Not much to see, really. And certainly not much point in following the advice in the text, because it's obvious even to the most basic single-cell life-forms that my suspension is not warranted, and yet every email I've sent regarding the matter (four so far) has been totally ignored, no matter how many senior people in the party I've copied it to.
But even though I cannot access the website, that of course hasn't stopped Alba from collecting the direct debit payment for my membership. I checked my bank account, and with grim irony this month's payment was deducted a day or two after my suspension. Which begs the obvious question: what the hell am I actually getting in return for my money? I'm sure it's just a total coincidence that Chris McEleny timed my suspension to occur just a few days before I could have applied for a conference pass, allowing me to exercise my most important right as a paid-up party member, ie. to vote on party policy and in internal elections. I'm sure it's just a total coincidence that he timed my suspension to occur just a few days before I could start collecting nominations to stand in those elections, which I would otherwise be doing right now - I had intended to stand again for Membership Support Convener after coming within a 1% margin of being elected to the position last year, and also for one of the male slots on the NEC.
Mr McEleny has a history of getting extremely angry whenever anyone has used the phrase "rigged election", but when one man arbitrarily decides which party members will and will not be allowed to stand in internal elections, some people may well feel that the word "rigged" is objectively justified or even unavoidable. So far there has been no due process in my case. I remain suspended from the Alba Party and deprived of all my rights as a paid-up party member purely on the whim of one man: Christopher McEleny. He has provided no adequate explanation for that suspension, just ultra-vague waffle about "blogposts attacking the party". All of my attempts to seek further clarification have been deliberately ignored by him, by his deputy, by the party chair, and by the party leader.
In my most recent email on Tuesday, the key question that I asked was whether my "temporary suspension pending a hearing" would be allowed to drag on for an unacceptably long period of time, as has happened to others before me, or whether a Disciplinary Committee hearing would be held as soon as practically possible. The fact that even that question was ignored did not fill me with confidence, so I went back and had a look at Mr McEleny's original email, and noticed that there was not even a reference to my right to be told the date and time of the Disciplinary Committee meeting and to attend it if I wished to put my defence in person. That might be an oversight, but let me put it this way. As an elected member of the Disciplinary Committee myself, I am still bound by confidentiality rules and cannot comment on whether or not Mr McEleny has always abided by the requirement on him to allow defendants to attend hearings if they express a wish to do so. However, that is a subject covered by Alan Harris' recent guest post and I would recommend you read it with care if you haven't already. What I can comment on, because this has nothing to do with the work of the committee, is that someone who was expelled by the Disciplinary Committee a few months ago later left a comment on this blog to reveal that he had written to Mr McEleny to confirm that he wished to take up his right to an appeal to the Appeals Committee, and that Mr McEleny had totally ignored that email (how uncharacteristic!) and the appeal never took place. In other words, he was seemingly expelled from the party without due process - something which I believe could be challenged in court. If the Alba leadership keep doing this sort of thing, eventually their luck is going to run out and they're going to come up against someone who actually has the money to launch a legal challenge.
If I sound angry and cynical about this, there's a good reason. Most reasonable people would say that expulsions and suspensions from political parties should be reserved for the most serious wrongdoing, such as violence or racist outbursts, not for fatuous reasons such as "being a bit critical of the party leadership in a blogpost". One of the key reasons so many people flocked from the SNP to Alba is that the SNP disciplinary process was being abused and people like Neale Hanvey and Grouse Beater were being suspended or expelled on bogus or highly questionable accusations of anti-semitism. And yet now the leadership of the party that they flocked to as a refuge is abusing the disciplinary process in an even more extreme way. As many people have pointed out in recent days, Chris McEleny was a fierce critic of the Sturgeon leadership when he was an SNP member, certainly far more critical than I've ever been of the Alba leadership, and yet the SNP did not suspend or expel him or interfere in any way with his right to stand in internal elections. He would have been outraged if they had done, but they did not. It is absolute rank hypocrisy of him to arbitrarily impose an extreme standard on Alba members that he was never prepared to accept being imposed on him as an SNP member. The basic principles at stake do not change just because Mr McEleny currently happens to be the person given some power and no-one is preventing him from abusing it.
As you have been so studiously ignoring my emails for three weeks, Chris, you leave me no option but to say this to you publicly on this blog, which I know you are monitoring. If you are trying to pull a fast one on me, as you have done to other Alba members in the past, in the literal sense I cannot stop you doing that. But what I can prevent happening is you doing that in secret. This time the curtain is going to be pulled right back and Alba members are going to know exactly what you've done. Maybe they'll approve of your actions, maybe they won't. But they're certainly going to know.
Sounds like good news to me, James. I'd resign with immediate effect if it was me. Alba are just a bunch of disaffected shiesters claiming they had 'MPs' when the first time they stood before the electorate they got the swift elbow. Your annual crowdfunder might get a boost too.
ReplyDeleteIndependence is best in all things.
We do need to coalesce around something, though. Indies4indy showed what to expect when going alone.
DeleteThis McElyny fella seems to be a nasty piece of work and has tried to bully no doubt. Shine a light on the wee scroat James.
ReplyDeleteAs an Alba member I am very close to resigning from the party as becoming more and more disappointed and disenfranchised by the leadership who appear to be acting in a very unacceptable way in my opinion. I accept my resignation will not concern the party or leadership one jot.
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/AlbaAyrshire/status/1840017717048312277?t=HSPFj4YNIP8cLF3jrrm0nA&s=19
ReplyDeleteAyrshire, you are suspended! That is all.
DeleteI had posted this early on the other post but probably sits better here.
ReplyDeleteALBA will lose a chunk of monies with the loss of the MP’s at Westminster and they have 7000 members which I would assume will dwindle even more. There is a financial reality to face too over and above the more immediate one as to the leadership approach to different views.
It seems to me ALBA is almost self destructing. Maybe the conference will explain all and what their membership plans are but I doubt it.
