"Nobody likes a Smart Alec" - the cancelling of Craig Ross marks a heavy loss to Scottish politics
Douglas Ross is resigning from being the Scottish Tory leader. Another Ross had his political and teaching careers destroyed by people who despise a knowledgeable man who's cleverer than them.
Normally I spend a few weeks preparing each of these Substack articles, not least because I struggle to find my muse when crafting what is generally the toughest part of any essay or report - the introduction. Fortunately, this instance is different. The perfect preamble materialised yesterday morning when I decided to travel out to Wemyss Bay and Rothesay, and listen attentively to some podcasts en route.
Unlike music, comedy or drama, I had chosen an audio file library featuring someone delivering serious lectures rich in data and rhetoric, which demand the listener’s full, undivided attention. I had boarded a train headed for Gourock, so I had to change at Port Glasgow to catch the Wemyss Bay train. However, my concentration was so absorbed by the flux of information that it was only out of the corner of my eye that I noticed a railway splitting off and up the hill behind Bogston.
Instinctively, I alighted at Cartsdyke, and made an approximate southwest beeline for Whinhill station (the first stop on the Wemyss Bay line), up the very steep Bawhirley Road, striding purposefully and anxiously past bemused local residents. I was attempting the near-impossible, which to them would have been insane. I had 20 minutes until the Wemyss Bay train passed through, and a long steep ascent (70 metres altitude) to climb to reach it. Incredibly, I reached Whinhill station with seconds to spare. And then boarded the train and continued where I had left off with Dr. Craig Ross’s podcast, ‘February 18 [2022] - Touching Base’ - which became his fourth-last one.
The Road Less Travelled
(Arnold) “Open government is a contradiction in terms - you can be open, or you can have government.”
(Bernard Woolley) “But surely the citizens of a democracy have a right to know?”
(Humphrey Appleby) “No! They have the right to be ignorant. Knowledge only brings complicity and guilt; ignorance has a certain dignity… You don’t just give people what they want if it’s not good for them! Would you give brandy to an alcoholic?”
Yes Minister S1E1 - ‘Open Government’
When reading about the views of and controversies being thrust upon the two Rosses in their separate lonesome Scottish Tory political journeys, I am reminded of Jesse Jackson’s keynote speech of the 1988 presidential election, when he briefly addressed the tiny minority of Americans in agriculture: “Farmers, you seek fair prices and you are right — but you cannot stand alone. Your patch is not big enough.”
In some ways, I admire them for each taking the unpopular route, the road less travelled, of standing as Scottish Tories and entering Scotland’s third party, a bit like the Liberal party throughout last century which had been reduced to a sorry backwater in a few remote rural constituencies amid the solidly Labour-Conservative bipartisan political arena. Obscurity does lend some leverage to the political debate. One would assume that a political candidate for a third-place party whose “patch is not big enough”, who knows their party shall never form the next government, probably can get away with telling awkward truths and expressing honest opinions.
Sadly, even an obscure figure of an obscure party can veer too far off the politically correct highway and get shot down. Given that he is a sort of Scottish governor general-type figure representing the now extremely unpopular Conservative Party in Westminster, I am not in the least surprised at Douglas Ross’s decision to resign - there is nothing to be gained from his staying put, either for him or his Scottish branch of the party.
Nevertheless, I have to say that my sympathies lie with Dr. Craig Ross - by his own admission a ‘failed politician’, and now a former Politics lecturer whose more successful career was poo-pooed and terminated by people who resented him for being what an academic and teacher should be - an unapologetic teller of unpolished truths in an age of polished turds. One who refused to ‘dumb down’, and simplify the great thicket of the Real World with its vast array of varied data and conflicting factors into easily digestible formulae and bullet-points for his Langside College students. And certainly a political scholar who refused to substitute lies and watered-down platitudes for harsh, complex truths.
I presume that I am not the only one whose attention was first drawn to Dr. Craig Ross and his controversial podcasts on ListenNotes back in summer 2020, when, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Craig dared to question the unquestionable when responding to Guardian columnist John Harris’s jeremiad on food banks, which in turn have become a mainstay in post-2008 crash Britain. In his podcast, Craig had the audacity to suggest from empirical observation that many food bank users are actually overweight, in some cases obese, and more likely to suffer from diabetes than physical starvation, and quite likely to opt for buying ready-to-eat processed foods instead of buying ingredients and cooking from scratch:
Re-listening to Craig’s infamous podcast of June 29th 2020 feels eerie. It was as if he knew exactly what was awaiting him. Strangely, it took a few months for the wave of retribution to gather pace, but it finally touched down in January on the approach to the 2021 Scottish General Election as journalists and social media hacks started dishing the dirt on the would-be Tory candidate for Glasgow Pollok. As quoted by the BBC, “The Conservatives suspended Ross, [stating] he was ‘no longer a candidate or a member of the party’.”
