Sit Doon An' Haud Yir Wheesht, Ruth

Ruth Davidson MSP ~ Proud to be ???

Oan 1 June 1999, the devolved Scottish Parliament wis convened for the first time. Amang the opening ceremony, singer Sheena Wellington sang the Robert Burns sang "Is There for Honest Poverty", alsae kent as "A Man's a Man for A' That". The sang wis performit as written, in the Scots leid whit the bard penned it in.

It is efter a' the Scottish Parliament; the parliament o' Scotland, whaur people commonly spik their ain tongue. So whit wad be mair fitting than tae open it wi' Burns's anthem o international britherhood in the Scots leid?

No' good enouch it seems for the Scottish Conservative Party leader, Ruth Davidson MSP. Oan Monday, 28 March, during the debate oan whether or no' tae ask Westminster tae rin a second referendum oan independence, the Tory leader quoted the words o' SNP MSP Joan McAlpine, and then added "I won't do the accent."

The accent! I ask ye? It's aye lang been kent that the Tories dinnae and wullna recognise the Scots Leid in it's ain richt, and there's yir proof. The leader o' the Scots Tories decided tae deride oor native tongue in the debating chamber o' Scotland's ain parliament.

Joan McAlpine, for her pairt, later Tweeted "I'm a member of the Scottish Parliament who speaks with a Scottish accent - like vast majority of the population. Tories find it funny."

Weel said, Joan, but jist ane thing; ye dinnae spik wi' a "Scottish accent" ~ ye spik the Scots leid.

And it's no' like Ruth spiks perfect RP English either. Aiblings she micht want tae, but ends up wi' a sort o' strangulated 'Edinburgh Fine' / ploom in the mou English, which because o' the inflection she pits oan it, ends up sounding mair Scots.

It seems tae me that becoming the leader o' the opposition in the Scottish Parliament, when the Tories owertook Labour in the 2016 elections, the power has gane tae Ruth's heid. At anither point First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP tried tae intervene oan her speech, and Ruth Davidson snapped at the leader o' Scotland "Sit down."

Cud ye imagine whit wad happen if Theresa May attemptit tae interrupt Jeremy Corbyn in the Palace o' Westminster, an' the Labour leader tellt the Prime Minister o' the UK tae "Sit down"? There wad be mayhem and wee Johnnie Bercow wad hae tae tak steps agin the leader o' the opposition, and wad be weel within his ricths tae dae sae. Why the Prisiding Officer o' the Scottish Parliament didna therefore intervene and ask Ruth Davidson tae withdraw her remarks and apologise is ayont me.

We a' weel ken jist how high-falutin the Tories think themseels tae be. But Ruth Davidson's behaviour went weel ayont the boundaries o' common decency and respect we should expect in the Scottish Parliament. Grantit, the debate wis a heated ane, but sic outbursts shouldna e'er be allowed tae gae unpunished.

But whit's really got ma dander up is Ruth Davidson's denial o' her ain culture, by ridiculing the Scots Tongue. When ony English person derides Scots, then as odious as it may be, it comes o' ignorance, and because o' that, if the person apologises and is contrite aboot it, it kin be forgien, and e'en understood tae an extent.

Ruth Davidson, has nae sic excuse. She is Scots through and through, wis brocht up wi' the mither tongue, an' for her tae therefore deride it canna e'er be forgien. I can stomach an anti-Scots English person tae an extent. The ane thing I canna, and wullna, e'er respect or forgie is an anti-Scots Scot, which is mair than a hunnert times warse, forbye.

Fowk like Ruth Davidson aye claim tae be "Proud to be Scottish. Proud to be British." but by their ain words aye gie awey whaur their true loyalites lie. These are the fowk o' the same ilk o' thae wha systematically erodit the Scots Leid in the schules, in law, and in everyday life. They claim tae be Scots, but in reality they're ashamed o' their ain culture; ashamed o' being Scots.

We see the same frae 'Scottish' Labour, whae claim to be proud Scots, but gae oot o' there wey tae e'en appear remotely Scots. The Labour cooncil in Glesca ance tried tae pressurise the SNP group tae tak doon a 'nationalist' banner frae a windae lookin' oan tae George Square. Whit wis this 'nationalist' symbol whit made Labour sae black affrontit? A Saltire flag. The national flag o' Scotland, the auldest national flag in existence, their ain flag, that's whit. Is it ony wonder I refer tae Labour in Scotland as "Labour (North British Branch)"?