That’s what Gordon Millar was highlighting in his assessment of the accounts. He too was accused of being a troublemaker/malcontent/stirrer
DeleteBased on James experience I cannot understand why anyone is still a member of Alba. All those Salmond supporters on here have gone surprisingly quiet, one in particular. James’s hardship has been to our benefit in that respect.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s with all this bullying towards IfS (it’s always only IfS you anons pick on) who you say is an Alba loyalist when he votes for the ISP and is always open about that fact. I get you hate him for some troll’s reason, but why undermine your own argument with such a glaring error?
DeleteIt’s not like supporting Alba is exactly forbidden on this blog! Though Chris McEleney maybe has other ideas…
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DeleteAnon at 5.30. No one mentioned IFS until you. Why did you mention him? You need to explain.
DeleteI don’t know why you blame Chris McEleny. Do you think he is doing this without the explicit approval of Salmond and Taz?
DeleteSalmond has seemed quite mad for some time. Having Kenny stand against Eva is a case in point
His ridiculous assertion Alba will get 15% and 25 MSPs when the latest Survation poll has them at 3%
Persecuting James serves no purpose unless they are worried James would win the membership Convener vote and given how much rigging went on last year this is more than a possibility it’s a pattern of behaviour
Explicit approval sounds a bit much. Seems more like implicit approval to me: pruning the membership of perceived "troublemakers" is McEleny's remit and he's got all the freedom to do so that he likes, as no one above personally cares about those he picks on.
DeleteFrom what I can tell, from the outside, Salmond trusts his gut about people and lets them do what he trusts them to. He trusts McEleny, he trusts Riddley, and he trusts Taz. The fiasco which saw Comrie leave the party because of a Riddley "brainfart" tells me he's just not taking any of this seriously. It's just favouritism and he doesn't care about those wee folk that it hurts. We aren't Craig Murray.
I can’t see what Salmond would trust McEleny or Tas what have they achieved?
DeleteMcEleny failed to get elected in the SNP for internal positions he stood for and at the 2020 NEC elections he failed to get elected to the NEC
Tasmina was an MP for just two years owing her success to the SNP landslide and then was defeated as SNP women’s Convener by Rhiannon Spear
Why would Salmond think either could be trusted to run a party?
Anon at 5.20. Still waiting. Why did you bring up IFS?
DeleteAmon @ 5.53pm and 10.07am says you need to explain and still waiting. You really are a nasty bully . Why does anyone have to do your bidding?
DeleteYou were their best advert - because you wanted more democracy and weren't afraid to speak out about it. Had they paid attention they could have been the best open party around as it seems to me others could do with a shake up including the SNP. Now they have become the worst.
ReplyDeleteAs someone else said, they have pressed the auto-destruct button.
Ask for a refund of your membership fee, as the threat to suspend happened BEFORE the renewal was collected. And if not, report them to the electoral commission who might want to fine them (I think).
They pulled the plug on the Renfrew lacu x account after a member posted a poem about mceleny.
ReplyDeleteWent something like this ...
We have a guy called Chris
His admin is hardly a whiz
He don't do comms and he dont do email
He's really a bit of a fail
He's pushed out members and hes pushed out hope
He's actually a bit of a dope
Chris is shit, and he's heading for a writ
For fuck sake man, just quit.
Alba - the thin skinned party
I blame St Mirren agitators.
DeleteThe SNP's internal authoritarianism really started under Salmond, so it's not surprising that his new vehicle inherited it.
ReplyDeleteI do wonder why you're bothering with all this hassle. There's a principle at stake, I suppose. But the only purpose of the Alba Party was to pose an electoral threat to the SNP from a pro-independence direction, and that's clearly not going to happen, so what's even the point?
Fair question.
DeleteAnother question though: quit Alba and then what? Where's the vehicle for independence now?
The SNP, same as it ever was. No one sane thought that Alba would itself be the vehicle for independence: it was supposed to steer the SNP back onto the road
DeleteIt’s certainly not Alba. Alba won’t get an MSP in 2026. They would need activists to cover the region and they just don’t have the ability to campaign effectively across a region which is huge.
DeleteEither everyone rejoins the SNP and tries again to make it a success. Or try to get a small number of very committed MSPs elected using the Salvo/Liberation troops but that requires a Party
There is an idea that each small party focuses on a single region but would they be able to co-operate ? And agree
"it was supposed to steer the SNP back onto the road"
DeleteIt has sadly failed in doing that. If anything the SNP now is further off the road than when Alba formed.
Not sure what the solution is now. People left the SNP for a reason and the situation being worse isn't exactly great encouragement to go back.
Attempts to reform the SNP from within failed, attempts to pressure them from the outside have also failed. Returning to the first failed strategy surely isn't the answer as if it failed before why would it be successful now?
Aye, 11:54. That's why Yes as a whole is so scunnered. It's not just blog commenters like us, you can see it in the piss poor turnout and zero energy for public protests in favour of independence. Yes has lost its mojo. We all know why, but what can we do about it?
DeleteThe obvious routes have been tried:
1. Try to push the SNP back to accountability to its members and their overwhelming passion for independence
2. Establish an alternate party to give frustrated Yessers a voice in elections and pressurise the SNP to get back on track
3. Stop voting SNP when there is no action towards independence to send them the message the hard way
Plan 1 failed as the SNP tightened up its NEC and silenced dissenting voices, the party remains in the hands of the same clique that's been on top since 2014.
Plan 2 failed as Alba fared so badly in elections, and subsequently just plain gave up here. I've never even had the choice on my ballot since their first election in 2021.
Plan 3 definitely caught the SNP's attention. Scunnered Yessers like me ejected hideously useless eijits like Stewart McDonald and Alyn Smith from their precious careers in London. But so far there's no sign of any lessons learned by the party leadership at all.
An SNP that's hostile to the independence movement at large and its own members is a tough old nut to crack. But that's just where we are.
At point 2 above, do you mean 'alternative' party? 'Alternate' seems not to make sense. Thanks.
DeleteLooks up dictionary:
Delete"In both British and American English the adjective alternate means ‘every other or every second’, as in ‘they meet on alternate Sundays’, or ‘(of two things) each following and succeeded by the other in a regular pattern’, as in ‘alternate layers of potato and sauce’. Alternative means ‘available as another possibility or choice’ (‘an alternative route’; ‘some European countries follow an alternative approach’). In American usage, however, alternate can also be used to mean ‘available as another choice’: ‘an alternate plan called for construction to begin immediately rather than waiting for spring’. This American use of alternate is still regarded as incorrect by many people in Britain."
