In summary; Scotland is split on Independence, younger folks are very much more pro-Indy, Westminster is corrupt & England-centric and does not care much for Scotland beyond exploitation of its natural resources. And yet we have the spectre of an ultra right wing Reform government in WM which would reverse devolution and impose policies the like of which a Scottish polity would not allow within their policy frame for discussion, let alone legislate for. Britain is ready to be broken up, it needs real reform of its institutions and a proper voice for its people not the so-called ruling classes who have had a stranglehold on WM since it’s inception as a talking shop for Kings and Queens. It is an anachronism and we deserve better in Scotland and to be able to set our own path into the future.
Well - IF Labour had remained a socialist party with true aspirations to international solidarity one could see an ideological commitment to the rejection of nationalism of any stripe (Quick round of the Internationale, anyone?) But that went the way of all flesh in the Blair years and they are now just a pale pink version of neoliberalism...:
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which" (Orwell, "Animal Farm")
I take your point but I don’t think self determination is inconsistent with socialist ideas. Especially if the bigger country you are attached to is flirting with a party like Reform.
Fair enough. But now they have gone down the neoliberal rabbit-hole the ideology which would support independence as it did in the rest of the world is even further out of sight.
I used to tell my students in Tanzania that they should consider themselves lucky, becoming a British protectorate in the 1920s and getting independence in the early 60s. Scots, I pointed out to them had been the victims of colonisation by a number of manifestations for 700 years. First to be the victims of colonisation, and would be the last to gain independence....
I thought "Reform" was Doric word for bampot OR Kleiner Engländer. As a voluntary exile from Scotland, it gars my gree to see this invasive species on Scottish soil.
Will now go to listen to some RunRig or 5 Hand Reel
And, if we are being brutally cynical, Labour resisted an independent Scotland because they relied on the diehard Scottish seats to have a snowball in hell's chance in Westminster. And, having frittered those majorities away, have failed to adapt any other modality. It is pure, simple bloody-minded expediency and opportunism that drive the agenda. Combined with a complete inability to read the tea-leaves...
It's all about noses in the trough for the political class, and we are back full circle to Orwell.....
Yes, Labour has always been behind the curve on Scotland’s push for more autonomy. They react to a rise in support for independence by doing something to buy time, but, as you say, their real attention is on Westminster
In summary; Scotland is split on Independence, younger folks are very much more pro-Indy, Westminster is corrupt & England-centric and does not care much for Scotland beyond exploitation of its natural resources. And yet we have the spectre of an ultra right wing Reform government in WM which would reverse devolution and impose policies the like of which a Scottish polity would not allow within their policy frame for discussion, let alone legislate for. Britain is ready to be broken up, it needs real reform of its institutions and a proper voice for its people not the so-called ruling classes who have had a stranglehold on WM since it’s inception as a talking shop for Kings and Queens. It is an anachronism and we deserve better in Scotland and to be able to set our own path into the future.
Well - IF Labour had remained a socialist party with true aspirations to international solidarity one could see an ideological commitment to the rejection of nationalism of any stripe (Quick round of the Internationale, anyone?) But that went the way of all flesh in the Blair years and they are now just a pale pink version of neoliberalism...:
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which" (Orwell, "Animal Farm")
I take your point but I don’t think self determination is inconsistent with socialist ideas. Especially if the bigger country you are attached to is flirting with a party like Reform.
Fair enough. But now they have gone down the neoliberal rabbit-hole the ideology which would support independence as it did in the rest of the world is even further out of sight.
I used to tell my students in Tanzania that they should consider themselves lucky, becoming a British protectorate in the 1920s and getting independence in the early 60s. Scots, I pointed out to them had been the victims of colonisation by a number of manifestations for 700 years. First to be the victims of colonisation, and would be the last to gain independence....
I thought "Reform" was Doric word for bampot OR Kleiner Engländer. As a voluntary exile from Scotland, it gars my gree to see this invasive species on Scottish soil.
Will now go to listen to some RunRig or 5 Hand Reel
Sorry for a late post script. The word Sudetenland has lodged itself in my cranium....
And, if we are being brutally cynical, Labour resisted an independent Scotland because they relied on the diehard Scottish seats to have a snowball in hell's chance in Westminster. And, having frittered those majorities away, have failed to adapt any other modality. It is pure, simple bloody-minded expediency and opportunism that drive the agenda. Combined with a complete inability to read the tea-leaves...
It's all about noses in the trough for the political class, and we are back full circle to Orwell.....
Yes, Labour has always been behind the curve on Scotland’s push for more autonomy. They react to a rise in support for independence by doing something to buy time, but, as you say, their real attention is on Westminster
Welcoming ...the West Lothian question....!!