Like many ex-SNP members I take no pleasure in seeing the difficulties the party is presently enduring. As my title to this article denotes it is sadly all self-inflicted wounds. Nobody asked them to listen to lobbyists instead of their members and voters. Nobody forced them to enter a coalition with the incompetent and questionable Green Party.
Indeed, the majority of the SNP woes have been brought about by Green inspired idiocy. The Deposit Return Scheme being just the latest debacle with Green fingerprints all over it. Their obsession with sexual policies outweighs any environmental or independence commitments. Their immoral use of the ‘Independence’ carrot is even more pronounced than the SNP at elections.
Ask yourself this, when has the Green Party ever done a single thing for independence except mention it at Holyrood Election times? When have you heard of them holding a single town hall meeting to discuss independence? When have they ever had street stalls where they have promoted independence? If anyone has information to the contrary, please let us all know where and when?
Patrick Harvie spends more time telling us who in the independence movement he won’t campaign with rather than ever doing any campaigning to advance our cause. He won’t share a platform with anyone from the ISP, Alba Party in fact with anyone that does not believe that fully intact males with penises are women if they say they are. He as is his right believes that science and biology are wrong over sex and gender. However, he does not believe anyone else has a right to disagree with his position.
Patrick Harvie though had no such problem when sharing a platform with John Hein one of the co-founders of PIE. Paedophile Information Exchange. A vile organisation that wants to legalise sex with children. Harvie had the hypocrisy to say, “there would be no “great value” to campaigning alongside Salmond who, Harvie said,was “tarnished by his own behaviour.” Apparently John Hein wanting to have ‘legal’ sex with children does not mean he has been “tarnished” by his own sexual desires and wants!
He thinks though it is OK to campaign alongside a man that wants to have sex with children!
The SNP likewise is willing to campaign, indeed have a coalition with a Party that has connections to people like Hein, PIE and its successor organisation MAP. They too won’t campaign with 7,500+ of their ex-members in the Alba Party. They have never even held a conversation with the ISP. They shun the AUOB Movement and in so doing they exclude all those that march, support, speak at or sympathise with this fine body of Scottish patriots.
Since its inception the Alba Party has tried to unify the movement. At Holyrood 2021 and Local Authority elections in 2022 they suggested an informal agreement to maximise the independence vote throughout Scotland and to inflict maximum damage on the English based unionist parties.
The SNP under Sturgeon rejected those overtures out of hand. In so doing she helped the Unionist cause by enabling more Unionist MSPs and Councillors to be elected. Much as they may try, the SNP cannot deny this truth.
With next years UK General Election in mind Alba once more offered the SNP and the Greens the hand of friendship and unity. Yet again it seems that this great opportunity will be ignored in favour of losing the maximum number of seats and causing more division within the independence movement.
Be under no illusion if the SNP does not change course and embrace the Scotland United Campaign they will harm themselves more than they will ever harm the Alba or ISP Parties. In so doing they will also harm the movement.
One independence candidate in each constituency maximises the independence vote. It is just logical! If the SNP continues with ‘everyone for themselves’ then they cannot complain when Alba and ISP stand candidates in their marginal seats. A few % point votes can mean the difference between defeat and victory. That is what awaits the SNP if they keep pushing away the YES Movement.
Recent polling shows that while support for independence is actually increasing so is the gap between those in favour of independence and those supporting the SNP. The last Survation Poll showed that gap to be 12%.
If as in 2017 that 12% stay at home the unionists will indeed win half of the SNP Westminster seats. This is a likely scenario that the SNP seems either oblivious to or is too stupid to see the reality of their situation.
They have lost 10s of thousands of members in recent years. Every poll published says the Scottish voters overwhelmingly reject GRRB and want woman’s and girl’s rights protected as stated in the EA 2010. The polls also show that a majority back independence. The SNP can utilise this majority at the UKGE, win a huge victory and in all probability, win Scottish independence at the ballot box in 2024!
