A word on the current proroguing court cases from Ian Hamilton QC

I am very fortunate to be on emailing terms with the Scottish patriot (and hero) Ian Hamilton QC. I asked him what he thought might be the outcome of the current UK Supreme Court proroguing case and this is what he said:

If ever there is a conflict of laws this is it. Scots law is for and of the people. English law is for the rulers. The difference dates from 1329 and from the threat to the holder of the throne who is there by a choice which can be changed if he or she misbehaves.

This difference is with us as I write. South of us is a territory which has been conquered – hence the queen of England – but to us, the unconquerable, and therefore the queen of Scots. It would be absurd to write of Mary Queen of Scotland as it would be to write of Elizabeth Queen of English. A slight change in title represents a thousand years of history. It would have struck in my craw to swear to a territorial kingdom.

Each title is right for each country but as ever the power lies with England.

[In 1953 Ian was involved in a case questioning whether the current queen could be referred to as Elizabeth II since there had never been a Queen Elizabeth of Scots] In Lord President Cooper’s opinion in MacCormick v the Lord Advocate, what is not reported is the sneers we met outside court until, when moved by the Crown for expenses [LP Cooper] refused because, he said, “this case was raised by two gentlemen of Scotland in the public interest”. I don’t think you would anywhere else see two landless loons described as gentlemen of Scotland. His judgement stated clearly that in Scotland the power lay with the people, the Scots.

Lord Carloway knew the principle behind our law and expressed it bravely. I cannot tell you the result [from the UK Supreme Court] I can only, with tears in my eyes, give you the two opposing slogans: God save the King; God bless the people.

If only they could be compatible, as they should be. However I fear that where the power lies there goes the slogan. But where the people cry there also will the slogan cry out.

God save the Scots.

 

If you want to read more by Ian Hamilton he has a selection of fine works still in print (my personal favourite is Stone of Destiny).

Mental Health Awareness week

Borderline, personality disorder. Sounds a bit “mental” eh, borderline between what and what, is this person going to flip at any moment? “Emotion regulation disorder” “aka bunny boiler” a quivering wreck who cant control their emotions, stay away.  

Scitzo.phrenia. “That persons a bit schitzo eh”

“You’re going to a psychologist cos your a bit psycho eh”

We give ourselves these labels. Sometimes they make us feel warm and content knowing that to tackle your monsters knowing their name can send them back to hell. We can Pidgeon hole a reason for being the way we are, feeling the way we feel, and keep it stored in our brains as a safety net and feel solidarity with others of the same brand.

But what effect are these labels having on tackling the stigma around mental health? At what point does “a wee bit sad” turn into major depressive disorder- is it a tick box exercise that once you get to the point where you want to jump in front of a train you reach the next level and qualify?

Or is it a language problem? We grow up calling people “mad” “mental” “schizo” “no the full shulling”. So then how can we expect someone with a mental disorder to open up to us? how can we refer them to psychologists when the very place to seek help already has stigma surrounding its word “he’s pure psycho man”.

We can host a mental health awareness week anytime of the year, put on niceties (and perhaps mean it) post on facebook “if anyone needs anything i’m here to listen”  but if for the 51 other weeks of the year we are using these words then what hope do we have of showing we wont judge? If we don’t spend the time to ask someone how they are and not quickly brush over the “i’m fine thanks how are you” standard response, then how can we expect someone to open up about their troubles if we can’t be open about our day. Think of what a difference it would make if we were honest about things “actually i’m feeling a bit crap” we could nip things in the bud, instead of the many cases where we ask someone how they are, they say they are fine then go home and kill themselves.

There is a theory in psychology called the excitation transfer theory, aka mountain out of a mole hill theory, where small things build and build until the final straw breaks the camels back, if we get to the route of the problem and address it head on instead of bottling it up, what a difference it could make. Think of how liberated you could feel if you just said “know what, enough of these niceties this is what’s up”. Perhaps the honesty would have a knock on effect on other parts of our culture too, but we need to build this trust, we need to set the foundation that If someone is brave enough to be open and honest that they will not be knocked back with awkwardness. Perhaps we need to have a “sore foot awareness week” to show that having head problems is no different to having “mental” problems, and for god sake we need to distribute thesauruses to change our vocabulary and move away from negative connotations that the language to describe psychology isn’t tarred in a negative cloud.

