It's a strange thing to be writing a blog about your homeland from 10,000 miles away in mid-winter weather that most Scots could only dream of and by that I mean light drizzle.
A while ago I kinda made a decision not to engage in African or even South African politics for one simple reason; I can't vote here. There is absolutely no need for me to act as a political change agent, after all what do I know about being South African? Who needs another white voice on the arduous processes of a very young democracy?
So despite being a long way from home and having not set foot on Scottish soil for nearly four years, Scotland and the wider UK remain my political focus. The amazing thing with a Scottish accent in a very international city it's hard to dodge the issue of origins, especially when your country is still deemed to be internationally relevant and by country that I refer to the UK.
The UK has voted Brexit, Scotland, Northern Ireland and London have voted remain. Right at this moment Theresa May is refusing to invoke article 50 until such time as our thinly veiled democratically elected government has figured out exactly what the UK wide approach is to leaving the UK. Scots can consider themselves lucky having actually been consulted on what the leaving process might be. I doubt either London or Northern Ireland will be afforded the same civilities.
Two days ago Westminster voted to renew Trident. For those of you not in the loop Trident is the UK's nuclear arsenal. Which just happened to be almost entirely located in Scotland. The wider media would have you believe that it's somewhere in a remote inaccessible sea loch off the west coast, when in fact it is just a jaunty 45 min drive from the heart of Glasgow. Be under no illusions if there were nuclear war most of the central belt of Scotland would be wiped out with one press of the big button were always being warned about. Scotland is the unwilling sacrifice of nuclear war. In light of these facts it's easy to understand why all Scottish MP's with the exception of one (the Tory) voted against the renewal and why the political stalemate between Scotland and Westminster is set to continue. Under current circumstances Scotland is now hitched to the leaving the EU and housing a nuclear arsenal it doesn't want. There are fewer and fewer ways to avoid the obvious; that Scotland is tied into an undemocratic union. Scotland's motivations for becoming an independent country couldn't be more clear.
A further exploration of this information would underline the arrogance of Westminster establishment that the UK would leave itself so exposed. Here we have Scotland a country at odds with UK hegemony and housing it's nuclear arsenal. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how this might play out, should Westminster refuse to play fair, now that a second independence referendum is quite firmly on the table. What would happen if Nicola recalled the troops?
To be clear it will probably never happen but what if?
A while ago I kinda made a decision not to engage in African or even South African politics for one simple reason; I can't vote here. There is absolutely no need for me to act as a political change agent, after all what do I know about being South African? Who needs another white voice on the arduous processes of a very young democracy?
So despite being a long way from home and having not set foot on Scottish soil for nearly four years, Scotland and the wider UK remain my political focus. The amazing thing with a Scottish accent in a very international city it's hard to dodge the issue of origins, especially when your country is still deemed to be internationally relevant and by country that I refer to the UK.
The UK has voted Brexit, Scotland, Northern Ireland and London have voted remain. Right at this moment Theresa May is refusing to invoke article 50 until such time as our thinly veiled democratically elected government has figured out exactly what the UK wide approach is to leaving the UK. Scots can consider themselves lucky having actually been consulted on what the leaving process might be. I doubt either London or Northern Ireland will be afforded the same civilities.
Two days ago Westminster voted to renew Trident. For those of you not in the loop Trident is the UK's nuclear arsenal. Which just happened to be almost entirely located in Scotland. The wider media would have you believe that it's somewhere in a remote inaccessible sea loch off the west coast, when in fact it is just a jaunty 45 min drive from the heart of Glasgow. Be under no illusions if there were nuclear war most of the central belt of Scotland would be wiped out with one press of the big button were always being warned about. Scotland is the unwilling sacrifice of nuclear war. In light of these facts it's easy to understand why all Scottish MP's with the exception of one (the Tory) voted against the renewal and why the political stalemate between Scotland and Westminster is set to continue. Under current circumstances Scotland is now hitched to the leaving the EU and housing a nuclear arsenal it doesn't want. There are fewer and fewer ways to avoid the obvious; that Scotland is tied into an undemocratic union. Scotland's motivations for becoming an independent country couldn't be more clear.
A further exploration of this information would underline the arrogance of Westminster establishment that the UK would leave itself so exposed. Here we have Scotland a country at odds with UK hegemony and housing it's nuclear arsenal. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how this might play out, should Westminster refuse to play fair, now that a second independence referendum is quite firmly on the table. What would happen if Nicola recalled the troops?
To be clear it will probably never happen but what if?
