THE Tories are a cabal of political criminals. Their membership consists of lackeys for the City swindlers, property developers, faded entertainers, newspaper proprietors and other members of the billionaire oligarch class. They are utterly merciless without scruple or conscience.
This group will use any and all means necessary to pursue its class interests ahead of the rest of society. This is why for 12 years under the Tories their fortunes have gone through the roof. All while everyone else’s living standards have collapsed. Why food bank use is at a record high and why energy bills are unaffordable.
This is unremitting class warfare by the Tories and by the corrupt, billionaire-owned media. In 2016 this cabal persuaded a group of simpletons to vote against their own interests with Brexit. All through a mass campaign of lies and jingoism. They are trying to do the same but to stop Scottish independence.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson says priority to rebuild after Covid as he rejects indyref2 call in Commons
Things are so bad in post-Brexit Tory Britain that polio has returned. Boris Johnson has, in his usual blustering style, decided to do absolutely nothing about this. Instead he and Joe Biden have decided to escalate the war in Ukraine. Johnson, while watching his own population struggle through misery, has committed £1 billion per month towards Ukraine’s weapons to fight Russia. Johnson has boasted at the Nato summit that the UK will spend 2% of GDP funnelling money into the already full coffers of the Tory-donating “defence” companies. All to produce more weapons of war. Johnson boasted this commitment was a “floor not a ceiling”.
The UK Government, along with other vassal states of Washington, are preparing for war with nuclear-armed China and Russia. A war that would end life on Earth. Johnson has branded Putin “evil”. Yet strangely he and his fellow Tory gangsters didn’t think this when Putin cronies were sending money to Tory party HQ. Not a single penny has ever been returned. The militarisation of the state by the Tories demands that fundamental democratic rights be given up at home.
READ MORE: Time's up on Tories' 2017 pledge to 'block indyref2 for five years'
The Scottish independence movement should be demanding that Boris Johnson and his Tory cronies be indicted and tried for the 160,000 Covid-19 deaths, for taking millions from Putin cronies in donations to the Tory party, for the deliberate lies told during the Brexit referendum, for the fraudulent way in which public contracts were given out to Tory donors during the pandemic and many other crimes. This would show the sordid and criminal way that Johnson and the Tories govern.
The UK is a failed state. Due to the malignant influence the British government has on the world, it’s helping bring about its destruction through war and environmental destruction. Breaking up the British state is something everyone on the right side of history should support.
Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee
I WAS more than a wee bit surprised to learn that the Scottish Government has pledged another £65 million to the war effort in Ukraine. This contribution will make up part of the £1 billion funding the UK Government is providing to the Ukrainian military. It will apparently be used to help provide state-of-the-art equipment including air defence systems. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said the money “would help in the fight against Russian aggression.”
The new funding takes the military aid given to Kyiv to £2.3bn – and the UK has also spent £1.5bn on humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine. The Scottish Government has previously sent £4m in financial aid to Ukraine for humanitarian assistance and a further £3m for medical supplies.
READ MORE: Greenock police station takes down Union flag after pressure from Alba figure
However, with foreign affairs reserved to Westminster, should Scotland contribute to UK Government spending in this way? Maybe I missed the debate in the Scottish Parliament on the subject – if there was one. I would have been very interested to hear the justification of this donation for military not humanitarian aid, especially in light of the recent Fraser of Allander Institute report that a third of Scots are cutting back spending on food and other essentials due to the cost-of-living crisis.
Iain Wilson
Stirling
BORIS Johnson is quoted as making the typically fatuous statement that if Putin had been a woman he would not have launched the ongoing war of aggression on Ukraine.
Russia in the 18th century, uniquely among European monarchies, had four female rulers. The short reign of Catherine I was peaceful and marked by a reduction in military expenditure: so far, so good. Czarina Anna was renowned for her support of education and the arts, but she also embarked on a long and costly war against the Turkish Empire for territorial acquisition in the Crimea.
READ MORE: Anas Sarwar suggests Vladimir Putin would back Scottish independence
Czarina Elizabeth, a capable and in some respects highly successful ruler, participated enthusiastically in the Seven Years’ War, annexed parts of Finland from Swedish control, and made unsuccessful attempts to subjugate the native peoples of Siberia. Catherine the Great massively extended Russian territory by seizing lands, including Ukraine and Belarus, from Poland and Turkey.
If Putin had been a woman, therefore, he might well have cited the actions of some distinguished female predecessors as precedents for doing exactly what he has done.
Derrick McClure
Aberdeen
BORIS plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030, so presumably as GDP will tank by then, we’ll be spending less than we do now!
He’s becoming a snake-oil salesman just like that other parasite that goes by the name of Gove.
Steve Cunningham
Aberdeen
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here