BY EFFIE DEANS The next General Election could be as far away as May 2nd 2024. We have all assumed that it would be sooner, but that was before the collapse in support for the Conservatives. Two and a half years ago we knew nothing about the pandemic, but instead were stuck in a Brexit stalemate with talk of a “people’s vote” and the prospect … Continue reading Will Scots Tire of Obeying Her?
BY EFFIE DEANS Who should pay for BBC TV programmes? Should it be those who watch them or everybody who owns a TV? I can remember when there were only three channels. If you owned a TV in Britain, you almost certainly watched quite a lot of BBC programmes or at least listened to the radio. The number of people who only watched ITV must … Continue reading The BBC Dines Out on Those Who Can’t
BY EFFIE DEANS I had only vaguely heard of US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene before Twitter banned her. From what little I have read of her I disagree with what she has said about Covid, vaccines and many other issues. But I can only disagree with her if I am allowed to know what she says and thinks. By banning her from expressing non-mainstream opinions … Continue reading Twitter Might As Well Ban Jesus
BY EFFIE DEANS I don’t think I have read a word by J.K Rowling. When the Harry Potter books became wildly popular, I abstained. Perhaps that was a mistake. Lots of other people have enjoyed them, maybe I would have too. I rather like classic children’s fiction. But somehow the prospect of reading about child wizards going to school did not appeal. My loss. So … Continue reading Truth Sets You Free
BY EFFIE DEANS There is a difference between how we judge the taste of carrots and how we judge the effectiveness of face masks, the likelihood of Covid spreading and the performance of the economy. The statement “carrots taste great” can be both true if I say it and false if you say it. It is a matter of taste. It is subjective. But there … Continue reading Scottish Nationalism is not Truth
BY EFFIE DEANS White privilege comes in many forms. You have the privilege of your mother leaving your father for another man and then being convicted of killing this new lover. You have the privilege of your new step mother having four children with three different men, but she doesn’t care for any of them and least of all does she care for you. You have … Continue reading Identifying Arthur
BY EFFIE DEANS What’s the real level of support for Scottish independence? We don’t know. What’s the real level of support for Scottish separation? This might be a different number, but we still don’t know it. What’s the real level of support for Scotland leaving the UK rather than remaining in the UK? This would probably be a different number again. But we have no … Continue reading Elusive Numbers
BY EFFIE DEANS And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Sturgeon’s wonder when she first picked out the green light at the end of Covid’s dock. Her popularity was rising as the disease spread throughout Scotland. But we at least had a deliverer who could save us all from this sickness. We could be comforted by her daily … Continue reading The Great Sturgeon
BY EFFIE DEANS There is some speculation that Russia might be about to invade Ukraine again. The Red Army might be about to repeat its “liberation” of “Little Russia” bringing it back to the Motherland whether it likes it or not. In such a case a large number of Ukrainians might decide to flee westwards. Would they be stuck behind a barbed wire fence in … Continue reading The Unforgivable Sin
BY EFFIE DEANS How many people who are delivering their daughters to Oxford University are a threat to national security? I can think of no such dad’s pulling up to the college in their estate cars packed with clothes and computers blowing themselves up at the gates to our dreaming spires waking them from their slumbers with cries of Jesus is merciful. Good Catholics have … Continue reading Banned from Britain
BY EFFIE DEANS Nicola Sturgeon thinks time is on her side. Every year the SNP’s control of education pumps out mini nationalists who have grown up since primary school with tartan theme days and the impression that the First World War was fought only by Scottish regiments. Meanwhile the Nat reaper sweeps through the care homes cleansing Scotland of its No voters. Every day Nicola … Continue reading Time is Running Out for Sturgeon
BY EFFIE DEANS Whenever there is a terrorist attack in somewhere like Israel, we are told by the BBC that it carried out by militants. It gives the impression that the far left from the 1980s stopped handing out newspapers to blow himself up. Only when a terrorist attack happens here in Britain will the BBC allow itself to describe it as such. IRA militants … Continue reading Only the Terrorist is Guilty
BY EFFIE DEANS I have finally come to my senses. I repent. If only I had a time machine I would go back to June 2016 and vote to Remain. I began to realise what an awful rotter I was when a mysterious new virus began to emerge from China. It was obviously caused by Brexit. If only I’d not voted to Leave then Prince … Continue reading Is Brexit to Blame for Everything?
BY EFFIE DEANS If there is a terrorist attack committed by a British Muslim, we are not allowed to make generalisations about Muslims. For instance, if I wrote a sign saying “End Muslim violence” this would be considered to be Islamophobic and racist. If there were a murder committed by someone who had arrived in Britain from Turkey, it would likewise be considered xenophobic and … Continue reading Misandry & Murder
BY EFFIE DEANS I used to write something on the anniversary of the independence referendum as a sort of parody of Scott’s “Waverley; or, ‘tis sixty years since”. Indyref; or, ‘tis seven years since. The idea was to compare grieving Jacobites toasting their lost cause and their king oer the water with the Scottish nationalists celebrating the fact that they got 45 (actually 44.7) and … Continue reading Tis Seven Years Since
BY EFFIE DEANS Until relatively recently the UK Government was planning similar changes to the Gender Recognition Act that are now being proposed by the SNP. But after listening to the concerns of women it decided to reverse course. At present it is necessary to obtain a medical diagnosis and to wait at least two years before being allowed to legally change gender. That situation … Continue reading Shame on You
BY EFFIE DEANS A Conservative MSP got into trouble this week for suggesting that Nicola Sturgeon might be anti-English. Sturgeon was pointing out that everyone who lived in Scotland was at home here, to which Tess White replied “except the English”. For this White was forced to apologise or else be suspended from Holyrood. Woe betide anyone who suggests Popes are Catholic or that bears … Continue reading Doth Protest Too Much
BY EFFIE DEANS The SNP are going to encourage Scottish teachers to take a white privilege test. It will no doubt be a rather odd sort of test, because no matter what you answer it will turn out that you do indeed have white privilege. There will be no set of answers that you can give that demonstrate that you don’t. It therefore won’t be … Continue reading The Test that Undermines the SNP
BY EFFIE DEANS What’s the worst thing the SNP could do to you personally? Many Pro UK people would assume that it would be if Sturgeon achieved her goal of Scottish independence. But this is not true. Whatever we might think about the economic consequences of the breakup of the UK these would not necessarily affect us personally. We would still have choices. We could … Continue reading The Worst Thing the SNP Can Do to You
BY EFFIE DEANS They joy of being a civil servant in Scotland has just increased. The Scottish Government is backing proposals to encourage eight thousand of them to take a pronoun pledge. Fortunately, this will not involve abstaining from alcohol as previous pledges once did, nor will it involve polishing wooden furniture. Rather it will merely involve adding a few lines to the end of … Continue reading Pick Your Pronouns Wisely
