WELL FIRST MINISTER, ANY RESPONSE?

A guest post by a regular reader and contributor Mia. It was initially published by Mia as a comment on my blog but as it conveys the anger and disappointment many feel I decided to republish it as a full article.


This must not continue.

I have arrived to the conclusion that Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP have been bullshitting us since 14 November 2014 non-stop. All what they have been doing is underrating and managing the expectations of the yes movement and cutting our wings in order to stop independence, never to deliver it.

Why do I think this?

Well, let’s turn back the clock to the campaigning for GE2015. Everybody and their dog knew at the time that the SNP was expected to win by a landslide. At one point it was even presented the possibility that the SNP was going to win all the 59 seats. You would think that a genuine pro independence political strategist worth their salt would capitalise on that fact and AT LEAST, cover her back by introducing the pursuit of independence in the manifesto of the party if there was a remote chance that such a number of SNP MPs were going to be obtained.

What did Nicola Sturgeon do? The precise opposite. Alarm bells of all shapes and colours should have been ringing there.

She removed the independence factor from the manifesto, so when they actually got the landslide of SNP MPs they could come back to the voters and say, that because those MPs were not elected on a mandate for independence, they could not simply dissolve the union as would have been accepted even by Margaret Thatcher and many senior tories. I may be a cynic, but that is a critical point in history where it became clear that Nicola Sturgeon may be wearing the colours of Scotland, but she has no intention of going in to bat for the team.

On 8th May 2015, it was clear as day that the people of Scotland had had enough of the union, yet, Nicola Sturgeon and the british state dormant units within the SNP went to gravity defying verbal acrobatics and bullshit to state that 56 SNP MPs, were not enough to end the union. Re-writing of history at its best. They were managing our expectations and attempting to brainwash us by stealth. They were holding the yes movement on a tight leash. 56 SNP MPs were more than enough to end the union, right there and then and that is what should have happened should Nicola Sturgeon had been a real pro indy leader. There was never any need to call a referendum. Nicola Sturgeon and her handlers came up with the nonsense of “the need” for another referendum to deliberately delay independence.

In the HOlyrood election 2016, Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP campaigned for a referendum “if a material change in circumstances happened”, when an earth shattering material change in circumstances had just happened a year ago: the first time in 300 years of UK history when an absolute majority of MPs representing a political party whose raison d’etre was to terminate the union were sent to represent Scotland. Yet, Nicola Sturgeon was trying to undermine THAT material change of circumstances and further than that, delegitimise the idea that a majority of SNP MPs was sufficient to end the union. She was yet again, deliberately managing our expectations and pushing independence back.

In 2016 we had the EU referendum. The result was another earth shattering change in material circumstances. Yet, STurgeon, the queen of procrastination, rather than deliver on this infamous referendum she kept bleating about, she kept pushing independence back. Now it was no longer sufficient with a material change of circumstances to exercise our democratic mandate or, heaven forbid, declare independence. Now, she made up the need for knowing what the end result of brexit would be. In other words, this con artist kept managing our expectations and pushing independence back against our interests.

This political con artist kept us still in the union and waited for the 2017 election. Again, she used the same con trick that she used for the GE2015. It was known that given the circumstances, a majority of SNP MPs would be sent to Westminter. Again, should she be a real pro indy leader instead of a political fraud pretending to be one, and she would have included the delivery of independence in the manifesto. She didn’t, so she could lead us all along for another few years more and stop independence.

Yet another GE in 2019 and instead of making it a plebiscite election TO DELIVER what she had been promising for five years, she chose not to, so she could use again the excuse not having a mandate to keep an overwhelming majority of SNP MPs in Westminster legitimising England’s abuse of Scotland and still not lift a finger to deliver independence.

She did the same in the last Holyrood election. She refused to use it as a plebiscitary election simply because this political fraud knew she would win and would have to deliver independence. The bullshit of the referendum continues to this day, with the added bullshit of the section 30. This is particularly telling now that her 100 days of comfort zone she gave herself to avoid talking about independence are well and truly over. Of course now her excuse is covid. Covid is not an excuse to stop the COP26, but hey, it is an excuse for Nicola Sturgeon to continue pushing independence back because any excuse is good for Nicola Sturgeon to continue pushing the ghost referendum back and stopping independence.

When people were getting restless with the wait, along come Nicola Sturgeon’s helpers in the unionist parties to claim that there was not a real mandate for indyref, ignoring of course the oversized and overweight, massive elephant in the room: there was never a need to hold a referendum because we had 56 SNP MPs in Westminster. History continues to repeat itself. Every time the political con artist is in a pickle, along come Alistair Jack, Douglas Ross or another useful idiot tory to the rescue the status quo and restore the credibility of the political fraud with some bullshit or another to distract us and suddenly get behind “the leader”, because “the alternative is just worse”.

When that bullshit did not cut it either, along brings Sturgeon even bigger bullshit: the need for the referendum to be “legitimate” with a section 30 order. I am still waiting for the reasoning of this independence procrastinating “genius” on how on earth can suddenly, in a one to one, bipartite union of equals, based on an international treaty and where Westminster is just a dependent by-product whose legitimacy to continue acting on behalf of Scotland can only be decided by Scotland itself, be now the job of England’s MPs, with no mandate from a single vote from Scotland, to decide if or when Scotland can exercise its lawful right to choose the permanence of Westminster, where, incidentally, those England MPs sit. I am also waiting for this constitutional “genius” to explain to us all how on earth in a one to one union, asymmetric devolution between Scotland and England can ever be lawful, as how on earth can it be lawful that in such a union where England MPs own more of Scotland’s sovereignty than the sovereign people of Scotland themselves?

But in her frenzy to peddle the need for the section 30, she seems to have forgotten on actually explaining the legitimacy of such a thing.

The material circumstances have changed a thousand times since the Holyrood election 2016. Yet, this political fraud has not stuck to her word. All what she has been doing is finding more and more and more and more excuses to stop independence when the yes movement grew tired and fed up of the previous ones she used.