You live, you learn!
I hope the need for an alternative party of independence is a temporary problem and doesn't prove to be a cycle of alternating loyalties.
I'm sadly leaning more to the belief that the next opportunity for Yessers won't be until after the SNP loses the next Scottish Parliament election. A lot of soul searching & reforms will happen at that point giving Yessers an opportunity to change things and rebuild.
DeleteI'm not saying that I want that outcome but I simply don't see the SNP making any bold or radical moves, and the only thing that will increase as we get closer to the election will be anger, desperation and insults of "doing the unionist work for them" if we don't Vote SNP 1&2. All of which will have the opposite effect.
Anon at 6.33. Sorry, I didn't realise you were an American.
Delete@9:24 Not an American, but known some so well I’m maybe under the influence!
DeleteRe: 2026. Labour's doing stunningly poorly right now. I was just reading the Observer and even they're chock full of doomsaying about the woeful state of Starmer's government, mere months into the job. What a turnaround! Back in July that paper was insufferable. Starmer's unpopularity is unprecedented. I expected little from Labour but this is incredible!
So Holyrood 2026 might not be in the bag for Labour at all. Certainly, it's no longer looking like a death-march with a foregone conclusion.
Quite what happens to the independence cause if Swinney's SNP wins in 2026 is far from obvious to me.
I’m wary of Reform entering Holyrood in a big way, complicating the arithmetic for passing anything with a majority. The better they do, the more the "grand coalition" scenario comes into view where SNP and Labour have to join forces, either in coalition or an uneasy and unspoken alliance like the Tories support for the SNP in 2007. It sounds outlandish, I know, but look around Europe and you'll see similarly awkward arrangements, like in Ireland. When a new far right party enters parly, the establishment rallies against it. And the establishment, sadly, very much includes the SNP.
It's a bit daft really. Salmond got kudos points for bringing the couple forward to challenge the UK Gov and Scot Gov over the winter fuel payments, with Govan Law Centre, and then blows it with this stupidity.
ReplyDeleteIs it widely known that the couple he brought forward is the Deputy Convenor of an Alba branch and his wife? Everything is smoke and mirrors with Salmond. At the IMAX event, for a "young person" they wheeled out his niece yet again.
DeleteI'm with James on this but would like to hear the other side of the story too. Albeit if they don't respond then I'll take James' side of it as it's a compelling case.
DeleteSound like a mess and they need to breed goodwill they're not going about it
I’m not sure that stunt had much impact. Initially there was a bit of excitement then I think the press realised it was a stunt. The fact the case depended on the couple getting legal aid meant it is unlikely to go anywhere
DeleteIt was reported in all newspapers, and is taken on by Govan law Centre with their Mike Dailly as Solicitor Advocate.
Deletehttps://govanlawcentre.org/2024/09/26/legal-challenge-to-the-winter-fuel-payment-cut/
If it's a stunt it totally absolutely has my support.
Mike Dailly a recent guest on Scotland Speaks. Yes Salmond can call in favour from his mates. It’s amazing how cheaply people can be bought. A slot at the iMax or half hour on the Salmond Soeaks show
DeleteRe: "wheeled out his niece yet again"
DeleteHah! Time for another little tale about my Alba disciplinary. The other one was here: https://scotgoespop.blogspot.com/2024/09/here-is-minimum-that-alba-members.html
September 21, 2024 at 4:54 PM
At the formative meeting of the Alba Scottish Borders LACU, I put myself forward as Convenor, which on reflection, I am glad beyond belief that it never happened. On putting myself forward, another of Salmond's nieces said "No, I think it should be Mum" [ie Gail Hendry, Salmond's sister] Afterwards, I made a comment to Gail Hendry herself, that her daughter came across like Private Pike of Dad's Army, who could never figure out his relationship with Uncle Arthur, his mother's lodger [with benefits?], who was also Chief Clerk and his boss at work in the bank and Sergeant Wilson in the platoon and often called him Uncle Arthur when he should have called him "Sergeant Wilson".
This formed part of Gail Hendry's Alba disciplinary complaint against me. Now, I would not ordinarily have relayed this tale about Salmond's niece, but it is the fact that her mother, Salmond's sister chose to take this to the Alba Disciplinary Committee rather than resolve it with me in person which makes this worthy of retelling. If you don't want the tale retelling [I am looking at you Gail Hendry], then don't take the matter to the Alba Disciplinary Committee, because once someone is out of the party because of a so-called Disciplinary, the gloves are off and you have no basis whatsoever to complain that the whole matter is public, if the victim of your Disciplinary complaint decides no longer to be part of your party.
Enough of the tale. I believe that Sturgeon did not treat Salmond fairly or correctly, but as at least one other has commented on this blog, Salmond set up the culture and Sturgeon used it against him. The family and Salmond carry on, entitled. The one benefit of the English House of Lords is that at least you know where and who your aristocracy are.
If James had not paid his Alba membership fee such as by cancelling his Direct Debit he would/could be deemed as having resigned from Alba.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the Alba leadership would have been delighted if this had happened as they would simply cancel the Disciplinary Hearing and no doubt put about to all that would listen that his deemed “resignation” clearly showed his guilt of whatever they decided he had done irrespective of it’s veracity.
I a, embarrassed to admit that a few years ago I voted for Chris McEleny as Depute Convenor of the SNP. However, one of his rivals was Angus Robertson…..
ReplyDeleteI’ve enjoyed your blog for many years James. Keep your spirits up and good on you for not going quietly.
ReplyDeleteYour mission to increase transparency in internal elections may be doomed in Alba, but after the shenanigans of the last few years you would have a lot of people supporting you to bring that mission to the SNP. There’s more joy in heaven over a sinner who repents and all that ;)
James's blogs were not supportive of Alba especially at election time. This became increasingly obvious to Alba supporters who read the blogs.
