A pro-independence blog by James Kelly - one of Scotland's three most-read political blogs.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
The Alliance to Liberate Scotland and their "Big Lie": the Sovereignty Party are so spooked by being identified as far-right that they have started telling direct, flat-out lies about the contents of their 2024 manifesto
My latest Holyrood constituency profile for The National is Edinburgh Northern.
A party that doesn’t own its own bloody manifesto and the central thrust of its own ideology is a shady thing indeed. What's the point of these diddies, who can't even back their own words?
On the smaller point of what such "wee free" groups are doing to "destroy the SNP", you singled out their standing candidates directly against the SNP in FPTP seats, James. Of course, the Greens are doing that too, including right here in Edinburgh Northern which you correctly identified as a marginal and maybe even the key to Swinney's 65 seat strategy. The Greens are strong in Edinburgh and will win more votes in this one seat than perhaps all those wee free aggro Indy candidates across all of Scotland combined. There's a very fair chance they will gift the seat to the unionists. So what's the difference? Shouldn't the Greens be tarred by the same brush?
The Greens are in a totally different position, I would suggest, because they're not acting hypocritically - they're not saying "independence nothing else, independence nothing less" while trying to get unionists elected on the constituency ballot. Policies other than independence are fundamental to their belief system, and pursuing those policies is a part of their reasoning for standing in some constituencies. I would obviously prefer them not to be doing that, I would prefer them to be a list-only party, but I can't see any hypocrisy in what they're doing.
The other difference, of course, is that the Greens have a chance of actually getting constituency candidates elected. That chance is not as high as the dodgy modelling from certain quarters has been suggesting, but nevertheless it's a non-trivial chance, and they're not standing simply to try to split the vote and harm another pro-indy party.
So another state visit for Trump. Maybe he can keep Charlie and his Bidey in? Separately the bbc has another sex scandal. Who would have thought it. Send Gary or James from pacific quay to investigate
A party that doesn’t own its own bloody manifesto and the central thrust of its own ideology is a shady thing indeed. What's the point of these diddies, who can't even back their own words?
ReplyDeleteOn the smaller point of what such "wee free" groups are doing to "destroy the SNP", you singled out their standing candidates directly against the SNP in FPTP seats, James. Of course, the Greens are doing that too, including right here in Edinburgh Northern which you correctly identified as a marginal and maybe even the key to Swinney's 65 seat strategy. The Greens are strong in Edinburgh and will win more votes in this one seat than perhaps all those wee free aggro Indy candidates across all of Scotland combined. There's a very fair chance they will gift the seat to the unionists. So what's the difference? Shouldn't the Greens be tarred by the same brush?
The Greens are in a totally different position, I would suggest, because they're not acting hypocritically - they're not saying "independence nothing else, independence nothing less" while trying to get unionists elected on the constituency ballot. Policies other than independence are fundamental to their belief system, and pursuing those policies is a part of their reasoning for standing in some constituencies. I would obviously prefer them not to be doing that, I would prefer them to be a list-only party, but I can't see any hypocrisy in what they're doing.
DeleteThe other difference, of course, is that the Greens have a chance of actually getting constituency candidates elected. That chance is not as high as the dodgy modelling from certain quarters has been suggesting, but nevertheless it's a non-trivial chance, and they're not standing simply to try to split the vote and harm another pro-indy party.
I'd like to add that the economic policies in the manifesto are bonkers and neoliberal in the extreme.
ReplyDeleteSo another state visit for Trump. Maybe he can keep Charlie and his Bidey in?
ReplyDeleteSeparately the bbc has another sex scandal. Who would have thought it. Send Gary or James from pacific quay to investigate
It is a matter of enormous regret to all of us in Reform UK that Chris McEleny has chosen to personalise this.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Time for a more mature discourse, Chris.
DeleteHe's only making plans, for Nigel,
Delete