On January 31st 2020 reality hit me. That was the infamous day that Nicola Sturgeon told us that despite her promises during the 2019 General Election that a vote for the SNP would prevent us being taken out of the EU against our will we were about to be dragged out of the EU against our will.
She had also been telling us that a Vote for the SNP would lead to an independence referendum in 2020. Now she was telling us that was not going to happen either.
She did however leave us a crumb of hope. If in the May 2021 at the Holyrood Elections we gave her just one more victory there was no way Boris Johnson or the Tories could ignore a fresh independence referendum mandate. That was the day that I lost all faith in the party leadership to deliver us from Westminster.
The ensuing time from that January day in 2020 till yesterday there have been many difficult days for devoted Scottish independence supporters like me. The very act of voicing contrary opinions to Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP results in vicious attacks from recent converts to the SNP. Accusations of being anti independence are a favourite ploy even from nondescript MPs of the party.
We have watched as the YES Movement was firstly ignored then destroyed by the very person that was the defacto leader of that movement. We had to watch as the man that had built the party to the giant of Scottish politics was wrongly accused then dragged through the courts on what can only be described as tainted charges. Again, anyone that questioned either the validity or strategy behind this heinous action resulted in more vitriol from an increasingly young and noisy cult like band of Sturgeonites.
We have watched as Gender issues tore both the party and movement apart. We soon realised that these issues were of greater concern to the SNP leadership and faithful than the cause of independence. Any attempt at debate on these two issues were prevented at any cost. The SNP Conference in eight years now has never once been allowed to debate independence! Indeed, the Party leadership goes out of its way to prevent any such thing happening.
Only it seems at election times, is the word Independence mentioned and even then back in 2017 at the UK General Election the word was forbidden in all conversations and literature. It is only used as a trigger word to keep the faithful and suspicious in line. On countless occasions, The National “newspaper” has rolled out the promise of a new Referendum either during election periods or at times when the SNP find themselves in difficulties. It is the SNP leaderships weapon of choice. Indeed, it is their only hook into the electorate everything else they have touched has turned to dust. The efficient competent governance we saw under Alex Salmond has been replaced by utter shambolic ineptitude by over promoted party loyalists. There is not a part of Scottish devolved issues that is in any way even competently governed these days. Just like the Government in London the paucity of the opposition is all that keeps the SNP in charge at Holyrood!
The events above are the reasons that by the time of the Holyrood Elections in May 2021 we had five independence parties. From 1934 until 2020 there had only ever been the SNP as the party of independence. Instead of the leadership taking this as a warning sign of discontent and something amiss, they viewed it as an act of betrayal. Ex-independence colleagues became the number one enemy of the SNP and its band of followers, not the British Unionists. Blocking and othering anyone that questions the great leader or the party is the norm. Attacking those that had stood shoulder to shoulder for decades became and remains the main preoccupation of the rump of activists left inside the SNP.
Despite this constant and continuing assault on the independence supporting non SNP grouping they remain loyal to the cause of Scotland. In both the elections of 2021 and this year, the hand of unity was offered to the SNP by The Alba Party. On both occasions it was cruelly slapped away by Nicola Sturgeon. Instead, on both occasions she preferred to woo Anas Sarwar of the British Labour Party rather than unite with fellow independence parties.
On both occasions she received a dose of her own medicine from Sarwar who rejected her overtures out of hand. Sarwar, Ross and Cole-Hamilton all put the British Union ahead of any personal or political differences. They realise only a united Unionist front can defeat the independence cause. Their biggest fear is that Sturgeon ever gets to realise that a united independence coalition is unbeatable. They are delighted that she and her followers continue to divide the YES Movement it keeps the British Union safe.
This blog has long been asking for unity of the independence factions. Even before ISP and Alba, we have been pleading with Nicola to unite the movement. We pleaded with her not to pursue policies of division like The Hate Crime Bill and GRA Reform.
In 2019 we urged her to declare the UK General Election an Independence Plebiscite. We have tried to encourage the SNP to put forward policies for independence. We suggested a road map to independence. We asked for clear, concise, cogent arguments on Currency, EU ascension, Borders, Pensions. None of these issues have been addressed or clarified for the Scottish voters. Without that we will never win the argument.
Only last week I wrote urging unity and offering unconditional support if Nicola would only offer out the hand of unity to all independence supporters. Therefore, when it was announced that yesterday Nicola was going to declare her independence strategy and begin the independence campaign I had hopes that reconciliation and a clear pathway to Independence would be forthcoming.
Sadly, I was once more to be left disappointed. Yesterday after almost eight years as leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon really didn’t have much to add to our cause. No road map, no vision, no date, no clarity, no clue it seems. Strategy, unity and vision it seems elude our First Minister.
