For some time now, the SNP has been staggering from one self-inflicted disaster to the next. People, myself included keep asking ‘how did this happen?’ How did the Party that Nicola Sturgeon inherited in November 2014 become so accident prone and riven by so much division in such a short space of time? The early signs were all encouraging, a rapidly expanding membership that rose from 25,000 in September of that year to 115,000 by the day she ‘inherited’ the Party from Alex Salmond. It would rise by a further 10,000 by the end of the following year and in so doing became the largest political Party in Scottish history and the second-largest Party in the UK. Sadly the numbers have fallen way back and I am told that there are now fewer than 100,000 members. This explains why the Party that used to love trumpeting its numbers has been completely silent on them for a considerable time. Losing 25% of your membership is bad enough, the loss of the revenue is far greater.
When Alex Salmond returned as leader of the SNP in 2004, the Party was in dire straits. Under John Swinney’s tenure the party regressed and after losing seats in the 2003 Holyrood Elections, Swinney resigned and Alex resumed as Party Leader. He not only steadied the ship,he grew the party’s membership, increased its popularity and elected members.
One of the many strengths of Alex Salmond has been proven many times over. He is among other things, a brilliant strategist. He has always had that canny knack of quickly sizing up the situations presented to him. He seems to be two or three steps ahead of his opponents and more often than not his colleagues too.
During the campaign to replace Swinney, Salmond was able to convince Nicola Sturgeon of two things. Firstly she would not win against him (every measure pointed to a humiliating defeat), and that secondly, arguably more importantly, she was not ready to win either. He would manage to convince her that it would be better for her, him and the Party if she dropped out of the race and became his deputy. She made a wise decision and on this occasion listened to Alex’s insightful counsel.
Nicola was a perfect foil for Alex who was clever enough to know that although he could easily swat away Annabel Goldie, Ruth Davidson, Wendy Alexander et al, it would be portrayed as misogynistic bullying by the anti-Scottish media. Whenever possible he deployed Nicola, not only did she grow into her role, her confidence and abilities grew too. She was the ideal number two for Alex and the Party. Alex, the master tactician, Nicola the steadying influence it was a great arrangement all round.
After the landslide of 2011 Alex made all the right moves, at the right time. He even managed to get Cameron to play to his tune by coming to Holyrood to sign the Edinburgh Agreement. The picture accompanying this article shows how Alex even ensured the Yellow SNP victories map was in all the pictures. The subliminal messaging again a stroke of genius by a master tactician.
I can only speculate, however, but it seems to me that Alex who the unionist media love to call a gambler was actually far more astute than that. He did, I think, recognise that his boldness could be tempered by the ultra-cautious Nicola Sturgeon. While he was and is a big picture visionary, she is more managerial and detailed. The years have shown that her greatest weakness is that she is no strategist. Sadly neither is anyone in her team. Alex gave the vision, and she would add the detail. Like all great leaders Alex knows his strengths and weaknesses. He also has enough confidence in his own abilities not to be afraid to surround himself with the best of the best. Any great leader knows the better the lieutenants the more likely the success and the greater victories for the General. A lesson it seems Nicola forgot or just ignored. She is surrounded by political pygmies. None more so than her husband.
When Alex decided to step down on the morning of 19th September 2014 most of us were devastated at his decision though at the same time confident that his deputy of long standing had been well schooled and would carry on the good work. In her ten years under Alex’s tutelage, we noticed a wee lassie grow and blossom to become a mature, articulate confident woman. When she stepped on to the stage of the SECC in November 2014 it was to rapturous applause, cheering and expectation. Hers had been the only name put forward to replace the great man. Everyone knew it was his wish and with his blessing and backing she would have been unbeatable in any leadership contest.
That day she inherited not just the Party Alex had built but also a huge Yes Movement. A nation that had 45% in favour of Independence, an abundance of goodwill, and the so-called Better Together ‘winners’ that were in disarray. Better Together just did not know what to do with their victory; they believed post referendum the Scots would just get back into their box and once again become compliant voting fodder for the Labour Party. How wrong were they!
Hindsight is an exact science, however, if the SNP had behaved differently from that day forward I believe we would by now be independent. We would still be in the EU, and Covid deaths would have been much lower than they are today.
