The further one stretches the truth, the bigger the lie it becomes!

Stretching the truth” means exaggerating, omitting details, or slightly misrepresenting facts to make a story more interesting, convincing, or to deceive others without telling a complete lie. It is a form of dishonesty often used to build oneself up, avoid discomfort, or make something seem better than it is.

4 days on and the Wake continues!! That is the problem with Social Media, there are always some who will continue to gnaw over the bones and others who continually take the bait, and in doing so will tend to stretch the truth.

A new Parliamentary term in Holyrood has begun, with who sits where still to be decided! I suspect there have already been a lot of phone calls!

A new session however does not mean we have to be silent and we must still remember the Salvo/Liberation.scot train is still moving forward. Maybe when our FM gets the Westminster door slammed in his face again, he might be minded to seek another road.

Looking south, things are grim, they must be when Starmer sees his only hope is to bring Brown back. Starmer can’t even read the room yet he expects a ‘has-been’ to read the global finances!! This decision shows how small the gene pool is in the Labour Party.

But it’s what lurks at the bottom of that pool that should worry us. Whatever Starmers reset is, it won’t be to our benefit, you can be sure of that.

I am no fan of Tommy Robinson, but to deny free speech is wrong and smacks of fear. As with everything that Starmer does, his mouth says one thing but his actions another. He is a control freak.

Nothing will change unless we change it!

Disappointed but not surprised.

Now we have Swinney trying to lock Reform out, a bit ironic given it was his policy of SNP 1&2 that let them in!

And by doing so, disenfranchises the thousands who voted for them! This is not how Democracy is supposed to work!

Love them or hate them, Reform have arrived, so let’s just get on with it.

The question now is, where will the deals be made?

I would not say ‘integrity’ has been the hallmark of this election, even from those who preached it. This showed up most in the regional vote, where ‘paper candidates’ were in abundance!

A confession from one….

Now I know why this particular Party doesn’t want anything to do with Direct Democracy!

I, for one, look forward to Day 1 of this new Parliament to see if honest John sends his message to Westminster!

His incentive of course should be fear of Reform winning the next GE…..if that happens say goodbye to Holyrood……but then who knows with Swinney!!

But perhaps the most interesting thing looking forward, is who will remain standing and who, amongst the smaller parties, will disappear.

Looking south, who knows, the man says he’s not for going, will his MPs say otherwise? The same up here, Sarwar lost his constituency seat, there was a time when that would be enough to stand down as Leader, those days have long gone, now they remain under the pretence of ‘its my job to look after the Party through difficult times’ 😂😂

I think it’s time for a rest!

…..but not quit!!

There will be a lot of people number-crunching today, and a lot of spin.

So, which word fits you today, maybe it will change throughout the day!!

It’s all, over bar the shouting as they say, and there will be some shouting with accusations of ‘splitting the vote’!!

Enemies and friends have been made, the question now is, can bridges be rebuilt?

Whatever the results are today, the fight for Independence must go on. We just need to learn where and when to fight our battles.

Just how many of those battles I take part in remains to be seen. My age is catching up with me in more ways than one! I think the words ‘mental exhaustion’ capture it for the moment!!.…but then, I suppose we all feel like that today, especially the Candidates.

Another word is balance!

I have decided that now the Election is over, I won’t attempt to write a blog every day but rather respond to events as and when they happen…..my attempt at balance😂

I see there has been some jiggery-pokery at the Coatbridge/ Chryston polling stations……Labour panicking. We have certainly seen a different side of Labour these past few months, sad to say.

With that in mind the Local Elections results in England and Wales could change things down there…..hopefully the exit of Starmer.

After today, I think a few will be recalculating their route!

Many don’t know it, but they do have the democratic right to change the political system. I am not just talking about changing parties or politicians, no, we can go bigger than that. We could if we wanted to, start to change the whole corrupt system!

The present system and those who run it, want to change us. They want to change the way we think and the way we vote, and in doing so.…..nothing will change….at least for us.

Many countries in Africa are learning what a complete Political Metamorphosis means and the difference is like night and day.

They have become politically savvy……why can’t we?

Sovereignty is only Sovereignty if we learn to use it. It is not we the people who need to change but the political environment we live in.

Pass the power on to the people and we will grow, leave us in chains and we will wither.

Tomorrow, we can start to loosen those chains and bring balance back into Scottish politics. It is your Democratic right to be able to do so.

We must all ask ourselves this question, ‘Do I want more of the same, or do I want something that will, work for Scotland and myself’?

Then have the courage to put your X in the box that best answers that Q.

It’s a big week for Scotland, can we do her justice?

I will be voting for this lady…

Have you made up your mind yet?

Remember, your vote belongs to you, nobody else, not even the Party you may belong to.