That is the prize within the grasp of the SNP. However, it will take a complete about face for Humza and his party. He can begin the process now, today, by rescheduling this ‘Special Conference.’ Move it from the weekend of AUOB Bannockburn to any one of the other 51 Saturdays available. Instruct every SNP member and elected person to attend the AUOB and show solidarity to your fellow independence patriots in Alba,ISP and no party at all.
Ignore this opportunity and then the SNP has to face the wrath of the voters. At last weeks BBC Debate Night Jim Fairlie was sent away with a flea in his ear. Did any of the SNP leadership take note?
This week on the same show Ben MacPherson MSP ex-Labour, of course, sounded more in favour of Gordon Brown’s lies than the SNP founding fathers words. So much so yesterday he had to try and do a ‘clarification’ of what he meant to say as opposed to what he actually said. Macpherson like too many of the SNP elected members seems more intent on ‘defending devolution’ as opposed to ‘promoting independence.’
Time is running out for the SNP. They need to change direction quickly. Their Special Conference later this month is nothing more than window dressing. No Branch motions or amendments. Speakers and attendees will be carefully selected, so nobody embarrasses the leadership. We are told no decision will be taken on an independence strategy until October and even then that is not guaranteed.
It begs the question, what then is the point of this conference? More and more it looks like the SNP leadership merely wants to undermine the AUOB and Yes Movement rather than do anything that increases the chances of unity and self-determination.
The voters have been warning you to pay heed or pay the price. Should you carry on as before when the crash comes you will only have yourselves to blame.
To the SNP MPs and MSPs who already feel marginalised do not wait until you are deselected before jumping ship. It will be too late by that time. Either take control of your party and seize it away from the devolutionists or find yourself a new party. It is what more and more of the electorate is doing every day.
The clock is ticking!
Unfortunately, pretty much accurate in my view. Careerism and control freakery reinforced with middle class complacency and self serving have maimed us and our right to self determination.
Now the political sectarianism of the ‘greens’, and the SNP leadership caste, seem determined to wreck the independence movement completely despite all of the anti union signals coming from Scotland’s voters.
A crap show with a capital ‘C’.
There is surely an air of gloom within the yes movement as the SNP dither and settle into a role as a devolutionist party. That independence spek of light at the end of the tunnel now seems as far away as ever. Humza Yousaf’s election, or more correctly his appointment, by the ‘don’t rock the boat’ wimps in the party. May yet prove to be an own goal for the SNP. The margin of yes for independence and the faultering support for the SNP continues to widen. What can be done to get us moving forward The growing attendances at the marches at least helps to boost the yes supporters morale. It’s at the ballot box where the yes influence can mostly effect change. A by-election will be good start. Alba must stand a good candidate and run an efficient campaign .. It may split the independence vote and allow the Labour (or other british party) to take the seat.. But if the Alba candidate gets a shed-full of votes.. it will send shockwaves through the SNP and envigorate the yes movement. The unionists may rejoice at this development but their delight.. will be misplaced. It is interesting to note that lately we’re seeing a lot more of Alex Salmond in the mainstream media. I’m thinking that the unionist media moguls who are in control .. see this as in their interests. They hope it will encourage division within the yes movement. Well to some extent they may be right but Alex is a shrewd operator. His contributions so far have been sharp and to the point (yes indeed the cost of wind and tide has not increased). So by the looks of things it’s gonna take longer than most of us hoped for. The SNP show no signs or willingness to return to the radical independence supporting party they once were.. So it’s time to sweep them aside – let’s get on with it.
Any blunders and mistakes I have made in my life I have admitted never blaming anyone else but this is what the SNP do they always point the finger and blame their rivals and recently it’s Alba’s fault nothing to do with them all diversions from their own grave mistakes even the missing funds and several other possible criminal acts they use dirty tricks to divert the public from.
