MY heart goes out to Ben and Ann Power and their children: just another example of British Home Office malice. I thank The National for its unflagging coverage of such cases.
As an aside, this – and so many other cases involving Scottish residents of Scottish/European descent being summarily threatened with deportation by the British Home Office – shows that the deportation scandal we think of as the Windrush issue is not one of race, no matter how certain media commentators try to make it so. In natural justice, ancestral claims should be enshrined in law.
If you are of Scottish descent, then you should have the right of residence, work, and enjoyment of full civil liberties in Scotland.
Robert Dewar
via thenational.scot
SCOTS both old and new must be protected from the abuses of this appalling regime at Westminster and its abusive, capricious and inhumane Home Office. The DWP is, as we all know, another serious offender.
The Scottish Government is bound in all its actions to comply with applicable human rights law. That obligation should be extended, by the Scottish Government and Parliament, to ensuring that the agencies of the UK state also comply. People in situations like the Power family should be empowered to appeal Home Office decisions before a Scottish court sooner rather than later, and it should be for a Scottish court to determine whether the Home Office decision meets the necessary standards, not the Home Office itself.
It has been pointed out often enough that in refusing to “allow” Scottish institutions to make decisions – as in the case of the powers that the regime is trying to grab back in connection with Brexit, as in the case of all the others that were reserved to Westminster – Unionist politicians operate on the unspoken assumption that the decisions we arrive at here in Scotland will automatically be ignorant, stupid, or just plain wrong.
That is offensive enough all on its own, but when they imply that our courts are somehow less competent – in the non-legal sense – to decide in immigration cases than their appalling and appallingly shambolic Home Office bureaucracy, they truly beggar belief.
The Scottish Government and Parliament must take action to protect us Scots, new and old, from the depredations and abuses of the Westminster regime. The regime is weak, and it has enough legal fights of its own making on its hands right now.
We – the parliament that represents us, and the government that acts for us – must take the powers we need to protect ourselves, and reserved powers be damned.
Let the regime experience some pushback from the judiciary. Let the regime be forced to subject its ukazes to the scrutiny of the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court, and beyond. The regime wants to seize powers from Holyrood? Well, two can play at that game. Bring it on.
Edward Freeman
via thenational.scot
ON reading of the continuing Home Office shambles of people wanting to come to Scotland, who would work and contribute to Scotland’s prosperity, I cannot help but compare their plight with that of a US citizen arriving in London at the invitation of Prince Harry. Shortly they will be married with all the pomp, ceremony and expense, and she then no doubt will enjoy the rank of duchess. Obviously immigration rules did not apply (or were ignored) and they, along with many other royals, will enjoy a life, of what in effect, is a very generous social security hand-out, paid for by the taxation of ordinary citizens. It is time the Home Office adopted a more intelligent immigration system and not threaten to deport people who want to come here to work.
Andrew D Mowatt
Hamilton
WHAT did the indy march mean to me? In one word – everything. And I wasn’t even there!
Before the HOOP demo linking hands around Holyrood, I was at my lowest ebb since goodness knows when. I cannot adequately convey just how much my spirits were boosted simply by attending that event.
I could not go to Glasgow for this march due to a pre-arranged family matter but I will be at the next event. These marches are possibly THE single most important thing we can do to reinvigorate the YES movement and get our spirits back up. Lord knows we need a lift, so more marches are vital. Well done and thanks to AUOB.
Iain Jack
Blairgowrie
ON my walk /march last Saturday I was intrigued watching the public reaction as we made our way down through the city centre and out to Glasgow Green. There was a small group waving Union Jacks at what used to be known as Boots corner and then an even smaller group with one Union Jack flag and a few Nazi salutes between them.
However, it was the reaction of the general public that interested me. Their reaction varied between some encouragement, disinterest and a steely stare that suggested, why are you doing this? Some were determined to cut across the procession and were met, rightly, with good grace unlike some other marches that I could mention.
On my way to the Green I wondered what it would take to have the public abandon their afternoon plans and join us on this march to independence. What more do they need to see? A Westminster Government that continually ignores the Scottish Government and is about to make a disastrous Brexit, leaving Scotland far worse off than the rest of the UK.
Unfortunately, most appear to be content with their lot. Why they can’t see independence as a better future for their children and grandchildren remains the puzzle to solve.
Hector Maclean
Glasgow
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