Chapter 33

Donnie thanked the solicitor for dropping him off at the apartment and promised that he would keep in touch with regard to the proceedings they were planning to take against Malloy.

"We have him on all sorts of grounds," the solicitor repeated. "What he did basically amounts to kidnapping and holding someone against their will, not to mention the physical assault which we have on tape. Believe me, Mr Malloy is in a lot of trouble."

"It couldn't happen to a nicer guy," smiled Donnie, before closing the car door. He waved as the solicitor pulled away and then made his way into the apartment. Katie had something ready for him to eat, anticipating his arrival as she had connected with him off and on all afternoon.

"Don't you think you should heal the bruising and the black eye now?" she laughed.

Donnie laughed too.

"I think I'll leave it for Vivien to heal, she'll enjoy that," he said.

"You are so sweet!" exclaimed Katie.

Donnie wolfed down the pork chop and mashed potatoes she had prepared. After eating, he made a few phone calls to let people know that he had been released without charge.

"Archie? It's Donnie. I'm out; the solicitor is filing against Malloy for kidnapping and assault."

"Assault? Were you badly hurt?"

"No nothing serious. Anyway, I'll be back at Ardbrecknish tomorrow."

His next call was to Anthony Brown.

"Anthony? It's Donnie. Listen, I just wanted to say thanks for getting my message to Katie earlier."

"Are you in some kind of trouble? The FM said that you were arrested. He's madder than a hatter after the Home Office ordered more arrests today – that wasn't what you were caught up in, was it?"

"No, it was a case of mistaken identity with me and I'm back at home now. How did things go in the Parliament? Did the independence legislation go through?"

"It sailed through without any problems. If Westminster tries what it did before then it will be breaking Scots law."

"Good. Look I'll be back in Edinburgh on Monday. I'll see you then."

Katie had been listening in.

"So your legislation went through?" she asked.

"Would you stop calling it my legislation!" pleaded Donnie.

"Well, it was your idea," Katie teased.

Driving back towards Ardbrecknish, Donnie listened to the news on the radio and brought himself up to date with what else had happened the day before. More than forty people had been picked up in the MI5 raids, eight of them in Scotland and the reaction of Muslim communities up and down the UK was one of outrage.

Community leaders, most of whom were normally extremely measured and moderate, were openly talking about institutional racism and of prejudice against those from a Pakistani background.

Young whites were taking the arrests as confirmation that the Muslim community was breeding and supporting terrorists. Unprovoked attacks against Muslims and their property began to rise again overnight and the police seemed powerless to stop them.

The escalating situation was further inflamed by injudicious comments made by several of the new British National Party politicians on national TV.

" ... if they hate us so much, why don't they just go home to Pakistan?"

asked one and:

" ... they will never fit in with our culture, never. We should be passing legislation that makes it a legal requirement for them to speak only English, convert to Christianity and to dispense with the customs which clearly come from other countries. We should stop them claiming benefits as well – everyone knows they're sponging off the state."

said another.

Donnie heard both clips and was appalled that these were actually elected representatives.

The winter weather caused chaos again, not just in Scotland this time, but across the entire UK and beyond. Rose and Jennifer kept in contact with the few friends they had back in Iowa and it seemed that the east coast of the US was suffering just as badly.

In contrast, at both the north and south pole, conditions continued to be milder than ever before and the ice caps continued to melt. Substantial chunks of ice broke away to form huge icebergs that drifted into the Arctic Ocean and began a journey that would see them reach the Atlantic before melting completely.

In the run up to one of the biggest Christian festivals, Christmas, tensions between the Muslim and white communities was also leading to more and more flashpoints.

Many Pakistanis found their small corner grocer shops attacked and completely emptied and several large 'cash and carry' wholesale companies were also targeted by gangs of white youths. The food shortages might have contributed to the targets that were selected, but there was no doubt that racism was also a key motive.

Full-scale riots were reported in Leeds after someone threw a petrol bomb into a Church while a service was taking place and seven people were killed. The police indicated that there was some evidence that right-wing activists could have been behind the attack – as a way of stoking up the tensions – but the public leapt to the conclusion that Muslim terrorists had been behind it.

