BORIS Johnson’s comment that devolution has been “a disaster north of the Border” and “Tony Blair’s worst mistake” should hardly come as a surprise to anyone.
The Tories have never been great supporters of devolution, vehemently opposing the referendums in 1979 on establishing a Scottish Assembly and in 1997 on the Scottish Parliament.
Most recently the devolution power grab that is highlighted in the Internal Market Bill simply reinforces this stance.
READ MORE: Ian Blackford systematically demolishes claim devolution is a 'disaster' at PMQs
The Scottish Social Attitudes survey (2019) on constitutional preference found that only 7% favour abolition of the Scottish Parliament and that trust in the Scottish Government sits at four times that of the UK Government. This points to it hardly being a disaster.
For those accused of scaremongering that there is a threat to Holyrood, Mr Johnson’s comments are clear vindication.
The irony of all this being that devolution has given new life to the Scottish Conservatives after their wipe-out in 1997 and they are now the opposition in the Scottish Parliament.
Be in no doubt, the Scottish Parliament, which was hard fought for, is under threat and we must do all in our power to defend it.
Alex Orr
Edinburgh
THE comments by Boris Johnson that devolution has failed have shown the Tory mask has slipped.
Boris Johnson is such a lazy, lying, ignorant, incompetent buffoon that he has been embarrassed by the competency the Scottish Government has shown during the pandemic.
Johnson and the Tories have used the pandemic to stuff juicy public-sector contracts to their cronies, junking all the usual rules on procurement. The Tory trough is well and truly being gorged from.
READ MORE: PMQs: Boris Johnson scolded by Speaker for getting SNP name wrong
Johnson last week sacked his Rasputin, Dominic Cummings. Without him Johnson is rudderless. The Tories are planning to neuter Holyrood with their abominable Internal Market Bill. This will be the vengeance that the petty Johnson will impose for his humiliation.
The Union is collapsing. Boris Johnson is acting like a third-world despot whose power is collapsing.
In this scenario Johnson and his Tory henchmen would be loading their stolen loot onto a presidential plane. Johnson would scuttle to the airport for a last-gasp escape before the rebel army seized control. Johnson would only have a couple bodyguards and his second and third most attractive mistresses.
The Union is over. The Unionists who can’t accept this are like the Japanese soldiers who carried on fighting World War Two.
Johnson leads this band of fanatics. Their brand of toxic British nationalism is brutal, unreasonable, parochial, allied to racism, tribalism and ignorance. It is hostile to questioning, thriving on nostalgia and glorifying militarism and war.
Under Tory austerity, charity becomes accepted as the new normal. Charity is no longer done for altruistic reasons. Deprivation and poverty are deliberate action taken by the Tories. Its purpose is to give the super-rich more. Everyone else has to suffer. This fake democracy is really a plutocracy.
A vote for the Union is a vote for Boris Johnson. It’s a vote for greed, for superstition, for fear and for ignorance. The Tories are that part of the brain that causes people to slow down to look at a car crash.
Independence is the only way to get away from Boris Johnson and his vile band of Tories.
Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee
THE stock of Johnson as PM is as low internationally and domestically as any Westminster leader in recent memory with the possible exception of Gordon Brown. He is in serious need of some initiative to restore his doubtful abilities in the eyes of his detractors.
He recently announced his intention to set his attack dogs on Scotland, aka the First Minister and the SNP. Having lost his pet bull and a supporting scrapper, he is scrambling for some assistance in that direction. Hence his unministerial outburst regarding devolution. That has further reduced his discredited image so something else is necessary.
His ignorance of the real needs and policy of “climate change” is revealed by his latest attempt at rehabilitation, via his pronouncement of the ban on new cars by 2030 other than the all-electric variety, which does not appear to have been discussed with the acknowledged experts in the areas, users or producers who will be affected. The familiar ham-fisted approach by this PM is what is now being hailed by principally himself as a triumph of essential initiative. It is to be noted that come 2030 he will be long gone and in permanent hiding from his legacy of disasters.
Scotland wants to bid him goodbye at its choosing and can only be grateful for his help in such a welcome achievement.
John Hamilton
Bearsden
DEAR verminous plebs of Scotlandshire,
Democracy has clearly been wasted on you, you ungrateful shower of uppity Jocks! Post-devolution, you were supposed to keep doffing
your see-you-Jimmy bunnets to the Precious Union by installing weaselly Yoon coalitions in Holyrood ad infinitum and continuing to vote for any entitled numpty in a red rosette for a seat on the Westminster gravy train.
It was all going so swimmingly well, until you decided to bin the script, got off your skint, bekilted knees and embarked on the Scottish Nationalist Party’s path to the dark side of separatism. What an unmitigated disaster! If only Tony Blair had stuck to making relatively benign decisions like the one to invade Iraq...”
via Mo Maclean
Glasgow
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