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.
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