MURRAY FOOTE: £5 banknote row and Dundee’s own brush with Winston Churchill |
I see Winston Churchill is making the news again – quite the feat for a man who died more than 60 years ago.
The recent headlines related to an entirely confected outrage by little Englanders working themselves into a frenzy over banknotes.
It seems the Bank of England, as it periodically does, is swapping out historical characters like Shakespeare and Churchill who currently feature on their banknotes, to be replaced by animals from the natural world, such as beavers.
The reason is to make the notes more difficult to counterfeit, and animals were the preferred choice of the British public consulted in a survey.
That didn’t prevent the usual suspects screaming “this is an outrage” against the memory of Churchill, the man they see as the quintessential British Bulldog.
I doubt they considered that their disingenuous outcry was the equivalent of sticking up two fingers – and not in the Churchillian-style – to the wishes of the voting public.
And anyway, when was the last time you used a fiver? So many transactions are now cashless, with card or phone the preferred method.
But back to Churchill. Courier readers will be aware of his long association with Dundee as the Liberal Member of Parliament for 14 years from 1908.
In 1922 the voters of the city replaced him with Dundee-born Ned Scrymgeour who, until this day, remains the only MP elected to Westminster on a prohibition of alcohol ticket.
Despite being shown the door here, Churchill went on to cement his place in history as Britain’s redoubtable wartime leader and brilliant orator, famous for some of the most inspirational speeches heard in parliament.
‘Political chancers, rogues and frauds’
But it’s another line of his that came to my mind with the recent furore. Winnie once said: “If I had my way, I would write the word ‘insurance’ over the door of every house and upon the blotting book of every man, because I am convinced that for sacrifices that are inconceivably small, families can be secured against catastrophes which otherwise would smash them up forever.”
I have a deep and nagging unease that we too are careering towards a catastrophe that might smash us up forever.
That catastrophe comes in the shape of a Westminster Government of the political chancers, rogues and frauds called Reform.
The evidence against Reform is overwhelming – yet vast swathes of particularly England appear blind to reality and intent on voting them into power.
It’s the same collective denial of facts that resulted in the ocean-going catastrophe of Brexit. Research now estimates leaving the EU is costing the UK economy between £100 billion to £180 billion every year.
Yet Farage, the man who did more than anyone to bring it about, is considered a political visionary by so many voters down south.
England needs to get itself along to Specsavers sharpish because everywhere you look at Reform you see causes for deep concern.
Richard Tice – a millionaire who loves Britain so much he calls Dubai home and, according to recent reports, avoids tax of £600,000.
Robert Jenrick – an ex-Tory so devoid of empathy he ordered a Mickey Mouse mural to be painted over so traumatised children arriving in a detention centre wouldn’t feel comforted in even the smallest manner.
‘Marathon or Snickers, Conservative or Reform’
Suella Braverman – the ex-Tory daughter of migrants to Britain who engages in divisive rhetoric like an “invasion of immigrants”. Talk about pulling up the very drawbridge from which her own family benefitted.
They are not people you want making decisions affecting your loved ones.
If Farage felt the need to promote failed Tory defectors Braverman and Jenrick, how bad are the rest of his crew?
Their Scottish leader, Malcolm Offord, was also in the last failed Tory Government despite never having troubled himself with the democratic nuisance of actually being elected.
You now can’t tell the difference between Reform and that Tory administration which, if you need reminding, was the most disgraceful in history.
Marathon or Snickers. Opal Fruits or Starburst. Conservative or Reform. They’re the same – but the latest version is guaranteed to cost you more.
In seven weeks, Scotland has an opportunity to insure itself against the catastrophe of Farage’s dangerous extremists entering No 10.
If the SNP secures a Holyrood majority, it puts independence smack bang on the table as a potential escape route from a Reform Government at Westminster.
Remember, you are not being asked to vote for or against independence right now.
Instead, you are putting that option in your back pocket for if and when you need it.
But if you don’t keep it available in May, it’s an insurance you might live to regret not taking out.
Help The Courier put YOUR concerns directly to the politicians seeking your vote as we head to the Scottish Parliament election in May.
You can access our survey here and inform our coverage across the region.