Sometime back in 2013 or 2014 a Scottish politician or journalist became aware of the biggest story of the year, but he kept silent. He didn’t ask a question about it in the Scottish Parliament and he didn’t write about it in a newspaper or broadcast about it on television. He decided to keep silent, even though a revelation about the First Minister may have had a major influence on events in September 2014 when we held a “decisive” once in a lifetime vote on Scottish independence.
We have a close-knit community in Holyrood. The press, the politicians and the civil servants socialise together and their friendships, loves and marriages frequently cross-party lives. Many have known each other since childhood, many more are the children of previous generations of the Scottish establishment. Are we to believe that none of these people heard anything whatsoever? Were there no whispers. Did no one see “ein Mensch geht um die Ecke” [a man going round the corner]?
Of course, no one saw.
Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And MacHeath, he has a knife
But the knife you don’t see
This is Scotland. Kurt Weill’s Weimar Germany may have been decadent and would soon get worse, but the German press would still have been more likely to point out that MacHeath had a knife than our MacHacks would mention that someone from the SNP did something with his dirk that he ought not to have.
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See Also:
(1) Germany: U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell’s Legacy of Success
(2) Ireland PANIC: Dublin breaks cover to admit UK won’t back down – Brexit meeting held
(3) Brexit fury: Remainers submit ‘Barnier’s Bill’ demanding two-year delay to EU exit
(4) Boris cuts down Michel Barnier’s two-year extension plea in five brutal words
(5) EU victory: Why ‘Frugal Four’ will give into Commission pressure to rescue bloc economies
