Monday, November 7, 2022

Finding the sweet spot that might just win us independence

On the previous thread there was a little exchange which once again crystallised for me the "scunnered middle" problem faced by the independence movement.  In a nutshell, the issue is this.  If you back the SNP leadership, to the hilt and without reservation, what you are doing is legitimising the following narrative -

"Everything must be absolutely perfect before we seek an independence mandate.  All the stars must be in ideal alignment, because we only get one more shot at this.  If we run away ten, twenty or a hundred times from actually trying to make independence happen, no matter how many decades may pass with Scotland still trapped in the United Kingdom, we are acting in the interests of the independence cause, because we are preventing a defeat that would kill it forever.  We must keep the flame alive at all costs."

The snag is, of course, that this supposed vital need to wait for perfection - something which is unattainable in this world and thus translates to indefinite passivity and inaction - just happens to coincide with the self-interest of parliamentarians who might be privately happy enough if independence doesn't become a real-world prospect until their own careers at Westminster come to a natural end and they've had a chance to reap the full salary benefits.  Even worse, there's an inter-related narrative that states that only the SNP leadership themselves have any role in adjudicating when this perfect moment has or has not arrived...

"Many things are known to the Leader that are not known to us.  We must trust in the Leader who is in a better place to judge than we are.  It is wise that The Plan is but known to a select few, because if The Plan is concealed from us it is also concealed from our enemies, who will fall victim to our advantage of surprise and will have no opportunity to find a strategy for counteracting The Plan.  There is no doubt that The Plan has been in place for many years and any apparent U-turns are premeditated tactical steps to hide the existence of The Plan."

This begs a couple of obvious questions.  If The Plan has been so cunningly hidden, why would it be obvious to us that it's there when it isn't obvious to unionists?  Logically, the non-existence of any plan is an equally compelling explanation for the events of the last few years.  And if there is indeed a revolutionary vanguard at the core of the SNP who are following some brilliant long-term strategy that has to be kept from us for our own good, why does Alex Salmond - who was leader of the SNP less than eight years ago - believe that there is no such vanguard and no such strategy?  What it boils down to is a type of circular quasi-religious faith - the vanguard and The Plan exist and therefore you must believe in them without evidence, because if you demand evidence you are helping our enemies.  Belief is everything.

And again, isn't this just remarkably convenient?  The cause and the Leader are one, and if you attack the Leader you attack the cause.  If the Leader does nothing to bring independence about, it's because she can see that perfection has not yet been attained.  Only she can make that judgement.  It is sufficient for the rest of us to simply Trust In Nicola.

(People may complain that I'm exaggerating to make SNP leadership groupies sound like a Dear Leader-style cult, but much of what I've written above is a very close paraphrase of tweets from loyalists such as "Scone of Destiny", or whatever he calls himself these days.)

So the conclusion is obvious.  There has to be some qualification for any support we give to the SNP leadership, because signing them a blank cheque leads to nothing - or just to an endless kicking of the can down the road and promises of jam tomorrow.

But if you try a more effective strategy to apply pressure on the SNP leadership and thus keep them honest, you quickly run into a different sort of narrative, which goes something like this...

"Now that you've realised that SNP MPs have got their snouts in the trough and that the leadership are betraying us, you know that we must destroy them completely.  What good are all these pro-independence MPs to us anyway?  We had an independence referendum when there were six SNP MPs.  We didn't have one when there were fifty-six.  Therefore, we're better off getting rid of them all and only having six pro-indy seats again.  Stands to reason, dunnit?"

Well, no, actually, it doesn't stand to reason, it's absolute bloody lunacy.  Being reduced from 56 to 35 MPs in 2017 was a horrendous setback for the independence movement.  Being reduced to six might finish us off for a generation.  The reality is of course that no-one honestly believes that only having six MPs would somehow help us win independence - the agenda for people who say these things is not actually independence at all, it's instead to destroy the SNP in an act of revenge.  In some cases that impulse is understandable - several people have been treated appallingly by the Sturgeon leadership and were subjected to spurious disciplinary proceedings while they were in the SNP.  But those of us who prioritise independence can't afford to go down the road of destruction for its own sake.

