Dae ye want tae ken whit ah think?

 

So ah watched Nicola yesterday, an maist o whit she said we've aw heard afore, except fer the bit aboot the plebescite election. That wis the game-chynger fer me, she's never spoke thae words afore, an she wis quite clear whit that plebescite election wid mean, the SNP standin oan one question, "Should Scotland be independent?" an the winnin post wid be winnin the general election in Scotland, gettin 30 seats oot o 59... a win she's awready managed oan the three practice runs in 2015, 17 an 19...

Ah know folk are gettin aw excited aboot the 19th o October 2023, but nothin happened yesterday that made that event any mair likely than it wis the day afore. The Unionists dinnae want it, so let's stand an watch them expend aw their energies oan stoppin it. They'll likely manage it an aw, it's the UK Court, ah mean, c'mon, oor brains didnae aw faw oot yesterday, they'll chuck everythin at it, so it should become clear quite soon that that 'roadmap' is fer a road we're no even oan, we're drivin right up that plebescite election road noo, an that's better, as ah keep sayin, we're only lookin fer the same result that we've delivered three times runnin...

The present Tory Government are content tae change Human Rights we thocht were as 'enshrined' as we could get, an they're daein oan the basis o winnin mair seats than the rest at a General Election. If there wis tae be a Labour landslide, then Kier Starmer could an wid change aw manner o laws, oan the basis o winnin mair seats at a General Election than the rest. That's the British State's preferred metric, Parliamentary sovereignty expressed through the ballot box by FPTP election, an if it's guid enough fer them then we should grab that blunt weapon by the handle...

There is one bit o yesterday that's escaped folk's attention though, so far, an that's whit happens the day efter the plebescite election Sturgeon jist made real by talkin aboot in public. Ye see, in another world, the yin where Johnson signs a Section 30 order an everythin's laid oot fine an dandy in a spirit o co-operation an friendship, then the day efter a Yes win at a referendum, they baith stand up an say "That's it decided then", an Johnson adds "It's a fair cop Guv, ye got me bang tae rights"... whereas in the world we now inhabit, this real world, the day efter the next General Election, the day efter a fourth landslide win fer the SNP, the First Minister is gaunnae hae tae stand up an declare "We won, we're independent", an she'll likely hae tae declare that *whispers the word* unilaterally...

The way ah see it we could get oorsels catapulted intae independence in gey short order, an that suits me fine, we're in a grave crisis as it is, an under the British it's only guaranteed tae get worse.

A wee confession...

 

Ah thocht seein as ah wis doon oan ma knees awready ah might as well offer up a wee confession, ah'm APAC, (that's Assigned Protestant At Christenin, keep up...), but fae a very early age ah knew ah had been born intae the wrong body o the kirk... but every time ah asked them, "Mum, how dae ye ken ah'm a Proddie?" they never answered properly... "Ye jist are", or "Cos ye go tae the Proddie school", or "Shush, listen tae that man in the long frock, he kens whit he's talkin aboot"... an so ah tried tae fit in, at the Sunday School, at the Bible Study, at the Scripture Union, in the choir oan Songs o Praise, at that Youth Club at the funny Evangelical Church at the tap o Cabrelli's Wynd, at the Mission on the Beach at St Andrews when we were in the caravan... an ah think ah might've got away wi it if it hadnae been fer that big finger pointin doon at me fae the sky wherever ah went... "Heathen! Get her!"

They're tryin tae retcon the Bible noo, sayin it wis pit th'gither by a bunch o auld men fae the odd ripped pages they used tae find in bushes, along wi a Letters page that could've done wi an Editor an an Appendix fu o auld proverbs... but ma mind's clear, ah can mind them tellin me that wis God's ain words, an gettin ma Granda an Grannie tae tell me they were showin me actual pictures o the Flood happenin! Now even they can tell they're fightin a losin battle... against CGI, naebody's impressed wi jist drawins noo, or 'windaes'...

So anyway, ah transitioned fae the Church o Scotland tae thinkin fer masel insteid. They can keep their 3-Spirit nonsense, they can keep their 'in the name o the Non-birthing Parent, the AMAB Child, and the They Who Must Not Be Dead-Named' rubbish, they can keep their 'innate sense of soul' crap... even that picture ma Granda used tae show me, they can keep their rainbow, that's nae mair a sign fae Stonewa-sorry, God than it is flee in the air, that's just a trick o the light.

Here endeth the lesson, noo let me get oan...

Why is a #gravybus season ticket sae long?

 

Dae ye mind that time 12 years ago when auld Mr Broon had fecked up the economy so that he lost the election, but David PigsHeid Cameron couldnae win the election, so he bought the Liberal Democrats aff. Noo the Liberal Democrats werenae aw as stupit as they looked, they werenae aw Danny Alexanders, they kent whit wis comin their way fae bein bought, or raither, selling thersels tae the Tories, particularly ower sellin oot their student voters an breakin the pledges they had aw signed, so, they had tae make sure they had electoral insurance...

