ALF POINTS THE FINGER!

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorizedTags:, , , ,

DEBASING THE COLONIZED

In a colonial society nothing is quite as it seems. There is a reason for everything that occurs, though an explanation may be obscure at first glance. A colonized people live within ‘two psychical and cultural realms’; they wish to develop but are held back by their oppressor.

With support for independence still locked at just under 50%, ‘colonialism remains imperilled’. And with a UK election upcoming, everything the SNP Scottish Gov now touches seems destined to fail, or more likely is intended and planned to fail? There is now a burgeoning list of failed SNP policies which points the finger at an incompetent ‘nationalist’ administration. But is that the whole story? A ‘pattern of behaviour’ seems apparent, i.e. far too many costly failures are happening.

There are endless ways British state actors active within the colonial governance system in Scotland can ensure policy initiatives end badly and Scots are made to look hopeless when it comes to the matter of ‘self-government’. We might reflect that colonialism ‘works’ ‘by debasing the colonized’ (Albert Memmi), making a people think of themselves as incapable of governing their own country.

We should really be aware of such institutional barriers to progress in a colony, I would have thought. But then, the dominant national party ‘has never undertaken a reasoned study of colonial society’, hence its understanding and that of the people ‘remains rudimentary’ (Frantz Fanon).

There is, as many of us know, only one remedy for colonialism – liberation. Until then, a colonial society remains in a state of ‘petrifaction’ where nothing much changes, or is allowed to change, far less challenge the status quo.

Which brings us to the ongoing Scottish ferries debacle where already very expensive over-specified ferries contracted at just under £100 million may now be costing, inclusive of shipyard expenses, perhaps £600 million. 

For those of us observing and analysing shipping matters globally over many years, it is possible to recognise exceptional instances when things go catastrophically wrong. The Scottish ferries fiasco goes well beyond catastrophic. Few international observers have ever seen anything quite like this.

Which raises the possibility that the repeated problems, added costs and lengthy extended timescale relating to this episode may not have been an accident. Bringing down a shipyard is not that difficult and Scottish ferry procurement agencies have previous ‘success’ in that regard, including at Ferguson’s. Shipbuilding remains an iconic feature of Scotland’s industrial heritage. A catastrophic failure in this regard is sure to dampen the confidence of the native population, whilst raising a smile on the face of the colonizer. 

Events this time are extended over a considerably longer period, and costs are now at simply unbelievable levels. Over the last 5 or 6 years there has been a continuous drip-drip-drip of bad news amidst ever higher costs, yet still with no end product in sight. This translates into immense PR for the colonizing power, especially important when they look to change from blue to red Tory in Downing Street and further exploit a self-weakening national party in Scotland.

While SNP Ministers take the political flack, it needs to be understood that most of the senior key decision makers in this fiasco are public officials, and relatively few are Scots. This includes the most senior personnel in CMAL and those brought in to ‘turn-around’ Ferguson’s since its acquisition by the Scottish Government. Curiously, none of the officials involved has been found responsible, far less deemed accountable for the mess they created. None of the key decision makers has lost their job. All or most of the flak is directed at SNP Ministers, while some still blame the previous management at Ferguson’s, though the latter have long since departed the scene following initial delays to the build caused by CMAL.

A fair bet might be that none of these two ferries will enter service before the next UK general election, and the drip-drip-drip of bad news on this matter, and on other ‘nationalist’ policies, continues. So, either a highly exceptional and globally unprecedented shipping industry occurrence, or well-planned by British state actors tasked with damaging the independence cause? Based on analysing shipping matters for many years, I know what I believe.

MY COMMENTS

This article is dynamite. Here we have an internationally respected shipping analyst suggesting the current ferry fiasco is unheard of, a first, a mess greater than any that has gone before. Further he suggests this is perhaps intentional, a plot, designed to cast doubts about our capability to run our own nation. He suggests it is not Scots to blame but public officials, the management at CMAL, the “rescue management” brought in to “save” Fergusons, few of whom are Scots.

