Political Quotations

"Show me a man who respects the rights of all countries, but is ready to defend his own against them all, and I will show you a man who is both a nationalist and an internationalist".
Fletcher of Saltoun (1653-1716)

"Independently of my enthusiasms as a Scotsman, I have rarely met with anything in history which interests my feelings as a man equal with the story of Bannockburn. On the one hand, a cruel but able usurper, leading on the finest army in Europe, to extinguish the last spark of freedom among a greatly-daring & greatly-injured people; on the other hand, the desperate relics of a gallant nation, devoting themselves to rescue their bleeding country or perish with her. Liberty! thou art a prize truly and indeed invaluable, for never canst thou be too dearly bought." Robert Burns (1759-1796)

" I ken when we had King, and a chancellor, and a Parliment-- men o'our ain, we could peeble them wi' stanes when they werena gude bairnes. But naebody's nails can reach the length o'Lunnon." Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

"There has been in England a gradual and progressive system of assuming the management of affairs entirely and exclusively proper to Scotland, as if we were totally unworthy of having the management of our own concerns"
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)

"Freedom"
Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"

"Tartan Tax"
Michael Forsyth, Secretary of State for Scotland 1996.

"Separatism"
Tony Blair, Prime Minister

"Go back to your constituencies and prepare for government"
Michael Forsyth, 5 days before losing his seat and 5 days before the Labour party swept to power with a massive majority

"We declare the right of the people of Scotland to the ownership of Scotland, and to the unfettered control of Scottish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Scots people. The Scots people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty by arms and by the ballot box. Standing on that fundamental right and asserting it in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim Scotland as a Sovereign Independent State and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades in arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations."
THOMAS J. CLARKE and others
(text adapted and modified from the proclamation of the Irish republic)

"The Scottish Constitutional settlement should be entrenched by a simple provision in the Scotland Act (the act establishing the Scottish parliament). Proposed amendments should be approved by a simple majority in the UK and Scottish parliaments and in a referendum. The Convention should consider giving the electorate the right to propose an amendment through a constitutional petition" Paragraph 5, Page 47 of "Towards a Scottish Parliament". Consultation document and report to the Scottish people by The Constitutional Convention. October 1989.

"We, gathered as the Scottish Constitutional Convention, do hereby acknowledge the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs, and do hereby declare and pledge that in all our actions and deliberations their interests shall be paramount.

We further declare and pledge that our actions and deliberations shall be directed to the following ends:
To agree a scheme for an Assembly or Parliament for Scotland; To mobilise Scottish opinion and ensure the approval of the Scottish people for that scheme;
and to assert the right of the Scottish people to secure the implementation of that scheme."
The Claim of Right, agreed by the Scottish Constitutional Convention March 1989.

"The piece of Perthshire sandstone of controversial pedigree which has come to Scotland in the general interest of party-political advantage will be sited at a location in Edinburgh, decided upon by the Westminster Establishment, and will be removed from Scotland if and when a London government so decides. It is an almost perfect metaphor for devolution" Alan Clayton, "The Herald", 30-Nov-96

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