Scottish nationalist podcasters said ‘there’s going to have to be a confrontation between Scotland and England’ involving the police and one also that they would ‘happily take them out with a high powered rifle’ at the border.
A commentator on the ‘Aye Right’ podcast discussed how he would “happily” take out English police officers crossing the border.
Below you can hear the words of Jimmy Hutton, Norrie Stewart, Stewart Lochhead and Phil Attridge.
The specific section we’ve been made aware of starts at 42 minutes in.
UPDATE: The ‘Aye Right’ channel have now removed the video after we brought attention to it, however, we have a copy of the original video. You can view it below. We have re-uploaded it under the purposes of ‘Fair Use’ for the reporting of current news events.
https://youtu.be/Ff0GAhoc61Q?t=2540
One commentator said that “there’s going to have to be a confrontation between Scotland and England anyway” and he didn’t care if it was violent.
“They’d have to bus up Greater Manchester Police, Greater Manchester Police are basically, having seen them, they’re basically a paramilitary organisation. They’d have to bus them up here to put us back in our box. Frankly, the minute the busses started coming over the border, I’d happily sit there with a high powered rifle and take them out.“
The podcast/videocast is hosted by ‘Aye Right Radio’, and say they aim to be “Bringing you the truth about independence”.
Blair McDougall, a prominent figure in Scottish Labour, said:
“Events in America show we shrug off this kind of craziness. This is a programme SNP parliamentarians engage with. They should make it clear nobody associated with this should be anywhere near the governing party in the Scottish Parliament.”
SNP sources we spoke to were keen to distance themselves from the remarks.
Years and years of SNP brainwashing has resulted in this. He’s making a terrorist threat to murder police officers?
Jesus christ.
The Strathclyde police should be knocking on their doors even as we speak. Are they?
Poor Taggert must be spinning in his grave.
Trev not sure if you have the Internet where you are or get a tv signal but Strathclyde po po haven’t existed since 2013 they took over the entire show. It’s called Police Scotland the 2nd biggest force sorry service in the U.K. behind the met. ???????????
Am of Irish descent , what gets me is the Scotts were all “were the loyalist of the loyal ” and proudly fought alongside the Anglanders in Ireland being the most vicious perpetrators of suppression when it came to women and children . But now the English no longer practice genocide as a method of imperialistic control the Scott are like ” ay wee look at me i ams leaving tey auch Uuniion ” . YOU MALINGERING MONGREL SCOTTISH GITTS , dont get to leave what you helped create , your worse than the English and your part of the that Union and will be forever associated with it irrespective of any johnny come lately bravery .
Aren’t you Australian?
Yep , God’s own country though a few sojourns to hold up commitments on the American side of the Family , most Australians of Irish heritage unlike their Boston New York piers have no idea of the persecution inflicted by the English .
Strange that this man’s apparent hatred of the English hasn’t drawn his attention to his surname (if it is his real name that is). Crowley is an English name meaning ‘woodland clearing by the nook or corner’ from the old English ‘crohleah’.
Whoa , Crowley is Irish , and i do not hate the English , in fact what i was doing was analogous to taking a rolled up Paper and giving the Scott gits a humane slap on the snout because you English were to polite to point the truth out of the Scottish culpability in genocide and Empire . When the Queen of Australia arrived at Canberra airport it was our guys wearing the Red coats and white Pith Helmets who guarded her .
In some ways perhaps. But really not of this planet me thinks.
Crack is whack.
too many deep fried mars bars lol
These conversations will terrify the majority of the Scottish nation, and do SNP aspirations no good at all. The independent movement needs to be very mindful of what division can do.
I do fear that relationship post independence is going to be fractious in the extreme especially as all those projects for the rump UK Govt are removed from them. Not going to be pretty especially when you have mainstream madmen like this to contend with.
Reality check – the last time I looked Scotland voted for the Union….
If Scotland did become independent in the future I think everyone would be poorer for it.
Ultimately the bigger English economy would be ok we would move RN ship building to England many Scottish jobs would go and the industry fail.
As for the EU – I find it Ironic that some in Scotland revile the idea of having Scotish affairs run by non-Scots that is why they do not like the Union with England. However the SNP then aspire to put the EU and Brussels as their overlords! The SNP push this vision as they know that without the EU Scotland would struggle to pay the bills. After a few decades of independence Scotland would wonder what they were thinking….
Ultimately England would be fine with many industries moved south….
Also why did not English folk get an independence vote from Scotland – after all it is a Union of Scotland and England. You never know if we had voted Scotland may have been made independant!
Have you seen the latest polling? I know we shouldn’t put too much stock in the pollsters after their recent debacles, but the numbers in favour of independence are starting to shift out of the margins of error in favour of leaving.
You can say a lot about Ms Sturgeon, but you cannot deny she has ruthlessly exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to further stoke the indignant flames of misplaced rage that fester within the SNP’s supporter base.
There is not a snowball’s chance in Hell of the SNP getting independence for Scotland, not in my lifetime and certainly not while Boris is in charge.
Matters of Constitution are reserved to Westminster, and for all her posturing, nothing to do with the loathsome Nicola.
Had I imagined that independence would happen, I would have upper sticks from Midlothian to Northumberland ages ago!
Scotland never lost it’s independence. In religion and law, identity and customary uses it is and remains a separate country from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. But however often one points this out the nutters won’t have their grievance filled hours removed from them. Incidentally, as one who first visited half a century ago, the country is obviously wealthier and attracts a much more diverse population these days.
GMP are nowhere near a paramilitary organisation. Bizarre comment.
Look at the state of those gibbons in the image. They probably can’t even spell “rifle”
Top comment.
Have these guys broken any UK laws? I’m hoping so then they will be furthering their relationship with UK police soon – when arrested.
Was that conspiracy to commit murder? If so we will see if justice will be done.
The SNP should move to distance themselves from this sort of thing – I am not sure this will sit well with the majority of right minded Scots.
I’m reminded of the very early 1970’s and the highly controversial BBC TV drama ‘scotch on the rocks’ which was set around a Scottish uprising ….if I recall it quickly got taken off the air due to significant controversy and a number of copy cat incidents
In reality there are people with similar views about ‘others’ all over the UK. I’m Scottish and would happily see these guys investigated and charged. Certainly would expect SNP to distance and denounce.
‘In reality there are people with similar views about ‘others’ all over the UK.’
Exactly. A few times a year the police in England are bringing people such as these before the courts – bedroom mirror posing Naz*s. But if they step over the line – bang them up.
The nationalists in Scotland have been fed this lie, that:
The English conquered them,
That they oppressed them
and that the English are milking them dry.
yet and a big yet shows that both nations were minor players on the world stage until union, a union which transpired because Scotland was bankrupt due to the Darien scheme.
