Boom!

So …. Brexit

Well, today we were expecting another vote on TMs Deal. She has been scurrying around trying to persuade the DUP to back her deal. It had been shared that the DUP have been offered a seat at the negotiating table for the future relationship and another whole pile of money to back the deal.

The ERG were waiting to see what the DUP were going to say before showing their hand. The long knives were out this weekend with Tory MPs rumoured to be offering to back the deal as long as tM resigns, Esther McVey throwing her hat in the ring for leader and Boris having a good old go at her too. With his nice new “I look like a Prime Minister” hairdo!

Farage set off on his March – well a bit of a saunter really – he managed 5 miles with half a dozen of his mates.

Jeremy Corbyn has apparently suggested he would vote to leave in a second referendum, a second referendum which he is decidedly lukewarm about holding although he says that he will table a vote of no confidence in Theresa May. He will you know, you can only push him so far, he will do it, no he will, he REALLY will, this is your last warning, he really WILL table a vote of no confidence when … erm… well… not entirely sure when but …erm… yeah… he will.

So there we all were ready to shout at the telly again tomorrow when

POW!!!!

In comes the Speaker and wields his fiery mace! Well not quite – although it did send TMs plans up in Smoke.

Parliament has rules you see. And it seems that bringing the same thing back to Parliament without making any changes is against those rules. Precisely to stop the utter bloody crap we have been watching for the last few weeks. So here we are – no victory from the jaws of defeat for TM.

I have to admit I have no idea what happens now – we are no closer knowing the outcome. And that’s where we are. Leadsom and the Daily Mail are apoplectic and Ross Thomson – Scottish Tory MP for somewhere over the rainbow said forcefully, “The EU MUST offer something new”. Erm nope – the EU mustn’t do anything, this is not their mess. It’s the Tories mess and they must sort it out.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon sent a letter to TM. Before the Speaker spoke – You can read it below. And after the Speaker spoke Ian Blackford called on the PM to convene a meeting with all opposition leaders and heads of devolved governments to try to figure out what should happen next. Spoiler alert – she didn’t bother. So Ian Blackford called a cross party meeting to gain some sort of consensus. Jeremy Corbyn didn’t bother going, although it is said that he will meet them today but he is definitely going to call for a – what was it? – oh yes, people’s vote – nope that wasn’t it – what WAS it? Oh yeah a vote of no confidence – yeah not that either … or maybe … perhaps.

The only people standing up for Scotland are the SNP MPs and the Scottish Government. The fact that the future of Scotland might be decided upon by a group of ten MPs from Ireland is surely evidence enough that this union of equals is nothing of the sort and is broken beyond repair.

Meanwhile it’s a week and a half folks!

#youyesyet

Is this cards on the table time?

So Brexit

There is not one single positive thing I can say about yesterday.

The day was full of obfuscation and lies . We saw the Attorney General, the leader of the Opposition and the Prime minister fail in a way which shouldn’t surprise me but which surprises me every single time I see it.

So Theresa May’s deal falls – again! Jeremy Corbyn witters on about his deal which doesn’t exist anywhere except in his own head, fails to even

mention a second people’s vote which had been Labour’s policy last week and was agreed at their conference. And round we go and round we go again.

Parliament is broken. The only consistent thing that is happening is Scotland is being ignored. BBC cut Ian Blackfords speeches on both occasions yesterday. A Tory MP for a Scottish Constituency shouted out whilst Ian Blackford was speaking that Scotland isn’t a country it is a principality!! Imagine being a Scottish MP and thinking that your country doesn’t exist. That it’s history is nothing, that it’s Parliament is immaterial and that it’s ok to say that on national tv.

That Theresa May is still Prime Minister is absolutely appalling! The fact that she is is squarely the responsibility of the Leader of the opposition who has failed to capitalise on her weakness and bring her down.

Both parties have placed party squabbles ahead of their responsibility to the electorate and both are in their own way to blame for the mess we are in today.

And in Scotland, well we are fucked. Royally if we stay in this appalling empty husk of a Union where the DUP have more say over the future of Scotland than our MPs or the Scottish Government elected by us.

The report that yesterday surfaced that Nicola Sturgeon was told she wasn’t bright enough to understand the PMs deal is just a metaphor for how the UK sees Scotland. Theresa May will believe that because she has an Oxford degree she is somehow brighter and better than the rest of us and that gives her an entitlement to do what SHE wants rather than take the concerns of ordinary people into consideration. This sense of Entitlement EUs theough this Government and many on the opposition benches like Blackpool runs through a stick of Blackpool Rock.

That’s the way the UK works, because they are the UK they don’t need to listen to Scotland or Wales or Northern Ireland and they are entitled to take whatever action they choose, tell whatever lies they choose, ignore us all in their drive to protect their positions of wealth and power.

So today we will watch whilst a Government which cares nothing – nada – rien – for Scotland, it’s people or our communities, particularly in our remote and rural areas decides for us whether we will take no deal off the table or not. A no deal which will be catastrophic for businesses across the Highlands and wider Scotland. And they don’t care.

Had they listened to the Scottish Government at the start, taken a cross party view, worked to establish a consensus, compromised and considered every part of the UK then we wouldn’t be 16 days away from a cliff edge Brexit.

It was the Scottish Government, SNP MPs who championed this at the start of this process and who today are continuing to call for a people’s vote as the best choice for the whole of the UK not simply Scotland. Despite this and without a doubt the SNP MUST call for another independence referendum if their heartfelt attempts to save the whole of the UK from this useless bunch of charlatans in both UK main parties fail.

