Though it might not seem like it today, I truly believe the events of the past week will stand the independence movement in good stead. The cause has been on hold for eight years now. Since November 2014 when Nicola Sturgeon was handed the leadership of the SNP and Yes Movement the lack of inertia has been obvious. When I encounter any of the ‘Wheesht for indy’ mob I ask them this simple, but telling question. ‘Name three things that Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have done to advance the cause of independence during her leadership.’ This question either gets me blocked or a load of rhetorical bullshit.
The fact is there is nothing that has been done to answer the points that saw us fall short in 2014. We still have no definitive answer to the Unionists favourite barb,’ which currency will you use?’ The SNP Conference democratically chose a new independent Scottish currency for a new independent Scotland. Sturgeon didn’t like the democratic choice of her party so she decided that the Charlotte Street Partners neoliberal share the English £, sterlingisation was her preferred choice.
Yesterday Angus Robertson told us that if we vote in an independence referendum or an independence Plebiscite we are also voting to rejoin the EU. A bit like in 2016 and 2020 and every other election we vote for independence only to be told we had voted for GRA Reform and Self- identification! What we have never been told in the years since Brexit is the actual mechanism the SNP will use to regain Scotland’s membership of the EU.
When it comes to borders, there has been no debate, no discussion on whether or not we should have a border with England or will there be a Common Travel and Trade area?
These and many more questions regarding our independence remain unanswered. When you ask yourself why, the answer is simple. Nicola Sturgeon has never allowed any of these vital issues to be debated. We can only speculate as to why that is the case.
It doesn’t stop at the independence questions either. Throughout the past six years of Gender obsession Sturgeon has prevented all debate ever reaching the floor of the conference or the general public. Anyone that has expressed any concern over the Stonewall Queer Theory has been marginalised or removed. Worse still, during all this time one of our best and brightest, Joanna Cherry has been bullied, abused and demoted for daring to oppose the gender nonsense of Sturgeon. Others, like Joan McAlpine equally treated with disdain. If you want to know others, just look to the backbenches at Holyrood and Westminster.
Also in those eight years never has GRA or Self-Identification been debated by the SNP members!
She ensured only those on message with biology denial managed to get through vetting. Only the ‘believers’ got any HQ assistance or advancement. Anyone suspected of disloyalty on the issue of the gender insanity soon found the AIM children attacking and abusing them.
The more devout the believers in this attack on adult human females the more they advanced in the party. If they were voted off the NEC by the membership, no problem Sturgeon just would appoint them to the Executive. Democracy, who needs it, is the Sturgeon modus operandi!
As long as she could control the narrative both in the party and in the media then she was free to enact her personal agenda and to hell with things like independence or party democracy. The easiest way to ensure this was just not to allow anything to be openly debated. That is why since November, 2014 there has not been any debate on independence at the annual conference or NEC level. Just think how incredible that is, the party of Scottish Independence has not debated that very topic for eight years while holding majorities at both Holyrood and Westminster.
In those eight years, Nicola Sturgeon has led Gay Pride Marches, participated in Anti-Brexit marches in England. However, she has never walked or spoken at an YES organised rally once in all that time.
No other independence movement in the world in any generation has ever had such a situation. Ghandi, Mandela, MLK and many others were always right at the front of the gatherings of their movements protests and marches. They knew that being the leader of a movement meant that they had to lead, not hide!
Sturgeon has hidden herself for eight long years. Worse still she has allowed the YES Movement and new independence media be vilified and discredited. From 200,000 people marching the streets of our capital now a mere handful participate. She has actively ensured the enthusiasm for our cause has been tempered. Nothing was to distract from her agenda of Gender Reform.
It cannot be denied that Stonewall Queer Theory has replaced Independence as La raison d’être of the SNP. Everything else the party stood for having been relegated behind this insanity. Independence, democracy, unity of purpose, decency, honesty, integrity all jettisoned and for what? A belief that she would be elevated to sainthood for her ‘progressiveness?’
Well this week all that Sturgeon hubris came crashing down around her ears. Her ridiculous GRRB and TWAW idiocy has finally been exposed as complete and utter lunacy. She lost control of the narrative. She can maybe threaten and bully her own party. She can’t though hold back the tide when the English political establishment and media began to question her philosophy and stupidity.
Sending Adam Graham and Andrew Burns into the Scottish female prison estate has unleashed a backlash that Sturgeon cannot hold back. It seems to me that our imperial masters watched and waited as she progressed her gender nonsense. Then when she thought she had succeeded in destroying the female sex, Westminster struck. Firstly the Section 35 stopping the GRRB hogwash reaching statute. Then came the push back of putting male sex offenders into women’s prisons. Talk about giving them enough rope to hang themselves. Westminster has exposed her amateurish strategic thinking. A wee lassie in the big playground is no match for the Westminster shysters!
Suddenly journalists that for years that have been timid in their approach to Sturgeon found their journalistic integrity. The myth that Sturgeon was the great communicator, ice cool under scrutiny fell apart as did the nonsense about TWAW. When questioned on both ITV and CH4 about men in the women’s estate the gibberish behind GRRB and Self-Identification was exposed to the public at large for the first time. Those interviews can only be described as car crashes. She couldn’t explain or justify the entire crux of her gender crusade that men with their genitalia intact could be adult human females.All it took was one journalist to ask Are Transwomen, women? Then it all began to unravel.
Meanwhile, her Justice Secretary informed the world the moratorium on men being allowed into women’s prisons is only temporary as the Scottish Government will not review the GRRB. The problem for Sturgeon now is the public have been alerted to her misogynistic nonsense. The genie cannot be put back in the bottle. What those of us who have opposed this bill know is this, when the public get to hear the reality behind the ‘minor change’ in the GRA they oppose it strongly. Now that it has gone mainstream her desire to enact this Stonewall gibberish is all but over.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23285107.keith-brown-gender-bill-wont-reviewed-women-only-spaces/
Any other sensible politician would know that the time has come to accept this bill is dead in the water. This however, is Nicola Sturgeon the toys are already being thrown out of the pram. Those that disagree with her have already received her displeasure.
NICOLA Sturgeon has accused critics of Holyrood’s gender reforms of using the debates to “cloak” their transphobia, misogyny and racism.
We will use a Scottish currency which will be backed up by our resources which you will no longer have access to.
For god sake “Yesterday Angus Robertson told us that if we vote in an independence referendum or an independence Plebiscite we are also voting to rejoin the EU.” whats wrong with just voting for Independence then allowing us to decide our own relationship with the EU.
Can’t these people sing of the same hymn sheet, it changes every day.
Nicola Sturgeon will not resign in any decade she’ll have to be forced out by the electorate even this won’t stop her being leader of the SNP.
Good one Roddy, she needs to go , obviously, but can we get rid of Swinney at the same time? His part in the last 9 years of stasis and discord is not being fully recognised and he really should not be allowed to somehow slither through and survive politically.
Swinney is the SNPs version of Grima Wormtongue to Nicolas King Theoden, the last time the party showed this glacial attitude was when he was in charge, leading up to the return of Alex Salmond as leader, prior to that Campbell Martin fell to the same tricks Nicolas opponents are targetted with
All so true Roddy, but the sheep are still in denial. They are on FB still defending her to the last at their country’s cost of Independence. If they still refuse to accept she is a traitor after all that has been brought out into the public eye, I fear for our Independence. Keep hammering on the deception maybe just maybe they will see the error of their ways and admit to the fact she is the leader of the Scottish Yellow Tory party.
“ Nicola Sturgeon will not resign in any decade she’ll have to be forced out by the electorate even this won’t stop her being leader of the SNP.”
I pray to god that this is not the case but I fear such is her brass neck that she will hang on till the bitter end.
Heather, I’m afraid Sturgeon is no Salmond. She’ll destroy everything in order to retain her position as FM.
I thought the plebiscite was going to be a single question (Independence) now we have a Angus Robertson saying the plebiscite is going to be Independence and re-joining the EU.
Are these people trying to destroy any hope of achieving Independence, we all know that some people will vote for Independence but won’t vote for Independence if it means joining the EU, so why mucky the waters with a stupid statement, because if we became Independent today, we couldn’t join the EU.
Let’s get out of this union before trying to join another. I’m not against the EU but the priority is Independence, I wouldn’t be suprised if this is another ploy from Sturgeon to make the plabiscite fail because the Unionist will say it wasn’t a single question.
Sturgeon may have joined the SNP at a young age but it wasn’t for Independence she joined the SNP it was for something else.
Great piece today Roddy. I do not see her staying for much longer, the strain is already showing in her face. I do wonder what SNP MSPs feel when they are criticised for being weak and being controlled by her. I have been expecting a rebellion from within for a long time but if it happened it has been put down and kept very quiet. She is making fools of all of them and rightly so in some cases but her car crash interviews last night, while a delight to watch, have done her no favours. She has blown the gaff and exposed the non-sense of gender ideology and her inability to confirm that TWAW, is the stick with which the genderists will undoubtedly beat her. I have little sympathy for her, she created the monster and it is about to turn on her. Let’s see what happens this week.
Sturgeon is a lame-duck. She may well hang around, but without political authority and respect within her party and the country, what’s the point? Now is the time for the men and women in grey-suits to pay her a visit. A wee thought for them: So entwined, by design, has Sturgeon and the SNP become in the public consciousness, that distinguishing the latter from the former won’t be possible for many voters. Ask yourselves: how many voters do you imagine there might be, who, after this gender debacle, will knowingly cast their ballot in order to receive tainted-goods, such as yourselves? Your elevation of Sturgeon, above everything and everyone else, has also left you without a credible new leader to replace her. If any of you are remembered by posterity at all, it will only be because of your decadence and vandalism.
Who is the ‘You’ referred to in your comment?
The ‘You’ is in reference to the ‘grey-suited’ people who traditionally tell a leader that his/her time is up and that they no longer have the confidence of the party. That the ‘grey-suits will have a price to pay for entertaining her behaviours for so long will make them, in the eyes of posterity, every bit as culpable as she is, is what I was suggesting. It’s impossible not to wonder who you imagined I might be referring to.
Men in grey kilts, men in grey suits is unionist talk,is that you?
“unionist talk,is that you?” ‘grey-kilts’ FFS! You want to lay of the gin and that Spanish ganja a wee bit, pal! Answer the question: who else did you think “You” could possibly be?
For you I would suggest you does not include we.
You lay off of the Buckie and the British arrogance.
My house,my rules, take this as a yellow card.
The question stands: who did you think I was referring to? Apart from going into a huff and threatening me with a “yellow card” for reacting to your question, I’ve heard nothing from you. You and I both know that you’d never make comments like that or the ones you conveniently disappeared to my face, don’t we? In my opinion, I think you may be getting a wee bit carried-away with yourself; something that Stu Campbell might be entitled to do, but not you. My comradely advice, take it or leave it, would be to consider much, much more carefully what you say to people, whether you’re drunk or sober, high or straight; otherwise you run the serious risk of presenting yourself as an imbecile. Have a productive life. Slán leat.
Showing you do not know ne at all.You might think you are a big tough guy that would intimidate memnot a chance sonny. Dont try my patience. Keep your nonsense for your fellow Britnat twits! Behave like an adult or you won’t be here long.
Doug McGregor.
Swinneys going to be fighting to keep himself out of prison with some of the stuff hes been up to to protect Sturgeon . Theres a list as long as your arm and as soon as the Liz the Leak domino falls. Swinneys going to melt under the the spotlight of inconvenient truth like a vampire in the sun .
I am not saying we are at THE tipping point for the collapse of the SNP / Scot Greens Gov. but that we have conditions for a political rumbling series of minor earthquakes which can only increase in fréquence and intensity.
As the puppet show trailed in its opening Shots
“Anything can happen in the next half hour “
Astonishing that nobody in the SNP [other than Cherry and the Alba MPs] has openly challenged Sturgeon’s mismanagement and skewed leadership. What kind of Svengali hold has she over them all?
Currency
Pound until such time as a new currency is in the national interest
EU
Apply to join, show criteria passes
Common travel area with UK/Ireland
Economic border with UK/Ni
Nato membership
Is this not the position on these matters? Reasonable or not I’d be amazed if it wasn’t.
We don’t know! Like everything else with the Sturgeon government all rhetoric and no substance,planning or execution. Today I can announce…….then nothing,
Could you please put as much effort into stating the 100+things the FM and her government have done FOR Scotland? I doubt you would do that.
100+ you are right because she has done nothing except destroy! 😁😁😁😁 just you name 3 things that have been done to advance the independence cause since November 2014.
Bet you cant.
For my part, I’m greatly encouraged by events of the last week.
Progress will only be made once Sturgeon and her whole rotten cabal are cleared out.
Why did Sturgeon adopt her monomaniacal obsession with GRA? Make no mistake this was a calculated decision. Are we to believe that Sturgeon and her Gauleiters spontaneously alighted on this one issue as the pressing imperative on their time and energy?
Aside from her technical incompetence, second rate intellect and personality flaws, Sturgeon was otherwise a calculating and sure footed, machine politician. The extreme measures built into the Scottish Government’s GRA have been tested time and time again in polling and have been found to be deeply unpopular with the electorate. So why doggedly pursue an unpopular policy?
Every cult must have a specific, outlandish, core tenet. Something that sets it aside from the general populace. Something to differentiate them from the “unbelievers”.
A spacecraft hiding in the tail of the Hale-Bopp comet (Heaven’s Gate). A subterranean land of milk and honey under the Mojave desert (The Manson family). Control over a Chinese satellite death-ray (Workers’ Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought). Other reality defying examples are available.
The tenet is multi-functional within the group. To gain access to the cult a disciple must repeat the tenet. The tenet is deployed as a mantra to increase cohesion of the group. Those who repeat the tenet most loudly and most often are promoted within the group. The competence and abilities of those selected for promotion are an irrelevance. Devotion to the tenet is all. Subservience to the cult leader as expressed through evangelising the tenet is paramount. The tenet defines the group. The tenet binds the group. The tenet is used by the cult leader to control the group.
