WHAT a stooshie now for the Conservatives at Westminster. The deck chairs really are shifting on the Titanic!
Suella Braverman was a step too far for the PM, so where does he go for a replacement? James Cleverly. Then he thinks a previous PM in David Cameron will be a “safe pair o’ hands” to help steady the Tory ship?
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Oh dear, Rishi, what can the matter be? The people I feel most sorry for are the English people who felt that their fortunes were best served by a Tory government. We here in Scotland, closely aligned to our freens in Plaid Cymru, have a better option. I unreservedly wish all our wider UK nations the very best, but we’re off as soon as possible!
We have a thriving pro-independence movement, an SNP government and some genuine values and aspirations for all who live in this Scotland. We march for our autonomy without fuss and trouble, the polis walk along with us, we have a respect for them. We look after our own, regardless o’ where they come from.
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I would never be smug about how difficult this is going to be. No overnight fix, instant utopia or an independence bringing a panacea of perfection. We haven’t got things right every time and we will make mistakes. Nevertheless, we as a people have to be sure in our representation, they have to reflect the things we hold dear.
As a very long-time political activist and a local councillor, I see at first hand the damage Covid, Brexit, a deliberate austerity (not for the first time) and an energy crisis are doing to our people. Is anyone really telling me we can’t do better? So Mr Sunak, no harm to you, but we in Scotland are a different people, we have to be better than this.
Linda Clark
Forfar
CAMERON has been placed in the Lords so that he could be appointed Foreign Secretary, becoming the second Tory since 1979 to be Foreign Secretary while a member of the upper house. I’d imagine he may assume the title of Lord Cameron of Sweetcure.
The last Foreign Secretary to be in the Lords was Peter Carrington during the Thatcher government. Carrington is remembered for having the Falklands invaded on his watch and having to resign office.
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The irony of having the architect of Brexit in charge of our dealings with other countries seems lost on our embattled Prime Minister.
Being in the Lords means Cameron will not be accountable to the elected House of Commons and will not face their scrutiny or questions. Sunak probably doesn’t see this as an issue, as he spends much of his time avoiding questions and scrutiny from the House of Commons.
What a comment in the current crop of Tory MPs that none of them were seen as capable.
John McArthur
Glasgow
FOR me, the appointment of David Cameron to a ministerial post indicates only one thing. Having already scraped the bottom of the barrel for talent, with not even dregs left, the Tories have no option but to resort to a has-been to fill a critical vacancy.
P Davidson
Falkirk
THE disgusting events of 2023’s “Remembrancing” season came as no surprise to me, as they have been building up for years. I’ve been saying for years that the poppy has become politicised since the passing of the last Great War veterans, and with our World War Two veterans diminishing year on year, the genuine reflection and remembrance has diminished with them.
What we are left with now is a pale imitation of remembrance, wrapped up in Union flag-waving British nationalism, or “patriotism” as those participating would prefer it to be known. The connection to the individuals is almost gone, and for most they are now remembering an idea, not individuals.
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Watching footage on Sunday of the National Front in England laying a wreath really does show how farcical this whole situation has become, where our modern-day home-grown Nazis are openly accepted as participants in remembering the fallen, many of whom died at the hands of the original Nazis.
Here in Scotland we are little better, with the far-right and the British nationalist extremists also gathering round the poppy as a symbol of Britishness. We see Labour MPs and Tory councillors posing online in mock remembrance for the camera, all for a photo to be shared online for likes and comments. At our local cenotaph I observed sash-wearing Orange Order members placing wreaths. One was dedicated to the “UVF”, the other proclaimed “No Surrender”. There’s no humility or dignity involved anymore, it’s merely competitive staunchness.
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That Suella Braverman tapped into this market of extreme British nationalism is unsurprising – after all, it was the same “Little Englander” mentality which brought us Brexit – but she pushed just that bit too hard this time, and it has fuelled a rise not just in racist and xenophobic comment, it emboldened the thugs and put their jackboots on the street, snarling and spitting at those who aren’t white, poppy-wearing British citizens, and leading to a wave of violence and arrests.
Her sacking is welcome, but the words she used and the attitudes she displayed remain at the core of the Tory party, and may still pay off for them in the long run, what with an election coming in the next year.
One thing I noticed on Sunday was that considering there is a sizeable and vocal element of Scottish society who display their poppy 365 days a year, and who are not slow at criticising anyone who fails to wear one come poppy season, their numbers are very thin on the ground come the actual day itself. Where are they at 11am on a cold, frosty November morning? Not at the cenotaph, that’s for sure. I guess they forgot.
Jim Cassidy
Airdrie
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