One of the most frustrating things about the independence campaign was when people tried to put policies before principles. The point of Scotland being independent, as we pointed out in the Wee Blue Book, isn’t so that it can install any particular political party in government or pursue any particular political direction. It’s simply for Scotland to be able to choose those for itself, not have them imposed on it against its will by the people of another country.
To that end, we’ve often published poll findings that show Scots holding views that are at odds with our own (eg on the death penalty or workfare), because it’s always worth remembering that you have to persuade the electorate you have, not shout angrily at it in the hope it’ll become the electorate you WISH existed.
If you insist that independence must mean Policy X, you run the risk of needlessly and wrongly alienating people who support independence but might not back Policy X. It’s something that’s always worth keeping in mind.
We listened to an interesting chat on Good Morning Scotland earlier today (it’s right at the start, just after the news) featuring Gerry Hassan and the sharp New Statesman reporter Stephen Bush, which briefly discussed a curious political phenomenon of the 2000s where people said they liked certain policies until they were told they were Tory policies, at which point their opinions changed.
It put us rather in mind of a classic 2000AD comic strip called The Ballad Of Halo Jones, and in particular a short episode from it about a character called The Glyph, which seemed to us to sum up the current dilemma facing the Labour Party on both sides of the border – but especially in Scotland, as was rather strikingly illustrated by a revealing interview with Kezia Dugdale on Friday.
So we thought we’d share it with you, because sometimes pictures say a thousand words. Especially if there are several of them and they also have words on them.
We thought we might leave this here so that Scottish journalists could print it out and stick it on their monitors as a memory aid. It’s something they keep unaccountably forgetting for some reason.
You never know, it might just cheer them up a bit.
Despite what you may have read in the newspapers at the weekend (and then in the Daily Record a day later), Scotland was today rocked by the news that the SNP’s manifesto for this May’s general election in fact DOES contain a commitment to a second independence referendum within the term of the coming Scottish Parliament.
Who says so? Why, it’s Oliver Mundell, son of the only Conservative MP in Scotland and the Scottish Tory candidate for the Holyrood seat of Dumfriesshire, in a leaflet hitting the doorsteps of constituents in the Borders today.
As we noted on Tuesday, Scottish Labour’s opening election salvo for 2016 has been to blame the Scottish Government for unaffordable house prices.
Of the 450 most obvious flaws in that argument, not least the extraordinary efforts a 13-year Labour government went to to keep the housing bubble inflated, the one that caught our eye was that in the past three years we were regularly told of one thing that definitely WOULD bring prices down dramatically, but which Labour pathologically fought every step of the way.
If you’re primarily or solely contesting regional seats, and you’re chiefly (as seems to be the case) targeting people who are going to use their first vote for the SNP, “Vote for us so that we can provide strong opposition to the SNP” is a pretty weird pitch.
You’re basically asking people to use their second vote to cancel out their first. And that’s quite a tough angle to be trying to sell them. Just saying, like.
Willie on The Marshalling Plan: “Inexcusable and unpatriotic says ex Prime Minister Gordon Brown about Mandleson leaking secret data to Epstein as the country tried…” Feb 3, 23:56
diabloandco on The Marshalling Plan: “The MSM doesn’t do anything worthwhile or honest .” Feb 3, 21:38
Del G on The Marshalling Plan: “So you explain how voters can play the system, and how unionist voters can combine to poke a stick in…” Feb 3, 21:31
Southernbystander on Shield Of The Phantom: “I would recommend the first two essays actually – the one by McGinn is as you would expect a bit…” Feb 3, 20:53
Confused on The Marshalling Plan: “one way Farage could boost support for reform would be to toughen up the stance on immigration; the voters would…” Feb 3, 20:48
Confused on The Marshalling Plan: “all these little flamboyant screeds I have put together about farage – its not me “making shit up” with a…” Feb 3, 20:45
Confused on The Marshalling Plan: “oil and gas was a disaster for Scotland as it allowed the thatcherite neoliberal wrecking ball to be applied EVERYONE…” Feb 3, 20:44
Willie on The Marshalling Plan: “Just been reading details of the emails between? Mandelson and Epstein during the Gordon Brown years. Mandelson’s interactions were not…” Feb 3, 20:40
Alf Baird on The Marshalling Plan: “The LS mandate offered is pretty clear and unambiguous, and fundamentally different to the SNP’s continued neutrality on independence. Voting…” Feb 3, 20:11
Skip_NC on The Marshalling Plan: “Hatey, next time you open your mouth, put some food in it. It’s better than letting your belly rumble.” Feb 3, 19:41
Skip_NC on The Marshalling Plan: “I agree that ISP is pro-independence but why on earth do you think Alba is not?” Feb 3, 19:39
Colin Alexander on The Marshalling Plan: “Alf Baird So, it’s a plebiscite: Aye or no to independence? So, they aren’t seeking election to the gravy train…” Feb 3, 19:38
Duncan Strachan on The Marshalling Plan: “Wally anither exactly. Destroy the ballot. Make sure we do.” Feb 3, 19:33
Duncan Strachan on The Marshalling Plan: “Effijy Exactly. vote reform? F off, vote Unionist nup. Vote that dog swiny, forget it. Go and destroy the constituency…” Feb 3, 19:25
Duncan Strachan on The Marshalling Plan: “Aye.I refuse to vote for that swiny. He is the worst thing to happen to Scotland. I will be destroying…” Feb 3, 19:14
Alf Baird on The Marshalling Plan: “Polls are intentionally excluding the Liberate Scotland alliance parties in their offer of options to surveyed voters. If independence voters…” Feb 3, 17:52
PC Foster on The Marshalling Plan: “sam says: In moving towards Scottish independence is it better to have a Reform government in UK/England and weak/no Reform…” Feb 3, 17:27
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: “@Skip_NC The way I see it, the establishment of the wee pretendy parliament as a device to sink Indy was…” Feb 3, 14:08
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: ““is it better to have a Reform government in UK/England and weak/no Reform in Scotland?” Before we can answer that…” Feb 3, 13:49
Hatey McHateface on The Marshalling Plan: ““There isn’t one ordinary Scot who benefited from oil in Scotland” Grade 1, 100% pure, gold-plated, shite. I personally know…” Feb 3, 13:40
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “The only way to save Scotland, its resources , mineral wealth and assets is for Scotland to recognise that it…” Feb 3, 13:26
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “The only way to save Scotland, its resources , mineral wealth and assets is for Scotland to recognise that it…” Feb 3, 13:19
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “I am not daft enough to blame Alex Salmond for all the woes of Scotland, he did some good things…” Feb 3, 12:52
100%Yes on The Marshalling Plan: “There isn’t one ordinary Scot who benefited from oil in Scotland the only people to have benefited was London and…” Feb 3, 12:45
sam on The Marshalling Plan: “In moving towards Scottish independence is it better to have a Reform government in UK/England and weak/no Reform in Scotland?” Feb 3, 12:18
Colin Alexander on The Marshalling Plan: ““Let’s just remind ourselves of something Alex Salmond did, he made the Scottish parliament a parliament”. Really? How? With Trumpian…” Feb 3, 12:16
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “Alex Salmond did not make the devolved parliament in Scotland a Scottish parliament, just for clarity, It remained under the…” Feb 3, 11:15
James Cheyne on The Marshalling Plan: “Westminster own the devolved government sent to Scotland, its under their caveats and reservations in the Scotland act, The DHondt…” Feb 3, 11:02
sam on The Marshalling Plan: “https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/steve-bannon-boasted-about-farage-ties-exchange-epstein “Newly released files show Epstein and Bannon messaging each other on 10 March 2018, arranging to meet in Paris.…” Feb 3, 10:38