Within hours a large crowd marched on Leeds Grand Mosque, hell bent on revenge. The faithful opted to defend their place of worship and a pitched battle ensued. With the police struggling to cope, troops were ordered in. To make matters worse, a power cut meant that there was no street lighting in Leeds City Centre, and under cover of darkness, various groups were able to loot and burn almost at will.

In Preston, another power cut and another night of full-blown urban warfare between Muslim and white youths. Again the troops were ordered in and afterwards there were hundreds of allegations of brutality against members of the Muslim community.

Douglas McGregor joined Donnie and the girls to watch the TV news now on a regular basis and all of them were concerned about the scale of the troubles across the UK.

"Does is bother you that people from your background seem to be the ones that are blamed for all this?" Douglas asked Amira.

The young Pakistani girl gave him a blank look in response and Donnie laughed out loud.

"What? What did I say?" asked Douglas, concerned that he had made a faux pas.

"Amira doesn't see herself as part of the Asian community, Dad," Donnie tried to explain. "She's as much a McGregor as the rest of us."

Now it was Douglas' turn to look confused.

"My great-grandfather on my mother's side was John McGregor," Amira picked up the explanation. "He was a Captain on the staff of General Gracey, Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army back in the 1940s."

"Oh," said Douglas, at a loss for a reply to that revelation.

"That doesn't change the fact that it's wrong that the Muslims are the ones taking the blame for everything," Donnie returned to Douglas' original point. "They're being used as scapegoats to excuse the shameful behaviour of others."

"That's what I was saying," agreed Douglas.

"Let's face it," said Lizzie, "things are going downhill rapidly and the authorities are losing control. Food is running out, people can't afford to heat their homes – even if they could there are power cuts – the NHS is crumbling and people are dying because of a lack of medicines. We know we have struck bottom when the BNP actually have MPs in the government!"

"But have we struck bottom yet?" asked Katie. "Is this as bad as it gets, or is there actually worse to come?"

They all exchanged looks at that question.

"I suppose the problem is that we can't control the weather," offered Vivien.

"But that's where you're wrong," argued Douglas. "That's exactly what we are doing here with the silos and the pods. We've taken the weather out of the equation when it comes to growing food, and that's one of the biggest problems that the country is facing – food shortages."

"But things don't seem to be as bad in Scotland," Lizzie noted.

"That's relative," said Donnie. "Things are starting to get bad here too. The only thing that we are missing is the fighting between the communities. Everything else is just as bad – lack of food, power and the NHS in decline. Crime is at an all time high, with any business that might have a stock of food liable to be broken into."

"Well what are you and the First Minister doing about it?" asked Douglas.

"We've passed the independence legislation," said Donnie. "The First Minister has his audience with the Queen next week and if everything goes well, we plan to declare independence again early in the New Year."

"What difference will independence make though?" asked Amira.

"We can control the oil for a start – that should help with the costs of fuel," said Donnie. "We can also stop the flow of livestock south of the border to help with food availability, but the biggest thing is that we can have more control over raising revenue and deciding how to spend it. Hopefully we can boost the Scottish economy and lower unemployment. Having more people in work would surely be a good thing?"

"We could even see the Scottish Government investing in more facilities like this one," Douglas returned to one of his favourite lines.

"It would certainly be a better option than what the UK Government is doing," agreed Donnie. "Spending more on the armed forces, at the expense of other priorities, is utter madness."

The discussion carried on, but Donnie rose to his feet and bid everyone goodnight.

"I'm out with my squad early tomorrow," he explained. "Archie wants us to try out the new winter clothing he's managed to get hold of. I must say that I'm not looking forward to one of his hikes in this cold!"

Archie's training programme was actually going very well. Most of those old enough to take part were about three-quarters of the way through the various disciplines that had to be covered. The people at Ardbrecknish had probably never been as fit in their lives. Amira's gift from Fionne ensured that she excelled in every discipline – she was a true warrior.

Alex Salmond had his audience with the Queen on her Balmoral Estate in the week before Christmas. The First Minister rehearsed the history of the monarchy in Scotland and assured Her Majesty that his intention was to retain a constitutional monarchy after declaring independence.