Give the scale of this disaster, and the stubborn resistance to changing course as the failures mounted, it is impossible to argue that malign forces are not involved. My problem with that is that assuming Alf is right why oh why did Scottish Ministers not step in? Surely Nicola Sturgeon being photographed with the Ferry with the painted on “kid on” windows was a warning sign of huge problems ahead? Unbelievably yesterday the newspapers revealed some of those responsible for this fiasco are being paid huge bonuses! Why?

I also ask why it takes Dr Alf Baird to point the finger?

What are all those highly paid MSP’s doing, you know those tasked with looking after Scotland’s best interests? Very few, if any seem interested or capable of doing so. They should be seeking the truth, with axes in hand to remove those responsible. I don’t see them, sadly we have an elected team of diddies!

I am, as always

YOURS FOR SCOTLAND

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44 thoughts on “ALF POINTS THE FINGER!”

  2. Changing from ‘Scottish executive’ to ‘Scottish govt’ has always been a double edged sword for independence The former term is one far more applicable to the powers Scotland has. The lines between what is reserved and devolved is often deliberately blurred by colonial media which can be a blessing or a curse. Those who are not politically engaged are unlikely to be able to reel off all the devolved powers, or more importantly articulate the key levers we don’t have.

    Of course, a competent executive such as the one in power from 2007 – 2014 can benefit from the title of ‘government’, but the opposite is true if the administration is poor, such as the one we have now. With the help of the colonial media, these executive failures are projected directly onto the prospects of Scotland as a successful independent state. Worse still if a considerable number within that executive have questionable motives.

    Liked by 12 people

  3. It’s very difficult not to believe in Alf Baird’s colonial analysis when even Audit Scotland can’t determine the metrics that were used to award executive bonuses in this, the worst of the Sturgeon era fiascos.

    Liked by 20 people

  4. Alf crystallises what many of us already believe, i.e. that it is impossible to get so many major projects into such a disastrous state as we have seen from the SNP and later SNP/Green coalition government.

    We know that the previous FM got rid of anyone with a semblance of competence that could possibly challenge her position, so incompetence at ministerial level is not that surprising. However, quite why Scotland has become a world-leader as far as incompetence is as Alf stated, “may not have been an accident”.

    Ministers take decisions, based on advice, simply because there are extremely few in any government that are experts or even experienced in the Ministry to which they are appointed. So, it’s a question of who or what is providing that advice? That does not let our elected representatives at Holyrood off the hook! Scotland is not short of people competent to provide accurate and non-biased advice but are they the ones who “have the ear” of the relevant Ministers?

    So, good or bad, the decision is made! However, the decision then has to be actioned (or not) and we begin a whole new game of incompetence and deliberate interference by actors approved by the coloniser and their administrators in Holyrood. About 9 months ago, I asked Alf who exactly made the decisions regarding a maritime facility and he kindly pointed me in the right direction and let me make my own conclusions. I would say that what I found was unbelievable, but in light of what has taken place and is still taking place it should not really be that surprising that the facility was a complete failure. Some might imagine that these bodies have the best and brightest and those with most experience in their field making the decisions but that is unfortunately very far from the truth.

    I don’t believe that as the general election nears that the bad decision-making of the Scottish Government will be left to “drip, drip, drip”. Instead we will see the MSM controlled by our oppressor go into overdrive, just as they did prior to the 2014 referendum to highlight the incompetence of the Scottish Government and there will be very little mention, if any, of anyone else at fault for the numerous debacles.

    We also know that there are swathes of colonialists just waiting to deliver the “bad news” to the electorate of Scotland. Any opportunity for rebuttal will be minimal and as Daniel Defoe stated in 1706 about the 45 Scottish MPs co-opted into the English Parliament, will be “for forms sake”.

    Iain asks why does if take Dr. Alf Baird to point this out when we pay our MSPs very well to do that for us? Why indeed?

    Perhaps it has something to do with the oath that all MSPs are required to take that states “I do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.”.

    So, much for “The People of Scotland are Sovereign”, when even our elected representative swear allegiance to a monarch and a foreign monarch at that! Clearly, when they say “according to law”, that means English law because the law of Scotland still has the people of Scotland being sovereign protected by the Constitutional Settlement.

