The only reason that there is an Alba Party and an ISP is because the SNP has not being doing the day job. Not doing the day job badly, just not doing it at all. There has been since 2014 numerous justifiable reasons why the SNP should not have been pressing the case for immediate independence. There are no excuses for never pressing the case in the seven and a half years since Sturgeon inherited the party leadership. Today she becomes the longest serving First Minister. She will never be the best ever First Minister. We know that. She knows that too! Only the Unionists and the SNP devoted will be happy on this day. Nearly 8 years on from her becoming SNP leader the British Union is more secure than ever!
Never forget either that the Unionists never stopped campaigning not even the day after they had won the referendum on 18th, September, 2014. The very next day the UK Prime Minister David Cameron introduced the prospect of EVEL. Never once in the intervening years has the SNP campaigned for independence!
September 19th, 2014.
PM says voices of England must now be heard and challenges Labour to say whether it will back English votes for English MPs, screamed the headline!
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/19/david-cameron-devolution-revolution-uk-scotland-vote
The day after we had lost the referendum in very controversial circumstances. Breaches of the age old Purdah practise in UK politics. The blatant bias of BBC and press all helped squash our asperations for Scotland. None more so than the British loyal Daily Record, in collusion with the leaders of the English Political Parties The Record produced the VOW. This Act of betrayal was conceived and delivered by the papers Managing Editor and future head of SNP Communications, Murray Foote. A filthy lie to the Scottish people of Scotland promising enhanced devolution, instead we got EVEL and disdain.
One year after the VOW, Murray Foote had this to say,
“Poverty and social injustice do not stop at Gretna, and breaking up the United Kingdom would not help our brothers and sisters in Liverpool, Belfast and Cardiff.”
We also believed that Alex Salmond was not offering true independence.
Keeping the pound would have meant a so-called free Scotland would still be under the control of the Bank of England – we would end up a colony rather than a country.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/inside-vow-how-historic-daily-6464878
Yet a few years later Foote who allegedly had miraculously received a bigger conversion than St Paul had on the road to Damascus became the Head of SNP Communications while people like Stu Campbell, Gareth Wardell, James Kelly, patriots that worked tirelessly for Scotland in 2014 were shunned and are traduced and made hate figures by the Nu SNP.
Today Foote is part of a team that is backing the Growth Commission Doctrine of Charlotte Street Partners and promoting keeping the British £ as an independent Scotland’s currency. He, we are to believe is now a committed and trusted independence warrior. Yet in 2015 he admitted a shared currency was not real Independence, now he embraces it! Go figure!
Foote’s words are held above the voices of the independence loyal alternative media that have always spoken up for Scotland and never colluded with English parties or politicians! A great reward for a Scot that sold out his own nation of birth on the eve of an historic independence referendum.
When the UK General Election came along on 7th May 2015, Nicola Sturgeon went to great lengths to assure the people of Scotland and the rest of the Union that a vote for the SNP was not a vote for independence. I actually agree with that decision. It was only right that we gave the Westminster Parliament an opportunity to keep its promise to the Scottish people as contained in Murray Foote’s VOW. What I cannot ever agree with is that subsequently to that time we have done nothing to advance Scotland’s cause.
However, when it became obvious that it was never going to be fulfilled like all other promises made to Scotland, Sturgeon should have acted. Indeed, I believe the SNP on the 19th of September, 2014 when Cameron announced EVEL Edinburgh should have publicly fired a warning shot over the Union’s bow! Then the 2015 election would have been a vote for independence. It would also possibly have prevented the farce that became the Scotland Bill.
Over 100 Amendments to the Bill by our 56 SNP MPs were rejected out of hand by the English majority aided and abetted by the 3 Scottish MPs representing Scottish Constituencies on behalf of the English imperialist parties.
I also would suggest that from the day Sturgeon became leader her main and only job should have been to prepare our nation for independence. We knew in hindsight that the biggest issues that cost us to lose were currency, pensions and EU Membership. Sturgeon should have utilised her Party’s resources to arrive at successful solutions to these issues. In truth now 7 years and 205 days since she took over the leadership there has been no progress on these topics bar a few soundbites.
A Growth Commission set up in September 2016 turned out to be a neoliberal con. At the first opportunity the SNP Conference rejected out of hand its findings as unsuitable for an Independent Scotland or a left of centre party. Sturgeon’s reaction to this rejection by the governing body? Stop holding Conferences, change the party constitution, weaken the NEC, ignore the wider movement. Keep the Growth Commission and its findings as Party policy.
