21st February 2022: A Week in Parliament

Norway 

Westminster had a week-long February recess, for which I was away in Norway through the Armed Forces Personnel Scheme. We visited the new base for 539 squadrons of the Royal Marine Commandos. It was fascinating seeing the way they operate and the harsh conditions they are training to survive in. They are training to operate as guerrilla warriors in the case of say, Russia, invading Norway - or elsewhere. They are based within the Arctic Circle, and I even had the “pleasure” of sleeping in a snowhole for a night which was an experience. We were shown survival skills and it is incredible the stamina these guys have and that they train to live in the Arctic conditions for weeks. We can only hope that they are not required to be deployed properly. Interestingly, when we go on these trips, there are always concerns raised in general about cuts in overall numbers of the armed services and the fact that they need more spent and better procurement on equipment. These are all aspects of the UK government pumping their money into the Trident Successor programme rather than spending it on personnel which is a self-defeating strategy.

Norway Observations Continued

One other interesting aspect of the trip is fellow MPs acknowledging how rich a country Norway is, without seeing the irony that Scotland could similarly be so wealthy as an independent country. Instead as part of the UK, the revenue was squandered on tax cuts. They then also argue Scotland is better off with the broad shoulders of the UK!

Another observation is that passport queues are back. And the Tories in general do not like passport queues, yet they knew this was an inevitable consequence of Brexit. In each passport queue, I was in, there were Scottish voices muttering “we didn’t vote for this”. How true, and a better understanding of the situation compared to the Brexiteers.

Covid/Self-Isolation

Partygate investigations continue. Johnson is still as brazen as ever, and now we know that even more donors to the Tory party are getting direct access to the UK Government as “advisors”. Basically, they are reconfirming if you are rich and donate to the Tory party, you can advise the Government on policy measures that will make you richer. This really is outrageous. Meanwhile, Johnson is using the Ukraine crisis as a photo opportunity to get an RAF plane specially diverted for his photo and then returned to base. What a waste of money and resource. Next up in his deflection tactics is abandoning self-isolation in England. Medical advice is against such a move. Think about it – Omicron may be milder, for most, more flu-like, but no self-isolation means possibly putting more vulnerable work colleagues at risk for example. It sends the wrong message, which basically says we can all do what we want and testing is then pointless. In short, it is irresponsible, but a way of Johnson getting right-wing Tories off his back and putting pressure on us in Scotland when still trying to do the right thing and follow the advice of the experts.