Over the past few weeks, Siol nan Gaidheal has watched with much interest - and disdain - the ongoing “debate” over the abolition of “Section 28” – a law introduced by the Conservatives some years ago which forbids the intentional promotion of homosexuality in schools, the publishing of materials to promote homosexuality, and the promotion in schools of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship. One does not need to make a concerted attempt to see through the acrimonious and bitter mudslinging going on between the various parties to see the underlying motives for this typical divisionary policy of the North British Unionist Labour Party and supported by the increasingly politically naïve Scottish National Party – political correctness. Political Correctness, despite its well-meaning intentions, is in essence, the scourge of our society. A well-meaning attempt to protect the weaker minority groups of this country, political correctness is essentially the pandering to the minority with the concurrent ignoring and overriding of the common sense wishes of the majority.

Political correctness in all its forms and regardless of what doctrine is being promoted is essentially the highly undesirable indoctrination of the population through education. Politics intrudes in such a way as to prevent the obtaining of an honest solution to important intellectual problems. Political correctness militates against the thorough airing of many views – proper intellectual debate has become the slave of left-wing ideology. Once the path of that ideology is chosen, the arguing of ideas and debate is ended, and no proper education is possible. For the genuine academic functioning of any nation to come about, there must be complete freedom of thought and speech whatever the Scottish “governing” party feels.

The Labour Party in Scotland has chosen to refuse to enter into a debate of any kind on the matter of repealing Section 28 whilst at the same time choosing to ignore popular opinion on the matter. They have chosen to ignore the Scottish Schools Board Association while at the same time seeking the advice of the British Potato Council! Who else have they consulted on this matter? Tree specialists? Caledonian MacBrayne ferries? The whole thing is nothing more than a charade and an attention-grabbing policy designed to show up the Labour Party as the champion of minorities’ rights. Any child or teacher will freely tell you that kids nowadays learn about homosexuality in “sex education” at school, furthermore there are guidance teachers who will advise and explain anything regarding a person’s sexuality. It is far from the controversial and taboo subject that the Labour Party would have us believe, but is a good enough excuse for them to attempt to win the “pink vote” (which is considerable and growing all the time) and to bully their ideas through and intimidate anybody who dares to stand in their way. Labour MPs and homosexual campaigners have been lining up to attack Cardinal Winning and declaring him unfit for office for speaking out against the repeal and for not adhering to the politically correct left-wing ideology espoused by New Labour. However, Cardinal Winning is only mirroring the views of many church-going people throughout the nation, catholic and protestant, as well as those of the Scottish School Boards Association, many parents and a great percentage of the population, something that Tony Blair and his cohorts in Edinburgh have resolutely refused to do!

The most depressing fact about today’s Scotland is the sight of Scottish "Parliament" ministers becoming obsessed with the issue of homosexuality in schools above everything else. Pupils in today’s schools will finish their secondary school education knowing little or nothing of their own country’s history, languages, literature, music, dance or art. In today’s Scottish school system a pupil can leave school at the end of sixth year without ever having heard of let alone study the writings of Robert Burns, R L Stevenson, George Mackay Brown, Allan Ramsay, Walter Scott, Hugh MacDiarmid, Edwin Muir, Norman MacCaig, Iain Crichton Smith, Sydney Goodsir Smith or Sorley MacLean.

History lessons will tell nothing of Scottish history – of Celtic civilisation, St. Columba, William Wallace, Robert Bruce and the battle of Bannockburn, the tragedy of Mary Queen of Scots, the Scottish Reformation, James Graham - Marquis of Montrose, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, the Covenanters, the battle of Killiecrankie, the massacre of Glencoe, the Jacobites and Culloden, the Scottish enlightenment, the writings of either Adam Smith or John MacLean, Thomas Muir, the Highland Clearances etc. OF COURSE NOT!!! IT’S NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT! Our rich history which attracts many foreigners and inspires our nation is thrown out the window by Scottish parliamentary quislings in favour of more vote-winning headline-grabbing, irrelevant issues like homosexuality where they can be seen as the crusaders against injustice – the moral arbitrators of our nation!

Siol nan Gaidheal is not in any way homophobic and does not attempt to portray itself as such – or indeed to be "extreme right-wing", as our critics will always imply. What matters more to us than anything else, and angers us more than anything else is the destruction of our heritage and culture and the ignoring of our history in favour of an all-encompassing British and world history. What any Scottish nationalist or ultra-nationalist will instinctively tell you is that only with a growing knowledge of all of our country’s proud past, the injustices of our present and the hope for the future will we step towards a re-awakening and rebirth of our country and people – certainly not through the promotion of homosexuality.

It may of course be that certain "closet" gays in politics would love this act to be repealed, and have probably been the ones pushing it through in their "smoke-filled" back rooms. Blair’s government consists of little more than closet homosexuals, crooks, liars, kerb-crawlers, drink-drivers, corrupt ministers sons trying to sell influence (with the support of their father), and control freaks – all-round amateurs. One might say, “Give the parliament a chance!” It doesn’t take someone with half a brain to see that that is not the way to carry out government business! When the Tories were in, Labour was calling for their heads on a plate, yet it is “with great reluctance” that Dewar lets his sleazy cohorts go. However, the old adage will always apply with the Labour party – “Don’t do as I do but do as I say”. As long as a Labour unionist government is in power with its political culture of patronage and loyalty to minority groups and political correctness, the ordinary people of this country will always come second place. Only with a nationalist government that cares for its people as well as the country – for its homeless, its unemployed, its sick, needy and vulnerable, in fact, all those marginalised by 'society' for whatever reason – will any work get done. It is high time that the North British Unionist Labour Party got its act together and their priorities right.