{"id":1861,"date":"2017-07-06T16:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/?p=1861"},"modified":"2017-07-05T21:17:11","modified_gmt":"2017-07-05T21:17:11","slug":"odd-thoughts-about-odd-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/?p=1861","title":{"rendered":"Odd thoughts about odd times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gordon Wilson<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The week ending 1 July this year was a momentous one for Scotland.\u00a0 At 5.30 on the morning of Sunday 25 Jun, the SNP\u2019s former leader, Gordon Wilson, died in Roxburgh House Dundee.\u00a0\u00a0 He had been ill for a few short weeks.<\/p>\n

When I joined the SNP Gordon was the National Secretary, then the second most powerful person in the Party, after the Chairman.\u00a0 At that time I was unaware of his colourful past as the instigator of Radio Free Scotland.\u00a0 I had never seen any of the broadcasts, as they came at the closing down of the BBC for the night, but I doubt if they would have stretched to Peterhead where I lived, and I did not have a TV at that time anyway!<\/p>\n

I do not know if Gordon actually made any of the broadcasts himself, but he was the Director of Programmes.\u00a0 The first broadcast took place on 24th<\/sup> November 1956, no picture, sound only \u2013 they were pirates \u2013 words, nae pictures.<\/p>\n

As far as I know, the man who provided the engineering technology was David Rollo, at that time the SNP Treasurer, but this was the first pirate station, and there were plenty of drivers, scriptwriters and speakers available.\u00a0 The station had to evade the TV detector vans and the police so was highly mobile.\u00a0 The book \u201cPirates of the Air\u201d by Gordon Wilson was published by the Scots Independent and copies are still available.<\/p>\n

Gordon was, as I wrote, National Secretary;\u00a0 he gave that up after eight years.\u00a0 He came and spoke to Corstorphine Branch; we took him to Haymarket and while we were having a coffee waiting for his train we asked him if we could nominate him for Chairman.\u00a0 He said that he was going to spend some time in the garden and relax, as he had been too long at the top. In about 18 months he was running the Oil Campaign and standing in a by election in Dundee East!<\/p>\n

He did not win that election but in the following February\u2019s General Election he won Dundee East; 7 SNP MPs were elected, and a further 4 in October 1974.<\/p>\n

He took over as Chairman from Billy Wolfe in 1979 after the SNP lost 9 of its MPs, and was plunged into internal factions, the 79 Group and Siol Na Gael, parties within parties, and at the SNP Conference in Ayr in 1982 he banned them.\u00a0 Not a happy time.<\/p>\n

However, he stuck to his guns, and kept the SNP in one piece;\u00a0 I do not believe anyone else could have done that.\u00a0 He lost Dundee East in 1987 and stood down as Chairman in 1990.\u00a0 He wrote two books, \u201cThe Turbulent Years\u201d and \u201cThe Battle for Independence\u201d both published by the Scots Independent, and in the last years he formed a think tank \u201cOptions for Independence\u201d in collaboration with Jim Sillars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gordon did not win Independence but he ensured the main body, the SNP kept going and independence will come.\u00a0 I personally will miss him very much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Odd thoughts about odd times<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I was intrigued by a comment in the Herald this week by Les Montgomery of Highland Spring stating that the SNP government should be helping Tories get the best deal for Brexit. He said \u201cWe are a British\u00a0 company.\u00a0 We are based in Scotland\u00a0 but we are a British company\u201d<\/p>\n

This rang a bell for me; to my recollection Highland Spring\u00a0 reputed to be owned by the Sultan of Dubai.\u00a0 I checked my facts and this was notstrictly correct.\u00a0 The owner is Mahir al Tajir, a multi millionaire and\u00a0 the richest man in Scotland. As far as I can gather he is the former UAE ambassador to the UK, but does not\u00a0 seem to be a scion of the Sultan of Dubai.<\/p>\n

Most of this story emerged from my working days; our vehicles used to pick up return loads from Highland Spring, but they refused permission for our drivers to use their toilets.<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our man in Surrey tells me that a Survation poll in Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland has shown the support for Nicola\u00a0 Sturgeon taking a place at the Brexit negotiating table is running at 61%.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Particularly struck by the front page of the National on Monday this week; it showed a column of pound coins 1 inch high to represent the cost of the City Deal to Scotland, and a column of pound coins 11 inches high to represent the DUP bung.\u00a0 The comparison was not strictly accurate as it ran out space \u2013 probably need about another three or four pages to represent the 3000%.<\/p>\n

You will note I wrote inches rather centimetres \u2013 after Brexit will centimetres survive?<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Regarding the above, the money for City Deals was \u00a0available to all devolved governments; not sure if there was a City Deal for Belfast.<\/p>\n

