Author: bobsblog.scot

I wrote the piece below for the Scottish Independent paper last year some 8 Months after the independence referendum . It is an analogy of the situation we were in at that point in time with no attempt to address the issues which lost us the referendum in September 2014. Now some 22 Months after the referendum we are still in exactly the same position.

We have had various sound bites such as “the Scottish people will tell us when they are ready for another referendum “and  ” we will begin a process to address the issues we lost the last referendum on in the Summer”. Well it is the Summer and there is as yet no new initiative to do any such thing.

Yes we have had a referendum on the EU but this was known a long time ago and should have been factored in to the planning , allowing a seamless change of gear into ,at the very least an information update and means by which the grass roots groups could once again get back on the road armed with the official position on things like pensions and the monitory  situation . After the EU referendum it is also obvious that we need to address the misinformation of that campaign as there are a lot of people who actually equate the European Union with the Union we are in as part of the United Kingdom and are under the misapprehension that we are tied to the EU in the same way as we are tied to the UK and that the EU is in some way un democratic.

It is being reported today that Nicola Sturgeon has said that a referendum could happen in the first half of next year , but although she was asked that question, she did not answer in the manner it is being reported . Early next Summer would of course be the ideal time to once more go for it.

Yes there will be negotiations for Scotland  to possibly remain in the EU but it should be only if we should by some chance loose another independence referendum. It looks very much as though the SNP seem to be pulling out all the stops to allow us to remain both in the EU and by default in the UK. That is not the job of the SNP whether they are part of the Scottish government or not.

So there is a lot to do and the SNP had better get their finger out and produce a proper “Road Map to independence” there will never be a better time with both the parties who apposed independence in such a mess.

THE NORTH STAR

The other night at the end of a very pleasant social get together at a friend’s house I decide to walk home instead of summoning a Taxi. I live in the hills above Dundee, it was a couple of mile walk, under a clear but Moonless sky, which made it very dark at ground level. I was on a good road and knew where I was going but when I looked up at the sky and took in the wonders of the universe it took me back to another time in my life many years ago, when trudging through the Scottish mountains on a military exercise in the early hours of the morning I lost my footing and tumbled down an embankment finishing up in quite a fast flowing stream. Not a lot of fun, you can well imagine, struggling with a heavy pack which had become partially detached from my body.

We always carried dry clothing in a waterproof bag inside the Bergan and so I set about getting myself sorted out and changed. It was mid-Winter and not a comfortable experience. Once changed and some rather wet food down my neck, I went to check my bearing, only to discover I had lost my compass. Not the most desirable position to be in about two in the Morning mid-Winter in the depths of the Scottish Mountains and having already walked for a considerable distance.

A few expletives were expressed before I considered plan B and that was to look up, which cheered me up immensely as a reasonably clear sky with patchy cloud greeted me. I still had my map and knew that my intended direction of travel was in a northerly direction. I found the Plough and took a line through the Easterly two stars to find Polaris or the North star and also took note of the Seven Sisters to the East of Polaris, (always best to have two points of reference) as my next pan B. My next move of course was to consult my Map to make sure I did not come upon any more streams that I was likely to fall into. After several more hours and constant reference to both the North star and the Seven Sisters I eventually  arrived at the final rendezvous point, tired but accomplished, climbed into my sleeping bag and looked up to see the clouds coming in covering both Polaris and the Seven Sisters ,but by that time they had done their job.

So this brings my back to the other night, because as I looked up to the Sky, I again saw the Plough and traced it to the North Star (or Polaris) and then East to the Seven sisters. I saw two meteors completing their billion year journey in a flaming crescendo as they entered the Earth’s atmosphere. It took me back light years to that time in the past, but this time I did not have a heavy pack I did not have Mountains to climb, I was not about to fall into any rivers and I was heading home.

I thought about our journey, Scotland’s Journey and couldn’t help but draw parallels. We too, are on a difficult journey, a journey to independence. We fought through the rough terrain last year, the ups and downs of the misinformation the adverse media and on the 18^th September we fell down the embankment and into the stream.

We had also lost our compass because the SNP were like rabbits caught in the headlights of a car on a dark road, they had no plan B and although I approached them a couple of days after the referendum to find out what plan B was, I was met with blank look. It must have been a cloudy night, the North Star had evaded them. Some of us wanted to drag ourselves out of the stream find the North Star and continue on our journey. We wanted to continue on a lesser level, the campaign to inform and educate the Scottish people as to the truth behind the fear campaign conducted by Better Together. Well after the hate and disparagement displayed by the Westminster parties in the run up to the Westminster elections, we now know just how better together we really are.