Nicola took the exact opposite view from Alex when it came to leading the Party and country. I now wonder how resentful she was during those ten years of apprenticeship? She could not be more different in her approach. To think many used to accuse Alex of being Presidential! Everything Alex Salmond did was strategic and towards independence for Scotland. Nothing he ever said, did, introduced was done without Independence in mind.
Nicola is completely different. Her first priority on becoming leader was to ensure a gender balanced cabinet. By March of the next year 2015, just 5 months after taking over leadership and in a private session the following were introduced.
An all-women shortlist for a Holyrood seat where the sitting MP stands down.
Ensure that any open shortlist for a constituency seat has at least one women candidate.
Introduce “balanced lists” on the regional list, where the list has to have an equal number of male and female candidates.
This was just to be the beginning of a feminist agenda taking over from an independence agenda as the main focus for the SNP. Later that year the UK General Election was an unprecedented success for the SNP. 56 out of 59 seats fell to the Party. Not even the Leader could quite believe what happened on that historic night. The Independence referendum momentum had lifted the fortunes of the party to heights never before even dreamt of by anyone.
· Shortly after this though the tell-tale signs of today’s divisions began to appear. I would not dare to say at that time I foresaw the disasters that now in 2020 are unfolding. The clues were there though, with 56 out of 59 MPs and Cameron under severe pressure from his right wing Brexiteers there was a perfect storm for Nicola to exploit. Sadly she didn’t and whilst daily our MPs were trashed and ignored, we seemed to have no other strategy than the now famous “Scotland will not put up with this!” Over 100 SNP Amendments to the Scotland Act were rejected out of hand. The Smith Commission/Vow in tatters. Silence though from Edinburgh and nothing but daily humiliation at Westminster. It was like watching your child having their lunch money stolen every day by the school bullies and you standing-by doing nothing.
· We, to this day, have continued to let the lunch money be stolen every single day but one. On June 13th, 2018, Ian Blackford in protest led all the SNP MPs out of the chamber – funnily enough at the Tories refusal to allow a debate on the power grab. In the following week 5,000 Scots felt empowered to join the SNP. Since that one day of defiance 5 times that number have now left the SNP Party!
· From 2016 till December 2019 Nicola Sturgeon showed that neither she or her entourage of advisors have a shred of strategic nous among them. She spent 3 years trying to overturn the settled will of the English and Welsh majority on Brexit. She had 3 years of a Tory Government with no majority and she managed to squeeze the square root of nothing for Scotland. She and her colleagues told us we would not be dragged out of the EU against our will. She told us that we would have an Independence referendum in 2020 as long as we gave her a mandate in Dec 12th, 2019, UK General Election. We dutifully gave her the mandate and on January 31st, 2020, long before Covid she told us there would be no referendum this year and she will need yet another mandate in 2021.She also regrettably informed us that we would, after all, be getting dragged out of the EU against our will.
· Meanwhile, while not a single thing has been done to move towards independence. There were controversial gender bills being prepared. The now famous GRA Bill to be then followed by the Hate Crime Bill. The first to show concern were female SNP MSPs and MPs. They were openly attacked by a new cabal of youngsters, mainly male, that surround Peter Murrell in Charlotte Sq. These young men are not kept in check by Peter Murrell, the Party CEO, one can only speculate why that is.
· Then female members were hounded out of the party for expressing concern over GRA. The Anti-Scottish MSM were given a £3million Financial Stimulus, meanwhile the young cabal of GRA zealots were celebrating having the independence movements top blogger, Wings over Scotland, banned from Twitter.
· They openly boasted about their plans to deselect Joanna Cherry and Joan McAlpine. Our First Minister and her husband stayed and remain silent to all this. Now, just this week, it seems our Party CEO and our Party Leader were actively participating in a conspiracy with other SNP members and UK Civil servants against Alex Salmond.
· Gender balance has been advanced the GRA has been advanced. Favourites and their spouses get preferential treatment on candidate selection. Nepotism and cronyism are rife. Popular and experienced MPs are prevented from standing at Holyrood. MPs like Pete Wishart and Alyn Smith attack independence supporters and SNP members with total disdain knowing full well they will face no disciplinary procedures.