Well said! It appears that the SNP are both blind and deaf and are not paying any attention to the mood of the voters – they will learn at the next GE.
I wish alba would rethink this strategy, I will never vote green or SNP again. If there is no alba or isp candidate standing. I will spoil my ballot paper. I will vote for no party that wants men in women’s places.
Sometimes, further common weal, we just need to put the big picture first.
Sorry, Roddy, have to disagree on this, and I have to say I think that’s a shocking resonse to Marie.
I have wanted Independence all my life, even going so far as debating indy against Henry Dunbar in a packed and hostile Orange Lodge hall, but I would rather Scotland was never independent than have just one woman or girl subjected to a sexual encounter or assault by some cross–dressing, self-ID-ing creep.
There is no ‘Greater Good’ here. The SNP/Greens want an open door for predators and are actively promoting the sexualisation of children. You may recall this was why I left the party after being an SNP councillor for 10 yrs.
If Alex’s plan is to flush out the SNP rats, all well and good and I hope that’s what happens but, like Marie, I could never vote for a party that places so little value in female lives.
Be well, mate.
It would be a damn boring world John if everybody agreed with everybody else. I appreciate and respect your view.
I agree, Marie. That is why I keep on urging ALBA to have branches up and running in every Scottish constituency by 2026. As for the GE, I will turn out to vote, but will spoil my ballot paper if there is only the SNP, as I would never vote for a Unionist party. I wanted independence from around age 11, and joined our local branch at thirteen. Now, I would not vote for that party ever again. They have betrayed me, as an independista and as a woman – a double existential betrayal. I hope that we are seeing a reflection of the Irish situation with Redmond’s party which crashed and burned, allowing Sinn Fein to fill the vacuum. However, this lot will almost certainly try every trick in the book to remain relevant. Joanna Cherry and the other ‘dissidents’ need to have a long, hard think about their own futures because the SNP is no longer an independence party.
If you have morphed into the party of devolution, and, you would even risk perpetual opposition, while the Unionists rule – and this is the present position of the SNP – you will do nothing to rock the boat. If there is one thing that I have learned in my later years, it is that some people are just too stupid, or too venal and self-interested, to be let out alone. The other thing I have learned is that they are almost invariably propelled into positions of power by those who are the puppet-masters.
The kind of stupidity I am talking about is a core stupidity that no amount of learning or education can shift. It is actually part of the person’s innate personality, and it appears to be most prevalent in middle-class, comfy people (and their cosseted offspring) who have never faced adversity or even discomfort in their puff. It is, in effect, a product, now probably congenital, of our liberal, now effete, Western societies. Of course, exceptions exist, as is always the case with rules of thumb.
Equality of opportunity is highly desirable for all, but equity, or equality of outcome, is simply an impossible goal most of the time. Yet, the Greens pursue it to the detriment of their partners in government. A fair number in the SNP are also tainted with this kind of stupidity, and it is they who would rather that the SNP ceased to exist than show an ounce of discrimination – discrimination which is sound because it has been honed over millennia, and is, indeed, part of our human survival mechanism. Some men will always pose a threat to women and children. It is rational to impose laws on them that will prevent predation, and predators will try any ruse to predate successfully. It is wholly irrational to help them do that – unless, of course, you have the predator mentality yourself, or you are so irredeemably stupid that you believe that helping a predator to predate your own is some kind of badge of honour.
It is not any kind of phobia or adverse discrimination to prevent exploitation of the most vulnerable members of our society: women and children. Tory leader, Douglas Ross, is being torn to shreds in The National by columnists who have lost the plot, who are themselves, innately, middle-class stupid. I’m far from being a Tory, but the man shows a rational response to the irrational, that would suggest he is not stupid, but those who decry his stance certainly fill the slot.
