On the subject of Alba and paranoia

In recent months, both before and after my expulsion, I have repeatedly pointed out that Alba could have thrived if it had thrown the doors open and become a welcoming broad church for all of the most radical segments of the independence movement.  Indeed, it absolutely needed to do that, because otherwise it didn't have a hope in hell of getting to the 6% of the vote required to win a significant batch of list seats.  But instead, the party has done the total opposite - it has shown all the unfortunate signs of having been born out of trauma, and has become a narrow, paranoid, authoritarian sect centred around a small number of families and friends who were closely associated with Alex Salmond.  Of course the vast majority of Alba rank-and-file members are from outside that self-appointed elite, but they're only welcome to come along for the ride if they show sufficient obedience.  If they don't, as so many people have already discovered, they'll find themselves bullied out of the party or expelled outright.

Whether they realise it or not, Alba leadership loyalists have not exactly been disproving my point about a "paranoid" sect in their reactions towards me since I rejoined the SNP.  I have been constantly accused of having been bought off or promised things by the establishment, or of trying to lay the groundwork for a successful fundraiser.  (Those two accusations are essentially contradictory, because I wouldn't need to bother with fundraisers if I'd been bought off.)  Yesterday, after I drew attention to the deactivated "Alba 2026" account on Twitter which had been making highly abusive comments about several ex-Alba members, it was repeatedly suggested that the account must have been a false flag operation designed to harm Alba.  One particularly persistent individual kept trying to leave comments on this blog alleging the account had never even existed and that I had retrospectively invented it for propaganda purposes.

What is terrifying about these nutty claims is not that they are being made, but that the people who make them seem to truly believe them.  That is suggestive of really deeply entrenched paranoia.  Alba are going to remain in a very dark place until that problem is shaken off and a reconnection with reality occurs.

Let's start with the question of whether the Alba 2026 account ever existed.  Yes, it did, and you can see that quite clearly from the screenshots that are doing the rounds from a variety of unconnected sources.  Eva Comrie posted a screenshot of the most disgraceful tweet about herself, and she did so several hours before I even mentioned the subject, so hopefully that puts to rest any notion that I invented the whole thing.

As for the wider question of whether it was a false flag, the pattern of behaviour does not fit with that theory.  The writing style and the usage of Trump-style insulting nicknames for individuals (I was "Jilted James", Eva was "Ethanol Eva", etc) is highly suggestive of a well-known and senior Alba figure who used to be on the NEC in one of the national office bearer positions.  A random "free Imran Khan" retweet in the middle of the string of insults also points towards the same culprit - my guess is that she forgot she wasn't on her main account when she hit the retweet button.

Now, OK, someone could have been impersonating her or trying to frame her or whatever.  But consider this - the shocking tweet about Eva's disability was deleted early yesterday after concerns first started circulating about it.  That was rather reminiscent of how, two years ago, the former NEC member in question hastily deleted a tweet stating that "a vote for the SNP is a vote for Jimmy Savile" after someone had a quiet word with her to point out that she'd gone too far.

And then by the early afternoon, the Alba 2026 account had disappeared entirely - which just happened to coincide with suggestions that the abusive behaviour might be raised at today's meeting of the Alba NEC (which is probably taking place as I write this).  A random false flag troll would have been unlikely to have picked up on those rumours, and would have had no reason to act on them anyway. Whereas a former national office bearer of the party would undoubtedly have heard what was coming at the NEC meeting, and would have had absolutely every reason to panic and to deactivate the account in case she'd left a trail of evidence that would point the finger at her.

On the issue of the fundraiser, it's a matter of record that I said months ago that I would have to launch the 2025 fundraiser very early in the year, because last year's had fallen short of its target.  So the timing of the fundraiser would have been exactly the same regardless of whether or not McEleny had expelled me, and regardless of the timing of that expulsion.  I did briefly entertain the thought that I should delay the fundraiser for a month or two because I knew perfectly well these accusations would be made, but then I realised that if the funds weren't there to continue, that was the only salient point, and that staying afloat is much more important than fretting about the daft things paranoid people will say about me.

As far as being "bought off by the establishment" is concerned, that mad conspiracy theory is based on the premise that Alba are currently operating in the best interests of the independence cause and that anyone who wanted to harm independence would prioritise the sabotaging of Alba.  That is self-evidently not the case.  Alba have abandoned their responsible list-only strategy from 2021 and are planning to stand in multiple constituency seats next year - something which can only benefit unionist parties, especially in marginal seats like Banffshire and Buchan Coast, where Christina Hendry seems hellbent on intervening and splitting the pro-indy vote.  It is therefore in the overwhelming interests of the British establishment to encourage Alba to continue on the present course, not to sabotage the party.

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I launched the Scot Goes Pop fundraiser for 2025 last weekend, and so far the running total stands at £581, meaning that 9% of the target of £6800 has been raised.  If you'd like to help Scot Goes Pop continue with poll analysis and truly independent political commentary for another year, donations are welcome HERE.  Direct Paypal donations can also be made - my Paypal email address is:   jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk