A Voice for Scotland's Anti-Nationalist Majority
This is a topic that many of you don't want to hear. But, as committed as we are to destroying nationalist delusions, we must also assess anti-nationalist delusions as well, of which the main one is that the only strategy to beat the SNP is a Labour-Tory alliance.
Not only is an alliance not going to happen, Labour’s strategy of not forming an alliance with the Scottish Tories is correct. This also means that recent attacks on Tories by Labour are also correct.
So the SNP is intending to “extend the right to stand for election to sixteen year olds.” Who knew? I had assumed that they already were but maybe Ross Greer, the wokier-than-thou Scottish Green MSP only identifies as sixteen.
It is, I am forced to admit, a brilliant strategy. At a stroke ‘gammons’ and ‘boomers’ like me will be focused on this latest provocation rather than asking how the Scottish ‘government’ could possibly have committed around £240,000,000 in the shipyards and still have no ferries; or where the allegedly missing £660,000 from the SNP’s ‘indy fund’ is; or how it is that Nicola Sturgeon’s publisher allegedly received over £295,000 of public money prior to the publication of her ‘inspirational’ selected speeches Women Hold up Half the Sky (a title borrowed from Chairman Mao); or what has happened to the £5bn Covid support money destined for Scottish businesses that Audit Scotland think is unaccounted for?
Normally, I wouldn’t write a whole article on some internet rando, but in a video posted on March 3, Gordon Ross, a driving instructor from Partick, who styles himself with the bad pun ‘Inde-car guy’ (on Twitter as @PartickDriver), claimed that he has been given the answers to how the SNP will conduct its second referendum campaign, directly from Mike Russell, the party’s President and former ‘Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Europe and External Affairs’.
Lately, I haven’t been able to work on as many articles as I’d like. Setting up and running our podcast was a lot of work. Now that’s more settled, I hope to get more articles out regularly. Thank you for your patience.
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The SNP pensions brouhaha rumbles on, with the reality-based community trying vainly to impress upon delusional nationalists that they are living in a fantasy world. A ‘fact check’ in The National newspaper presented two options: the UK will continue to pay Scots pensions because 1) the UK currently pays the pensions of UK citizens who live overseas 2) If you claim dual citizenship i.e. remain a UK citizen, you can still be paid.
This is a story of three artists, all leaders in their fields: an actor, a musician and an author. They are known, not just for their world-leading skills, but for their authenticity. These working-class men have developed and promoted their talents to the top of their fields and have gained as much respect from the quality of their work as from their uncompromising attitude to their craft. No-one can say that their work, and attitude to it, is not authentic.
Yesterday, Reverend Stuart Campbell, the blogger known as Wings Over Scotland, declared, in a 4300-word suicide note, that his blogging days are over. Campbell had previously said that he had retired, but this apparently, is the ‘last, last’ time.
To signify the end of the independence movement, Campbell used a somewhat laboured metaphor of the Rolling Stones concert at Altamont in December 1969, which, due to a murder of an audience member by Hell's Angels, signalled the end of the swinging 60s. Apparently, Sturgeon is a Hell’s Angel, stabbing the 'peace and love' of the indy movement to death, while the Stones play ‘Under My Thumb’!
Yesterday, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) upheld a complaint brought by Mr Neil Lovatt against The National newspaper. IPSO concluded that The National newspaper fabricated tweets and breached the Editors' Code in a video and article it published in April. The Majority was made aware of this case a few weeks ago, but was not able to publish until it had been appealed and concluded.
The ruling is part of a pattern of hideous behaviour at Newsquest, The National’s publisher, which not only publishes anti-English hate; it has provided platforms for two of Scotland’s most odious commentators. The newspaper, under editor Callum Baird, also intimidates those who stand against it, as evidenced by the flimsy articles he has published in an attempt to smear us and our writers. (We expect even more after this article).
It is often said in these post-truth times, that a lie has gone half-way around the world before the truth has put its boots on. Why do lies, fake news and misinformation gain so much more political traction than evidence-based facts? The answer to that question can be found in the world of tribal epistemology.
In 2017, David Roberts of Vox news coined the term ‘tribal epistemology’ to describe a state of mind ’where you believe not what facts or reason or top experts say is true, but what your group or tribe say is true, especially its leaders’. Why bother going to all the effort of seeking the truth out for yourself, when you can hand that time-consuming, tedious task to someone in power, who you believe in and trust and then agree unquestioningly with whatever their version of the truth is instead? But, what if those leaders don’t go to the trouble of seeking out the truth. What if they abuse your trust and lie, would you still believe them because you are one of their tribe?
The UK Government should stop gambling with its territorial, economic, cultural and social integrity.
A couple of weeks ago, Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland, said that Scots could have a second ‘independence’ referendum if polls showed a consistent majority of 60% of Scots in favour of it. Gambling your country's future on the basis of opinion polls is certainly an interesting strategy, but, as I was getting ready to publish this article, the UK Government finally pushed back on Jack’s comments, saying, ‘We’ve never set a position on that. We haven’t said any sort of target. Our view, as set out, is that now is simply not the time to be dealing with this.’
A response to online bullying, based on false accusations of harassment, made against me by LEN PENNIE and JANEY GODLEY
It’s not easy to publicly admit that you’ve been bullied, but a stand has to be made.
On August 24, Len Pennie, a 21-year-old woman who posts poetry and 'Scots Word of The Day’ videos on social media, under the name Miss PunniePennie (@lenniesaurus), made a false allegation that I harassed her, while claiming I am ‘creepy’ and ‘hateful’. Previously Pennie claimed I was a ‘bigot’ and a ‘bully’.