by Rab Bruce’s Spider

It hasn’t taken long for the Unionists to insist that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a blow to independence for Scotland. A recent article in the Scotsman was so ludicrous in its contradictory assertions that I honestly could not bring myself to read it to the end.

Apparently, if an independent Scotland wanted to become a member of NATO, this would cause a problem with the SNP’s desire to abolish Trident nuclear submarines from Scottish waters. The writer seemed blissfully unaware that very few members of NATO actually have nuclear weapons. Or perhaps it was simply a false assertion to paint NATO membership as a problem for Scotland.

Continuing on the theme of Trident, if Scotland insisted on abolishing it, this would be a major blow to the west’s defences because there is nowhere else in the current UK for the submarines and nuclear warheads to be stored. This would mean that the Trident submarines would simultaneously be taken out of action, leaving the UK with no nuclear weapons, but also needing to be relocated to some other NATO base in another country, perhaps as far away as the USA. I still haven’t figured out how relocation and dissolution are the same thing.

And then, of course, there was the claim that breaking up the UK at a time of international crisis would be folly because the UK is one of the prime opponents of Putin’s Russia. This is so laughable I gave up reading any further. Again, the writer seemed oblivious to the fact that the Tories, compromised by Russian money, have already done more than enough to warrant the break-up of the UK, and the current shambolic Westminster government isn’t doing anything like the same as the EU when it comes to imposing sanctions on Russia or helping Ukrainian refugees. As usual, the Tories are big on rhetoric and very poor on actual action. In fact, the Scotsman article was pretty similar. Lots of assertions which contradicted each other, all written out in a sort of stream of consciousness way as if simply stating that Scotland has a problem is sufficient argument in itself.

The reality is that an independent Scotland which was a member of both NATO and the EU would be in a far better position to help Ukraine and sanction Russia than it is as part of the dysfunctional and compromised UK. Not that the evidence of our eyes and ears will ever stop Unionists from making absurd claims. But we are accustomed to that by now.