This means everything I have said in previous blogs about Teamwork etc are all the more important. As Iain says in the video we need to elect the right people to this team for them to work as a team. We can’t afford to get this wrong.
We have waited a long time for this, it’s the first big step to our future.
This step forward has come just in time because Scotland’s life is being choked out of it, the Westminster noose is tightening. There is a mismatch of deregulation and over-regulation!
Deregulation regarding Freeports and EZs and over-regulation regarding existing infrastructure like Grangemouth making sure it can’t continue to function. Money has nothing to do with its closure, it’s all about making sure we can’t refine our own oil once Independent.
An exciting day indeed, be part and take part in the proceedings.
If leaders of Independence Parties and other groups lose the trust of their followers then the Dream will die.
One lie is all it takes, I have just been reading about one guy in a big party who has not just walked away from his party but also from the dream of Independence because of the litany of lies and loss of focus.
I was reminded of someone who said to me ‘ it’s not Independence I disagree with.….its knowing who will run the country’!
If we can’t trust the people who lead us…..who can we trust and I bring the same question down to a local level.
I trust the people around me, the political gang I hang out with…..why? Because I see in them the integrity of true leadership. They are honest principled folk with no egos. It’s a respectful relationship that has grown. I didn’t jump into something because of ‘personalities’ I did so because of policies, ideals and above all because of the honesty I saw in them.
We all have our reasons for joining something, but just having the same dream doesn’t always work out if those at the top have added agendas. They can end up dashing every dream.
One lie, that’s all it takes but then to go on lying is indefensible to the point of criminal.
The sad thing is, once they jump they stay off the grid, sick of Party Politics and who can blame them…..once bitten, twice shy!…..for many it has been ‘twice bitten’!
But these are good people and we need them.
They say ‘time heals’ the problem is we don’t have much time. The great sale of Scotland has started, so those who we have lost must somehow find their metal again and seek out those who are true to the dream. If not a Political Party then Salvo or the Liberation Movement,
although both can be done at the same time!!!
We may lose faith in our Leaders but we must never lose the goal.
When one door closes, another will open if we seek it.
Scotland must grow it’s mindset, otherwise to put it bluntly we are buggered! Sorry for the language, but it’s true and necessary to say it.
We must stop running away from the challenges we face. A GE is not going to help or change things in Scotland!
We need to have the courage to look outside the boxand if that means first looking within ourselves…..so be it.
The growth of a Nation starts when its people realise they got it wrong and are determined to start again.
Our Politicians have marched us up the hill and down again too many times. Now is the time to say ‘no more’ especially to those in Holyrood.
Holyrood is our Parliament yet they had the audacity to lock us out.
In this coming GE we must fire a warning shot of things to come, then start planning for 2026!
We must grow both in numbers and stature, we must gain the reputation of saying what we mean and mean what we say, unlike our Politicians who always ‘ doublespeak’.
Growth is also about taking the road less travelled or even breaking new ground.
The idea of Abstention is breaking new ground, if you agree with it don’t let your Party shut you up, bring it to the table for discussion…. that’s democracy……direct democracy…..the purest kind of democracy!!!
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”, was a best-selling single, mirroring the people’s resolve against the “big bad wolf” of The Great
Depression.
When it comes to economics, Depression & Recessionare one in the same beast, the former usually lasts longer.
So who is the ‘big bad wolf’ who keeps knocking at Scotland’s door trying to destroywhat little we have left?
I say ‘What little we have left’ with a heavy heart because much has happened in secrecy that few know about.
For example, our own government in tow with Crown Estate Scotland have leased off 60kms [860kmsq] of seabed out from Aberdeen to an Off Shore businessfor about 50yrs [and we get nothing by the way!] and it looks like another 20 such projects are in the pipeline…..[that doesn’t include land attached to Freeports and EZs!]
So you see why I said ‘whats left’!
Asset stripping is big business worldwide and the big bad wolves in Westminster [ Tory & Labour ]who have their fingers in the Off Shore businesses are feathering their own nests for life whilst making sure Scotland becomes just a shell of its former glory.
The up-and-coming GE won’t stop this, we must stop the rot at Holyrood first. It’s that election that those parties true to Scotland must aim for. Remove the wolves in sheep’s clothing.
No matter what steps are taken by Salvo or the Liberation movement we will still need Politicians in Holyrood prepared to die for Scotland!
The more people who vote for Abstention where it’s possible will be firing the first salvo over the House of Westminster giving a warning of what’s to come.…..and they won’t like it.
There are none so blind as those who will not see!
So, we are in a recession, we must be the only oil-producing country in the world that is!
…..and as long as we allow Westminster to suck every drop of oil out of our seas very little if anything will improve. I would go so far as saying the Holyrood finances have been in recession for years, existing only on pocket money from Westminster!
Can we….will we?
The first step to fixing a problem is to acknowledge that we have one in the first place!
Then find the root cause. You may think the problem and the cause are obvious but for many, it isn’t.
When people live in a certain mindset for years it’s very difficult to change, there’s a kind of security that comes with the ‘same old’! Any kind of change rattles the nerves!!….and let‘s be honest, the kind of changes we are advocating are huge.
Much patience is going to be required, we will have to walk their walk, not our own.
The up-and-coming GE this year gives us a window for discussion. Elections have a habit of getting people talking. Take your pick there are many topics of conversation to choose from. Cost of living, Gaza genocide, COVID corruption and all the lies they spew out on a daily basis etc etc…..the list is endless.
The last 4yrs of Tory rule have been the gift that just keeps on giving.
Tons of snake oil will be used to make the promises look good, greasy palms may well clasp yours….make sure you wash them afterwards😅
Scotland’s future is in your hands, think hard before you commit yourself and help where confusion reigns.….and there’s plenty of that!