Then came Scotland’s biggest opportunity ever, Brexit! When on 24th June, 2016 England and Wales voted to leave the EU and Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain a golden opportunity landed in Sturgeon’s lap. Instead of using this to Scotland’s advantage, she decided to join forces with English Political movements and politicians to save England when she should have been using it to free Scotland from the union.
When historians come to write about these times Nicola Sturgeon will be viewed as a comedic figure, shorn of any basic strategic or political nous. Questions will be asked and thesis written trying to fathom out why she failed to grasp this opportunity. All the evidence leads one to think that she just is not up to the job and put her own ambition and self-aggrandisement before her nations well being. Subsequent action as well as inactions tend to confirm this suspicion.
From her ascendancy to defacto leader of the independence movement she has acted more in the unions interests than in Scotland’s best interests. A YES Movement that scared the English Establishment more than anything in living memory was torn asunder by Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP child minions. Her own Party that at one point was per head of population, the biggest in the democratic world has too been ripped apart and resulted in the formation of new independence parties and movements within Scotland.
Sturgeon and her cohorts spend more time trying to encourage 4 nation solutions than making Scotland an independent nation. They also spend more time attacking independence supporters than attacking the union and unionists.
The pillars of the SNP had always been Independence and Unilateralism over nuclear weapons in Scotland. These have now been replaced by Gender ideology and Queer Theory with participation and wholehearted support for NATO and its warlike intentions on behalf of the USA. Who would have believed in November 2014 when Nicola Sturgeon took to the stage in Finniestion to the acclaim of 12,000 Scottish patriots that a few years later her priorities would be men in frocks and US global hegemony?
That is why we Scots must take things into our own hands if we are ever to see our nation free. We have always known that British Political Parties and their representatives in Scotland have never worked on Scotland’s behalf only for their English ‘betters.’ That continues to be the case for those existing MPs and MSPs in Scottish seats that are there on behalf of English registered political parties.
What none of us could have forseen on November 2014 was that our party, our movement and our cause could be so wilfully destroyed to sate an individuals own personal ambitions. That is why, today, when Nicola Sturgeon becomes Scotland’s longest serving First Minister the Foreign owned press in Scotland and the BBC and STV will actually be reasonably nice to her. She is seen as no danger to their precious union! That is just a fact.
As mentioned earlier in this article the things that cost us the referendum, currency, pensions, EU Membership remain unanswered. The movement is splintered and in a civil war. Neither Sturgeon or her leadership show any sign of healing the divisions or finding solutions to the problems. Now is the time for the wider movement to take up the struggle on Scotland’s behalf.
In the coming weeks and months SSRG, SALVO, Now Scotland, AUOB will promote and offer alternatives that we need to grasp, participate and explore. The usual suspects within our movement will try to undermine these initiatives, it is up to each and every one of us to ignore these charlatans that put self and party before Scotland’s best interests.
This Sunday on Through A Scottish Prism I will have as my guests representatives of both SSRG and SALVO, They have some interesting and exciting proposals to bring to you. While the SNP sits doing nothing these Scottish patriots are bringing us solutions and hope. They do though need your help and participation.
Unsuccessful people and movements wait for things to happen. Successful people and movements make things happen!
Let us together make it happen!
What with Alex Salmond’s powerful speech yesterday and this excellent follow-up from Roddy today it looks like we are at last making progress on the road to INDEPENDENCE.
Puir auld Nic can tak a hike on a cuddie.
What speech? I missed it.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1528826917515837440
Get organised and collect signatures from all over Scotland to suspend the treaty.
That, in many ways, is an attractive proposition. The signatures could be gathered locally, collated centrally and presented in their totality at the door of Bute House. A strong media presence (preferably foreign) would be essential, of course, not only for publicity purposes but also to prevent the SNP from denying the existence of the petition. So: we already have the independence activists and experienced organisers, paper and printing is relatively inexpensive and there must be experienced folk in our number who are capable of writing and placing press releases. The only thing we lack, really, is a Scottish media-corps with a back-bone!
Great article. Surely by now Sturgeon AND HER SNP MPs must see the writing on the wall. Obviously, I don’t expect her to do the decent thing rather she will remain petty, vindictive and untrustworthy.
However approximately half of her MPs have tiny electoral margins and they must know fighting the next westmonster election on a platform of men in dresses, hating JKR, graham linehan, ricky gervais etal (and this list of truth tellers is growing) is simply not going to cut it. I must admit I no longer trust a single SNP MP, with the exception of Joanna Cherry, as they have shown themselves to be utter cowards.
I predict 2023 will be when she’s shoved out the door. It will be too late for the 2024 westmonster election and their will be a significant reduction in SNP MPs.
As I have said before -her downfall can’t come soon enough.
Like Boris Johnson whether Sturgeon sees the writing on the wall or not, she like Johnson will continue till they are physically forced out of office.
They are like Sir Jimmy Saville OBE protected creatures. Saville could molest children of the youngest ages and sexually interfere with dead bodies, but was protected.
Johnson today admitted his wring doing but is he forced out of office. No of course not he’s protected. And is Sturgeon protected. Of course she is. The establishment, no matter what, protects its own. But Sturgeon’s day will come. She will be replaced and or her party replaced. The writing may be on the wall but the people will write her epitaph, and write it they will without a doubt.
Mr Murray Foote became the Head of SNP Communications; despite his past behaviour that proved that he’s against Scotland regaining its independence. The ‘New SNP’ is definitely NOT anything like the original SNP! There’s no wonder why any honest questioners about Scottish politicians are met with accusations of being a Unionist; as I have been.
BarrheadBoy is one of the growing numbers who is supporting Scottish independence.
It almost goes without saying that our country will be independent again… However, it won’t be an easy step! Whatever London’s government might think and/or do is difficult to anticipate… However, when the two nations return to being independent again, we will see very different challenges; one country making use of its resources, while the other might have to ‘make do and mend’, as our parents might have recognised?
Scotland’s political circumstances were drastically changing in more ways than most of us could clearly understand, but there came a time when I ended my longtime membership of the SNP; like a large number of others! This New-Version of SNP is an absolutely different party and entirely different to what I’d been a member of… Now, that party is more Alian than Adorable!
New poll out saying 55% back the union, i’ve no idea how after 8yrs we can say progress in Scotland has been made. I have no doubt in my mind the next Ref will be lost because of Sturgeon and her government and the way she runs the country and the only people bothered are the people talking about it today and every other days since we lost 2014.
There isn’t many people who are heading to food banks and turning their heating off going to make there lives even worse on the idea that Scotland can do better when Independent, because of what we have seen in the last 8yrs of Sturgeon and her goivernment who are no better than the Tories in England and SG/SNP have no answers to the simple question like currency pensions etc if a ref was held in 2023, when Sturgeon is extremely happy with the status quo in fact even if she was offered Devo-Max she’d refuse because it would mean actually running a country instead of being a Brittish puppet being the voice for England in Holyrood.
When we left the EU in June 2016 the SNP should have held a vote on Independence but they didn’t, but what we did get from the New SNP leader was we shouldn’t be calling it Indyref2.
I agree with you completely. If the vision being presented of an independent Scotland is a neo liberal, NATO supporting, big business assets stripping, monarchy supporting country then what’s the point? The majority of the people want to their lives to get better, they don’t want to gamble on making things even worse when their lives are s**** enough as they are. Where’s the vision, where’s the hope for the future? Where’s the answers to people’s fears and concern? All the debates on the intricacies of how we achieve independence are irrelevant until these are answered
Perhaps we will understand more if WM decide to bail out Sturgeon’s £3.5Bn overspend ?
what will she trade or who will she trade for that required bailout ?
https://windobi.com/nicola-sturgeon-faces-whitehall-begging-for-extra-money-after-3-5bn-overage/
The former Labour far left took over the SNP, BB, and it has done its job well. Labour in Scotland is in thrall to the British party, as are all the other mainstream parties. There used to be a strong left in the SNP that was social democratic. All that has been sacrificed to men in frocks, neoliberalism and neocon militarism. It would be unbelievable if it was not true. Alec Salmond’s speech was reminiscent of the hey day of the SNP.
This just makes my blood boil, why are the MSPs and MPs and indeed the SNP membership not deposing of this dud useless Leader and her gang. Even Labour know they have a dud in Starmer and want to replace him. Surely the SNP must know that they have the biggest pretender and coward in the shape of Sturgeon ever to lead the party. Crankie has already admitted to having imposter syndrome. I dont usually believe her but in this I do.
