stewartb
‘Why Scotland … Well “Scotland’s seas, lochs and coasts are apparently integral to the ‘British’ Royal Navy’s operations, training and trials”.’ – and the rest!
From The Independent (May 31, 2018) Cape Wrath: What it’s like to go hiking on the largest bombing range in Western Europe.
‘Cape Wrath sprawls over 50,000 acres and is home to the largest bombing range in Western Europe. UK and other European forces plus Nato jets and navy ships fire live shells (including, allegedly, uranium-tipped missiles) into the barren landscape as a way of fine-tuning their latest toys and gadgets. When they come out to play, they close down the road and access to Cape Wrath.’
And on the walk in and out of the area: ‘The views are consistently, enduringly breathtaking. At the first crest in the road Sandwood Bay, arguably the most hauntingly gorgeous beach in the UK, guarded by its attendant sea stack, emerges. Then the route flicks inland and for the next four miles the only sign of human presence is the sight of large shipping containers dropped in the moors which are used for target practice by the air force. Red deer amble between them.’
For current ‘firing times’ at the following MOD ranges in Scotland – Barry Buddon, Kirkcudbright, Garelochhead, Tain, Cape Wrath, Fort George, Blackdog, Castlelaw Ranges and Dreghorn – see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scotland-firing-times .
And let’s not forget the ‘value’ of Scotland to the MoD for storage purposes! Let’s not forget the toxic hulks of nuclear-powered submarines lying in Rosyth waiting ….
According to Forces News (January 16, 2025) on ‘Disposal of nuclear powered Royal Navy submarines’ we learn that:
‘… the work on HMS Swiftsure, which will be the first UK nuclear-powered submarine to be fully dismantled, is on track to finish by the end of 2026.’ – The hunter-killer submarine Swiftsure was withdrawn from service in 1992! So a wait of over 30 years!
Nuclear Engineering International (October 29, 2024) ‘UK nuclear submarine disposal concerns rise – The UK Parliament has raised concerns over delays in dismantling decommissioned nuclear submarines, as efforts to refine disposal processes continue.’
‘The 2019 Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report referred to in the parliamentary answers noted that the UK retired its 20 legacy submarines in 1980 and MOD’s progress in disposing of these submarines “has been a serious disappointment”. The project has moved at a “glacial pace” and “the 15-year delay has led to extortionate storage and maintenance costs”. MOD “is also looking increasingly likely to find itself without any further storage space by the mid-2020s” and “is rapidly approaching crisis point and simply cannot afford any further delays”.
‘While it has taken MOD 16 years to devise a workable dismantling strategy “progress is now being made and there is finally some momentum behind the project”. However, while there is now an agreed policy, “we remain sceptical that the ambitious timetable will be met, particularly given how many times this project has been delayed or deprioritised over the years”.
‘It is clear that the commitment to dismantle Swiftsure by 2023 “will not be met and will likely be completed three years after the target date”.’ Even then, that’s just one down, six or is it seven others at Rosyth to go!
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Frankly , if it wasn’t for those pesky Scots refusing to emigrate we (the rUK) could make much greater use of Scotlandshire’s resources without having to listen to the constant whining of the locals .
Can’t say we didn’t try getting rid of the b*stards , though , with numerous violent invasions in the Middle Ages , The Clearances , cannon-fodder for The Empire’s Wars , lowest life expectancy for much of the 20th C …
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Thanks for keeping us informed with these invaluable insights.
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O/T apologies, long comment also apologies, but you have choice not to read it.
Vote Reform and chances are you are then voting Tory.
How many ‘Scottish’ but really ‘UK’ Tory Councillors is that now who have defected to Reform UK ?
What is this strange collective epiphany that they, as Tory Councillors, have all had, that as party defections , have far exceeded any other party also having their own politicians similarly defecting in large numbers to Reform UK as well ?
Is anyone in the media investigating or speculating why this is ?
Is the downward spiral of the Tory party and the reported ascension of Reform UK in the polls then the main reason why this has prompted so many defections from the Tory party to Reform UK ?
Is it the far more extreme right wing policies of Reform UK that has attracted them , both as individuals as well as career politicians, as being a significant reason that they have then identified with and so connected to Reform UK as their new chosen party ?
