson, Fox and Davis will give much thought to the people in Gibraltar, Scotland or Northern Ireland when they are sorting out the future?

At the moment they seemed to be more interested in getting the royal yacht recommissioned so they can steam around the world like the colonialists they are, striking up trade deals with anyone who is impressed with a royal yacht. Opium anyone? Watch out, Dean, if some suspicious looking English fellow with a haystack on his head  comes up to you in the street saying "Me sell you opium. Velly good stuff, ask Lord Sewell". Oh no sorry, that was coke!

I'd be interested in people's views on this, and on whether parliament should be given a chance to debate Brexit, albeit with no veto on the referendum result, or whether it should all be done by the back door, privy council, statutory orders or whatever they have up their sleeve when they want to be sneaky... 

TODAY'S THE DAY

SOON ALL THE WAITING WILL BE OVER

Yes, dear readers, today we shall find out who will "lead" UKIP into the future.

Some say that many people have spoiled their papers and written "Come back Nigel, we love you". Well, when I say some, I think it was Nigel  actually, but no matter.

The UKIP conference takes place today in Bournemouth, England, and this afternoon will see its next leader announced and Nige will retire gracefully to the back seat. It promises to be exciting for them because normally their next leader has been their last leader.

Mr F has refused to back any of the contestants for the Great British Half Baked Off this year, but he did indicate that Channel Four might cover it next time round. He did admit that he had been dominant in the party. Looking around at others, like Lord Pearson of Rannoch, or David Coburn, I can't imagine why.

Farage is still the centre of attraction, however, for today at least, and was leading a tribute to the factoid that 100 years ago the first tanks were used in the Great War. (I can't help felling that politicians have played the First World War to death for publicity.) He didn't miss an opportunity to tell anyone who was listening that Britain had centuries of experience of dealing with European tyranny.  How fortunate, I thought, it is that there was never any tyranny here on these islands. Or indeed, is!

In any case, I digress. It seems to me looking at this list of policies, that maybe they could save a bit of money and just appoint Theresa May as their new leader. 

After all, it's pretty much a part time job, and all the time that Farage spend drinking smoking and carousing, Mrs May could spend running the Tories. All she would have to remember would be that when she had a purple leopard skin shoes on she was in favour of people being able to park for free in hospitals, and when she had her blue hat on, she expected them to be dropped at the hospital door by the chauffeur.

I hope it is her, because I've never heard of any of the other contestants and i can't be bothered learning a new name.

THE THINGS THEY SAY:

...or maybe said

There was, of course, uncontrollable giggling and laughter at Mrs May's Downing Street arrival declaration of desire for a decent society, of wanting to build a country which was not driven by the interests of the privileged few, but the many; the people just managing to get by and working around the clock just to make ends meet.

Yeah right, we tittered, once we had calmed down. Whatever!

And who could blame us if we thought that we had heard it all before?

Because many of us remembered the words of St Francis of Assisi uttered by the sainted Margaret:  ‘Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope’ … 

Aspiration, no?

And then we recall that, in fact, where there was harmony, she brought discord; where there might have been truth, she brought ..well, error is an understatement (ask the miners and Hillsborough survivors, the steel workers and just about anyone who had a job in industry); where people had believed in stuff, she brought doubt and anxiety, and for anyone who wasn't very comfortably off or didn't have sharp elbows, well, they found that there was no longer any kind of hope.

The comparison with Mrs Thatcher was, of course, pretty obvious, because of their gender, I suppose. Britain's first and second female prime ministers were bound to be scrutinised for similarities. 

But we shouldn't forget that Cameron promised the same sort of crap and then delivered the exact opposite. (Even his Deputy Prime Minister admits this, although exactly why Clegg would boast about the fact that he sat on his hands and agreed to all this inhumanity, is quite belong my understanding. You'd think that devastating the Liberal Democrat representation in Edinburgh, Cardiff, London and Brussels would have been enough humiliation for any man. Still, when you have a book to sell...)

I can't find any reference to what John Major said when he arrived at Downing Street. Probably something about being not inconsiderable pleased to have been to see her majesty and that peas for dinner would be lovely, and would the staff ask Mrs Currie to leave now please. 

Possibly the Press treated it like an Angela Eagle Press conference.)

I couldn't be bothered to Google what what Blair said. It would have been something sickeningly insincere, or religiously fanatical, I have no doubt! 

Or maybe: Comb your bloody hair, Cheri?

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME

Poor old Theresa May.

Instead of doing her job at prime minister's questions... y'know, answering questions put to her on behalf of the public by their representatives...she fancied herself as a stand up act.

Let's embarrass poor old Corbyn instead of answering difficult questions about Brexit, she thought to herself.