So let’s start building trust among ourselves and end the niceties, say what you mean and mean what you say and perhaps one day we can just get on with living.

 

 

 

 

 

Huns and Fenians

“If you know your history, you would know where your coming from”-Bob Marley

Admit it Scotland, we have long had and will continue to have a sectarian culture, but this can change.

“Fenians” and “huns” have long been a member of our vocabulary used to spread sectarian and racist hatred, but are the terms actual insults?

The term “Hun” seems to have been coined in 1961 by English press shortly after Rangers fans travelled to play Wolverhampton Wonderers to compare the fans to the Mongolian Empire. The paper reported some rowdy fans” ‘coming across the border like marauding huns’. 

“The battle cry of ‘We are the people’ echoed off the red-brick buildings…It may have resembled an army, but there was nothing hostile about this invading force”

There are a variety of theories of course that fans are named Huns after the house of Hanover, as a lot of fans see the Queen as their leader. All sources indicate however that the name didn’t start off as a way to insult the religion of the fans- it may have turned into that by those who don’t now the history of the name however.

On the same note, the word “Fenian” also derives from a warrior tribe following the mythical leader of the Fianna, Fionn mac Cumhail. “A fiann was made up of landless young men and women” perhaps Catholics we coined this term due to various policies disallowing Catholics to hold land.

All in all, both terms seem to have originated in describing the Scots – no matter what side of the fence, as a warrior people. Perhaps a bit ironic seeing as the amount of small wars caused by the terms, but I would advocate that we join together and put that warrior passion into fighting for a better Scotland, rather than bending to the divide and conquer tactics.

Insults are what we make them into. The next time I get called a Fenian I will think “why thank you, I am a strong warrior” unfortunately fenian is usually followed by “bastard” but again, why is this also seen as a derogatory word, but who really cares if your parents are married or not- take the hatred and turn it into positivity.

The LGBTQ+ movement should be a beacon to pull us out of sectarian insults, to quote my friend who was recently called “a queen” – “well thank you honey i’ve always known I’m royalty”. Own it. 

Unfortunately, those who use these terms often don’t bother to do the research into the origins and don’t understand what they are actually saying, so it will have to come down to educating the recipients to reply “why thank you, dam right im a warrior” or the likes, and de-arm the offender. It can be done, just not any time soon.

Maybe in an Independent Scotland, we wont fight over these things anymore as there will be no one to divide and conquer us on religious lines and we can vote for the people we wont not based on what our religious culture dictates.

 

Now, i’m off to sharpen my axe. Joke.

 

Further reading

When The Rangers came to Wolverhampton Town

https://www.irishpost.com/news/what-does-the-word-hun-mean-and-what-is-its-place-in-todays-society-91001

 

 

Knitting for Mental Health

Tonight I’ve been reflecting.

When I graduated in 2010 I went to work in a mental health hospital for two years. I was a HCA or health care assistant, my job was to basically hang out with the patients. It was an eating disorder and personality disorder hospital, and some of the duties included staring at the patient while they ate, following them to the bathroom afterwards and sitting with them for 30 mins after meals in the community room- I would invent ways of trying to take their mind off things during these sessions, but mostly the patients just sat feeling miserable.

Eating disorders whisper too you that your not good enough, your despicable, fat, unworthy, etc. Its a horrible disease that is often poked fun out of, but once you’ve experienced having to stare at someone eating because if you even blink or scratch your nose they will hide there porridge in their pockets, or if you ever have to go through the trauma of restraining someone wile a nurse puts a tube down their throat to tube feed them, while they fight and scratch the often life saving treatment, you’ll start to look differently at peoples struggles.

If I reminisced long enough about some of the times in the treatment rooms I could easily cry- yes it was necessary to save lives and stop patients literally starving to death in some cases, but it could be a brutal process. I still have scars on my hands from patients digging in their nails to try and escape our grasp. Sometimes recalling the process feels akin to a soldier in the trenches.

