Respect………………..Oh really?

I seem to remember the word ‘respect’ being thrown around by the unionists in the past couple of years, whenever they wanted to win.

RESPECT :-  consideration; deference or esteem (esteem – high regard)

How much of the definition of respect have we seen in the past six months?

We have had E.V.E.L. (English votes for English laws). Were they too impatient to follow procedure to create a devolved English parliament or did they know they would not succeed? Instead they took the UK parliament, a treaty of the unions of the parliaments of Scotland and England (and later Ireland), and decided that the elected members of this parliament would have their job descriptions altered without the consent of the people who elect them. They took the impartial post of speaker and politicised it. As in the Scottish parliament the speaker stands down from their political party and assumes a roll of impartiality to allow fair debate on issues. (In Westminster’s case this is a total joke) He now has to decide before each session what debates the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland M.P.’s can participate in. This is only for the initial debates. Apparently our M.P.’s will still be able to participate in the vote. Confusing, unnecessary (we didn’t participate on devolved matters by choice) and a cheapskate, half shod way to treat the people of England. Are they happy with this or was it just a wee political game?

This week we have had the Scotland Bill. Since S.N.P. conference I have been popping into my Twitter account again. Monday night, I wished I hadn’t. We switched the t.v. to the parliament channel at one point. That lasted all of 5 minutes. Goodness only knows how our M.P.’s cope with all that. Respect? There was potent racism present in that debate and total and utter contempt shown towards our Parliamentarians and therefore towards us. If ever you were unsure of the place of the Scottish people in this United Kingdom, you got your answer during that debate. It is a pity that the ordinary member of the public are not exposed to this. I try to share what I can with the local S.N.P. branch facebook page but this only catches a few folk. People have to be tuned into it at the time. They have to have time in their busy lives working, paying the bills and bringing up the children. These things come first to the ordinary member of our society. Somehow we have to keep getting these little film clips out, as only seeing it actually happen will persuade folk we don’t belong down there.

Apparently the Lords (majority of) want Conservative ministers to postpone allowing us to legislate on abortion and to force them into carrying out a consultation into its political impact. Well pardon me!! Let’s leave aside the emotional arguments. Are these “lords” seriously telling us Scots that we are totally and utterly incapable of looking after the spiritual, moral and physical wellbeing of our people? Abortion, like many other personal issues, will always be contentious and will always bring the churches and state against each other regardless of which institution is debating the legislation. We Scots are an intelligent race (on the whole) and quite capable of sorting this out for ourselves. As for the emotional blackmail argument of cross-border trade in abortions. Grow up. We heard this all before in Ireland. At the present moment women are free to travel if they wish for any medical treatment. Please stop treating us like idiots.

And as for Her Majesty. She apparently commented to Simon Hughes when giving him his gong that there were now more Scots in Westminster. Really? Seriously? So our Scottish constituencies were not previously represented by Scots? Is it only since the S.N.P. M.P.’s were elected that we have had Scottish M.P.’s? She may have a point. Scotland’s voice has certainly been heard louder, and more often in the last 6 months than it EVER was before.