There is no place like home, and a few hours after arriving back in Scotland I was in Glasgow giving a talk to Pensioners for Independence. I still covered quite a wide sweep, but my focus came back to what I care about more than anything – the freedom, prosperity and just position in the world of my own nation of Scotland.
With thanks to Scottish Independence Podcasts, IndyPod Special, and of course to Glasgow Pensioners for Independence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBCwV6HUE4c
———————————
My reporting and advocacy work has no source of finance at all other than your contributions to keep us going. We get nothing from any state nor any billionaire.
Anybody is welcome to republish and reuse, including in translation.
Because some people wish an alternative to PayPal, I have set up new methods of payment including a Patreon account and a Substack account if you wish to subscribe that way. The content will be the same as you get on this blog. Substack has the advantage of overcoming social media suppression by emailing you direct every time I post. You can if you wish subscribe free to Substack and use the email notifications as a trigger to come for this blog and read the articles for free. I am determined to maintain free access for those who cannot afford a subscription.
Click HERE TO DONATE if you do not see the Donate button above
Subscriptions to keep this blog going are gratefully received.
Choose subscription amount from dropdown box:
PayPal address for one-off donations: [email protected]
Alternatively by bank transfer or standing order:
Account name
MURRAY CJ
Account number 3 2 1 5 0 9 6 2
Sort code 6 0 – 4 0 – 0 5
IBAN GB98NWBK60400532150962
BIC NWBKGB2L
Bank address NatWest, PO Box 414, 38 Strand, London, WC2H 5JB
Bitcoin: bc1q3sdm60rshynxtvfnkhhqjn83vk3e3nyw78cjx9
Ethereum/ERC-20: 0x764a6054783e86C321Cb8208442477d24834861a
Welcome back Craig, Trump hasn’t managed to blow up the world in your absence. Lagavulin a-go-go.
Same here – I’m now 79 yrs old, born in Lincoln, last 40 yrs living in NZ. . As a young man I was a member of an extreme right wing political organisation, otherwise known as the Young Conservative. Since then I have become ever more left wing – about 20 yrs ago I joked with my own family (a wife and four daughters) that ultimately I’d likely end up a paid up member of the Communist Party.
And you’re right, it’s not nostalgia, it’s not rose tinted glasses for old times.
It’s pre-Thatcherism and it’s post-Thatcherism. Simple really.
It’s student loans, it’s selling council houses, it’s privatisation, it’s the cynical wealth ownership of the media, it’s the corruption of Americanisation, it’s the hollowing out of a productive industry, it’s a tax system not fit for purpose, it’s greed as praiseworthy, it’s the loss of the experience of the Second World War, it’s the absurdity and oxymoron of the “service economy”, it’s our failing democratic institutions, perhaps too the loss of moral religious and cultural perspective etc etc. . .
Your Kellog’s example is brilliant, I have proposed similar here in NZ, the proposed closing the Tiwai Aluminium smelter, the actual closure of our only oil refinery, the closure of a paper mill and many timber mills, could all have been taken over. .
You’re a good man, Craig, but it is disheartening to be a humane person in our present society, Yet there are millions of humane people in the UK, but humaneness often comes with another Christian virtue, meekness. Meekness in the face of aggression is not a helpful ideology in our present situation. .
Sadly despair is now a rational emotion, and may never be assuaged.
Good talk. Regarding the EU, I was horrified at the UK leaving the EU and would have thought an independent Scotland would rejoin. However, after the last several years, watching the behaviour of the EU with regard to Ukraine, Gaza, Israel and towards EU countries who disagree with the mainstream, and the quality of its unelected so called leadership, I have changed my mind. I think Scotland would be mad to join the EU and god forbid Nato. Maybe you would find many people in Scotland have changed their minds over the EU.
Likewise, Rosemary; I couldn’t vote in either the EU or Scottish Referendums as I was still living abroad ( Catalonia ) during that time; had I been eligible, I would have voted, emphatically, Remain & Leave ( the * Union * ) respectively. The irony is, on the morning after the EU vote I was almost in tears at the result, it just seemed like the most stupid, reckless act of self-harm and a victory for the Tax Haven Class & the bogus * patriots * of Little England: now I wouldn’t go near the EU with the proverbial barge-pole – ditto NATO, for all the reasons you refer to. The absolute prerequisite to making the EU something worth being a part of is the removal of every one of the Von der Leyen Clown Troupe, eg cartoon idiots like Kaja Truss; Costa Fortune, along with the leaderships of every member with the exception of, eg Urban and Fico; but that is a question for each member country to decide domestically. Pretty sure many of them- eg Macron, Starmer, Merz won’t survive the next elections in their respective countries; though the problem is that what’s likely to replace them won’t necessarily be any better, might, in fact, be worse – hard as that is to imagine given just how awful those aforementioned have been/are
An independent Scotland in the EU would mean no free movement between Scotland and England (clubs have rules) – unlikely to be popular in Scotland. There’s nothing like the Anglo-Irish agreement that would have to be squared with EU treaties.
Reform UK will be in the top two parties in the next Scottish general election. We can guarantee it will try to grab some of the nationalist vote. It already has much of the Orange vote sewn up.
It’s never going to happen, Brian. The current SNP have made it an axiomatic article of faith that an iScotland would seek EU membership, but the duplicitous buffoons know that one – of many- requirements for that to happen is, in our case, a Scottish currency , something they’ve studiously avoided both mentioning or making a detailed plan about how to achieve.
Also, given the significant Leave % in the EU Ref even amongst ostensible supporters of Independence, which the behaviour of the present EU Admin may well have increased, it’s entirely plausible that disaffection could impact negatively ( from an Independence POV ) in any future referendum on the issue. Which is why, I suspect, the SNP hierarchy are so monomaniacally insistent on Scotland seeking membership in the event of becoming an Independent nation ( again ! ), ie they are covert devolutionists and know that this dichotomy could/will be exploited to prevent Scotland voting to end the * Union *: assuming there ever is another Referendum.
I sincerely hope another, similar ( to 2014 ) Ref is never * granted *, ie with the same franchise, involvement/interference by the UK Establishment – not to mention the guaranteed covert fuckery of ” Homeland Security UK ” – as the result would almost certainly be the same – defeat for the Independence side and, effectively, the end of that ambition; possibly terminally.
As for Reform…….yes, it seems likely they’ll get their manky little paws into Holyrood- the clowns in SNP are virtually guaranteeing that with their ” Both Votes SNP ” idiocy/cynicism; but, really, who can blame people for thinking ” well, the incumbents, the previous incumbents and ALL the other contenders are fckn pathetic, might as well give Reform a go “? I think they’d be wrong in the 2nd part of that assessment, ie the rest of the parties ARE rubbish, but Reform are even worse and there will be good, alternative people to vote for – Craig being just one of them
” well, the incumbents, the previous incumbents and ALL the other contenders are fckn pathetic, might as well give Reform a go?” I think they’d be wrong in the 2nd part of that assessment,”
There is an upside: an SNP which has had its sticky fingers wrested from the levers of power by Reform should be much more open to change as a means of getting them back there than an SNP with their feet comfortably under the Westminster/Holyrood table.