Most people saw the SNP as the conduit to independence and in their tens of thousands they looked to them as being their North Star, but they forgot about the seven Sisters, the back up the extra guide to the North Star. The SNP rode a wave of support and hope which took 56 of them all the way down to Westminster. The SNP are by far the best and most able political party in the country at this time, but they are not perfect and this surge in support for them does not reflect necessarily what they have done, but what the other parties such as Labour and the Tories who purport to be parties of Scotland, have “not” done and that is support the people of Scotland and indeed have deceived and worked against the people of Scotland.

One of the things that the SNP did do, which made a difference, was to replace Alex Salmond with Nicola Sturgeon. Now Alex Salmond is probably the most able politician in the UK but he was a liability during the referendum. We constant had people come up to us when we were campaigning on the streets of Dundee and say that they would vote Yes but they did not like “that Man Salmond” He was also responsible for the confusion on Monetary Union, which he was right about, but people couldn’t understand why there was no plan B but instead of simply explaining plan B, C and D on day one after the gang of three stated that there would be no monetary union, he doggedly stated that they would accept it. He was right , yes of course the UK would have had to have accepted monetary union, but the problem was that wee Jeanie from Fintry could not understand that, and was looking for plan B to feel reassured of her future. A similar situation pertained regarding pensions.

Now why regurgitate all of this some eleven Months after the referendum? Well I will tell you why. Because before any future referendum takes place, these questions have to be answered and it will take around a year of canvasing, mail shots, public meetings etc.to get the answers to these questions firmly established in the Scottish people’s psyche, so up till now while the SNP have been riding the wave of what they see is popularity they have wasted eleven months in the journey to independence.

Now, you might ask why I was thinking about this whilst walking home at one o’clock in the morning and what did it have to do with the North Star and the Seven Sisters. Well it is all about dragging yourself out of the stream making yourself as comfortable and functional as possible, assessing your assets, making use of them and heading to your final destination without delay, because every new journey begins with the first step.

Now if you believe in Astrology, this is the Age of the Goddess. The North Celestial Pole now resides in the constellation Ursa Minor near the star Polaris. Many legends and myths associated with the star Polaris and Ursa Minor are about women and spiritual principles. This great age could be referred to as the Age of Polaris, the Age of Ursa Minor, the Age of the Little Bear, the Age of Women

Sound familiar? Well there are many people who would look upon Nicola Sturgeon as the savior and perhaps look upon this as being the age of Women. Could she be the North Star, our beacon in troubled times. Well perhaps. She has at least taken away one of the main obstacles we faced during the campaign, Alex Salmond.

She has generated huge worldwide interest in a possible return match in the fight for independence and she had an enormous amount of support in Scotland. She has stated quite a number of times that there will be a referendum when the people of Scotland wish there to be one.

But, and it is a big but. She has not in any way laid out the clear circumstances for deciding when and how the people of Scotland’s intentions will be assessed and indeed heard. The expectation management of the SNP is non-existent as is their forward strategy abilities.

There is great confusion regarding whether there will be any debate on whether a referendum or road to a referendum will be included in the agenda for discussion at the party conference in Aberdeen later in the year.

Well Nicola if you aspire to be the goddess Polaris , our North Star, you need to guide, you need to inspire, you need to be there when we drag ourselves out of the stream and are looking for plan B and we need a rout to march down for this is our journey and we will complete it with or without any personalities and if the North Star becomes obscure because of cloud, we will look to the Seven Sisters.

We have lost our compass and are looking for the North Star to continue our journey

The Seven Sisters

Sitting here on the last day of my trip and looking out at the harbour in Cannes. Some of the yachts there are unbelievable and an extreme and vulgar expression of wealth. A sure sign that the gap between the haves and have not is not becoming any narrower.

Today was another interesting day in the demise of the UK as we know it, as the realisation that Britain has been dragged  out of the EU on the word of a clown. A totally unprincipled Clown by the way who has now slunk off into the shadows when he has been made to confront the consequences of his lies and deceit.

However , one door closes and another opens and that is just what has happened to Scotland . We now have the opportunity to go for independence once again and this time it will be different as the people will not be so willing to swallow  the lies that were so prevalent in the last campaign and of course in this most recent one on the EU.

