I have been too p’d off recently to blog and felt my normal vitriol may come across too potently. Then I saw a link to Bob Costello’s blog and that got me back into play. Bob has a very eloquent style that combines simplicity with patent common sense and information. I realised we were fellow travellers.
I am not going to say ‘like Bob’ for 2 reasons: 1. I wouldn’t encroach on his style and I don’t want to be repetitive. Suffice to say we are both very big Yess’rs and very critical of what the SNP has become under Sturgeon. I am going to nick a Labour term and talk about New SNP.
When I began blogging prior to the 2014 Referendum I was very critical of Alex Salmond. At that time I took out membership of the party but quickly allowed it to elapse as I became more and more concerned about their approach. I was especially concerned at the manner in which Blair Jenkins was relegate to the Yes mascot rather than the Tsar.
Put simply, the SNP was like ‘a dug wae a bone’ they would not let go, and it was exactly this that cost us the referendum.
I will explain my thinking but I would recommend folks to read Bob Costello’s blog that offers a great perspective.
I suppose, as a refugee of sorts I was catapulted into early 50s Glasgow from a once privileged background. There followed the toughest yet most satisfying years of my life, growing up on Clydeside in the midst of the shipyards, steeped in the shipyards.
I was very lucky and worked or manoeuvred my route up to Director of a Global plc gaining some valuable insights along the way. I say this because I can only base my views on what I learned along the way.
So what is my problem with the SNP?
Point 1: The Big Conversation followed by the White Paper? Nice theory, stupid in practice. This became the SNP perspective on Independence and not the views of the people. Did you contribute to the white paper? I didn’t. I wasn’t in that club. Westminster split their sides at our stupidity and had their best liars, spin doctor and dark Ops people take the document apart line by line. In return, the WM White Paper on why we would be Better Together, well it DID NOT EXIST, NEVER WOULD, NEVER COULD. We were treated to an intense campaign of ‘trash the White Paper, focus on currency, pensions, oil running out, hand-outs from England, give them ‘fear’ like there is no tomorrow, there will be no tomorrow. The people swallowed the SNP Indy White Paper failures espoused by WM, hook, line and sinker, and voted NO.
Point 2: Let me make the entire case for 2014, the winning case – It’s the people’s Right. There you are, that is the case, that is all you need. So, what the hell was the SNP doing, hanging around with their vanity project – they metaphorically shoved a pole up Blair Jenkins’ ass and paraded him around as a banner. Did anybody read the request letter from 61 countries that broke away from WM as they ‘applied’ for indy? What about Nelson Mandela when he wrote to De Clerk to say, ‘can you let me out please?’ Correct, they didn’t write it and he did not write that either. When ready, a nation declares their Sovereignty. The people, not the politicians. With that Sovereignty the people empower the politicians to deliver and evolve their sovereignty and routinely call them back in to ‘check on their performance’. How does this happen. The politicians ask the people, the correct people, only the correct people how they wish to form their country. Then the politicians simple state the ‘will of the people’. Is this a difficult concept?
Point 3: The basis for the people’s Right; International Law. If you are a country, as in an area that is delimited by a border and your Judicial System is the highest authority in the land then, that’s it, you are done. Of course, there is a little bit more to do if we are smart. Prior to 1707 Scotland was autonomous but had an inter-dependency with the Dutch our biggest trading partner. Almost no country is independent in a sense – we are all dependent on trade with other nations and Scotland was no different. English belligerence with France and Spain and Portugal compromised our trade relationship with the Dutch and we had to find new markets and new investments. 1707 and the Darien debacle were symptoms of that problem. As an autonomous nation (I don’t use the term independent because WM spun that to make Scotland appear isolated) we must develop trade relationships. Is there a country on this planet that would not want a trade relationship with Scotland – there! Scotland is loved and admired the world over. Our only stigma might be our (the SNP) reluctance to stand up to England. If someone said what can we offer the world – I would say, ‘what can’t we’. That said, the SNP allow themselves to be bullied into compliance with England telling us we cannot even speak to another country without their permission – I say ‘piss off’, and I am furious that Sturgeon does not have a queue of trade partners in waiting declarations of intent all the way around the block. So let’s get a Leader who is prepared to ignore those silly WM edicts.
Point 4: Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP seem to be in competition with Starmer for the title of ‘most supporters lost in a given month’. At last we have a win?
Point 5: Many Scots have already twigged to the great ‘both votes’ bullshit. One of my subjects at Uni was Probability and Stats. Oddly, one of my countrymen gifted us with his voting system, or rather a bastardised version of it. The principle of D’Hondt is sound, the principle of Scots D’Hondt is absolutely NOT. Scotland is the sticky end of hegemony with England and the opportunity for our ‘Lords and Masters’ to interfere with our electoral system is the gift that keeps on giving. However, the real scandal is that Sturgeon knows this and is happy to allow D’hondt to keep the New SNP in the middle ground where they perpetually never win but look like they could. Of course they never will and this is a great career move for the New SNP. Vote 1 New SNP Vote 2 Alba or even another Yes party would have delivered an absolute ‘slam dunk’ for Yes. Both votes New SNP brought the WM Unionist Parties into Holyrood where we must forge a relationship with the Green Party just to empower our one stated objective.
Point 6: There can be no doubt that Jeremy Corbyn had the measure of the Empire Establishment called England. They feared him in a pathological sense. The lobby groups, often funded from other countries, often with waring or military commonality, and we all know who they are, feared Corbyn who threatened their influence over WM. They had to get rid of him. They could not catch him with his pants down like so many others, so we all witnessed the disgusting campaign to bring him down. Now, there is an old expression,’my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ may not always be true. But, what about ‘if my enemy’s enemy is also my enemy’ perhaps ‘my enemy is actually my friend’. Sturgeon immediately declared her abhorrence of Jeremy Corbyn, the same Jeremy Corbyn who said he supported the Union but would not stand in the way of Scotland choosing it’s own destiny. Let me just play that back. Sturgeon states she wants independence for Scotland, WM says we are not getting it, Jeremy Corby says we have a right to decide and Sturgeon says ‘I do not like Corbyn’. Now, what part of suspicion about Sturgeon‘s motives and allegiances don’t we get?
Finally: So many senior or executive New SNP members have become a joke. Sturgeon’s popularity, post-Salmond popularity, post Murray popularity is tanking. Ian Blackwood has become the New SNP WM clown with his stupid remarks; ‘This would not happen if we were independent’ he blurts out like the cock crowing. This is the man who could not predict yesterday’s weather. Angus Robertson earned the title of ‘the tartan kippah’ because of his allegiance to not Scotland and Pete Wishart is basically Coco the Clown. He threatened to introduce me to Mr Blockio because I criticised him? Is this the Party that will restore our Sovereignty? You think?
In a sense, the 2014 Referendum campaign taught us to be wary of Unionist attacks. They would be cunning, devious and relentless. This apprehension, this wariness to trust WM attacks on our campaign, our leadership, our SNP seems to be the cloak behind which the New SNP are concealing their true ambitions. They have become career politicians both in Scotland and WM on decent salaries, great pensions and perhaps in the longer term a bit of ermine to show the grandkids.
I have made this point over and over again and it is worth repeating. In 2014 the SNP achieved 13% of the YES vote. 13%. The YES movement in all it’s guises is bigger, vastly bigger than the New SNP. I call it The YES Community and all we lack is that all encompassing overall organisation, that ONE VOICE and when we finally get that one voice we will shout so loudly we will deafen the ears in Holyrood and Westminster and there will be smiles on the faces of our friends in Europe and The Rest of the World and the Scottish Enlightenment will have been switched back on. This time it will be The Scottish People’s Enlightenment – and the world will become a better place.