    Liked by 22 people

  5. Now we’re getting to the rotten core of the serial disastrous failures of this SNP Gov ..ie .. the toxic cocktail of Brit State loyal Civil Servants + breathtakingly incompetent/*compromised * MP/MSPs .

    As Alf says , it defies credibility that the shameful catalogue of failure since just about day one of the Sturgeon tenure and the continuation of same under the gerrymandered * leadership * of Yousaf is merely circumstantial : this degree & frequency of appalling decision-making and governance generally has to be the product of * intelligent design * – bitterly ironic , as the plan to destroy the SNP and by extension/association is the only * intelligence * apparent since November 2014 .

    I would add Angus The Oleaginous to the list of bad actors . His malign influence in undermining the once admirably democratic SNP are too many and obvious to bother stating ; perhaps the most egregious is his utterly contemptuous , arrogant tying of Independence to axiomatic iScotland EU membership-seeking ; another tactic almost certain to deter as many potential Yes voters as win them ; at the very least it’s putting an unnecessary burden/trap on what should be the simplest question – does Scotland want to end the * Union * with England , or not ?

    Whatever one’s views on the EU and Scotland joining/not joining , this is something that can only be determined AFTER Independence has been attained , via a referendum on the issue . To place it front and centre of any future Indy campaign just seems like yet more intentional freighting of our prime objective with sources of division .

    Liked by 15 people

    2. I suggest that at the next GE, those of us who agree with Alf and many of the replies here, make it known that we will not vote for Any Scottish candiates who will not abstain from going to Westminster and at the next Holyrood election we refuse to vote for those who do not promise not to take a vow to the English head of state. I just hope there will be a few cadidates we can vote for!

      Liked by 5 people

  6. Until we have a leader or a leadership team or a unifying label then we are going nowhere. The Murrells destroyed the SNP and pulled “Their” YES trademark, emails, phones etc.

    I have a daily list of Indy people telling me I must support OR oppose …… The EU/ EFTA/ Monarchy/ NATO/ Israel/ GAZA/ Ukraine/ WMD etc etc

    We have factions now of sub categories of Indy. The Indy, Palestine, Left Wingers detest the Indy, Israel, Centre left group.

    I will say it again……..I want a Holyrood that has everything from the full rang of Scottish Politics. I do not want the Tories kicked out, nor Labour, nor anyone else for the simple reason that they represent the People of Scotland. If the Scots want the TransCult Utopia, The EU or a Monarchy then that is what we will be. If it is a Republic with strong socialist values that reject neoliberal values then that is what Scots want.

    As long as the “faction” continue we will make zero progress.

    The People of Scotland are Sovereign. They will decide what Scotland will look like after Independence.
    If and Political Party pushes ANYTHING other than unqualified support for a Sovereign People then they are manipulating us.

    A Manifesto for a Political Party Post Indy is very different from creating an Independence Movement.

    YES does not mean I want a Republic or a Monarchy
    YES does not mean I want to join the EU or EFTA
    YES does not mean I want to be in or out of NATO
    YES does not mean I want to be a supporter of ANY other Nations foreign policy.
    YES does not mean I support or oppose TransCult ideology.

    YES only means I want the Sovereign People of Scotland to shape our future by making choices instead of them being imposed on us.

    Supporting Independence does not include putting conditions on what comes next.

    I will stand on a YES stall with SSP, Tory, Green, Alba, ISP, SNP, Labour, no affiliation based on the above.
    We cross the Indy line and THEN ask the People to decide what comes next.

    Liked by 18 people

    1. Tried to like this but WordPress says no.
      Putting carts before the horse is just another delaying tactic which they use mercilessly but a SNP government should be able to keep a very broad church together , relentlessly point out how much better Scotland could be with full powers and govern well within its limited powers without straying into contentious areas that it has no power or jurisdiction in.

