ALBA Party Chair Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh commenting on Tory leadership front runner Liz Truss’ dismissal of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said:
“Now Scotland knows exactly where we stand with the incoming Prime Minister. The Truss ‘Declaration of Exeter’ shows she will treat Scotland with contempt and also demonstrates that she is not bright enough to conceal the fact.
There can be no more pretence or pussyfooting prevarication. The response to Truss should not be meek letters asking for a section 30 or fruitless appeals to the Supreme Court. We require a campaign of parliamentary and popular action backed up by diplomatic initiative to force Scotland’s democracy down the throat of Downing Street. We need to meet Westminster Tory arrogance with Scottish democratic strength.”
Bravo. Only slight amendment “democracy down the throat of Downing Street”… till they collectively boak
Good to witness honesty from a “British” Tory. Does not happen very often so we must use the Truss mistake to fast-track Scottish Independence. (Perhaps, since Sturgeon appears to be a dyed-in-the-wool Unionist, she’ll leave in a huff!)
When we see these politicians performing their antics at least it’s a warning. We must make sure an independent Scotland elects politicians of quality.
No doubt her and wee Nick will be beasties…
Besties… 😝
You were right the first time.
Beasties mebbe isnae far off the mark, as in “Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim’rous beastie, etc”
Why doesn’t Nicola Sturgeon and her wokie-dokie friends simply force Truss and the rest of the Tory cesspit to sign a respect agenda before they can campaign north of the border? Nah, they’ll save that for gender critical females instead so that they can sabotage the pretendy referendum before it even gets off the ground. Neither Liz Truss nor Nicola Sturgeon is worth the candle. We know that neither has any respect for Scots and never had.
Why do they still insist on treating the English government as if they are sole authority? It isn’t Westminster throat but England’s. It is England whom Scotland is in an international Agreement with. Call a spade a spade and stop pussy footing.
Everything leads back to how we approach next GE. We should focus entirely on demanding ballot papers available then that agree to immediately UDI in the event that we achieve majority then.
There isn’t a hope in Hell of UDI, its a childs understanding of Economics, the SNP has got Scotland in debt up to its neck in the money markets and any call for UDI would mean a recall of all sovereign debt from those Countries that have loaned Billions to our own Scottish Government and lead Scotland quickly to the EMU for emergency bail out funds, time to grow up laddie and face tough facts you clearly understand absolutely zero about.
Fighting talk. I like that.
Lorna Campbell, while I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment you express might I suggest first of all Sturgeon and her cabal emerge from their cesspit of THEIR OWN creation.
Gayle, unfortunately the establishment have succeeded in creating the illusion of a Westminster Parliament and the Independence movement in Scotland has not successfully campaigned to expose this myth.
It is indeed disappointing to hear complaints of Westminster Tory arrogance when the oppression of Scotland by its English colonialist neighbour is at the very heart of our current demise. That mindset should not be present within our movement and requires to be exorcised forthwith.
Indeed, Robert. I wish to heck Alba MPs at the very least would start calling the English government and its establishment English. The people generally take their cues from politicians and so long as Scots representatives continue with the myth the people will too. It is so frustrating when they could essentially win 99% of the battle by actually using the right terminology! When you put things in the right context it exposes the lie that many hide behind. I also still don’t understand why they also insist on sitting at the back of the chamber thus allowing the English government and its establishment to use the state parliament as an English one with Scots merely looking on as spectators. Let’s face it, unless Scots representatives take their actual seats at the table in the chamber that is how they are viewed and why they are so disrespected. They are not acting as England’s equals and until they do they will be treated with contempt. Alba were set up to bring about independence and do something new. To set the cat among the pigeons. Let’s start ruffling their feathers.
The UK of 2014 no longer exists thanks to the 2016 Brexit vote. The UK Labour party of 2014 in Scotland no longer exists thanks to the 2015 election reducing their MP’s in Scotland from 41 to 1, a result that was confirmed in 2019.
Equally though, the SNP of 2014 also no longer exists, with a celebrity style centralisation lacking in any substance having taken over from a member led democratic and demonstrably successful Party. Look at the current SNP website, where they have removed all mention of Alex Salmond, yet in their top 100 achievements, by far the most substantial ones were either implemented or initiated before 2015 (free tuition (counted twice as 1 & 11), free prescriptions, free bus travel for over 60’s, free school meals for P1 -3, Queensferry bridge, Bridge tolls scrapped, free parking at NHS hospitals, free eye tests, Aberdeen Western Peripheral route (highlighted twice as 49 & 69).