· I have said it often, and I will again, Nicola, Sturgeon is a great second in command, a great communicator, a good manager, a very able First Minister. Sadly she and her husband have been a disaster for the SNP and the Yes Movement. She does not have an ounce of strategic sense and instead of surrounding herself with people that do have, she has ensured she is only surrounded by people that can never threaten her role. That is the classic sign of a bad leader, someone not up to the job of leading us to independence.
To gain our independence we need to be as ruthless as our enemies. The British and their spooks are viscious and uncaring. We need a fighter, a leader, a super strategist, someone to outhink the Brits in a way that will defeat them. What we do not need is an efficient office manager. This does not call for someone with excellent presentation skills it calls for someone with excellent fighting and strategic skills. Regrettably promoting the apprentice was not the right decision for independence. Difficult as it may be for some, it is time to face reality or face absorption into Northern Britain.
What is the point of all this negativity?
Alex was a great leader in my opinion but he was’t infallible. He really screwed up with the obsession on having the pound giving the opposition opportunities to scare the populace.
Why do we not all focus on our goal.? Our only goal. Let’s demand that SNP do something now before it’s too late.
I am focused Isobel, unfortunately our Party Leader and CEO are more interested in gender and sexual issues than gaining independence. I am not being negative I am being truthful and realistic. If you can find a single falsehood in anything in this blog please identify it and share it and I will print a retraction.
Completely agree, getting out of this managerialism dead end IS the only way to focus on gaining Independence.
Framing honest debate as divisiveness is a trick:
1. Pretend that those challenging the controversial niche policies are just being divisive
2. Pretend those putting forward those policies in the first place are somehow not divisive.
If NS had a strategic bone in her body she would be ditching these policies; even if they were right (hint: I don’t think so) they are a huge liability. The Tory Party in England went along with them for a while but have backed away and will attack independence using them. The British needed a big stick -this is it.
Thank you for an excellent, albeit painful, post.
No you are not
You have allowed yourself to be misdirected by the WOS mob
Readjust
There’s nothing wrong with gender balance
Of course we want as many women as men in our parliament and other political positions
I agree that the “either / or” between Nicola and Alex is divisive.
We need to encourage the approach of both!
[By the way, I think that Alex was merely stating the obvious when he said that Scotland would continue to use the pound. The whole currency “problem” was a non-problem dressed up to look like a problem by Osborne and Darling. The fact that to many Scots believed Darling and Osborne must surely not be put down to Alex]
I have read this several times here and the duplicate on Facebook Tom and like so many times I have, absolutely no clue what point you are trying to make.
I think you do
I agree Tom Platt
Have you ever I mean EVER seen Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon together criticising each other ?
No NEVER
So all this reporting of tension disagreement and Nicola being behind the legal cases against Alex is heresay
Hi Isabel, You said….
” Why do we not all focus on our goal.? Our only goal. Let’s demand that SNP do something now before it’s too late.” Is this not exactly what this article is doing ?
No this article is doing what WOS is doing which is exactly what the britnats want
Sowing division
It’s not necessary
SNP and Nicola Sturgeon have said they will announce a date for the next Scottish independence Referendum this year
If you can point to a single factual error Terence, I will pull the article, if you can’t I expect you to pull your comment.
I agree totally, and fear you will get some stick for this honest appraisal. The sad part is that there does not seem to be anyone with the required skills waiting in the wings, and certainly no short term solution, unless NS magically pulls a rabbit out of the hat.
So many wasted opportunities, and so much wasted time, stamping feet in WM and getting trashed again the very next day. Brexit is going to hurt very badly, and with the IM Bill and more Covid madness it creates the Perfect Storm where no doubt Boris and the vulture capitalists will make a fortune. We could have been up and away.
Probably one of the best blogs ever written. Top notch!
It is certainly a great title…it sums both men pictured up remarkably well doesn’t it?
The Apprentice sacked himself before he’d learnt how to be a statesman…he always was more of a salesman!
The Strategist is still, hopefully, ready to continue working his way through the debris of the crumbling UK>
The article though is something else.
I am sorry to have to express the belief that it surely falls into the #Westminsterite
” either/ or”
way of thinking that all people born in these islands have been, accidentally or deliberately, gas-lighted into for centuries.
The feminist agenda is a noble one throughout the world.
