THIS IS SCARY, VERY SCARY.

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorizedTags:,

THIS IS SCARY…VERY SCARY.

Photo by Edwin Ariel Valladares on Pexels.com

The figures quoted in this article come from the National Records of Scotland. They spell out the reasons the indigenous Scottish population is falling. It also highlights that the fall is being disguised by a very substantial inflow of people from the rest of the UK.

It has been happening since the 1950’s so it emphasizes just how badly disadvantaged the current franchise is if we ever want to win Scotland’s Independence. It also goes much further as I will explain in this article.

Birth Rate

Who are most likely to be those leaving Scotland each year? It is pretty certain they are a much younger age group than those coming in from the rest of the UK. I don’t have these figures but I would bet my house there is a very significant age difference. Does that matter? Well yes it does, if lots of young people are leaving and being replaced by people much older you can be absolutely sure that will have a dramatic and sustained impact on the number of new births recorded in our country. The number of indigenous Scots living in Scotland will decease and that process will accelerate over time. Experts predict if we stay on our present course indigenous Scots will be a MINORITY IN SCOTLAND BY 2050. So Nicola, time is very much NOT ON OUR SIDE. I am astonished you ever thought it was!

If, as I suspect many of the incomers are older, and we know for certain that many are retirees from down South cashing in on the much higher priced housing down South, buying a similar or better house in Scotland and pocketing many hundreds of thousands of pounds to live a comfortable life in retirement. That has an impact as well, not a good one for our young people who are still living in Scotland. The impact of these hundreds of thousands of incomers, particularly in our beauty spots and tourist areas, forces prices up and indigenous young people find it impossible to buy an affordable house in areas where their families have lived for generations. Local businesses find it difficult to hire local staff because so many young people have moved away, priced out the local housing market. Government and especial local government have been slow to respond to these serious local shortages. Legislation and finance is required to build houses for social rent with strict qualifications that reserves those opportunities for genuinely local families.

It doesn’t end there, having fewer families of childbearing age impacts local schools, in some small rural areas it may endanger the continued existence of the entire school.

I could write a lot more about this but I am sure this is going to be an ongoing and growing issue so I will finish with a little on the impact on our hopes for Scottish Independence. I will keep this simple with a number of factual statements which I believe spells the outcome very clearly.

We know that Independence is much more strongly supported by the young rather than the old. It is the young people we are losing, in very substantial numbers.

We know that the people who are replacing them are coming from furth of Scotland and we know in the 2014 Referendum some  72% of people in this category voted no. ( source Edinburgh University study of voting patterns in the 2014 Referendum).

We know that the 2014 referendum was run on the basis of the flawed Local Government franchise that allowed huge numbers of temporary residents a vote, people who would never been allowed to vote on a constitutional matter in this way in any other country in the whole of Europe.

We know the number of indigenous Scots living in Scotland every year is dropping. We know this population group were the strongest in support of Independence for Scotland and that a MAJORITY voted in favour in  2014.

We would already be Independent if our Referendum was run on the same basis as every other country in Europe organizes votes on their own constitution.

I have to ask knowing all the above, why has our Government in Scotland, a Government supposedly in support of Independence, done absolutely nothing to deal with these issues?

My answer would be we are witnessing intentional betrayal, or are ANY of our elected representatives, at Westminster or Holyrood who want to explain what their plan and fixed timetable is? Why they have done nothing about the above?

I will happily publish any response!

I am, as always 

Yours for Scotland.

FREE SUBSCRIPTIONS

To this site are available on the Home and Blog pages of this site. A subscription ensures you receive notification of all new articles. You will be most welcome and joining thousands of others who are already registered.

116 thoughts on “THIS IS SCARY, VERY SCARY.”

  1. So the big picture is that there is a net outflow between these two categories of just 106500 in the 8 years between 2012-13 and 2019-20. This is around 13,300 per annum.

    It would be interesting to see what the breakdown is by age AND by nationality for the those leaving. I suspect that, as well as a high proportion of indigenous people being young, there has been a change in the percentage by country of origin with sizeable volumes of EU citizens going back to their home country since the Brexit vote in 2016.

    I would postulate that EU citizens would be likely to vote ‘Yes’ next time around given the basket case that the UK i.e. England has now shown itself to be post-Brexit.

    So that could be a double whammy of young Scottish folk PLUS EU ‘returnees’ leaving in droves to be replaced by incomers from rUK.

    Ominous for any future referendum carried under the local authority electoral franchise.

    Liked by 16 people

    1. I would think most of them have the same nationality as your’s, but there may be some Pakistani’s as well.

      Like

      1. And it could be worse than that:

        Since Brexit there’s been an 237500 that have left whilst 184600 have come in from rUK.

        We know from the work of AIlsa Henderson and James Mitchell at Edinburgh University (see https://blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk/scottishreferendumstudy/files/2015/03/Scottish-Referendum-Study-27-March-2015.pdf) that folk under 30 voted by around 56% for Yes. Let’s assume that proportion has now increased to 65%- the recent Ipsos/Mori poll (see ttps://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2021-12/Ipsos%20MORI%20Scottish%20Political%20Monitor_Data%20tables_November%202021_V1_PUBLIC_0.pdf) found that 67% of under 34 year olds would be in favour of Indy – and that EU citizens would be 67% Yes also (given all that has happened post-Brexit). That would be the loss of potentially 154000 (67% of 237500) pro-Yes votes.

        If there is an reduction in the No proportion from those from 72% to 67% for those moving in from rUK due to disgust with Brexit/Johnson then that would mean that the volume of incoming Yes voters would still only be in the region of 60900 (100%-67%=33% x 184600).

        A net swing to No of 154000 – 60900 = 93100.

        Of course, there are more groups than in my simplistic example and we’d need a greater breakdown to apply the proportions in order to extrapolate the scenario more realistically.

        Still, it can’t be good.

        Liked by 3 people

  2. One of the * advantages * of living in a relatively small community as I do ( approx 2000 , and growing , fast ! ) is you can actually see with your own eyes what is happening in your area and talk with both the native population and , eventually , maybe ( many ” keep themselves to themselves ” ) get to know any new arrivals into that area .

    I can confirm unequivocally the pattern is as described in the article eg young locals leaving and older – often though not exclusively , retirees arriving . From what I can glean these people are not likely to support Independence : as far as they’re concerned they have simply relocated to Northern Britain and bring all their Anglo-Centric baggage with them .

    Another trend is , say , a retired couple moving north and thereafter being joined by offspring who , not being in a position to buy property apply for social housing , thereby adding to the trope of * supplying local demand * which has seen , in my area and I believe many areas of the Highlands large swathes of – what was once considered – Green Belt land being * developed * . The reverse is also happening at an accelerating rate eg young couples arriving and being followed by parents wishing to be near their offspring .

