A dangerous quality
The Scottish political arena is a funny place at the moment. Never before in modern history has there been so much dangerous hypocrisy, particularly on social media.
And what’s equally dangerous is that right now this hypocrisy is being doubled by a notion that independence of thought is a dangerous quality in a political movement that seeks to gain independence for a nation.
It’s bad enough that many people appear to be quite content with the instruments of state – and certain members of parliamentary committees – seeming to be intent on covering up the Scottish Liberatores.
(The Pazzi Conspiracy being my favourite from history, and especially poignant now as we currently live in the only country in Europe that actually bans people from attending churches. It’s a pity for Giuliano de’Medici – the great-uncle of Mary Queen of Scots’ mother-in-law – that those rules weren’t around then.)
But the social media response to Wings yesterday really was quite something.
Now my apologies to Rev. Stu, but the hallmark of good journalism is surely accepting that we can legitimately disagree with some propositions made on this site while still greatly appreciating the highly professional content that gets facts out there, especially those pertinent to the independence movement, better than any of the traditional mainstream media.
Therefore I find myself rather bemused that there appear to be some members of the independence movement linking arms with the unionist commentariat to demand that the site is boycotted simply because it hosts some opinions they don’t agree with – most likely the one that women are adult human females.
Now, I understand why those opposed to Scottish independence would want to cancel a platform that has for years debunked Unionist claims about Scotland being too wee, too poor, and generally too dependent on England to become independent, but why on Earth would people that actually want independence do their bidding for them?
But funnily enough, they seem quite content to promote the Unionist press, and many even find it a badge of honour when newspapers that exist to oppose independence with every fibre of their being give them some column inches – most likely about a matter that has nothing to do with Scottish independence (and increasingly something to do with the British militarist system).
I’m certain there wasn’t a boycott on speaking to, or writing in, the cabal of British newspapers that enthusiastically supported the illegal invasion of Iraq that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents. I assume there was a reason after all that Tony Blair spoke to a certain media tycoon on the phone three times in the week leading up to the fateful Iraq war vote in March 2003.
How good it must feel to be indulged and patted on the head by the very people that spend their lives denying the people of Scotland their right to self-determination. I’m even informed some of my colleagues aren’t averse to the odd military recce, kitted out in full military fatigues, and some of them even carry cards in their wallets issued to them by the British Army. (Apologies – I digress, and that’s what gets Stu into bother.)
So newspapers that were unwavering and unequivocal in their support for illegal wars are OK, but online blogs that say things we don’t agree with should be boycotted. Isn’t that a strange dichotomy?
There have even been members of my party, indeed Parliamentarians, calling for members of the SNP who promote Scotland’s most-read independence media outlet to be, erm… kicked out of the SNP. I can’t be the only independence supporter that finds it mind-bogglingly odd that more SNP politicians wouldn’t want to use a platform with the ability to reach the wider independence movement to a far greater extent than any other source online?
But hypocrisy is dangerous. And right now being independent of thought in the Yes movement isn’t exactly the safest of attributes to be found in possession of.
It’s water off a duck’s back, I imagine, to strong people like Kenny MacAskill, Angus MacNeil, Joan McAlpine and Joanna Cherry, who don’t shy from tackling tough issues or being a voice of the reasoned majority in heated issues such as protecting the sex-based rights of women in the face of terrible intimidation. Or perhaps as some of my learned colleagues would better put it: Nemo me impune lacessit.
It’s important that people can hold decision makers to account and highlight the hypocrisy of political choices. Whether that was the hypocrisy of elected politicians telling us to stay safe and protect the NHS last summer whilst posing for pictures in pubs – which magically you could safely take your mask off in and only had to adhere to a one-metre social distancing rule for some reason, even though you were in an environment with one of the highest risks of transmission.
Whether it’s that, or highlighting that a strategy to deliver independence predicated on hoping Boris Johnson lets the people of Scotland have a choice on their own future is in fact a strategy not to deliver independence but simply re-election, it’s vital that in political parties we can all feel free to call out hypocrisy when we see it, and to contribute by way of democratic discourse to the political direction of the party.
And nobody should be allowed to dictate that your membership of the SNP should be under threat if you choose to contribute via the most-read independence-supporting blog on this planet.
Clear, honest, upfront. Everything that the leadership of the SNP and many journalists etc etc simply aren’t, at the moment. But we must fight intellectually for better times and better days which will enable better people take up the power in this country
Thanks, it’s so good to read something that raises hope
Well said Chris, and it really is needing said at this particular time.
The rank hypocrisy of Pension Pete and others this week has been astounding. They start the week berating, misrepresenting and bullying a blind mother of a blind autistic lad, then spend the next two days lauding it about Twitter talking about “baaaad bloggers”, the “vile”, “pernicious & malign individuals” and an eagerness to return to a movement with “decency at its core”. Pete wouldn’t know decency if it bit him on the arse.
Sturgeon bought Scottish print journalism with a £3million handout at the start of this pandemic. Anyone have a breakdown of how much was paid to who ?
Interesting latin motto. From the Royal Stuart’s era but adopted by modern Army Regiments aka The Black Watch. Appreciated I am sure by the Dundee and Perthshire populace. I served in a different Regiment. But love the playback.
I actually got a twitter ban today for telling Chris that he would get tarred and feathered for daring to say Stu is actually a normal guy!
A twitter ban!?
Its like they are getting super twitchy about something!
Here, here!
Politicians should stand for debate, for inclusion, for democracy.
The country should be run for the majority and not the elite.
The nations media must offer balanced views.
All government business must be transparent and acessable.
Justice must be available to all.
Most regrettably Scotland has fake versions of the above that couldn’t
be sold in Paddy’s Market.
BTW Mr Wings what’s your readership at the moment?
It was the other Neil Mackay asked the question about you and Pete Flipchart which indicates that 2/3 of people consider him to be more divisive than you
The Herald seems to attract strange journalists. Mr Mackay has quotations from comments on his twitter which imply that you are very, very dangerous to him – given that you didn’t write any of these ‘accusations’, it is strange that he still seems to think that you are the dangerous one. However it’s not healthy for you to be attacked in this way simply for writing the truth from sources which you assume to be telling the truth.
More of this! Thanks Chris!
That’s a long resignation letter Chris.
While I agree with every word you have, by simply pointing out some facts, painted a target on your back the Wokeratti will be aiming at for the rest of your life.
At last, a calm voice of reason in a cacophony of people writing in shouty panicky terror that “the end is nigh”!
Perhaps not the end but the start of a new beginning?
Appears Pension Pete has been told by his constituency not to bother standing in the next GE if he has not delivered independence by then
But 20 years a failure doesn’t bother cozy feet though. Nice pension
The SNP underestimated you Mr Wings and so did many other people. You are a truly good man of integrity and talent and you can’t be bought. Now there are quite a few agencies running scared. I hope it makes you stronger – because the fight will get harder…
I really struggle with your religiosity and (for the avoidance of doubt) I’m of Irish catholic background and travel on an Irish passport. Laying that aside you are one of the few moral voices in the SNP. Keep it up as long as you can.
This characterisation by Chris of his colleagues proves that those colleagues will never lead our country to independence.
They have the spine of jellyfishes. They are 100% members of the British political class, albeit ineffectual and irrelevant ones. There is about as much chance of their winning independence as there is of their turning into kangaroos.
We could call them “tractors” but you know, that would I think almost be giving them too much credit. They’re mainly over-promoted wimps, herd-followers and court toadies. Margaret Thatcher, of all people, had a good name for similar members of her own party: “the wets”. Well, it’s a pretty good name for this lot.
Another excellent post Chris. You provide us with interesting angles.
Elsewhere, Sandy Brindley has been treating us all to her profound knowledge of jurisprudence. Apparently not guilty and not proven verdicts don’t mean innocent, they mean instead that the prosecution didn’t quite manage to prove guilt.
