Nice article Simon. Only issue I have a problem with is on Colonialism and Scotlands part in it. This wasn’t about Scotland. It was about individual Scots actions. Not excusing it but Soldiers took the Kings shilling rather than dying of starvation. Sure they killed. However they were representing the British Empire not Scotland. Many worked on slave plantations etc. Indeed Robert Burns was only days away from setting sail for Jamaica to do that himself. (That would have scarred A man’s a man for a’ that eh?) Again though individual action. There has to be some anachronistic input in all of that. Slavery was thought of differently in those days. In much the same way I well remember in my youth how homosexuality was illegal. As older people brought up with that attitude die out, acceptance of it increases yearly.
Sadiq Khans effort is down to pure ignorance and listening to the wrong people. As for Ms Heuchan you were a lot more tolerant of the drivel she wrote than I feel. It came over as if she was making the story up to fit her agenda. I cannot believe ANYONE could truthfully and honestly write that coming from Scotland. You at least pointed out the flaws well.