Does Scotland really benefit from Britain?

Unionists never tire of telling us that the union with England has been of disproportionate benefit to Scotland, in fact only a small proportion of the Scottish people benefitted from the Union.

Prior to the Union of the Crowns much of the country operated a clan system wherein although the Clan Chief led and protected the clan he did not own all the land upon which they lived, the idea of privatising common land came from England. It is entirely thanks to the Union that land ownership was concentrated in the hands of an elite. It is entirely thanks to the Union that much of the population of the Highlands were driven from their homes to emigrate, or to live in slums in the industrial cities of the lowlands. It was the Union that led almost to the destruction of the Scot's Gaelic language and culture. The ordinary people did not benefit from the union, the Union with England has actively sought to damage Scottish culture and undermine Scottish identity and national pride.

The benefits of living in Scotland do not come from its connection with England. In Scotland at the Reformation John Knox ensured that village schools were set up across Scotland, whereas the English only passed an act to educate the children of the working classes in 1870. It is well known that life expectancy in Glasgow is shorter than elsewhere in the UK another legacy of the Union and that the slums of Glasgow were cleared and its citizens paid a living wage owes nothing to the English, but to the actions of Scottish Trades Unionists like James Maxton, John MacLean, Manny Shinwell, Davy Kirkwood and Willie Gallacher and the thousands prepared to strike for a living wage. When the Clydeside workers did strike the English government response was to send armed troops into George Square. The Union with England has perpetuated poverty and the destruction of individual liberties.

Strathclyde Regional Council made great progress in raising the condition of people in the West of Scotland from the mid 1970s and through the eighties, it used its size and purchasing power to make economies of scale and to impose agreements on contractors to protect working conditions. However it committed two cardinal sins of being both effective and run by the Labour Party so the Conservative government in London abolished it. That it represented an alternative power base is illustrated by the threat of dissolution giving rise to serious consideration of the possibility of UDI by certain parties. The Union  with England has actively denied the Scottish people the right to determine their own futures or run their own lives.

Many countries have used subsidies to support indiginous industries, whereas the UK government allowed the destruction of the Scottish shipbuilding, engineering and coal industries by cheaper imports of foreign goods, primarily to undermine Trades Unionism and employment rights. Importing foreign goods produced by exploited workers not only damages our workers but perpetuates injustice overseas. Now such employment rights as remain are under threat from Conservative legislation in Westminster that will remove Employment tribunal from many workers. The Union with England has damaged human rights in Scotland

The claim is often made that Scotland attracts excessive public spending, but the whole of Scotland received £53 billion of public spending in 2011 compared with £80 billion for London and £64 billion for the South East of England, this doesn't include defense spending of which the majority goes to the south of England. An independant Scotland might not have the defence budget of the UK, but its total budget could be spent at home, supporting Scottish industry. An independent Scotland s threatened by Unionists with the withdrawal of military support by the UK, what they forget is that an independent Scotland could license its deep water facilities, air bases etc to whomever it wished, and there are nations that would be delighted to pay for facilities on the Atlantic coast of Europe. The Union with England does not defend Scotland it merely prevents Scotland from making its own beneficial alliances.

Freed from England, Scotland will probably begin with a reduced income and things may be difficult initially. However a free Scotland will be able to make its own trade agreements, offer its own incentives to foreign investors, be allowed to develop its own industries and establish its own alliances without having to put the interests of English investors before the needs of Scottish workers!

Thoughts on Rangers

I don't follow football, not the round ball game anyway, but I can't help but feel slightly saddened by the descent of the Glasgow Rangers to the Third Division. Even for those of us who care not for football the "Old Firm" is part of our consciousness, it is one of those things that defines Glasgow. Sadly much of the identity of this city belongs to the memory rather than the present, Red Clydeside, the International Brigades, ship building and the UCS work in, Springburn locomotives, it would be sad if the Old Firm were to join them. Somehow Celtic without Rangers is like Laurel without Hardy or Francie withoot Josie. However much they may have inconvenienced us, the Old Firm games were part of the rhythm of this city's life. I don't much care about the financial impact Ranger's demotion may have on the other clubs, when they chose to put Rangers in the Third Division they will have been aware of the financial implications. I feel more sorry for the shopkeepers, restauranters, publicans and coach firms whose livlihood will be affected.

