Scotland will always be on the sidelines in the failing UK
Published in the March 3rd edition of The Edinburgh Evening News.
In his latest column, the Viceroy boasts, “Scotland is no longer on the sidelines.” Apart from being a load of crap, it shows that the Viceroy thinks Scots are idiots, when the only idiots are the ones who voted for his unionist party.
The Viceroy claims that the 37 English Labour MPs in Scotland are “fighting for Scotland’s interests,” and praises three in particular who are “serving at the heart of government” - Michael Shanks, Douglas Alexander and Kirsty McNeill. Yes, they’re serving at the heart of government - the UK government.
Let’s take each in turn.
What has the inanely grinning Michael Shanks, minister for energy, done for Scotland?
Let Grangemouth close
Even though it was profitable, Scotland’s only oil refinery at Grangemouth is closing with the loss of nearly 3000 jobs, even though English Labour vowed to save the jobs. Shanks said he was “confident” the workers could find other work.
The UK couldn’t cough up £60m to upgrade the hydrocracker but managed to find £600m for multi-billionaire Brexit-backing Jimmy Ratcliffe and his Ineos empire to build a new plant in Antwerp, Belgium.
Promoted the GB Energy scam
GB Energy won’t produce or sell energy or own any infrastructure. It’s a shell company with a brass nameplate in Aberdeen and a CEO in Manchester who says it won’t meet the pledge to employ 1000 people for 20 years. It will depend 100% on the private sector and mostly foreign government-owned generators to stump up funding. Sounds like another Private Finance Initiative (PFI) fraud, doesn’t it?
Failed to cut energy prices
English Labour pledged to cut energy bills by £300, but the price cap has soared 18% since July. That’s because Starmer’s government refuses to address the root causes of high energy prices - a privatised energy sector where profiteering is rife, marginal cost pricing where prices are set by most expensive fuel (gas), and national rather than regional pricing (regional pricing would mean Scots would have the cheapest electricity in Europe). Instead, Shanks, the Viceroy and 33 other Scottish Labour MPS voted to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance. Meanwhile, fuel poverty grows in energy rich Scotland.
Next, here’s expense fraudster Douglas Alexander, English Labour MP for Lothian East.
Too busy jetting around the globe to worry about Scotland
It turns out he holds two ministerial portfolios - trade and cabinet office, which not only means he won’t have time to hold constituent surgeries but also he’ll have more opportunities to fiddle his expenses. Who can forget that in 2009, while MP for Paisley, he had to repay £12k that he fraudulently claimed for his second home while raking in rent for the same property.
His official trips from July to September took him to Riyadh, Oman, Thailand and Laos and in January, he was in South Africa and Botswana.
There’s a fawning interview with Alexander in Holyrood magazine, owned by Lord Ashcroft’s UK-based media groupPolitical Holdings, that claims Douglas is a “changed man,” but apparently not changed enough to support the UK joining the European customs union or single market which would benefit Scottish businesses slammed by Brexit.
Finally, here’s Kirsty McNeill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Scotland, who the Viceroy insists is “making Scotland’s voice heard.”
“You expect me to do something about poverty?”
On a recent visit to Drumchapel to hear about extreme poverty from community organisations, Kirsty said:
The key message that I'm taking away from them is this is not purely the government's issue to solve either for the benefit system or through public services, much as though investment in those two areas would be welcome. What I heard from frontline community organisations is that they hold a huge part of the answer and that they want to be treated as having esteem on a par with the public sector because they are often the last line of defence for communities. And my God, they're doing extraordinary work, absolutely extraordinary work.
That sums up English Labour’s approach to reducing poverty. Let charities, Gordon Brown’s multi-banks and the Scottish Administration deal with the problem because the UK Government can’t/won’t lift a finger.
When will Scots realise that their nation will always be on the sidelines as long as it is in the failing UK? The “union” was designed to sideline us - 543 English vs 57 Scottish MPs - to make it easy for the UK to subjugate our people and steal our resources, which it has been doing for 318 years.
And because the Scottish colonial administration hasn’t shown any willingness to extricate us, many people are in despair.
At the SNP conference last September First Minister Swinney said:
“I have complete faith in the people of Scotland to take the right decisions about their future. If we give them the tools, they can build whatever country they want.”
But we don’t have the tools. That’s why we’re asking all Scots to sign the petition demanding that the FM and MSPs implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) into Scots law before the end of this parliament.
ICCPR Article 1 says:
Give us the tools, First Minister, then we take our nation back.
Thanks Leah, only just managed to read this excellent article...I can't see any other comments.
Totally correct, the EngLabCons and their operatives at Holyrood will always consider and treat Scotland as a colony of England, more than sidelined, more like lorded over, and shackled.
The BritEng state are not daft they know exactly what they are doing when it comes to soundbites, slogans, propaganda and well, basically outright lies, too many believe them.
I have signed the petition a wee while back...hope it's sucessful. Thanks.