Now we have the greens doing the dirty work for Nicola Sturgeon. And by dirty work I mean taking over her vacuous waffle, meaningless platitudes and tacky lip service to independence. We hear an awful lot from these people and the rest of the amoebas sitting in Holyrood and Westminster under the SNP and Greens flag about how much Scotland needs independence. But in seven years of majorities in both parliaments, we see no action whatsoever from these people to achieve this. None.

We have a situation where there has been an absolute majority of pro independence MPs from Scotland in Westminster for now SIX years, we have had uninterrupted pro indy majorities in Holyrood for more than TEN years, material changes of circumstances enough to create a second trans-siberian railway, enough mandates to build a bridge between Scotland and the EU, enough majorities to build a tunnel to Ireland, and yet, this gang of bullshiters still have not a single action to count under their belts to prove they actually want independence or have any intention whatsoever to deliver it. The only proof they have provided to us is that they sure as hell like to talk about independence in order to retain their seats and their nice income and pensions, but that is as far as they go with very, very few exceptions.

We have been bullshited by this lady and a handful of SNP individuals for seven years.
All what this master bullshiter has been doing for seven years is trying to change our minds about what we want and trying to undermine and delegitimise our legitimate right to terminate the union. Sending 56 MPs to Westminster was enough to terminate the union. Sending 35 SNP MPs was enough to terminate the union. Sending 45 pro indy MPs to Westminster in 2019 was enough to terminate the union. A pro indy majority in HOlyrood is enough to call a referendum. This was true today as it was true in May 2016. Sending an absolute majority of SNP MPs to Westminster is a democratic mandate to end the union. Dragging us out of the EU against our will, stealing our powers, taking control of our assets against our will are material changes of circumstances. 100 days have already passed since her party won the last Holyrood election. So the question that should be put to Nicola Sturgeon is:

What the hell are you waiting for and how dare you go on leading us like this? End the union and be done with it or move aside and stop wasting our time. You have wasted it and our resources for long enough.

MY COMMENTS

Mia is clearly one of a rapidly growing number of YES supporters who have run out of all patience with the delay and blockages the SNP leadership have introduced themselves into taking the Independence fight forward. Mia and many others recognise that while our FM does nothing Westminster has not stood still and is working every day to undermine and weaken Scotland’s position. Unlike the FM MIA does not believe time is on our side. People have lost trust in the SNP and in the vast majority of cases the SNP WILL NOT GET THEIR VOTES AGAIN UNDER THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, so those thinking their seats are safe for all time if they just go along with current tactics, need to think again

. Next time they will have lost all those pro Indy votes and they will also face pro Indy opponents as they will have failed to deserve their place as the pro Indy champion for their area, because of their consistent non action in taking Indy forward. THAT WILL PROVE TO BE THE TRUE COST OF ”BOTH VOTES SNP”. Loads of pro Union MSP’s returned for no reason OTHER than the bitterness and envy of the divisive SNP Leader and you will face a pro Indy opponent at all future elections. Great strategy from the Great Leader? YOU OWN IT, YOUR INACTION HAS CAUSED IT, YOU FACE DEFEAT UNLESS YOU ACT.

I am, as always

YOURS FOR SCOTLAND.

BEAT THE CENSORS

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AS MIA STATES THIS PICTURE REPRESENTS THE DISCARDED OPPORTUNITIES AMASSED, THEN BINNED RATHER THAN BEING USED DURING THE TIME THAT HAS ELAPSED OVER RECENT YEARS.

102 thoughts on “WELL FIRST MINISTER, ANY RESPONSE?

  1. Nicola Sturgeon’s true identity and raison d’etre will be revealed when she appears in the next Bond movie 🎥 “Just Around the Next Bend” as female version of: Dr/Mrs No, or Felicia Lighter (CIA), or ??. M will remain male, but Scottish; casting directors are “murrelling” it over. The greatest double act in espionage history?

    Liked by 14 people

  2. With the local elections coming up next May we’ll be getting all the NSNP promises we’ve had regarding Indy2 since Sturgeon tenure.
    Don’t be fooled again Scotland

    Liked by 22 people

  3. This is an excellent piece by Mia which I would have liked when posted as a comment except wordpress won’t let me under my nom de indy.

    Unfortunately too many are still falling for the PR. Over at the Guardian I’m persona non grata with the pro indy crowd as most still buy into Nikla “excellent politician with a plan”. It’s not nice to realise you’ve been taken for a mug, but when you accept it you can move on and work on finding a solution to the thorny issue of Scotland’s (declining) status. Otherwise you are just voting fodder: voting for indy but getting GRA and worsening public service under incompetent but loyal minister whilst talent is side-lined.

    Mia’s post summarises the rage and frustration we feel at being taken for mugs and seeing indy further away than ever. Bravo!

    Liked by 26 people

    1. I agree with what you say about the Guardian. They allow very few comments on articles about Scottish politics and what is permitted is thoroughly policed. I regard having had a comment removed as a badge of honour.

      Liked by 17 people

      1. True Ann but what I meant was the btl commenters who are pro indy. Most hate Alba, don’t accept the verdict of juries and think Nikla will deliver indy. As for the latter, I wish they were right but fear I and indeed others here are and she won’t.

        Liked by 13 people

    2. Like you Panda, I am forever getting posts at the Guardian deleted at the slightest criticism of the SNP and Sturgeon. I very rarely now bother.

      Liked by 5 people

  4. All very good points, one omitted was Nicola’s personal insistence that there should be both votes for SNP. The 1&2 mantra pushed by almost all SNP MSPs was the best way to insure a large number of unionist MSPs in Holyrood. She knew it but she also knew that her loyal princess nicola followers would happily do her bidding and vote as she asked. I believe she wanted unionists in Holyrood because her lords and masters told her to achieve it. It also suited her own purpose to not have anyone challenging her in Holyrood on her inactivity on independence as would have happened with any of those from ALBA and most certainly if Alex Salmond had been elected.
    I too have thought for a long time that the SNP and Nicola in particular don’t want independence, I now wonder if this has always been the case and she was just very skilled at hiding it with talk. Sounds like the ideal features of a unionist sleeper?!?!

    Liked by 25 people

    1. Perhaps the way to look at this is – if there are no senior level sleepers in the SNP then it is the first time ever the British state has not had highly placed sleepers in an organisation that opposes them. Many of the senior commanders in the IRA were British state.

