During the 2013/14 Independence Referendum Campaign, the two sides chose very different strategies. The YES Campaign for its part decided Hope over Fear was the way to convince the people. A very positive campaign was run. Lots and lots of public rallies and gatherings and town hall meetings were arranged. Music, speeches of positivity, everyone talking of the endless upsides of independence, dare I say, sunny uplands? How we loved those halcyon warm summer days. Can anyone from the YES side even remember a day when it wasn’t sunny during the campaign? It seemed even the weather was on Scotland’s side. Never has there been a more enjoyable, more positive, happy election than there was for YES voters in 2014. We even went to the trouble of writing the famous white book manifesto containing over 500 pages of policies, facts, and plans for the independent Scotland.
Within a minute of its publication Alistair Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, to us peasants. (A Trotsky Lord, who knew such a creature existed?) was rubbishing its contents. A few months previously the Unionists were demanding policies for an independent Scotland. You must have policies they screamed. We gave them over 500 pages of policies a veritable tome of detail, and within a minute all these policies (unread) were rubbished and dismissed.
What of our opponents? What did they offer Scotland? Platitudes mainly, lots of FUD, Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.No Marches or rallies for them. They avoided town hall meetings like the plague. There is no positive case for the union. They were not going to have that exposed. No 500 page of policies from them, indeed nothing except a shitty little Vow written by a Unionist hack from the Daily Record. (Aye him!) It was just vague promises, spin and lies, nothing concrete. Nothing definite that could be referred to at a later date. One of those ‘promises’ was a Carbon Capture Plant at Peterhead!
The lies and no details and no policies mob won! They managed it with a few slogans, Better Together, Best of Both Worlds, You can’t use the £. That is all it took to beat 500 pages of detailed policy ideas!
To add further insult to injury on the morning of 19th September 2014, David Cameron announced EVEL. English Votes for English Laws. The Vow had already been broken before many Scots had even woken up the day after the Referendum. .
As an aside in the event of an YES, victory David Cameron had made no preparations for that outcome. Supreme confidence and only focussing on winning the vote was what he did. He knew victory was all that mattered. Win the referendum, and the Scots and the independence movement can be crushed at England’s leisure. A single issue, a No vote, nothing more, no detail, no policies. Now in 2021, The Internal Market Bill to crush the Scottish democracy!
In 2016 with Cameron still in charge we had the United Kingdom European Union Membership Referendum. Latterly known as the Brexit vote. Cameron and his Tory team went to great lengths to tell the people of the British Union how bad things would be if we left the EU. Cabinet Minister after Cabinet Minister would be on television extolling the great things about the EU. They spoke of this policy and that policy. They forgot their own method of victory in 2014.
The Leave side just had slogans and a big red bus. Take Back Control was the cry. £350,000,000 a week for the NHS said the big red bus. Nothing else, no details, no policies, just rhetoric, sunny uplands, cheaper shoes and children’s clothes, cheaper food, control of the borders. That was it, no real detailed policies, nothing written down for posterity, no policy documents, just rhetorical nonsense.
Once again the slogans beat the detail. Just like the Scottish Referendum neither Cameron or Johnson/Gove had made a single plan for the outcome. Neither had written a 500+ page document detailing what would happen after the Election victory or loss. Now five years later we see the outcome of that failure to plan. Empty Supermarket shelves, petrol shortages, vegetables and fruit lying unharvested and rotting in the fields. This is of no importance to Johnson & Co. They won the vote they got the result they wanted. They believe that everything can be sorted over time. Getting out of the European Union was all that mattered to them. We may disagree with withdrawal, however they remained laser focussed on their goal, winning the vote, nothing else mattered! People react to slogans, feelings, not detailed policies! That is a lesson we need to learn. When it comes to constitutional politics usual norms and politics are ineffective. Our politicians need to learn that lesson. If they don’t, our great grandchildren will be still striving for independence many eons from now.
Still not believe me? In 2019 the UK had its last ever European Union Election. A Party only a few months old, The Brexit Party armed only with a couple of slogans and a big blue bus won the election. They defeated the so-called Big Three Westminster Parties and won the election in England. They had no Branches, no LACUS, no infrastructure. 30.79% of all the votes cast went to this new party armed with only slogans, Get Brexit Done and, Changing Politics For Good. That was, it, nothing more. To put it into perspective Tory and Labour Parties combined managed 22.6% of the votes cast!