For all of my outspoken and opinionized nature, I feel things intensely. I over think, analyse details, perform an internal autopsy on things that can be taken both ways. But most of all, i’m a sentimental git. (no one knows this though as I keep it under control and channel the laid back ice queen, so shhh)

You may feel I’ve digressed but here’s where the knitting comes in.

We had 6 meals/snacks a day, that’s 6 times in the community room trying desperately to come up with ways of breaking the patients mind prisons and “cheering them up”. One day, out of nowhere, someone started knitting, and like wildfire it spread. Before long we had a proper wee knitting circle going and everyone was doing it except me. Grasping onto this opportunity to make the patient feel good about themselves by teaching dummy me how to knit, I slowly began to learn how to knit scarves (and i’d often intentionally mess up to make them feel needed) Somehow knitting had become a sanctuary for these young girls and not an auld gits hobby (I worked on the children’s ward at the time).

I soon moved to nightshift and was producing squares like hens produce eggs. Unfortunately I only managed to pick up squares or rectangles as there wasn’t much time for lessons on nightshift- we had supper then tucked them in for the night and sat in the corridor outside to watch over them (and to listen for any star jumps). The little squares in the picture is my produce from that time. Over the years I’ve gone back and forth, stitched a few squares together etc but not much else.

This week I made the middle, on a separate project but then decided to unpick the stitching from my original blanket and add In the middle. In hindsight you could say this reflects that it’s never too late to unpick old ties and add new shiny experiences to the blanket of life.

I mentioned I was a sentimental git. As I was sewing together the old and the new, it brought back all those memories. All those girls, I wonder what their doing. Are they ok are they upset and still thinking no one cares about them or thinks about them. But you see, at the very same time their thinking these dark thoughts, i’m reminiscing about them and the skill they gave me, the joy that I can make something.

Just as you never know how hard things are for people internally, how dark and deep their thoughts go, by the same hand you never know how happy you’ve made someone, how when they think of you they smile, or how every time they hear Ed Sheeran’s A team they reminisce about that one time they stayed up all night with you because you couldn’t sleep an you introduced them to big Ed, or how every time you hear Fast car they think about you practising guitar an wonder what leap and bounds you’ve made since 2011.

I challenge everyone to try knitting. I challenge everyone to be a bit more kinder to other people, because even if it’s you best friend, sister, daughter, you have no idea what’ going on in their heads, but seek that connection to make someone feel good about themselves.

As for me, if anyone ever needs to escape their mind prison come have a chat 🙂

 

Chronicles of a Benefits Advisor – part 1

A guest post by a benefits advisor working in Scotland:

As a benefit adviser I am at the cutting edge of the misery caused by social policies. The stress and anguish caused to people who are terminally ill, sick, and mentally drained.  All I can offer them is a shoulder to cry on, a sounding board for their frustrations. I’d like to say I help them, but often, I do not feel I do. However, in doing this I am understanding the effects of poor development. Yes, you read correctly, poor development in the richest so called ‘Union’ in the world!

Whilst you may not have to work in this environment to understand the system and the possible impacts this could have, I am experiencing it first hand, and it is this experience that allows me not only to hear, but also see first-hand the extremes it drives people to.

The current system has a nonsensical approach, is extremely negative, and I have provided an example below.

An individual who has restricted mobility and poor health had separated from their spouse.  The individual had capital and decided to invest this capital in a friend’s house; converting the house, so one lived on the ground floor while their friend had the top floor. This gave the individual a home on one level, security, no mortgage or rent to pay, and shared household bills. It was a very amenable situation for them both. The individual was claiming a disability benefit, as they felt they could no longer work due to the health conditions they were experiencing. However, the DWP decide that this was not a split floor arrangement and that the individual had moved in with their partner. The individual had to prove that they had separate bank accounts, that there was not a sexual relationship being undertaken, and that there was an agreement in law that reassured that the money the individual had invested in the property could be taken out by the family when the individual died. All this had to be provided as evidence to show there was no other relationship, other than friendship, otherwise the individual’s benefit would be stopped.

Now, where this individual thought they had come up with a great idea to resolve both friends’ predicaments, the individual was now regretting the move and wished they had presented themselves to the local council as homeless.