Or is it as basic as the fact that they all , as former Tory politicians, saw that their future career prospects would be far better with a supposed rising (in the polls) party, like Reform UK , compared to a struggling (in the polls) party like the Tory party ?
Q’s Q’s but who is ever wanting to , and so is then actually asking, these relevant Q’s within the media ?
Who in the media is emphasising and highlighting that prior to their defection to Reform UK all of these Councillors were formerly elected by voters in Scotland as Tory Councillors and that prior to their defection they were all once those who fully supported, campaigned hard for and so stood as candidates for the Tory party.
So what was it that changed their minds to make them defect to another party (basically pretty much the same party), as were they previously , as former Tory politicians , all in denial about their former party and if so , then what does that say about their judgement and also their overall (lack of) political acumen ?
The same Tory party that imposed:
Austerity measures.
Gave us fools for PM’s such as Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Did nothing to alleviate the Tory cost of living crisis.
The same Tory party whose government projects were over budget and behind schedule, for example HS2 and also the Elizabeth Line (which was a new railway stretching across London, connecting Reading and Heathrow in the west, through central London, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It includes 41 stations, serving as a faster and more accessible way to travel across the city, including to and from Heathrow Airport).
Who gave us Brexit that has greatly impacted us in Scotland as a people and as a country.
Of course Brexit, as a policy , was backed by Nigel Farage via his initial protest pseudo political party UKIP, then he became the leader of yet another party he started , the Brexit party, and now he leads yet another pretend pseudo political party , Reform UK , and was it not considered to be because of the threat of UKIP ad also a section within the Tory party who were all Euro sceptics that then made David Cameron decide to hold a EU Referendum in the UK.
So now one of the latest converts from the Tory party who has defected to Reform UK is a former Tory Councillor, Ross Lambie , who has been chosen to ‘test the waters’ for Reform UK in Scotland in the up and coming by-election prompted by the tragic death of SNP Constituency MSP Christine McKelvie.
Interestingly Christine McKelvie first won that seat in 2011 and she last won it in the 2021 Scottish elections where she won that constituency seat with 16,671 votes , Labour were second with 12,179 votes and the Tories were third with 6332 votes but what was even more interesting was that Reform UK also stood in that election in 2021 and they only received 58 votes and that was via votes on the Regional list.
Ross Lambie was first elected as a Tory Councillor in the 2022 Scottish Council elections for Clydesdale South in the South Lanarkshire Council , he then defected to Reform UK earlier this year, 2025, and is now standing as the Reform UK candidate for the up and coming by-election for Hamilton , Larkhall and Stonehouse on June 5.
The announcement of Lambie’s defection to Reform UK, together with another Tory Councillor, John Gray, also defecting to them was reported as being “somewhat overshadowed by the Reform UK Deputy leader, Richard Tice, who on a (extremely rare) visit to Scotland was asked to name these two new Reform UK Councillors, and he was seen to have difficulty in appearing to be unable to fully name them so he just described them as ‘John and Ross’ , but he only gave their first names when he was pressed by Tom Gordon , a supposed journalist in Scotland”
Ross Lambie did a Facebook video message where he states he has already “been out knocking on doors of the constituency” where the by-election is and he says this:
“The message coming back is loud and clear so far , everybody is sick to the back teeth of the same old Scottish politicians , in this constituency it’s been a game of pass the parcel between Labour and the SNP for decades. Lots of talking absolutely diddly squat delivered. And em, people are straying to turn to Reform, the polls are showing it because they realise that we understand them we understand that people’s lives need to start improving now urgently and they cans see that we’ve got the guts to take the big decisions and call out all of the nonsense. Yeah so the political establishment in Scotland are terrified of us because they realise people are starting to find them out”.
Let’s look at some of these comments by him:
“everybody is sick to the back teeth of the same old Scottish politicians”
“Everybody” and “Scottish politicians” ?
Nope I am not sick of SNP politicians and neither are a hell of a lot of other people either, however UK “politicians” yes, very much so.
Ironically Ross Lambie was and still is one of those “same old (formerly Tory and now a Reform UK) politician” but Lambie was really more a UK politician” as opposed to being a “Scottish” one .
