Christine, please, shut the fuck up!

The utter stupidity of British politicians never ceases to amaze me. Which just proves that we are not always capable of learning from our mistakes.

Of course, in Scotland, the lunatics beat the the spivs in the last election, so they have so much more scope for their cretinous beliefs and ridiculous notions to interfere with those of us just trying to get along in life. Recently, the anti-English^* party have been even more whacked out than normal - the Berwick stunt, Chris Harvie's moronic utterances regarding Lockerbie and, alerted to by the ever vigilant Snob, Christine Grahame, prime twit of l'affair Berwick, at it again.

According to Terry's favourite paper, she added:

Given we have had some recent high profile examples of such acts of heroism it is time we remedied the situation and properly recognised these outstanding individuals.

Whilst I accept that the current George Medal is available to people throughout the UK, it is clearly a very Anglo-centric award that takes no account of Scotland's long and well-established tradition of bravery, both in civilian life and in the role performed by Scots service personnel over the centuries.

The George Medal depicts St George of England slaying a mythical dragon, a representation that remains quintessentially English.

Now, let's just see. It is not the "St George" Medal (and Cross), it is the (King) George (VI) Medal, as can been seen in the official MOD photograph (and, yes, I know that it would the current monarch on the obverse of any new awards). And, and I appreciate that as a modern politician, Christine won't have been anywhere near the military, it is the obverse not the "St George & the Dragon" bearing side that shows.

And, of course, St George isn't English. If he existed, he was probably Turkish born, Greek speaking and thought of himself as a Roman citizen. And he isn't just the patron saint of England - he is the patron saint of (countries only); Canada, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Palestine, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia; as well as the Spanish regions of Aragon and Catalonia.

And, of course, it is not the politicians and Government, whether Scottish or United Kingdom that awards gallantry medals in the UK - it is the Queen (or the Royal Humane Society and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.) So stupidity reigns, as ever, in the bowels of Holyrood; Grahame herself and Messrs Hepburn, Ahmad, Wilson, Gibson, Kidd, McMillan and McKee. The Herald doesn't do much better:

The George Medal and George Cross were created to reward acts of bravery committed by members of the Commonwealth not serving in the armed forces, who can be awarded the Victoria Cross.

No, they were not. They were created to reward acts of bravery committed other than in the face of the enemy - whether by civilians or by military personnel. The George Cross replaced three existing awards, the Empire Gallantry Medal, the Albert Medal (1st Class or Gold awards only until 1971) and the Edward Medal. Many recipients have been military personnel - many bomb disposal officers and technicians such as Captain Peter Norton GC although other have won the awards for saving life in minefields or, in Lance Corporal Chris Finney GC's case, because the Septics are, technically, not the enemy.

I'll leave you with a comment from somebody who knows - retired police Chief Superintendent James Beaton GC CVO JP:

Bravery is bravery the world over, be it Scotland, Ireland, Wales or anywhere else. The Victoria and George Crosses are recognised the world over. If you were to have a Scottish George Cross, why not a Scottish Victoria Cross? Should I be given a Scottish award because I am a Scot living in England?

* Well, they are. Not all of them but a significant number of their politicians, many of their activists and, I suspect, a huge percentage of their voters.