Once again slogans and a single issue defeated logic, policy, truth, reality. Nowadays, The Brexit Party hardly exists, however, it won the vital vote with just a few slogans.What came after was not something they concerned themselves about. Leaving the European Union was their single goal.They did not allow themselves to be mired down in detailed explanations or policies. Farage understood that single issues resonate with the voters and win you Constitutional elections! Policies and detail only excite the political anoraks and the media’s political experts and hacks! John and Jenny vote on emotion, not GDP, the interest rate or foreign policy!
Here in Scotland we are in a lull politically. The dominant Independence party for the last seven years have said very little and done even less to advance the cause of Scottish Self-determination. FOI requests confirm their inaction. They have been captured by a lobbying group and now seem more interested in Gender Politics and Queer Theory than independence.
Lots of the pro independence supporters have disengaged themselves from active politics or joined independence parties. Many can see no prospect of independence as long as the present leadership and actions of the SNP remain intact.
The entire union is in chaos. Brexit and Covid have wrought havoc on all aspects of life in the UK. Confusion and a lack of decent leadership have the UK a rudderless mess. The Union is heading towards the political rocks. As the famous saying goes, “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.”
This is Scotland’s time to act!
History shows us, Scots, a perfect example of how to get our cause back on track. Our Celtic cousins had a very similar problem in 1918. An Irish National Party that had settled into Westminster life just a little too cosily for the independence seeking Irish. Lots of cosy slipper Patrick’s settled right down to London Westminster life.
The UK General Election of 1918 gave the patriots of Ireland the perfect opportunity to press their case. Ireland had a dominant ‘Nationalist’ Party, the Irish Parliamentary Party. Just like the SNP today the IPP had been playing the British game for decades and losing, of course, the Brits are experts in divide and rule, and subterfuge. We can never beat them playing by British rules!
The 1918 election is probably best known in Britain as being the first election in which women could vote. In Ireland, it is remembered for something quite different. The general election in December that year saw Sinn Féin – a new revolutionary independence party, which had not contested the previous general election – win 73 out of 105 seats in Ireland. They did that not by having reams and reams of policies.They did it by standing on a single issue, Independence for Ireland. They knew that all the other matters of pensions, trade, defence, health, education, borders could be sorted after the prime objective had been attained, namely independence. The same is true today in Scotland. Gain independence then we can address the problems left behind from Westminster colonialism.
This Sinn Féin victory ushered in an era of revolution. The previously dominant and more moderate party of Irish nationalism, the Irish Parliamentary Party, was decimated and returned just six of the 67 seats they held prior to the vote. Within two months of the election, Sinn Féin’s MPs had declared independence from the UK. The rest as they say is history. Now the Republic of Ireland from being the most impoverished part of the British Isles is the richest part of these islands. A higher GDP than its former imperial occupier. A proud independent nation by passing England to Europe by building its own ferries and connecting itself directly to the European mainland. A globally respected nation among nations. Even the six occupied counties, will sooner or later be resolved, and in Ireland’s favour!
Ireland has shown us the way to win our independence. They had a much weakened Britain coming out of a five-year world war. There were multiple imperial wars going on throughout that Empire that needed tending. There is no Empire to distract Westminster however, there is Covid and Brexit chaos. We need to take advantage of the distress that is there throughout the union. We will never have a better opportunity to gain our independence!
We must declare the next UK General Election and all subsequent elections Plebiscite Independence Elections. We stand our candidates on a single issue, The Independence of our nation. Armed with a UK General Election victory the Brits then cannot legally challenge the outcome. However, it is imperative we stand on no other issue, except Independence. Having a manifesto crammed full of policies gives leverage to the opponents of independence to attack us and control the narrative.
Before I start getting comments about pensions, disabled distress, poverty, education, health, currency, borders. None of these can be helped improved or in the case of poverty eradicated until such times as we throw off the shackles of the Union. As for the famous soft Nos we keep hearing about, if they haven’t been convinced by the last seven years of Westminster lies, corruption, illegality, Brexit, austerity and Boris Johnson, then nothing we do or say will make them change their British mindsets!
They are many important issues in need of urgent attention. In the Union they will never be addressed. So to quote a famous phrase used by SNP supporters throughout May 2021 election. Eyes on the prize patriots, eyes on the prize!
