Ah'm entirely suspicious...

Ye see me ah'm entirely suspicious o religions an ah make nae distinctions, ah mean religions in the literal an mair informal senses, established churches, faiths, maist isms an belief systems... ah say that haein been christened masel, brought up 'in the church', read the Big Bible oan ma granda's knee, the yin wi the great pictures, even voluntarily kept it up in ma teens, flirted wi re-birth, but ah wis essentially brought up as an atheist, Church o Scotland if ye like.. even though ah got mair instruction at school oan the Resurrection than ah ever got oan the Enlightenment, ah knew that at the heart o Protestantism wis a core a Scottish atheism, an it aw sprung fae the Heart o Edinburgh... no the Heart o Midlothian, naw no there, that's another story, but fae somewhere between St Giles' no-quite-a-Cathedral tae John Knox's no-really-a-House, probably, by ma way o thinkin, ah wis aye aware o a winkin eye in the Kirk, a respectful scepticism, an acknowledgement that tho we were singin songs tae a higher power, we aw knew that the real higher power lay up the Bridges, in George Square, that scientific an rational studies were the real way tae the Big Answers tae the Big Questions, but the kirk had its function an aw, it ran oor schools an hospitals, it kept oor hatches matches an dispatches records, it gied them that wanted somewhere tae go oan a Sunday, an in the days afore telly an aw the rest that meant somethin, really... naw it did, really, it wis murder polis borin oan a Sunday...

But these days no sae much, these days the kirks cannae compete, an there's no sae many folk need somewhere tae go oan a Sunday... or else they're no able... mainly that in fact... Naw, these days the auld religions are dyin, an with them the auld truths o wumman wis made fer man an this is the real body an blood o Christ, laudin the pure an castin down the heretics, aw the ritual o ceremonies o namin, o remembrancin, aw the... aye ah'm gaunnae say it, aw the men in frocks pontificatin oan whit should go oan in public places, whit should go oan in folks' private lifes, whit should go oan in folks' heids, whit passes fer acceptable discourse, an whit thinkin wis right-thinkin an whit wis wrong...

Ah'm no standin here an watchin new religions takin the place o auld religions an no sayin anythin. Gender ideology tae me displays aw the signs o a religion, in fact, wi aw the TWAW tenets an 'wrong body' spiritual talk it's auld religion wi barely a slap o lippie oan, it's a poor effort an like a lot o folk ah've dismissed it this past few years as nae mair than that, other folks' lives, no ma concern... but as this past year has worn dreadfully oan we've come tae see the extent o the spread o this religion intae whit ah'm reliably an regularly informed is oor only viable route tae Scottish independence, an THAT maitters tae me. That's why ah look at a party ah've stepped in an oot o fer 40 years an always felt wis 'mine' an ah dinnae like whit ah see, an that's why ah'll keep sayin whit ah see... ah'm entirely suspicious.

Mirror mirror...

Ah wis watchin Doris answerin the right honourable an fabulous Joanna Cherry wi the words "I refer the Right Honourable and Fabulous Lady to the answer I gave a moment ago", an ah had a flashback o Maggie utterin the exact same words, year in year oot fer a decade, an then it morphed intae a vision, like in Polanski's Macbeth where Macbeth has a wobbly at a pairty an sees the unendin succession o Banquo's descendants, ye know that bit, the unbroken line o Kings leadin aw the way doon tae Jamie Saxt, (cos he wis the original version's sponsor ye see, a nice wee bit o spin fer Jamie, the auld fox he wis)...

Anyway, this vision is like when ye fold yer dressin-table wing-mirrors in an ye see yersel tae infinity, that sort o thing, an ah suddenly saw a long line o Tory Prime Ministers stretchin away oot o sight tellin Scotland that they're shite but we'll take aw yer money an yer first-born... It's an awfy vision o the future, except ah'm describin the last 40 years, dinnae ever tell me Scots 'wullnae put up wi this' or they 'wullnae put up wi that', we've pit up wi it aw awreadys, an we've let oorsels get colonised by wankers ffs!

It could well be oor future if we dinnae dae somethin different, somethin unorthodox, somethin that works... an here ah'll spell it oot fer ye, Wur. No. Daein. It. Yet.

Have ah got this right?

Right, bear wi me, ah'm jist workin this yin oot.

It looks like, gaun by the polls, that Labour could get wiped oot in the constituencies in May...

So aw the constituency MSPs are fightin tae get tae the top o the lists...

Which they'll manage cos they ken everybody, they hae clout in the party...

So aw the list MSPs are oot the door come May...

Tae be 'replaced' by aw the 'constituency' MSPs...

Some o them oan their fifth term, 17 years an countin...

So, Kezia's rejuvenation o Scottish Labour is gunnae depend oan the combined energies o a diminished bunch o agein party insiders that hae jist been rejected by the voters, individually an en masse...

