THE Westminster government now seems to have legal backing for the removal of Shamima Begum’s British citizenship due to her having left the country apparently to support Islamic State.
By doing so, she broke British law, so what normally happens when someone breaks British law and absconds to another country?
If, for example, that lawbreaker were a fraudster, an armed robber or someone accused of murder, the British government would then I imagine take all possible steps to have these people brought back to the country to face legal judgement in our law courts.
READ MORE: Shamima Begum loses appeal to win back UK citizenship
Look at the effort that went into getting the train robber Ronnie Biggs back from South America to face judgement. Surely this should also be the case with Shamima Begum?
Whether she is a criminal or not is for the courts, and not for me, to decide. Not allowing her access to the UK, and declaring her to be someone else’s problem, is selfish and immoral.
Alex Leggatt
Edinburgh
WITH the Israeli government continuing to mount military assaults against the Palestinian population, when will our government start to send military aid to help the Palestinians to defend themselves?
Why do we not invite elected Palestinian leaders to speak in Westminster and have them urge us to send tanks and warplanes to the region? How long will we allow Israel to destroy homes and murder civilians as acts of collective punishment? Surely this and any other war crimes committed by Israel should not pass without censure.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon in letter to refugees on anniversary of Ukraine war
We don’t like Putin so we support Zelensky. Evidently we don’t like Palestine as much as we like Ukraine.
Whatever they claim as motivation in order to gain popular support, there are issues other than upholding freedom, democracy and the right to self-determination underpinning the actions and inactions of the Westminster government. Let’s not be fooled into thinking the Westminster government is a leader of the free world; it cannot be that while it fails to consistently apply principles enshrined in UN declarations.
Ni Holmes
St Andrews
I AM fed up listening to politicians and others who should know better regarding re-entry to the EU after independence. We were dragged out, although we voted to stay: FACT. We have also stated that come independence we will seek to go back in: FACT.
What really annoys me is that we were dragged out against our will and that seems to be our total argument for independence. Seldom do we hear of all the great things since devolution that we have achieved such as free university education, baby boxes, free prescriptions, free bus travel for many and much much more.
READ MORE: We're publishing the McCrone report in full in a MAJOR new series
What would would happen if the English parliament decided to apply for re-admission to the EU and was successful – does that mean our argument for independence is finished and we all live happily tied to the apron strings of the British establishment in perpetuity?
Surely the theft of all our natural resources – oil, gas, wind power and electricity too name a few – is a much more compelling argument for independence than a one-trick pony about the EU.
We are being led down a blind alley with no escape route if we constantly stick to the EU issue only. Independence first, and then we will deal with other serious issues at our leisure.
Michael Mc Dermott
Old Kilpatrick
DID you know 1921 was the last year the British state published Scotland’s contribution to the UK Exchequer? That year Scotland contributed £119.7m, of which £33.1m was spent on Scottish services and £86.6m was retained in London for “Imperial Services”. Irish independence was most likely the reason publication ceased. London didn’t want to give the Scots ideas above their station.
Another brief glimpse of Scotland’s contribution to the UK Treasury was in 1952/3. In that year, Scotland’s revenue of £409.6m exceeded by £100m the combined revenues of Norway (£183m) and Denmark (£130m).
After North Sea oil was discovered in Scottish waters in the early 1970s, Scotland’s revenue exploded into the billions. The UK Government reacted by hiding the McCrone Report that showed just how wealthy Scotland would be if it retained its oil revenues. Again, London couldn’t risk Scots finding out how wealthy they were. Then Thatcher destroyed Scotland’s industrial base, not replacing it with anything.
In 1999, on the eve of the opening of the Scottish Parliament, Tony Blair and Donald Dewar moved the maritime boundary from Berwick to Arbroath, reclassifying 6000 square miles of Scottish sea as English, along with seven major oil fields. This immediately reduced Scottish revenue in the rigged GERS accounts. And Keir Starmer wants Scots to once again trust a Labour government!
The UK’s ongoing theft of our natural resources should be reason enough to end this union farce. The SNP leadership candidates, if serious about independence, should be shouting this from the rooftops.
Leah Gunn Barrett
Edinburgh
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