I have never understood why Nicola Sturgeon has never taken advantage of the AUOB Marches. At the last march in Edinburgh the guesstimate of the crowd was over 200,000. A few weeks previously in Glasgow over 150,000 pro independence supporters marched to Glasgow Green. It is incredible that she did not grab these opportunities with both hands. Her core support, the hardcore independence voters and footsoldiers were ignored. Why she didn’t march at the head of the throng then address the enthusiastic crowd at the Green or Meadows, it defies all logic, sense or political strategic nous.
Just imagine if the British Unionists could put those kind of numbers on the streets of Scotland. Do you think that Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Douglas Ross, Ruth Davidson, Anas Sarwar would let an opportunity like that pass them by? Johnson would move hell and high water to get an opportunity to enthuse and address such a crowd.He would probably organise a fly past by the Red Arrows! In fact any serious leader of any political movement or cause in the world would make sure they were front and centre on occasions such as these.
Can you imagine Boris Johnson snubbing and demonising the Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Express, The Sun, The Star, newspapers? Can you then in your wildest dreams envisage him giving a huge financial subsidy to The Morning Star, The Guardian and The Mirror? When have you ever heard Tory MPs attacking any of the right-wing Conservative supporting media?
Imagine Boris Johnson employing the editor of the Morning Star to head up the Conservative & Unionist Communications Department. Can you in your wildest dreams imagine Boris employing a journalist from the Morning Star to be his Press Secretary? The very idea of any of that is laughable in the extreme and yet in Scotland that is what the SNP is doing with the anti- Scottish media while attacking the pro independence media.
Again using Johnson as your example can you picture in your minds eye if Boris had five mandates from the British people to leave the European Union and he had never used any of them? Can you imagine any UK Prime Minister saying he wanted a Gold Standard Section 30 from the European Parliament in Brussels before asking the British people if they wanted to leave the European Union? How long do you think he would have survived as leader of the Tory Party let alone Prime Minister? He would probably have ended up like Benito Mussolini and been left hanging upside down from a lampost somewhere!
Yet in Scotland we have people who still think it is, wrong for people like myself to question why the de facto leader of the YES Movement has snubbed the AUOB for her entire six year tenure while she Marches in Gay Pride Parades or takes selfies with war mongers like Alistair Campbell at English Peoples Marches and rallies in London then addresses, the crowd in Trafalgar Square but never pro independence marchers at the Edinburgh Meadows.
While she and her MPs like Wishart, McDonald, Nicholson and her right hand woman Mhairi Hunter demonise and attack the pro independence media daily the Scottish Government give the Anti-Scottish MSM a £3,000,000 financial stimulus. They give the same anti-Scottish media, exclusive access to her daily briefings while excluding the pro independence media. She has the author of the Vow and ex Daily Record editor heading up the SNP Communications Dept!
Now Sturgeon is telling people not to vote for a super majority instead keep as many Unionists in the Holyrood Parliament as is possible and exclude 20,30 or more pro independence MSPs in their place. She doesn’t want a Super Majority or to remove Unionist seat warmers like Annie Wells, Jamie Green, Maurice Golden, James Kelly. She would rather they remained to snipe at Scotland for the next five years than have people like Alex Salmond, Kenny Macaskill, Eva Comrie, Corrie Wilson, Michelle Ferns all agitating for independence.
Over the weekend she has said that if we vote for a super independence majority Boris Johnson should ignore it! She will only offer up the SNP Constituency and Regional List Votes as evidence for an Independence referendum! I really need someone to explain the logic or thinking behind that insanity!
It is as if she wants to give Westminster reasons to refuse Scotland the chance to move towards independence. If anyone has a better explanation, I would dearly love to hear it. Strategically and tactically it is self-defeating nonsense.
I know I can say without fear of contradiction, as soon as we return to some normality and AUOB resume marching Alex Salmond and his group will be at the head of the march. He and others in the Alba Party will address the crowd and their concerns. The Alba Party will never pander to the anti-Scottish media while trashing the pro-independence media indeed we already see that Alba prioritises the pro independence media, unlike the SNP.