Yes, B, I get that argument, it’s one that has gained a degree of traction within ( what can just about still be called ) the Scottish Independence Movement; certainly former supporters of the SNP, eg Wings Over Scotland ( hitherto the most read and influential of the ” Indy Blogs “) are now – and have been for some time – completely focused on the destruction, or at least the rendering effectless, of the SNP: and who can blame them?
I’m much more circumspect that, despite the desirability of the spell that the SNP has cast over the Independence-supporting demographic being broken and the substance-free incantation which it uses to stay in power ” VOTE SNP FOR INDEPENDENCE ” losing it’s hypnotic power, that any ( overtly ) Unionist entity taking power in Holyrood would be worth the sight of that ragbag collection of users, abusers, freaks, geeks & greedy beaks getting slung out on their arses, however pleasurable that sight may be.
One concern is if an overtly Unionist mob did take power in Scotland it would ( via it’s Head Office in London, of course ) make the attainment of Independence even more difficult than it’s proving to be currently, ie by passing new laws; insisting on new, unobtainable conditions even to hold another Ref, eg Pro-Independence polling results of + 70/80% for a number of years or simply, as has been mooted in certain quarters, closing Holyrood down and reverting to the status quo ante.
That said…….it’s hard to think of any scenario other than it’s total electoral defeat forcing the desperately needed change ( internal revolution ) within the SNP; though, so deep has the poison of compromise, kompromat & corruption penetrated that party, it’s debateable if even losing power would compel change.
“One concern is if an overtly Unionist mob did take power in Scotland it would ( via it’s Head Office in London, of course ) make the attainment of Independence even more difficult than it’s proving to be currently, ie by passing new laws; insisting on new, unobtainable conditions even to hold another Ref, …”
Given Craig’s assertion that Scots don’t need a referendum or agreement from Wastemonster to declare independence, a radical Unionist party could easily have the opposite effect: by exposing the Scottish people to the worst effects of Unionism, they would drive more of them into the Independence camp. The biggest threat is the almost-but-not-quite independence of full devolution.
I’m in total agreement with Craig that we don’t need a referendum and, as I said previously…..I hope we are never subject/ed to another like the one in 2014. I also agree with you that an extreme Unionist+ Right Wing Scottish Government ( eg Reform ) COULD drive more of Scotland’s residents to support Independence; not only support it, but actively work to make it happen. No guarantee of that though, it could serve to demoralise that demographic even more than the last 11+ years have.
TBH, B, I think the chances of Reform becoming the Scottish Gov are extremely unlikely – though not impossible, granted. Depending on what happens in rUK, eg if they gain power there and don’t appear to be any worse than their predecessors, maybe even able to satisfy the majority of those who voted for them – at least in the short term – it’s not entirely implausible they could, eventually, * win * Holyrood.
One factor in their favour is the ongoing increase in numbers of English people relocating to Scotland; not to say every such person is/will be automatically Pro-Union/Right Wing leaning, but if the findings from 2014 that a significant majority of English residents voted against Independence are accurate, it would definitely suggest support for parties like Reform will grow, to the detriment of the aspiration to Independence.
On the other hand, it has occurred to me that, ultimately, it might be the non-native demographic that brings about Independence, in the same way it was the ” incomers ” to the USA that fought for and achieved the Independence of that country: just a pity/tragedy that having won that freedom from colonial rule they allowed an Oligarchy to arise and, effectively subject them to another form of domination, control, oppression. If not in the immediate future, then a few generations down the line. Of course, in that scenario, those fighting for and winning Independence would not be ” incomers “, having been born and raised in Scotland, they will be as Scottish as those whose families have lived here for many generations
“just a pity/tragedy that having won that freedom from colonial rule they allowed an Oligarchy to arise…”
It does seem that oligarchy is the default state of human governance, presumably because the unscrupulous always have an advantage over the scrupulous. The drafters of the US constitution did go to great length to try and prevent the inevitable oligarchical fightback, or, as they put it, the reintroduction of tyranny ,and it has taken 250 years to get to where the US is today.
As John Stuart Mill warned: “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”
An independent Scotland would more than likely agree to be part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) which long predates the EU and NATO. I can’t see Rep. of Ireland, what would be left of the UK if Scotland was independent, Channel Islands and Isle of Man objecting to an Independent Scotland continuing being part of that arrangement, now formalised in treaty since Brexit.
If an independent Scotland were to agree with Rump Britain and the Republic of Ireland that it could join the Common Travel Area, then it would have to be outside of the EU. The EU had to accept that the Republic of Ireland could stay within the CTA even after Brexit because of the “Anglo”-Irish treaty which predated the treaty that established freedom of movement within the EU. There is no such agreement where Scotland is involved, nor could there be because Scotland is not independent.
I imagine that if it was thought that Yes was about to win a referendum, the No side would attempt to make this point in a big way. Its problem would be that it would need to raise the intellectual level of the electorate. That’s rarely a winning idea in politics. In this case, it would be faced with an opponent that screamed “You’re just playing Project Fear” and “An independent Scotland can remain [sic] in the EU, keep free movement with England, and keep the Bank of so-called England as its central bank, because if you’ve taken over your own sweetshop you’re fully allowed to eat all the sweets. Besides, Mel Gibson says so, and anyone who tells us we can’t do something is an old fogie, a weak-minded fool, or a traitor. It’s just like when they kept going on about the currency last time.”
Essentially it’s Union Jack Underpants Stupid “No” versus Braveheart Kilt Mc Stupid “Yes” – a stupid issue for stupid idiots who didn’t notice what happened with Covid, who haven’t noticed the problem with smartphone addiction, and who wouldn’t notice their own a*seholes unless Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk told them to. We live in extremely benighted times.
I voted No to EEC membership in 1975 but was later brainwashed into supporting the EU. By ‘COVID times’, 2020 onwards, I was regularly reading ‘alternative media’ and realised that the EU was more of a EUSSR. It’s taken about 50 years to get to the level of corruption which visibly affects the US ‘swamp’.
How were Sweden and Finland induced to join NATO … blackmail? They’d been non-aligned for decades, if not centuries for Sweden. Seeing Switzerland’s success in keeping out of disputes – and the low cost of an ‘armed neutrality’ policy – surely a newly independent European country would consider that option.
Yanis Varoufakis said after our 2026 referendum that the EU would probably disintegrate. Maybe Europe would do better with just the Council of Europe, set up by Churchill and his colleague Maxwell-Fyfe in 1949. On the whole the Co.of.E. seems to have been a force for good.
If Scotland were to become independent I would certainly vote for neutrality if I had the chance, and if the Yes side proposed neutrality I would be tempted to vote for it. But how many European regimes that have been established as “independent” in the past 50 years have opted for neutrality? Has there been a single one? Why would Scotland be any different?
“Seeing Switzerland’s success in keeping out of disputes – and the low cost of an ‘armed neutrality’ policy – surely a newly independent European country would consider that option.”
Huh? An independent Scotland would be as corrupt as a non-independent Scotland. This is unless you are thinking of a revolutionary movement which tells the truth and combats the ruling scum as the corrupt bunch of shits that they are, in which case please count yourself as among my best mates, but we’d already be way beyond the “let’s set up a truly national state based on the Declaration of Arbroath” b*llocks.