    All this is quite natural and the individuals involved can’t be blamed for desiring to live in proximity to their family .

    The consequences however require no spelling out .

    Having a pretty large network of friends and acquaintances all over , in particular , the Central and Western Highlands I can say with some certainty this trend is happening all over these areas .

    Time is most assuredly NOT on our side , anyone thinking otherwise is either deluded to the point of madness or knows exactly what’s happening and the likely results for our aspiration to Independence

    Liked by 24 people

      1. The use of the term ‘indigenous’ for people born in Scotland is an insult to indigenous people throughout the World. I presume you and the author don’t know what the word means in this context. Lots of Australians were born in Australia, few of them are indigenous.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Neil I grew up in NZ amongst the Maori. I can assure you they would not object to native Scots using the term indigenous for themselves. The word predates empire as well. It has been used of Scots by the English. You are being concerned for no reason.

        Liked by 8 people

      4. fast? gone in 60 seconds…awright, ye am awright…innit….we are doooomed, Cap’n Mainwairing, if we don’t change the franchise, or go directly to plan B

        Liked by 2 people

  3. New SNP have been bought and sold for English gold. The short money from Westminster keeps rolling into the party’s coffers and their representatives down there aren’t in any hurry to give up the salaries, pensions and gold-plated expense accounts. After years in Labour’s shadow they’re enjoying being the dominant political force at both Scotland and UK level. They don’t want independence spoiling any of that. They disgust me.

    Liked by 26 people

  4. Sadly that data was of no surprise!

    The current situation that so many members and voters of the NuSNP ignore facts and take their information from the Sturgeon spinners is a great disappointment for me.I had great faith in the wisdom of my fellow Scots until Sturgeon proved so clearly that it is not just London who can fool them.

    Liked by 26 people

  5. In raw data terms, I would agree. Statistics, however, only tell so much of a story. The net figures are worrying as regards the total population, but is there more detailed demographic data regarding who is coming and who is leaving?

    A significant proportion of the numbers will be students moving in both directions, both pre and post higher education. Of course there will be older people coming here to retire, but that may well include Scots.

    I’m not saying you’re wrong, but a far more detailed dataset would be far more informative (assuming one exists!).

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Yes Dave , it’s not a simple matter to discern the entire pattern of net Immigration/Emigration – or know in advance the theoretical voting intentions of new arrivals : anecdotal evidence is insufficient to get the whole picture .

      The – unnecessarily delayed – census should give us a clearer idea of how things stand

      Liked by 10 people

    3. I go for old fashioned observation. All the villages around me have mostly retired people recently moved up from England. They mostly have flagpoles with Union Flags. They have get together as bell ringers and other quaint English village events.
      We have few jobs for young people and even fewer young children.
      Before Brexit we did have some young Polish couples move in and they embraced Scottish life but they have left.
      I don’t need data to tell me what I can see every day.

      We are becoming a cheap centre for English retirees who want a mini England with benefits and none of those “Scots” complaining about their wonderful “Country” and its “Royal Family”.

      As the great Engineer Brunel said “ If it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t” Calculations are not infallible and he used his eyes.

      Liked by 18 people

      1. Which will probably comfirm our fears. Do we know why it was delayed in Scotland? It cant have been Covid as the other three nations held one.
        If it was to change the classic binary sex question, that is bad news because, if people are able to say male or female depending on how they feel at the time, the resulting statistics (many of which are ‘broken down by age and sex’) will be completely useless.
        This is beyond depressing and even worse that I had feared. We need a leader who will declare that we are in independent nation and get UN support, from the anti-colonisation department, if we are to have any chance of Scotland surviving. I find it hard to cotain my anger agaist the current Scottish Government who have watsed, it seems, deliberately, so many chances.

        Liked by 9 people

  6. Yes as Dave M says there may be “devil in the details” however as Robert Hughes rightly says if you have your eyes open you don’t need statistics to tell you what is happening.

    You won’t receive much thanks for articles like this – even from some of your fellow Nicola/NuSNP sceptics. Many regard the subject as just mildly embarrassing and the eyes of the SNP loyalists light up when they see articles such as this as they can then deploy the usual “Racist/Blood and Soil” shite to the full. Better to stick your head in the sand and believe the WGD style panglossian “never been closer” fantasies.than face up to unpleasant facts.

    Liked by 16 people

      1. Iain, Allistair Gray wrote and mentioned this years ago and he got pelters for it but it has to be said, it has to be put out there in the open for all to see if Scots are to gain independence, and remain the majority in their own country.

        Liked by 9 people

  7. While I understand what you are saying and agree in principle that we have a flawed franchise for an IndyRef when compared to international convention (I’d prefer a plebiscite election anyway), the franchise was agreed upon for the 2014 IndyRef between Alex Salmond and WM, so calling it a betrayal by the current SNP leadership falls foul of poor logic, I’m afraid. You can’t do so without including AS in that betrayal.

    Like

    1. Before you accuse others of poor logic, and Alex Salmond of complicity in betrayal, you would do well to ponder this question posed by John Maynard Keynes: “When the facts change I change my mind – what do you do?”

      Liked by 18 people

      1. I didn’t accuse AS of complicity in betrayal, the logic did that! I’m pro-AS, a member of Alba and I have no respect for NS. However, the logic was poor. Not *that* much has changed in Scotland’s population in *7* years, the chart showed the last *20* years. All I’m saying is be consistent and accurate. Would AS be doing something differently now? Yes, I’m almost sure he would be because he’s considerably more intelligent/wiser/shrewder than Nicola and he cares about Independence for Scotland, whereas Nicola cares more about Nicola and her SNP biology denying friends.

        Liked by 1 person

    4. I really don’t think you can accuse Alec Salmond of betrayal, Steve. We had had a previous referendum on devolution (which we ‘lost’) but we had never had a referendum on independence before. Yes, it didn’t turn out as we all hoped it would, but it is in the not learning from what that referendum told us that the administration of Nicola Sturgeon can be held to account. She and the foot-draggers entered into a Faustian pact with the women’s frock wearers’ supporters and we are where we are. It was all done very deliberately. Just watch an evening’s TV of Scottish programmes, so-called, and you will hear more English accents than Scottish ones – particularly in the arts, culture, history natural environment scenes. Neither the fact that so many outwith Scotland are in these types of jobs nor the fact that we are being brainwashed into acceptance are accidental either. Alasdair Gray did write about this, but, like the rest of us, he was not being anti English, but, rather, pointing out that a small country like Scotland would soon be overwhelmed if people coming in were not assimilating to the overriding culture, but imposing their own on Scotland. That is not racism – not unless you are a complete fool and refuse to see the implications. I am not accusing you of being a fool. He was, as others here are, pointing out the objective truth as opposed to subjective delusion. Every former and present colony on the planet would tell you a similar story. Fortunately for most of them, they are thousands of miles away. Unfortunately for the Maori, the Aborigines of Australia, the Native Americans, etc., it is already far too late. Some people just cannot bear to hear the truth.