Together the Scottish and English went on to the rule most of the world, and yet the Nationalists feel they were hard done by during all that time.
One of my postings was as a PSI and my Trg major was Scottish, brilliant bloke anyway we got chatting and he stated that when BOAR started drawing down the Army wanted to rebase a load of Corps in Scotland (Cheaper) The SNP objected and demanded that only Scottish regiments be brought back to Scotland , so they did and then they had all these defence cuts , which hit the infantry the hardest , with the vast majority of returned Scottish units been…Infantry
Now I look at the failings of the SNP regards
The NHS
Schooling
Water
Building ferries
Race hate.(Towards the English, Americans and Jews)
Charity funding (Apparently the SNP hand over more money to ROP charities than they do Christian ones, yet the ROP in Scotland constitute 1.5% of the population)
The way the SNP throw money around its as if they haven’t learnt their lesson from 1680. I purchase the Economist and in 2014 they knocked out a coverpage titled : Skintland and then in the actual article explained how Scottish finances simply do not add up and that if they go solo, they would become bankrupt within weeks
And yesterday I heard that Sturgeon is handing over details of the deal between AZ and the UK gov to the EU.
I get the impression if Scotland, does go, its biggest export will be its people to…England. No doubt blaming the English for their sorry lot. I mean its not as we hear similar from all the other people who fought for independence from the Uk, then when they messed up their country, decided to relocate to the the people they hate the most and live it large whilst blaming whitey for their sorry lot.
Salaams Farouk 🙂 My view is that the case for the Union should be positive, from the heart and emphasise how we both contribute economically and in other ways to our common good. Constantly bringing up Darien and Barnett etc is not helpful. We don’t want blood brothers whose only attachment to us is because they can’t afford to leave home(which btw I do not believe would be the case. Scotland would find a way to manage on its own probably including having no Armed Forces like the ROI to save money inter alia)
Do I need to remind the Scottish that the act of union came about because of Scotland’s endeavour to carve out an empire for its self ended up in bankruptcy. England bailed the Scottish out and we are still paying for. The Barnet formula.
I would think that such views are on the fringe and that there are many normal and decent people who support the SNP and the idea of Scottish Independence. However one has to admit that from the top down at both Westminster and Hollyrood there is an undertone of anti-Englishness that has been nurtured subtly from the highest level. Classic scapegoating and as with supporters elsewhere it can become quickly entrenched. I look at Trumps men invading the Capitol and when you look behind the scenes it is frightening how many supporters he still has and how extreme are there views. The problem with hostile Scottish Nationalism is that it encourages a reaction from English Nationalists that sets up a self sustaining and escalating worsening of relations -exactly what the Nats want. Alex Salmond, despite his issues, went out of his way to emphasise that he wanted to retain a social union with the rUK and keep the monarchy. I always thought of him as a sincere man and would have loved to have had a couple of beers with him! By contrast, Sturgeon is cold and unsmiling. She can’t even say the word BRITISH in any positive context without grimacing.
The centre must hold. The Union has been way undervalued and not given anywhere near the positive publicity it needs. The idea of a seperated Scotland-hard border and all is a kind of madness that must not happen. There is a middle ground that will satisfy the bulk of the peoples needs and desires. I agree fully with Gordon Brown-there urgently needs to be a full Constitutional Conference to review and overhaul the mess that is the political setup in the UK at present.
Nuff said!! Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue!
“However one has to admit that from the top down at both Westminster and Hollyrood there is an undertone of anti-Englishness that has been nurtured subtly from the highest level. “…….similar to the build up to Brexit perhaps ? Ideology is a powerful tool in driving political change. I personally believe in a united kingdom but some of the senior politicians (and commentator’s) down south make it very easy for some of the politicians up north to press peoples idealogical buttons.
Have they been arrested yet?
Agree Pete – Boris/Rees-Mogg et al. are among the worst of them. I’m not sure that Rees-Mogg in particular even cares what happens to the Union since I remember him on a radio show being asked by someone what would happen along the NI/ROI border in the event of a no-deal Brexit and his answer was, to be charitable, unconvincing. It seemed that he didn’t really care all that much what happened to the Union just as long as we were out of the EU. Eton Tories are recruiting Seargants for the SNP; need people like Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, and younger Scots with a similar mindset to be making the case in a positive way.
As with Pete’s comment Gareth-spot on! Rees-Mogg is a Toffy nosed fake who greatly over estimates how clever he and his pronouncements are!
Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling? The very architects of devolution are you sure? Let’s give the Scottish a devolved parliament and they will be grateful to Labour for ever!!! It worked didn’t it.
I’m not sure I agree Gareth, so Boris went to Eton, so what??
Politicians these days play an incredibly dangerous game. The SNP are no different and quick students of the politics of hate.
They had a referendum and lost …. Regrouped, looked at Trumps ranting hatred and rebooted. Since 2014 the anti English vitriolic language has been turned up to 10.
Why? Because people of a generally low whit are easily carried along with such campaigns of blind and baseless hatred.
This bunch of bloggers are an excellent example of this particular breed of Fu**wit.
This is the reason the SNP need to get a referendum quickly, fire and Brimstone politics has a short shelf life, as Mr Trump proves!
The SNP are keeping an artificially high popular front going, fed entirely by this and little substance, it will collapse back in on itself before long….
In the light of day, it will slowly dawn on the Scottish people that England isn’t the source of all there problems, they need look no further than their own local leadership to see the mess they have made of their public services.
Many of your comments could be levelled at the Brexit campaign.
Sic ( Because people of a generally low whit are easily carried along with such campaigns of blind and baseless hatred). Unfortunately that is the nature of democracy in our populist times…..we of course, are wiser than they!
Nice try Herodotus, or indeed the deaf dumb and blind remain side?
Without diverting into our usual amusing backwards and forwards BREXIT debates Herodotus …. He said before diverting ….
The proof of the pudding regarding centralised EU control has just been shown to us all in its full horror.
The Irish Republic wanted our vaccine and the EU said ‘no you don’t, we tell you when to jump and how high’ …. The first duty of any country is to protect its people, EU member states have demonstrably lost that capability, differing that power Brussels.
They are now in effect, Vassal States, hollowed out with power surrendered to the EU in ever increasing amounts.
Am I glad we are away from that bureaucratic mess, so very, very, glad …. So should everyone who’s getting vaccinated now because of of quick acting Indipendent state.
Its very sad the EU are (still) exacerbating the situation among these islands by providing an unnecessary alternative power source. I can understand the perpetual concerns of people that London is disproportionate and unbalances in some ways (the union), but if people are big enough they can work around this. For example ship building etc. More than that though, the internet can bring people together if used constructively, in ways that mean no one is left out.