Of course the Rangers' story is not over and I, for one, will not assume this is the end. Given their heritage and support, I suspect we will see a new era for Rangers. Over the next few years they will probably climb back up the league, perhaps with a new emphasis on home grown talent. I certainly would not bet against them becoming once more League Champions within the next decade. I won't pay much attention to their fortunes, but when they do complete their come back I will go to the cinema to see the film of their return, "No Surrender - The Rangers Story". I wonder if they could get Tom Cruise to play Ali McCoist!

Please Check Spelling

I have had enough! I am reading Amateur Gardening and in two pages I've found "scared cow" for "sacred cow", and "prefect" for "perfect". Don't magazines bother to proof read their articles any more?

To be honest, the computer magazines I read tend to be worse than Amateur Gardening in this regard, but the final straw falls where it falls. I am sympathetic, I use Swype and if I don't keep a sharp look out all sorts of strange alternatives to my chosen words jump into my text. A spell check can help but as long as the wrong word is in the dictionary, it will not be picked up as an error.

I recognise that in these harsh economic times people have to eke out their resources, and many writers have to produce several interesting pieces each week, it's a lot of work. I think it is unreasonable for publishers to not only expect writers to produce copy but also pick up all their mistakes (most yes, but not all). However a magazine published with several errors appears unprofessional, however good the content and it's annoying, irksome. Surely it is the responsibility of the editors to ensure the finish of the product? Tim Rumball, I'm talking to you!

I buy magazines for their content, a few spelling mistakes won't stop me from reading, they'll just take away a little of the enjoyment.

Windmills and Motorways

Last weekend my wife, daughter and I drove back to Glasgow from Manchester. Unusually we travelled through Cumbria and the Borders not just in daylight, but in sunshine, I can't remember when we previously travelled that road in daylight. I had expected to enjoy the rugged beauty of the hills, but what my memory had not prepared me for was the wind farms. There is something inspiring in the sight of those giant air-screws gently turning in the wind, I love to see them whether in a Rajasthani desert or on a mountain crest in Cumbria.

I know that there are many people who hate wind farms, who want to preserve the countryside unchanged; however there has never been a time when the countryside has not been changing, primarily through the action of human beings. Progress has its own beauty, but it is predicated upon the acceptance that the urge to progress, to learn, to discover, to improve is essential to the existence of humanity. If we kept – as some would have us – our wild places untouched we would have no agriculture and no settlements. Some claim that wind farms spoil the countryside, that is merely one opinion with which some of us would disagree. Some oppose road building, but would we want to spend a week travelling from London to Glasgow in a horse drawn carriage along rutted cart tracks, which in themselves represented humanity's urge to impose progress and improvement on the land. Who can say that today's resisted project won't become tomorrow's tourist attraction? Were it not for General Wade's hated roads there would never have developed the Scottish tourist industry. The monuments of our commercial infrastructure attract visitors, all the way from the Thames Barrier, across the Forth bridges up to the Skye road bridge, visitors carried on the motorways some consider scars on the landscape and upon the remnants of the magnificent rail network left to us by our Victorian forbears.

Change is inevitable and improvement is essential as long as we want to heat and light our houses, and power industry, and move food and manufactures around the world. It is easy to bemoan the pace of contemporary life, but would we willingly return to horse drawn mail coaches instead of email or candles instead of the electric light? A few perhaps, but all the time? I think not.

You may not like change, you may oppose it, but change is inevitable and life might be easier if instead of resisting you instead learnt to appreciate the beauty of progress because it is not going to be reversed any time soon.

David Cameron suckered by Salmond!

The SNP went into the election with a clear commitment to hold the Independence referendum in the second half of the parliament. The Unionist parties tried to goad the Scottish Government into moving earlier, but uniquely among British political parties the SNP showed a determination to deliver on its manifesto promises although it has yet to do so on several. The unionist frustration at Salmond's determination to move in his own time as promised has goaded David Cameron into precipitate action.

A referendum in the second half of the parliament may well deliver independence so David Cameron has decided that the Westminster Tory Government will force an earlier vote, he may have played right into Salmond's hands. Like Thatcher, Cameron has demonstrated a contempt for the will of the Scottish people and this latest move shows how little regard he has for us. However the referendum will have a legal status that Salmond's one would not have had, it only takes a stirring up of Scottish resentment of English arrogance and meddling for Cameron to have painted himself into a corner. Salmond could not have split the Union, but he has tricked Cameron into doing it for him.

