So long as one of our chief criticisms of Westminster is that it is a corrupt and lying and deceitful institution, then, insofar as is possible, we should work tirelessly to ensure the honesty and integrity of our own politicians and our political system. In a word, it is a profound betrayal of our greatest political aspiration to continue towards independence in Scotland behaving in a manner indistinguishable from the behaviour of the system we hope to escape.
Brexit: The Headless Chicken Phase
Nicola Sturgeon promised the Scottish people she would revisit the question of another independence referendum when the details of a negotiated Brexit were better known, and while the clock is still running on the Article 50 talks the reset button on the final shape Brexit will take has just been pressed. We are now no closer to knowing the probable shape Brexit will take than we were at the end of June 2016. Yet, this isn’t quite bad news for Scotland – certainly not for the independence cause.
Devolution: Defence of the Realm after Brexit
On the morning of 30 March 2019, as Britain wakes up to its “independence day,” Scotland’s unionist talking heads will have a new job – taking down Holyrood. In David Davis’ – almost Mad Max – apocalypse the very survival of England will depend on its ability to cling on to the last of its empire, or to the oil at least. The only obstacle to this, of course, is Scotland and the Scottish people and our obstinate and disagreeable little parliament. If Scotland does end up going down the Brexit plughole then we had better get used to the idea that that will be the end of devolution.
Brexit is a Racialised Anglo-Saxon State
This deeply racist use of the term – no reflection on the Anglo-Saxons themselves of course – has continued on in British politics, and not merely in the street politics of the far-right. The relationship between the term Anglo-Saxon and the idea of white English-British racial superiority has sunk deep into the fabric of the Westminster political establishment, and this is particularly the case when it comes to the Conservative Party – David Davis’ party.
Brexit Negotiations: Surveying the Terrain
Scotland’s real interest is in what will be happening at the other side of the table. Where the UK enters the arena with a singular – though deeply fractured – agenda, the European Union’s position is more complex.
Random Public Journal 