      Liked by 21 people

    2. Must say its the first time I have read that NS is a unionist sleeper, desperate stuff !
      Fact – Not a single Alba candidate, not even Alex Salmond, was elected ( crossing the floor has always been dishonest in my mind so doesn’t count)
      So instead of the endless repetitive viification tell me your viable ‘learned’ plan for the future .Who do we vote for – and no I did not vote SNP 1&2 – because I have gleaned nothing positive or constructive here.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Alba have been tainted by some of the most senior and empowered women in Scotland making trivial allegations against Salmond that were not upheld in court. One alleged a serious offense – and was found not to be in the building at the time! Is that the sort of event that you would misremember?
        This has done an evil disservice to the most vulnerable and abused women in Scotland, discrediting rape trials. The subsequent inquiry was a disgraceful performance of withheld evidence, excessively redacted evidence and amnesia. This is not over.

        This SG excels at incompetence, unlawfulness, gutlessness and bringing shame on all of us.

        Liked by 19 people

      2. With respect, Florence, the “sleeper” thesis is hardly new; might it not simply be that, for whatever reason, you’re not quite up to speed with the debate. That doesn’t make you a bad person, of course.

        Liked by 9 people

      3. FACT – ALBA was FIVE WEEK old party at the time of the election! It took SNP years of campaigning to get seats to WM, 11 years to finally get 2 seats at HR & another 11 years to get the opportunity to speak, ask questions in HR & eventually to win most seats. YEARS to make their mark… WHY on earth do you think your facetious ‘fact’ means that five week old ALBA party aren’t capable of getting seats now it is a fully functioning party with committees, NEC, etc in place, manifesto set up & policies that MEMBERS chose?

        Quite frankly, I think, given the utter unlawful & dishonest (not to mention downright EVIL) behaviour of the NuSNP, their members are frightened that it IS going to rob votes & seats from SNP. Hence members reading an ALBA supporting blog – and commenting in the negative. I’m seeing SNP/unionist bot accounts all over Twitter. SOMEONE is very uncomfortable with the idea of ALBA making inroads into the SNP membership, given the all the negative nonsense over the fact there is now a second Indy party! I’d have thought ANYONE who wants independence would be glad of another party’s support! How very strange that it isn’t so! The fact you & your SNP members coming & being so negative about the result of a five week old party, seems to me a real fear of loss of governing power.

        If you think that unionist ‘sleepers’ aren’t a thing, then you’re either very naive, very stupid – or both. Unionist sleepers were in the highest levels of the IRA, working against the IRA while pretending to hate unionist britain. You need to read some history…

        As for telling you about an ALBA ‘learned’ plan, why not go read some ALBA stuff? The PLAN is in there! It’s not hard to understand either! Doing some of your own reading & research, instead of expecting us to drop the stuff in your lap, might even open YOUR eyes. I have my doubts, given your cheeky comment. But – who knows? :-/

        Liked by 16 people

      4. I responded respectfully to a previous comment by you on a previous thread as many did , you didn’t even have the courtesy to reply to anyone , you complain about people exposing the truth yet NEVER produce any evidence to counter their exposures , you come across as a Sturgeon sycophant and apologist who will never believe anything bad about her even after witnessing her continued lying regarding independence first hand

        It is due to people like you who cannot distinguish between the cult of Sturgeon and real independence supporters that we are in our present position

        Liked by 8 people

      5. BTW my comment was in response to Florence Sinclair

        Well said Marion and Katielass independence supporters NOT CULT supporters

        Liked by 4 people

      6. “Not a single Alba candidate, not even Alex Salmond, was elected”

        I challenge you to prove what you say is a fact, Florence.

        You can only ever claim such a thing if the assumption that the official “count” of the Holyrood election was a truthful representation of the democratic will of the electorate of Scotland and not a fabrication via rigging for a particular political motive. For such an assumption to be true, it is necessary first to demonstrate as true the assumption that the press who informed us of that result is trustworthy. After the unionist media blackout of Alba, how they demonised Mr Salmond and how they offered Sturgeon and the alphabets a platform to continue throwing mud at Mr Salmond, can we ever consider them trustworthy again? I think not.

        To accept the assumption that the official results are the real deal is necessary to accept first that Nicola Sturgeon’s and Johnson’s governments, or indeed the powers that be are sufficiently honest and democratic to be trusted in respecting the electorate’s democratic will instead of attempting to manipulate it. Can we make that assumption after we have been denied our expressed democratic will and our referendum for 5 years and after they have stolen our rights, powers and control of our assets? I think not.

        To accept that the powers that be and the current governments are just, we have to make first the assumption that the we can trust all the justice systems directly influenced by governments as being just and democratic. Can we make that assumption after the shit-show they exposed us to with a criminal case against Mr Salmond based on such petty allegations that should have never been brought anywhere near a court of law, after the way that “justice” gagged Mr Salmond and neutered the Holyrood’s committee and after the embarrassing number of malicious prosecutions and the ridiculousness of Mr Murray’s court case ruling? I think not.

        Can we ever consider Nicola Sturgeon honest again after under her leadership 600,000 pounds of pro indy donors went for a walk in the sunset and never came back, and 500,000 pounds of taxpayers’ money were wasted by corrupt civil servants, she kept in post instead of sacking, because they chose to hide information from the government’s counsel in order to allow a civil case to proceed beyond it was prudent for the sake of giving themselves time to nail Mr Salmond on a criminal case? I think not.

        What is there left to trust as honest other than the voters themselves? It seems to me that every democratic and justice structure in Scotland has let us down and failed us. Why would this election be any different?

        IFor me, there is only one way you can consider the assumption that the official results are the real results as true, and that is by releasing the exit polls conducted on the voting day, and of course the uninterrupted CCTV footage from 9:00 at night the day of the vote until the time the count was completed, proving beyond any reasonable doubt that the ballot boxes were never tampered with.

        Without those two pieces of evidence, frankly, there is not a single reason for us to believe the official results as truthful other than having a reason-defying strong desire to believe them. Well, I lack such desire.

        At the end of the day, what is an election if not the best opportunity the powers that be with the help of corrupt governments and a politicised justice system have to make the electorate believe the voters chose something those powers that be were determined to impose anyway?