It is time to take personal responsibility for our actions. We cannot continue to complain when politicians go off piste, if we continually give them permission to do so. There was a reason why the vote for Recall failed in Holyrood post-election, and that was because they prefer the freedom to do their own thing but deny us any recourse.

Don’t give the chancers any more chances!

Change the balance!

It appears we have gone back to the 1746 Act of Proscription where Highland dress is forbidden…..except it’s not under Sec 49(5)(c) of the Criminal Law ( Scotland) Act 1995!

So, how about those who possess the full Highland regalia, turn up at the AUOB rally in Stirling, dressed in such, to show support not only for Frank Boyd, but also in support of the Scottish football team?

In all the years AUOB have been marching there has never been one instance of violence, so why did Frank get arrested this time?

Let’s show some pride in our culture, this is not 1746! If we don’t protect our culture now, the slow creep of destroying it will continue.

You may think this is a small matter, if you do, then you don’t understand politics.

Every big policy or law change starts with a small idea from someone, and that person usually has an agenda!

That’s why we call it ‘a slow creep’……no one notices until it’s too late!

We may laugh at Tony Blair’s idea of getting rid of the OAP or limiting it to 20 years, but mark my words, someone, somewhere will have clocked it and it will surface again!

Scotland needs an escape route, and the only one I see is the Salvo/Liberation.scot one. The wheels of the UN move slowly, and we have to learn patience because there are no shortcuts.

There is one advantage however to things being slow, it gives those we put into Holyrood the time to lay the future politic path which must go hand in hand.

Once Swinney’s plan falls flat the way will be open to build bridges and the art of bargaining will take over. Note, there is a difference between good bargaining skills and demanding through threats!

Bullying is not an art it is coercion and as such has no place in honest politics.

We can start the change on Thursday….are you up for it?

One small step for Scotland and others will follow!

And you wonder why Britain is broke, and I don’t just mean financially!

The sad thing is, we are complicit in all this corruption because we refuse to change the status quo.

Will I be proved right or wrong on Thursday?

Please, prove me wrong!

Show the world that Scotland can be different.

Show the world that we want to take a different road, one where the people, not politicians are taking the lead just as they do in Switzerland.

Take time out, to understand what Direct Democracy can do for Scotland. Without it, we the people will never have a voice.

Independence will bring choices, including the kind of democracy we want, and now is the time to start putting the building blocks in place.

Now is the time to put people into Holyrood who will actively build those blocks.

These are some of the builders!!

No more corruption!

I don’t think people fully understand who pays for this corruption. The answer is simple…..we do, through our taxes, and don’t forget unregulated Freeports and SEZs. Unregulated means just what it says, and thus is open to corruption.

There is no such thing as ‘government money’, it is our money, but we have no say over how it is spent, just as we have no say in removing corrupt MPs. We can change that in Scotland and a whole lot more!

Thursday will prove whether we want to, or not.

Show me another Party vying for your votes that has Direct Democracy front and centre of its policies, apart from the ISP!

Let’s start building now, for our future. The more votes for the small parties, the more the MSM will be forced to unblock the block!

PS. I wonder what we are all going to talk about next week.😂😂

Now, I am not a fan of Charles, but one has to admit he threw some punches at Trump last week. Even Trump clapped!!.…albeit in the ignorance of not understanding the humour.

There are ways of saying things and ways of not saying things, both have been evident during this election campaign.

Then there’s the wee matter of some very dubious campaign leaflets being sent out. Some not even adhering to the EC rules. Ballot Paper images are a big no, apparently.

So, does this show an ignorance of the rules or a deliberate flouting of the rules?

My red flags are waving!!

On the subject of words, there is a Trial going on at the Old Bailey which our MSM is reluctant to report on, and something smells off!

When the prosecutors go to lengths to say ‘your motives are not important and won’t be recorded’ …..who or what are they trying to hide?

This is what happens when people in power use that power to hide their own behaviour.

Mistakes can be forgiven, but not cover-ups!

Transparency doesn’t exist in the kind of politics we have now, just as Representative Democracy doesn’t work either. Nobody listens to the people anymore, and we must change that.

If we don’t change it, we have no right to moan and we are complicit.

Until we have Direct Democracy in Scotland, the voices of Scotland’s People will never be heard. The power for that change lies in everyone’s hands.

This is an example of what can happen with Direct Democracy…..

……and don’t think this won’t be a problem here in Britain very soon! The only thing being is, we won’t have a say!!

Your votes next week matter more than you think. Only you can put the right people into Holyrood. Those who will fight tooth and nail for change.

Those who will hold the governing party’s feet to the fire. It’s not just about power but holding the balance of power! Polls will tell you the Greens will hold that place again… do we really want a repeat of last time? Or are we up for something different..……a real difference?

Why can’t we have the same?

A choice made by Politicians!

Nobody chooses to be poor, especially in a nation that should be the 6th wealthiest in the world.

