I didn't notice a formal request from the First Minister to the British Prime Minister for a Section 30 order. But the British government has apparently rejected it anyway. Which will come as something of a relief to Nicola Sturgeon. Or at least it should. Nobody of consequence has ever accused the woman of stupidity. … Continue reading Bullet dodged
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh is confused. She seems to imagine that Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is the enemy. There is no doubt Scotland has cause to regard this odious individual as an enemy. But is he the enemy? Is he the thing that is doing great harm to our nation? Is he the thing we must … Continue reading Know thy enemy
That's a good question. Once we get past the number disagreement - 'SNP' is singular! - it's a very good question. It was asked by Mark Mair on a Facebook thread about the SNP's appointment of Ricky Taylor as party's new complaints officer. The first tranche of complaints this young person will have to deal … Continue reading Why are the SNP determined to self-harm?
Imperatives, options and constraints. Figure out these three things and you can predict what any political actor is going to do with a very high degree of certainty. The future is not a complete mystery. The present and recent past are littered with clues. Examine those clues as dispassionately as you may and the future … Continue reading Holyrood has to go!
Other than the absence of references to the Section 30 process in her statements and speeches, the indications are that the SNP's 'official' position continues to be that the party is seeking a mandate to first of all petition Boris Johnson for the permission he has repeatedly and unequivocally said he will not grant under any circumstances. The purpose of this being, apparently, to prove to the international community that Boris is not lying when he says this and that the Scottish Government acknowledges Scotland's subordinate status in the Union.
When Boris Johnson shows me something and says look at my plan I expect to see a bungling buffoon stuck on a zip-wire. For no reason other than that is the image I simply can't help associating with the vacuous ideologue.
Mr Russell is correct about the British government denying the people of Scotland our "basic democratic rights". But it is Section 30 of the Scotland Act which legitimises this denial with authority derived from the Union. He is correct when he observes that this denial of our right of self-determination is "illegal under international law". But Section 30 makes it legal under British law. NICOLA STURGEON SAYS THAT SECTION 30 IS THE ONLY PROCESS WHICH IS "LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL"
One of democracy's imperfections is its fragility combined with its appearance of robustness and resilience. Those whose direct personal experience is confined to a broadly democratic society do not easily imagine anything other. The corollary being a tendency to take democracy for granted. If only they realised how tenuous is our grip on the freedoms we assume to be ours by dint of nature, they would fear for those freedoms.
Mike Russell may be correct to say that the people of Scotland can vote for a referendum in the Holyrood election. He declines to add, however, that for them to do so the SNP must go into the election on a very explicit and quite unambiguous manifesto commitment to a process which will deliver a free and fair referendum at the earliest possible date. He might further have noted that, as things stand, the party of which he is President has given no such commitment.
The restoration of Scotland's independence is neither imminent nor inevitable. The complacency implied and fostered by such notions stands as one of the greatest threats to Scotland's cause.
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A blog by Iain Lawson
