A New Year – An Opportunity to Start Anew

As I sat down on Hogmanay, I saw on a friends social media page a wonderful passage which came from the letters of the poet Ted Hughes It reaffirmed what had been playing in my mind for weeks now….

‘The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.’

2016 has not been a successful year for socialists and the left. Not only in Scotland but throughout the world. The ascension of the right and far right in the Scottish elections, the elevation of a new unelected Conservative Prime Minister and the election of Donald Trump as US president. The ongoing assault on homes and families in war torn regions of the world, not only in well documented areas like Syria and Yeman, but also the purge and further authoritarian measures in Turkey and the rise of the far right in Europe and further afield.

2016 has seen a battle rage not between the ruling class and the impoverished, or the left and the right but by socialists and social democrats. The left and the far left. Egos have driven agendas while homes and communities have been left without care or support. Abandoned and left to the dogma of British nationalism leading to further inequality and democratic abandonment.

This distortion must be resolved before we can even begin to fight back in 2017. I for one accept just as much responsibility as any for a failure to unite and respond to the challenges we face in our society today. Make no mistake the challenges we face are enormous. They begin in our homes, our communities and within our class. A million people again have used food banks this year. Living costs are rocketing and poverty wages prevail. Children have a greater chance of living in poverty in the UK than at any time in the last 50 years. Most working class people live in fear of their next energy bill or being able to afford ever increasing rents. The prospect of todays generations buying their own home seem impossible, while for some they are unable to have a home at all.For far to many, often hope was all that was left and now this is light is being extinguished.

I still believe in an independent Scotland, not only as an avenue for greater prosperity and equality in Scotland, but also so that we can become a shining beacon in an island, a continent and indeed a world that is becoming increasingly invaded by hate and fear. But I do not support independence blindly, I wont accept an independent Scotland that is UK light. This is not what I, nor thousands of others campaigned at the last referendum for. I believe in a fair and just society, one which takes care of those who most need our support and help. I believe we must eradicate the threat of nuclear weapons, to ensure that the rich pay their share, that big business not only pay their tax but are responsible employers. That vital services in transport, and energy should belong to the people which it serves. One which cannot morally pay poverty wages to some and reward others for failure with millions of pounds and medals of honour because of their job title. This was the independent Scotland I campaigned for before and it is the same that I will continue to work towards.

A New Year brings with it new hope and also new opportunities. These opportunities can be used to continue to embolden old feuds and arguments or it can provide us an opportunity to extend a hand of forgiveness and begin to repair divisions. Today I use this New Year as a new opportunity to extend the hand of friendship and forgiveness to those who I share so much in common with. I hope this can be the beginning of a better understanding. Let us work together where we are united. Socialists, social democrats, nationalists and anyone else that share a common cause. It is time for all of us to realise there is more that unites us than divides us. That what we agree on, we can work together on and what we don’t we can discuss and debate in a respectful and honorable way. I know in 2016 I did not achieve that. This is my mission in 2017.

I, you, we… all of us have the capability and power to create a fairer, just and more equal society, a greener, prosperous world for our children and future generations. We must accept that we might all never unite under one flag or one banner or one party. But we all care about a great deal of issues that are not mutually exclusive to each other. It is through the strength of our unity in our causes that will allow us to not only fight back but to prevail.

Yes we enter 2017 in dark times, but as Tennyson once said….

‘ And out of darkness came the hands that reach thro’ nature, moulding men.’

I look forward to working with you all to finding the light. It will not be easy nor easily achieved but it is a battle we must all face in order to leave a brighter beacon behind.

Comments (21)

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  1. scott aitken says:

    Exactly, united we stand, divided we fall.

    1. Gordon McShean says:

      “United we stand … divided we fall.” Its an ironic statement. We believed we represented united Scots in the 1950s when I – a mere boy – acted with others to remove (and dispose of!) armoury guns that might have been used against nationalist demonstrators. An executive officer of the SNP had recruited us – emphasizing that we were supporting a common cause. But after that successful action was betrayed and the rusting guns were discovered in a pit, he and I were advised to go into exile. Some SNP representatives distanced themselves by endorsing a newspaper slander, calling us ‘terrorists” despite our known party involvement. We escaped abroad, and couple of years later our SNP recruiter, who did not take part in the action, was able to return to Scotland from the US – being assured of safety if he took a quiet party post (he continued to communicate with me in exile, until his death, expressing regret that I still was at risk of arrest). Now still in exile at age 80 (after a good life among foreigners – I wrote about all that in my memoir RETIRED TERRORIST) I’ve maintained an intense interest in my nation’s future, and regret I’ve become discouraged to the extent that I now accept the criticism made of we nationalist lefties back in Glasgow – that we wanted to “have our cake and eat it.” We’ve united only to enjoy Scottish sentimentality. Those interested in creating a true leftist democracy will have to settle for assurances of obtaining the dole while their ideal activists are blowing bagpipes on the side of a distant hill.