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha ha ha Lol ... ha ha ha gasp. lol.
DeleteThanks for the laugh Chris.
Yes. I don't know whether Anon at 11.38 is who you think he is, but I suspect he's no random bystander. He's been attempting to post variations of that comment for weeks. Weirdly, one of his major recurring complaints is that when I went to the Alba manifesto launch in Dundee, I mentioned in my blogpost that it was poorly attended compared to the campaign launch in Glasgow, which was just an objective fact that would have leapt out at every journalist in the room. Interesting that these people truly expect you to say black is white, in true Orwellian style, and think it's an expulsion offence if you don't.
DeleteI suppose a true loyal partisan (zoomer) would be expected just not to mention turnout if it’s unflattering to the party. A lie by omission. Not straight Orwell, but the kind of thing we all see so often in politics that it’s a relief when someone like yourself spares us the insult to intelligence.
DeleteA journalist from the Scotsman posted picture of chairs being removed from the hall. Never removed chairs when the audience is in the room, Do it before.
DeleteBy not supportive you mean they were accurate and truthful? Take a hike.
DeleteIt’s not a fair point. It’s disingenuous. James was accurate and truthful. Do you understand the implications of what you are suggesting?? I hope not.
DeleteLook how much gutting, 'repurposing', grovelling or whatever you want to call it the Labour Party had to through to be become, again, an acceptable B Team for the British establishment.
ReplyDeleteTheir threat against the power of the 'greedocracy' is as nothing to that of the movement for an independent Scotland.
Neither the SNP or Alba look remotely up to the task that we face. Left to their own devices Britain's ultra rich will want to move their political system much more to the right as they pump out more and more wealth for themselves and leave less and less for the majority.
Resolving our vacuum of leadership and realistic strategy is urgent. I don't claim to see the way forward but the sort of petty minded excrement being demonstrated by the Alba leadership in this case, and the wet lettuces of Swinney's SNP, is certainly not it.
Part of the problem is too many offering solutions and too few understanding the problem. You do at least offer an analysis of the problem
DeleteI was surprised by how upsetting it was to be ejected from the Scottish Greens for signing a declaration on womens' rights. James has been ejected from Alba by unconstitutional means for doing the right thing. He believes in democracy and evidently would have moved to make Alba a much more credible democratic political party. I admire his persistence and share his dismay.
ReplyDeleteIt is a sobering experience to become politically homeless, because for those of us who care about independence the landscape just contains smoking ruins.
If any good is to come of the current situation it will depend on groups who trust each other and treat each other fairly.
The Scottish Trans Greens.
DeleteThe Scottish Trans National Party.
The British Conservative Labour Party.
Spoiled for choice.
Anon at 11.34. Grow up or get back to the Daily Fail.
DeleteAnon at 11.46am - a worthless post that reflects badly on you.
DeleteI’m sure the Tory press is complaining about Labour being too right wing and too unionist. Sounds just like them.
DeleteIdiot for Scotland. How is your pal A S doing? You are very quiet on his behaviour towards and treatment of James. Generic ‘so sorry James’ doesn’t cut it, so don’t bother coming back with that nonsense. It’s insincere and disingenuous. No surprise there. Your judgement is shot through so any opinion you hold on anything is worthless. Away back to your pal in Bath and give us peace. Good to see James at long last delete many of your abusive ranting untruthful posts. You’ve been caught out and called out big time. Toodle doo.
DeleteMoronic troll at 7.21pm shows once again his obnoxious character. Not only that he is lying again. Unlike you I can delete my own posts because I am not an anon like you. That's why it says deleted by author - that's me - I knew you would just jump in like the complete idiot you are. 🤡🤡🤡🤡 You are a clown. You are an ignorant troll as well.
DeleteAS is not my pal - never met him just as you lie that Campbell in Bath is my pal. Never met him either. You prattle on about my judgement being shot. You, of course, never post anything but trolling. No opinions on anything - no judgement on anything just obnoxious nasty trolling.
It seems some people just cannae accept you post your own opinion and are not in any camp and do not idolise politicians.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMoronic troll at 7.21pm - I deleted that post 7.50pm. What a clown. 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡. Try checking the meaning of the word author. Did you fall off your pony as a child and land on your head.
DeleteAnon @7.21pm. Wipe the egg off your face and stop making a fool of yourself.
DeleteI guess he could always use all the egg on his face to make himself a nice omelette. 😆
DeleteI've deleted the follow-up comments from our old friend, Anon at 11.38. However, it shouldn't pass without note that he effectively said that turning Scot Goes Pop into some sort of outright Alba propaganda website was a "minimum expectation" if I didn't want to be expelled. That is a barking mad position.
ReplyDeleteBy attending Alba meetings and only highlighting poor attendance without discussing the content, James risked coming across as purely critical.
DeleteIncluding details about what was discussed at those meetings would have fosterd a more engaging and nuanced dialogue. That could still support the party indirectly without being overtly promotional, including substantive information about the meetings—like policy discussions or key decisions—along with the critique of low turnout. That would have given readers a chance to form their own judgments about the party’s activities. Instead whether intentional or not Alba was always portrayed in a negative light, adding weight to to argument that they were an insignificant irrelevance.
James writes for The National and other publications. It is not reasonable It seems odd that a condition of Alba membership is to be compelled to write about their policies. Or you are expelled that’s extreme
DeleteMaybe what you are annoyed about is James rightly pointed out that Norstat was an outlier which of course it is as the company is too Alba friendly and others also pointed that out. Why would James compromise his journalistic integrity to shill for Alba
If you want support then earn it - a member shouldn’t be required to write sycophantic nonsense or be referred to the disciplinary
If you had not prevented James from standing for election then members could have made their own determination on James’s contributions but you prevented that from happening
But based on the blog posts during the election you could have been forgiven for forgetting that James was an Alba Party member as all he seemed to do was write critical things about them and then argue with people in the comment sections about why they should vote for the SNP.
DeleteJames has never taken an anti-SNP stance. He has never made a secret that he sees the SNP as the main vehicle and Alba a supporting party.
DeleteAnd he was elected to two Alba committees and almost elected as Membership Convener.
Why don’t you respect the decisions of your members?
As a bystander, I think that's the crux of the problem: Alba launched itself as a hopeful ally to the SNP, but soon morphed into the Wings Party that all their detractors had said they were. That dual identity—is Alba's purpose to keep the SNP honest on independence, or is Alba there to destroy it?—is Alba's problem.
DeleteTo be honest, I seldom hear anything but the Wings line now from Alba folk, besides James of course and his likeminded readers here.
I mean the SNP weren't exactly receptive to the idea of Alba in the first place. Every policy of theirs was ridiculed, every olive branch slapped away etc. Alba excessively pushed Scotland United to a point of embarrassment.
DeleteIt also became clear that Constitutional Convention was never going to happen and instead The SNP maintained a strategy Alba warned would harm the overall cause and they've been proven right.
Absolutely. The real problem is the SNP. Their leadership works with no one, and has completely lost the plot.
DeleteI trust Robin McAlpine when he complains in detail at just how deeply the SNP leadership has squandered the case for independence these last 10 years.
Even happy-clappy Lesley Riddoch often breaks her usual character to criticise them for refusing to work with the rest of the movement in any shape or form: "for crying in a bucket" as she often puts it.
To the SNP there is only the SNP, and to the SNP leadership there is only their own faction's narrow interest.
How exactly is anyone to respond to, let alone work with, a major party like that?
Anon at 6.50pm says:- " The SNP maintained a strategy Alba warned would harm the overall cause and they've been proven right. "
DeleteYou didn't need to be a member of Alba to see that Sturgeon's gang were a bunch of devolutionalists. Wheest for the SNP was not only a disaster for independence but it compromised standards of personal integrity for anyone who knew what Sturgeon's gang were up to and remained silent.
Is being a member of any political party worth ditching your values.
The problem is Alex Salmond.
DeleteThe SNP will never work with him. First there are too many in the SNP that believe there is substance to the civil servants complaints accepting he did not commit any crime. I have heard people say the behaviour he admitted is wrong. Second, they don’t trust him, in that they think he is out for revenge and that is sometimes how it seems. Third, he would take up all the oxygen he is too adept at using the media. The case in point is when he dominated the Regan / Humza negotiations.
If Ash Regan was leader I would imagine there would be far more chance of the SNP and Alba working together
The best thing for Alba and independence is if Salmond stepped away completely, He could concentrate on his media shows and TV punditry. A new leader could potentially heal wounds
Yeah I mean if everything Alba had called for since Day 1 had actually happened we likely would be in a considerable better place now.
DeleteThey have went about it the wrong way and the issues people had with Salmond overshadowed things but they weren't wrong in the things they wanted to happen or for their criticisms of the SNP when they didn't.
Moving forward they clearly aren't the solution but at this point I'm not sure what is.
re: "The problem is Alex Salmond"
DeleteWell, A problem, not THE problem. A Salmond shaped hole, where he is no longer is not of itself a solution, but it makes it easier to find the solution. I doubt that we can move on until the Salmond issues from the Sturgeon era are dealt with.
What is no longer needed is a leader. We need leadership not conflated with "The Leader", so that "leaders" can be called out if they are not providing leadership.
"I doubt that we can move on until the Salmond issues from the Sturgeon era are dealt with"
DeleteYeah there's several ongoing investigations and court cases related to that still ongoing and until they're all complete, the full truth sees the light of day and hopefully people are finally held accountable it will always be a cloud lingering over us.
I doubt we will ever know ‘the full truth’
DeleteThe Alex Salmond case and inquiry and Sturgeon’s part in it came at the best time for the Union. The British state was at its weakest and the two big players on the independence side are embroiled in a vicious row.
The problem for Alex Salmond is there were complaints against him and journalists and commentators hark back to those complaints when the subject is raised.
Everyone seems to think he will win his case against the Scottish government but what if he doesn’t ?
Anon at 9.16pm says:- " it came at the best time for the Union." It was and who did this - Sturgeon's gang. It wisnae a " row". It was a plot to send Salmond to jail.
DeleteAnon also says:- " there were complaints against him " that should be "false complaints against him "
The initial civil service complained were not false complaints against him. Much as Stu Campbell likes to assert they are The complaints were harassment at work complaints. As far as we know these complaints were all true there is no evidence that they were false
DeleteHarassment at work is not a crime
The complaint that he made a drunken pass at a woman in the bedroom of Bute House was admitted.
It was also stated in court - by his defence - he had a sexual encounter with another complainant.
This is what voters don’t forgive him for - it may seem a bit puritanical but voters don’t like the idea of a boss in a very powerful position ‘taking advantage’ of much younger women who work for him
^ Correct. I don't think anything will wash this stain off him. Acquittal certainly didn't do it.
Delete“Taking advantage” silly silly stuff. These women were not silly wee girls. Civil servants on the make That’s who they are.
DeleteOne of them was so upset she messaged a pal saying she had a great evening. She also worked out her overtime on the same evening she was so upset.
It may seem a bit “puritanical” says the high priest
Or in Scotland - Holy Willie.
He did have a sexual encounter with her - she never complained about that - she made up a different story. So anon are you some sort of religious nut who is against consenting adults having sex outside marriage. Try relocating to Saudi Arabia that might suit you better.
Of course you could be told a lot more about these people but the court very handily gave them on pain of imprisonment lifelong anonymity. One is currently being investigated for perjury.
Just you guys keep on freshening up the stain. Of course it will never happen to you, will it, as you don’t have a sex life or any encounters with the opposite sex. Life in the monastery must get cold in the winter.
You can rant and excuse Salmond all you want but the fact is the public won’t forgive his behaviour and neither will some politicians.
DeleteSalmond was in an incredibly powerful position as FM. He was married and the women were much younger than him.
That’s what people know
I doubt it would make any difference if the women are named - it’s the stuff that he has admitted that has condemned him
“Thats what people know” the story told by unionists like you and your unionist media.