The re-gaining of Independence for Scotland agenda is a noble one in Europe.
It should come as no surprise or disappointment that Nicola, a real Scots woman, has been pursuing both.
Let us not prevent ourselves from having both in the near future by falling into disorder and lack of self-discipline as we did on the march on London at Derby, a few centuries ago.
Well said Tom Platt I agree
I was a member of a Central Scotland branch. When membership ballooned I and others suggested that it was time to break the constituency into separate branches so that people could be more involved. The convener refused.. They’ll all leave soon, he said. And he made sure they did.
Superb! Brings everything into focus.
Disaster politics!
Said it before many times, never enter into negotiations with the English state.
They don’t do democratic politics.
The clue is in the English state not having a constitution.
It’s like grabbing the wrong end of the snake.
🐼🐼
Absolutely spot on, regrettable but spot on.
One day people will realise that the Mark McDonald ‘scandal’ was all just a very carefully orchestrated rehearsal for the main event, they wanted to see how easily a man could be destroyed on the flimsiest of charges. Once the media complied, they decided they could use the same approach with Salmond. Unfortunately they went too far and instead of just being able to rely on the media, they had to rely on a jury which ultimately saw the whole thing for what it was.
Anyone worth their salt who did even the slightest bit of digging into the McDonald case would see the parallels, one wonders why the media are so afraid to call it for what it is…
Could it be because as it stands at present the leadership of the SNP are no threat to the British Union and a change of leadership might alter that dramatically?
The McDonald scandal was the way the SNP worked with the British media to persecute McDonald over a silly but inappropriate message. The details of his “Crime” they worked so hard to conceal.
As Barry says they then worked with the anti independence hated British media to then persecute Salmond as well – the early leak to the Daily Record of all the details of the first two complainers – only a small number of people would have access to these gory details but has never been investigated. The immediate statements by Rape Crisis Scotland condemning Salmond after he is found not guilty – all over the British media. Rape Crisis Scotland almost fully funded by the Scotgov ( Somerville). The recent leak from the Scotgov to the Britnat media that Salmonds solicitors reminded the Scotgov there was a legal ban on publication of the unlawful report produced by Evans/McKinnon from the judicial review. I very much doubt this leak will be investigated either by the Scotgov.
These are nasty nasty people who clearly care nothing for independence. They are more interested in retaining their positions of power.
“The immediate statements by Rape Crisis Scotland condemning Salmond after he is found not guilty – all over the British media”
and most regrettably in The National too. On the front page, without even an editorial to mitigate the harm done – giving a post-acquittal megaphone to the Alphabet women’s continued persecution. I resigned my subscription on that. That editor Baird is despicable: running a nominally pro-independence medium in cahoots with the British state agenda.
I do regret my cancellation sometimes as The National has since given a platform quite regularly to valid pro indy voices, so I have to find indirect ways to read! But I wouldn’t give them money again. That was a disgraceful decision. I just don’t trust NewsQuest any more.
lawrenceab you can make up your own mind as to whether I was including the National in – ” all over the British media.”
The National’s coverage of the Salmond trials were a disgrace – their excuse resources – RESOURCES!!!!!! They cut and paste Britnat paper reports. The National is a Sturgeon supporting paper. I say that as someone who was at George square, Glasgow in November last year at the National organised rally.
Independence supporters are being played.
Agree with everything you have written, except “To gain our independence we need to be as ruthless as our enemies.”
I believe we have to be totally ruthless.
The opinions expressed are well-articulated and only faintly seething, and it is your right to be able to express them. However, when this gets into areas of conjecture that you can’t possibly have any real knowledge of (particularly as regards NS’s motives and abilities) you are on pretty shaky ground.
I’d say that the kind of hyperbole employed here is right out of the Peter Bell, Stu Campbell school of petulant political apologetics, and will probably be of more use to unionists than yessers. That said, it feeds and stokes the faux fury of the fringes and will be welcomed by them for that very reason.
