Author: bobsblog.scot

Well another milestone in what can only be called an interesting life as yesterday I arrived at my three score years and ten and before I go any further, I would like to thank all the people who sent their good wishes. I tried to answer every one of them individually but I probably missed some. For that, I apologise.

I am sitting her at the Crieff Hydro where the family have gathered for the weekend looking out on a snowy landscape and thinking on the last 70 years, or at least the years I can remember, which go back to the early years in Dudhope street at the foot of the Hiltown. I lived there until I was four.

We lived in a tenement, many of which were built to house the influx of workers from the countryside and places like Ireland, to man the new industry of Dundee , which was the manufacture of Jute yarn for use in the making of hessian and rope.

The house I started my life in was a two-bedroomed flat with an outside toilet, situated on the mutual stairway. There was also a mutual sink, placed on the communal landing. Each toilet and sink would be shared by four houses.

To the rear of the tenement was a row of washhouses which again were shared by all the houses in the tenement. The washing facilities consisted of a cast iron boiler set into a stone base with an open fire beneath which could be fired using wood or coal.

As kids, we made our own entertainment, which generally consisted of ranging through the back lands between the tenements, the air raid shelters and closes of the area between Dudhope street and Dalfeield walk and there were indeed adventures aplenty to be had.

Little did I realise in those days that I would be returning to the Hiltown in later life in another adventure which was to be the Windmill Bar , but that is a story for another time and an interesting story it is.

So, leaving Dudhope street at the age of four we moved to Kirkton , one of the new housing schemes being built during the brave new World after the second World war. To house the families living in overcrowded conditions in the tenements surrounding the Jute mills of Dundee and the men having returned from the war. The war to end all wars, how hollow that sounds today.

Kirkton was quite different from the tenements of Dundee, with well-built semi-detached villas with gardens. A Paradise, in comparison to where we had come from but perhaps not the character and community spirit where everyone helped their neighbour.

I still remember my first day at school, soon after we arrived in our new home. Being used to the freedom of Dudhope street, it was somewhat of a shock to the system to be confined within a building and expected to sit and listen to someone talk about things which did not involve digging holes in the ground or climbing on and jumping from air raid shelters or choosing as a dare the last possible second before running across a road in front of a lorry or more likely a horse and cart. So, having weighed up the situation I decide that this schooling was not for me, so I walked out of class and up the road to my home telling my Mother that I had decided to give schooling a miss, whereupon my Mum gave me a thick ear, grabbed me by the collar and marched me back down Haldane Terrace, to school.

I think that was the day when I realised that if I was to buck the system in the future, it would have to be done in a subtler manner.

So the years rolled on and we moved from Kirkton to Downfield , converting a house next to my Fathers Slating business in Strathmartine Road , that was at the age of seventeen whilst I was serving my apprenticeship as a Slater with my Father. This was where I lived for the next three years during which, and at the age of nineteen I built a house in Auchrerhouse , a village set in the Sidlaw hills to the North of Dundee.

Now when I say I built a house, I mean just that, because when I started building it I had the princely sum of £10 in the bank, so I had to build every single brick myself with the assistance of family members and the odd person due me a favour.

Living at Kirkton Bank for many years and going through one marriage and on to the second I eventually moved half a mile up the hill to where I am now, at Lisheen. A beautifully situated house with an acre of garden and fantastic views over the countryside and, looking back to the City of Dundee where it all started.

During the last seventy years, I have seen many changes both to what is going on around the World and in deed to my own world. I have had successes and I have had failures. Somehow, I have always managed to get up again, when things have not gone exactly to plan. When it became clear that the plan was not working, then I changed the plan and was never afraid to realise that I was wrong.

Through all the businesses I have had, I have employed thousands of people. I have employed some very bright people and unfortunately some not so bright ones, but I have learned something from every single one of them and I hope that most of them have in some way learned something from me. I am sure every employee I have had could think of at least one thing they could do better than me in my business but not all the many hundreds of things that go on day in and day out in running a business, because if they could, then they would be running a business themselves.

I have always had an interest in politics, but never active, until the day in 2012 when Alex Salmond declared that there would be an independence referendum in 2014. Over the next two years, I put my whole being, my heart and soul, into the campaign and a lot of money too.

