I was having a wee thought to myself yesterday and came to the realisation that Scotland and the constitutional debate have all but disappeared from the news, has Scotland been put back in it’s box?
The unionist media have all moved on to the two-horse race of the General Election, well they want us all to believe it’s a two-horse race. Here in Northern Britan we are suffering a BBC Scotland branch, Daily Rangers, and other unionist press love in with Jim ’never been a unionist’ Murphy that shows no sign of abating anytime soon.
The SNP are all wrapped up in selecting their candidates for the May elections, feels a bit late for myself but at least it’s getting done. While in Wastemonster the three Tory Parties voted 515 to 18 (28 Scottish Labour MPs voted with the TORIES again) to continue with austerity but you wouldn’t have known that by watching the news, the suffering of millions of people in the UK is old hat now…….just like the constitutional debate, the Smith Commission and Scotland.
It’s all went a bit quiet, too quiet if you ask me. The Smith Commission, as we all know, well those of us who care know, was and is a total con. So, are we all just sitting on our hands waiting for the draft Scotland Bill to be published? It’s supposed to be this month but where are daily requests for the bill? Where is the outcry that we are half way through the month and we haven’t seen a jot of it. Is it to become like Chilcot? Are we waiting on the unionists to water it down even more, is the control over road signs just too much to ask.
Now I would never have agreed to the Smith Commission proposals if I had been the SNP, the proposals don’t go far enough and I don’t hold with the step at a time approach at all, we don’t have time for that anymore as we see daily attacks on our standards of living by the three Tory Parties picking up pace. The SNP feared a backlash from the lying media of the referendum if they walked away, walking away for myself would have retained some dignity because staying meant having to acccept the rubbish that is the Smith Commission. Forget settled will of the people, the whole thing stinks and has been one big attack on the very fabric of Scotland and it’s needs.
However, given the importance of the up and coming General Election to the broader YES movement and the whole argument for constitutional change, I would have expected more to be going on. We are in real danger here of allowing the unionists to set the tone for too long, and the enthusiasm for change gets lost in the arguments of Tory, Tory More or Tory Red leading up to May. There is a real danger here in allowing the media to continue to set that tone with it’s Murphy bomb, the man who couldn’t be bothered to even vote yesterday at Westminster, along with people like Jim McGovern of Dundee West.
We really may be at risk losing the momentum of the broader YES campaign now, if we lose the momentum we lose the argument, and come May we might just lose our last real opportunity for change anytime soon.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
We do have the, full might of the, Westminster establishment and the media against us. It may have slipped, from the high interest point of the referendum but, I think there are plenty of people still talking about Scotlands future, at least that’s my experience.
Jim
Thats good to hear and I would agree that it continues to a degree between yes voters but it’s the soft yes voters drifting away to Murphy la la land that concerns myself given the zillion hours of free BBC air time he appears to be getting.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
London hopes we are back in our box, but are we really? Given the plethora of propaganda programs on the BBC about the greatness of England and its institutions, I would say that they are not at all sure either.
bjsalba
As I noted to Jim, it’s the soft voters that I am concerned about losing sight of the need for change. The BBC just continue to be a joke as far as being journalists go, in fact I think they don’t do journalism anymore.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
I think you’re right Bruce.
There is a double duality in the UK; first- between what’s going on in the English bubble and what’s going on every where else – then; what the press is reporting and what’s actually happening on the ground.
My one hope is, despite the best efforts of the BBC etc and the various outpourings of slurry coming from politicians with vested interests – is that people know what’s really going on. Jim Murphy is a Unionist (and a dishonest poltroon.) The Tories are a bunch of hard-hearted bastards, the Lib Dems and Labour are useless and UKIP are mental.
The SNP, Greens and SSP etc may not be perfect, they at least could usher in the conditions by which we (and by effect the rest of the UK) could escape from the dead hand of Westminster fuckwittery.
Paul
It’s so important to keep blogging and sharing those blogs. I don’t worry about comments, although totally flattered when i get any, but I share as many of the blogs that I read as I can with people I know, people at work etc to try and keep the issues alive.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Bruce, May I say that without all of you bloggers out in the wilds of the internet I would have given up the will to live. I think yes, it is late of the SNP to be picking their candidates but look at the member ship that they now have to pick from. I do not believe that we will get all the seats we deserve but the impetus I see from the new membership leads me to believe that there are enough people with their eyes wide open to the machination of Labour/Tory/Lib Dems for some change.
I have no way of counteracting the anti democratic stance of the Media, I notice we are being blacked by the BBC, surely though that some of the soft yes also notice that, not only the BBC but the ITV, Sky etc. Not one word is to be said apparently though yesterday during the squabbles over the empty chair for the Debates, Gavin Essler and I think Andrew Neil both questioned why David Cameron was having the Greens (England) but not the SNP.
Hektorsmum
I really agree with you on the blogging, somethimes it’s the bloggs like Munguin and Fazzledown that keep my spirits and hope alive. I blog to express an opinion and hopefully encourage others to have a wee think, check out what I say, and hopefully blog themselves as everyones opinion matters, although you wouldn’t think so if all you do is follow the msm in Scotland.
I don’t think the SNP will get near the debates, the others are too afraid to give the platform to them. I do think they are taking the foot off the peddle though and need to be very aware of what is going on around them. I don’t think the SNP will get anything like 40 seats in May but 20 could be achievable if they work very very hard to maintain the yes momentum.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Getting your head round how relentlessly overpowering the British State Propaganda machine is,especially now that it’s getting ramped up,is quite frightening to the vulnerable,to whom it is targeted.
TV,Radio, Magazines,Newspapers etc etc are on full sensory attack,but the thing is they are no longer the only way-they know it and we know it-that’s why it’s getting interesting.
What has been happening since the referendum is that no-one is getting back in their box and the times are a-changing Bigstyle .
It can only get more positive for Scotland, and hopefully our set upon neighbours in the rest of these islands,because the very thought of going back in the box is off the table.
My own opinion is that politics as they have been before in Britain is OVER AND OUT.
Let’s get as many Snp MP’s as we can to Westminster to bring the house of cards(and Lords) tumbling down.
The sooner the better for all.
Thomas
I think you’re correct a lot of people are doing things behind the scenes and they , like myself, are certainly not going back in their box but I feel there is a danger of allowing the media to keep Scotland off the agenda. All of the ones you mentioned above will be working overtime to keep Scotland hidden away and the agenda for change off the table to keep the ignorant, well ignorant. We really need to keep the pressure up online, with blogs, sharing info etc because those b******* will do all they can, and in as many dirty ways as possible to keep their union.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce