Month: September 2019

Here is a blog I did exactly 4 years ago where I warned that the forthcoming Scottish elections should be used as a mandate for independence, just as I had warned that this should have been done in the General Election which was held a few months previously. Had we done this at that GE then there would have been no need to have written this blog as we would have been independent at that time, as we returned 56 MP’s to Westminster which would have been an overwhelming mandate to begin independence negotiations with the British government. As it turned out the SNP also failed to make the 2016 Scottish elections anything to do with independence, not only that but they committed a massive fraud on their supporters by insisting on both votes going to them. Between sweeping independence under the carpet and the idiotic instruction to cast both votes to them, they lost their overall majority in Holyrood and in effect facilitated a large number of unionist members to be elected.

If the above wasn’t bad enough, only a few weeks after I wrote the blog attached, I and others in the yes bus team were attacked, vilified and abused in the most awful manner in a campaign led by members of the SNP and in particular employees and officers in the Dundee West office, for having the temerity to organise a rally naming it a Road Map To independence. A rally we opened up to speakers and politicians to talk on their particular ideas of a road map. The rally went ahead despite the efforts of the SNP and was a great success without any input by way of speakers from the SNP. I will be writing in more detail about this incident in the next few weeks.

So why am I bringing this up now? well simply because they are about to make the same mistake ( if indeed it was a mistake) again. We are almost surely heading for a general election and the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon are not only refusing to make the GE a mandate for independence but they are also refusing to even have independence debated at their party conference, incredible. Let us hope that some sense can be injected into the hierarchy of the SNP, hopefully by way of Angus McNeil’s motion to conference regarding a plan B
I for one am not holding my breath.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206133630713786&set=a.3031249214260&type=3&eid=ARCYj-v659W345pqNhWqnqUWrCVcQYl__JZm3nhOjoNEc3dHAhQqzLeLz41y3D7w61WG1O3CFkGjgozx

Sorry to say it but that is exactly what the SNP are taking us for, Over the last 5 years we have had one promise after the next with regard to independence and none of them have even reached the edge of the long grass. Now it is even worse as the SNP under pressure from the faithful are about as far into the corner as it is possible to go and we have speeches from Ian Blackford and Nicola sturgeon desperately trying contain descent by a play on words designed to get stupid people to believe that there is a referendum imminent. Well, what I would ask you all to do is look at the speeches again because none of them say anything about when a referendum will happen or even that it will happen because the SNP are still going along that nonsensical rout of the “Gold Standard” of a section 30.,

A five year old child will realize that if we ever managed to attain independence through the granting of a section 30, we would be the only country in the World to have done so, so where do they get this absolutely ridiculous “Gold Standard “That is simply a sound bite for the feeble minded.

Still we have this “Nicola has a cleaver plan” and ” why do you think the leadership should tell you their plans” bind faith, which is positively pathetic and I would like to give you a practical analogy of this which happened just a few hours ago .

I am on a cruise at the moment and this Morning we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Now the ship I am on is huge and there was another two of these giant cruise ships in harbor at the same time., So that meant that there was literally thousands of people getting off the ships at the same time., Now unfortunately there was no signs directing people to the town Centre as there is normally at cruise ports, therefor people had to find their own way to the Centre. So what do you think the majority of them did? They followed the person in front of them, Just like the faithful in the ranks of the SNP. What they did was put all of their faith in the leader, the guy in the front. Now they had no way of knowing that the guy in the front had the same agenda as they did but they hoped he did, so because they did not have faith in their own ability they placed all their hope and trust in one person , the guy at the front of the parade . I didn’t do that, I looked for evidence which would lead me to the town center, such as returning local tour busses, and the fact that there was a historic citadel I had read about and as Halifax is built on a hill it seemed logical that the citadel would be at the top of it and the town built around it. So I headed off the main road and up hill and guess what ? I found the city Centre without much bother and looking back towards the harbor I saw a steady line of people following some guy home for his lunch.

This is what is happening with the SNP at the moment and has been since the last referendum. People flocked to them on the disappointment of the referendum result , and what did the SNP do with this new and eager Army ? nothing , and as I warned at the time the worst thing you can do with an Army is let it remain idle. many of these people are still there clinging on to the forlorn hope that their glorious leader knows what she is doing., When people question why nothing has happened since 2014 they attack them , sometimes in the most vile manner. This because they have either never had the ability or have became incapable of, making their own decisions based on evidence and instead flock around the bunker the SNP got themselves into when Nicola Sturgeon was crowned the Queen of the independence movement.