I remember during the last independence referendum camping answering the many questions on the EU and telling people that, of course we would gain entry and in fact we were more at risk of leaving the EU by voting no. I also made the case that if we were independent and the rest of the UK left the EU then that would be  perfect storm as we would be inundated with companies willing to base themselves in Scotland to take advantage of tariff free trading with the EU.

Well guess what? That has just happened and I predict that we will have a referendum in the spring or early rely summer of 2017. There is also word of a special case being made for Scotland to ,in effect put us into an interim application position with seamless transition when the rump UK finally leaves the EU.

It could have been easier if we had been prepared by addressing the issues we lost the last referendum on and also had the SNP taken advantage of manifesto opportunities presented on both the general election and the Scottish elections to wrest control of the ability to call and organise a referendum from Westminster. We did not do that but there is still a good case for insisting that Westminster grants the required permission to do this.

So get ready folks we are in a pre-campaign mode and the Yes bus stands ready to slip seamlessly into full campaigning mode as we have never went away and have been carrying on collecting for foodbanks and in doing so highlighting this need occasions by the austerity policies of the Tory government.

we will wecome any one and any organisation to campaign allong side us,left or right ,labour Tory, any pro independence group or individual

Exiting times ahead folks.

We are still on the road to independence

Our journey

I am traveling through Europe at the moment. I have been to France, Spain and Italy, all very nice countrys with their own individual cultures and customs. The people in all of these countries like the people in every other European country are proud of their countries and very patriotic. I have seen far more flags hanging outside the houses than I see every day in Scotland or England for that matter. These people are very proud of the fact that they live in independent countries within the family of the European Union.

There is a constant debate going on in Scotland at the moment by people who just can’t accept the fact that the majority of people who voted in last Week’s referendum wished to continue to be part of that family of nations. They keep making unsubstantiated statements like “I do not want to leave one union ,only to find that I do not have independence within another union” or that “I do not want to be part of the EU because it is undemocratic” or “I do not want to be ruled by unelected commissioners”  All of these statements are nonsense .

Firstly ,every country in the EU is in its own right independent, unless ,like Scotland it is already part on a Union ,the host country of which it is a member. Every single one of these countries can at any time and with the democratic consensus of its people, leave the EU. No one forces them to be a member. The UK has just done that.

Next , the EU has one of the most democratic systems on the planet and its systems exist for the sole benefit of its citizens.

The favourite of the less able to think critics is the commissioner system as everyone seems to think that as unelected officials, they are responsible for making laws. Well nothing could be further from the truth. There are  28 countries in the EU and each one of them through their elected representatives are entitled to choose a commissioner so there is 28 commissioners. The job of a commissioner is to investigate and to suggest/advise on matters of law/ concern and to do this they all have committees. They are each given an area of responsibility for example the European Human rights act. It is their responsibility   to take evidence from all the different countries regarding their particular remit. They all meet once a week and decide on what to take forward to the next stage, and this is the important bit because the next stage is to put this research before the elected members of the European parliament and also to each of the 28 members, independent parliaments. Now if that is not democracy working then I do not know what is.

Now it would appear that a lot of this misinformed criticism comes from the left leaning element of the independence movement and I have to wonder at  the logic behind some of this criticism as it was this attitude and the fact that quite a lot of these people did not vote to remain that could have seen us here in Scotland without the fantastic majority we did actually get ,to  remain and therefore deprive us of the opportunity  we now have to go once again for independence and instead leave us to languish in the clutches of a real undemocratic state , the UK.

One thing these left wing opponents of being (as they erroneously call it) in an undemocratic union might like to reflect on is that no doubt many of them are in trade unions who have the most undemocratic voting  systems of any union on the  planet.

So I will always be an independent Scot I will do what I can to achieve this independence of my country . I will not stoop to the depths of depravity and Xenophobia exhibited by groups like Britain First. I will welcome people to this country as people from all over the World have welcomed Scots who have managed  to make their mark on these countrys.

I am a proud Scot and a proud European

been

Ok so with things ever so slightly up in the air and the perpetrators of the debacle posted missing . One wonders what the thinking was behind the move to exit from the EU. Perhaps we will never know because under that scruffy mop of hair that hangs precariously onto Boris karlofs head it would appear that Dr Frenkenstine forgot to insert a brain,He simply  unleashed his monster that is the leaderless rudderless United Kingdom today and it looks like the British people will have to accept the consequences of this totally reckless action.