That would have been further stress on an already broken housing system, housing benefit would have been paid along with Council Tax Reduction which would have cost the council more than what the DWP would have been saving by not paying ESA. If the individual had savings, they would have been forced to use these to live on before receiving support.  Once the individual fell within the limits of receiving help, they would have had to prove what they had spent the savings on, whether they had spent within the guidelines, and not disposed of capital to claim benefits.  The DWP taking the action they did also meant the cost of an advisory service to assist this person to provide evidence – as they did not know what evidence to provide, or how they could prove they were not in an intimate relationship – and causing the individual much stress and worry.

When are we going to look at the bigger picture instead of working in silos? When are we going to trust in people to solve their own problems? When are we going to provide a system that helps people in need? Instead we have a government (Westminster) that is trying to control budgets to an extent that it is creating stress, angst and misery through control, which impacts upon the NHS, council services and other public services.

My wish is to allow people an environment in which they can direct their own lives, problem solve and take risk – I see a system that applies controlling conditions, an inability for people to take risks and where problem solving carries punishment.  Let’s provide a system that is there for those in need, not one that provides because our punitive benefits system does not work!

Neo-Liberalism confines creativity!

Anon.

UK Supreme Court judgment on Scottish EU Continuity Bill – summary

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1073182911585755137

The full UK Supreme Court judgment on ScotParl’s EU Continuity Bill  is 44 pages long! Luckily the UKSC also produced a handy summary of their judgement which you can read here. 

Here’s the important section (emphasis is mine):

 

JUDGMENT

The Supreme Court gives a unanimous judgment. It finds that the whole of the Scottish Bill would not be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. However, section 17 would be outside the legislative competence of the Parliament because it would modify the Scotland Act and, at least in part, the sections referred to in the final paragraph below would be outside the competence of the Scottish Parliament because they would modify provisions of the UK Withdrawal Act. 

So, only section 17 – Requirement for Scottish Ministers’ consent to certain subordinate legislation – has been judged outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. That’s one out of a total of 38 sections in the Bill.

Here’s another good bit:

Is the Scottish Bill as a whole outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament?
The only relevant question is whether the Scottish Bill relates to relations with the EU (a reserved matter). To relate to a reserved matter, a provision must have more than a loose or consequential connection with it. The Scottish Bill does not relate to relations with the EU. It simply regulates certain of the legal consequences of the cessation of EU law as a source of domestic law.

And this bit too:

Are various provisions of the Scottish Bill outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament because they (i) are incompatible with EU law, (ii) modify section 2(1) of the European Communities Act 1972 (‘ECA’), and/or (iii) are contrary to the rule of law?
None of the provisions which are challenged take legal effect until the provisions of EU law with which they are incompatible have ceased to have effect as a consequence of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Without such legal effect, there is no incompatibility with EU law and no modification of section 2(1) of the ECA [84-85]. The challenge based on the rule of law is misconceived

Adam Tomkins on the Supreme Court's ruling regarding the Scottish Parliament's Continuity Bill: pic.twitter.com/k5QJpsNSZw

— Sarah Mackie (@lumi_1984) December 14, 2018

I fully understand why Mike Russell sounded so irate with the Sky News guy. The reporting of this story has been, as Mike pointed out, turned upside down. We really can’t trust the MSM to be straight about anything.

(except The National)

You can watch Lady Hale summarise the judgment here:

#KnittingForIndy

Winter is here and awbody needs a bunnet. What better place to advertise a message of support for Scottish Independence to the passers-by or people with whom you interact?

Clothes have always broadcast subtle signals of status, group identity and individuality from bluebell badge or white rose of Scotland, the colour of your handkerchief or a yellow ribbon on your lapel. Explicit messages on clothing have been all around us since the DIY ethos of Punk or the slogan t-shirts of Kathryn Hamnett. This space has become dominated by commercial messaging but these are easily subverted to other meanings.

 

 

So in this ‘Dae It Yersel’ spirit I decided to knit a hat to celebrate and advertise the iconic #NationFilm series produced by Phantom Power and Lesley Riddoch. Knitted in monochrome, this hat was based on a free pattern advertising Shetland Wool Week for a fisherman’s ‘Toorie’.