They’ll be inviting her to guest lecture at Harvard Law School I’m sure.
Tannadice Boy, I always preferred Cuidich’n Righ myself…!
CFGB
Only tangentially related to this article, but highly topical. It is of course “utterly absurd to think that a group of academics, opinion makers, researchers at Swedish universities and others” should conspire via Facebook to tarnish the reputations of Sweden and of policy makers and advisors with whom they disagree.
link to sverigesradio.se
Bravo, Sir, bravo.
Proud of you Chris.
You know the showdown is coming. I couldn’t take anymore but I admire you for fighting on. If Nicola wins this weekend then Indy goes back a few years in theory. In reality I now accept she wasn’t going to deliver it anyway.
You are in for a rough few days but your effort will be recognised.
Thank you. I can tell you that our SNP branch meeting was particularly well attended. There is large support for this site and you Chris. Joanna’s treatment and the absence of any comments from Nicola Sturgeon was roundly decried, and I left that meeting with a real sense of hope. The ordinary people who many of which are silent observers of what has been happening, are determined that the many years they have spent campaigning for an independent Scotland are not going to waste.
@Alan Macintosh 22:43pm
I had to look that one up. Everyday is a schoolday. Each to his own in service to the Crown. I remember a Wings survey from circa Jan 2015 about retaining the Crown in an Independent Scotland. The majority favoured the retention. I have no idea where we are now. Another survey coming up?
Aye Chris, sat (socially distanced) from that blowhard at the airport just afore Christmas, listening to his pish, when George Monbiot skewered him on the telly, had a wee smile.
Can the SNP be salvaged in time, possibly, but not under the current management team (as if that needs saying.
Good post and lots of positives thoughts,thanks.
Lord knows I have my disagreements with David but I can’t fault this thread at all.
link to twitter.com
This struggle to control the narrative was entirely predictable.
The SNP regime in Holyrood started years ago with optimistic, rabble rousing ambition to remove the grip of the British State upon the fabric of Scotland’s governance in order to make improvements in our economic performance & level the built in inequities.
But with an ineffective opposition, itself tortured by English hegemony, the SNP quickly found itself inebriated by the very trappings that initially encouraged it to combat the status quo.
Consequently we find ourselves under a leadership which is no longer interested in restructuring Scotland’s constitution & its relationship with England.
Instead, Sturgeon favours the creation of a gender-jihad led, super nanny state in which her Hate Cleric of Pollock seeks to prosecute disagreeable types for thinking differently. A north British Macaliphate where offending people is a punishable offence.
Where people can self ID into whatever they want, regardless of the consequences. A place where Sturgeon’s vision of social re-engineering is realised through strict control of movement & individual behaviour. Leisure travel only when permitted. Names recorded when eating out. Phone numbers kept when at the cinema. Guardians appointed to watch over your kids. No drinking after 7pm. One cigarette only before lunch. No sugar for kids under 16. No swearing in the garden. Rude jokes limited to groups of four only.
One in which the Crown can arbitrarily prosecute those it dislikes for no particular reason. Not a new idea that one.
You might cut them slack for this banana republic style of authoritarianism if this were a side show but sadly, it’s rare that her government demonstrates economic competence & even less often, does it prove its capability of achieving significant job creation, industrial growth or improvements in productivity.
Despite massive natural resources that dwarf Norway, Sweden or Denmark, we remain victims of shoddy road infrastructure, widescale house/fuel poverty & a work force that is approaching a 50% dependency on the state for work.
Thus, we largely remain spectators as new technologies in aerospace, satellite comms & technology are created, developed & utilised elsewhere, despite millions of acres of empty land on the edge of a market of 500 million people.
So here we are; suffering the cry-baby whine of politicians over a blog while Sturgeon & her inner circle, frantically seeks for more desperate measures to cover its corruption.
And as an election looms, an army of low achievement bed wetters, have steered themselves to the top of numerous dead beat candidate lists in a desperate attempt to get a ticket for the five year long, seasonal gravy train.
God help us all.
The Scottish house of cards needs to fall. Thank you Chris and Stu for opening the window to let the wind in.
Little boy Pete has lost his sheep
And doesn’t know where to hound them.
Round them up with mandates and hope
And more hope and mandates, confound them.
Well said, and thank you for standing up and speaking up.
Getting to be a right brave thing to do in the current climate.
The last time there was this much momentum against Rev Stu – his twitter account got banned.
I do not underestimate these bams.
Plan B, The Rev has my e-mail. I’m happy for him to e-mail me essays if the site gets pulled.
If others do likewise – the readership will remain informed.
@Betsy
Yes Ive thought their ‘punt’ at what the independent Scottish economy would look like was half hearted at best. It makes sense now. It was always meant to be unworkable. Just take the six tests of the growth commission – designed never to be met. Similarly waiting for the economic recovery from pandemic (as part of the union). Mr Jamison is correct.
In a way it’s been good, despite the really unpleasant stuff Stuart Campbell has had to deal with. It’s clear now who is actually interested in achieving Scottish independence, and who is not – either because they have interests that would be compromised by that, or that they are self serving and ultimately inadequate little nobodies with personal issues that they mistake for character ( hope you’re reading this Mike). Reminds me a bit of the moment when the lightning flashes at the battle of Helm’s Deep and the full extent of the orc army is revealed.
Yes. I’m a giant nerd.
Courage in clarity to all. We’ve got truth and justice on our side. That’s not nothing.
Best
Garrion
Graham @11:10
Well put…
Ah Ha you just want access to his sweetie chest Cllr Chris McEleny naughty boy.
Gangsters masquerading as Government.
I’m disgusted by them.
Had a long rambling and slightly ranty response to this however the missus summed it up. She has supported indy since she was a kid and had always voted for the SNP. The referendum in 2014 quite literally broke her heart. The point she made is that the SNP is not for people like us, when all you’ve to worry about is if someone uses the right pronoun then you don’t give a shit about the majority that saw independence as a way of improving all our lives not just for a small, select band of tossers.
Chris , Thank you for this article ,
You wrote “ It’s important that people can hold decision makers to account and highlight the hypocrisy of political choices. “
.
It seems to me just now that too many politicians within the Snp have forgotten that they were elected to represent all the people and not just a small minority who seem to have the loudest voices in society and they are the only ones being listened to by the party .
It’s time for the lifelong Snp members and supporters to take back control of the party and if certain people of power within the party don’t like it , then they know where the door is and they can leave .
It’s time for a split. And that’s healthy.
The SNP has lost its North Star, it is embarrassed by independence, it never talks about it, or brings in policies that assume we will be independent soon. Instead, at election time if talks of ‘Indyref’ to get the vote out. With absolutely no plan to deliver.
It’s completely dysfunctional to have a party that can rely on the pro-indy vote and has no real opposition.
So leave the gradualist and the ‘identity first ’ in the SNP and a new party for the independence fundamentalist should be created and everyone that wants independence as soon as possible moves over to it.
We really need a big name leader or leaders. Some of the Westminster MPs should ditch the SNP and stand on the list – keep the dual mandate and just don’t bother with WM.
That’s my only hope
Otherwise it’s SNP/ Green no independence and self Id, hate crimes and increasing incompetence and arrogance with no one to hold the SNP to account.
Thanks, Chris.
I’d also like to add my tuppence-worth and point out to my fellow Twitter followers; it wasn’t Stuart Campbell who didn’t secure independence for Scotland, it was Sturgeon’s SNP.
Regardless of what the committee will or won’t permit, of what decision James Hamilton arrives at, or of how much the compliant British media decide to brush under the carpet, about 95% of the people in this country knows beyond a shadow of doubt that Sturgeon, her husband, Peter Murrell, and a group of women are actively involved in criminal activities past and present.
Sturgeon might not fall ‘now’, but she’ll fall, she’s going straight to Hell. I hope she rots there, I truly do.
It should be obvious that if this, or any other blog, was merely a litany of abuse and insults it would not last long, and moreover, wouldn’t have a wider readership than some of the sorry attempts at journalism in Scotland. So why would they get so hysterical about it, and try to convince people that there is something wrong with you if you read it?
Clearly that is the only feeble excuse they have to try and halt its output of actual journalism which has consistently made the case for independence more coherently than they have, but also acted as a watchdog on those who claim to be for independence but spend more time in feathering their nest and promoting policies which no-one in Scotland has demanded as a priority.
The SNP have illustrated perfectly the dangers of a one party system, with no serious opposition, and the powers of patronage that go with it – across all of the major institutions in Scotland. It is very unhealthy and we can now see the fruits of such dominance, which is not only corruption and secrecy, but a colossal sense of entitlement to carry on the beanfeast. Anyone who questions that, or acts as the opposition so desperately needed, is to be silenced if possible, cast out into the outer darkness, and vilified constantly. The poor dears can’t handle legitimate scrutiny and examination of their record and their actions. But the assumption that they can organise pile-ons and smears of anybody who pokes their head above the parapet is classic authoritarianism and autocracy. What, one wonder, are they scared of? The desperate attempts among their obsequious lapdogs, who refuse to even consider what democratic scrutiny looks like, are increasingly hysterical, which can only make you wonder what they have got to hide.
What a terrible betrayal of their founding principles and a squalid picture of the kind of Scotland they appear to condone. Do they have the slightest idea of what an independent Scotland would look like, with a healthy democracy of opposition, and a constitution which guaranteed freedom of speech and the separation of powers? Do they care? They appear to think they will just transition to independence by keeping this sorry example of absolute powers for themselves and dubious laws to constrain opposition. It’s Belarus on steroids they want, apparently.
David R @11.26…your missus is a very wise woman.
As for Graham @11.10 I cut them some slack economically simply because we don’t control our own resources and rely on fixed amounts of pocket money to mitigate Westminster hostility. Once we’re independent with full control of our resources and finances then I’ll criticise the economic policies of whichever government we elect.
@Maggie C 11:38pm
Well that’s just Dandy. But they have the keys to the Castle. The power is with Nicola and Hubby. They control everything
Within the SNP/SG because their the same in their eyes. I have said many times before it was up to the SNP elected members MPs and MSPs to do something about it. They failed so none of them deserve re-election. There are no good guys in thys lot.
About time we got rid of these far-too-cozy chancer SNP MPs who are embarrassed by any push for independence. The SNP has had its time and is more interested in staying in power than doing anything with a chance of getting Scotland its independence. A Salmond-led List party would be a great addition.
Exceptions Kenny MacAskill and Joanna Cheery. Perhaps Kate Forbes. Otherwise? Open to suggestions.
Ha Ha well not really funny you Graham and the ones who agree with what you posted including me will be flagged as persons of interest that includes everyone posting on this site all evidence being gathered to be used at a later date by organisations who remain faceless .
Anyone remember NRB a term used to make trouble makers unemployable on the Rigs all done in secret the same way is was done in the constitution industry any union guy or woman would suddenly become orphans no one wanted to know them and they were prevented from finding out why .
Recently people have lost their jobs because some fkr decided to troll their Facebook account or Twitter history for unacceptable activity , like the clown who was asking for evidence about this site to build a case for closing it permanently and that’s from supposedly Independence supporters.
It’s like a bleedn straight jacket slowly being tightened round you this proposal hate bill intended to work in tandem with GRA shite really goes to town on everyone’s rights
All this with the compliments of your friendly SNP makes you feel warm and safe eh .
I read this article about hypocrites stinking out the SNP shortly after seeing Pete Wishart on Twitter asking “Do you think we can ‘separate’ Kenny [MacAskill] from Wings Over Scotland?” (It was a jibe at MacAskill’s article: ” It’s more important than ever that the Yes cause is separated from the SNP” link to scotlandspeaks.com).
I tried but couldn’t resist the temptaion to ask Wishart how he would feel if Kenny MacAskill were to pose the question “Do you think we can separate Pete Wishart from Westminster?”. I got blocked by the craven hypocrite within 10 minutes. The rot in the SNP is getting so putrid that independence supporters will struggle to pinch their nose and vote for the party in May.
Betsy @ 11:09pm:
Some behaviour would seem to suggest the SNP are trying to “cast off” voters (so they can be “blamed” for no indyref even if there was still a pro-Indy majority?) as David Jamieson implies.
He says that the SNP don’t “envisage a referendum for some years” and again you’d need to say the lack of effort to prepare for one or to stop pursuing a route that any engaged person knows is a dead end would support his point again.
What he doesn’t really say is what happens when the SNP thinks enough years have passed now for a referendum now. By implication he seems to infer that they’d then want the cast-off voters to return. Well good luck with that if so.
This airhead wants my vote.
A Greatgrandma, I’m considering not voting for the first time in my life. It’s making me ill.
@AlexKerrSNP
“@ChrisMcEleny and @KennyMacAskill, will you call out this abuse from a blog you write for?
Abuse in politics is never acceptable and the regular attacks rolled out on your party colleagues and others from this site is not a good look for people committed to stamping it out”
From last week
Looks like the Press have spent their £3 million
Holyrood has backed calls to extend business rates relief for struggling newspapers after Scottish Government ministers were accused of being blinded by their own hostility towards the media.
link to archive.is
Well said Chris.
Plebiscite on independence in May, nae mair faffin aroond.
Apparently the collected speeches of the Tsar Nicola, published by a firm given taxpayer’s money, has a title taken from the sayings of Chairman Mao. You couldn’t make it up. Are they having a laugh at our expense, or do they really think this is a straight up compliment to Nicola? FFS
Jeannie McCrimmon @ 12.14
Don’t give up on voting Jeannie, vote for whoever is most likely to beat the airhead. Help to get him out. When we are rid of enough of them things might finally change for the better.
That’s some depth of feeling I’m getting having read all of this. I couldn’t possibly add anymore other than to suggest a bit of wider historical perspective is useful to see beyond the immediate and why the SNP is no longer fit for purpose. The problem is – the current management is just the status quo, the same as it ever was. And so it goes. If you have seen even just the first part of Adam Curtis’ ‘Can’t get you out of my head’ documentary about power and the end of empire you’ll know what I mean.
If people do not like the content on this site, then why visit it? They should be thankful we have the freedom to publish political material. Other countries do not have that luxury.
I was so on the edge of giving up on the party – told my coooncilor (yes he has coos) I had already left but hung on to vote in the HnI list before going.
This might be enough to keep me in if I think we have a chance of saving the animal. Allan has lost first vote and ISP have my second. His voting on FabsFuckUp confirmed his lack of spine. Mind you, canvassing with him kinda told me that years ago. Lucky for me no-one in the higher ups gives a flying shit what the ordinary membership thinks. Hoping the day comes when that notes their arse.
Tannadice boy
I see you up thread telling us to save the english queen, save the english army and save their english fuckin crown.
What the fuck is that crap all about?
You ex english army sojurs fuckin sicken me.
We are fighting like fuck to dump all things english, and then cunts like you are pulling us back towards the english.
If you want to retain the english army and the english queen and the english crown, then move to fuckin england.
Jesus fuck man. As if the fight against Sturgeon wasn’t bad enough…
notes … bites … who notes an arse … arses are for biting (politically) it’s late ffs ?
Lets hope something dramatic is about to happen next week.
If any organisation is due a break, it’s the YES Movement.
Why has there not been articles on this blog written by SNP MPs/MSPs etc every single week since about 2013?
It is frankly pointless any of them writing articles for newspapers, which on a good day will be read by what, a third of the people who can even be bothered to buy that specific paper, let alone the dozens of others available every day?
It’s the advantage of blogs that you know everyone who has bothered to search it out or click a link will probably actually be interested and will more often than not actually read it!
So my call to all Independence seeking politicians is to embrace online! Stop propping up the printed press. Let them fail on their own.