Now I remember during the independence referendum when great stock was put into the fallacy of “no plan B “ well it looks like the Brexit comedians didn’t even have a plan A. Honestly , you just couldn’t make it up.

Now had we been prepared, had we addressed the shortfalls in our referendum campaign. Such as Pensions , the monetary system, etc. and just as important had we used the two elections. The general election and the Scottish elections to put in place a mandate to wrest control of the ability to decide when and in what manner we held another referendum , then we would have probably been in a better position now to go for it , but unfortunately we did not prepare for all eventualities and another referendum is somewhere in the future, mind you I would not say two years as is being suggested in some circles and regardless of what negotiation are entered into, regarding a possible continuation of Scottish membership of the EU, there must be an immediate move towards a resumption of the campaign for independence.

This time we have an advantage , because we know all of the questions so all we have to do is put the answers to them and in the main I suggest that Business for Scotland lead this with fact sheets.  Sheets carefully laid out with the question , the answer, and  the source of the research  that allowed the conclusion. That is how methodical and forensic we have to be.

I suggest that every one in the meanwhile go to the Business for Scotland web site and down load the excellent account by Gordon McIntire Kemp, of the miss truths and failed promises we were subjected to during the campaign. Yes there is no such thing as a free lunch , that is your homework and the reward is independence.

The SNP have a duty to coordinate this exercise much in the same vein as the Yes initiative during the referendum campaign.

Now the most important part . We have just been through an in out referendum for the EU and although the majority who voted in Scotland, voted to stay in , there was a good many voted to come out and there was a lot  of split loyalty, therefore any future referendum must contain a promise from all parties  that the first independent Scottish Government will , as one of their, first duties hold a referendum on either entry to the EU or in the case that we have managed to retain our membership a vote on whether to remain or withdraw . That way we will keep the maximum amount of yes votes intact. Now this is a must, no prevarication either way.

Ok that is my views on the immediate way forward and for all the Dundee Yes Bus team and any others, we will be having a meeting within the next couple of Week’s , so get your thinking caps on , this time ,the SNP must, work closely with the grass roots groups and business for Scotland for together we are unbeatable.

Dundee was the yes City , this time Scotland will be the yes country.

So in the words of Robert Burns “come saddle your horses and call out your Men, unhook the West Port and let us gang free , for its up we the bonnets of bonnie Dundee”

Our road

Well here we are, another referendum under our belt and probably beginning to realise that politicians lie. This referendum was fronted on the stay side by David Cameron, the same guy who fronted the no side in the independence referendum we had in Scotland during 2014. He lied in this one as he lied in the last one.Then we had Boris Johnston who led the leave side . A man who took lying to a new level of dizzying heights. A clown who could be the next prime minister of the bruised and battered united kingdom.

The result as far as Scotland is concerned, could not have been better. Well, let me qualify that statement. It could have been better if more of the left leaning potential Yes voters had bothered to do some research and discovered that the EU is in fact a good deal more democratic than the UK and took just a minute to think of what they were in effect actually voting for and that is a fascist Xenophobic government led by a clown.

So here we are with an opportunity to go for independence once more and once again the SNP the beneficiaries of an event, out with their control but one that as with the last referendum will propel them to greater heights in the popularity stakes. Let’s hope that this time they do something with their rejuvenated popularity instead of the state of near paralysis they have been in since the referendum.

However, I would caution against an immediate resumption of a full blown campaign as there are many things to consider. One of them would be to investigate the possibility of Scotland actually remaining in the EU and the reason I say this is that there is as far as I know, no procedure for removing the EU citizenship except in the case where a whole country is removed. However, I would imagine that is because all of that countries inhabitants presumably gives their permission through the democratic procedure and I wonder what the case would be if a country(Scotland) with its own devolved government which was part of the member host, union of countries collectively invoked the Human Rights Act on behalf of its citizens and insisted through the result of the referendum that the citizens of Scotland should remain citizens of the EU.

Now all this would presumably take time but there is absolutely no reason why in parallel with this investigation there should not be a campaign to gain support for independence and this time it really must be a joint up effort between the SNP , the grass roots organisations and Business For Scotland and dare I say quite possibly a renewed Scottish Labour party together with , yes a Scottish Tory party. The Tory party in Scotland were on the opposite side of the faction who came out on top in the referendum. This scenario might just be going too far but it is worth a thought and I am sure it has at least been discussed in Scottish Tory circles and in deed Labour too.

