Gayle's Scottish Blog

It is my contention that the treaty of Union  should be suspended with immediate effect. The fundamental breaches themselves are reason enough. The argument cited by SNP is that they need    to  convince folk. Well you are not going to convince folk through inaction. Folk only know the system as it currently is. They are not going to change their minds without hard proof that Scotland is better served through full governance of its statehood. So suspend the treaty. Take full responsibility and accountability. Demonstrate that Scotland’s statehood is best. While Scots wait they could be setting up petition stalls all across Scotland for the suspension of the treaty. Princes Street in Edinburgh usually has some petition or other being campaigned for on it. Its street has numerous folk handing out flyers for X,y,z so let’s organise. Get folk backing the suspension. Doesn’t need to be half the population that backs it. Utilise town and village halls, pubs and other places for the collectio

 Practical application demonstrates how theory is applied. Ifs, buts and maybes are addressed through demonstrating the reality. Where there is uncertainty practical application brings certainty through observation.  The argument from the "independence" movement is that people just need to be persuaded. Proponents have cited "facts" regarding Scotland, its wealth and its resources. They have theorised about how Scotland can do x,y,z better if circumstances were different, if only Scotland had full control of its governance yet that is where their arguments end. If someone came at you and said they were or could do x,y,z would you automatically believe them? If you disagreed, would you be persuaded otherwise through statement alone? Most folk would ask you to prove it. And for 53% of the Scottish population, that is precisely what they are saying. Put up or shut up. Stop harping on about something you cannot or will not prove. And who can blame them? Theory only gets

Negative word choices used to describe ourselves can be debilitating. They can harm both the physical body and the mind and have long lasting emotional effects that permeate all areas of our lives. We often do not consciously note the tone in which we speak, the words we use or the frequency in which we use negative constructs. But take a moment to reflect. Have you told yourself you "lost" x, when describing yourself? That you "can't" do something because of some imagined limitation? Accepted a negative diagnostic "label"? Read an article that describes you, your nation or your country in a particularly negative manner and  believed it? Why is this act of self harm so prevalent and can anything be done to counter it? A habit leads a man so gently in the beginning that he does not perceive he is led - with what silken threads and down what pleasant avenues it leads him! By and by, the soft silk threads become iron chains, and the pleasant avenues Avern

Scotland's statehood   is becoming an issue at the COP26 conference.   As far as awareness of Scotland's statehood at the climate conference is concerned, the English government are like Basil Fawlty in that episode when a group of German tourists come to stay at his hotel, and in increasingly manic tones he pleads with everyone “Don’t mention the War!” thus guaranteeing that the War was all that anyone could think about.  With their efforts to entreat delegates to COP26’s “Don’t mention Scottish independence!”, Scotland's statehood is very much forefront in the minds of many of them. Irrespective of what country you come from, you’d have to have been living in a cave not to know that Scotland has an active movement, and that Scotland resoundingly rejected England's EU exit which is the defining policy of the English Government.  Representatives of the international press who have descended on Glasgow are interested in the issue of Scotland's statehood. Their intere

FM of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, said Scotland and England's capital have more to gain from being partners than competitors. Speaking alongside England's Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, at the Scottish Government green investment event in Glasgow, which was hosted by Scottish Enterprise chief executive Adrian Gillespie, the First Minister of Scotland said the skills in the English capital and in Scotland were “complementary”. “There is often a perception that Scotland and London, England, are rivals and competitors, and of course every now and again, like any two cities , that may well be the case, but in general and in particular on (climate change) we are far more likely to be partners.  We stand to gain much more by working together as partners than by focusing on being competitors  because our strengths are, in many ways, complementary and we have both set very ambitious targets for reaching net zero.  Scotland and England's capital will benefit from working in partnersh

The English Broadcasting Channel - BBC -  would lose its broadcasting rights in Scotland, a European broadcaster has said. Udo  Seiwert-Fauti said the English broadcaster would have to renegotiate its rights.  All licence fees collected in Scotland following the reassertion of Scotland's statehood would be spent in Scotland.  If Scotland were to rejoin the EU t he BBC would have to declare Glasgow as an internal EU hub to get around this and it could be possible. T he current Royal Charter on funding for the English broadcaster is very clear: All licence fees collected in Scotland go to London HQ. There they decide what will be spent in Scotland.   England's broadcasting  director-general, for BBC, Tim Davie, s aid the last time the Scottish Government tried to widen the charter for more funding and decision-making, it was rejected by the English government. Ud o Seiwert -Fauti went on to say, " I have long called for a task force to discuss the future of Scottish media.