Dissolve the Union , and replace the Leadership with one who can unite the independence movement.
Times seem desperate right now , not much cheer about .
Mr Bryan, I regard neither Keir Starmer nor Jeremy Corbyn as duds. The’ Kuenssberg ‘ stance of the BBBC has much to do with the public perception of both men. Equally , the support for the present incumbent of number 10 , has much to do with the BBBC and its whitewashing , re-interpreting , happily broadcasting clips of a lazy ,lying lump in hard hat , high viz , white lab coat , school cap etc.
We have a deal for which to ‘thank ‘ the British media.
Sorry to offend you, my role in life is the truthteller. Jeremy I rate if if you read what I said I never criticised him he is a honorable man and honest as the day is long. Starmer however is an estabishment stougge put in place to ensure there is no change or threat to Brexit. That is democracy in the UK a nonexistent charade. Labour are a mirror of the Tories . If your a Labour voter you must even realize there in only a One Nation England now.
Dissolve the Union.
In addition to the collective voices of the Alba Party, ISP, the SSRG all proactively pushing for our return to independence, it may also be useful if we are able to saturate all available media channels with more piss-take videos of the main players of this New SNP (*estb. 19th November 2014).
Something similar to the excellent vids that Shauny Boy has been sharing online, for example you could get actual audio-visual footage clips of Sturgeon, Blackford, Swinney making their many promises and vows and have their false statements ridiculed in reply with well known Scottish celebrity catchphrases… eg use Scottish characters from like Still Game / Chewin’ The Fat, Rikki Fulton, Kevin Bridges…:
Ex 1 – Sturgeon: “There will be a new indyref in 2016, 2017… 2023”
Fergie: “Naw there wullnae!”
—–
Ex 2 – Sturgeon: “Your £600,000+ will be ringfenced for any indyref campaign”
K. Dunbar: “I smell shite!”
—–
Ex 3 – Sturgeon: “I don’t remember what you are asking me about”
R. Fulton: “Aye righhhhht!, awayyyyy!”
—–
Ex 4 – Sturgeon: “My
carrotparty is stronger for Scotland”Groundskeeper Willie: “Doh!”
—–
Ex 5 – Blackford: “The SNP* will not allow Scotland to be taken out of the EU”
Navid: “Yer talkin’ pish!”
It’s just a thought… SATURATE social media as much as possibly more in ridiculing (primarily) this poorly serving First Minister, with our popular Scottish comedians catchphrase punch-lines in response to all of their lies. (Note: Use of The Krankies material is a bit outdated but remains optional). The old sayings tend to apply here-on-in-and-out: “…then we laugh at them, then we win.”
http://www.youtube.com/shorts/ch9KnmfSRFQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zeJ5uGjWOc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtOK-QsE3Hs
The Alba Party’s main competitors are the Scottish Family Party, the Women’s Equality Party, and the Freedom Alliance. They all get about the same number of votes, but the last three get far less publicity.
The reality facing Alba is that they would need to increase their vote by about 100% in order to get a local councillor elected in a ward with four councillors. That’s an existential problem for them.
I remember hearing same pish when SNP were growing then it was Monster Raving Loony Party. You were probably one of those Labour types then too. Alba is apparently no threat has no future yet Gender deniers and Unionist trolls spend lots of time telling us how we are so unimportant.🤣🤣🤣
Excellent point, BB. Fear engenders abuse and trying to get people banned from commenting. I, too, remember when the SNP was a standing joke in Unionist quarters because of the few elected representatives it had then. Unfortunately, after it went from strength to strength through the hard work of its dedicated foot soldiers – most of who are now in ALBA – it has become a standing joke with many in the independence movement.
It’s not pish Barrheed: Alba really do need to increase their vote by about 100% in order to get a local councillor elected in a ward with four councillors. I don’t think Alex Salmond would manage that. And that really is an existential problem for them. Alba really is as popular as the British Communist Party. So, get real.
I repeat pish, the difference between you and me is I have seen all the numbers and actually know what I am talking about,you are just a trolling little man,the numbers from recent election spells good news for Alba and bad news for SNP if they don’t mend their ways. Thank me later
Quick warning, any more of your filthy lies and smears and not only will your libellous comments be getting binned.