DeleteYou believe the people who lied to their own lawyers, lied to the Court of Session judge and lied to a High Court jury. I believe you are really Alex Cole Hamilton the close friend of one of the liars a fact he didn’t disclose during the Inquiry. He lied What do they all have in common - liars .
Taliban anon. Correction you would feel more at home in Afghanistan than Saudi Arabia. So all the men and women in (or had ) relationships with people of a different age are somehow doing something wrong. So the women were much younger you say and how do you know that since their identity is a secret. They were younger but not young. People like you use that
Delete“ much younger”
phrase to imply
wrongdoing. Salmond is
“ much younger than his wife “. Was his wife guilty of some Taliban type wrongdoing.
Ironic that someone with your Taliban type views is defending the extreme “progressive SNP”.
It would appear that Alba want their own equivalent of the WGD site and SNP propagandist liars like Scottish Skier and Dr Jim posting btl.
ReplyDeleteIn the mad world of Scottish politics/blogging both of these WGD SNP propagandists regularly brand SGP as an Alba propaganda site.
Which would be odd as there's only ever critical posts about Alba on here.
DeleteOh aye, 1:12, Alba's amateurism and lack of any kind of electoral success is defo the singlehanded work of this very blog and its dark arts of poll analysis.
Delete/s
Someone should definitely start writing The Wee Alba Dug.
DeleteTractor production is at an all time high…
James I'm still an ALBA member - anon at 11.38 talking rubbish, he can't speak for ALBA members just himself. One point, if what they do is unconstitutional then it doesn't stand. As you know the constitution is there for a reason. Technically you do not have to comply with anything they say to you as it's unconstitutional - I know they don't care. But if you want I can complain to the party that party members are breaking the constitution and bringing the party into disrepute - dunno what help that would do you though. And I'm sure you don't want to end up like that guy Burke in Ireland that keeps turning up at his old job.
ReplyDeleteYou made me look. It's kind of strange how Scotland doesn't have an equivalent of that guy Burke. The roundup I just read says it's all about his refusal to use (non biologically true) pronouns when addressing his students, and if he was dismissed for only that then he's fighting for justice. But something tells me it's about a lot more, given the way other conservatives over there are criticising him.
DeleteI think you have it in a nutshell - I think the family are from a very unusual religious group
Delete"One point, if what they do is unconstitutional then it doesn't stand"
DeleteIn a sense that's true, but it's only true if someone launches a legal challenge and the court rules that the constitution has been breached. Until and unless that happens, and 90% of the time it won't happen because legal action is out of reach for most people on financial grounds, the unconstitutional decisions will effectively stand. To give an example, one of the key points of controversy during the constitution review process has been the fact that the leadership effectively controls the Conference Committee because non-members of that committee keep turning up and participating even though the constitution gives them no right to. It was finally explained to me yesterday that the leadership's excuse for this is a decision made by one of the NEC's earliest meetings, and the assertion that the NEC can do whatever it likes. I was almost certainly on the NEC when that decision was taken, and I must say I have no recollection of it, but it may have been smuggled through on the nod without me registering what was happening. But even if that is the case, the NEC categorically cannot just do whatever it wants, or at least not without acting illegitimately. It's a powerful body but its powers are derived from the text of the constitution, not the other way around.
And you can rest assured that I won't end up like Burke, because there's a binary outcome here - I'll either be expelled or I won't be. I'm 90% sure I will be, but if by any chance I'm not, I'll have every right to keep turning up to Alba events. If I am expelled and the appeal upholds that, then however outrageous it would be, I doubt I'd be giving Alba much more thought after that. As I said the other day, if I'm expelled I'll swiftly seek a new political home, and no-one can have any complaints about that, because by that stage I would be a free agent as a result of a decision Alba took, not as a result of any decision of mine.
DeleteYes exactly, unless they expel you then there is no reason that you can't attend. The problem in the long term is that if they do get away with this then the constitution is completely worthless and effectively they can do whatever they want. I don't know much about this guy but sonmeone will have to deal with him at some point. Happy to help if necessary.
DeleteWell, if you feel able to put in a complaint, it wouldn't do any harm, but I suspect you would just get an email from the party chair (after a long delay) saying she had considered your complaint and dismissed it. It would never go anywhere near the Disciplinary Committee because of the veto system explained in Alan Harris' guest post.
DeleteWallowing in self pity on your wee blog.
ReplyDeleteIs that you Chris? You’re such a big man.
DeleteNo, it's either Shannon Donoghue or Yvonne Ridley. A bit cowardly of one of them to be hiding behind anonymity, but the giveaway is the "wee blog" schtick, which they both regard as a hilarious in-joke.
DeleteIn the words of Edmund Blackadder, "the long winter evenings must just *fly* by..."
Actually, let's face it, it's Shannon Donoghue, because whatever Yvonne Ridley's faults, she has writing ability and would have left a more intelligent comment.
DeleteThe petty “wee blog” attack is ludicrous on multiple levels, not least that SGP has far better engagement than the totality of the Alba party - a party that is otherwise almost invisible.
ReplyDelete2024- Epilogue - Death of ALBA - It was all Nikkla's fault,
ReplyDeleteThe *creation* of Alba was all Nicola's fault.
DeleteIts end will be someone else's, at the top.
ALBA was long in its creation when AS took it over. Still has there been any statement made by their sole MSP Regan or has it not been written for her yet on party democracy. She did a runner after snp members saw through her and she came last in the snp leadership elections. Who knows, the way politics has been over the past few years she could be leading ALBA in the SGE if it is still around. Any betting person give us odds? Alex?
ReplyDeleteAlba is a party that is composed of folks who want independence. It is composed of people many of whom were long term SNP committed to independence. To suggest otherwise is nonsense. The difference between Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon or Kenny MacAskill and let us say Pete Wishart is night and day.
ReplyDeleteAlba morever have tried to combine colaboratevly to deliver Independence. The SNP and Alba 2 was an attempt to maximise independence representation. Alba also tries to work pan the movement whereas the SNP sunk yes.
They're too may who want to strangle Alba. We need to work together.
I suspect James has had a bad run in with Chris McEleny. Others have too. But that does not bin project Alba as some are trying to do.