If you would care to point to a single inaccuracy as opposed to an uncomfortable truth I will gladly amend. As you seem to think handing out labels is OK I shall return the compliment, firstly though let me say to be mentioned in the same sentence as the brilliant Stu Campbell I take as,a huge compliment, though I doubt it was intended to be one. On the other hand to be likened to the arrogant bombastic hard of thinking blowhard Bell I find quite offensive. You, I place in the niaive category those that want the SNP and Independence Movement to be all Little House in the Prairie. I stand by my opinion She is unsuitable for the job in hand it is The House of Horrors, we are fighting we need a warrior not a gender obsessed office manager that has no loyalty to anyone but herself. What she, her husband other SNP members aided by UK Civil Servants tried to do Alex Salmond makes them unworthy to be in,let alone lead our movement. Sadly Scotland’s history is littered with such people.
I Tweeted any months ago (partly in jest, but only partly) that what we needed now was a “war-time consigliere” and not a manager.
As you have said, I think Nicola has done a fairly good managerial job, especially over CV19, although that seems to be hitting choppy waters, BUT she is not a “revolutionary” and I think that’s what we need now. Relying on Westminster somehow and in some inexplicable way deciding after all that a section 30 will be granted strikes me, not so much as wishful thinking, but as blind idiocy in the face of the long history of perfidious Albion behavior.
Not one country left the clutches of the British Empire without a fight. This SNP Leadership cabal do not appear to have any fight in them. We might be approaching a “do or die” moment. I really want to be proven wrong, but nothing has happened since 2014 to convince me to believe I’m not right
I am not a member of the snp but have voted for them for the past 30 years, I totally agree with your statement on nicola sturgeon, you will be shouted down by the nicola fan club, I KNOW EVERYTIME I make a statement against nicola I get shouted down, the snp have progressed from being a working class rebellious group of independent minded people wanting a better standard of life for the scottish people, to a professional political party able to run a small country like scotland, the hierarchy of the snp seem to forget what their main issue is the act of achieving independence for the people of scotland,they seem quite happy with devolution under westminsters rule, the professionals have taken over from the working class people that built the snp to where it is now,alex salmond although a professional he was one of the people he was one of us,we are needing somebody of the calibre of alex salmond to take us into the next stage of independence,nicola sturgeon and her husband peter murrell are so mixed up in the outrage against alex salmond if we dont clean out our own house first there is not going to be independence for scotland at this time,the grass roots of the snp must stand up and be counted it is for them to sort out the mess our hierarchy have got the snp into, and it must be done soon, we need action from the scottish government before the 31st of december 2020, or westminster with johnson gove and cummings will bring scotland down and take over the running of scotland from their nice new offices in edinburgh.
What you’re asking for is a gambler, not a strategist. Someone prepared to flip a coin straightaway and lose, rather like David Cameron.
Assuming that the Yes/No campaigns will perform as they did last time is a great way to lose with confidence. I cannot imagine how they would do it, but I’m not going to rule out the possibility that No can put together a brilliant campaign, whilst Yes flounders with infighting.
At 55%, there’s still a 20-25% chance of losing a referendum due to turnout and campaign performance.
I think the SNP will win a majority despite everything next year. Then we’ll get IndyRef2 in 2022 or 2023. Independence will be delivered by 2025.
How will independence be delivered by 2025 Alan? Please do not say Sec 30 that is a red card. I am not suggesting a gambler indeed I am suggesting a warrior!
I think you hit the nail on the head, BB. Women are, by nature, more cautious, not normally followers of the grand gesture, but that does not necessarily mean that they are all non-strategists. It seems to me that the FM simply does not want to rock the boat, but to edge it gently into the shallows, and, thereby, inadvertently beaching it and tearing the bottom out of it. Whatever she has proposed in the past six years has been disastrous.
I’m a woman, but I could see quite clearly that trying to halt Brexit on behalf of the whole of the UK was, at the same time, a strategic disaster and a missed opportunity to usher in independence. Before that, the concentration in trying to persuade NO voters by means of a S30 Order when other, equally democratic means were available, was also a cul de sac that forced a wait that has left it too late to save the Scottish people from massive pain and misery.
The favoured GRA reform and the ‘hate crime’, obviously coupled to prevent anyone from speaking out against this wholesale transfer of women’s rights to self-ID-ing natal males has been disastrous, too, and so short-sighted and stupid as to be beyond belief. The party is being taken over by young people who have little life experience beyond the political bubble and whose appreciation of the niceties of the law is either minimal or non-existent. They are authoritarian wee thugs, as young people always are when handed power before they have learned self-control and maturity: Cambodia; China; Africa; Russia are just a few countries where handing power to the too-young ended in disaster for that country when regimes arose that steered them into totalitarian nihilism. The fact remains, too, that older people are pulling their strings in the background in the SNP, as they did in those other regimes.
