Refugees Can Now Vote In Scotland

With this one act the Scottish parliament has done two things. It has virtually guaranteed that within two generations these so-called refugees, who mostly come from Islamic supremacist countries, will use the democratic process to abolish democracy in Scotland. It has also made itself irrelevant since the purpose of the Scottish parliament, so we were told, was to establish, advance and hold aloft Scottish independence something which this act will subvert in the fullness of time but not too much time.

What’s next; halal haggis, the Benghazi and Sutherland Highlanders, the Crescent Watch, “Ali O’ Shanter,” “To A Camel”, the “Kabul Grace”, Female Genital Mutilation Week, the public execution of homosexuals on the parade ground of Edinburgh Castle, St.Giles’ Cathedral with minarets cobbled onto its spires with loudspeakers blasting forth the cacophonous and unwelcome wail of the incessant Muslim call to prayer, the High Court of Jihadiary, the General Assembly of Islam, St. Andrews Muslim University in the county of Mecca?!

This hideous act is one more signal that Scotland, like so many other European well-meaning but somnambulating nations, is on the path to cultural defeat, surrender and extinction.

The barbarians are no longer at the gate. They have been ushered right through it by some members of the Scottish Parliament who seek to grasp permanent power by enfranchising foreigners who they expect to vote for them in election after election. This catastrophically cynical calculation will, no doubt, work well enough until the votaries of Islam become so numerous that they will vote these Scottish politicians out of office and snatch power for themselves. That is when the old Scottish aphorism, “Wha’s Like us….Damn Few And They’re A’ Deid” will become an awful reality.

In the meantime, the verminous members of the Scottish Parliament who took part in this treachery should be loaded onto the nearest dhow, banished from the country they have betrayed and go to live in any one of the 57 Islamic states which comprise the Organization of Islamic Cooperation where liberal, democratic ideals do not exist where a bagpipe cannot be heard, a dram cannot be purchased, a kilt cannot be seen and a Bible cannot be read.

***** For those who do not understand some of the references above, use this reference guide:

• The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders and the Black Watch are two of the oldest and most storied Scottish regiments that have fought on the front lines of every British war for the last 275 years.
• Tam O’Shanter, To A Mouse and the Selkirk Grace are all poems written by Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns.
• The High Court of the Justiciary is Scotland’s highest criminal court,.
• The General Assembly of Scotland is the Church of Scotland’s governing authority.
• St. Andrews University (founded in 1413) is the oldest one in the country, and the one which my father, my brother and late sister-in-law attended, is in the Scottish county of Fife.

Refugees Can Now Vote In Scotland

By: Frey Lindsay, Forbes, February 21, 2020:

Thousands of refugees living in Scotland have just won the right to vote in the country’s national and local elections. It’s a historic step and one that recognises political involvement as a key part of social integration.

The Scottish Parliament has passed a bill extending the right to vote to all foreign nationals with permanent residency, including those granted refugee status. They can now vote in local elections as well as the national Scottish Parliament (in the U.K., Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland hold some amount of autonomy through devolved legislatures, not too dissimilar from federalism in the U.S.). They will also be able to stand for election themselves.

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This brings Scotland into a very small club of countries allowing refugees the vote. Only a handful of countries, many in Scandinavia, allow foreign nationals to vote at all, and most of those only after they have resided in the country at least three years. Scottish Cabinet Secretary Michael Russell said “This Bill (…) reflects the reality of modern Scotland: a nation committed to robustly meeting our duties to the treaties that safeguard our human rights, that welcomes those who seek to join our society, and gives a democratic voice to the most marginalised in our communities.”

Since 2018, when the Scottish government began consultation on reforming its electoral system, a coalition of groups led by the Scottish Refugee Council was lobbying for this bill.

“We wholeheartedly welcome the provisions in the Bill to both expand the electoral franchise and candidacy rights,” says Lorna Gledhill, Policy Officer at the Scottish Refugee Council. “By granting voting rights to all those who are lawfully resident in Scotland, and extending candidacy rights to those with indefinite leave to remain, MSPs are sending a clear message that Scotland is a welcoming, inclusive country, where everyone is treated equally no matter where they are from.

The right to vote is an important, if overlooked, aspect of a refugee’s path to integration in a country. There are many aspects of this, such as language skills, employment, social circle and interaction with public institutions. Political engagement is a big part of it as well, as those coming to the country feel they have a voice in the way the system which affects them works. In short, a refugee wants to be a full member of the society and not, as Roland Roth, professor at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, described “merely a client.”

Dr. Timo Tonassi, a migration researcher with the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR) released a paper in 2019 showing his research into the idea of “political efficacy” among those with a migration background in Germany. Political efficacy is essentially how much a person feels they can engage with the politics of their country, and how represented they feel by politicians. This is a good sign of how well integrated a person is in the society in which they live.

“It should be in the interest of politics and politicians to raise the level of political efficacy because at the end of the day in a democracy that’s what you want” says Tonassi.

Political efficacy applies as much to feeling an understanding of politics as being represented. And indeed, the Scottish Refugee Council are now setting out to make sure those newly enfranchised refugees can fully take part.

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“This is a really significant moment,” says Gledhill. “However, the journey to a fully inclusive franchise does not end here. We look forward to working with the Scottish Government, the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders to ensure that all newly enfranchised refugee communities are able to understand and exercise their right to vote in Scottish Elections. A thriving democratic culture is not just about granting rights, but also about facilitating access to them.”

Those whose asylum applications are still pending remain excluded, but the Scottish Refugee Council said they would press on to include these people. “Their lives are shaped by policies set in Holyrood and local government,” says Gledhill. “They should have a say on how that happens, like everyone else.