By Liz S

Labour peer Lord McConnell is speaking at this year’s Battle of Ideas Festival on the following :

“Should we put Britain first ? The ‘National interest’ question”

When you click on this subject these are some of the things that are noted:

“The term ‘national interest’ has re-entered political conversation. Immigration, energy security, national defence and protecting domestic industries are recurring popular concerns. A survey by More in Common found 63 per cent of Britons now support a ‘Britain First’ approach”

“Britain First” ? Is that not the name of the ‘party’ that is described as being far-right, ultranationalist, and fascist political group/party ?

Also noted was :

“The nineteenth-century statesman Lord Palmerston argued that national interests are ‘eternal and perpetual’ and that our duty is to follow them”

“national interests are ‘eternal and perpetual’ and that our duty is to follow them” ?

National , as in what sense ? Britain, the UK or England ?

Also noted was:

“But now Britain is a mid-ranking power whose ability to act on interests and duties has been constrained by decades living under EU rules”

“constrained by decades living under EU rules” ?

Scotland says we have been “constrained” by way more than decades “living under UK rules“.

Also noted:

“Britain can reject EU demands to join SAFE (Security Action For Europe), but struggles to fund its armed forces or defend its borders against small boats”

“EU demands” ? What about the “demands” the former Tory UK government made to the EU when the UK left the EU ?

“struggles to fund its armed forces or defend its borders against small boats” What about the ordinary people of their Britain struggling to pay bills , pay mortgages and pay for food as everything so high and still via (yet another) new Labour UK government nothing of substance is being done to help us all ?

“From Metro Mayors and Manchesterism: A devolution revolution”.

This was noted :

“Establishing ‘Manchesterism’ across the UK to ‘take power out of Westminster’ is the Burnham government’s Big Idea”

How does taking the “power out of WM ” via “establishing Manchesterism” help Scotland , which is as distant from Manchester as it is from London ?

Also noted:

“Critics argue that 30 years of devolution has simply emboldened regional nationalists who loathe Britain – as illustrated by a meeting of the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in September – and has entrenched identity politics through stakeholder status and representative committees who gain power in devolved settings”

“who loathe Britain” ? Really ? Well is there not a fair amount of loathing against Scotland and those of us who support independence that as loathing is coming from those who we clearly identify as either being British Nationalists or English Nationalists ?

“entrenched identity politics through stakeholder status and representative committees who gain power in devolved settings” ?

Sorry but how “entrenched” are those who are on the side of the UK ? As in all of those political parties and individual politicians who clearly are “representative” of those who constantly indulge in “identity politics” ?

Also noted was:

“Rather than a benign Holyrood model, could Burnham’s devolution plans produce an ‘Ulsterisation’ of Britain – institutionalising already evident regional disparities and tensions, and further fuelling forces pulling the country apart”?

“‘Ulsterisation’ of Britain” ? A crude term once used in respect to Scotland by David Torrance who argued “how traditional left-right economic class divisions in Scotland have been overshadowed by a permanent constitutional fault line over independence versus the Union”. However it takes two sides to create a “division” and the UK side always attempts to “overshadow” Scotland’s justified arguments to become an independent country.

“further fuelling forces pulling the country apart” ? I think we all know who it is to blame for “fuelling” the strong arguments and justified reasons for Scotland to finally seek to leave the UK State, and it is not the “forces” that Jack McConnell would blame , but it is very much the arrogant , disrespectful, dismissive and disdainful attitude and behaviour of various UK governments , UK politicians and UK media (and also house Jocks like McConnell) towards Scotland , who as various political parties, UK governments , UK politicians and UK media have all chosen to (mis)treat and also damage Scotland in the past , present and I am sure they will also do so in the future if we, Scotland, stay in their Britain First State.

Lord McConnell a speaker in the Battle of Ideas – check out their other speakers this year – then see how fitting it is that he, McConnell, should be noted as a participant in this Britain First (Ha Ha ) Battle of Ideas Festival (pantomime).

Their beloved Britain aka British State (aka an Island that is dominated by England via their politics and media) lacks any really progressive or internationalist ideas via these Battle of Ideas contributors, who are , via a majority as speakers, more to the right politically (sometimes the far far right) as they have their own agenda which is to promote regressive and politically isolationist ideas that they want to impose upon us within Scotland .

I mean , the BBC are missing a trick here as they could film this ‘Festival’ of ‘Ideas’ as a ‘Live’ broadcast – though the BBC are probably seen as being too “Woke” for this event ( Woke ? No. Asleep to news. Yes).