The views of the vast majority of Scots have been bypassed by politicians at Holyrood who are determined to impose gender neutralism on the nation.
It appears other governments in the UK are ready to embrace and legislate in the same way.
The portents for the future health and wellbeing of our nation are unhealthy.
But there is a better solution. Ask the people to decide the way forward in a referendum.
You have to admire the Australians-use of distorted gender neutral language banned in Australia
The Australian Senate passed a motion banning the use of “distorted” gender-neutral language in official government materials. It stated:
“Fundamental biology and relationships are represented through the following descriptors – mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, boy, girl, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, female, male, man, woman, lady, gentleman, Mr, Mrs, Ms, sir, madam, dad, mum, husband, wife broad scale genuine inclusion cannot be achieved through distortions of biological and relational descriptors.
An individual’s right to choose their descriptors and pronouns for personal use must not dehumanise the human race and undermine gender.
The use of distorted language such as gestational/non-gestational parent, chest-feeding, human milk, lactating parent, menstruators, birthing/non-birthing parent is deprecated and all federal government and federal government funded agencies are not to include these terms in their material, including legislation, websites, employee documentation and training materials”.
The motion was debated in Parliament following a furore over the 2020 publication by the “Gender Institute” of the “Australian National University”, of its “Gender-Inclusive Handbook”, which said that the terms “mother” and “father” should be replaced with “gestational” and “non-gestational” parent.
31 March 1997: Gay mafia buries Scottish Tories – Homosexual links lead to downfall of Scots party.
A gay mafia of young Tory blades has all but buried the party in Scotland. The homosexual links stretch from the party’s grass-roots through to the highest ranks. Scots Secretary Michael Forsyth’s agent Simon Turner – the man running his election campaign – is openly gay. And it was two other ambitious young gays who brought about the downfall of Scots Tory chairman Sir Michael Hirst. They are his former researcher Andrew Barnett and campaign worker Paul Martin.
Barnett yesterday tried to deny any close relationship with Hirst – but a Tory insider said: “The affair was well-known.” The relationship between Hirst and Barnett ended in tears two years ago. Devastated that the affair was over, Barnett poured his heart out to Tory grandees at the Brighton conference in 1995. One Tory source said: “Andrew was made a fool. He was very upset. He is a decent man and I felt sorry for him.” Another Tory close to the debacle at the time said: “Andrew doted on Mickey. But when it was time for him to move on he, understandably, felt spurned.”
Despite the sleaze that has engulfed the party in recent years, there are still some old- fashioned Tories determined to stick to their tradition of family values. It was they who blew the whistle on Hirst because they were sickened by his double standards. The complaint arrived at the desk of Ian Lang, Scots Secretary at the time. Another party insider said: “The matter was referred to Ian Lang, but Hirst denied the affair.”
Barnett’s affair with Hirst began in the early 1990s. The former chairman of the Tory Association at St. Andrews University, was working as a researcher in Hirst’s office. It was the second time Hirst, the promoter of family values, had been embroiled in a homosexual affair with a young Tory hopeful.
He struck up a relationship with Paul Martin who worked in the campaign team in 1987 when Hirst lost the Bearsden and Strathkelvin seat to Labour’s Sam Galbraith. Martin was given the elbow when word spread that he had been talking openly about his fling with father-of-three Hirst.
Concern was growing within the constituency association and Hirst was advised that Martin had to go to avert a scandal. Instead of taking action against Hirst, they moved swiftly to ensure that he was protected and Martin was sent packing.
One source close to the situation at the time said: “The Association was alarmed at all this loose talk and Michael was told he had to get rid of Martin. “He did, but gave him a very good reference to help him get a job. Soon after he stood down he got a top post in the CBI.”
Martin, now 40, had been a Tory councillor in Edinburgh at the age of 21. Three years ago, while employed by the Ministry of Defence, he was at the centre of allegations that he was part of a gay love triangle with English Tory whip Michael Brown and 20-year-old student Adam Morris. He was quite open about his fling with Hirst and boasted about it at a Tory conference. One insider said: “Martin is trouble. He is a vindictive old queen.”
It has been revealed that the gay links with the Tory party stretch from grass-roots wannabes to the very top of the tree. Top Tories have always been uncomfortable with Forsyth’s choice of an open homosexual like Turner for such a high-profile job.
They were also critical of other gay appointments made at the Scottish Tory HQ when Forsyth was party chairman. One source told the Record: “There is always the worry that even a whiff of scandal attached to these people would reflect badly on Forsyth.”
As events unfolded in the Eastwood constituency last week, a small band of high- ranking Tories gathered to make sure Hirst didn’t try to replace Allan Stewart. It was they who tried to get Hirst sidelined two years ago when the Barnett affair broke.
One senior Tory said: “We thought if we didn’t get rid of him he would get rid of us. “No-one listened to us although we tried hard to get him moved to a more junior post. The powers that be are now reaping the inevitable result. “It would not surprise me if someone in our own party shopped Michael to the press because of his own open arrogance.”