I donated a coach to Business for Scotland to campaign all over Scotland and one of my Sons, Jeff drove it. We took Chris Law’s old fire engine into our workshops and renovated it , turning it into  The Spirit Of Independence under the watchful eye of my Son Jamie. I had the idea of using the twenty-year-old Dennis Dragon to campaign throughout Dundee and district and made it available to any independence grass roots organisation to do the same. We naturally formed “ The Yes Bus Team” of wonderful and able people, like John Gibson ,Tony Banks, Billy Kay , Sheena Wellington, Deb Brown ,Harry Marshal, Ian the piper, and many ,many more and we made Dundee the Yes City ,turning in the highest percentage of yes votes in the country.

On the 18 September 2014, we had the referendum and we lost, it broke my heart. We will come again, there is no doubt of that and the Dragon for independence will be once more on the streets of Dundee and we will continue, on the road to independence.

So, sitting here watching the Snow fall and reminiscing back over my three score years and ten , I felt that I had to get just a very brief record down here. There is more, much more , some of it funny , a lot not so funny, and some which will never go to print, but all part of an interesting life.

Last night at dinner, the family gave me some birthday presents although I had told them not to. One of the gifts prompted me to write this piece. It is a framed print of the song “Caledonia” by Dougie McLean. There is something of the words in all of us I suspect.

Some more than others.

Our Journey.

Well quite a weekend and an eventful Monday.

First we had Nicola admitting that with only entry to the single market then an independence referendum would be off the Table.( not what the Scottish people voted for in the EU referendum) Then we had a press in a fit of apoplexy attempting to sway the meaning of  exactly what Theresa May said in the context of a “hard Brexit”. If you look at the interview you will see that she did not say that., In fact she left the door open but she had to say something after Nicola put a brave front on to a dogs breakfast on the Andrew Mar show in a spectacular breast beating display in order to try to gain some of the ground lost a day earlier by admitting that entry to the single market would mean no referendum.

So at that point we had Nicola threatening  another referendum if the Uk government chose to commit suicide by not joining the single market and we had Nicola stating quite clearly that the general direction Scotland was moving in, was independence. Well Nicola can I just say that if my  intention was to drive from Dundee to Perth, then I would drive ” in the general direction of Inverness “but that does not mean that I have any intention of going there.

We had the press putting a completely false interpretation on what Theresa said in the context of Brexit and causing quite a stir.

Now this might be becoming a wee bit complicated but if you look at the blog I did at the weekend and the two previous blogs I attached you will see that I  predicted exactly this mess that was unfolding  and you will notice that the two previous blogs were posted the day before the Scottish governments  paper on Brexit ,and the day after.

So now to this Morning , first thing that happened was that I was woken from by much needed beauty sleep by Theresa, who was not in the least amused as she had been up all night reading my blogs ( with the assistance of her gormless husband who was helping her with the big words). ” Bob , you are an Ass hole , do you realise that the value of the already very low pound has dropped another 1% because you just told everybody that the UK government  were about to commit the worst act of suicide in history by failing to remain in the single Market and we haven’t even had time to write the suicide note yet”. “OH, I said , I hadn’t realised that but that was not exactly what I said , no what I said was that the SNP were basing their strategy, on the UK committing suicide, but I do  not think that will happen, because although I do actually think you are stupid ,I do not think you are quite as stupid as that, and you will keep the single market and by doing so and by the good grace of Nicola you will get a bonus of keeping Scotland in your grubby little hands”

The result was that good old Theresa then called a press conference where she made this statement and I will put it in bold writing so that all the myopic Sheeple who keep calling me unpleasant names will be able to see it.

“I’m tempted to say that the people who are getting it wrong are those who print things saying ‘I’m talking about a hard Brexit, (that) it is absolutely inevitable there’s a hard Brexit’,” she said.

“I don’t accept the terms hard and soft Brexit. What we’re doing is going to get an ambitious, good and best possible deal for the United Kingdom in terms of… trading with and operating within the single European market.”

So there you are, as I said the SNP have been painting themselves into a corner.

To make matters worse Nicola made a statement saying that there is no chance of a referendum this year., I shake my head in wonder at the naivety of this . It is like the commander of an army telling his opponent that he has no plans to attack him for a year.

Yes indeed , we have been given a road map to unionism , independence is disappearing over the horizon and we will await the new dawn.

Ok Folks .

You will see below, two blogs I did recently ., The first one , I did the day before the Scottish government published their paper on Brexit and the second one ,I did on the day the paper was published after reading all 64 pages of it .

