Kenny MacAskill, MP. He has been MP for East Lothian since 2019
ALBA MP Kenny MacAskill has moved from NO to YES, but before readers feel confused it is not related to an independence vote. He has reconsidered Scotland’s political reality and now sees clearly England is teaching Scots that we are a severely overrun country.
Some readers might find Kenny’s beliefs explained below in shorthand too sweeping, especially about Scotland benefitting from the Empire by bringing home wealth to Scotland. All wealth from the Empire went straight into England’s Treasury and the English Crown. It bought Prince Albert Balmoral for a start and a bit of remodelling of its rooms and contours, plus some extra land around it for Victoria’s privacy.
I refute from historical evidence Scotland was as much as a junior partner as MacAskill avers, or bringing home the beef to every table, for that matter. Rejoicing at cooks, maids, and gardeners getting employment on big estates is naive. However, MacAskill does add industrialisation brought with it squaler.
MacAskill warns in his own words and acknowledges that the English government is out to nail down Scotland once and for all and is so balls high it deploys its techniques and tactics in full view of the public. This is how confident they are that they have the upper hand. The Sturgeon legacy has opened a door wide and our colonial masters are rushing in. They needed no battering ram.
The quicker the SNP understand how colonialism works, the quicker Scots will perceive their political imprisonment and how to escape from it.
COLONIAL STATUS
by Kenny MacAskill MP
I’ve never been someone who believed Scotland was a colony. It’s complex and was a union rather than a takeover, albeit a political “shotgun wedding”. However, advocates of muscular unionism are now making me reconsider.
Whilst history cannot be rewritten, the democratic nature of the relationship’s threatened. Some seem to be suggesting that although it was a voluntary union, what they have they hold and there’s no way to leave. That simply cannot be.
Scotland financial challenges following the Darien disaster and England seeking to close off any possibility of a state on its northern border aligned to other powers, ensured that a union would come about. Scotland got access to the Atlantic markets and had a deal not been struck then invasion whether directly or more likely in support of a section of Scottish society encouraged to rebel might have occurred. But England knew that such action would be opposed vigorously, probably making the future Jacobite Risings small beer in comparison.
So those twin pressures saw a deal struck by the Scottish Establishment. Had there been a plebiscite or referendum it would have been rejected comprehensively. But there wasn’t and the Lords in charge ensured not only that many enriched themselves through bribes, but that Scotland’s distinctive Law, Church and Education were protected. Ensuring that Scotland remained a distinct society despite being part of an incorporating union.
Scotland also fully participated in the British Empire, albeit as a junior partner. The idea that we were innocent of the crimes perpetrated whether slavery or exploitation’s fanciful. Of course, the wealth wasn’t shared equally. Lords and Ladies built estates with grand houses whilst the poor suffered in the pits, factories and on the land or in being removed from it. But the collective wealth and the industrialization of Scottish society was largely fueled by it, even if it was misery for the many.
But the ability to withdraw from that union was always seen as inviolate with even Margaret Thatcher stating that Scotland could be independent if that’s what Scots wanted and supported. Regret it she would and campaign against it she did but happen it could was her belief.
And not just hers. In 2014 when David Bowie was singing “Scotland, Please Stay”, the leaders of the No campaign talked of a voluntary union and the freedom to leave it, albeit arguing for the wealth and benefits they believed were to be gained from remaining.
Now though that history’s being rewritten and the mantra’s changed. The broad shoulders of the UK replaced by imposed austerity with even the Daily Telegraph and Brexit Tories talking of Britain now being a poor country. Exactly, as Scotland came into the union for economic reasons, it’s economic reasons that now dictate why we should leave. That an Energy Rich Scotland, sees almost have of Scots in fuel poverty encapsulates it.
But the charm and wooing that was there in 2014’s now supplanted by derision and oblique threats. The distinct society that operated under the union’s now threatened by diktat and even direct intervention. The Scottish Parliament, now the embodiment of the powers once held by Church, Law and Education, undermined in attempts to mitigate austerity and protect environment and institutions.
Muscular unionism’s not only ugly, but undemocratic. It’ll also be unsustainable as even Thatcher acknowledged.
NOTES
Kenneth Wright MacAskill is a Scottish-born politician who has been Member of Parliament for East Lothian since 2019. He previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2007 to 2014 and was a Member of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2016.
Born in Edinburgh and educated at Linlithgow Academy, MacAskill studied law at the University of Edinburgh and was a senior partner in a law firm in Glasgow. He was a long-standing member of the SNP’s National Executive Committee and served as treasurer and vice convener of policy, before being elected at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. He was convener of the Scottish Parliament Subordinate Legislation Committee from 1999 to 2001. Following the SNP’s victory in 2007, MacAskill was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government. MacAskill left office in November 2014 in the Cabinet reshuffle which followed the appointment of Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of Scotland and stood down from the Scottish Parliament at the 2016 election. After standing down from the Scottish Parliament, MacAskill was elected to the House of Commons as MP for East Lothian at the 2019 general election, gaining the previously Labour-held seat from Martin Whitfield. In March 2021, MacAskill defected from the SNP to the Alba Party.
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Grouse Beater 
“Muscular unionism’s not only ugly, but undemocratic.”
Real progress here, tho the ‘union’ is clearly a hoax. To restate, then: Muscular colonialism’s not only ugly, but racism. Whenever colonialism is imperiled it shows its fangs. That is what we see and will see more of until Scotland is either liberated or extinguished, the only outcomes from colonial oppression.
Of course Scotland is a colony as it is annexed territory by a power that does not respect the international treaty that brought the Union into being and
“Scotland also fully participated in the British Empire, albeit as a junior partner.”
So did every other nation or people that were colonized, including the Irish and the Indians etc – unless you consider not feeding and providing for your family what other choice did they have?
“The idea that we were innocent of the crimes perpetrated whether slavery or exploitation’s fanciful.”
Who are “we”? Certainly not me or my familial forebears. I don’t feel embarrassed or ashamed or the need to virtue signal my apologies for the moral transgressions of a small number of wealthy Scots in bygone centuries. The British state, run out of Westminster and Whitehall, can take the rap for that one.
“Of course, the wealth wasn’t shared equally. Lords and Ladies built estates with grand houses whilst the poor suffered in the pits, factories and on the land or in being removed from it. But the collective wealth and the industrialization of Scottish society was largely fueled by it, even if it was misery for the many.”
And that’s the point, surely. The British states ensures by its tripartite tools of power, privilege and patronage that only the few bought and sold get to enjoy the land, sinecures and profits of Perfidious Albion’s exploitation.
“But the ability to withdraw from that union was always seen as inviolate with even Margaret Thatcher stating that Scotland could be independent if that’s what Scots wanted and supported.”
I wish people would stop quoting Thatcher in this regard because:
1. She only said what she said in 1990 because it was expedient to do so and there was no realistic prospect of Scotland voting for Independence by returning a majority of MPs at that time. Just like today’s sleazebags in Westminster and Whitehall Thatcher and her cohorts would have been just as quick to change the rules so that no matter how high the barrier we hurdled or the number of obstacles that we navigated it would never have been sufficient.
2. In any event neither Thatcher nor any other individual gets to define what constitutes Scottish sovereignty. That is the Scottish ‘Crown’ i.e. the people. We are sovereign in our own land as spelled out in the Claim of Right (1689 version) and hard-baked into the Treaty of Union (1707) the upholding of which terms conditions the legitimacy of the British Parliament in Scotland.
“Exactly, as Scotland came into the union for economic reasons, it’s economic reasons that now dictate why we should leave. That an Energy Rich Scotland, sees almost have of Scots in fuel poverty encapsulates it.”
Whilst we are being systematically ripped off and asset stripped the real reason for re-acquiring nation-state status is that Independence is the normal constitutional arrangement and it is the Union that is the anomaly.
I like Kenny MacAskill who is a good man and passionate about restoring Scotland’s independent statehood.
But I disagree with much of his thesis.
I see Kenny’s view as a work in progress, but as Professor Alfred Baird says, to have an eminent politician say we are colonised is real progress.
In all my years associated with the SNP I have never heard one suggest as much, and in fact, was often blasted by them for bringing up the subject when we met to have any sort of intellectual discussion on our situation. Eventually, I resorted to humour and sly satire to get my point across. To my eyes, the SNP was scared to mention the ‘C’ word in public.
We saw how they reacted when the novelist and illustrator Alasdair Gray tried to lay out how colonialism affects Scottish art. He was vilified and pilloried by press and unionists and the SNP said nothing to protect him. There is still more education to be done until the public understand and acknowledge – and are angry – that we are the inferior partner in a one-sided crooked union.
OK, GB perhaps I should have taken the historical context into account.
Kenny and others are maybe now on the right path to the destination … let’s hope that it’s a speedy journey.
We need to enrage the people, then harness the anger before getting even.
I liked your initial points, Duncanio. As an admirer of Salmond’s outstanding contribution to Scotland’s right to exist, I was, nevertheless, unsure if he too understood we are colonised. It is not enough to dislike the Tories. If like our former FM one ‘detests’ the Tories you might as well vote for another unionist party less hated. You have to know and understand why we do not want London rule, and that means categorising what it is we are trying to protect: such as our language, traditions, values, our heritage, the protection of our history, civil rights, the right to a foreign policies, protect our borders, our maritime ownership, our ability to promote our arts worldwide, and so on, and so forth.
It is my sad contention we are now thoroughly colonised, top to near bottom, and about to see exactly what that means in lost freedoms. If our politicians do not believe what is before their eyes, the fear they alienate the oppressor, dear god, how can we convince the person in the street?
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I agree with all you say GB.
One of my old school teachers taught me there was 4 main components that constituted a people, namely history, language, culture and religion. That has stuck with me for around 50 years and it more or less coincides with what you and Alf Baird say.
And, quelle surprise, these are the aspects – or at least the first 3 – that are suppressed or sneered at and disparaged.
I suppose we need to get it across that “It’s not the Tories, it’s the British … stoopid!”
It is despairing that Kenny MacAskill is only now coming to the realisation that Scotland and Scots are colonised , when you think that KMA has been a politician since 1999 and a lawyer for a lot longer it doesn’t bode well for normal Scots future acceptance of the facts
In all his years in WM and his daily interaction with the elite of english exceptionalism it comes as no surprise why we are not independent yet if he is now only having second thoughts
I truly find it inconceivable that independence supporting politicians are only now coming to the realisation that we have been subjugated , financially , culturally , and democratically , just what have they been doing in WM , have they considered the treatment they have and are being subjected too is normal treatment for individuals who are considered as equals in stature and position , or have they been lying to themselves that the constant degradation , insults and denigration is just BANTER and they are really loved
TBQH I find the meek cowardly acceptance of our independence representatives in the face of the continued denigration and insults to be sickening and reprehensible, and it exemplifies the reason we are not independent , our representatives act with dignity and acceptance in the face of the disgusting onslaught of ridicule when they should be outraged , non compliant , openly forceful and belligerent , even to the extent of demanding the speaker do his job
Colonised , pillaged , ripped off , suppressed , repressed, oppressed and depressed.
Excellent comments , compadres . Duncanio expresses my own thoughts on the O/P perfectly .
As someone late to the conclusion , realisation , Scotland´s * condition * can only accurately be described as ” subject to colonial oppression ” , I can´t criticise Kenny for the tardiness of his own realisation . Symptomatic of the insidious psychological damage 300+ years of sleekit manipulation of our History , Language , resources and constantly reinforced inferior status can induce – even in those persuaded of the case for Independence ,
I´m now convinced without a general awakening by Scots to the colonial status of our country ( and minds ) Independence will not occur .
We can make all the arguments we want re eg the economic benefits of being in control of our resources ; our opponents will simply make the counter-argument – and have the entirety of the political/media Establishment backing them up .
The * appeal * has to be broader and deeper , ,more than ” what can my country do for ME ? ” , more like ” WTF has been done to my/our country ? ” , and , truly , we ain´t seen nothing yet .
The * Plantation * of – in particular – the Highlands is well underway , ditto the dilution of our potential pro-Independence demographic generally ; the open-talk now by the Brit/Anglo State of imposing even more restrictions on what the SG can do with the scraps it´s thrown from the master´s table – inc the outrageous insult of having some Civil Service chinless wonder attend and monitor any SG meetings with foreign government reps ; the binding-in of our country to yet more Capital(ist) Projects ..eg ..” Green ” ” Free”ports ( in that instance with the snivelling collusion of the SNPGOV ) etc all indicate our opponent is tightening it´s grip on it´s last – and most lucrative – colony .
Shouting ” Tories out ” at every opportunity will not be enough . Not nearly enough .
Our representatives must constantly emphasise the true nature of our situation , forcefully and unapologetically .
“Shouting “Tories out ” at every opportunity will not be enough. Not nearly enough.”
My argument these last years. It remains a slogan without any understanding of what it means to our lives, or that Labour is just as much as colonial party as the Tories and the Tory sidekicks, the LibDems.
Aye Robert (and twathater), it is surely the case that “without a general awakening by Scots to the colonial status of our country ( and minds ) Independence will not occur”; and this includes oor ain daeless political class who still have no understanding of the ‘colonial condition’. As they still have no concept of our ‘condition’ so they have yet to find the only ‘remedy’ for it, which is national liberation and self-recovery of ‘a people’.
As Frantz Fanon explained:
“Now, the political education of the masses is seen to be a historic necessity. That spectacular volunteer movement which meant to lead the colonized people to supreme sovereignty at one fell swoop …. (are) all now seen in the light of experience to be symptoms of a very great weakness. While the native thought that he could pass without transition from the status of a colonized person to that of a self-governing citizen of an independent nation, he made no real progress along the road to knowledge. His consciousness remained rudimentary.”
Our weakness remains, that the people (and the political leadership!) therefore first have to understand our wretched condition, i.e. what independence really means and why it is necessary:
Click to access THEORETICAL+CASE+FOR+SCOTTISH+INDEPENDENCE.pdf