Their insurance wis the 5-year Fixed Term Parliaments Act, which pit the next election aff as far as possible, but planted their next UK General Election slap-bang oan the the day o the next-but-yin Holyrood election, no the yin that wis still tae come in 2011, but the yin efter that, that wis due in 2015, so consequently Holyrood meekly shifted it's bum along tae 2016, giein thersels an extra year o power an salary, only a temporary move ah believe they said at the time...

But then of course, there wis a cooncil elections due in 2016, four years efter the yin that wis due in 2012, so they said we werenae bright enough fer twa elections at the same time an shifted that yin tae 2017, quietly addin another year oantae the cooncil terms, temporary of course...

But they never shifted them back.

An quietly an surreptitiously, Holyrood an every Cooncil in Scotland are suddenly runnin tae 5 year terms rather than the 4 year terms they were set up as... an meanwhile Westminster ditched the FTPA as soon as they didnae need it an we've had twa early elections an every prospect o anither yin cos the Tories like tae control events... they're no as daft as they look either...

So, the LibDems bein feart o the electoral consequences o sellin oot their voters, that's why the tickets you were buyin folk fer yesterday's #gravybus were 5-year season tickets... nae wonder they were smilin.

Naebody asked us if they could extend their terms, ah don't believe anybody ever stood up an said it oot loud, they jist did it oan the sly, bankin oan folk no noticin...

It's the dishonesty that gets me, every time...

Ringin in the New Year wi a Hum...

 

Ah've had this phrase ringin in ma lugs (along wi that dull hum ah'm gettin in ma left lug, ah wis pittin it doon tae some big engine comin fae the Docks, ah thocht it wis yin o the big ferries they had parked there durin the lockdown, but they're awa noo an the noise is still there... ) fer a few days, 'elective dictatorship'. Ah had it in ma mind that Jim Prior had said it aboot Maggie's government efter their landslide in '83, but when ah looked it seems it wis Lord Hailsham that coined it in the 70s, when he wis warnin o the dangers o a government wi a *slim* majority haein too much executive power, raither than the worries o haein a government wi a *huge* majority haein too much power. Ah guess the problem in the UK is that *any* government has too much power, it disnae maitter whit their majority is in the Palace o Fools...

Anyroads, that's where it come fae, but that's no why ah wis thinkin it, it kept comin tae ma mind when ah thought o Scotland's predicament, one we've fell intae despite plenty warnin, an one we're in danger o cementin in place, tae Scotland's detriment.

Withoot chewin ower aw the Devolution Settlement, in essence aw oor 'domestic' areas o government are covered by Holyrood an aw oor 'Affairs o State' are dealt wi in Westminster. We've got oorsels intae a fairly settled (though nothin's permanent in politics...) votin pattern o slim majority or near enough fer an easy coalition SNP government in Holyrood an huge tae massive 'majorities' o SNP MPs in Westminster.

This means we hae a 'domestic' government wi a slim majority, yet wi slim majority that looks able tae push stuff through that is demonstrably unpopular wi the voters, an wieldin powers beyond Holyrood that too few folk are aware o, an meanwhile oor representation in The Corridors of Powers over Affairs of State is... well, zilch really. We, through oor Stronger Voice for Scotland, hae next tae nae influence ower the areas o War, Statecraft, Macro-economics, Constitution, y'know, things every country dis.

Which leaves us in the strange situation o haein an 'elective dictatorship' o twa varieties, the 'untrammelled power wi a slim majority' kind, an the bizarre situation at the ither end wi nae feckin influence through the stonkin majorities o reps we send, yet because we take part in their elections, we get an we accept a government wi bugger aw support here, an yet the power tae stop an start everythin here, includin how we deal wi oor ain feckin Public Health... an that's a red-line fer me, it grinds ma gears that they're failin us oan Public Health, baith Holyrood an Westminster, Public Health is one o the very few justifications there is fer haein a feckin government in the first place, maist o the rest o oor lives we could get by withoot them, but it's infectious diseases we cannae fight individually an still live in a society...

An obviously, sae long as we sit in this ludicrous situation, it's the Big Brother we didnae vote fer that's stoppin us fae resolvin oor Democratic Quandary oan which everythin else rests, the Big Problem that showed its big smiley face oan the mornin o the 24th o June 2016, an promptly got sat oan. Ah'll say nae mair on that...

Ah've aye supported Holyrood as the obvious step forward fae Union tae Independence, it obviously made sense tae form a polity wi a parliament, an here ah thank the guid lord above fer Alex Salmond's genius stroke o properly namin the Scottish Government. We need tae remember that, there is only one Scottish Government.

But that support wisnae fer a devolved government under the British Union, no tae that, no ever, no thank you, either at 'this' level o devolution or at 'that' level o devolution, it is whit it is, aw devolution is maxxed-oot awreadys as far as ah'm concerned, it's the *retention* o the powers that nixes it, every time. Naw, we cannae stop here, no at this point oan Big Tam's motorway tae independence, ye cannae stop oan a motorway fer very guid reason, an when ye've got an 'elective dictatorship' juggernat oan the yin shooder an an 'unelective dictatorship' juggernaut bearin doon oan yer ither shooder, well, stop here an it's gaunnae get awfy messy, awfy quick...

Dinnae, ever, think a government is oan your side.