FROM NOON,SUNDAY.
Everybody who reads this blog or watches Through A Scottish Prism is aware that this week TASP facilitated a meeting of independence minded souls to attempt to chart a way forward for our cause.
We had people from all the independence parties and people of no party affiliation all in one place.There were several independence forums and groups involved like Salvo/Liberation and The Independence Forum. There was a frank and open discussion on different thoughts on the way forward. The consensus was that everyone in this meeting agreed that Scotland needs independence.
Some do not see it as urgent as others. Some think a cautious approach is necessary, others like TASP think urgency is required.Some even cling to the need to convert soft Nos before we can move forward. Others like myself think that there are no longer any soft Nos or Yessers. There are hardcore Yessers and hardcore Nos and the disenfranchised.Every opinion poll for past two years has shown that those in favour of independence outstrip those that support the union.We just need to tap into that majority.
We at TASP and 141 believe the missing piece is a vehicle to harness that desire of the people.We strongly support the idea of using Holyrood 2026 as that vehicle.Unlike others we truly believe that this is the best opportunity to release our nation from the Westminster spivs. A United movement on a single line manifesto of independence is the way to go. A people’s movement that leads the voting public will bring in the political parties.
You can be sure of one thing, ALL the Political Parties fear a united independence movement.It is why one of Sturgeon’s first moves was to discredit, then dismantle the Yes Movement and AUOB!
As was shown in 2014 The YES Movement could not be controlled by the party. It is no coincidence that it was when the YES Movement took over the campaign we moved from 28% in favour of independence to 53% the week before the Referendum.
The SNP, unlike now were then a trusted party and yet they had zero ability to rein in the YES Movement. That was a good thing, not the problem the politicians perceived. The politicos were running after YES and asking to be included. The same can happen in 2026 if we apply ourselves and start campaigning now!
Listen to our discussion on the gathering and to some of the outcomes.Not everyone who attended wishes to be identified and we respect their privacy. Those who are still members of parties especially need to keep quiet that they are seeking answers elsewhere and not accepting the Party before nation ideology.
We know of other people talking in private about independence, and we at TASP extend the hand of unity and friendship to all of them, even the ones that think TASP is too hardcore and we might frighten away those ‘soft nos.’ Get in touch.We will always listen to anyone that puts Scotland needs before self-interest! Grifters need not apply!
This past week there were so many indicators that show independence is more urgent than ever. The Scottish Budget was presented to Holyrood. Calling it a budget is really bigging it up. It is our annual pretend division of our Westminster pocket money, it is not a budget per se. We need control of all the economic levers and revenues for it to be effective. You know how that can be possible. It does not include a foreign country taking all of our natural resources and wealth then telling us how little we can spend on improving our society!
We have often stated that Devolution has run its course. Everything that could be done with the limited powers was extracted by Alex Salmond’s government between 2007 and 2014. It has been downhill and a steady eroding ever since as forces chip away at those improvements.
There is a parallel with Atlee’s 1945 UK Labour Government. It introduced the Welfare State, Pensions, a National Health Service, a National housing programme, Family Allowance, Nationalisation of utilities, Unemployment and Sick pay. It was founded to address the:-
Five Giants- Disease, Want, Squalor, Ignorance and Idleness.
Ever since that transforming socialist government of Atlee in 1945 the right-wing in British Politics has been doing everything in its power to remove those hard won rights of the people. Such things reduce the profits of the boss class and bring equality.The boss class believe that equality is a bad word.They prefer looking down on the masses and moving them around like pieces on a chessboard. Everything is to be about them and their worldview, not the worldview of the majority! Giving us just enough to live while being totally dependent on their benevolence is their ideal!
From the minute Margaret Thatcher entered No 10 Downing Street those gains of the people began to be eroded. She sold off the nationalised utilities back to the London spivs in the city. Pensions have never kept pace with inflation and are now the lowest in the developed world. Council housing is a thing of the past and the rental sector is once more the preserve of the private landlord. Unemployment and sick pay are a pittance that would not keep a dog and cat in dignity far less a human being.
All that is left is the NHS and that is barely hanging on and by the time Starmer’s Tories leave office for the other Tories to return I fully expect the NHS will once more be private. Only health care for the wealthy, like USA the public will be dependent on their employer for health cover.Attempt to ask for a decent wage or better conditions and you and your family overnight will have no health cover!
