At close of day
Some years ago while working in the NHS I investigated a situation where a group of very senior staff colluded in an attempt to cover up the misdeeds of a colleague, in the full knowledge of the devastating effect their dishonesty would have.
Yet in amongst that betrayal of professional ethical values one person’s integrity could not be swayed and they spoke the candid truth. I don’t know how it affected them in the long run, but it was clear that integrity mattered to them and doing the wrong thing was a burden they were unwilling to carry.
Anyway, their courage to hold firm to these principles impressed me and chimed with the values I believe are absolutely necessary when you are charged with responsibility over the lives of others: honesty, integrity and a strong sense of justice.
In the days following the 2014 referendum the emergence of a strengthened and united movement surprised us all. It seemed assured we would not be defeated in any subsequent vote. I recall Alex Salmond appropriating the words of WB Yeats’ poem “Easter 1916”, saying Scotland had “changed, and changed utterly”.
But what no one could have anticipated was how prophetic the conclusion of that stanza would be: “A terrible beauty is born.”
That “terrible beauty” is now being slowly revealed; the betrayal of a movement, the misuse of hope, the abuse of power and the shallowness of greed and ego.
Every time we enthusiastically marched to the top of the hill, the generals always knew they were going to march us back down. Throughout eight years of great expectation, hope was gradually eroded to a meaningless slogan on a conference lectern.
All the while too many comrades who’d given their lives to campaigning passed on before their dream was realised.
And while the spoils were good for the favoured few, the obscenity of poverty in Scotland’s rich land once again became a useful tool to leverage votes for election, and not the central drive for action on independence. Pontificating that Scotland won’t stand for this or that is a meaningless gesture when those selfsame voices are all too comfortable reclining with the trappings of power.
With all that said, I do have to give credit where it’s due and thank Ian Blackford and Pete Wishart for clarifying my thoughts. On 3 March 2021 the now irreparably-tarnished Sturgeon appeared before the Fabiani charade. At that evening’s SNP group meeting the two men first proclaimed a shaky memory as unquestionable vindication, and proceeded to launch a vindictive personal attack on Kenny MacAskill MP.
As per usual the SNP group sat mute in defence of Kenny. I asked him if he was okay, and he quietly told me about the formation of Alba; I was there. It was clear to me our fight would never be the SNP’s fight, and I wanted no part of the dishonest rhetoric that had gripped the party I once treasured.
And that’s the rub right there. I take no pleasure in what is unfolding and what may come, but I do take some comfort that Alba was formed and has provided an energetic space for those determined to advance the cause of independence.
To be honest, it doesn’t matter to me what the party is called, indeed I see great value in contesting elections as One Scotland with talent from all independence parties and none. I could stick in a line that we mustn’t give up hope, but that’s not enough; hope is passive and we need to act with urgency. We need to rediscover our determination, embrace the broad church upon which our movement was built, and be ever vigilant for the wreckers of our cause.
Independence is not about left versus right, it’s a simple principle of what’s right and what’s wrong. Westminster’s denial of the internationally recognised right of Scotland’s people to chose our own future is something we must never again lose sight of.
This article says it all.
It describes many of us who left the SNP.
So let’s work to make Alba what SNP has lost, ethics, purpose, dignity and for Independence.
That pair are the troughers troughers. How any of the cultist still cannot see through them is beyond belief. Forza Alba…
Absolutely outstanding. Every single word. You give me hope.
Neale, I hope Alba have procedures in place to vet new members, there’s bound to be a movement of parasites looking for a new host
Keep fighting the good fight!
Leave The Great IndyRef2 Swindle to bury the troughers, carpetbaggers and charlatans that comprise Sturgeon’s rancid SNP.
History will judge you well Neale, unlike Sturgeon and her gang of five, six, seven, or in reality her gang of thousands who kept her in power and have now put her stooge in power.
“The stone’s in the midst of all”
Our destiny?
Haven’t heard from Kirsty Walk for a long time.
Wonder how she is doing.
Looking forward to a repeat showing of that excellent and very well-balanced documentary on Mr Salmond.
The sad fact is that Alba cannot succeed with Alex at the front and centre. I have supported him for many, many years and I still protest his worthiness to anyone who will listen. However…
It’s not fair that he is (still) seen by many as a sex pest.
It’s not fair that he is viewed by the youth as yesterday’s man.
It’s not fair that he appears to have been framed by the Murrells.
It’s not fair that people who always supported him no longer vote for him.
But life isn’t fair.
I believe that Alba, led by a fresh face, with Alex very much in the background, could become a phoenix from the ashes.
But can Alex put ego on the back burner to make it happen?
It is at times like these that we need to remind ourselves of the words of comrade Sommerville who established the principle that the will of the Scottish Government supersedes the will of the Scottish people.
It still amazes me that out of ALL the SNP MP/MSPs/Councillors that we have there were only 2 MP’s that had enough integrity to join Alba. Only TWO!!
The rest of the SNP cohort are too greedy, too lazy or are being blackmailed to stay loyal to the SNP.
They can create a hundred new parties to latch onto if they want – I’ll never trust any of them again.
Whatever replaces the SNP, I sincerely hope its followers take every opportunity to hold its leadership to account.
Well said Neale wherever Alex goes I follow there’s nobody in Scotland close to his statesmanship.
Long live Alex Salmond.
The Independence Movement was betrayed. Woman’s concerns regarding Safety and Sport were ignored. The welfare and mental & physical health of children ignored. The only thing that mattered was Sturgeon’s ego and pet project.
I haven’t been on a March for a while so Glasgow looks good to vent some displeasure at the fakes in the SG and show them that WE are the Movement and we don’t need THEM.
In the long term I don’t care who get’s to the Westminster trough because it will be the last time.
At Holyrood it will be Alba or ISP for true Indy supporters
Any Party who mentions Gender will never receive my vote.
Neale is absolutely correct….Integrity matters and the current SNP have none and as with Neale’s opening example, a few could start their journey by becoming independent or joining Alba or ISP. It would be even nicer if you told what you know – now!
I will not continue to contribute to Alba if they let a mass migration of snp troughers
I remember, naively, saying that the SNP would NEVER end up like “them”, (Scottish Labour).
Eight years later on…
I hope to God Alba don’t end up like “them”, (The SNP).
I couldn’t take it happening third time.
Let’s hope we are witnessing the death of the SNP,,, and they can take the perverts who are the Scottish Greens with them.
Thank you Mr Hanvey. I’m certain that independence is not lost and I’m even more certain that the phoenix which is currently being born in the ashes of the SNP will be a brighter and more power force for Scotland. It will glow with and even brighter hope than the one Mr Salmond left us with in November 2014
Dubh. It’s self preservation. The majority are career politicians. They have bills, wives, kids and mortgages. That is more important yo them than principles or independence.
It’s why Sinn Fein refused to sit in Westminster. They are all part of the British establishment. It corrupts all who go there. Then it becomes a job with a pay cheque and expenses.
Holyrood is no better. Same selfish establishment wankers. Until Scotland is independent there should be no time for career politicians. That’s for after they are all working exclusively for Scotland.
The SNP were never supposed to prop up the system, they were supposed to break it.
That’s why independence could never happen under the modern SNP.
They are compromised at every level. Jo Cherry, Angus Mcneil et.al , all culpable.
To Neale Harvey
It’s been a long time since a single article has chimed with me in such a deep way. I really needed to read something like this.
I’m not a natural joiner of groups but I think Alba might just be what I’ve been looking for.
A heartfelt thanks for posting this Neale and Stuart.
Fine words from Neale Hanvey but what will be different this time?
“But can Alex (Salmond) put ego on the back burner to make it happen?”
If Alex turns up at the King of England’s coronation, you will have your answer: same auld sh**e, and I will be considering cancelling my Alba membership.
The fools can go on hero-worshipping politicians and politicians can go on worshipping the head of the UK state as their sovereign lord and swearing allegiance to him, so they can collect the Kings shilling.
Who can then take them seriously when they say the plebs are sovereign? I can’t.
Tartan Tory @ 6.44pm – I fundamentally disagree with you. Every day more people find out about the plotters and the vile ‘Vietnam’ group.
And every day more people understand that Alex Salmond was innocent. I suppose you’ve noticed all the smearing has stopped.
And Alex Salmond has something none of the nuSNP have – Integrity. And he has it in spades.
Police Scotland and COPFS cannot simply cover this up. Foreign journalists are now involved. The story will out. And a significant number of nuSNP personnel are facing long periods in jail. This they thoroughly deserve.
It will get a lot worse for the nuSNP. Especially if they organize the removal of Margaret Ferrier.
And soon Alba will reach critical mass. Can’t come soon enough.
I must admit I was surprised that Pete Wishart had the balls to have a go at Kenny as I had always supposed he was too lazy to do that sort of thing and just stood behind the school bully and egged him on. A good post and I must admit I am impressed with Neale considering I had never heard of him till Nicola cast him into the wilderness and banned the SNP from helping him to get elected. Luckily his constituents ignored the Fatwah. Neale is doing a good job for Alba and I may still join but they have my vote at the moment and I would be a member by now had it not been for the rather harsh slap down of Sara Salyers by some of the great and the good in Alba.
Well said Neale, from the ashes of the SNP, Alba will rise, and we will forge ahead for independence.
Its sad though to think of those who put their hearts and souls into the cause, who were duped by the SNP and, who are no longer with us.
Vote Alba, Join Alba.
An excellent article Neale. Thank you.
Given the sleeze corruption and greed seeping from every pore of the NuSNP, would it be a good idea for Alba MPs and future MSPs to forego, say, 10% of their wages to be put into an escrow account with all monies returned to individuals the day after Independence is achieved?
A clear demonstration of intent and a motivational departure from NuSNP paralysis on all matters relating to Scottish Independence.
re “The majority are career politicians”
One way to stop using politics as a career/job/Profession is to limit representation of any one individual to 2 or 3 mandates.The MP then has to return to his/her old job or on to pastures new
If people want, this could be explicitly stated in the constitution of any party and in Scotland’s national Constitution, whenever it is drawn up.
PS I agree Scottish Independence MPs should not take up their seats in Westminster
Tartan Tory says @ 6.44:
“It’s not fair that he is (still) seen by many as a sex pest.” Is he though? A female-majority jury believed him. Maybe we need one of Stu’s polls on the question.
“It’s not fair that he is viewed by the youth as yesterday’s man.” Anyone over thirty would probably be so regarded. Da Yoof can’t get their heads oot their arses/iPhones.
“It’s not fair that he appears to have been framed by the Murrells.” Badge of honour, surely? Something to build on.
“It’s not fair that people who always supported him no longer vote for him.” If you mean the SNP MP/MSP clapping seals/nodding donkeys then who gives a flying fruit bat about them? They are tainted goods now. If you mean general votes for Alba mistaken as an indicator of support for Salmond, it’s not surprising given the media blackout imposed on the party.
I understand your genuine affection for and concern about him but I can’t think of an Alba member with his presence, political knowledge and tactical abilities.
Of course, that may be our Achilles heel, building up mere mortals to hero stature.
never joined SNP.
last year joined ISP and Alba (awaiting pelters)
happy with two parties that will not stop until we’re Independent.
also thanks to Wings for your major contribution to our Indy – which WILL be realised.
Left vs Right is from a bygone age. It’s now Have vs Have Not. It’s a race that will only accelerate. Everyone should have the same set of opportunities and be free to live their lives whether they believe in collective responsibility or personal freedom. The Have’s want none of that. They only want obedience and as much of the cake as they can get hold of. Scots have the resources and the drive to ensure that every man and woman living here can stand on their own two feet rather than living on their knees. The opportunity is there.
BTW, I am on the Survation Panel with regards to their polling activities. They do not list the ALBA Party on their list of political parties in Scotland.
I have asked them to fix that. Right away!
The Alba Party will take off now. Without doubt.
The SNP will cease to exist in a matter of weeks.
Make sure the staffers of SNP troughers are banned. I expect they will all jump ship to Labour.
PhilM at 7.22pm:
Your comment will chime with many people.
Well written, Neale Hanvey. An excellent and timely piece. Thank-you.
Sigh. Here we go again. I notice the oft repeated line of “I supported Alex Salmond for many years” seems to be a big favourite with the concern trolls these days, just before they proceed to attack him as Alba leader. Must try a bit harder, cheps – too bleedin obvious.
A long time since I felt anything other than despondency at having had no choice but to leave the SNP two years ago. Your article Neale, however, makes me sad and furious in equal measure at what has been taken from us.
But, we shall take it back.
The continuity candidate is oblivious to presents events and mummy Nicola is given him all the wrong advice, with that sort of leadership the SNP is doomed to fail.
I’ve never been in business or the leader of any political party or organization, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize that unless you suspend the Murrells from the party, you’re only showing the wider community you’re weak and aren’t capable of running a party. Friendship seems to means more than the act of keeping the SNP alive as a party. We can all see that any real decision Humza needs to take he’s happy to leave for another day hence he’s the continuity candidate, Sturgeon had the same attitude and look where we and she are now. I’m afraid the SNP members and the electorate will only see that the SNP as a party that can’t be trusted and is now unable to actually delivery Independence, thus their membership will continue to fall and donation will come to a stop after seeing the Sturgeon video. No one is going to trust the SNP simply because no one is leading the party to the right decision it needs to make.
I believe, the SNP are destined for oblivion, its not a case of if but when and that the Alba party should have nothing to do with them, because they will be tainted by association if they do.
SusanAHF says: “… Neale, I hope Alba have procedures in place to vet new members, there’s bound to be a movement of parasites looking for a new host… ”
Carol Neill says: “… I will not continue to contribute to Alba if they let a mass migration of snp troughers… ”
The above by both ladies resonates with most females who oppose the GRRB. The Stonewall-led ‘trans’ lobby infiltrated both the SNP and Greens and have caused untold damage to both parties, albeit the Greens embraced the cultural warriors literally. I believe that it is impossible to support both independence and the GRRB because they are in direct opposition.
As for Alec Salmond being yesterday’s man and/or tainted, no one else, fresh face or otherwise, can take us forward. It is not a matter of one man’s ego, but of a nation’s need for real leadership towards independence now. Once, a number of years ago, I doubted Alec Salmond’s ability to take a seat that was solidly Unionist. He did it in the teeth of formidable opposition. He did it again, later, in the face of a relentlessly negative campaign by his Unionist opponents. I recall a man saying to me that he would never vote for Alec Salmond as he disliked him so much. I suggested that his dislike was based on fear of his formidable abilities as a politician, and he reluctantly agreed. Alec Salmond has been working like a dog recently to advance ALBA’s case and we all owe him for everything he has done on our behalf, regardless of negative reporting. He had to be got rid of because the SNP high heid yins resented him, and because the Unionists fear him in ways that they have never feared any other Scottish politician. We can put him into the background, but independence will be doomed. It’s our choice.
Thank you so much for this. In these incredible times, a reminder of what integrity looks like, what honesty means, and why independence is a matter of survival for those not on the gravy bus is just what we need to keep on going.
David Holden: I, too, was dismayed by the slapdown of Sara Salyers. However, looking back, I think it was less a slapdown than a warning that the Scottish constitution alone will not get us over the line. I would have to agree that a political case and a constitutional case in both international and domestic law have to be made. I hope that SALVO will take our case, in a fanfare move, to the international court and the UN, even if we have to set up a crowdfunder to do it. The impetus such a case and move would give the independence movement and our political position would be incalculable. Establishing the legitimacy and legally of our claim to independence is paramount in destroying Unionist illusions about our lack of legitimacy and will remove at least one, probably more, struts of their case for the Union.
Most honourable respect for the JAMs, Neale!
<3
The vast majority of SNP MPs and MSPs have been perfectly relaxed about the Murrell empire until now. They are complicit.
They had numerous opportunities (not to say a duty) to protest about the husband n wife set-up and to question the secrecy over the accounts.
They offered nothing but hot air while Scotland WAS dragged out of the EU against her will. They endorsed the deranged “both votes SNP” commandment.
They kept Scotland tied to the worst, most destructive, shameful and dishonest Westminster government of all time.
Alba and ISP need to be very wary of rats deserting their dirty derailed gravy train in the hope of hitching a ride on a bright new one.
Like the concept of “One Scotland” though I dread Shawny getting hold of it.
“One is Scotland”…
Tinto Chiel at 7.48pm
Agree with every word you say. In any case, the Tartan Tory comment was silly and shallow and probably designed to provoke a reaction.
But Alex Salmond is not the only fish in the sea, albeit he is by far the best. There are other ‘mere mortals’ in ALBA with the gravitas, intellect, integrity and grasp of sensible policies to repair the country so that independence can finally become a reality.
It needs the ethos of the party to remain intact and new candidates who genuinely want independence. It will be absolutely essential to keep the troughers out though.
@lorna Campbell , how very dare you assume my gender given my name
Obviously I’m being very sarcastic but it’s very scary these days to say anything
Lorna Campbell @ 8:31 pm it was not the slap down in the debate that bothered me as that is what party democracy is about but the afters from a couple of Alba office holders that left a bad taste for me. To be fair to Neale he did his best to smooth things over and he has my thanks. ISP while not having the momentum that Alba should have after the SNP committing suicide may be a better fit for myself but time will tell. If ISP or Alba do not stand out here in the isles I will be left with getting creative in ways to spoil my ballot.
My comment was clearly a joke but waiting moderation , sheesh ,no wonder I don’t post much
Funny how all the Unionists on here are suddenly concerned about Alex Salmond’s leadership of Alba…..
Great stuff Neale! I have reason to believe that you’re the genuine article and will do the right thing on behalf of the movement.
At the risk of repeating myself…
Alex Salmond has adopted a Field of Dreams approach with ALBA.
Build it and they will come.
All of Scotland’s political class have to make people realise that sovereignty is a core and fundamental issue to Scotland’s freedom.
Politicians proclaiming KCIII as sovereign and swearing to serve him and his heirs is simply unacceptable when the people of Scotland are sovereign.
You cannot serve two masters.
I’m all for Indie but I’ve never been a fan of the SNP. To often they were bluster and bullshit rather than doing anything good. Watered down proposals brought in that were a dismal failure of lacklustre. Overly complex, full of reports and quangos to avoid taking decisions, blaming WM for anything and everything.
To get the undecided to vote yes there needs to be a competent ScotGov who can show what Scotland can do and a competent opposition to hold them to account. Both sides doing the best for Scotland. Open and honest debate, because that’s where new questions that are pertinent come up and proper answers. Criticism isn’t a bad thing. No one is perfect. But for Christ sake, accept that you don’t know everything. Surrounding yourself with “yes leader” doesn’t improve anything. It needs talent to back it up.
Humza will not bring us indie and take it backwards because of how he’ll leave undecided voters. If this is the best we have then we are screwed!
Looks like I’m in Good company now. The SNP has left us all!
SteepBrae: “It needs the ethos of the party to remain intact and new candidates who genuinely want independence. It will be absolutely essential to keep the troughers out though.”
Particularly the last sentence. I’m sure I remembered a statement by AS to the effect that he eventually regretted the entrism of ex-Labour opportunists into the SNP post- 2014.
The underlying message of Salvo beyond the constitutional and historical precedents seems to be that politicians are not the answer and that they will usually betray you for their own self-interest. With a few principled exceptions, this is probably and sadly true. Those who have already crossed the floor to Alba in such difficult circumstances should probably be exempt from criticism, until evidence to the contrary emerges.
I’m pretty sure Tartan Tory has posted genuinely here in the past so I’m not so sure his/her comments are just provocative: I just don’t accept AS is a duff brand.
Och, well: and so we go on 😉 .
As much as I admire all the people here declaring their willingness to march it grinds my gears that the British state and the British media couldn’t give two fucks. Marching? To what? If it’s not reported it didn’t happen. We could get a million on the street and no-one would know, because the Union writes the script. There must be another way.
BTW, I know this is depressing to read, but we’re coming back to Scotland (sadly) and I’ll be damned if I’m working within the “rules” that so many Scots seem to accept readily.
Colin Alexander @7:23
If there’s any truth to the rumour the organisers have put Alex next to Nicola for the coronation then best way of returning the compliment for auld lang syne might be if he were to give his ticket it to Pete Murrel and give us all a rousing speech in Glasgow instead.
The fact that none within the SNP ranks have shown an ounce of integrity over the past few weeks, you really have to ask, would you want them crossing the floor into your party?
Imagine the same people conducting a negotiated settlement with London on independence. Scotland would end up the size of bloody Monaco.
I was going to donate to alba but they don’t take Paypal so opted for ISP at the time.
Anyone know if this has changed re accepting paypal to join or donate?
Lorna Campbell 8:31 pm
SALVO’s strategy is not to demand recognition from the UN and immediate independence. Using documented evidence i.e. The Treaty of Union (ToU) and Claim of Right amongst others that Scotland is a sovereign nation and was not extinguished by the ToU but as a nation was an equal partner in a trade agreement with England. And as an equal partner has the right to determine its own fate without permission from England. If the UK government deny that documented reality then we are by definition a defacto colony. If Westminster has to admit our status as a colony then we have, under the UN, the right to the process of decolonisation. Either way Scotland wins but it is just the beginning of the process. It will require the “Community of the realm” to eventually vote for our freedom. This could be used as a two pronged attack if we managed to get a super majority in Holyrood for independence, and our politicians grow a pair, they could vote to repeal the treaty of union.
I was a member and supporter of the snp, till they turned in to a cult and saw the light, l would never again vote for these chancers and their wee green pal’s l
I agree independence isn’t a right or left argument. There’s very good reasons for it ranging from hardline left through to hardline conservative and the movement has to be a broad church as otherwise, we’re never going to get independence as we’ll never win enough people over.
The problem has the SNP/Greens especially have made it a ‘progressive’ argument (putting aside the SNP’s sharp swerve into neoliberalism over the last six years for a moment) in order to help preserve a grip on the polls. The SNP aren’t the progressive party they once were. Their position on women, girls and LGB rights is a shining example of the problem, as is the Greens retreating from actual environmentalism into some bizarre form of eco capitalism.
I don’t think Alba is the magic button many think it will be. I think what we’re going to see is the SNP suffering a death of a thousand cuts which will hurt independence as well. There’s also the issue that a new political class of youngish people have sprung up since 2016 who don’t see independence as any sort of priority. They just want to push their own niche interests and have some grip of power.
Things aren’t going to sort itself out in a generation. It might take longer but I’m not going to forgive Sturgeon, the SNP grifters and the cultish supporters for ensuring independence has been sacrificed for personal power and wealth.
For there to be any hope for Scotland, the corrupt criminals that betrayed Scotland should be punished for their crimes, starting with the crime of trying to jail Alex Salmond on false charges of rape.
Neale Hanvey, MP, your nice words here won’t change anything.
If you are at all serious, use your immunity in the Westminster parliament to reveal the names of the conspirators who tried to frame Alex Salmond.
And the truth about the theft by the SNP of more than £600,000 of independence supporters’ cash.
“Yet in amongst that betrayal of professional ethical values one person’s integrity could not be swayed and they spoke the candid truth.”
Neale Hanvey, MP, use your privelege to speak the candid truth yourself to expose the betrayal of professional ethical values by those we had trusted to deliver independence and get them jailed.
“As per usual the SNP group sat mute in defence of Kenny.”
Since you are now in ALBA, what mutes you?
Great article
– I once met a man with integrity. I’m all for it.
– The SNP leadership doesn’t show integrity. I don’t like them.
– As an example they said bad things about my friend Kenny. I realised at that point they were bad people.
– So I decided to make new friends who would make the world a better place.
Wishart is in New York, in search of the fourth chord.Tax Payer funded.
The polls show the public support for Independence remains as it was.
The polls show the public support for the SNP is disintegrating.
Now that the British state is in the process of annihilation of the SNP, the corruption of the Sturgeon cabal will be revealed.
When the Sturgeon cabal is revealed as corrupt. It will make it easier to reveal the truth around the Salmond conspiracy in the eyes of Yes voters.
Labour or the Tories will win the next general election in Scotland which will appease the British state.
The Alba Party will become the political wing of the Independence movement. I can think of no better man than Alex Salmond to lead that movement. Having been touring the country with the Wee Alba Book roadshow. In the total absence of SNP.
Thank you Stu & WOS for collating the corruption and imbecility of the SNP, although this was obvious to the majority (sic ?) of Scots, who didn’t fall for Sturgeon (or Salmond, Mr RT), and who have a basic understanding of economics and political reality.
The fundamental problems remain, irrespective of who leads Indy, and, certainly no-one posting here or elsewhere can answer basic tax, pension, currency issues (possibly because they are non-tax payers, like the majority) -. Judging by recent posts, the same people who were fanatical about the SNP are now, but only recently, like jilted lovers, clutching at alternatives and prone to paranoid conspiracies. The current Scot Gov. are venal & pathetic, but I don’t see many sane, economically savy, replacements, and talk of unilateral secession etc (as per some posts here) is hyperbole. Talk of the “State”, GSHQ conspiracy are like USA “preppers” – i.e. crackpots.
I would, however, like to hear WOS views on how Scotland can improve, grow economically and socially – not being Tory, Labour doesn’t cut it.
Nicola’s been disposed of. Her NEC are leaking more than Liz Lloyd.
Her reputation is disintegrating. She’s yesterday’s woman.
Nicola and Hubby caused the party to go bankrupt.
At which stage, Nicola and her lover hubby Murrell’s name will be etched onto the tombstone of the SNP.
SNP 1934 – 2023. Death by the Indy Swindlers.
The Tories will ramp up the pressure on SNP corruption now. As will Labour.
Nicola’s NEC won’t want to foot the bill for the caravan siezed by fraud cops, in the massive scale fraud police investigation.
I would be delighted if Alex Salmond goes to the coronation and has been given a seat next to Sturgeon.
Either she will have to decide not to go, or will be forced to sit next to the person she betrayed despite owing her whole political career to him.
Scotland will have the free choice to decide whether to become a republic when the time comes.
To those who will stop supporting ALBA if Alex Salmond goes to the coronation, why are you supporting ALBA when it has MPs sitting in the Westminster parliament?
If there is one politician whose commitment in words and actions to the cause of independence cannot be doubted, it is Alex Salmond, IMHO.
RE: Tartan Tory.
I don’t believe you can question the pro-indy credentials of someone who…
Rode his motorbike from Stonehaven to Edinburgh, and return, to get to a Friends of WOS get-together in the summer of 2014 and…
Organised the WOS observers at the Arbroath count on 18/19th September, 2014. He had to leave at 3am, due to the disappointment of the results coming in.
He is a true Winger!
Like anyone else, he is entitled to publish his comments here. Like anyone else’s comments, they can be debated.
Personally, I think AS still has a lot to give to the pro-indy movement. Eventually, the truth behind the stitch-up will become common knowledge.
I think the Alphabetties must be beginning to look over their shoulders and experience that “shudder up the spine” condition.
People who know the identities of them should be dropping their names into face-to-face conversations, as the opportunities arise.
David Hannah says:
16 April, 2023 at 10:45 pm
“Nicola and Hubby caused the party to go bankrupt.”
Has anyone noticed the words Pravda GB has been using?
Something like:
“With whom she shares a house”
“To whom she is married”
As if suggesting that it is a sham marriage.
Onnyhoo, I post this for Mr Wishart, and suggest, “get it right upyi!” How ironic…
link to youtube.com
It seems very odd that I keep hearing about branches reporting an increase in membership and I wonder where these new members are coming from and if they are real.
Funny how little I believe from the SNP now!!
Can anyone out there, if their branch receive new members, can they push to go and visit the new members to find out if they are real, and report back.
David Hannah, ‘the polls show the public support for independence remains as it was’. After brexit,rip off energy prices, foodbanks, insults, whinging jocks etc, potholed third world country roads.
WTF will it take to shake the ‘Scottish’ voting public out of their apathy, or prise them away from corrie?, a chernobyl type accident at faslane. Sometimes i think we deserve all we F’kin get.
Fine words Mr Campbell and I think you are a sincere person, but more and more these days I find myself wondering, who are Scotland’s people?
The last few years don’t paint a very flattering picture, are we really so stupid and easily manipulated that M&Co were able to fool us for so long? Why are we in the central belt still slaves to sectarianism and hatred of historical enemies, why does left and right still hate one another rather than come together in the national interest?
Do you not think that we need to grow up a little and start concentrating on future economy and social decency?
Lastly the rapidly changing Scottish population demographic which contains a large number of English people who have moved into country areas like here in Argyll and will continue to increase. Not to mention a return to the EU which is threatened and the subsequent influx of legal immigrants from all points East? I repeat Who are the Scottish People?
David Hannah says:
Nicola’s NEC won’t want to foot the bill for the caravan siezed by fraud cops, in the massive scale fraud police investigation.
Not really massive when you compare it to the ANC or the Russian oligarchs. But for a girl from Dreghorn a new camper van must be beyond her wildest dreams.
Thanks for the Endorsement Brian! 😉
Perhaps I can add a thing or two to that list, just for complete transparency.
Introduced Wings to Alex Salmond over Lunch!
Big Jock @7.20
Colin Alexander @7.23
Correct. Don’t join clubs, Bandwagons or Gangs.
Cheers for the endorsement Brian! 😉
Perhaps I can add a thing or two to the list:
Drove to Glasgow and back to Aberdeen to collect a large consignment of Wee Blue Books from Ronnie for Aberdeenshire.
Was WoS Referendum Agent for Angus.
Personally introduced Wings to Alex Salmond over a private lunch!
Been a Yes Biker for many years.
Rode motorbike to Edinburgh this year and parked outside Bute House to protest against NS.
Founder member of Alba.
Alex is, in my mind, still the best there has ever been for our cause. However, I know people who voted for him all their days and who failed to do so at the last election because they believed he was tarnished. These are not just transient SNP voters. They are people who had previously travelled just to get a photo with him at a book signing and went again the next day at a different location!
I am not suggesting that AS is tarnished in my books. I AM saying that many (other) previous supporters have been swayed by the Murrells campaign. This is, I believe, why Alba failed to make inroads last time.
If/When we get anywhere near independence, I would very much hope Alex will be there too.
I was merely floating the idea that (maybe), a fresher face in the Alba foreground might help the cause.
Hi Tartan Tory.
Once upon a time, after independence, SOMEONE will collate all these wee personal stories into the ultimate multi-volume tome, showing how independence was achieved, at a grassroots level.
Stuart MacKay @ 7:58 pm
“Left vs Right is from a bygone age. It’s now Have vs Have Not.”
Independence means decolonization, according to the UN:
link to salvo-cor.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
Well said Alf Baird 11.39pm. After reading that, i reckon in 100yrs time, Scots in their own country (except it wont be a country then ,a region of greater engerland) will be like the aborigines in Australia.
What the last eight years have taught us is that the Union will never be ended by the political class – even those who belong to a nominally nationalist party. It is the Union that sustains them and which they enable, and give their tacit support to, by remaining party to it – whether at Westminster or Holyrood. It is only the people themselves and a national liberation movement (step forward Salvo!) who can deliver independence.
A slightly abject grovel to Tartan Tory at 6.44pm, thanks to the reassurance of your fellow Wingers!
Reading it again, it’s a fair comment and deserves a considered response.
It wouldn’t be right if media manipulation and skulduggery were to win the day and Alex receded into the shadows. Someone at the top of their game is exactly what’s needed just now – what could be more inspirational?
There seems to be a change in the tide. Alex, by keeping on doing what he does well, is being invited to more TV & radio programmes and so people can make up their own minds about who is talking sense. And there are the Wee ALBA Book events.
In the end, it’s policies that will make the difference and Alex’s track record in government is proof of that. People Politics is actually what is silly. People Politics and empty rhetoric.
The more we hear from folk like Alex, the more chance we’ll see a growth in support for a properly functioning democracy.
We can but hope that the grown-ups will take charge again.
@ Al, 10.41pm:
“no-one posting here or elsewhere can answer basic tax, pension, currency issues (possibly because they are non-tax payers, like the majority)”
Do you really think income tax is the only form of taxation? It is not. Since 1979, the burden of taxation has shifted enormously from the rich to the poor, in part due to reductions in the rate of income tax and commensurate increases in the rate of VAT (8% in 1974; now 20%). Then there is the unfair Council Tax which relates neither to income nor to services used, disproportionately burdens the poor, and is imposed on tenants and renters who don’t own the property they occupy. That is another grossly unjust tax on the poor. Meanwhile the rich can employ all sorts of creative accountancy to avoid making their fair contribution to the economy.
The solution to Independence is simple.. Broader choice of candidates on offer, come election time!
Independents for independence! This may be an old idea, this time it’s very different, SNP crippled by it’s own failures, in office!
Indy candidates, with allied manifesto to end the Union, must provide the electorate with that option. This is natural progression to Independence, individual MPs on their own merit, for independence (not simply former SNP politicians).
To continue to support the failed party machine of SNP, is desperation, utter insanity!
Many former SNP, likely to run as independents, in any case. I would certainly give rival indy candidates, every consideration.
There is an urgent debate Alba needs to have, and that is whether to fight the SNP in FPTP elections, or to remain a list only party.
My voice is firmly on the side of fighting the SNP in all elections. Ver sadly, the SNP is no longer de facto a pro-independence party but is rather a devolutionist party.
There is I believe a moral as well as a political obligation to give actual Independence supporters candidates they can vote for.
It may of course in the short term lead to some SNP troughers being replaced by Labour troughers, until Alba fully takes over the Indy vote. I don’t care, as I think the SNP is past saving.
What do others think?
“wholly owned by Scottish Ministers” …
Now our eyes have been opened, my heart is sinking at the thought of people like Sturgeon, Somerville, Robison, Oswald and Yousaf actually owning a bank
link to insider.co.uk
Where did the investment capital come from, exactly, I wonder?!
Colin Alexander @ 9.19 pm
‘Politicians proclaiming KCIII as sovereign and swearing to serve him and his heirs is simply unacceptable when the people of Scotland are sovereign.’
Well said!
Alex could do worse than to follow the example of the former Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, who in April 2022, resigned as a member of Her Majesty’s Privy Council.
He felt this was necessary to show his support for Jamaica’s move towards becoming an independent republic, moving away from the British monarchy as its colonial master, and appointing its own head of state.
In common with NS, Alex’s sworn oath of loyalty to the British monarch as a member of the Privy Council, while simultaneously aspiring to lead our country’s independence movement, is fundamentally incompatible and destroys his credibility in the eyes of many.
craig murray says:
17 April, 2023 at 2:35 am
…I don’t care, as I think the SNP is past saving.
What do others think?
With detached objectivity, I think ALBA must be available in all Constituencies simply to cover for the possibility of a total and catastrophic SNP meltdown at the polls.
Granted, there is the counter argument that giving the electorate an alternative Indy Party to vote for might actually contribute to the SNP’s annihilation at the polls.
Let us be clear however, it is the dishonesty and hubris-on-stilts of the SNP which is driving their support to look at an alternative party. ALBA is merely providing the option. It is not ALBA creating the need, the SNP has only itself to blame for any of this.
I am growing frustrated that time is wasting, and the only initiative on a countdown to physically happen, is Humza challenging the Section 35 blocking the Perverts Charter.
What needs to be understood and acted upon, in the direction which SALVO leads, and that is resurrecting an auld Scotland style Convention of the Estates.
Do people actually understand what that is?
For a comparison, do people understand that Scotland’s cities were once looked after by Trade Guilds? We have the Trade Guild’s of Glasgow, or the nine Trades of Dundee; Bakers, the Shoemakers, the Glovers, the Tailors, Bonnetmakers, the Fleshers, the Hammermen, the Weavers… Trade guilds which teamed up and worked together to further the interests of their cities.
What Trade Guilds did for our Cities, so to the Estates must do, via a Convention of the Estates, to look after Scotland the Nation and Scotland’s Constitutional Integrity.
But it all needs codified. What actually are those Estates we want to see sitting together in a Convention?
In my opinion, we have the Political Estate, our elected politicians, but mind, only politicians who respect the Claim of Right forsaking all other sovereignties in the Realm of Scotland.
We have our Legal Estate, which must logically be the Court of Session and Faculty of Advocates, or if needs be, an ALBA style breakaway group of Legal “renegades” who are prepared to stand by Scotland’s sovereign ascendancy and man “our” barricades, not the Union’s or the “Establishment’s”…
Traditionally of course, another Estate was the all powerful Kirk. As a non-believer myself, I am not deaf to Faith Groups wanting their voices heard, though sometimes I wish I was deaf, whenever I find myself listening to the sectarian disease blighting Scottish football… “banter” they call it. Maybe it is banter, but it still triggers my gag reflex.
Another traditional Estate would be the Lords and Landed Gentry… Yeah, I know, Oh for F*”!ks Sake! Now steady in the ranks there!… Gie them a voice, aye,… but only AFTER they’ve sworn allegiance to the Claim of Right and Popular Sovereignty of the people. That should thin their ranks to invisibility I’m thinking.
But here’s the awkward one… Us, the people, the commoners, the great unwashed, you and me.
OK, let’s not kid ourselves. I don’t know to what extent us “commoners” were “sleeping partners” in the traditional auld Scottish Conventions of the Estates. I have difficulty believing we were ever consulted on very much. It’s maybe more apt than it should be that so many Scots still are fast asleep when it comes to their constitutional rights.
That has changed however, and the “democratic” Estate has come of age, although it did so under an alien and invasive “foreign” constitution, which didn’t actually recognise or accommodate our sovereign credentials.
Our inaugural “modern” Convention of the Estates doesn’t have to be perfect, but it very much does need to exist, exist and be codified into law with “Legal Personality” and recognition, and exist to champion Scotland’s Constitutional Sovereignty.
This project, this Convention of the Estates, needs both our understanding and our active attention right now.
Taking in this holistic picture, do you see yet how insignificant the part played by a Vichy Holyrood assembly becomes? If Holyrood cannot recognise the Claim of Right, Holyrood doesn’t make it over the threshold at the Convention of the Estates. I has no relevance.
So too for Yousaf, or Salmond, attending the King of England’s Coronation. It just doesn’t matter. Let them go, and lobby for Scotland amongst foreign dignitaries. For goodness sake, Alex Salmond smuggled a Saltire into the pompous Wimbledon Arena. I’d give him a ring side seat at the Coronation.
A far, far bigger story is King of England Charles declining to attend his Scottish Coronation, or swear his oath to Scotland. Scotland is thus without a King. So be it. Let the Union of the Crowns be ended in 2023.
@ craig murray
I agree 100% I don’t think the SNP can be saved in fact I can’t see what there’s left to save, They’ve lost all credibility and I think there’s a lot more to come out, Another problem I see is if there’s an exodus of MP’s & MSP’s to Alba will we be inviting in the same disease that destroyed the SNP, I hope Alba have stringent vetting procedures in place
Well said Breeks. Excellent post
On Salmond and Alba..please consider the possibility that this new party is simply a vehicle for Eck. Eck is a devo maxer.
What we need is an insurgent scottish party with radical pro Scottish policies.
It might only get 25 or 30% of the vote but it will shift the political landscape and deliver genuine independence.
Some policies I would like to see
1.rejection of monarchy
2. Radical land reform targeting absentee owners
3. Well being economy that can resist American led capitalist expansion.
4.scots language recognised as an official language of the country
5. A new scots honour system that awards scots for civic achievement.
6. All top civil servants to be vetted for Scottish loyalty…through an oath and demonstration of knowledge and respect for distinctive scots culture and institutions.
”A far, far bigger story is King of England Charles declining to attend his Scottish Coronation, or swear his oath to Scotland. Scotland is thus without a King. So be it. Let the Union of the Crowns be ended in 2023.”
Don’t you think if he came north to be crowned King of Scots then by doing so he would be accepting there was no union of the crowns in 1603 or ever was, because if there was then presumably there would only be one crown and one coronation
Graeme George says:
17 April, 2023 at 7:01 am
Don’t you think if he came north to be crowned King of Scots then by doing so he would be accepting there was no union of the crowns in 1603….
The Union of the Crowns didn’t unite the crowns, it just placed them both on the same head.
Charles wants to spurn the Crown of Scotland, then so be it. Somebody should warn him the throne goes with it. (Don’t all rush at once). There is only the English Crown on Charles’ head… do the maths.
Scotland’s Crown has no monarch’s head to sit on, which is curiously apt in fact, since the “Crown” in Scotland is theoretically worn by 5 million of us.
The gold thing in Edinburgh Castle is just a hat, a mere emblem, along the lines of a Mayoral Chain of Office.
I’ll take bets King Charles of England is a galloping hypocrite however, and demands the Cludgy Stone of Scotland to sit on… But that won’t make him King of Scots. They don’t know how to work it.
Between block and follow says:
“Now our eyes have been opened, my heart is sinking at the thought of people like Sturgeon, Somerville, Robison, Oswald and Yousaf actually owning a bank“
Perhaps they learned from Bernie Madoff’s mistake of not calling himself a bank?
Achnababan says:
17 April, 2023 at 6:49 am
Well said Breeks. Excellent post .
Agreed . As is your own .
Also agree with Craig’s comment re the SNP being now beyond redemption . It’s heart is diseased , it’s soul is corrupted , it’s future is bleak . It should be put out of our misery .
I have a lot of time for stalwart patriots like Peter Bell who make the entirely coherent point that whatever we think of the SNP it’s likely to be the Government- at least until the next SE ..ergo it’s imminent collapse would not be in our ( greater ) interest .
I disagree ; for the reasons stated above and because” whatever we think of it ” – given it’s absolute refusal/inability to change course , in fact , piling on stupidity after stupidity -it’s demise is just about guaranteed . We’re just witnessing it’s death spiral . The * election * of Humza Why was the coup de grace . The sooner we accept this the better
craig murray says:
17 April, 2023 at 2:35 am
There is an urgent debate Alba needs to have, and that is whether to fight the SNP in FPTP elections, or to remain a list only party.
My voice is firmly on the side of fighting the SNP in all elections. Ver sadly, the SNP is no longer de facto a pro-independence party but is rather a devolutionist party.
There is I believe a moral as well as a political obligation to give actual Independence supporters candidates they can vote for.
It may of course in the short term lead to some SNP troughers being replaced by Labour troughers, until Alba fully takes over the Indy vote. I don’t care, as I think the SNP is past saving.
What do others think?
1. Less than 8% of the membership voted for Ash Regan as 1st preference
2. Of the 8% just over 3% had Yousaf as 2nd preference or had no next preference
3. So around 5% of the membership voted for Ash Regan
4. The membership got what they voted for – a transgenderist-devolutionist
Excepting the 5% there is nothing to save.
@Al
“certainly no-one posting here or elsewhere can answer basic tax, pension, currency issues (possibly because they are non-tax payers, like the majority”
Sorry but too poor doesn’t work anymore. The questions have been answered multiple times in as far as they can be answered without the election of the first government in an independent Scotland which would decide taxation policy. Existing pensioners would be paid their UK pension that same as existing pensioners living outwith the UK are, unless negotiations decide otherwise. Currency – thankfully we may be seeing the end of the fools running the SNP who rejected their own conference decision (which is supposed to be binding) for an independent currency from day 1.
Much work has already taken place in the planning, of course it was ignored by the SNP leadership who were it seems never interested in indy as other than a vote catcher.
A wee piece of advice though. It’s best not to trawl the btl comments on an unrelated matter and then bemoan that it doesn’t cover your favourite Project Fear bogeymen.
Third attempt to post this since last night’s went to moderation and disappeared while this morning’s has mysteriously vanished into the ether.
A slightly abject grovel to Tartan Tory at 6.44pm, thanks to the reassurance of your fellow Wingers. Taking a swipe at a committed Yesser’s post was a bit hasty and I apologise. Reading it again, it’s a fair comment and deserves a considered response. It wouldn’t be right if media manipulation and skulduggery were to win the day and see Alex recede into the shadows. Someone at the top of their game is exactly what’s needed just now – what could be more inspirational?
There seems to have been a change in the tide. Alex, by keeping on doing what he does well, is being invited to more TV & radio programmes and so people can make up their own minds about who is talking sense. And there are the Wee ALBA Book events.
In the end, it’s policies that will make the difference and Alex’s track record in government is proof of that. People Politics is actually what is silly. People Politics and empty rhetoric. The more we hear from folk like Alex, the more chance we’ll see a growth in support for a properly functioning democracy.
We can but hope that the grown-ups will take charge again.
“Third attempt to post this since last night’s went to moderation and disappeared while this morning’s has mysteriously vanished into the ether.”
Fuck me, HOW MANY THOUSANDS OF TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL PEOPLE NOT TO MAKE REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO POST THE SAME FUCKING COMMENT? It’s WRITTEN RIGHT ABOVE THE FUCKING COMMENT BOX.
So Ian Brassneck, who promised us that Scotland would not be dragged out of the EU, resurfaces to claim that the SNP finances are in “robust health”. Aye right.
I see Blackford is bombasticating about their finances being solid. It would be simply dreadful if a statement made in ignorance were to get him dragged into the criminal investigation.
Sunak wants kids to be tied to Maths studies until aged 18.
How can someone so filthy rich be so stupid, arrogant and take the public for fools?
Trade apprentices start at 16 or 17 so are we to go with even greater shortages of joiners etc
A Tory Truss government who threw the economy off a Cliff is a Maths expert.
With such a shortage of teachers, overcrowded classes and strikes against an ever decreasing standard of living for those in education how does he hope to achieve it.
In England there are many schools structurally insecure and with real danger of their roofs collapsing. No immediate plans to replace these buildings.
Many have asbestos are still operating.
Some schools now have the lowest ever number of teachers and the highest number of pupils. Others in England are closing at lunch time on Friday as their budgets can go no further.
The Tories have no concept of what challenges the working classes face nor do they care to look at it.
Luigi @ 8.47am
That’s exactly what I was thinking.
@Rogerborg (8.51) –
‘Bombasticating’.
Nice one!
😉
” Less than 8% of the membership voted for Ash Regan as 1st preference”
Duncanio.
I’m pretty sure it was 11.1% that voted for Regan, however in my opinion it was much more than that, Murrell inviting in the enemy of Scottish independence GCHQ would have surely fixed the figures to make sure the only candidate hat had a viable plan for indy finished last.
GCHQ was invited in to make sure Yousaf won and Regan came last.
I’m with Craig – Alba should stand against the grifters.
Unless we can organize YES candidates. And if we can’t Alba should stand on a platform of a majority of MPs then negotiations to end the union begin.
No Alba MP should travel to England’s Parliament. They should be accommodated at Holyrood.
The nuSNP transcult is finished. Only the zombies are left.
I would call Sturgeon Lady MacBeth but that title is already taken, by someone who must be getting very worried.
An excellent and finely written summation of where we are by Neale Hanvey.
Duncanio @ 7:46a.m.
Once you have chosen the mandate of a Political Party then you wish to vote for them. I see no reason to treat the SNP any different than Labour or Tories.
However financial and candidate quality reality kicks in.
I would expect the current Alba MPs to be supported of course. I think between 6 and 12 additional seats should be carefully targeted at the next GE. The LibDems have been clinging to life for decades using focused resource methods.
Alba needs to build finances and voter trust.
I will not be voting SNP at any level of election.
If any idiot tries to imply we are splitting the Indy vote my answer is quite simple. The SNP are not an Independence Party.
When the Labour collapse came it was much quicker than predicted. I have faith that the voters will dump the SNP just as fast now…..and I don’t think they will go to Labour.
Why is the choice at elections concentrated on parties, in Scotland, when the goal is independence?
Finding appropriate candidates, in each constituency, to put forward their policy to end the Union, should be the priority.
Given SNP’s record, they should be binned, as they thoroughly deserve to be.
There is absolutely no need for a replica party.
Each individual seat, a target. A consensus to end the Union. A coalition of like minded Scottish representatives.
Sufficient backing of independent candidates and smaller Indy parties, pooling together has the same strength in numbers, than any party machine.
That’s exactly the reason, SNP should be made an example of! They must be shown the door!
The fight for independence should never again be about any single party.
My view is that ALBA should not remain a list only party.
I am founder member. Not active at all. I joined immediately to show my support for Alex Salmond. What they did to that guy turns my stomach.
The truth about the attempted stitch-up needs top come out and the time will be ripe when people see what Murrell and Sturgeon and the Robertsons and others were really like… People who were skeptical before will not be then, it will become very believable to them.
If you want to light a fire under the independence movement then reveal to the public how they have been manipulated and lied to and how they came within a whisker of stitching up an innocent man. What they did is outrageous, it really is.
The truth of it all needs to come out. It is the path to independence. We can’t just step over it. The secrecy has to be broken and doing so would be a truly revolutionary act.
If people are successfully conned into seeing Salmond as tarnished then they will fall for it again and again. We can’t accept this, the truth has to come out, all of it.
Republicofscotland says:
17 April, 2023 at 9:10 am
” Less than 8% of the membership voted for Ash Regan as 1st preference”
Duncanio.
I’m pretty sure it was 11.1% that voted for Regan, however in my opinion it was much more than that, Murrell inviting in the enemy of Scottish independence GCHQ would have surely fixed the figures to make sure the only candidate hat had a viable plan for indy finished last.
GCHQ was invited in to make sure Yousaf won and Regan came last.
It was 11.1% of those that voted who opted for Regan as 1st preference i.e. 5599 out of 50494 total votes. However, 5599 is 7.75% of the (claimed) total membership of 72169 as stated by Lorna Finn at the time of the election (link to s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com).
My thinking is that as only 3331 (4.62%) voted for KF as 2nd preference then these are the only real Independentistas. Those that voted for HZ 2nd – 1696 or 2.35% – are Idiots since they were indicating that if they couldn’t get a real Independence leader they’d settle for a continuity Devolitionist (and Transgenderist) instead.
As for those that didn’t have a 2nd preference – 572 or 0.79% – these are slightly higher up the IQ scale at Imbecile level as they didn’t understand the system but at least they didn’t vote for the pure Devolutionist (and Transgenderist).
Geoff Anderson says:
17 April, 2023 at 9:28 am
Duncanio @ 7:46a.m.
Once you have chosen the mandate of a Political Party then you wish to vote for them. I see no reason to treat the SNP any different than Labour or Tories.
However financial and candidate quality reality kicks in.
I would expect the current Alba MPs to be supported of course. I think between 6 and 12 additional seats should be carefully targeted at the next GE. The LibDems have been clinging to life for decades using focused resource methods.
Alba needs to build finances and voter trust.
I will not be voting SNP at any level of election.
If any idiot tries to imply we are splitting the Indy vote my answer is quite simple. The SNP are not an Independence Party.
When the Labour collapse came it was much quicker than predicted. I have faith that the voters will dump the SNP just as fast now…..and I don’t think they will go to Labour.
As I said, there really doesn’t seem like there is anything left to save. I think we are in agreement.
Indy voters taken for a ride
link to archive.is
Alba has an early opportunity now to replace the SNP and must contest FPTP seats. The SNP must not be allowed to regroup and continue falsely taking votes by pretending to be pro-independence.
As Craig says, we should not worry if in the short term an Alba FPTP policy creates a few new Labour MPs. They would be nobodies only elected by a temporary split in the nationalist vote and would soon depart the scene once Alba has seen off the SNP. The time has gone for any pussyfooting.
That only 11% of SNP members voted for Ash Regan. Says more about the SNP members, than it does the quality of her candidacy.
The members are delusional.
I agree with Craig Murray. Everything that has happened since the Murrells stepped down shows that the SNP are just floating wreckage. There is no sign of lessons being learned, with the election of Yousaf, the murkiness of the election itself and Yousaf’s cabinet of unmentionables, together with the latest desperate denials from the flotsam.
It’s time for the Black Ship to sail into harbour.
So Sturgeon the betrayer will hide in the hoose this week and not come into the Holyrood parliament, instead she’s choosing to talk to anyone via videolink after there were calls to suspend the Judas from the SNP.
Vote Alba, Join Alba, get the SNP out lets not waste anymore years on this bunch of troughers.
Craig Murray @ 2:35pm:
I think Alba (or ISP, if Alba don’t choose to) should stand in FPTP elections. All elections, in fact.
I currently have no-one to vote for and, although I am an engaged person who follows politics, I didn’t have anyone to vote for at last year’s council elections (understanding that local elections should be fought on local issues, I didn’t have any particular faith in the choices on offer in any case). I previously had no-one to vote for in the FPTP part of the 2021 Holyrood election.
We have all seen people (when this is explained to them) shouting and screaming that you need to vote SNP “or we will never get indy!!!”.
But I don’t trust them to do so anyway. I could still vote for them if I thought they were at least TRYING. I can excuse effort and failure – we all go through that in our lives.
But the link “vote SNP -> get independence” long ago broke in my mind, it’s the screamers and the shouters who need to wake up to the fact that that link is gone, not me. I am relaxed about not voting for them to “get indy” because I am very convinced they aren’t going to, so what do I lose?
So I need someone who will pursue it, at least TRY, or I won’t vote at all.
It’s a failure of the system if someone like me, interested and engaged, has no-one to vote for. The system succeeds if someone rises to fill the vacuum. In this case, there is a vacancy for a party who will “pursue independence full-heartedly”.
Someone should fill it at all elections.
Breeks @ 5:53 am:
Yes, I can see some people shouting now about Alba “splitting the vote”.
Two things:
i) Can only comment on my own case but, if Alba or someone else does not stand, the SNP will not get my vote instead. It will just be lost to all. No “splitting” there. Of course, other people will differ, but some of us simply will not vote SNP any longer, even in the absence of someone else to vote for.
ii) I think Alba (and ISP, I think) have tried to co-operate and have had the door slammed in their face, been called all sorts etc. So, if they were now minded to go “eff it, we will just compete as fully as we can”, I for one would not blame them.
Probably the most horrendous thing they did during the attempted stitch-up was sensationally report every lurid claim of the prosecution’s case in the media and then not report the defense’s case at all. That was nothing more than a very deliberate and calculated character assassination and doing that was a true contempt of court.
The Moorov thing also worked. The general public were swayed by the number of charges. But then the public don’t know that this is exactly why they stacked the charge list, to fool them into thinking that, they talked about it, gamed it, strategized about doing it. I am honestly aghast at how downright malicious and evil COPFS and the leadership of Police Scotland were to do that. How they get away with that I will never understand, disgraceful.
Same as the stacked charges people were fooled by the stacked number of accusers. But then this is when it becomes crucial to know who these accusers actually are and what their history was. Instead their identities are conveniently hidden, forever.
Nor do we get to see the messages sent between the plotters (who turned accusers when the first attempted stitch-up was foiled by the Court of Session during the judicial review).
When you realize that Sturgeon’s goal was to destroy the SNP then suddenly her list of achievements while in office are second to none. They are glittering.
The stitch-up of Salmond although unsuccessful is the greatest achievement of them all. ‘Tarnishing’ Salmond took out the biggest threat by far.
The independence movement will remain divided until the truth comes out.
First you have the truth, then you can have reconciliation.
The SNP is now the raft of the Medusa. Watch them eat each other.
Heard Blackford this morning, what a car crash.
He was less than convincing on a number of issues where yes or no was the clear answer and in each case he waffled.
The tone re Nicola’s suspension was “what an outrageous suggestion!”.
Started badly and ended in waffle.
If talent like Blackford is struggling to convince, god save the SNP when the blue haired Mohicans get involved.
Duncanio. @9.41am.
I also think it was stated that 20% or so of the membership didn’t vote which I find unbelievable with what was at stake. The process was clandestine and deceitful and Murrell was part of a live police investigation, in which the police suspended the investigation for an entire month till the contest was over, which is unheard of.
on the announcement that Yousaf had “won” you could clearly see that Forbes was very pleased that with that result whilst Regan was not, both Forbes and Yousaf have no plan for indy, Forbes could even have even added to the contest to dilute the vote.
I also don’t believe that the membership is as high as 70 odd thousand, more like 50 thousand, no matter though the involvement of GCHQ made it a foregone conclusion that Yousaf would be installed as the next FM.
Bar one or two half-decent SNP MSPs the party is rotten to its core, its reputation and credibility have been fatally damaged, in my opinion (its been Ratnered) Sturgeon/ Murrell and their clique of troughers have burnt the SNP house down.
Its time to put all our weight and support behind the Alba party, lets not waste anther eight years watching the SNP dangle carrots in front of our eyes.
Let’s remind ourselves of what crooked Nikkla said to the NEC, her party’s governing body:
“I’m not going to get into the details … but just be very careful about suggestions there are problems with the party’s finances, because we depend on donors. There are no reasons for people to be concerned about the party’s finances, and all of us need to be careful about not suggesting there is.”
The proper response of a real governing body (which is after all responsible for, among other things, party financial probity) would have been:
“Show us the accounts and WE will decide if there are matters of concern”.
But not in the SNP following Robertson’s constitutional reforms.
This was a thief’s charter.
And a supine hand-picked so-called ‘Governing Body’.
And we are asked to “give them time” so sort themselves out.
Craig Murray is right. Alba MUST stand in every FPTP election.
The SNP must be broken. It CANNOT be reformed.
I think the Alba splitting the vote trope , is now a dead duck.
I would say there at least 25% of Yes voters who will never vote SNP again. So if there is no home for us , then we simply won’t vote at all.
So Alba or another party on the first vote is crucial. I won’t vote Green either, so I am discounting them.
Re Salvo debate at ALBA.
Sara Salyers did hurl a few unmerited accusations towards ALBA prior to any slap down.
Alex Salmond admitted he’d gone ‘off on one’, in response. With his colleagues understandably backing him up.
Both sides were being rather volatile.
More to the point, all were on friendly good terms with each other the following day. Proper debate should be able to cope with such things.
Going forward we surely need both. Those engaging the wider population in our political efforts and in our constitutional efforts.
With the lack of Scottish media and increased colonisation there’s a desperate need to engage, younger folk particularly, in our culture, history and language and in practical support for our people.
I suspect future leaders in both political and constitutional wings will emerge among those inspired by immersive knowledge of our national history and culture AND our current, practical predicament.
I agree with Breeks and Johnny, SNP will not be getting my vote at MP level. My MP is Drew Hendry, a woke waste of skin. If Alba or ISP stand candidates I will vote, if not I will be spoiling my ballot paper. The SNP no longer means independence to me so I would not be “splitting the indy vote”
Such a great article Neale. Thanks for writing.
Class
link to twitter.com
craig murray says:
17 April, 2023 at 2:35 am
There is an urgent debate Alba needs to have, and that is whether to fight the SNP in FPTP elections, or to remain a list only party.
My voice is firmly on the side of fighting the SNP in all elections. Ver sadly, the SNP is no longer de facto a pro-independence party but is rather a devolutionist party.
There is I believe a moral as well as a political obligation to give actual Independence supporters candidates they can vote for.
It may of course in the short term lead to some SNP troughers being replaced by Labour troughers, until Alba fully takes over the Indy vote. I don’t care, as I think the SNP is past saving.
What do others think?’
There are good and bad points for doing it or not. Some say by standing candidates, it will split the vote and cause bad blood with rumpSNP.
They also say, that if we hold off on doing that, it will create good relations and thus come the next Holyrood election SNP1 Alba2 becomes a shoe in.
If the financial scandal is not yet done, and more is still to be revealed, then I suspect Westminster will use it as an excuse to mothball Holyrood and do a Stormont.
I also think, that the damage from Brexit and changing demographics mean its likely this is it, now or never…. although whether or not rumpSNP is intelligent enough to realise this danger (or perhaps would rather, in their heart of hearts have devolution) is another point.
One thing Alba Lacus can do now, is select those ready and willing to stand as candidates (in any type of election) get the vetting done now, and get them out, chapping doors, and leafletting now. If they try to get known in a 6 weeks election campaign, with the media against them, they will never win. This way, whatever decision Alex and the Party make, at least they will be doing it from a position of strength, rather than an empty gesture.
Mac @ 10:20 am
“The Moorov thing”
Is ‘Moorov’ not standard practice in what passes for ‘Scottish justice’?
ALBA.
Is promotion of that particular party, the ultimate goal of this website?
Taboo to endorse independents for independence?
Independent candidates, to end the Union, in every seat, should be the goal.
Those candidates could be adequately funded, by the independence movement. A singular campaign to end the Union and to restore transparency is achievable.
To suggest that such a campaign has no merit, when the Scottish electorate is open to the same goal of independence, would be self defeatist.
Is the core issue, surrounding where future indy funds are alloted? The divvy very much at the heart of Scottish politics, right now.
People before party, there’s your starting point.
With many SNP voters likely to abstain now would seem to be a good time to tap their desire for independence and hoover that energy up with an initiative that not only provided a constitutional path to independence but also ensured that political parties never get us into this mess ever again.
Might also be a good time to start prising the Yes groups out of the cold, dead hands of the SNP and get them agitating for change from whoever will provide it.
Over to you, Breeks/Sara.
Alf,
It’s established in law but very rarely used before a jury. One reason they want to get rid of juries.
SusanAHF says:
17 April, 2023 at 10:41 am
… The SNP no longer means independence to me so I would not be “splitting the indy vote”
Aye, that’s it in a nutshell.
Daisy Walker says:
17 April, 2023 at 10:58 am
craig murray says:
17 April, 2023 at 2:35 am
There is an urgent debate Alba needs to have, and that is whether to fight the SNP in FPTP elections, or to remain a list only party.
Yep – a difficult decision IMO. Alba certainly need to spend their limited resources wisely. On the other hand, real independence supporters need somewhere to go. Perhaps a hybrid model (e.g. all list seats contested plus a few, carefully selected constituency seats) may be the way to go for Scottish elections. Better minds than mine will be considering the options.
Personally, I cannot see myself voting SNP again in the near future, but I would get off my backside and head down to the polling station if a local ALBA or ISP candidate was standing.
Re the Moorov thing… when it first came about, it was rather sensible… Moorov was a factory owner, every now and again he would take one of the wee female workers into his office and sexually assault them. No witnesses… except over the years the shear number of victims, all telling the same story, and not connected to each other, formed the essential corroboration.
Leaving aside the Alphabet fit up, since those early times, forensic evidence has come a long way, not just in terms of DNA, but also medical examinations (and sadly, by that I mean the damage done to young bodies), quite often meaning this physical evidence is more powerful corroboration.
Sadly, Polis being Polis and never knowingly leaving any opportunity to joey the stats on the shelf, Moorov was extended in use for other crimes. CID were particularly fond of using it for any and all undetected Housebreakings in the area. The reasoning being, well, the house was broken into and stuff was stolen, so it must have been the laddie we’ve just caught that did all 23 of the other ones in the same area. Who needs evidence.
For that reason Moorov kind of had the arse knocked out of it.
With regards the Alphabet stitch up, the prosecution had to drop the Moorov principle at an early stage (not that they had enough for it to stand anyway) but 6 independent witnesses speaking to the fact that your number 1 ‘victim’ wasnae even in the building at the time is a bit telling.
A vote for the SNP is madness if you have an alternative. Yousaf will only oversee and perhaps add to the total destruction of the party. He will not re kindle its fortunes.
The personnel sitting in Westminster and Holyrood are still the same who, apart from a few exceptions ,are totally unsuitable to stand up for what they were elected by us to do.
They have perished by their own hand offering no more than complete submission on behalf those they were supposed to be leading into combat. They are not the material from which Inedependence is fashioned. We need fighters in our corner.
How could you vote for them in its current state?
There’s a superb display of whataboutery over at the WGD where no matter how much SNP bad there is, there is so much more Tories badder to write about. Bravo to the commenters who also helpfully remind us that Put-ine is even badder still.
The myriad of carrots have been turned into straws, eagerly clutched by the faithful, desperate to avoid the uncomfortable truths. And this is only the opening of the first act.
Another urgent debate Alba needs to have is, should they accept any MP’s or MSPs who decant from SNP to Alba?
I’m going to suggest this will need to be handled with care, possibly on a case by case basis.
A compromise might be, that Alba agrees to assist them standing as Independents, and helps them to canvass…. in certain areas.
In this way, if they have been good, competent public servants, and loyal to the cause of independence they should reap what they sow.
It’s a flexible stance, and allows for some healing time, and some much needed weeding out of troughers.
@ Craig Murray,
Alba must stand in all elections. The SNP are, to me, no longer a party of independence, therefore I have nobody to vote for. My votes will go to Alba or I’ll be spoiling my ballot.
@ Breeks,
If that is so, and Chuck hasn’t taken the Scottish oaths then logically that means he is not our king, and from that it logically follows that Westminster is not our parliament.
Republicofscotland says:
17 April, 2023 at 10:29 am
Duncanio. @9.41am.
I also think it was stated that 20% or so of the membership didn’t vote which I find unbelievable with what was at stake. The process was clandestine and deceitful and Murrell was part of a live police investigation, in which the police suspended the investigation for an entire month till the contest was over, which is unheard of.
on the announcement that Yousaf had “won” you could clearly see that Forbes was very pleased that with that result whilst Regan was not, both Forbes and Yousaf have no plan for indy, Forbes could even have even added to the contest to dilute the vote.
I also don’t believe that the membership is as high as 70 odd thousand, more like 50 thousand, no matter though the involvement of GCHQ made it a foregone conclusion that Yousaf would be installed as the next FM.
Bar one or two half-decent SNP MSPs the party is rotten to its core, its reputation and credibility have been fatally damaged, in my opinion (its been Ratnered) Sturgeon/ Murrell and their clique of troughers have burnt the SNP house down.
Its time to put all our weight and support behind the Alba party, lets not waste anther eight years watching the SNP dangle carrots in front of our eyes.
Nobody challenged the 72169 membership figure, neither the candidates nor the (remaining) members so, until proven otherwise, we have to accept it.
5% effectively voted for a candidate who wanted Independence.
So the membership got what the membership voted for.
And hell mend them for that.
Fourth attempt to post this since last night’s went to moderation while this morning’s two have mysteriously vanished into the ether as well.
A slightly abject grovel to Tartan Tory at 6.44pm yesterday, thanks to the reassurance of your fellow Wingers. Taking a swipe at a committed Yesser’s post was a bit hasty and I apologise. Reading it again, it’s a fair comment and deserves a considered response. However, the discussion has moved on and maybe my response contains a Room 101 type trigger so best not risk posting it again!
craig murray @ 11:23 am
“It’s established in law but very rarely used before a jury. One reason they want to get rid of juries.”
Thanks Craig. However, I have seen the process used even in minor cases before a sheriff, also resulting in an early ‘guilty’ plea where some/most of the charges may be withdrawn, and avoidance of trial.
If there is to be a by-election in Rutherglen, I think Alba should put up a high profile candidate, for a number of reasons.
It would give ex-SNP, pro-indy voters someone to vote for.
It would provide much needed publicity for the Alba Party, as all parties must be treated equally, media wise, specially TV.
As Alba now have many activists who know how to campaign/canvas, a big presence on the ground would also help publicity wise.
Could be Hamilton 1967 all over again…
Interesting to see that Jim Sillars is appearing alongside Alex Salmond at the Alba roadshow event in Arbroath this week.
@Daisy Walker (11.50) –
Infiltration – as opposed to the slighty less sleakit ‘entryism’ – has always been a problem for all parties, and always will be.
Double, treble ‘agents’, and they’re bolder now than they’ve ever been because folk, generally speaking, are less inclined to take such characters up the nearest dark lane to ‘explain’ why they’re no longer welcome.
Right now there’s a tweet going around which explains what the 77th Brigade is. Even when they’re in plain view, many folk just refuse to accept that such spooks exist. WGD and his devotees are living proof of just how deep ‘denial’ can go.
You may remember me detailing my local SSP branch’s experience with an obvious spook, way back in 2014. A permanently drunk bad-tempered, patronising mischief who joined approx 3 months before the referendum (despite living within easy walking distance, he’d never shown face previously), splashed cash every week (here’s my subs – look! I’m giving in £20 again!), spread lies about other members, caused real division and upset, then fucked off to The Greens when I let him know that we were on to him.
I still keep an eye out for him whenever I’m in Irvine and I’d love to have a quiet word with him one day but he knows that I know that it would only end badly for me. And on more than one occasion he was in my house when we gathered, pre-leafleting or whatever. He was about as far from inconspicuous as any such character could ever be and I’m sure the Greens would’ve soon gotten the measure of him too. Where he is now is anyone’s guess.
But he was a rank amateur. Imagine how difficult it would be to identify the long-term pros? For all we know, Alba already has them in office-bearing positions. And any other new party trying to get off the ground as the SNP implodes will surely get similar attention.
And that’s why they’re so effective – the fact that we know they exist and are aiming to ruin any ‘democractic’ movement before it even gets started is enough, in itself, to demoralise anyone.
Sorry if this sounds pretty negative but I can’t offer any solid means of dealing with these people. They are as ubiquitous as they are despicable.
Having a wry chortle at some of the mentally ill isolationist wackjobs on Twitter. Never engage with them, of course, cos rolling yourself in shit and waddling into a coprophile’s buffet is not my thing.
Of course,the ones scream-whining about racism, ableism, transphobia, etc, exude a screeching dolphin-like noise that could explode glasses at 100 yards. Does vaguely fascinate me how many of them sneer at ‘old white men’ despite being white themselves, though.
Have they never noticed their light-repelling sunbright honkyesque hues? It’s bizarre, quite frankly. I mean, it’s also racist, braindead, self-loathing and wannabe-self-righteous, but what it truly does show me, at least, is how many of them spout this sub-American wafflelicious shite just to rebel against their big bad daddies for making them mow the lawn six years ago. Hilarious.
Personally, I liked Scotland better when its young folk didn’t talk like recycled, brain-damaged extremist Americans, but hey – let them get on with it. Whatever makes them unhappy.
Steepbrae 12.28 . re TartanTory
If U had disputed Briandoonthetoon’s post I would have stepped in to back him up .
We’re auld Wingers & have travelled all over Scotland promoting WoS & meeting people , no other sites commenters have ever done that .
Re spoiled ballots, prior to the formation of Alba when I found that I could no longer vote SNP with a clear conscience what I did was drew a line through all of the candidates and wrote None Of The Above. This is then counted as a protest vote rather than a spoiled ballot albeit we have no idea what happens with our ballot after it goes into the box.
Re Daisy Walker@11.44
In a previous thread I posted about my experience with less than helpful police in a couple of Glasgow areas. In one of them, the close which was being used as a shooting gallery, I received an unsolicited visit from a CID officer. He produced a prepared statement claiming that I had seen what had been my downstairs neighbour moving all of their belongings into a removal truck and leaving with them and that his house had not been burgled. I refused to sign it, I named three of the local recidivist housebreakers, two of whom lived in the parallel street and operated as a pair whom I had had to chase from my neighbours doors on a number of occasions, one of the pair had tried to carry out a home invasion on my house whilst I was in it and the other I had found overdosed on my stairs. I told the CID officer that he had some gall handing me that statement and expecting me to sign it to which he replied “if you don’t like it get a f****** job and buy a house like everyone else.”
I ended up at court as a prosecution witness against the one who tried to muscle his way into my house, he had been charged with thirty four counts of housebreaking. He pled guilty to a reduced charge of sixteen and was immediately released due to the six months he had spent on remand. I was then approached by one of the local dogwalkers, a middle aged woman, who told me that they knew I had gone to court against one of their own, a local, and that her nephews were going to slash me for, and I quote, “not giving the young team the respect they deserve.” The other housebreaker, not the pair, had been caught by one of my friends in their house packing their belongings into a backpack and threatened them with a knife and somehow got away with this. Another one of my friends met him in the local park whilst walking their dog and he asked them to light a cigarette for them because a couple of his fingers had fallen off due to gangrene.
@ Ian Brotherhood
….spies have always been used.The sacrificial spy keeps attention away from the high placed official. Whitehall have been experts for Centuries.
Our attention is often drawn to the American loving SNP MPs but I suspect our problem was much higher in the SNP organisation.
Sun Tzu on spies
link to marxists.org
Would someone attempt a summary of the motivations behind NS and her husband. What on earth was the point?
Daisy Walker says:
17 April, 2023 at 11:50 am
“Another urgent debate Alba needs to have is, should they accept any MP’s or MSPs who decant from SNP to Alba?”
No. The very few who could be said to be capable have proved to be gutless. The rest are pointless troughers who are bloody useless at their job. Not worth having in an indy party.
Thanks Neale for the article.
Integrity is everything.
The SNP need to die IMO, there’s no saving them.
Sturgeons rep will never recover except the cultists are blaming MI5 for setting her up but they must be getting fewer by the day.I
I still dont get how there can be a Rutherglen byelection since Mgt Ferrier is no longer an SNP member.
Surely she could stay put as an Independent.
Well said Neale.
You are a man of honesty & integrity amongst a nest of vipers. We see it. That will always win against backstabbers & bad actors who are only there for decoration. Karma will be metered out at the ballot box soon enough. Thier stint at Westminster recorded as of no notable achievement for Scotland.
It’s tragic the momentum of 2014 was put into Nicola Sturgeons hands. She once claimed she’d imposter syndrome – nah, she even lied about that. She was the real deal.
We move on. I like idea of one Scotland or all pro independents.
Liz
The recall petition rules apply to all Westminster MPs. If enough constituents sign it then a by-election is called. However if I was her I would want to see the evidence that all signatures were from constituents and I would do a sample check to confirm they actually signed it. Both Labour and the SNP are “keen” to hit the target.
Stuart MacKay says:
17 April, 2023 at 11:49 am
There’s a superb display of whataboutery over at the WGD where no matter how much SNP ba
Stuart MacKay says:
17 April, 2023 at 11:49 am
There’s a superb display of whataboutery over at the WGD where no matter how much SNP bad there is, there is so much more Tories badder to write about.
=============
Around the 4th or 5th post there, I commented on today’s offering:
“Whitabootery. 2400 words.”
It went into moderation and hasn’t been seen since.
Stuart MacKay says:
17 April, 2023 at 11:49 am
There’s a superb display of whataboutery over at the WGD where no matter how much SNP bad there is, there is so much more Tories badder to write about.
=============
Around the 4th or 5th post there, I commented on today’s offering:
“Whitabootery. 2400 words.”
It went into moderation and hasn’t been seen since.
Hi Liz.
See here…
link to en.wikipedia.org
Meant also to say, why are the ‘good’ SNP MSPs not taking out a VONC in the Greens over the bottle return scheme and the Protected marine areas?
I cannot but endorse Neale Hanvey’s sentiments. He effectively expresses the disappointment, frustration, anger and – dare I say it? – hurt engendered by the betrayal we have endured at the hands of a few people in the upper echelons of the SNP.
I think it’s important to bear in mind that there are culprits and perpetrators in all of this. It would not be wise under the circumstances to name names. But there are people with names behind the betrayal. And it might be a serious mistake to pin their treachery on the entire party.
The SNP is not the enemy of Scotland’s cause. The party is rightfully the property of its members. We cannot say that those members are guilty of betraying Scotland’s cause. (Although the worst of the party loyalists might be charged with aiding and abetting.) If the membership is guilty of anything it is the neglect and misplaced trust that allowed the party to be effectively hijacked by a relatively small clique at the top. That means a great many of us are culpable – myself included. We didn’t do it. But we sure as hell allowed it to be done.
I think it’s important to remember this because I am certain that Scotland’s cause still needs the SNP. Not the SNP of Nicola Sturgeon’s era. But the SNP of old. To be more precise, we need the Scottish Government. There is surely no way that Scotland’s independence can be restored without the Scottish Parliament. And only the Scottish Government is able to initiate the process by which the Union is ended and independence is restored. We cannot escape the fact that the SNP is the party of government and will be for the next three to eight years. A period which includes the next UK general election – which will see a massive ramping up of British Nationalism in all the parties that might form or be a part of the next UK government.
Action is needed now. Only the SNP/Scottish Government acting through the Scottish Parliament can give political effect to the independence movement. It logically follows, therefore, that all our energies should be focused on persuading/forcing the SNP/Scottish Government to act.
I know what many (most?) of you are saying right about this point. But it is not about what the SNP is or has been made over the last eight years. It is about what the independence movement is and whether we have the will to bring all our combined strength to bear on the politicians we’re stuck with whether we like it or not.
Nobody has yet explained to me what, in purely practical terms, Alba Party can do. If Alba had a credible plan for ending the Union and restoring independence, I’d have joined before now. If Alba even looked as if it was working towards a credible plan, I would at least consider joining. But I’ve seen nothing to persuade me that Alba would do anything effective even if it could. And, of course, it can’t.
Alba isn’t even putting pressure on the SNP/Scottish Government to act. If Alex Salmond and his colleagues were to propose a radical, assertive plan to TAKE our independence, that would definitely put pressure on the SNP/Scottish Government. Which is all Alba can do until the next Holyrood election. Which, allow me to remind you, will not be until AFTER the fateful UK general election. By the time of the next Scottish Parliament, the new British government will have been in place for around eighteen months. Plenty of time to implement whatever measure were promised during the election campaign to ‘preserve the Union’.
The time to strike is now. It is appalling that elements of the SNP leadership have so egregiously betrayed the party, the cause, the nation and the people of Scotland at this critical juncture. But so long as the SNP is the party of government, Scotland’s cause needs it. So we better set about restoring it to what it once was, and damned quick. The BritNat juggernaut is rolling. We must act before our democracy in crushed beneath the behemoth of British imperialism.
As an incomer to Scotland 8 years ago, essentially to live the remainder of my life in the beautiful Scottish Borders with the beautiful people who live here and after being retired for 8 years after having served in the Army for 20 years and the Rail Industry for 15 years as a director, I was a Conservative voter and staunch Unionist. I now find myself dismayed at the political elite who care not a jot for the working and retired people of the United Kingdom, forcing ridiculous net zero policies, citing a fictional climate emergency, and forcing 15 minute cities on the UK population, making the rich richer and the poor, poorer. I was hoping to find a different political class in Scotland, who actually cared for the people, only to find a Government more corrupt and hell bent on destroying this beautiful country and its people than the Westminster Government. I would dearly love to see a new Independant Scotland with a new Government that works for the people, where the people are sovereign and corruption is not tolerated. BUT, the Independence Movement just seems to want it and expects everyone to follow without any cost benefit analysis on how it is going to be achieved, or at what cost to the individual. No one is going to vote for a Nation which makes the people poorer. So let’s see the plan!
Cynicus
There are other complaints about the moderation as well. I’m sure there are plenty of malcontents (where is Me Bungo Pony BTW) but today’s post has a strong aura of damage limitation to is as well. As I mentioned above, the SNP’s troubles are just the opening act in a potentially long running saga. The ruin of the (former) Dear Leader is well underway and soon might be unstoppable. Who knows what will be discovered as the various rocks are turned over.
I wait with bated breath to see the subject matter of the next few WGD posts. Though in fairness, “Tories Bad” is the gift that keeps on giving. Up next Sunak’s wife’s shares.
Some random thoughts connected with the situation.
(1) Speculation that Humza is pushing for an early By election. Could be that there is much worse stuff to hit the front page of the Daily Record and stuff will appear for months on end? The sooner the election is over with the better.
(2) Alternatively, the party has actually run out of money. (sorry Ian I don’t believe you.) Given the financial and governance shenanigans banks won’t want to lend to the SNP to tide them over. Preferential creditors will include the HMRC etc – not printers and employees. Suppliers of goods and services will demand to be paid outstanding invoices and only work for the party with payment in advance. Under election law, all election expenses MUST be paid withing 28 days of an election. If Humza waits for months there may not be any money to pay for a By election.
(3) If I was an officer in a constituency branch I would want the funds held by the national party (£760K on last accounts) to be returned immediately. Local constituency parties have financial commitments to make – rent and office costs, staff costs, printing, VAT etc. I would not want to be a local party treasurer if the central party has made off with the constituency funds and the constituency cannot pay PAYE, tax etc! Suggest Wingers have a word with their constituency conveners and treasurers and be first in the queue for the £760K. I predict a FTX type run soon.
@Peter Bell.
What can Alba do . What could they have done to put pressure on that leadership as was or indeed as is, that would have changed their path?
Considering that till only a few short weeks ago the SNP were running a government that excluded the voices of even its own membership let alone a party of opposition led by a man with an axe to grind with the top echelons of the SNP. A justifiable axe I might add.
Alba can rise whilst the SNP subsides and that suits me just fine. I can wait.
Thanks to those explaining the byelection rules.
I once talked to a pub owner who “hosted” one of WGD’s talks back in the day.
He wasn’t very complimentary about Paypal Paul, said the first three questions when he walked in were :
1) Where’s my money?
2) Where’s my complimentary room?
3) Where’s my complimentary meals/drink?
Said he wasn’t all that surprised about the questions, was just more the attitude/entitlement that rubbed him up the wrong way. The owner put it in different terms right enough 😉
New policy is introduced by politicians but is it they or civil servants whom run the country from day to day?
My point being, not all candidates for independence require previous experience.
Why is there such fixation to retain and repair SNP? (In whichever order, both tasks is tackled).
Many would prefer new blood in every seat, in Holyrood.
Surely the introduction of independents, given adequate backing, come election time, many could presently make it all the way into a coalition government of Indy MSPs.
Focus should be fixed on alternative Indy groups being elected to parliament, that being the best medicine, to remedy the sad failure of SNP policy makers.
Any rebuild of SNP and the greater movement, is only possible by external pressure. The electorate has the power to mend, that power should not be wasted by granting SNP a free run, at the next election.
On spies.
It is difficult for parties at a local and national level to vet people. Even if new members have a canvass and social media record suggesting they are not genuine they can always say that they have had a ‘conversion’.
I don’t know the situation in Scotland but my experience is that it is the LDs who insert spies into local Labour and Conservative branches. I was convinced that one new member was not genuine, when he claimed to be totally new to politics, but then asked me as Ward Chairman detailed knowledgeable questions about our delivery network etc. Could not prove it – but I did a different version of our members’ newsletter just for him! Just call it a gut feeling.
In the late 80s we had a charming Irish guy join us – Michael. He went leafletting, attended social events and political discussion groups. One day after a canvassing session we were having a drink in a pub. He said out of the blue “I did not know you people could be so nice.” I thought what a weird thing to say. You don’t join a voluntary organisation and then express surprise that the other members are “nice”.
A few months later he just disappeared without saying a word. I was really concerned and took 2 buses to go to his flat. No answer. Looking through the letter box I saw piles of post. Informed the police. They battered down the door and checked. No sign of him.
A few months later MI5 visited the office – talked to the agent, chairman and other members about Michael. Did not hear the outcome of their investigation.
This was a few years after the Brighton bomb. Had he infiltrated out local party to get a members’ pass to conference? Was he pulled off an IRA operation for whatever reason? Did he have second thoughts about hurting his friends? I do not know. I hope the latter as I really liked him. Either way it would make a good plot for a thriller. Any novelists and dramatists please get in touch for background info.
P.S. I have a good idea for a bitter sweet romance set in Vienna based on a conversation I over heard in a tavern in the hills outside the city. Angus Robertson a fan of the city may like to contact me..though probably not if he has read the remarks made by me on twitter concerning Progress Scotland!
Sturat Mackay says:
(where is Me Bungo Pony BTW)
Sadly I believe Me Bungo Pony is another in the long list who have died while Sturgeon and her inadequates betrayed us.
I would very dearly like to be proven wrong about this.
The SNP is a party of home rule, not independence. Alba is in a good position to be as radical as possible – as stated by others above. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. Fight every election – and in the case of Westminster elections pledge that any Alba candidates elected will not take their seats in London, a la Sinn Fein.
On spies.
David Harvie: was the Crown Agent, and the head of Scotland’s prosecution service.
He is a KNOWN Mi5 Agent.
If Mi5 has penetrated to that depth in our COPFS then its all but certain they have friendlies in the SNP.
I’d wager Harvie had involvement not just in the prosecution of Salmond, but others such as Craig Murray, Mark Hirst, and David Lewellyn.
Stuart MacKay 17 April, 2023 at 11:49 am says:
There’s a superb display of whataboutery over at the WGD where no matter how much SNP bad there is, there is so much more Tories badder to write about.
=============
Around the 4th or 5th post there, I commented on today’s offering:
“Whitabootery. 2400 words.”
It went into moderation and hasn’t been seen since.
The SNP are skint.
“Latest party income/expenditure figures (for 2021) underlines SNP overspend. In Mar 2021, Sturgeon said SNP had “never been in a stronger financial position”. In June 2021, Murrell loaned SNP £107,620 to “assist with cash flow”
via Electoral Commission, with added deficit calcs”
link to twitter.com
Anton Decadent @ 1.12pm
Apropos your discouraging encounters with our less-than-stellar constabulary, compare and contrast with the case of one Katie Dolatowski whose name will probably be familiar to most commenters on here.
Most will know something of Katie (Lennon) Dolatowski’s unsavoury record of paedophile attacks on minors such as the photographing in a toilet of a 12 year old girl and also physically assaulting a 10 year old in another toilet and forcing her to remove her clothes. For these appalling crimes against children he was given a 3 year community service order, placed on the sex offenders’ register and banned from any contact with children. Still he was referred to by his female pronouns and female name in court and also in media reports.
Subsequently, he had himself admitted to a refuge for women victims of violence by using a false identity and ‘tricking’ the staff. Are we to believe that the staff were honestly confused into thinking a strapping 6foot 5inch male was actually female or is it yet another instance where staff were abandoning physical reality for an ideological fantasy and not safeguarding the female residents?
Dolatowski was sentenced for 4 months and sent initially to Polmont Young Offenders’ Institution where he violently attacked another prisoner. Having been placed on report for his violence to another inmate, the prison authorities then thought it would be entirely appropriate to send him to Cornton Vale to be part of the women’s estate, because, of course, that’s exactly what you would do with a violent male prisoner? He was then released from custody.
Having breached his bail conditions twice by travelling to Newcastle and Aberdeen and having to be escorted back by police, despite this and other breaches of bail conditions, on appearance at Falkirk Sherriff Court he was granted bail and released. It is quite as if Dolatowski is leading a charmed life as regards the law in this country.
Dolatowski has a new persona as Alyanna McKenna and Twitters regularly. It’s less than surprising that he is a great fan of Nicola Sturgeon and the GRR legislation.
Shona Robison MSP steered the legislation through parliament and is on record as opining that there is no evidence that men like Dolatowski would wish to gain a GRC in order to abuse women since only predatory and abusive men would be a threat to women, not transwomen.
Her brainless opinion would logically suggest that transwomen cannot therefore be accused of sexual assaults on women. Well, that and Dolatowski’s lenient brushes with the law would seem to suggest that there is a ready-made get-out clause for transwomen. Only men can commit those crimes, so get a GRC.
Police Scotland apparently said that regarding Dolatowski being referred to as a woman committing those crimes against children, that their sex/gender identification of an offender would be based entirely on how the individual presented themselves or self-identified.
I often get the feeling when reading about perpetrators of rape or sexual assault being referred to as women in court or media accounts, using their preferred pronouns and new female name, that this can only add to the trauma of the victim, being humiliatingly forced to join in something that is self-evidently untrue. Since there is not actually, at the moment, any legislation forcing the lawyers and judges to do so, then they must have chosen to do so.
That in itself is disturbing. Where is any consideration for the victim’s feelings? I don’t believe for a moment that such conservative bodies as police and the legal fraternity are natural ‘woke progressives.’ Instead I think the transgender movement has allowed a concealed, longstanding misogyny to surface, having been given such an opportune mask to hide behind.
The whole farce of calling an obvious male a woman is not just about validation for transgenders but has allowed some males in positions of power and influence to disingenuously exercise their prejudice in plain sight. You can almost hear them in their well-upholstered and plush clubs sigh with satisfaction. ‘At last, lads, at last. That’ll get them back for their MeToo movement. Who do they think they are?’
As has been observed before, far from being a progressive movement for tolerance, the transgender ideology is about putting things in reverse for women and is all about enforcing regressive ideas through stereotyping of behaviour supposedly attributed to sex. So the old-fashioned objectified image of women as self-obsessed trollops or meek little handmaidens is projected all over again to please men’s ideation of womanhood.
Apologies for multiple posts on WGD whitabootery
Nicla has to go, cos if the whole party goes down the tubes how will AR run his fiefdom?
‘Independence is not about left versus right, it’s a simple principle of what’s right and what’s wrong’
I’ve said before on this site that Scotland future belongs to a movement that has transcended left v right politics by recognising that neither camp has the full plethora of ideas that a nation requires.
Left v right is a false paradigm by which the parameters of political debate are set for us.
The true fight of our lives (and multiple generations before) is the well being of nations (people) and their rights versus a cabal at the top of which sits the international banks.
The only institution that ordinary people can ever form that has the power to protect them from deliberate continued and worsening economic, social and cultural degradation is the nation state formed for their benefit with the mandate to exclude the previously mentioned cartel, and all its tentacles, at all costs.
The most robust of nation states will be of people with largely shared values and tradition. The cartel knows this.
A look (outside of the MSM) at Russia shows us that their leadership may be working from a similar perspective.
I just received an interesting email from ALBA stating this coastal waters plan may also be illegal. I must admit I haven’t followed that particular story so I’m not going to comment other than to say nothing surprises me now. Why does the Scottish Green party wield so much power?
Ronald Anderson at 1.11pm
It’s cheering to read your comment. Seriously. Hats off to every one of the auld Wingers and long-standing grassroots activists. Proof that Alex’s Community of the Realm is not a dream but is already a reality. Could not get a more solid foundation to build on.
Just as a small addition – id be careful about trying to do anything with great urgency right now.
One thing the SNP continuously did was to make voters consider the next election to be the make or break deal that the SNP must get full support on or Scotland will disappear. This panicked people into voting for them regardless of their other policies.
I could see it in the comments here.
Scotland has survived hundreds of years of much worse oppression than this. That’s because the Scots were Scots and we knew it.
So long as Scots have the demographic majority in Scotland there will be a future for us. If not, then any political situation will be meaningless.
The ‘next election will be the magic bullet cure that will let me see independence before I die’ attitude has to stop. Deep breaths need taken now and the long term future of Scots must be priority, not short term satisfaction. Vote Alba, fine, but big changes in attitude are needed and a drastic evolution of thinking needs to start in the politically aware of the Scottish electorate.
Cynicus says:
17 April, 2023 at 4:08 pm
Stuart MacKay 17 April, 2023 at 11:49 am says:
There’s a superb display of whataboutery over at the WGD where no matter how much SNP bad there is, there is so much more Tories badder to write about.
=============
Around the 4th or 5th post there, I commented on today’s offering:
“Whitabootery. 2400 words.”
It went into moderation and hasn’t been seen since.
Aye, the denial phase can be quite lengthy and painful in some unfortunate individuals. My heart bleeds.
A wee diversion for everyone …
KIDNAPPED, from The National Theatre of Scotland, currently at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum, then touring.
In the ‘Freesheet’ for this wonderful update of the classic story, there are 50 listed actors, creatives and production staff, ALL (except three) listed with attached pronouns.
Why do I, as a member of the audience, need this info?
Has our National Theatre been browbeaten by government into publishing this, perhaps nervous of funding consequences? Otherwise, WHY ??
Anyway, well done the three refuseniks, and a fourth for declaring their pronouns as (basically) ‘whatever’.
The Freesheet is available as a download at the end of this link ..
link to nationaltheatrescotland.com
Just read the Kevin McKenna article. The last sentence is a memorable belter:
‘Almost 200 years of something self-identifying as a democracy has given us a political class characterised by graft, mediocrity and exploitation’.
A perfect antidote to the sight of those fuckwits in their dandy tartanry in New York.
@JGedd 4.30pm
I wonder if our breweries are hoping that their competitors stick him on the side of a can.
Re it being part of a misogynist backlash to Me Too, I do not think that this is the case. In America there have been calls to have parents who stand up to the trans lobby at school board meetings formally classed as domestic terrorists. This is partially how the stated/perceived DT threat in the West is being spun to make it ourselves who are the threat.
Re Me Too, I suggest looking into the petition(s) to free a well known film director when he was arrested in Switzerland.
Yes, many with integrity left for Alba, but let’s not forget that, barring the smashing of women’s rights, Alba also follows most of the same student CND policies as the SNP. Until Yes supporters have a better choice the vote for independence is never going to clock over 60%.
Independence is indepenence. It’s neither left nor right, pro or anti, it’s the single principle of being responsible for the decisions and actions of and in one’s own country.
A potential Alba policy is Scotland’s people suing the King of England for allowing Scotland’s oil and gas to be extracted when it was never his in the first place to give away.
That if the case is won, the reparations would be distributed out to all the citizens of independent Scotland, as they are the true owners of the sea bed and mineral rights, not the English monarch.
The SNP’s Trisha Marwick, said if you think your views matter, or if you think you are more important than the SNP then get a grip, I don’t want to know you.
link to twitter.com
Terry Darvel says:
17 April, 2023 at 5:56 pm
Yes, many with integrity left for Alba, but let’s not forget that, barring the smashing of women’s rights, Alba also follows most of the same student CND policies as the SNP. Until Yes supporters have a better choice the vote for independence is never going to clock over 60%.
Except for Defence, Monarchy, EFTA, Energy, Currency,Independence,Education,NATO,to name just a few of the differences
Was there any resolution to the matter of Sandstone Press and publishing of Sturgeon’s book of speeches?
Recall there were questions over funding.
RepublicofScotland @6:11
Tricia Marwick has just clearly demonstrated that she and her ilk put the interests of the SNP miles and miles ahead of the interests of their country.
For them a renegade is someone who doesn’t prioritise the SNP every time. Whereas for us it’s someone who doesn’t put Scotland first right down the line.
Shut up Marwick. Get on with enjoying your devo Presiding Officer’s pension and leave the liberation to the real nationalists.
RoS at 4:18
Thanks for posting the Twatter link – not on it.
Interesting to note that in 2021 the SNP had the largest “Deficit as % of income” of ANY, I’ll repeat that…ANY political party in the UK!
And Sturgeon said in effect ‘nothing to see here folks, move along.’
Not waving, but drowning…
Beauvais @ 6.32.
Yes, and not only that, she puts the party before the truth, honesty,transparancy, and scrutiny. Very reminiscent of a political party in Germany between 1933 and 1945.
@Dan who asked about
” the matter of Sandstone Press and publishing of Sturgeon’s book of speeches?”
AFAIK the police are still ” investigating”
link to scottishdailyexpress.co.uk
This is very good!
link to twitter.com
Peter A Bell 2.29 .
( u agree with Neile Hanvey ) but yet come out with that diatribe .
U should be over on WGD site with that crap , little wonder that u don’t have site traffic on your own page / the SNP are finished all but the last chapter & that rests with Police Scotland to put them out of their misery .
Stroll on Terry, why dont you get yourself to Conservative Home. At least the honest London Tory on here talks some sense, you don’t.
70 years since a right-wing majority – with much of that coming from the Orange knuckledraggers – got any electoral traction in Scotland.
Take a walk boy and mind and drag your greed and foreign philosophies with you.
Big Jock says:
17 April, 2023 at 7:38 pm
This is very good!
link to twitter.com
Maybe so but would you want to be associated with the rest of the fascist filth from that user?
Big Jock @7:38
I think the one on the left is called Ani-Fraud Lyingstad.
The SNP can never recover their reputation. That is Sturgeon’s ultimate legacy. A bit like when Ratners:” crap jewellery” comment tainted their brand forever.
People simply didn’t believe what they were buying was genuine. Then Ratners went bust. The SNP is ‘a dead man walking.’
The position Humza is in now reminds me of a scene from Apollo 13 when after being bombarded all at once from the ground crew operators with all the things going wrong with the spacecraft Gene Krantz called for hush and said ”ok so what have we got that’s good ?”
Humza. I thought we moved past judging women based on the actions of his husband. Aye right.
Like his ex wife who he judged when he said he didn’t think was a good enough Muslim.
Bring on FMQs – false Minister’s Questions. I want him put on the spot.
Now that Tartan day is over and the tax payer funded delegation returns back to the vipers nest.
The ex wife. Who he judged. After Humza cheated on her.
Nothing but a dirty rat by all accounts.
Sturgeon knew all right. She knew.
Where’s the missing money Humza?
@ Ronald Anderson who said “the SNP are finished all but the last chapter & that rests with Police Scotland to put them out of their misery” .
Don’t disagree, Ronald, but how long’s that likely to take? Years? At the speed Police Scotland seems to work? And in the meantime?
link to caltonjock.com
David. I would even question why Humza forced his ex-wife to adopt his religion to get married. Surely a modern man wouldn’t think that was acceptable.
But hey, we know what kind of arrogant ,chauvinistic snake he really is.
Utterly weird how cozy the media still are with Sturgeon, happy for her to play the Derek Mackay role, of keeping the salary but not intending to turn up for work.
Alex Salmond was on Newsnight on EBC2 at 10.30. SNP wouldn’t put anybody up for the show.
Big Jock
Absolutely.
I hope that if or when we secure indy there is a role of shame where the names of the SNP betrayers are exhibited for all to see and remember.
I agree with every word…
link to robinmcalpine.org
I agree with every word……
link to robinmcalpine.org
I’m rather surprised that Ms Sturgeon is not going to appear in the Scottish Parliament in person this week! One would have thought that she would be pleased to be present as a mere MSP (having resigned because she was just too tired to carry on as First Minister) to support her personal candidate, Humza Yousaf, in his role as First Minister!! It appears to me (as an ex-SNP member) that she is suddenly afraid to appear there in person. The question is: Who is she more afraid of – The Press or Scottish voters?!
We have people like this helping our communities and that snivelling bunch at the SNP we’re lining their own pockets….
link to twitter.com
Luigi, Stusrt Mackay et al.
On WGD denialism/ whitabootery, PK seems now to be open to criticism that was being moderated out of existence early yesterday (as it is now).
=========
cynicusinexile says:in reply to JP58
April 18, 2023 at 12:06 am
“ For those of you who go on about transparency in other parties this is whitabootery”
=====
Bang on the money!
More than 12 hours ago I made the same point in fewer words.
The post went into moderation and has yet
That Express article linked to above is a travesty.
In the elite circles that she and I move in, it’s a well-known fact that just prior to taking up high-powered UN posts every successful candidate has a period of ‘going into hiding’…
No comfort for the non-Green Party environmental vote, currently homeless, from Salmond on Newsnight. Nothing new there. He implied that the SNP’s policy troubles are down to the paltry measures put forward to salvage a natural environment damaged by years of ineffective restraint on unwise resource extraction.
Perhaps this anti-green emphasis is part of some Alba strategist’s cunning plan for rehabilitating oil maximisation and exploration in the minds of voters, to obtain the traditional fuel for a surge in growth? Once an oil ecomunist…
Regarding Craig Murray’s question I think alba should challenge SNP at Westminster but only those MPs in the SNP who have doubtful allegiance to independence..thats about 35
Labour currently proving just how incompetent they are with their smear campaign against Sunak.
First they make posters suggesting he personally doesn’t want to put child abusers in prison and now the poster suggests Sunak is happy with some council tax increases reaching 15%.
Turns out that it’s a Labour ran council that did that.
Pity Labour have noticed the £45 billion wasted on track and trace, the £10’s Millions wasted on fake PPE, the Number of NHS contracts given to companies with Tory MP connections,
Doctors, Nurses, Teachers etc all going on strike and some for the first time ever.
First decade in 150 years where the working class are worse off.
Maybe a warning about the NHS almost completely broken and the thousands of needless deaths.
Tory refusal to negotiate pay increases or Rwanda flights might have been good.
Labour get in every 20 years after the English get fed up with the Tories.
A 5 year condition before Boris comes back to haunt us.
OT Second Homes.
The downside about charging Second Homes double Council Tax is that it doubles the income for the Local Authority and provides incentive for accommodating more second homes, not fewer, while also pretending they’re addressing the problem.
A better solution is needed. Better, more trustworthy Local Authorities are needed.
Meeting immigration points criteria would help.
Make a holiday home require planning permission for change of use away from dwelling, that can be refused once the locality considers itself saturated with too many, and the empty property without Planning consent can be compulsory purchased in a streamlined process, and turned over to social housing.
Make second homes require a license, and pay a monthly retainer proportionate to the upkeep of local schools, shops, pubs, and businesses who’s vitality is put in jeapordy by empty properties suffocating the local economy.
Attach social stigma to owning a second property.
Alternatively, go deep, and change the very meaning of owning property in designated areas, a bit like property in National Parks, where “ownership” is more like a heavily policed lease hold, and all land is “owned” by the Nation.
Scotland’s Islands and rural locations have always been vulnerable, and it’s communities have always delicately balanced. A few dozen people either way can have profound ramifications. If Scotland wants these communities to survive, and for my part, I absolutely do, then protecting them comes top priority, not the current bottom priority. We are running out of time.
Scottish schools…children being brainwashed by TransCult supporting teachers.
link to twitter.com
What Craig Murray says about Alba Party’s strategy for the next Scottish Parliament election might be persuasive but for two things. Firstly, Alba Party has not committed to a specific course of action on the constitutional issue that it would pursue if in government or urge on whatever party was in government. Until Alba adopts the #ManifestoForIndependence or similar, it inspires no more confidence in this decidedly unromantic voter.
Secondly, it’ll be too late. The British state is not going to obligingly suspend its efforts to secure the Union against the threat posed by democracy while we elect a government which might act to end the Union. The next Holyrood election is 2026. There will be a Westminster election around eighteen months prior to that. Whatever the outcome of that election we will have a right-wing, authoritarian, British Nationalist government in London. It won’t take that government eighteen months to implement measures which will make the restoration of Scotland’s independence effectively impossible.
Unfortunately, having an appropriate sense of urgency about extricating Scotland from the Union means accepting that Scotland’s cause is dependent on the SNP. For the face-slappingly obvious reason that the SNP is the party of government and will be for the entire relevant period – and probably beyond.
Equally obviously, there is no will to end the Union in this SNP Scottish Government. There seems also to be no will among Alba members (and others) to change the situation. The ‘strategy’ being urged on us is to wait until the 2026 election and hope to oust the SNP so that Alba Party can do something which is not specified.
I’m told the SNP Scottish Government won’t act for Scotland’s cause. Well, of course it won’t! To do so would demand daring and imagination and tenacity. These are politicians! They don’t do brave! They will do nothing unless forced to by the people exercising their combined strength. This is true of all governments. It is true of the SNP Scottish Government and it will be true of whatever might replace the SNP as the party of government.
Waiting until 2026 is not an option. Alba Party is not a solution. Soon or late, the people will have to force the Scottish Government to act. Forcing the Scottish Government to act will be indistinguishable from authorising it to act. It’s the same thing. If we don’t have the strength to force the SNP Scottish Government to act now, we won’t have the strength to authorise Alba Party to act if by some electoral miracle it became the party of government.
BBC Newsnight on the SNP ‘in crisis’ … Alex Salmond and Alex Neil both interviewed.
link to bbc.co.uk
@ Peter Bell
I’m pretty much in agreement with all you say above , Peter , but we still come back to the crucial question .. ie .. HOW do we compel the SNP to do what’s necessary ? By your own admission they lack the ” daring , imagination and tenacity ” to do so .
I share your urgency , and completely agree the Brit State – whatever Unionist mob is in power after the next G.E – is intent on closing every escape-route from it’s possessive clutches . There is NO time to waste waiting for * this * or * that * to happen before taking decisive action .
The hard reality we face is the alleged ” vehicle to Independence ” is a burnt-out wreck and that Party will only learn when it’s been severely skelped electorally .
Colin Beattie arrested…
link to news.sky.com
Colin Beattie has been arrested.
Colin Beattie been arrested according to DT.
I find all this antipathy towards and stigma attached to holiday homes a bit odd.
In central and eastern europe having a holiday home is the norm. Often they are small wooden ‘cottages’ but they can be much more substantial. It is common in Russia as well I think with their ‘Dachas’.
Also having a holiday home means you are not jumping on a plane to go on holiday. Plus you are contributing the money spent on holidaying back into the Scottish / local economy.
The problem in Scotland is that these type of holiday homes don’t really exist in large numbers and so people buy regular flats and cottages etc which displace full time residents.
One obvious solution is to loosen up the rules allowing people to build holiday homes.
You also get this weird hostility towards anyone owning a buy-to-let property as well. Often people do this to supplement what is one of the shitest state pensions in western europe but again the SNP like to demonize them.
The SNP and Greens are hostile to business and especially so to landlords or people owning a holiday home. I suspect they fit a caricature they have in their head of some evil capitalist keeping the working class down… except they don’t like or give a f**k about the working class either so go figure.
Plus you have folk moving in from outside who retire. I was in a very picturesque village on the NE coast a few years back and when I went to the local cafe every day for a bacon roll and a coffee the number of English voices around me was remarkable. A lot of elderly (retired) ladies form the north of England for some reason.
England is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe now and still is accepting and encouraging mass inward immigration. Tony Blair started this and it has been almost non-stop every year since. Sooner or later that dam is going to burst into Scotland, it already is.
That is is going to put a further squeeze on the housing stock but that gets a free pass and it is the holiday homes and buy-to-let folk that are the problem.
Scotland’s relatively very small population could be easily inundated by England’s if conditions in England became unattractive due to overpopulation. Indeed this may well be part of the strategy. Just beat us into the ground with demographics.
SNP Treasurer Arrested: link to archive.is LOL!
Scottish nationalist politics must move from reactive to pro-active mode.
The SNP went «rogue» because the membership was complacent and ingenuous.
SNP treasurer arrested. Wow. Things are getting serious folks (at last). There will be a few SNP high heid yins dreading that knock on the door now. The net is closing and panic is about to set in big time. Who will jump for cover and blow the whistle on their “mates” first? It will happen. Any moment now. Popcorn ready.
Peter Bell is correct. (I even read his whole comment.). I believe that it is highly unlikely that any Scottish government at Holyrood is going to bring about our departure from the UK.
If Westminster will intervene to stop some bizarre silliness regarding GRR they will surely get quite worked up in regard to us becoming independent again.
The gradual approach is no approach at all. It is like walking very slowly down the beach at Gullane as the tide goes out. As you take baby steps towards the sea, the waves recede before you.
Swift and sudden action is required. We should ignore the Scottish Parliament. We should ask all our MPs to attend a meeting, perhaps in Perth, A vote should be taken to secede forthwith. All it takes is courage. As 48 of our MPs were elected on an “independence ” ticket that should result in a minimum of 48 votes to secede out of 59.
That would be 81%. Unarguable. Our “man” goes to the UN and asks for immediate recognition*. All it takes is courage.
*The UK recognised Kosovo as an independent country!!! within 24 hours of the vote in their assembly.
Anyone want to call for a vote of no confidence in the SNP today? With Colin busy, and St Nic missing in action, would it succeed?
Perhaps the Alba MPs could step down and get re-elected at bye elections. Always an element of doubt for me when jockeys change horses.
I just want to point something out that is unpopular:
There is no short term route to true Scottish political independence right now.
No single election or referendum will do it.
Neither will a clever constitutional or legal move.
If either of the above appeared to come through for us the results would be procrastinated into infinity while the machine sets to work trying to demoralise the supporters while propagandising our opponents into believing that any action the British state took would be legitimate while we would be painted to look like dangerous extremists.
The more we fought for what was fair the more we’d be painted as the extreme by the media.
There is no winning in the political field right now. Not really.
We can get parties like Alba into a strong position which would not hurt at all, but the simple truth is that 5 million Scots are not about to walk away with the resources Scotland has nor be free to decide how our territory will be utilised strategically.
To put it simply – hindering and stopping Scottish political independence is a matter of British national security. That is a fact and with it comes carte blanche with what covert and under hand tactics will be used to stop it.
Scotland can be a free and independent country again but Scots are going to have to win back the hearts and minds of our people from Scottish conservatives (not the party) to socialists and everyone inbetween and the long process of winning over our institutions such as the media and academia has to be started. We must also take the economy out of the hands of the corporate world by spending our money sensibly and in a targeted way that supports the little man where possible.
The ground-up approach is absolutely necessary but we also in tandem need a dedicated elite with the skills and brains to lead us in all aspects of our national recovery. Alf Baird is a good example but we need more. We also need a real combative (not warlike) spirit coupled with this
We literally have to become an independent country in all but name before we can really think of winning the political game in the long run.
That will require us to be less distracted by politics and spread our attention and efforts into the other key aspects of what makes a nation.
The magic bullet political answer has to be put in its proper perspective – its mostly fantasy.
“I’m pretty much in agreement with all you say above , Peter , but we still come back to the crucial question .. ie .. HOW do we compel the SNP to do what’s necessary ?”
Robert Hughes.
You can’t, the SNP is now a bag of ferrets, the meltdown and finger pointing process has begun, its lost its credibility and the brand name has been terminally damaged any hope of saving it died when the membership decided to vote for Yousaf instead of the only candidate with a indy plan Ash Regan.
As for Alba it is up to the membership to to steer it in the right direction we’ve caught hold the party early enough to do so.
Gordon Bain says:
18 April, 2023 at 9:17 am
Colin Beattie has been arrested.
Has WGD had another Whitabooterry Explosion yet ?
Breeks says:
18 April, 2023 at 7:41 am
“OT Second Homes.2”
You’re more subtle than me. I wanted to quadruple the council tax and charge a levy for every week the home remained empty. Money to be used in a fund to build soical housing for local residents. Far too many homeless and unable to remain living in their own area for people to be swanning around with 2nd or third homes left empty for most of the year. Ownership of these homes also give a vote to people who shouldn’t have one a vote in our constitutional matters and can lead to some having two votes.
Mac says:
18 April, 2023 at 9:20 am
“Plus you are contributing the money spent on holidaying back into the Scottish / local economy.”
Not when they load up their SUV’s with supplies from their own local supermarkets and fill their fridges and freezers with enought to keep them going for the duration. They would be contributing far more if they went to a local hotel or B&B.
Treasurer arrested and Peter Bell is telling us this morning to get behind the SNP like Lesley Riddoch.
Two geniuses
Joe says:
18 April, 2023 at 9:48 am
I just want to point something out that is unpopular:
There is no short term route to true Scottish political independence right now.
Joe, I completely agree.
However, I would point out that, as 2014 showed, a national groundswell can build up very quickly when conditions are right. This includes having a strong, focussed leader, a clear direction and a willingness to take the fight to the enemy (on grounds of our choosing). It can be done, it ain’t going to be easy, but it never was going to be easy. The big question to those that claim to believe in Scottish independence is:
Are you willing to stand up and be counted?
Please stop asserting on here some of you that independence is not a short or medium term possibility. Perhaps it isn’t. You don’t know that though.
What we do know is that complexity science tells us that when there is a metaphorical volatile landscape then dramatic change can and usually does come very quickly. The relentless downward spiral of the corrupt SNP, coupled with unionist party unpopularity is the very apotheosis of a volatile, or dancing, political landscape.
We’ve seen European parties rise to prominence astonishingly quickly in recent years. The conditions are all set for Alba to do the same. And if success comes then Alba is no jejune outfit with untested and inexperienced people, but quite the opposite.
I think in retrospect Ash and Regan dodged a bullet. I mean who would want to be in charge of this cesspit of a party. The best thing is for the good people to get out as soon as possible. The SNP are a dead duck.
I don’t think you can fix this ship. It needs to be scrapped.
James O’brien is going to be doing the SNP story on his LBC show today. I do hope someone from here phones in and puts him straight on what the issues are. Sick to the back teeth of ignorant twats conflating the cause of independence with membership of the SNP.
There must be some of them bright enough to work out what is about to happen.
Police would not be going this far if there was not an issue.
The worst aspect is Nicola must have known this was coming down the line and did not resign earlier to save the party.
For me that is the real disgrace
Re doubling council tax , it won’t work as long as absentee owners have a good investment . The root of the problem is the price of land , the buildings on it are relatively very cheap. The solution is in this short article here.
link to strongtowns.org
Main UK News now
link to bbc.co.uk
The alphabetties immunity would not apply in an Independent !
Another reason for the SNP squandering Mandates ?
Chapman who took from Beattie resigned as he wasnt given financial info, on the £600 whereabouts amongst other things, and beattie who he took over from comes back on board as treasurer. SO ahem Beattie working with presumably the CEO ( Murrell ) must have been involved in financial dealings that Chapman wasnt to know about. Interestingly when he resigned John Swinney was in the press rebutting his reasons….so Swinney is implicated as well I would imagine….anyway time will out.
Big Jock says:
18 April, 2023 at 10:13 am
I think in retrospect Ash and Regan dodged a bullet.
That beaming smile on Kate Forbes face, just as the leadership election result was announced said it all. What a relief! She may not have had all the gory details on what was about to hit the fan, but she had a bloody good idea IMO.
Speaking of gory details (or knowledge of), Angus Robertson seems to have placed himself in the right place, ready to step in after Humza Yousaf takes the hit. Clever move. However, as I often remind folks: “The best laid plans o’ mice and men….!”
I wonder if Peter Murrell threw Colin Beattie to the Wolves to get released….?
@roguesir
Excellent question.
Being ready and willing to front the administration duties of governance being the (one) job of the opposition, the follow up might be; how many more MSPs from the governing party need bound over in custody to ensure the opposition in Holyrood has enough votes to demonstrate whether it has the enthusiasm and ability to match its rhetoric with action..
Why do we wallow in agony?
‘Joe Bloggs’ to end the Union, in every constituency, it’s not rocket science!
Joe Bloggs for independence, 50%+ mandated to end the Union, more potent than SNPs aborted mandates!
Enough people only need to put an X in the ballot for said Joe Bloggs.
Does the Recall Process (petition) for getting rid of sitting MPs (in a vote of no confidence) also apply to MSPs?
Just asking for a friend.
There’s a long way to go but already the air feels cleaner. The net is closing in on the Sturgeon mafia at last, and what we have seen so far might well be only the tip of the iceberg. Now I’m reading about jewelry being involved. Who knows where this will end.
Scottish people have always had a reputation for common sense, honesty, and trustworthiness. Now we are a laughing stock worldwide. When we get rid of this lot, by which I mean the entire SNP, then we will have to rebuild our reputation and our country. We must never leave it only to politicians again. We the people are the independence movement.
Big Jock @10:13
“I think in retrospect Ash Regan dodged a bullet”.
Who cares… Part of the SNP? Part of the problem!
There are no ‘good guys’ in Sturgeon’s rancid SNP – they all quit already! All you’ve got left are troughers, carpetbaggers, biology denying zealots, cozy devolutionists and individuals being arrested and questioned in relation to ongoing criminal investigations.
Forgive me for not giving two figs for anyone still in a party that’s spent 8 years taking the country, the Yes movement and its own membership for fools.
Geoff Anderson @ 10.53am
I was wondering the same thing.
And can Sturgeon keep plausibly denying that she knew nothing ?
It does make Scotland’s professional political journalists look like the moronic yoon lackeys that they, so demonstrably, are.
Now I’m reading that senior SNP politicians are talking about moving over to ALBA. It’s far too late for that. They can never be trusted, and just by their presence in the party they would damage ALBA.
How long will it take before someone fesses up.
Remind me. Was not Sturgeon acting treasurer during the gap between Beattie and Chapman?
I would hope that any SNP MP, MSP, staffer or paid official who is now thinking of jumping ship by joining Alba or any other real pro Indy party will have their membership application refused or at the very least suspended pending the outcome of all police/criminal investigations and court outcomes are completed.
Bearing in mind the number of girth-mountains squatting at the top of the SNP hierarchy, I think it would be an act of charity to point out that the food portions in Scotland’s jails are probably not as generous as some might like them to be.
Didny know, wont cut it with HMRC and the fraud squad .
Second homes. As some have already said the problem is not holiday homes/second homes it is the unholy alliance between
the planning system and absentee landowners. Neither will allow new holiday homes/cabins to be built…hence the pressure on rural housing stock.
The Scottish government must take action to create more land for holiday / weekend homes…just like all other European countries.
We have the land but our rural housing stock was trashed by the clearances and the sporting estates.
Electoral Commission figures for 2021 show Sturgeon’s rancid SNP in the hole to more than 3/4 of a Million £, and the largest “Deficit as % Income” of any UK political party.
It also appears that since 2021, membership of Sturgeon’s rancid SNP has collapsed by between 1/4 and 1/3, so would it be fair to assume that the financial status of the party in 2022 will be in an even worse position due to falling membership revenue?
Looks as though those of us who wish to see the troughers, carpetbaggers, biology denying zealots and cozy devolutionists out of a job won’t have to wait until they’re kicked out via the ballot box, for Sturgeon’s rancid SNP will have gone bust a long time before the next election.
And even if they haven’t, they’ll be going through the pockets of the coats in the front hall cupboard to scrape together enough loose change to try to run a campaign.
As for rumours of rats deserting the sinking ship and frantically swimming in the direction of ALBA…
NO SNP STAFFERS, OFFICIALS, CA OFFICE BEARERS or MP/MSPs should be allowed near ALBA in the present climate.
@Mac 9.20am
A few days ago I was reading up on population stats in London in the Census 2021 report and the area with the highest population density and fastest growing population is Tower Hamlets. I believe that local government corruption in that area was so endemic that the then government closed down the council and the mayor was banned from holding office, any readers of Private Eye will be familiar with this. He is still the main power broker in that area.
Where there is ‘alleged corruption and mismanagement’ in a ‘dependent’ territory, the ‘administrative power’ may consider imposing direct rule, including perhaps dissolution of any local assembly for a period of time:
link to commonslibrary.parliament.uk
Stuart Hosie is on Politics Live . Lets see what spin he puts on this new revelation eh?
@Beauvais 10:12am
Exactly. Well said. Perhaps our main enemy isnae britnat Scotland-haters but the infamous Scottish Cringe where pessimism dominates.
“Angus Robertson seems to have placed himself in the right place, ready to step in after Humza Yousaf takes the hit. “
=========
Old Marmalade has a young family, remember. That is why he did not join the contest a few weeks ago.
The affairs of Progress Scotland may also have an increasing claim on his time.
John H
I disagree there are some dedicated to doing a good job
Any blue hair Mohicans need not apply.
I would trust Alex and his team to wash out the detritus
@Robbo
He’s spinning so much he must be dizzy!
If the SNP, due to bankruptcy for example, were to cease to exist, then it perhaps becomes easier for constituents to exert pressure on individual MSPs or even MPs to push for independence.
Changes such as a land value tax and second-home taxes being funnelled into social housing, coupled with an educational curriculum tailored to a Scottish perspective on all subjects rather than an English or Queer Theory one, would ALSO help the cause. These measures can be put in place regardless of directly constitutional moves.
As a comment above asserts, we need to be independent in all but name, before we’re likely to win.
I’m currently staying with a friend who has the telly on a lot, and the total dominance of English and to a lesser extent American, accents and worldviews is bizarre.
If we’re unable in the short term to broadcast largely from our OWN country, a greatly increased balance of input from other neighbours would still partially open eyes.
A population exposed to Irish, Scandinavian, Welsh and central European views would be more likely to question an imposed English narrative. And to strengthen its own culture by recognising elements of ourselves in other INDEPENDENT countries.
Eg could we shake off the Scottish cringe about Scots by hearing it within ‘acceptable’ Norwegian and Danish dialogue?
Could we cut the ‘speak English = must be in a political union with England’ narrative, by seeing more of Ireland’s politics and culture? By hearing from mainland Europe, could we normalise the existence of a land border with our Southern neighbour?
And can we PLEASE make a couple of changes in the language and attitude around ‘immigrants’? 1. That INDIVIDUAL immigration (or emigration) is morally neutral. And 2. that incomers originating from England, Wales or Northern Ireland are just as much immigrants as anyone else. With neither superior status nor automatically enemies.
Regarding people in this way, both UNDERMINES any sense of entitlement, AND removes any grievance they’d build resentment round.
May I humbly ask the editor why my comment this morning was moderated out of existence?
I would like to know if I have broken guidelines?
second homes? who cares about second homes? second homes are not the problem you should be looking at.
Point your fingers at the councils and housing associations who have failed to build enough first homes.
Point your fingers at the planners and hopeless strategic planners in Leith Docks who don’t have a masterplan for anything.
Post-covid world means you can mostly work from home, so why wouldn’t you move to the country if you could. For your first home!
5 minutes after the first lockdown was forced on us, anyone with half a brain could see that poorly serviced rural areas were going to be in demand from now on.
I haven’t heard of a single planning authority that has worked out a forward-thinking strategy for the next generation of housing in Scotland.
Independence? nowhere near ready for independence.
According to Hosie the money is still there.
He has been told so.
Therefore Stu. Craig. and a mountain of examiners who cant find it are wrong. Hosie has been told you know.
Stupid to the end.
“Stuart Hosie is on Politics Live . Let’s see what spin he puts on this new revelation eh?”
=======
He could give even WGD a masterclass in “whitabootery”
This ‘independent in all but name’ is a double-edged sword.
If such a state of affairs can happen under the Yoonian then it’s also an argument in favour of its continuation.
They would say ‘look how flexible and accommodating the union is, why go and break a relationship that’s given nationalists almost everything they could want?’
I would wager (with monopoly money) that it will actually be quicker and easier to become independent than attempting a somewhat nebulous ‘independent in all but name’…the first is a practical goal, the second, by comparison, is not a realistic practical proposition. It sounds like another vacuous ‘building the case’ statement emanating from the Alyn Smith-bellows. You might find that whilst realising the first aim, the second happens more or less automatically.
Something like that happened in 2014. According to the telly, the referendum appeared to cause some people to look within seriously for the first time and it forced them to come up with their own answer. If the SNP hadn’t won the 2011 election, this particular examen de conscience would never have happened to this category of politically inactive person.
So ‘independence in all but name’ is in our current context a tad naive, especially when Scotland has so many of its own independent institutions anyway. IIABN sounds unexceptionable but this type of approach is why nothing happened under the Sturgeotti ‘pornocracy’ (see wikipedia, honestly it’s a perfect term for what we’ve been through and are going through)
Louise Hogg @ 12:27 pm
“the total dominance of English and to a lesser extent American, accents and worldviews is bizarre.”
It remains the case that peoples in self-determination conflict (due to cultural imperialism etc) are always linguistically divided. This explains why an independence movement depends on the solidarity of the oppressed ethnic group, which in our case is primarily Scots language speakers who remain deprived o lairnin oor ain langage.
The massive ego of monster halfwits such as Salmond/Sturgeon leaves the cause rudderless. The end! The Scottish electorate will never forgive. It’s over …