Remembering Action Bangladesh

In 1971, in my late teens I had one of the defining experiences of my life. I was allowed to go by myself to London to stay with my cousin Barry, my first big adventure I suppose. In the middle of the two weeks at the beginning of August I attended my first ever protest march and rally. Action Bangladesh had organised a protest in support of the struggle to gain independence for Bangladesh (East Pakistan), I suppose there may have been some Bengalis working that day, but it looked to me as if the whole Bangladeshi population of Britain had converged on Trafalgar Square. We marched through the streets chanting, “Joi Bangla” and “Long live, long live, Sheikh Mujib, Sheikh Mujib”, we sang a song which went – if I remember correctly – “Bade penge dow, bade penge dow bango” and translated as, “break down the barriers and let the spirit free” (of course, it was forty years ago so I may not be accurate). In Trafalgar Square we listened to speakers calling for the bloodshed in East Pakistan to cease and for it to be given independence as Bangladesh and heard the first public playing of George Harrison’s “Bangladesh”. I had never been so excited and the next day I went –  as I remember –  to Streatham and volunteered.


The first day I was there we counted the money from the collections made along the route of the march and at the rally – several hundred pounds in coins – our hands were black. We then took the money to the bank in buckets, they were not entirely happy and suggested we might in future use money bags with which they then supplied us. I think it was the first time in my life that I felt part of something truly worthwhile, and although I was just a schoolboy I don’t remember ever feeling I was not wanted. I was a little overawed by Paul Connett and Marietta Procope who were running the organisation, they not only knew so much but they understood stuff! I was a callow schoolboy and they seemed so sophisticated but they put up with me with a good will although I am sure I had little to offer in skills and experience. I had conversations with other volunteers and, I believe, absorbed some of their passion for justice.


The person above all who made an impression upon me was Marietta Procope. She was personally committed to the cause and – as I understand it – had originally given Action Bangladesh a room from which to organise. By the time I arrived the organisation had taken over not only her life, but her house, all she had left to herself was her bed! I remember her as very slim and a prodigious consumer of cigarettes and coffee. I don’t know whether I had a crush on her, I might have done, but I do know she inspired me. That week at Action Bangladesh convinced me that ordinary people can make a difference, that there is always hope and that people are fundamentally good. I went back to school, the war ended and East Pakistan became Bangladesh. I never saw Marietta or anyone from Action Bangladesh again, but in the forty years that followed I have been involved in the Labour Party then the Communist Party, I have been a trades union official, I have campaigned against nuclear weapons, against Apartheid, against racism, I have demonstrated, canvassed, petitioned, leafleted, I have written letters and lobbied, and I continue to do so.


I was very upset when I learned of Marietta’s death after she returned from Bangladesh, having visited shortly after the war. I can’t pretend to understand how others think, but I have known the pits of depression and considered killing myself and I regret that anyone should suffer. I like to think of her death as one last protest against mans inhumanity to man. I was pleased to see that she is among the 124 foreigners being honoured by Bangladesh for their contribution to the War of Liberation; for my part I would like to think that the campaigning and political activity I have undertaken is a small, but not inappropriate, tribute to the memory of the woman who inspired me to action - Marietta Procope

Anonymous, the Shakespeare Thing!

I went to see the film “Anonymous” which I thoroughly enjoyed. As I was preparing to leave the cinema I overheard two men speculating on whether Derek Jacobi or the other stars actually believed that someone else other than William Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s works. I love it when a film provokes discussion, it doesn’t happen often. The debate over the authorship of Shakespeares plays is not a new one and over the years academics have postulated several alternative authors, this film presents an entertaining drama which should be treated as such.

Whoever wrote them the plays of Shakespeare represent the high point of English literature, written at a time when, had they not been written then, there was a wealth of writers – Marlowe, Johnson, Donne – whose names would have sprung readily to mind, but who tend to be overshadowed by Shakespeare’s incomparable brilliance. It must have been an amazing time to be alive.

I don’t much care who wrote Shakespeare’s plays, as I said to the men discussing the film. “It is not important who wrote them, what is important is that they were written!”