      Liked by 5 people

  7. It’s clear that the colonial masters have captured the SNP who are in no doubt the enemy within. They have an agenda to deny the indigenous Scots independence, to cream of our state assets before we the natives awaken.In many respects we are no different from the Osage Indians or the Palestinians.
    5 more years of incompetence and betrayal of this SNP , Sturgonite administration then the baton will be passed to a Red Torys who will do everything they can to lock us in constitutionally to the coercive unwanted, corupt, rotten to the core Union. There will be no escape from colonial masters exploitation then.
    We must get smarter, the talk of an independence candidate in every seat to end the Union, has this just been just all talk or are other colonial players in other independence parties playing us along. Look at Catalona and Quebec you begin to see the tactics of the oppressors. Tessa May now is not the time , then flooding Scotland with migrants and settlers and then theres our so called independence parties who promote a open voting franchise and decry those who protest and promote a constitutional voting franchise as racist. They all have the same agenda the enslavement of the Scots, the continued theft of our assets and the status quo of the coloniser. Meanwhile we are becoming a minority in our own country like Aborigines while the settlers increasing call all the shots. We need someone to organise a political liberation movement and ensure that going forward we have a true independence candidate in every seat an alternative to voting SNP to ensure our liberation and end this abomination we have been subjected to.

    Liked by 12 people

    1. Indigenous Scots are racist apparently.
      Speak the mither tongue.
      Celebrate our heretics….
      I said that purposefully.
      Scottish Heritage and the supporters of that right are racist and should just slink into the mire.
      We are a RACE. No body can take that away………but THEY are.

      Liked by 7 people

  8. We all know what’s going on now surely. Does it need to be spelled oot??
    Thanks Professor Alf.
    Anger and shame.
    Angus should just go live in Austria…why doesn’t he? He’d be given short shrift. Not even a sma fish. Just a dick. A dangerous one for Scotland at that. Disgusted once again. Actually living with disgust and anger every day.

    Liked by 9 people

  10. It’s patently obvious that msp in snp are only there to prevent good governance. One would think that they would want to enhance their reputations for competence. Realising that this is not their intent gives us the understanding of what is happening. They are trashing the snp because their allegiance is to the labour party. They will be thrown out by the electorate. Expect many of them to end up running for election on councils, on the list, and in constituencies for Labour in future or taking up positions in public sector promoted by their labour party.
    Their self serving incompetence is a mirror of the self serving incompetence of the labour party before we threw those Ars****s out last time.

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Labour was largely responsible for us losing in 2014. Frightening EU nationals by telling them that they would be thrown out of an independent Scotland for example.

      Having said that, there were so many lies told by the media and the Westminster government that we were always fighting an uphill battle anyway.

      If we do have another referendum then there should be a residency limit applied. 10 years residency at least before being allowed to vote I think. No more holiday makers should be allowed to vote on our future.

      Liked by 7 people

      1. My Son lives in Europe and has categorically stated that he would never vote in any referendum or anything else in that country. Not my country, nor my place.

        Liked by 4 people

  11. Much more of the present is the outrageous handover of Hydrogen generation to Norwegian utilities giant Equinor and the baffling positioning of Angus Robertson as the lead on this bourach.
    Robin McAlpine has addressed the political and financial aspects of this disastrous contract in his Blog (12th Nov).
    In an earlier post, I questioned the appropriateness of Robertson (Constitution, External Affairs and Culture) heading up these negotiations in a highly technical and innovative field. I also raised the curious omission of a specific Industrial brief in the Scottish Government. Thirdly, I suggested that this endeavour may be technically, fatally flawed.

