Blog for Sunday 19th November 2023

Blog link on # YoursForScotland

https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2023/11/19/first-voice/

Letter From Denmark: First Voice

Blog link here: England's Vassal State Part 2
https://peteryoungdk.blog/2023/11/10/englands-vassal-state-part-2/

Blog link here: England's Vassal State Part 1 https://peteryoungdk.blog/2023/06/14/englands-vassal-state-part-1/

England's Vassal State Part 2 by Sandy McIntosh

Audio courtesy of caledonmedia.scot where you can hear the Norrie Hunter Show daily on Caledon Radio.

The Norrie Hunter Show with Sara Salyers

Highlights from 'Freeports: A Clear and Present Danger to Scotland' with Prof Alf Baird and Dr Mark McNaught who discuss Freeports and the need for a Scottish maritime policy.

Freeports and the Internal Colonial Model

Fiona Nelson of ISP on Freeports #AUOBGlasgow

"This brings us to what Professor Tom Devine regarded as the 'dual persona' of Scots. This confused identity of being 'British' and 'Scottish'. It's actually an outcome of colonialism. It wouldn't exist without colonialism.

"The dominant national party in colonialism reaches an arrangement with the dominant imperial power, if you like. They take the foot off the gas, they take their people up blind alleys, they delay independence.

"And this is a very dangerous thing to do because it creates the potential for conflict. So this is a very dangerous and difficult strategy that the 'national party' is pursuing at the moment. And it can be seen with the exodus of people out of the SNP, the creation of new national parties. And these are normal occurrences in the decolonization process.

"And I would say we are in the decolonization process. We have been, since probably before devolution. This is a long period of trying to get to understanding the condition. And the condition, we have to remember, is a psychological condition."

"So although we might produce manifestos for this and do policy issues on that, we have to remember that at the end of the day, for many Scots, many natives in the colonial environment, it's a psychological condition."

Professor Alf Baird on the Colonial Condition

"But going quickly to the UN, the declaration that non self-governing peoples should be able to declare independence as a legal right. That declaration, it came out of the Fifties, the post Second World War decolonizations. 

"And at the time, in the Sixties, when this declaration was created, there was, I think, more than 70 listed territories. There are now 17 still there, mostly small island groups and so on.  

"So the work is ongoing. But the UN was quite emphatic. This declaration has legal standing. It's about removing the old empire powers. That's what the declaration on self-determination, liberation, independence, decolonization is about. 

"It's about removing the oppressions and injustices of the empires, the former empires, particularly France, Britain and the United States, to remove their powers and injustices and treaty violations.  

"Because let's remember here also that many, many, if not most, if not all colonies were sitting with a treaty as Scotland is sitting with a treaty. But we know it's not respected, its conditions are not respected. But this is all part and parcel of the process. 

"In the colonial reality, a people's history is discarded, it's removed, it's rephrased and restated. Its cultural heritage has all changed to reflect the commemoration of the oppressor's greatness.  

"As we see in so many monuments and even street names in Scotland. We have the same legacy as Ireland and many other places."

Professor Alf on Removing the Oppressions and Injustices of the Empires

Cathal Brennan and John Dorney of the Irish History Show Podcast have a remarkable knowledge of the events that led to the momentous election in December 1918. 

That election was a referendum on the achievements of the nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party, who, eight years on from their huge majority in the 1910 election, hadn’t achieved even their most modest demand for home rule. 

It’s probably fair to say the IPP had reached an accommodation with the colonial power. It had caved in time after time, hoping that supporting England’s war against Germany, and indicating a willingness to accept a form of ‘temporary’ partition in the north, would get home rule over the line. But London never made good on its commitment. For we Scots, there are lessons to be learned. 

Although our history as a colonised/annexed nation is different from Ireland’s, there are a number of parallels, not least between the IPP and our own SNP. Both failed at Westminster despite a huge majority of nationalist representatives, both reached an accommodation with the ‘imperial’ power, both ‘played the game’ and got nowhere. There are others, see how many you can identify during the podcast.

The1918 Election with John Dorney and Cathal Brennan of the Irish History Show

Fictional Kingdom, Fraudulent State by Sara Salyers

A response from Colette Walker, Leader of the ISP to Sara Salyers article that urged a different approach from Scotland’s politicians. 

Blog link: https://yoursforscotlandcom.wordpress.com/2024/06/03/the-road-less-travelled-restoring-scotlands-sovereignty/

The Road Less Travelled  - Restoring Scotland’s Sovereignty

@indyscotnews on SoundCloud streaming Scotland's pro-independence voices.

Professor Alf on Removing the Oppressions and Injustices of the Empires

@indyscotnews

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