Yesterday Nicola Sturgeon conformed exactly what I said in both of these blogs. I wont go over the same arguments and hope you will take the time to read them. They convey the  fears I have had for quite some time, and in fact the dissatisfaction I have had with the SNP for the last two years since the referendum. Two years , during which I found that the SNP ideas and actions ,or indeed inactions gave me such concern that after much soul-searching, I realised that they were not the party I had joined 30 years before, and therefore felt I had no choice but to resign from the party, the party that had up to that point, exclusively carried my hopes for an independent Scotland.

I thought that when  Nicola Sturgeon replaced Alex Salmond she was to be the breath of fresh air we needed to carry on the fight for a free Scotland. Now please do not get me wrong , as I have the greatest respect for Alex Salmond and I believe he is by far the most able politician in the whole of the UK at the moment, but he did make mistakes during the referendum campaign and for some reason he did not come over well to many people and whilst campaigning with the Yes bus team we constantly had people saying ” I would vote yes if it wasn’t for that man Salmond “.

So Nicola brought with her great hopes and of course the ranks of the SNP swelled hugely on the back of the result and the fact that Labour had thrown their lot in with the Tories.

So to cut a long story short ( it might be told in full before long) the popularity of the SNP surged but to be honest ,they were the recipients of circumstance and not the architects of their structure of popularity.

Over the last 27 Months, Nicola Sturgeon has led her troops up to the top of the hill, only to march them down again. Generally they were marched up the hill in the run up to an election   with a selection of carrots like the Summer initiative , which never transpired and then the troops wearily marched back down again after the election.

The SNP have ,I feel been in the process of painting themselves into a corner, whether through incompetence or design and I have often wondered as to the motives of the later. The only possible motive I can offer is that Nicola sees herself as the saviour of the UK with a possibility of standing candidates in England, Wales and possibly Ireland in the future , possibly joint candidates with traditional parties in these countries’

The SNP are ,according to their constitution , the party of independence. As the government of Scotland they have no mandate to govern for all , that is something which is intrinsically impossible anyway. They have a duty to “consider all ” but that is it . They were voted for on their manifesto and the fact that they were the SNP and any one who voted for them knew that.  This “governing for all ” is nonsense , their job is to achieve independence.

The latest  obstacle on the way ,it would seem is Brexit and I have covered this in the two blogs attached. It would seem that all Theresa May has to do is remain in the single market and independence is off the table for the forseeable future. I feel also that the rather unwise consultation with the Scottish  people, which ended on St Andrews day, presented without addressing the issues we lost the last referendum on ,might have something to do with the present situation

Now ,there is a slim chance that there could be a situation in which another referendum would be triggered and that is a very hard Brexit but I do not think there is a remote chance of that happening , because that would involve the British government committing the most stupid act of suicide in history as this would involve taking away the advantages of a single market at the same time as possibly loosing Scotland’s assets.

I would have more faith in the SNP’s intentions if they would make some move to prepare the ground for another possible referendum but they have not done a singe thing to address that since the last referendum, which brings me to the consultation on the “draft ” legislation before the Scottish parliament to allow a referendum to take place . I would urge everyone to read this as it is basically the same as the last one with no additional safeguards as to security , postal voting, international observers, or exit polls. additionally it states quite brazenly that during the last referendum there was a satisfaction rating of 96% for normal voting and 98% for postal voting.  This is unbelievable and shows one of two things, either the SNP are completely out of touch with the people of Scotland, or they have not bothered to scrutinise the work of their officers because they realise there wont be a referendum anyway.

So that is my concerns and I stick to my assessment that the SNP’s position is more of a road map to unionism than a road map to independence

https://bobsblog.scot/2016/12/19/a-road-map-to-unionism/

https://bobsblog.scot/2016/12/20/i-told-you-so/?iframe=true&theme_preview=true

Read this,

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jan/03/comment.israelandthepalestinians

It was written in 2001, 15 years ago. It was right then and it is right now. It will also be right in another 15 years, Israel is the root of the troubles in the middle east, all on the premise of an alleged promise made by an entity which does not exist and taken from a book which contains the most horrendous instructions supposedly given by this non existing supernatural entity, all leading supposedly intelligent humans to the conclusion that by believing this many times altered book they will achieve a greater Israel.

Let us hope that this latest UN resolution on Israel’s treatment of an oppressed Palestinian people, is for once taken seriously by the rest of the civilized World and the government of Israel is forced to act in a humanitarian manner towards the people they oppress.

There has been 65 UN resolutions passed against Israel expressing, members concern at the way it treats the Palestinian people. Of these 65 resolutions there is 29 (including this latest one) which are binding on members of the UN. Israel has ignored every one of the 65 resolutions and still treats the Palestinian people in a disgusting manner.