When we win our super majority in May, the Alba Party will ensure that Scottish independence is front and centre in every debate, every day at Holyrood. No other issues or policies will distract Alba from the main goal of Scottish Self-determination. Everything else is peripheral!
For your part what you need to do is simple, on Thursday, May 6, 2021, Vote SNP in the Constituency Ballot and Alba Party in the Regional Ballot. Encourage every independence voter you know to do the same. We can no longer keep putting off the matter of Scotland’s salvation. Every day we lose is another day for the English Tory Party to dismantle our democracy, steal our resources and break our people. Scotland’s future is in your hands, nobody else. The time is now, no more back sliding, no more appeasement of the Unionists. Do not wake up on May 7th feeling like you did on Friday, September, 19th. 2014!
She needs to go – now. How dare she tell her own people that their votes will be irrelevant unless they vote for her party. She did so much sucking up to the soft “No’s”, who have likely never voted for her or done any sort of campaigning for her party, that she has completely forgotten the mass of Yes voters who put her where she is in the first place. I’m going to find it very, very difficult to give them my constituency vote at all. I know that is what needs to be done but I just feel as though I’m lending my vote to someone who would rather I didn’t vote for them at all – because I’m not the right type of voter.
How can anyone who heard her say that Johnson should ignore Scottish voters still think she has any intention of delivering independence? Maybe she’s relying on him to come up with the missing half million.
I share your bewilderment!
BB, agree with your assessment, but the thing that gets me is, why did I never question Sturgeons commitment to the cause, up until about a year ago, when it was so obvious?
Ronald, I was the same as you. I had my doubts for a while, probably I did not want to believe that someone could be stringing me along on such an important matter. I’ll vote SNP at this election, but if there is any more dithering around then I’m finished with them, permanently.
I trust you mean SNP in the Constituency and Alba in the Regional List.
Oh, definitely, sorry I should have worded that better! 🙂
Good man!
Stuart, for my part, I guess there is no fool like an auld fool.
Know the feeling 😀
It was increasingly obvious to me about a year or so ago that NS was doing and saying things that really seemed very wrong. I couldn’t find answers apart from the refrain “not to worry, she has a plan” But when this whole thing blew up against Alex Salmond, I was astounded! So very happy that Alba is here to keep her mind focused. I did not see anywhere that she would only offer up constituency and regions for the section 30? Anyone with a link? This looks like she really doesn’t want independence.
Fabulous piece with all the questions which have had me perplexed. Has anyone DARED to put these questions to Ms Sturgeon?
Alba is bringing real hope to people like me who had given up any hope of seeing independence in their lifetime. I sincerely thank Alex Salmond and all who have taken up the gauntlet to fight for Scotland.
The Alba candidates all look very impressive, and I look forward to the public learning more about their personal attributes. One of the candidates is known to me personally, and if the others can measure up to her in any way, we will truly have amazing, talented and decent people representing us in our parliament.
Thank you again for your blog; you have kept me going through many dark days.
Presiding Officer: We will have question from the leader of the Alba Party.
AS: To ask the FM what she and her party have done this week to further the cause of independence.
FM: We have been busy with Covid, working on the GRA bill and also erm err…………
I never knew she said that a super majority should be ignored, where was this reported? I don’t keep up to date with msm so I am a bit behind the times on this. Thanks.
Sturgeon has openly stated that she will not work with the Alba party whose raison d’etre is the immediate negotiation of Scotland’s statehood thus ignoring every indy supporter who backs them and the cause.
Yeah, when it is put as clearly as you have just done then it’s pretty obvious, sometimes I can be a bit thick, especially at 10am ☺️
Sturgeon is now a liability, not just for the SNP but for the independence movement. Her every utterance aids the union. More and more folk are seeing this.
Both votes SNP is just daft.
I predict, and hope, ALBA will go from strength to strength.
P.S. Great article.
NS and her cabal, need a spell in a cave with
Spiders.
