I have always been a loyal SNP man it is the only party I have ever been a member of or voted for at elections.
During the 1970s when there was no SNP candidate in my area I abstained and campaigned in areas that did have a candidate.
I do not tend to publicly attack the SNP as I find that rather counter-productive and helpful only to the enemies of Scotland.
I may be loyal to the Party however that loyalty is not unconditional.
There are many policies and strategies of the Party that I find myself in disagreement with however I accept the democratic majority decisions of the membership.
I have over the years found myself on the wrong side of policies as I did in 2012 in the famous NATO debate at Perth Conference that year.
There were some, that having lost that argument decided on a point of principle they could no longer remain inside the party.
I did not agree with their decision, though as a democrat I respected and accepted it, not for an instant did it cross my mind to leave the Party.
I have decided to await the day when that discussion reappears at Conference and press my arguments more forcibly than last time.
I will under no circumstances make public that argument, especially on social media.
The only circumstances I can envisage me leaving the party is if the party abandoned independence as a goal or made some fudge agreement on the nuclear weapons that scar the Clyde.
The only other ways of me leaving the party would be my death or falling foul of the party as did my friend Grousebeater.
The treatment GB received still angers me to this day.
I feel the party acted abominably and were wrong on so many levels with the handling of this situation.
The entire sorry episode was orchestrated by the enemies of Scottish independence who managed to find useful idiots on the inside to help inflict a minor blow on the movement.
Everyone else has moved on while GB still has IMHO a false stain on his reputation.
When I am in private with family and friends I air my differences safe in the knowledge no unionist troll will try and use my disagreement with a party policy as a weapon against independence.
I have made no secret of my staunch Republican beliefs or my disdain for the enemies of Scottish independence.
I have parked my republicanism till after independence then and only then will be the time to press for an end to the abomination that is the Royal family and all that entails.
My ideal independence would be that on day one Scotland declares as a Republic, the Trident fleet sails down the Clyde for the last time.
Further up the Clyde at Pacific Quay to be precise mass redundancies are being enacted.
Meanwhile, Procurator Fiscals throughout Scotland would be diligently working at bringing treason charges against all those who collaborated illegally against Scotland.
None of these of course will happen on day one, the latter unfortunately probably never!
What I have never done or will ever do is state my vote or support is conditional on my full wish list being guaranteed by SNP Party.
We know there are some, usually always the far left types that want a utopian impossible kind of independence otherwise they will just remain with the status quo.
This also entails believing that giving Labour just one more chance will result in a Scottish nirvana.
Words like bull and excrement spring to mind with this nonsense.
We have all noticed over the past weeks and months frustration setting in with some people over the direction of the YES Movement.
Many have expressed a desire to see the SNP crack on with the referendum and name a day.
Some are even suggesting UDI and others just declaring the Treaty of Union broken and that it should just be annulled immediately.
There are even some suggesting the time has come for new leadership within the Party and that Nicola should be removed as Party leader.
I first joined the Party in 1968 and over the years and decades I have heard and witnessed some absolute nonsense from certain members and branch delegates.
I have at many SNP Conferences sat and listened to a certain individual that has tried to remit back every motion ever brought before Conference.
I have been annoyed that we have allowed that particular ego to be appeased year after year, decade after decade.
Thats just me perhaps I cannot stand negative folk or political parties that can only preach this is bad, this is wrong.
I have no better alternative than the one you propose however I oppose your suggestion just because I can!
The absolute cretinous suggestion to remove Nicola at this time is idiotic and self-defeating and the biggest load of stupidity I have ever heard in all that time I have been associated with the movement.
I have often warned of the 5th column in our midst.
The obvious ones like the MSM are easy to spot, the House-Jocks sitting on the opposition benches at Holyrood are even easier to spot.
The ones promoting this change of leadership fall into two categories those that are stupid enough to believe the idiocy and the 5th column who are Dark money agent provocateurs that have been put in place to cause division and try and disrupt our movement.
We all know that the unionists are unable to provide a credible positive case for the union.
Believe me if there was a positive case, we would have heard it by now.
The only tactics they have are constant lying, SNP Bad, threats, scaremongering and subterfuge.
They have ‘sleepers’ sitting in social media waiting to unnerve, disseminate, cause division, spread F.U.D.
Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
Many of these contacts will have been sitting in your followers/friends for sometime never saying anything controversial then suddenly a wee negative comment here, a snidey comment there.
Before you know it, they have your entire timeline arguing among themselves.
The establishment fears several things, most of all they fear a politically educated Scottish electorate.
They fear the unity of purpose and the unity of the movement.
They fear the outcome of any plebiscite, they have too much to lose.
The Anglo-Brits are the most devious and cunning of vile creatures ever placed on this planet.
You do not get away with pillaging 3/4 of the nations of the planet and committing more crimes against humanity than any other regime or nation by being stupid.
They have committed genocides throughout the globe as well as on our British Isles.
They have escaped condemnation for them all, the Irish Genocide was renamed a ‘famine’ and blamed on crop failure.
The Highland Holocaust was renamed the Highland Clearances and made out to be a gentle emigration by willing Scots aided in this enterprise by a benign British Government.
The nation that benefited most from African Slavery was of course the British and their elite.
Over the centuries they have cleverly managed the narrative and the blame landed only on the southern slave-owners, not a word of condemnation for the British profiteers.
They even managed to create a belief that it was good British decency that abolished slavery.
Most folk don’t know that the British Government compensated the slave traders, not the slaves when this vile trade ended.
Therefore, be in no doubt the agents of the Anglo-Brits are among you pretending to be on your side, nothing could be further from the truth.
The House-Jocks on the opposition benches or the ones in Westminster representing English based Parties might be glaikit as glaikit can be, they are not the ones to worry about.
They are merely pawns of the establishment selected for their obedience and inability to ever question the London bosses.
Let me reiterate for the last time, the SNP and Nicola have been consistent since June 2016.
Agree or disagree with the strategy Nicola made it clear from day one the constitutional question of Scotland was intertwined with Brexit being enacted.
That has not yet occurred, the Anglo-Brits have delayed Brexit, not the SNP.
October 31st is the day of Brexit I do not expect there will be any extension on this date.
Whether you agree with the strategy or the intertwining is irrelevant, we are, where we are.
Personally I never agreed with it however like the NATO Debate or accepting the Windsors I reluctantly go with the majority and leadership decision.
That is what being a democrat and a Party member is all about.
Should you be the type that has an ego that is unable to accept any contradiction to your rigid views you probably should not have been in a Political Party in the first place.
When you decide to leave the Party and yet feel the need to share your decision on social media it shows that your ego is bigger than your desire to be a useful party member.
Nor do you need to be totally submissive, there is a time and place to air grievances and disagreements on policy and tactics.
Your Branch, Branch Executive Meetings, at National Council, Conference, not on Twitter and Facebook.
How often do you ever see House-Jocks or Anglo-Brits arguing with each other on social media or in public?
When have you ever heard or read any of that lot suggesting that perhaps SNP Bad is not a vote winner?
When have you been aware of any House-Jock saying that maybe that Leonard or Ruthie needs replaced?
You can be assured that those conversations are taking place privately, especially ones around Ruthie.
Post Boris coronation the knives wont be long in coming out for Ruth.
The time has come for us in the YES Movement to keep our own counsel and not allow ourselves to be used by the enemies of Scotland.
The time is approaching when all will be made clearer to us all, till then keep the faith and worth noting the wise words of my dear granny.
‘Never empty your mouth to fill someone elses’
‘
‘When you decide to leave the Party and yet feel the need to share your decision on social media it shows that your ego is bigger than your desire to be a useful party member.’
100%.
Good work, Roddie.
“the constitutional question of Scotland was intertwined with Brexit being enacted”
It wasn’t. Looks like you’ve fallen foul of some of that insidious propaganda, my friend. If the constitutional issue was “intertwined” with anything in the spelling out of the mandate it was ‘material change’. Starting with EVEL, there has been ample material change to trigger the existing mandate.
The idea that the mandate for a new referendum is predicated on Brexit actually happening is just plain wrong and one of the notions that might well be being peddled by those “‘sleepers’ sitting in social media”. Brexit stands only as as an example of the kind of material change that was referred to in the SNP’s manifesto as being a ‘trigger’ for the mandate. But the true significance of Brexit is as a particularly egregious example of how the Union effectively deprives the people of Scotland of their sovereignty.
Even is no mandate existed to be triggered, the fact that Scotland’s Remain vote was ignored and our elected representatives excluded from the Brexit process was more than enough reason to have a new referendum. Because this exposed the true nature of the Union.
Waiting until we are actually dragged out of the EU is utter madness. For reasons that I long since wearied of explaining.
Absolutely correct Peter! No time for sitting on our hands & no time to waste
@Peter A Bell
THANK YOU.
3 years in and YES still have not got their story straight. To me this is the indication of a systemic threat…and a massive risk to YES chances.
Well done, Roddy.
All this delay is to try to coerce the EU into bowing to the Brexiteers demands.
For them it is a bonus that they can work on SNP and the Yes movement to sow dissention.
For my own part I would like SNP to indicate that while Trump or his ilk is in the White House, we should be Observer members of Nato only (as Ireland was for decades).
But then I think the EU members would do well to consider whether they want to remain full members. Trump is currently trying to coerce them to replacing his troops in Syria. Germany refused. France and Britain agreed to do so.
Completely agree with Peter.
