What\u2019s the definition of \u201cdemocracy\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201ca system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives:\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201ccontrol of an organization or group by the majority of its members:\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just 2 of the definitions from a quick Google of the word. For most of us it boils down to the old \u201cGovernment of the people for the people by the people\u201d But, as the saying goes, not for viewers in Scotland. In Scotland, democracy has been put into cold storage because no matter how many votes, Councillors, MSPs or MPs the SNP and those parties who also have Independence in their manifesto get, Westminster has the power to overrule. We are brutally reminded of the truth spoken by Enoch Powell so many years ago; \u201cPower devolved is power retained\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m often reminded by this as SNP representatives are quizzed on how we are going to get a second referendum. The underlying assumption in the question is that \u201cLondon knows best\u201d and without their acceptance you\u2019re gubbed! One response our people rarely give is; \u201cIf we don\u2019t have a mandate for Independence (after winning every election in Scotland since 2011) then we don\u2019t live in a democracy any more. When did it become acceptable to ignore the voices of the people?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mess that Unionists get into when trying to explain that we live in a voluntary union but at the same time we are not allowed to leave is exemplified in this interview;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Martin Geissler disassembles Starmer on Scotland’s independence and indyref2 (youtube.com)<\/strong><\/a> from approx. 6.50 of this interview from a few years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a mess we need to encourage them to get into by turning the \u201cprocess\u201d question back on interviewers and especially when in panel discussion with other unionist MSPs or MPs. Even in every conversation we have with undecided voters we should confront them with this dilemma time and time again. If we can be taken out of the EU despite our votes, suffer Governments we reject time and again how can it be said that we live in a democracy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It matters not a jot what Sir Keir\u2019s priorities are, that\u2019s irrelevant in comparison to the people\u2019s <\/strong>priorities. Political \u201cLeaders\u201d like to mutter the clich\u00e9 about taking their instructions from the voters. Well in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 (twice), 2019 (again twice), 2021 and 2022 the people of Scotland gave the instructions loud and clear by voting SNP candidates into office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s no less than 11 elections on the bounce in which the SNP have topped the poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The times for being nice have long passed, it\u2019s time to be blunt. \u00a0If that\u2019s not the orders of the people what is? And more importantly, why are we not asking that question every day? \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What\u2019s the definition of \u201cdemocracy\u201d? \u201ca system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives:\u201d \u201ccontrol of an organization or group by the majority of its members:\u201d Just 2 of the definitions from a quick Google of the word. For most of us it boils down to the old \u201cGovernment of the people for the people by the people\u201d But, as the saying goes, not for viewers in Scotland. In Scotland, democracy has been put into cold storage because no matter how many votes, Councillors, MSPs or MPs the SNP and those parties who alsoRead 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":[132],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648"}],"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=3648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3649,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3648\/revisions\/3649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}