Only she made a bit of a mess of it.

Because when she was checking out Mr Corbyn's Twitter feed to see if she could get herself some forewarning of what he was going to ask her... she found an amusing tweet from a certain Mr Lewis Collins.

Mr Collins, suggesting a question for Jeremy to ask Mrs May, wrote: Does she know that in a recent poll asking who would make a better prime minister, "don't know" scored higher than Jeremy Corbyn.

Ho Ho Ho. Ha ha ha. Point to Mrs May. Right? 

Well only very briefly!

Of course Mr Corbyn sat and smiled politely as she said it. Maybe he knew something that, at the time, Mrs May did not.

Mr Collins alerted to the fact that his question had been used... he'd hardly expect that... tweeted his pride at being quoted by her primeminsterness: "Looks like I'm famous", he bragged!

You are, Mr Collins, you most surely are.

Because it turns out that Mr Collins, maybe one of Mrs May's supporters, and a bit of a wit, may find that his 5 minutes of fame will not bring him the kudos he perhaps briefly hoped for.

Y'see, when something like this happens, people rush off to look at one's timeline. And, somewhat unfortunately for everyone except Mr Corbyn,  dear old Mr Collins' turned out to be somewhat less respectable than a prime minsiterial script writer might be expected to have.

Well, clearly he doesn't overly care for Poles, as we can see from the Tweet  above. 

Eastern Europeans in particular have, since Brexit (whatever that means) was announced, have suffered badly at the hands of racists... including one being killed, apparently for speaking Polish to his mate. (Note to Brits going abroad: Always remember to speak the language of the country you're in, even to your Brit mates... Right? Yeah, right!)

But Mr Collins isn't a one trick pony. Oh no, he has other unpleasant strings to his bow. If Mrs May wants some one liners for next week's PMQs she may chose from a range of other prejudices.  

For example, another tweet reads "P~ss off, you feminist piece of sh~t". Is Mr Corbyn a feminist?

Then he pictured a zombie and labelled it: "Migrant workers looking for ways to circumvent the Calais wall". Well, at least there are plenty of zombies in the House for her to poke fun at!

He reportedly also tweeted in support of the murdered of Jo Cox. And no one is going to amke any jokes about that.

 

Matthew Thomas‏@Trickyjabs

Matthew Thomas Retweeted Greg Dash

Today at #PMQs @theresa_may read out a tweet from Lewis @swingaleg who also tweeted in defence of Jo Cox's murderer.

Matthew Thomas added,

Greg Dash @GregLabour

The person Theresa May quoted at #PMQs is also big into defending facist murderers of politicians

• RETWEETS55
• LIKES27
• 

55 retweets27 likes

Now Mr Collins may be perfectly entitled to these views, although, as we said, he may find that his fame as a prime ministerial gag writer will bring as many problems as plaudits...

...but Mrs May should most certainly learn from today's experience that the only way to be safe in these matters is to write her own material.

Mr Corbyn's smile is somewhat more comprehensible now. 

NICOLA'S STATEMENT ON THE OUTCOME OF THE EU REFERENDUM

Nicola Sturgeon gave a statement on the outcome of the EU referendum. She set out what action the Scottish Government will now take to safeguard our future in Europe, following the unequivocal vote for Scotland to remain in the EU.

Here’s what you need to know.

1. Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will is a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014.

During the 2014 referendum we were told that only a No vote would guarantee that Scotland would remain in the EU - this has proved not to be the case. We believe this is a democratically unacceptable situation.

2. We will take all possible steps and explore all options to secure Scotland’s continuing place in the EU and in the single market in particular.

We are clear that the Scottish Government must be fully involved in all decisions about the next steps the UK Government takes. The Scottish Government will also seek discussions with the EU institutions and its member states, including the earliest possible meeting with the President of the European Commission.

3. The Scottish Government will begin to prepare the required legislation to enable a new independence referendum - if and when Parliament so decides.

When the process for the UK to leave the EU begins in three months time, it is expected to take two years to leave. If the Scottish Parliament decides that a second referendum is the best or only way to protect our place in Europe, it must have the option to hold one within that timescale.

The need to act decisively will be tempered with the need to build consensus. While many people who voted No in 2014 are reassessing their decision, we will not simply assume their support - we will be straight and honest with them.

4. For citizens of other EU countries living here in Scotland - you remain welcome here, Scotland is your home and your contribution is valued.

The Remain vote in Scotland was won by a campaign that was positive about the EU and about the benefits of migration. Scotland has voted to renew its reputation as an outward looking, open and inclusive country.

5. Our business community can be reassured that as of now we remain firmly in the EU.

Trade and business should continue as normal - we are determined that Scotland will continue to be an attractive and stable place to do business.