Single issue and single minded need to be our watch words!
The Facebook Censors
Unfortunately a number of pro Indy Facebook sites have turned out to be merely pro SNP sites and have blocked a number of bloggers, including myself. We have managed to frustrate these efforts to close us down through our readers sharing our articles and building our audience.Sharing in Facebook is very important and helps the Independence message to reach a much wider audience. In addition many have taken out free direct subscriptions. I very much appreciate this support.
“Before I start getting comments about pensions, disabled distress, poverty, education, health, currency, borders. None of these can be helped improved or in the case of poverty eradicated until such times as we throw off the shackles of the Union.”
That’s the message to get across: describe Scotland’s predicament in terms of cause, effects, fix and solution:
Problem Cause (The ‘What’):
1. Union with England
Problem Effects (The ‘Why’):
1. Democratic deficit i.e. you don’t get the government you vote for to reflect values and priorities
2. Rogue status i.e. UK is a pariah, especially in Europe (our nearest neighbour)
3. A society and politics that is right-wing, fascistic, racist and has a military fetish
4. Nuclear weapons stationed at Faslane and on the Clyde
5. Illegal wars and military adventures (Iraq, Falklands etc)
6. Poverty e.g. Bedroom tax, Rape clause, Universal Credit, Foodbanks, Pensions
7. Government mismanagement and incompetence
8. etcetera
Problem Solution (The ‘Fix’):
1. End the Union
2. Restore Scottish Full Self-Governance
Problem Solution Means (The ‘How’):
1. Scottish Parliament Vote in favour of suspending the Union
2. Popular Plebiscite endorsing end of Union
” As for the famous soft Nos we keep hearing about, if they haven’t been convinced by the last seven years of Westminster lies, corruption, illegality, Brexit, austerity and Boris Johnson, then nothing we do or say will make them change their British mindsets!”
Absolutely.
There are no “soft NOs”, only “hard NOs” (and they are very hard Nosed).
Best article yet. Scots must unapologetically declare their desire for independence over and over again.
I’ve stopped trying to debate with the unpenetrably feart-hearted. I just say I want Scotland to regain its independence and I want it at any price and I don’t give a damn about those gutless numpties who fearfully regurgitate britnat propaganda. And if they accuse me of hating the English I reply the only people I hate are those traitors to Scotland called unionists.
A very well written argument for our future path.
The issue is Independence for Scotland. No matter the quality and quantity of any tome written in support for Self Determination the Unionist will only use it to create negative sound bites.
Stay on message!
More and more people in the Yes movement are starting to question Nicola Sturgeon’s whole approach to the constitutional issue. An approach which seems to take no account of the extent to which the political environment has changed in the ten years since the first referendum campaign was devised and launched. More and more people are coming around to the idea that the constitutional issue must be comprehensively reframed and the Yes campaign entirely reformulated.
Sturgeon is not listening. No lessons have been learned from the first referendum campaign. For seven years she has completely blanked all constructive criticism of her commitment to the Section 30 process and her apparent intention to run precisely the same campaign again. The dissent has grown. But she’s still not listening. The voices of dissent are not being heard for the same reason that gentle persuasion and presenting a vision and making a case aren’t working – and won’t work.
A campaign message that tries to cover every area of policy will be diffuse and confused. It cannot be otherwise. For every area of policy there are a range of different ‘solutions’. There are at least as many ‘visions’ of independent Scotland as there are people fighting to restore our independence. Effectively, it’s a multitude of different campaigns. All of them small. None of them effective. Some of them contradictory. The constitutional issue gets lost in a dense fog of policy positions made even denser by a proliferation of facts and figures and statistics and graphs and charts and memes.
The voices in the Yes movement dissenting from the Sturgeon doctrine are similarly diffuse and ineffective. The Yes movement has become a collection of factions all to some extent at war with each other. The result is very easily ignored and the people behind the voices dismissed as some kind of lunatic fringe.
If the fight to restore Scotland’s independence is to succeed it requires solidarity, focus and discipline. The same is true of the effort to force Sturgeon to rethink her ‘strategy’. The individuals and groups and parties demanding this rethink also need solidarity, focus and discipline. Otherwise, the voice of dissent will have no impact.
White Rose Rising was formed to be a point around which the Yes movement might coalesce. A point absolutely focused on the constitutional issue – which is a straight choice between independence and the Union. Nothing else! I don’t care if White Rose Rising succeeds, so long as something does. Something similar. Solidarity! Focus! Discipline!
I agree that almost 100% of Independence voters have one common aim – Independence. It need an accepted unifying leader or label. The YES campaign of 2014 was such a tool but has now fragmented into Party politics internally.
The one thing I’m sure of is that the divisive figure of Sturgeon is not the answer.
The simplest and easiest way would be for her to step aside or be ousted. The SNP under a leader who would unite the various strands could still recover the hopes of an early victory.
When a “leader” tries to dictate the shape of Scotland as she does we will never recover the spirit of 2012-2014. A National leader needs to listen to others. She has to be right and never to be challenged.
Absooo- bloody-lutely.
I hope the snivelling cowards who represent us in Holyrood and westmonster read this. Their days are numbered. Tick tock.
I wonder – did Ireland have its own independent-minded media in 1916 – 1918? Or only newspapers owned and published in London?
AFAIK in a British coercion policy pro-Independence Irish newspapers throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries were often banned or suppressed; printing presses were often smashed up. Even during the Troubles (1968-98) Irish republicans/nationalists were banned from speaking on TV. Actors had to recite their words
Tom Clarke, veteran Irish independence fighter and one of the men shot by the British post Easter Rising, had a wee shop in Dublin where he sold pro-independence papers and pamphlets. The British would have known this but for whatever reason they more or less let him do it. Maybe it was British arrogance in thinking Tom Clarke was no longer a threat?
Below is a youtube featuring the story of Tom Clarke’s role in the 1916 Easter Rising, as scripted by Aindrias Ó Cathasaigh, narrated by Brendan Gleeson, and broadcast on TG4. However, as far as Scotland is concerned, may the following quote from First Minister Alex Salmond’s 2013 speech to the Carnegie Council in New York remain for ever true of us:
“For the best part of a century Scotland has been on a constitutional journey. Despite the passion of the argument not a single person has lost their lives arguing for or against Scottish independence – indeed nobody has suffered so much as a nosebleed… Even in modern times this is a rare and precious process and one which stands as an exemplar to the rest of the world”.
1916: THE EASTER RISING (Episode 1 – Tom Clarke):
https://youtu.be/18bQi2N7AtI
Thanks for the link, Fearghas.
Let’s hope Salmond’s dictum holds true. Ironically at the moment violence would be more likely to arise not through any enmity between nationalist and unionist but because of frustration at the SNP’s deliberate obfuscation on independence.
Another excellent article.
As Brian Cox would say we need to “beast them” “go full beast”. No more Mr Nice guy should be the approach.
Pity under Sturgeon all you will get is a four nations approach. Can there ever have been a more pathetic bunch of politicians who are supposedly leading a party of independence. Unionists the lot of them. Sturgeon The Betrayer right enough.
Excellent article. Can I request though that you don’t include Ireland, North or South, as part of the term ‘British Isles’? The notion that it has become part of that British geopolitical entity is in all honesty a bit insulting to us Irish Nationalists (I know you’re not trying to insult us) and is quite factually wrong. It is government policy in the Republic that Ireland is not part of the ‘British Isles’ and that should be reflected in all educational or government produced literature. Using the term ‘British Isles’ can/may imply ownership of the island of Ireland by Britain and we wouldn’t want that. At the very least it creates a confused picture of what is or isn’t under British ownership. Personally I like the term ‘Islands of the North Atlantic’ (IONA) of which the Irish Isles is a part. Slán
Brendan while I sympathise with your point and you are quite correct I would never want to insult my Celtic cousins. With respect though your concept of the geographical area that is known as the British Isles is your concept. This Blog is, about Scotland and its predicament inside the vile British Union. My readers and those I am trying to reach know it by that title. I would not want to add an unnecessary confusion in what is, already a difficult task in educating many on the right of ending the accursed British Union. Slainte
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles
also
always understood that it was Greater and Lesser British Isles forming the British Archipelago in the North Atlantic
unfortunately, the former adjective led powers-that-be seems to have deluded them into it being Great Britain.