It is because of Israel that the west is fighting wars in the Middle East and why we now have failed countries in Afghanistan. Iraq,Libbya and by the looks of things the only thing that has stopped Syria going the same way had been because of the intervention of Russia.

It is a simply fact of life ,that without Israel we would in all probability, simply not have a potential terrorist problem in this country, and this is one the reasons why Scotland has to become independent. Because by doing that we would distance ourselves from the right wing, mindless, support of Israel supporting policies, of the Westminster government. The Scottish government should make clear its support of the latest UN resolution.

This is not directed at the Jewish people /religion, but the extreme, Zionist element which controls the Israeli government and most of the western  press.

Yesterday I wrote a blog, laying out my concerns regarding the Scottish governments policy on Brexit. I said I hoped I was wrong.

https://bobsblog.scot/2016/12/19/a-road-map-to-unionism/

I wasn’t wrong. I read through the 64 page document this morning. It gives a lot of information about elements of membership and part membership of the EU. None of which the Scottish people voted for at the EU referendum.

Quite simply, the Scottish people voted for full membership with all the advantages that this brings including a strong possibility of a referendum, in the event of Scotland voting to stay in the EU, but being dragged out against its will because of a majority in other parts of the UK. That is not what the Scottish government was addressing today in this paper.

So, to save you all reading through the whole 64 pages (a lot of which were repeating earlier parts) I have condensed it to one sentence which sums it up and sums up my fears contained in the blog I did yesterday.

Dear Mrs May.

If you wish to keep Scotland in the union, then simply come to an arrangement with the EU for the UK or indeed Scotland to retain membership of the single market or the EEA (European Economic Area).

This should not be much of a problem as I feel you will be doing that anyway.

Best regards

Nicola.

Yes, indeed a road map at last, but unfortunately a road map to Unionism.

OK so tomorrow the Scottish government /SNP will lay out their policy on Britex . Strange thing is that I thought they had done that some time ago when they said that a situation where Scotland voted to remain in the EU but were dragged out by a vote elsewhere in the UK would lead to a situation where we could go for independence.

This “policy” has been watered down as we have progressed through the farce that is the UK governments position (or non-position) on Britex. We have come from the initial position which should have been taken advantage of the day following the EU referendum to “Scotland should be a member of the free trade area” to “Scotland should be a member of the EU economic area”. Neither of these options are what the Scottish people voted for at the EU referendum we voted for full membership with the option of another independence referendum if we were dragged out against our will. It is as simple as that.

During, and around the time of the SNP conference I became concerned at the content of speeches from Nicola Sturgeon , Angus Robertson and John Swinney. The cause of my concern was that it could have been construed from the speeches of Nicola and Angus that the main concern of the SNP was to ,in some way assist the UK to come out of the Britex negotiations with Scotland remaining a firm member of the UK. In fact, during an interview Angus Robertson agreed that if Scotland could be kept a member of the Free trade area, or even the EU economic area then there would be no need for another independence referendum. John Swinny made a statement around the same time stating that in the event of another independence referendum we could be in exactly the situation we were in during the last one with a policy of a joint currency with England. This to me showed either that he was on a different planet from the rest of us, or because there was such a remote chance of another referendum that it really did not matter what he said as it would have no effect anyway.

So, all of this gave me cause for concern that the SNP had strayed from their remit according to the second chapter in their own constitution, which clearly makes them the party of independence.

We are more than two years from the last independence referendum and the SNP have made not a single effort to address the issues we lost the last one on.

They have not clarified the situation on pensions.

They have not clarified the situation on the monetary situation in an independent Scotland, in fact as mentioned above , John Swinny has muddied the waters regarding this.

They have missed two golden opportunities with both the Westminster elections and the recent Scottish elections to insert into either manifesto the intention to wrest control from Westminster of the ability for Scotland to call and organise any future independence referendum.

Now,because of the Brexit situation and the new “I am not voting to come out of one union just to be held in another union” attitude they have not implemented an initiative of education as to the benefits of the EU.

Probably the most important omission they have been guilty of is their failure to foster the support of the wonderful grass roots organisations that sprung up during the referendum , in a road map  to independence campaign which could have been highlighting the failures of the UK to abide by the promises made during the independence campaign and things like the silly “vow”.

So it is with that back drop that I lay out my reservations regarding the possible content of tomorrows statement of the way forward for Scotland in connection with Britex .

I have long campaigned for a proper road map to independence.

