Today, Tuesday, 28th June is hopefully a day that in future will be a reference point for all those that are looking at the rebirth of Scotland the independent nation.On the Scottish Parliament website, it says this, Ministerial Statement: Independence Referendum. Below this it merely states, There is no further information for this item. That is where we find ourselves. We are all left in anticipation, we independinistas in hope, our opponents in dread.
By later this afternoon everything will be clearer. After nearly eight years of being the defacto leader of the independence movement Nicola Sturgeon now has no more wiggle room on the question of Scotlands independence. Since the result of the 2014 referendum was announced, many of us have been waiting on this day. Nicola has marched us up the hill several times over the years only to bring us back down again every time. In so doing she has lost many supporters and broken many hearts too.
A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since that day in November 2014 when Nicola inherited the mantle of the leader of the SNP/YES Movement and Scottish Government. It would not be unkind or untrue to suggest that all three have declined under her leadership. Many try to deny that truth and view it as an act of betrayal if anyone dares to criticise Nicola or her government in any way. I know from personal experience the venom of these attacks. There is a lot of denial in the ranks of the SNP.
Today, however all that can be forgotten, she has the opportunity in her gift to silence her critics, her opponents and reunite the entire movement in common cause. This blog has since 2017 been pleading for unity and action on independence. It was the debacle of the 2017 UK General Election that brought me into the blogging community. All through 2018 I suggested that we should take advantage of the anger over Brexit and hold a referendum in the autumn of that year. Everything was in our favour. The SNP and YES Movement was still united in common cause there were no divisions. Regrettably it was just another of those missed opportunities.
I was told to be quiet. Nicola apparently had a secret plan, what did I know? Trust in Nicola they said. She was keeping her cards close. You don’t tell your enemy your plans I was scolded! Just Wheesht for Indy went up the cry. When the year ended nothing was in place to advance the cause. More disillusionment in the ranks of the YES Movement was all we had to show for another wasted year!
When the UK General Election of 2019 came up this blog pleaded for unity and a Plebiscite election. Westminster was tearing itself apart over England’s obsession on EU withdrawal. The Union was teetering on implosion it seemed like all we had to do was kick an open door. With 62% of Scots in favour of EU Membership, everything was in place for a Plebiscite victory and independence. Instead, we were told that a Vote for Nicola and SNP would stop us being dragged out of the EU against our will and ensure us an independence referendum in 2020.
We now know how that turned out, a few weeks after the election on January 31st 2020 (Pre-Covid!) Nicola informed us we would indeed be getting dragged out of the EU against our will and there was no Referendum in 2020. What she didn’t tell us was she and her gender obsessed pals were planning to concoct a plot, a tissue of lies to try and destroy her predecessor. This appalling illegal action resulted in splitting the movement asunder and would be the catalyst for four new independence parties and more division inside the movement.
For over two years now the independence movement has been waging a civil war. Even after two courts exonerated Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon could not find it in herself to acknowledge the decisions of the courts and reflect on her own and her governments actions and heal the wounds they alone had caused. Many times over this period this blog has pleaded with her and her supporters to unite the movement. Instead of unity the attacks on anyone that does not meekly obey Nicola and her statements or lack of is attacked, traduced, othered, blocked by a fractious mob of child supporters and equally immature elected members of her coterie.
Now, though, as this day unfolds, there is yet again another opportunity to heal the wounds and unite the different strands of our movement. We have heard much over the past seven and a bit years of Nicola’s secret plan. Today she gets to unveil it for us all to see. We can but hope it is a super well thought out plan. Doubters like myself are desperate to be proved wrong. I want to hear this plan so much. I want to be enthused and motivated like I was in 2014. There are though some urgent questions that need addressed.
What date is the referendum?
What will the question be?
When Westminster says No to a Section 30, what is Plan B?
What is Plan C you always need a contingency?
How is she going to unite the movement because just as divided political parties always lose elections a divided YES Movement will surely lose any referendum? This is the most important aspect to today’s announcement. If she doesn’t address the problem of unity in the coming days as well as her plans for Borders, EU Ascension, Currency, international recognition then it means we are being marched down the hill again.
Since its inception the Alba Party has attempted to unify the cause. At the Holyrood Election in May 2021 Alba campaigned on everyone to Vote SNP in the Constituency and Alba in the List to get us a super majority, thereby removing Westminster from any say in Scotland’s Constitutional future! Sadly, this was rejected out of hand by the SNP and subsequently it opened the door to 37 Unionist MSPs instead and no super majority. Incidentally these 37 will be braying the loudest today against Scotland!
In May this year again Alba campaigned for unity Vote Alba then all the other independence supporting candidates was the theme. In reply we got Vote SNP 1 2 only and no other party. The result is that now practically all the Local Authorities are Unionist coalitions. This means that those most opposed to Scottish independence are the very ones that need to run any referendum Nicola calls. If their bosses in London, England, tell them it is ‘illegal’ they will most likely refuse to oversee any vote in 2023! This is something else Nicola needs to answer today.
Last week Alex Salmond once again held out the offer of unity. He has pledged himself and his party to work tirelessly and in harmony in any referendum campaign. We await her response though I have to say the early signs are not encouraging. At the Bannockburn Rally on Saturday, there was a rather unsavoury response by an SNP MP to a request inviting him to attend a YES Event. Not an Alba or ISP event bear that in mind.
Alyn Smith, MP, of the SNP as one of the speakers made an impassioned plea to the audience to get behind the upcoming SNP campaign. Indeed, on the stage he pledged to work with anyone any everyone from all parties and all groups to ensure a YES Vote in October 2023. On alighting the stage, he was invited to address the SSRG Conference in July. His reply?
‘No absolutely not ever!’ This does not augur well for unity. Let me just say this to Alyn Smith, MP, and all other SNP people. The Scottish people will never forgive anyone that harms our cause by pushing their own personal agendas before Scotland’s needs. Everyone else in the movement is willing to let bygones be bygones and to campaign as one for the common weal. It is time for all in the SNP to do the same. Nicola has to signal today her intention not just on the referendum but on uniting the entire YES support. Only she can unite the cause. If she chooses not to, then we know our independence has been badly damaged from within.We also know who by too.
I hope the next time I write an article it is in praise of Nicola and her grand plan. I hope it is not about anything else. For reference the SNP need only look at the Labour benches in Holyrood to see what the Scottish electorate does to Parties that betray Scotland in referendums!
Today when Nicola makes her speech Through A Scottish Prism will be broadcasting live as she makes her statement. We have a broad spectrum of independence voices to analyse and discuss her plans. Join us from 2pm onwards on the YouTube Channel and at www.barrheadboy.com. We are also hoping be broadcasting simultaneously on Twitter Facebook and the website too.
” Nicola has marched us up the hill several times over the years only to bring us back down again every time.”
That she has.
Now we must make sure she does not march us, like lemons, over a cliff.
Lemons? Lemmings surely. Or do you think we’re going to get squashed.
I’ll be listening in from Greece on holiday with bated breath – I do sincerely hope she announces a date and route to independence and that all independence supporters will get behind a united campaign. I don’t think people will tolerate yet another March to the top of the hill and back down again, if she does this I can see even more SNP supporters and members leaving in droves. This proposed “no ifs not buts referendum” is the last chance saloon for Sturgeon and I do hope she realises it. It’s disheartening to see the comments on social media doubting her sincerity but it’s unrealistic for people to suspend their disbelief yet again.
Looking forward to hearing your excellent panel on the Prism later today – I hope the internet is still working – it wasn’t yesterday following a power cut!
As always a Good Piece Roddy well written, I am of the same mind unfortunately, I’m sorry I just don’t trust her, not one single bit, we have seen the levels of deception and lies over the years that she is capable of. We have seen her underhanded and quite evil disposition all to hold onto power. Shes a career politician this is a stepping stone to other things. There have been many opportunities better than the present situation to capitalise on. As you say though she is running out of time, she cant carry on this present deception much longer people are finding her out. My take on it is that she will announce a date but use the guise legal challenges to keep putting back it back, as she finds more legal loopholes to exploit the longer it will take, she’s been hiding behind a section 30 excuse for to long now, but she will find another excuse, “oh we cant do it the now as we need to sort out other the legal implications” it will get kicked into the legal long grass. She’s hoping Westminster call it illegal, that’s part of the plan, we can blame Westminster and kick it further down the road. And dividing the yes movement is her intentions from the beginning, remember SNP1&2 ? she knew exactly the outcome of that policy would be, just enough SNP members but not quite a majority, sorry we cant get independence we don’t have a majority, its quite insidious tactics. We’ve heard it all before, we know what we are up against, sorry for being the Mr negativity here, but first and foremost I’m a realist. You are what you do and say, and what has she done and said.