The SNP promoted ‘achievements’ since 2014 are too often simply a desire for publicity – eg first government to declare a climate emergency. Sounds good but effectively meaningless. What would have been meaningful with respect to the climate emergency is if the publicly owned not for profit energy company that the SNP so grandly announced in 2017 had actually happened. But it didn’t and it was quietly dropped a few years later. Possibly even worse, while the SNP membership had so loudly applauded the announcement, they were very quiet when it was dropped without any real explanation of why. The current and looming worsening of the electricity price crisis only highlights what a game changer that could have been. Maybe as part of the SNP’s claimed desire for openness and clarity the SNP website should also show the top 10 broken commitments, starting of course with the drive for independence.
If we are to be truthful with ourselves and accept the evidence, a widespread realisation that the political situation in the UK and Scotland has utterly changed since 2014 is needed and that trying to rely on any of the political groups that were dominant before 2015 is a waste of time. This has already partly happened, most notably with Labour in Scotland, and only the current SNP now remain as the main political block to Scotland gaining it’s independence. I doubt I’ll ever understand why the SNP membership allowed the SNP Party to become so corrupt,or why more SNP MP’s/MSP’s didn’t choose another way to progress their push for independence, but that’s in the past. The saying, ‘I didn’t leave Labour, it left me’ is unquestionably true, but based on the actions and more importantly the inactions of the SNP since 2015, this is equally true of the current SNP, who have abandoned it’s fundamental commitment to independence and now clearly exist solely for the benefit of a favoured few.
The question that the unionists simply have no substantive answer to is – what is the positive case for Scotland remaining in the UK? Likewise,the question that the SNP now also have no substantive answer to is – if someone truly wants Scotland to become independent, what is the point in supporting the current SNP? The UK politicians have made their position on independence crystal clear, and by their lack of any real actions on independence, so have the current SNP. The SNP desperately try to hang onto the achievements from the past that were achieved by others in an SNP that was a completely different entity to what it now is. Trying to hide the past existence of Alex Salmond, while at the same time trying to claim the credit so many of his achievements is what you’d expect from the unionists. That the current SNP are doing this therefore makes them no different from the UK unionist Party’s, namely completely untrustworthy. What is needed is for voters and especially the SNP members, to judge them by their actions, not their words. Is the SNP’s attempts to block or hide the involvement of others from Scotland’s drive for independence and political scene any different from the UK’s attempts to use the ‘now is not the time’ nonsense as way of blocking any wider discussion? Not one bit.
Looking at the current SNP’s promotion of it’s 100 achievements, and crucially when they were achieved, is a good place to start to see that the SNP of 2014, just like the UK of 2014 and ‘Labour’ no longer exists. Out of hope above evidence, for far too long the current SNP were able to maintain their dominant political position with respect to independence. But as ridiculous a situation as it is, who would argue that since 2015 the biggest factor in supporting independence has been the on-going actions of the UK government, with the SNP effectively having been irrelevant. That is the legacy of the post 2014 SNP. Thankfully, given that the UK is unquestionably failing and that the SNP since 2015 have also unquestionably failed with respect to making any real drive for independence, other options are now available politically and among the Yes movement. Blatant UK lies and false SNP promises should have no place for those that want independence and to avoid being dragged down into the disaster that the UK is so determined to achieve.
https://www.snp.org/record
Brilliant analysis of the SNP and the current situation under them. What astonishes me is the fact that other representatives within the SNP have turned a blind eye to the whitewashing of the party history and removal of Alex Salmond. Even if they are no longer on good terms with the man, he was FM and a large part of the party for decades. How would they react if Winnie Ewing was removed from SNP history? Would they be as accepting?? Would the supporters who know of her and the achievements that she made be as accepting? Or how about the removal of Joanna Cherry and Angus McNeil given they are the only ones that seem to be speaking out on some matters and going against the grain. Would their actions see them removed from the party history too if they were to leave the SNP and either stand as independent or join another political party? I once would have thought that a ludicrous notion but in doing precisely that to a former FM and party leader it shows they can and would have no qualms in doing so to others. Is that why they remain when even they must be aware that they are not truly accepted within the party?
It seems Nicola is more interested in posting tweets that would make her a prime candidate for being a member of a Truss cabinet.