Guess I am a stuck record or an old 8 tracker (for those of a certain age). I began blogging in 2013 in support of Independence (I used the term then) and had a readership around 25K. I kicked off with a soft condemnation of Alex Salmond because of his sidelining of Blair Jenkins who led the campaign. When the Big Conversation was launched I was delighted. OK, it was a bit naive and over ambitious but, God loves a trier. When this precipitated the White Paper I was furious, absolutely feckin’ furious. Why were we giving Westminster our best plans and ambitions for them take apart line by line, and they took great delight to gorge on our naivety. In return, the case for Better Together was simply to trash the case for Independence, and we gave them the ammunition.
I believe I am correct in saying that Alex Salmond around 2013 was focussed on the business of running the Scottish Government as a priority and nominated Nicola Sturgeon to head up the Independence Referendum from the SNP perspective. On reflection the outcome and subsequent behaviour makes perfect sense. I think she was way out of her depth and ripe for persuasion or manipulation. It may even have been pre-ordained or planned from the outset. Either way, it is academic, but read on, please.
If you have read this last paragraph, Alex, I suspect you are smiling. That is why I have the greatest respect for you. Your subsequent and current actions are oxygen to the Yes Community aka AUOB. That is the sign, for me of a great leader. You recognised what you got wrong, corrected it and here we are today, poised on the threshold of our dream.
I will explain myself and hope my take rings true with some Scots yet to hear the penny on its way down.
But first, a word about Sturgeon. I was convinced by Sturgeon when she took the reigns because Alex passed her the batten and he would know, he would know, would he know .. now I am confused.
Perhaps Sturgeon had some part, perhaps an influence on the White Paper. I don’t know but I would not be even a little surprised if her paws were all over it? Was Sturgeon a sleeper, a Trojan Horse, the Empires’ ‘coup de gras?’ I’ll leave that on the step, for now.
Alex has reset, corrected and moved on. Surgeon stuck to the concept. I believe she was motivated by greed, career, power, recognition, nepotism and would embrace any crank or crackpot concept that would further her ambition. I believe her incompetence was an obstacle to overcome in any way possible. Was she determined to deliver Independence – absolutely NOT. If she was then she ranks as one of the worse failures in Scottish history; making Ethelred the Unready look like a high achiever. In a sentence, Sturgeon buried the ambitions of the Scottish people to progress and elevate her personal agenda. Along the way she reeked havoc on so many groups, such as heterosexual women, the gay community, the homeless, needy, jobless and on and on. Sure there were triumphs along the way but I now wonder if they were ‘lost leaders, throw aways and tiny pots of jam’ to distract the people of Scotland.
OK, so I am not a fan – sure you get that. I never leave opinions without explanation. Others may disagree, offer alternative views or even pour scorn – but that is all fair. So here is the foundation of my views.
Sovereignty in Scotland rests with the people and they elect a Monarch if that is their want. Read what @SSalyers on Twitter ‘X’ explains under #Salvo, she covers the subject in great detail and easily understandable language.
From here on, all my blogs will focus on Sovereignty. However, I may seem to drift a bit but the obstacles put in the way of Scottish Sovereignty are not necessarily that obvious. Yes, England enjoys access and control over Scotland wealth but there are other forces in play, other darker forces in play that go well beyond England, the UK, the British Empire so let’s keep an open mind-our adversaries a far more potent, more ambitious, more ambitious and more evil than perhaps we realise. In 18th century there was the Scottish Enlightenment. Scotland was at the peak of the pyramid. Scotland still has that potential or some may suspect we do. What if there was another suitor for that top-spot?
I’ll leave that there for now!!