The EEC Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) provided £4 billion to the UK.
Scotland’s share was approximately £850 million.
In addition EEC Rural Development and Social Funds provided around £160 million.
Total £1.10 Billion annually.
The entire budget was transferred to Westminster at the time the UK left the EEC and there it sits today.
Square the foregoing with today’s Westminster announcement of £177miliion levelling up” finance. Projects sharing £177m in Scotland are:
£27m for a new ferry between Shetland and the Fair Isle.
£20m to help turn Arbuthnot House in Aberdeenshire into a museum and library as well as modernising Macduff Aquarium.
Refurbishment of the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock, costing £20m.
Re-routing of the A78 dual-carriageway to improve Greenock – £20m.
Regeneration of Riverside Park in Fife (£19.4m) and the Forthside area of Stirling (£19m).
£14m multi-storey car park redevelopment in Dundee.
More than £9m for regeneration work in Cumbernauld.
Nearly £11.3m to free up land at a former coal-fired power station.
Almost £18m to help Dumfries and Galloway turn redundant spaces and buildings into new cultural and leisure opportunities.
The Tory government in Scotland trumpets that direct financing of projects from Westminster is wonderful but Scotland is being short changed by around £823 million.
Hakluyt: The masters of the great game turn to business
Globalisation and cross-border mergers are increasing demand for Hakluyt’s brand of intelligence, Years after leaving MI6, Christopher James, is still involved in “the great game”, still savouring the whiff of romance and still at the centre of a global web.
Former spies are supposed to retire into oblivion, carrying their secret cargo of knowledge to the grave. Not him. The idea was to do for industry what we had done for the govemment,” he says. “In the services you get to understand a great deal about the people who make things work. I felt what we provided might have some commercial value. You could say it was intuition about the ending of the cold war.”
James, who served in the Special Air Service before MI6, founded Hakluyt & Company in April 1995 along with Christopher Wilkins, a former Welsh Guards officer and businessman.
Mike Reynolds, an ex-MI6 colleague, and Jeremy Connell, a former diplomat and business development manager for a law firm, became directors in 1995.
Michael Maclay, a former journalist, diplomat and special adviser to Douglas Hurd, former foreign secretary, and Carl Bildt, UN high representative in Bosnia, joined in 1997.
Wilkins retired in 1996.
So far Hakluyt has provided intelligence for 26 FTSE 100 companies and has a growing number of US and European clients.
Operating by word of mouth, the company sells information of a singular and sensitive kind. James describes what they produce as “the truth”. “The chairman of a company may be under immense pressure from senior managers to approve a contract, but a voice in the back of his head tells him something is not quite right. That is where we come in. We give focused, timely intelligence – we fill in the gaps.” Maclay adds: “We are there to answer specific questions – what the real agenda is, who is in whose pocket and what is the role of certain people.”
Maclay gives an example of an assignment. In 1997 a British company was tempted by a lucrative joint venture in the former Soviet Union when strategic mineral resources were privatised in an obscure republic. The slick Russian frontmen tumed out to be ex-KGB agents with direct links to an international drugs cartel laundering money in the Caribbean. The company was advised to pull out.
Raising a china teacup at Hakluyt’s West End offices, James, managing director, reflects: “It would not be Hakluyt if there was no whiff of romance about it.”
It might be thought that his former masters would have been uneasy about former staff going corporate. But Sir David Spedding, then head of MI6, wished him luck with his venture as he does with everyone who leaves the service, says James. “Once you’re in, you’re in. And once you’re out, you’re out. There are absolutely no ties.” He is sure MI6 is not interested in Hakluyt’s activities. “They have far more important things to worry about.”
Support has come from a roll-call of establishment grandees – a clue to the contacts Hakluyt can muster.
Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind is supportive of the project; so too is Ian Lang, former secretary of state at the Department of Trade and Industry. Earl Jellicoe, president of the SAS Association provided early encouragement, as did the late Brigadier Sir Fitzroy Maclean, Winston Churchill’s personal envoy to Marshall Tito during the second world war. The current DTI “likes the idea”, according to James.
The Hakluyt Foundation
The company’s equivalent of a board, contains more eminent names:
Sir Peter Holmes, the foundation’s president and former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell Group.
Sir Brian Cubbon, former permanent under-secretary of state at the Home Office. . Sir Peter Cazalet, chairman of the company and the foundation, former deputy chairman of BP and member of the top salaries review board.
Sir William Purves, former chairman of HSBC.
Lord Inge, former chief of defence staff.
Lord Trotman, former chairman and chief executive of Ford and a director of the New York Stock Exchange.
Baroness Smith of Gilmorehill, widow of John Smith, the former Labour party leader who was himself was a Steering Committee Member of the Bilderberg Group.
Lord Renwick, chairman of Robert Fleming, the investment bank is a special adviser.
Strategic Associations
To cap all these connections, Hakluyt has formed a strategic agreement with Henry Kissinger. The former US secretary of state, guru of realpolitik, Nobel peace prizewinner and darling of the lecture circuit runs his own strategic consultancy, Kissinger Associates. Kissinger’s company facilitates top-level introductions for Hakluyt and both will refer clients and co-operate on individual projects. It is almost a privatised version of “the special relationship”.
“Kissinger is a statesman who has been at the very heart of American politics and I am extremely flattered,” says James. The Hakluyt Foundation has a vital role. It provides “reassurance we are not just a tearaway bunch of ex-govemment officials”. It ensures Hakluyt abides by a code of practice, which has an absolute ban on doing anything illegal, any dirty tricks. Asked if this might disappoint some clients James is firm: “We just don’t do it.” Nor does Hakluyt operate by tip-fees for information. Maclay adds: “We talk to the high-ups, not the hard-ups.”
Hakluyt, like the services, regards paid-for information as less reliable than information given freely. The company has over 100 “associates” on its books some based in London, others at stations worldwide, formed by personal contacts, whose judgement the directors trust absolutely. They might be investigative joumalists, diplomats’ wives, senior business people, former diplomats or consultants. They are “intuitive, determined, highly intelligent” and have intimate knowledge of the country in which they operate. Associates are free to tum down assignments and are expected to use their judgement about dangerous situations.
When Hakluyt receives an assignment, it calls up to five associates back to London to be briefed and then “deploys” them. The work essentially involves”talking to the right people. It’s all about people, following up contacts,” says James. Each associate is given different questions and works independently. The associates might well come back with contradictory information. When this happens, the directors make a careful judgement of the material in London before submitting a final report. “We can’t just say: ‘On the one hand, and on the other’, we have to give answers,” says Maclay. The key, says James, is teamwork and the careful management of intemal and external networks.
Hakluyt pays “good professional rates” although some associates “prefer a case of claret”, according to James. The company will not disclose its rates for clients. Given the nature of the work, fees are “not insubstantial”, but vary widely: “Not as much as a top law firm,” says Maclay.
Much of Hakluyt’s work has been concentrated in the former Soviet Union and China, but the company has carried out jobs in 57 countries, including Indonesia, India, Latin America, Korea, the Middle East and, lately, in Europe.
Hakluyt concedes it is a product of the times. Globalisation and the rise in cross-border mergers have led to a growing demand for accurate and wellsourced information, says James. Privatisations worldwide and resulting joint ventures form its core business. Organisations need “someone to refine a complicated world into answers,” says Maclay.
Hakluyt has been helped by the management trend of outsourcing: “In the old days, companies would have had someone who would know the situation in a particular market, but they have outsourced so many requirements.”
And the significance of the name?
In 1582 Richard Hakluyt argued for the colonisation of north America as a base for discovering the Orient. Centuries later it was said of him: “He is the silent man, seated in the dark corner, who is content to listen and remember”. Is Hakluyt attempting to recapture a fading imperial grandeur? “When we set up, it was to help British companies stay ahead of the competition,” says James. “We now have international clients, but there is still something in staying ahead of the game, of expansion in our message.” http://shellnews.net/PDFs/FTandTheScotsmanHakluytarticles.pdf
The 2014 Independence Referendum and Project Fear’s war against democracy in Scotland
The revelation that “Better Together” was financed by wealthy Tory Party supporters and commercial conmen is not surprising since dodgy financial funding is a well practiced trait of the Party.
But the active involvement of former MI6 agents and other characters with a background in ‘intelligence’ and ‘ex-military’ is of great concern to Scots since the threat to Scottish democracy in 2023 is as powerful as before with the introduction to Scotland of the shady “John Smith Foundation” fronted by former MI6 and Hakluyt official, Lady Smith.
The undernoted persons of interest provided funding to the “Better Together” campaign
Christopher Wilkins, ex MI6, donated £10,000.
The former Welsh Guards officer who read for the bar and attended the school of Military Intelligence became the founding chairman and architect of the intelligence-gathering organisation that he named “Hakluyt” which continues to flourish. Currently he is chairman of a renewable energy company and lives in London and the Scottish Borders. He was a member of the Scottish Economic Council for ten years.
Hakluyt, which continues to employ ex-spies, was later found to have infiltrated and spied on Greenpeace on behalf of Shell and BP. And, working for Hilary Clinton, it actively undermined Donald Trump’s campaign for the Presidency of the United States of America by providing false evidence in a report that he was working against the interests of his country with President Putin.
Sir Keith Craig, ex MI6, donated £10,000
The ‘army veteran’ is a managing director of Hakluyt.
Simon Crane, ex ?, donated £15,000.
He is the CEO of Edinburgh International (EI), a private military contractor (founded in Baghdad in 2003). It provides security staff and associated services to governments world wide. The industry is valued at over £100 million annually. The United States and Great Britain account for over 70% of the world’s market.
The organisations regional headquarters is located in the United Arab Emirates and is described as the “prime operational, administrative and financial centre for the group activities outside of the UK and USA.” Other offices are located in London and Guernsey (UK), Washington D.C. (US) Baghdad (Iraq), Kabul (Afghanistan), Khartoum (Sudan) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) with “affiliate” offices in Kentucky, North Carolina, Florida in the US. It also has “representative” offices in the British Virgin Islands, Fiji, New York, Ankara (Turkey), Amman (Jordan), Perth (Australia) and Nepal. Company bought over by Blackrock!!
Englishman Angus was born in Wimbledon, London, in 1969. Educated at Broughton High School, Edinburgh, he completed his education at the University of Aberdeen, from where he graduated in 1991 with an MA Honours degree in politics and international relations. After university, bilingual thanks to his German mother and Scottish father, he moved to Vienna (1991-2000) and took up employment as a journalist first with the Austrian public broadcaster, ORF, and later with the BBC World Service as the foreign and diplomatic correspondent for Central Europe.
he was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour, in Gold by the Austrian President in recognition of his support to the Austrian government, from the time he entered UK ploitics in 2001, as chairman and secretary of the Austrian Parliamentary Group at Westminster.In his acceptance speech Robertson said:
“It is a huge honour to be granted this award by the Austrian president and to receive it in the Austrian Parliament. I have a huge affection for the Alpine republic and am fortunate enough to have lived and worked there for a decade. Coperation between European nations is really important to me and I have worked to foster relations between Austria and the UK in the Westminster Parliament since 2001. This award is recognition of the value of European co-operation which I will continue to support into the future.”
Responding the Austrian leader said:
“Angus Robertson is a good friend of Austria and Europe. We are hugely indebted to him for his efforts to foster relations between Austria and the UK at Westminster. This award is rarely bestowed on non-Austrians and it is a valued token of our appreciation for his work as chairman and secretary of the Austrian Parliamentary Group as well as his promotion of Austria at home and abroad.”
Comment: Not a mention of his responsibilities to the SNP over the same period.
His time at Westminster
Robertson was first elected to the UK House of Commons in June 2001, representing the Moray constituency. He volunteered as a member of the European Scrutiny Committee from 2001 to 2010 and served as the SNP’s spokesman on Defence and International Relations.
In May 2007, he was promoted by Alex Salmond, to the post of SNP Leader in the House of Commons a post he retained until he lost his seat in Moray in 2016.
In 2007 Robertson surprisingly argued for a UK-wide referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, contrary to SNP policy because its introduction would entrench EU control over Scottish affairs.
The 2015 landslide election
The election returned an unprecedented 56 SNP MP’s to Westminster. Addressing the group outside the Commons, First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said she was “bursting with pride” adding “people voted for an SNP manifesto that had ending austerity as its number one priority. That is the priority these men and women will now take to the very heart of the Westminster agenda. It cannot and will not be business as usual when it comes to Westminster’s dealing with Scotland. Scotland’s voice will be heard in Westminster now more loudly than it has ever been before. David Cameron said his priorities will be implementing the powers in the Smith Commission in good faith – and I said to him that those proposals had to be looked at again because they are not strong enough. These are conversations we will go into in more detail in the weeks and months to come.”
Note: So much for her bluster. In the year that followed the SNP group tabled in excess of 100 proposals for changes further strengthening the weak Smith recommendations. Not one was accepted by the Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, who filibustered his party’s legislation through the Commons with the support of labour and liberal Democrats.
Leadership roles in the SNP
Robertson was confirmed as the Leader of the SNP group at Westminster and Deputy Leader of the SNP.
One of his first acts was to change the Party’s code of conduct to include the statement that: “accept that no member shall within or outwith the parliament publicly criticise a group decision, policy or another member of the group”.
Other political parties labelled it a “Stalinist” crackdown on free speech and independent thought.
Committee membership
The SNP was entitled to a place on all of the Commons’ influential select committees, including the Intelligence and Security Committee members of which are by convention also Privy Councillors. Alex Salmond was the only member of the prestigious body of advisers to the Queen in the SNP’s ranks and as he had already ruled himself out of other top jobs, including SNP Westminster leader and chief whip it was widely anticipated he would be appointed to the Committee as a top spy chief, a real-life James Bond. But Akex hopes were dashed and his place on the back benches and political oblivian was confirmed in a statement from the Queen that she was pleased to give her approval to the appointment of Robertson as a Member of the Privy Council following his appointment to the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.
Robertson was duly sworn into the Privy Council becoming the first SNP MP for nearly 40 years to be appointed to it by MP’s, although First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, Sir George Reid, and ex-first minister Alex Salmond are also members of the body courtesy of their positions in government in Scotland.
Reversal of fortunes
Robertson lost his seat in Moray in the 2016 General election but was appointed Deputy Leader of the SNP a post which he retained until February 2018 when he resigned and established “Progress Scotland” a pro-independence think-tank.
In February 2020, with the full support of party leader Sturgeon over other qualified candidates, he announced his intention to return to politics to contest the safe Edinburgh Central constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
He won the seat and was appointed by Sturgeon as cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture.