No one has been able to explain adequately to me what this lazy term of ‘populist’ is. Perhaps you could give it a try?
Surely voting by its nature relies on the will of the majority therefore all elections are populist by nature n’est pas?
Dismissal of the result of a vote and the people who voted for it because it doesn’t meet with your wishes doesn’t come across as being a bad sport, but something much worse.
I don’t mean to be insulting, whereas you clearly did.
It’s not that hard to understand..
Here is the dictionaries take,
“A political approach that strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups”
Quite simple really and would of only took a quick google search to comprehend, and perhaps “adequately” explains it to you?
??
You use the adjective ‘lazy’ to describe the abstract noun ‘populist’…..this clearly implies that you know the meaning populist n’est pas?
Thanks for calling me easily led, of low wit and full of blind and baseless hatred. What a fine example of gracious humanity you are and not in the least prone to lazy and predictable generalizations.
Actually Derek it was meant to be a witty repost and John took it as such. But if you think that the cap fits, you are welcome to it! If you read John’s post you will see that these are his words….that’s why I used quotation marks.
Sorry mate. Didn’t get past the sneering comment ‘if the cap fits’ which is sufficient to prove my point.
If you do the election maths an English Parliament without Scottish MPs would leave the Conservatives as the overwhelmingly dominant political party. Furthermore, I have seen figures that suggest the annual subsidy to Scotland is c£15 billion. I have no idea whether this is true or not but there will be some in Westminster that will see Scottish independence as win.
That rather depends on how you allocate North Sea revenues. That aside, the £15bn so called “saving” will be dwarfed by the costs of separation. In the defence realm alone that would be astronomical, let alone the other areas of government that are still UK wide responsibilities. Add to that all the problems associated with a UK/EU border (potentially) and it all adds up to rather a lot of money. Then you have the question of national debt.
Suffice to say that rUK will not be better off financially.
Spot on re north Sea revenues Rob. Currently gets booked directly to treasury and not as part of Scottish GDP as it accrues beyond the 12 mile limit. Similarly 1 billion bottles of whisky leave Scotland each year on a buyer pays the tax basis (duty and vat ). I’m sure a Scottish government would apply at least a couple of quid / bottle as a production tax.
All…In terms of the social / economic split in SNP voters its not generally the uneducated …my observations are that doctors, academics, farmers and engineers are just as likely to be SNP voters as not.
As others have said..Nicola is sharp and Brexit has played to her agenda.
I hope the UK stays together but brexit has created a different level of monentum. A smooth trouble free / low disruption transition will, IMHO, be critical to resisting an exit.
P
What is the Scottish Green’s POV on the fact that a large chunk of their post-independence economy will be made up of oil revenues? Doesn’t seem to fit their ideology.
Actually you are wrong all taxes raised on north sea oil are retained in by the Scottish government in 2019 the tax raised on license fees , petroleum revenue tax and corporation tax was £1.2 billion pounds . In 2020 the amount raised was £742 million.
All taxes raised in Scotland stay in Scotland
Andy.
The cash is gathered centrally and the Scottish government estimates the revenue on either a per share of UK population basis or on a geographically sourced basis. See following link. One key issue is the decommissioning costs. Normal oilfield licence terms would have those that benefited from the oilfield contributing to the decommissioning The estimated revenues quoted annually for the last few years on a geographical basis are net of decommissioning costs. I would expect that that net position would be negotiated as part of any other broader arrangements. I’m sure HMT will have been carrying provisions or liabilities for decommissioning over the decades….or living on the never never.
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06625/
Ahh the mythical SNP Whisky Tax.
Duty paid paid by drinkers on Whisky at consumption, is collected in the country of consumption not in the country of production. So if Scotland did separate from the rest of the UK, duty paid in the rUK would stay in rUK.
Countries don’t normally slap taxes on exports as that makes it more expensive to purchasers, who can move onto other now cheaper competitor brands.
There’s Irish Whiskey, American Whiskey/Bourbons, Japanese Whisky (wouldn’t touch that myself 🙂 and a growing number of English Whiskies entering production as well.
The only people Scotland could tax on Whisky, would be us Scots. And there are only 5 million of us.
Playing Devil’s Advocate but why should Whisky be different to petrol. The UK puts a hefty tariff on that.
Just sayin’…
Yep, it puts a heavy internal duty on all fuel no matter where it comes from. This duty is then paid into the UK exchequer – not to foreign tax systems in Saudi or Russia or wherever the oil originated.
A separate Scotland can stick as much duty they want on whisky and fuel sales sales IN Scotland – but that is only going to come from sources in Scotland which has a population of 5m so the amount they can raise is limited.
If sepScotland wants to stick, say a fiver, on every bottle of whisky leaving the country. They are in effect raising the price to the external world consumer who is likely to move to alternative brands.
So English, American, European, Russian whisky drinkers will have to pay extra extra to drink it. Some undoubtedly will, but most will say “nope, that’s too dear “ and move onto alternatives I.e cheaper gin, rum, vodka or whiskies from other countries. Me, I’m partial to a Jamesons or a JD – if I was in England that’s what I’d do.
And whisky sales fall.
Actually – the annual GERS figures from the Scottish Government includes the North Sea Revenues and Income.
The big problem with the North Sea is that all the easy oil is gone. Production is way down on its heyday in the 80’s – about a third of the output. (And not all that oil is in Scotland’s waters) UK Oil is also expensive to pump – despite new technology keeping the costs down .. and at the moment the price of Brent is sitting at 50 odd dollars a barrel which doesn’t leave masses of room for profit once you add transport and refining costs. And government revenue is cut from the profit, not the total cost.
Look at the oil price chart and notice that the SNP lucked out for the last referendum with the oil price which they exploited – but a couple of months later the price fell and has stayed down there even since.
Apparently as the oil price hits $60 the small US oil fields become profitable and they flood into the market, and its difficult to get the price above this now. To keep market share, and their own revenue flows, OPEC have to keep the price below this value. So North Sea profits will be limited moving forward.
Oh, and the movement away from Oil Based fuels over the next 20 years aint gonna do the SNP’s finances a favour either.
The annual GERS figures due in August this year will be eye-wateringly bad for Scotland– apparently its looking like a £50bn Scottish Deficit/UK Subsidy. This is why Nippy is desperate for the Election to continue in May, to get the vote in before the Public see the figures. If its delayed until September and the Vaccination program is complete the figures will be out.
Agree 100% Pete. Sadly the old adage that only bad news/press is the one that draws attention is true. So if we assume the silent majority are reasonable and happy with the Union it doesn’t really make major headlines but if some little Englander Tory says Scotland should be grateful for all the money they get then that’s the one which influences opinions!