The survey Nicola referred to is available HERE

RANDOM THOUGHTS

DONATE £25 TO THE TORIES AND THEY'LL SAY "HERE'S A MUG"

According to my latest "Dear Peregrine" letter from the Conservatives, whilst the Labour Party are tearing themselves apart, the Tories are "building a country that works for everyone".

Well, that's kinda comforting. I'd truly love to live in a country that works for everyone, but I can't speak any more that a few words of any Scandinavian languages. "Þegar þú talar fljótt ég get ekki skilið þig", or "Har du noen brukt cornflakes?", won't get you very far in Iceland or Norway so that's that knocked on the head!

So this is exciting news readers, is it not?

The poor Tories say that it's alright for the Labour Party as they are funded by the Trades Unions... although they left out the bit about the 600,000 Labour members who pay membership fees, as opposed to the 150,000 Tories ( a number which, according to Norman Tebbit, is likely to drop) who send their money to the Conservatives. But what about all those people that Cameron just elevated to the peerage, handed knighthoods or made companions of honour? What do they do with their millions?

According to the email they sent me, not on this occasion from a big name to impress me... yeah well, to try to impress me... but just signed, "the Conservatives", "people in kitchens and living rooms all over Britain are looking for a party that will build a country that works for them". 

But I thought that we already had a party which was doing just that...that in fact the writer had already told me in the first paragraph that this party not only existed but that they were indeed the Tories. 

So, pardon me, but I'm confused. Why are people looking in their living rooms and kitchens for them? They are in London in posh restaurants, clubs and possibly even knocking shops. And why is no one looking in bathrooms and bedrooms? Or does that have overtones that Tories don't like to mention? Well, not in front of plebs.

Well, I expect it's not my place to query all that, but given the drivel of these statements, I'm not surprised that no one wanted to sign the email.

Anyway, the good news is that you can pay £25 and get a mug that says "Theresa May a country that works for everyone" which leaves me even more confused, because I had no idea that Theresa May was a country... or that she was working for everyone.

But then, I have to say, ya know that if you'd pay £25 for something you can get in Morrisons for £1.25, you don't really need a mug. 

Because you kinda ARE a mug.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

So, to add to the list of broken promises from Better Together, we now find that the fleet of global combat frigates promised by Cameron to the Clyde shipbuilders is to be put on hold, because of a mixture of technical and financial problems, putting the jobs to thousands of the Clyde's shipbuilders at risk.

No one seem to know when they will be built, if at all. The number promised by Cameron was 13. This was already reduced to eight. No the immediate plan is for none to be built. 

Fortunately for Scotland the 50,000 jobs (sorry, my mistake; it's only 500) involved in maintaining nuclear subs on the Clyde was secured by the right wing parties in England yesterday, so at least Tory (sorry, keep getting mixed up here) erm, socialist, Jackie Baillie can sleep in peace tonight. (Echos of manic laughter echo around Munguin Towers.)
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 American politics is every bit as crazy as UK politics at the moment, and clearly their politicians like to treat the public with as much contempt as the British ones. But seriously, just how half witted would you have to be to believe this crap?

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Of course the Labour Party in the UK is in the most horrific mess too, and is treating, not just members of the public, but their own supporters and members too,  as if they were morons.

Their desperate attempts to keep Corbyn, a man chosen as leader by 59.5% of the electors, off the ballot paper in a challenge to his leadership would have been astounding in any party, but for heaven's sake, in the party set up to support the ordinary person against the British Establishment, it was breath taking.

When they were forced to allow him to defend his place, they tried to put all kinds of barriers in the way of potential support. They ramped up the minimum membership to £25 and allowed a small window of time for joining. That's a hell of a lot for someone on minimum wage (remember Labour, that's the people you're supposed to be there for), or the unwaged. Then they had a website, set up to raise money to help less well off people to pay this exorbitant fee, shut down. No charity in the Labour movement. Despite this, and hell mend them, 183,541 people joined.

They also shut down Labour Party branch meetings, presumably in order to try to stop angry members deselect their right wing and hard right wing MPs. Stalin and Pinochet both would have been proud of them.

Frankly I'm beginning to wonder if there will be a single British Labour Party by the end of the year. They surely have to split and let the Blairites follow their dreams or being American puppets, while allowing Corbynites to work for ordinary people, just as the Labour Party was intended to do.

(The illustration above was taken from Twitter.)
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Finally, I loved this!

TODAY THE LONDON PARLIAMENT WILL DEBATE SPENDING £210+ BILLION ON TRIDENT REPLACEMENT

WHILE CHILDREN GO HUNGRY, THE SICK GO UNTREATED AND PENSIONERS GO COLD...

BUT....