What a wonderful, hard-headed, and inspirational Scot! Tommy and Gail Sheridan are lucky to count him as a friend, and certainly deserve to do so. He supports them, not from political sympathy, but from a deep and fundamental concern for justice, humanity, the law and for Scotland.
I don't agree with his evaluation of Kenny MacAskill, nor do I agree that Alex Salmond should have pursued independence earlier. I believe that the SNP might still have been out of government if he had.
But what is my view against such a distinguished lawyer and great nationalist's perceptions? I salute him, and he won't give damn for my plaudits or endorsement, nor should he …
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I hope to God I'm as astute as Ian Hamilton when/if I'm as old as he is. I tend to agree with your own comments regarding Kenny MacAskill, but he definitely has a point regarding the necessity for greater regard for human rights to be built into the Scottish legal system - his contempt for the baying redtops in this matter was a joy to behold. I was a little disappointed that Brewer didn't pose the question as to whether the Stone presently in Edinburgh were the real one or not.
ReplyDelete"Since when did Labour ever do anything for the poor?" is something that has needed to be asked LOUDLY on national mass media for years! "Not since Atlee" is the correct response - unless you count the "bread and circuses" policies pursued since Wilson as "doing something for the poor". The underclass created by these policies truly has been deprived of hope, and it's no wonder they still cling to the crude doctrines of sectarianism, bigotry and deep suspicion of society's intellectuals. Where else do they have to go? To fight your way as an individual out of that morass is damned difficult given that man is a social animal who generally only breaks ranks when given no other choice or when there is strongly perceived personal advantage.
To my mind, the greatest challenge to society and politics in Scotland is to offer a credible, attractive choice to the Ned culture that drags so many down to its brutish conformity. At present, the benefits culture and the lack of real employment for those trapped in its grip help to maintain a degree of what can only be called savagery to which the Scottish middle class prefers to turn a blind eye. I can't stand Ned "culture", but, as a former educator, I can clearly see where it's coming from, and I can clearly see, from a historical perspective, what happened to the greatest social organisation to have progressively attempted to buy off its underclass with panem et circem. In the end, not enough of its citizens cared enough to defend it, and the Empire fell. It's one thing to promise legislation against bigotry etc., it's another, and much more imperative task, to ensure the society-wide prosperity and social involvement that would remove the perceived need for such divisive tribal identification. Let's hope the SNP is up to the task.
Thanks, Bobelix.
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