So, cui bono? Who benefits? Well, on the face of it, a number of nicely-remunerated and ideologically-driven MPs and MSPs who are behind this directing of the SNP into a cul-de sac. Behind them? The British State. If the FM cannot see how the actions of the party in the last six years, and the non-action on independence, which has been, ironically, part of that action, there is no hope for us, because she does not appear to be listening or appreciate just what kind of opposition the British State represents, or she does, and is terrified of it to the extent that he has created a state of inertia on independence.
The second wave of Covid has provided the perfect backdrop to the elimination of Scotland while the fiddlers fiddle around the minutiae of stupid and retrograde policies that no one wants except a very misogynist, shouty, bullying group of lobbyists. And this is the party of Scottish independence? God help us.
Lorna what a magnificent comment almost worthy of a blog post on its own.I equally agree with every word you have used so eloquently.
excellent comment by Lorna Campbell !!
Lorna,
I have been reading and agreeing with your comments for years.
Is it possible that you could in some way get elected to fight the good fight?
I appreciate that you are no longer young, But I for one have absolute confidence that you would make wise choices.
Respect.
🙂
I am afraid, aLuker, that I am both too long in the tooth and not always in the best of health these days – good days and not-so-good days. Neither am I any longer in the SNP; I left the party earlier this year after many years and it broke my heart.
I actually like Nicola Sturgeon, and I do think she has been an excellent FM – well, apart from that GRA reform and ‘hate crime’ bill stuff, which is just about as far from her feminist agenda as you could get – but she is not the person to lead us to independence unless she brings in someone to work with her who has the fighting spirit to take us to independence. That will, indeed, need to be a warrior, and I don’t care whether that person is male or female. That should not matter.
There are three that I can think of, off-hand: Joanna Cherry; Phillipa Whitford; and Angus Robertson. Angus Robertson hasn’t been in action for a while, after he lost his seat, and he gives all the appearance of being a bit of a pussy-cat and a Nicola supporter, but there is also a side to him that is rather ferocious, maybe even a bit ruthless, and that is what is needed now. He was an Alex Salmond appointee, as Leader of the Westminster group. I certainly wouldn’t rule him out. The other two are equally formidable, but there appears to be a faction within the higher echelons that wants to keep them out of Holyrood. Sadly, I think the damage done to Alex Salmond might be irreversible, but I underestimated Alex Salmond once before and I learned my lesson – which I was perfectly happy to learn – so never say never. Thank you for your kindness, but I’m not politician material. I’m an observer like you, BB. Always have been.
Lorna – I disagree about Angus Robertson. Please do not ask me to explain why.
Indeed a brilliant summation. Sadly!
I totally agree with all you say Lorna, particularly the part about handing power to the young. There is a reason why leaders and people in positions of power are normally older.
I totally agree with everything you have written. Nicola Sturgeon is a first rate First Minister who works hard for Scotland and the Scottish people but as leader of a party that has one key objective, independence, she is extremely bad. So bad that I sadly think she will cost us independence rather than achieve it. The reliance on a Section 30 being ‘given’ by Westminster, the continual kicking the referendum ‘can’ down the road and the distracting strategies of the policies, such as those outlined in your blog, that ought to wait until we are independent are all examples of her having the completely wrong focus. I am in so much despair that my membership is now also under question, the only thing stopping me leaving at the moment is the fee is so small that it won’t make any difference to me financially. Naively I am hoping that in the near future a rabbit will be pulled out of the hat but I’m not going to hold my breath.
That is a superb post.
Many thanks to our grassroots media, our voice, from various capable bloggers – for the msm are indeed strangely silent during the open goal that is the current SNP.
Another observation; has anyone noticed that many of those ’25 followers’ unionist accounts on Twitter that used to attack the SNP are now 25-followers accounts defending the SNP? Seems those ‘SNP-Bad’ accounts suddenly know what side their bread’s buttered on.
Excellent work, Roddy.
Spot on!.The Nicola sycophants will soon be going into attack overdrive.