For the latest project I switched the colour on with sea-blues, forest green and “Bu Chòir Fhatast!” (Still Yes) shining out in white against a deepening blue sky, guarded by unicorns. The hat suits my friend @honeypunk3 who is showing it off at Sabhal Mor Ostaig this weekend… *proud*

 

 

I’d love to knit an Indy hat for everyone that wanted one but there are not enough hours in my life. Instead I want to inspire a cohort of knitters to make hats for their pals or even better teach their pals to knit and extend this Wild Woollen Web.

If you’re not interested in knitting the next bit will be boring. Why don’t you go find someone who likes knitting who’ll make ye a bunnet!

 

Here is the basic pattern for the hat. I knitted using acrylic double knit on four needles but found both the sizes too small (the bigger size fitted my seven year old boy!). With fine Shetland wool you could knit the pattern and block the hat to size. For the utility of acrylic, I modified the pattern to a bigger size, described in steps below.

 

The original pattern has a beautiful repeat panel depicting the Merrie Dancers, the aurora borealis of Shetland tradition, but you can add other motifs to make up the 34 rows of the rectangular panel on page 3. Here’s where our slogan comes in. Just draw your favourite Indy phrase on graph paper and knit in place of, for example, 10 rows of the panel.

 

“Bu Chòir Fhatast!” Pattern

Needles: One set of four 3.5mm double pointed needles

Yarn: keep it cheap and cheerful. I’ve got lots of odds and ends of brightly coloured acrylic double knits bought from charity shops and gifted from people who know I knit.

Abbreviations: knit (k) purl (p) main colour (mc) alternate colour (ac)

Tension: make each stitch purposeful and imbued with positive energy for the campaign ahead. As you knit you will reflect on the arguments for and the benefits of Scottish Independence!

 

Ribbed Band:

Using mc cast on 132 stitches across three needles as shown below (44 on each).

First round: (k2, p2) repeat to end of round.

Next twelve rounds: introduce ac (change this every two rounds); k2 ac, bring mc to front, p2 mc, take mc to back, (k2 ac, p2 mc) to end of each round.

Increase Round: (in mc) k8, kfb, (k4, kfb) 23 times, k8. This should give 156 stitches.

Next Round: (in mc) knit to end.

 

Mid-Section:

This is the section for the main pattern and slogan. I used a tree pattern for a 12 row band then another 12 row band with unicorn facing left then ‘Bu Chòir Fhatast! and unicorn facing right. Bear in mind that you will knit the pattern from right to left.

You can mix this up, placing the writing towards the bottom rib, as long as this section has 34 rows of 156 stitches (use the rectangle in page 3 of the pattern above). You don’t even have to do a pattern. Plain knitted or striped bands would look good with your phrase.

 

Drawing in the Top:

You’re getting near to the end now! The original pattern has a beautiful bejewelled star dome that is easy to follow with the diagram below:

Decrease Round: (in mc) k8, k2tog, (k4, k2tog) 23 times, k8. This should give144 stitches.

Next 21 Rounds: follow chart above introducing colours (1,2,4) as you see fit. Each row is repeated a further five times for each row (6×24 stitches). The up arrow denotes a pattern of slipping two stitches onto the new needle, knitting the next stitch, and then passing the two slipped stitches back over the knit and off the needle.

This will leave 12 stitches. You can break the thread and knit the end through each stitch and draw the top of the hat tight. You’ve finished your knit. Just sew up the loose ends and you will have a uniquely beautiful hat with a powerful message. Everyone will want to talk about the bunnet which is your buy-in to start a conversation about Independence!

I think my next design will have a #DissolveTheUnion panel but I will keep on drawing, knitting and sharing the results. Get in touch with me any time if you need any mentoring or inspiration!

To hold the dream whilst pursuing the possible

A guest post by Lis Bardell:

There is a discrete body of skills that is political skills and the biggest disservice that the media do us is their failure to give credence to these skills… to recognise, analyse or comment on them.