The workhouses were a thing of the past. Neoliberalism is bringing them back in a new guise, now they are called Freeports and SEZs.We are even hearing that the ECHR will soon be a thing of the past removing the last vestige of rights for the masses.The bosses need complete control, and a Unionist governance at Holyrood will give them that power back and remove the power from you!
In Scotland, it is the exact same those wonderful reforms of the Alex Salmond Government will be taken back. Free Prescriptions, Tuition fees, Bridge Tolls, free homecare for the elderly, subsidised travel for pensioners and youths. All these benefits reduce the profits of the few and British neoliberalism deems they must be removed so profits can sore!
Should a Unionist cabal take control of Holyrood all of those will disappear as will Scottish Water in public hands.Then using flimsy excuses all the others will be taken so as we align with Mother England.
We discuss all the events of the week that affect Scotland and unlike others we offer solutions too. Independence is the solution, and you the people are the fuel for that solution.Either you sit at home girning about the unfairness of it all and how difficult it is to do anything about it or you get involved and ensure an independence super majority in 2026 and independence!
Everything you say here is correct . What we need is a clear process of how independence will be achieved by voting for independence parties in 2026.
That is the other area where SNP Carrots disenfranchised activists.
So a declaration after independence parties gain majority is only 1st step. A process of gaining foreign acceptance is mandatory. UN recognition too is needed and realisation that England and USA will resist and object.
So discussion of all this is needed as a follow up now.
The Declaration of a Sovereign Scot … I’ve now scanned and copied each Declaration collected in Glasgow on St Andrews Day, and this week I will prepare a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations – which will than be copied and sent with separate letters to each of 18 United Nation Member States. But – it will probably be next week before they are all posted, because I will be going to the oldest Post Office in the world to post them. Here’s a clue of what will appear on all the envelopes involved – but please remember each of those 18 Countries gained their own independence from the UK. Each are being asked – to bear witness – to those in Scotland who have made, and will continue to make, their Declaration to regain Scotland’s independence. International recognition for the Declaration initiative – of the people, by the people, for the people. This initiative is based on one fact – it is the people of Scotland who are Sovereign!
I’ll post about the next Stage in the initiative shortly. I’ll be looking for the involvement of Yes Groups.
(Sorry – I can’t add the photo – it shows that on each envelope – that it has been posted from the oldest Post Office in the world – 1715.
Here are links for Lloyds reading references:
The Rousing of the Scottish Working Class
James D. Young
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21372811-the-rousing-of-the-scottish-working-class
“The Wretched of the Earth”
by Frantz Fanon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wretched_of_the_Earth
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66933.The_Wretched_of_the_Earth
“The Break Up of Britain”
Tom Nairn
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2497241.The_Break_Up_of_Britain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hechter#Internal_colonialism
“Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development”
by Michael Hechter
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1075787.Internal_Colonialism
There are an extensive range of references to postcolonial theory including almost all of the above writers in this published academic paper which applies this theory to the specific Scottish situation, albeit unfortunately excludes the James Young reference Lloyd kindly suggested during the discussion:
https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/wp.towson.edu/dist/b/55/files/2022/05/The-Socio-Political-Determinants-of-Scottish-Independence.pdf
Yes Roddy citizens rights, citizens protections, citizens standards of living and a share of the cake are being relentlessly rolled back.
Unfettered Nroliberal capitalism or more accurately exploitation of the masses is the order of the day. Animal Farm is here.
But it’s interesting that in America one of that country’s largest corporate healthcare providers this week had its CEO gunned down in what clearly comes, across as an execution.
Seems that there is a backlash against corporates profiteering whilst people are denied cover.
One swallow as they say does not make a summer. But does this killing portend a bigger backlash to come. It’s the type of behaviours that manifest when societies, or at least large sections of societies feel very badly treated. And it’s, a behaviour that once out of the bottle is difficult to constrain without addressing the problem that brought it about.
It is where politics can go when it is perceived widely not to work.
Will it widen and deepen in America is difficult to call. But they’ve got the guns and the discontent.
Could it happen here or was, Northern Ireland troubles just an urban myth.
