Sound bites mean nothing, just like Headlines!

They are used to draw you in.

Here are some examples:

“ In Brexit, we hold all the cards.”

“ Brexit will be good for the UK”

“ Brexit has energised millions of people”

And in Scotland.

“ We will not be taken out of the EU against our will”

“ We will have a Referendum in 2023”

“I am a Femenist”

90% of the time Sound Bites are just that, Sound Bites, empty words in their make-believe world.

Words can be used in many ways, even in powerful ways but in today’s world of Politics, they are empty and meaningless.

Why, because we have seen so many words turned into lies and empty promises. Most no longer believe in any Political Leader, they have given up on Politics and have almost given up on Democracy.

But some of us haven’t, although tempted, still believe in the Ballot Box and within that number, there is even a smaller number who believe in honest Politics.

They have the temerity to believe quality is more important than quantity and I am so proud to believe in that group.

It’s a hard slog and a slow one but to know you are on the right side of history is a great honour in today’s society. *

Righteousness is normally used in a Religious setting, but it is also used in a Moral setting and there is none so righteous as those that stand up for the protection of women and children.

Having experienced male violence myself I do not just stand on the sidelines and shout about a theory, I know how broken ribs feel, I know how a pregnant woman feels after being thrown down a stairs.

It is because of those memories I demand our Politicians be Righteous and moral people, man or woman!

Until they can prove they are, their Sound Bites on any subject will just remain empty words.

Journalism sure ain’t what it used to be, and the BBC isn’t either. Once proud professionals who reported stories as they found them now beaten down to follow someone else’s agenda tell only half-truths.

Take the media reports about the Rail strikes for example. ‘RMT turn down 8% wage rise offer’

Only it’s not 8%, it is 8% over two years, so that is a rise of 4% when inflation is 11%.

I am waiting to hear what MPs are going to give themselves! Do not believe the Independent Review story because those on that review board have been well placed by the MPs.

And as I am talking about money matters, do not believe for one moment that Sunak did not know where the money was going during COVID. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer, so if he wasn’t asking questions about the billions being poured into rogue companies through the VIP route then he has failed in his duty along with Gove and the rest.

Yes but……if you are still saying those two words, after all, that has been revealed then shame on you!

The one thing I ask of everyone it is this.

Do not forget!

Do not forget the vast amounts of money that found its way into the Bank Accounts of the rich……..your money!

Do not forget the number of people who died needlessly at the hands of this Tory government.

Do not forget that French Electric bills have risen by only 4% whilst yours has risen by nearly 200% because of the choices this Tory Government has made.

Do not forget how many people are dying right now because they are cold and have little food. Numbers we will never know because they won’t be recorded as such.

Do not forget the lies, the half-truths.

Remember all this and much more when next you go to the Ballot Box. Then it will be your turn to have your say!

But in the meantime here is something else you can do, support those on the picket lines!

This photo will probably bring back memories to people of my generation, but the well-known abbreviation HMV is known throughout the entertainment industry.

The original company fell into administration in 2013.

I am going to use a bit of artistic licence here because when I hear the words ‘His Masters Voice’ my mind automatically turns to either Religion or Politics!

Leaders and Followers!

Throughout my life, I have been taught how to recognise false cults, usually connected to religions. But these days I often see the word ‘cult’ referenced politically.

No more so than in Scotland where Politics seem to revolve around the person who leads a Party rather than the Party itself. The Leader can neither do no wrong nor say no wrong.

Personally, I find this kind of blind faith quite scary, because it removes the need for critical thinking by others. In fact, I would go further and say critical thinking by others is not welcome and to voice that thinking would be deemed as a betrayal of loyalty.

This evening in Westminster the SNP chose a new Leader and Deputy Leader, the Flynn and Black duo! This will be interesting because it is well-known that Stephen Flynn opposes some of his Party Leaders’ Policies. In this case it’s not His Masters Voice but His Misstresses Voice which might or might not be heeded! Can you have an SNP Leader in Holyrood saying one thing and the other in Westminster saying another?