Overall, political skills underpin the ability to hold the dream whilst pursuing the possible. These skills include the ability to listen; to absorb large amounts of information and extrapolate key issues and priorities; to bring people together; to negotiate and balance varying – often competing – rights and interests; to compromise where necessary but not too far; to work in an arena of unbounded accountability.

These skills are vital to good governance and good government.

But, for years, decades indeed, the media have been rubbishing politicians and bemoaning the rise of “boy politicians” whilst calling for people to seek election who have “real life experience.”

I was a first time candidate at age 60/61 with a lifetime of varied experience in public service and no-one from the media evinced the slightest interest in that experience.

In America, after decades of being told that politicians were rubbish, the people chose a “businessman”. What was the first thing the media said of Mr Trump?  “No experience of public office…”

And it shows. 

A Lack of Shouty Mountains

There’s a serious lack of mountains where you can just go up and scream, in West Lothian. So here’s my tuppence worth.

 

A relentess rage

Born with a rage burning deep within, as deep as the pits my father mined in.

A miners daughter, born deep in the dark of the strike, a picket line father standing up for change.

A father who would walk for miles with coal or trees on his back, to keep the fire burning while the family huddles around to get a heat.

A mother with two small children round her feet, clothes and toys sent from Russia in solidarity.

A father poaching for fish to feed the family then locked up for the crime of hunger, pleading with the officer not to call and distress his heavily pregnant wife. But they did.

A passion for revolution and pride growing deep within.

Born with a passion deep within, as deep as the love of her Romeo and Juliet grandparents.

A love story, strangers meeting on holiday. Pen pals soon became more.

A staunch faith, and a love so strong to convert in secret and cross a sea to marry, all alone.

A grandparent disowned by his family, striving to carve out a life for his new Irish bride in sectarian Scotland, being spat at in the street.

A grandchild, “raised on songs and stories, heros of renown, the passing tales and glories that once were Dublin town”.

A passion for equality and respect growing deep within.

Born with a curiosity growing deep within, as deep as the law will abide.

A school child passing derelict buildings on her way to school.

I’m going to turn that into a cafe! She declares each day on the way by, or “Im going to live in howden house!” as she stares at the ruins imagining the insides.

Every penny of her inheritance spent ten times over. A conservative sum, but look how far they have came, from picket lines to birthday funds, owning their council house via thatcher.

Still a passion for the working class growing deep within.

Born with Irish on both sides, strong links to the Labour party

A grandad picketing polling stations and shouting at people to use their vote for Labour.

A Donegal farmer living in addiwell, a father to a love story between duelling villages.

A love for Ireland, for freedom and self governance growing deep within.

Now an adult in the big bad world, with a rage at my very core.

I see illegal wars and famines galore.

This deep sense of equality making me question every day

if this is better together, there must be a better way.

Sectarianism and racists prowling the street all day

Orange men banging their drums, surely there is another way.

Derelict buildings, let empty to rot,

I soon picked up a camera to show the world what they forgot.

Homelessness on every corner, surely we have space?

But again the world only cares about your race.

Genocides in Palestine, the world turns a blind eye

But just because there’s no gas chambers, doesn’t mean its not a holocaust.

Attempting to build a better nation, but some things just cant be boxed off

Like rhymes and reasons and the changing of the seasons, answers will never be final.

So i’m not sorry I this last part doesn’t fit in your poetic form

But i’m shaking the world and screaming while as “calm as a bomb”.

A better nation, “its coming yet for awe that”.

Highland Clearances part 2: Brexit

Highland clearances part 2: Brexit

Tonight I attended “Brexit and EU Citizens Rights” Livingston hosted European Commission Scotland, Polish Cultural Festival Association, EU Citizens Rights Project Scotland and Migrants.Scot Community” please search for it on Facebook as there are more events travelling around so you may catch it in your area.

What can I say? Another bloody flight of earls? Highland Clearances part 2?

Brexit: a stitch up.

Basically in a nut shell, no one has a clue what’s going on and so the ECS felt worried and decided to seek funding to hold these meetings up and down the country to better inform EU Citizens about Brexit and where they may stand- I can only imagine (not that I was alive at the time) that the feel their situation is akin to the cold war or the Cuban missile crisis- their lives are a ticking time bomb that’s rapidly spinning out of control under a government unable to make moral decisions.