I dinnae mind fowk haein opposin' political views tae ma ain pro-independence anes. Thon's democracy. I ken weel that there are fowk whae are proud Scots but support the Union, e'en in ma ain family. But when someone claims tae be a Scot, I expect them tae staund staunchly by thon statement. When they fail tae dae sae, then I canna consider them tae be Scots at a'.  Ian Hamilton, ane o' the lads whae walked aff wi' the Stone o' Destiny oan Christmas Day 1950, hud it richt aboot sic fowk in a magazine article he ance wrote, 'Bringing it Home' (Daily Record Story of Scotland, 1995), Hamilton said o' fowk like Ruth Davidson, "They're not Scots; they are North Britons."

But e'en then, when ye consider fowk frae the north o' England kin weel understaund we Scots, and that there are thae Scots wha dae spik RP English (but dinna deride the Scots leid) yet are Scots a' the same, and wi' her owerstepping her ain authority, ablings Ruth Davidson disnae e'en see herseel as a 'North Briton', but rather as a Middle Englander wannabe.  Efter a', it wis jist in September 2016, when Ruth wis invitit tae an event attendit by the Prime Minister, she respondit "Usually they put the Scots in a place where nothing can be broken. Or stolen for that matter!"  Sae as heated as the debate wis, she kin hardly claim it wis a momentary lack o' judgement.  Naw, Ruth is an anti-Scots Scot, richt enouch.

Weel, Ruth is nae Miss Jean Brodie (wha in the buik wis actually a very proud Scot), sae she kin tak her schoolmarm strictness, and her derision an' denial o' her ain tongue and culture elsewhere. But as she does, tae return tae Burns she may weel consider that when Burns decidit tae publish his poems in the Scots Leid, ayebody said they wad ne'er sell. Aroond thrie hunnert years later, a pair o' young laddies ca'in' themseels The Proclaimers decidit tae record sangs in the Scots Leid, and ayebody said they wad ne'er sell.

Perhaps Ruth Davidson wad like tae teel us jist whae wis richt, and whae wis wrang, oan baith occasions?

An' whiles she ponders thon, she may herseel want tae consider some o' the words o' "Is There for Honest Poverty":

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a couf for a' that:

For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that:
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

Doing The Right Thing

London is not cowed ~ neither should we be

On Wednesday, 23 March 2017, the Scottish Parliament was debating whether to seek a second referendum on independence, with the vote due to take place at 5.30pm that day.  At approximately 2:40pm the same day, the driver of a car in London deliberately mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge, mowing down pedestrians, before crashing through railings guarding the Houses of Parliament.  He then jumped out of the car, stabbed an unarmed police officer, and ran towards a Parliament cafe before being shot by undercover armed police officers.

Two pedestrians and the police officer, Police Constable Keith Palmer, died of their injuries.  The attacker later died of gunshot wounds.  40 others were injured.

As news of the attack reached Edinburgh, the decision was taken to suspend business in the Scottish Parliament for the day.  It had been decided earlier that the debate would continue, however Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh took the decision to suspend the sitting, stating "The fact that our sister parliament has had a serious incident is affecting this particular debate."

SNP Brexit Minister Mike Russell MSP stated "Any attacks on a parliament are an attack on all democracies.  It looks very serious indeed, so it's the right thing to do and I think people would have expected it to happen."

Whilst this was the prevailing view in Holyrood, there were a few MSPs thought that the debate should have continued and that suspending parliament was giving in to terrorism.  There have also been some individuals saying as much on social media, and even some callously suggesting that what happens in Westminster was of no consequence.

Mike Russell hit the nail on the head; it was the right thing to do.

Whilst we Scots Nats wish to sever our ties with Westminster, no-one can deny that it is a democratic parliament.  As such any attack upon Westminster is an attack upon democracy and an attack upon decent-minded people across the UK, and around the world.

Okay, I don't see Westminster as the mother of parliaments - and if it is, it's just a bloody shame they never found out who the father was.  But it is a semblance of democracy, and in a world where the vast majority of countries do not have democracy, that makes it all the more important.  Let us also not forget that when we talk of Westminster, we talk of those who serve there.  That includes 59 Scottish constituency MPs, 56 of whom represent the SNP - Alex Salmond was the first MP to speak to LBC Radio about the attack shortly after it happened.  There are also MPs of Scottish birth or background who represent English constituencies, Scots lords, Scots civil servants and other workers in the Palace of Westminster, Scots police officers who have taken up careers in the Metropolitan Police, and of course the enormous number of Scots who live in London.

Even the most ardent Scots Nat who wanted business to continue in Holyrood cannot deny that what happens in Westminster, London, or England as a whole, affects us all.  Many of us have friends in England, many indeed have family.