Such knee-jerk cowardice is not unprecedented, e.g. following his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, Enoch Powell was immediately suspended from Ted Heath’s shadow cabinet.
What makes me angrier is the online reaction to Craig’s canvassing as (consequently) an independent candidate. Although not exactly representative of all Glasgow voters, some of the remarks on a Reddit page during the 2021 campaign tell me all I need to know about why the likes of Dr. Craig Ross is wasted on the voters. Latching onto his facial appearance (lantern-shaped, with pointy nose), his cheap black-and-white flyer (as if an independent candidate would have a generous printing budget), and of course that remark he uttered in a podcast, these Reddit commentators did not trouble themselves with the true nature of government administration or economic trends:
[Audioboxer87] “That guy looks like he hangs about kids parks” (Ah, cunning! If you’re really stumped in a debate, call your opponent a nonce.)
[DoctorGrimm] “Paired with that grin, I may just start fearing for my life”
[Epsilongated] “He's got a very punch-able face, tell you what”
[GENGHIS BHAN] “Voting for this fud is like voting for a guy with no eyes to drive yer bus home” (I guess it wouldn’t be wise to demand experimental proof of this.)
[JMASTERS_01] “The other half of his salary could go to a graphic designer”
[lorelai_gilmore_20] “He looks like a troglodyte and that's me being polite”
I am lost for words - so instead let me quote The Now Show’s Marcus Brigstocke’s response to voters turning to the BNP two decades ago:
“Look, I’m all for getting voters to the polling booth but, seriously, please don’t vote - you haven’t earned it. Democracy has nothing for you.”
And of course, the defenestration of Dr. Craig Ross did not end with his political de-platforming back in early 2021, by which time I became a keen listener of his alternative viewpoints on his ListenNotes-hosted podcasts. The final showdown was the demonstrably unfair termination of his 20-plus year teaching career at Glasgow Clyde College (formerly Langside College) - as evidenced by his successful tribunal and his £22k compensation for constructive dismissal. And the charges? According to the Daily Record’s article concerning this ‘Vile former Scots Tory candidate’:
“The experienced lecturer had long complained about a culture of 'spoon-feeding' students, condemned the education system as 'complete gibberish' and described the regurgitating of mark schemes in assessments as 'boneheaded prescriptivism'.”
Some of his students complained about Craig’s seemingly long, rambling, unstructured lectures, which like square pegs did not slot neatly into the round holes of narrowly defined sub-topics and learning outcomes. In other words, these poor school-leavers couldn’t handle the vast sweep of information, and needed it to be tamed, pigdeon-holed and broke down. They found Dr. Ross intimidating, especially as he criticised them to their faces for being so poorly educated.
Look, I get it. A long, long time ago, I too was a teenage undergrad fresh out of high school, being dropped in the deep end and being challenged by spooky, much older, very knowledgeable male lecturers and professors. I was being bombarded by complicated lectures and journal articles issued by professors who, standing at the lecturn, could recall from memory enormous reams of data, terms and anecdotes, which I was struggling to jot down, let alone memorise and comprehend. (No smartphones, AI tools or powerpoint slides back in them days.)
I understand the pain and discomfort a teenager experiences when they think they know everything, and is publicly dismantled in the classroom by a badly dressed old man with his vast repository of knowledge and sharp argumentation. I never forgot Dr. Allison with his lantern jaw, aquiline nose and wry grin, who commissioned my fellow students and me with class assignments, whose starting pistol was the remark, “And I will watch…and laugh.” However, another remark I have not forgotten was that by a very smart Eastern European student in the year above mine, who dismissed my apprehensions concerning the split-final (3rd year) exams: “Of course the questions will be difficult - this is not high school.”
