The Viceroy's real message - suck it up, Scotland
Published in The National, March 28th, 2025 and in the Edinburgh Evening News, March 31st.
Who does he think he’s kidding? In his latest propaganda piece, Viceroy Murray attempts to spin Rachel from accounts Reeves’ dire spring statement into something positive for Scotland.
The only thing he can dredge up from her execrable speech is that more defence spending will “boost Scotland’s prosperity. ” This is a load of crap. The money will flow directly into the voracious maw of the Military Industrial Complex and even if it didn’t, defence spending has one of the lowest fiscal multipliers of any kind of public spending, usually less than one. Spending on nuclear weapons (Dreadnought will cost £41bn), the multiplier is actually negative, meaning it reduces economic activity.
Military spending doesn't add to the productive capacity of the economy. If Reeves’ purported aim is economic growth, then she should direct government spending towards anything but the military. An analysis by the Scottish Administration found that defence spending has one of the lowest employment multipliers of all economic categories. It ranks 70th (out of 100) in terms of the employment it creates. Health spending is rated number 1 and has a fiscal multiplier of over 4. So the Viceroy is wrong, as usual, that defence spending is ‘jobs rich.’
He goes on to assert that “Scotland has a unique part to play in national security.” What he really means is that Scotland is forced to host the UK’s ageing and highly radioactive ‘nuclear deterrent’ which has contributed, along with the Sellafield reprocessing plant, the rotting nuclear hulks at Rosyth and the nuclear power stations, to Scotland being the world’s cancer capital.
On top of that Reeves’ spending cuts mean Holyrood’s paltry allowance will be reduced, resulting in more poverty and misery.
Meanwhile, the Scottish administration ‘welcomed’ the increase in defence spending.
This just confirms the fecklessness of all political parties, especially the ones we expected to fight for us. Instead, they seem perfectly happy to roll over and let the hoi polloi take the abuse from our colonial overlords as long as their salaries and pensions are protected.
Where’s the outrage?
Excellent piece as usual. Very informative. Make it required reading in our schools. What the traitors and quislings mean when they say that Scotland plays a unique part in the sh*tty uk defence is basically we are the FRONT LINE should it come to nuclear war. ( Putin already has mentioned it)
Why Scotland? Because the foreign english said they couldn't find any 'deepwater' to take the subs. Nope it's because we are expendable. I suspect the SNP would go along with that. Someone should point out to them that they would lose their cosy wee sinecures if they were aw' deid. I would imagine the foreign english would throw a celebratory party if the troublesome 'jocks' - aka as 'savages' or even 'TURDS' were eliminated in one fell swoop.
We should get the ageing subs, put them on lorries and send them doon tae Londonabad and park them outside the cesspit. A wee present fae Scotland tae the foreign english . Sabotage also comes to mind so that this blot on our beautiful land is removed. A blot put there by a FOREIGN english nation. Such a brave wee nation....great at hiding behind Scotland.
I have to reprimand Derek who calls Murray a 'Muppet'. Muppets are funny and entertaining.. (I'd go along with PUPPET.) .. this monster is dangerous and a disgrace to our nation. We know there is only one answer to the 'foreign english problem ' and that is INDEPENDENCE aka FREEDOM or UDI.
For OUR Scotland and our future weans to come.
The SNP welcoming military spending along Brit foreign policy lines. The SNP are unionists. I voted for them for 32 years. They have joined the ranks of the bought and sold. Political and moral trash.