Happy St. Andrew's Day

Happy St. Andrew's Day to everyone. There is nothing ever better than a good excuse for an afternoon dram. The thick frost refuses to melt in the low winter sun, small birds peck at the seeds and nuts generously poured out this morning as I returned from buying the papers, and the fire is on, and a green-coated paperback lies dog-eared on the table.

But, I can't help but feel rather sorry about the stance adopted today by the Tories. Labour were quite rightly ridiculed for trying to suggest the SNP are exploiting the St. Andrews' cross. It was part of the SNP's gradualist agenda, apparently, to paint the Saltire onto the side of trains and a sinister ploy because a photo of Edinburgh castle had the Saltire purposely flying. It was all just blind panic and paranoia and seemed to say more about the confused ideas of Labour who, it must remembered, had a former First Minister who tried and failed to fly the Saltire outside Bute House. A former First Minister who wished that England would get beat in football.

The Labour party in Scotland have always represented a rather juvenile wha's like us mentality when it comes to these sort of symbols of nationhood. Instead of being able to coherently articulate their views of modern Scotland they feel a great need to disguise it all with vague meaninglessness about Scottishness and Britishness, hoping it will blend in and slip by unnoticed. I would respect that party a whole lot more if they could just explain to me in a few sentences why such Scottish exceptionalism should continue in the modern age.

It was the Tories, remember, who made the great song and dance about the return of the Stone of Destiny which is another fine symbol of nationhood, no doubt, but it's just a symbol, all countries have them, they're part of the passage of history, acquired then revered with equal portions of disbelief and disbelieving. Yet, this is all part of the Scottish exceptionalism whereby symbols of nationhood come to be things that trouble those who insist upon such exceptionalism. One method of controlling such troubles is to acquire the thing that troubles. I predict the Unionist obsession with symbols will continue for a long time simply because, when the symbols become normalised, as they are in all other countries, then Scotland will be just another step closer to becoming a normal country.

Scotland has an intriguing national history as any other European, it is absolutely fascinating, and even the bloke with the long hair from Coast still manages to enthuse about the subject and get others enthusiastic. I cannot abide, however the politicisation of history and I that is why I am fairly disappointed that the Tories are seeking to suggest that the Saltire is something that can ever be anything other than the flag of Scotland. All the political parties in Scotland quite rightly use the flag, in one way or another, so to try and suggest the party that wants Scotland to become a normal West European multi-party democracy are perverting the meaning of the flag by employing it as part of their various campaigns. The flag is a symbol of Scotland so perhaps the real problem for the Unionist party is trying to justfy to themselves their view whereby the Saltire is a flag without a country.

I have a dog-eared Thomas Hardy novel to get through for now and, later this afternoon, I'll be enjoying some Single Malt; one bottle's too much for one, and too little for two...