Tony Blair is a perfect example of a bought politician. Whilst in office, he was a shill for Larry Ellison (owner of ORACLE), once Blair was done with his “in office” lobbying, Ellison petty much solely funded “the Tony Blair institute” where Blair continues to shill for Oracle. So that’s democracy, you get to vote for a billionaire’s employee. Incidentally, digital ID is Larry Ellisons project, he failed to get it through when Blair was in power but the incarnation that Starmer has pushed through came from the Tony Blair institute. 10 out of 15 government data contracts are handled by Ellison in the UK and 70% of NHS trust data. Age verification is a similar story, it originated in the UK in 2013 via Baroness Kirdon specifically to target social media (Facebook), it may have been entirely innocent at that point but META hijacked it, ostensibly to shift the burden onto app stores and now operating systems. They done this by astroturfing the digital childhood alliance (DCA) which was purporting to be a collection of grassroots parent organisations but was secretly funded by META, META even drafted the legislation that California adopted (HB-570) and lobbied (bribed) politicians across 45 states. There are around twenty 3rd party age verification companies, 6 of which are major players, Meta have partnered with (own) 2 of them. The industry is currently valued at 3.5 billion dollars and is expected to rise to 6.5 billion by 2033. So, what started in the UK in a (possibly) innocent attempt to combat online bullying on facebook has morphed into a multi billion dollar industry that commodifies the data of children, and adults and has been legislated for to ensure that if you want to use the internet, you will be paying META 1.60 dollars. Trickle up economy at its finest.
Good to have you back, Craig, I had been thinking a variation on the the title of your previous post might be apt, ie Has Craig Murray Abandoned Scotland? 🙂 Also good to learn you’re going to be standing – under the aegis of the Alliance To Liberate Scotland – in May. Good luck with that and, despite consistent polling indicating the SNP will ( ” on paper ” ) easily win most seats, I’m very doubtful these predictions – and the SNP’s complacency on the outcome – will prove accurate; so, even though your seat and Edinburgh generally is/has been a safe Unionist one ( whether actual Unionist or SNP de facto-through-uselessness ) I reckon there will be quite a few * shock * results: hopefully yours will be one of them.
Domestic and, in particular Global events are making the case for Scotland to free itself from it’s current and historical ( ie 300+ years ) condition of subjugated impotence more desperately urgent than ever before: our great dilemma currently is the thoroughly neutered state of what used to be the ‘ main vehicle to Independence ‘, ie the SNP; that entity has abandoned it’s historic mission for the wumpum of Devolution, comfy seats & well-upholstered salaries in Westminster & Holyrood and filled it’s ranks with a collection of ineffective, head-nodding careerists & evermore ridiculous, fragmenting Identity Politics mindrot. The idea of Swinney or any of his drones ” taking Independence ” is as wildly unlikely as an intelligent thought emerging from the Trump Admin.
The SNP has become a very compliant, inoffensive, unthreatening * player * in the U.K Political Establishment. In effect, just another obstacle on our road to Liberation: and as such will be removed, sooner or later; for the sake of Scotland, let that be the former
“The SNP has become a very compliant, inoffensive, unthreatening * player * in the U.K Political Establishment.”
What were they when they brought down the Labour government in 1979 and ushered the Tories under Margaret Thatcher into office?
The SNP had only been handed sizeable voteshare a few years before because the rulers wanted to big up nationalism for fear of stuff such as the resistance in the Clydeside shipyards advancing and radicalising and linking up internationally in a son of 1968 scenario. Parallel developments occurred in Northern Ireland. Then in Germany and, much later, in Britain too, you get the Greens.
35 or so minutes into this speech we have “All public office holders the next morning need to be told that you either swear allegiance to the Scottish state or you’re out of the job.. you can’t leave the judges in place who are loyal to the union .. they’ll just produce a judgment .. saying .. in Scottish law this is illegal .. you need to be prepared to act ruthlessly and fast.”
Let us imagine how this would work in practice. In the weeks up to 7 May, the Alliance to Liberate Scotland puts up MSPs to campaign for declaring Scottish independence on receiving a democratic mandate. If you gain the majority of seats for MSPs, well and good from your point of view. I guess you would declare independence, and your newly appointed ministers would order police to give the judiciary the ultimatum above. I’ve no idea how Westminster would react, but let’s hope for the best (a peaceful conclusion).
But would the ALS gain a majority of MSPs? If not, I suppose you would schedule more speeches in pubs and libraries for 2031. Another 5 years of entertainment to look forward to. 😁
We’ll need to take our freedom from England ourselves, for it will never be given – worse still our colonial admin at Holyrood wants the status quo to remain in place (treacherous b*stards) – I’m hoping the UN does the right thing and puts Scotland on the C-24 list, but UN corruption runs deep – I wish there could be a peaceful way to decolonise Scotland from England’s grasp, but I doubt there will be – no I think in the end we’ll need to take a leaf out of the book the Irish used to free themselves from Westminster’s yoke.
We need to make friends with influential nations such as Russia and China, afterall we’ll need armed forces to defend what is rightfully ours, and many countries are openly flouting International Law now.
A future ally for a colonial free Scotland, Alex Salmond new it.
https://nitter.poast.org/IndyLassie/status/2033123570268717552#m
Read the comments? Not everybody shares your enthusiasm.
That’s because they are unaware of Scotland’s present predicament as a colony of England’s – okay you’ll always have some treacherous b*stards, in Scotland who will never give up their loyalty for the coloniser – but more and more folk are beginning to realise that the union is a farce.
Iran would make a powerful ally for Scotland, new horizons will open up once the colonial media is given its marching orders from Scottish soil, and like Fico of Slovakia has done – a restriction on foreign NGO’s must be applied, in a decolonised Scotland.
They are however fully aware of what a nasty, brutal oppressive regime rules Iran.
Before you wade in with the obvious I do not see that as justification for Trump’s lunatic war.
“They are however fully aware of what a nasty, brutal oppressive regime rules Iran.”
No they are not, they, like you, are only aware that they are told what a nasty, brutal oppressive regime rules Iran.
It’s interesting to see pictures of the president of this nasty, brutal, oppressive regime walking through the streets and chatting with people, unlike the prime minister of that nice, gentle and permissive regime in the UK.
Oh of course I forgot. Iran is an enemy of the Great Satan and is therefore beyond reproach.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/9275/2025/en/
“Oh of course I forgot. Iran is an enemy of the Great Satan and is therefore beyond reproach.”
No, it was me forgetting that Iran is an enemy of God’s own country, the USA and therefore can do no right. The videos were obviously forgeries.
The Kool-Aid tastes nice, doesn’t it?
The videos were obviously forgeries.
Only because you can’t bring yourself to accept them.
Sorry, Pears, it’s you that can’t bring yourself to accept the videos I referenced, the ones showing Pezeshkian mingling with the public. I haven’t actually seen any videos of the Iranian government being brutal and repressive, just like I’ve never seen any photos of ten thousand dead bodies in Tiananmen Square, probably because in both cases none exist.
No, you just can’t bring yourself to accept that certain nations do anything bad. All nations do bad things. If you were shown videos you’d simply dismiss them as fakes. Why do you have to be shown videos to believe something anyway.