Summary: His 16 years at an MP at Westminster provided Robertson with a privileged and financially well rewarded pensionable lifestyle. In return he formed and chaired an Austrian All-Party Group in the British Parliament and graced by his presence a number of influential Unionist dominated House of Commons committees including his controversial appointment to the Intelligence and Security Committee which required his acquiescence of matters of UK security including oversight of the work of the British Secret Services. Activities which promoted the interest of other bodies but added nothing to the fight for Scottish independence.
New Scottish guidelines seem to condone sex between children as young as 13.
It says that if a person is in a safe and respectful relationship then police, teachers and social workers should maintain confidentiality, which is not to tell mom or dad.
That policy would appear to undermine the legal age of consent in Scotland which is currently 16, meaning that now how safe and respectful the relationship is technically the participants would be breaking the law.
The new policy specifies that cases where the child is clearly at risk, where there is a “power imbalance,” grooming, bribing, coercion, or alcohol and drug use, can be reported to parents.
However “If sexual activity is taken place/has taken place within safe and mutually respectful relationship, the confidentiality should generally be maintained.”
What is not clear is how police, teachers, and social workers are supposed to gauge the health of an underage relationship, and whether the youngsters are mature enough to be involved in such a relationship i.e. do they understand what it means and what the consequences are.
Going Greek is to be a willing recipient of anal sex and recent research in Scotland indicates a rapid rise in its popularity with around 40% of females indulging in it often as a means of birth control. An unwelcome consequence is an increasing number of women suffering injury, sexually transmitted diseases and other health complications.
The recent GRA legislation also introduceds many new risk factors and raised the importance of educating females about the risks of anal intercourse, as anal sphincter injury or faecal incontinence is more prevalent than for men.
This is primarily due to the female anatomy as well as the effect of hormones, pregnancy and childbirth on the pelvic floor. Women have less robust anal sphincters and lower canal pressures, which risks more damage to their anatomy.
The main consequences of going Greek include incontinence, sexually transmitted diseases, bleeding and or pain. Anal fissures can be a consequence, these are tiny skin tears in the lining of the anus that can cause pain and bleeding.
Barebacking
Until recently it was universally accepted that anal sex was a high risk activity with protection of disease being gained through the use of condoms. But big pharma developed and introduced Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) which is now widely used in the homosexual and increasingly the hetrosexual communities.
A person who takes a prEP drug every day can lower his or her risk of getting HIV from sex by more than 99% percent and from injection drug use by more than 74% percent.
But a rapidly increasing incidence of sexually transmitted diseases in heterosexuals through anal sex is linked to the practice of barebacking ( sex without a condom) and is a warning that PrEP does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections, so safe sex.
Born and raised in London Hunter was Surgeon’s constituency manager until 2016.
She was also the councillor for Southside Ward in Glasgow from 2012 until, losing the seat in 2022.
And in 2017 when the SNP was elected to run Glasgow City Council she was appointed to the post of City Convener for Health and Social Integration.
On why she’s involved in politics, she said: “I was brought up in a political household in London so it was quite normal to be involved in politics and be active. What makes me continue to be involved is just believing people together can achieve a fairer society and can improve the quality of life for people.”
So square that with this: Mhairi Hunter and Jennifer Layden are both senior officers in Glasgow whose roles are regarded as a full-time commitment because of their additional responsibilities over a backbench councillor who is paid at two-thirds of the full time rate.
The full-time rate can vary depending on the nature of the role and according to Glasgow’s Register of Interests Layden is paid a salary of £35,000 while Hunter receives £26,000.
Yet both SNP councillors have other paid jobs – Layden works in Humza Yousaf’s office having previously enjoyed a similar role in Margaret Ferrier’s, while Hunter has a role in none other than Nicola Sturgeon’s office and a separate paid commitment as a member of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board.
But of course councillors should be properly remunerated – The independent (SLARC) committee recommended a new salary structure for elected councillors in Scotland in 2006.
But the committee is being systematically abused because no one has been scrutinising its work since the former SNP finance minister, Derek Mackay – who resigned in disgrace of course, decided that independent oversight was no longer necessary and that the SLARC committee should be disbanded.
The upshot is that we have large sums of public money being used to pay Glasgow councillors decent salaries to perform a wide range of part-time and full-time jobs – yet these salaries are also being topped up by Holyrood and Westminster SNP MSPs and MPs employing councillors in their offices.
The system is being ‘gamed’ when the public interest demands independent scrutiny, openness and transparency.
In the latter part of the 1960’s left leaning Labour politicians gained power. Prime Minister Harold Wilson announced his government’s “East of Aden” policy effectively signalling to the world the end of the British Empire.
1968 and the Lord Chamberlin’s failed attempt to ban Lady Chatterly’s lover brought an end to the censorship of the performing arts in the UK and ushered in the “Age of Aquarius”
This short period in history was noted first for the activism of the American youth culture then the brits who rebelled against the collective constraints placed upon it by a society guided by right wing politicians who favoured the waging of a seemingly endless war in Vietnam which brought with it a severe curtailment of individual freedom and liberation.
