The National Rally – Reasons To Be Cheerful?

“I’ve been at more Indy rallies than that Nicola Sturgeon” says right wing British Nationalist…

Having resigned ourselves to a discontented winter with on-street independence campaigning winding down for the Christmas and New Year, I was surprised to see that The National was to host its own independence rally in Glasgow on the 2nd November. I was also surprised to see that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon would be in attendance – her first actual independence rally since 2014! Even “old manky jaiket” Alistair McConnachie has attended more independence marches than that! I was also surprised to see that there will still be Orange marches in November. You learn something new every day I suppose.

So why have a rally now? On the Andrew Marr show in mid October the SNP leader said that she would be asking for a Section 30 order “by the end of this month”.  That means that many of us will be expecting her to have announced categorically that such a request has officially been made. She may be given a few days leeway as it may be that she wants to make that big announcement at the rally itself. That being the case though, I’d expect it to be a cross party presentation. I’d expect the Greens on board at the very least, but it appears that isn’t the case, and there are already grumblings from them on that regard. This begs the question: if not a launch of a new Yes movement then what?

I suspect that next week’s rally will see a mix of pro-independence messages but no definitive “this is it” moment, and will be focused primarily on the expected forthcoming election campaign. Much as we all recognise that the SNP are the main driving force in the independence movement, the SNP themselves often fail to recognise their place in the movement. If the wide cross section of the independence movement congregates on Glasgow expecting the whistle to be sounded on Indyref2 and find that they are only gathered there for an SNP election launch then a lot of goodwill will be lost. With their single minded determination not to pursue independence through manifesto, they have already tried the patience of a sizeable chunk of the movement. If they don’t wan’t some support to take wings then next Saturday will be critical. Nicola Sturgeon must get it right, as another “Grand Old Duke of York” moment would be one too many.

I Find Your Lack of Faith in Plan A Disturbing…

Another SNP conference, another self-congratulatory back slapping session where actual debate is verboten. Having done it’s best to keep alternative routes to independence off the agenda, Plan B slipped in anyway, before being led off to a sub room and quietly strangled. It’s the leaders way or no way, end of discussion.
Let’s be brutally honest. The current SNP hierarchy appear more than happy to park independence campaigning in favour of a gradualism which makes the progression of a glacier look like quicksilver in comparison. It seems to me that many are happy to settle for an extended period in government over achieving the ultimate aim of the SNP which if I remember correctly was independence for Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon let slip on the Andrew Marr show that she hasn’t asked for a Section 30 order, despite previously indicating that she had. With support for the union falling to only 50% she should be chapping on the door of the UK Prime Minister demanding a referendum, not leading us up the garden path. Theresa May indicated she would refuse a referendum, as had Boris Johnson, and that line will be repeated ad infinitum. So assuming that consent is not forthcoming what will she do? She might as well stamp her foot or act like Violet Elizabeth Bott from Just William who threatened to “scream and scream until I’m sick”. It changes nothing.

On the Marr show Nicola Sturgeon said that she was not considering a Plan B as she wanted a process that was legal and showed majority support. She also said that there wasn’t a quicker or easier way to independence. Let’s be perfectly blunt. No one within the independence movement is looking for a way to bypass or cheat the democratic system. We’ve seen in Catalonia how that has panned out and no one wants to see the same here. But making a manifesto commitment in a general election to seek to negotiate for independence on reaching defined thresholds, be that seats or voter percentage is not cheating the system, it is using the system to defeat those who would deny us our democratic vote. Up until the 2012 Edinburgh Agreement that was the accepted route to independence – and it’s no less acceptable today. In fact the only person making it unacceptable is Nicola Sturgeon herself! Who in their right mind would back themselves into a corner and allow your opponent to control the terms of your exit? Even Jo Swinson has cottoned on to this with her commitment to cancel Article 50 if the Lib-Dems win, because even though unlikely it is a democratic route to achieving her aim.

By not committing to such a manifesto pledge The SNP can still campaign in all elections to attract people who would support their continued governance but not independence. That may have been a fairly reasonable tactic at one time, but no longer. We are too far gone down the Brexit path to be playing around with an eye on future election results years down the line. If the SNP continue to prioritise their long term governance goals over independence itself, then don’t be surprised when those most committed grass roots activists go elsewhere.

Just Because It Is Legal Doesn’t Mean It Is Right

Having spent may hours poring over the expenses claims submitted by local unionist politicians to determine whether they were useful in campaigning against them (and often they were) I am both gobsmacked but somehow unsurprised by the Eva Bolander expenses scandal. I’m gobsmacked that there has been no internal oversight from the SNP which has allowed them to pick up on this matter before it became manna from heaven for the British Nationalist parties and the media in Scotland. Every single elected member of the SNP, be it local councillor, MP or MSP should have the need to be restrained with expenses hammered into them from the moment they are elected, but that must be followed up by self-policing from within to ensure that those guidelines are met.

The fact that Ms Bolander’s clothing expenses were underbudget is now irrelevant. They were greater than her predecessors and were extravagant in their content. If Ms Bolander wants to get her hair done, or her nails polished or buy new underwear then she should foot that bill herself. If she wants to purchase formal wear to use when representing the city of Glasgow then she must show good judgement and restraint when doing so; 23 pairs of shoes in two years and designer fashion labels is not a sign of either.

I said I was gobsmacked but why am I unsurprised? Because a close look at the SNP unfortunately reveals that there are too many within their ranks willing to do the same. From MSP’s claiming for a bag of chips to councillors paying parking tickets, there are too many who see the public purse as their own purse, and this has to cease.

The best form of criticism is self-criticism. Unfortunately over the last few days I’ve seen many people who seem normally level-headed and fair-minded circling the wagons and defending what is to me indefensible. The whitabootery needle has gone off the scale in the attempts to deflect and justify something which is patently unjustifiable. We didn’t campaign to get Labour noses out of the trough so that SNP noses could get stuck in; we told people across Scotland that there was a better, cleaner and more open political future ahead- and the SNP should be setting that example. SNP HQ must get a grip on this issue and ensure that this never happens in the future, but the SNP membership must also be pro-active and get stuck not only to their opponents expenses but to their own elected members expenses to ensure that all their hard work, knocking on doors, handing out leaflets and standing on street stalls is not silently undone by greedy or thoughtless individuals within their own ranks. Glasgow could be lost for the price of a few pairs of shoes. Let’s not lose the fight for independence the same way.