Pears Morgaine @ 18.33pm.
Talking about brutal oppressive regimes, how many people has the US killed via sanctions – installing puppet leaders – and generally attacking and invading nations?
Oh and there’s this as well.
A meglomaniac speaks.
“US President Donald Trump has said he expects to have the “honor” of “taking Cuba in some form,” claiming he could do “anything I want” with the Caribbean nation.
Trump made the remarks on Monday in the Oval Office despite ongoing talks between Washington and Havana as the island grapples with a deepening energy crisis and widespread blackouts amid a US oil blockade.
“I do believe I’ll be… having the honor of taking Cuba. That’s a big honor,” Trump said, adding: “Taking Cuba in some form.”
Pressed by reporters, Trump said the US could take different actions toward the island. “Whether I free it, take it. I think I can do anything I want with it, you want to know the truth,” he said, without elaborating.”
“No, you just can’t bring yourself to accept that certain nations do anything bad. All nations do bad things.”
If you’d been paying attention you would know that I have made that very point. Unlike you, I am not an absolutist, I accept that all nations do bad things as much as I accept that all nations do good things. However, if you say something that is obviously bollocks, I will say it’s bollocks. To take Tiananmen Square for example: I say that 10,000 people were not killed there because it’s pretty damn obvious that 10,000 people weren’t killed there, not least because of the absence of bodies and the presence of Western reporters, not because I don’t think the Chinese government can do wrong. However if someone claimed that the US government had killed 100 people on the streets of Minnesota, I’d be equally sceptical, for the same reasons. Bullshit doesn’t stop being bullshit because it’s about people you dislike or people you like.
“If you were shown videos you’d simply dismiss them as fakes.”
What evidence do you have for this assertion? Of course, if a video of Bibi shows him with six fingers, I’m going to dismiss it as a fake. Wouldn’t you? Actually, it take a lot for me to dismiss a video as a fake, as it’s pretty hard to fake a video convincingly.
“Why do you have to be shown videos to believe something anyway.”
You may trust the Western MSM-that-has-never-lied-to-us, (that’s sarcasm, by the way) but I don’t, precisely because of their track record of mendacity, so yeah, photographs or it didn’t happen. Trust is like virginity, once it’s gone, it’s impossible to get it back. You can only trust a person or an organisation if you think they are not going, for whatever reason, to lie to you. Once they have lied to you, albeit only once, you know they are capable of it, therefore you can never absolutely trust anything they say. This is why affairs lead to divorces.
Pears Morgaine
Re the comments, I see quite a few bots there – possibly from Denison barracks or Hubble road.
This might jog a few memories for some folk.
https://nitter.poast.org/BritNatAbuseBot
“– worse still our colonial admin at Holyrood wants the status quo to remain in place (treacherous b*stards) –”
Why wouldn’t they? Why gamble with the supply of that class A drug, power?
The Scottish colonial admin is loyal to London – but the SNP is now also a party of self-serving grifters, out make a killing and keep Scotland in disarray – via outrageous policies, lies and deception, infact there are no parties at Holyrood who support decolonisation, for they are all branch offices of their London HQs – placed at Holyrood to make sure the status quo remains intact, in saying that there’s been a indy/decolonisation majority of MSPs at Holyrood for the last decade – but since they work for London and their own interests, they don’t give a toss about what the Scottish public wants.
They’ll all have to be removed from office one way or another.
” but the SNP is now also a party of self-serving grifters, out make a killing and keep Scotland in disarray ”
If an independent Scotland retained the Westminster model of representative “democracy”, I would be very surprised if the new government was not also composed of self-serving grifters: that’s the class of people that that system advantages. This sort of “democracy” has been honed over centuries to allow the hereditary oligarchs to retain their hold on power whilst providing a facade of the people having a say in the running of their country. Ireland is a good example of how the British Establishment, having accepted the defeat of independence, moved, via a civil war, to install an Irish Establishment that, by and large, shared their ideals, values and motivations.
You may not have noticed the terrible state Scotland is in right now, but some folk have, you cannot allow a imperialist colonising nation, to strip a colonised nation of assets and wealth (Professor Alf Baird reckons around £200 billion + per year) and expect the colonised nation to prosper, that is Scotland’s current predicament.
Scotland has a long history of socialism, as for retaining the Westminster system, it is a first past the post system I think, which saw the likes of Starmer elected on a 33.7% of the overall vote, of course if voting made any real difference it would be outlawed, I also think that all the current traitors and they are traitors to Scotland that are currently squatting in Holyrood pretending to work for a Scottish party, Labour/LibDems/Tories etc so not be able to stand again new fresh blood is required, in a system yet to be decided.
Wouldn’t it be great if leaders were elected on merit, instead of propaganda and a new power suit, I recall reading somewhere (can’t recall now) that before William the Conqueror took over England that leader were picked on merit and achievements – post Willie Boy, it appears it had become hereditary.
“Scottish party, Labour/LibDems/Tories etc so not be able to stand again new fresh blood is required, in a system yet to be decided.”
People sneer at the Chinese one-party system, probably because they assume, wrongly, that one party means a one-horse race at election time. In fact the party system is one of the main reasons why Western “democracy” offers no real democracy. Parties = corruption. They exist as a way for rich people to buy themselves power. If there were no political parties, every candidate would be an independent and the FPTP system would have lost its greatest drawback. Moreover, without parties voters would have to choose the candidate to vote for on the basis of the candidate’s qualities instead of knee-jerk voting for a particular colour rosette.
The struggle for Scottish independence or decolonisation will be a walk in the park compared with the struggle for freedom from oligarchy.
Bayard @19.41
The USA and England are in a one party system – its called a business system, in the States it doesn’t matter who wins nothing really changes – the same now applies to England – business interests come first – oh the odd crumb is thrown to the masses, but that’s it
Here’s an insight to missing cash.
“HMRC has now FAILED its audit for more than 20 years.
The National Audit Office has again qualified HMRC’s accounts because of material levels of fraud and error.
They have not been able to pass their audit cleanly since tax credits were introduced in 2003/04 due to material levels of fraud and error.
Look at the state of our public sector:
HMRC has failed audit for 20+ years
DWP has failed audit for 37 years
The Cabinet Office can’t provide evidence for £7 BILLION of spending.
These are the institutions that take your money, spend your money and tell you there isn’t enough of it.
If any normal organisation failed its audit year after year, there would be consequences.
In government, it just carries on.”
In the States the Pentagon has repeatedly failed audits, and with Fort Knox in mind – they never get round to doing them, (audits) because they know there’s no gold in the Fort Knox.
“The USA and England are in a one party system – its called a business system, in the States it doesn’t matter who wins nothing really changes – the same now applies to England – business interests come first”
Indeed, they always have done. This is a separate problem to that of the illusion of choice provided by the multi-party system. Once you have the illusion of choice, you have people voting without thinking. Thinking is hard and people tend to avoid having to do to much of it, nor do we have the time to think everything through from first principles every time we meet a new situation. That’s why we elect leaders, why commerce has management, so not everyone has to think everything through. That’s the appeal of the party system, instead of having to examine every candidate’s manifesto and enquire into their track record, you can just decide which party to support and vote for it without any further brain work being necessary.
All political systems tend to oligarchy. Any state has three basic components, the People, the Elite, i.e those who represent the interests of commerce and wealth, and the Government, i.e. those who control the instruments of coercion. The People have the power of being the most numerous and the most necessary, the Elite has the power of wealth and influence and the Government has the armed forces, the judiciary and the police force. What has happened in most Western countries is that the Elite have captured the Government (Mussolini’s definition of Fascism) to form an oligarchy and the People are not sufficiently suffering to risk the inevitable deaths that rebellion would entail. Replacing British rule with Scottish rule isn’t going to do anything much except change the accents of the ultimate rulers. It will still be the Elite in charge, it will just be a Scottish Elite, not a largely English one, as indeed it was before the Act of Union.
‘ Replacing British rule with Scottish rule isn’t going to do anything much except change the accents of the ultimate rulers. It will still be the Elite in charge, it will just be a Scottish Elite, not a largely English one, as indeed it was before the Act of Union.”.
This is an excellent point, B: one that I – and many other Independence supporters – have given a good deal of thought to, ie how to prevent that very scenario. It’s what groups like Radical Independence were trying to bring to the forefront during the Referendum campaign, in effect asking……” what is Independence for? ” and it’s corollary …..” what kind of country do we want Scotland to be post-Independence? “. Answers came there…….well…..some, but generally such pertinent questions were kinda lost in the melee + enthusiasm + claim n counter-claim and in general by the Salmond tactic of upbeat positivity; something which I understood but had doubts would have – on it’s own – the requisite force to enthuse sufficient numbers to get us over the line. FWIW….I thought that upbeat tone should have been complimented/balanced by one of strong emphasis on the probable pain if we remained in the Union; if only we could have foreseen just how much pain would ensue from that awful choice! ( to stay in * Union * ): even the most negative of doomsayers couldn’t have predicted the almost unbelievable mess successive ToryLab Govs would make of ……every single thing.
That question is still extremely pertinent, and it’s one of the many criticisms of the SNP that they seem to think that – with a few minuscule tweaks here n there – an iScotland would/should just slot into place as another bastion of Neoliberal, Trickle-down, Elite Worshipping Politics; and, as their head-nodding compliance with the ” Evil Putin ” narrative demonstrates, just another unquestioning poodle of U.S malevolence: even their response to the ACTUAL evil of the Genocide of Palestinians has been embarrassingly feeble – almost apologetic; not to mention oleaginous Angus Robertson’s shameful meeting n greeting a cabinet member of the Netanyahu Death Cult – I forget her name, but who cares, they are ALL sick fucks – in Holyrood, thereby appearing to give the ScotGov’s imprimatur of acceptability when that mob should be treated as the pariahs they are and totally ostracised from all civilised interactions.
I honestly don’t know how the continuation of the failed and ( ought to be ) discredited Politics of Neoliberal/Conservative Capitalism could be prevented in an iScotland, I just know that if it isn’t, it will render the value of the whole struggle to become Independent ( again ! ) moot.
” here comes the new boss, same as the old boss “. We can, and must, do better than that: but first things first, ie free ourselves from the bonds of Schrodinger’s Union – collapse the wave function of quasi-colonialism – and be in a position to make our own path; to make our own decisions free of the overbearing presence of ” Westminster ” and it’s ( extremely well funded ) ” Security Services “.
” Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship’s wake on the sea. ”
Antonio Machado
Unfortunately, in hindsight we lost the last opportunity to secure independence with Brexit?
Outside the EU, and on national security grounds, [for England], Scotland will never get independence as it would expose
Scotland’s border with England?
We saw all the dirty tricks in 2014: that would be nothing in comparison, if another Referendum ever happened again.
Its not independence (there was no union) – its decolonisation, and it will come – but it will be messy, for Westminster cannot afford to let us go – and the fight will be on.
“Geneva speech from Professor Robert Black KC making the case for Scotland to be list by the UN for Decolonisation” (SSRG TV, 22 Sep 2025) – video, 21m 1s: YouTube, Invidious
A great wide-ranging speech. It is difficult to detect in Scotland however anything like the radical commitment that would be necessary to throw off the genocidal British state without consent of the British ruling class. Until Trump’s current Israeli-dictated madness the British had been the most berserk of the imperialist western nations, behind every scheme to escalate in Ukraine (probably to the ultimate height if it is left to them). Scots are dealing with an entity orders of magnitude more demonic than the Basques and Catalans are. The Irish always understood that.
Unlike Spain towards Catalonia, the UK gave Scotland’s voters a referendum on independence. They voted to stay in the UK.
But the secessionists of ALS are stalwart comrades who never say die. They can take inspiration from their equally stalwart comrades in the Tooting Popular Front and their promising by election result (33 minutes in). 😁
That vote spoke volumes unfortunately because it took place at the height of the Bullingdon austerity regime, when no spin could be put on the anti-democratic nature of English rule in Scotland.
The English won’t allow them another shot and there’s not a shred of evidence I’ve ever seen of any willingness to act without English permission. Craig is fighting some very deep-rooted cultural cringe and Stockholm Syndrome.
Oh wasn’t that so generous of the * UK * to give Scotland’s voters a referendum on Independence? We really aren’t worthy of such magnanimity from our superiors. So having ( allegedly ) lost that kid-on opportunity, that’s it, The End? LOL; nah, don’t think so
Given that farce was considered merely consultative & non-self-executing, had it been an unequivocal YES result it’s a stonewall certainty the British State would have done everything to prevent it being fulfilled, eg by claiming, yip, because it was merely ” consultative & non-self-executing ” ( in effect, a glorified opinion poll ) there was no obligation on their part to honour the Pre-Ref agreement. That’s what Brits do, at least the Brit Political/*Cultural* Establishment; say one thing and do the opposite; give with one hand and take away with two; lie, cheat, divide and if unable to conquer, poison the ground they’re leaving with internal sectarian antagonisms. They’re experts at that game and have been playing it for centuries.
But according to people like yourself, having lost that particular * contest * – against almost the entire British Establishment, every single MSM source, selected celebs, eg big mouthed bores like Bob fckn Geldof ( that fucker had the nerve to produce a documentary on Ireland, praising it’s liberators and extolling the benefits of it’s independent ( from Brit rule ) status; AFTER he had been shilling for the Better Together side; coming out with pish like how the UK/Union ” was a feeling “, HAHAHAHA – and assuring us how we’d be much better off remaining within the gentle, paternal embrace of, well, England: so Irish Independence = good. Scottish Independence = bad. Fckn hypocritical buffoon ), we should just slink back to our rain-swept hovels n STFU, right?
Trotting-out the old, hackneyed Tooting Popular Front trope, ZZZZzzzzz, that the best you can do? Tell me, why should they ” say die”? If any individual or group just gave-up after a setback we’d still be living under feudal conditions; it’s because certain people DIDN’T say ” die ” that you and I and everyone else live in the relative safety and * comfort * that we do.
