NEXT week, Scotland will endure the fifth Tory prime minister in a row we didn’t vote for.
In seven short years, we’ve seen the catastrophe of Brexit (that we didn’t vote for either), the lies of Boris Johnson and the abject chaos of Liz Truss.
We've seen a dramatic rise in food banks, the Windrush scandal, the Rwanda policy, partygate, child poverty on the rise and that's just getting started.
As the UK devolves into a political and economic mess it’s getting harder and harder for Unionists to convince Scotland that sticking with this tired old Union is the best way forward.
Maybe that’s why the founder of the pro-Union think tank These Islands took an inventive approach to warn Scots of the deadly dangers of independence.
READ MORE: Who are new members of Unionist think tank These Islands?
Campaigner Sam Taylor tweeted: “We have an appalling and dysfunctional government at Westminster, and the SNP wants to enter into complex and fraught negotiations with that government to unpick a union vastly more integrated than the EU. A process that would drag on for decades.
“The Labour Party and the Lib Dems look at the appalling and dysfunctional government at Westminster, and they actually want to get rid of it.
"This is not only a bigger ambition, but also a more achievable one. Vote Labour! Or Lib Dem!”
Rather than a reason for independence, according to Sam Taylor, the absolute failure of Westminster is actually a really good reason to stay tied to the UK.
Think about it: if you’re in a sinking ship what are you going to do – swim? No, because that would be too difficult.
Best to put your arm bands on and hope that someone somewhere comes by and saves the day.
One Twitter user summed up why Taylor's tweet wasn't quite the pro-UK argument he thinks it is.
Oh, this is a new one. Sorry Scotland, you can't escape appalling and dysfunctional Westminster governments you didn't vote for because they'll be awkward to negotiate with. Best stay put and hope that your larger neighbours elect someone else.
— Stuart (@tsqtweet) October 20, 2022
THAT'S the case for the union?
Replying to Taylor’s post, he said: “Oh, this is a new one. Sorry Scotland, you can't escape appalling and dysfunctional Westminster governments you didn't vote for because they'll be awkward to negotiate with. Best stay put and hope that your larger neighbours elect someone else. THAT'S the case for the union?”
Taylor rejected that characterisation of his post, replying: "What I actually said: better to remove an appalling UK Government than try to negotiate something more complex and damaging than Brexit with it. Amazing how many people are too lazy to read second tweet in thread."
The only issue with that is, ironic given his argument that people didn't read the second paragraph, is that he implied exactly what the commenter said: that the sheer dysfunction of the UK Government would be a hindrance to independence.
Sam urged people to vote for Labour or the Liberal Democrats to oust the Tories but that fails to answer the basic issue at hand for most Yessers.
READ MORE: Unionist campaigner in 'absurd' claim Scotland's renewables
Scotland, with its 5 million people, will never be able to outvote (and nor should it) the will of England with its 55m people.
Time and time again Scots have been forced to endure governments we didn't vote for.
In 2015 Scotland elected 56 SNP MPs out of a total of 59 Scottish seats. But who did we get? Tory leader David Cameron, who then foisted a needless Brexit referendum onto us which Scotland, again, overwhelmingly rejected but nevertheless suffered through because England voted for it.
Negotiations will no doubt be tough (Scots remember the incompetence of leaving the EU) but that dysfunction Taylor himself points out is a reason to separate from the UK, not remain.
The Jouker isn't sure where that mystery £150,000 is being spent but he suggests that Taylor spend some of it learning some basic maths skills.
Maybe then he'd understand why simply voting Labour won't fix this dying Union.
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