YET again, when backed into a corner, Theresa May trotted out some oblique and unrelated answer to a question put to her. The question I refer to is the one from Ian Blackford, when he said that the Tories were “seeking to veto the democratic wishes of the Scottish Parliament” and that in doing so were “breaking the 20-year-old devolution settlement”. May’s response was to try and muddy the water by using the independence referendum result of 2014 as a reason for so doing, saying: “to ensure the integrity of the United Kingdom common market ... that it was the democratic will of the Scottish people to remain in the United Kingdom”. What?

May is now clearly trying to frame the argument away from the reality of the situation, which is that we do not want to leave the EU, and try and make it an argument that the Scottish Government, ie the SNP, are trying to use this impasse as a way of stoking up independence fever and a second indyref.

If it were not so serious it would be laughable, but May can count on the BBC, the right-wing media and her moneyed backers to back her on this flimsy and downright dishonest appraisal.

What May is conveniently forgetting is that 62% and counting of Scotland’s citizens want to remain in the EU, and in 2014 we were told that to vote No meant we would be safe in the EU. So now, as is becoming the norm with Conservative politicians and mouthpieces, when faced with the stark realities of Brexit they simply either refuse to give a direct and clear answer, or simply lie and obfuscate the whole debate.

She has in effect given notice she will just ignore the Scottish Government, and the entire opposition parties, apart from her own shabby Scottish Conservatives, and create a constitutional crisis which she will endeavour to blame the Scots for! Unfortunately for her and her ilk, we are not as gullible as her rabid followers south of the Border and we will not take this slur lying down. I hope that the Scottish Government stands firm and shows real resolve in facing her down. She has obviously forgotten that the Colonel’s 13 are living on borrowed time and that they will be ejected from their seats come the next election, when potentially, if she has still managed to cling to power, these seats will be pivotal in deciding a slim majority for one of the main parties.

She feels that we are the least of her problems at the moment, but should the Supreme Court find in favour of the Scottish Government in the case of our own Continuity Bill, then we will suddenly shoot up the scale of importance. Sadly, I do not hold my breath in anticipation of a positive result in this regard. If she were to stop the infighting going on in her own party, and sack the troublemakers therein, and call a halt to the stuttering, dangerous and terminally ill Brexit negotiations and concentrate instead on strengthening our bonds with the EU, then her precious United Kingdom might just be kept on life support for a few more torturous years.

But instead, she seems hell-bent on ripping us out of the EU, condemning us to being the pariah country of the world and as a consequence drag us back to Victorian times. Everyone apart from the super rich will suffer, and for what? So that the nasty, xenophobic Tory minority can get their wish on Europe.

Just remember Theresa, revenge is a dish best served cold, and we will have our revenge when we finally get our independence and we leave the rest of the UK to fall into terminal decline. One thing’s for sure, we will survive in the big world, we will thrive as a nation as we have the drive and the outlook to succeed. You and your kind will be left looking on as we forge ahead.

Ade Hegney
Helensburgh