      Liked by 10 people

  8. We also have to realise that if a swathe of retirees come up to live here they will invariably place a further burden on the SNHS whilst at the same time relieving England’s costs. We don’t want to see a country full of old folk (I am one). I know I’d rather see young people with their children enjoying a worthwhile life here in Scotland. Having said that, we’ve been having conversations with our grandchildren that it might be better for their future to emigrate to the likes of Ireland because it certainly doesn’t look like we’re anywhere near getting our independence, whereas Ireland looks like it may beat us.

    Liked by 15 people

  9. Time to unfollow you. This is the policy of division and hate. That is scarier still.

    Like

    1. Where are you seeing ” division and hate ” Miranda ? Stating facts , whether demographic or any other , that have a bearing on our destiny is absolutely necessary in order to have a realistic picture of the challenges that face us . I’m afraid blind faith in * Nicola * , the current SNP hierarchy or even the desire of Scots for Independence alone just won’t cut it .

      To see ” division and hate ” in this is simply baffling

      Liked by 17 people

    2. Yes Miranda
      We are to blame for the destruction of our culture. For they erosion of Gaelic and Scots.
      We are to blame for the kilt and bagpipes being outlawed as the new “Union” placed an iron grip on our Nation.
      We are to blame for over 300 years of wealth being sent South to London for “the upkeep of the Empire”
      We are to blame for the underinvestment in our industries and we created the culture of greed that led to the clearances.
      General Wade built those roads across Scotland as kindness not to suppress us. Those military sites like Fort George another kindness.It was our lack of intellect that required all Scottish Regiments to have English Officers. It was our place to be cannon fodder in the First World War and have far greater losses than any other Nation in this Union.
      As was said of the Highland Regiments in Canada by their English General – “Wonderful fighters and no great loss should any fall”

      How dare we speak up!

      Was every other Nation who took back their country hateful? That is along list.

      Liked by 20 people

      1. Well said footie,these plastic patriots don’t like the truth, I certainly wouldn’t like any of them in the trenches with me.

        Liked by 7 people

    6. No one is saying we must keep people out or send people back over the border, Miranda. What is genuinely divisive and hate-filled is moving to another country and expecting to carry on as if you had never moved, actually forcing your culture upon the existing one. It is a well-attested fact that, when people coming into a country do not assimilate into the overarching culture (without losing their own heritage) trouble starts to brew. There are round 800,000 Scots in England in a population of 55-58 million; there are around 500,000 rUK residents in Scotland in a population of 5.4 million. If you can’t see how those two figures differ and why, then no one can help you. Imagine, perhaps, that the Scots-born Scots were all brown-skinned. You would get it then. Are you saying that colonisation occurs only to people with dark skins? Isn’t that racist? In a hundred years’ time, we might all be assimilated into England – that is, all Scots, Welsh and NI. Do you think that would be a good thing? Why? Because, Miranda, remember, it can’t happen the other way round because of… numbers?

      Liked by 8 people

  10. “Scots will be a MINORITY IN SCOTLAND BY 2050” I’m being asked for the source, do you have a link please?

    Like

    1. The remark is based on the number of incomers now to Scotland, calculated year-by-year, assuming the figure remains consistent and does not increase because of mass movement of people motivated by climate change. “The safest places in the UK may be the Highland’s and the Islands by 2050”. (Science mag.)

      Liked by 9 people

      1. I was told by a commentator on another website a year or two ago, that he had not come to Scotland to have a border erected against his grandchildren. I’m not sure how I would have reacted had I been face-to-face with this man, but I did ask him in the comments whether he thought his desire to see his grandchildren whenever was a greater priority than the people of Scotland having their independence. He replied in the positive, in a manner that reeked of superiority. I also asked him, and others of a similar mien, whether they had come to Scotland after the election of a SNP government whose core policy was (or used to be) independence, and, if that was the case, did they not consider the possibility that Scotland and rUK would separate. Answer came there none. The sense of entitlement was palpable, just as it is with the trans lobby. I think that those who colonise the spaces/land/sea/rights of others simply do not care about those they intend to displace. The whole aim of their colonisation is precisely to displace those already occupying those spaces/that land/those seas/those rights. They really believe they have the right to do so and if the present occupiers, the indigenous (UN use of the word) people/groups/sex don’t like it, tough.

        As for the use of ‘indigenous’ – can’t remember who complained about it – pre Iron Age/Bronze Age/Neolithic settlements have been found throughout Scotland, from the Borders to the Shetlands, indicating that a more or less homogenous Scottish people existed in pre history, and, furthermore, their DNA is still present in the present population, as is Pictish DNA. These peoples had a different evolving culture to the pre history peoples of England, so, yes, the people of Scotland, born here over generations, are ‘indigenous’ in all senses of the word. That they have been augmented, rather than supplanted, by Vikings, Irish, etc. down through the centuries, makes no discernible difference to their right to be called an ‘indigenous’ people. Some people will twist objective truth to a subjective falsehood in order to cement their colonising imperialism – whatever form it takes, whether rUK in Scotland or men in frocks. Only a fool or an ill-intentioned person would fail to understand the damage that can be done in the name of me-ism.

        Liked by 8 people

      2. That is as good an explanation of ‘indigenous’ as I would hope to read, Lorncal. It seems odd to some folk how Scots are not allowed to be Scots, and if they complain about the inherent racism, asked to justify their existence. And then you realise only in a colonised country are indigenous people told they are being selfish and ‘nativist’.

        Liked by 3 people

  11. All part of the Plantation of Scotland. Ethnic engineering it’s colonial tried and tested policy.
    Was done in Ireland in the early 1600’s to introduce a ruling class in Ireland.

    Was done all round the world to further control in the colonies. Think of the displacement and relegation of the indigenous Aboriginals in Australia and New Zealand, the native Indians in Canda nd you get the idea. Make them peasants non people in their own land.

    It is no accident that London and the South East has a property asset bubble. This is deliberate economic policy. It is no accident and it is no accident that cash rich individuals buy up bits of Scotland. And when they come, hey come with heir British unionist values.