        Alba was only contesting the list seats. It would be wonderfully easy for the powers that be to swap the list boxes – they were given all the time in the world, no exit poll to for them to have to be mindful of when tampering with the votes, and no CCTV recordings to ever be used as a proof of tampering.

        Here is my hypothesis, and it is just a hypothesis because I can neither prove nor disprove it:

        1. The British state had already decided the result of the Holyrood election before it took place. That result did not include Mr Salmond gaining a seat in Holyrood.
        2. The complaints procedure was plan A and the criminal case was plan B, put in place when plan A failed. The powers that be would have generated a plan C and one for each letter of the alphabet in order to stop Mr Salmond being anywhere near Parliament
        3. Plan C was the ultimate damage limitation exercise: the rigging of the list boxes to make sure Alba would not enter Holyrood.
        4. Nicola Sturgeon and her minions asking SNP1 and 2, and the media blackout against ALBA were never aimed at stopping ALBA reaching Holyrood, but rather at giving the electorate a reason to believe the official result was trustworthy. In other words, their job was to prepare us to accept as credible the result the powers that be had already prepared for us.

        Am I wrong? Well, prove it.

        I want to be proved wrong because I want to restore my trust in the idea that Scotland can still be a democracy even under somebody like Sturgeon, whose actions during the last 7 years show absolute contempt for democracy, justice and the right to self-determination of the people of Scotland.

        I challenge every Nicola Sturgeon worshipper reading this blog to prove my hypothesis wrong.

        Liked by 5 people

      7. “crossing the floor has always been dishonest in my mind”

        In my mind the dishonesty can also be in not crossing the floor when you find out your party does not uphold what it claims to uphold, and especially so when that applies to its most basic policy.

        Liked by 3 people

      1. RE: Is FM Sturgeon “a Unionist sleeper” i.e. actively working to maintain the Union?

        She might be convinced Devolution is the best status for Scotland.
        She might be convinced she signed up for Devolution, not Independence, after she committed to the post-IndyRef1 Smith Commission
        She’s probably convinced she’s doing her best for Scotland and no one can do any better

        Whichever non-Independence stance she is taking, she is determined to hold on to power. Which suits Westminster.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. The man appointed by the IRA to flush out British agents in the IRA was himself a British agent. That gives you an idea of how infiltrated the IRA was and what the British State was prepared to do. These people were far from sleeping they carried out murders on behalf of the IRA/British State.

        Infiltrating the SNP – a piece of cake for the British State.

        Liked by 8 people

  5. How terribly, sadly, true. You know how you fear making a terrible decision to buy something really expensive that burns your pocket and turns out to be a total con? Or you read about some poor soul who has bought into a con and won’t admit it? And it is so hard to admit you were fooled that you turn your thinking off, keep paying? Too difficult to admit the mistake has been made at all. All the evidence is there plain to see. Has been all along. Don’t know why. Maybe it is because we can’t work out any reason that seems valid that we continue to believe that this person secretly is beavering away at making our independence happen, with sincerity and fire. Time to stop trying to work out what is stopping Ms Sturgeon from doing her duty by us. She just ain’t. Time to stop and believe that we have been conned. We really have.

    Liked by 27 people

    1. A number of groups have had to go through this painful process: e.g. members of Communist Party of GB; Labour Party (New Labour); Scottish Socialist Party. It is the emotional equivalent of divorce based on abuse/infidelity; admitting that what/who you believed in and trusted is false. One reason why we who have “awoken” may sometimes need to be gentle and subtle when communicating with current “genuine believers” (not to be confused with opportunistic careerists)? When the “penny finally drops” for most, the emotional and political fall-out will be messy and painful. One example is covid. Many UK and Scottish politicos want to “move on”. They completely under-estimate the suppressed anger and grief of those more directly and personally affected. When the public inquiries do begin, no amount of spinning and misdirection will stop the volcanic eruption that will occur when, day after day, we hear the evidence?

      Liked by 17 people

  6. Between saying and doing lies an Ocean. If people judged Sturgeon by her actions then they would not be fooled by her empty words and promises.

    The article sums it up perfectly. She has put all her energy into her image. She is building a career not a Nation.

    Not one step forward since 2014 and dozens of rock solid opportunities to push the case for Independence missed.

    Liked by 28 people

    1. “If people judged Sturgeon by her actions then they would not be fooled by her empty words and promises.”

      THIS!!! Probably the most important sentence of this page!

      Liked by 14 people

  7. I have long held the view that the couple in the lavender marriage and the now heir apparent as well as many others are British establishment plants. Their purpose has been threefold, first to persuade the Scottish electorate that they don’t really want independence, to provoke electorate hostility to the SNP by the introduction of socially damaging policies and to destroy the SNP party from within.
    Back this up with the desperate attempts to sideline the single major threat to all these objectives with the clumsy attack on Alex Salmond.
    Thankfully as more and more good and honest folk recognise and understand what has been happening Alba will grow ever bigger, stronger and more influential. I just hope it has the time to grow enough.

    Liked by 28 people

  8. After years of supporting and admiring Ms Sturgeon, this past couple of years have sadly brought me down to earth with a bump. The first straw for me was the National Rally in 2019 I think, when I was left on a downer after her non commital speech of tomorrow , tomorrow, I promise. Then the opportunity of Covid to halt all campaigning and action. Finally, the last straw was “Both Votes SNP” leading up to this year’s election. I was so sick on May 8th that I closed my Twitter account for good. I agree with every word Mia said but it took me a long time before I finally realised that we are not getting our independence with the SNP in its present form. As has been said before, most of them have cosied up to good salaries and expenses in politics and, unlike the Catelonians, do not want to rock the boat to deliver what we voted for, independence.

