From stewartb:
Sometimes little things may reveal ingrained attitudes.
Over the weekend the Moderator of the Church of Scotland responded to a letter to the Kirk by William, the prince AKA Earl of Strathearn. We learn from BBC News: ‘His Royal Highness was due to be Lord High Commissioner at this year’s General Assembly, before it had to be cancelled because of Covid-19.’
This is from the Moderator’s response: “The Church of Scotland is sorry not to be able to welcome him back to Scotland, where he went to university, but we appreciate him taking time to write to us and are grateful for his interest, concern and support.”
It’s the ‘welcome him back to Scotland, where he went to university’ bit that got me.
This is 2021, the man left university over 15 years ago! And it’s not as if it’s: ‘welcome him back to a remotely located Town/City where he went to university but, regrettably, hasn’t been able to revisit’. No, it’s ‘welcome him back to Scotland’ i.e. a major component part of the kingdom whose throne he is due to inherit – one of two kingdoms under his grandmother’s crown. Should the presence of the senior royals in Scotland not be as normal – as unremarkable – as their presence anywhere in the UK, and regardless of where in the UK they attended a university many years ago?
Now William will have been to Scotland a number of times over the years so my dig is not directed at him [Oh go on: Ed]. But in the wording of the response it’s almost as if we glimpse a mindset concerned with an imperial ruler who, in an gracious act for which we are grateful, had planned a rare visit to a far corner of the realm.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52256557
Ach, maybe it’s just me getting far too easily irked these days!
Talking-up Scotland 
So easily irked that you’ve skipped a whole year. 🙂
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Just in the choice of picture – true. All else is right up to date!
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It is a polite and appropriately deferential reply from the Moderator, who will be conscious of the fact that a fair chunk of the congregations are older than I am and many are Royalist, unionist and Tory-voting and is seeking to avoid giving offence.
Personally, I would have preferred something along these lines:
“Nae borra, Wullie! We know yese urnae allowit tae travel. See yese next year, but.
We’ve been tellt yir gaun back tae helicopter drivin tae help oot in the crisis, so whit aboot fleein the thing up tae Deeside and hoistin your selfish fuckin feyther up and then fleein back tae London an drappin him in the gairden at Clarence Hoose? That wey he wullnie come intae contact wi onybuddy. Think aboot it, son.
Awrabest, pal.”
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It is not just the Scottish Church that has been a wee bit cringy. The Scottish government is firmly rooted in the sh1t that marks the deeply flawed response of the UK government to covid19.All the criticisms that can be made about the UK government can be made about the Scottish government. They willcontinue to be made unless the Scottish government acknowledges what the WHO has been saying throughout this crisis is the right way to eliminate, not suppress, the virus.
https://bylinetimes.com/2020/04/11/a-national-scandal-a-timeline-of-the-uk-governments-woeful-response-to-the-coronavirus-crisis/
On March 11
“NHS England says there are plans to increase coronavirus testing to 10,000 a day (NHS England). Dr David Halpern, the Head of the Number 10 ‘Nudge Unit’, tells the BBC “There is going to be a point, assuming the epidemic flows and grows as we think it probably will do, where you’ll want to cocoon, you’ll want to protect those at-risk group so that they basically don’t catch the disease and by the time they come out of their cocooning herd immunity has been achieved in the rest of the population” (Guardian). “The [unpublished] modelling from Imperial College that underpinned the government’s belief that the nation could ride out the epidemic by letting the infection sweep through, creating ‘herd immunity’ on the way, was… troubling”, the Guardian’s Science Editor noted. “The model, based on 13-year-old code for a long-feared influenza pandemic, assumed that the demand for intensive care units would be the same for both infections. Data from China soon showed this to be dangerously wrong, but the model was only updated when more data poured out of Italy, where intensive care was swiftly overwhelmed and deaths shot up”. (Guardian)”
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The Scottish Government is firmly rooted in the. Shit that marks the deeply flawed response of the UK Government.
Scotland is 1 to 2 weeks behind the growth in cases in London.
We locked down when we were further down the growth curve than England,
All the criticism that can be made about England’s Government can be made about Scotland’s Government.
Really: Planes are still flying into UK airports from Covid -19 hotspots. That’s a Westminster decision Scotland has no control over flights into Scotland.
London has been the UK’s Covid-19 hotspot, followed by Birmingham. Public health officials have called for a lockdown around London and Birmingham that has never been implemented , a Westminster decision,
Not enough testing has been carried out, there has been a shortage of required reagents. Ref. Robert Peston the UK chemical manufacturers association had meetings with English ministers and NO request was made to supply required chemicals.
Boris Johnson placed an order with Dyson (a tory party donor) for 10,000 ventilators. They are not going to start arriving till June. Well after the Peak. So late that the UK Government has had to go round the EU begging for spare ventilators. Germany supplied 60 over past few days.
Some poor Nurses in England’s hospitals have lost their lives having had to work without any PPE, 5 days ago about 20 front line staff in England’s hospitals had died after catching Covid-19.
The leader of England’s Government (a clown) shook the hand of all the patients in a Covid-19 Ward. He caught the virus and nearly died. Having infected some of his colleagues.
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Two things , Prince Charles wants to “slim down ” the monarchy, we will see less and less of these visits from royals , although to be honest we don’t see much of them now , unless of course they are escaping a virus . Secondly , William is like his mother , he is very English centric, he has no particular love of Scotland , it has only been an educating and holiday destination for him , with a bit of luck the more they disappear so will the cringe ! .
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I should have been clearer. I was talking about the unquestioning acceptance of science that is flawed. It remains to be seen if the UK will accept that lifting the lockdown will require the meeting of conditions which have been reported by WHO. That would include the management of importation risks which might require the temporary closing of passenger flights and rail and road link supervision.
UBI set at a decent level is likely to be necessary after lockdown is lifted. It will be a test of the Scottish government to what degree of “divergence” it is willing to go to avoid substantial worsening of health inequalities.No doubt prospective CMOs will also be thinking about this
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Aye John looks as if you’re getting a wee bit irked these days. Lockdown Fever or a sign of age? There are some situations where a polished, meaningless and verbose response is an absolute requirement. You already knew that of course. Time for your afternoon coffee. Thanks for your column.
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Thanks Jim, I think.
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Wish young Billy all the best—he seems as dim and affable as his Auntie Anne—though without her scowl and predilection for equally dim men.
He will, in time, become Prince of Wales, a title reserved for the future King of England ( and nowhere else).
By then Scotland will be a self governing country, seriously discussing whether to bother with the rigmarole of foreign monarchs.
Billy is very much an Englishman, married to his “English rose”, and supporting their footie and rugby exploits. He will probably be relieved not to drag himself northwards to a faraway country, of which he knows little.
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Apologies a bit late with this but a news piece from CNN today where a Pastor in the States who flaunted social gatherings restrictions died from the Virus prompted me to think what a glorious opportunity we are missing here at this desperate time for a unique social experiment. If we could convince all the world’s religious leaders to lock themselves in a small room for a month (with food) together with a sprinkling of Virus carriers to see who survives.
Just think what a wonderful PR that would be for the survivor/s and for their chosen religion which surely would go someway in bringing world peace. For good measure we could throw in Boris, Donald and Prince Charles but I guess a few might commit suicide for early salvation. Petition anyone??
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