Every year in the last fifty has contained a world event that the current SNP leadership could have used as an excuse for postponing an indyref yet again

If the current SNP leadership had been in power in 1973:

"For now, the SNP's exclusive focus must be on the Yom Kippur War. The people of Scotland would expect no less."

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) March 7, 2022

If the current SNP leadership had been in power in 1981:

"Are you seriously suggesting the people of Scotland should have a vote on their constitutional future before we have clarity on who shot JR? GROW UP."

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) March 7, 2022

If the current SNP leadership had been in power in 1996:

"We will hold an independence referendum in due course, but first our young people must have time to grieve for the break-up of Take That. No time limit can be put on grief."

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) March 7, 2022

The above tweets attracted a hysterical response from certain quarters, to which all I'd say is that the SNP leadership loyalists doth protest too much.  They evidently know that this is the point at which they have to double down and claim that the war in Ukraine is yet another totally unforeseeable event that must, sadly and inevitably, delay the supposedly "scheduled" 2023 independence referendum yet again.  If they don't maintain that pretence with the utmost seriousness and self-righteousness, a large chunk of the SNP's own support base might start to think that the leadership have cried wolf once too often.  Actually, they're likely to start thinking that anyway.

Yes, in the literal sense the current war was largely unforeseeable, but what we do know and what we have always known is that major world events will crop up fairly frequently and regularly.  If you squint hard enough, every year in the last fifty has contained an event that could have been used as an excuse by the current SNP leadership for kicking independence into the long grass.  This is not even the first time in the last decade that Russia has invaded Ukraine, and yet other countries' politics have gone on.  It's the third time this century that Russia has invaded a fellow ex-Soviet republic, and yet other countries' politics have gone on.  The Soviet Union was at war in Afghanistan every year between 1979 and 1989, and yet other countries' politics went on.  The US and its allies were at war in Afghanistan every year between 2001 and 2021, and yet other countries' politics went on.  Israel has been in conflict with its Arab neighbours almost constantly since it came into existence in the 1940s, and yet other countries' politics have gone on.

Let's be honest: the only genuine reason the SNP leadership have ever had for postponing an indyref (a reason as opposed to an excuse) was Covid.  It would have been pretty much impossible to hold a referendum during full lockdown, and for campaigning reasons it might have been undesirable to hold it during a partial lockdown.  But with all of the governments of the UK prematurely declaring a return to normality (even though the virus is still absolutely everywhere), that reason no longer applies.  If the Scottish Government are now immediately latching onto yet another totally unconnected "delay is unavoidable" narrative, it's hard to escape the conclusion that they're not looking for opportunities to bring independence about - they're frantically searching for excuses to run away from it.

We as an independence movement don't have to continue going pointlessly round in circles like this.  There's a political party out there that doesn't just believe in independence as a nice idea in the abstract, but actually wants to achieve it in the real world, and with an appropriate sense of urgency.  Please consider giving Alba your first preference vote in the local council elections in May, and let's see if we can get the campaign for independence firmly back on track.

Just read that @Ianblackford_MP is suggesting @ScotGovFM might delay IndyRef due to Ukraine war
I hope this is mere speculation because if it’s delayed again @theSNP will lose many supporters
We have accepted too many delays already…this would be the last straw😡

— Patricia Farrington (@xraypat) March 7, 2022

"Blackford suggests SNP might delay GRA Bill Vote over Ukraine Crisis" will never be a headline in the coming weeks.
That alone should tell us everything about the current @scotgov and @theSNP

— Robinov VileCybernatski (@RobinBarclay1) March 7, 2022

"our plans for holding #indyref2 next year"

There comes a point where it's almost like believing in Santa Claus.https://t.co/kvDCjRKnCf

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) March 7, 2022

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