Just more confusion and jam tomorrow. After the big build up all she could tell us was, Westminster is bad, corrupt and does not have Scotland’s best interests at heart. She told us Scotland would be better off independent! She then threw the union its get out of jail card, the ‘legal’ word was released, to be gratefully grasped by the Unionists. Watch over the coming days, weeks and months as the Unionists throw that word about like confetti at a wedding!
She couldn’t tell us anymore and would get back to us soon she assured us. She would be making a Parliamentary statement sometime before the summer recess. That is when I expect things to cool somewhat on the independence front as both Westminster and Holyrood get their summer break.Instead of the warm summer months being a great opportunity for the independence movement to get back into battle ready mode they will be on hold awaiting Nicolas next ‘big statement!’ More wasted opportunity!
Here is what I would have expected her to say as a minimum. ” if the Westminster Tory Government refuses to recognise the democratic will of the people of Scotland as expressed in numerous elections then at the next UK General Election and every subsequent UK and Scottish General Elections we in the SNP will be standing on a platform of an Independence Plebiscite on every occasion. We will also be encouraging all other independence parties to stand with us in this endeavour.”
I would also have reminded the UK of Scotland’s Claim of Right. I would have advanced that a refusal to accept the democratic votes of Scots is a sign that England views Scotland as an English colony and call on the offices of the UN Decolonisation Unit to intervene on our behalf.
My biggest criticism of the 2014 campaign was we allowed the union to dictate the narrative at all times. We were continually playing catch up. Nothing has changed in the intervening years. It has to change if we are ever to be free. We need to be on the front foot we need them to be reacting, not dictating.
Do not ever again use the legal word. Nothing is more legal than the votes of the Sovereign Scottish people. Stop asking and start telling Westminster. Get ahead of them and stay ahead of the Brits. Start today by uniting the movement Nicola.
Last night in her interview with Colin Mackay she had the opportunity to do just that, and she blew it with her prevarication and deflection. Colin simply asked her would there be a place for The Alba Party and Alex Salmond in the independence campaign? It seems direct questions unsettle her and throw her. Just like her behaviour at the Fabiani Inquiry she dodged and dived and avoided giving a straight answer to such an easy question.
It is not a good trait in someone purporting to be a leader. Voters like decisive assured politicians, not ones that come over as sleekit and unsure. All she had to say was ,’ there is a space for everyone that believes in Scottish independence!’ If she found that too difficult to say I would respectfully suggest she does not have the abilities in her to lead us to independence!
Yesterday was yet another anti-climax for the independence movement.It feels like we are being marched up that independence hill only to be stood down again. Please, please prove me wrong Nicola!
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I view this cynically this is about keeping Sturgeon in power rather than any real campaign for independence, shortly it will soon become apparent it’s another ruse. I agree that Sturgeon is compromised she cannot be allowed to lead us into a referendum which she would deliberately loose. She has done nothing for the Scottish people it is foolish and delusional to think she’s is doing to to anything different now.
You are supposed to be an influencer in the Independence movement Barrhead Boy so start influencing and stop with the disappointing commentary. It is obvious to any Scot with a brain that Sturgeon is an agent of the British state she is a traitor! Start calling her out for exactly what she is and start influencing Scots to do everything legal within their capabilities to remove this traitor from office. Its time for action!
Agreed Roddy. Until I have a polling card in my hand with the date of a referendum I won’t believe it is going to happen – and apparently I’m being negative for saying so – I also got the “Wheesht for Indy” attitude regarding criticism of the SNP. I don’t think we have a chance of winning even if there is one. No preparation on the very things that put people off the last time and the SNPs alienation of many over the GRA are huge stumbling blocks. If she can’t agree to work with Alex and unite the movement how the hell does she expect the rest of us to form a united front.
If it happens, I’ll vote Yes but I cannot summon up the enthusiasm to campaign – which is something I hadn’t stopped doing from 2014 until Covid. I’m not being taken for a ride by patronising, middle class, elite politicians agan.
I experienced a similar journey of revelation. To think, I once attacked Craig Murray and Stu Campbell for claiming powers of prophecy that they didn’t possess.
Were Sturgeon to (seriously) press for IndyRef II after the inevitable refusal of S30, perhaps the intelligence services would deploy their ammunition against her and her rotten cabal.
This would work to our favour. Better to win in 25 than to loose in 23.
If Sturgeon was serious about restoring Scotland’s rightful nation-state status she would not be publishing stuff about Scotland being capable of managing its own affairs. That argument was already won in 2014 – even Cameron and Darling publicly accepted that Scotland, like any other nation large or small, would be able to survive and thrive as a separate state.