Individual freedom needed to be reclaimed and the controversial musical “Hair” was brought to the stage in the USA. Written to be contoversial it shocked theatregoers with its content openly depicting drug use, nudity, cross gender sexuality and extravagent use of obscene language.
The production travelled across the pond to London where it further enjoyed the notoriety of the previous presentation. One commentator said the show was about the need for a society blessed with hope, love and acceptance of all genders and cultures.
The Thatcher/Reagan/ Major/ Bush/ Blair/ Bush/ Brown/ Trump years were notable for the media attacks on sexual immorality excesses in society added to with claims that family values had been abandoned and the innocence of youth destroyed by exposure of vulnerable teenagers to sex and drugs.
2016 brought Nicola Sturgeon to the forefront of Scottish politics following the General Election rout by the SNP of all political opposition which rocked the world of politics.
She was feted by government leaders worldwide and in a couple of years had fostered, at the expense of the pusuit of Scottish Independence the unearned image that she was a formidable politician whose style and leadership qualities were to be admired and promoted when the reality was that she had achieved little of note in the years she shadowed Alex Salmond, the real hero of the 2014 independence referendum.
But, backed by big bucks Pharma and Hilary Clinton’s support she is determined to force behaviour standards on Scots last seen in the 1960’s “age of Aquarius” but on this occasion it will be marked by no compromise on her concept of acceptable norms of society.
The rallying call from Sturgeon’s LGBTG supporters is “equality” at 16 years of age across all subjects bringing with it high profile campaigns supported by the media and the negative consequences on society resultant in the lowering of the age of consent to 16 allowing the frequenting of licenced premises, night clubs. Purchase and consumption of alcohol, cigarettes and active participation in pornography by young people and many other formerly taboo activities. See below.
Age of consent
Military service presently 16: (permission of parent or guardian required if under the age of 18. No deployment to conflict situations until 18).
Equality applied introduces full military service at 16, permission of parents not required and including deployment to war zones.
Voting presently 18: (16 for Scottish elections)
Equality applied: 16
Withholding gender counselling from parents: (Anytime from Nursery School education
Self declared gender 16: from 23 December 2022
Authority to alter body 16: (from 23 December 2022. Includes operations removing sex organs
Sex consent sexual intercourse: 16
Viewing Internet and other porn 18:
Equality applied: 16
Purchase of adult magazines 18:
Equality applied: 16
Purchase/viewing of adult dvd/videos: 18:
Equality applied: 16
Participation in adult industry and prostitution 18:
Scots should stop faffing around the issue of independence and exercise their constitutional right to petition King Charles advising him of their intent to withdraw from the Treaty of Union, but not the Union of Crowns, this being the express wish of the Scottish electorate who have provided their politicians with a mandate to do so on five countrywide elections since 2015.
The petition would be presented to the King by one or more Scottish Privy Counsellors. Namely: Alex Salmond, Stuart Hosie, Ian Blackford or Nicola Sturgeon.
Jun 2017: Scandals that rocked the Church – the Mormons, the Tory MP and shock revelations of outed gay men
Young gay men who were outed by leading figures in the Mormon Church in Scotland attacked the religion as a “cult” which is openly hostile to LGBT members.
Two former members of the church, officially known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), spoke out after they were targeted at a time when recently elected Tory MP Stephen Kerr was a high-ranking official in LDS.
Kerr, representing Stirling at Westminster, denied he was involved in outing gay men when he was a Stake President (the head of a diocese) and an Area Seventy (a position of power in the church outranking bishops and priests).
The MP, who won with a majority of just 148 votes, made Stirling the third most marginal Conservative seat the country, also claimed he is in favour of equal marriage.
However, according to Mormon church teachings: “sexual relations are reserved for a man and woman who are married”
Sex between people of the same sex: “violates one of our Father in Heaven’s most important laws and gets in the way of our eternal progress”.
The revelations that gay men were outed when Kerr was a senior figure in LDS was uncomfortable for the Lesbian leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, who when it emerged that the UK Prime Minister was ready to do an electoral deal with the DUP – which is against equal marriage – sought assurances that any alliance would mean: “absolutely no rescission of LGBTI rights in the rest of the UK”.
Davidson, said:
“I was fairly straightforward and I told the PM that there were a number of things that count to me more than Party. One of them is country, one of the others is LGBTI rights.”
After voting for equal marriage in 2014, Davidson said she returned to her office in the Scottish Parliament and: “cried deep, sobbing tears of relief and release and joy and pain and pride.”
Davidson campaigned with Kerr before the General Election and tweeted her congratulations when he won the seat. She said: “So proud of him. He’ll make an excellent MP.”
One gay man claims he was outed after he had taken part in discussions about his sexuality on anonymous online message boards used by former Mormons.
He said:
“At church, my father was handed a print-out of my posts. Bear in mind these are anonymous posts, but someone has taken the time to trawl the message boards and recognise my story sufficiently. My dad waved the print-outs at me, then it all kicked off. There was a lot of screaming and lots of anger.”
