I OCCASIONALLY take a trip across the 24-hour news rooms on the internet for a different view of world affairs than just a Scottish view.
France 24 ran an interesting interview with an Israeli journalist commenting on Netanyahu’s most recent “state of the nation” address to the Israeli public.
It appears Netanyahu spent most of the address blaming the IDF and Shin Bet for the failures in Gaza and the expanding war Israel is now being dragged into.
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According to Netanyahu it is all the IDF and Shin Bet’s fault the hostages have not been found and released, as they deliberately kept key documents from him while asking him to make decisions.
In the speech he went as far as accusing the IDF and Shin Bet of being “traitors to the nation of Israel”, so things are clearly not healthy at the top of Netanyahu’s regime.
Shin Bet responded by pointing out one of Netanyahu’s gophers had recently been caught handing over “secret documents” to a right-wing journalist.
The Israeli journalist also pointed out there were now nightly protests outside of Netanyahu’s office and home in Jerusalem about the Gaza war and its failure to free the hostages.
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Clearly being identified as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court has had an impact on Netanyahu as he is now trying the usual excuse of bullies every where – It wisnae me, yon big boys did it an ran awa.
Strange the UK media is not reporting on this serious split between the Israeli Commander in Chief, Shin Bet and the IDF.
Peter Thomson
Kirkcudbright
OH just what would I do without the letters pages of The National, where I find such interesting comments and ideas!
Sunday’s paper was full of diverse but interesting letters. Ricki McAllister from Geneva gives us some interesting detail about what the Swiss people can determine, and are determining, in their country right now by the use of direct democracy at national, regional and local level. Bill Robertson, in his justifiable frustration with the lack of democratic power of the Scottish people, suggests that the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) should just be ignored. Brian Boyce, who writes again about Scotland having “its body of supreme representatives”, would surely tell Bill that if we ignored the UKSC this would result in a flurry of legal cases.
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Nobody suggests a way forward for the Scottish people that they can start to take right now, and which can address their lack of democratic power. So let me try to simply explain how we can remedy this situation, starting today.
Switzerland uses direct democracy, and representative democracy in line with the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This covenant is incorporated within Swiss Law, and is of course also within international law.
The UK voted for that covenant in the UN and ratified it in the UK in 1967, but it did not incorporate it into English law. There is, however, no reason, other than lack of motivation, why the SNP Scottish Government can’t incorporate it into Scottish law now. They are not prevented from doing so by the Scotland Act so the UKSC has no role to play which can prevent this.
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We don’t need to ignore them, Bill, we can just bypass them. If this were done, as indeed it has been done for the UN Covenant on the Rights of the Child, then the Scottish people would have access, like the Swiss, to direct democracy and could, like the Swiss, use it in powerful ways to determine important political issues in Scotland. It would give a voice to the Scottish people’s sovereignty.
We don’t need a referendum, or to wait for another election, or for some inspirational “leader” to take us down this road. All we need is for the SNP to start doing their job properly in the Scottish Government and get this done, then the Scottish people can escape from this legal and political bog and start to make progress.
Andy Anderson
Ardrossan
ONE of the key lessons in policing a problem effectively is to offer an easier option which is also one that can be managed. This solution could even be self-funding rather then a money pit for public funds.
For the same price as the smugglers are asking (or cheaper?) for small-boat crossings, a large boat with warm cabins and meals provide could make a longer crossing to a selection of UK ports.
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On board would be a team of government officials who could process those travelling to sift out those with valid asylum claims and prepare for disembarking those who are to be processed further. On an 18-22 hour voyage the staff could also make key observations on those with possible issues. Naturally those being rejected could be kept on board and returned efficiently.
The vessel could be operated by a contractor, paid of course by the “fare” for the voyage, saving RNLI and others the stress, risk and costs of the current pantomime.
On this voyage there might also be possible job interviews to discover any potential talent to secure for vacant posts in the UK.
H
via email
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