WE NEED VICTORIES!

A quickly reproduced comment from regular contributor Breeks that spells out in the most vivid terms what is going to be needed in Scotland in the very near future.

I grew up on a diet of mince and tatties and Rugby Union, back in the glory days of amateur Rugby when the Scotland used to narrowly lose to everybody. They might narrowly lose to the All Blacks, or narrowly lose to some provincial squad from the middle of nowhere. Good, bad or indifferent, we didn’t discriminate and could narrowly lose to anybody. We seemed to have a knack for it. In fact, as narrow losses go, Scotland had some of the very best narrow loses on record. 

The point is, Scotland could match the opposition and hold its own against anybody, but was dogged with a lack of capacity for turning all the pressure into points. Was it luck or a lack of killer instinct? Or just a lack of belief? Whatever it was, I fear Scotland’s politicians have the same affliction.

I’m fairly sure most folks will be familiar with the Electronic Scotland website, and the various articles detailing the work of the Scottish UN Committee back in the 80’s, and their efforts to secure more democratic accountability for Scotland, which of course led to the establishment of Holyrood. It’s good stuff.

https://www.electricscotland.com/independence/scotlandun.htm

You learn quite a lot reading the articles, but you also see a lot of the same things that are concerning us in 2022 were concerning people back in 1979. It’s sometimes difficult to tell whether things have improved or stagnated. We’re not good at turning pressure into points.

All these unconstitutional abuses Scotland suffers, the improprieties, the breaches of trust, the lies, the abuse and the injustices… where is there any retribution or recompense that’s been made to stick? The outrageous McCrone Report kept secret for decades… What actually changed after it’s public release? Was any less of our oil plundered? Did anybody get fired or prosecuted? Or did we all just shrug our shoulders?

Scottish Sovereignty violated by Brexit. Where is the complaint? Where is the protest? Where is the fallout?
The Claim of Right ratified by Westminster! Aye. Fine. So what good came of it?
2014, sitting MP’s broke Purdah and lied to Scotland with the Vow. Name me one MP even reprimanded breaching a Ministerial code.
The Vow itself broke the law because it was a new phenomenon introduced inside the last two weeks of campaigning. The consequences? None. Void result for cheating? Behave.

Scotland needs to start landing some of these body shots and making them count. We need more from the Claim of Right than merely acknowledged existence. We need to see Westminster bound into respecting the Constitutional Sovereignty of Scotland or paying the Constitutional penalty if they refuse.

Throughout all the campaigning from 2012 onward, and throughout all the encouraging disclosures from the SSRG and SALVO, the ONLY time Scotland has physically laid a Constitutional glove on Westminster was when Joanna Cherry KO’d Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament, because it broke the uniquely Scottish Constitutional doctrine that Parliament served the sovereign people and thus could not remove itself from their scrutiny.

To some, that’s just a minor distinction, a lonely fact established in a wild meadow of unwritten conventions. But it’s so much more important than that, because Joanna Cherry’s victory put a principle extracted from a uniquely Scottish Constitutional doctrine higher up the pecking order than the determined will of a UK Prime Minister not to be overruled… Westminster’s Parliamentary Sovereignty is a myth. It is a lie. 

Certainly in the last 30 years, I struggle to recall a single other instance where Scotland’s Constitutional rights were converted into points. All too often, we Scots back off when we think we’ve made our point. Aha! We’ve made Westminster acknowledge we are right! They been forced to write it in Hansard! … It’s not enough. A moral victory is no good to us. It’s the actual victory we need brought home.

Every time Westminster violates Scottish Sovereignty or the Claim of Right, there MUST be draconian consequences. Scottish Constitutional doctrines and principles must be defended with dogged tenacity, and no exceptions. If it needs taken to court, we take it to court. If Westminster won’t respect Scotland then we we make Westminster ungovernable until it does.

It’s time to stop playing nice. I heartily encourage you to listen to Sara Salyers once again, and remind all about the SALVO launch tomorrow ( Sunday) at the Dobbie Hall in Larbert commencing at 11am. https://salvo.scot/

Ending

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