    Indeed where I stay there is an English family in a house nearby. The husband is a Royal Navy officer. 24/7 this guy flies a huge Union Jack from his garage. He is no one of us, and he shows it. Just like the Ulster Unionists he is vicious and nasty against Scots. A superior individual among inferior natives.

    So ytes, they will ethnically engineer the Scots out of existence. Sturgeon knows his but the vile wee deviant knows this. She has been compromised, has taken the Westminster shilling, but we know that.

    Liked by 20 people

    2. She certainly does not behave as a true Scot. In fact, years ago she used to talk about her English ancestry. But her forebears, regardless of their nationality, wouldn’t matter a jot if she’d simply do what she was elected to do……. lead Scotland to independence.
      But on a brighter note, it was heartening to listen to Angus Brendan MacNeil on the Prism today. It must be very difficult for worthwhile politicians to survive in the SNP now-a-days. Luckily, Angus is a definite survivor and most importantly, believes in regaining our independence as quickly as possible.

      Liked by 7 people

  12. “if lots of young people are leaving and being replaced by people much older you can be absolutely sure that will have a dramatic and sustained impact on the number of new births”

    Also it limits the number of working age people and income tax is the only major tax that the Smith Commission devolved. The fiscal framework makes assumptions about the income tax take in Scotland and long story short if the working age population decreases the block “grant” will be very adversely affected. Plus older people tend to use costly social and health services more thus increasing the devolved expenditure. Double whammy.

    Dominic Cummings stated that SNP senior figures have told Westminster they don’t want a referendum before 2024. Whilst he is a lying swine, that certainly does fit into the evidence we’ve seen. As Iain says maybe Sturgeon has time on her side but Scotland most certainly doesn’t.

    Liked by 17 people

  13. Fighting for and gaining independence for Scotland is not in the financial or career interests of the MSP’s of the SNP government in Scotland or the Nationalist MP’s at Westminster. A nationalist party true to its philosophy would commit to declaring independence on the day it is returned to power with a majority in an election.

    Liked by 19 people

  14. To someone who isn’t a paranoid-obsessive xenophobe that’s as interesting as people moving from Glenrothes to Perth, or Glasgow to Bristol. The article’s hyperbolic made-up assumptions are outstanding. A waste of life.

    Like

    1. Want to argue over the statistics and how the various groupings voted very differently in 2014? Or indeed why no other country in Europe would never contemplate such a franchise when determining constitutional matters in their own countries

      Liked by 22 people

      1. This is a disingenuous response Iain. No other ALREADY INDEPENDENT country perhaps, but as you and others should know, because it HAS been pointed out a number of times recently, the issue being discussed is a referendum for self determination, not a constitutional amendment in an independent state. The overwhelming majority of self determination referendums since World War 2 have used inclusive residence qualifications for the franchise in independence referendums, NOT exclusive ethnic or birth qualifications. A few like Montenegro have imposed limitations like 24 months proof of residence.

        Making the argument to move away from the 2014 precedent is something folk are perfectly entitled to do of course, but they have to realise that in doing so they are running a number of risks. These include:

        1) the British nationalists failing to agree a referendum on the same terms as they did in 2014;
        2) the international community being less keen to recognise Scottish self determination because the movement have moved the goalposts and sought to exclude “X” % of Scottish residents from a say in their future; and
        3) impacting on the votes of pro independence people who are horrified at the ditching of civic nationalism.

        Whether the game is really worth the candle on those terms has to be considered. The fact remains that the overwhelming majority of Scots are native born. If that majority can’t be persuaded to bring about self determination in alliance with pro independence New Scots whether from the UK, EU or rest of the world, I have my doubts it can be achieved at all. Pochling the electorate to exclude those who have moved here will never be anything but politically regressive and morally indefensible.

        Like

      2. Nobody is arguing for the place of birth. I am arguing or a fair franchise where all people, irrespective of nationality only get to vote if they can demonstrate that they have been committed to Scotland for a number of years. I would suggest somewhere between five and ten years would be fait. Scotland must be the main domicile. This would be fair.

        Liked by 15 people

      3. English Ellis is lying.

        No one is ‘moving goalposts’ except him, in his frantic effort to constrain Scotland’s liberty. And his fear of international reprisals, should Scotland exercise its rights, is as preposterous as it is politically pig-ignorant.

        Liked by 3 people

    2. So, Neil, colonialism never happened? Just a bunch of paranoid-obsessive xenophobes? Who’d a thunk it? No Scottish/English origin Protestants in NI. No Troubles? All a mass delusion? I see. How interesting. What you and others refuse to see is that it does actually matter what happens to a culture and its people because, you see, Neil, when one set of people displace another, it’s safe bet that the displaced people become the poorest and most deprived. Ask the Native Americans, the Maori, the Aboriginal people… ask the Ni Catholics, who, for generations, were denied their civil rights and employment. Everything has repercussions.

      Liked by 10 people

  15. Hate says Miranda.

    The English Unionist Brit despises Scots. See them as inferior. Sees Scotland as an English chattel. Resents the inferior Scot wanting independence.

    Hate Miranda, it’s an English – Brit sentiment.

    Oh and they hate Europe too.

    Liked by 13 people

  17. I can only echo Rev Stu’s words and applaud his decision to cut ties between this place and Wings Over Scotland, which has (more’s the pity) found itself inundated with small claque of regressive nativists over the past few months, despite Stu Campbell’s well known distaste for their blood and soil views. If Scottish nationalism isn’t civic nationalism it isn’t worth supporting. For those taken in by the “we’re being swamped” narrative (and the same goes for the “Scotland as colony” mantra) it is worth repeating Stu Campbell’s challenge in his twitter thread from September this year:

    “If you want to deny 20% of the people who live in Scotland the vote in a referendum because they were born somewhere else, we’re not on the same side. If you want their votes, fucking well persuade them. If you can’t, your case is shit.
    And stop whining that by saying this I’m trying to “shut down debate”. I have no power and no desire to stop you debating it. You can debate it all you want. I’m not reporting you to Twitter or the police. I’m just not interested.
    We debated this in 2011 and we came to the right decision. Nothing has happened that justifies abandoning that principle in my view. You can’t just disenfranchise people because you think they’ll vote the wrong way.
    As well as being morally wrong, it’s almost certainly self-defeating. The Scotland you’d be trying to sell people under that franchise is a very different place to the one we were advocating in 2014, and very much for the worse.
    That, of course, is true in many ways. If we got a referendum tomorrow I don’t in all honesty know if I could bring myself to campaign in it, because it’d be a *de facto* campaign for Nicola Sturgeon’s vision of a hellish, intolerant, incompetent and corrupt Scotland.
    But that’s not a decision I need to lose sleep over, because we’re not getting a referendum tomorrow, or next year, or the year after that, or the year after that.
    But I’ve officially lost any urge to even think about it, if even the people opposed to that awful vision just have a different kind of awful vision, of a country where only “ethnic Scots” have a say. Bollocks to that.”