      1. c rober says:

        Good to see you have lived to see another year Gordon , each day a continual embarrassment to the few .

        Perhaps the radical is not dead , merely retired , I hope summer is treating you nice.

        Still no interest in the Script on the book yet? Perhaps you should drop a copy to our remaining social commentator directors , even if they are English.

        1. Gordon McShean says:

          Alan’s introductory quote of Ted Hughes’ words of wisdom: “The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest …” was apropos in relation to my exile, since – at 16 – I learned from cardiologists at Glasgow Royal Infirmary that “Glasgow tenement disease” (rheumatic fever) had so badly damaged my ticker that I should immediately apply for 50% disablement status and not expect to live more than another 15 years unless heart valve replacement techniques improved. Following the gun raid I had already decided to cycle round Scotland, reasoning that I might be less vulnerable to arrest during that couple of weeks on the road. Neither my wee sister (who insisted she’d do the trip with me), my parents nor doctors knew much about my ‘wild side.’ And the only folks within the SNP who knew about my predicament, National Secretary, the late Robert Curran, and his sidekick, Frank Sherry, had their own worries. Not only had they planned the raid and recruited we foot-soldiers, but Robert had been making arrangements for young Scots to attend a ‘defensive techniques’ training programme for young activists in Latin America! He’d asked me if I might want to attend – saying all they needed to get going was financing. Of course those plans now had to be abandoned!

          You asked about my books. My first major work (after writing and illustrating a children’s book, MR CHILLHEAD), dealt with my heart, not my exile. It was issued by publishers in the UK, the US and NZ, titled OPERATION NEW ZEALAND (the American paperback was called BUM TICKER). In the US in the ’60s and ’70s my activism drove me to promote free speech. I quickly got in trouble for that. I wrote the memoir RUNNING A MESSAGE PARLOR to tell of my adventures there and of America’s contradictions . All of these books are now out of print – but I understand there is a fairly active second hand market trading them!

          I appreciate your question about my most recent memoir (2011), RETIRED TERRORIST. Scottish and English book publishers expressed no interest in the manuscript despite knowledge of my earlier works’ successes. Newspapers too had been very reluctant to report on the gun raid all these years ago and may have been concerned that the Royal’s affairs of the day could still be sullied. Ordinary Scots who (somehow!) heard about the book may have assumed the ‘terrorist’ label indicated real wild-eyed radicals rather than a wee laddie who wanted to keep guns from threatening our nationalist demonstrators! I’ve arranged for RETIRED TERRORIST paperback to be available from Trafford Publishing (www.trafford.com) in the US.

          I also appreciate you good wishes concerning my health. Things have been rough at times -and continue to be a concern. Not only am I unable to return to Scotland (where the thought of that two week cycle tour still engages me), but traveling now is largely restricted to a walk to beautiful Himatangi Beach with ma wee dug. Who would have anticipated I’d reach the age of 80? New Zealand (where their life saving techniques have saved my life 5 times) is a good place to finish up! I hope Scots folks arrange to finish their matters ensuring a better future for my dear people!

  2. c rober says:

    I too feel optimistic for 2017 , the winds of change in our sails have never been more in Scotlands favour , the demise of psuedo socialsim , the realisation that Scotland is not and never has been an equal partner in this abusive relationship we call the UK , and of course the rise of facism on blame in England leading to Brexit showing the true state of the nation.

    All it takes now is steady hands on the tiller , piloting the good ship proven supply , heading for the shores of optimism , in a calmer sea of fairness , rather than navigating again the cape of Good hope , armed with fact cannons in case of acts of treacherous piracy – in order to protect all of the peoples cargo onboard…. whether they know its theirs or not.

    Parrot and peg leg optional.