What is needed is a more nuanced approach.  Neither 'trust in Nicola' nor 'destroy the SNP'.  We need to find the sweet spot where we're applying effective pressure on the SNP leadership but stopping ourselves well before we reach the point where we're handing seats and power back to the unionists.  Without that sweet spot, either the SNP will take our votes and do nothing, or we'll blow up our own cause while unwittingly mocking ourselves with a celebratory cackle.  Neither of those outcomes strike me as great.

But I'm becoming increasingly despondent about there being enough people out there who have the remotest interest in threading the needle in the delicate and precise manner required.  Maybe it's something to do with basic human nature - people just want to pick sides.  They're determined to believe that Nicola Sturgeon is either some sort of infallible God or the enemy of independence.  Truth be told, she's neither. 

So what do those of us in the middle actually do when we feel increasingly squeezed by the extremes?  I know some would say "just opt out of the problem altogether and do your own thing campaigning for independence".  But if you think about it, that actually takes some of the necessary pressure off the SNP leadership, who for years have been telling us: "Just campaign for independence and don't worry your pretty little heads about process, that's a matter for your betters."

I suppose what I'm really saying is that I haven't found a satisfactory answer yet and I'm open to suggestions.

*  *  *

Two very large donations (well, one very large, one absolutely enormous) came through to the Scot Goes Pop fundraiser on Friday.  You both know who you are, so huge thanks to you both - I was absolutely blown away when I saw the jump in the running total.  And also a million thanks to everyone else who has donated recently - it really is making a difference.

40 comments:

  1. I think you've captured my feelings nicely there. I feel exactly the same. I also have no answers.

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  2. One answer to your dilemma, James, would be for you and others like you to rejoin the SNP and work to get it back on a more sensible path. If a fairly small band of questionable types could take it over, getting themselves elected to many of the positions of power within the party, what’s to stop you and the the rest of the scunnered middle from repeating the trick? How many votes do you need to win these internal elections? I’m guessing it’s not too many…a few hundred? A thousand or two?

    Of course it will take some organisation, but if anyone in the movement is weel kent enough to mobilize sufficient supporters to reclaim the party, it’s you James. With a name like yours you could be leading a modern day Jacobite movement before you can say Bonnie Psephologist Jamie ;)

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    1. This.

      My gripe is not with the SNP per se, but with the leadership and the small group who hijacked the party. It was done once and can be done again. How you organise that and make it happen without the party stopping it is beyond my ken.

      When is comes to gaining independence in any reasonable timescale I think it's fair to say that the SNP are the only game in town, but the SNP are only what the members make it. What was done can be undone so all is not lost.

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  3. Friends, I think you need to keep an eye on demographics if playing the long game. The 2021 census results will almost certainly show that those born in Scotland will amount to less than 80% for the first time in history. Overseas migrants are not an issue, nor are the many thousands of English people who acknowledge their new home. However, as we have seen in Wales (now under 70% Welsh-born with only 62% with a Welsh identity), the massive influx of hundreds of thousands of people from one neighboring country is an issue that cannot be ignored, especially as the British state encourages the process, however tacitly. Across Wales there are huge new housing developments where a Welsh accent is rarely heard, let alone the Welsh language. Many of the now 750,000 English-born in Wales become part of their communities, most do not; they create their own. While some take an active part in Welsh life, including the national movement, many more are totally indifferent with a large number actively and openly fiercely hostile. This has had a colossal impact on the language, culture and, yes, political voice of the country, including Brexit and the election of Tory MPs. The proverbial clock is clicking.

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    1. In other words, your solution to the problem lies in racism.

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    2. 'The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.' -- Socrates.