SNP 1 ALBA 2 was an ISP initiative. The idea was hijacked by Sslmond and Tasmina in an attempt to get back on the gravy train without doing the work for it. Most of the genuine pro-Indy activists have been pushed out of Alba. The ones that were there for the cause not a job or MSP position. Now it’s full of nasty careerists.
DeleteAlex and Tasmina are good leaders. The Alba project has grown. The old idea of SNP 1 and Alba 2 no longer fits with the party profile.
DeleteTasmina is a good leader? was that when she was with the tories and the other rparties she has abandoned over the years.
DeleteShe had had an impressive acting, legal, political and charity career and has had four children and a successful marriage. I think that is probably a lot more than you have achieved.
Delete"The Alba project has grown. The old idea of SNP 1 and Alba 2 no longer fits with the party profile."
DeleteWell, first of all the Alba project has not grown. At best it's flatlined, at worst it's gone backwards. And to be less collaborative and more insular than before is not some kind of "maturing" process, it's quite the reverse.
I suspect Anon at 9.01 is a troll. Tas is a failed politician she clings to Eck like a limpet as he’s her source of power and income. Being entirely dependent on a man for any success is not a good look.
DeleteShe lost her seat, lost her women’s Convener position
Many of the Alba careerists failed SNP vetting .
"I suspect James has had a bad run in with Chris McEleny. Others have too"
DeleteThere's no need to "suspect" things or come up with "hidden" explanations for things that have already been explained. To the extent that I've been able to speak freely, I've been pretty open about what has happened -
1) I was elected to the Constitution Review Group on a platform of radical democratic reform, and I was persistent in using my place on the group to argue for that kind of reform in a way that was clearly unwelcome to the powers-that-be.
2) This resulted in me being subjected to low-grade bullying attempts by two individuals in particular. (Neither of those people were Chris McEleny - he wasn't on the group.) I emphasise "low-grade" - it was just petty stuff that I could have handled, but it becomes a problem when later the disciplinary machinery of the party starts working in the service of the bullies.
3) I was then removed, totally out of the blue, from my elected position on the group - even though the Alba constitution does not give the NEC, the General Secretary or anyone else the power to remove someone from an elected position.
Again, the aim of breaking the rules in this way seemed to be to reduce any 'risk' of democratic reform occurring.
4) I was then arbitrarily suspended from the party, purely on the whim of one man. So far there has been no due process and no disciplinary hearing is in sight. The timing of the suspension is clearly intended to arbitrarily block me from standing in Alba's internal elections, which I had fully intended to do. This means that for the second year in a row, and some would argue for the third or fourth year in a row, those elections will not be fairly-conducted.
"She had had an impressive acting, legal, political and charity career and has had four children and a successful marriage."
DeleteReassuring to know that if Alba ever set up an acting academy, a fertility clinic, or a marriage guidance service, the expertise will be there.
Anon @ 1059
DeleteMaybe Alba could branch out it the areas you've suggested. Diversification could see them.
Agreed
ReplyDeleteAnon at 11.49am: If you want to re-post that comment without the bit about me, then fine, but you can't expect me to leave up a comment expanding on a false personal claim about me that I took considerable time out of my morning to correct earlier.
ReplyDeleteAnd while I am on about a nation utterly failing to remain in existence I do have to smile at the huge moonshot proposals to turn Scotland into one big exporting power generator.
ReplyDeleteIt's underway, and whilst the politicos bicker, and receive their glass beads, households with old, young, frail and everything in between struggle to heat their homes.
Animal farm indeed.
James, there was no intention to spread false information about you.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of my response was simply to reinforce that prior to Sturgeon and her ilk the SNP and the wider Yes movement were very much in unity of purpose.
My point without trying to undermine you or anyone else is that the Scots, like the Aborigines or North American Indians are headed to extinction unless they work together to remove the colonial yolk now dedicated to destroying Scotland.
And destroy Scotland and its people they will - southern immigration not unlike the Plantation of Ulster, the continued pressure to undermine the Scots legal system, the continued policy to destroy the notion that Scotland is actually a country, or legislation that undermines Scotland or freeports - it's all in play.
Can we not all uplift our game. Regain unity of purpose. Easier said than done maybe but that is what we need, and that is what we had running up to and initially beyond the referendum. Yes you will get bad eggs and I take take your point about how you were treated. That treatment, like bickering, or the attempted destruction of Alex Salmond is I am afraid fatal to what I think so many, including your very good self, want to achieve.
Keep up the good work. We fight an enemy out with and within as so many of our glass bead politicians very ably demonstrate.
Nasty anti immigration post.
DeleteThe anglos will have the highlands and borders/galloway. The bams will flood the central belt, and the native Scots, the rightful owners of all Scotland, will be corralled into their own little gaza strip along the M8 corridor. The anglo is an etho-supremacist, a little englander, a pirate, a thief and a murderer; civic nationalism is not for an aggressive invasive species.
Delete- in 50 years, we will be where the palestinians are now. And do not be shamed into "not noticing" the viciously aggressive economic cleansing the Scots have to endure - it is not racism, it is defensive and it is self regard, for our basic rights under the UN. We are not Anglos, he is not us and has no rights to be here. Scotland can never be free with these invaders controlling all aspects of our society.
And your point is... ?
Delete"Sturgeon and her ilk" had support for independence at its highest-ever level in the second half of 2020 with 20 consecutive major opinion polls showing Yes ahead of No using the 2014 question.
DeleteThat fact alone should have illustrated to the whole movement the need to come out of the Covid crisis united and focussed on hardening that support but it was at exactly that time that the anti-SNP bile and venom was stepped-up.
Alba was created by disgruntled former senior SNP members who realised that they were never going to regain their old positions in the SNP and who had decided that they preferred breaking the movement completely to Scotland winning an independence that didn't have their personal stamp on it.
It's hard to believe now that replacing the SNP with their new party would only take a few years and that real headway (if not a supermajority!) would be achieved in the 2021 election.