    Of course though , failing to reach the end destination by the crew , again , is considered mutiny , then the plank awaits me hearties , and its still wet from 2015 from the devious red shirts afore them.

    1. Richard MacKinnon says:

      c rober,
      The problem you have is the ship. It appears to point blank refuse to dock in that port. As if it has a mind of its own. Regardless of the efforts of the crew the ship will not sail on the course mapped for it. It turned around in 2014 as it approached the quay and now it is further away than ever blown into another ocean, a place that the captain has no charts for.

      1. c rober says:

        Its a new ship , with new cargo , unlike the last sailing the safe harbour is now mapped , the crew a little more accustomed to the sea , with less enemies around the , less fearful of the krakkens and the sirens that remain.

        The port though , well has yet to be made to the right specifications , but we need not fear the natives should we choose a soft grounding , as long as we are forewarned , and as they say its also fore armed.No shiny baubels to bribe them , or infected blankets , unless you count their willingness to sell themselves as slaves once more , but I doubt they would do that this trip after the knowledge gained from the last one.

        Still the only worry is that munous dogs scuttle the ship , on another island , and bury the loot for a few of them , damning the rest of the crew on the rocks , keeping the chest for themselves and those like them.

  3. Richard MacKinnon says:

    Alan Grogan’s New Year message to us all.
    “A New Year brings with it new hope and also new opportunities. These opportunities can be used to continue to embolden old feuds and arguments or it can provide us an opportunity to extend a hand of forgiveness and begin to repair divisions. Today I use this New Year as a new opportunity to extend the hand of friendship and forgiveness to those who I share so much in common with. I hope this can be the beginning of a better understanding”.
    Well here’s my New Year message to Alan Grogan.
    Do you include your English brothers and sisters Alan? Any chance in 2017 they might get “a hand …………to repair divisions” extended to them? Were they, our English neighbours given a thought “this New Year as a new opportunity to extend the hand of friendship and forgiveness to those who I share so much in common with.’ Have you ever considered what the English must be thinking?
    Scotland and England have been in a union for 300 years. In that time we have as one country, the UK done much to be proud of and much to be ashamed of. Some of us Scots myself included, have in our recent past questioned our union with the English. This was partly due to forming an attraction to another partner, the Europe. In 2011 and to everyones surprise Scotland voted for a nationalist government which gave us the opportunity to hold a referendum and become a independent country if we chose to do so. The English were as surprised as we were. They didnt understand why some Scots wanted to break the 300 year old ties, they wanted the union to continue but they were prepared to accept our right to have our ballot and were prepared to acknowledge the result.
    This we all know as indisputable fact, just as we know the indisputable fact that was the 2016 referendum result.
    Alan when you “look forward to working with all to finding the light.” because as you say “It will not be easy ………..” however you are convinced “it is a battle we must all face in order to leave a brighter beacon behind.” When you talk about ‘we’ do you include the 55% of Scots that voted to stay in the union in your pontifications, and do you include the English in your struggles for a “brighter beacon”.
    Alan, the next time you feel it necessary to publish another piece of patronising self indulgence remember the facts; Scotland voted No.

    1. John Page says:

      You have previously said you voted Yes in IndyRef.1
      I suspect you are fake name, didn’t vote Yes and are a troll looking to either spark some controversy that you can publicise re “cybernats” or are a journo practising for your next article. In any event you are a dreadful bore.
      Given how people were misled in 2014 and the events of 2016, it is entirely reasonable for many of us to reappraise the result of the IndyRef and to seek to influence a new and better direction for Scotland. I hope idc our English neighbours support us in that and in particular quickly remove the wmds from the Clyde
      Please don’t feel any need to respond……I am sure most of the followers of Bella could pen a more convincing unionist case than the pretty feeble efforts you have advanced recently
      John Page

      1. Richard MacKinnon says:

        John,
        Trust me, I mean what I say. And I intend to keep on repeating myself; the right thing to do is to accept the result of September 2014. 300 years is a long time. We dicided to stay and so now we should get on with making it work. I dont see how this simple message can be read as somehow duplicitous.

        1. c rober says:

          Richard MacKinnon

          Yes in 2014 , so what then we wait another 300 years , or will it be like general elections , we are though only talking about 6 percent majority difference. And just like the EU and Brexit there is a high incidence of voters regret. This time around though the postal vote question wont be as easy , nor the finances and soldiers for PF II aka BT.