    Any party centring franchise restriction is on a hiding to nothing. It is ardently to be hoped Alba moves quickly to slap such notions down. The idea that the movement as a whole would support such action, still less that it would be a vote winner amongst the “soft No” voters we have to convince to switch votes, is fanciful.

    Like

    1. What bit of following te existing practices in every other country in Europe do you not understand? Scotland will be no more in a matter of decades if we follow you and the Rev Stu’s views on this.

      Liked by 14 people

      2. I see you have the Arch Waffler, ‘English Ellis’ on your tail, Iain, telling ypou Scots must be free to fail a second time. He’s hard to shake off. In no time he’ll have this topic looking like the Bass Rock, saturated in guano..

        Liked by 15 people

      3. I gave up reading WoS some time ago. It is no longer relevant to Scotland and appears to fly with one wing now which is why it appears to be going in circles.

        Liked by 5 people

      4. Spot on. The position we find ourselves in, in Scotland in 2021 requires a franchise that takes account of the fact we CANNOT currently offer citizenship to the people who live here.

        Liked by 3 people

      1. Only because you did not contest any of the factual information and made a slur about blood and soil nationalism which is completely unfounded. My suggestion is that everyone is qualified to vote if they can demonstrate Scotland has been their prime domicile for Five years or more. If you misrepresent an argument you can’t expect it to remain published. What I am suggesting is the established principle operating throughout Europe. Surely you are not calling all those other countries blood and soil nationalists.

        Liked by 15 people

      3. Mate, you abandoned the cause let us Scots who still live and still fight here, fight our enemies foreign and domestic the way we see fit.

        Liked by 5 people

    3. Read the UN information on how a country can escape from colonisation.
      The most important stipulations are first that the franchise should be restricted to those with either indigenous ancstry or a convincing way of showing that they have a commitment to the country attempting to escape from colonial rule by a reasonable term of residence.
      The second is that no outside interference, particularly from the colonial rulers, should be allowed during the period befpre the election or referendum.

      Liked by 11 people

    4. @NDLS

      Your overall position seems to me to be primarily one of withdrawal into some form of (no doubt) splendid, personal isolation, leaving yourself with nowhere left to go politically, into the future. My humble advice to you would be to get a firm grasp on what colonization actually means for the colonized; there’s no shortage of literature on the subject. As Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a leading activist of the Indian National Congress put it well over a hundred years ago: “There was no instance in history of one foreign nation ruling another for the benefit of the other and not for it’s own profit.” Bang up to date and in a purely Scottish context, might I point you towards the work of Professor Alfred Baird, particularly his recent book: Doun-Hauden. There’s much more out there in terms of analysis in the field of Scottish politics than at first meets the eye.

      Liked by 11 people

      1. Eric you will never dissuade NDLS or Ellis from his views and blood and soil mantra , he considers it an epithet and worthy of scorn , it is quite revealing that he feels comfortable and entitled to cast derogatory terms (in his mind) towards people who hold a differing opinion to him , terms he is extremely fond of using include moon howlers , you can’t educate pork or his favourite NATIVIST
        NDLS or Ellis likes also to describe people who don’t use their own names when posting comments as COWARDS yet when Ellis posted his comments he did so under his NDLS nom de plume maybe there is some hypocrisy or cowardice to ndls

        Mr Ellis has also stated openly and categorically in his comments that if the franchise for a ref were to be changed in any way he would ACTIVELY WORK AGAINST INDEPENDENCE , TBQH I think that statement alone is an indication of his dedication and desire for independence , or maybe he is working for some military grouping that is concerned that the altering of the franchise may impede their plans

        I don’t feel insulted by the term blood and soil , as far as i’m concerned the soil is the soil of Scotland my mother country which I take great pride in , the blood refers to the blood of my ancestors who fought and died for our country and our future generations , it is only when it is used in a pejorative term that it invokes nazi connotations

        Liked by 9 people

    5. “… despite Stu Campbell’s well known distaste for their blood and soil views… ” – NDLS.

      The Rev Stu, much as I admire him and his writings, lives in Bath, I believe. Bath is in England. There is no nationalism that is more ‘blood and soil’ than English Nationalism, and I’d bet if England was to decide to go for independence from the rest of us, the Rev Stu would not get a vote – forgotten the Brexit referendum, have you, where no European was allowed to vote? A change to the franchise would not involve denying people who had lived here for between five to ten years from voting, would be perfectly democratic and would break no rules. rUK people in Scotland always have the option, of course, of abstaining if they feel they cannot vote for independence, as do all Unionists. Funny that they never do, though, isn’t it?

      The origins of ‘blood and soil’ nationalism are rooted in imperialism, with which Nazism had much in common, with its ‘Lebensraum’. Scotland is not and never was an imperialist country on its own behalf, except for the Darien Scheme for which all Scots, in every generation, have paid a price far beyond the crime itself, when imperialist England, backed by imperialist Holland and imperialist Spain all ganged up on us, afraid for their own imperialist adventures. We participated in the Empire, no doubt about that, but we we never the drivers of it, and the poorest in Scotland again paid the price.

      A plebiscitary election and resiling the Treaty of Union is my favoured route to independence because it is the only realistic one. A future referendum is a pipe dream of the deluded who actually believe the alliance that rules at Holyrood – the one between the foot-draggers and the supporters of the men in frocks.

      Liked by 13 people

  18. It is scary, Iain.

    And it’s gone on since the clearances started in 1746.

    Mid 20th Century Glasgow was the second city of the Empire and held over a million people. Now it is smaller than Edinburgh.

    Scotland us not being allowed to be recognised. Attacks on its languages and peoples are ongoing. As is replacing it languages, peoples and politics.

    Very scary indeed, Iain.

    Respect.

    Liked by 12 people

  19. Sorry about typos…

    Scotland is not being allowed to be recognised. Attacks on its languages and peoples are ongoing. As is replacing it’s languages, peoples and politics.

