Douglas was particularly concerned that this might turn out to be my "Dugdale moment", meaning that I might lose the plot in the same way that Stuart Campbell did after his legal defeat to Kezia Dugdale. (The low point of Campbell's neverending obsession with Dugdale was probably him wasting hundreds of pounds on a vindictive and utterly pointless Dugdale-bashing question in an opinion poll he commissioned long after she had left frontline politics.)
This was my reply to Douglas' concerns -
"As far as any comparison between this and Campbell's obsession with Dugdale is concerned, there are obviously numerous differences - a) Campbell needlessly instigated proceedings against Dugdale, whereas it was Mr McEleny and co who maliciously came after me, b) Campbell wasted (at least) tens of thousands of pounds of other people's money on the legal action, whereas I haven't spent a penny, c) Campbell was subject to a fair legal process whereas the process I have been subjected to has been manifestly unfair, d) Campbell had his day in court (multiple days, actually) whereas I had twelve minutes, and e) Campbell hubristically assumed he couldn't lose, whereas I knew from the outset the dice were loaded and I couldn't win.
As for whether this will change me, though, and whether the 'before' and 'after' difference will be apparent, yes it will. It already has changed me. I have been betrayed and trampled all over by people pursuing their own naked political self-interest, and that is bound to leave a mark. Alex Salmond was for many years the closest thing I had to a political hero, but I'm 90% sure he must have signed off on my expulsion before his death, and as with the others, the motivation will have been expediency. That has disoriented me, to put it mildly, but I think ultimately it will help me to see the political situation in Scotland in a clearer perspective than I previously did. In other words, I expect the impact of this episode on me to be constructive, rather than the destructive impact the Dugdale episode had on Campbell."
I suppose what I mean by "a clearer perspective" is that I've been disabused of the notion that any political party in Scotland has a leadership elite that behaves in an entirely decent and principled way. I agree that if it's true that people close to Nicola Sturgeon conspired to put Alex Salmond in jail for crimes he did not commit, that would be a particularly extreme form of wrongdoing. But nevertheless over the last year I've seen lesser forms of wrongdoing on the part of the Alba elite, and I've seen them cynically abuse both the disciplinary machinery and confidentiality rules to cover up that wrongdoing and to prevent rank-and-file Alba members from knowing what has been going on. One of the disciplinary cases earlier this year was Mr McEleny specifically targeting a whistleblower who had courageously brought to light possible evidence that last year's Alba internal elections had to some extent been rigged.
It goes without saying that the Greens are no better - just look at the appalling way they treated good people like Andy Wightman and Topher Dawson.
So there are no perfect options out there. If, hypothetically, my appeal against expulsion is rejected, and if, hypothetically, I then apply to rejoin the SNP (I haven't yet made up my mind what I would do), and if, hypothetically, that application is accepted (I'd be taking absolutely nothing for granted), there'd be no point in IFS then lecturing me about being in a party led by the person he calls "REDACTOR MAN". We're all faced with a menu of imperfect options, and all we can do is make a hardheaded decision about what is the most promising vehicle for delivering sovereign independence for our country.
* * *
Poll commissions, poll analysis, election analysis, podcasts, videos, truly independent political commentary - that's Scot Goes Pop, running since 2008 and currently the fifth most-read political blog in Scotland. It's only been possible due to your incredibly generous support. If you find the site useful and would like to help it to continue, donations by card payment are welcome HERE, or alternatively donations can be made direct by PayPal. My PayPal email address is: jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk
Aye , indeed we all hae tae find the best way forward in an imperfect world.
ReplyDeleteJames I have no idea what you will decide, but I you ask you remain as an strong voice in the independence movement and would urge you to continue to be a voice for reason in the unremitting crap online. I would hope you rejoin the SNP and become a strong voice within, but will still respect you what ever decision you make.
ReplyDeleteYou can be broadly pro SNP without joining the party. I’ve never joined up.
ReplyDeleteNot having a party boss is nice, trust me :-)
And more people may pay attention if you aren’t a member of any party, ie like the vast, vast majority of Scots.
Ultimately it’s the undecideds we need to win over, not those already firmly committed.
I know that any number of people have been treated unfairly by the SNP disciplinary process, but I can't deny the fact that, just speaking personally, I was a member of the SNP for many years before 2021, and at times I was very outspoken about what I thought the leadership were doing wrong, and they never took disciplinary action against me. Would I be so fortunate second time around? Who knows.
