In spite of his obvious intelligence, his quick-wittedness, and his natural ingenuity, ‘the Scot’ is slavishly obedient to the point of servility. In fact, this is made quite explicit in a scene – after the first attempt on the Home Secretary’s life (played by Keeley Hawes); after saving her life almost at the cost of his own a uniformed officer points him to the service entrance of the hotel where she is staying. Take the backdoor Jock! As always, ‘the Scot’ gets ahead in the world by being perfectly obedient to his betters. He cannot be the hero of the story unless he knows his place.
The ‘Brit Washing’ of Scotland
After April 1998, with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and at the height of Tony Blair’s New Labour experiment, a window of opportunity opened for the old imperial flag. With “peace” in Ireland and a refreshing post-Conservative era flourishing over Blair’s New Britain, it was felt that the union jack too could be rebranded and sold at home and abroad as the hallmark of brand UK – a neoliberal whitewashed advertising strategy that has been developed through a number of more recent permutations including “Team GB” and “UK OK.”
Ruth Davidson to Boil her Heid on Bake Off
But if Scottish independence is to be derailed, than the Tories and truthless Ruth are the best the British establishment have. So can we be surprised to see her on the small screen entertaining small minds with her buns? Absolutely not, and it is not the first time. Channel 4 is putting Ruth on a charity episode of Great British Bake Off. She was already on the spin-off An Extra Slice last year and previously appeared on the BBC’s Have I Got News for You.
The Crown and the Jester’s Cap
What we have is an institution inhabited by people who rightly ought to be in an institution that lays claim to power and privilege on the grounds of magic, mystique, and… well, lies. It lives (read: thrives) on the taxpayer as a parasite
England’s Crisis is a Warning to Scotland
Having been subjected to the complete dominance of British media for the past three centuries, Scotland has ingested and digested much of the same ideological and opinion-forming material as England and Wales.
Piers Morgan Just Won’t Call Trump on Racism
Morgan, the man who claims he never self-censors, pushed the boat out only so far as referring to Trump’s rhetoric as “controversial.” Reporters like Morgan are too cowardly to call people like Donald Trump out because the rising star might come back to haunt them.
House of Cards Couldn’t be More Subversive
Patriotism, loyalty, and obedience have always been more useful to tyrants than love and respect, and – as we have come to see – Frank Underwood, like all presidents, real and imagined, knows their value.
It Turns Out the Gardaí have a Sense of Humour
You can’t beat that sort of carry on with a stick. Now I’m not sure if this newfound sense of humour makes up for all the times they have beaten me with a stick, but it does show that there is something happening between their ears.