I do use Wikipedia quite a lot as it’s a great resource but I have found it to be inaccurate on a number of occasions. My brother, for instance, is referenced as a British academic even though he is Irish. That said, this entry from the article you reference is correct; ‘In Ireland, the term “British Isles” is controversial,[8][16] and there are objections to its usage.[17] The Government of Ireland does not officially recognise the term,[18] and its embassy in London discourages its use.[19] Britain and Ireland is used as an alternative description,[17][20][21] and Atlantic Archipelago has also seen limited use in academia.[22][23][24][25]’.
Remove their culture, remove their identity, remove their language, remove their power, rename their towns, rename their country… I see such things as part and parcel of English colonialist expansionism against indigenous people and Scotland and Ireland have had more than enough of these Anglo-shenanigans foisted upon them over the centuries. I only ever use the term Derry and not its ‘official’ title Londonderry, even though that’s how it’s generally shown on maps. Just because our imperialist masters decide on something doesn’t mean we have to obey.
Excellent blog. And keep up the good work.
Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór / Ireland and Great Britain
“Remove their culture, remove their identity, remove their language, remove their power, rename their towns, rename their country… I see such things as part and parcel of English colonialist expansionism against indigenous people and Scotland and Ireland have had more than enough of these Anglo-shenanigans foisted upon them over the centuries… Just because our imperialist masters decide on something doesn’t mean we have to obey.”
As someone from Scotland I would agree with the Irish stance on rejection of the term British not only in Ireland but in Scotland too and the rejection of everything that undermines Scotland and the Scots. While the two countries (in the treaty) shared the island it was not as Britain. This revisionist history should be done away with.
There is no place called ‘Britain’ and to use the term merely endorses the psychological games played by the establishment the runs the conglomerate of The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. The time is long since past for Scots to take back control of our Nation and seeking permission from Westminster will never ever do it. Scotland IS a Nation, her people ARE Sovereign and it is for them to exercise their right to end that Union – we are about to lose another 2 Seats to be handed to England (Wales, I think 7) so the English majority increases by 9 (Tories) while Scotland reduces. To the inevitable question of ‘currency’ we need only say ‘the people will decide’ on the question of ‘defence’ the people will decide, on the question becoming a Republic or retaining a Germanic Monarchy then the people will decide. I don’t want a referendum for Independence, I want to elect representatives from the People by the People to end the Union and only then shall we have a referendum on matters of constitution, Currency, Defence strategy etc., everything else is politics and will be the responsibility of the elected Scots government. It’s time for us to grow up.
Post a positive independence result (however achieved) – negotiations will be required.
Who should be/will be authorised to conduct those and on what terms are they authorised to finalise any negotiations?
Not much discussed so far imho – and not a matter to be left undiscussed.
No but I am hostile to fuds that don’t do their research before opening their ill informed gubs.
Excellent summation. Because the SNP tried to be pragmatic & responsible last time they ended up getting bogged down by the detail in the White Paper. I think, however, it’s useful to be able to refute negative arguments, preferably by turning the question back on the questioner; but having some good answers in response to people who are sympathetic to independence but still cautious about voting for it.
Well said Roddy, however how do we make sure the next GE is a plebiscitary one, when Sturgeon is adamant that she wants to wait for Johnsons S30 permission.
We have to keep up the pressure. At council elections work harder than ever before and try and get as many Alba, elected as possible.That will send a message maybe not to Sturgeon she is too pig headed and full of hate. But others who might become scared for their seats might suddenly find self surviving baws!
All I can say to that is that next years council elections for the Alba party and their success, or lack of it, will surely be a bench mark as to where we are with regards to enough independence supporters catching on that Sturgeon won’t deliver Scottish independence for them, going by the SNP’s landslide victory in May is it far too early to expect the Alba party to do well so soon next year, I hope not, but have enough indy minded folk who voted SNP in May seen through Sturgeon yet.
The rise of Alba might take too long, if it does, what then, I think what we need is a solid plan where we can force Sturgeons hand into using the next GE as a plebiscitary one, as in my opinion the GE will come around before the Alba party reaches a tipping point with indy voters.
There as so many bright and clever folk within the indy movement, surely there must be a way of forcing Sturgeons hand before the next GE.
