WELL over 250,000 rallied in Edinburgh for Scottish independence last Saturday, which was scarcely reported in the English media. Many fewer than that gathered in London but their protest was, rightly, widely reported, although negatively in the London press.
The Jeremy Vine royal cringe show discussed the fact that an 83-year-auld man was arrested. Why the ageist fuss? I was a participant of a much larger and peaceful rally in Edinburgh on the same day. No doubt many Edinburgh marchers were much aulder than me at 83 years of age. I will march on till I drop on the road to independence and only hope that I live to see independence first.
Come all ye young wans on the road to independence, never heed what the hoodies croak for doom. Get aff yer apps. On yer feet. Reclaim the streets. The future is now. Only if you dare. Don’t waste another generation on apathy amidst imperial wars and austerity. Avoid the British road to chauvinism. All roads need not lead to the Gnomes of Zurich, or Wasters of Warminster.
All you have to do is register your vote and put a bold St Andrew’s cross on a wee piece of paper. You do not even have to draw the sword, Kalashnikov, or support the nuclear button. Just swell the crowds. March under one banner. Encourage others to join you and help remove all the barriers to a brighter future.
You are our future. Don’t waste it for future generations to come. Don’t be stuck in the mistakes of the past. The time has never been better for a radical and free Scotland to take its place in the world. Stop being a backwater province of a greedy and rapacious neebor frae hell. Onwards and upwards to infinity and beyond all you young Buzz Lightyears, baldy bains (weans) and big Jessies and leave all of us auld Woodies and stragglers behind on the road to freedom!
Donald Anderson
Glasgow
I HOPE many National readers are very concerned with (Nato member) Turkey’s invasion of Iraq in order to attack the Kurdish people.
Kurdistan covers the states of Iran, Iraq and Turkey but they all deny the Kurds the right to self-determination, something about which your readers might have some empathy.
The Kurdish people are paying the price of making sacrifices for stopping the vicious Isis project while fighting for self-determination and women’s rights.
So much for the militarily superior USA using its power to impose democracy and human rights.
Make sure your MP, MSP and the USA consulate in Scotland know of your concern now, and that you will take account of their action in the event of any elections.
Norman Lockhart
Innerleithen
A BIT belatedly, I’ve just read the article on the smacking ban by Pat Kane (Of course I back the smacking ban ... but I’m conflicted about it, October 5).
I have to say that he vividly captured the conflicting views
which surround this issue. I worked in the RSPPCC, which became Children 1st, for 16 years and with colleagues in that organisation and others like Childline we campaigned to end the physical punishment of children. One of our most redoubtable supporters in those days, when the climate for change was not as conducive as today, was Ruth Wishart, who is now writing for The National.
Going back to that time and Pat’s powerful comments, I have to say that we had considerable sympathy for parents living with great stress who cracked and perhaps lashed out in frustration. What worried us more were those like Stuart Waiton and Richard Lucas who fought tooth and nail for the right to hit their children. I hope their views can now be consigned to the dustbin of history with their anodyne claptrap about the “light tap”.
I was also taken by the hypocrisy of a certain Liberal Democrat MSP who wrote in another newspaper about the long journey he had been on while working in a children’s charity to reach this conclusion. From my perspective he was more of a passenger than participant, as John Finnie MSP carried the burden of bringing this legislation to fruition.
The same LibDem, while working for a charity, was an enthusiastic proponent of the Named Person scheme, but in the end political expediency and opportunism won and he joined the group attacking it with all the myths Ruth Wishart exposed in a recent excellent article in this newspaper.
The words hypocrite and charlatan spring to mind.
They say you win some and lose some, and for those who care passionately for the welfare and protection of children, that’s how it must feel right now.
Douglas Turner
Edinburgh
JOHN Milne (Letters, October 10) is looking to find a way from No to Yes. Then might I suggest the front page of yesterday’s National is the ideal starting point. I believe it more than covers all the points raised in John’s letter.
I too believe that the journey will be met with difficulties that painted faces will not overcome, but as a grandparent I am willing to accept and overcome these challenges to give my children and grandchildren a better future.
Hector MacLean
Glasgow
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