ACCORDING to reports, King Charles has “invited” leading cultural and educational institutions, including Scotland's ancient universities, to swear loyalty to him.

Dear God, what is this, the Middle Ages? If some over-privileged and deeply entitled individual were to invite the average Scottish person to swear loyalty to them, I suspect that they would quickly find themselves being invited to take a long walk off a short pier.

This is not a real invitation, in that the possibility that the invitees might respond, "Nah, sorry, I'm washing my hair that day," is not really factored into the equation. This is a command, with the implicit threat that a refusal will be met with consequences.

This is an example, as if another example was required, of how the modern royal family still continues the hoary old traditions of extorting and parasitising the populace. It's long past time for Scotland to have a grown-up discussion about the monarchy, but that discussion will only be possible in an independent nation.

LEADERSHIP LATEST

The Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson has become the latest high-profile SNP politician to endorse Health Secretary Humza Yousaf as the next party leader and First Minister. Humza Yousaf is currently the favourite candidate amongst SNP MSPs who have made a declaration, but the final choice will be made by rank and file members of the party, who will cast their votes in a ballot which opens on Monday and closes on March 27. 

One of the reasons that Angus Robertson gave for lending his support to Humza Yousaf was that the Health Secretary was the only candidate who has pledged to challenge the Conservative government's unprecedented use of a Section 35 veto to block legislation passed by Holyrood – a direct assault on the powers of the Scottish Parliament and the devolution settlement. He also claimed that Humza Yousaf is the only candidate who can guarantee the continuation of the SNP's deal with the Scottish Greens which ensures a pro-independence majority in Holyrood.

A recent poll of SNP members suggested that the Health Secretary also enjoys a narrow lead among those who will select the next leader, but more respondents (32%) said that they were still undecided than the 31% who gave their backing to Humza Yousaf. The final outcome could very well be different and none of the candidates can take anything for granted with several crucial hustings and this evening's televised debate on STV still to take place.

The 70-minute debate programme tonight will be broadcast starting at 9pm and will see the three candidates – Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf – go head-to-head. STV political editor Colin Mackay will question each of the candidates before they cross-examine one another. The candidates will also face questions put to them by members of the public.  After the debate programme, Scotland Tonight presenter Rona Dougall will be joined in the studio by a panel of guests who will provide reaction and analysis. The event will be the most high profile of the leadership contest so far and could prove decisive in determining the eventual winner.

Live televised debates involving the three leadership candidates will also be held by BBC Scotland, Sky News and Channel 4 over the coming days. Reports that the audience for the BBC debate will consist of a representative selection of Conservative voters remain unconfirmed.

ANGLO-BRITISH NATIONALISM

Meanwhile, in the continuing descent of the UK into government according to the xenophobic prejudices of the right-wing press, the Conservatives have unveiled new measures to make the misery of desperate people driven to cross the Channel in small boats even more miserable.

The legislation will bar those who have crossed into Britain on small boats from being granted asylum in the UK and will further impose a lifelong ban on them applying for British citizenship. Those who arrive on small boats will be prevented from claiming asylum while in the UK, and there are also plans also to ban them from returning once they have been removed to a third country.

The UK Government acknowledges that its proposed legislation “pushes the boundaries” of international law, but it is far more important to the Conservatives to pander to the racist bigotry of extreme right-wing Anglo-British nationalism as it desperately tries to shore up its dire position in the opinion polls.

The bill is expected to contain an admission that it may not be compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and this means the UK Government does not have "the requisite level of confidence" that the bill complies with the ECHR, but can later argue in any litigation that it does. This is what Suella Braverman means when she talks about pushing "the boundaries of international law”. In other words, see you in court.

Asylum seekers currently have the right to remain in the country in order to have their cases heard. This new legislation will strip them of that right. The SNP's Joanna Cherry has said that the courts are going to find these measures contrary to international law and the ECHR. She has asked Home Secretary Suella Braverman to confirm that the UK Government knows this, and that it intends to fight the next election on a promise to withdraw from the ECHR – a move which would put the UK in the same category as such well-known abusers of human rights as Belarus and Russia.

For his part, SNP MP Tommy Sheppard has asked the Home Secretary whether the intention of the UK Government is to provoke the exclusion of the UK from the Council of Europe (which oversees the ECHR). He denounced the bill as "vile and shameful".