WELL GRAEME YOU DID ASK MIA QUESTIONS.

—“If the SNP MPs just up and withdraw from Westminster what happens then?”

They move with the Scottish powers they represent to Holyrood. The union remains until both the Act of Union with England and the Treaty of union 1707 are repealed.

Moving those MPs to Holyrood gives Scotland’s parliament the power to hold the referendum Sturgeon has been purposely avoiding and frustrating for 8 years and counting, but, simultaneously, it also temporarily removes from Westminster any legitimacy to continue legislating on behalf of Scotland. If the people of Scotland does not want independence, then the MPs return to Westminster and business resumes.

Please note: by referendum I mean a real one, with a proper franchise which does not allow the right to self determination of the natives to be frustrated by incomers as it was in 2014, and with adequate rules to stop money, actors, working groups (UK civil service, for example) and political entities with HQ or controlled by powers located outwith Scotland interfering with the Scottish democratic process.

—“Do they announce the end of the Union?”
I expected them to have announced the end of the union in 2015, which was the first time in 300 years of history that Scotland sent a majority of anti-union MPs to Westminster. The end of the union is precisely what you expected to see when that happened. The people of Scotland did not vote SNP to preserve the union. But Nicola Sturgeon is such an incompetent and wasteful pro independence leader that has even managed to transform such a staggering and historic event, into an irrelevance.

I would settle for them to announce the end of the union any time before the next GE. Better late than never, I suppose.

—“and expect the majority of Scots just to accept it without knowing whether their pensions etc will be paid next week?”

And as if there was not enough proof the SNP is now just labour in everything but the rosette, here we go, now they feed us as a deflection tool the same project fear we were fed by the colonial forces in 2014. 

You clearly have zero confidence in Sturgeon and her version of SNP’s negotiating abilities to sort that out. At least in that we appear to agree. I would have imagined that after EIGHT YEARS and access to countless advisors and some very knowledgeable MPs, she would have had enough time to think about that and plan for that ahead. But clearly the gender issue is far more important for her than the wellbeing of the people of Scotland, never mind independence.

Scotland’s workers pay VAT, NI, and contribution to pensions here. Scotland collects salary taxes too, doesn’t it? For instance the NHS, controlled by Holyrood, is the largest employer in Scotland. To prevent that situation arising, instead of sending the cash down south, you retain it here. Once the MPs are in HOlyrood you pass temporary laws to retain the taxes here, including corporation taxes and VAT. Remember the clever Americans, Graeme? “no taxation without representation”. The same applies here.

It is very interesting that you mention the pensions, Graeme. If the BoE had not intervened after the unbelievable blunder of Truss and her playground chancellor, many people would be wondering today if their pensions were going to be paid. Actually, many of us are currently wondering for how long we can rely on the UK being able to pay our pensions when the time comes if such level of incompetence is allowed to be anywhere near the driving wheel and the UK purse. But it appears that such level of risk is for you, and I assume Nicola Sturgeon too, perfectly acceptable, isn’t it? As long as Sturgeon is not directly blamed for the blunders and she can whine and blame the tories for everything is fine, isn’t it? Never mind if the Scottish people do not receive their pensions, the elderly die of hypothermia and children go hungry. And never mind that she could have stopped all of it by ending the union back in 2015.

You obviously see as an acceptable burden in the life of the Scottish people to never know when the next blunder from the next useless tory puppet is going to crash the markets, sink the currency, cause an economic crisis and collapse the pension funds with their stupidity. Because that kind of uncertainty is what the 8 years of Sturgeon’s unjustifiable inaction and staggering mismanagement of anti-union majorities and assets have led us to. What we saw last week with the markets is just a taste of what is to come. I am sorry but I do not see the exposure to that level of risk when Scotland has sent 8 years of anti-union MP majorities, as acceptable.

The last 8 years of Sturgeon’s inaction have led to a situation where the nice Scottish meat we used to buy in our supermarkets is now being priced out of our reach while the supermarket shelves are flooded with “British” meat. But I guess this is part of the tory plan to create a “need” in our market for the cheap meat coming from New Zealand and Australia so the England tories can honour the trade deals, never mind if Scotland’s farmers go bust and we have to put on our tables meat of less quality. I guess that both, us not being able to enjoy local Scotch meat and our farmers being displaced by cheap and worse meat coming from abroad is perfectly acceptable for Sturgeon, isn’t it? Because this is another thing her 8 years of inaction appear to be leading us to.

Another of Truss’ crazy ideas is that of lifting the caps on the banks and bankers’ bonuses. So we better brace ourselves for a repeat of the 2008 crash, don’t we, Graeme? How many people lost their jobs and their homes at the time? How did the plummeting of the interest rates affected the pensions and the house value, do you remember, Graeme? How many people entered negative equity? How many years of austerity and contraction of our salaries did that led to? For many of us, our salaries have not yet reached the acquisitive power we had prior to that 2008 crash, and that despite bankers having plentiful with their bonuses. You obviously think that facing such a risk again, at a time when we are in an even worse economic position we were prior the 2008 crash is a burden that we in Scotland must endure every day for the sake of keeping this union afloat, even if it is at the expense of savaging Scotland’s resources, and indulging Sturgeon in continuing to spoil our majorities and our time. I am afraid I don’t.

The tories are already bleating that they do not intend to increase benefits to match the level of inflation. In other words, people in benefits is going to experience a decrease in their already paultry income. But the prices of everything have increased, so effectively that is condemning many people either to starve or to become homeless or to die of hypothermia. That in a country like Scotland that could have an oil fund like the one in Norway. Clearly for you and for Sturgeon that is something perfectly acceptable, isn’t it? It is completely unacceptable to me.

Scotland is an energy rich nation. It is a nation that is self-sufficient in energy, so much so that it is and has been sending free electricity, gas and oil to a power hungry, but energy non self-sufficient England. Because of England MP’s policies, despite Scotland being energy self-sufficient, we are all going to experience energy bills that would be between 2 and 3 times what we were paying. Some of us are wondering how on earth are we going to be able to pay that. Where is Sturgeon’s justification for inflicting this burden on us, Graeme? Does she sees us as expendable and every deadly blow given to Scotland by the England as the UK gov as an opportunity to pass her own accountability for allowing this to happen onto the clown of the day in n10? 

Fascinatingly, the energy caps in some areas in England are lower than in Scotland, which is the only area of the UK that is energy self-sufficient and which does not need to import any energy. Yet, you and Sturgeon consider that discrimination perfectly acceptable. Because if Sturgeon and the SnP didn’t they would have stopped it long ago. But that is what the 8 years of stubborn and deliberate inactivity by Sturgeon have led us to. Should we blame this on the tories’ greed and incompetence, or should be blame it on Sturgeon for her appalling mismanagement of power and majorities during 8 years? I think the latter. If somebody has the power to stop something but they look the other way and let it happen, they can no longer claim innocence. They have become an accomplice, an enabler.

We are facing having to pay for those ridiculously overinflated energy bills, overinflated food bills.
We are presented with meagre salary increases that do not match the astronomical inflation, levels. People is seeing even less benefits, so we are facing watching how many fellow Scots will lose their homes, die of starvation or hypothermia and teachers in deprived areas are facing watching their classrooms full of children with empty stomachs. We are facing watching our pension funds collapse at any point, despite having been paying into them all our working lives. But it seems that for you and Sturgeon that is a fair price to pay as long as she and the SNP can remain sitting on their hands wasting and mismanaging our anti-union MP majorities. Allow me to disagree.

The tories are constantly fiddling with the pensions. The age of retirement has increased during the last 8 years, decreasing the years of retirement people can enjoy. Many have already died before reaching retirement. So the idea that our pensions are secure by remaining in the UK is a fallacy. Sturgeon has had EIGHT YEARS to sort the problem of the pensions, Graeme. Are you going to tell me this woman is so utterly incompetent and clueless that has not even giving the matter one thought? 

—“Do they dissolve the Union without a response from Unionists through the courts?”
What do you mean a response from Unionists? It is an international treaty, Graeme. There is no place for any English court on this and even less for a parochial political party. This is a matter for an international court. There are only two partners here: the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. The “UK” gov is just a by-product of the union, not a signatory of it. 

I appreciate this is an old treaty, but the UK has been following the Vienna Convention on the Law of treaties for more recent treaties, including the EU one. In line with that Convention, Scotland has to communicate its intention to terminate the treaty. If I am not mistaken, the notice is around a minimum of 3 months. Mr Salmond, if I am not mistaken, intended to give as much as 18 months. if the dissolution of the treaty is not resolved amicably between the two parties (the kingdoms of Scotland and England), then an international intermediary has to be appointed. But this will not be an intermediary that the UK gov will choose. If I am not mistaken, it will be the UN who appoints them.