I don’t wish to add to all the comments that you article prompted but suffice it to say there is a lot in there to agree and disagree with. Overall the thread is imho correct and the important point to recognise is that Westminster will not allow us our rightful Independence. Even were we to get 100% in a referendum they would not permit secession from the “Union”. The currency is important and will become more so if we declare UDI. The misconception and the reliance on a referendum is wasting time. AS was a formidable leader and tactician. If ever there was a time for Scotland to take its rightful place in the world it is now. England will never give us that place. It is not theirs to give.
Thank you for that, on currency can I direct you to my latest Podcast on this very site with Dr Tim Rideout clearly explaining that actually, currency is not the problem the unionists would have you believe in Glasgow parlance, ‘Its a dawdle!’ .
Cyril what you and MANY independence supporters seem to miss is the MANY posts by a man named Breeks on WOS and also the MANY posts by Lorna Campbell outlining the legal ways we have of gaining our independence, there is no necessity or need for UDI,
Scotland is in a VOLUNTARY union with england agreed to by a TREATY, if any member within that union breaches that treaty then the aggrieved partner has the right to withdraw from that treaty, as WE all know england acting as the WM parliament has done so on numerous occasions, but as we had unionist parties in Scotland NO one was willing to challenge the WM power, that is now NOT the case, we now have a SNP SG who SHOULD BE but are NOT challenging WM on these points
This introduction of the Imperial Markets Bill (not a typo for that is what it is) produces if passed a direct assault on Scotland’s ability to govern itself and as Joanna Cherry has STATED CATEGORICALLY within the HOC not only does this bill breach international law it also breaches the TREATY OF UNION so roll on the IMB and force the SNP SG to take it to court
I think the fundamental problem is the SNP is scared of our right wing Unionist press.
They should go on the attack, because every blatant lie and distortion from the MSM means another independence voter, and attacking them will bring them out in a frenzy. Cowering just means more blows.
Even Unionist Scots are beginning to realise that the racist campaign against Scotland includes even the collaborating ‘house jocks’. I suspect they are also beginning to realise that their future life as a ‘refugee’ in England will not be a bed of roses.
I’m afraid Salmond’s course has been run, we now need Joanna Cherry,
Brilliant blog Barrheadboy. Your forensic attention to the history since 2014 makes the solution to progress Scotland’s independence obvious, a new top table at Bute House is required.
So…the problem is the SNP leadership are both too feminist and too anti-feminist? This doesn’t make much sense. The problems of indy strategy go much deeper and relate to class realities in the country, George Kerevan has argued: https://www.conter.co.uk/blog/2020/7/7/snp-at-the-crossroads
Agreed, David. Our problems are universal in that every other country trying to get its independence has encountered much the same opposition from within and without. I think what makes the SNP SG different from most other independence parties in government is that it is really two parties in one, albeit all groupings will have differences of opinion. However, in the SNP and the wider independence movement, this appears to be a fusion of gradualism and ‘wokism’ which, on the face of it only, seems to be feminist. The GRA reform is as far from feminism as you could get, but, in legal terms, its end result must be to displace women entirely or, at the very least, leave the displacement or otherwise of women in the hands of natal men.
I don’t know how many actually appreciate the number of women now who are supporters of independence. We tend to think of rUK and Scottish Unionists who have turned, but, actually, the greater numbers from NO to YES are in the women’s ranks, and, so, they are crucial to achieving independence. If they are split between natal women and trans women (and their supporters, who also include natal women) this issue became very important. Thankfully, the SG has put it to one side for the present, and we can all get on with achieving independence, but it will not go away because we women do not wish to live in an independent Scotland that hands away our rights and sex-based spaces, already protected in law, to natal men, so we will go on fighting.
I have no objections to a pre independence referendum if we can win it. If there is the slightest doubt – and I believe there is a doubt – then we must look at legal and democratic alternatives. The intransigence of the SG has been a stumbling block every inch of the way on that score, as on others. Campbell Martin gives us a glimpse of why that might be, and I am inclined to believe him. It is the only thing that actually makes any kind of sense, apart from feather-cushioning and a counter-productive level of caution.
Great post. One thing – are we certain, given recent revelations about the Murrells, that the lack of progress towards Indy is incompetence and not collusion?