Everything has changed. Scotland must change too

#youyesyet?

The Edge of Tomorrow

So Brexit….

Well this is the week that was supposed to be sorting it all out. 8 weeks since the last meaningful vote and what has changed?

Let’s see

Nothing.

Like absolutely nothing

Despite telling us that they are negotiating and constructive steps are being taken there is absolutely nothing changing. And that’s what the EU has told us continuously since we started this process.

They have said the Backstop is Britain’s proposal, the EU agreed to it and they are not prepared to change their position in this because agreeing to the backstop was already a compromise for the EU.

They EU have been baffled by the approach taken by the UK Government. I saw that Geoffrey Cox and his “cox’s codpiece” was described as a a Gilbert and Sullivan Buffoon.

Boris Johnson describes the EU as a half witted child with absolutely no self awareness that he has been one of the biggest childish buffoons in the whole business. In fact has built a career on buffoonery and a childish haircut.

Esther McVey was last night tweeting complete untruths about the EU. And Jeremy Hunt says that Brexit not happening would be a disaster for the Conservative Party, without the slightest understanding that this whole pile of nonsense starting with David Cameron’s referendum has been and will be a disaster for the whole country.

Theresa May is under pressure to pull tomorrow’s vote and there appear to be no plans to make any sort of statement to the house.

And today we see that the Bank of England is advising companies to triple their liquid assets to cope with what the Financial Times calls a “Market Meltdown”.

And Defra are writing to companies explaining that there are no guarantees that their products will be able to be exported after March 29th. Brexit is clearly putting at risk many many livelihoods.

This is the worst Government in my

Memory and I include Thatcher. They are pursuing the worst policies across a whole range of issues and yet… and yet they are still in power and people are still saying they would vote for them as Labour STILL trail in the polls.

So…. Vote? No vote? Amendment? No amendment? No deal? Deal? Article 50 extension or not? I’d like to think it will be sorted by Friday but I have no faith that will happen at all. However, if you think no deal Brexit means nothing will change then you are at best wrong and at worst completely deluded.

Meanwhile in Scotland the news this morning is that Dennis Omandi – the serving soldier at Fort George who was refused a visa to bring his daughter to live with him has heard from the home office that she will get a visa. Our MP Drew Hendry has been relentless in his support for this case and has left the Home Office with absolutely nowhere to hide from their appalling decision. The Home Office has procrastinated and lied at every turn and it is thanks to Drew that they have been held to account. I’m delighted for the family and very pleased that the SNP are standing up for us collectively and individually.

Other news is that the old Better Together Stalwarts of Darling, Brown and co have been wheeled out in the light of the suggestion that an Indy Scotland would have its own currency to tell us all that it’s a ridiculous idea.

They even brought the economist Ronald MacDonald out of storage. He said this weekend that A Scottish Currency would be an absolute disaster. Then footage was recirculated of the run up to the 2014 when the same clown says that Scotland using the pound would be a disaster and we must have a Scottish Currency. These guys change their message like they change their socks. It’s not currency that worries them, its independence. They are liars and charlatans.

The Scottish Labour Party Conference seems to have proposed federalism as their preferred view promising a stronger Scotland in the UK. Again we heard exactly this in 2014 and here we are, ignored, sidelined, our remain vote disregarded.

David Davies said that he couldn’t think of one other union IN THE WORLD, that a sovereign nation can’t get out of unless the other side says so. Hellooooo????

As all the Tories say Scotland can’t have another referendum even though our Government has a mandate and our parliament voted for it. This week will however see Ian Blackford put forward a motion to see Scotland’s remain vote respected and the power for us to hold a further referendum on Scottish Independence to be agreed.

Let’s see if they ignore that too.

#youyesyet?

#International Women’s Day

 

Today on International Women’s day I had a conversation with the children about what makes a woman awesome. We talked about Marie Curie, we talked about mother Theresa, Malala Yousafzai. We discussed famous women, rich woman and women who have made great strides in their chosen field and achieved great things. But its important to remember that for every famous and startling woman there are millions of women making their own great strides every single day.

Heads up to those women living with poor health and long term conditions who every day look after themselves and others. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women wondering where their next meal is coming from or how they can make their money stretch enough to afford the books from the School book fair. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women surviving domestic violence a day at a time. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women fighting for their children with Additional support needs to be educated in way that ensures that they reach their potential. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women who are caring for parents, husbands, friends, neighbours who cannot manage without them. We are with you sisters.

Heads ups to those women who are struggling with pregnancy, birth or being a new mum. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women fighting addiction, starting each day with hope that this will be another day in recovery. whether or not it is. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women who because of disability, race, gender, or just because they are women face inequality and discrimination every day. We are with you sisters.

Heads up to those women who take a breath, put their lippy on and face a world they would rather hide from every single day of their lives. We are with you sisters.

And finally, heads up to those women who feel silenced, hidden, ignored, forgotten, helpless and without power. Those women for whom International Women’s Day is a complete irrelevance, for whom the idea that they might have agency or power or peace is so far out of their reach that they cannot even imagine it. We are so with you sisters. We see you and we have not forgotten you.

International Women’s Day is a day to speak up for women all over the world. Women who are achieving great things, Scaling great heights, succeeding in a world which is often designed to make that success more difficult.

But for me it is in the ordinary, the everyday, the hidden, the mundane that awesomeness can so often be found. So celebrate International Women’s Day and the great achievements of women past and present – but be proud of the achievements you make every single day of your life. A life lived is a success and you – WE – are awesome.

Love

#IWD2019