    Liked by 26 people

  9. Hi Iain.
    Strange to see this post today, I just finished writing this last night.

    You’re getting an indy vote
    Promised by her on high
    It’s back on the agenda
    Since ALBA happened by

    Just not in this year
    Or anytime very soon
    At least two years away
    Just howling at the moon

    Nothing has been organised
    No currency or any plan
    Anyone fit to do it?
    Surely not Shirley-Ann

    Where are all the experts
    Bypassed by the SNP
    Being let down by numpties
    It’s there for all to see

    Yoons behind the government
    Spoiling what they can
    Not allowed to name them
    Nicola’s their biggest fan

    No ferries for the islands
    Inquiry has not been aired
    Recording banned by Nicola
    Released by or Alf Baird

    Four hours of discussion
    Questions by braying fools
    Answers laid out for laymen
    Explaining the broken rules

    How long will we accept this
    Promotion beyond their ken
    Positions made for cohort
    Done by stroke of pen

    Time has come to stop this
    It is time for us to wake
    Too long we’ve been sleeping
    The power is ours to take

    Sent from Mail for Windows

    Liked by 18 people

  10. The more voices we have in Scotland critical of Sturgeon, the great the awards and praise from UK organisations!
    Think about that.
    The Empire always preferred a puppet in charge of “their” property. Their problems and loss of control always came when a popular leader had the people behind him e.g. Ghandi
    We need someone to lead us who remembers that in Scotland the People at Sovereign.

    Liked by 15 people

    1. It seems to me that the person you wanted to lead us was rejected at the recent ballot box so whats your solution now ? Do you believe in democracy or is insurrection your answer – the power is ours to take as articulated in a previous comment – but how Tell me that. Criticism is easy action much more difficult

      Like

      1. The person I wanted to lead us was excluded by the media( bribed with 3 million pounds of taxpayers money) and a Cosy agreement through a coalition of unionist politicians and the TV companies to keep him out the debates, a policy cheered on by Nicola Sturgeon, the best friend Unionism has ever dared to hope for in Scotland. Want to come back for more Florence?

        Liked by 19 people

      2. Florence

        I remember when the SNP was a tiny fringe group trying to break through the Unionist wall. I remember when Labour dominated Scottish Politics.
        I will do what I have always done over the years. I will get up and campaign for Independence. I thought the SNP was that vehicle after decades of work but alas like Labour they followed the dark side.
        The supporters of Independence have not changed they are merely in transition. When the scales finally lift from the eyes of those remaining in the SNP it will change quite quickly. I don’t care if it’s ISP, Alba or a new Women’s Rights Party. They will replace the NuSNP and Scotland will be in much better hands than at present.

        Have you forgotten how rapidly ( in political terms) voters moved from Labour to the SNP. It may take a decade to achieve Independence now but the fault for that lies at the feet of Sturgeon.

        What will I do you ask. I will rise every day and pursue Independence and if I don’t see it then the next generation will.

        What will you do?

        Liked by 18 people

      3. When Alex Salmond took the SNP into the 2007 Holyrood election the SNP membership was 6000. It was Independence supporters who created a minority Government in favour of Independence. Voters who had only recently became angry with the Labour Unionists. Not Party Members but Joe Public.

        I do not think we should ever put all our eggs in one basket again after the Sturgeon era ends. The voters, the people of Scotland will wake up much faster than Party members.

        Liked by 14 people

  11. All very true Mia, we are being strung along listening to Ian Blackford at the indy rally in Glasgow recently he waffled on about Johnson must listen to the people of Scotland rhetoric, there was nothing new from Blackford.

    We must show our disdain for the SNP and Sturgeon on wasting all those mandates by voting for the Alba party starting at next years council elections.

    Liked by 20 people

    1. Hi Ian, for the sake of historical accuracy: wasn’t the problem for the CPGB schismatic in essence, one of euro-communist revisionism and the struggle for the Morning Star? Just asking for a friend lol. Whatever it was, it was as you say: “messy and painful for all concerned.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Hi Iain, my question was for Ian Davidson @10:55am. I attempted to cancel it but …

        Like

  12. Good post, but I think Mia has missed the biggest betrayal of all. After the 2017 election, when there really was no reason to delay independence and it most should have been being worked on, the SNP leadership – and make no mistake, it was the SNP leadership – hand in glove with the unionist media, civil service and crown office, fitted up Alex Salmond with false claims of sexual assault, which then became the reason why, between 2018 when Sturgeon’s office leaked it to the Daily Record and 2021 when the enquiry was spun out until, they could do nothing about independence. Over this time, the SNP were also attacking Joanna Cherry, Wings and all the other pro independence blogs which were trying to point out what was happening.

    This wasn’t just dither and delay: it was an active, nasty, criminal (in any fair country) plan to take out the yes movement and its strongest proponents, while also giving an excuse to say “We can’t have a referendum while all that Salmond stuff is going on”.

    I will never forgive anyone in this current SNP for allowing this to happen and not speaking out.

    Liked by 32 people

    1. Do we know how Salmond is getting on with his civil actions?
      There was some online chat about naked pics sent to an intern who subsequently complained to the SNP powers that be. It was alleged those pics were used to coerce complaints re Salmond. All rumour. But if anyone knows the male interns through this time period it would be interesting to hear what they say.

      Liked by 5 people

    2. Exactly Cath and that is why I can’t abide anyone giving it the old “there are still good people in the SNP” , GOOD people who will sit idly by while children STARVE AND FREEZE. , GOOD people who will sit idly by while pensioners and families STARVE AND FREEZE , GOOD PEOPLE who are more interested in their big salaries and pensions (pishy wishfart) , GOOD PEOPLE who refuse to protect OUR females from perverts and deviants
      I personally want these GOOD PEOPLE to suffer the karma that comes from betraying Scotland and Scots they are craven COWARDS

      Liked by 13 people

  13. I wonder if a citizens assembly would work.

    A selection of indy Scots, representing every region of Scotland, who approach the UN outside of any political “consent”, and publicly begin negotiations to gain our independence. It may not succeed initially, but it might frighten the benchwarmers in Holyrood and WM into action. In our current situation we have no immediate means to remove Sturgeon and her cult, and she’s not going anywhere while she’s building her CV for a UN/EU job.

    At the very least, the leader of the citizens assembly standing up in the UN and telling the truth would wake up a few folk around the planet, and warn the UN what they might be in for if they consider giving Sturgeon a position.

    Said citizens assembly would include experts in the Scottish constitution, legal representatives, and various technocrats and members of the indy public.

    Thoughts?