However the \u00a31 billion to Northern Ireland was public money \u2013 yours and mine- not for the benefit of the people of Northern Ireland, but to secure the survival of the Conservative Government.\u00a0 Public purse \u2013 private pocket.<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Cracks are appearing in the Tory Government as weaknesses re-emerge. Whatever possessed Mr Theresa May to call this year\u2019s General Election we will probably not know for a few years, but I was aghast at her proposals aimed at the most powerful and dangerous section of the electorate \u2013 the Pensioners!\u00a0 I say powerful, as they are no longer capable of generating more cash for their life style, so appreciate their benefits, still much lower than most of the EU, and dangerous – they vote!<\/p>\n

We know how the Unionists manipulated talk of pensions during the Referendum Campaign, and how it boosted the No vote.\u00a0 Mrs May can now add\u00a0 a further word to her image , however she will not admit to being \u201cStrong, Stable \u2013 and Stupid\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Tory pack is not just circling, I recall a book from my boyhood days \u201cThe wolves were in the sled\u201d.\u00a0 I never took it out of the library.<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Struck by a headline in the Herald on 4th<\/sup> July \u201cHinkley Point\u2019s \u00a31.5 billion cost rise \u201cwill not hit customers\u201d. What kind of Magic Money Tree is going to ensure this?<\/p>\n

At the end of the day the consumers pay.<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another headline on 4th July, Independence Day- for America; \u201cNorth Sea oil and gas costing the UK taxpayer for first time as oil price falls\u201d<\/p>\n

In January this year Norway transferred $781 million from its sovereign wealth fund, the first time since the fund was set up in 1996.\u00a0 The fund is valued at $819 billion and is the largest in the world.<\/p>\n

Norway discovered the same amount of oil that Scotland had about the same time.\u00a0 The Norwegians were lucky, they were not ruled by a greedy and incompetent \u00a0Westminster government.<\/p>\n

Peculiarly apposite in the week of Gordon Wilson\u2019s funeral \u2013 his \u201cIt\u2019s Scotland\u2019s Oil Campaign\u201d, based on figures from SNP researcher Donald Bain was dismissed by Westminster as minimal.\u00a0 Thirty years later the truth emerged that our figure of \u00a3800 million a year was wrong \u2013 there were untold billions, disappeared into the Continental Shelf\u2019s gaping maw, who knows\u00a0where.<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I have to say I really appreciated Stephen Bird\u2019s comments on the Liberals;\u00a0 he wrote \u201c Go back to your constituencies and prepare for irrelevance\u201d.\u00a0 I remember it was David Steel, but cannot quite remember which General Election it was.\u00a0 By the way to those who are too young to remember, Steel actually said \u201cgo back to your constituencies and prepare for government\u201d<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Think I told you already I have joined Pensioners for Independence;\u00a0 I do not imagine I will be able to do very much, but I relate to the\u00a0 title.\u00a0 The website is :\u00a0http:\/\/pensionersforindependence.scot\/<\/a><\/p>\n

As I noted above we are powerful and dangerous because we vote.<\/p>\n

——-<\/strong><\/h2>\n

With regard to that last point, the Unionists have been a single issue political body, with one message coming over loud and clear \u2013 \u201cNo independence referendum\u201d.\u00a0 Apart from the trifling facts that they have no policies, or on the Northern Irish situation from the Tories, no principles,\u00a0 they have run out of ideas.\u00a0 Ms Davidson is flaunting her Colonelcy in the Reserves, Ms Dugdale is trying to come to terms with a highly popular Jeremy Corbyn , who she campaigned\u00a0 against, and Mr Rennie is \u2013 not clear about anything.<\/p>\n

What is indisputable is that they are all terrified of another Referendum.\u00a0 If they were convinced that this time No would win, again, surely they should have the courage of their convictions and say \u201cBring it on\u201d a la Wendy Alexander.<\/p>\n

Nicola was quite right in saying that the people were scunnered of voting. In just one year we had a European Referendum, then the result of that meant the Tory Prime Minister David Cameron had to resign.\u00a0 The resulting chaos finished up with the coronation of Theresa May as Prime Minister, no voting required\u00a0 in Tory terms. She vowed no election, then went for a walk in the Welsh hills!<\/p>\n

Make no mistake, we are in a War for Independence , and you do not win every battle in a war.\u00a0 Things change, and campaigns change to adapt, tactics have to be adjusted and refined.\u00a0 I am waiting for the Yes campaign being re-launched, because the dream has not died.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gordon Wilson The week ending 1 July this year was a momentous one for Scotland.\u00a0 At 5.30 on the morning of Sunday 25 Jun, the SNP\u2019s former leader, Gordon Wilson, died in Roxburgh House Dundee.\u00a0\u00a0 He had been ill for a few short weeks. When I joined the SNP Gordon was the National Secretary, then the second most powerful person in the Party, after the Chairman.\u00a0 At that time I was unaware of his colourful past as the instigator of Radio Free Scotland.\u00a0 I had never seen any of the broadcasts, as they came at the closing down of the BBC for the night, butRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1861"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1866,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861\/revisions\/1866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}