Tonight’s voting in London could cause problems for Nicola, especially around the subject of Oil. But on other matters, she will be pleased with Mhairi Black!

Blind faith in Religious Leaders or Political Leaders is dangerous, especially when that Leader falls from grace or changes direction. Their followers are left flapping around in mid-air not quite sure what to do or say. Especially on Social Media.

Panic jumps from every word, words that only a few weeks would never have been written let alone thought of. But hey, His Masters Voice has spoken and those words must be justified even if you are out of your depth on the relevant topic.

It is ones blind faith that leaves egg on faces not our limited knowledge of the topic!

Leaders are not gods and therefore should not be worshipped as such. They are humans and humans are flawed. They can be flawed in knowledge and character.

It is for followers to discern the words they speak and the deeds they do.

Dare to be a critic!

Mention the word ‘Politics’ to most people and the reply you will get is, ‘I’m not interested’ and who can blame them?

Yet, politics run every part of our lives every day from our jobs to our households.

Because the definition of Politics is;

Politics is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals,

There is a form of hierarchy in every business and in every home! We just don’t call it politics.

Every day we make decisions that affect others either directly or indirectly and every day we usually take directions from others one way or another.

Our lives ebb and flow from being Leaders to followers.

So, it is not Politics that is the problem, it is the Politicians! The ones we choose to represent us in the important decision-making in the governance of our Country, our home.

We hope they have good Leadership skills but more often we find they just become followers with little or no voice following another Leader, the Top Dog, or the Leader of the Pack!

To be a Leader requires great skills.

Leadership should never be about Power and Power alone, it should never be about making bullets for others to fire.

Great Leadership also involves humility, acknowledging the work of others not trying to throw a spanner in the works to reflect the glory to you!

Great Leaders do not steal the ideas of others, they dare to follow their own vision and in some circumstances acknowledge that others may even be greater than them.

A great Leader will lift others up not stamp on them using others to fire the bullets, particularly on Social Media for all to see.

But sadly we see few Great Leaders these days, the ones who remain tight-lipped, who quietly plod on doing the hard work behind the scenes. Their day will come, it may not come with great glory but it will be recognised by those that matter, The People!

We live in a strange world, take Westminster for instance. You can lie in Parliament but you cannot call someone out for lying! But that’s not the only peculiar thing within Politics, there are many many more.

One being Plagiarism, the art of Copy & Paste.

In the normal world, particularly in the writer’s world if you copy another persons work or even part of it and claim it to be your own you can be sued. But not in Politics.

Down through the years, it has been common practice for a Leader to use a basic policy from another Party, embellish it a little, and expand and publish it as their own.

Yes, it’s dishonest, but hey who cares it’s just Politics!

For the more discerning, however, it does matter. For those who still care, and there are some, it matters. Why because Integrity matters.

Integrity has become a forgotten word in Politics that is why we are in the mess we are in. If a Leader of any Party can not meet that test early on in their Policymaking, it can only go downhill.

Gaining Power is usually the 🥕 that proves to be a Leaders downfall when it comes to Integrity.

The focus shifts from what is best for the Country to what is best for me!

Many a good man/woman has fallen at this hurdle.

Then down the line, if they succeed and gain the Power they crave they surround themselves with 🐏. Like-minded individuals who either worship them or come along with another agenda. A Minister with Portfolio is quite a 🥕

And don’t think this only happens South of the Border, the same game is played in Scotland.

Some Politicians both past and present who once had integrity are showing signs of personal Power being more important than the people they serve.

Political power only works for the people when it goes hand in hand with integrity.

Politics should never be about Power it should be about people.

Many many years ago in my school days History was not my favourite subject, mainly because to me is was all about remembering significant dates. I have always had a problem remembering dates and phone numbers, my brain just doesn’t work that way!

Every exam seemed about dates. But that aside only when my interest grew in Politics did I realise that even in Scotland all our texts books were written by English Historians, therefore everything written was from an English perspective.

Recently in Scotland things have changed, we now know more about our own history, but even this seems to have been quite limited. Not through any Political interference but lack of detailed knowledge. Put quite simply we didn’t have access to the most important documents.

We do now!

And surprise, surprise everything we thought we knew has been turned upside down.

I will not repeat what has already been put up on Social Media Today but I will ask you to read the links below. This blogger is far more knowledgeable than I am and as such deserves our attention and respect.

https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2022/11/26/reclaiming-the-rights-of-scotlands-people/?fbclid=IwAR2hZekhjkAmoVFBxpcNALGXXc5yfNhuNGqFWEKqyeB5Ey1qHDOpJrMMAg8

Fascinating is it not?

Also this shortened version;

https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2022/11/27/the-scale-of-the-robbery/?fbclid=IwAR2wjV_Gw3ceC9GP4wvgS3U2S3X2nqHK6kJ_euurWTnzLyJ5j_a2SlgkRcg

And the thing to remember is, these claims come from actual Legal Documents until now never seen.

Someone in Westminster knew all this, but not necessarily our humble MPs for this is specialist stuff but also explosive. So explosive it had to be hidden for a few centuries in the hope Scotland would forget, and they did!

I must admit though that I am a wee bit apprehensive about all this coming to light now. Westminster needs the resources more than ever just now and it worries me how they might react to all this. No doubt they will initially rubbish it but once it all hits the International Courts I believe them to be capable of anything. This will bring so much disruption to the likes we have never known.

Sensible dialogue does not happen when people are desperate, darker methods are more often used. I fear for a number of people and the squeeze put on Scotland.

Nicola said today that she believed a win in a defacto General Election might lead to a Referendum!

MIGHT?

So, here we go again another game of might not or maybe, leading only to asking for a Section 30 and we all know what the answer will be.

So let’s be absolutely honest here. The earliest date of a maybe Referendum will be 2026, except as I said it won’t happen.

I was pondering tonight about the difference between now and 2014. Many say it was down to the AS factor, yes it was in part but the other factor was even greater. At that point, the Westminster Unionists believed they would win hands down.

Now they know they won’t.

It was only nearing the end of the last Referendum campaign that they suddenly realised they wouldn’t and out they trotted with the infamous Vow. A genius stroke of Political Scull Duggery.

Many Scots believed because it was signed by the Party Leaders it was a Party promise but it wasn’t, it was mastered by Better Together Ltd and as such did not break Purdah.

It was just words and meant nothing as many of the astute Yes members realised, but it was enough to sway the doubters.

The Tories know they will never be able to pull that trick out of the bag again just as they know in the Political realms of Westminster all they have to do is keep saying No until all our assets have gone.

So what’s the point of continuing to go down the same dead–end road?

There are other roads and Legal. Other Countries in their quests for Independence have successfully taken them, and for us, The Liberation Movement is one of them. There may be others, I don’t know of.

But at the very least they should command our attention. The attraction being they are not Political in the sense of being a Political Party. Anyone of any Party is free to follow and sign up without feeling they are betraying their allegiance to their own Party.

Over the past 60yrs or so there has not been one Country that has not had to fight for its Independence from the UK, for some earlier countries it was actual hand-to-hand combat!

So why are our Scottish Politicians trying to be so nice about it, so touchy feely even! We’ve all seen the photos of Blackfords arm around Mordaunts shoulder😂

So as weary of this battle as I am, let us the People take up the charge and walk the road to Independence on whichever path the UN will allow us to take.

Just believe!

When you look at things from a different perspective your thinking begins to change but so often we see things as problems because we refuse to change our perspective.”
― Sope Agbelusi

A follow up from my last blog!

Focusing on a different road does not come easy especially when age is against you as it is in my case. In certain circumstances, it is however essential and the Road to Independence is one of those circumstances!

Robert Peston is right, there is a fault line in British Politics. One that was deliberately put there by Westminster Politicians. Interestingly, most of the Laws and Acts that are always referred to are quite modern.

Post Oil!!!

There has been much clarity this week as to what we can and can not do about our quest for Independence, A different perspective is needed.

Unlike Peston, I still think Independence minded Politicians can still take us to our goal but only if they can change their focus. Looking for loopholes in British Law is a waste of time only International Law can change the status quo.

Sadly however they don’t appear to want to use the tools Scotland already has within The Claim of Right to do so.

As they say, ‘The Devil is in the Detail’, so it could be the case that our Independence-minded MPs & MSPs are not acquainted with the depth of knowledge and power contained within The Claim of Right. That is not a criticism for these things require specialist attention, experts in the field of Law especially Constitutional Law.

However, to neglect what has already been discovered about the Claim of Right just because others of a different Party are involved shows a great disservice to the People of Scotland.

In my humble opinion if they don’t grasp the nettle soon they will find that we the People will do it for them.

Westminster agrees, in Scotland, it is the People who are Sovereign, it is now time to show them what that means.

And as for Holyrood it is time to bring the biggest and the best brains together to start and use the tools we have. The UN has already shown Salvo the way ahead but we need everybody including our Politicians, if they will, to take us there.

But be under no illusion WE the people will go it alone if we have to!

In many ways, the Supreme Court did us a favour yesterday. At least we know for definite where we stand and it ain’t what Westminster would have us believe.

For those who have not read the full ruling, let me tell you something you may not know and was certainly a surprise to me. Deep within the ruling, you will find these words.

The purpose of the proposed Bill is to hold a lawful referendum on the question of whether Scotland should become an independent country, that is, on ending the Union and the sovereignty of the United Kingdom Parliament over Scotland.”

Note the highlighted words which were repeated three times.

So according to this ruling it is the Westminster Parliament who has Sovereignty over Scotland, not the People of Scotland!

When did this change?

Only a couple of years ago Westminster ruled that it was the People of Scotland who were Sovereign according to the Claim of Right. This was also confirmed when King Charles took an oath and signed a Declaration saying he would uphold it.

One thing is for sure, yesterday’s judgement certainly fanned the flames of the Independence movement as thousands gathered in cities across Scotland from Orkney to Dumfries.

My own Twitter line also had many comments from people in England who felt embarrassed at the judgement citing the absence of Democracy.

So, let us not be disheartened because knowing the truth is the first step to freedom.

The plan now should be to work together on a route that can encompass all Independent Parties to walk the same road, hand in hand.

Section 30 is dead and buried, there are other routes.

The goal is Independence!

Last week I read a report that indicated a large number of Transwomen prisoners revert to being male upon being released from Women’s prisons.

This poses two questions to me. Firstly how many times can or should a Transperson be able to change their Gender? Or to put it bluntly, should flip-flopping be allowed?

This is an important question because if it is more than once then the disruption caused to several services would be quite significant not to mention the public in general.

Secondly, with regards to ex prisoners. Does reverting to ‘male’ suggest their motives were not entirely truthful in the first place?

I suppose this leads on to another question, should Transwomen even be in female prisons? If the answer is yes, then what happens if a woman is raped by a Transwoman? Please don’t say it never happens because this is a regular occurrence . Who is ultimately responsible for the safety of women in prisons, and are their rights protected by law or does nobody care?

This all may sound anti Trans but it isn’t. I don’t care what a person wants to be but I do care about the changes in Law that activists are trying to force through and their consequences to others.

These huge changes have consequences for everyone so it is important to get the Law right because bad Law comes with its consequences.

I have spoken about ‘Activists’ before, they generally have an agenda of their own and do not define Transpeople as a whole not to mention the destructive way they are trying to abolish the LGB movement.

If Scotland does not get this Law right and in line with the Equality Act then hundreds of battles will end up in court costing millions. Monies that should be spent combatting the cost of living crisis or going into the SNHS.

I would rather Holyrood would return to a consensus government again than have a party running it where it is being held hostage by another who is pushing their agenda through instead of the priority which is Independence.