This letter was published in The National on December 21st and explains why Scotland, a naturally wealthy nation, suffers from high levels of endemic poverty. The cure is simple - we must end our colonial status and restore our sovereignty.
There’s been a chorus of criticism of the Scottish government over its recent budget from unionist politicians and media. But why should anyone be surprised over Scotland’s dismal state? The reason is our status as a de facto English colony.
As a colony, we don’t own our own resources so we can’t provide heat and power for the costs of production which is what nationalized energy companies do. Instead, our resources are owned by private corporations that cream off profits for shareholders.
We can’t create our own key industries for transport or control our ports because they are owned by foreign governments and hedge funds. We can’t export our surplus energy for normal commercial prices or control our national grid because both are in the hands of Westminster.
We lack a central bank to create needed investment and must rely on a foreign bank that doesn’t prioritise Scotland’s interests. We receive back less than half our tax revenues from England yet are expected to be grateful for our “colonial pittance”.
We can’t hold public votes on national decisions that affect every Scot because we’re outnumbered 10 to 1 in Westminster and Holyrood, a creature of Westminster, has limited powers that can be curtailed and withdrawn any time London wishes.
We don’t have a Scottish-owned media, but one controlled by international conglomerates and the BBC that bombards us daily with propaganda.
We can’t devise our own foreign policy to enable international diplomacy and trade, nor can we decide whether we want weapons of mass destruction on our soil.
And we can’t end endemic poverty and guarantee everyone a dignified living wage, paid for from the profits of our nationalized energy resources, while we are trapped in the failing UK.
The sovereign Scottish People can and must end this union.
Leah Gunn Barrett
The reason is that the Scottish Government is in fact a colonial administration. The SNP has been effectively captured by the British State. MPs are more interested in retaining their seats, salaries and pensions than extricating us from the UK. This isn't surprising. Devolution is a creature of the union and power devolved is power that can be taken away quite easily as we've seen. No nation has escaped from the clutches of the British via a political party. It has always been through a people's liberation movement. Scotland will be no different. We the People must create the wave that the politicians will be forced to either ride or be submerged beneath.
I agree with all you say Leah, so why do our politicians not talk about our colonial status, challenge Westminster on this, and use the people's sovereignty to attain our goal?