    In précis, it appears Equinor will own and operate hydrogen generating facilities on Scottish soil, transport the product and sell this to Germany (whether the “product” actually reaches Germany is unclear, just as English water customers in London can “buy water” from Wales or Northumbria).
    As hydrogen generating capacity is variable (dependent on availability of surplus to requirement electricity), the hydrogen is presumably added to existing Natural gas pipelines as a variable “supplement”. This is what is being proposed by UK utilities for domestic heating, with the maximum rate of “supplement” being 20%. “Supplement” is perhaps misleading as hydrogen has slightly less than one third of the calorific value, British Thermal Units (BTU) per unit volume.
    For domestic supply, this seems reasonable. The burner nozzles on gas boilers are fixed and 20% substitution is the maximum possible before serious issue arise. Basically, your central heating and hot water will continue to function, it’ll just take longer. Heating food on a gas stove will also take longer and longer means greater losses to ambient (but don’t try and explain this to the Eco zealots).
    The issues arise with industrial consumers. Industrial processes are highly sensitive and demand precise calorific values per unit time / unit raw material. To overcome this, industrial burner systems will require in-line measurement of delivered, calorific value with subsequent adjustment of volumes of gas delivered to the burner (to achieve the desired output).
    Fine-and-dandy, except some processes such as glass making are not strictly dependent on calorific value. The transfer of heat to glass in a furnace is a function of the luminosity of the flame. Flame luminescence is a function of the cracking of Carbon bonds. As no Carbon bonds exist with the “supplemental” Hydrogen, the addition of Hydrogen (after increasing the volume of gas delivered to the burner) is not positive or even neutral, it’s unavoidably detrimental (for reasons it would take a great deal of time to explain).
    The solution would be to take the processes that are detrimentally affected and replace them with electrically powered alternatives. Not quite the same issue, but the coke fuelled Blast furnaces at Port Talbot and Scunthorpe are being replaced by electric furnaces with a government subsidy of £500m per site.
    This would provide an excellent base load (24/7) for renewable electricity generation and would therefore reduce the potential to generate “Green” hydrogen in the first place.
    Presumably the negotiating team at Equinor were fully aware of the technical complexities of this project. I doubt the same could be said for anyone on the Scottish Government side of the table. Politicians and senior Civil Servants are almost invariably humanities graduates. Even if qualified scientists and engineers are hired in, there’s no reason to assume the “decision makers” have the slightest understanding of what they are agreeing to (as we are learning with regard to Boris Johnson and Covid).
    One thing we can assume with a degree of confidence is that the details of the contract are drawn to indemnify Equinor, and the risk will lie firmly at the feet of the Scottish Government.
    Take a bow Angus Robertson, another planned disaster to add to the list.

    Liked by 13 people

      1. Yes. Obsolutly Iain. VO is an intelligent man. On the button always. Called a conspiracy theorist. No. He’s correct and always has been since 2011

        Liked by 5 people

    2. You’re right , Viv . This latest sell-out/give away of our resources is up there in the top five * bafflingly stupid moves by Lord Marmalade .
      * only ” baffling ” if you discount the possibility of intentional sabotage : I don’t

      Liked by 10 people

  12. A huge thank you to Alf. And a huge thank you to Iain.

    Our problem remains. Westminster CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE SCOTLAND which means they will hang on to us with every sinue. Without us, they are nothing. Can you imagine an English Government actually admitting they have NOTHING AT THEIR BACK? We have an enormous task ahead.

    BUT WE MUST WIN!

    Liked by 12 people

  13. Given all the evidence regarding the ferries and the clear incompetence of those involved in their procurement and delivery, what other conclusion is Alf, or anyone else, likely to objectively arrive at? It is the concrete evidence of governmental failure, as depicted in the media footage of the incomplete ferries, that has grabbed most of the headlines thus far and which will stick in the public consciousness. This will ensure that few citizens are likely to ask many questions beyond the evidence of those damning images, With the images of governmental failure now firmly fixed, expect no public-clamour demanding answers vis-a-vis why this managerial bin-fire was allowed to take-hold in the first-instance, or who might’ve set it. Expect, instead, the scheduled demolition of the national party. Unbelievably, there are still those who believe that the self-destruction of that party will somehow put an end to demands for national liberation: which might well be the impression gained when Scotland is viewed in ignorance through the Westminster end of the telescope..

    Liked by 10 people

    1. Stupidity, Westminster have never learned in all these years that you can destroy a political party but you can’t destroy an idea. The Yes movement has survived and is recovering.