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    3. https://www.gov.scot/publications/internal-migration-scotland-uk-trends-policy-lessons/pages/5/

      Stop trying to scare everyone with fake stories of immigration. There wasn't even a census in Scotland in 2021. I absolutely despise all this ethnic nationaliam dogwhistling. Leave this pish to the yoons.

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    4. You're right Robert, it must not be ignored. The majority of those from outwith Scotland who voted in 2014 voted against independence. I can't see that changing. Time is most definitely against Scotland and the independence movement. The fact that the SNP leadership couldn't care less about it, and is content to waste time, is the most worrying of all.

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    5. Yet plenty of Sturgeon and non Sturgeon supporters are happy to accept EU voters not getting a vote if a UK GE is used as a de facto referendum. Can that not be classed as a bit of ethnic nationalism - but in a way that does NOT favour a yes vote? I thought the SNP policy was a vote for EVERYONE who lived in Scotland. No matter where they came from or how long they lived in Scotland.
      I am not in favour of dogwhistling/ethnic nationalism - just pointing out the contradiction and some may say the hypocrisy of the SNP position.

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    6. Using UK election instead of holyrood is a terrible idea, seems like she didn’t even consider the downsides.

      As much as I morally disagree with only having Scottish people vote in an Indy ref. The UK did it for the EU vote. So. Fuck it I say. Fuck the moral high ground just get it done. As long as you keep repeating we are using the model that the UK used then nawbags can’t complain.

      We already have the cards stacked against us with the media. Sometimes you gotta crack and egg to make an omelette.

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  4. This piece summarises exactly where so many people are. As an Alba member the SNP 1, Alba 2 made so much sense. Sturgeon thwarted that, was hostile to it, and has now polarised things. Would I vote SNP at the next Westminster election. Will Alba stand candidates. Will candidates stand under an independence ticket. MNNN?

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  5. Reluctantly, I became a founder member of Alba, because ideally it should not have been needed until after Independence. Reluctantly, also, because I'd been an active member of the SNP for nearly fifty years, it caused me great pain to acknowledge my party has been hijacked, so successfully, by the "payroll" for their own ends. So entrenched has the leadership's control become, I could see no way, as an ordinary member, of it being overturned. So, I left, joining Alba as a means of applying pressure to the SNP to reflect its ordinary members' wishes on Independence, as UKIP did so successfully with the Tories over Europe.

    My dilemma, though, is still unresolved. How do we give the SNP a right good kicking, without damaging the Independence movement? To date, like you James, I've not come up with a decent answer. However, I find myself in a position where, in all conscience, I won't be able to continue to put my cross against the SNP in future FPTP elections for much longer. Not just because they've abandoned Independence, but because they’re well on the path to becoming a useless, vindictive, nay dangerous and dictatorial organisation. That's perhaps a tad overstated for now, but the signs are there.

    However, there’s no doubt at all about their incompetence. They’re now a serially incompetent government. In almost everything they attempt; they fail to achieve the outcomes they say they want.

    I acknowledge, to a degree, by failing to vote for them, I’d be doing the Unionists’ work for them, but it's beginning to become a matter of conscience.

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  6. Till now I have voted SNP with my nose held when no Alba option is available. I can’t and won’t keep doing this. Some point soon principle kicks in. I guess modern politics is designed like this to work to blunt and dilute anything radical or revolutionary. For me any “hope” lies outside Scotland in the possibility that the UK destroys itself via Ireland, proto fascism, economic collapse and brexit woes. But calling this hope is a very big stretch.

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    1. If I try and apply your own logic for a moment, though, splitting the vote and helping Labour win Scottish seats doesn't achieve proto-fascism. It just installs Keir Starmer.

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  7. We can't really blame the SNP or Sturgeon for the 50 / 50 separation of Scottish indy opinion - of course, indy's not her priority, not since 2014 has she been up for leading a fight (or even a fight of any pro-indy kind); maybe if the cause were 'Trans-in-the-EU' then she'd be up for a fight. We won't escape the British state by being polite and ernest. When she quits next year perhaps someone else will be up for a fight (and will hopefully organise the SNP into the efficient SG machine Salmond had - but don't hold your breath). My own thoughts are that Humsa Y would have been a great leader but he's been so embroiled in Sturgeon's gov for so long that I think his sense of direction is probably blurred).