Deadlines: * cough cough with a pinch of salt * Deal or no deal to be settled by 31 March 2019 – lets face it there is going to some sort of deal, they have set the rhetoric that the world will end if there’s not a deal so that any crappy deal that knocks us out sideways on mutiple faces will look like a Godsend. Make them expect the worst then slide in the “saviour”.

There will then be a “transition period” between 31 March 2019 and 31^st December 2020 where freedom of movement to the UK will not be restricted and during this period the UK are obliged to set up a “settlement scheme” All EU residents who have been residing in the UK before the 31^st Dec 2020 can continue to do so. Those who are living outside the UK but have a permanent residence status for the UK have 5 years to come back.

If any family members wish to move over after the 31s dec 2020 will need to apply for a “pre settled status” and have 3 months to do so.

The UK will then set up a “registration system” to allow it to distinguish EU citizens living in the UK before and after the transition period.

What is “settled status” ? If you have lived in the UK for 5 years before the 30^th June 2021.

What is “pre settled status” ? If you haven’t been here for 5 years before 30^th June 2021 then you can apply for this for free when your 5 years come.

If the UK delivers on what it promises….

What are the requirements? You need to prove your identity, nationality, length of residence and a criminality check needs to be done (because we cant have foreign criminals roaming about, just good old Uk ones grrrr) You also have to have been a continuous resident for 6 months out of 12 per year (in other words if you bugger off to your summer house in a nice foreign country for 6 or more months of the year your in hot water)

This delight will cost you £65 per adult and £32.50 per under 16 year old. There are current funds or discounts- so if you have a large family your screwed. That’s right,  you’ve given up your countries and lives to come to the UK to pay your taxes and contribute to society like every one else, and were going to charge you for it. Apparently we don’t all bleed the same. However, the Scottish Government have made sounds that they would pay for devolved public sector workers fees

When to apply: Right now its aiming for end of 2018 for some people, and for everyone on March 31^st 2019 (*insert giving special status and selective picking for certain nationalities and disregarding ones from more “undesirable” countries here *)

Why am I angry?

This country was founded on “immigrants”. Basically all EU citizens who live in the UK, even if its yer granny who’s been here for 60 years- if she  doesn’t have citizenship or indefinite leave to stay here then she will have to apply. IF YOU DO NOTHING YOU WILL BE DEPORTED. 6 Million EU Nationals all trying to apply at the same time in the tiny window of time, when the UK government finally gets its finger out to tell us when (see how it’s in their interest to take their time and make that window smaller?)

Can you spot the danger here? We are facing another Windrush scandal where documents are missing or incomplete and whoosh yer grannies deported on a technicality. This is basically a social cleansing experiment, EU citizens who don’t know about all these tiny details are in serious danger of losing their homes and lives here. And what’s worse is that there not even being told about it. I posed the question “what is the government doing to inform people?” and the answer was “well… eh nothing really that’s why we felt the need to have these meetings ourselves, I mean their website has a lot of information on it but its only in English right now”. In English. Great British arrogance once again, another hurdle and trap to separate the wheat from the chaff. Its hard enough for a native Scot to get her head around all these secret codes and points but for someone who English isn’t their first language? Good luck with that.

What’s more, is that when we leave the EU, we need to seek agreements with countries to allow nationals to hold dual citizenship. Say for example you are German and live in the UK, the UK could insist that to live here you must renounce any other nationality and be solely British (Germany has already agreed dual citizenship however). Why is this a problem? The UK could pick and choose which countries are allowed and which are not, this infringes upon your human rights- not that you’ll have any outside the EU anyway. Also, it takes away your democratic right to vote in EU elections.

And this is only a proposal…. If we get a deal. If there is no deal EU citizens will have no rights at all.

So dear reader, I may be pushed before I jump- hell will freeze over when I pick British Citizenship over Irish.

P.s. WLC leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick was talking at the meeting about how he’s an avid remainer and is united to help out the EU Citizens (I have recordings for prosperity) How about this Lawrence- Get out of bed with the Toxic Tories that are propping up your administration- they brought this upon us! A plague on both your houses!