          But if a week is a long time in politics?

          The lies of job protection of the tax workers , of the watered down vow where even the English tories wanted more than our Scottish socialists , where remaining the UK was only by being in the UK , that Scotland would not get straight into the EU , well hindsight is 20 20.

          How about it being more widespread on the McCrone knowledge , of succesive Labour and Tory Govts in their cover ups , but for that to get out it needs our eunochs guised as legislators in Holyrood to take it to the ECHR and before we are dragged out of it. But then again can expect the BBC Scotlandshire news time to do a piece on that – dont hold yer breath unless you have a safe word.

          Then as other posters mention we have Scotlands share of Hs2 , Trident where we are its port as well as its purchasers , the London Banking passports , the new village towns , the 12b cost of WM repairs as well as that of our richest pensioner a, s the rest endure austerity and inability to do weather proofing of their own wee de socialised for banker profit RTB.

          If it was a clear cut as “doctored” polls are to be believed , then why has the support for SLAB gone , and why has the Tory risen? I did a poll last week outside a church at chucking oot time , 100 percent response to our questioning , “are you a christian”. So for polls to work , as they obviously dont with regard to EU , Trump , even indy 1 , then whom benefits , well other than to chuck more sandbags to the frontline when the enemy is approaching.

          But for any indy referendum to work then one question needs to be resolved , its not that of any union , but whether we are better off as a result for our majority of people , not that of our rich minority.

          In order for that to happen then the SNP needs to get some big guns oot to dae the maths , preferably not the same banks that did the maths for Greeces entry in to the EU , or those that threatened to leave Scotland in indy , just as they threatened to leave the UK with Brexit – whom are of course now Bribed to stay , and where Scotland will once again have to furnish that wealth creation , as it has done since 1706 . sp expected to be a direct 9 percent of 6-11 billion a year , and indirectly of course with Gers.

          The fight to stay this time aroon has less going for it , and now we have that , combined with the knowledge in how to fight their war , their way , then I am more confident than last time….

          That is if the SNP actually are expecting to be punished for failure afterwards in the polls , as SLab has been since 2014 , so proving the fiscal case is the rocket up their proverbial they need.

          The time is right , ducks in a line.

          So why not stand every SNP councillor on one mandate in May?

          Where a vote for the SNP is a vote for Independence… bypassing the double lock expected for granting a proper one by Westminster as they regroup GCHQ and refund PF II , and thus putting WM on the International Stage as the dictators and decievers they are today is the same as in history , ie no such double lock with the EU referendum mentioned , or arguments afterwards , hmm I wonder why it fears democracy other than the kind it supplies?

          I recently seen a meme , where I laughed but felt guilty unease afterwards , it was a Bald Eagle on the American Flag , with the caption “Scotland has oil , sounds like it needs some democracy”. The same kind that America has been practicing in the same oil regions that the UK has done before them.

          The democratic will of the people is a fallacy , when its your masters that decide exactly what democracy is , how it is applied , and whom it is applied to – The double lock therefore , in not being applied with the EU referendum is the same as old democracy , of landed gentry , of protestant church , and prevention on the catholics that sold us off to pay their debts in the first place.

      2. Jo says:

        John

        I’ve been catching up on Bella today. It may not be my responsibility to point these things out but that post is the second of yours I’ve seen today where you’ve attacked the writer as being fake. (The previous one was “G” on another thread.) You’ve accused both of being journos and you go further in the latest attack by even insisting the writer you’ve responded to didn’t really vote YES.

        I think behaviour like that is quite unnecessary and that you have no right to impose your opinions about another person here who has simply posted his own views. This is, after all, a site where all opinions are welcomed. Robust debate is a good thing but all out personal attacks on others with whom we disagree are surely not required.

        I have previously disagreed with Richard on this site on another thread but I addressed his arguments without attacking him. I would choose that method over your own every time.

    2. Andrea says:

      You ask “Have you ever considered what the English must be thinking?”

      And I ask back, “Which English?”

      You further ask that people accept the results of the referendum – that the union stands.

      Can you accept that ‘no’ now, may come to be ‘yes’ later, as circumstances change – provided that the process of inproving the offering to the nation is continued?

      For example: you may not want the offer of a new pair of shoes this month yet, as time passes, and you come to need them, do you want that initial ‘No, thanks’ to be forever binding?