Now over the years since the referendum I have voiced my concerns, whilst the SNP have been the beneficiary of circumstance, as they were in the 2015 General election. Make no doubt about it we won that despite the SNP not because of it, as under Nicola Sturgeon, independence has been deliberately swept under the carpet in every election since and we have paid for it by a loss of seats in every election since , with the loss of over half a million votes in the 2017 snap general election.

Incredibly , the reason for this sweeping independence under the carpet was to allow people to see that the SNP could govern well and people would then come over to support independence, Now just think for a minute at how stupid that was. You have people who voted Yes and people who voted no, The people who voted Yes are ,in the main going to vote Yes again . It is the people who voted no who we have to convince . Now these people voted no for various reasons the main one being that they believed that being governed under the Union was in their best interest. Now how on earth are you going to convince them to vote yes if you show them that they can actually be governed better under the union. This is the infantile thinking of the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon, it is simply stupid.

New recently I have had experience of the mindset of the cult followers of Saint Nicola, as I have made my intention clear that I will be standing against the current SNP MP Chris Law out if sheer exasperation at the SNP refusal to take advantage of the present chaos in the ranks of the Tory government together with the prospect of Scotland being torn out of the EU against our expressed will. I have had quite a selection of mindless and vile comments regarding my democratic decision to stand against something I feel is not in the interest of my country and that is the stupid waste of a general election ( with voting intentions showing a wipe out of Tory and Labour seats in Scotland) to not go for a victory on a manifesto of declaring independence on a majority. The same way as most other countries do when becoming independent.

Scotland has a long history of fighting against vested interests . Both William Wallace and Robert the Bruce had to defeat the Scots before they could start on the English occupiers. We have forever had traitors in our ranks. Even Bruce was a favorite of Edward before he turned against him. So we have the same problem today. We have two problems as I see it . We have Nicola Sturgeon who , it would seem has been working to save the union for some considerable time now and indeed working against the democratically expressed will of the English people as they voted to leave the EU. But there is more in it than that and I honestly feel it is a lot to do with the Alex Salmond affair. I believe Nicola and her husband could be responsible for the set up of Salmond. I am of the opinion that Nicola has very difficult questions to answer surrounding her previous statements regarding meetings which took place at her home and indeed in connections with some of the complainants in the case. If there were to be a campaign for independence and these issues aired then perhaps this would present difficulties , but if that is the case then she should leave now and clear the way for someone new to take the fight forward.

OK still on the theme of traitors in the ranks. One of Bruce’s problems was that he had properties in England granted by Edward so stood to loose if he went against him and this could have been why he never gave full support to Wallace. Ok, so we have much the same situation here, as we have 35 MP’s in Westminster getting around £78,000 + per year some of which probably owning properties which are receiving substantial assistance with mortgages from Westminster. So here we have it the Turkeys voting for Christmas analogy, and that is quite possibly where we have the modern-day traitors that Wallace and Bruce had to defeat before they started on the real enemy.

I had a debate on Facebook regarding my intention to stand against Chris Law, with a couple of SNP acolyte’s who misguidedly think of themselves as intellectuals, the other day. It was a debate punctuated by accusations of vanity and just not knowing what I am taking about, as my betters with all the political experience obviously know better. It was actually quite humorous. I made the point that I have known Chris for many years and like him , in fact I had a big hand in having him selected and then elected to parliament but I am concerned that he has not been doing what we sent him down there for and that is why I will stand against him. They made great play over what they saw as the fact that he has done well as an MP. I asked them to give me a list of the initiatives he has instituted in the cause of independence and after asking the same question several times I asked for only one initiative they could name in regard to independence., Needless to say I am still waiting on the answer and wont get one because there is no answer to that question. These people were sent down to settle up and instead they have settled in. If by some chance I am elected I will cause as much chaos in the interests if independence as one person can possibly cause, and that is a promise.