ROS NOTHING will shift Sturgeon it is NOT in her makeup , she has a messiah complex and believes herself to be superior to us plebs , her acolytes and apologists are so inculcated in her self belief of outstanding FM that they cannot investigate and realise that her incompetence in governing Scotland is comparable to the worst Liebour government in Scotland , her obvious and profound failures have been ignored and swept aside or excused because we didn’t want the unionist parties or their supporters to crow and expose the ineptitude of her and her chosen ministers
Even at the May 21 elections lots of people supported Alex’s plea to vote SNP 1 to allow a supermajority of indy politicians to be elected , but her visceral hatred of Salmond combined with her inferiority that she will never be as astute a politician as him or as well respected or admired for his tenacity , integrity and honesty throughout world politics only inflamed her more which exacerbated her frustration at his condescension to lend her a hand to get her elected
Collectively we have the power to remove this lunatic and her cohorts , hopefully it will not be too long before we find a way to do so , Scotland’s survival depends on it
Roddy I agree with everything you are proposing and I am sick of saying ALBA MUST be more vociferous in their approach to the plebiscite election route , I know they are muzzled and ignored by Sturgeon’s MSM but they should be reiterating it in EVERY broadcast they make to ensure that people who hear their broadcasts whether members or not are aware that there is no ambiguity for who or what they are voting for , they should be STATING UNEQUIVOCALLY and repeatedly that EVERY election ALBA stands in their mandate contains a PERMANENT promise to Scots voters that if ALBA are elected as the majority party they will immediately act to dissolve the union
As an official in the ALBA party you can move this policy promise to be vociferously widely advertised and watch Sturgeon and her tartan taliban corrupt liars brains fry
The one single issue that the independence movement is duty-bound to coalesce around is the issue of Scotland’s decolonization from England. To achieve that goal it is necessary to acknowledge the fact that we have, to all intents and purposes, become a colonized people. I defy anyone to to tell me that the seeming apathy we activists have so often complained about is somehow just an unfortunate Scottish trait. FFS! What we’re looking at is an effect of colonization! Apathy is one of colonialism’s nastiest, most corrosive by-products. Apathy is akin to a mental debility that has become nigh habitual in the collective Scottish psyche, a learned helplessness inculcated by years of relentless propaganda. None of which, I’m bound to say, was/is particularly intended to fill Scots with hope, belief or confidence in our abilities to change anything for ourselves. One issue, one united front!
No apologies for restating this: Get out the Saltires, put up the independence posters and car stickers, wear the badges etc. Provoke. Get a reaction good or bad; those reactions will multiply as individual people see the need to make a stand.
I made up a couple of T-shirts [via spreadshirt] with the Saltire and the word “Independence” printed on them. Many have openly commmented favourably as I traipse about my locality – mostly people a lot younger than me. I also get some scowly looks from other usually older types; and I have no idea what the majority is thinking but I don’t mind either way if it means the cause of independence is forced into their consciousness; all publicity is good publicity.
There is also the added bonus knowing the gutless wonders in charge of the SNP would probably hate seeing me more than any unionist.
learned helplessness Indeed
Deeply rooted and ingrained in our political representatives at every level. seething with the cringe syndrome, cursing the day they were born in Scotland, their greatest atchievement is to become second class English people. Loathsome creatures.
Could our MPs be as brave as the Irish. hoad oan tae a pish masel laughing
Is Nicola just being prudent. After all If we suspended the Union, Boris will send troops and it will become a bloodbath. FFS we need to be patient!! Our opportunity will come and soon enough!
The day the British show their teeth is the day we win!
Very few escape the clutches of the Westminster parasites, without some blood bring spilled. The Brits just cannot help themselves.
Don’t you feel like a house Jock after writing that?
“don’t upset the masser…”
Tony and where is this opportunity going to come from that Sturgeon will utilise , she has ignored and balked at any move to capitalise WM’s numerous breaches of the TOU she has FAILED DISMALLY to challenge WM on the IMB , she has FAILED DISMALLY to STOP Scotland being dragged out of the EU despite PROMISING to do so , and was more interested in keeping england in . In truth she is a DISMAL FAILURE and a betrayer of Scotland and Scots
Tony is 314 years not long enough for you. It’s people with your views that encourage Sturgeon that she can keep doing what she has been doing for independence – NOTHING.
