This is where the independence movement is right now: It’s a bird watching club that has a quite a few members who are unhappy that a committee member was sacked. They are so angry they are running about the field shouting and waving their arms. Their anger is directed at the club president who they absurdly claim “disn’nae like burds”
I’m not going to claim that the Scottish Civil Service, Scottish Government have handled the Alex Salmond debacle correctly, or that Alex Salmond is the messiah ready for his 3rd coming. There are plenty of bloggers who have made a nice little earner amplifying which is essentially a very poorly handled HR investigation.
All the testimonies haven’t been submitted but decisions of guilt have already been cast. Not just by members of the Indy camp, but by the Holyrood Committee who see this whole exercise as a means to nail The SNP, Independence, Nicola Sturgeon and Alec Salmond. They don’t care about the civil servants appointed by Westminster or the Crown Office populated by unionists and ex spy’s. If at the end of this the SNP and independence is mortally wounded and these institutions end up under closer U.K. control. It’s all the better as far as they are concerned.
This isn’t a “wheesht for Indy” but it’s a “get a feckin’ grip for Indy!” For all those waving their arms and shouting that Nicola Sturgeon doesn’t want independence or that the SNP are all careerists. You are doing nothing but scare away those that we need. Right now we are at a stage of independence where we are going to get a glimpse of the Golden Phoenix, the greatest bird known to man. A bird so rare it only emerges when nation raises from the ashes of a long dead union.
The people we need to vote Yes and indeed show their support for another referendum are those who want to know their mortgages, car loans, pensions and the currency in their bank account is safe. None of this work has been done, there has been no pragmatic discussions of Scotland relationship with the U.K. post independence. I’m not talking about what the U.K. government are threatening a possession just now, I’m talking about the relationship Scotland as a sovereign nation would be happy to have with our nearest neighbours.
The current leadership of the SNP have already said that they want to see support for independence at 60% for the reason that it makes victory as certain as you can get going into referendum that decides the future of our nation. We were almost there at 58% but as polls show the people who we need to vote yes to get us over the line are the very people who’s votes aren’t bankable.
Post independence we will have new parties and I very much doubt that the SNP will remain as it is. Sure if we could turn the clock back 80 years the Independence movement could take a different path where socialist, democrats and centrists all had their own movements for independence and their own parties. We can go there and Scotland’s size in the U.K. where it’s considered nothing more than a region and it’s politics is polluted by branch offices of British political parties and trade unions have really forced us down the route of using the SNP as our nations desire for independence.
Much to consternation of many, the end result is that the SNP has had to become a professional political outfit. That requires people who have made a career out of politics. Like every other vocation it’s a trade that one must learn. If we can learn one lesson, it is look at the environment of Scottish politics where outrage is sought (from all sides) for the smallest infringement. Politics, especially when running a government demands people who understand the operations and processes of government and who to conduct themselves in the media. How to get the message over and so on. Yes, it maybe frustrating for us who shout at the telly saying “why didn’t you say X, Y or Z” the simple fact is it’s about getting the message over to the greater public. People don’t react well to angry, shouty folk. They switch off. Just look a George Galloway! A man who has made a career out of being angry where ever there is an opportunity for attention.
However their best intentions or desires for a better Scotland. Margo the cleaner or Jimmy the Joiner just might not cut it in a budget debate or in a meeting with the EU over terms of membership. That’s not to say that in the future they can’t be part of a citizens assembly where the direction of the country is discussed, but as for policy and implementation. Leave it to the professionals.
As we approach May and the support for independence is on a knife edge we can’t use a plebiscite. Not for the reason of illegality or other nations won’t recognise our decision. It’s purely that we haven’t done enough ground work to attract the votes we need. Lose the vote you will lose independence and probably control of the Scottish parliament. we need to keep the parliament in Scotland’s control, not lose it to a coalition of British parties whose principle purpose will be to ensure that desire for independence can go no further.
So we must ensure that the SNP win a majority, a majority that London can’t ignore. A majority where independence is the settled will of our parliament, which can then challenge the authority of Westminster that doesn’t represent us.
It’s fine to genuinely criticise the SNP from your perspective, but as a party they have to represent a smorgasbord of political opinions and at some point someone is going to be unhappy. Understand that we are standing in the field, shouting and waving your arms, scaring the birds away. If we want to see the Golden Phoenix then we need to encourage the burds. We used to be such a friendly movement, let’s get back to that and they will come.
Noises Fae The Heid 