No, matey, we won’t be giving-up, nor will be saying ” die “, however much sideliners like you sneer and the sclerotic ghouls n * spooks * of Anglotown, with it’s archaic, creepy, parasitic monarchy and perma-Tory ( of one shade or another ) governance for the Elect dribble n whine about their ” Precious Union “, waving the Union Flag as they and the country they’ve virtually destroyed sink deeper into the morass of their own hubris & delusion
Actually I wouldn’t expect Craig (or you) to say die. Whether Scotland becomes independent, history will tell, but the next ‘telling’ will be 7th May.
Let me end on a more positive note, about the knowledge required by future Scottish politicians. As I recall, Craig once enthusiastically recommended an enormous book, Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. It’s so big that the Penguin edition had two fat volumes. I haven’t got it – I wouldn’t kid myself that I would read something that size for fun, though I understand that Craig did, and got a First Class Honours degree as just recompense for all that enthusiasm and effort.
But there’s hope for us lesser mortals: the Adam Smith Institute has published a downloadable condensed version (80 pages) edition. Mañana, maybe!
Apparently, however, the Adam Smith Institute has a pro-capitalist outlook which could be reflected in the the condensed version of WoN. However the Institute of Economic Affairs has a downloadable version of Eamon Butler’s Adam Smith – A Primer which may be broader and more balanced in outlook.
PS. OUP’s Very Short Introduction series has one on Adam Smith (ISBN 0198784457) by Christopher Berry, an emeritus Professor at Glasgow.
MJ.
There’s so much wrong with that comment that its hard to know where to start – firstly “Westminster gave” an older sovereign nation a vote on independence – secondly the franchise was extended to everyone and their dog, with 72.1&% of folk from South of the Border in Scotland voting against Scottish interests, no foreigners in Scotland should’ve been given a vote on the constitution, many other nations don’t do it,
England wasn’t neutral on the vote the head of the Civil Service at the time Sir Nicolas MacPherson admitted after the vote that he and his Civil Service worked round the clock to make sure the vote went against independence, MacPherson’s reward after he left the Civil Service, was to land a plum job on an advisory board (advising the SNP) on a economic plan – he was one of many bodies on the board steered by the traitor Kate Forbes.
The we had the Vow, another terrible lie and the man that fronted that in the treacherous “newsrag” the Daily Record, Murray Foote, also found himself in a very lucrative post, via the SNP.
There’s so much more to delve into so try doing some research, Scotland an older nation than England isn’t in any union – and even if it were – there’s no treaty on the planet where one partner has to ask the other partners permission to leave.
Read this guy he knows a thing or two, as does our host.
https://nitter.poast.org/thomsonchris
Thig do latha.
We could send you a few hurley sticks to practice with 😀 .
Lads and lassies need to shout louder.
Well, it looks like something has happened: “https://en.interaffairs.ru/article/stop-feeding-london-snp-call-on-uk-government-to-prepare-for-loss-of-scottish-subsidies/” (I’m linking to an aggregator as the original article is behind a paywall).
The Scottish public seem pretty evenly divided, so that there’s no guarantee that a second referendum would favour independence. But it may be wise for the mandarins in Whitehall to set up a small task force to draft a plan, in case (or dust off any they made in 2014). An independent Scotland would become, I suppose, like the Republic of Ireland, with the common travel area intact, Scottish banknotes would be used more or less as they are at present, but with exchange facilities at the new border.
If Scotland joined the EU, it would switch to Euros like Ireland with both currencies being used more freely (informally) in border areas. But Scots might do well to think about the possibilities of the EU sanctioning individuals for supporting Palestine. A trade deal with the EU like Norway or Switzerland might be a better idea than full membership.
“The Scottish public seem pretty evenly divided”
MJ.
The word you are looking for is propagandised, England controls the news and tv channels in Scotland, Scots are fed shit and if you are fed shit long enough you begin to believe that the shit is correct.
There won’t be a second indyref, think Namibia and South Africa, England (Westminster) won’t have any say in anything in Scotland, again.
“There won’t be a second indyref”
That would be fine from my point of view, but if the majority of MSPs elected on 7th May call for independence, I would invite Gordon Brown in for advice.
MJ.
There’s been an indy majority at Holyrood for the last decade, the Greens and the SNP, but they don’t want to decolonise Scotland, we gave the SNP 6 mandates to break free from the Westminster yoke , 3 at Holyrood and 3 at Westminster, and they betrayed us.
Scotland needs to decolonise via the UN – for Holyrood is crammed full of British political parties branch offices there main remit it maintain the status quo.
The UN helped Namibia break free from South Africa’s colonial grip, why do you think SA killed Brent Carlsson, in PanAm 103, one could also speculate on Alex Salmond’s demise in North Macedonia.
@Republicofscotland : why would the UN become involved when the only objective evidence they have (the referendum result of 2014) is for a clear majority for staying in the UK? Maybe a more recent referendum that was “consultative”, like a national opinion poll, ostensibly not binding on Westminster (and so arguably not illegal) would provide such evidence – maybe that’s what ALS have in mind, if they can get the Indy majority you claim is there, to support it after 7th May?
MJ @18.58pm.
51.2% of Scots voted yes in 2014 ( Step in Vivian Oblivion to say they didn’t.) anyway – on the so called indyref, see my 17/03 17.03 comment on it.
We now know there was no union, and that Scotland was absorbed (via bribes) and became a colony of England’s – that’s why the likes of our host and some very prominent Scots attended the UN last year to plead Scotland ‘s case of being a NSGT of England’s, which it has all hallmarks to meet the criteria.
For me there can be no more indyref’s in Scotland with around a million folk from South of the Border now living in Scotland -of course how can Scots vote for something that never existed in the first place, ie the union. No UDI must be the way forward, the UN is getting closer to placing Scotland on the C-24 colony list.
The latest from the UN, our host might not even have read this yet.
https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g26/031/70/pdf/g2603170.pdf
https://nitter.poast.org/thomsonchris
@Republicofscotland March 18, 2026 at 19:43
I’m not sure where your figure of 51.2% came from. According to wiki it was 44.7% in favour, i.e. 55.3% for staying in the UK. Here’s the regional breakdown.
MJ.
Wiki’s good for some things that you want to know, but when it comes things like this – Wiki is not to be trusted, maybe I should’ve put my trust in Phil Cross, Craig our host knows about him/them well.
This is straight from a treacherous news rag – that loathes the thought of an indy Scotland.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/independence-referendum-figures-revealed-majority-5408163
Republicofscotland March 19, 2026 at 13:52
Thanks for this very interesting demographic study. Evidently a majority of the following groups of voters would favour Scottish independence:
Men
People born in Scotland
Under 40s
Catholics
People of no religion
Working Class
So the simplest way to achieve Scottish independence might be to wait for 50 years, and the majority will automatically favour it. Of course we won’t be around then, and who knows, that generation might have reasons for preferring to remain in the UK.
“But it may be wise for the mandarins in Whitehall to set up a small task force to draft a plan, in case (or dust off any they made in 2014).”
I would be very surprised if those mandarins were any more prepared for a “leave” vote in the Scottish referendum than they were for one in the Brexit referendum.
Cameron deliberately stopped them making contingency plans for a potential “Yes” vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Unless they disobeyed him, I would expect Labour to act in a more far-sighted way, even if any plans were kept under wraps till needed. Given that a pro-independence resolution was passed at the SNP’s national conference, that is now concrete historical fact which should be respected, from my point of view, even if any response judged adequate might not go beyond initial contingency planning.