“a game of pass the parcel between Labour and the SNP for decades”
Where the SNP have consistently held this constituency seat since 2011 , as voters in that area voted FOR a SNP MSP to represent them as their constituency MSP in 2011, 2016 and then in 2021 , plus if we are talking about “pass the parcel for decades” how about UK politics at WM which has been always been only between his former chosen by him party, the Tory party, and the Labour party.
“lots of talking and absolutely diddly squat delivered”
Which is absolutely not true for the SNP is it, as if that were the case why then did the SNP win that MSP Constituency seat in 2011, 2016 and then 2022.
However what was and is true, for his former chosen by him party, the Tory party, was that they “delivered” a lot of hardship and suffering for the ordinary man as the previous UK government, and then they did “diddly squat” to alleviate it or resolve it for ordinary people, hence why Labour were able to win the GE last year.
I am also convinced that his , Lambie’s, new party, Reform UK, will also not alleviate or “reform” anything that will be a tangible benefit for and to the ordinary man and woman, either in Scotland or anywhere else within the UK.
“the political establishment in Scotland are terrified of us because they realise people are starting to find them out”
Nope , as parties like the SNP are not “terrified of your party” but they are fully aware of the damage that your new party , that you defected to , could do to Scotland if your new party gained any power within the UK.
Also there will come a time when Lambie’s new chosen party, Reform UK, will be those whom voters eventually “find out” and when they do, they will not like what they find , some if us already know what Reform UK are as we “found out” a long time ago exactly who Farage was and still is and also “found out” what and who his various fake political parties represented as well. (clue: not ordinary people or good policies).
Also “people found out” your old party, the Tories, in the UK hence why:
a) They were voted out as the previous UK government last year in the GE .
b) That is then probably why you jumped ship from the Tory party to Reform UK this year.
When did Scotland last vote Tory via a majority ?
So why would they now vote Tory , under the disguise of another party name, as in under the name of Reform UK via a majority ?
Farage, Tice , 30p Lee and others in Reform UK were all formerly Tory supporters , 30p Lee was even formerly a Tory MP and also the deputy Chairman of the Tory party before he, checks bloody notes, also defected to Reform UK, though his defection was prompted by his suspension from the Tory party regarding a comment he made where he said “Islamists have got control of (Sadiq) Khan and they’ve got control of London” and he refused to apologise for his comments.
Let’s see what happens next week in this by-election, but let us be 100% clear that the so called ‘rise of Reform UK’ is totally down to the bad and flawed politics of both the Tory party and the Labour party at a UK level , but also by a UK media determined to promote Farage, Tice and many others connected to Reform UK as a party, and so with the media choosing to platform them excessively as a supposed ‘serious’ party, they then are giving them far more credibility and legitimacy than they deserve or warrant.
They, Reform UK, want to stop all Net Zero projects , why ?
Well who funds them as a party and what do these donors invest in financially , fossil fuels perhaps , hence why green projects are currently not what they, as investors and political donors, want to see as an existing and current replacement for fossil fuel energy.
They , Reform UK, also want an insurance based healthcare service in their UK.
#GoodbyeNHS
Vote SNP in all future elections to show the media and also show all of these Tory defectors that we do not want their brand of pro UK Nationalist politics infecting and so damaging our Scottish politics.
Liz S
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*as if that were the case why then did the SNP win that MSP Constituency seat in 2011, 2016 and then 2022.
as if that were the case why then did the SNP win that MSP Constituency seat in 2011, 2016 and then 2121.
Right I am taking a long siesta aka long long break, as it seems impossible for me to make any bloody comment (Ha Ha) on here without making a (lot of) mistakes , perhaps Prof Robertson should block my comments , that might be easier and also less of an endurance for others to perhaps , if so inclined, to attempt to read any comment by me on here , as being a hard thing to do due to the length of all of my comments and obvious stupid mistakes Ha Ha
Liz S
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You’re a bit like me if a little wordier?
John
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Ha Ha….however I am minus your intellect, I got the brawn (as the sister) and my brother got the brains in our family.
Liz S
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262 folk read your Baroness Mone piece.
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🙂
“262 folk read your Baroness Mone piece”.
That is time that those 262 folk can now never get back Ha Ha
Liz S
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Far too modest Liz
John
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