The one thing that must be done is to start to address the failings of the last independence referendum as this is something that should have been started on immediately after the referendum but to date has been a failing of the SNP. A good start would be to print literature and posters of the list of deceptions we were subjected to during the last campaign produced by Gordon McIntire Kemp of Business For Scotland and we can start getting this out on the streets. Please go to the web site of business for Scotland where you will be able to see this list of deceptions and please also note that Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp also suggests that a road map be laid out. Now I wonder where we have heard that before?

Now is not the time for all the individuality dual groups to go off on their own tangents. Now is the time for proper leadership and a proper road map. The SNP are best placed to deliver this and all eyes will be on them. The people of Scotland expect no less.

One more thing, the people who voted no in the independence referendum and the people who voted to leave in the EU referendum are in the main decent folk who for reasons of their own decided to vote differently from you. Respect their right to do so and please stop this awful tirade of infantile name calling. Instead, do your homework and have the answers for them and put them in a respectful manner. We have to build bridges not walls.

The Yes Bus, Scotland’s Dragon for independence will be on the streets of Dundee again (actually we have never been away and have been collecting for food banks since the referendum) and this time we are going to win.

We are still on that road to independence.

This is our journey

Well in a couple of days’ time we will go to the polls to cast our vote in what is probably the worst referendum in living memory .It will long be remembered for the lies, bigotry xenophobia displayed on both sides but mainly from the leave side. It has thrown up distasteful people like Boris Johnston and Nigel Farage in circus of deceit.
It has brought out the worst in society in the form of the organisation Britain First through the horrible terrorist act on Joe Cox by one of their members.

It is difficult to say how it will go on Thursday but as I have been saying for a while now I have a feeling we will stay in by a narrow margins and there will be a larger majority in Scotland for remaining in the EU.

This brings me to the independence question. I do not think (regardless of whether we are in or out) there will be a large enough majority in Scotland to warrant another independence referendum and in any case it would be too difficult to know just what the proportion of stay voters were also independence supporters , so I feel as I have felt for a long time that this was always a bit of an SNP red hearing. However, regardless of how slim the chance is of this, in, out vote of leading to some form of push for another go at independence it is certainly a good reason to vote to stay. Because if nothing else this referendum campaign has brought out the low life that would seek to govern us from under their stones.

Because of my support for the remain camp I have been accused in recent postings of being a Unionist. This mainly from people who cannot understand the difference between the union as in the UK and the European Union.
Scotland is in the UK Union not through the choice but through the greed and desperation of the nobility who held power in 1707 and the ordinary Scottish people had no hand in the formation of that union. The European Union on the other hand was entered voluntary, through the democratically elected government of the day under Ted Heath who negotiated entry on our behalf, then two years later under Harold Wilson there was a referendum in which the people voted by something like 68% to stay in. So there is a World of difference between the two unions as far as Scotland is concerned.

So as far as I am concerned there is only one vote on Thursday and that is a vote to stay in the EU. It isn’t perfect by far but without it Scotland would not have had the referendum on devolution in 1997. We would not have the Human Rights act and without it we will see a rapid deterioration of basic working rights under an extreme right wing government led by a xenophobic Circus Clown and bourgeoning of hate sponsored neo Nazi groups like British first. I sincerely hope the SNP will keep to their word of addressing the independence question once again after their period of muddle and we will before long have no need of this UK Union but until such time, I prefer the calming hand of the EU to be in the background.

I wrote this high above the Atlantic Ocean on the way back from another country that at present is also at risk of being governed by a xenophobic racist. Tonight before posting this, I watched the big debate. A couple of weeks ago I gave my concerns that it was unwise for Nicola Sturgeon to have went down to London to involve herself in a debate, sharing a platform with the Tories and Labour who themselves shared many platforms together to thwart our attempts to gain independence.
Tonight my concerns were realised as Ruth Davidson was by far the most effective combatant on the stage and way out shone Nicola who basically called Boris Johnston a few names.
With the shambles of the way the SNP fought the Scottish election allowing the Tories to double their seats (and I am in no way a fan of the Tories and cannot ever see the situation under which I would vote for them ) and being a realist i can foresee the SNP’s lack of attention to what is after all their function in life, independence, coming back to bite them.
They had better get their fingers out and get on with it.

In the mean time I will be voting for common sense I will be voting to remain in the European Union.