WE HAD BETTER LEARN FROM THIS

 We had better learn from this!

I spent most of the 2014 Independence Referendum touring the larger council estates across Scotland on the back of the Margo Mobile with my friend and long term colleague Jim Sillars. In between campaigning we had plenty of time to discuss what the big issues were and which had the vital impact of switching the electorate on and moving them in our direction towards Independence.

One of the key threats we identified even that early on was the growing moves south of the border to privatise health services in England.

A quick survey of Members of Parliament Register of Interests made plain that a very substantial number of Members of Parliament, mainly but not exclusively Tories, were directly linked to many of the private companies who would benefit most if that road to privatisation continued. They had signed up to support every increasing use of the private sector in health. The time since has witnessed a steady march in that direction, expanding year on year. 

We introduced it into our message and it certainly resonated. We then were contacted by the YES campaign who indicated they would prefer if we did not suggest the NHS in Scotland was at risk. They were scared it could open the Yes campaign of to accusations of scaremongering just at the time YES were accusing Better Together of doing the same.

All I will say is that our message about the dangers to the Scottish NHS years later have stood the test of time. Philippa Whitford MP also warned that what was happening down South would eventually happen in Scotland. Like our warnings the method used would be to use the privatisation down South to shrink the amount of money available to the Scottish Parliament for health through Barnett, forcing them down the privatisation route as well. 

We are currently witnessing just how effective such tactics can be. Westminster has decided in all but name to follow a herd immunity strategy to control Covid from now on. By closing the Treasury for any furlough payments they effectively forced the devolved Government’s in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to follow the same route as there was no funding to do anything else. 

That is how easy it is under DEVOLUTION to impose Westminster’s will on the entire UK when it comes to health, despite the fact that it supposed to be a matter fully controlled by each devolved Government. He who holds the purse strings calls the tune.

I have spent most of my political life trying to highlight that devolution, while better than direct Westminster rule, falls way short of the powers needed to best govern this country. Devolved Government is disguised colonial rule, where the Colonial Power hundreds of miles away can at anytime impose its will by a simple tweak of the purse strings. A purse remember that contains OUR money, where we currently have to fight to get back around 40% of what we contribute.

Now the challenge is to engage the Scottish public and make them aware that unless they engage with politics and move to action rather than apathy a lot of very unpleasant things are going to happen in Scotland.

We need to encourage them that Independence is urgently needed. To achieve this it is necessary to attack Nicola Sturgeon because her recent announcements about “time being on Scotland’s side” is complete nonsense. I don’t know if her ego is such that she finds it difficult to admit that London can bring her to heel at will, by cutting off her budget, but statements indicating there is no need for urgent action are a betrayal of the Scottish people.

I use the word betrayal because like me she must know people on Universal credit are suffering, that more jobs are being lost because of both Brexit and Covid, that our whole economy is held back because of the lack of investment in our ports, that a major exporting nation like Scotland is held hostage in distributing those goods and services by a complete lack of direct routes from our own country and being forced to export via England. Take a look at the explosion in direct routes from Ireland to Europe since Brexit. That could and should be us.

We are being badly led, by timid leaders content to be a colonial administration rather than the Government of a fully independent NORMAL nation. Time is not on our side. We need leaders who recognise the urgency. We need change.

I am, as always

Yours for Scotland. 

BEAT THE CENSORS

Sadly some sites had given up on being pro Indy sites and have decided to become merely pro SNP sites where any criticism of the Party Leader or opposition to the latest policy extremes, results in censorship being applied. This, in the rather over optimistic belief that this will suppress public discussion on such topics. My regular readers have expertly worked out that by regularly sharing articles on this site defeats that censorship and makes it all rather pointless. I really do appreciate such support and free speech in Scotland is remaining unaffected by their juvenile censorship. Indeed it is has become a symptom of weakness and guilt. Quite encouraging really.

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