But many are, through no fault of their own. How a country distributes its wealth is important. Ours has been squandered by Westminster to the point where Britain as a whole is up to its neck in debt.

The UK’s high debt (around 100% of GDP, the highest since the 1960s) is primarily driven by accumulated structural deficits, where government spending consistently exceeds tax revenue. Major drivers include massive borrowing for COVID-19 support (£78-£229 billion annually), the 2008 financial crisis, low economic growth, and rising costs for an aging population. 

Look at the last one!!

Those of us, who built this country are now being partly blamed for its debt!

Before I retired 27yrs ago, the forthcoming explosion of the elderly population was being talked about even then. Now I don’t know about you, but I would have thought that 25+ years was more than sufficient time to plan ahead.

But it appears politics doesn’t work that way. They only respond to ‘the now’, hoping the future can be left for someone else to deal with!!

It is said about the crisis we are living through right now, that Britain in particular will find it harder to adjust…….why? Because we are all living beyond our means apparently!

Well, I’m not…..are you?

Politicians would rather blame us, than look at their continual bad choices.

They make the choices…..we pay for them!

Are we going to say next week, that’s fine, just carry on? Or are we going to start saying No more?

The choice really is that simple.

It’s time to say what we mean and mean what we say.

And there’s a bunch of Candidates out there who will do just that from a number of Parties.

To eradicate poverty we need the fiscal levers to do so. That means we need people in Holyrood who will use all the tools in the box to push back on wasteful policies and always put Independence front and centre….. and stop the gravy train!

Tuesday was a black day for democracy. A three-line whip to stop a legitimate enquiry!

But are we any better in Scotland?

Gagging, protection for perjurers, refusal to obey court orders?

I keep reading that the expectation of a low turnout is real. On the whole, there has been little interest in this election. The, ‘nothing will change’ attitude has well and truly got a grip.

Sadly if we ‘give up’ rather than ‘get up’ nothing will ever change.

We say we are different in Scotland, that being the case, let’s show it!

It’s time to get angry and to show that anger.

Charles went to America and waved the Magna Carta over Trump’s head, it’s time for us to wave our equivalent, the Claim of Right, over Westminsters head!

We have ‘tools’ in the box and we need to learn how to use them!

We can use this election as a tool, by putting people into Holyrood who really care about Scotland. All that is asked, is that you take 10 minutes out of your day next Thursday to put your X in two boxes. That’s all, then those elected will carry the torch for you.

10 minutes for Scotland!

10 minutes to stop the rot!

10 minutes to change things!

Let’s lift our heads up high in defiance and show the Unionists and Devolutionists we’ve had enough.

It’s time to tell them that we are no longer going to play their game.

The rules are about to change!

Scotland has a new way out and it’s a game-changer!

Holyrood needs to start laying the foundations to take the UN Decolonisation decision forward.

The UN decision alone will NOT give us Independence, but it will give us a reason to take it! Notice I said ‘take it’!

10 minutes for Scotland…please!

10 minutes to put the rebels in place!

10 minutes to start putting the Power back where it belongs!

It may not be the season for Cherry picking, but there’s an awful lot of it going on. From parties highlighting the policies they think will win them seats to arguments about who did what first!

Best advice is to follow the evidence, even if that evidence leads you to somewhere you don’t want to be.

It’s getting fractious out there, with at least one candidate being suspended, the whips are out. Thank God the ISP doesn’t possess a whip and all are encouraged to follow their conscience.

Labour, on the other hand are experts at cracking the whip looking at today’s wee exercise in democracy. Using the whip for policies is one thing, hiding lies and cover-ups is quite another and the Ballot Box will surely punish them for it.

One of the most interesting things about this election for me personally has been the use, or should I say ‘misuse’ of Paper Candidates!

https://www.theferret.scot/why-do-parties-run-paper-candidates/

This is a very informative article on the topic.

Basically, it’s a tactic used to make a party look good and get them on the telly!! Those below number one on the list have little or no chance of getting elected and would probably faint if they did!!

As I said, it’s a tactic and not the most honest one!

I am not 100% in agreement with this particular system because I think it’s important to know about the person you are voting for and the person who might take over at a moments notice. Hopefully, going forward we can improve this system.

One very interesting policy that is being punted by the SNP, and I admit, it’s not one I am against. Legislation to ban mobile phones in schools!

But….and there’s always a but….how does one enforce it?

There is a huge difference between schools like Glasgow High and Hutchie being compliant and other schools in other areas. Pupils from different backgrounds will behave accordingly. And are teachers once again being put in the firing line?

I suppose one could fight technology with technology!!

It will be interesting to see what happens.

Anyway, just over a week to go, and all to play for, as they say!

Polls are Polls, and they are already slightly changing, so are the online tactics. Digging up old posts seems a bit desperate to me and that desperation is not going unnoticed!!

Think of the change you can make!