But Does the EU Want Scotland?

BY EFFIE DEANS In the Scottish Government’s latest paper An independent Scotland in the EU we learn that the SNP thinks that it would take between two to five years to join the EU. This is despite us learning that civil servants had previously warned that it could take up to eight years. The truth is that no one knows how long it might take for an independent Scotland … Continue reading But Does the EU Want Scotland?

Does Scotland Need More Migrants?

BY EFFIE DEANS The Scottish Government in its latest independence white paper expresses concern that Scotland’s population is aging and the birth rate is declining. It argues that migration is the sole driver of population growth and would like migration to increase. It therefore sets out various new visa schemes that an independent Scotland might adopt, would make it easier for asylum seekers and add … Continue reading Does Scotland Need More Migrants?

The SNP is a Dwindling Band of Fantasists

BY EFFIE DEANS Like everyone else I did not pay much attention to the SNP conference which took place nearby me in Aberdeen. The turnout was poor with plenty of empty seats. But this isn’t the SNP’s main problem, nor indeed is Humza Yousaf. The real problem is Scottish nationalism has become a movement of fantasists. In 1989 two million people in what are now … Continue reading The SNP is a Dwindling Band of Fantasists

The Left Has Disgraced Itself Over Israel

BY EFFIE DEANS There is probably nowhere in the world which has had such a long and on the whole successful experiment with socialism as Israel. In no other western country that I can think of are there anything like the kibbutzim in Israel. Here are small experiments in socialism which to various degrees put into practice the ideals of shared ownership, collective living and … Continue reading The Left Has Disgraced Itself Over Israel

Should Britain Pay Reparations for Slavery?

BY EFFIE DEANS The president of Guyana Mohamed Irfaan Ali recently argued that Britain owed his country reparations for slavery. So too an international judge from Jamaica claimed that Britain owed nearly £19 trillion for its involvement in the slave trade. We are constantly reprimanded for the British Empire and urged to decolonise. Yet nobody in Britain living today took part in the Atlantic slave … Continue reading Should Britain Pay Reparations for Slavery?

The SNP Can Now be Decisively Defeated

BY EFFIE DEANS It’s now around 13 years since we last had a Labour Government. People in their twenties will barely remember it. In Scotland too we have had SNP Government since 2007. The days when Labour and the Lib Dems were in coalition are a distant memory even for those of us who do remember. Change is coming in both the UK and in … Continue reading The SNP Can Now be Decisively Defeated

Is the SNP motivated by Anglophobia?

BY EFFIE DEANS Penny Mordaunt’s appearance at the Fringe in Edinburgh proved controversial for her statement that the SNP’s approach to independence fails because it is based on bile and hatred. But who does the SNP hate? The answer would seem obvious. England. The English. But both the SNP and its supporters deny this vehemently. There are two main hatreds in Scotland. Anglophobia and Sectarianism. … Continue reading Is the SNP motivated by Anglophobia?

What Once was Free Speech

BY EFFIE DEANS There is a problem with free speech in Scotland. The most important political events in recent times cannot openly be discussed. Secrecy still surrounds the time when Alex Salmond was First Minister and the court case in 2020. The only way to discuss is to write about something else and hope that people understand the point. The point is to illustrate the … Continue reading What Once was Free Speech

Mhairi Black is the Reason the SNP Just Died

BY EFFIE DEANS With Labour closing the gap with the SNP to three points there is a real prospect of Scottish nationalism facing a God is dead moment. When Nietzsche wrote about the mortality of God, he was not of course suggesting that God had been alive and had then died. Rather he was saying that God had become a dead issue like believing in … Continue reading Mhairi Black is the Reason the SNP Just Died

We Too Must Embrace the Benefits of Migration

BY EFFIE DEANS As France descends into anarchy with rioting, looting and arson because of a policeman shooting a 17-year-old in Nanterre on the outskirts of Paris, it is easy to look on French difficulties and reflect fortunately such things don’t happen here. But of course, such things have happened here. There were riots in London in 2011 when the police shot someone and further … Continue reading We Too Must Embrace the Benefits of Migration

We Are Being Conned

BY EFFIE DEANS I voted for Brexit mainly because I realised contrary to the Remain argument that leaving the EU would make Scottish independence all but impossible. EU membership encourages sub-national nationalism by allowing regions to argue that nothing much would change after independence. If the whole of Belgium is in the EU and ruled by Brussels, it matters little if Flanders and Wallonia separate. … Continue reading We Are Being Conned

S(teal) N(ick) P(inch) Unmentionables

BY EFFIE DEANS We all must take seriously the warning from Police Scotland not to discuss people who have been arrested. As soon as this happens such persons become unpersons. Their names may not be mentioned like יהוה‎ [YHWH] in the Bible. We mustn’t put in the vowels, so that in time we even forget whether it was Potur Marrol or Pator Merril. Better just … Continue reading S(teal) N(ick) P(inch) Unmentionables

The SNP is Descending into Hell

BY EFFIE DEANS The SNP is not a normal party. It is this that explains recent events and also events in the recent past. The SNP is the means by which Scottish nationalists hope to achieve independence. This explains everything. Of course, there are other Scottish nationalist parties. Alba, the Scottish Greens, some small far left socialist parties. Not every independence supporter likes the SNP. … Continue reading The SNP is Descending into Hell