If, as Mhairi Black states, the purpose of this Saturday’s rally is to “send a message to the Westminster establishment” then it will be a wasted effort. The Westminster establishment isn’t listening. The Westminster establishment doesn’t care.
Why should they care what Scotland says? The Union ensures that the Westminster establishment will always have the power to slap Scotland down. The No vote in 2014 gave the Westminster establishment a licence to do as it pleased with Scotland. The Nicola Sturgeon’s commitment to the Section 30 process allays any fears the Westminster establishment might have had that the Scottish Government intended to challenge its authority. The Westminster establishment has every reason to be confident that England-as-Britain’s grip on Scotland is secure.
Sending a message to the Westminster establishment will have no effect at all. If Mhairi Black and others want to shake things up, they should be addressing their speeches to Nicola Sturgeon. They should be urging her to take a more assertive approach to the constitutional issue. They should be telling her the time has come to challenge the power of the Westminster establishment. They should be insisting that she defend the principle of popular sovereignty. That she assert the authority of the Scottish Parliament. They should be demanding that she reject the alien concept of parliamentary sovereignty
They should press her to defy the authority of the British establishment. . Authority which may be ‘legal and constitutional’ in terms of British law and the British constitution, but which can never be just or rightful in terms of fundamental democratic principles.
Speakers at The National’s rally on Saturday should not waste their time talking to a British political elite which regards them with open contempt. They would do better to use the opportunity to remind our First Minister that where Scotland goes from here is up to her. It is the decisions she makes at this time which will determine Scotland’s future. It is her actions, and the actions of her government which matter; not the Westminster establishment.
They should be pointing out to the First Minister that, if she truly believes Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands then she must accept that it will only get there if she wrests control from the Westminster establishment, rather than hoping that they might graciously give it up if she abides by their rules.
They should be emphasising that the overriding reason for seeking the restoration of Scotland’s independence is that it is right. The Union must be ended because it is wrong.
Mhairi Black’s is a powerful voice. A persuasive voice. She should not be wasting that voice talking to the Westminster establishment. She should be using it to inspire Nicola Sturgeon to be the bold, assertive leader Scotland needs.
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Peter A Bell 
I can’t believe we’re still thinking in this 20th century political paradigm way. We have moved way beyond that. It seems clear that Boris Johnson wants to break up government in the UK so he and his corporate gangster pals can sell us to the USA to exploit and destroy like they do their own increasingly third world country. So why the hell the SNP are faffing aboot playing the ‘sanctimonious moral arbiter’ role is beyond me. Maybe they think that’s their strong suit. It’s not. Psychopaths do not respect kindly people, no matter how much the latter may want them to.
The SNP are talking to people who don’t listen to a word they say, and actively walk out of the room when they stand up to speak in Westchimpster. It’s incredible how much disrespect they will stand for! We need to think round this old obsolete paradigm and move into 21st century political thought-waters, where corporations are killing old politics for fun and profit. Then we need to figure out what the hell to do about it. Cos the SNP’s brick-wall headbanging right now is nothing but an anachronistic undignified embarrassment.
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”So why the hell the SNP are faffing aboot playing the ‘sanctimonious moral arbiter’ role is beyond me.”
The SNP have been fighting to keep Scotland in the EU, WRYCR, as per the demand of 62% of the Scottish electorate (pro and anti-Independentistas) in 2016. No one could have envisaged that this Brexit fiasco would have taken such twists and turns and more than anything dragged on for so long. We’re in the end game now. Let’s see who wins the GE. Let the Scots see who will be ruling the roost over Scotland for God knows how long into the future. This will give Nicola Sturgeon, finally, what she needs to make her case for Independence V remaining in the Union. Up until now she’s had no idea of how this would pan out, leave, stay, or whatever deal, so couldn’t, for example, stand up and debate the pros and cons. Many issues will still hang in the balance following the GE depending on who wins of course, however the clarity that she needs is forthcoming. And even if it leads to a people’s vote via Corbyn (which I doubt) and remain wins all hell will be let loose south of the border. And as Peter Bell has pointed out on here Brexit, which ever way it goes, isn’t our only case for holding Indyref2 and leaving the hellhole. Our list of grievances now and multiple breaches of the Treaty of the Union give us great cause to get out.
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Curtice predictions in relation to the forthcoming GE.
http://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/shelagh-fogarty/professor-john-curtice-makes-surprising-prediction/
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a 50+ Female.
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Nicola’s hands have been tied up to now! You mention our first ref, the following year Scotland turned yellow! Being found out as total liers, made no voters angry and that vote told a very different story! I know a lot of no 2014 voters who have become yes! Scotland is full of them! If the next Indy vote in Scotland, didn’t allow the English in Scotland to vote, we will walk the next one!! If we had banned the English from voting in the 1st one, Scotland would now be independent!! Cameron found that out before his brexit vote, so banned EU voters from voting in his referendum! What’s good for the goose, should be good for the gander! Johnson is banning EU voters and 16-18’s from voting this election, because he knows the Tory’s would lose if they were allowed to vote!
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There is no ethnic component to Scotland’s civic nationalism. Nor shall there ever be.
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“… remind our First Minister that where Scotland goes from here is up to her.” It should not be up to one person to decide Scotland’s future. What happened to the sovereignty of the people? What gave Nicola so much power? It’s undemocratic!
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The people gave her that power. That’s the way our democracy works. We elect a Parliament. They elect a First Minister. She makes the big decisions/ Not alone. But she is ultimately responsible. She, and her party, have to answer to the electorate.
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