      Liked by 8 people

  14. I am a 100% in agreement with Alf’s comments. The SNP who were supposedly in charge of all this, but were obviously listening to the coloniser sneaks, rather than any sane conclusion for the Scottish people. Listening and agreeing with such people is utterly shameful. I despair for Scotland with such people in charge. Personally, I would fire them all, and seek replacements that actually have a backbone.

    The problem is with the SNP, there does not seem to have such people among them. Good long term wages, good pensions, is what they want, not the betterment of things to boost Scottish pride.
    No wonder the colonisers will be sniggering.

    Liked by 11 people

    1. “Good long term wages, good pensions, is what they want,”
      – Assimilation, in other words.
      Always striving to reach the gold standard, as set up by the coloniser, of being “English”.
      Which by virtue of their birth no one from Celtic nation can never achieve

      Liked by 5 people

      1. Good pension me arse
        Worst in so called developed countries.
        Ireland is no much better but they don’t have Scotlands resources 😕

        Liked by 2 people

  15. I haven’t had time to read all of the comments yet, so I hope I’m not repeating something that’s already been written.

    The alarm bells began ringing for me in March 2017 when Nicola Sturgeon met Theresa May in a Glasgow hotel instead of at Bute House. Why. What was discussed? It was after that meeting that Nicola Sturgeon seemed to lose her touch. Since then the SNP have stumbled from one disaster to another. And why isn’t Sturgeon in prison by now? Even to an onlooker like myself it’s obvious that fraud has been committed.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Watched some of this Fae. Thanks. I thought I was a bit weird as a teenager. I certainly wasn’t. A free thinker but didn’t realise until I was older and didn’t give a f.
      😁🙃. Still thinking. Also for me most squares/circles can be solved using common sense. Remember my English teacher saying you’ve got common sense J, which unfortunately isn’t very common.
      We live in stazi times.

      Liked by 4 people

      1. 😁 Aye, well if you apply this to sovereignty and being, then those who say it and have a go or try to offer restricted sovereignty where they are in control, or we could apply it to accepting that men who enjoy dressing up as women are women and if you disagree well look what happens. Only two things I disagreed with is comparison to having a wine for each personality, not a fan of grapes or wine and am not a tea drinker and when you go to a place that it’s part of their ritual and you’re offered to participate and ye say naw because you genuinely don’t like tea, they look at you like yer weird. I think that it’s important to be upfront then that way you’re probably unlikely to just swallow something that ye don’t like just because it’s the done thing. 😄

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Thanks Fae. The video highlights the importance of theory development in order to better understand a phenomenon. ‘Low Countries’ academics have a good track record. Scots historically used to, before our universities (and our lands/people) were ‘acquired’, colonized, and ‘Scottish thought’ was no longer nurtured far less prioritized.

      There are some exceptions, albeit now mostly forced to work ‘underground’, outside a restrictive uncritical state system which has been incapable of defining Scotland’s colonial condition, and functions as instruments of oppression:

      Click to access THEORETICAL+CASE+FOR+SCOTTISH+INDEPENDENCE.pdf

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Ps, not being rude, I can’t like your links and comments although I do like and appreciate them but it requires ridiculous measures to do so, so letting you know that I appreciate. Thanks

        Liked by 1 person

  17. I particularly liked your last sentence. It takes courage to stand up against the crowd.
    I’m fortunate that my twa weans are free thinkers but they suffer for it. Society doesn’t like non conformers. Tough. Also tough on Society. Their loss.

    Liked by 3 people

  18. Thanks Alf. Yeah, he talks about stats and models of prediction and he’s not the only person to do so, Gregg Braden, Wikileaks etc have said that the models are all flawed however in academic circles if you don’t go along with it then it’s cheerio etc. It’s like people are afraid to say we got it wrong, this isn’t working or things change and new evidence has come to light. It doesn’t mean that they are bad, it just means they are afraid to lose control of a false reality that some spent their lifetimes believing and shutting down those who don’t or as you said forcing them to go underground.

    Liked by 4 people

  19. Speaking of rebellious individuals: all the people that I’ve ever admired and still do, have been very ordinary people in many respects, it has been their often small, unheralded acts of selfless sacrifice and their persistent labour in pursuit of their chosen cause that has always elevated them above the ordinary in my eyes. Outstanding comrades and human-being all, who gave their best to humanity without any expectation of celebrity or remuneration, and for whom any thought of compromise with any imposed orthodoxy was impossible.