    Liked by 17 people

    1. This is a wonderful idea. There seem already to be a number of groups who have made more progress on governance after independence than the NuSNP or any official channel. Politics under the thumb of career politicians who have no real interest in inclusive governance, only in bossily deciding for us what is good for us. I watched with interest from my window the herding of cattle from one field to another by two men on buggies and a dog. The cattle did their best, but it was inexorable. It was a clear analogy. The people of Scotland who think both for themselves and believe in inclusive social governance really do need to bypass the current political climate, which now exists simply to benefit people who like to think they know best for us, at best, but more recently more of them actually don’t give a toss being bent on pursuing an agenda of personal importance to themselves.

      Seems to me that the groundwork, which was done in good faith to be of assistance to the official independence movement, really could flex it’s muscles. We are good at Councils. Alba will have an uphill fight to a sufficient level of political power, and has been so disabled by the clever viciousness of the campaign against Mr Salmond, but it is still a really good source of people with excellent political skills and knowledge of what we would be up against. This is such a hopeful idea. After the news of Nicola’s popularity contest and Johnson’s thinning down of the constituencies, just a tiny glimmer of light gleams, and a very still small voice gets louder?

      Liked by 5 people

  14. Already stated my admiration for this excoriating piece . Just to add it should be pinned to the door of Bute House a la Martin Luther . The present occupants of that place have kept us fed on a Diet of Worms long enough . Get them tae…..

    Thanks for reposting this as a main article Iain .

    Liked by 21 people

    1. “It should be pinned to the door of Bute House a la Martin Luther . The present occupants of that place have kept us fed on a Diet of Worms long enough .”
      ———-
      I saw what you did there. Nice one!

      Liked by 6 people

  15. I think that I continued to believe in Nicola Sturgeon long after I should have realised the truth because I had invested so much hope in her. It was Stuart Campbell who forced me to open my eyes.

    Since I admitted the truth to myself I have been struggling to decide whether Sturgeon is knowingly or unknowingly a traitor to her own people. I now think that she knows exactly what she is doing. All this GRA stuff is meant to cause division among the Scottish people. She is trying to turn us against each other to cause confusion.

    Also, why are so many houses being built between Falkirk where I live and Edinburgh ? Who is buying them? There are so many of them, and they are so expensive that I don’t see many Scottish people moving in to them.

    Is the plan to flood Scotland with incomers, then have a referendum when we have no chance of winning ?

    What will Sturgeon’s legacy be? Does she even care what we think?

    Liked by 20 people

  16. Excellent article – summarising the feelings of increasing numbers of Indy supporters.

    Nicola “I have all the time in the world” Sturgeon and her kleptocratic husband are delighted to take ‘all the time in the world’. We mortals do not have that luxury, as we watch our country being abolished by Westminster and absorbed into Greater England.

    I asked Jim Sillars at the ALBA conference what he thought was going on with her. In summary, he thought she had been seduced by power.

    I’m not so sure. I have no doubts at all now that the Murrells are part of a group of entryists – or the subjects of Kompromat – whose role – now being played out so clearly – is to undermine the Independence movement for the foreseeable future, whilst keeping the increasingly gullible cult-followers dangling.

    Our only remaining hope is that the forthcoming civil cases are able to reveal some of the perfidy of this group of saboteurs – and reveal some of the facts behind the infamous Balmoral Hotel event – and how it was defused – as well as a certain luxury purchase in Gleneagles.

    Liked by 20 people

    1. John.

      I searched online for the (alleged) bust up at Balmoral between Sturgeon and her French girlfriend, and I couldn’t find a single thing in the online media about it. Assuming it happened, it appears a D-Notice has been thrown over it, no politicians private life is as squeaky clean as Sturgeons, even Johnson’s private life is in the media so how come Sturgeon is not, somethings not right.

      In my opinion she’s being protected.

      Liked by 23 people

      1. When Johnson came to Scotland and didn’t meet her my immediate thought was that was planned to make it look as if they were at loggerheads with each other!

        Liked by 8 people

      2. You’re probably right about being protected but I understood she has a £200k legal injunction on media reporting her and Murrell’s personal life.
        Interestingly enough, Alex S has been quoted as saying if he wanted to destroy her, he could.
        This of course could be the reason she needed him jailed and not just politically neutered.
        I know he is too statesmanlike to ever to play Sturgeon’s dirty game but I can’t be the only one who’d love him to ‘sink the boot in’. Politically speaking, of course.

        Liked by 19 people

      3. Two super interdicts might have been taken out by someone that I can’t mention about subjects I can’t mention. Super interdicts mean you aren’t even allowed to mention that there is an interdict. Though of course I’m just speaking hypothetically and not referring to anyone at all.

        Liked by 12 people

    2. NalIy don’t want to be an awful person but I think if he can bring her down then he should. Too much is at stake and she is doing too much harm.

      Liked by 14 people

      1. I agree, Marion. What they tried to do to Alex Salmond was pure evil. The media would happily have went along with it as well. It is not about sinking down to their level though, if that is even possible, but fighting fire with fire before Nicola Sturgeon and her cabal do anymore damage. There may be powerful forces at work but only by bringing information into the light can anything be done about that. I am still going through the submitted evidence to the Parliamentary Committee, in order to put together an Index as well as a time line to post on my blog. There is more than enough evidence in those documents to show a malicious plot against Alex Salmond. Some of it is just incredible. James Hynd, John Somers, Judith Mackinnon, Nicola Richards and Leslie Evans have all given false testimony to the committee and some haven’t even bothered to correct it subsequently. It really is a disgrace.

        Liked by 11 people

      2. Excellent news John – I am so glad you are doing this. The truth of this is desperately needed – without this we are stuck with the nightmare of Sturgeon and the true independence leader successfully silenced – a critical victory for the Union.

        Liked by 5 people

      3. Agreed. I have posted a series of articles about it and will continue to do so. I don’t know if you are already aware, to repeat an often used word from those in the Scottish Government, but there is also someone else on Academia called Chris S Friel who is also still writing about this. His articles are excellent and he has done a few in regards to Liz Lloyd and her friends in the media and their interactions on Twitter. They are well worth seeking out.