DeleteI’m no fan of the Scots Greens, but I don’t think that’s a fair comparison. Alba Party governance seems, to an outsider like me, far worse than in the Greens.
ReplyDeleteI agree. You can dislike certain polices of the Greens but as a party their internal workings are very democratic and they, despite some of the noise in the comments here, are pro Independence.
DeleteI think, part of the problem with the Alba experiment is some people thought they could have an Independence moulded in their image... the problem is everyone is different. You'll never get a perfect fit.
"You can dislike certain polices of the Greens but as a party their internal workings are very democratic"
DeleteAren't you glossing over a very large number of unjustified expulsions here? In that sense they're very similar to Alba.
Lectures from IFS? Let me guess: on the subject of how to win friends and influence people?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your manuscript. Unfortunately it does not meet our current requirements.
DeleteThings may change in Alba as there is shortly to be a leadership contest
ReplyDeleteAsh Regan is standing and so is Kenny McAskill there may be other hats in the ring.
Kenny is at odds with Chris but he is onside with Robert Reid who is another poisonous employee currently in a relationship with Salmond’s niece, conduct committee and NEC member Christina Hendry.
Ash is very close to Chris so a vote for Ash would likely mean Chris continuing in his current role. Chris and Ash coming as a package.
So neither is a good choice
Ash will certainly have the backing of one well kent columnist....
DeleteI have nothing against Ash, but if she's daft enough to ally herself to McEleny, she has to lose. It's as simple as that.
DeleteI am considerably olded than you, James and have been a supporter of both the Indy Movement and SNP for over 40 years now, having previously voted for and supported Labour .
ReplyDeleteI know only too well that NO political party is remotely sqeaky-clean - and I most certainly include the SNP in that.
Politics was, is and always will be, a dirty, filthy business.....with personality-assassins and back-stabbers in abundance everywhere.
The Leadership Structures of ALL political parties end up being self-serving, nepotistic and corrupted to a greater or lesser degree.
Power really does corrupt, etc.....
That is the reality, and no matter how much we wish it were otherwise, it NEVER will be because the human beings running those parties will always be massively flawed.
So.........fully accepting that political reality, you either stay the hell away from it (which is nigh impossible, given that political decisions affect just about everything we do) or you try to choose the least worst party, because it might just be the vehicle to get us to our chosen destination.
You are presently being treated like shit by Alba and there will be those who have been similarly shat upon by SNP, Greens, Tory, Labour, Libdems and any other lot you care to mention.
I support, vote-for, fund and am a Member of SNP for the latter reason given, but I will not give one solitary f#ck if they disappear from the scene after Independence is achieved.
My opinion has never changed on the bigger picture, though - without the SNP leading the way politically and from a position of strength in Scotland, Independence will not be achieved.
Full stop.
The SNP-Hating/Wanting to Destroy Clique of Wings/Campbell and Alba are just that - a clique with that one aim as paramount, no matter how they dress it up - and they will barely feature as a tiny, insignificant historical footnote.
I said it before and I will say it again, James - get yourself to where you can contribute most to the Indy Cause and that is certainly NOT where you are at present.
At least wi aw the jiggery-pokery aroond the SNP ye can say that thon's the price ye pey for pooer, and that the stakes are higher for a pairty that's in govrenment. Wi Alba, it feels mair like a slichtly lairger version o the communist micro-sect pairties: baith internally vicious and externally irrelevant. (I'm no in either pairty masel).
ReplyDeleteExactly
DeletePithy and on the £: “baith internally vicious and externally irrelevant”.
ReplyDeleteI think if people want to be a member of a party and be directly involved, sometimes they can achieve more themselves in a smaller party if it has some sort of effective internal democracy, but if that's not possible, I'd agree with Francis above - be a part of a large party - the SNP. Wash my mouth out with soap, but they're probably the best party in the UK let alone Scotland, though perhaps Plaid is OK, no idea.
ReplyDeleteAnd as I said before, give Swinney a chance. And a helping hand! And, errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, no excuse and nowhere to hide :-)
Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteSet aside your entrenched thoughs for a few seconds. Please excuse the spelling and grammer as I'm writing informally and in a chatty manner.