Of course, alba was never going to succeed because it was filled with impatient and resentful "freedom-fighters" who had no idea how to engage with the next 10% of their fellow Scots whom we had failed to win over in the first referendum. Political activists who spend their "campaigning" marching about in kilts shouting "now! now! now!" tend not to be any good at building support for a cause which is, necessarily, a frustratingly slow, even incremental, process which actually involve actually engaging with actual people using actual reason and logic but gradualism, championed by Alex himself, was what the SNP had learned to do (and do well) over the years.
Alba has been the main reason why we'll not see independence at least "for a generation". The 1990s illustrated why Scotland will never achieve independence behind a divided movement.
I see some alba supporters in these comments are still suggesting that Nicola Sturgeon and senior SNP leaders tried to frame Alex Salmond for rape. Can we just be clear, ALEX SALMOND DOES NOT BELIEVE NICOLA STURGEON TRIED TO FRAME HIM FOR RAPE.... because, in the 2021 Scottish election, Alex very specifically asked the people of Scotland to re-elect Nicola as First Minister of Scotland and the SNP as the leading government party at Holyrood and promised alba's support in that process. That was what SNP1 alba2 was all about and, critical as I am of much of what Alex does these days, I cannot believe that he would stumble into such a hypocritical and, frankly, stupid strategy.
I cant have children cos I am a bloke. Still I fully acknowledge Tasmina's willingness to try our various political parties over the years. I am bit old fashioned I would never join the tories, labour, lib dems, greens , alba as I support the SNP.
ReplyDeleteI doubt if you have achieved as much in your career.
DeleteYes, it was jolly broad-minded of her to stand as a Tory candidate. I'm sure she doesn't have right-wing views or anything, it was just openness to experience. When do Reform UK get their Tas turn?
DeleteThere is nothing specifically wrong with changing party. Tasminas dad was in the Conservatives so its a natural place to start.
DeleteThough if you look at the issues she was campaigning for at the time: No new or higher taxes on Scots, Abolition of university tuition fees, A full-time nursery place for all 4-year-olds, Better support for farmers and fishermen, More influence for Scotland in the UK Parliament.
DeleteNot really much there to disagree with in the context of 1999?
Agree fully she has good values. An asset for Alba.
DeleteThis is getting quite comical. It would be fascinating to know which friend or relative of Tasmina is writing this hagiography.
DeleteYou are forgetting found guilty of professional misconduct as party of Tas’s stellar career
DeleteTasmina OBE is in almost every respect a poor man's Michelle Mone.
DeleteFrom her Wiki bio: "While a Conservative Party member, she criticised Alex Salmond as "hopelessly out of his depth" and "utterly naive" for his comments condemning NATO's intervention in Kosovo"
DeleteHas anyone asked her about this? Does she still think Salmond was wrong about Kosovo, or has she changed her mind? Does still think Salmond is hopelessly out of his depth?
I think we can all accept that the Yes movement is divided. What I don't get: The resistance amongst some for a Constitutional Convention.
ReplyDeleteSurely the only way forward is for all sides of the Yes movement to get in a room together, make attempts to heal wounds and hash out a united plan on the best way forward?
With an issue so important we can't afford petty squabbles and "I won't work with so & so" it's ridiculous. Alba through all their faults have called for a Constitutional Convention since Day 1, it's surely needed now more than ever?
Alba have rightly called for this but sadly the SNP have rejected it and the Greens are not in this space.
DeleteHolyrood should be dissolved and the £1B a year saving given to local councils for real accountable government
ReplyDeleteYes let’s be governed by Westminster led by Tory reds and an unelected House of Lords. Where’s all the money we were getting as a result of Brexit. Eu was better to Scotland than Westminster ever has been. Get rid of Westminster and the money comes to Scotland. Oilfield gas renewables , fishing, agriculture larger markets and more.
DeleteOh we can’t Dame Mone would leave Scotland on her covid yacht for ever!!! Oh , she’s hiding abroad in some tax exile at the moment?
DeleteAnon at 3:45 pm ... please provide a reference for the claimed £1B per year cost of running Holyrood. Thanks.
DeleteThere is no place for truth on the internet.
DeleteLook in the archive library.
Politicians don’t want us to know the cost of our democracy.
So in the "archive library" (me neither) you found that Holyrood costs a billion a year. Well, that's good enough for me, no further details required
DeleteWe save more money without Westminster and have more democracy as a result.
Deletewestminster should be incinerated as punishment for its historic crimes.
DeleteI hope putin does the job and doesn't pull his punches. The SNP can ask for a Section 30 from a smoking cinder.
The Anglo is a psychopath and his patriotism is imperialism, narcissism codifed at a collective level, even his religion is a form of worship of a mythic past (d-day, the cenotapth).
Delete- time to go.
Anglos coming up here, seeking asylum from bames and their own multicultural shite and putrient land, need to be sent back to where they came from, with their different culture and funny ways. Don't hate them, but they just shouldn't really be here. It's an economic cost we cannot afford, what with austerity. They come up here for the free prescriptions to send it back to Kent. They are also doing county lines drug gangs crime, which we don't need. They also come up here as students, overstay their visas and get knocked up for an anchor baby.
DeleteExpelled from 65 countries in the world, and it's always "somebody else's fault" - they complain about what was done to them, but never what they did.
but surely to be born an englishman is to have won the lottery of life; do we not allow the scotch the status of almost-English?
DeleteAnon at 3.45. Why not close down Westminster,Toryboy ?
DeletePoliticians lining their pockets rather than helping real people
ReplyDeleteI see in America John Kerry has said that free speech makes the country difficult to govern.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting statement that, not just in America, but hhere to in Blighty. Not that sure that speech is that free he. Well not when I look at the UK mainstream media, the BBC and the other organs of the press.Mind you, there are many who think the BBC is an organ of impartial news unhindered by any political bias whatsoever. Ditto the popular press.
And it seems to be working. But of course free speech and impartiality like our BBC doesn't work when there is real free speech and the masses no longer buy the news hook line and sinker.
So listen up folks, don't read subversive disruptive output like that produced by villains like James Kelly, Stu Campbell, Craig Murray, Gordon Dangerfield. Time they were shut down, or worse .....trust the BBC.
Isn’t “Blighty” England?
ReplyDelete