        Liked by 5 people

    3. We’re in a bad way, indeed, if all we’re left with are: “the forthcoming civil cases”, presided over by the Scottish judiciary. In a colony, the colonized receive the colonizer’s version of justice.

      Liked by 12 people

      1. Not necessarily expecting a fair judgement, but it would be good to see some Dorian-excluded evidence led! That would include the Vietnam texts.

        I guess we’d need to rely on Craig Murray to report it since no doubt the evidence would be ignored by the ahem ‘professional’ so-called ‘journalists’.

        We live in hope

        Liked by 6 people

  17. Things struck me, one that NS came to power on the back of a revolt against the result of the 2014 vote which many believed had been stolen from them so joined the SNP as a protest vote. NS was Alex Salmond’s prodigy, so many believed she stood for the same things, like independence for Scotland. Sadly for them she didn’t, she stood for NS and keeping the SNP in power so that she would be able to stay in power as FM. (They will have to vote for me, I am the leader of the only party that can give them independence) and it worked for a while. She has taken a leaf out of New Labours book to move the party further and further to the right and push Labour out of the game. She is now as near Tory as you can get in Scotland. The problem, many had was what alternative do we have to the SNP if we want independence. now that no longer applies, and many are now questioning is independence under this NS led SNP, be what we and Scotland really want? The up and coming council elections will be a litmus test, on the health of the Yes movement, Voting out SNP councillors will not change the situation on the ground, so safe to do so, but it will shake up the SNP high heid yins to the problems they face if they do not ditch NS and take seriously the question of independence, and start the ball rolling it Westminster and the civil servant all working on the problems that will come up at the forthcoming negotiations. come on Scotland, forget Christmas turkey shortages, forget lack of drivers, forget container ships stuck at Felixstowe, with Christmas onboard, think Alba and getting started on independence. Then and only then will be in control of the remedies that will make all these things go away.

    Liked by 15 people

  18. It’s not as if it’s the FM’s fault that she’s an agent of British constitutionalism, who has sworn allegiance to the Crown in Parliament. A big boy forced her to do that then ran away. Though I think she’s betrayer women as she isn’t particularly bright and is more than a tad parochial in her political opportunism.

    Cybersemiotics: An Evolutionary World View Going Beyond Entropy and Information into the Question of Meaning
    https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/12/8/1902/pdf

    Liked by 1 person

  19. John O’Dowd

    “A certain luxury purchase in Gleneagles”

    Do you feel that you can expand on that? If not it’s ok. We all have to be careful these days.

    Liked by 8 people

  20. In other words, she’s an intellectually limited boilerplate politician who has grasped probably her only chance of social significance. It’s just a pity it has pretty much cost Scots any opportunity of ever enjoying the benefits of open democracy. It’s also a pity that Scotland’s justice system has been unable to check her progress, probably as a result of it being structurally incapable of supporting the principle of equality in law. So at the end of the day, the FM has done a grand job, as Scots law and politics is even more irrational and prejudiced against a scientific world view, than it already was as consequence of standing under Westminster.

    Closure, Function, Emergence, Semiosis and Life: The Same Idea?
    Reflections on the Concrete and the Abstract in Theoretical Biology
    http://cogprints.org/187/1/2000a.Closure.html

    Liked by 4 people

  21. Here ‘bullshit’ seems the right word Mia, though in postcolonial literature it is normally referred to as ‘mystification’, as the dominant National Party elite delays independence by confusing and perplexing the people, and behaves much like ‘a gang’ while ‘feathering its nest’, ably supported by ‘the arms’ of the colonial power which is more than willing to suppress opponents of the party. Like many other former colonies, Scotland has its very own NBS.

    But, look on the bright side, what do we think happens when the colonised masses finally figure out that their leadership elite was all time batting for the other side and primarily tasked with ‘keeping the independence movement at bay’, to delay liberation? Yes, the bullshit is seen for what it is and the momentum for independence becomes unstoppable. We may be closer to this point than many appear to think.

    Liked by 19 people

    1. Scotland may well be on the point of waking up to the institutional gaslighting we are being subjected to. Though the yoonstream will insist it’s all a conspiracy theory concocted by of those nasty “blood and soil moon-howlers”.

      Multiculturalism, biosemiotics,
      and cross-cultural friendship:
      An essay review of Olteanu’s multimodal
      semiotics of culture
      https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/sss/article/download/SSS.2019.47.3-4.10/11341/

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Exactly what we’d expect them to say. The thing is: I’m far from convinced that the opposition possesses the political nous necessary to successfully manage thus counter the Colonizer-Colonized narrative/dialectic, beyond, in the last analysis, sending in the army.

        Liked by 7 people

    2. Alf , your’ bright side’ , lovely though it is , may come far too late for this 75 year old. Ms Sturgeon might think time is on her side but it sure as hell ain’t on mine and I desperately want to see Scotland breathe freely before I pop my clogs!

      Liked by 3 people

  22. Indeed. The facts are out there – but are silenced – – by state-agencies in league with … well.who?.

    Some have been jailed – some have escaped jail because of decent jurors and at least one decent sheriff.

    Some who should be in jail have escaped jail because of who they are and whose side they are on!

    Bye the way, has anyone heard what has happened to the police investigation into the missing £600k?

    All of this is known to the arch-unionist press. All of it is widely discussed in legal and political circles. It is shared in pubs and restaurants and dinner parties. Only the wider public is kept in the dark! Where are our fearless seekers of truth?

    Why is not a sniff of it published by a press utterly hostile to independence?

    I think we can figure out the answer !

    Liked by 16 people

  23. One minor facet in this is relevant to my own interests. NS’s government has repeatedly dodged acting on the illegal activities of some shooting estates, here meaning grouse moors. The common shooting trapping and poisoning of raptors – eagles, hawks etc – is not only illegal, and has long been so, but the poisoning uses illegally-held pesticides, long-banned.

    We also see heather burning, releasing CO2 at a time of concern over climate change.

