It’s time for Scotland to establish its ‘new normal’

Reconvened in 1999, the Scottish government immediately started making a difference, reflecting the mood of the Scottish people, changing aspects of Scottish society and altering our sense of ourselves. Without knowing it we were starting to acquire a new normal, a Scotland where the wishes and aspirations of the Scottish people were reflected in the policies our government pursued. A more caring, supportive and equal society began to emerge.

As the people of England moved right-of-centre in their opinions and politics and by weight of numbers had the biggest say in the makeup of UK Governments in Westminster (Brexit being a prime example), the hopes and aspirations of the people of Scotland have been increasingly side-lined. A democratic deficit has been consolidated, denying us any chance of getting the UK governments we vote for…and this situation has also become more and more the normal we are forced to endure.

And now there is the possibility that our hard-won Scottish parliament will be deprived of its powers and as a consequence its ability to protect and nurture the people who live here. Struggling to come to terms with the progress the SNP-led governments have made and realising they have nothing to offer in reply, the Tories have started making moves to curtail the powers of the Scottish government in lots of underhand and backdoor ways. Some argue that Scotland has reached a crisis where our existence as a country is being fatally undermined.

In a concerted campaign to re-brand a post-Brexit Britain, the Tories want to build back a different kind of new normal, one draped in a Union Jack. They want everything controlled from Westminster so that the Scottish government can no longer offer an alternative to Tory greed – alternatives like the 4% pay rise for NHS staff in Scotland or the recently announced doubling of the Scottish Child Payment. They want to push their version of a re-branded new normal, one driven by the Conservative party which the people of Scotland have not voted for, in any great numbers, since the start of the swinging sixties.

Nevertheless, as young Scots have grown up with the normality of having our own government, there has been a rise in support for independence. Since the referendum in 2014 seven year groups have worn a school leavers hoodie, joined the ranks of voters and gained a voice.

Restarting Scotland as an independent country again is going to mean changes but in a time of great change we can define and shape our new normal before our ability to influence the changes is removed.

They say, ‘now is not the time’, but we say when is there a better time?

Scottish independence – The New Normal.

Paul Malloy
Greenock

WITHIN hours of the end of the fifth parliament of Scotland ending, to enter a period of purdah, the Cabinet Office release the Dunlop Report, a report commissioned by Theresa May which reported to Boris Johnson in 2019 and sat on the Prime Minister’s desk for the next 16 months.

In the House of Lords, Lord True (for Michael Gove) promised that the report would be published before Royal Assent on the Internal Market Bill was signed in December. It never happened. Parliament was lied to.

Lord Dunlop, a long-standing advisor within the Tory party, has produced a report which has been systematically implemented to make a power grab on the devolution settlement. No parliamentary scrutiny, no public announcement, actioned behind closed doors by an elite never elected by the people of Scotland.

The British government have been at work implementing a plan of action to accumulate powers, with centralised control within Westminster. Scotland in particular has been the principal target of these plans.

We now see the Dunlop master plan and its intricate network of Westminster tentacles of control. It is a plan of undermining the devolution settlement and using the civil service as its means of command.

Its purpose is to centralise all power within an intergovernmental structure which in actuality does not involve any government. It is a command model aimed at excluding any interference in the executive control of government.

The use of propaganda, with use of the Union flag (bear in mind this will exclude Northern Ireland, where the toxic use of flags is well-established) to propagate an idea of common purpose and shared loyalty. Claimed as patriotism – not narrow nationalism – it is a reminder to the Scots of the post-Jacobite banning of flags, kilts, arms and language. This is cultural warfare by a government we did not elect.

The Treasury is in receipt of the taxes of all within the United Kingdom. It is the people’s money, not the government’s, a well-known idea explained by a certain Margaret Thatcher. Yet we are told that we are being given this charity by a Union government. It is our money being returned to us. It is debt being taken on by the Treasury in our name and being shared out as a future burden. There is no charity involved. I will not develop the historical argument of squandered taxation from resources from Scotland.

It is the shallow and behind-the-back nature of the release of the Dunlop report that of greatest annoyance. This is a government of contempt for the Scottish people.

