Tuesday’s front page headline in The National was roughly the political equivalent of introducing yourself to your new next-door neighbour by saying “Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Jimmy from No.22 and it definitely wasn’t me who killed your cat last night”.
Humza Yousaf’s great masterplan of an independence strategy is imploding faster than the OceanGate Titan, and scarcely any less disastrously. And unless you’re one of the colleagues, family or friends of the tragic victims on board the doomed vessel, it’s even more painful to watch.
24 hours on, pretty much everyone seems to have come to the same conclusion (with the assistance of briefings from the FM himself) about Humza Yousaf’s “independence strategy” as the one Wings saw immediately yesterday, namely that he’s taken Nicola Sturgeon’s flawed version of a de-facto referendum and made it even less credible.
In as far as they’re talking about it at all, anyway.
Still wondering what Humza Yousaf’s going to say to the SNP’s pretend “conference” on independence strategy this coming Saturday? Well, wonder no longer, because this morning he told Sky News.
In other words, he’s waving the white flag and praying for a miracle.
The Scottish National Party’s primary and defining purpose is Scottish independence. Next weekend’s “special conference” will at least notionally determine its policy on that subject for years to come. On the face of it it’s the most important congregation of party members in the SNP’s history.
The Caird Hall can accommodate just 3% of the claimed membership. (And you’d expect at least half the seats to have been reserved in advance for the faithful payroll.) Members ought to be fighting like dogs for a ticket. And yet a week before the event the leader is having to send out pleading letters to try to scare up enough attendees that it won’t be a half-empty humiliation.
The SNP tell us that independence support is currently at 53%.
They tell us that most Scots want a referendum within the next year:
And we know that it’s absolutely unequivocally possible for the SNP and Greens to trigger a Holyrood election which would serve as a de facto referendum not only within a year, but within weeks. Scots could entirely realistically go to the polls this August or September, or even on the date Nicola Sturgeon promised less than a year ago.
So why are the SNP choosing this of all moments to give up?
Cynicus on A Stitch In Timing: “Young Lochinvar says: 7 February, 2026 at 10:58 pm ‘Or.. To quote English Henry VII (Tudor) marrying off his daughter…” Feb 8, 01:02
James on A Stitch In Timing: ““…have campaigned for Indy all my adult life.” LOLZ. That right, aye?” Feb 8, 00:03
James on A Stitch In Timing: “Oh dear. Poor “fact checker”…he doesn’t even know that it’s rugby union at Murrayfield next week, not rugby league. What…” Feb 8, 00:00
David Holden on A Stitch In Timing: “Sorry Alf still not sure what your point is and if you are implying I am a non native and\or…” Feb 7, 23:35
Young Lochinvar on A Stitch In Timing: “Or.. To quote English Henry VII (Tudor) marrying off his daughter to a reluctant King James IV of Scotland; “The…” Feb 7, 22:58
sam on A Stitch In Timing: “https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203788332/internal-colonialism-michael-hechter “…Hechter examines the unexpected persistence of ethnicity in the politics of industrial societies by focusing on the British Isles.…” Feb 7, 22:10
Lorna Campbell on A Stitch In Timing: “James: the very fact that he was filmed lifting the sledgehammer and bringing it down on the back of the…” Feb 7, 21:52
Young Lochinvar on A Stitch In Timing: “Woo hoo! Someone (Keir) has hit the defrost button and the Broontosaurus has been thawed out to save the (Labour)…” Feb 7, 21:48
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “@James Cheyne Why don’t you re-post on some site read by our fighting friends in the east? I’m confident they…” Feb 7, 21:38
Young Lochinvar on A Stitch In Timing: ““Fact”checker @ 7.43 Even for you it’s surprising you came out with this paper thin surrebutter! You’re the one (allegedly)…” Feb 7, 21:22
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Awww. I wanted an opportunity to enthuse about the health and fitness benefits of goose stepping. Stamina building too, and…” Feb 7, 21:21
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Language theory, and common sense, tells us that colonial and post colonial are different things. A science and engineering background…” Feb 7, 21:03
DaveL on A Stitch In Timing: “Ask the Rev, his machine chose to protect you from having to answer to it.” Feb 7, 20:56
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “What would a Yank like Hechter know of the Celtic Periphery? To many of the bulk of Scots residing in…” Feb 7, 20:54
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “Were they about goose stepping by any chance? Relax. You’ve already covered that to the best of your ability.” Feb 7, 20:42
Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: ““not sure what your point is” Postcolonial theory tells us that the more culturally assimilated native bourgeoisie, being “the most…” Feb 7, 20:41
Hatey McHateface on A Stitch In Timing: “@Alf I never made the team either. You have my sympathy. Like you, I still remember how much it hurt.…” Feb 7, 20:37
factchecker on A Stitch In Timing: “David, You are obviously not aware of the threat of cultural colonisation that we live under. Indeed, it may already…” Feb 7, 20:00
Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: ““Of course it is only a half government” Its not even that. Whatever ‘it’ may be called, it is ‘managed’…” Feb 7, 19:58
factchecker on A Stitch In Timing: “The ProfessorHechter is quoted as saying “Within the Celtic Periphery this also meant that the English held: ‘a disproportionate share…” Feb 7, 19:43
David Holden on A Stitch In Timing: “@ Alf Baird 6.31 pm . I remember it well Alf also supporters of a certain football club that were…” Feb 7, 19:21
Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: “Interesting, but lets not confuse colonialism with the class struggle. This from Professor Michael Hechter’s study of ‘The UK Internal…” Feb 7, 18:41
Alf Baird on A Stitch In Timing: “You maybe don’t remember ‘Rugby Legends for No’, reflecting the more privileged culturally assimilated native groups greater propensity to oppose…” Feb 7, 18:31
James on A Stitch In Timing: “See above, everyone. Another unionist Fanny.” Feb 7, 17:59
DaveL on A Stitch In Timing: “Hey Rev, I’m wondering why two lengthy replies concerning fascism to Hatey’s post at 7.41pm on the 6th have been…” Feb 7, 17:44
David Holden on A Stitch In Timing: “Not sure where your rant is coming from but it is so far off the mark I am beginning to…” Feb 7, 17:38
Confused on A Stitch In Timing: “rugby is cringe. murrayfield, all those blazer cunts, all those private schoolboys banging heads, supported by new town stockbrokers giving…” Feb 7, 16:51