—“Their withdrawal would not prevent Westminster from still legislating for Scotland”
How can they pretend to continue legislating without representation of Scotland in Westminster? Doing such a thing would expose them to be seen as treating Scotland openly as a colony, opening the door for Scotland to go to the UN and demand initiation of the de-colonisation process. If the Scottish MPs remove from Westminster the power to act on behalf of Scotland, England MPs cannot simply retain that power because it was never theirs in the first place. It was the choice of Scotland’s MPs to share those powers while of Westminster, but that does not give England MPs ownership over those powers. There is nothing that would show better that the Kingdom of ENgland is an abusive partner who has utter contempt for the treaty of union and international law that acting in such an imperialistic manner. 

And no, we do not need recognition from the international community. What we need is the dissolution of the union to be completed through the UN intermediary. If the dissolution of the treaty is done within the context of international law, there is absolutely no reason why the international community will not recognise Scotland’s status as a sovereign, independent state.

—“While the purse strings are held by Westminster”
I take that what you mean is “while the SNP and Sturgeon continue to let England MPs hold Scotland’s purse strings”.

As I said above, Graeme: remember the Americans: “not taxation without representation”. No representation in Westminster, no cash from Scotland 

—“It’s only if the SG used its existing powers to control the public purse then SNP MPs would have the practical option of doing what you suggest”

I disagree in the strongest possible terms on this. The real power is held by Scotland’s MPs, not MSPs. It has been so since 1707. The Scottish MPs hold that power. Withdrawing from Westminster will bring that power to Holyrood. 

—“Controlling the public purse is de facto independence”
So why, despite 8 years of anti-union MP and MSP majorities Scotland is still not de facto independent, Graeme?

—“Please stop the bile”
There is no bile in my comments. Just anger and frustration at watching how a political fraud has wasted and flushed down the toilet my pro-independence votes, those of my fellow Scots and Scotland’s democratic rights and the rights as an equal signatory of this union. I find it completely unacceptable. I will stop expressing my anger and frustration when either this woman makes a SERIOUS and MEANINGFUL move towards independence, or when the SNP MPS/MSPs demand her resignation and put somebody else in charge who actually wants and will use the SNP majorities to deliver independence. Angus Robertson is not that person.

—“back those of us who are seeking to put the SG in control of all public finance”
Sorry, Graeme but I cannot do that. I do not back devolution nor FFA, which is, from your words, what you appear to be after. I am much more ambitious for Scotland than that. 

Devolution and FFA in the context of the UK puts the SG in control of nothing. We have seen how Sturgeon handed over to England Mps some of our devolved powers and transformed the SG into a colonial administration by opening the door of the cabinet to an unelected member of the COPFS. And that happened after the Sewel convention and the Scotland Act, who allegedly sealed our devolved powers.

I do not want the SG just in control of all public finance. In fact, I find very difficult to accept that after 8 years of SNP majorities and the promises pre-referendum, we are not in control of all public finance already. The time for FFA having appeal was 19 September 2014, BEFORE Scotland send 56 anti-union MPs to Westminster. FFA became obsolete that day.

I want the Scottish MPs to withdraw from Westminster and put the Scottish Parliament (the SGov is just the executive arm of the crown) in control of ALL powers not just the financial ones. I consider that after indulging the SNP with 8 years of majorities ALL those powers in Holyrood is the absolute minimum we should have by now. 

Frankly, after 8 years of anti-union majorities, I consider FFA an insult to Scotland and something only a colonial party like Labour, desperate to preserve the union, would go for and be happy to achieve. But It is a sign of uttermost failure and defeat for an anti-union political party who has been given 8 years of continuous majorities to deliver independence.

Graeme, if what you want is support for devolution, no matter what version of it or under which trademark, I am afraid you are barking at the wrong tree. Either Sturgeon and her SNP deliver Scotland’s INDEPENDENCE before the next GE, or, as far as I am concerned, they are nothing but charlatans who need to be voted out of our seats and pronto.

MY COMMENTS

This is a tour de force from Mia. It needs no comment from me other than I appreciate the sharpness of Mia’s mind and how well she explains it all what could happen if we had a nationalist government with real courage and conviction. The fact that we don’t is Scotland’s weakness and SNP members heading for their Conference need to convey to their leaders that much more is expected of them. If not, and soon, then Scotland needs to show them the door. Our country, our resources are being fleeced in front of our eyes. It must be brought to an end urgently.

I am, as always

Yours for Scotland.

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