Voter ID is the biggest Election con there is, it disenfranchises so many. The problem has never been Ballot Box Voting it’s been Postal Vote counting with no regulations.
It’s all about control and getting the right results.
Snake oil is a term used for deceptive marketing, what better term for Freeports and SZs!
But who are the Snake oil sellers? Look no further than Westminster aided and abetted by Holyrood.
Politicians as we used to know them no longer rule this country, enormous conglomerates do. How has this happened, quite easy actually because most of our senior Politicians are part of those conglomerates, they have fingers in all the pies! And Labour are no better, we see Starmer and his shadow Treasury MP already wandering around these Freeport sites eyeing up the benefits, are they being seduced by the Snake oil sellersor are they part of this big illusion?
Opinion polls suggest the Tories will be wiped out and replaced by Labour, but what is Labour these days, certainly not the one I grew up with, the one that actually cared about people.
No, to quote Starmer himself, “we are the new Tories”!
The thought of that terrifies me.
Without a radical change in Scotland, we too will be dragged to the bottom, asset-stripped then dumped with nothing to build upon.
Isn’t it ironic that one of the largest firms involved in Freeports & EZs just happens to be from India? Oh, how the tables of history have turned no thanks to our PMs family connections.
Just think about it for a minute, big chunks of Scotland are being sold off cheaply to Indian and other foreign firms with limited checks and balances!
The buzz word on SM at the moment seems to be ‘Abstention’ and we will do no harm by fanning those flames.
Abstention as we know is not new and its eventual success in Ireland is now bearing fruit in NI. So we know it works, but we Scots are canny folk and need time to fully digest ways that are new to usbefore we cross the Rubicon!
Alongside the road of Abstention of course we have The Liberation Movement another building block, another way of sharpening the axe!
It has been asked…what then? Meaning I presume what happens if Parliament collapsed and the Union Act was repealed.
Would there be a vacuum? No, because other organizations in Scotland are busy preparing the building blocks for a new Scotland. Some based on the old ways, [COR] and other ways taking the best examples from across the world.
Yes, the builders have been busy and when the new model has been built all will be revealedand all of Scotland will have the final say.
At some point we have to start putting our faith in The People of Scotland who are after all Sovereign!
But perhaps the most important this to say at this moment is, it is not Politicians who are fronting these groups.
One of the greatest privileges of my working life was to build around me a team I could trust and teach others to do the same. This of course doesn’t just apply to work situations but also life itself.
I won’t pretend I didn’t make a few mistakes along the way….we all do…..its called a learning curve!!
Trust & integrity go hand in hand, without trust, there is no integrity and with no integrity there is no trust.
All organisations and groups will fail if these two things are not embedded within them, this is especially true when working with others who very often work autonomously!
Freedom to work or lead independently is the rock on which many an organization has perished because like it or not there has to be some kind of foundation….someone has to lead from the top to put the building blocks in place!
There has to be some kind of regulation not deregulation!It may be ‘light touch’ but it has to be there!…..and the key to getting this right is vetting! Getting the right people into the right place from the start, especially if those people are going to work independently, out of sight for the most part.
There can be no place for egos in any well-functional organisation especially where external groups are being built up, otherwise ‘mini kingdoms’ arise.
All within a group may well have the same dream but if egos are allowed to walk among them unfettered then dreams will be crushed.
Complete autonomy may be ones aspiration but in reality, it doesn’t work, there has to be structure and hands-on leadership within that structure.
You can have the best leader in the world but if that kind of leadership does not trickle down throughout the organisation everything below hangs on a ‘shooglie peg’!
Building a team is no different in principle from building a house. Firm foundations and the best materials available.
When trying to build up the foundations for a new Scotland let’s make sure the foundations are solid and the right people are in the right place!
Given that this country of ours is supposed to be a Democracy, you could be forgiven for thinking that Democracy and Free Will are one in the same.
Why? Well in a vague way the two are linked because we are free to exercise our wills at the ballot box, but there it ends and we have sold our souls to false promises!!
The PM is using Democracy to destroy Democracy and replacing it with Privatisation.
Libertarianism is a whole new ball game because the ‘free will’ it talks about is not free will for us, the public, but free will for big conglomerates. Free of government interference, free of regulations, including Employment regulations.
Deregulation is another new game in town! The big boys make their own rules within these Freeports and Economic Zones and it’s a race to the bottom.
Once these zones have been set up, in spite of what may have been promised, local Councils are shut out, only functioning at arm’s length and the size of these zones can cover land far beyond any port, one in England covering 78mls in length, even the Forth one covers approximately 48mls including half of Edinburgh!……lets see how that works out!
But it is the secrecy around these zones that should concern us all, and set alarm bells ringing, even local Councillors are kept in the dark, they are only shown the ‘sales pack’…..but that’s politics is it not? We all get sold a ‘pup’ and a pup it remains.
Who would have thought that our very own SNP government would sell off bits of Scotland to foreign companies to the detriment of local people, and when I say ‘sell off’ I mean it, for that land has gonefor 20-25yrsand for 20-25yrs that particular LA will struggle to fill the black hole of tax lossesthat pay for our services.
How could any FM past or present do this to Scotland?
How could any FM think it morally right to encourage
low-wage jobs to help big business profits? ….many would call it ‘modern slavery’!
What do we tell the people in Cairnryan, if because of increased traffic and the size of vehicles these big companies deem the road through the village to be too narrow [which it is] and needs to be widened thus bringing in compulsory buying orders for their homes?
What has happened to us that we allow this?
Why is there only one organization [Freeports community, Salvo] & one Political Party [ISP] fightingfor Scotland’s land?