History, history, history.
Onwards and upwards
🐼🐼
You are right Roddy.
Everything that comes along gets placed ahead of Scotland’s democracy. If it’s not Covid, it will be some other crisis. Yet Boris pressed ahead with Brexit in the middle of the pandemic.
The Tories can’t blast the SNP for going for independence at the tail end of the pandemic. Saying we need years to recover. When they have destroyed Scotland’s recovery with their insane Brexit.
The time to go is now. Another 4 years of Brexit, and the 85% of GDP debt ridden UK, will destroy all hope.
I don’t believe for a moment that Nicola Sturgeon wants independence. What she wants is continued power for herself and those who share her real priority — identity politics. My understanding, informed by others in a better position than myself to know, is that she preferred the 2014 referendum to fail so that Alex Salmond would resign and she and her husband would take control. It was the only way they could unseat him. I presume that at some point she underwent a mind-shift from first joining the SNP, and her focus changed..
Upon taking power in 2014, she stated that she wouldn’t seek a second referendum until the Polls showed 60% support for independence. Many thought this reasonable. They did not realise that she would do NOTHING WHATSOEVER to increase that support. The key reason for losing in 2014 was that the people did not have knowledge or or confidence in Scotland’s resources. She has refused support from Professor Richard Murphy to explode the myth that GERS benefits Scotland; she did not ally with Business for Scotland to bring ‘Scotland the Brief’ to every doorstep; she did not invest Civil Service resources in building up confidence among Scottish people in their own country’s vast resources. Essentially she did none of the things you would expect a leader of the Scottish National Party to do in order to achieve its principal aim of restoring independence.
Since taking over, the Sturrells have focused on sexual politics. Their alleged reasons may be speculated upon but not published. Their priority now is to ensure that this legacy is embedded by successors when they quit the field for pastures new.
Through devolution, the Sturrells believe the SNP can continue its monopoly. The emergence of ISP was the first real challenge which is why they attacked it but not the Greens, despite the Greens competing against them in Constituency seats. The Sturrells and their base know that the Greens are similarly pretend-Indy and similarly captured by sexual identity politicians. They are no threat.
Alba is the most dangerous enemy for obvious reasons. Thus the Sturrells and co. are forced into the open, with every attack on Alba revealing that their priority is not independence. Their claim that votes for the SNP is the only legitimate demonstration of support for independence is risible. Similarly, the notion that only votes for the Tories should be regarded as legitimate unionist vote, would risible. Nicola Sturgeon may think differently if a unionist coalition ousts her from her Seat succeeds.
The SNP should be a key mechanism for achieving independence. But the SNP does not own the independence movement. Indeed it has distanced itself from the Movement. I will be voting for Alba in the List, just as I would have voted ISP, for various reasons including protecting women’s rights but primarily for achieving independence. It is my Constituency vote that is wobbly.
I put paragraph breaks in my comment but they seem to have vanished, going by the preview.
I believe the answer to most of your questions relating to the actions (or inaction) of Nicola Sturgeon and the leadership of the SNP is they have become the ‘establishment ‘ of Scotland and now seem to have the same sense of entitlement as the Tories do in England. They are happy to carry on with the trappings of power and see independence as potentially ending that. In addition, the likes of Pete Wishart and the green bench brigade sitting in Westminster are quite happy pocketing a healthy salary, expenses, and a pension in due course. Again, independence ends all that. Some of the vitriol, insults, and abuse hurled at Alba and its supporters from some in the SNP, including leading figures is at a level, not even the Unionists have aspired to. It saddens me to say but true supporters of independence now seem to have to fight on two fronts…Unionists, and the SNP careerists.
A lot of folk are going to have to go through something akin to cult deprogramming when they finally realise that The Empress has no clothes. I genuinely fear for their mental health.
I first realised something wasn’t right when she lost over 30% of her MPs but tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, so many folk were saying, “She’s got this. It’s all part of her plan and they’re walking right into the trap she’s going to spring on January 31st 2020…” And we all know what happened then.
