AFTER reading the article by Abbi Garton-Crosbie I went back and re-read Douglas Ross’s letter of resignation from his junior minister position in May 2020, and wonder if this is not yet another of the Tory Party’s great schemes falling apart due to unforeseen circumstances.
Douglas Ross apparently risked his political future on a matter of principle by resigning because the Prime Minister had taken into consideration the extenuating circumstances and had not sacked a senior advisor who admitted that he had broken Covid travel lockdown rules.
In fact for some reason Douglas Ross went even further by stressing that unlike the advisor he, his wife and son would follow the Covid rules if they had the misfortune to catch the virus.
READ MORE: Tories and other Unionists are the winners when voters give in to cynicism
Was his resignation a gesture for the benefit of the people in his constituency that include a large number of service families – many already complaining that they were facing the prospect of Covid isolation hundreds of miles from their families?
Alternatively, cynics may think that this was part of a much larger government-approved plan to enhance his status before taking over leadership of the Scottish branch.
Then in July 2020 a peerage was announced for Ruth Davidson, shortly before Jackson Carlaw suddenly resigned after a bruising encounter with Nicola Sturgeon at FMQs.
READ MORE: Sir Christopher Chope demonstrates that Westminster’s practices are broken
Within days Douglas Ross was elected as leader of the Scottish Tories, with Ruth Davidson staying on in Holyrood until the end of the session.
In May 2021, after the Holyrood election, Douglas Ross took his rightful place as the party leader in Holyrood; a politician with such high standards that he would accept nothing less than resignation from his MSPs over even unintentional infringement of the rules.
What could go wrong?
Unfortunately he had set up a bookkeeping system that looked after the pennies going out as expenses but left the pounds coming in as earnings to look after themselves; he had failed to check that his system worked and was unaware that he had broken the rules on disclosure of members’ outside interests. It appears that there may be more to come.
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
THE unaccountable UK Prime Minister, in response to Ian Blackford’s jibe about whether COP26 was in Edinburgh or Glasgow, suggested that had Scotland been independent, COP26 would not have been held in Scotland.
By the same token, it might not have been held in in England, given that without any of Scotland’s fiscal contributions it would quite possibly have not been able to afford it.
Who knows which country COP26 would have been held in. Perhaps Ireland, or a European country such as Scotland, if it chose to join the Council Of Parties as an independent nation.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson mocked by Ian Blackford for saying COP26 was in Edinburgh
Even now that remains a possibility for as long as the Conference Of Parties exists. To give it its full name, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, will be around for a few years yet, given inespecial its agreement to meet on an annual basis from here on, instead of every five years as in the past.
That should give Scotland plenty of time to consider its COP membership as well as that of the European Union or one of its off-spring groups such as EFTA.
With Nicola Sturgeon’s unexpected promotion onto the world stage, she has done for Scotland what Johnson has failed to do for his Brexit UK. All this simply by ignoring Johnson’s attempts to keep away from COP26 and attending in her own way as First Minister of Scotland.
The increasing potential and certainty for Scotland to become an independent country and nation has now extended its road map onto a world map, thanks to a belligerent and arrogant UK Prime Minister. Well done Johnson for another self-inflicted push in helping Scotland to become an independent nation.
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife
I READ in Tuesday’s National that Pete Wishart wants to fix the Westminster parliament. Why??? He was elected to fight for Scottish independence, not rebuild the English parliament. He would be better-placed putting more effort into fighting for independence and a better Scotland where we can all live in the knowledge that we are free from that cesspit forever. It’s not his job to get the most corrupt parliament I have seen in my lifetime back on track, his job is get the hell out of there as soon as possible.
Our SNP MPs, in my humble opinion, are becoming too comfortable in the cesspit and should be putting all their efforts into sticking two fingers in the air as they leave the place for the last time. This is not just a Pete Wishart problem, it is all the SNP MPs’ problems. Fight for the country that elected you, NOT Westminster – it’s their problem to fix.
Michael Mc Dermott
Old Kilpatrick
MUCH as I want public-service jobs to come back to Scotland and much as I want nationalised options for many of our sectors such as rail, energy etc, I am well aware that one of the nastier English Tory tactics was always to keep Scotland more dependent on public-sector jobs. After all, they wouldn’t want Scotland’s private sector to thrive and outshine them.
READ MORE: Independence 'will create 35,000 new civil service jobs’ across Scotland
Creating new businesses is one way I think Scotland can choose its own different path. In my opinion Scottish Enterprise could do far more than it already does in terms of starting and supporting Scottish businesses and helping them thrive. As far as I am concerned it falls way short of its potential.
Scotland needs both a thriving public and private sector to thrive. And that needs a new way of thinking instead of the failed Westminster way.
Daibhidh Beaton
via thenational.scot
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel