A bad day to bury bad news.

I'm referring to Wednesday 8^th Feb when we saw the House of Commons with that massive majority of 372, (thank you Labour! ) vote to give a third reading to Article 50. Bad enough, yes, but that was the same day the Dubs Amendment was scrapped and the figure of 3,000 (child refugees) was slashed to 350. 

Was that sufficient for one day of infamy? NO, the rUK govt went for broke by refusing to support and guarantee EU citizens in the UK. It would appear then that child refugees are no more than casual statistics and EU citizens are clearly to be bargaining chips in the months to come, along the lines of ‘reciprocal’ when considering ‘Brits abroad’. 

What a shameful period in our history! 

There may be some redress in the coming months, and I believe our MPs will continue the fight in Westminster, but nothing will erase the stigma of that particular day and the actions of government and those pretendy, opposition parties. 

Both sides of the House appear more interested than ever before in appeasing the Brexiteers, especially with those two by-elections later this month. Should Labour lose one seat to the Tories, that will be bad enough, but to lose two, with the other going to UKIP  would clearly signify long years in the wilderness with no hopes of governing. 

So, how much longer will voters in Scotland believe the posturing of  Dugdale and her call for  new Act of Union?  

I’m not alone in believing it’s better to revoke that Union, and most definitely not renew it by rewriting it! 

How long will there be in a belief in Davidson and her ability to flip her flops in line with Tory HQ requirements, as opposed to getting on with her real, day job job namely as an MSP, fighting  for the economic, fiscal, social well being of Scotland?  

Hopefully our May elections will send a clear message to the Unionists’ parties and their HQ’s by Scotland clearly setting out  our direction of political travel in the coming months ahead. 

And now that we have Nutt True seeming to have joined the pantheon of alternative facts, economical with the truth  and project fear, then we need to be prepared for all that and more,  and worse: 

the resurrection of the Browns, the Murphys , maybe even some luvvies all telling us how better off we’ll be in a union bent of self destruction from within. The irony of the Labour party unable to oppose a destructive government, trying to tell us to stay with them, is obviously lost on them.

But as we already know Bettertogether2 will be potentially astoxic for political parties in the coming months as it was in 2013-14  let them fight that one out amongst themselves. 

Our challenge is bigger: ensuring the ‘when’ we leave this union and that day is the day when we can shout the good news.

👀    .............................................

Nutt True:  The National Feb 15th 2017  www.thenational.scot/

alternative facts ....... used by U.S. Counselor ( to President Trump ) Kellyanne Conway during a Meet the Press interview on January 22, 2017. She defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the attendance numbers at Donald Trump's inauguration as President of the United States.

'economical with the truth '  ....comes from a statement given in evidence by Sir Robert Armstrong, British cabinet secretary, in the 'Spycatcher' trial (1986), conducted to prevent publication of a book by a former MI5 employee, 'It contains a misleading impression, not a lie. It was being economical with the truth.'

project fear  ...1 and 2! The first was set up  in 2012 and ran thru 13-14 . Set up with support of the three main pro union political parties in Scotland: Labour, Tory, Lib Dem, as an inti independence platform, and the 2nd was a prime factor in the EU referendum held in 2016. Both gave out bad news, very bad news stories  
18 Sep 2015 / Andrew Learmonth, Journalist / @andrewlearmonth      www.thenational.scot/