      Also consider, if you would, that the ‘union’ is well-overdue for review and revision by ‘our English sisters and brothers’. Three hundred years of patches and twiddling round the edges… When will they be coming forward to place that review and revision offer for Scotland’s consideration? (The last and most recent attempt wasn’t exactly a template for building trust and reconciliation.)

  4. fermerfaefife says:

    Good comments Allan – Its just a pity you cant get those thoughts to sink in with Kezia and whats left of the labour party. Surely to god the template of operations for the labour party should be the same as the Greens – Support the nationalists where they agree, cajole and persuade them when they are too meek and oppose them constructively and persuade where they get it wrong.

    Being opposition for opposition sake and SNP bad will never get them back support – take the baby boxes stushi – absolutely crass stuff from them for a good and sensible idea — bonkers to try and make political point scoring out of it — retain some dignity at least .

    Surely at some point , it will sink in with them that following blindly the tory unionist cause will head for disaster – as you say surely the Labour party should realise that an independent socialist Scotland is a better bet for all your reasons than a Tory Austerity UK.

    1. c rober says:

      What we have is Tory austerity , protecting the wealth of the few , which has more than doubled since the financial crash. Those closet Torys in the Slab party , have increased their number after jumping ship – just like those voters with an indy bent seeing the light.

      Slab have became irrelevant in Scottish politics , which will be even more obvious in the council elections , and it can be traced to one thing , not listening to the electorate. So its hardly surprising that their option today and tomorrow is to do the same , to expect what is left , pun intended , through protectionist list system votes to change , ceeding power to change internally , well I doubt it.

      But then again , St Corby and the increase in England for rejecting NuToryism in the party …

      But for SLAB well its more like the maths of Scotland getting into the next round of a Euro championship , with a mercenary team , eligible only because of a Scottish granny , staying true to the 4:4:NU formation , wishing to protect their income derived from the local game paid for by local supporters.

      They became complacent , they became corrupted by the Nu disease that their historical , if not generational , blind voters hadn’t demanded , so is alien to them. While that strategy worked to move the soft tory to labour in England , well the Scots like their socialists blood red with mank under their nails…. which is the only reason there wont be a total extinction level event in May , some councillors are still red , and if demanded will drop the whip.

      The last stray was the protections of the jobs of some of the top ones , over that of a few red shirts that remained . the list , and through demanding that they kept the Uk party whip during indy , not instead represent their electorate . Since then , Milliband rejected , no successor elected to the Uk party in the same NuMould , and one that has been continues to fight them off.

      In Scotland we have instead kept the NU , albeit an indecisive one , with the successor in waiting , Baillie , the last nail in coffin.

      Whether they are indeed are the right answer a, nd have changed , lies in the polls in England , not Scotland , well as long as there is neither a clear out , nor acceptance , that Socialism as a brand starts local and spreads on proof of supply.

      So without adopting and promoting a full fat federal UK , with EVEL , as a new union , then I dont hold much hope for Labour , more so with the rise of UKIP. England has shown its kerd with the view that unions with neighbours dont work , that is if it is not weighted in its favour enough…. ie some are more equal than others.

      To think that the typical SLAB voter hasnt changed is ignoring the signs , the unionist went tory , the socialist therefore had to go somewhere given the results of each election since indy.

      Which leads me to…

      If the party for indy is now the only socialist in the village , then this is their week spot , a chink in the amour , and one that has been the subject of increased underhand tactics in the media over the last year.

      BBC Shitland report weekly on “special investigations” into the NHS , Schools and so on , used as as a weapon , chip chipping away to prove that the brand of SNP socialism is merely a veneer. Its state sanctioned warfare , just like the spying on Holyrood elected totally unchecked by the SNP…. which they should have taken to the UN or at the very least the ECHR.

      Where though was these investigations before now , inc freedom of information requests for Westminster instead of Holyrood , into McCrone , or the DWP blue book and the erosion of claimants rights , or into the PFI scandals of Labour councils?

      The time may come when radical means the removal of the state propoganda machine by old socialism , sit ins etc , if not the form of radicalism that gets you called a terrorist , in order to prevent broadcasting. But will the people stand for the removal of Eastenders and River Shitty , I doubt it , they have accepted that social engineering gladly for their eye heroin.