@Kevin Brown says:
19 February, 2021 at 1:23 am
“Why has there not been articles on this blog written by SNP MPs/MSPs etc every single week since about 2013?”
Probably because, with notable exceptions such as Kenny Macaskill, they are probably fearful of not toeing the party line. Yet some of these very same people go onto Twitter and FB and make a complete arse of themselves.
A man of courage is these times when it is dangerous to be a member of the SNP who actually believes in Scots Indy. There are not enough men and women in the SNP who still do believe in Scots Indy unfortunately. It seems that even fewer of the SNPs elected Reps believe in Scots Indy and their general silence on the subject of Scots Indy is deafening.
I’m unimpressed and let me assure you that it’s not because I have unusually high standards.
The attacks on Wings (from a variety of quarters), the trial of Craig Murray, BBC Scotland’s blatant pro-Sturgeon bias, the sacking and marginalisation of Cherry, and the ramping up of tensions over GRA – these things and more are all connected and coordinated.
On one level they serve to distract and on another they serve to undermine those who know the truth. I’m referring, of course, to the mother of all scandals.
“…and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Don’t give up Jeannie, not yet.
Chester, re your response to wee Pete. Well done. I will never vote for him again.
Little boy Pete has lost his sheep
And doesn’t know where to hound them.
Round them up with mandates and hope
And more hope and mandates, confound them
Little boy Pete has lost his feet
last seen clad in gold slippers
Round them up with mandates and hope
and more hope and mandates, you hippers
Little boy Pete, he won’t say a peep
Not even elected as Speaker
Round em up with ermine and boak
yir pension tae stoak and maybe some ermine and slippers
Little boy Pete, yir jailed if ye speak
Or Jailed if Ye Didnae – like Alex!
Yiv settled well in, tae aw things lundin
An men wha think they are wimmin.
O/T Alan Mackintosh says:
18 February, 2021 at 10:43 pm
Tannadice Boy, I always preferred Cuidich’n Righ myself…!
CFGB
Don’t let Radar catch you using this site Alan, Cuidich’n Righ is def the best motto, mind you Bydand I have a soft spot as well, having been born in the North East, Fecht 😀 but the other unit I would have followed through family lines was the Lovat Scouts, my granda’s side were of the Fraser bloodline, mind you so was David and Bill Stirling, the Brothers who both led the SAS during WWII, as their maw was Simon Fraser ‘s sister
The rev should get Cliff Purvis to write something through the Veterans For Independence group
Caberfeidh Gu snooker loopy!
Thanks Chris for having the balls and freedom of thought to continue posting on this INDEPENDENCE SITE
If people had been paying attention since 2014 it was evident that Sturgeon wasn’t really interested in independence
WHAT has she ever done to promote indy
WHAT has she ever done to educate people to the benefits of indy
WHAT has she ever done to convince undecideds to vote for indy
WHAT has she ever done to EXPOSE the lies and misinformation from WM
WHAT has she ever done to OPPOSE anything WM implements in Scotland
WHAT has she done to CHALLENGE WM refusal to agree a sect30 order
WHAT has she done to HIGHLIGHT the sovereignty of the Scottish people
I could go on but the answer to all those questions is NOTHING, NADA,ZILCH
Brave post Chris and all the more welcome for it.
2lawrence, 0110
Where the feck did Tannadice Boy say any of what you accused him of, the only post that mentioned retaining the Betty Windsor was asking how a poll would look these days when it was asked in a poll 6 years ago that the majority back then wanted it retained,
And don’t forget, many veterans are supporters of Scottish Independence and hold no allegiance to the crown, many joined because there was feck all work in an area, and work that was there was crap paid
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”
It seems to me the SNP have two ways forward. Either:
Continue trying to become what passes for a “grown up party” (by whose definition I’m not sure), with Internal political shenanigans, decisions made behind closed doors and subsequently broadcast to the party & public at large. Brook no alternative opinions. Demote the dissenters. Expel the “eccentrics” who voice an “unpopular”/un-woke alternative opinion. Oust the “off-message”. Succour the sycophants and love the lackeys who toe the “official party line”.
In other words, be like every other “mainstream” political party in the land. It probably works well when everyone is in agreement and you look Strong, present a “United Front” (no, not like *that* United Front, just generally), are seen as Effective, and other such buzzwords loved by the marketing bods.
Which is fine when it’s working and you ARE united. When you’re not, the wheels come off, and the image of a highly-effective, strong united voice falls apart like the apparition it always was. And of course the press and other parties have a field-day.
Or they could go back to the old ways. Appreciate that not everyone agrees, and listen to the dissenting voices. Reason through it and try to reach compromise. Debate. Analyse. Try to “do no harm”. Work for the common good. Accept debate and argument as signs of a healthy democracy and a vibrant party.
But perhaps it’s now too late for that.
Perhaps I’ve missed something important.
WoS tends not be foul mouthed when writing the blog. Back in the day, Tweets perhaps less so (though TwitlerYouth deserved an award)
Now, it’s fairly straightforward journalism which is provoking quite silly accusations from quite silly people…
OT but for both Nicola Sturgeon and Neil Mackay to have a peek at.
This is NOT apocryphal.
As you will all know Irvine is a new town and was created from 1966 to house and provide work for the locals and the people from Glasgow who had poor accommodation and few prospects of work.
Greenwood Academy was opened in 1972 and the Governors etc wanted brand new ideas. Streaming children was one of their main concerns and they wanted to avoid kids being pigeon-holed, derided or feted from day one. So they decided to divide the entrants into the school in alphabetical order – everyone agreed that this would be a fair system for students and teachers alike.
After 5 years the teachers all agreed that this way of ‘classifying’ the kids wasn’t working to plan. Over the years the staff discovered that ONE particular group of kids was a nightmare every year. No-one in the school staff was sectarian, no one was prejudiced all were really dedicated teachers delighted to be working in this new venture. BUT they could not ignore the fact that the group which had the N, M and O initials in it were always badly behave, and disruptive and therefore it was difficult to assess how bright they were:-). The system was changed and the problem resolved itself.
I suspect we are about to see the birth of a new party for Scottish Independence no matter how things pan out in May. It may be the strengthening of one of the new parties already up and running or an entirely new job but I think it will happen. If the SNP do well I suspect there could be a bit of a purge of so called trouble makers who would gravitate towards a new party. If the SNP have a poor election the need for a new party will become obvious to all but the most deluded. My hope for May is that the new Indy parties take some list seats and move on some of the unionist dregs . For Slippery Pete if you are reading this I am still an SNP member only just so will be ripe for a good old purge.
.
Hi Chris,
That was a brave hearted contribution sir.
As one BTL poster wrote: “this is a long resignation letter to the SNP”. Not my words, but it hits at least one nail on the head. Brave of you, and Kenny and Michael and Stuart and Craig and Johanna and Alex and Geoff…
Chris, as an SNP councillor with some gravitas, might it be possible to present a formal question through the ranks which we mortal members could never get past the branch Sturgeonite mafia please? This was actually written by Iain Lawson, but this one sentence resonated with me so profoundly, I wonder if there is any way to get Nicola Sturgeon to answer this…
Is…. “Current SNP “strategy” to pander to 0.4% of Scotland’s population at the expense of the 99.6%.
Even just to get this onto some form of SNP official record where it can be referenced by those of us who see what Nicola Sturgeon is.
Thanks and please keep posting the articles. It helps those of us who see this horrendous Bourach for what it is to remain sane.
.
Chris McEleny,
You are hereby awarded the honour, title and dignity…
“Order of The Pete Wishart Hissy Fit”.
Chris, please cease and desist. Pete Wishart says you MUST stop doing this or he will get you kicked out of the SNP…
link to mobile.twitter.com
I am more concerned about the addled Old Codger giving himself a brain infarction and not being around long enough to collect his Cosy Feet Pete Pension UK knighthood. Or is it a Lordship he wanted when applying for the position of Spaker of The House of Commons of the Palace of Westminster of the United Kingdom?
P.S. Stuart, I apologise for posting the news that your number one stalker/number one fan* (*delete as appropriate) has flounced off and now courting Christopher with his overtures.
One thing is for sure pickled Pete DOES read Wings Over Scotland and it is hilarious how many pelters he is getting on his U.K. Parliamentarian Titterer of the Year account for quoting so many Wings articles ???????.
Wullie b , Tannadice boy and Alan Mac
Wouldn’t worry about
Lawrence @ 0110.
The resident clown bigot who hasn’t a clue of how many x service guys support indy.
Weasels like him are of no use to the indy movement and are usually yoon plants.
Same auld text he uses all the time with many user names, but just a small boy with a small p who struggles with his 3 x table.
If push came to shuv, he couldn’t hit a coo in the arse wae a big stick !
A clown
The present leadership of the SNP are in a corner and like rats are at their most dangerous. They cannot now afford to give up because they know that whoever comes in their wake will be forced to take action against them, (unless it is Angus Robertson of course)It is now very clear that Nicola sturgeon has been acting against the interests of the independence movement ever since the day she became the leader of the SNP. Be prepared for a scorched earth policy
@ David Holden
The problem is that the purge may come AFTER the election when Sturgeon and her stooges are comfortably installed for the next 5 years. Then you can expect GRA and the Thought Crime Bill and more trumped-up political prosecutions of their critics. We need to get rid of Sturgeon and Murrell NOW before the election. The SNP members need to tell MSPs that there’ll be no fundraising or campaign volunteers until they are gone – the Party revolt that Jim Sillars is calling for.
Of course given the lack of nous of the Wokerati they may still expel Joanna, Kenny and Andrew before nominations close for HRE. That would free them to run as Independents for constituency seats against the principal offenders: Sturgeon, Robertson and Humza. Maybe we could persuade Alex to run against Sturgeon!
Boyd says:
18 February, 2021 at 10:57 pm
“I can tell you that our SNP branch meeting was particularly well attended. There is large support for this site and you Chris. Joanna’s treatment and the absence of any comments from Nicola Sturgeon was roundly decried, and I left that meeting with a real sense of hope. The ordinary people who many of which are silent observers of what has been happening, are determined that the many years they have spent campaigning for an independent Scotland are not going to waste.”
But what are the members of your branch meeting going to do to ensure that the current train wreck doesn’t continue? Are they going to be part of the Party revolt that Jim Sillars is calling for? Have they told their MSP that he/she’ll get no campaign funds or volunteers unless they act to remove Sturgeon and Murrell? Talk is all very well but actions speak louder than words.
Your’re absolutely right in all you write Chris, but arent you speaking to the wrong people?
Isn’t it also somewhat hypocritical of you, and “strong people like Kenny MacAskill, Joanna Cherry,” etc. to continue to be members of the SNP, given the above?
By now it should be obvious that the SNP is in many ways compromised and is no longer capable of achieving it’s original aim. The sooner it eats itself the better.0
Not many politicians of integrity nowadays Chris, but know I count you as one of them! Bravo, but expect heavy and brutal censuring for speaking up. It’s how the present leadership rolls.
I’ve voted in every council, Holyrood, European and Westminster election since 1987 when I turned 18.
This May will be the first time I’m not going to vote – why bother as there is no-one to vote for? The Tories are anathema; Labour no longer exists; the LibDems under Willie Rennie are hateful; the Greens are fringe loonies.
And then there is the SNP.
What was once a broad church coalition is now a gang hut cabal. What was once a party of radical hope for a new way has become an inward-looking thought-dictatorship.
You’re either for Sturgeon or you’re against her. No debate.
You either accept trans rights or you’re a raging bigot. No debate.
You either accept that Salmond is a sex-pest despite the court case or you’re woman-hating misogynist. No debate.
You’re a cultist if you read WoS. No debate.
No debate. No debate. debate.
I don’t want them. They don’t represent me now. And I definitely don’t want them to be running an independent Scotland.
But I don’t see the alternative.
Anyone care to debate this?
It’s a mistake to think that this is a fight between the crypto-unionists and the proponents of independence. This is part of the wider movement of progressives trying to silence the opposition – cancel culture going mainstream. As a result it has a lot more weight and a lot more stamina that you might otherwise expect. So I’d expect it to get a lot worse before perhaps somebody starts seeing sense or the movement is decapitated in some way.
The Bella hit-piece yesterday was a good example. All the talk was about how Wings is the enemy to a progressive future. The whole notion of independence was secondary at best. The SNP is going full progressive and the current polarising forces will only entrench it further. Expect independence to be cast aside as anti-progressive. (ok, perhaps I’m getting a little carried away there).
So where is the SNP’s Martin Luther because if one does not step forward soon there’s not going to be much worth saving and rebuilding the drive for independence is going to take a lot longer.
Agree very much with Mr .McEleny.
Isn’t it amazing though how a pro independence blog like Wings Over Scotland can be hated, and I mean hated, by certain members of the Scottish National Party.
From people like the lush Peter Wishart to the ladies toilet focussed freak that is the aspiring Josh Mennie, these people just spout vile comment against Wings. Wanting to kick one’s c*nt in is all part of how they operate – and of course the treatment of Salmond et al is all part of that thinking.
These people are not democrats. They are thugs. Vicious nasty thugs. Using their fist or their boot against someone they do not agree with is very much how people like of this persuasion act.
Wishart I believe already has form for threatening a physical altercation in the HoC division lobby, Mennie publicly proclaims he wants to piss on wings, and of course another recent sympathiser,,albeit that he has since apologised, was publicly encouraging folk to go to Bath to kick Rev Stu’s c*nt in.
Yeh, this is the New SNP. Vicious, nasty and not out of place in1930s Germany.
Well here’s a message to all the SNP cunt kickers – you shall not pass. The decent people will root out scum like you. Keep up the good work Wings and all the similar sites fighting for democracy.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
Sorry – but you lost me at the silly statement about banning people from churches. Just as well we are allowed freedom of thought on here.
Tannadice Boy @ 11:02
“I remember a Wings survey from circa Jan 2015 about retaining the Crown in an Independent Scotland. The majority favoured the retention”
The crown is the ‘legal embodiment of the British state in Scotland’. Retaining it is incompatible with independence.
Thanks Chris, and exactly as you say.
I’ve been continually bemused at the hypocrisy of attacking Rev Stu personally, and calls to shut down his blog, for supporting independence, and at the same time claiming to ,,,hate hate speech, and claiming it’s all in pursuit (by some warped non-logic) in pursuit of independence. I hate hypocrisy with a passion, myself, and the extreme, fanatical way the SNP is now pursuing hypocrisy as almost a ráison d’être is extraordinary, and rather off-putting. I detest intentional lies, and indeed any kind of unwarranted expression of hatred. (This one is, of course, warranted)
I’m certainly not as strong as the likes of Joanna Cherry and Kenny MacKaskill, or Rev Stu, and have no influence at any rate, but I am stubborn, and the SNP (as a whole) can go fuck themselves. They are trying to introduce a 1984-style destruction of society, and big-up the British state, they are not for independence, and they are no friends of mine.
All human beings should have equal rights, including the right to have and express their opinion, and no one ‘group’ can be more equal than others or possess more rights, or it ceases to be equal. The SNP is filled with hypocrites and liars and they would bind us forever to this doomed union.
.
Willie,
I understand your points. It may be some comfort to know the Wokeratis are thick as well as part of the me, me, me millennial trans cult.
Yes they figured how to infiltrate the SNP leadership by guile, deception and dishonesty, but utterly stupid Amadans such as Dex For Yes just cannae help himself/herself (insert pronouns and bog preferences to suit).
Below is a revealing link to the indictable crap that these trans cultists post and will show them as the scheming lying 0.4% who have put their wants above the good of the 99.6%.
link to mobile.twitter.com
This is real evidence that Dex and his/her pals are lying, scheming Collaborators of the Unionist National Terminators of Scotland. Otherwise known as a bunch of C.U.N.T.S., for short.
Times almost up for backstabber Sturgeon and Penfold “pay my legal fees from the woven £600,000” Murrell.
#SalmondIsComing
Old Alex Salmond has front page of the Daily Mail this morning and so at last we have a breakthrough.
Sky News already have access to a few St Andrews House whistleblowers. Now the staff there know that things have changed and are moving fast, we may get some more.
Also, I’m watching-out for the Sunday Post. They’re our Washington Post.
All that Sturgeon has on her side at the moment are Rape Crisis Scotland and the sitting SNP MSP’s who are all furious. Makes me think that the dam is about to burst for some of them.
This will change the political landscape in Scotland for the next decade. Very much for the better. Getting shot of Sturgeon, Swinney, Wolffe and Murrell will be fabulous.
I have wanted Independence since I was old enough to consider it as a thing … I was 8 years old. Over the years my thinking has evolved with regard to why Independence would be a good thing for Scots (auld and new). I am still YES.
Sturgeon I am afraid is part of the SNP mainstream (aside for her sexual / gender preferences) as is Swinney et al. They are all gradualists – or DEVO MAX folk. Hence the lack of leadership.
The shift to gradualism came with Salmond – but I am fairly sure Salmond saw the end game as Independence. Sturgeon and Swinney do not… for whatever reason.
The sobering consideration is that the leadership of the SNP is gradualist – we only need one hand to count SNP figures who are determined to secure Independence. The Brown inspired/instigated Smith Commission that arose from the ‘Vow’ was a fiasco, but Swinney lapped it up and appeared grateful!
Can anyone tell me anything the SNP has done in the last 30 years that suggests they want Independence? Yes we had a Referendum, where the YES side pulled all their punches and even Salmond was bested by the vacuous Darling in the big debate – wtf?
What we must remember about the Referendum is that Salmond never expected to have one as it was a manifesto pledge and no one expected the SNP to get into government. They expected to lose the referendum and lose it badly. It was only after the polls suggested the gap between Yes and NO was closing that Salmond actually got his arse in gear.
15 years ago I remarked in Holyrood to 2 senior SNP politicians (shadow cabinet) over the pie ‘n beans ‘lunch special’ that if the SNP chose to make Devolution their game then another, more Independence focused party, would be needed to push the cause.
These parties are arriving now! I will vote ISP on the list and probably SNP for the constituency (the SNP candidate is sound and non-woke).
There is no turning back to the SNP for me – they can continue to woo the wokeys and the soft ‘Nos’ till kingdom come but they have lost me forever. I am not interested in devolution – a colonial trap if ever there was one. I want Scotland to be Independent.. end of.
I was told by a *man* to leave the Scottish Greens because I do not believe a transwoman is a woman. So I did. After 35 years. With a science degree, including genetics. Aargh!
@Achnababan (8.32) –
Hear hear!
Wokeism is essentially a secular religion and not a political ideology.
@Jason Hoffman 7.04am
I share your pain and your dilemma. I think there are many who do. Our problem is translating our sense of righteous anger in to something concrete. Recent events suggest to me that not only is the SNP beyond saving, but that it isn’t worth the effort. Even if Sturgeon and her unsavoury cabal of anti-democrats are somehow deposed, the poison within the party is too deep. The regressive “no debate” impulse is now the default position for too many inside the party. How can they expect us to campaign shoulder to shoulder with such people?
Enough and more than enough with this nonsense. We need a new party, and it needs to attract some of those who currently remain inside the SNP hoping against hope it can be changed from within. It needs to stand four square for the establishment of a republic, open government, separation of powers and the promotion of a fairer more equal society via re-distribution of wealth. Such a new force may cooperate tactically with other pro-indy parties, but it needs to demonstrate to voters that it is NOT the SNP, but something more progressive, radical and less institutionally corrupt.
There should be no place in such a movement for any of those calling for the heads of Cherry, MacAskill, MacNeil et al, for those attempting to other Stu Campbell, or those attempting to promote the hateful ideology that there can be no debate on their hobby horse issues. Any new party should in fact guarantee to support US style first amendment rights to ensure abominations like the HCB never see the light of legislative day.
We have five years before 2026 Holyrood elections to make it so.
Just about all of us here are completely disillusioned by SNP.
Throughout history Westminster has infiltrated all political parties
or movements and applied their divide and rule policy.
It works well.
I’m hoping for major changes in SNP and soon but I couldn’t remain
a member of a party that is totally disjointed from the majority and indeed
reality.
I will vote for them with much angst as there is no one else to vote for and
by not voting or spoiling a ballot paper you hand victory to the Unionist parties.
No way on earth do they get the second vote and if SNP get a majority that
forces them to make a referendum we can then get the lunatic fringe out, the
control freaks and the lazy troughers.
It only takes one good man to do nothing ….
Jeannie McCrimmon @ 12.14 Vote Alex Kerr as your eleventh choice on the Glasgow list ahead of Nicola at number 12.
I see that a member of the SNP, Pete Wishart (a man who some see as a London gravy train worshipper), is unhappy that another person from the SNP has written an article on this site.
What is Pete so feart of? The truth?? A bit of honesty? an exposure of the stinking rancid corruption right at the very top of the SNP?
Mibbes Pete cringes whenever he sees the Saltire. Who can say.
At what point did the SNP decide that freedom of speech and thought was verboten? At what point did Pete Wishart anoint himself as Scotland’s very own ‘witch-finder general’?
Some very, very undemocratic views are now getting pushed by the Sturgeon cabal. The question needs asked, are the SNP really genuinely in favour of Scottish independence, or is it just a vote winning charade now?
The way the SNP are going, the next thing you know, they will bring in a ‘hate’ law, specifically designed to suppress freedom of speech or exposure of corruption..
Postcolonial literature tells us where we are and where we go from here:
– the dominant National Party and its pampered elite has made its own ‘accommodation with colonialism’
– ad hominem and thuggish attacks are levelled against pro-independence supporters pushing independence as a priority, by the dominant National Party elite and via its alliance with colonialism
– new National Parties are created which have a more urgent focus on and drive towards independence
– intellectuals in the movement highlight the rot and corruption of the dominant National Party elite and its alliance with colonial rule, which undermines the cause of the people
Our independence intellectuals of today are in large part the pro-independence bloggers and they are a growing number – WoS in particular and supported by the work of Craig Murray, Grouse Beater, Iain Lawson/YfS, Gordon Dangerfield, and Barrhead Boy and perhaps a few others.
This explains why the British state and its toadies in our midst are targeting the intellectuals and their message specifically. Because the next stage in the process, unless its leadership and focus change quickly, will be the casting aside of the dominant but feeble National Party as the masses shift towards supporting new parties that are serious about independence. This can lead more rapidly to independence, especially as the corruption of the colonial alliance becomes exposed and clear for all to see, and itself reinforces the case for independence and the need to remove oppression in all its forms.
In every country in history where governments went rogue they had their supporters but also opponents.
We have watched what we believed was a party with scruples and morality descend into self serving rather than serving the people.
There are those like you Chris who remember abuse out you in power. What we gave, we can remove.
I cannot be led like a compliant donkey on
a treadmill,endlessly trying to catch the lure encouraging me to follow a path without hope of of reaching an end .In this case Independence.
It seems there are other priorities for the SNP. Things closer to their heart which they want to achieve ahead of the main reason I vote for them.
So be it.I withdraw my support and vote for ISP on the list instead.
Sad really. Keep on fighting Chris. Support is gathering. Word is spreading. We will have our Independence ,even if we have to March over the corpse of the SNP to reach it.
I just wanted to add wee bittie more sorry.
If the entire party, from the SNP high heid yins to the paid lackeys (SPADs or should I say SPUDS), are committed gradualists then from an organisational point of view then it becomes very, very difficult for them to fight for Independence in the next few years – they do not have the mind set or the desire to ‘go over the top’ for the cause.