Have ah got this right?

Mibbe ah'm deid, mibbe ah'm no...

Mibbe ah'm deid, mibbe ah'm no... but ah am only a character in some puir sowel's addled heid, born oot o ower much whisky an no enough guid sense, so dinnae greet, jist heave awa lads, ah'm no deid yet... or mibbe ah am...

Onyway, if ah am deid, ah'm the only yin. The indyref's ower, the lies were selt an boucht, the votes cast an counted, an fer the time bein we Scots hae been pit back in oor box. Actually, we climbed in, but the point's the same, naebody's deid. It wis a noisy battle, a messy yin, but no a bloody yin. Noo that it's ower, an we lost, oor priority is ta protect oorsels, oor kin, an oor nation. We hae tae build a wa tae defend whit's oors...

The bells are tolling fiercely,

And the cry comes louder in,

Mothers wailing for their children,

Sisters for their slaughtered kin.

All is terror and disorder,

Till the Provost rises up,

Calm as though he had not tasted,

Of the fell and bitter cup;

All so stately from his sorrow,

Rose the old undaunted chief,

That you had not deemed to see him,

His was more than common grief.

'Let them cease that dismal yelling

It is time enough to ring

When the fortress-strength of Scotland

Stoops to ruin, like its king.

Let the bells be kept for warning,

Not for terror or alarm;

When they next are heard to thunder

Let each man and stripling arm.

Bid the women cease their wailing:

Do they think that woeful strain

From the bloody heaps of Flodden

Can redeem their dearest slain?

Bid them cease, or rather hasten

To the churches, every one,

There to pray to Mary Mother,

And to her Anointed Son,

That the thunderbolt above us

May not fall in ruin yet,

That in fire and blood and rapine

Scotland's glory may not set.'

Noo look, ah ken it's a tad dramatic, an ah'm no suggestin fer a meenit that we send aw oor wummen tae the Kirk tae pray, no when the wummen o Scotland are some o oor best fighters, an fer the life o me ah cannae see whit guid prayin'll dae, but taen aw in aw, it fits wi whit ah'm feelin. We've lost, we've aw got wounds tae lick, but sae long as there's fight left in us, even if it's only a hundred o us, we're no aboot tae roll ower an show oor bellies, we're a fightin bunch, an Scotland's glory will not set, no yet...

This wis a message fae the other side...

Cast yer mind back...

Jist cast yer mind back fer a meenit, tae the Sixties if ye can, an mind how different life wis, fer abody. Mind coal fires, mind men at work an wummen daein messages, or spendin an entire day washin claes, mind weans gettin hammered, mind makin parritch the nicht afore, mind... weel mind yer ain life, whit wis it like fer you personally 50 year ago? How different wis it fae the life ye hae noo?

Ah'll bet, like me, it wis a different world, an no jist oan account o nae washin machines an haein tae soak yer lentils, it wis hugely different oan a political level an aw. We were at the height o the post-war British welfare state project, we were still bein reminded daily o whit we'd been through tae get that, aulder fowk had seen real sufferin baith afore an durin the war,  an how if we worked hard fer the country, through times that were hard, it wid gie us somethin that fowk really valued, it wid gie us security..

It's the mark of the enlightened society ah want tae see that offers that tae abody that bides here, basic security. An that's whit's bein whittled oot o the system since Maggie took office an steered this country taewards bein a neurotic 51st State. Every man fer hissel an deil tak the hindmaist, untrammled markets, makin money oot o money, an haein fowk in unemployment an underemployment, in poverty an ignorance, in worry an anxiety an fear, bein judged a price worth payin, so's that the same corruptin greedy interests can stack their profits withoot a care... That's no the country ah want tae bide in.

But think back again tae whit that meant fer us aw, fer a while we aw committed tae the same consensus. That pact wis broken in 79 an hasnae been fixed. We've had a generation o right-wing governments pursuin free market policies an their thirst isnae yet sated. Gied free-rein the Etonian cabal we've currently allowed tae sit in government wid turn this country upside doon wi neo-liberal outrages, think aboot it, an the best that can be said o the Westminster alternative is that Milliband probably widnae dae much but he'd slow the process, he's certainly no a socialist, an oan the sidelines there's a pale-blue Liberal rump wi twa faces an a brass neck haudin the coats...

er... ah lost ma threid there... ah wis thinkin, oh aye, ah wis jist thinkin aboot how much has changed in 50 years, it's like anither world really int'it? An whit we've got tae think aboot noo is the 2060's... we've got tae think aboot how we pit oor mark oan the future, whit sort o a country we want tae gie the 60's weans tae bide in, the yins tae come. It'll be as hugely different tae them as the 60's wis tae us, er, is tae us, er... d'ye get whit ah'm gettin at?