Agree with you. Look at what has happened under her watch bearing in mind Salmond stepped down to make her FM in his stead. EVEL, illegal war with Syria, Trident renewal and when told to move trident from Scottish waters and English government said no she did nothing, EU Exit, Clause 38 and English parliamentary sovereignty which fundamentally breaches the treaty of 1707, England’s IM Act, new English Act of Union 2018 Bill which was renamed to that in 2019 and is still active, war with Ukraine instead of humanitarian support or diplomacy, attack on the former FM and indy supporters, enacting an English drawn up and approved Scotland Act in which every amendment put forward by Scotland was rejected! Numerous breaches to the treaty, the acceptance of the breaking of both domestic and international law by the English government, joint covid program instead of taking a separate approach, failure to suspend the treaty of union while the entire country and state was shut down bar essential workers, failure to make a proclamation when Scotland elected 56/59 MPs which would have been seen by every one and their dog internationally as a resounding democratic decision to dissolve the treaty, failure to unite for a supermajority, failure to unite to eliminate the English establishment from Holyrood and the local councils, failure to implement the referendum they were given consent to in Holyrood on basis of Scotland being removed from EU, pushing GRA and HRA at the expense of women and girls instead of advancing Scotland’s statehood, refusing to participate in any pro-Scotland events and banning even the mere mention of independence, the ousting and attempted ousting of pro-Scotland MPs and other representatives (look at the treatment of Joanna Cherry), permitting the establishment of an English governmental outpost in both Edinburgh and Glasgow which has more English establishment personnel thanall of Scotland’s representatives together! And that is not even half of it. Since she became FM she has done nothing but betray Scotland in favour of what she deems to be her superiors – her treaty partner! So sick of the excuses made by the cult and representatives. If they were serious they would have suspended the treaty at the very least. They had no qualms in doing so with fracking but something more serious such as the existence of Scotland itself and it’s a no go. She and they would rather give the English establishment the final say over Scotland. So sick of it.
Frankly nothing will change until there is a root and branch extraction of people like Sturgeon and her ilk.
Quite why Sturgeon has become the anti independence individual that she is one can only conjecture. My own suspicion is that the security services have muck on her and or her husband and many others in the SNP. That together with the infiltration of people who are MI5 agents and a controlled media is how the British establishment operates. And it is I believe why the independence movement has been knocked off track.
We ran them close in 2014. The mood, the enthusiasm, the parliamentary mandates were all there – and then look what happened. Sturgeon and the compromised clique need to be removed. And make no mistake they will be. The dream, the desire for independence has not gone away.
We are moving in to hard hard times. Victorian Britain is back. Hardship grows, living standards decline, as even our NHS starts to fail. Soon in an energy rich country where there is fuel poverty we will have health care poverty. And that will be our lifestyle choice. We are after all, or so we will be told, be free to buy as much heating and lighting as we want – and make no mistake we will, like America soon be free to buy as much healthcare as we want. Low wages for the many, riches for the few. This is Brexit Britain.
Change is coming though and no amount of deep state will stop it. All the devious sophistication, the media, the surveillance, the propaganda, the misuse of the rule of law to remove political leaders and activists et al will be of no avail when the people turn. Scotland will demand Independence and saboteurs like Sturgeon will be gone.
Just how a deeply compromised pro-colonial administrator with a history of dark-politicking is supposed to change her self aggrandising ways on behalf of the greater Yes movement, overnight, is totally beyond me.
Sorry Roddy, this comes over as truly wishful thinking and against a backdrop of Sturgeon, Smith et al who hold us all in great disdain. His reaction to the SSRG which has done most of the heavy lifting is a big tell. I bet today is the dampest squib that was ever lit…it will hardly even fizzle before it splutters out of life. Set to fail, S30 legality, Yoon councils, Boris and the weight of WM plus the incredibly wide franchise are all against us, and madness to tread one more step down that road. They know this, they set it up. Programmed to fail. Any can kicking will be a blessing in fact, and we must head for the hills and mass again, without the SNP. Salvo, the Claim of Right, a Plebiscite election are all options we must pursue. Unity? That will never happen with Sturgeon in charge and the NuSNP in power. I hope I’m wrong, but I think NS is already en-route to a big job as her reward for keeping us divided and quiet so far. Another year or two and they will have us stitched in tight. So they think. Our Independence is ours to take, not theirs to deny. Let’s be at it and get this distraction to hell out of the way as soon as possible.
Weel Roddy, Alyn Smith surprises naebody wi’ that response, showin’ he’s self fur whit he is.
duncanio, my take is that Sturgeon knowingly took the Independence movement tae the tap o’ the hill wi’ nae intention on her pairt tae further the cause.
Looking forward to the roll out of events this afternoon. Should be interesting.
