I’m a Labour supporter who voted No in the first Scottish Indy ref. I’ve never voted for the SNP and believe a union of equals would make us stronger. But I think I was wrong and would now support independence 🏴 🦄
Here’s why: (1/)
A union of equals is a pipedream. I always thought with a sensible competent government in Westminster the case for independence would be weaker. That’s true, but why run the risk of being shackled to the mendacious buffoonery of the Tories ever again? (2/)
I thought the case for Remaining in the EU was transferable to the Union. But it isn’t. The EU has major faults but it generally acts in the interests of its members (see Eire and the GFA) and treats them as equals. The Tories don’t, they only play to their nativist base (3/)
I don’t like nationalism of any form. Erecting barriers in an increasingly globalised world is a backwards step that fails to address the challenges of ensuring continued globalisation is translated into a fair and equal society. But Scotland has always been outward looking (4/)
I was raised and grew up in England but Scotland has been my home for the majority of my adult life. I’ve married and had kids here. I don’t want to generalise but it’s always seems much less insular than when I go back to England and increasingly so (5/)
And tho I think Labours vision would produce a more equal society than the SNP, the SNP aren’t the enemy here. Free university, prescriptions, hospital parking etc are sound policies. The enemy is nativist Tories putting the interests of 1% of England above everything else (/end)
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Since the #coronavirus outbreak is worrying everyone, and there’s a spotlight on public health measures and isolation, here’s a short thread on my experience of mandatory self isolation and being quarantined at work (1/) #CoronavirusOutbreak
First of all, this isn’t a criticism of public health England at all. They’ve got a difficult job to do applying a pragmatic evidence based approach in often difficult and underfunded circumstances (2/)
When the Ebola outbreak happened in West Africa, I volunteered to be deployed to Kerrytown in Sierra Leone as it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time (3/)
Do you know what really grinds my gears? Misplaced anger (1/)
The anger of those left behind, those ignored, those disengaged is directed not at the establishment or institutions which propagate inequality, but at the other little guy, the weak, those in need, those needing shelter (2/)
If you see the gap between the have and the have-nots widening, who’s to blame? It’s Europe, it’s migrants, it’s scroungers. It’s definitely not the bankers fucking about with our money in an unregulated system. It’s definitely not corporations paying close to no tax (3/)