We cannae influence everythin, ah've nae doot there'll be mair channels oan the telly pumpin oot mair keich, fowk'll no ken a twin-tub if it came up an hit them, an aw stovies'll come in a wee sachet, but we can influence the things they write in the history books. We've  got a choice tae make atween twa futures. We can stick wi a system that's gettin dragged ever further right, where a bunch o fruitcake teapartyists can get a quarter o the vote an the Tories reaction is how far wid ye like us tae lurch? An an opposition that frankly breaks yer heart, where goeth the Labour party? ... We can stick wi that, or we can choose a different path, an we can build a new consensus, tae tak the powers that we can wi independence tae build a better nation...

Are we hell...

Somethin that's been botherin me o late, an it wis brocht tae ma mind again by the post fae Bonningtom Mill jist roond the corner fae me yesterday, lookin at the creaky an frankly undemocratic apparatus o the dyin state we find oorsels in, is a thocht ah've lang been mullin ower anent oor representation in the Palace o Fools oan the Thames. Anne lays oot the lie o the land perfectly an so ah'll no repeat her. She refers tae oor representation as bein 59 oot o 650 MPs, or 9% oot o the entire Hoose o Commons, roughly in line wi oor population share. But that only tells half the story...

See, back afore the war, Scotland sent 74 MPs tae Westminster, oot o a total o 615. By ma reckonin that's 12%. That fell efter the war tae 71 oot o 630, or 11.2%, 72 oot o 659 in 1997 or 10.9%, then doon tae the 9% it is noo. The plan wis tae further cut that tae 52 oot o 600, or 8.6%, a plan currently abandoned, but mark ma words if we say nae they'll be back at that again gied half a chance, they, an ah mean ony an aw o the three anti-independence parties, 4 if ye count UKIP, they wid aw love tae cut Scotland's numbers further. Noo, ye may say 'Weel, that's cos we've got Holyrood where we didnae afore' an ah can see where ye're comin fae an aye, Holyrood's daein great an the mair powers tae it the better, takin the hit oan the chin o sendin less MPs doon tae London, weel we'll jist hae tae manage an onyway they figure less in oor minds noo onyroads, an they'll hae less tae dae, jist the reserved powers really, that cannae tak aw their time, so they're really jist part-time MPs (ah nearly said party-time MPs there... D'oh!) in fact we'll jist club them aw th'gither like hale-time equivalents an cut yer numbers slap bang wollop...

But that's Defence... That's Foreign Affairs... an Welfare... an the Economy... an the 'Constitution'...

That's big issue stuff, real man-the-barricades stuff... an we've let oor representation in the Mither o Parliaments, that's bound us in sic a lovin an big-bosomed embrace fer 3 centuries, we've let oor representation oan aw the Great Matters o State faw fae 12% tae 9% in the last century (that's a decline o 25%, ah'm gettin guid at this eh?) at a time when we're supposedly #bettertogether?

Are we hell...

Mission creep...

Like a lot o fowk roond here ah ken next tae bugger aw aboot Mali. Ah ken where it is, like, an Timbuktu's there ah ken that, but that's it. Why we're even sendin sodjers there ah've nae idea they say they're jist gaun there tae watch, but like a lot o fowk ah'm worried that they might jist be gaun there tae watch but ye ken whit sodjers are like yince they see a fight they jist want tae join in they cannae help it it's whit they dae efter aw... so, like a lot o fowk ah'm worried aboot mission creep, aboot gettin drawn in, the mair we talk aboot the war in Mali it becomes oor war in Mali ken? the mair we discuss it the mair real it becomes...

An that's whit's pittin the Unionist neb oot o joint th'day, we're makin it aw become real the mair we talk aboot it. The mair we discuss the mechanics o how Scotland becomes an independent nation, the mair real that 'new' Scottish nation becomes...

The Westminster Government disnae want tae hae talks wi the Scottish Government aboot whit happens in the event o a Yes vote cos that involves bringin the 'Constitutional Commissioners' oanstage, this body, these people, these brains, whitever... ah imagine it'll be people an no jist actual brains but are ye wi me? The step forrit th'day wis that (inevitably) an independent electoral body said that in a modern democratic country like oors, there's a proper way tae dae these things an that means that we aw hae tae prepare fer the fact that maist o us might want independence. We aw hae tae accept that. Ma government has tae accept that. That is tae say ma government in London, Cameron's government, has tae accept it. The UK has tae act in ma best interest, in oor best interest, an prepare fer the fact that we in Scotland might vote Yes in Autumn 2014. We want oor government tae at the very least provide some idea, some certainty aboot oor future road, whether that coincides wi theirs or no...

An so they hae tae show us that road, whit it'll look like, whit's oan it? who negotiates? wi who? when? where?

They hae tae agree aw that wi the Scottish Government, an in agreein it they make it that bit mair real, an they take us that bit further doon that very road. That's whit ah cry mission creep...an it's excitin...