UKdj, I really feel you need to exercises some professionalism in your journalism. This is an inflammatory non story. Irresponsible at best, creating division and promoting the ridiculous. You only have to look at some of the comments, them and us rhetoric, to see what you are re enforcing. Very disappointing from an otherwise informative web page.
This is the same country that arrested a man for having his dog salute Hitler. I’m sure conspiracy to commit GBH/Murder isn’t too far out of reach here
This should be looked into by the police, Am Scottish live in Glasgow but am UK 100% these muppets need to take a real look at themself, on another note the 4 of them looks like they are dodging a coffin each, they look like they can’t pick themself up never mind a rifle.
My word hate crime from North of the border whatever next. What happens now? Nothing i suppose. These people are a very small section of the Scottish population and so filled with hatred towards the English they will end up destroying themselves. At least we have there mug shots.
This is what happens when you live in an echo chamber, you lose touch with reality. Hopefully these sad old men are not heard by vulnerable youngsters, they are the ones that tend to act on their delusionans.
*delusions
This is very true, an apt analogy.
What an irresponsible article to publish, dropping your usual high standards UKDJ
Tend to agree. Who cares what some fringe whacko angry old men have to say
Indeed, if you trawled through podcasts, YouTube, Reddit, and all the other platforms you could find anything you wanted, plenty of anti-Scottish stuff is on the web. 99.9% of the readers here would not have a clue who these guys are, their Facebook page is liked by a total of 54 people. And under “prominent” Labour figure Blair McDougall’s tweet about it, nobody had heard of them there either, oh and I think what George meant by prominent Labour figure was head strategist of the better together campaign, failed parliamentary candidate, came third in his last attempt, and one of the main reasons Labour are a busted flush in Scotland now.
This is gutter, click bait journalism.
The funny thing is, stuff like this only makes it worse, giving these nobodies a bigger platform, in turn bringing out the whackos on this site with their natural anti-Scottish views, which then helps the nationalist cause in the long run, and people actually wonder why the SNP are miles ahead in every poll, and Scottish independence is now a case of when not if, all they have to do is show 10 people who are on the fence about independence the comment sections to silly articles like these and you will have 8 of those 10 converted.
Should we only live in an echo chamber and only hear one side of things?
This site has published several articles on the ability to become independent, and the potential direction that an independent Scotland may take with regard to defence and that has generated debate. A great deal of that is taken over by crackpots, but any reasonable person can see that they are idiots and their point of view is disregarded by all apart from other similar minded persons.
Normal, critical thinking adults gather information from a broad spectrum of sources, but I see several comments subscribe to your point of view about gutter journalism.
Personally I want information to contribute to my decision making to help me in my defence related life, and this site is one of the tools I use to bring up items of interest.
There is a solution, this site is free from subscription. Don’t read, move on and get less information from somewhere else.
I would not of said anything if the article was a pro union argument regarding defence etc. But it’s not is it, its highlighting a minority fringe group with a tiny audience and amplifying it, I would of said the same thing if they posted a video of English idiots saying horrible anti-Scottish views.
This is one of the reasons why discourse has become so toxic regarding a a manner of things, it’s giving lunatics a voice.
Where was the article about the hundreds of death threats and threats of sexual violence against Nicola Sturgeon? That was covered by mainstream media and still never warranted a UKDJ article, while 4 Scot Nat extreme nobodies say one sentence on a podcast watched by a few, only maker Twitter news gets a UKDJ article?
None of the comments regarding Nicola, as abhorrent as they were, could be considered as a defence issue. The pseudo-planning of an armed uprising against English paramilitary forces (however absurd, unfounded and unlikely) is. Not only could military/paramilitary forces be used in their idea of the future defence personnel, locations and equipment could be under threat from these cretins and (their likely younger and fitter) supporters if they do not get there own way.
I am finding it hard to understand why you would make 5 comments about how unfair it is for UKDJ to post this article and at no point criticise the 4 idiots in the video?
Why would I waste my time, it’s a non story from 4 extreme nobodies with nothing better to do than talk rubbish to a small extreme audience. It’s the podcast equivalent of a drunken old man in a pub, and even then I’ve watched the video, the only clip available shared by McDougall ends after he says it so no way to see the other guys reaction, can’t even see if they laugh or he says it’s a joke, it’s just a total non story it belongs on social media, that’s my opinion, do you not like other people having opinions?
Yes I enjoy differences of opinion, hence I read your comment and posted my own different opinion?
Sorry got you confused with Gfor telling me to not read and move to another site will reply to you below ?
Indeed, not every article either way or even neutral make it to UKDJ. That was my point about ignore or move on. The site is a free service, George gets little or no thanks but I all too frequently see chopsy comments towards his professionalism.
Although others can contribute, there is a limit to what he and they can do, so not everything will reach publication.
As for giving lunatics a voice, that is perfect. Idiots are soon hoisted by their own petards and critical thinkers can make their own decisions without someone sanctioning an article as only good for social media.
I don’t want to ignore and move on I visit this site daily and have been commenting for years, if you don’t like peoples opinions maybe you should ignore and move on, or maybe be respectful to someone else’s points of view.
What do you want us to do? Say thank you George after every post? Seems to be plenty of ads on here these days and the website traffic is going up all the time, the thanks is from me visiting this site and sharing quality articles on my social media which I do all the time.
There has never been one article here about the lunatic unionist fringe which would take 2 minutes to find on the internet, don’t the unionist fringe up in Scotland fly Nazi salutes? Don’t they make rape and death threats to Sturgeon? What about the English fringe that could not give a flying f**k about Scotland and want an English referendum to break free of the ungrateful Scots? Don’t see many articles on that, the fringe should be left well alone where they belong, except it’s one way traffic on this website bar maybe 1 or 2 professional articles about independence, against the sometimes weekly articles about something stupid the SNP says, and now we are moving to fringe elements of the SNP support, which all the English on here jump on, is it any wonder there is growing feeling in England to just kick the Scots out of the Union ourselves, this is all doing nobody who wants to preserve the Union any favours believe me.
The adverts help cover the cost of running the site, we don’t make any money from this. On the contrary, it still costs us money.
And it’s us who keep visiting and contributing why you are getting these ads to help cover the running costs, it’s a two way street, it’s a great website with great readers and contributors I don’t think anyone would complain if you made a bob or 2 out of producing quality content but that’s not the issue.
But you claim in the about us to be impartial so honest question, just what exactly was the aim in publishing this article? You even have guys like Robert Blay who are loyal British contributors, ex Navy for good measure, claiming below that these articles are beneath UKDJ, there are quite a few actually, regular contributors who are dismayed that this random blogger type article appears on an otherwise professional impartial defence website, what are your thoughts and responses to that?
