A parcel of rogues

The Burns poem “A Parcel of Rogues in a Nation” refers to the alleged “sell-out” of Scotland in the Union of the Parliaments and is a great favourite with the SNP. Alex Salmond, famously, recites it and other Burns classics with relish.

So let’s have a wee bit of it…

“The English steel we could disdain,
Secure in valour’s station;
But English gold has been our bane-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!”

How ironic it is then that the SNP government has chosen to set aside the democratic process and impose its will by remote force, in return for money to be paid, willing or not, whether in fuel poverty or not, by English consumers through their energy bills.

Scottish consumers, numbering about a tenth of English ones, could not possibly foot the bill for Salmond’s renewable energy ambitions.

Perhaps when Mr Salmond comes to Shetland to campaign for Scottish independence, Radio Shetland will induce him to show off his recitation skills – here’s a little more to whet your appetites…

“We’re bought and sold for English gold,
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation.”

John Tulloch
Lyndon
Arrochar