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    1. Humza is a brilliant politician in many ways, but he's also deeply flawed, as the incident with the nurses a few weeks ago demonstrated. Kate Forbes is a more plausible successor, although to me she's a completely unknown quantity in terms of her commitment (or otherwise) to independence as a real world goal. She would, presumably, be more of a unifier on the gender identity issue - even if she doesn't reverse GRA reform, it's hard to see her going along with McCarthyite purges of people with gender critical views she basically agrees with.

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    2. "When she quits next year...?" If only that was certain!
      It is a disaster for the SNP that the three top posts are held by a married couple. I am beginning to think that only the by the intervention of the police (the disappearing Independence fund) or if NS is proved to have been economical with the truth in her dealings with enquiries conducted by the Scottish Parliament will their stranglehold be broken.
      I am not encouraged by the 'chumocracy' mentioned earlier. I would not like Angus Robertson and Mrs R to take over.
      If the whole inner circle were to be tainted by the various scandals hanging round them then we might get rid of the present leadership and restore democracy to the party of my youth.

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    3. Don't underestimate Angus Robertson - he's actually up for a fight and he understands our adverseries. Salmond resigned unfortunately (a shocking and incomprehensible) lack of leadership and judgement on his part - and I'm a fan. Sturgeon is tired and wants a big paying post in some EU or UN institution.

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    4. I was pleasantly surprised at how passionate Yousaf's speech was at George SQ in Nov 2019. However, he must know what Sturgeon has been doing and is a Sturgeon loyalist and is therefore complicit in all that has happened. Mrs R has been trying to be the 'lady' of Bute House for some time now. I used to think Salmond was the best politician in Scotland but Sturgeon has shown she is better. Like Tony Blair - not in a good way.
      Salmond however is the better statesman by a country mile.

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  8. A mass rejoin to take back the SNP is superficially attractive. In reality however the Sturgeon, managerial salary takers have dug themselves in deep. It was always an obcenity that the First Minister, Party Leader and Chief Exec lived in the same couple. From this a tightly controlled chumocracy has been formed. They never faced that kind of bureaucratic power during their seizure of the party. To that they have added their gender politics based witch hunters/political 'police'.
    It will take a deep change in the way that we see our political landscape, but I think that our problems are rooted in the movement's ideological dependence on a strategy of parliamentary electoral politics alone. As the UK's decline and fall becomes ever more apparent strikes, community resistence and public demostrations will grow. We have to support and be in these movements. Independence has to become the banner under which these people want to march.
    Election campaigns will remain relevant but if we don't see beyond the self imposed blinkers of exclusively electoral politics we will miss yet another boat and our best historical opportunity will be lost for who knows how long.
    Hybrid strategy and riding the wave of the UK's collapse is a strategy worth urgent detailed consideration.

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  9. Infiltrate (re-infiltrate?) the SNP. Gid luck with that.
    There’s an element of class politics here. The SNP hierarchy are very much the “establishment”. Militant Tendency were easy to identify within Labour specifically because as individuals, they didn’t originate in or circulate among the North London, Labour Party, managerial class.
    The Irish Republican Brotherhood chose to infiltrate / work with an obscure Sinn Féin rather than the “establishment” Irish Parliamentary Party.
    The internal workings of the SNP hardly qualify as democratic these days. Power rests in the hands of a perpetually self sustaining elite of middle class humanities graduates.
    Until recently I was sceptical towards Craig Murray’s thoughts regarding abolition of “short money”. Now I’m on board. Short money enables the professional party administration to act entirely without reference to the demands of the party membership.

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    1. You are spot on about the "short money" from Westminster. You have the ludicrous situation of the supposed party of Scottish independence being funded by Westminster. Even more ludicrously some will argue that this does not have any influence at all on the SNP leadership's thinking/actions.