    Liked by 10 people

    1. The motivation for independence is uncomplicated: to install people power able to construct a new society devoid of exploitation, for the happiness and benefit of all those who feel themselves to be Scottish. To know you are a Scot, you need to think like a Scot. GB

      Liked by 3 people

  20. Ah, the time tried plantation principle. Think Ulster and before that the Arab cultural and religious appropriation of North Africa, the Levant and Iraq.
    The Baltic states in the old Soviet Union experienced a similar process, by political design.
    The Chinese government employs Han immigration into sensitive border regions such as Tibet and East Turkestan in the same way.
    The Tibetans and Uyghurs do not live in a democracy though.
    Is Scotland turning into England’s geriatric Lebensraum? Would certainly suit the anglo one nation purpose.
    Striking back by having babies is the simple answer. However with many western governments engaged in the promotion of biosterility via the woke cult, it is an uncomfortable answer.

    Liked by 15 people

    1. The Chinese government employs Han immigration into sensitive border regions such as Tibet and East Turkestan in the same way.
      The Tibetans and Uyghurs do not live in a democracy though…

      It’s a pity you have to resort to these tired tropes to exemplify your point. A much better reference is “how Hawaii became American”. Very few people in the West actually understand this story, as the Western media don’t constantly harp on about it…

      Hawaii was an independent country until 1898, when Uncle Sam marched in and brazenly declared that it now belonged to him. Over the next sixty years he filled the place with military bases and tens of thousands of troops, and hundreds of thousands of immigrants from places like Korea and the Philippines, until the indigenous inhabitants only made up about a fifth of the population. Then in 1959 (ironically the year China “invaded” Tibet) Hawaii was given a plebiscite on its future – did it want to remain as a colony, or become a full state? Independence wasn’t on the ballot, but since those who might have voted it made up only a small stump of the electorate, it didn’t really matter any more. They voted to become a state.

      In contrast, about 90% of Tibet’s population are still Tibetan or one of the minority local ethnic groups. And the Han population in Xinjiang has been migrating there for centuries. The vast majority of the population there – including the Uyghurs – are the result of waves of migration lasting over decades or centuries. The Uyghurs have no more claim to Xinjiang than any of the rest of the 50% of the population who aren’t Uyghurs,

      Frankly, any American who opens their ill-informed gob and utters the word “Tibet” or “Xinjiang” is either a baldarsed ignoramus who knows nothing at all of how Hawaii became American, or a baldarsed hypocrite who does. Given the American propensity to know nothing at all about their own history or geography or anybody else’s, I would think the former case accounts for a good 95% of them.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. As a member of an ancient MidEast minority that in history was once a majority I do know what I am talking about. Settlement is merely the beginning. The language and culture and eventually religion of the settlers will come to dominate the public domaine. That is happening in Tibet and East Turkistan where Tibetan and Uyghur languages and cultures play a manifestly subordinate role to those of the Han.
        The US imperial example is deserving of examination. The cases of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the autochthonous peoples of North America are significant examples of the type.
        The US ex colony of the Philippines offers further exemplars of the cultural mess and politico-social dysfunction imperialism leaves in its wake.
        Scotland’s case has elements of all of the above. The official suppression or neglect of the Gaelic and Scots languages accompanied by the centuries of anglicization set the background for the country’s current identity schizophrenia.

        Liked by 6 people

  21. I don’t think this should come as a surprise to Scots, that we are being colonised and made a minority in our own country, time if definitely not on our side, and giving a plebiscitary franchise to everyone and their dog as Sturgeon wants to do will only see yes lose an indyref, of course Sturgeon knows this fine well, she knows that Scotland is being swamped by Southerns.

    When you think about it that’s probably why Sturgeon decided not to hold the census this year when the rest of the UK did, it was due in March and she surely didn’t want the results of it in the public domain for the May elections. Incidentally Sturgeon’s reluctance to implement the census has added millions onto the cost of it.

    Sturgeon’s plan appears to be one of wait and we know that waiting has and will continue to tilt the balance in the favour of the incomers who the majority of support this god awful rancid union. We need the SSRG’s route more than ever now, no other EU country is mad enough to give incomers a constitutional vote so why should Scotland, but then again EU countries don’t have Sturgeon the Betrayer as their FM PM etc. we do.

    Sturgeon is in power until 2026, how many more Southerns will have moved to Scotland who support the union by then, again I say the SSRG’s route MUST be our way out of this ball and chain union.

    Liked by 15 people

    2. RoS: I am also of the opinion that it was the real reason for not holding it, and you are right that the cost will have risen considerably. Everything that Nicola Sturgeon and her cohort have done or not done since early 2015, has been to stymie independence.

      Liked by 8 people

  22. Oh Christ ! Having bored WOS readers rigid by his endless tirades against anyone not 100% on the * Civic Nationalism * buffoonery the man with the most exhaustive knowledge of the minds of Scots and how they think and feel about , well , everything decides he’s not getting enough opportunities to haul out his 5 or 6 stock phrases and remind us all of what Stu Campbell said once upon a time – this being the ultimate seal of approval for his own fantasy vision of achieving Independence – he comes on YFS to spread the Civic gospel to the unwashed * Regressive/Blood n Soil/Ethnic Nationalists * he so clearly despises .

    Aren’t we the lucky ones to have such a brilliant mind enlightening us to the folly of our ways ?

    Be aware Andy I won’t even bother reading any reply from you , like with your hysterical on again -off again mate Hatuey who now patrols BTL on WOS raving like a madman at anyone who disputes his fever-dream versions of * reality * . When I see either of your names I quickly scroll past . I’ve heard all your comments and can predict pretty much verbatim what your responses will be in any given context . It’s not difficult

    Liked by 13 people

  23. Robert Hughes.

    I couldn’t agree more, Ellis, bewails and decries anyone who doesn’t want to go down the enfranchisement route for anyone whose set foot in Scotland or worn a seeyoujimmy bunnet, its beyond tedious now.

    Liked by 8 people

    1. I might be in the minority for now, but that’s because many folk don’t realise what’s going on, as I said further up this thread the great Scot writer Allistair Gray wrote about this years ago and he to took pelters for it, portrayed in some quarters as a English hater, for pointing out the truth.

      Enfanchising everyone in a plebiscitary vote will see yes lose its a simple as that, the flawed fallacy that we need to convert incomers from the South of the border, or die-hard God Save the Queen Scots just doesn’t hold water the majority of them like the union and will vote for it. What is being asked by the likes of you, will as I said see yes lose, but we’ll be held up as a country that’s a progressive beacon on plebiscitary elections.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Ellis will do or say anything to stop Independence . When I see his comments on Wings now, I just scroll on past them. His constant harassing and hurling of insults has destroyed any debate that was taking place on the dying Wings site. He will destroy this site too, if Ian lets him.

      Liked by 8 people

  24. To suggest that Alec Salmond, by accepting the local authority franchise employed in 2014 is somehow solely responsible for losing the referendum is, I believe, to stretch things way past breaking-point. To imagine that the British government, with inestimably superior resources at its command, didn’t engage with the likes of Cambridge Analytica or some suchlike organisation(s) prior to announcing the referendum, isn’t credible.