Yes, they must have their voices heard, but the real questions also have to be asked. Why would anyone demand that Mr Ross keep out of the issue of a drag queen story hour in Elgin? He is a politician in the Scottish parliament and, therefore, has every right, on behalf of constituents, to raise this issue; equally, as a private individual, he has every right to voice his opinions. That is rational. To question those stances is irrational.
The same applies to independence: everyone is entitled to voice his or her opinions as to this issue, but the SNP/Greens want to shut down any narrative except their own, as they do on every other issue. If 2 + 2 = 4 and not 5, why do we debate what is completely rational in any of these issues? It is rational to suggest, if we want independence any time this century, we are going to have to do the things that require to be done to achieve that. It is perfectly rational for all the independence parties to stand candidates in a loose alliance, just as the Unionists do – and anyone who says they don’t, is a liar – in order to maximise the effect , the vote and the result. Doing anything else now is totally irrational.
Yet, the SNP/Greens are totally irrational in relation to all recent policies, and also to independence itself, so we must, rationally, assume that they do not wish to see independence this century; we must also assume that they would rather sit in opposition and draw their salaries and add to their pension pots while Scotland and its people sink. What other explanation is there? Get rid of the parasitical Greens now.
Joanna Cherry in The National today argues for the united stance, and, while I have to admire her tenacity and optimism, I believe she is simply using her breath to cool her porridge as far as this lot are concerned. For the love of god, will those SNP MSPs and MPs who do see the light – and there are a good few – move over to one of the other independence parties to start the real independence ball rolling? The SNP is lost. It was lost the day that the infiltrators of the hard left – the ‘wokerati’/’trans’ – moved in and took over and steered the independence ship away from independence to their insane and, frankly, stomach-churning, totalitarian policies.
Scotland will be lost if we allow the Unionists to take over again. Scotland will be lost if we refuse to accept finally that the SNP, as we all knew it, those of us who were there in the days of struggle, is dead in the water. Not at the GE: they’ll probably hold on by their fingernails, as a much-reduced shell. In the following SE, those barstewards and parasites who did this will have to decamp elsewhere.
All other parties be warned. Parasites will move on when they have devoured their host, and all the parties, whether independence-minded or Unionist-minded, are susceptible, especially Labour, from whence the hard left was ejected years ago, and, as Labour is probably the only Unionist party that has a chance at power – and power is what these false friends are after – they will find themselves overwhelmed if ever they defeat the independistas.
Labour is a hotbed of ‘trans’ ideology, as, of course, are the Lib Dems, and both are sitting targets for this invasive parasite. It would be karma for them to be invaded and consumed as the SNP/Greens were, so opposed to the entirely rational concept of independence for an ailing Scotland are they both. Independence is their only hope, too, did they but know it. Let us stop wasting time and energy on lost causes and start to plan for an independent future free of all these parasites. Let rationality resume.
The Scottish Greens present an initial conundrum for the majority of us who grew up with the assumption that there was at least a broad alignment between the environmental movement and the traditional, economic, democratic Left.
It may surprise some to learn that in the 1920’s and 30’s, the environmental movement was firmly embraced by the authoritarian, anti-democratic, far Right.
Conservative MP Reginald Dorman-Smith is an example of this seemingly incongruent relationship. Dorman-Smith was appointed Minister for Agriculture by Chamberlain due to his Presidency of the National Farmers Union, but was dismissed immediately when Churchill formed his coalition government.
Dorman-Smith was a member of English Array (later English Mistery, [sic]), a Right-wing ecological group that promoted a government based on “the secret of race”.
Dorman-Smith’s ecological beliefs were informed by the bizarre, occult based, pseudo-science theories of Rudolph Steiner. In this, he was a fellow traveler of Heinrich Himmler.
Historian of English Mistery, Dan Stone states: “The slaughter of primitive peoples as a way of venting the Englishman’s excess energy, has been long a mainstay of British imperial thinking.” In this we may infer that “Englishman” is exclusive to Celts.