    Liked by 6 people

  20. Great article Iain and Alf. I think Alf hits the nail right on the heid here. I have also long believed that if Scotland was wasn’t worth holding on to, we’d have been jettisoned long ago. It’s because we are worth holding on to that we see and hear these lies and deceptions from the colonising English government, Bob.

    Sent from my iPad

    Liked by 3 people

  21. Our colonial masters are now shutting down Grangemouth so we cannot process our own oil, this is how the British establishment ensure you get no benefit from your own resources and they suck all the jobs down South ensuring your impoverishment and their enrichment. What do we get from this rotten corupt one way Union. You think a refinery nearest to the oil fields would be the last one to go , funny how the SNP are as quiet as mice .If the SNP where a proper Scottish focused party you would expect them to be up in arms.

    Liked by 6 people

    1. Too right Alastair. Shutting down refining capacity, moving it down south, it’s tried and tested strategy to destroy Scottish capacity. Much better if processing capacity and skill was down south.

      Scotland a dessert. Who cares. Go on take it mister. Dumb cluck Jocko doesn’t care, or if he does, he doesn’t have the balls to do anything about it.

      Three hundred jobs gone, probably more, when the economic impact in the wider area is considered Again, who cares. There are after all benefits for the workers losing their jobs. Go enjoy the benefits of the British state and mind you don’t scrape your knees as you grovel for your entitlement.

      At least the SNP government will do all they can to try and support. Ha, ha, ha, ha ha, it’s like kicking a cripple and then having a laugh.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. Boris Johnson had he answer to Scotland’s financial problems when he stated “A pound spent in Croydon is of far more value to the country than a pound spent in Strathclyde. You will generate jobs in Strathclyde far more efficiently if you invest in parts of London.”

      Who can argue with such logic?

      There has been little, if any, investment in Scotland’s infrastructure in any capacity for decades and now they are closing down the aging infrastructure we have left. However, we can be grateful for the new freeport to generate jobs and prosperity – can’t we??

      Liked by 2 people

    3. It’s as clear as day. Shutting down Grangemouth, FFS! You, Scotland, are far too wee, too poor, and way too stupid to process your own oil. The English colonisers are becoming more blatantly brazen by the day, simply: FU ‘Jocks’. Scotland is a region of England and “Humza Yousaf”, “Sir” Keith Starmer and his lackey “Anas Sarwar!” will ensure that you remain a subjugated and deprived people. “Grangemouth no more!” While Norway has a sovereign wealth fund of $4,300,000,000 and is being encouraged by English politicians and their Scottish rogues to buy up Scotland’s renewable resources for a pittance.

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Here’s an interesting article about how British workers many of whom work on the most luxurious of cruise liners are being forced to accept reductions in wages and employment conditions.

    It’s a matter of accept the cuts or be sacked on masse.

    All part and parcel of the post Brexit drive to cut wages and create a low wage economy.

    And it’s happened already in Scotland both to the Scottish ferry services to Ireland and in the off shore wind construction industry where specific UK government legislation allows for the sacking of offshore UK workers to be replaced by Asian workers.

    Freeports ya bass! But here’s the UK piece.

    P&O Cruises and fellow cruise firm Cunard are preparing to fire and rehire more than 900 UK-based crew unless they accept salary cuts and more flexible working arrangements.

    The affected crew include officers on the British flagship, the luxury ocean liner Queen Mary 2, and nine other ships operated under Carnival UK, which is part of the $18bn-listed Carnival group.

    The staff work on ships out of Southampton but are employed via a management company based in Bermuda, with notice of potential redundancies signed off by an operational head based in Mumbai.

    A total of 919 professional, managerial and technical staff across the 10 cruise ships in Carnival UK and Cunard’s fleet face dismissal in early 2024 unless they agree to changes in terms and conditions that could reduce their annual earnings by up to 20%.

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