One thing for sure, I’m sure there will be one or two corporate executives pondering this week’s attack and whether it could catch on.
It’s like physics really. Screw or compress things down too hard, be it people or an atomic nucleus, and you get a reaction.
Lloyd , in particular , here , displaying brilliant insight into what needs to be done – and understood ; ie the Colonial nature of Scotland’s present condition . This can’t be stated often – and loudly – enough .
Until the mass of Scottish people understand this , progress to our Liberation is unlikely to occur .
All the fannying-about with , eg ” Policies ” ; ” Working constructively ” with whatever mob of oppressive Unionists are in power ; or – god ‘elp us – NO ! another destined-for-the-toilet S.G ” Paper ” has and will continue to add-up to a big , fat , time-wasting 0 . As , I suspect , they’re meant to .
Good work , y’all on making the Summit happen . ( Some form of ) ” Unity ” – ( I’m in agreement with Peter Bell that ” Combination ” may be a more realistic ambition ) is a sine-qua-non if progressing our cause is the goal .
I don’t doubt that it is for all the Prism contributors and a significant % of our people : the question is whether or not the SNP have the savvy ( and humility ) to recognise they are failing miserably on their own and need to put aside their ( assumed ) command of the Independence Movement ( at least , so they imagine ) and their ” Party 1st – Independence – not even 2nd , but somewhere way down their list of priorities ” auto-foot-shooting , unproductive nonsense and get real .
IMO for that to have any chance of happening , Swinney has to go . Not that there’s any truly credible Independence Warrior currently available within that Party who could be considered a more combative , fearless replacement . Nonetheless , it’s hard to see how any such Swinney replacement could be worse than the latter
The latest Norstat poll has YES on 54%. We simply have to find a way of putting it in every manifesto that a majority of votes for independence supporting candidates will be a plebiscite vote for independence.
Of course having just one Unity candidate in every constituency would be the ideal way to go. With 54% of voters wanting YES – we should be able to achieve a super majority – IF we can get everyone out there to vote! The current SNP hierarchy appear to believe in party before country and will not accept this – their vote will accordingly reflect their sadly mistaken belief!
Just remember it’s only 1 poll and that is from a opinion survey firm (Norstat) that is historically YES-friendly compared to others i.e. it tends to have a higher baseline of support for YES that the average. That said, Norstat have been trending upwards, with their last 3 surveys showing 48%, 50% and 54% respectively. Survation too are indicating an uptick in support with the last 4 polls registering 45%, 46%, 46% and 48% resecptively for YES.
On the other hand there have been 34 opinion polls published in 2024 to date and only 6 have registered a majority in favour of restoring Scotland’s independent statehood. So we should be cautious about where the real level of support is currently. In my opinion it is best to consider that around half the population are desirous of the restoration of Scotland’s full self-government.
While the SNP are in charge, the cause for independence will not move forward one inch. Any real independence minded person has noone to vote for in the next Scottish election. Alba are in turmoil internally, the SNP aren’t interested, Sturgeon the traitor appears to be sloping back into the public eye, branchform has stalled, Labour / Tory / Reform / Greens 4 cheeks of the same arse.
There is no way forward. The forums are an echo chamber. Nothing more, nothing less.
The SNP is now the party of managed devolution. This might even be understandable if they had once (in the past decade) tried to advance independence and failed, but they have not even tried.
When will people understand what this woke agenda has done and continues to do across the board, not just here, in Scotland, although that is what concerns us at the moment? The woke movement in all its manifestations is Marxist, and Marxism has not worked anywhere, but it has caused upheaval and misery in its wake.
In both Russia and China (and Cambodia and N. Korea, as well) it has introduced totalitarianism and caused millions of deaths. Here, in Scotland, it is women who are at the sharp end of it, and, because those in power do not actually care about women, the wider danger has been missed and allowed to grow.
What is it going to take for everyone to see the danger? Too many believe it is a side issue. It is not. It has destroyed the SNP from within, and will do the same to Sinn Fein and every other political group that offers it house room – here and everywhere in the West.
The ‘trans’ issue is merely the vanguard of a massive Marxist/totalitarian machine. The backlash from the right is laughable. The ‘far right’, as it is called now, is the old centre and centre-left. That is how bad it has become that so few recognize that simple fact and bleat on about the right taking over politics.