On a different note…Maybe, maybe if SNP leaders quit saying things like a referendum in 2021 it would help us supporters not get quite so frustrated. Many times it’s been things like not allowing a discussion on a plan B or having any discussion AT ALL at conference on independence that drives us to anger. It can’t all be on us to keep our mouths zipped. We must see more support and fight from the SNP. Harsh words at Westminster followed by no action just makes the SNP look ridiculous.
Well said all. I agree with all of you to some extent which is why it feels so confusing just now. Need to think about this for a bit. One thing for sure, we shouldn’t make any snap decisions. I do agree with Monica that we need to see more support & fight from the SNP. I also agree with the harsh words & no action. It makes it easy to frame the words as whining hubris, which is exactly what the MSM do thus belittling the truth that lies behind it. Thanks BB for your blogs. Always intetesting & timely.
Excellent piece, we certainly need to be wary of those who can’t see the wood for the trees, and are destroying where possible the progress we’ve made. Of course we will have different viewpoints, but we need to keep our eyes on the prize of independence, then work to create the society we want.
It’s a noble argument, Roddie. For a party member I agree.
However yours is one eloquent voice amongst many in YES.
Let me tell you straight, Nicola Sturgeon is a liability and in my honest view needs deposed rapidly. It will certainly happen with the Salmond trial, when her finger prints will be all over It.
Forgive me again, Roddie, because generally I like your Blog. But you are not a woman, so the issue, the very toxic issue of Self ID, is not really something to stir you up. It stirs enough good people, party members for years, that they have actually left or are in the process of leaving. The SNP of which I used to be a member in the early 90’s is in thrall to a gaggle of radicals driving it down a path that has nothing to do with Independence and everything to do with poor advisors and an FM committed to getting her name in the History books for all the wrong reasons. Self ID is wrong, the party is wrong and your reasoning around ignoring such a fundamental issue is wrong.
So let me conclude by offering you a third choice, that of a good friend, when someone they love is behaving like an arse, it is your duty to tell them.
It’s high time there was bloodlet and I hope it’s The FM’s and gaggle of zealots around her.
Yours respectfully
Kevin Robertson
You’ll know me as @kwr66
I agree with every word of the article. It’s as I would have written myself. Right down the “Joined in 1968” I would have joined in 1967, after Winnie Ewings victory in Hamilton, but we were told we were too wee to be involved in politics. We were given a few badges & piles of leaflets, & told to get on with it.
How things have changed.
Over the years, there are a few things I’ve disagreed with, ie the Nato debate outcome. I presently have concerns over aspects of the GRA, but at the end of the day, the SNP offers the only vehicle to lead Scotland to Independence. Everything else is secondary, & can be debated/argued when we obtain our freedom.
Having been distraught, at the outcome of the previous Indy Ref, I believe we must put our trust in Nicola & team to get the decision right. We cannot afford to go in gung ho, & lose again. If that happens it will set the cause back decades, & Independence will never happen in my lifetime.
As has been succinctly stated, we must beware of Brit Nat Trolls, along with sleepers & agent provocateurs in our midst.
Oh ma loon,
Stirring, absolutely stirring
Thanks for this, we do need to speak up if we disagree, but the constant pontificating about specific policy to be enacted after Indy does nought for the yes cause. Reminds me of the Bella Facebook page before it shut, too many, “we must have ” x” socially inclusive policy, or there’s no point being independent!” pish, to quote the Saraband! I’m no advocate for wheesht for indy, but unless and until we get over the line, none of these policies are likely to even be debated. Must echo Peter above though, conflating brexit with indy2 is wrong, it was used as an example of “material change”, it was not the stated policy!
It might not have been stated as the only material change however the Party has made it the issue.
Like me you all might not like it being intertwined and you can keep saying it shouldn’t be however as I said, we are where we are…
Peter Bell , I think you are incorrect, in saying …….“it wasn’t”
This statement is true
“The constitutional question of Scotland was intertwined with brexit being enacted “
Perhaps what you mean is that the constitutional question of Scotland
is not the only Scottish question intertwined with brexit being enacted .
Perhaps you mean also that the constitutional question of Scotland is also intertwined with other factors , things other than brexit.
But one thing is certain , brexit in any form will bring another Scottish independence referendum and even if brexit is cancelled it will still lead to a discussion about the future of the UK and in all likelihood there will still be another Scottish independence referendum because the whole brexit debacle has highlighted just
how much Scotland’s first minister is ignored by Westminster
how much Holyrood is ignored by Westminster
how much the people in Scotland are ignored by Westminster
For these reasons it is true to say that Scotland’s constitutional question is intertwined with the enactment of brexit.
I don’t think anyone really believes that brexit is the one and only thing that could bring about a Scottish independence referendum .
You rightly point out that “ a material change “ can mean many things.