Some people might claim there is some sort of Heisenberg Uncertainty principle here: either we live in the harsh world of politics and economics, or we can observe all its intricate patterns from the outside. A mature man with a Humanities doctorate, who has the luxury of being paid to research the subject and doesn’t have to waste the long days toiling in some manual day job, is bound to know much more about economic trends and the root causes of political issues, compared to the average Joe and Joanna outside the ivory tower. Most of us, I especially, have neither the time or the financial stability to be full-time Politics scholars.
Nevertheless, in his final podcast of 8th December 2022, Dr. Craig Ross inferred that one doesn’t have to be a paid academic to grasp all the reasons and causes behind political bread-and-butter issues, or even distractions such as mass migration and identity politics. Quoting the Victorian English poet and scholar, Craig lamented how many people are reluctant even to spend three minutes reading around a topic:
“Three minutes thought would suffice to find this out; but thought is irksome and three minutes is a long time.” (A.E. Housman)
The main privilege of going to college or university is encountering people who are way, way better informed, who are experts in their field, and being humbled and having to start anew on the long, lonely but later greatly satisfying journey of accruing wisdom. The fact that someone has qualified for a university degree programme doesn’t make them special, according to the infamous riposte by Matt Walsh: “Anyone can [go to college] if they’ve got money, time and no pressures or responsibilities from the outside world.”
As indicated in the famous proverb of King Solomon, schooling is a matter both of maturity and morality (Proverbs 9:9):
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
Take me to the grown-ups’ park
There is no reasonable way that I could summarise, condense and in any way try to dissect the erudite, lengthy and substantiated insights and arguments that Dr. Craig Ross has presented in his podcasts on ListenNotes. There they stand in all their complex harmony, like a ‘re-wilded’ garden. For me to try and compress his podcasts down to a few sentences would do a disservice not only to him but to the political conversation as a whole. When I chanced upon his podcasts back in summer 2021, it was like walking outdoors and breathing fresh air during the COVID lockdowns (the latter which Craig has criticised at length). Sadly, these ceased abruptly in autumn 2022, following his resignation and tribunal.
I am not some No.1 fan who sits cross-legged at the feet of Dr. Craig Ross and agrees with everything he has said. Nevertheless, hearing his audio recordings afresh back in 2021-22, I soon figured out that Craig is not a stereotypical right-winger, or Tory, or privileged country toff wearing an academic gown, or even Union Jack-waving Brexiteer. Just listen (and I mean listen) to any of his podcasts, and you will soon figure out that he doesn’t take sides - he ridicules them, and does so gradually, politely but convincingly. He has taken the counteroffensive against Tory cabinet ministers (e.g. Dominic Raab) and prime ministers just as he has against Guardian columnists. To quote Dan Pena, Dr. Craig Ross wasn’t putting himself out there to make friends.
Readers might presume that I am displaying symptoms of right wing / tough love-induced ‘gas lighting’, or even suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. However, whenever I read about the same old tropes and grievances in the news - both left and right wing issues - the wheels in my brain begin to turn and I soon figure out that there are many questions which are not even being raised, let alone addressed. I would even go as far to say that Dr. Craig Ross might nod at my own view that there are many millions of British subjects floating around in their bubble cars, sitting at home staring at giant plasma TVs, who are spoiled, pampered, and need taking down a peg or two, just as happened to me last decade. Let’s consider but also think critically about the main issues this general election:
Mass immigration and ‘the boats’. If the quality of life here in the British Isles was similar to that in North Africa, Iran or Syria, we wouldn’t have tens of thousands risking their lives in the English Channel. It’s that simple - there is a differential. Just as Nature abhors a vacuum, so if the quality of life in a distant country is vastly better than that in your own, then - as surely as the sun rises and sets - you’d be paying some dodgy trafficker to sneak you in. Wouldn’t you?
As the leading AI scientist Stuart Russell put it in Human Compatible - AI and the Problem of Human Control (p.98): In order for the rest of the world outside the West to be raised to the standard of living in the 88th percentile of US citizens, global GDP would have to increase TEN-FOLD. Now go away and think about that for Housman’s three minutes.