When I heard Sturgeons surrender speech in January 2020 I became convinced she was a phoney. Everything since then has only reinforced that opinion.
Ditto!
Very nicely laid-out, Roddy. Thank you. Most of my points have already been made by you and the good people above. My remaining tuppence worth amounts to: The woman in question bears all the signs of having been compromised. In other words: she is being worked-from-behind. By whom and on what grounds might be speculated upon, but is of secondary importance at this juncture. Suffice it to say for the moment: in no way, politically speaking, is she her own-person.
Some enjoy supermajorities,
Some achieve supermajorities,
And some have supermajorities thrust upon them!
One thing is for certain, Scottish history is not going to look kindly on the Sturgeon era. It really is mindboggling, how she could
have hoodwinked so many, for so long.
It’s so good to have people such as yourself, Iain and Jeggit fighting our corner- we owe you a lot.
Perfectly put. I have always been one to follow my gut. My first inkling that something was amiss was during indyref and Sturgeon’s speech in Edinburgh. I kept a wary eye after that and then with indycamp and her comment to the campers it cemented it for me. Said then that Scotland was up the creek without a paddle (though strongly worded) and have been proven right time and time again. The grassroots movement has been largely ignored by the SNP and its inner circle, the passion of the supporters left to wane instead of utilised, pro-indy campaigners taken to court, the ring fenced money mysteriously vanished and in its place a supposedly pro-indy party has shifted its priorities and prefers to work with the English establishment rather than its own people to advance the cause of Scotland’s statehood. The dangling carrot of indy has been a rerun of Labour’s 120 year promise of home rule while doing everything in its power to thwart it. The moment s30 was denied the FM and SNP should have stated that since common courtesy was denied Scotland would be exercising its sovereign authority and asserting its statehood with immediate effect. Negotiations would begin with immediate effect. No other sovereign country would permit their trading partner to dictate the terms in which they can exercise their sovereignty yet the SNP seem hell-bent on permitting the English government to do just that. Would the English government have accepted a denial from Scotland had the boot been on the other foot? Of course not. Even with a 100% or near 100% no to English policies such as the war with Syria and Trident renewal the English government just laughed and went ahead. And not only went ahead but within 1 hour of the Syrian vote had jets leaving Scotland to bomb Syria! Prior to the Holyrood parliament being established and the cry of referendums the accepted method of asserting Scotland’s statehood was simply returning a majority Scottish pro-indy government. It is about time that was realised instead of pandering to a foreign country’s government and playing by their rules. A pro-indy majority parliament has the ability to assert Scotland’s statehood and begin immediate negotiations on Scotland’s terms. It is time. Either the SNP step up to the plate and work for and with a pro-indy parliament or forever be proven to be just another English establishment party working against Scotland.
They are not taking to the light being shone on them are they..? Wee cosy game exposed for what it is, a super power mad gravy train.. The de-facto leader is now AS, end of story, and hopefully end of tory too… She had her chance and spaffed it on the transwoo, what a waste – but for us, nor for her. Thank Goodness for ALBA and some sanity returned. Now it is in our hands. SNP1 ALBA 2, then down the line ALBA all the way…
Nicola never used her mandates because Westminster didn’t give her permission, ALBA says we don’t need permission!
#SuperMajority
“DEFIES all logic, sense or political-strategic nous… it’s more an accusation than a question, perhaps”? ~ these few words say more than most of us care to write! However, many, if not most of us have despaired over the lack of positive political determination in the SNP/Scottish Government and the illogical disregarding of what’s obvious to so many of us on this archipelago (the so-called UK), let alone our friends in Europe and our world in general!
I joined the SNP as soon as I could, but it’s NOT the party that it used to be (all parties evolve, of course), otherwise they’re failing, – ‘New Labour’? Furthermore, when Scots who’ve moved overseas can understand and accurately describe their conclusions! Why can’t Nicola Sturgeon and her ilk recognise what our expatriates easily see?!
