Backing Joanna Cherry's slate for the NEC elections

Those of you who follow me on Twitter may be aware of my confusion a couple of weeks ago at a cartoon that had seemingly been created and shared by the so-called 'woke' tendency within the Yes movement. It contained people who were presumably meant to be gay, trans and from ethnic minorities, looking dubious and alarmed as they were asked by a couple of well-meaning Yessers to "let's all just be friends" with people from the movement who are apparently supposed to be beyond the pale - including Wings supporters, feminists with concerns about GRA reform, and most oddly of all the SNP Common Weal group. I can't pretend to know much about the Common Weal group - I'm not sure if they're a full part of Common Weal itself, or if they're just inspired by the same principles. But given that those principles are firmly rooted in the radical left, you'd think the 'woke' faction would see them as natural allies rather than as mortal enemies. A clue to what is going on is that the Common Weal group are supporting a slate of candidates for the upcoming NEC elections who have given their backing to a 'Manifesto for Democracy' - and that slate includes Joanna Cherry and Neale Hanvey, who are hate figures for a small minority of young activists due to the trans issue. Some of them openly wanted unionists to defeat Ms Cherry and Mr Hanvey in last year's general election, and boasted on social media about campaigning in any constituency but those two. 

For my own part, I think both Ms Cherry and Mr Hanvey would make ideal members of the NEC, and I can't see much to disagree with in the Manifesto for Democracy - which includes an urgent push for independence, a fairer complaints process, and a long-overdue reform to give all party members (rather than just delegates) the right to vote in internal elections, such as NEC elections. Of course this runs into the age-old problem with reforming electoral processes - to get changes through you first have to win a vote among the existing franchise, which is often weighted towards those who may have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. 

It's unlikely anything I say will have much influence on conference delegates, who are highly politically engaged and will know their own minds. But for what it's worth, I would urge anyone with a vote at the weekend to back change on the NEC. Let's democratise the party and make independence our number one priority going forward.

I didn't think it was the end of the world when the SNP reversed policy on NATO a few years ago. I'd much prefer to be out of NATO, but if the centre of gravity of Scottish public opinion is in favour of membership, it may be unwise to go against that. However...

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) November 24, 2020

...one thing that always bothered me was Alyn Smith's speech in favour of the change, in which he claimed that opposition to NATO made us look "a bit odd" in the eyes of other European countries. His tone of voice suggested we looked like weirdos.

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) November 24, 2020

That was obviously a bogus point when you consider that a number of highly valued EU member states are outside NATO, and always have been - Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Austria.

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) November 24, 2020

But look at it also in the context of the current trans debate. It would be unthinkable for Alyn Smith to lecture individuals on how they look 'odd' and should try to conform more, use the 'right' bathroom, etc, etc. Why shouldn't countries forge their own distinct paths too?

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) November 24, 2020

When the BBC responded to the Panelbase poll last week, they claimed they had covered the power-grab "regularly" on GMS, Gaelic News, The Nine and Reporting Scotland. What's missing from that list? The network news, for starters. Did that even occur to them?

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) November 23, 2020

It was the BBC's own decision to repeatedly reject a Scottish Six. The onus is therefore on the BBC to provide a network news that properly serves Scottish viewers, who are entitled to hear about major stories of great importance to them.

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) November 24, 2020