Another analogy that presented itself today was that when I was on my way back to the ship and entered the harbor area, I came across a large store which was sited right along side where the cruise liners dock , This was called “The Farmers Market” now looking around I could see that as this was right in the dock area and there was really no way that this could be readily accessible to the general public , so why would you get a traditional “Farmers Market” next to cruise liners that it is forbidden to take foodstuffs back on board . Well the answer is simple , it is a marketing exercise as when on say, Caribbean islands Farmers markets are popular with cruise guests , not for what they can take back on board but just for local color and interest. So that is what the SNP are they are a marketing trap, Scottish National Party, the party of independence, right? Well no actually, as the tens of thousands of people who joined the party after the referendum are beginning to realize . The truth is that they are no longer the party of independence they are a unionist party , nothing less

I remember after Chris was elected and I was standing in Mennies having a pint with him before he went down to Westminster. He asked me what I thought . I told him that it would change him, but it was up to him as to just how much of a change it would be ( he is living in a Castle now). I quoted from Wallace’s address to his men before the battle of Falkirk. I said ” I have brought you to the ring now dance best you can” I fully intend giving Chris some dancing lessons in the forthcoming tussle. The coming weeks will tell whether Nicola sturgeon will address the unrest that is growing by the day within the independence movement as she plays with words and attempts to quell dissent by half promises, which amount to yet another mandate for a section 30 groveling acceptance without an ultimatum of what will happen if the answer is yet again no.

Until then I am afraid she is indeed treating honest hard working activists like bunch of mugs.

I apend below a piece I wrote in September 2015, and yes I did tell you so . I warned of SNP complacency and their fear of promoting independence. You will see it covers two main events the run up to the war in Syria ( which came about) and the bunker mentality of the SNP ( which still exists), Now we find ourselves on the cusp of yet another exceptional event as the Tory government implode and resort to the most devious tactics ever employed in the parliament of the UK. We will know on Monday if their latest attempt to force a general election before the 31 October will be successful. This simply for the propose of winding down the clock to Brexit day so that we will leave without a deal. This ,hopefully has been forestalled by the opposition parties who managed to bring in legislation to take away the option of a no deal Brexit but this of course does not hold a future Government to the same strictures and could be overturned by a majority government.

We are on the verge of a general election , the prime oportunity for the SNP to go for it on an independence ticket and use the result to ascertain the peoples will in relation to independence. Surely after all the promises , the marching of the troops to the top of the hill and down again, the constant affirmation that we have a triple lock mandate for a referendum. Surely Nicola Sturgeon will grasp this god given opportunity to move towards independence.

I fear not, as from the utterings that have been coming from her she seemes to still be banging on about ” the gold standard” a section 30 order, which temporarily sets aside schedule 5 of the Scotland act. Now any one listening to her speaking about this “gold standard” method of legitimizing a referendum might just think that this is standard practice on a countries road to independence, but in fact it is nothing of the sort because if by some chance we were to achieve independence by this manner ,we would be the only country on the planet ever to have done so. No, all of the rest of the countries who have achieved their independence have either had to fight for it or they have simply ascertained the will of the people and declared independence. This ” gold standard” is a figment of Nicolas overactive imagination.

It is now time for, either the SNP to do their job ( which is gain independence) and stop trying to save the UK, which is what they have been trying to do for the last three years since the Brexit referendum or for a new party to be formed which will concentrate on independence.

In this respect, two weeks ago I declared my intention to stand as an independent, independence candidate in a possible forthcoming General election. I would go a step further and encourage Stuart Campbell of Wings over Scotland ( who has suggested fielding candidate in the next Scottish elections for list seats only) to start his new party now and field candidates in this forthcoming General election if the SNP will not use it as a mandate for independence. It is way past the ridiculous stage when the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon continually go cap in hand to successive incompetent Tory governments to ASK permission to hold a referendum. She is demeaning the Scottish people and should be ashamed of herself.

I have had it said ( not by too many people) that if I stood in this election I could split the vote. My answer is this. No, because there would be two completely different issues. A vote for the SNP would be a vote to remain in the UK for an indeterminate time, whereas a vote for me would be a vote to leave the UK at the very first opportunity which, if Nicola Sturgeon was to get her act together could be within the next couple of Months.

The time for prevarication is past ,it is time for action now. We are on our road to independence Nicola, if you don’t like it, then leave and let someone else take over.

Bob Costello‎ toYES BUS… SCOTLAND’S DRAGON FOR INDY 6 September 2015 at 16:13 · Dundee

THE ROAD

The drums of war are a beating once again and this time the perpetrators of another incursion into the affairs of the Middle East, the Tories , have an outright majority in parliament, so buckle up your kit Lads and Lasses because you could very well be on your way to Syria.

Yet again we seem to be on the brink of another disastrous incursion in the affairs of another nation . A nation which by Middle East standards was being run reasonable well until we decided to encourage an uprising for the purpose of regime change , ostensibly because it was being run by a dictator , similar to other countries in the Middle East like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman etc .
So why you might ask are we not attempting regime change in these other countries? Well simply because we are the best of buddies with these countries so we turn a blind eye to the governance of these dictatorships.
So why are we not so happy with Assad of Syria? Well it’s complicated but to be truthful, we don’t really have much of a problem with him but our best buddies the Israelis do, and that is alł to do with the Golan heights which is where Syria borders on Israel and has been occupied by Israel since the Six day war in 1967. Now the complication there is believe it or not , Oil. Yes there is oil in the Golan heights and Israel has started drilling for it , an action which is against all international accords which relate to occupied territories.
Now if we could just get rid of Assad and install a nice friendly and compliant government ,then I am sure they could come to some accommodation with Israel to annex the Golan heights to Israel, this time legally because it has been done before ,in around 1983 if my memory serves me well.

So here we go again , the West doing Israel’s dirty work for them. Now can anyone hazard a guess why we have a terrorist problem? Yes you are right ” Israel”

So let’s get back to this country and when I say ” this country” I mean Scotland. Now you might have noticed that we have at present a wee independence situation here , in as much as it would appear the majority of Scots would like to see this country independent , according to the Ipsos Mori poll taken the week before last. Now it is only one poll but it forms a pattern since the referendum. In fact it follows a pattern for over two years as when the last referendum was announced polling was standing at around 25% ,over the referendum campaign it rose to a high to 51% then dropped back to 45% at the actual referendum ( if the polling figures were accurate) since the referendum they have steadily risen and now stand at 54% for independence. Now this may or may not be a blimp but the direction has at least been all in the one direction and that is towards independence .

Ok so what relevance has all this to do with what’s going on in the Middle East ? Well quite a lot actually ,because Nicola Sturgeon who is the leader of the SNP has on several occasions alluded to the scenario of ” an exceptional event” triggering another referendum. Such an exceptional event could in fact be about to happen and that could be the Tory Government taking us to war again and this is going to be the granddaddy of them all because we are going to have a hell of a job choosing the enemy. We could choose Assad because he owns the Golan Hight’s which have all that lovely oil that Israel wants or we could choose ISIS or Al quida who are sworn enemies of both us and Assad , because we put them up to it in the first place and us, because of our support for Israel. Complicated? Yes very and that is why there will not be a good outcome , unless you think that another half a million refugees is a good thing.

Now getting back to independence, yes we might actually be on the brink of ” an exceptional event” and with the polls going in our favour you might think that hey, we are on our way. But you would be wrong and the reason for this is that we are not ready for a snap referendum. Why? You might ask is that. Well during the last referendum we made several big mistakes , mistakes such as not explaining properly that there would be no adverse effect on pensions in the event of independence. also there was huge concern regarding monetary union and the No campaign latched on to this and because of certain people’s stubbornness it was thought that we did not have a plan B.

A couple of days after the referendum and realising that although we had just lost a battle ,we had not lost the war .I approached the SNP and asked the question, ” OK what’s the plan”. This question was met by ” the plan”? There WAS no plan and a year later these questions ,pensions and monetary union have not been answered , and that is way we are not prepared for a referendum.

Wake up SNP for goodness sake and get us back on the road to independence .

We through the Yes Bus for independence ,campaigned hard throughout the referendum campaign ( as did all other grass roots campaigns and SNP activists) and then we supported Chris Law in his selection to stand for Dundee West. We then campaigned for Chris to be sent down to Westminster .
A few days before he went down there I spoke to him in Menies over a pint I warned him against getting too comfortable in Westminster because he might be back sooner than he thought. I expressed my concern that the SNP might wander off the road to independence.I gave him a quote from William Wallace spoken before the battle of Falkirk , I said ” we have brought you to the ring , now dance best you can” ( he said he might use it in his Maiden speech) .
I told him that the Yes bus team has sweated blood for the cause of independence and that I had had enough, and was retiring from the ring. But there would be one exception and that was if I thought that perhaps the party had in some way veered of the well trodden track of independence and their commitment had in some way wained then we would be back and the big blue bus would be once again on our City Square and this time it would be there to get them back on the track.