I’m a serious referendum sceptic, no two ways about it.
However is we get a REAL announcement today with a clear path to a referendum or another democratic “event” with no caveats or get-out clauses then I will be happy to campaign very actively till October 2023. ALBA is committed to doing so and hopefully all others will follow suit. By driving the campaign we can “move the dial” on independence, and make an overwhelming YES vote in 2023 a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I am afraid I cannot see even a token effort to unite the cause Roddy. The issue will be kicked into the long grass of a protracted legal battle over Section 30. It’s too perfect an opportunity for sabre rattling from a place of comfort and safety for the party they have become. Hope I’m wrong and I admire the positive and optimistic tone you are taking.
Duncan if I had been around at the time I would have stayed to fight at the Alamo!
Personally I’m not willing to let “bygones be bygones” when it comes to Sturgeon and her clique. their rank hypocrisy disgusts me and until they are removed from the scene I will find it hard to even go out and vote in their doomed to fail neverendum.
Excellent piece, Roddy. Whatever happens now, this will be the turning point when we look back. Not because something unbelievable will be announced, but because a point of no return has been reached. People like Alyn Smith just don’t get it. They will never get it. If this turns out to be yet another damp squib, the SNP leadership and cohort will fall, or, rather, they will be torn down and replaced with those who will fight our corner and not pretend to do so for their own perverted and/or greedy ends. The ball is in their court. Up to them, but there is no going back now. Their choice.
I’m surprised other Alba supporters cannot see Sturgeons announcement for what it is, its basically a plan to keep the noisy natives quiet and to ensure they continue to vote SNP and also to hope that it can entice others who moved party allegiances away from the SN to have to Vote SNP to get Indy. Its not more than a sucker punch.
1:She and the SNP already know the Supreme Court will rule it illegal. (so do all the top folk in Alba and all the other parties)
2:Making a plebisite Vote from the GE will never achieve Independence in a million years, this whole plan is for one reason only and that is to get the SNP more Votes in the forthcoming General Election , its likely designed to to even try to con Alba and others to not even standing candidates against them, If people fall for it then Sturgeon will get Herself another 5 years in power and the rest of us will remain crying on the sidelines again about how we were conned by the SNP. Indy will then be finished for good, people will have had enough of being lied to. What we now have in Scotland is close to a Dictatorship that is employing the same sort of Tactics as Donald Trump himself just to keep She/Her and Her own very small clique of friends in power. What really riles me is that that alex Salmond too appears at least for now to have fallen for it.
You just keep kidding yoursrlf if it gives you comfort. In 2024 Scotland will vote for indy at GE. By a landslide
It won’t matter if Sturgeons worshippers Vote for it in droves or not , the UK Gov won’t uphold it as being a legal Indyref vote and neither will the EU courts, Particular Elections are set for clear reasons and No court in Europe will support in Law any random Political Party just chooses to turn one into a Vote of their own choice , this isn’t hard stuff to understand for most people..
General Elections and Holyrood Votes are for voting for Political Parties into Government not Yes/No Referendums , Sturgeons plan which really can be called a pretendref as thats all it is , is for one function only and that is simply to keep Sturgeon and Her own small Clique in power everything else will be summarily dismissed by the Law no matter what level it goes to. I see most of the more sensible commentators on Wings and even Andrew Marr agrees with me too.
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-wasted-years/
“If the court says yes, she goes ahead, if it says no, she turns the next general election by 2024 into a de facto independence referendum.
“None of this necessarily brings the end of the UK forward by a day or yard, wind and waste water.
“It appears more about keeping a permanent, nationalist campaign going, holding the Scottish National Party together for the eventual, maybe, one day, moment when another chance comes.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/webcontent/england-will-notice-if-scotland-becomes-independent-i-promise-says-andrew-marr/wc-D6AEBB5AA75AE2E280D412C3E1E467CC?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b6c418c56f37464bb700b26f504a019e
Are you seriously suggesting any UK Government would attempt to call their own General Election under the jurisdiction of their own Electoral Commission an illegal election?
I have heard some idiocy from unionists but this is right up there with the best.
Do you also seriously think other European Governments would take Sturgeon and the SNP seriously using a General Election as a Referendum for Independence ? Can’t think of anywhere else in Europe that has happened and thats likely for a good reason. Sturgeon is turning Scotland into a Banana Republic.
That is exactly how the other 65 bations that told London tae get tae f dud it,incidentally SNP policy from 1934 until 1999. Even the old witch Thatcger knew that was the legal way.