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  10. Back in 2016 as the PEO of my local SNP branch I arranged a series of talks by leading lights in the independence movement and very successful they were too - some may remember our slogan coined by Mr Malky - Be More Brechin.

    Much water has passed under the bridge since then - I am now a member of ALBA however I meet the convenor of the SNP branch weekly, we have remained good friends though my relations with some of the other members are maybe not so cordial.

    We are planning a series of events from early spring onwards to bring together folk from all independence parties, groups and none - I suggest we all do the same.

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  11. Where to begin? The idea of getting the 'good guys' back into positions of influence within the SNP has been tried. Sadly it failed. We set up a controlled communications group, did our very best to co-ordinate voting for roles within the SNP (with some success) yet we were stymied by the management's complete refusal to work with those who were elected. Peter Murrell is every bit as big a problem as his wife is, perhaps even more so as he operates in the shadows. Everyone knows who Mrs Murrell is but few will be capable of recognising Mr Murrell. So anything we do to try and influence the SNP must be done on more than the obvious, visible levels. There's kickback if Nicola Sturgeon is questioned, we know this and see it all the time. But what if the focus was to be turned and aimed at Peter Murrell? I've no understanding of the SNPs constitution (despite being still a member - I ought to educate myself). But is it easier to co-ordinate a campaign to remove him from his CEO position Or at the very least expose to the widest possible audience the utter conflict of interest and corruption of having he and she running the SNP?

    I post a lengthy thing below (sorry for the length. I wonder if it's a story we could all use to highlight the illogical attitudes of the SNP. What if those of us who are still members of the SNP turned up at every banch meeting wearing a Scotland footlball/rugby top and handed out copies and openly asked "the management" who they cheer for when Scotland play?




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    1. "The idea of getting the 'good guys' back into positions of influence within the SNP has been tried. Sadly it failed."

      Well, it didn't "fail" as such. Those people were elected, and in many cases they voluntarily gave up those posts to join Alba. There was always going to be a trade-off in doing that, because the downside was that it inevitably lifted the internal pressure on Nicola Sturgeon. The calculation was that external pressure from Alba winning Holyrood seats in 2021 would be worth more than anything that could be achieved internally. I suppose my concern is that, having failed to achieve that initial breakthrough, people are now doubling down in frustration, and that may be leading to distorted thinking on what can realistically be achieved by intervening in a first-past-the-post Westminster election, and what the consequences of such an intervention would be.

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  12. Playing for Scotland

    Analogies…..not perfect, but perhaps worth thinking about. Feel free to use and abuse them.

    Playing for Scotland – isn’t that what we all dream of doing? Whether it’s football or rugby, Hampden or Murrayfield or on an ice-rink, or a tennis court. We all grow up hoping and dreaming that one day we could pull on a dark blue shirt and play for Scotland. We’ve all got our heroes who have worn those dark blue jerseys. Heroes who are probably defined by our age – Archie Gemmill scoring *that* goal against Holland, Gavin Hastings bursting through the French defence to score *that* try in Paris, Finn Russell orchestrating the most incredible 2nd half of rugby Twickenham has ever seen, Eve Muirhead leading her team to victory on ice.
    If we’re in the crowd at Hampden or Murrayfield we really don’t care what club our heroes in dark blue shirts come from. We don’t care if they come from Celtic, Rangers, Manchester United/City, or Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh, Racing 92. Once they’ve pulled on the blue of Scotland, we support them fully. As long as they score the winning goal/try we’ll cheer them to rafters because we know they’ve been playing for Scotland. The team comes together, they play for Scotland and by playing together they can win. The best full backs might be from Aberdeen (or Warriors), the best forwards might be from Celtic (or Edinburgh in ruby). Do we care? Nope, not a bit. They’re all playing for Scotland. No single club can possibly have all the best players in the country that’s why the national teams use the skills, talents and experiences of every Scot they can call on.