Well this has come to pass and we will be there in our City Square on October the 4th and we will be there to call the SNP to account . We the people want a road map to independence and we expect the SNP to provide one. We would like our politicians to speak to the people in Dundee on the 4th October to tell us of the road map to independence. That road map doesn’t have to have a date but it has to have the preparation attached to it and the SNP must stop being terrified of the word independence and terrified of the press.

And one more thing , I personally am fed up of having to say I told you so.

We are still on the road to independence
This is our unfinished journey.
Bob

A memory of a trip I did one year ago when I was persuaded to once more get out on the road to take a tour to the outer Hebrides with a group of Swedish people. This was day five of the trip

Bob Costello

27 August 2018 ·

Trip to the Hebrides day 5.
Well second last day and last full day on the islands .
Day started at 7.30 loading luggage then taking the guys from
Loch Boisdale Hotel to the Askernish Golf course then back again for some breakfast then load up the ladies luggage and on the road to Eriskay, a trip of about half an hour.

Having told them about the “Whisky Galore” incident where the ship Politician, ran aground in the shallows off the island of Eriskay with a cargo of Whisky which was subsequently claimed by the locals, they were interested to see the pub of the same name built in the 1980,s.
We headed there only to find that it was shut and did not open till 11 o’clock. The Outer Hebrides are fantastic islands but they do themselves no favours with their crazy opening hours, or to be more exact, their closed hours.

Last night after dinner ( which took far too long) I had my, now costomery, debate with the owner of the Lochboisdale hotel, on independence. These debates generally range into the night with copious amounts of beer and wine being consumed in the process and the rest of the bar customers becoming alarmed at times. Last night I had to be careful with the beer as I was driving today, but I am beginning to see chinks in his Unionist armour. His piece de resistance last night was.” Ah but you see I am actually for independence, but I would like to see a border drawn along the highland line, which would give the highlands and the islands, the oil” ” it wouldn’t work” I quickly retorted. “Why” he said ” because you would want to close the rigs on a sunday” I said. Game set and match. We always part the best of friends, agreeing to take up the debate on my next visit.

I digress, so after our visit to the closed, Politician and realising that a closed Politician Pub is about as useful as our real Politicians, I took the ladies a walk along the beach under strict condition that they were not to tear off their clothes and throw themselves into the sea as they did the other day on Lewis. They wandered off along the beach whilst I sat and pondered the meaning of life and the mysteries of the universe. Coming out of my trance I realised that they had disappeared from view around a headland and realising that we had to return to Askernish to collect the men and get to the ferry by one o’clock, I set off after them. When I reached the headland, they were nowhere to be seen. OOps lost four clients. How was I going to explain this to their husbands? My first thought was that they had indeed decided to go for a swim after all and been swept out to sea or been eaten by a sea monster. I headed back to the bus intending driving further along the road that ran parallel with the shore and there they were, waiting at the bus. Hmm , they had decided not to walk back along the beach to where I was waiting for them, in the full realisation that my mind reading abilities would kick in and I would of course deduce that they had taken another rout back, women!!

So back to Askernish where I locked the Women in the bus whilst I went to collect the men and set off to the ferry, getting there in plenty of time where, to kill time I engaged two Jehovah’s Witnesses ( who had set up a stall at the slipway) in a debate about religion in a blatant attempt to convert them to Atheism., I think it was a draw, as they did not convince me of the advantages of their way of life and when I left them, they still had the stall and were handing out leaflets.

Really nice trip over to Barra on the ferry in brilliant Sunshine, with the cocelshell beach used as a landing runway for the airport coming into sight from about half way over. After docking we headed straight for the Airport for some lunch and to watch the plane landing , perfect timing.

A nice lunch at the Airport Cafe and then a walk over the Machre and onto the beach on the west side of the island ( see photos below). Sten , (the group leader) went in for a swim but was pretty hyperthermic when he crawled out of the water., I had a paddle. The Women ,unfortunately did not take their clothes off to have a swim. So after we managed to get some life into Sten and get his circulation going again the group went for a long walk along the beach and I fell asleep in the sun.

Back in the bus and a drive down the west side of the island ,stopping at the 9 hole golf course for a wee look. Must be the only golf course in the World to have an honesty box for the £10 fee for as many rounds as you like.

Then on to the Craigard Hotel which sits above Castlebay overlooking Kismul Castle in the bay. Looking forward to dinner tonight as the seafood on Barra is second to none.
Have a good monday evening folks

Slainte