What does Scotland have? I'm an Engineer so write in this context.
We have oil, and a good quality oil too. The oil market benchmarks Brent Crude, the oil from the middle east is not as good quality. Why on earth are we importing oil products? The new ferries will apparently run on imported gas? but the infrastructure is not there yet.. £400m has been spent.
We have plenty wind.. but the transmission costs are high. The English are building wind farms off shore like fury. But their water is shallower and the sea bed easier to pile. They can afford to build more turbines and the transmission losses are less. This idea that we are the wind capital is a pile of mince..yes it it windy but the cost to market is too high!
Ok lets turn to a thorny point. Immigration. Now we all want to encougrage skilled and legal immigration up to a point. That point is before our culture in Scotalnd gets taken over. The stats are saying than a lot of the big cities in England have Muslim Mayors. Is this good for Scots? What do you think?
We have not yet seen the full impact of putting up illegal boat people up in Scotland.. but there is no getting away from the fact that "co0ncerning things" are happening. I could spell it out but don't want to get reported for a "hate crime" or writing hurty words". You may not like what In say but eventually the will come form you too.
James, you are oot of ALBA. Your integrity does not fit with them! Admire your stance.
If you want to address the 'thorny' point of immigration, you have to acknowledge that the vast majority of immigrants to Scotland are English.
DeleteThere are analyses of the 2014 referendum which suggest that they swung the vote against independence; there are commentators who suggest they make up the majority of the Reform vote in Scotland; there are good arguments that say they already have a significant effect on our politics.
If you want to suggest they're somehow different from other immigrants, you'll be accused of racism, with reasonable arguments to make that case.
Is that the issue you want to address? Because it will get nasty, very quickly.
Have any of you read the Reform UK policy statement.. if you have then can you highlight the bits you don't like, quote them (so we can see you have read them) and explain how they differ in approach say in terms of strategy. I'm a hopefull individual but suspect most of you are of low intelligence / Nicolafants and won''t be able to distill my questions.
ReplyDeleteIn some ways James' spat with Alba demontrates how corrupt / nepotistic and antisemite the national movement has become. If you want to win then practice on Reform. Knock their arguement down one by one.. don't blame the ordinary voter.
So come on folks.. clean you house and let folk like James put forward a fact based case for indy. This is what grown ups do! James is trying to not reveal just how corrupt the Nat movement actually is. From the outside as an Engineer practicing in Scotland we we see the system is rank and needs major reform.
Form other posters. What kind of Scotland do you want. Do you want our culture to stay the same or would you be happy with say a minority block voting with the knock effects that could have. Help ma boab.. say all of Kimarnock voted as a block.. we might get free Buckie..!
As you say, the British nationalist movement is deeply corrupt. Just look at the way farage has been created by the ultra British nationalist organisation the BBC. It's amazing what can be done with a private education, a job at the stock exchange, a bit of racism and a lot of stupidity.
DeleteAre you referring to the significant minority of English people living in Scotland? Are you suggesting they would vote as a block? Hold on - are you suggesting that this is where the English nationalist Reform party gets its votes from? Hmmm. When you say 'from the outside' what do you mean? Are you talking about yourself?
DeleteNuisances are required in every party though - quite often, they save the party from themselves, or show the way forward when the party refuses to listen and inevitably flops.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the main things we've established from James's experience with Alba is - at the very least - that Chris McEleny is unsuited for ANY role in ANY party.
Thank goodness that rotund idiot was roundly rejected when he stood for SNP Depute Leader. And I say that as someone who voted for him to 'shake up the party' in the face of Sturgeon's chosen candidate.
The man is a curious mix of ineptitude and meanness-of-spirit the likes of which I've rarely had the misfortune to come across.
To adapt an old saying, Alba’s internal politics is so bitter because so little is at stake.
ReplyDeleteJust look at the opinion polls. How is that “destroy the SNP” working out for Wings et al.? It’s utter nonsense. The SNP is the best vehicle for independence, despite its many shortcomings. The main reason for that is the strength of the membership spread throughout the country, rather than the strength of the leadership concentrated in smoke-filled rooms in Holyrood.
As others have said, once Indy is achieved the SNP would most likely break apart. But the broad church approach is necessary to get to Indy. And that inevitably means putting up with some policies that you don’t personally like. The alternative is to retreat into ever smaller circles of ideological purity, eventually consisting of just one person.