Cloud cuckoo land.
https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/politics/snp-brutally-mocked-after-members-36867425
https://en.interaffairs.ru/article/stop-feeding-london-snp-call-on-uk-government-to-prepare-for-loss-of-scottish-subsidies/
The problem is these ‘subsidies’ only exist in the fevered imaginations of some nationalists. Gives everybody else a good laugh though.
A brief reminder that back in 2014 Alec Salmond calculated that Scotland would have to sell it’s oil at $113 a barrel, adjusted for inflation that would be $157 today. Price today is $104 and that’s a spike caused by the Iran war which won’t last forever. North Sea oil production has also almost halved since 2014 and is forecast to fall further. Sure more exploration would slow the decline but that’s just delaying the inevitable. Over 70,000 jobs have also been lost and aren’t coming back.
https://econbrowser.com/archives/2014/09/forecasted-north-sea-oil-production
There’s still plenty of oil in the North sea, and once we ditch our coloniser (England) the revenues from oil and gas in Scottish waters will be invested in Scotland – Scotland will issue the licences, not Westminster.
Forget the gas. The major gas fields lie in the south, off the coasts of Yorkshire and Norfolk, where the gas is landed. Scotland has no claim to the gas.
http://alexmasterley.blogspot.com/2012/01/scottish-oil-rights.html
Doesn’t matter how much oil is produced if you can’t sell at a high enough price you’re screwed.
Scotland won’t be selling the oil – we’ll tax the oil and gas companies and issue licences, (A caveats for Scots however, must be cheap energy from the companies) as for gas in Scottish waters there’s the Beatrice field and the newly discovered Clair field.
Scotland could delve into the market like Norway has – via exploration off the Firth of Clyde, once we kick out the foreign subs, subs that are polluting our waters, and have painted a huge bullseye on Scotland – whilst SEPA is all but superceded by the foreign MoD in England.
“Cloud cuckoo land.”
Well it does seem a tad optimistic. What is more interesting, IMHO, is this from the linked article:
The motion, which was tabled by the Glasgow Southside constituency association, passed unanimously at the SNP conference…
I thought it was accepted that the SNP no longer have any real interest in independence.
Correct.
The SNP is a colonial admin now – its a party of grifters – and self-serving careerists, out to get what they can whilst maintaining the status quo for their London masters.
They’ll be no indyref, there’s close a million folk from South of the Border now living in Scotland, these folk have moved to Scotland without so much as a – by your leave, no Scottish Home office gave them permission to upsticks and come North, where they mostly retire – to get more bang for their buck as the saying goes, whilst putting tremendous pressure on public services, such as dentist appointments doctor and hospital appointments and housing needs.
The above will need to be sorted first and foremost, but the fly in the ointment – is there are no decolonising minded parties at Holyrood, all are subservient to London, there’s only one way to change that – and that’s to remove them, however not enough Scots are yet aware of just how treacherous the parties at Holyrood are – but that will change, and when it does – they’ll flee Scotland quicker than the current Scottish LA – sold us out at the foreign Supreme Court in England.
“I thought it was accepted that the SNP no longer have any real interest in independence”
Yes. that’s why I thought the article was interesting.
Any thoughts on the Scottish parliament rejecting assisted dying?
Have to say I was disappointed.
Pears Morgaine @11.46am.
I was pleased they voted no to assisted dying, in Canada they have (MAID) Medical Assistance in Dying, they began with euthanising seriously ill folk, then the not so seriously ill – then young folk, and the latest is that, in a poll in Canada, it showed that 27% of Canadians, think that poor Canadians – should have the option of using (MAID) to end their financial suffering.
Canada has been victim to significant ‘mission creep’ that’s true but it doesn’t have to be that way. I have some reservations about possible coercion but my mind was changed by a friend who has terminal cancer and wants to be able to choose the time of her death rather than being kept alive to die screaming in agony.
Perhaps of interest?
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/18/pro-kremlin-loyalist-turns-on-putin-ilya-remeslo-russia
“Ilya Remeslo sends Telegram post titled ‘Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin’ to his 90,000 followers.”
A straw in the wind?
Certainly he should stand well away from windows and avoid tea,,,
Trump lost one of his loyal lieutenants too of course,
A straw in the wind or the start of wider rebellion? Only time will tell but at least Mr Kent won’t have to worry about radioactive tea or dodgy windows.
He’s got a new loyal lieutenant.
Zelensky of Ukraine salivating in his support for Trump’s criminal assault on Iran.
https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2034707882290167829
zoot
March 20, 2026 at 08:22
FFS zoot.
The Iranian theocratic regime is a close ally of Putin. They have supplied him with the Shahed drones that daily kill Ukrainian civilians.
(Not many to spare now I suppose.)
Of course Zelenskiy, like all Ukrainians, welcomes *any* attack on Iran.
As Churchill said : “If Hitler invaded Hell I would make at least a favourable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.”
“The Iranian theocratic regime is a close ally of Putin. They have supplied him with the Shahed drones that daily kill Ukrainian civilians.”
Daily, eh? Do you have any real evidence* for that claim, or does it proceed from the usual orifice?
Of course, the Israeli theocratic regime is a close ally of Zelensky. They have supplied him with parts for the drones that almost daily kill Russian civilians. (Not many to spare now I suppose.)
*i.e. not from the Western MSM-that-has-never-lied-to-us
Give over Bayard. Iran supplied Russia with over 400 Shahed 146 drones and has provided Russia with the blueprints so they can manufacture their own under the designation Gerad 2. Russia is thought to have produced 40,000 in 2025 alone. Ukrainians refer to them as ‘mopeds’ because of the noise they make.
The US has also reverse engineered the Shahed under the name LUCAS. They seem mainly to have been used in the development and testing of countermeasures.
PM, do try to read what I wrote before replying. I was asking for evidence that Ukranian citizens are killed daily as opposed to now and again (please read the word in bold), not that Iran has supplied Russia with military technology.
hahaha, aye, Z, wee Zelly is feeling terribly neglected since Krampus Trump demonstrated that when it comes to the pecking order of mass murder-targets those selected by his string-pullers, ie the wannabe Masters Of The Earth ( and beyond ) – Yahwew’s ( Netan ) Yahoos are top of the pile and his little poisonous cabal are sinking into the Conference League of U.S contrived global disaster zones. What a fckn nerve though, his goons are still dragging people off the street to feed into the Russian mincing machine and that scumbag, in his desperation to keep his ugly mug in the news, is talking about sending * his * countrymen to * defend * areas 1000s of miles away and which he/Ukraine has absolutely nothing to do with. What next, will he offer to take-up Salsa lessons and put himself forward as the new president of Cuba? Never mind ” Guantanamera ” the best place for that horrible Imp of the Perverse is Guantanamo.
