I’m so sorry! Firstly, that I didn’t post my offering on Friday – hopefully hear more about that in the future – but I, also, intended this to be a somewhat wistful post, inspired by nature and free from white, plastic stilettos. You can’t always get what you want! Ah, genius, which brings me to my next point …
‘The First Minister has never been more convinced that independence will happen.’
The Kaye Adams Programme, BBC Radio Scotland.
I was met with that on my Facebook Feed, this morning after an idyllic hour on the beach. Why am I surprised? The only certainties in life, just now, seem to be that every sentence contains the word COVID and Sturgeon’s fixation with herself and her ambition. I had hoped to dismiss that in a couple of sentences, after all, isn’t the very fact that she has the audacity to mention a second referendum on Scottish independence, at this time, not only hugely insensitive but a damning indictment of her true focus? I said, all these months ago, that she was rubbing her hands with glee at the opportunity of a starring role in her very own Party Political Broadcast each and every day. It was a gift when one considers that the majority of ‘her’ proletariat blindly accepted her performance. Unquestioning. Oblivious. A blanket acceptance of her integrity … Well, wouldn’t one rather believe that a First Minister, supposedly leading the country through the ravages of a pandemic, was genuine; that, putting all else aside, she was totally focused on the task in hand? One would be as well believing in Neverland! This is Nicola Sturgeon; she, who cares about nothing other than securing her place in history as the First Minister who succeeded in breaking up the United Kingdom. For, be in no doubt, that is her reason for living! Long weighed down by that chip, she can think of nothing else but her determination can, at once, be interpreted as unrealistic and simplistic. What of the economic figures in support of Scotland’s ability to stand alone? There are none. She couldn’t even surmount the problem of currency in 2014! There is no weight behind her relentless demands for independence, merely an abundance of foot stamping and the gift of Brexit.
What does the SNP represent to me? Firstly, courtesy of Donald Dewar, that embarrassing, unsightly Parliament building at the foot of the Royal Mile! How the neighbours – Holyrood Palace – permitted its planning permission, God alone knows? Seems even the Queen’ life can be tarnished by those across the road … Built at huge expense, there was no question of taste but, rather, a total disregard of surroundings in a city known for its beautiful architecture.
Tarzan’s lair completed, however, it was time to spend further billions on a needless – and unwanted – tram network whose planning was devoid of intelligence. Do I note a theme emerging, here?!
Oh, then there’s the SNP’s amazing education record incorporating free university tuition for our own, for goodness sake! The truth is that ‘our own’ cannot get in to our top universities anymore because the allocation of places for Scottish students has been slashed. It’s minimal. Edinburgh, St Andrews? Not a chance unless you flash the cash! Americans, Chinese, some English, even, but natives to this country? A smattering.
Edinburgh has rapidly sunk to the depths at the hands of the SNP, its demise immediately visible. What, once, was a city of class with the most stunning of backdrops is now shabby, unkempt and dirty. Princes Street, in the shadow of the magnificent castle, is reduced to nothing more than a street full of tat: cheap tourist shops, phone shops … pure tat! Once, it was the face of grandeur, home to respected department stores and luxury. Not anymore. For a while, George Street became the high-end shopping destination. Today, it is nothing more than a line of beautiful old buildings housing flash bars for the brash, the chosen weekend destination of hordes of drunken hen parties who, suitably inebriated by mid-morning, struggle to negotiate the many homeless on the pavements … What of the Festival? Christmas? Much of the same. The years have reflected those in charge. I just hope that the wonderful street decorations, this year, maintain the high standard of those in the recent past. I, for one, would sorely miss the blue spaceship monstrosity which sits at the top of Castle Street and shoots drunken yobs into the air at £8 a time …
Oh, help! I had such a lovely walk on ‘my’ beach at 8.30am, this morning. Just me, a glorious stream of wild geese flying overhead and a lone horse and rider. Good for the soul, as Pop would say. It was beautiful and so calming. Plenty of time to think – and plenty of time to ponder why the thousands of wild geese? Honestly, one of my favourite sounds, I was acutely aware of the numbers. So many! Why? St Andrew’s Day? 30th November? Have their visas run out? Something to do with Brexit? Do they know something we don’t? Please come back! I know, I know, white plastic stilettos are tasteless and unacceptable – much like Indyref2 – but she is deluded. In the words of Churchill, ‘We shall fight on the beaches’ and, what’s more, ‘We shall never surrender.’.
‘Friends, this pandemic has taught us so much – about ourselves and our country.’
The words of Nicola Sturgeon in her annual, virtual, conference speech this afternoon. Who has any need to dispute them- well, other than the ‘Friends’ bit?!
On Friday, 28th November, the SNP announced that, if re-elected, they would provide free breakfast and lunch for all primary school children, all-year-round. Wow! Not a hint of a bribe in there …
Then, today, announced by the First Minister as part of her speech at the Annual Conference for the SNP: £500 to be awarded to every member of the NHS and Care Staff by way of a ‘Thank You’. Enough but, no, she went on to say that the SNP were ‘choosing to do this from our own resources’ BUT ‘we don’t have the power to make this tax-free …’ Of course, not! So, Ms Sturgeon – of the white plastic stilettos – went on to address the Prime Minister – virtually – virtually (literally) begging that he allow the NHS staff and Care Workers (to whom she is affording such generosity) every penny. Come on, Boris! You, too, can be as altruistic as me. ‘Please don’t take any of it away’, she asked. What’s that? You are bringing up the £8.2 billion you gave Scotland during the pandemic? Well, that’s just petty!
This has, unintentionally, been a Party Political Broadcast on behalf of anyone intelligent, educated or both. I make no apologies. In these difficult times, I have had enough!
‘When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.’
Franklin D. Roosevelt
This is Trish, signing off.