The real far right is every bit as objectionable, but, right now, if you’ll pardon the pun, it is not the immediate enemy. No hope whatsoever of achieving independence and change for Scotland for the better as long as this hard left wokeness is in a state of hegemony. See the real enemy, Scotland, not the imaginary ones.
And meanwhile Lorna the Assisted Dying Bill proposed for England is here now in Scotland.
With four days now of sub zero temperatures and more to come Starmer’s policy of removing pensioners heating allowance will most certainly be racking up the deaths of the elderly as they struggle to heat their homes.
Most certainly won’t have been missed by the Labour strategists who want also to cut pensions.
Don’t no whether to laugh or cry. Truly, in cold cold Scotland the policy of reducing heating for the elderly is insane.
Only a complete shake-up of all taxes, how we recoup dividends from natural resources and how we distribute these will change anything. Will independence bring that much-needed change? It will have to if Scotland is to be a better place than it is now, and we will have to persuade people that it is possible to change the system in an independent Scotland. If we simply import neo liberalism and unregulated capitalism and privatization, we will be able to say we are independent, but will we see any difference, will it benefit the vast majority of our people? That is what we need people to vote for because they will be voting with their lives, many of them.
Lorna , these * Woke * zealots are not Marxist – even if they delude themselves that they are . ( do they actually call themselves Marxist , ie do they – dare I say it ? – ” Identify ” as such , or is this name given to by others ? ) .
Marx – for all his faults and wishful thinking predictions – produced an exhaustive and really quite brilliant analysis and critique of Capitalism and perceived History as – primarily – the playing-out of a Class Struggle . One can agree or not with his thinking . Personally , I think he was right on a lot of things – and wrong on others : like most – if not every – philosopher/thinker .
But these hordes of * Woke * ideologues have not the slightest interest in such ideas as Class Struggle – on the contrary – they embrace and are the beneficiaries of Capitalism and think putting stupid little flags and symbols on their Social Media profiles is a revolutionary act .
The ” Left ” now endorse permanent War – just look at the truly shameful state of the U.S Democrats – and have turned their back on the perennially disadvantaged in favour of evermore obscure ( not to say unhinged ) Identity Politics and have fetishised a species of self-dramatising , utterly bogus ” Victimhood ” – eg * Trans * people are History’s most pitiful victims ; and all this while the actual living standards of the people they are supposed to be defending are dropping precipitously .
It would be laughable were it not the case that these people are doing such terrible damage to our societies
Robert: I agree that they are not Marxists in the usual sense, and also that Marx was a great political and social philosopher, but he was also a bit of a misogynist who treated his wife not very well, but all heroes have clay feet, I suppose. Very few of us manage to live our best lives; we always fall short. These ideologues appear to want to have total equality for all and everything: that is, equity, which is impossible to achieve because it takes no account of individual talents, skills, flaws and lack of talent and skills – I want, therefore I am entitled.
It is wholly selfish and self-absorbed and appears to know no restraint and, coupled with very apparent addictions to p**n have led to a Marxism of the sexual appetites of some very iffy people whose preoccupation is with gaining power in order to indulge their darkest desires. Only the strongest can survive that mindset because it is, essentially, nihilistic for everyone except the believers. Women, children, gay people, animals – even decent men – would all suffer terribly in any state they controlled.
The whole woke thing is definitely rooted in Marxism as well as Post Modernism/Post Structuralism, but you are right here, too: the ‘bright’ young things who go in for identity politics don’t know their a**e from their elbow. We have created a generation of narcissists (albeit many young folk, most probably, are anything but, and see through the bull). I am sorry to say that my own sex is the one most captured by the bull.
The capture by the hard left of identity politics has been a godsend for them and afforded them relevance again, but, as in every generation, they go too far and undermine their credibility as well as inviting in the far right. The old centre left and centre is now deemed to be ‘far right’ by these woke fools. The whole concept of wiping out the past and taking us back to Year Zero is very much the baby of the hard, Marxist left (or, at least, the facsimile of such) and it has the potential to drive us into a totalitarian state without most being aware of what is happening. It also has allies in other religion-based, politically radical groups that bodes ill for the future.
Spot-on as ever , Lorna