Curiously, actually “believing” the tenet as a factual truth is not required by the upper echelons of the cult. Vincent Bugliosi (prosecuting District Attorney) was of the opinion that Charles Manson didn’t believe a word of Helter Skelter. This cynicism towards the core tenet the nearer the top of the managerial pyramid is inherent in all cults / religions.
This is connected to but not identical to the concept of Pathocracy proposed by Polish psychologist Andrzej Łobaczewski. Łobaczewski states that a leader exhibiting strongly atypical psychological pathology will through a process similar to osmosis, alter the system to mirror their dominant psyche. Łobaczewski, who experienced the tyranny of both the Nazis and the Soviets, focuses on psychopathy but in theory, malignant narcissism and Machiavelli syndrome would also apply. Crucially, Łobaczewski allows for the acolytes of the leader to mimic the psychological pathology of the leader rather than truly possess it themselves. Quote: “If an individual in a position of political power is a psychopath, he or she can create an epidemic of psychopathology in people who are not, essentially, psychopathic.”.
Without an intimate knowledge of Sturgeon’s personality, amateur and remote diagnosis of any of the “dark triad” traits (psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism) is problematic. This said, there’s enough of her professional life that’s been lived in public to form some speculative proposals. The “dark triad” pathologies exhibit reasonably early in life. Did the failed Solicitor display the ruthless focus of a psychopath, the needy attention cravings of a narcissist or the serpentine manipulative scheming of a Machiavellianist? I suspect not. Sturgeon’s career is characterised by failing upwards.
This leaves open a possible diagnosis of Hubris Syndrome. Unlike the “dark triad”, Hubris Syndrome is an acquired personality disorder. This is über hubris on a pathological scale. Alternatively, Hubris Syndrome is a pseudo-scientific label applied to what the rest of us would regard as common bleedin’ sense. According to its advocates, Hubris Syndrome exhibits only when high office is attained and becomes more pronounced the longer the elevated position is retained. We could go through the 14 symptoms of Hubris Syndrome one-by-one and most if not all apply to Sturgeon.
Perhaps the most strikingly applicable is; “Excessive confidence in the individual’s own judgement and contempt for the advice or criticism of others”.
This a very well written post.
Thank you
Thanks Roddy. Your continued efforts to engage with the conscience of the SNP are very valuable, and show the best instincts of the Yes movement.
I don’t think NS will volunteer to stand aside. More of a screamer and a threatener… And a house-burner-downer. And an employer of
The GRRB as it stands is at least worthy of debate. And yet The MP for Stirling, where Cornton Vale stands, will not answer questions about what he thinks of the matter. He thinks it’s a great big hoopla and has nothing to say about adult human male rapists being placed in Cornton Vale womens prison. Our elected representative for people working at the jail has nothing to say on the matter. https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/10146952/snp-alan-smyth-dismisses-trans-prisoner-row/
Instead, he gets voluble and goes on the attack against… Joanna Cherry? https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23289768.cherry-rejects-smiths-call-quit-snp-gender-reform-opposition/
I am glad to see he is no match for her… But, boyo boy, the chutzpah.
The political games are only just starting. NS is getting entrenched and we will soon be able to separate the Democrats from the Autocrats. Whether or the SNP has any kind of bad conscience over that three line whip against the rights of women is now up for grabs. If they don’t, the party will be left behind, beaten to a pulp after being dragged into a dark alley by a failed lawyer and a bunch of spads and chancers.
Excellent piece , thank you. It starts a glimmer of hope in me.
Tom Kane , thanks for the link to the herald – stopped buying it in 2014- it cheered me up to read the comments , I thought maybe sanity was rearing its head.
Hi Diabloandco… I stopped with the Herald but n 2014 too, when Glasgow’s own newspaper came out “No” on the day of the referendum… If any city really needed that independence, it was Glasgow. And if any city could lead it, it is still Glasgow.
However, Kevin McKenna has been writing up a storm recently… And yes, some great comments too…
AS shamelessness seems limitless.
‘AS shamelessness seems limitless’.
What a load of shite. Alex Salmond and the Alba Party have done more for the independence cause than anybody else. Hanvey and MacAskill are the only ones asking questions in Westminster while the SNP sneak and slither away. It will be interesting to see how Neale gets on today.
Shame on you for peddling this bollocks.
Unless that’s a typo and you meant NS??
Wrong AS Andy… and by the way I love the response…
That AS references the article I was talking about and the less than Alex Salmond that is Alyn Smith… his shamelessness is in his unwholesome behaviour towards his constituents and his colleague.
Respect
Sorry for the half-finished sentence Roddy… Ach..
And, by the way, the Yes movement aside, what a star you are.
There’s a very big openness in your brilliance.
Respect.
Thank you.
Cracking article.
Said all the things I have thought (and much more) which I have never had the talent to put into print (without my head bursting).
Our direction to Indy has re-convened and nobody should get in our way!!!
“Bioilogy deniers” great phrase.