“It caused a lot of recriminations at the time because I hadn’t discussed my sexuality with my parents. It caused huge issues. The relationship with my parents still isn’t great. I never got the chance to come out to them in the way I wanted. That opportunity was taken away. It was forcibly removed. It was traumatic for me and caused embarrassment to the wider family.”
The source, who asked not to be named to protect his family who remain in the church, said he was later confronted by a church leader at his parent’s house. At that time Stephen Kerr was an Area Seventy.
He said:
“I was told by a church leader I’d be ex-communicated because of what I had written. I told him to shove it and resigned.”
When contacted and asked to comment the former church leader, who has since left the Mormons said:
“I can remember getting sent to his door because he was saying things about the church online. I don’t know what was being said but I remember being asked to say to him he needed to keep his mouth shut or the church would be taking disciplinary action against him. I was a bishop at the time.”
When asked about the church’s attitude to gay people, he said:
“As far as I was led to believe, gay people were allowed in the church but they couldn’t practise it. If they were a member of the church and they were practising it they would probably get ex-communicated. That’s what would happen. If I was a bishop I would be asked to conduct a hearing.”
The young man who was confronted is now openly gay and claimed LDS is “completely against homosexuality and opposes equal marriage”.
He claimed:
“They have what’s called a ‘proclamation on the family’ and, as the highest lay officer of the church in Scotland, Stephen Kerr was obviously aware of that.”
The proclamation states that marriage between a man and a woman is:
“essential to His [God’s] eternal plan” and children are “entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother.”
Kerr regularly posts scripture, quotes and images of Jesus on his Facebook page.
One post was an endorsement of a quote by Mormon elder D Todd Christofferson, which said:
“We cannot afford young adult men who are going nowhere in life, who are not serious about forming families and making a real contribution in this world.”
Another gay man who also asked to remain anonymous to protect his family who are still members of LDS, claimed:
“I was outed by a church leader when Stephen Kerr was a Stake President in Edinburgh. I was able to tell my family first and they suggested I should resign because they didn’t want the family name dragged through the mud. They knew what the church can do to people. Your reputation gets trashed.”
He added:
“The church has a hatred for gays. We’re a threat to the family, to masculinity, to the system. The church thinks gay marriage is counterfeit marriage. There are many cases like mine.”
In the April edition of Ensign, the monthly magazine for members of the church across the world, Mormon elder Larry R Lawrence said:
“Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, but same-sex marriage is only a counterfeit. It brings neither posterity nor exaltation. Although his imitations deceive many people, they are not the real thing. They cannot bring lasting happiness.”
Stephen Kerr confirmed he served as an Area Seventy and a Stake President before becoming an MP, but insisted the church did not out gay people and sought to play down his role in the church.
“My involvement with the church did not require me to be in direct responsibility for anybody outside of Edinburgh diocese so I would not be involved in anything. Same-sex marriage is only counterfeit. It is not the real thing and cannot bring lasting happiness.”
When asked if he is aware that gay men were being outed, he said:
“No, the church’s teaching on homosexuality you can read for yourself online. There’s no secret about what the church’s teachings are.”
When asked if he is against equal marriage, he said:
“No, I am not. As a Member of Parliament, as a Scottish Conservative, I believe in equal rights for all people. People should feel free to be who they are and that is exactly the point of view I take in regards to my responsibilities as a Member of Parliament.”
When asked if gay people who are Mormon should be celibate, he said:
“In our society people who are gay should be free to be gay. It’s not my job as a member of parliament to project one thing or another, in terms of my religious faith or anything else, on other people.”
When asked if there’s a conflict between being a member of LDS and a member of parliament, he said:
“None whatsoever. No conflict. I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but my role as a member of parliament is not to project or to inflect my religious views, my faith, on anybody. My job is to protect all people, to see that they have the freedom and protection under the law that they need to be and to do what they believe and to be who they are – whether that’s in relation to faith, or sexual orientation or anything else.”
SNP MEP Alyn Smith described revelations that gay men were outed by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as “appalling”.
He said:
“When I came out I was fortunate in that I had a great reaction from family, friends and colleagues so I feel for anyone who had to go through something like that. The day after the beautiful Pride Edinburgh march celebrating love, diversity and tolerance it is worth remembering that not all organisations in society have the same view.”
Smith also underlined the responsibility parliamentarians have to protect and promote equalities, adding:
“This goes beyond party politics. All elected members in all parties have a duty to not just protect equalities but to promote them, as well as free speech and freedom of religion, and with honesty and respect we can all get along. But let’s not forget that the hard-won legal rights to equality would be rolled back by some, and be ever vigilant to their motives.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said:
“Stephen rejects the allegation that he was in any way involved in the incidents referred to here.”
A spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said the church would not comment on “these confidential and personal matters”.
But a closer look at Stephen Kerr is justified.
April 2006: A Fellow Mormon Questions Stephen Kerr’s Integrity – Does he believe in the Mormon church’s teaching prior to 1978 that skin colour is a curse.
Elder Stephen Kerr, a native of Dundee was sustained as an Area Seventy (top of the Mormon tree) in the Europe West Area of the Mormon Church.