Not that the fact that there were Scots caught up in the attack should be the only driving factor.  There were many nationalities and ethnicities caught up in the attack.  A group of French schoolchildren were on Westminster Bridge, three of whom were injured.  Of the two dead pedestrians, one was a Spanish school teacher and mother of two, Aysha Frade.  The other was 53-year-old American Kurt Cochran, in London to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary.  His wife is in hospital in a critical condition.  London truly is a metropolitan city where many cultures meet, visit, and live, and that is why an attack upon London is indeed an attack upon the world.

Putting it all together then, it was only fitting that the Scottish Parliament should be suspended.  It was indeed "the right thing to do", to show solidarity with and respect to the peoples of London and of the world caught up in this atrocious act.

The First Minister later stated "My thoughts, as I'm sure the thoughts of everybody in Scotland tonight, are with people caught up in this dreadful event.  My condolences in particular go to those who've lost loved ones.  My thoughts are with those who've sustained injuries and we all feel a sense of solidarity with the people of London tonight."

As ever, Nicola Sturgeon speaks with the values which so many of us in Scotland, and across the world, share.

But doing the right thing goes further than showing respect and compassion for victims of terror attacks.  It is about respecting others.  Even as the story was breaking, social media was ablaze with accusations of Islamist attacks, fingers being pointed at the Islamic faith, and even some seeing it as an opportunity to blame immigration and refugees.  Notice there how it very quickly went from blaming one particular interpretation of a religion, to blaming that religion, to blaming individuals.  I saw one comment on Facebook stating "This will soon come to every street in Europe."  Yeah.  I'm really scared that a Muslim is going to crash a car through my garden fence and try to stab me.

Yes, we now know was Muslim who had previously been investigated by MI5, but was currently not under investigation.  We also know that eight people have been arrested.  It is also now reported that Islamic State are claiming responsibility for the attack.  And of course, the bigots are jumping on this immediately.  Only  a few points here; we also know that the assailant was British-born, arrest does not equal complicity in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty, and IS now have their backs so firmly against the wall, and are on the brink of being wiped out, that they are obviously going to claim responsibility for any and all attacks.

If we take every news report of IS claiming responsibility for every 'terror' attack, then we play right into the hands of the terrorists.  But exactly the same happens when we pay any attention to the extreme right screaming about Muslim "immigrants" and "refugees" (even if they happen to be British-born - the bigots never make any distinction between the three).  They too are trying to stir up fear and hatred of Muslims, and when they do so, they are the very ones who are abetting terrorism.  Are they not attempting to strike terror into people and is that not the very definition of terrorism?  Saying things like it will be on every street in Europe merely abets the terrorists.  Refusing to be bullied by extremists, whether they be Islamists, the far-right, or of any stripe is the right thing to do.

The moment we fear and hate Muslims, or any other group within society, the terrorists have won.  Certainly, we can question and criticise Islam.  It is worthy of criticism - are as all religious faiths and cultures.  But when we listen to the hyperbole of hateful minds, then we do both the extreme right and the terrorists a favour.  I happen to extremely dislike a young man who works in his parent's shop near me.  I don't dislike him because he is a Muslim, but rather because he's a cheeky, arrogant git who needs a bloody good slap.  His mum and dad by comparison are lovely people whom I have tons of respect for.  I often wonder how their son turned out to be such a prick.  Probably because he's so westernised.

It is a symbol of any civilised society that we respect all races, cultures, ethnicities, and faiths - even if we disagree strongly with them.  And trust me, as an atheist, I have severe reservations about Islam, just as I have of all faiths.  Tolerance and respect are what make us decent human beings.  When the paramedics arrived on the scene at Westminster, one crew tried to save the life of PC Palmer ~ and the other crew tried to revive the attacker.  Why?  Because they are civilised; because it is the right thing to do.

As I write this, just over 24 hours after the attack, there are also some people trying to make political capital out of this attack, and some frankly disgusting internet trolls making sick comments about the attack, about Muslims, and even some wishing it had been an attack upon Nicola Sturgeon.  Rise above it.  This is not a time for anyone to play politics, nor is it a joke, nor a time to react to brain-dead knuckledraggers.  Let the Daily Express try to claim on SNP MSP groaned when parliament was suspended. Let the trolls make their sick comments. Leave the loopy conspiracists to claim it was a "False Flag" attack. But if we react to any of that, then we are giving them exactly what they want.

Walk away from it, in the knowledge that you are better than that, and you will not sully your respect for those maimed and killed in an atrocious act by rising to their bait.

But most of all walk away from it ~ because it is the right thing to do.