The recent reappearance of Alex Salmond and his Alba Party was met with a wide range of reactions – from both deep thinkers and (arguably), the shallowest of minds! Many of us recognise that our Independence cause has NOT been helped by our current First Minister; furthermore, the so-called ‘spat’ between past and present First Ministers is worse than unfortunate, because it mainly delights the Unionist mentalities! Surely, and evidently, this is a situation that ought to be intelligently recognised by any leader of all political parties; especially one that is active today!
I’ve retired from my old job, yet I’ve ample time for my current duties, and I soon hope to use the blog on my evolving Website, combining recreation, reading and socializing. … shared interests and pastimes, I hope!
Thanks for your time,
Ewen
The answer to your question Roddy is two words ..Power and Control, the very same reason the Alba party are seen as a threat to that power and control, The very same reason the rank and file are totally ignored, The very same reason people like Joanna Cherry, Denise Findlay, et’al were driven out, The very same reason the NEC was gerrymandered, The very same reason Alex Salmond was seen as a threat to that power and control, Power and Control is far more important to Nicola than winning Independence every action and non action tells me that, As John Steinbeck once said fear corrupts the fear of that loss of power corrupts and its there for us all to see,
“… Yet in Scotland we have people who still think it is, wrong for people like myself to question why the de facto leader of the YES Movement has snubbed the AUOB for her entire six year tenure while she Marches in Gay Pride Parades or takes selfies with war mongers like Alistair Campbell at English Peoples Marches and rallies in London then addresses, the crowd in Trafalgar Square but never pro independence marchers at the Edinburgh Meadows… ”
You’ve kind of answered your own question, BB. She believes in trans ideology, so she marches in Gay Pride Marches which the trans lobby now dominates with myriad and fluid fetishes. Like Alistair Campbell, she believes that the end justifies the means to keep her in power. She believes that London is the jewel in the Crown. You kind of have to, don’t you? Or perhaps, she didn’t want to appear partisan when she is FM of all of Scotland, the Unionist part, too, but, then, independence is her party’s raison d’être and she is leader of that and should be at least trying to implement that raison d’être. The Tories, after all, govern for all in the UK, but press ahead with their polices, which they are entitled to do in democracy.
When she stood beside Alec Salmond in the duo for independence, something made me fell that something wasn’t right. It’s easy to say that now, I know, but I always had an uneasy feeling. I put it down to extreme shyness on her part at the time, and being like that myself, excruciatingly so throughout my life, shrugged off the doubt. I don’t mean that I could see then that she was anti dependence – I don’t think she is in that sense – but I have always had this niggling doubt that she was, perhaps, not as fully committed as Alec Salmond. It was just a feeling, nothing more, at the time, and I suppose I brushed it away for a couple of years until I started to question the SNPG strategy and tactics.
Certainly, from the Brexit referendum onwards, I began to see her as a devolutionist rather than a fully-committed independista. I have not changed my mind since, and I left the party because of its lack of commitment to independence and its commitment, under the FM, to transgender rights above women’s and to the illegal manner in which the investigations into what was the early Salmond affair were being conducted.
Looking back, I think I subconsciously sensed something that, even now, I can’t really put a name to. Oddly enough, I was never convinced by her #MeToo credentials either, or, at least, I felt that she made so much of trivialities that the bigger picture escaped her. The forward momentum of transgenderism and its crushing lack of empathy for, and decency towards, women’s rights is part of that bigger picture, and it poses a far more substantial threat than any twiddling of hair or hand on knee scenarios ever could – and I’m not making light of them at all – yet she is oblivious, or simply doesn’t care. Yes, it is all very odd behaviour on several levels for someone who professes to put these matters to the forefront of her politics. Very odd, indeed.
There’s an old truism, “Judge people by their actions rather than their words.”
We have Nicola Sturgeon, an intelligent politically savvy woman, telling us election after election that we will have a referendum, then fizz… nothing.
We have Nicola Sturgeon pushing a strategy of vote SNP 1&2. Even if she is incapable of doing the arithmetic, the result of the 2016 election would tell her what happens, 4 SNP MSPs, and 45 Unionist MSPs.