SS, If you know you’re going to get ‘triggered’ by an article with a title like this one, why do you jump down the rabbit hole ?
I mean, I know the answer but ask yourself, in the same way if you like ships and there’s an article on the ‘space stuff’ and you don’t bother reading it, why would read an article about the ‘Jock stuff’ if it doesn’t float your boat.
I know you think what you said is really clever but it really isn’t, there is reasonable debate to be had about this, which is why there are over 100 comments, not all from me.
Your comment is one of the most pathetic I have seen on here and I have seen a lot, why don’t your try again and play the ball not the man? If you can of course.
The ads cover less than a fifth of the costs, around £30 quid per month. It’s of no material impact whether people block the ads or not, we write about topics that we think should be looked at.
Dude….. “I visit this site daily and have been commenting for years” I’m not sure that gives you carte blanche. Chill… its only the internet. Despite being a big fan of this place, you could take umbrage and never visit it again, its the internet and we can come and go as we please, especially to free sites like this.
Its easy to get embroiled, I do it myself sometimes but its still just a bunch of opinionated dafties just howling at the moon. No matter how passionately you feel, its not going to achieve anything, unless that’s you Boris….. :0
Dude, why don’t your try engage instead of trying to be clever and writing garbage? Nothing you have said in both comments has even scraped the surface of the subject.
So honestly dude, if you can’t bother reading the article and understanding, then reading everyone’s comments and understanding, why jump down the rabbit hole and make an idiot of yourself?
It’s easy to make a fool of yourself mate I’ve done it myself many of times.
Take a step back and read a little, engage the subject matter and try again…
Nah, I’ll stick with what I wrote, maybe I’m not as egocentric as yourself (while no Buddhist) but just because you feel weally weally passionately about something, it doesn’t make it a fact. Throw shit my way if it makes you feel better (a bit like a monkey in a zoo) but when we both wake up tomorrow morning, you’ll still be losing your shit at stuff on the internet and I’ll still be laughing at you for it.
I’m not losing my shit at nothing, I have never lost my shit at anything on these pages, I comment and debate, that’s just your perception, there is a weally big difference.
When we wake up tomorrow we can both look back on me having a strong debate about something in a good way, and then you jumped in at the arse end trying to be clever not engaging the subject then attacking the man, I think I will sleep better knowing that mate ?
I actually agreed with a lot of your earlier stuff about how people in Scotland perceived things. I didn’t comment on that though.
I commented on your whining about this site posting an article that seemed to upset you. And then posting about it…. Your prerogative I suppose. And then you took it all ‘respect my whole canon on this thread’, all a bit narcissistic so don’t be surprised when I don’t buy into it.
If its seen as “attacking the man” then apologies Princess, I know things are a bit more ‘fluid’ these days.
What on earth are you talking about, do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound, do you even know what narcissistic means?
You have jumped on here, not even engaging in the debate, rambling on about me, and you accuse me of being triggered, it’s clear to anyone who is reading that you have been “triggered” by me commenting, either you don’t like me or you don’t like what I’m posting.
Everything I have said so far I will stand by, and there are plenty of other posters who agree just look down the thread.
What’s happened here is I suspect is that’s it’s Friday night, you’ve had a few sherberts and you’ve come on here giving it big undies to the first person you can, you sound ridiculous if you’re not going to engage in the subject matter, there is nothing more stupid than someone trying to act clever on the internet on a Friday night, finish the can and go to bed mate I’ll speak to you tomorrow ?
Its red wine and assuming our spat isn’t deleted I’m content for the cards to fall where they may and let others make their own minds up.
I’ve commented plenty on ‘Jock issues’ on this site for a while, I deliberately didn’t comment on this article until your ‘tear stained rant’ about whether this thread should have existed, and to the owner of the site no less.
I’ve got a pretty good grasp on Narcissism.
“I’ve commented plenty on ‘Jock issues’ on this site for a while”
What is it you said about me saying something like that again? Doesn’t give me carte Blanche? Chill mate it’s just a website, stop being so narcissistic.
Jesus wept irony is not lost on you my friend.
Time to put the glass down.
This didn’t really go as you imagined it did it? ?
I can show you the twitter threats from SNP supporters towards Priti Patel and Diane Abbott and Ruth Davidson.
And what would that achieve?
Obviously you are to thick to understand
Too**
The SNP are mile ahead because the other parties can put forward decent leaders. It’s like having 3 poor market stalls selling food, you pick the one with least foul tasting produce or starve.
Last time I’m reading or commenting on UK Defence Journal, once again the website has descended into little more that a political mouth piece by George Allison looking for little more than click bate by fanning the flames of anti Scottish sentiment. Where is the defence angle on this article?
As a Scot himself I doubt George’s aim is to fan any flames of anti Scottish sentiment. The “bloggers” were talking about armed conflict between England and Scotland, that is a defence angle.
Hey Basra be fair. There is nothing anti-Scottish in these posts UNLESS you equate anti SNP as being anti-Scottish which to be honest is often a page one claim by their supporters! Please see my earlier post and tell me i am anti-Scottish. The political situation in Scotland is such that the SNP’s stance presents huge issues for Defence in Britain so has very real relevance in this journal. Much of what is discussed with regard to shipbuilding, bases, the Nuclear Deterrent, Defence activity etc etc in Scotland has a major role in current UK Defence policy now and going forward so be a little more tolerant
Geoff, the SNP are by a country mile the largest political party in Scotland, they are the party that is in power in Scotland that means most voters in Scotland vote for them, share most of their views and support their stance on most things, if you attack that party, in turn you attack the people because people are defensive of their political parties, and can take it as an attack on their country.
Look at the yanks that jump in on here when people attack trump, or the boot lickers in England who don’t like criticism of Boris Johnson, people take it personally as an attack on their country.
I’m not being funny Geoff but the stuff that gets said about the SNP on here is hardy respected critical analysis is it, hardly disagreeing but respecting their views. Sturgeon gets personally attacked on these pages and nobody says anything, in fact most just agree.
Hi SS-please re-read my main post and tell me if it is not both respectful of the SNP’s views and in any way anti-Scottish? Also, in the last election for Holy rood I think Unionist Parties got 55% of the vote. My belief whilst i respect the cause of Scottish independence as a legitimate one is that the SNP is almost totally focused in independence at a time when we are trying to digest Brexit and in the middle of a pandemic. Also let us digest this-Donald Trump got 77 million votes. When you look at the man and all that goes with him with the cherry on top-sacking the Capitol(!!) then is it not possible that there may be an element of that within the SNP? My view, and I am open to others is that many many of their supporters are openly anti English, aggressive a la Trumpites, and will brook no other version of what Scotland is ither than their own.
