Letter in Herald: Governments “Scotland Didn’t Vote For.”

Also at Herald letters (£wall) with comments (no £wall.)

IN the STV Leaders’ Debate First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was reduced to the old nationalist canard of “governments which Scotland did not vote for”. This was also part of the diatribe in these pages produced by Ruth Marr (Letters, March 29) in response to my own uncontroversial remarks re Scotland being an economic region of the UK.

Both these and all SNP voters should reflect on the following simple facts.

In 2015, it was made clear by Ed Miliband that he would not form a coalition which included the Nationalists.

Moreover, the SNP stands in Scottish seats only, and therefore cannot form a UK government. Therefore if you vote for it, you are never going to have the government you voted for. This was known by voters at the ballot box, and voting for impotent SNP attention-seekers as MPs was their free (if misguided) choice.

It is too late to complain now, and the Nationalists should shut up and learn to live with the situation which they have created.

Peter A Russell,

Herald Letter – Single UK Economy

(At Herald letters (£wall) – attracting some hostile comment online.)

THE idea that a critical analysis of the consequences of independence is somehow “degrading” to Scotland (Letters, March 25) is absurd.

It only really has any logic if the person considering it chooses for whatever partisan reasons to make the false distinction between the economy of Scotland and that of the rest of the UK.

In fact, the former is, and has been throughout the history of modern capitalism, an integrated part of the latter. In other words: economically, Scotland is a region of the UK.

And what is more, the people of Scotland voted in a referendum to keep it that way – so let’s stop being so precious, and see that what is good or bad for the UK is good or bad for Scotland, and likewise what is good or bad for Scotland is good or bad for the UK.

Peter A Russell,

Judas 1966 – A Song For Easter.

“Judas” was what they stood on their feet and shouted
“Judas” catcalled to young Bob’s enigmatic quizzical face
“Judas” the simple acoustic folk of Manchester heckled
As the Band plugged in drums and amps and took the stage

Flying the Stars and Stripes of the warmonger and the Man
Being  Peacenik’s  Enemy  Number One in the face of moral certainty
Called out as that seed of the canker in the soul of mankind
Damned to Lucifer’s  ninth circle of hell for all eternity

But it’s betrayal when Judas is not the front man to whom you go
When thirty pieces of silver buy the best of the story
Without Iscariot’s presence the show is no shade and all light
A song that is missing the ruined half of this world’s glory

And without his kiss there is no armed arrest in the garden
No-one is brought before Pilate, and there can be no crucifixion
No-one’s god forsakes them, no-one descends into hell
No Judas means no empty tomb – and no resurrection

So let’s give it up for Bob spinning on his Cuban boot heel
Shrugging his skinny back to the Free Trade Hall crowd
Judas nodding to the Band as he straps on his Strat,
Turns it up to ten and shouts:  “Play It F***ing LOUD!”

© Peter Russell 2016

On non-Independence Day, for Camp Stupid in Court, an anthem.

To be sung:

Camp Stupid.

We are the vanguard of the Yes campaign,
Never beaten come snow wind and rain,
We’ve got no brains we’ve got no sense
We live in trailers and in tents
We are all booted and shell-suited
We are the Scot Nats at Camp Stupid

The bleak midwinter’s getting bleaker
No-one sees us attention seekers
We’re the heroism that we hanker
As Rick doesn’t say to Ilsa in Casablanca
Here’s looking at me – not at you, kid
We all love ourselves at Camp Stupid

We are a clan of a friendly sort
Using Holyrood Park for outdoor sport
We can get close up and toasty
In a sleeping bag nice and cosy
Tommy says it’s even better than Cupid’s
Let’s get it on at Camp Stupid

Get used to us, we’re going  to stay
Ignored here till independence day
And our job is not going  to  be done
Till damned Eck’s rocks melt in the sun
We’ll get what we want just by getting drookit
We‘re a monument to idiocy – we’re Camp Stupid

© Peter Russell 2016

In which I give it both barrels (then club it with the shotgun butt….)

Letter in Herald here

We now know beyond all doubt and from the Scottish Government’s own GERS figures that the SNP’s 2014 case for independence was utterly false. We also know that the SNP as a party was willing to risk Scotland’s economic future. It is clear that all future consideration of the SNP and its policies will take into account not only the failure of its case for independence, but also (and more importantly) their utterly duplicitous and deceitful record.

If the Better Together campaign had not succeeded, and if Project Fear had not been justified as Project Fact, Scotland would now have been on the brink of utterly ruinous independence. Nicola Sturgeon was at the centre of the pro-disaster campaign. She and her predecessor should never be forgiven by anyone who loves Scotland and indeed loves the truth. This includes the Scottish and UK media who gave equal credence to pro-independence economic lies as they did to reliable and trustworthy sources.We should never allow ourselves and our fellow citizens to be fooled by these charlatans again.

At the weekend, the First Minister announced that a new independence proposal will be launched (“Salmond: Sturgeon plotting referendum”, The Herald, March 14). It must be seen by any sensible person in the light of the last one and the now proven fact that we cannot trust the SNP.

Even George W. Bush knew the saying,”Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”.

Peter A. Russell

Every now and again, someone says something so stupid…

This guy is a Member of Parliament, by the way. SNP, mind you…

Today’s Herald letter: (no £wall)

Welcoming of political foes

It is interesting to note that Nicola Sturgeon was down in London at the weekend, speaking on defence policy, an issue for which she has no locus as First Minister (“Three party leaders to join ‘biggest in a generation’ anti-Trident rally”, The Herald, February 27). Although the attendance was somewhat meagre at the event in question, I have no doubt that she was tolerably well-received.

This is a sharp contrast to her own declaration that David Cameron will not be welcome in Scotland, and it is a shame that the First Minister considers her fellow Scots to be less tolerant of opposing views than the English (“ Cameron is to defy SNP with pro-EU trip north”, The Herald, February 27).

It may also be worth reminding her that David Cameron is Scotland’s Prime Minister, while in England she is simply a private citizen or subject of the United Kingdom.

Peter A. Russell