The Independence movement needs a charismatic leader NOW. Unfortunately I simply do not see one at this time. And we dont have the luxury of time as the DEVO_MAX people create a stranglehold on the country and oor aspirations.
I like Tommy Sheridan but he cannot reach (and indeed may repel) some from the Scots who are centre / centre right (and even social democrats). Also I don’t think too many people would warm to Joanna Cherry, so who does that leave?
To be honest Alex Salmond remains our best bet.. rising from the ashes of false accusations and a witch hunt, hated by the Scoto-British press and nae doobt the wokeys, he could rise like the phoenix and throw his lot into the cause – he has a guid 5 years left in him and that’s a the time we need. Noo or neever …
By oppression’s woes and pains
By your sons in servile chains
We will drain oor dearest veins
But they shall be free
Lay the proud usurpers low
Tyrants fall in every foe
Liberty’s in every blow
Let us do or dee
Spot on Chris. No politician is going to tell me what I can or cannot read. If the SNP want to expel me, it’s their loss.
Chester@12.07 I was blocked by wee Pete when I (very mildly) criticised his rudeness to Tim Rideout and said that people like him (Pete) were making it very difficult for SNP members like me. I’ve since cancelled my membership of the party because of its stifling of dissent.
From a link above, I noticed this. Quite excellent explanation as to why England thinks it owns Wales.
mobile.twitter.com/JonnyValleyBoy/status/1362397403496742913/photo/1
Prof Adam Tomkins in discussion with Mandy Rhodes over in Holyrood Magazine:
“We have a parliament that is so broken that it doesn’t even know when it is being misled anymore,” he said.
“We have a committee investigating how the government investigated complaints of sexual misconduct which can neither publish nor even hear evidence that gets to the core of its remit.
“We have a government that uniquely in Europe sought to use the COVID pandemic to insulate itself from freedom of information laws. In addition, wherever we look, we have taxpayers’ money wasted: wasted on coaching civil servants to dissemble to Parliament, wasted on lawyers’ fees, wasted on Derek Mackay’s salary and wasted, of course, on compensating two innocent men who were hounded by the state in the most egregious abuse of power.”
I’m beginning to warm to these Tories (but only a little).
‘Yet on the day we learn Salmond’s evidence to the parliamentary inquiry can be published we also learn Scot Gov refuses to publish Nicola Sturgeon’s testimony to Hamilton inquiry into whether she broke ministerial code. Why on earth not?’
Alex Salmond it is then….he has 5-more years left in him, God willing. A return will invigorate him.
There’s no doubt the SNP are split big time.
This all really needed to happen anyway. Ironically it’s actually the best chance of actually winning.
There are plenty of people like myself who only voted SNP because of Indy, I’d even joined them for a few years after 2014 as many others did.
I’m very grateful to Stu for opening my eyes to what’s now happening. I thought he was a British state plant at first when I started reading some of the early articles about Sturgeon.
Divide and conquer indeed, but not the way they are thinking.
I’ll be giving both my votes to whoever is the other Indy party come the next elections and I will encourage family and friends to do the same.
I like Tommy Sheridan but he cannot reach (and indeed may repel) some from the Scots who are centre / centre right (and even social democrats)
I think it’s about using the right people in the right way. I remember a pro Indy rally at Pacific Quay in 2014. It happened at the same time there was some family food festival going on so the place was rammed with families and wandering along the Clyde taking in the food and drink stalls. It wasn’t the best time or place for a political rally anyway, but when Tommy Sheridan came in it was embarrassing. You couldn’t hear what was being said, just shouting and a spittle flecked mic being imposed on all those people just out for a stroll and family day out.
However, campaigning around Glasgow east end housing estates often the only question people would ask was “Whit side’s Tommy on?” They weren’t interested in the politics, they just trusted Tommy to have their back. We did a small church hall event one time with Tommy, along with others and it was absolutely cracking. In that space where you could hear what was being said, the passion came over in a way it didn’t and couldn’t on that outdoor stage where it was just shouting. That hall full of people was galvanised by it and that kind of meeting something quite new to them (to all of us).
That’s the key – using people to their best strengths, in the best time and place. The current SNP has a real, horrible feeling of snobbery about them. Mustn’t let people with horrible accents talk. Who are these people anyway? Why do we have angry, shouty people in poverty? They belong in the 1970s, just shut them up. Our vision of Scotland is Highland glens and Edinburgh and middle class students demanding silence from everyone else. We will never have a progressive, independent country if it’s voices are being silenced.
The wokerati numbskulls infesting the SNP thanks to Team Nicola are fundamentalist authoritarians, little dictators.
As I said on a previous comment these crybullies now represent a clear and present threat to our civil liberties and to freedom speech in Scotland (as this last week and this article amply demonstrates).
Stop worrying about your independence for a minute and start worrying about your freedom.
Looks at these little dicks this week. Lining up with Neil Mackay (boak) to get people silenced and/or thrown out the SNP for opinions they don’t approve of. WTF?! Which country and which decade are we in here.
The masks completely slipped off them this last week and what was beneath was truly grotesque.
Bob Mack at 0849am,
Quote : “Word is spreading. We will have our Independence ,even if we have to March over the corpse of the SNP to reach it.”
Exactly.
And is this not just a reflection of the vacuous l’leadership’ the SNP currently has. Independence is merely something they like to ‘talk about’ in the run up to elections. The SNP have really lost their way, but the independence movement will never stop.
5th May: ‘Independence, independence, independence..’
6th May: General election
7th May: ‘All aboard the Holyrood gravy train for another five years, woo, woo’
Spot on Cath about Tommy and your bigger point about multiple leaders and voices deployed to best effect
A new party doesn’t HAVE to attract huge numbers of voters though does it?
Since the SNP “big tent” is collapsing around their ears. May 2021 will (hopefully?) be its swan song, because even if they still manage to gain a majority on their own, folk will soon begin to realise they aren’t going to deliver on their faith-based promise of #indyref2 *sometime soon*.
Any new radical indy fundamentalist party just needs to take 10-15% of the current SNP vote with them to effectively hobble the SNP – irrespective of who is in charge. If a shambolic bunch of chancers like the Scottish Greens, led by a no-mark like Patrick Harvie, can be on course for 10%, it’s an eminently feasible aim to stand up a new party in time to take on the SNP head to head in 2026. It should commit itself to plebiscitary elections, the establishment of a Scottish republic, and a more radical social and economic vision than the SNP.
It’s pointless trying to replicate the SNP. We should be aiming to drive an electoral stake through the rotten heart of the current SNP leadership and activist base. Leave them to their neoliberal gradualism and regressive cancel culture anti free speech cul-de-sac.
Could not enjoy Dangerfield last night as I was too knackered.
Very much enjoyed it this morning with a coffee.
I love the way he is calling it a coup (for now). Really fascinating seeing this level of detail.
So following on from what Salmond told Craig Murray.
“12. As a result of this article, Alex Salmond, with whom I had only very slight prior acquaintance, invited me to meet him in the George Hotel in Edinburgh. Here, for the first time, he told me that Nicola Sturgeon had been behind the process designed to generate false accusations against him. He said as well as Mackinnon and Evans, Liz Lloyd was responsible for the actual orchestration.”
So in the role of plotters (not interested in any overlapping roles of accusers here, I don’t know who they are, and please don’t mention any in response to this)
Plot Leader
Nicola Sturgeon
Main Plotters
Leslie Evans
Liz Lloyd
Judith Mackinnon
From reading Gordon Dangerfield’s part 2, I am going to add to that list of main plotters:
The saccharine voiced Nicola (‘Nicky’) Richards
The mysterious Barbara Allison.
Plot Leader
Nicola Sturgeon
Main Plotters
Leslie Evans
Liz Lloyd
Judith Mackinnon
Nicola Richards
Barbara Allison
Can’t wait for part 3.
