Popular Sovereignty condemned without a trial
A rogue administration - confirmed!
Henry Ferguson updates us on the tortuous progress of the “Juryless Trials” bill. A Stage 1 public debate happened on Tuesday. I was there with Henry and a few other Direct Democracy stalwarts to witness the whole sorry thing. We came away convinced that Holyrood is no more than a Westminster mini-me, wedded to English parliamentary “democracy.” It will take some effort to educate Scots on how to wield their inherent sovereign power. Last evening Henry and I were on IndyLive’s TNT programme with John Drummond where we explained what Direct Democracy is and how it could put the Scottish People back on top where they belong. In case you missed it, you can watch it here.
Popular Sovereignty’s trial finally took place Tuesday afternoon at Holyrood.
The Prosecution (ScotGov) took almost an hour to justify the complexities of the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill to the Jury (Parliament). However, after almost another two hours of debate, the Jury wasn’t convinced and pronounced a Not Proven (!) verdict of: 60 For (SNP+Greens), 0 Against and 62 Abstentions (Opposition parties plus 6 SNP defectors - Kate Forbes, Annabelle Ewing, Fergus Ewing, Christine Grahame, Ivan McKee, Michelle Thomson).
Because the Prosecution refused to debate the numerous requests for referendum sent by Protesters (constituents) to their MSPs during the preceding two weeks, Popular Sovereignty (Direct Democracy (DD)) was found guilty in absentia. The silence was deafening in that most MSPs either replied NO or not at all to the personalised requests from Protesters (The Protesters had merely requested that the text “Subject to Referendum” be inserted as a General Principle in the Bill as it moves towards Stage 2 of Parliamentary proceedings).
It’s clear the People were ignored. Their MSPs let them down. Direct Democracy is not yet on their radar screen!
All abstaining speakers complained that the Bill was trying to do too much at once and several reminded the Prosecution of its recent spate of “Bad Laws” (GRR, Hate Crime), warning they may wish to proceed with utmost caution. The Bill has six main sections relating to sexual harassment and rape: victim trauma, Not Proven verdict and jury size and majorities, juryless trials, a sexual crimes Commissioner, a sexual offences court, and providing more special measures for vulnerable witnesses.
Unwittingly, they were confirming one of the basic principles of good Direct Democracy which is that so-called “Packaging” of legislation by Government is verboten. That’s because in packaged legislation there would be no clarity in any subsequent DD popular referendum when there must be a simple “Yes” or “No” question put to the People. So, under DD, the VWJR Bill would probably have been sliced up into at least six separate Bills, if not more.
On the constitutional issues, the Not Proven verdict was confirmed as being “past its sell by date” and its abolishment was unanimously supported.
The juryless trials pilot, however, was kept alive - but only just - when ScotGov committed to defer implementation until 2028, by which time there will be a new Government and Parliament in place! Several MSPs pointed out that it wasn’t a pilot at all since these would be real trials with real people facing possible imprisonment. And unless the legal profession reverses its decision to boycott juryless trials, it’s hard to see how they could ahead.
The upside to yesterday’s outcome was that the People now have several months during the current Stage 2 & then 3 of the Bill’s journey to explore how Direct Democracy can counter the fantasies of a rogue Administration. Who knows? Perhaps the People will have some support from their MSPs!
Henry Ferguson
I wrote to my 8 MSP's re the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill , I received one response from the 8 of them , That response came from the conservative MSP Russell Findlay who wrote
"You raise the possibility of the Bill being put to the Scottish public through a referendum under the Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020. I recognise the widespread concerns about the changes that the Bill will implement, but I do not support putting the Bill to the public through a referendum."
I responded to his message thus
"Thank you for your response Mr Findlay , however your response fails to acknowledge the breaches of protocol in the Referendums (Scotland) Act 2020, You also say that you recognise the widespread
concerns about the changes that the Bill will implement,but you do not support putting the Bill to the public through a referendum. May I ask why you don't support putting the bill to the public via a referendum, surely when such a bill is forced through due to party politics and collusion despite overwhelming opposition from the electorate,exemplified by the despicable Hate Crime Act , it creates a situation whereby the electorate feel disenfranchised and unrepresented , as a member of the voting public I find that MSP's appear to be ignoring the wishes of the public more and more which in my opinion is showing contempt for the views and opinions of the electorate , I also feel that your aversion to putting this bill to the electorate where their views should be paramount indicates a condescension where you believe your opinion has more value"
I have not received any further response from Mr Findlay but your article further highlights the contempt and condescension faced by the electorate from most if not ALL of the MSP'S from all parties, I have sent numerous emails to all my constituency representatives on many subjects and their responses to them has been abysmally poor
Thanks for your kind words Henry , it is extremely infuriating that these moronic authoritarians believe they have the right and intellectual capacity to ignore and frustrate the wishes and views of the electorate , TBQH I deplore politicians especially the current clowns who infest HR and WM they are nothing but a shower of incompetents and grifters whose only aim is to milk the system for as much as they can extort , I admire the genuine cadre of people who have resurrected SALVO ,SSRG and Liberation.Scot , they IMO are the arrowheads that are forging a new awakening in our quest for independence , we have to find a way to impeach these people for the corruption and collusion of their actions, I also think we need to crowdfund a prosecution of these betrayers for the damage they have done to Scotland and Scots .
When I hear people talk about a truth and reconciliation committee I get angry I don't want reconciliation , I want revenge