For anyone who only associates Neil Oliver with the chap who trudges round the periphery of the UK viewed in long shots from a drone carried camera in his BBC2 TV series Coast, think again. This articulate yet self-effacing man with his slightly throwback seventies student looks is a national hero. The combined follies of Scottish independence and the pandemic lockdown have spurred Oliver to action and to speak out on issues other than archaeology and history. If you have not caught up with his pearls of wisdom, then I suggest you do. He writes regularly in The Sunday Times Scottish edition, which is how his views have come to light.
He also has a weekly interview with Mike Graham on talkRadio where his wide range of knowledge, his abundant compassion and perspicacity are regularly displayed. He speaks with modesty but also with passion and, while there are few topics that he cannot address, the state of Scotland and the evils of lockdown policies attract most of his ire. For a comprehensive account of his views, especially on Scotland, his recent appearance on Triggernometry was a masterclass.
Oliver’s particular strength is his ability to find an apt metaphor for the situations of which he is most critical. Thus, the Scottish independence referendum is compared to one partner in a long marriage asking the other if they still love them. It can never lead to a happy outcome. Lockdown policies are like a colander, governments set them in their ignorance and many people ignore them in their knowledge that the COVID-19 virus represents a minimal risk to them and because that is what sentient humans do, they seek human contact. But it is not the prospect of independence that concerns Oliver as much as what the nationalists, aided and abetted by the other parties of the left in Scotland, are in the process of imposing on the Scottish people: the infamous Hate Crime Bill. This is awaiting Royal assent, having been nodded through the Scottish parliament and will soon become an Act. It will then be incorporated into Scottish law.
It will be well known to readers of Unity News Network that this bill, amongst other things, classifies as hate speech something said within the privacy of your own home that others, if they become aware of it, could consider offensive. It is worth listening to Oliver’s measured yet crystal clear insights into this pernicious prospect. As he points out, he could make an innocent remark that is repeated by one of his children outside his house, misinterpreted by a casual listener and earn him a stretch in prison.
I doubt Oliver has political ambitions and he has no declared political affiliations. He claims to have voted for nearly every party at some point. Of course, as he dares to question woke orthodoxy, pandemic panic and dares to shine a light on the manifest failings of the SNP he is now classified by those who disagree with him as right wing. He merely strikes me as someone who has concerns for and who probably has wide appeal among ordinary folk. I hope that his present outspokenness will not have an adverse effect on his television career or on his prospects of publishing further books. Let us keep a careful eye out for that as it will certainly be a battle worth fighting.
Opinions from the Unity News Network (UNN) editorial team & various contributors. | UNN always clearly distinguishes between news and opinion pieces and as an open minded outlet we publish views from a variety of people and organisation that do not necessarily reflect the views of UNN or its writers. Articles published under UNN Opinions are always opinion pieces and if published on behalf of a contributor will contain that authors name at the start of the piece.
