THE LESSON THAT NEEDS LEARNED.

Posted byiainlawson27Posted inUncategorizedTags:, ,

A guest article from Bill Clark from Fort William.

 History shows time and time again that independence and the right to self-determination has to be taken and not begged as a favour.  There comes a time when deeds, not words, are called for.  The Alba Party’s Neale Hanvey and Kenny MacAskill obviously agree and made their protest against Westminster’s treatment of Scotland while SNP MPs sat on their hands.  It has still not got through to the ruling class in the new SNP that we must do more than fight to return the same MPs who are continually  ignored in Westminster Sturgeon’s response has been another call to political arms to fight a referendum in 2023.  In reality, it is for yet another Westminster election whenever it is called.    The First Minister knows that there will be no Section 30 referendum in 2023. 

 That means we will be expected to prepare and work, yet again, to return our SNP candidates to Westminster for a further five years.   The SNP will claim that the election will also act as an independence plebiscite.   Irrespective of that claim, without an alliance of “YES” supporters the SNP political plebiscite/election to return SNP candidates will not get over 50% of the vote.    It would appear our SNP MPs have not finished asking the same questions at Westminster which they have been asking over and over again for many years now.   Same questions, same responses.  It feels like it could all go on for infinity.  The same SNP MPs obviously are of a mind that they can convince SNP activists that they can wear the next Prime Minister down playing by Westminster rules.    

I don’t think they will convince all independence voters that they are all worthy of another five years.  They certainly have not convinced me.  We are no closer to independence than we were in 2014.  Far too many careerists in the new SNP are now more interested in paying homage to FM than they are in achieving independence.   They know full well that without a united independence movement we are kicking independence into the long grass.

The years before the 2014 referendum there was a togetherness under Alex Salmond which brought the “Yes” movement a strength that was palpable.  However, since then there has been some grubby politics within the SNP which would have made even unionist politician’s blush.  Politics is a dirty business and the SNP leadership have been no angels in that regard particularly against those who threaten their positions of power.  This should not be about how many SNP candidates are elected to sit in Westminster.  This is about achieving Scottish independence and the fact that we are no further forward than we were in 2014 says it all.  There was never going to be a Section 30 referendum in 2023.  It was always about a Westminster election.   It is all about holding on to power.  That is why the SNP will never agree to an alliance with, in particular, the Alba Party.  Those elected SNP members who have a particular taste for attacking Alba Party members, and I don’t need to name them, will not give up their well-paid jobs willingly.  To quote Edmund Burke in the second half of the 18th century “Those who have once been intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, can never willingly abandon it”.

I have never voted for any other political party other than the SNP, but they will be forgoing my vote next time around if they continue to accept disunity.  I will not give my vote in a standstill election for those MPs within the SNP who put self-interest and disunity before independence.    

The unionist parties have made it quite clear that they do not accept that we have a union of equals.  We are in effect in a captive political arrangement with Westminster unionist politicians with no way out.  Therefore, we have to accept that we have to consider an alternative way forward.  Independence is not the preserve of the SNP.  Some years ago, at an SNP conference Chris McEleny faced abuse from SNP career-minded supporters of Nicola Sturgeon because he was proposing a way forward that Nicola and those around her did not approve of.  Notwithstanding, she has now seen fit to plagiarise that proposal as her own.  That lack of class still prevails in the new SNP.

All political parties are made up of people with various shades of opinion but for parties to be successful there has to be a common purpose that brings them all together without, as in this case, taking the self-interest of our present SNP MPs into account.   Independence should be enough to bring everyone together as one.   The SNP have made it quite clear that is never going to happen.   They are more interested in another five years of more of the same.   Five more years of the most egotistical person on the planet being photographed sipping a cup of tea or swinging a golf club is not going to bring independence any closer.   Neither is the SNPs refusal to fight a referendum in an alliance with all those who believe in Scottish independence. 

MY COMMENT

Bill’s article reflects the concern many feel that recent announcements, which initially created new hope have very quickly degenerated into feelings of deja vu, as new qualifications introduced by the First Minister created an obvious view that the first announcement had been made off the cuff and even the Deputy First Minister was unaware of the detail. It raises the question of exactly who, if anybody, was consulted over the initial announcement? I remember when the SNP was democratic and an announcement as important as this would have been discussed at the NEC, certainly all senior office bearers would have been consulted and clear messaging established for maximum impact. Instead it seems confusion and dilution of the message is now the favoured route. Not good.

I am, as always

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16 thoughts on “THE LESSON THAT NEEDS LEARNED.”

  1. Great piece, Bill. Bullseye observations, particularly this:

    “Five more years of the most egotistical person on the planet being photographed sipping a cup of tea or swinging a golf club is not going to bring independence any closer.”

    Liked by 23 people

  2. The SNP is a vehicle for Sturgeons narcisum she surrounds herself with those who still carry school bags and are ignorant easily bullied and bent by her twisted mind, empty heads brainwash by a flawed narc cult. The Nu SNP is a rotten excuse for an independence party it has lost its purpose, nerve and integrity. They will never get my vote again. We need a party focused on the cause with the bottle to disrupted ,to disengage and highlighted Westminster for what it is a undemocratic imperialist dictatorship. Sturgeon once said she suffers from imposter syndrome. This is the only thing I agree with her about she is an imposter and must be shown the door.

    Liked by 20 people

  4. A great article from Bill Clark with laser sharp observations.

    Splitting the vote guarantees failure – just look at the history: even in the ‘tsunami election’ of 2015 the SNP achieved a fraction less than 50% of the vote. (It was 49.97% to be specific). However, including Green voters that year the total was 51.3% – good enough, just.

    So there has to be a ‘Yes Alliance’ at any plebiscitary election. Even if they are all SNP candidates – not in any way my preferred option – they need to stand under a banner that is unequivocal in indicating that a vote for YA is a vote for Independence.
    The problem is that Nicola Sturgeon has left this ambiguous: In her announcement of 28.06.22 she said “my party will fight the UK general election” on the single issue of Independence. (See https://www.yes.scot/nicola-sturgeons-full-statement-announcing-the-2023-independence-referendum/). Whatever her intention – I’m being very generous here – it implied that this means SNP only.

    The FM needs to be crystal clear that it is not ‘SNP only’ but it is ‘YES only’ and that there will be a single pro-Independence candidate standing in every constituency under a “YA for Independence” banner.

    Without this, it is over.

    Liked by 20 people

    1. A majority of pro independence MPs was always the criteria – discredited by the unionist Sturgeon – Scotlands Factor.
      Now she wants a majority of SNP MPs plus over 50% of the vote going to the SNP. When was Sturgeon empowered to change the constitutional framework for Scotland? This treacherous, worthless nightmare needs shown the door. How the SNP foot soldiers can be blind to this destruction of YES is beyond me.

      Liked by 12 people

      1. It is up to us to insist that it is ‘Yes Alliance’ or ‘Scotland United’ with laser focus on Independence. If we press hard enough and make the running the FM will be forced to acknowledge.

        The role of the likes of Salvo and SSRG are critical in this regard as they are non-party organisations comprised of heavyweight expert academics, business types, broadcasters and maybe even some other ‘civic’ representatives.

        The FM’s recent 3-pronged ‘plan’, though flawed, was a reaction to the pressure from outwith the SNP ranks. We must keep the pressure on, highlighting that we are ‘country, not party’ prioritised and contrasting with Sturgeon’s “my party” approach at all times in order to take the initiative away from her jealous grasp and bend her, and the SNP, to our will.

        Liked by 6 people

  5. I strongly agree that the trajectory SNP are setting is to return MPs to Westminster and Holyrood rather than gain independence. The expectation that all indie groups should follow a “code of conduct” set by the SNP is clearly a set up to allow them to discount votes for indie parties that do not sign up from the required 50% that should force the beginning of negotiations. If this is the game they are playing we need to be sending the message that Nicola must resign if the referendum does not happen in October 23, that is the only way I can think of to force the issue or dispose of the log jam leadership in SNP.

    Liked by 14 people

    1. Problem there is who could take her place.NS has brainwashed all her cabal though I don’t think that would have been a difficult job given the bunch of MSPs and most of the MPs in Westminster. Of course there are the exceptions and we know who they are.

      Liked by 9 people

  6. We must all understand that failure is the name of the game for Sturgeon. If she wins enough votes at the next GE to retain power for another five years, but not enough to take independence that will suit her very well. If Labour and the tories win an overall majority at Holyrood then that also will suit her. She can then retire saying that she did her best for Scotland.

    Either way, we can forget independence for a number of years. Job done. I’m quite sure that she fancies herself in an ermine robe.

    Liked by 17 people

  8. Thank you, Iain. Thanks also to Bill and all contributors, and to all who nourish and sustain the desire for Scotland’s independence.
    And yes, the Indy movement now finds itself in a very different landscape since nuSNP was born after IndyRef14, when NS took over from Alex Salmond.
    Independence has now all but been ‘privatised’ by the nuSNP, in an ongoing attempt to ‘corner the market’ in Scotland’s efforts to achieve independence. This can be seen in the hostility shown by NS & nuSNP to the ALBA Party from its beginning.
    It goes without saying that this ‘privatisation’ of Independence by the FM must be resisted at all costs.

    Liked by 19 people

  9. An admirable choice of quotation, Bill: “Those who have once been intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, can never willingly abandon it.” How apt! Even hard-faced old arch-conservatives like Burke, got it right occasionally.

    Liked by 11 people

  12. Like the demise of Labour who let us down so badly it will require the voters to wake up to the false prophets in the SNP.

    Until then……..

    Liked by 6 people

  13. The FM and party leader is in an increasingly difficult position.

    The longer she stays, the more apparent here ineffectiveness in both activities becomes*.

    The air is certainly escaping from the tyres, the road is extending like the pension age,yet the FM has no out.

    A suitable (to the FM’s vanity) post is wholly in the gift of westminster, yet the FM is most valuable to westminster in the FM’s current office and approach.
    The FM is therefore chained to the needs of the union as long as required and useful.

    The FM is ruthless where there is complete control, but this situation is very much in others’ malign hands.

    Having and FM and PL with a party under their thumb; under the thumb of the union, is not a healthy state of affairs.

    *I would define effectiveness as maintaining the party’s strength with regards to its constitutional goals, not the promotion of its leader.

    Liked by 2 people

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