    It beggars all credibility to imagine that Cameron’s government would’ve agreed to a referendum in the first place, without clear intelligence regarding the advantageous effect for his government of a local government franchise stipulation allied to the favourable demographics at play in Scotland.

    Indy wasn’t a one-man campaign! Salmond, armed with his relatively meager resources, had no choice but to use whatever he had at his disposal. Whether he and his inexperienced advisors (remember who they were?), on accepting the local government franchise were in full possession of the facts necessary to appreciate the advanced technological polling methodologies ranged against them, seems most unlikely. Not so much poor judgement on Salmond’s part as: blind sided, comprehensively outspent and massively out-propagandized.

    Liked by 11 people

    1. Also the massive interference from the Brtish establishment,mainly through the BBC propaganda machine, plus the completely illegal ‘Vow; which should have been in=mmediately squashed and those who organised it prosecuted, as it persuaded many soft Yessers to vote No

      Liked by 10 people

    2. If English, living here any length of time, told by your English counterparts here and in London that on independence day you will become a ‘foreigner’, would you vote Yes for Scotland’s liberty?

      Liked by 7 people

      1. Like last time grousey they will definitely vote no. My opinion may not be popular, but if it were up to me. Only indigenous Scots would get the vote. But if I changed my mind, it would be only on residency of 20yrs or over.

        Liked by 2 people

    3. And remember again Eric that when YES was in the lead the mahoosive blanket of propaganda that was unleashed by the unionists , from all the parasitical politicians flooding into Scotland , being lovebombed by celebs and foreign heads of state , activists being bused up from england and put up in hotels , and the ultimate betrayal THE VOW invented by a unionist who is now head of communication for Nicky , need I go on

      Liked by 7 people

  25. NDLS:

    Iain has not suggested an ethnic franchise. He has suggested a franchise based on long-term, tax-paying residence in Scotland. You should calm down and just look at what people have actually said.

    Liked by 10 people

  26. Ellis are you still pushing this pish report by three professors from a Spanish college as some sort of European Rosetta Stone on franchise voting, its only their OPINION mate and you know it. Now give it a rest.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Of course its there opinion, its there opinion on what they’ve made of the referendum votes and how they have interpreted what they think should be a standardisation of plebiscites in the future don’t forget Ellis I’ve read it when you first posted it over on Wings months ago, pushing it as some sort official EU policy because it has an EU logo on it, when infact its nothing more than OPINION based.

      For someone who’s supposed to be a founding member of the Alba party, you sure do like to shut out options on independence other than Sturgeon’s S30 route, including sneering at the SSRG’s credible route.

      Liked by 1 person

  27. I don’t quite understand how its a blood and soil voting franchise in Scotland, but its not so in other countries who don’t give certain folk a vote on constitutional matters. Are we somehow special?

    Liked by 6 people

    1. To some extent, RoS, all nationalism is of the ‘blood and soil’ type, but it can be allied to civic nationalism, too. Critical thinking is all but gone, these days. Everything must be short, say absolutely nothing and contain absolutely nothing that someone somewhere at some time would construe as offensive to themselves or to anyone else anywhere at any time. In other words, absolute c**ppery, complete with optional knee-jerk reaction. Tis a sin to think, verily yea.

      Liked by 9 people

  28. You like being a colonial subject don’t you. You can’t have a fair franchise because Westminster won’t agree. I ask what gives them that right? You need to raise your sights above the wee unionist box they have you locked into at the moment.

    Like

  30. “Other countries DO give folk the vote in self determination referendums. It’s not an opinion, it’s a fact.”

    And other don’t are they blood and soil nationalists?

    And what has being independent or not, got to do with the voting franchise when the plebiscite will be run by our own parliament, as it is in other countries, the answer is nothing.

    ” No, we’re not special, but we WOULD be special if we tried to move the goalposts from the 2014 precedent and exclude a category of people whose support we were happy to have then.”

    We’d be stupid have a rerun of the 2014 indyref, like for like would undoubtably see yes lose, and many real indy supporters bloggers and commentors know this. To be quite honest I don’t even think the Alba party wants a 2014 rerun and you’re supposed to be a founding member yet you’re pushing a rerun.

    Like I told you over on Wings Ellis if you’re a real indy supporter I’m a monkeys uncle.

    Liked by 7 people

  31. Thanks, Iain, for broaching this very difficult subject and giving us a lot of statistics to back up what you say. Also huge respect for your dealing with comments from those who do not seem to realise that this matters.
    Food for thought, indeed.

    Liked by 9 people

  32. Independence and therefore national sovereignty is necessary to:

    – ensure control of the country’s borders and maintain national sovereignty against external threats
    – prevent external exploitation of the country’s lands and resources
    – focus on fully developing the people of that country, and the country itself

    A country which is controlled by external forces (i.e. a colony) is unable to protect itself from threats and/or exploitation, and is prevented from fully developing its people or the nation. Countries which do not throw off colonialism are subsumed and eventually perish.

    Liked by 12 people

    1. One only needs listen to Orcadians to understand what they feel about their community, their language and their values undermined as of secondary value, now that there are so many incomers looking for the ‘;good life’ but with no affiliation to the culture of people born there with island heritage to talk of and respect.

      Liked by 11 people

  34. I fail to understand how it is considered right and proper to ‘persuade’ people who have come to live in Scotland to vote for independence, while it is perfectly proper to insult and harangue independence supporters with the very insults that are used by Unionists. Is that a different form of ‘persuasion’? I don’t react well to that kind of yobbish aggression and I think there are many people who will feel likewise. It’s guaranteed to cause division and disunity and the relentlessness of it suggests that that is the intention.

    When out campaigning during the 2014 campaign I never resorted to this kind of aggressive behaviour no matter the provocation because firstly I know it is downright counter-productive when trying to persuade people to your opinion to lambast them with your opinions and anyway, it doesn’t come naturally to me talk to people like that and certainly not to fellow independence supporters. So, what’s behind these attacks? Who is it meant to impress and who gains the greatest comfort from the antagonism?

    Liked by 6 people

  35. I’d sooner we had 10 young Polish people move to Scotland than one English retiree (economic migrant), who then accuses me, and my country of being ‘subsided’ by England, old England, and will never, ever look at the inconvenient economical facts.

    Big difference between those Poles and the English retiree…. the Poles don’t insist on the Government in Warsaw (who we don’t vote for) controlling Scotland and stealing her natural assets.

    But yeah, the above makes me a ‘blood and soil nationalist’.