Great post Roddy as always,
Nicola has been a disaster for Scotland however paradoxically she is hugely popular due to her handling of the Covid crisis and support for independence is rising as a result albeit not through design on her part,
There’s no doubt in my mind she has to go along with quite a few others but the problem going forward as I see it is how do we replace her while still maintaining that support ? who do we replace her with ? who has the personality to pull it off because whether Nicola jumps or is pushed there’s likely gonna be an almighty mess to clean up in her wake
I agree with every word BB she has been a total disaster for Scottish Independence. I can think of many other failings since 2014 too. BShe has to go and the sooner the better.
Any chance of unblocking me from twitter? Not sure why I was blocked, originally from Auchenback if that helps away! @Windymiller0
Thank you for this excellent summary BB. I will admit I was directed to it from a FB post as I had stopped reading your blogs regularly. Now I see you have picked up the baton you have my full support. Let’s not call each other though, Wings and Peter A Bell want the same thing. Peter might be a bit blunt (even makes me wince at times) but his heart and soul are in this. We must all stand together. Everyone has different styles but as a newcomer to blogs, I find its remarkably easy to spot the ones from people who really want Independence and are not in this for the revenue.
Going forwards we need Alex Salmond back, there is no one else.
See what you have been missing!! 😁😁😁😁😁😁
Well spoken, truthful and insightful. This is what is needed in every household. Set the truth free, what have we to lose but honest hard graft which we have by the bucket full
Nicola Sturgeon’s whole repartee is; “Jam tomorrow”.
Her whole political approach seems to be; do little; give this Westminster government enough rope to hang itself. Up to a point this has worked simply because the present Tory government is so unbelievably crass.
In 2015 an angry Scotland electorate elected 56 out of our 59 seats for the Westminster parliament. In front of the World press Nicola Sturgeon held an open air photo shoot in Queensferry; then did; NOTHING.
In the five years that followed Nicola Sturgeon has allowed the Westminster political machinery to recover and rebuild. Alex Salmond; had he remained as First Minister; would have; without hesitation; demanded a rerun of the referendum.
I think the snp are doing very well in Scotland i have even spoken to some people living in England are going to vote snp we need to rule ourselves why not not by the disjointed English we have now
It will be interesting to hear how your friends in England manage to Vote for the SNP when they have no candidates, standing there though I do hear the member for Perth & Kinross could easily be persuaded.
Holiday homes owned by English people may be the answer.
You must be domiciled in a country to vote, Cubby. If second home owners are being allowed to vote, that is illegal and the Electoral Commission needs to be made aware of it. Same with rUK and foreign students and anyone else ‘passing through’. They have no right to the vote.
Not exactly true I am now domiciled in Catalonia while retaining property and some business interests in Scotland. I am by law allowed to retain my vote for 8 years. I have a proxy vote in May which I will use. Till today it was SNP1 ISP2 however if the SNP cultees keep attacking ISP with the same bike and hatred I might change my mind which would mean not voting for my pal Tom Arthur that would pain me greatly however someone needs to rein in these SNP attack dogs.
Nicola Sturgeon has said the SNP Scottish independence plan will be published by spring 2021 which is March 2021.
She also said the date for the next Scottish independence referendum will be issued by the end of this year.
It’s too late for a new leader
Scottish independence is too close now
What we need is people getting behind the cause
Focus
Stop moaning about policies you don’t like
Independence is the only thing that’s important right now
I agree that it is too late for a new leader, but I also think she will fall if she doesn’t change tack soon, and that would be disastrous for us. There is something building. You can feel it in the air. She is not a stupid women, so I hope she knows that she will not get away with more foot-dragging. The recent tweets in support of Rhiannon Spear, but the silence over the same kind of abuse levelled at other female members of the party by members of her own coterie, does not bode well for sense prevailing. She could have supported RS, and also mentioned others who have suffered the same kind of nonsense at the hands of the hard of thinking. I hope very much that I am wrong.
Terence
Do you condone the near 3 year persecution of Salmond that shows no sign of ever ending.
Is this acceptable conduct to you? Where do you draw the line?
I think it is disgusting that people who supported Salmond just cast him aside now. This is not moaning about policies but basic decent human behaviour.