Churchill wanted Dorman-Smith taken out of political influence entirely and he was appointed Governor of Burma on 6th May 1941. Tellingly this was four days before Rudolph Hess parachuted onto Eaglesham moor.
While the Scottish Greens may describe themselves as of the Left, in modern terms this has become functionally meaningless. The Left the Greens refer to is the Poststructuralist, identitarian, pseudo Left.
Like Dorman-Smith, the Scottish Greens tend toward the ultra-authoritarian and eschew science.
Being drawn from the ranks of middle class humanities graduates, the Scottish Greens have zero affinity to the working class. Indeed, their policies such as the DRS and Low Emission Zones are disproportionately punitive to low income families. If this is pointed out, the Greens dismiss these concerns with a haughty disdain. There is a “price to pay for the greater good” and if this falls on the working class (who don’t after all vote for the middle class Greens), then tuff luck.
This is of course of no personal concern to “wee Pat” and “loopy Lorna” who are on £68k plus Ministerial top-up.
Like the far-Right exponents of radical ecological based politics from the 1930’s, the Scottish Greens regard science as potentially antithetical to ideology and therefore fundamentally reject it.
I wish to God you weren’t right Roddy, but you are, much more often than not.
You’ll maybe have seen a wee clip, via Twitter, of a big beetle making its way through a grassy clump. It appears to have no innards because the shell is open and you can see there’s nothing inside it. The legs still work though and it is moving ‘normally’. Apparently its nerve centres have been taken over by some form of fungi which uses the body of the creature to spread itself. It’s the premise of ‘The Last Of Us’, the mini-series. Whether or not it’s some very clever CGI, I don’t know, but it’s looks real enough and it’s terrifying.
I don’t have to spell out the analogy here.
It’s as if She Who Works From Home remains in charge and would still be pulling strings even as She Who Works From Cornton Vale.
Like many others I expect nothing from anyone in the SNP. None of them. The very few with any credibility should’ve bailed out by now.
Sorry to sound so negative.
For those who want to know what independence means and why it is necessary:
https://salvo-cor.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/THEORETICAL+CASE+FOR+SCOTTISH+INDEPENDENCE.pdf
The SNP is an absolute impediment to independence as it actively works to undermine independence in favour of the devolved colonial administration called the Scottish Parliament.
But that is why the Scottish Parliament was set up. Power devolved is power retained and that has certainly come to pass.
It is also why Alex Salmond, and others, had to be taken out.
To move forward the independence movement needs to ditch the SNP lock, stock and barrel.
These last eight years have shown exactly what they have become and there is no realistic possibility of change.
Sarwar, or Yousaf, or Ross in a pretend hung parliament is where we are headed. The Brits played well, infiltrated and influenced well, which was the plan all along.
But depressing as it might seem we can win independence. The desire is there, and it is the people’s desire that counts. Political parties are transitory. And in that regard, that is why we now need to ditch utterly the SNP.
It happened in Ireland with John Redmond’s national party when it was in 2016 utterly replaced. The same will happen here.
I absolutely agree with you about ditching the SNP to get our independence. Fortunately, their disengagement from the wider Yes community (and even most of their members) has made that very easy. I actually feel as though the implosion of the party this year has opened a way for independence supporters to get on with the job. It’s been quite freeing, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that AUOB marches are prospering, as are public meetings held by others.
The SNP leadership have made themselves irrelevant to the independence movement by their own actions. They have no-one to blame but themselves.
When a party abandons any pretence of creating a better society for the mass of their countrymen, but still wants to pretend to be “progressive” (in Humza’s words), they adopt identity politics. We’ve seen it with the Democrats in the US, with the Labour Party in the UK, and with the SNP in Scotland.
The Scottish Greens never did care about the hungry masses, but they were supposed to care about “communities”. In reality, there is no sign that they ever have, and the imposition of the new fishery policies will prove it yet again.
The Snp is dead.
Do not grieve over the rotten carcass
For it is written. “Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.”