      Google the Nulabour control of the BBC in Scotland , or the editorial control of news , the rise of Nulabour and the partners of the Blair years in the media through their marital partners , or even ask for a FOISA run down of the place of birth of the heads of departments and editorial team at BBC Scotland . Dont expect an answer though for the latter , the BBC will avoid such a thing on one hand , and complain when they dont get one they demand from others.

      Resistance is futile.

  5. Mach1 says:

    It is not Nationalism that characterises Westminster hostility to the interests of people in the devolved nations, it is simply imperialism. Ukip and the Tory Right are jingoistic representatives of that ideology, one which like the political inequity it underpins has seen its day.
    Few would not agree with the comments above, that the Grogan piece reads like a parboiled Labour manifesto reduced to a form of prolespeak for general consumption. The task in hand in Scotland is as clear as it is ambitious; to wrest control of Scotland’s councils from the Unionist parties in order to advance the independence cause, the primacy of the Scottish parliament based on the sovereign will of the Scottish electorate. Central in this goal, in view of the rise of a neo-imperial Tory Party under Theresa May, is the forging of a political consensus to ensure Scotland’s place in Europe. There is a political front to join, it is called the SNP. Get on board or follow Kezia and her ilk into the abyss.

    1. c rober says:

      There is one simple answer to that , demand that the SNP stand in councils on one mandate , a vote for them is a vote for another indy ref.

      This works in two ways , it proves to Westminster its the will of democracy , just like that of when Tory mandated the same for the 2015 GE , and of course means that Scottish Labour , at the last of the socialist Grass roots level have to actually make decisions – and remove the indecisive leaders happy to use them as sandbags for protecting their own jobs.

      Its old warfare , turn them on themselves.

      1. c rober says:

        After a little more thinking , then perhaps the SNP can propose a Referendum in England on being in the United Kingdom , and see the same EU result?

        As I have been saying for a while , the SNP , well simply not radical enough.

        Just think about that for a second , any English MPS that would block such a referendum would then feel the brunt of their electorate.

        If we cannot cast of the anchor , then let someone else do it that is willing and able.

  6. Redgauntlet says:

    Ted Hughes was a great translator as well as a poet, and he didn’t really speak another language even.

    Ted worked with third party translators to do some sensational work.

    We don’t have a translation culture to speak of in Scotland, because the pathetic morons at Creative Scotland will only give money to publishing companies, not individual translators. Ally Dick is the guy’s name, and Janet Archer too of course…

    Most publishing companies are not interested in foreign literature or anything that can’t be expressed in the language of the Empire. And so….

    If we were all translators, even translators like Ted working through third parties, Scotland would be independent tomorrow…

    Happy New Year to all my friends – and combatants! – at Bella….

  7. Juan P says:

    It’s a bit odd hearing the argument that only a radically different independent Scotland will do. Even a UK light version of independence would be preferable. At least then we would get the government we vote for all the time.

    If we get independence and fuck it up then so be it. At least we’ll only have ourselves to blame.

    1. c rober says:

      Yes , only ourselves to blame , and only ourselves to find the solution horse and bolt – but with our own untied hands , thus without a personal or ulterior motives from any others.

      As long as we remain profitable within a Union , thats any Union for me , for its larger partner , and for the wealthy few , for the many as an income generator in the case of the Uk as a region , then they will do everything they can to ensure our shackles remain. Be that the traitorous Scots quashing the rebellious ones , the installed governors , or our English and wealthly maisters and puppets acting for them from politician to media , state or tycoon.

      We are just like the North of England , both of us the Souths cotton pickers , sugar cane cutters , or tobacco planters for our maisters , but as waged slaves and tax payers – Just like that nation and its founding fathers , where the new Lords refused their kings taxes , but actually fought for its independence demanded by the few without democracy , then afterwards installed even more taxes on them – increasing their personal wealth by subsidy.

      Sure America used a militia , under a threat of execution for those tenant masses , where the was the persecution of the personal wealth of the few , by threatening throwing them off the land , then replaced them once dead , or for refusing to act as terrorists with slaves on the land rather than tenants – Thus making their lands more profitable , but history brushes that under the carpet , a bit like the History taught in Scottish schools.

      So perhaps its time to start teaching the right History , in that a future can be based on the truth of the past , and then expect , even in failure , that eventually the “lady” says yes further doon the line. Gotta love this weeks twitter twats , had to put that one in , no pun intendre , or offence meant – just like the original.

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