    I wonder if the ruling clique wishes to avoid upsetting the land-owning gentry,

    Liked by 13 people

  24. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Sturgeon and Johnson are spotted in New York in about ten years having a convivial lunch reminiscing about their great con trick in how they brought Scotland and England to its knees and having a good laugh about itabout it

    Liked by 9 people

  25. I can’t believe the level of puerile comments on this site. Yes, Nicola is playing it cautious but we CANNOT afford to lose the next referendum. Poles currently show it is 50/50 at best – would you risk the entire future of a country on this? I am a committed Scottish Independence supporter but waiting until the time is right is far far better than a second no vote. We don’t need a second referendum we need a second referendum we can win.

    Like

    1. Craig

      None so blind as those who will not see!

      I cannot help you. That is a journey for you alone to take. However in 10 years time will you still be waiting? Do you have a timescale? How do you feel regarding those who suffer while she waits?

      Liked by 7 people

    2. Never mind the referendun date. Where is the independence campaign to sell the message which sholud have started in 2015 and still be ongoing?

      Liked by 4 people

    3. Craig.

      Oh please give it a rest Alex Salmond left Sturgeon on 45%, Brexit easily gave sturgeon the 6% she needed to get us out of this rancid union, but what did she do, she campaigned up and down the country to save England from itself instead of saving us from this union, now look at the mess we’re in. No Sturgeon had probably the best opportunity you can get (Brexit) to pull Scotland free from this onesided union, and she refused to do it.

      She’s either a self-serving trougher, or she ‘s working for the union, or she’s completely incompetent, whichever one it is the SNP has had my last vote for sure.

      Liked by 6 people

  26. Me, I’m so disappointed in my MP. I campaigned at stalls for her, letter-boxed the streets, drove her to canvassing. And now, when the issues and concerns rightly raised by Mia are rife, my MP so available to be interviewed on TV, has gone silent.

    Liked by 8 people

  27. Murrelling: the prolonging of a political career for purely selfish ends; any activities in the service of this, including, but not limited to: lying, making false accusations, abuse of the law and public money, redacting evidence, defamatory rhetoric employed to deflect from one’s own wrongdoing.

    Sturgeon: the Toom Tabard with shoulder pads and killer heels.

    Liked by 6 people

  28. The key point to accept is that Sturgeon will never deliver independence unless it is by accident. She does not want independence and will do her utmost to prevent it.

    It beats me how anyone can trust someone who has persecuted Salmond for nearly 4 years now and lied so easily and continuously during her 8 hour testimony.

    Sturgeon The Betrayer assumes of course she ever was for Scottish independence in the first place.

    Liked by 8 people

  29. It’s more than a tad depressing that the world and it’s granny apparently think ‘our’ FM the most competent female politician around, as she is doing all she can to undermine the cultural significance of womanhood. In pretty much the same way as she has devalued being Scottish, i.e. by simply ignoring the existing fabric of the law, in favour of legally empowering anti-foundational ideologies (British nationalism and gender woo woo). Which are themselves incompatible with the principles of universality and equality in law. So how on earth she hopes her policies will achieve sustainability for Scotland, is anyone’s guess.

    A Biosemiotic Modeling of the Body-“Self” Synechism
    https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/78548

    Liked by 5 people

  30. Nicola Sturgeon is a brit through and through her job is destroy independence on behalf of her masters not advance it. I was told sometime back about aprox 5 years ago from someone quite high up within the SNP that there was someone within the highest levels of the SNP to be mi5 was not sure then but 4 years ago 100% that was confirmed by the way she started to act. You will never gain independence while sturgeon is in charge of the SNP that is part of the plan destroy the SNP, destroy the YES movement, DESTROY the biggest threat to the british establishment Alex Salmond, destroy the appetite for independence within Scotland. At present she is doing a very good job for her masters but not for you and me.

    Liked by 6 people

  31. Won’t someone save Scotland from illiberal politicians and their media sycophants? The Glasgow summit presents us with the perfect stage, though I think we’ll need to be creative about how we get past the institutional gatekeepers of British nationalism.

    An Ecological Organic Paradigm: A Framework of Analysis for Moral and Political Philosophy
    https://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Bioe/BioeRuth.htm

    Liked by 2 people

  32. Hello,

    Fellow contributors have rightly criticised Nicola Sturgeon for ignoring opportunities for pursuing the Cause of Independence. Supremely valid reasons I think.

    However, I criticise her in the Scottish Parliament for also promoting the type of LEGISLATION that has set Scotland on a course contrary to the well-being of our country,, certainly on the evidence of popular polls.

    Until now, we have had the “State Guardian” rules for each child in schools, the Minimum Unit Price legislation for alcohol which had negligible effect except drive up the price of cheaper drinks, especially for the elderly, to name a few There is many more which other readers will be able to add. Now she is intend on driving through Parliament various items of social engineering, such as GRA and the HCB that the SNP MSP sheep will ensure they pass.

    What is happening to our country? The warm glow around her TV personality won’t last for ever and the continuing failure of her Government Clique is slowly coming under media criticism.. Iain’s blog helps but she is supreme in shifting the blame onto someone else, A tipping point will come. This corrupt and fraudulent regime will be finally exposed in all its nastiness.

    Let’s keep going.

    PS: I am just re-reading George Orwell’s “1984”. Some of the characteristics of the government “Party” of that dystopian world reminds me very much of the New SNP!

    Liked by 6 people

  33. A great blog by Mia and some really interesting comments and discussion. One thing jumping out at me is how frightened people are to talk about what they know if it has anything to do with Nicola Sturgeon. This is not right. What is happening in Scotland? How can our First Minister be so well hidden in plain sight? Why are people scared to say what they know? Even the Royal Family has its dirty linen washed in public, so how come the FM of Scotland manages to avoid that. We must not accept this as normal, we have been gaslighted enough.

    Liked by 3 people

  34. COP26 is coming.

    And will Nicola Sturgeon have a bit part. That’ll be interesting to find out.

    And as for the hosts, that’s you and me –

    ” Our response will be to Keep Scotland Moving where possible and have a planned response to recover swiftly from adverse events ” ( Transport S outland)

    With the M8 closed and or restricted, the Clydeside Expressway closed, many restrictions elsewhere, rolling security cordons, and exclusion zone round the SECC a d other places, Covid might well have been but a warm up for lockdown.

    Anyway, let’s wait to see if Nikla gets a bit part in it.

    Like

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