    We are our own biggest enemy.

    One thing not being mentioned, is it is WHITE English retirees, coming en mass to Scotland, and sadly, to be cynically honest, our hame grown No Voters like them, because they see them as a buffer to non white immigration.

    Anyone of a Yes disposition who thinks that discussing this issue is being racist needs to give their heads a wobble, or that a few months of Scots air will convert these, ‘I’ve always considered myself British, not English’ from died in the wool Tory voters to left of centre Yes voters, needs to have a reality check.

    It is not in their moral or economic interests to look into the history mirror of English colonialism and see how nearly everything about English culture and education turns them into indentured racists. And even the thickest of them know this.

    Second class citizens in an English first Britain, and increasingly priced out and a rare breed in our ain country. I had a day out in Dunkeld recently. I’m now actively surprised when I hear Scottish accents working in the local shops. And Perth is not much better.

    In fact I was at a cafe 1 mile outside my village and the guy behind the counter took a liking to me, ‘And where are you from’, he asked in his broad Lankashire accent. I’ve lived here all my life. Irony was not on the menu.

    Sorry for the rant. However, Scotland is so screwed if we don’t get our Indy act together very shortly.

    Liked by 12 people

    1. It’s the same in the village where I live Daisy. The guy next door has lived here for fifteen years since coming up from England. Ex army. Refers to Scots as jocks, and will never ever consider voting for Scottish independence.

      In fact he has made it quite clear that he doesn’t even like Scottish people. He came here to be close to his daughter and grandchildren.

      Liked by 11 people

      2. Read the latest in the National and weep.
        The results of the New Caledonia Independence referendum are announced with 96.5% voting No, though on a turnout of 43% and France are regarding this as a vote in favour of staying French!
        France refused the plea of the indigenous Kanaks, only 39% of the population, to delay the ballot to allow the traditional 12 month period of mourning after a surge in deaths caused by Covid in September.
        This is unjust and should not be allowed to stand. Can we support the Kanak people in their quest for self-determination by appealing to the UN anti-colonisation department?
        Meanwhile we Scots must heed the lesson from this which bears out exactly what Iain and others argue for in this important article. Be very very afraid.

        Liked by 4 people

    2. Yes here in Dumfries & Galloway we have the same thing with houses in all the small villages being bought up by incomers from England whenever they come on the market at prices that locals can’t afford, this to the detriment of schools and local young buyers These people will never vote for independence, they are mainly retired superior in their own minds ‘English exceptionalist’ pensioners. Within a short time here they take over the village hall commitees etc., with the help of the snobby Scottish Tory locals who are only to keen to be subservient to them. They think the Mundell pair are great. Even local nitwits come out with idiocy like “my faither always voted Tory, we are fermin folk so I just dae whit am telt”.

      Try leafleting in Kircudbright and all you get is English voices telling you that they own Scotland and subsidise us, shouting, without English generosity we would be a basket case like Zimbabwe in weeks and anyway we don’t even know how to speak properly with our backward accents etc., been there suffered that, no amount of trying to explain anything is listened to, we are just shouted down, we are inferior and second class in our own country. That entire Solway coastline is polluted with that attitude. Nicola is clearly oblivious to this, there are no soft No’s.

      We have a big enough problem getting local voters out to vote, some locals have said to me, “what’s the point in voting we never get what we vote for anyway”. The racist Tory locals complain about foreigners “coming in and diluting our population”. Ignoring the fact that people from the UK have imposed themselves and their culture on other countries.

      Another of the many problems we face is the brain drain from our educated youth who have just given up hope and have moved elsewhere. Quite a number of the brightest young locals have left for better prospects outside Scotland, who can blame them? Many of my own family moved to New Zealand in the past and have a good quality of life there, none have returned.

      We live in potentially one of the wealthiest countries in the world and are denied our birthright by an incompetent idiot of an FM. Anger does not begin to express the feelings that I think many on here have felt at this betrayal. We had it within our grasp only to have it abandoned by unimportant nonsense.

      Liked by 12 people

      1. same picture I recognise here in Dumfries and Galloway. Neil Collins tried to tell me off for saying that the indigenous Scot is now a rare breed here, but it’s quiet true, and yes Neil I’m well aware of what indigenous means.

        Liked by 9 people

      2. I live in the same area and know what you mean. When campaigning during the 2014 indyref we came up against this attitude all the time. Yet we who say this, are subjected to insult for saying that these people are unpersuadable. Those who insist that we are wrong, or worse blood-and-soil nationalists, should try getting out on the streets in areas like this and encounter real blood-and-soil nationalists in these natural Tory voters.

        I am suspicious of those who claim to be independence supporters who employ the same insults I heard from Unionists during that campaign. How comforted those Unionist voters must feel to hear professed indy supporters endorsing their ‘Nazi’ trope regarding other independence supporters.

        Liked by 3 people

  37. The SNP leadership has deliberately bound Scotland to its [the SNP’s] own covid restrictions on any future referendum. Totally unnecessary, especially when England brazenly ignores covid when dealing with Scotland.

    Liked by 7 people

  38. Not sure why my latest comment, about the New Caledonia referendum result, has gravitated to earlier in the discussion, but I have a post script to that – the relative populations since the last census in 2019 show that the French/European population has grown while the indigenous Kanak have declined.

    Liked by 3 people

  39. I am a blood and soil nationalist and proud to be one. Bruce, Wallace and the many many thousands of other blood and soil nationalists patriots who gave their Blood, lives and futures, so this land and all its future generations would not have to suffer tyranny and oppression from the usurpers.
    So I class myself then to be in very esteemed company indeed.
    I care not what names our enemies foreign and domestic call me or us,and neither should any other true Scottish patriots.

    Liked by 6 people

  40. Those with the wit to embrace the blood-and-soil sobriquet display an expanded consciousness regarding the actuality of their colonization thus are an advanced group within the colony.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. erich: people who are willing to embrace the objective truth in any area or situation of life these days are going to be the saviours of the human race. Subjective falsehood is extremely damaging to the psyche and can lead to terrible consequences for those who embrace it and for those around them. By not acknowledging objective truth, you end up in a mental/psychological cul-de-sac. On the other hand, of course, absorbing too much objective truth without the leavening of hope can be equally damaging. That, basically, is where real seekers of independence are: we know the reality, but we also know that the SNP, the only party in the position to alleviate the situation, is quite deliberately extending, prolonging and worsening the suffering. It is understandable that many still in the SNP cannot give up hope yet, but, that makes them equally culpable in the end because they simply will not face the objective truth of just how bad it is.

      Liked by 5 people

Comments are closed.