Sorry-rushing. thanks for the discussion. my best friend was a ScotNat at Varsity and his views never affected our friendship. Even his singing a Nat version of The Sash with anti Monarchist words never really offended me-we discussed in a civil manner. Nowadays its at each others throats. Deeply saddens me
Your posts from what I gather Geoff are always respectful, but you did say there is nothing anti-Scottish in these posts, some guy said above “must be too many deep fried Mars bars” now to me, you and most people that’s just a joke, banter, but in this type of discourse a Scottish person might take it differently, and that’s just one, there have been hundreds of posts regarding Sturgeons personal appearance, the IQ of SNP supporters etc etc, I think it’s wrong to say there is never any anti-Scottish talk on this site Geoff because their evidently is.
And yes of course there is going to be elements of craziness in the SNP voter ranks, just like in the Trump ranks, but like I have previously said about Trump voters, not all are the far right lunatic confederate flag wavers that wear rifles like fashion statements, most of that 77m are normal decent people that just have different points of view about how their country should be run, just like the majority of SNP voters do.
And I see your point, my family are Scot nats who hate the monarchy while I want Scotland to stay with us and collect Royal memorabilia, so I hear their arguments all the time in a respectful manner and know from experience that the comments usually found on here, would never be mentioned because they’re just not respectful. And that’s true what you’re saying, respectful debates like that are missing nowadays, and I think the internet and social media are a large part of why.
‘most of that 77m are normal decent people’ ……indeed! So decent that they are willing to vote for someone who is clearly unfit to hold public office. So decent that they turn a blind eye to the cruelty of separating children from their parents at border crossings. That turn a blind eye to his misogynism and patent racism. That turn a blind eye to his fascistic bullying of state officials and his support for groups opposed to democracy. It sounds rather like Germany in the early 1930s. But, as you say, their views ought to be respected!
By the way, I agree with everything else that you have said….but I cant agree that people who vote for Trump are decent! The man has a moral vacuum around him that sucks all sense of common decency and integrity from his followers. Look at how Republicans in the Senate lack the moral fibre to stand up to him. It is a shameful period for America!
“people who voted for Trump”…… I would say a large proportion of those voted for the Republican candidate and would have done regardless who it was, such is the polarised stated of politics over there. I wouldn’t take it as an endorsement of his behaviour.
But that is the point Rob…a vote Trump is an endorsement. The presidential elections in the US are very particular…..you are voting for the man!
It isn’t that black and white. If you are a staunch god fearing Republican you are not going to vote for the Democrat, or for that matter not vote at all to allow the Democrat to win. Views on issues such as abortion, gun laws etc are so polarised that they take precedence over almost anything, including the behaviour of the candidate.
The very moral vacuum I was writing about! God help us all!
Indeed!
How many Europeans voted for parties proposing the closure of the mediterranean routes to immigration? How many are ignoring the refugee camps on european soil? How many have voted for right-wing parties? How could they do that?
Didn’t people just stormed the doors of the German Reichstag?
How many racists and misogynists are in the French and German chambers of Parliament?
China is creating concentration camps, and the EU strikes new deals. Russia is using barrel bombs, and Germany still builds a pipeline. Iran is threatening to eradicate Israel until 2040, and still the German government is propelling trade with said country.
So, please… stop talking about moral vacuums.
That said… there is a region called “fly-over America”. The rust belt, the plains. Nobody with a clear career path and a liberal mind wants to live there. And the less liberals live there and the less careers are made, the more neocon those areas go.
They have their own media, their own social media channels. The local newspaper as a source of relevant info is largely gone. Automated news-aggregators are creating an echo-chamber, where everything becomes a liberal lie.
And the same is rue vice-versa.
Fox vs CNN vs MSNBC, the channels costing no money, are setting the agenda. The NY Times, a source of real impartial journalism, costs real money. Nobody wants to spend real money for things he “knows better” from Facebook.
The crisis is a media crisis, and the UK is very much in the same situation. Can anybody explain, how millions can digest The Sun, each and every day?
McZ
The NY Times “impartial”? The creators of the 1619 project “impartial”? That is laughable to the point of tragedy. The day I concede that merry band of race-baiters is neutral I would have to be amazingly high.
On what grounds do you believe people vote conservatively because they are ignorant? I am conservative with very occasionally libertarian leanings, because life made me so not because some journalists said, “believe this I told you so.”
There are voters for every party of all colours who are ignorant, take a walk down a polling booth line and ask everyone some political questions and you will get your answer.
Of course there are. What I question is the painting people from my area of the States as people who need to be told the supposedly “right” way to think.
Fair enough Elliot I agree with you here.
As an American, a Texan, and a conservative, your opinions on my morality and decency are absolutely meaningless. We probably have entirely different concepts of morality and decency. As in my view I have them while you are just someone who mistakes themself for a preacher, and a really bad one at that.
I think that Trump won because the opponent was also quite a horrible human being with a rather distasteful past.
Most will not have those views, most probably disagree, but their vote might be for other reasons.
My vote is for my family, myself and my country in that particular order, many people are the same.
Also take into account the news they might be watching, it’s easy to be in the UK with wall to wall bad coverage of Trump for the last few years, try telling all that to the busy American centre right family who only watch Fox News once a week. Decent people can be misinformed in their millions.
I refuse to believe 77m Americans are like the ones who stormed the capital, a lot will be don’t get me wrong, and a lot will hold views I don’t agree with and don’t respect, but there will many conservative Americans I could happily chat to and debate, and with that respect.
And with regards to Germany in the 30’s, while many millions were Nazis, the Nazi party had one of the most affective propaganda machines in history to misinform and influence decent Germans, I see many similarities between the far right propaganda machine right now making its way across the internet, so is it the people’s fault for being hoodwinked or the dark powers behind the propaganda’s fault?
Sorry, but I’m not swallowing ‘they don’t really know what he is like’. You are right that 77m people are not like those that stormed the Capitol building….in some ways they are worse! Ignorance is not a defence in this day and age! Sure, some will be trying to safeguard their lifestyles and putting an X next to Trump’s name on the ballot sheet…whilst holding their noses. Others will be deliberately ignorant in order to serve their own purposes. They know alright….you just don’t want to believe that so many in society are prepared to stoop so low to protect their own interests. But they are! In 1930, Germany was the best educated society in Europe, arguably better educated than Americans today……but look what happened. Joe Biden has got a huge job ahead of him…may God help him!
“Sorry. but I’m not swallowing”….. Ha, that makes a change then………………… lol. TTFN Teacher/Receiver…..