The Union government is fighting dirty. It will do anything, say anything, be as corrupt as it can be to defend its own interest. The Conservative party is a danger to us, but equally to the people of the Union they seek to represent.

The Rubicon has been crossed. It is up to us to man up and challenge this dictatorship, starting with re-election of the SNP as majority government and then to embark rapidly to take back control. We cannot in fairness leave it to another “generation” to face up to challenges to our future independence outwith this festering web of dictatorship.

Bill Robertson
Paisley

OVER the past few days there have been some very good letters in The National giving views about the Salmond Alba Party. I would like to add my own.

In many years of activism in politics, trade unions and community, I have witnessed to varying degrees similar happenings at particular times.

On this present occasion (I speak only of the higher-profile figures I have read of), in my opinion it is as a result of the following: ego; grudge-bearing; beliefs of having been a victim or a sense of injustice; a feeling of being right despite collective decisions against your argument. Envy or jealousy could also be a factor. A narrative can always be constructed to justify the root cause or give another reason for your personal grievance.

I consider all of those elements to be in the main the reason collectively of the leading adherents of this party joining it. I think this party ignores the consistent hard grassroots work, energy and effort put in by the diverse indy organisations and may even have undermined or damaged their endeavours for self-determination.

The effect on an SNP majority, or getting a good Green vote in Holyrood, remains to be seen. Should there be an adverse outcome in May, I’m in no doubt as to who the majority in our movement will view as the cause of it.

Bobby Brennan
Glasgow

EXASPERATED barely expresses my reaction to Kevin McKenna’s latest outpouring of victimhood (For democracy to be ‘gamed’, it needs to exist in the first place, March 31). Just how many more “deep-fried tatties” can his shoulders sustain? It is beginning to seem as if there is no-one of whom he approves.

Central to all his diatribes is his sense of victimhood about his religion. Does anyone else really care?

All my long life I’ve had friends I have come to realise were Catholic without ever being told, because it was a) not important to me to know and b) their own affair. There have been many others whose religion I have never known and have had no interest in finding out.

Anent Chris McEleney, though I respect some of his views, I disagree with others, without ever having been aware of his religion until it was revealed in Mr McKenna’s article. I suspect, though, that those views of mine must now be suspect on grounds of religious bias.

Has Mr McKenna perhaps paused to reflect that perhaps he has caused antagonism by his relentless pushing of this particular chip which makes him so dismissive of so many other folk?

P Davidson
Falkirk

BORIS Johnson continues his remarkable record of appointing less than competent people to top roles. His latest is even more dramatic than previous failures, and involves the former Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jenny Harries. She has been appointed to lead the newly formed Health Security Agency, tasked with analysing the risk and preparing for any future pandemic.

Her record of errors includes her claim that the UK response to the Covid-19 crisis was “exemplary”.

Her advice was that large public events, such as the Cheltenham Festival and football matches, should continue. She also passionately argued against the wearing of masks in public places. Yet another politically motivated appointment to what should be an impartial public body.

It seems the reward for past failure is promotion.

Pete Rowberry
Duns

THE curse of the Faroes was always a myth, though there were still plenty who believed in it. Far from jinxing the superstitious, Scotland proved that they were back with a bang, slotting four past the autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, and with hindsight should have given Austria less respect on the pitch.

It was a time to come out from behind the sofa and actually enjoy Scotland playing the national sport.

There were one or two nervy moments of course – well it wouldn’t be a Scotland match without it – but the nation’s pride was lifted after a long spell in the doldrums. My only hesitant attempt at pedantry is that Flower of Scotland is sounding more like a dirge sung at funerals than a national anthem.

Maybe, like Scotland’s attacking skills on the pitch, they should speed it up a little.

Mike Herd
Highland

INSIGNIFICANT in the overall scale of things. But, I think there is a very good case for passport holders to have an additional year added onto their current passport. I know some have travelled, but surely the high 90%+ have not been too very far this past year.

Such a gesture would be a bit of recognition to public for lost opportunities,,,, not forgetting that it’s impossible to get a refund from the current passport service.

Dougie Gray
via email