HOW DARE YOU?

   HOW DARE YOU?

So Boris has decided we should not have our Independence. Scottish Labour agree with him. They both seem to think they get to decide.

Both agree Scotland needs to rebuild after Brexit and Covid. Both of them believe that is best achieved through leaving all the major powers we need to rebuild our country in the hands of those capable and benevolent Tories with the eighty seat majority based in London. 

Now you can see how Boris might think that message is acceptable to his supporters but Anas Sarwar do you think that message is going to resonate with Labour voters in Scotland? Do you think they welcome that idea? 

What they both need to understand is we can speak for ourselves. It is our decision not theirs. We have an election on the 6th May where the electorate can spell out an unarguable statement of what Scotland wants. If Boris thinks they are looking forward to his Tory Government in London being given the green light he needs to get off whatever he is smoking and join the real world. As for Anas’s chances, well hanging onto third place would be the limit of his possibilities. With this message of leave it to the Tories that is by no means a given.

We are going to have to rebuild. Both Brexit and Covid have made that harder but surely the questions we should be asking should be how best to do it? With the full range of economic powers available to a fully independent country, totally focussed on our own priorities and needs, or at the tail end of a Government more than four hundred miles away who have the same rebuilding job in the rest of the UK and who will never have our needs and priorities at the forefront of their minds. It going to be a competition for resources, hands up anyone who thinks Scotland will be anywhere near the top of the list of recipients? 

This is the time, an Independent Scotland could quickly rejoin the EEA or EFTA while we await whatever deal the EU would offer for us to rejoin. That decision could be made by referendum after a few years of experiencing the alternative. The crucial thing from an economic point of view is for our companies, farmers and fishing industry having free access to the European Single Market again. That will never happen if we stick with Westminster. The UK Government is still in denial but the first trade figures revealing UK Trade with the EU since Brexit showed a huge trade collapse in exports. The UK is well on the way to a record balance of trade deficit with zero signs that this lost trade with Europe is going to be offset by big gains across the rest of the .world. It’s all gone quiet about the giant trade deal with the USA, it’s now a taboo topic with Biden rather than Trump being President. Boris backing the wrong horse will just go down as another Boris blunder. How many more can the UK afford?

Of course the Tories will hide behind Covid, every economic problem will be Covid, rather than Brexit related. They ignore the downright scandal of the billions that went to friends and donors as all the normal rules of procurement were suspended and a hotline VIP route steered the favoured into multi million supply contracts. Companies on that VIP fast track were ten times more likely to be awarded a contract than those without the favoured contact to get them on the VIP LIST. Contracts that resulted all too frequently in shoddy or low spec supplies. “Middle men” making millions due to lack of control in the buying process. A 37 billion pound test and trace system that has been subcontracted to the point where gathering information is super complicated and where such information that can be assessed demonstrates it is a disaster in terms of performance, way behind the same service that is being carried out by local health organisations and local government. Yet private consultants are being paid up to £6000 a DAY for operating this mess! Surely against this background of inefficiency Scots should be able to recognise we could have done a much better job for a fraction of the cost?

We have a big job to do in May, we need to confirm our demand for Independence but we must also send the clearest message to Nicola Sturgeon that her days are numbered unless she gets back to concentrating on securing Independence. How best to do that will be subject of a future article.

We have a lot to fight for. We live in a wonderful country, rich in resources, well educated with a history of innovation, blessed with some of the most spectacular scenery in the World that guarantees a successful tourist industry. Our quality food industry and products are the envy of the world. Our drinks industry is a huge export earner and our agriculture and fishing output is capable of not only feeding our nation but provides much for export as well.

What we lack sadly is confidence, we have a media who spend their lives spreading insecurity, propaganda that promotes Independence as a huge risk, rather than the security and normality of being fully independent and having the access and use of our resources to tackle our needs and priorities. Being a normal independent country, it is not being Independent that highlights our inabilities and devalues our status. People abroad that know Scotland simply cannot understand it. They were shocked with the 2014 result.

We need to focus on building that confidence, no more so than in our Parliament where we have the right to expect our politicians to be up for the challenge. If I am honest that is an area where we are being let down at the moment. We should not be slow to communicate that dissatisfaction and to let them know unless there are big improvements soon then the minute it is safe to do so hordes of angry Scots are going to be arriving on their doorstep. We cannot go on like this! It is not what we expect or deserve.

We have another opportunity to move forward in May. We must make the best of the opportunity!

I am, as always

Yours for Scotland.

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