"This doesn't make sense!" x 12: My reaction to the full text of John Swinney's independence strategy motion

For today's YouTube commentary (which as a thrilling experiment is in actual video form!), I look at the full text of John Swinney's proposed motion on independence strategy.  I point out the numerous logical contradictions in it, and the ways in which it seems to be designed to fail.  In my view the motion should be defeated, with a plan for using the 2026 election as a de facto independence referendum, with votes for all pro-indy parties counting towards the mandate, put in its place.

You can watch via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or you can listen to an audio-only version on Soundcloud.

Here's why Keir Starmer will be in BIG trouble if he ever goes to PARAGUAY

Today's YouTube commentary is about the dramatic revelation, breathlessly reported by The Times and other media outlets, that a group of "eminent lawyers" has identified damning evidence that Britain's planned recognition of Palestinian statehood will leave it in immaculate compliance with an international convention it hasn't actually signed anyway.  You can listen via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or on Soundcloud.

Campbell has now openly stated that the goal of his "tactical voting" advice is the total destruction of the SNP - a goal that is so obviously unachievable that it suggests a complete loss of rationality. The issue is therefore no longer arithmetical - it's psychological.

Stuart "Stew" Campbell has posted yet another article demanding that SNP supporters should vote tactically against their party on the list ballot next year - something that he claimed only a few weeks ago was almost impossible to do and insisted he would never advocate. Even if we leave aside the breathtaking nature of that contradiction, his arithmetical claims in support of tactical voting are yet again bogus, but it's almost redundant to go through the motions of debunking them again, because he finishes his piece by openly admitting his goal is the total destruction of the SNP - which suggests a complete loss of all rationality, given that it's plainly unachievable, even if he could somehow explain why it's desirable or would in any way help the situation. The issue is therefore now a psychological one rather than arithmetical. 

He repeatedly challenges people in his article to explain how it's possible to get SNP list MSPs elected - so isn't it reasonable to ask how precisely he proposes to destroy the SNP, an infinitely more difficult objective? How would he even define "destruction"? Why has he concluded that internal reform of the SNP, as difficult as it undoubtedly is, is somehow *more* impossible than the total destruction of Scotland's leading party, which by his own admission is heading for another major victory in the constituency ballot next year? On what does he base his seemingly absolute faith that the destruction of the SNP, even if that could be achieved, would lead to a ready-made party of Wonder and Wisdom popping up out of nowhere to take its place, complete with levels of popular support that most new parties would need decades to have any remote chance of building up? 

These are the questions I grapple with in today's YouTube commentary. You can listen via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or on Soundcloud.

 

Starmer was dragged kicking and screaming into doing it by Macron and by Labour MPs...but his recognition of the State of Palestine will change EVERYTHING

My latest YouTube commentary is about the concrete differences that will be made by the widespread international recognition of the State of Palestine - it's not just symobolism.  You can listen via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or on Soundcloud.

This was my second failed attempt to verify my age to continue using BlueSky - not exactly the most dangerous of sites. If the technology isn't up to scratch, then neither is the legislation. pic.twitter.com/a6QWYYwkuy

— James Kelly (@JamesKelly) July 29, 2025

SNP jubilation as they remain dominant in latest cosmic crossbreak from YouGov

For today's YouTube commentary, I have all the details from the latest weekly YouGov poll of GB-wide voting intentions - which shows Reform UK with their biggest lead over Labour for two months, and the SNP remaining dominant in the Scottish subsample.  I also give my thoughts on the major problem the independence movement may face if Zack Polanski takes the Green Party of England & Wales into an electoral pact with the new Corbyn/Sultana party, thus leaving the independent Scottish Green Party with the dilemma of whether to run on a joint Holyrood list with a party that is unlikely to be explicitly pro-independence.  

You can listen via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or on Soundcloud.

By the way, I received an email yesterday from someone who says they usually read the blog when at work, and therefore can't listen to the audio commentaries because it would be too noisy.  The good news is that YouTube provide auto-generated transcripts of each video, so if you turn the sound down on your phone before clicking the video link, and then go into the description section, you'll find a "show transcript" option.  Obviously it's AI-generated so there are always a few little errors, but it's usually 95% correct.

I say this with tremendous regret...but John Swinney's new roadmap for independence is a false prospectus, it's a dead end, and it will need to be completely changed if independence is ever to be achieved

Today's YouTube commentary is my reaction to John Swinney's unexpected declaration that an independence referendum can only happen if the SNP win a single-party overall majority in the Scottish Parliament - something which is not only unachievable, but drives a coach and horses through the principle of democratic self-determination that we are all supposed to believe in.  You can listen via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or on Soundcloud.

Why the new Corbyn / Sultana party should back proportional representation

For today's YouTube commentary, I discuss why the new left-wing party being formed by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana should embrace proportional representation - partly because it's the right thing to do in itself, but also because it would help neutralise the charge that they're splitting the vote and helping Reform into power.  You can listen via the embedded player below, or via the direct YouTube link, or on Soundcloud, or on Spotify.