A fourth-generation Mormon on his mother’s side, after completing his first mission he progressed through the various ranks of the Church culminating in his appointment as leader of the Church in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
A post comparable with an arch Bishop or Moderator in the established church
In September 2006 Ensign Elder Kerr addressed the youth of the Mormon Church. He confessed to a passion for books and spoke to a list of things young Mormons might want to do while they are still young. Three things are especially important;
(1) Being worthy to go to the temple.
(2) Regular attendance at seminary and institute classes to learn more about the faith.
(3) The companionship of the Holy Ghost and receiving revelation.
Is this the same Stephen Kerr to whom I wrote in 1998 following his appearance in one of a series of TV programmes that looked at various faiths?
A panel quizzed him and another Mormon about their faith.
Of particular interest was the question of Negroes and the priesthood.
We have addressed this issue before and I need only say that, until 1978, Negroes were disbarred from full involvement in the Mormon Church because the colour of their skin marked them out as “unworthy”.
In 1978 this changed under enormous pressure from the wider society.
This is common knowledge and I don’t imagine that I am telling you anything you don’t already know.
Imagine my astonishment when I heard Stephen Kerr, a fourth-generation Mormon, a lover of books, a priesthood leader of long-standing and someone who encourages youth to learn more about their faith – imagine my astonishment when I heard him deny any understanding of this teaching.
He would have been 18 years old at the time of those momentous changes in 1978, when the official declaration announced from Mormon pulpits across the world that, “all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or colour (sic)”.
He would have been preparing for his mission, if not already serving, and this would have had a profound effect on the way missionaries responded to coloured people on the door.
He was challenged repeatedly and, repeatedly, he said, “I don’t know why this was so, nobody knows why.”
It might be argued that I am in no position to know what he knew or didn’t know.
That is right.
It might be argued that I couldn’t prove that he was being disingenuous in his answers.
That is correct.
It might be said that I must take the man at face value and accept that he spoke in good faith.
That is something I struggle with simply because it is not true that “nobody knows”.
It is common knowledge.
This is the doctrine of recent memory, practised by Mormons of my generation.
Especially poignant was the fact that his Mormon companion was a young Negro woman who, I feel, was quite innocent in her endorsement of Elder Kerr’s claim to ignorance.
My generation and his would have been taught as a matter, of course that skin colour other than white is a curse. a curse.
Hers would have been denied such understanding as new opportunities opened up, post-1978, for Mormonism in Africa and among African communities across the world.
Now a new generation of young church members is deliberately kept ignorant of their own heritage.
Same-Sex Attraction and the Doctrine of the Mormon Church
Same-sex attraction refers to emotional, physical, or sexual attraction to a person of the same gender.
The experience of same-sex attraction is not the same for everyone. Some people may feel exclusively attracted to the same gender, while others may feel attracted to both genders.
The Church distinguishes between same-sex attraction and homosexual behaviour.
People who experience same-sex attraction or identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual can make and keep covenants with God and fully and worthily participate in the Church.
Identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual or experiencing same-sex attraction is not a sin and does not prohibit one from participating in the Church, holding callings, or attending the temple.
But sexual purity is an essential part of God’s plan for our happiness.
Sexual relations between a man and woman who are not married, or between people of the same sex, violate one of our Father in Heaven’s most important laws and get in the way of our eternal progress.
People of any sexual orientation who violate the law of chastity can be reconciled with God through repentance.
As followers of Christ, we resist immoral behaviour and strive to become like Him.
We seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the help of the Saviour, who knows how to succour us when we are tempted.
If we give in to sexual temptations and violate the law of chastity, we can repent, be forgiven, and participate in full fellowship in the Church.
We may not know precisely why some people feel attracted to others of the same sex, but for some, it is a complex reality and part of the human experience.
The Saviour Jesus Christ has a perfect understanding of every challenge we experience here on earth, and we can turn to Him for comfort, joy, hope, and direction.
No matter what challenges we may face in life, we are all children of God, deserving of each other’s kindness and compassion.
When we create a supportive environment, we build charity and empathy for each other and benefit from our combined perspectives and faith.
Church leaders have emphasized that simply being attracted to someone of the same sex is not a sin and that God loves all of his children.
But those wishing to maintain full membership in the Church are required to commit to a life of celibacy.
The Mormon Church states unequivocally that marriage and sexual relations can only be between a man and a woman who promise complete loyalty to each other and that homosexuality is contrary to God’s plan for his children.
Members in same-sex marriages are considered to be apostates which is an excommunicable offence.
Children living in same-sex households are excluded from religious rites, such as baby blessings and baptism until they turn 18.
Once they reach that age, they have the option to disavow same-sex relationships, move out of their parents’ house, and ask to join the Church.
Mormon Church Doctrine
From 1849 to 1978 Mormon church had a policy against the ordination of Black people to the priesthood and forbade black men and women from taking part in ceremonies in Mormon temples.
In 1978, the church’s leaders declared that the ban had been lifted as a result of a revelation from God.
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