I went to my first SNP Conference in the early 1970s. In those days the party and the cause were very much on the fringe of Scottish politics. I didn’t care; I was as certain then as I am today that Scottish independence was the sensible and best form of governance for my nation of birth.

Over the decades I have been fortunate to hear some wonderful speeches by some highly intelligent and visionary independence stalwarts. I heard Dr Robert Mcintyre speak, the first ever SNP MP. The man known to the SNP as Doc Mac and the ‘father of the party’ died on February 2, 1998, at the age of 84. I heard Gordon Wilson, Willie Wolfe, Margo Macdonald, Winnie Ewing, my great hero Margaret Bain, Donald Stewart, and of course the late great Alex Salmond. All of these wonderful Scots were tremendous politicians, orators as well as visionaries that could see a brighter future for their nation and its people once independence had been achieved. There were many others, perhaps not as well known but equally steeped in a love of their country and a desire to set it free from English hegemony.

These were the giants that built the party into the behemoth we see today. I have to say that there is not a single person in today’s party that could hold a candle to any of the patriots I have just mentioned.

I remember the first devolution referendum in 1979. The Labour Party sabotaged this first attempt at giving Scotland a small say over its governance. The 40% rule, introduced by a Vichy Scot, George Cunningham, was a controversial amendment added to the Scotland Act 1978 that required at least 40% of the entire registered electorate in Scotland to vote “Yes” for a proposed Scottish Assembly to be established, rather than just a simple majority of those who actually cast a ballot. It meant that even those on the registers that had died were in effect voting No. The same for those that abstained or just didn’t bother voting on the day.

The betrayal by the Brits and Scottish Vichy in the Unionist parties scarred me deeply. I carry those scars to this day; my contempt for them is deep rooted and unrelenting. In fact it would be fair to say I loathe Scottish unionists more than any other grouping on the planet. I think Cicero says it best.

When the Brits once more, this time under Tony Blair and his vile deputy Gordon Toom Tabard Brown brought forward their Scotland Act in 1998, I was, to say the least, sceptical. I was in the camp of SNP dissenters that wanted nothing to do with this sop from Westminster. Anything that that place offers or gives to Scotland I treat with the utmost suspicion and mistrust.

It was only the persuasive powers of Alex Salmond that brought me round to reluctantly supporting this devolution crumb from London. I believed it to be a poisoned chalice that would one day harm the party and my nation of birth. It gives me no pleasure to have been proved right.

I attended conference after conference, both the annual and the spring versions. Alex believed if we could show the Scottish people we could govern the devolved institution efficiently and improve their lives even a little, they would gain the confidence to support full independence.

He had a plan, a strategy, and it nearly worked. After the success of his 2007-2011 minority government, he defied all the odds and won that one-off Holyrood majority in 2011 that led to the 2014 referendum.

Sadly, after this, there has been no movement towards independence. From the moment Sturgeon was handed the leadership of the party, independence became a byproduct of the party. Winning and retaining power was all that mattered.

The reality is there has not been a single campaign for independence since 10pm on Thursday 18th September 2014. At every election we get platitudes and promises of referendums, constitutional conventions, and unification of the entire movement. Promises that all those in favour of Scottish independence will have a voice and be included in the SNP tent; it will never happen of course.

I left the SNP in 2020; I should have left long before that. Indeed, with hindsight, I should have left the same day that Alex Salmond resigned as party leader on Friday 19th September 2014.  Effectively, on that day the raison d’être of the party died.

During this week of the annual SNP Conference, I had my bingo card out for all the usual sound bites and promises that the party makes on these occasions. I did keep in mind that an amendment promoting routes to independence backed by 50 SNP branches had been rejected by the hierarchy of the party. Those same 50 branches had formed a pressure group called Independence that was meeting as a fringe event away from the main hall.

I followed the conference intently and I have to say, despite the attempts at spin by the party and some tame outlets, I am as disillusioned and disappointed as I have ever been. It turned out to be all smoke and mirrors—– a fur coat and no knickers!

There was lots of use of the independence word, however, no credible route and it seems the plan and strategy is all dependent on there being a hung parliament at the next UK General election.

It is worth noting that since 1945 we have had 22 General Elections only three have resulted in hung parliaments!

This week our podcast will go out live and the panel will be Phil Boswell, Eva Comrie, and Terry Howson. They will give their opinions and views on the said conference.

I think back to my first conference when I asked myself, I wonder when we will have the plan and strategy to deliver Scotland’s independence, today I am still waiting!

This week’s podcast is live so it cannot be attached to this blog until after we broadcast at noon.Therefore, you can catch the podcast on YouTube, X, Facebook, Telegram, and Rumble at noon today.