Scotland Will Be Free
Tom Nairn - the historian - once said:
'Scotland will be free when the last minister is strangled by the last copy of the Sunday Post.'
Now I don't know many ministers and I don't often read the Sunday Post too often - but I think I know what Tom Nairn was on about.
Scotland has been held back by the 'Holy Willies' in our midst for far too long - the two-faced hypocrites scorned so effectively by Robert Burns in his famous poem - Holy Willie's Prayer.
But who are the Holy Willies of today - who preach one thing then do another?
My nomination goes to the trade union bosses who slavishly support the Labour party in Scotland - when it's perfectly clear that the majority of union members don't support the Labour party.
Ordinary union members are just like everyone else - they support the SNP, Lib Dems, Green Party and Conservatives - as well as the smaller socialist parties and independent figures like Margo MacDonald.
Yet the trade union movement - at senior level - is stuffed to the rafters with Labour hacks who see no irony in preaching to the rest of us - about equal opportunities and equality at work.
The reality is that the trade unions run a Labour only 'closed shop' - because there's not a senior figure in the Scottish trade union movement - who doesn't 'belong' to the Labour party.
Now that can't be democratic or fair - because trade unions are supposed to 'reflect' as well as 'represent' the members they claim to serve.
So I say Scotland will be free - when our trade unions actually practice what they preach - by recruiting non-Labour figures to their senior ranks.
'Scotland will be free when the last minister is strangled by the last copy of the Sunday Post.'
Now I don't know many ministers and I don't often read the Sunday Post too often - but I think I know what Tom Nairn was on about.
Scotland has been held back by the 'Holy Willies' in our midst for far too long - the two-faced hypocrites scorned so effectively by Robert Burns in his famous poem - Holy Willie's Prayer.
But who are the Holy Willies of today - who preach one thing then do another?
My nomination goes to the trade union bosses who slavishly support the Labour party in Scotland - when it's perfectly clear that the majority of union members don't support the Labour party.
Ordinary union members are just like everyone else - they support the SNP, Lib Dems, Green Party and Conservatives - as well as the smaller socialist parties and independent figures like Margo MacDonald.
Yet the trade union movement - at senior level - is stuffed to the rafters with Labour hacks who see no irony in preaching to the rest of us - about equal opportunities and equality at work.
The reality is that the trade unions run a Labour only 'closed shop' - because there's not a senior figure in the Scottish trade union movement - who doesn't 'belong' to the Labour party.
Now that can't be democratic or fair - because trade unions are supposed to 'reflect' as well as 'represent' the members they claim to serve.
So I say Scotland will be free - when our trade unions actually practice what they preach - by recruiting non-Labour figures to their senior ranks.