I’m not so sure, you may be right and this is just from a UK perspective but there are millions of voters that barely know what day of the week it is, let alone have a structured view of the leader of their country, I work with the general public and to this day, a month into a national lockdown I am getting phone calls to a shopping centre asking if we are open, and when I say no they actually say “why not” not everyone is clued up politically or takes an interest in current affairs, the amount of times I have brought up politics to some of my mates, people I regard as friends but don’t give a shit about politics, they say they would vote for Trump because they think it’s hilarious the way he says “Chiiina” you have to bring up the policies which they don’t know about before they say, oh no well actually I would vote for Biden. I would put money on it that millions of those 77m don’t even watch the news. That’s why I tend to just include the individual when debating these days, I used to think I was engaging the whole side and then people would get offended with certain terms being thrown at them, or not have a clue what I was talking about.
Ignorance may not be an excuse but it shouldn’t be a reason for no respect and maybe try to change their view, or get them more involved.
Also you have take into account the content and media people are consuming, when I worked in a pub we had two papers the mail and the mirror, and I would see people switch views depending on the paper they read, a lot of peoples views are extensions of what they consume, but of course most of the time they like what they read as it’s sits with their own views, but it still should be taken into account.
You’re right about the extreme element, I would not engage with most that hold those views, but some conservative views I respect their decision to have those views, while passionately disagreeing.
I have a tendency to ascribe intelligence when it suits me….and ignorance also when it suits me. You may be right that many could be blissfully unaware! Having worked in the oil industry for a number of years, I was amazed at the lack of knowledge of some US crews of the outside world! As for newspapers, you can pretty much tell what views a person holds by looking at the paper that they read. People tend to read papers that reinforce their existing prejudices. I have given up with newspapers since the latest Guardian case. I stick to the New Statesman…..brilliantly written with a wide range of contributors and a great heritage?
With newspapers true, but if you asked a load of daily Mail readers 10 questions in January, then they were only allowed to read the guardian and mirror for a year and then asked the same 10 questions, and vice versa, you would be surprised to see the difference in answers I have experienced it first hand. Never underestimate the power of propaganda to make and influence a persons beliefs.
New statesman is ok, I have the BBC app for news and for politics I subscribe to a number of different bloggers and independent websites both left, right and centre that actually nail their colours to the mast so I know what I am reading.
Like you I quit the Guardian, great rolling news coverage, best in the UK investigative journalism, great food writers, but an appalling neoliberal view on politics and biased, jostle coverage of any other politician that doesn’t share the views of T Blair, not for me.
Sit down and get the smelling salts from the school nurse Herodotus, I totally agree with you…..
I have several American friends who voted for Trump and I find it impossible to move past that vile excuse for a human being, it’s beyond party politics, the man is just an utter disgrace…..
What was their excuse?
As has been said, republican voters, so they will vote republican….
We can only hope the lesson is learnt and they don’t get the same sort of nut case from the republicans next time round…
I promised myself I wouldn’t engage with H again however the bullshit spin detector just went off the scale..
The practise of children being separated at the border is only on the basis of persons entering ILLEGALLY as in it is violating the nations laws by thinking you can just waltz on over the border any time you like. Those criminals who do this and shamefully do it with children are NOT victims they have broken laws , they are criminals.
As is the case where anybody committing a CRIMINAL offence or having previously committed an offence when traced by the Police Will separate them from any children they are with at the time. I.E adult stabs someone during a robbery and flees with their child in the car . Later they are stopped by the police. The adult goes to the cells and the child goes to social services.
This practice of separating children from criminals breaking laws by crossing borders was utilised during the BUSH and OBAMA administrations it wasn’t Trump who started this.
Misogyny oh the horror the horror …….?????
You’d make an excellent bbc correspondent ?
Go on man go on you know you want to ………….
????????????
Thanks for your post SS> One hell of a scrap on this one! 🙂 All the best and regards
Wow, your grasp of elections and mathematics is mind boggling. There are 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament of which the majority (67) are held by parties that oppose the SNP, therefore the majority of Scottish voters oppose the SNP. So the support of those parties, although Scottish, are anti-Scottish as per your comment?. Behave.
As an English born, resident of Scotland since the age of 12 this video scares the life out of me and my family as we have all been victims of anti-English hatred. It however is good to see that some people are there to defend these idiots spouting hatred and condemn those fellow Scots who speak out against this bile.
You are a model SNP supporter
That was in 2016, in 2021 they are projected to take 70 or over, and in the general election in 19 they took 48 out of 59 seats
“therefore the majority of Scottish voters oppose the SNP. So the support of those parties, although Scottish, are anti-Scottish as per your comment?. Behave“
No why would they, I’m talking about English people commenting about Scotland and the SNP, I’m pretty sure a Scottish Labour voter is not going to start banging on about deep fried Mars bars are they?
“It however is good to see that some people are there to defend these idiots spouting hatred and condemn those fellow Scots who speak out against this bile.”
I have in no way defended these idiots, quite the opposite actually, although it’s obviously gone way over your head, I’m annoyed they have been given a platform to spout hatred.
Fellow Scots? SNP supporter?
I’m English, born and bread in the north west and don’t support a single SNP policy.
Take a breath lad and try understanding it’s not all us and them, left and right, yes or no, remain and leave, there are some people who have a different view on dealing with people or views without anger, hatred and insults, doesn’t have to be tribalism, just because I haven’t jumped on the bandwagon and say what you’re saying, agreeing with what your saying, that doesn’t make me “one of them”
My apologies but I believe you have been very selective about my response. Polls are not proof that the SNP voters are the majority (although they may be this year) and the FPTP Westminster elections are also not proof of that. I have experienced violence and hatred whilst residing in this beautiful country therefore the us against them mentality is based on attacker/victim feelings rather than political leanings. I take it as a widening of the debate that this website has shown the differing sides of the pro-independence movement. By highlighting these views and allowing agree/disagree comments to be displayed they are providing a necessary service that is lacking in the MSM due to the de-platform approach that just helps to breed this sort of vitriol. I am not completely anti-snp and am in favour of some of their policies whilst disagreeing with independence. Whist you used your time to comment on the (stupid and unhelpful) “Mars bar” comments you helped to deflect attention away from the fact that their is a darker side to some pro-independence cliques that should be exposed at every opportunity.
Danny we can argue all day about the amount of SNP support, let’s just say they are the largest, most supported and voted for single political party in Scotland, which is a fact.
And I have as well, as a 9 year old visiting my family in Coatbridge I was head butted in a park by a lad wearing a rangers top calling me an English p***k, anti-English sentiment is widespread in Scotland as it has been for a while, I know that it’s there and it’s not going away, too much history is involved for there not to be an element of hatred on both sides.
I don’t agree I’m afraid, I think the discourse that these articles help create is driving a bigger wedge between England and Scotland, I think the percentage of English people happy to see the back of Scotland is increasing now, I don’t have a problem with balanced articles about the Union from both sides that encourage a good debate, but I find most articles on here are from a random guy from the SNP talking nonsense about frigates or even worse an older man in a podcast talking rubbish, a lot of English are sick of hearing from them tbh and I just think it makes it worse, also the other bigger angle on it is SNP supporters who come on here, we used to have a few prominent SNP contributors on here, dadsarmy etc, and a lot of people on the fence about independence, but when they see clickbait like this and it’s only ever one sided because there has never been any articles about the fringe unionist side, they just see hatred and division in the comments and perhaps feel unwelcome to comment, that’s my take anyway.
Well he got the Prick bit right….. Up the Scot’s…… Once a Prick, Always a prick it seems. TTFN ( Smiley Face ).
Rubbish. The site has published some ‘excuses’ about Scottish independence from one of its correspondents. I think they are very lame one but the site published them.
What’s the UK defence angle of extremists discussing armed conflict in the UK?
Are fringe, terminally online whackjobs really worth paying attention to? Not even the furthest extremes of the SNP would tolerate their nonsense
Such scumbags just stormed the houses of Congress? And, btw, the german Reichstag in September?
A bunch of crusty old angry bitter men engaging in extremist thought as a way to vent their frustrations. Nothing new here, move on
Yes Levi….So welcome to UKDJ ? ?
A bit unkind but nice one Herodotus :):):)
I include myself in the crusty old men……of course?
I think I might also qualify Squire but I will have to work on my angry, bitter! 🙂
These idiots are nothing but a tiny tiny tiny minority and in no way represent mainstream thinking up here. I realise some of the regular contributors from doon sooth mistakenly believe every time an article goes up mentioning the motherland and the political party that run the executive, that somehow everyone up here approves.
Well we don’t . These loons are old and are irrelevant they reflect ideas and fantasy that have about as much support as the SNLA. ( I’m sure our regular wee English pal who pretends to be a Scot remembers them)
They are complete dipsticks there’s this thing called mutual aid and Police Scotland regularly send officers to support their English colleagues and vice versa , G8 , commonwealth games, olympics, Trump visit etc etc . COP26 if it goes ahead will have “busloads of Manchester Police” nah these old fools should be condemned by all political sides and it made clear they need to wind their necks in.
Pathetic ???????????
Bravo mate.
Great post ?
I do believe that this sort of hatred is not the majority up here. But it is becoming more and more prevalent
Friends of Harold?
I’m sorry, but I thought this site was above sharing stories like this.
Where they drunk?
I’m sorry, but I thought this site was above sharing stories like this.
People threaten to kill cops every day. This is nothing new, its just coming from a unexpected corner.
Recent revelations in the news point to an organised conspiracy by a pro Sturgeon cabal to unseat Salmond by encouraging false allegations against him. The SNP is not a happy family. The Scottish people need to consider carefully the real political tenets of the single party state they may create.
And that is the nick of Scottish Nationalists laid bare. The SNP puts an acceptable “Civic Nationalism” façade on it, but at its core its just common and garden nationalism. A bunch of nutters who hate people they as somehow different from them.
Unless this is stamped out now we will be looking at the West coasters nipping across to N.I and borrowing Ak57 and Semtex. Then innocent men women and children will pay the price in blood. Give Sturgeon her indyref2 under the condition that 66.66% of the population that are entitled to vote, vote yes. If they don’t get that close Holyrood and turn it in a hotel. Would save on the enormous waste of MSP salaries and the rest. By the way I am a Scot.
I have always argued that constitutional change should require a two-thirds majority. A 51-49 split, in my opinion, is not a mandate for change!
Well if you’re convinced H, that’s good enough for me.
Not a fan of democracy then eh ?
Well Andy, he walked into that one!
While previously agreed and ‘votes cast’ referendums like BREXIT, should obviously be honoured and enacted upon, I do tend to agree that any future major changes need to be approached differently.
I’m not sure how really, but while the piller of democracy that is loosers consent seemed to be (somewhat disturbingly) cast aside by large sections of society, the whole process was so close, it caused bitter division.
It’s all academic now really, the Political classes will never, EVER again, take the risk of a referendum!
Scotland, well I guess we will see how the cards fall……
Hi John, I do get where people are coming from on a narrow majority issue, something like Brexit or Scottish Indy were both pretty close and whichever way it went there were going to be a lot of unhappy people. I’m not sure just shifting the goal posts is the answer though, if we moved it to 67% and (for example) 60% vote one way its not going to resolve things either, I suggest it would make it angrier.
I’m not a fan of referendums generally, we pay folk to make these decisions, that logic maybe falls short on things like the independence issue, I agree with you that Westminster has had it fingers burnt and won’t be having a referendum any time soon. I can’t see another way to resolve the indy thing though although the timings are wrong for me personally. The SNP got their referendum in 2014 when they wanted it, its kind of their fault they didn’t time it better.
We’ll get what we get eh ?
Looking at the pictures of them I’d imagine that they’re not doing the cause of independence much good. To describe them as looking sad & tragic doesn’t even begin to do them justice….
Greater Manchester Police a paramilitary organisation…… well…
L.o.L i wouldnt worry too much about that bloke.Maybe played too many video games.Dont think his in shape enough too carry a high powered rifle 10ft never mind fire one.Proberly cause more damage to himself trying.
This sounds way too much like those 2A fanatics in the US who’re convinced the gub’mint gonna take their guns.
Maybe we need a wee spring clean in the house…
In what way are gun owners who are protected by a constitutional right “fanatical”, or similar to people who advocate the killing of cops based on ethnicity?
“we need a wee spring clean in the house..” Way to make their point for them.
Way to miss what I said. And how is it by saying these idiots need to be told to sit down and shut right the fuck up I’m making their point for them, whatever that is? Or do you think it’s fine to fantasise about murdering English police officers?
Well as someone who actually worked in law enforcement, just because I found someones speech repugnant did not give me the right to tell them to sit down and shut up.
Speech is meant to be free whether you like it or not.
Now one of these people’s constant refrains is a victim narrative and mentality. So go ahead subject them to the power of the state. That’ll make the warm and cuddly.
On a visit to the Highlands forty odd years ago, my Scottish contacts warned me about the real S.N.P. These are the hard core. Scottish independence is just an excuse to be as nasty as bedroom fascists can be against the English. But it wouldn’t stop there for these types. Others are in their sights, never doubt it.