IT’S really come to something when my hands shake, and the anger is rampant to the degree that words begin to fail me. We have had it confirmed that the health minister, Tory MP Gillian Keegan, continued her meeting after testing positive for Covid. And why not? Her boss doesn’t conform to rules, why should she,why should we? I should imagine the PM, Ms Keegan and their comrades, in flouting the rules, are followers of Thatcher and her 1987 statement, “there’s no such thing as society.”
So why bother about society when self has become supreme? We bother, communities bother! That’s why there’s donations to food, clothing, books, toys-for-kids banks. We bother: that’s why we rebuff the jingoistic bullshit that passes for the inward nationalism, peddled to us as Britishness. We bother, that’s why we plough on with our belief in the internationalism that seeks to regain Scottish independence, bringing a more egalitarian future along with our place in the world arena.
But we are living in the era of exceptionalism that appears to come from the presumed entitlement of birth and wealth. This cannot go on. Not least because the energy of government is focussed on self-preservation as opposed to public health, the economy, the potential for war in mainland Europe, and that’s just for starters. In a bread-and-circuses attitude, we see England offered a return to normal, a month earlier than anticipated.
What a blinder was played when we accepted wording such as “restrictions” . They weren’t really, they were safeguards. But now, we are told we need to ditch restrictions, providing a subliminal sense of freedom and taking back control via the rUK government. What a fig leaf for rampant corruption.
Sadly, many will buy that, and disregard people across the non-existent society, those with autoimmune conditions, with life-threatening conditions. We are in danger of leaving them behind, living detritus, casualties of Covid.
I started with the word rampant in my first sentence, and if I am fortunate enough to have this published, I’d like to end with the word “rampant”, as in Lion Rampant: Scotland’s flag from the time of Alexander II (1214-1249 AD). We blindly scoffed at the blatant state propaganda visible in states such as North Korea. But now we see monarchical propaganda taking precedence over food and fuel poverty. There is the inability of in-work families to adequately provide heat and shelter. Elected politicians are investigated by the Met Police for rule-breaking that equates to moral fraudulence. The responsibilities that are supposedly the basis of good government are overwhelmed by the self-interest of those elected to serve the people. All this indicates that societal boundaries have been crossed, propriety ditched and corruption appears endemic in the elite structures of state.
Just what will it take for Scotland to rise, rampant-like, to regain repute, dignity and a future for ourselves and the coming generations?
Selma Rahman
Edinburgh
IT WOULD, I am certain, be a welcomed move if your columnists would cease referring to our country as “a home nation”.
The surely correct reference should be simply “Scotland”, keeping faith with your admirable masthead.
It is vital that everyone with leanings or aspirations for independence should think “Scottish”. Whatever a home nation is, it is not independent!
I do commend your support of Scotland, and every move in our desired direction will be worthwhile.
John Hamilton
via email
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