Maybe this thread shows the dawning of a significant realisation that our existing parties are not fit vehicles for independence and, barring some unforeseeable 'miracle' are not likely to be in the future ?
ReplyDeleteYes, a large part of the problem is the careerism and self love of the human types who slither to the top. But the real, political problem is that none of them have faced the simple fact that they have all assumed that crosses on ballot papers could do the job on their own and have determinedly failed to face the fact that the British state is a crumbling wreck which is unable to let Scotland go without crumbling farther and faster so is actively anti democratic on the issue of independence.
Our parties continue to take a water pistol to a 'gunfight'. Why waste energy on parties which deny reality ? We need to build on the majority opinion that we seem to have, expand it by including issues like the monarchy and rising 'lounge bar fascism' and push forward. Vote tactically in elections and let new leadership emerge from the process.
Raking over the cold ashes of the parties in and around the defeat of 2014 will take us nowhere and suits the invisible hand of the British state very well.
Get out and speak to our people !
With another poll now puting Yes on 52%, rising to 60% if there is a Reform-led WM Govt with Farage as PM, it is pretty obvious what Scots think of that type of Extreme Right, Racist Human Trash.
ReplyDeleteCanny Scots!
Serious bull from Dave Francis.
DeletePerhaps this is the moment when the SNP grows up. People who have left it for whatever reason, disillusioned, have had enough time to sample the alternatives and still want Independence. The scenario in which Alba grows into a mature and influential party has imploded into a pinpoint like the picture on an old black and white telly. The Scottish Greens have allowed themselves to be consumed by some very basic category errors involving sex and gender, to the great detriment of their climate message and their credibility.
ReplyDeleteI think it boils down to who is the next SNP leader after caretaker Swinney. Flynn is on manoeuvres, heading for Holyrood and looking for the top job. Presumably the rules will not be altered to stop him as they were for Cherry. Flynn is intelligent and canny, but his recent blunder regarding getting a seat in Holyrood suggests that personal advancement can overcome his loyalty to his colleagues. This is shabby or stupid or both.
Given we are in the world of "least worst" and practicality, I'd say the best outcome would be Forbes or Cherry. Forbes is intelligent, personable and evidently has a moral compass. The old fashioned and conservative views of her faith jar many people including me, but at least you know where she will come from. Cherry is also intelligent and knows which way is up, but she has a lot of enemies in the SNP which may hamper her.
Meanwhile Starmer's Labour manages to combine betrayal with incompetence, Reform eats into the Tories from the right and the Charles and Camilla Show demonstrates the problem with Rule Britannia. Scotland is different. If the SNP admit their mistakes and show some basic competence and integrity, Scots might see some light at the end of the tunnel.
A guid New Year to all when it comes!
Cherry has left politics and has a proper job. Forbes sold her moral compass to a church when she was 8. Baldy2 threw his moral compass in Aberdeen harbour and will be the next baldy leader. Such is the lack of talent/vision/anything.
ReplyDeleteGet back over to the Daily Mail, you moron.
DeleteI guess that the Alba party was based on the Alex Salmond school of personality cult with the required loyalty, loyally, loyalty, and now all those ex-SNP loyalists are mourning around a grave. Their future is existential murk.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I regarded Salmond to be creepy going on obnoxious, but obviously a lot of people like that.
Seeing as the next Holyrood battle will be mostly between bald men in suits with a smattering of men in suits who still have hair, given Scotland's aged demographics, the bald men in suits will prevail and take charge the A&E ambulance queues and closing your library.
ReplyDeleteOne thing it won't be about is constitutional change - these are bald men that can't be bothered to replace the Council tax because it's too difficult.
Baldy1 looks bewildered in the face of the Scottish government's principal job, running the NHS. Half his cohort of MSPs are on ministerial pay (Minister For Victims! +£31,000p.a.), but at least Baldy1 has Clamped Down Hard on on his colleagues taking their family to the fitba in a governmental limousine. I suppose it would be quicker than an ambulance
ReplyDeleteI see these recent, good-news Yes Polls have brought out the usual two types of completely irrelevant, impotent wee dribblers on here - Alba Wingnuts and Reform Ringworms!
ReplyDeleteWatching them hyperventilate is the PERFECT end to 2024 😂😂😂