I hope I am wrong but I have a feeling that tomorrows statement from the SNP will produce a road map to unionism.

This is not our road

Hi Donald

I might not have been your bigest fan in the past and to be perfectly honest I probably still am not your biggest fan. However this is a time of change and if nothing else you have just confirmed that observation.

I have had many debates with some of your fellow country men and have taken exception to some of the comments you have made in the presidential campaign in connection to foreigners and women. I predicted that you would lose the election decisively.

I was wrong and I have admitted this to your supporters, much to their glee.

During the election campaign I became concerned that your main rival Hillary Clinton, was not perhaps the best alternative candidate. I had my reservations regarding her rhetoric concerning Russia and I had concerns that she was in the pocket of the Israeli government.

It seemed to me a reasonable assumption that there was a distinct possibility that a conflict with Russia was on the cards. My main concern was that because you use Scotland as a car park for your trident nuclear weapons that the British government hire from you then it would be Scotland that would be the first casualty in any conflict with Russia. Therefore ,despite my initial concerns at your possible election , I must admit to a somewhat relief at your victory.

At present, you seem to be having a problem with your (for lack of a better description) intelligence department the CIA regarding certain emails sent by Hillary. The accusation being that this was through hacking carried out by Russia.

I have been watching the BBC World service and have been disgusted at the way they have been reporting this. The BBC have a track record  in this biased reporting going back to the Scottish independence referendum and here is a link to a documentary called “London Calling”  which you can have a look at in your spare time .

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjl3KXL8e_QAhUP62MKHR-kALYQFggaMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiegogo.com%2Fprojects%2Fhow-the-bbc-stole-the-referendum-the-documentary&usg=AFQjCNFKNC1oHZK6IbqlO9L00QqBPNI2eA

Now the main reason I am writing to you is this. Russia had nothing to do with the release of these emails, in fact it was one of your very own intelligence operatives who ,it would seem had concerns regarding the contents of them. So they were not hacked but released by a whistle blower.

Now I attach below a link to a blog by Craig Murry, a former British ambassador and well known supporter of Scottish independence. He is also a personal friend of Julian Assange the promoter of Wikileaks who your intelligence services are at present trying to extricate from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. I would trust Craig way over your, err, intelligence services who, as you yourself say were responsible for the misleading information on weapons of mass destruction that allowed Bush and Blair to take our young soldiers to war in Iraq , killing many of them together with several hundred thousand innocent Iraqis.

https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/12/11/

So there is some bedtime reading for you Donald and while I am at it could you please stop your nonsense regarding Scottish renewable energy, particularly in the form of wind farms. They will do your golf course at Mennie no harm and are far enough from there not to blow your wig of when you are visiting Scotland .

Regards

Bob

Dear Nicola

It is some time since I wrote to you . The last time was a couple of days before the Scottish elections when I took issue with you for failing to include in the manifesto for that election, the very basic building blocks for a future possible referendum.

Well ,it would appear that I was not the only one who had concerns about your approach to independence because the results of that election were very poor indeed for the SNP  with the loss of 6 seats and a meager increase on numbers support of something like 1.2% compared to an  increase in the 2011 election of something like 12%. There was much more but I do not intend going over old ground . The point I am making is that you do not seem to have the capacity to understand the feelings of the people . The people who you were fond of telling everyone, would let you know when the time was right for another referendum an apparent soliloquy I have not heard for some time now.

Ok ,so where are we now? Well no where really, in fact we are in exactly the same place we were on the 19th September 2014 ,

neither are we any more prepared for another referendum than we were then.

You have went through the motions of the very basic arrangements for bringing an act before the Scottish parliament to facilitate a possible future referendum but you are obviously aware that it has no legal standing as a referendum is a devolved matter. So at this point in my letter to you can I take you back to the point of my last letter which was to warn that to miss the opportunity to include in the manifesto of one election( the Westminster one ) the intention to wrest control of the ability to hold and organise a referendum was unwise, but to then proceed to once again fail to take the opportunity in the Scottish elections to do this, was an act of unbelievable incompetence, and should you be progressing these arrangements to legalise a future referendum you will be finding this out very shortly.

We are in the position of Scotland having voted to stay in the EU and England voting to come out by a margine that will see us taken out of the EU against our will. Now you will recall that in the run up to the EU referendum you made great play out of  the ” fact” that should this situation arise, it would be seen as a material change which could very well trigger a referendum. Now the question on the ballot paper was to ascertain whether the UK would say as a member of the EU or leave. You will note that there was no other question. For instance there was no option to leave the EU but retain membership of the single market or even retaining membership of the European economic Area. Therefore the people of Scotland voted to remain in the full EU, together with all the advantages such as the European Human rights act, etc.