The entire U.S/* NATO */Ukraine/EUK nexus of numpties is hitting new, hitherto unplumbed, degrees of stupidity-to-the-point-of insanity, psychotic pettiness, eg * NATO * ” no, Daddy, we’re not playing, you wouldn’t agree to our plan to start WW3 with Russia ( via the Proxy War ), so now we’re not going to help you start WW3 ( via the ZioYank war on Iran ), nah nah nah nah …..nah”. And these clowns are supposed to be mature, responsible adults, leaders!! FFS Every single one of the dramatis personae in this macabre Grand Guignol deserves to be publicly humiliated, eg by being placed in stocks and pelted with every manner of noxious substances – shit would be best. Then jailed, for life, as punishment for the truly awful carnage they have either brought about themselves or sanctioned/contributed to by commission or omission.
Robert Hughes
March 20, 2026 at 09:44
A bit of a rant Robert.
Why not just tell us how much you admire Putin and his ” Russian mincing machine “?
That’s what you say about everything I post. Here’s the thing, Jakey, the opinions of you n yr ilk mean absolutely zero to me. I don’t even take you n yr like seriously, yv demonstrated abundantly that you are in the same Class of Dunces as those you continue to defend, after EVERYTHING that’s unfolded and continues to unfold in greater degrees of psychosis.
Robert Hughes
March 20, 2026 at 10:12
Bobby. (As you choose to modify my username, I’ll return the compliment).
Succinct post. Bravo.
Next step is reasoned argument. We wait in joyful hope….
JK Redux
What is going on with you where you’re constantly trying to moral grandstand about foreign leaders?
You should not need reminding again that you *did* reveal, very forthrightly, your admiration for the ‘innate decency’ of Genocide Joe Biden.
And when did you feel moved to announce it..
Summer 2024. The very height of Biden’s demonic slaughter of women and children in Gaza.
Clearly Zelensky has his reasons for helping the US out and I’m guessing they have more to do with Ukraine’s sometimes strained relations with the US than any support for Trump’s war on Iran. Ukraine has shipped large numbers of interceptor drones and so far over 240 operators to the ME. I am surprised either can be spared but it’s remarkable that Ukraine’s drones, which we’re told are assembled from bits of scrap in people’s spare bedrooms, out perform those made by the world’s biggest military industrial complex.
I suppose they argue that whatever Russia supplies to Iran isn’t going to fall on them.
As part of the British contribution the MoD have supplied the US with Ukrainian designed Octopus 100 interceptor drones. These are manufactured in a Ukrainian owned facility in East Anglia and whilst the factory has some UK financial backing surely the drones belong to Ukraine?
Could this be a harbinger of a Ceaucescu moment for Putin in the future?
M.J.
March 20, 2026 at 09:45
Unfortunately Putin doesn’t risk appearing in uncontrolled public venues anymore…
John Kinsella Redux,
Just a reminder of the title of this particular thread:
“Radicalism and Scottish Independence”.
There’s a clue in the title. It’s supposed to be a dicussion about Scottish independence, and it was developing very interestingly in that direction until you, as is your eminently predictable wont (March 18, 2026 at 20:08), hijacked the discussion and posted something entirely unconnected about, surprise surprise – Vladimir Putin. Your obsession with the Russian President is both amusing and unhealthy.
No-one who regularly visits this website can be in any doubt that you heartily dislike Vladimir Vladimirovich, we get it, there’s no need to keep repeating it ad nauseam, give it a rest, man, you’re like a tramp’s overcoat ffs.
But if you find you can’t overcome your obsession, there is always the option of the Discussion Forum elsewhere on the website, where you could open a “Vladimir Putin is a cunt” thread where you, Morgaine, MJ and NTF would be free to say thoroughly beastly things about Putin to your little hearts’ content and have a nice little circle-jerk without disturbing the grown-ups.
Frank Hovis
March 20, 2026 at 15:47
Thanks for the heads up Frankie. (Again taking the liberty of varying your username as you choose to vary mine.)
These threads do tend to head off to whatever the current disaster is once we have responded to Craig’s latest posting.
Important as Scottish indy is (I’m a supporter), the current shit show in Iran is objectively even more important.
Scottish indy will be the unlamented end of the “UK”,
A catastrophic war in the Near (not Middle) East could be the end of far more.
Not to mention the likely and equally unlamented collapse of the “RF”.
“Important as Scottish indy is (I’m a supporter), the current shit show in Iran is objectively even more important.”
That is as maybe, but it is the definition of a single-issue fanatic that they keep on harping about one subject, no matter what anyone else is trying to discuss. “Sorry, I know you were talking about pig breeding in the Scottish Highlands, but you should really know that Putin is an evil brutal dictator”. They think that “Everyone is entitled to my opinion”. Hasn’t it occurred to you yet that practically every other contributor to these blog comments already knows what you think about Putin already and is very bored to hear it yet again, repeated off topic, but ad nauseam? When a commenter is determined to crowbar a particular subject into each and every post, no matter what that post is about, it really does seem that they are being paid per mention.
Its moving in the right direction.
“Colonial Frame at the United Nations: A Thread.
1/ A report now formally lodged within the UN system @UN, submitted to the UN Secretary General António Guterres @antonioguterres by the Chinese non-profit International Probono Legal Services Association (IPLSA) based in Hong Kong, China, with Liberation Scotland and several partners, reframes Scotland not as a “region” of the UK, but as a case of decolonisation. Scotland is an English colony.
IPLSA has Special Consultative Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The significance of its support for Scotland is tremendous, notably geopolitically. Former colonised people recognise other colonised people.
This is legal positioning not commentary.
2/ This document has crossed a decisive threshold:
-Circulated at the UN Human Rights Council (61st session)
-Received by the UN Secretary-General
-Entered into official UN procedures
The whole world can read it online on the official United Nations website.
Scotland has been inserted into the architecture of international law.”
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/2034643293255221432.html
“The whole world can read it online on the official United Nations website.”
Are you sure about this? I found a link to the petition and press release on the JPTi website, but none at any UN website.
https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g26/031/70/pdf/g2603170.pdf
Thanks
No ‘BAU’?
‘Most’ ‘economic thinking’ is ‘short run’ and ‘redundant’? ‘It’ ignores the ‘supply side’?
‘Growth’ {and ‘civilisation’} depends upon ‘cheap’ F.F. – those so called ‘halcyon days’ are ‘over’. ?
https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2022/07/01/bigger-than-you-can-imagine/
As Liberation and Salvo have said, we’ll get little joy form European colonising nations, but the Global South and the East know well our colonised predicament.
“This report submitted to the UN Secretary General by a major NGO from China, a member of the UN Security Council, an NGO in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) basically said three things about Scotland:
1.The Scotland Act 1998 is colonial assimilation and subjugation. I see it as another layer to hide the fact the international treaty of Union 1706-07 was pure annexation of Scotland by England.
2.Scotland is a territory under colonial sovereignty and should thus be listed by the UN as a Non-self governing territory (NSGT) i.e. a colony of England.
3.Nuclear weapons in Scotland violate the rights of Scots as the people of Scotland. It’s nuclear colonialism. England sacrifices Scotland, lying also about an inexistent “voluntary union”, to justify its UN Security Council seat. The UK or the English colonial state doesn’t even have a functioning navy anymore. It has no place on the UN Security Council.”
It looks increasingly like our Coloniser nation England will ignore the UN on our status – we need powerful allies such as China and Russia, and even Iran, for it may come to armed struggle to rid ourselves of the colonisers and their illegal settlers in Scotland.
https://nitter.poast.org/thomsonchris