Yes, yes, yes and yes again – we can do nothing without our independence
And we will do nothing about independence if we have to wait for Nicola Sturgeon and her settled down colleagues to remove their digits from their posteriors – there is no secret plan in Nicola’s knicker drawer and anyone who still believes there is, well enjoy the long wait
There are plenty of carrots in her vegetable rack tho’ so at least you can all have a snack while you’re waiting for the S30 (or Godot, and it’s very likely that he may arrive first)
Well explained Roddy – you are right, our focus has to be on the one objective – independence. The dominant national party elite in whom the natives placed their trust has lost its focus and is consuming itself in its own greed, selfishness, and corruption and has been acting in concert with colonialism to delay and block independence. Postcolonialism theory tells us to expect all of this and worse, no matter how upsetting it may be to those who believed otherwise.
It nonetheless remains that, as Albert Memmi said: “The only task at the moment is that of freeing the people.”
So if any new National Party such as ALBA wishes to make progress it should recognise that independence (like Brexit!) is a single and special purpose objective and that any party of national liberation must therefore be a special purpose vehicle with a focus only on securing independence. We don’t need another political party or talking shop, we need an independence party, with a single aim and purpose – “that of freeing the people”.
Speaking about how to win… (in what appears to be our traditional Scottish way)
Congratulations to our lassies last night at the football 🙂
Scotland 2 ~ Hungary 1
Hampden.
I hate to break this to you Cameron but few people read your guff that you post,its
all completely utterly boring waffle and makes me want to gag tbh but that never stopped
you from posting on Wings, even though very few people ever engaged with you and so
I doubt it will stop you doing it here either, you probably love the sound of your own voice too
I see another few of the Reverend’s previous desciples have now started posting here
so the migration of the conspiracy theorists must now be almost complete whih probably
means its close to time to leave , I left Wings for the same reason.
Can’t say I have noticed you here before.
The first thing Scots need to do is stop referring to the English government and the English establishment as UK. Do Scots support the English establishment claim that Scotland was extinguished? That they were subsumed into a Greater England? If not then why use THEIR terminology? Why refer to them as UK and the state as UK when it is England and GB respectively? By referring to them a UK the English government and its establishment do not have to do anything to undermine Scotland. The Scots do it themselves.
Next time you read a paper put things in their right context using the right terminology and then read it back. Pay attention to how Scotland’s representatives talk to the English government and England’s political party members. Is it as an equal partner? Where do they place themselves within the parliament? At the back of the chamber just as they are viewed within the treaty or upfront and asserting Scotland’s authority?
Policies and all the other bumph that goes along with politics turns ordinary folk off. They aren’t interested in anything unless it specifically and directly affects them. Going on holiday and the plane being cancelled? That affects them. Increase of a few pence at the fuel pumps? Irritates them less but is good for a moan. Scotland’s representatives being ridiculed daily? That is day to day politics. Nothing new. But a Scottish government or even a solitary MP asserting Scotland’s authority. Refusing to sit at the back of the chamber, calling out the English government and even those within the Scottish government who abdicate responsibility and defer to the English government? Now that would get folk sitting up and paying attention. That would motivate folk into action. They would be using the English controlled airwaves which broadcast the parliamentary sessions live to their ends instead of to those of the English establishment’s. Print or set up a genuine Scottish paper that gives the news using the right terminology and context and folk would be aghast at the reality. They would fight against it initially but it would seep through. No more UK this or that or Westminster this and that. Reserved matters would be rightly identified as being reserved to the Scottish government who would have to step up instead of deferring governance. Conventions would be challenged as folk realise that they are not laws and that there is nothing stopping Scotland asserting its authority whether inside or outwith the treaty.
The Scots can affect change now,.not in months or years to come but now, by simply standing up and demanding that their authority is asserted and by not pandering to the English establishment and doing their job for them by undermining Scotland and the Scots.
I am reminded of Michael Jackson’s song Man in the Mirror. “If you wanna make a change take a look at yourself then make a change.”
Strength does not come from victimhood but from overcoming one’s weaknesses and asserting one’s power. Someone who is attacked might retreat into themselves and remain a victim while another will take active steps to overcome their fear, build up their confidence and assert their power refusing to ever become a victim again. Which will Scots be?
https://www.healthline.com/health/victim-mentality#signs
Gayle I have said repeatedly you are CORRECT we have the power , but we have loaned that power to a shower of cringing forelock tugging craven cowards led by a psychopathic deviant whose only measure of ambition is to introduce and normalise sexual perversions and predations from childhood to grave
The fight we have is to regain that power that we OWN and wrest it back from these FRAUDSTERS
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