What a person serious about what they were proposing would have been doing was laying out the process that Scotland’s authorities would establish to run and govern the referendum that covered the following specifics:
1. Question posed
2. Answer options
3. Franchise criteria
4. Timing
5. Inspectorate of vote count
Without people knowing what is being proposed and what are the possible responses arguments cannot be properly couched. You need to know who your target audience is and what the deadline is for convincing them. And people need to have confidence that the contest is being conducted fairly.
Until this framework is set up campaigning cannot be effective. Worse, it will most likely be counterproductive as activists will be flailing around aimlessly and voters will just be confused.
Yes, there is clearly an infinite distance from being leader of a colonial administration to being leader of an independence/decolonisation movement. Fowk cannae ser twa maisters – thay aye luve ane an laith the ither. It seems clear whit wey this leader turns as she protects colonial structures and priorities and leads the independence movement up another blind alley. No more S.30 referendum nonsense please, that train has left the station, sovereign Scots have other far superior options as you say Roddy, for example:
– demonstrate intent by withdrawing majority of Scotland’s MP’s from Westminster
– pass legislation at Holyrood on ending the union alliance
– limit areas of cooperation between Holyrood and Westminster
– apply for Scotland to join EFTA and other international organisations
– defend/seek any Coort o Session case on wha hauds Scottis soveranety (if necessary)
– make an official Scottish Government case to UN and Council of Europe on Scottish Self-Determination
– implement a proper National franchise before any further national referendum is considered
– hold plebiscite election on independence
– etc etc etc until liberation of Scots and our nation is secured
In summary, a leadership must act like it really does want to deliver independence, not as a stooge for the imperial power.
Completely agree with you, Alf. Ever thought of becoming a politician for Scottish Independence? Scotland NEEDS well-informed people in power.
Hear, hear, Alf.
Ach, but Alf. Where else but WM would Cozy feet Pete get folk to listen to his naff speeches with his crap jokes – and think about the poor wee soul’s pension and all the money the SNP get for just being there – pretending to represents the interests of Scotland and the Scots.
I hope to hell this is another ruse Roddy because I’m terrified of a referendum next year. We’d get hammered.
Two reasons for this view. One, there’s still too many Boomers out there [I say that as someone who’s just turned 60 myself] and we’re never going to win them over. But that generation will pass – even though a lot of Boomers think they’re going to live forever; it’s their right! – and our opportunity will come. It will only come, though, if we’ve convinced the coming generations that independence is the way to go, and that involves a hard slog in terms of developing the case, political education of the electorate and developing a strategy to win them over.
That’s my second reason for being pessimistic because, as you and others have pointed out, none of that has been done these last seven and a half years.
And I don’t think the leader we have is capable of turning this round in time for any referendum in 2023 either. There’s a tangible lack of enthusiasm out there. People are weary and Nicola Sturgeon’s Scotland really is a pretty joyless place. It’s not exactly the most propitious environment for launching what is, in effect, revolutionary change.
A few years ago Robin McAlpine commented that the SNP were presented with a fabulous hand in 2014 and have played it dreadfully. That’s still pertinent, largely because power has been captured lock, stock and barrel by someone wholly unsuited to the the task of leadership. She lacks the skill set, she lacks the personality. Head of HR in a big public sector bureaucracy? Possibly. Leader of a campaign for national self determination? You must be joking.
How the hell did we end up in this situation?
Whoever is working her from the back needs more practise or new duracells. It is so obvious that this is yet another stall and she doesn’t look like she can carry the pretence off much longer. A leader to Indy, someone instilled with fire and passion? Hardly. However and by whomever, she has been got at, compromised or promised a glittering future. I just cannot understand how we all let this charade play out. We all know how it is going to go. Boris will bluster and prevaricate and once in a lifetime it, they will play around the legality, she will muddy the waters and roll monarchy, NATO, WMD, EU membership etc in – simply to confuse, divide and ultimately conquer. Cap in hand is the colonial way and that is the very most NS can deliver, if that. We must find another way, and fast.
What I find hilarious is that there are still folk pulling the Boldrick line “she has a cunning plan”. Completely oblivious to the fact they are being manipulated.
As I have pointed out previously, if she were serious she would have suspended the treaty with immediate effect. This has been done with various other political aspects. Fracking moretorium, dedicated pursuance of HCB and GRA. Yet removal of trident, invasion of Syria, silence on Clause 38 and the new ToU 2018 Bill, and numerous other aspects that fundamentally violate the treaty of 1707 she refuses to act upon. The English government and its establishment recognise Scots sovereignty so the old excuse of X is reserved doesn’t wash. Either you are sovereign or you aren’t and the only ones not recognising Scots sovereignty are the Scots themselves! If she was serious she would suspend the treaty. All routes could then be pursued and arguments made (though even that is laughable given the treaty is fundamentally breached and England is implementing the new ToU 2018 Bill in all but name). Absolutely nothing has changed in terms of how the ref would be conducted, questioned or counted. It is a failure before even starting. The only change is now the SNP claim they and they alone are the movement and have turned many folk off indy due to the human rights violations by the Scottish government and its pursued perverted interests while claiming they are the gatekeepers of indy.