But we know she knows that, she’s not dumb.
What conclusion do we draw from an independence party leader pursuing a strategy that will GUARANTEE that our parliament will be filled with MSPs supporting the agenda of the occupying power?
Maybe she is a tool of the British state, or has been compromised and is being blackmailed, or for whatever other reason, or just maybe she has gone stark raving mad. That is pure speculation, tinfoil hat stuff.
There is one thing we can be sure about though.
By following the strategy SNP 1&2, she is now actively and deliberately working against the interests of independence.
Thank heavens for Alex Salmond & Alba Party. Until this was announced, I despaired of seeing Independence in my lifetime. For the first time, I wondered if it was worth bothering to vote as we seemed to be going nowhere. Now, I will vote and it will be SNP 1 & Alba 2. I think Alba’s support will save a lot of SNP majorities from tumbling because of voter apathy.
For me, it was the unreasonable treatment of Grouse Beater that set the alarm bells ringing. The Growth Commission report was the final straw. All I could see was austerity and a worse situation than our current one if that were implemented. Nicola doesn’t seem to take any heed of people who really understand economics, currency issues or governmental infrastructure issues, people like Richard Murphy, Tim Rideout and Robin McAlpine. It’s very frustrating, especially when she’s punting modern novels on her twitter feed so often. I just think she ought to abandon the novels & read some economics or start with a “Business for Scotland” publication, or maybe even Common Weal’s “How to Start a New Country”, if she’s actually serious about Independence. Sadly, I agree with Joan earlier in the comments, it’s about retaining power not attaining Independence.
SNP 1, Alba 2
In fairness to all of us, the gameplan she utilised was brilliant.
The policy of ‘wheesht for Indy, don’t scare the horses’ was actually appropriate for 2015 – 2017.
The warning signals for me, were that it was not accompanied by the case for Indy being made at the same time, on a daily basis. However, I put that down to the nature of Political Parties being a bit ‘square’ compared to the Yes movement.
I knew something was up, when in 2017, Wishart stated we would have to wait for Brexit to actually happen, before we tried for another Indyref… by which time it would be too late, and we would have lost some EU democratic rights. I went to the local SNP meet, and John Swinney backed him to the hilt on this.
That is when I knew, but even then, it was other people doing this, not Nicla, her fingerprints were not to be found. So in that respect very competent.
One thing people should bear in mind is the way the Britnats operate. If they cannot bribe, or seduce, then they will threaten. Waste of time to look for conclusive evidence.
Just look at what needs done to get Indy, and then lets all get on with it. And for now that means Supermajority.
I was on the brink of despair and wondering if there was any use in ever voting again. I really didn’t want hear any more from the NewSNP. SelfID as disabled? SelfID as a woman? The HCB? Social engineering at it’s worst! And, to my mind, treating the electorate as morons that can’t think for themselves, and their need for us to be herded into ‘rightspeak’; a total dumbing down of society.
Why did we spend so much time in WM trying to stop Brixshit….our views weren’t welcomed and our MP’s derided. The English electorate may have agreed with it, we were a side-show, a relief from the harsh realities of brixshit, which will only get worse as many now realise, but they’re not the ones voting in, or for Scotland. We could have spent that time in creating a new currency, land reform, and so much more in building a basis for an Independent Scotland.
I never stopped admiring Alec Salmond for his political prowess. So I am more than happy to see the voice of reason return to Scottish Independence, and hope to see the ‘woke’ culture put on the back burner, instead of holding us, (like the GP), to ransom. The SNP and their allies will put women’s rights all the way back to the 19thC.
With these changes on the political front, I will now go out and try to use my vote for the betterment of Scotland.
Welcome back Alec!
Like many, I was going to Spoil #1, Alba #2 but now, despite a rubbish candidate here in Argyll, shall vote SNP #1.
However, if Mr Salmond’s plan does indeed come true and the NSP lose some seats too, I suspect NS shall resign thereafter before her cadre turn against her.