Like Peter Pan believed in faeries

Unionists who post on social media have certainly not gone on holiday over the festive season, but instead, with more time on their hands, have ramped up their antagonism and derision of Scottish independence.

Once in a generation (or once in a lifetime as some have it) has been repeated ad nauseam in social media and in the press and broadcast media. No matter how many times it is explained, and videos shown, that this was used as a throwaway remark, unionists have their teeth into it like a dog with a tasty bone, reluctant to let go as they know this is now one of the few tools in their nearly empty anti-indy toolkit.

Now it’s being openly said, even on TV, by some unionist politicians that the two parties, the Scottish Government and the UK Government, agreed this was a once in a lifetime occurrence with this being written into the Edinburgh Agreement.

No such thing. Balderdash. Bunkum. There is no such stipulation in the Edinburgh Agreement. Read it for yourself and see.

The Memorandum of Agreement referred to can be read here There is no mention in it of the independence referendum being a once in a generation or once in a lifetime event.

Fiscal transfers

Having gnawed most of the meat from that bone, unionists have now found another to slaver over. Fiscal transfers – the new favourite buzz phrase of unionists. Scotland gets fiscal transfers from England – with some indicating they are from City of London profits and London and the south-east generally; and many others saying they’re not from Westminster but direct from the deep pockets of generous English taxpayers.

Scotland apparently requires enormous fiscal transfers because of our enormous deficit, caused by living beyond our means because we are too poor, too wee… Scotland, that cold inhospitable place in the north of the UK (a place incidentally which when folk down south were asked few could identify its boundary with England) apparently is so impoverished that kind-hearted England has to subsidise us with enormous fiscal transfers to keep us afloat.

Thankfully, James Dewar, an on-the-ball Yesser, decided to investigate this through a Freedom of Information request and has retweeted the request and response to disprove the unionist rubbish. He tweeted: I fact-checked unionist ‘fiscal transfer’ mantra, which they get from Kevin Hague. Informed them SCT/UK transfers are figment of imagination. Caused a great deal of unionist-ultra anxiety.

The response to his FOI enquiry was clear.

James Dewar then tweeted in response to unionists undeterred by this proof that Scotland received no fiscal transfers: Searched GERS. Searched UK National accounts. No sign of SCT/UK ‘fiscal transfers’ anywhere. Imaginary term, like Peter Pan believed in faeries. Of course if you know different…. Supply link in GERS pls.

No link appears to have been supplied. No doubt unionists are now digging around for another means to demean our desire for independence.