Agreed, Gayle. It is already lost because it was never the way to go. I will vote for independence even if it is the loathed SNP that brings it in, but I would rather see the leadership brought down before that point and replaced with something that will fight for our independence as it should be fought. This wishy-washy, wokie dokie rubbish has alienated too many. She has all but rejected ALBA, ISP and other independence parties and organizations out of hand: our way or no way. No, she is not fit to be leader and must go soon. When she was very young, she was very ambitious. You get nowhere without ambition, but a surfeit of ambition leads to oblivion and enmity from all quarters, and false bonhomie and performance are no substitutes for true leadership qualities. Beware all you young pretenders! We need a true leader now, not a facsimile.
Well said as usual Roddy. I’ve not got my hopes up again as like so many of us, we’ve seen it and heard it all before. Until I see a decisive move on the part of this Scottish government’s leading party, I’ll remain committed to the Scottish Independence cause from the by-line, but don’t hold out much hope.
Respectfully yours for Alba
🏴❤️
Another excellent piece, Roddy. Thank you. ( I can’t look at, let alone listen to Sturgeon!)
I agree with you Roddy, January 31st 2020 was my cut-off too. That was when Sturgeon’s apathy and passive indifference to Scotland’s unconstitutional subjugation through Brexit became an act of tacit capitulation and indisputable betrayal of Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty.
She should have been impeached and run out of office that very weekend.
The last seven years for the indy movement has been one of disappointment, yet no matter how hard Sturgeon tries to destroy the indy movement it still remains in the mid-to-high forties even after the imprisoning of Craig Murray and what has happened to Alex Salmond, Marion Millar, Mark Hirst and David Lewellyn, not to mention Manni Singh.
Sturgeon cannot destroy us we refuse to let her do so, oh don’t get me wrong there have been times that have made us very low and doubt ourselves but the majority of us have rallied when called, other have gone into a kind of indy hibernation just waiting to spring back into life when the real indyref begins.
I find it incredible that the likes of Alex Salmond who was cleared of all charges by a mainly female jury and judge, has been deleted by the SNP and had his membership removed, yet the SNP MP Patrick Grady has admitted sexual assault, but he hasn’t had the whip removed by Sturgeon, nor has he been expelled form the party, Sturgeon vehemently said she opposes actions such as Grady’s.
I can only hope that this time Sturgeon isn’t dangling the indy carrot once more, time will tell.
Without Sturgeon there would have been no Brexit. Why wait 8 year to pull the trigger on the starting gun for independence. The worry for me is this traitor is trying to tie us into a toxic constitutional change in the Union with a 3rd question on Devo Max. Another No vote will prevent another referendum or plebiscite from happening again, Sturgeon is the most untrustworthy devious twisted person we could have as our leader. She needs to be exposed for what see is a agent of British State.
I agree with every word ( the article and the comments). I predict her downfall will be when a journalist furth of Scotland prints the names of the alphabetties. The journalist involved will become more famous, and more lauded, than Woodward and Bernstein. Because, in my opinion, Sturgeon is much, much worse than Nixon.
I think her haunted demeanour means she is hearing that this might be happening.
And then where will the lord advocate(s) , Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Police Scotland hide ?
Not so sure. Some of the faithful have said to me that they don’t care who the alphabetties are. They still think he was guilty. Most of them have no experience with the police or courts an I know it’s horrible, but I sometimes wish someone in their own family would end up in court, wrongly accused with everyone assuming them guilty – even after innocence is proven.
Is ALL these vague promises and postulations just methods of diversionary tactics , she and her deviants and perverts are PROVING that they couldn’t run a menage , day after day incompetence and ineptitude is being EXPOSED and highlighted to Scottish voters and although the ALTERNATIVE unionist parties are disgustingly WOEFUL many people will either give up through apathy OR convince themselves that LIEbour might need another chance at the trough
IF this piece of effluent believed in independence or had ANY feelings for our people she wouldn’t have sat around on her woke arse for 8 years and done hee haw , she is as Stu Campbell says a BETRAYER OF SCOTLAND and SCOTS , SHE and her entourage has NEVER in 8 years done ANYTHING or produced ANY information to CONVINCE undecided or no voters that independence would BENEFIT our people and country , she has in fact done the opposite she has governed the country so badly and incompetently that undecided and no voters are shit scared of independence , they are frightened that an indy Scotland would have perpetual Sturgeon STUPIDITY and incompetence