Therefore ,let me ask you this . Where do you think you get the authority to decide that ,firstly the fact that we are now in the process of leaving the EU does not constitute a material change, therefore triggering an intention to hold a referendum, which in effect could be held that this is what the people of Scotland voted for ( in the EU with the added bonus of a referendum on independence) and secondly where do you think you get the authority from to change the goal posts from a material change being out of the EU to being a minor partner ( without all of the EU advantages) with some sort of piggy back to the single market. Now both these scenarios are bad enough but to make matters worse there has been suggestions of late that a mere access to the European Economic area will suffice and your deputy leader of the party has stated that if any of these scenarios are achieved then there would be no need for a referendum.

Let me be quite clear Nicola , when the people of Scotland voted in the EU referendum they voted for full membership of the EU and not any half hearted fudge. It is very clear that your place in history is assured as the leader of a party who deliberately missed the best political opportunity to fulfill their reason to exist when you decided not to declare a future referendum on independence the day after the UK voted to leave the EU. The way things are going , you will also go down in history as the leader who painted herself into the most obvious political corner , ever as there are several likely scenarios which will be played out .

When the supreme court adjudicates on the parliamentary shambles called Brexit , a general election will be called and another EU referendum will be called which will be a resounding yes.

The tory government will continue with Brexit but negotiate associated status with the EU single market.

The Tory government will continue with Brexit with an attachment to the European Economic area.

With any of these scenarios the SNP will be left waiting in the corner for the paint to dry and the Scottish people will be let down once more but the SNP for some inexplicable reason will still be in power , at least until the next election.

When Alex Salmond left the leadership he wrote a book titled “The Dream Will Never Die” I wonder if his tongue was firmly in his cheek when he chose that title.

I dont want a dream that will never die , I want a dream that will be realised, please get on with it.

It saddened me to read the very long trail of condemnation of a piece in the Times regarding Nicola Sturgeon’s response to the election of Donald Trump as the president of the USA in Wings Over Scotland

Now let me be plain that most of the comments regarding the hypocrisy of the paper involved and the hypocrisy of both the opposition in Holyrood and indeed the British government are in the main well deserved. However the one thing missing from all this vehement condemnation (and I admit I haven’t read all of it) is actual comment on the substance of the piece, which was critical on the advisability of a head of state making the comments that Nicola made.

Now let me be very clear that at no time during the American election process did I support Donald Trump and anyone who had read my blogs on the subject will have seen that and I in fact said much the same as Nicola did. (and probably a lot more)The difference is off course, that I am a private individual and Nicola is the elected leader of the Scottish people.

I have a great many American friends including some who are very close to the American political scene and indeed many who are republicans. I have had many debates with them regarding the suitability of Donald Trump as a candidate to the most powerful position on the planet. I predicted that if Trump became the candidate he would be humiliated and the republican movement would be virtually destroyed as a consequence.

Well I was wrong, I was 100% wrong and I have admitted it to the people I debated this with.

So what, you may ask does all of this have to do with Nicola Sturgeon? Well I will tell you, and it is very simple I am a nobody as far as politics go and she is the leader of the Scottish people and as such she has to look to the future when she speaks. Now her first mistake was in her endorsement of Hillary Clinton a few days before the election .In effect she made that unwise endorsement on behalf of the Scottish people. Well I for one was absolutely terrified of the prospect of Clinton ending up in the Whitehouse as there is nothing surer that before long we would have been dragged even further into the US/Israeli morass that is the Middle East and more than likely to war with Russia.

OK apart from that, Nicola backed a looser and instead of showing some diplomatic probity, she acted like a petulant child at first minister’s questions. This is not what I expect from a leader of Scotland.

Politics and diplomacy should go hand in hand and one of the tenets of good diplomacy I would suggest is that although it is sometimes right for a politician to speak well, there are times when a silence says even more.

Trump, to all intents and propose is an unknown entity. Yes he has made some awful comments regarding race and gender but he is a new kid on the block. How many presidents have there been who did not make these terrible statements before they were elected, but then went on to drag us into horrible wars , killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians and many thousands of our young soldiers.

How many young men have you known who have been wild in their youth but changed when they had a family?

Well this guy has just been given one hell of a family, so give him the benefit of the doubt. There is absolutely nothing we can do  anyway.