The crude authoritarianism on display by the cadre of senior SNP figures and their pitchfork weilding automotons of the Matthew Hopkins re-enactment society in effectively and publicly calling for this site to be banned; along with the banishment from society of all who read it is an approac currently being played out in real time:
link to rt.com
This quote from the article stands out:
“On Tuesday, the SBU (Kiev’s successor to the KGB) announced that it had opened a file on popular YouTuber Anatoly Shariy, suspecting him of both “high treason” and “violation of the equality of citizens.” Investigators claim that he is a “well known Russian propagandist” who has “carried out illegal activities to the detriment of Ukraine’s national security in the information sphere.” Specifically, the journalist stands accused of “discrediting the state policy of Ukraine.”
From the limited and warped perspective of the twelve year old management clones currently pretending to be grown ups who have taken over the asylum one wonders how many of the boxes labelled
“discrediting the State policy” of the SNP Faction currently in charge.
“violation of the equality of citizens”
“propagandist”
etc etc
this site, its author, and it’s readers tick?
The only remaining question is to attempt to identify where in Scotland the Gulags,are going to be located?
Hi Chris, I see your Matthew 23:28 and offer a paraphrased Luke 23:24
Forgive them Alex, they know not what they do.
Oh they might imagine that they do, but the damage they are doing to the cause, the SNP and themselves, I doubt it very much.
This phenomenon might explain it – target fixation. link to en.wikipedia.org
Cath @ 9.07
Excellent points. It remains that the pampered bourgeoisie elite in the dominant National Party seeks its own “accommodation with colonialism” and is unwilling to deliver independence.
There is good reason Tommy Sheridan and Solidary is the first and only party so far proposing a plebiscite election on independence in May and in taking that majority vote to the UN for its recognition. Because the most important attribute of the independence leaders, as Lesley Riddoch highlighted in her film on Estonia’s independence, is courage.
And for whose who really want independence they should vote for that when it is offered to them.
The recent, increasingly desperate and hysterical attacks on Wings from the SNP leadership and embittered pseudo-intellectuals like the Bella Krew have convinced me that one of the main reasons for the Hate Crime Bill is simply to snuff out permanently this site and others such as Craig Murray’s.
Another of course is the desire to criminalise anyone who maintains that sex is determined at birth and so perpetuate the anti-scientific Wokeling nightmare which has been skilfully used to demoralise and fatally weaken the SNP as an effective independence movement.
We would know nothing about the conspiracy against Alex Salmond had it not been for these two blogs, since we know the MSM journalists shut their notebooks when AS’s defence’s cross-examination began (and now Gordon Dangerfield is becoming a must-read contributor to the investigation of the corruption at the head of the Scottish Government).
Never forget too that, early in the summer, Yousuf tried to suspend jury trials and cross-examination, remove the automatic right of appeal and permit “phone in” video testimony. This huge attack on human rights was only stopped (for now) by some resistance from the legal profession but it shows the authoritarian cast of mind of the SG. Alex Salmond’s fate would have been sealed under such a legal system.
Were it not for Covid restrictions I feel there would be torches and pitchforks surging around Holyrood at the moment, such is the disgust of the Yes movement with these shenanigans.
Dark and dangerous times for the few journalists of integrity left in Scotland. I hope Stu has a bijou maisonette picked out in Iceland should the need for exile suddenly arise.
A wee laugh, Cosy Feet, is in full rightous anger mode about Chris’s article above on Wings.
So much so, he’s said it, on twitter, and POSTED THE WINGS ARTICLE with it, so folk can look it up and read it themselves.
He’s really not at all bright.
Mac began his Post at 9:24am today:
“Mac says:
19 February, 2021 at 9:24 am
Could not enjoy Dangerfield last night as I was too knackered.
Very much enjoyed it this morning with a coffee.
I love the way he is calling it a coup (for now). Really fascinating seeing this level of detail…”
For Newbies to Wings here is the link to Gordon Dangerfield’s Blog—Part One and Part Two.
Gordon is a Scottish Solicitor Advocate.
link to gordondangerfield.com
Excellent piece, Mr McEleny. It can no longer be ignored that the SNPG does not wish to deliver independence. We cannot risk the Unionists getting in by not giving the SNP our first vote, but our second votes can maximize the seats and the votes in May. Nothing but a good kicking (proverbially) is going to make the SNPG change direction. However, at the same time, I think the pseudo ‘woke’ entryists and ideologues would rather the party was run into the ground than give up their agenda. Once the SNP is destroyed, they can move on to another party and infiltrate it. The Covid virus and its mutations is not a patch on this lot of infectious, pseudo ‘woke’ power-players. If you have ever observed how a toddler gets its own way, you have a handle on how these infantile social media terrorists operate. They, both toddler and pseudo ‘woke’ are totalitarians by instinct. Independence, quite truthfully, will never be delivered with them in charge of the SNPG, so Mr McEleny, an internal revolt will be necessary to galvanise support outwith the party and in the membership. Forcing a plebiscitary election before May would be good, but, failing that, taking back control of the party after May and before those twin totalitarian policies can be put into place.
The ISP will lead us to the Promised Land ! Lol.
Jack Murphy @ 12:04
Scots voters have arguably been subjected to a coup.
We voted in a nationalist government with its aim of independence.
We did not get that, we got another oppressive administrative layer of colonialism instead.
Its almost as big a deceit as the ‘union’ itself.
I wonder which one(s) will be the one(s). You know the one(s) that gets handed some serious ‘bird’ (as Terry McCann says).
Hearing Gordon Dangerfield opine that a judge led inquiry is “inevitable” puts a smile on my face every time it crosses my mind.
These plotters are so f**ked. It is just a question of ‘when’ now and not ‘if’ anymore.
They are not going to be able to stand that level of scrutiny, hell, they can even stand this Fabiani Farce level of non-scrutiny, and are already pulling out all the stops to avoid pretty much anything getting seen, it is all that bad.
A judge led inquiry… wow, they are all in deep deep doo-doo. That will see some of them go to jail I expect as a result (especially the perjurers if that is proven) and fully deservedly so.
Some of them will be shitting their pants right now.
Enjoy the next few years ladies, just like Salmond enjoyed the last few. I know I will.
I thought this was quite funny from 2012.
link to thedrum.com
I enjoy the impartiality and view points that you share, but what I cannot understand is that so many original independent loyalists have been cleverly blinded (to me what is a clever WM ploy to stop the movement ).
By orchestrating a political and distasteful infighting for certain individuals to justify a sexual morale high ground that has nothing to do with the independence movement.
It’s intent to undermine parliamentary privileges by manipulating those MSPs involved, into a compromised position by breaching the code of conduct, succeeding.
To so readily accept the destruction of the two most prominent leaders in the history of the independence movement, that the Scottish people have produced, is beggars believe.
Yes the FM may have mismanaged her position of authority and should be accountable, but not to the ploy of WM bureaucrats.
It should be up to the people not the parliament nor the Law Lords to decide, if the Scottish people are to be recognised as sovereign.
The object here has been to take the power base away from Nicole and debase Alex. Destroy the faith and trust of the electorate.
They have both been, by one manner or means, responsible for successful achievement beyond all others before them, since The Bruce and Wallace . The track record is proven .
The challenge is to everyone is to take the blindfold of and see this for what it is. Another poor quality Tory ploy, nothing less. Always cleverly unproven, as their power base permits.
This is without a doubt the work of a very fearful union that will stoop to anything to dismantle the devolved government and crush Scotland once and for all, and you are going to let them ?
“I enjoy the impartiality and view points that you share, but what I cannot understand is that so many original independent loyalists have been cleverly blinded (to me what is a clever WM ploy to stop the movement ).”
Oh god, spare us this pish. The only way Westminster has anything to do with this is if Nicola Sturgeon is an MI5 agent. This entire mess is the SNP’s work, and hers personally.