    And yet, in our political environment we seem less capable of realising that we are all “Playing for Scotland”. Many people who believe that Scotland needs to be independent have forgotten that they’re playing for Scotland, not just for their club. They won’t pass the ball to a player who’s not from their club – despite us all wearing the dark blue shirts of Scotland. It’s bizarre. Especially when it gets to the levels of a club manager who actively instructs her players not to pass the ball to players from other clubs. Can you imagine if the Glasgow Warriors players were told not to pass the ball to Finn Russell when they were playing for Scotland? “He’s not really playing for Scotland ‘coz he plays in France”. Can you imagine a head coach of a team deliberately leaving some of their most talented players languishing on the subs benches, thus making it harder for them to play for Scotland? Who would do that if they are set on playing for Scotland?

    Yet that’s where we are. The SNP, the dominant club in Scotland, are strident in insisting that only their players can play for Scotland. The SNP is more than happy to ignore the talents and skills which exist on other Scottish clubs. It’s bizarre. Just as no single club can ever hope to be the entire Scottish national team, how can any single party hope to be the same?


    If you’d prefer a musical analogy, Runrig (sadly missed now) achieved success with their version of “Loch Lomond”. A long serving SNP MP played keyboards for Runrig back in those days. I’m sure he’d agree that when those opening chords rang out, when the crowd sang and clapped, he was, perhaps only in a small way, playing for Scotland. But wait…. Runrig was a team. They were more than keyboards, their singer (at the time) came from a different club from their keyboards player. But they both played for Scotland when they performed “Loch Lomond”……. And we ALL sang and cheered along with that song.

    Me? I still dream of playing for Scotland and I’m really not fussed where my team-mates come from. I know that there’s an extraordinary range of talent, skill and experience in every club. I can do my bit, but there are others, in other clubs, who can do so much more than I can. But we have to play together and not against each other…. Do you want to play for Scotland? I do.

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  13. Here's one for you - how about we all change our vote to the Greens? We would still have a party of independence (in a century) and we could watch all the troughers lose their seats to a new bunch of crackpots.
    Another one - how about we forget about the SNP and ALBA and join the Labour party. Most of us have been Labour voters in the past, the party in Scotland has a small membership of which a third support independence, a takeover of this party would allow us to change their position on a referendum.
    Lastly, we don't vote and let the unionists win. Okay, it means five years of Labour but is that any different to the last eight years of Sturgeon? At the election after that we might have been able to realign independence politics.

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  14. The 50/50 split won't change in favour of independence until the SNP leadership starts to focus 100% on the cause. Best policy for those who actually want independence is to continue to write letters and post comments on the need for radical action in newspapers, and support sites like scotgoespop and write to SNP politicians. Shame the SNP leadership into some positive action on independence.

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  15. Many are wondering the same thing, as you said with less nuance. I moved from She has a plan, hoped against hope, denying the lack of evidence, to She, and those hand picked to surround her have to go. Your article was a good balance. It is too close to the Referendum / Plebisite, if either actually happens, for major change on the SNP and too close for Alba to be in position to challenge the SNP. It looks to me like we may be stuck with things the way they are. So the answer may lie in forcing the SNP to act.
    By naming a date, she has made it more difficult to delay taking action again. More difficult but not impossible,
    I have wondered for a while now if the restlessness, bickering and arguing were fuelled by frustration and pent up energy looking for an outlet.
    If that is so, then, when a campaign begins officially and in earnest all that energy can be focussed in one direction.
    That may be a hope more than an expectation.
    As others have said, I have no clear answer either.
    The clock is ticking, she set the deadline, put up or shut up. shit or get off the pot, is not far over the horizon.

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  16. James, to answer your question on the ‘sweet spot’ I would say, as a former SNP member and now a member of Alba, that if we agree that Westminster will never further the interests of Scotland then it does not matter who represents us down there; as you say it is an ‘away’ fixture. In that case we need to wholeheartedly support the independence cause at the next GE by recommending everyone vote SNP. At least the mainstream media take SNP MPs as supporters of independence even if we think otherwise of the MPs themselves. Doing this removes NS’ option of blaming Alba for failing to win her plebiscite election; we might even want to sacrifice our 2 seats to the cause. Once the majority (of seats) have been won we hold NS to account and demand the SNP won the election and therefore need to deliver on their independence promise.