The interminable, worsening housing shortage. One of the first articles I ever read on the BBC’s news website back at the turn of this century mentioned that the main causes of the housing shortage back then were marital breakdown, and more people across the UK living alone or in smaller groups per household. And as for all these people moaning about not being able to find a flat or house - did any of them consider going into the trades, and becoming a bricklayer or carpenter or roofer? The construction industry has suffered critical skills shortages going back years. The business of house-building is a nightmare when it comes to legality and division of labour. Each house demands dozens of highly skilled craftsmen, lawyers, financiers and government officials. Many building companies went bust in the 2008 crash. Then there’s the natural environment - flood plains, groundwater, former industrial pollution, endangered local species, etc. The British climate (cold, soggy) demands that a house be constructed of a myriad of materials that can resist damp, cold and infestation. Even if one is a millionaire and buys a plot of land, one does not simply go about building a house.
The failing health, education and social care sectors. This demands a 2000-page thesis exploring all the problems affecting these giant welfare state pillars. Or…a short quotation of Dr. Craig Ross in his last podcast, who once again tries to present the bigger picture: Per head of population, the British state spends around £15,000 on welfare - far above what the average native British worker pays in taxes. So then, explain to me how Keir Starmer can increase taxation and public spending, will wave the magic wand at the chronic under-funding in our schools, hospitals and other civic buildings? And like my former professor, I will watch…and laugh.
Crime waves, especially armed robbery, theft and online fraud. Of course there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to this. Obviously if we shove all the culprits in jail they will emerge brutalised, unemployable and even more inclined to thievery. So what are the root problems? Family abuse and neglect. Ingrained poverty and a high crime rate in the local community. Or, as is often the case with online fraudsters, people living abroad in obscure low-GDP countries with worse poverty and high unemployment, who find ways of siphoning money from the privileged West. Solutions? Oh yeah, let’s blame globalisation, multinationals, ‘the elites’. Let’s bring back Communism. Or usher in that great magic money tree called UBI (um, who’s paying?). And now for the identity politics bear pit - let’s mow down the snowflakes, the Wokes and other victim-playing crybabies. Meanwhile the police and local court judges make some of the culprits do unpaid community work. Never mind, I’m sure Keir Starmer will fix this one.
Food banks. In his shocking podcast, Dr. Craig Ross acknowledged there are some not-overweight individuals who have turned to food backs out of sheer desperation, namely unregistered migrants who scratch an existence in the informal economy, who have nowhere else to turn. However, he also hinted that in days past we had soup kitchens. Has it not occurred to anyone that Britain didn’t have ‘food banks’ during the Great Depression, when many millions of men were unemployed and their families faced severe deprivation and eviction? Or during the early Thatcher years when entire industries were being mothballed and millions again were being flung on the scrapheap? Relative to a typical worker’s wage, food (mainly raw ingredients) was much more expensive a century ago - of course, we cannot really compare like with like, because there were no ready-made meals during the 1930’s. Or 1980’s, come to that. But anyway, according to the government,
“In the 1940s, rural households relied on gardens and allotments to provide more than 92% of their fruit and vegetables in winter and 98% in summer. This ranged hugely with urban households who grew 12% of their fruit and vegetables in winter and 49% in summer. About a third of the household income was spent on food in 1940, compared to 12% nowadays.” (DEFRA)
On a more solemn note, let’s spare Housman’s three minutes’ thought for food producers, especially our beleaguered farmers, as both Douglas Ross and Jesse Jackson know full well. All that backbreaking work from before dawn to almost midnight, and a large proportion of British farmers (who in turn supply more than half the food we consume here) endure financial insecurity, even penury (in the case of dairy farming). Will we soon be seeing these bronzed tired old men and women in their hay and manure-stained overalls queueing at food banks? Probably not, because they are used to making tough financial decisions and social sacrifices. Just as I had to when facing long-term unemployment last decade - sell all my possessions on eBay, give up the car, stop going to coffee shops, stop snacking, cancel all direct debits, live for a few days on a tenner from the ATM, embrace being single, childless and living with relatives, etc.
Regardless of the general election results, I will be bold enough to predict that both Rosses are prepared to watch and laugh as Keir Starmer is handed the hollow crown, and sent onto a truly rotten pitch.
On that note - just like Craig, I love furnishing my arguments with quotations - I shall finish this article by quoting some prescient remarks of the local provost Drew McKenzie of Inverclyde writing in The Greenock Telegraph (June 12th):
“We have an election coming up. There is clamour for our votes. We are being promised the world. That the other mob are hopeless. You can’t trust them. Everything will be fine with us…
“…and yet police / council / health board / local and national-level budgets are under pressure…
“So where has all the money gone? Vote for whoever can tell you!”
Here’s wishing my fellow voters a happy general election…
