By Brenda Robb

Did you know that the National Audit Office reported in July this year that 96% of English Councils failed to submit legally required audited accounts for the year 23-24? We have our faults here but believe me, there would be hell to pay if this happened in Scotland. Why are your politicians, unions and activists not treating this as the scandal it is, how on earth do you know if your money is being spent sensibly? Why is the press not all over this demanding answers and accountability? If you don’t hold your political representatives at all levels to account, who is going to do it for you or stop charlatans like Nigel Farage claiming you need a DOGE team to clamp down on fraud? Then, at Westminster level, your public spending figures are obscured in UK wide reports whereas N Ireland, Scotland and Wales all need to present yearly accounts and to stick within a fixed annual budget – don’t you think England should be held to account too and be better for it? The unionist media makes sure you here all about our challenges and mistakes but hide our successes (baby boxes, child benefits, free tuition and prescriptions, right to roam, toll free bridges, new schools, hospitals & parks to name a few) from you lest you become dissatisfied and demand more for yourselves.

Ah, I hear you say Angela Rayner’s resignation shows that our politicians are being held accountable for their actions. You have a point, at least labour have reinstated the ethics adviser position and taken heed of his report, a process ignored by the Conservatives especially under Boris Johnston. But, it could also be argued that the motivation behind the press and opposition parties call for Angela’s resignation was more witch hunt or scalp collecting than moral outrage, a concerted campaign to silence left leaning voices or to penalise working class MPs not so familiar with wealth hiding systems. We shouldn’t accept a two tier ethic standard and we should be wary of deeper undercurrents infecting politics worldwide. My sympathy for the few left leaning figures crying out about unfair treatment is limited though, where were they when key SNP figures were pilloried in the press? While we remain in a union we all need to take heed of what is happening across the 4 nations rather than blindly believing the Daily Mail & Telegraph rhetoric. It isn’t migrants destroying our society, it is the far right, Trump supporting, wealthy and entitled elite and their shadowy puppet masters who see no need for a more equal, inclusive world and who are using their wealth to protect themselves. 

It is of course up to you to decide what type of England you want, well for as long as we still have a democratic system of course. You may be happy with wealth and land hoarders ruling your roost, with sewage in your rivers and lakes, with your houses, parks, schools and hospitals being underfunded while lucrative contracts are doled out to unscrupulous landlords and the private sector, with politicians and think tanks who cultivate a toxic narrative to blame and divide rather than to fix and to build a better society for all. We in Scotland are asserting that right to decide too, you must recognise that England cannot and should not dictate how another country is run. You in England have enough problems of your own to sort unless you want to end up where America is finding itself but you need to have the courage to stand on your own two feet rather than hiding behind a British fantasy. Your national flag is being used to mark out territory, to exclude and to intimidate, why not stand up & create a new narrative of hope, compassion and inclusion so that you really can be proud of your own country?

Love Scotland

talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2025/09/08/96-of-english-councils-failed-to-produce-audited-accounts-imagine-that-happened-in-scotland/

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/angela-rayner-resignation-labour-party-inside-story-b2820964.html

http://www.gov.scot/publications/right-decide/pages/4/