By Rab Bruce’s Spider

Sometimes it’s hard not to get angry about politics. Three things have combined to upset me this morning so, while I usually try not to write a blog post while I’m angry, I need to get this lot off my chest.

First of all was the astonishing comment on Twitter from Labour MSP Jackie Baillie who appeared to be complaining that, according to one economic report, Scotland would be worst affected by the Tories’ austerity programme. Now, the forecast may or may not prove to be correct but the fact that Baillie, one of the most vociferous opponents of Scottish Independence, should have the brass neck to complain about it is almost beyond belief. She campaigned hard to keep Scotland under Westminster control, ignoring all the Yes arguments about the democratic deficit but now is unhappy at the all too predictable outcome of what she wanted.

Needless to say, a great many pro-Indie supporters responded to Ms Baillie’s comment, no doubt putting themselves in the Daly Mail’s firing line when it comes to their next piece about vile CyberNats. My own comment, suggesting that Ms Baillie was perhaps suffering from amnesia, was mild in comparison to some but the more I have thought about her remark, the more annoyed I have become. The most charitable thing I can say about her is that she at least appeared to be complaining about the projected economic outcome although her Tweet was a little ambiguous and could, if one were to read it with a jaundiced eye, be taken to imply that she was pleased at the prospect of Scotland suffering disproportionately from the austerity cuts. This may be an unworthy thought but the behaviour of some of Ms Baillie’s political colleagues suggests that many in Labour are delighted at the prospect.

I speak, of course, of the debate on the Scotland Bill in the House of Commons. The SNP amendments which would have brought Full Fiscal Autonomy closer to reality were soundly defeated. This was predictable but it was the jeering, mocking and taunting attitude of the majority of the Tory and Labour MPs who voted it down, most of them not even having bothered to listen to the debate in the Chamber, that really irked me. It was confirmation, if any were needed, that the role of the Westminster Parliament is to keep Scotland in its proper, i.e. subservient, place.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, I turned on the radio this morning expecting to hear some comment on the debate seeing as it had been about the much-vaunted Devo Max which the BBC itself had done so much to promise to the people of Scotland. In this, I was sadly disappointed. I didn’t listen to the whole Good Morning Scotland programme so I may have missed it but it certainly wasn’t covered in the headlines. In fact, the main political feature on the programme was about the Scottish Labour Party’s leadership election hustings. We were treated to fairly lengthy speeches from Kezia Dugdale and Ken MacIntosh, followed by commentary from BBC Scotland’s political editor, Brian Taylor who did at least manage to mention that the SNP MPs were debating in the House of Commons. Other than his passing reference, though, it was as if nothing of any importance had happened.

I suppose one shouldn’t be angry about this sort of thing. We all knew it was going to happen and saying, "I told you so" doesn’t really help the situation. The most depressing part about it all is that a great many people living in Scotland seem to be content with this state of affairs.