There is some irony at listening to Starmer urging an election to "Let the people decide", the same Starmer who does not recognise Scotland's right to have a referendum to "Let the people decide". Yes, indeed, we had one in 2014 but materially, the UK has changed. We have elections every five years yet Scotland is continually denied democracy by, in effect, a foreign country, England. Is the union voluntary, yes it is, how then does Scotland leave ?
It's also humiliating because Starmer's on record as supporting the right to #indyref2 prior to the last Holyrood election and then subsequently stating he would never support it.
The presumption, contempt and bare faced mendacity are off the scale.
Why anybody in their right mind would still trust #Captain_UTurn beggars belief.
@Roadwarrior29 I don't think any of them see us as "people". They seem to view us as some kind of sub people who need them to make decisions on our behalf because we just can't be trusted to "decide" correctly. We keep voting wrong for a start, and that just reaffirms their low opinion of us.
They daren't acknowledge Scotland is a different country, a nation. It suits them to treat us as if we were an insignificant province. They know nothing about "Shrödinger's Scotland".
I have a Scottish friend who's been in England since the early 80s. They knew nothing about the Baby Box or the National Entitlement Card scheme or Social Security Scotland but their reaction to my mentioning Nicola Sturgeon in a recent conversation was fascinating. Pure unquestioning visceral contempt. But they couldn't explain clearly why they felt that way. They also agreed most folk in England believed they were "subsidising" Scotland with their taxes....
And the friend I'm talking about is a highly qualified very successful retired senior manager who worked in cross-cultural roles in a major multinational for nearly four decades. Go figure.
@CloudyMrs@Thebratdragon@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 I would rethink that. Guardiand writers yes, Guardian editors yes. However read the comments below any article on Scotland that they allow it and few appear to hate Scotland. There will always be the ‘too wee too poor too stupid' contingent anyway.
@Wen@Thebratdragon@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 if you regularly read a paper that's written and edited by folk who can't even bring themselves to say the word Scotland outside the travel section, you would have to take a bit of responsibility. Don't you think?
@CloudyMrs@Thebratdragon@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 Be fair. They have a ‘Scotland' section and a ‘Wales' and an ‘NI' one - all equally useless. Its only Scotland that they tend to lay into politically, ignoring anything positive.
But as they say, read the oppositions newspapers - it tells you what they are thinking, or rather asking others to think.
@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 Where would even the most educated person in England ever be able to find clear, fair and reliable reporting about what is happening in Scotland? The only reason half of Scots haven't fallen for the same media narrative of a country in utter despair and endless crisis is that we live here and have eyes.
@ScotInTraining@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 I think Scotland maybe attracts two different kinds of folk from South. Those like you who share values and are attracted by the lifestyle aspects, and those who see us as a cheap place to buy property but who are desperate to feel more at home by trying to push us further towards the values they have left behind. The first kind, love it and stay, the second kind get ever more scathing, join the Community Council, and then leave in despair.
@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 it's worse than that, though. The recent hot takes on Scottish politics and the absolutely bizarre rants about our elected government and the country in general betray both their ignorance and their contempt for us. They all claim to "Love Scotland", but they'd clearly love Scotland a lot more if they could rid it of the population who insist on having such silly opinions. Our refusal to share their far right tendencies just can't be tolerated.
@CloudyMrs@Roadwarrior29 Colour me surprised, twas ever so. Holyrood is excluded from the levers that might even enable people in the Islands and Highlands from benefiting from the power that is being generated there.
this is a view I've come across in varying forms - our grievances are trivial and airing them instead of sucking it up is ruining things for everyone else. Why can't we think of the greater good?
As I've mentioned in other posts Scots have been collectively assigned a series of character traits - part of which mirrors similar tropes given other member states of the Empire, that the locals are backward children who don't know what's best for them.
I should say ‘backwards and mean’ children, just as the Irish were described as ‘backwards and stupid’ in my childhood. Solid themes from the English Establishment.
@Roadwarrior29 They've wheeled out John Mcdonnell this morning to try and put the genocide genie back in the bottle 🙄
"If I get Keith to say sorry, will you vote for us again?"
@Roadwarrior29 I think it might be too late for that ... Did you see how blatantly racist a lot of them were being yesterday about council seats they lost?
"V Muslim area"
"Right next to a mosque"
"Hamas is the real winner"
@MadeyeTheCarnaptious@Roadwarrior29 He's hoist himself with the same petard though - they still think it's only Muslim voters who are "upset" and that we didn't hear him say it's ok to starve people.
There's so much wrong with just this one paragraph I don't even know where to start.
@DigitalTaoist@Roadwarrior29 There are a few of the current Labour party who should have had more integrity and left the party in the last few months, him included.
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