    When NS fails to do this I would expect more SNP defections, of voters at least, disillusioned (once again) by NS. We then go on the attack with two ‘home’ fixtures of Holyrood and local elections to come, in which we challenge the SNP for everything.

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  17. Oh yes , and it’s possible that NS and AS are actually still pals playing the game so that NS the leader , cannot be brought down by accusations against AS .
    But would AS have agreed to such a plan , one that meant him being dragged through the courts the way he was.
    Possibly yes , really , possibly , the accusations the dramatic high number of witnesses brought against him , the suspiciously incohesive evidence it all appeared unreal , how could such a crackpot case be in our courts but it was .
    We will never really know until we are independent , at that point all will be revealed , the grand plan if there was one , the betrayals , the turncoats the spies in the camp.
    That is politics when so much land and wealth is centre point.
    Me ? I repeat , we are so far down the promised road that right now we have no choice , we can’t call it off we can’t replace SNP we are stuck with them til either the referendum happens in 2023 or the SNP withdraw that promise.
    All the noise about alternatives is just certain people guessing and being overconfident to the point of putting togetherness in danger.
    SNP and ALBA is okay , they both know that together they are stronger and by that I mean one will have to give way and tell their supporters to vote for the other in a Scottish independence referendum.
    Sensible advice would be for the smaller to give way.
    If a referendum does not happen in 2023 as promised then yes ALBA should step forward and say come join us we are real independence seekers.

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    1. Possibly no.

      " ....how could such a crackpot case be in our courts, but it was." The crackpot case was successful - Salmond was effectively smeared in many people's minds. Job done.

      You certainly have a good imagination anonymous. Do you write fiction novels by any chance.

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  18. To the person claiming "the sweet spot doesn't exist, because if it did someone would have come up with it by now", well I'm sorry my friend, but you're missing the point entirely. The sweet spot has been long since defined: you challenge the SNP in proportional representation elections (the Holyrood list and local government elections) but you sit out first-past-the-post elections where splitting the pro-indy vote can cause tremendous harm. It's not rocket science - the sole problem is that too many people are rejecting the obvious sense of it.

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  19. Note for James, I see Andrew Sinclairs post referring to the Murrell marriage. I also had a post on this topic but it hasn't appeared. Just trying to establish if there is a techy problem or if there was something else in it you weren't keen on. Glad to see you posting with great vigour at present. A tsunami of excellent articles.

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  20. Nasty WGD numpty Dr Jim claims there is no split in the yes movement as Alba aren't part of it. Numpties like Jimbo seem to just forget that the majority of Alba members are ex SNP members. According to Jimbo if you ain't the SNP or Greens you ain't part of the independence movement. Reminds me of the Communist Party approach - if you were not a member you don't count. Jimbo is just following the approach taken by his great leader. He really loves her you know.

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  21. No historic moments for a long time then two come along in a few days. First we have Blowhard Blackford and his historic vote in Westminster. Now we have the great leader telling us the coronation of Charlie boy in England is another historic moment. Its just so so overwhelming living in these historic times. Isn't life just wonderful.

    No it bloody well isn't. How about a real historic moment for Scotland - Scotland's freedom from the bampots in London.

    Sturgeon, Blackford independence is your real day job - you ain't doing it.

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  22. In a startling new historic moment Britnats announce they want to rename Scotland - "Hotel California".

    SNP state great idea it may help tourism but what do we do about the name of the party - HCNP - sounds a bit like a mouthwash.

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  23. James, perhaps the answer lies, in part, in revisiting the leadership of Alba. For whatever reason, and I'm not debating the rights and wrongs of it, they have brought a lot of old SNP baggage to the table that is polarising rather than uniting the independence movement.

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