Queen Elizabeth was well briefed on Scottish affairs and knew that independence was an inevitability. She remained concerned, however, about the breakup of her Kingdom and welcomed the First Minister's commitment for the future.

After explaining his plans in a little more detail, including a commitment to increase the amount of funding that Scotland would provide for the Royal Household, the First Minister secured the monarch's assent to proceed.

Planning for the first Christmas together as a family was surprisingly easy for Donnie and the girls – made so by having so many to share the load. Menus were discussed and agreed, arrangements for when parents would visit confirmed and unanimous accord reached that there would be no over the top exchange of presents. This last was an acceptance of the state of things for people generally in the world.

There was no extravagant New Year's party at Ardbrecknish either for the same reason – it just didn't feel right to be indulging in 'excess' when belts were being tightened everywhere.

One thing that wasn't rationed or curtailed though was the sentiment and the bond that was growing between Donnie and his four wives.

Perhaps because the austerity had made Christmas a pretty miserable time for so many across the country, January did not start well. Food riots were now becoming a common occurrence in every big city and town, as the shortages grew and people starved.

Produce was becoming so scarce that the big supermarkets couldn't find enough to maintain stocks. On top of that, losses from break-ins and the hold-up of their distribution lorries led to a disastrous run on their share value. Two of the largest chains went out of business virtually overnight.

That news brought widespread panic – if household names like these could go under, what did that mean in terms of the availability of food in the future?

It was against that backdrop that Donnie took up a position in the media centre in the basement of St Andrew's House to listen to Alex Salmond tell the assembled press that Scotland was once again declaring itself independent.

"I would warn the Prime Minister of England, Wales and Northern Ireland that, if he attempts to take actions similar to those taken last year, he will now be breaking the law and we will respond accordingly.

"I have authorised the deployment of armed police units to key installations and there are now check-points on all of the main cross-border routes. Units of the British Transport police have been sequestered and are now serving under the leadership of the Scottish Police Forces.

"Let me repeat that this is the settled will of the Scottish people, as expressed democratically through the ballot box. The referendum in September last year showed a clear majority in favour of independence. That position was underlined in the results of the UK election in November.

"We cannot continue with a government that has no single representative in Scotland, that is unsustainable. Neither can we stomach a government that shamelessly includes fascists in its ranks.

"Can I finish this morning by confirming that the new independent Scotland has agreed with Her Majesty that she shall remain our constitutional monarch. The only change will be that she will henceforth be known as Queen Elizabeth the First of Scotland, as it should have been from the date of her coronation."

The response from Westminster was immediate. A convoy of troops was stopped by armed Scots police at the border and there was a tense stand-off. Units based in barracks inside Scotland were also deployed to strategic locations where they too were faced down by small groups of armed police.

These dramas played out live on TV news feeds and the UK Prime Minister gave his response in an address deploring the provocative actions of the Scottish Government. He vowed to oppose independence with every available means.

Having witnessed what happened the previous year, the Scottish public seemed determined that the declaration of independence would stick this time. Social networks sites such as Facebook and twitter helped raise awareness and underpinned basic organisation. As a result, people mobilised, taking the day off work, and turned up to act as human shields for some of the most vital installations.

At Grangemouth, a crowd of over twenty thousand camped out in front of the main gates of the refinery. At the border with England, tens of thousands more arrived to back-up the small armed police unit and stop troops from entering Scotland. Masses of ordinary folk descended on the army bases in Scotland to prevent any further deployment of those troops from there and at the air force bases, protesters cut holes in the perimeter fences and occupied the runways.

In St Andrew's House, the First Minister had set up an Emergency Response Team and civil servants were constantly tracking what was going on around the country. A bank of TV screens allowed them to monitor all of the various 24-hour news channels and another screen allowed them to project key issues so that everyone could see them at a glance. Alex Salmond and Donnie were trying to take it all in.

Donnie saw a young civil servant fielding a telephone call and then immediately typing something onto her computer. A new bullet point appeared on the 'key issues' screen and she turned to her team leader to also give a verbal update.