Sticking up for Scots culture
In response to the letters from two Unionists in the PA of December 29, one was pretty good and one was pretty awful.
The latter mentioned was from Martin Redfern . Mr Redfern’s letter was much like others written by him and his ilk. They tend to be short, shorn of intelligent input (constructive or otherwise) and clichéd. Their main purpose is to attack and ‘rubbish’. Above all, they are formulaic – when you’ve read the one, you’ve read‘em all! The pretty good letter was from George K McMillan who manages depth and thought, even if it is from a dubious political basis. Like Martin Redfern, he was attacking Nicola Sturgeon for her condemnation of plans to bring back the blue British passport which she described as,‘insular, inward-looking nonsense’.
The Unionists like to forget about all their sweet words and threats during the 2014 Indyref. Now, we get from George and his fellow Tories, ‘Scots voted against independence; the UK voted to leave the EU’. That nearly two-thirds of Scots voted to stay in is a non-event because, after all the fake Unionist promises, Scotland is back to being a non-event in Greater England. Forget about equal partners and anything else. The two referendums are more linked than people realise: London has put Scotland back in the box and kicked Europe into touch. That leaves London as the master of all it can hang on to (while it can).
Mr McMillan has indicated in previous letters that he considered Scotland as a region of the UK. He stated he wanted rid of our Holyrood Parliament. He seems to consider a Scottish identity as an encumbrance, but also as a tactical tool to be hauled down from the attic when needed. In his letter he goes on about the‘ScotNats’ feeding on the nostalgia‘we Scots’have for all things Scottish – our music, our language, our culture, our history, and our traditions. Mr McMillan, a solid‘BritNat’ is claiming to be a‘we Scot’, perhaps that should read, ‘wee Scot’, since he is overwhelmingly a‘Great Briton’.
He asks how Nicola can describe the SNP as‘inclusive and internationalist’. Well, how about the fact that the SNP has members from a whole range of nationalities in our ranks? We want to be in the EU, which appears to be internationalist, not a British dominated new empire, which is why the ruling London class took the huff. I see that in a paragraph on political support, Mr McMillan is trying fake extrapolation. Oh dear, that trick died in the 1980s – all parties used it and‘done it to death’.
Our George speaks up for the blue British passport (well, he is a True Blue!). Apparently it is fine to speak up for it, but a sin to dare speak against it. Well, I’m going to sin: Mr McMillan will be pleased that from the blue, through the EU and back to the blue, the passport has always had the English Coat of Arms on it. You cannot get a passport with the Scottish Coat of Arms on it in our Union of equal partners. It is the English Coat of Arms you will find on gates and walls of Embassies and on diplomatic mail. The Scottish version, like Scotland, is a non-event. This will no doubt please Mr McMillan, who once described himself as a better patriot than me! I would be happy with an EU passport with Scotland’s Coat of Arms on it, irrespective of colour. If I have to present it at Berwick, that would be even better! Thomas R Burgess St Catherine’s Square Perth