Take a stand, and deliver
There is growing domestic and international attention on my plan to use the ballot box to decide whether Scotland becomes an independent country.
I have the only plan that has historic precedent, can be delivered legally by Scotland alone, moves us beyond the referendum stalemate, and today I can confirm that this plan is supported by 93% of SNP voters and 52% of Scottish voters.
I have often been challenged on “What if the UK says no?”, and this is where I should mention I hold a Master of Science degree in Development Management, in the study of how countries develop, alongside my Bachelor of Arts in International Relations – which means I’ve taken for granted the foundation on which I speak.
Bluntly, there is no possibility of the UK government not agreeing, as demonstrated in the 65 examples of countries that have left the UK or British Empire.
There is a 100% success rate in those countries getting the UK government to the negotiating table after an initial refusal. It is not credible to suggest anything else, the UK government will even concede this fact.
The UK government has denied the moral mandates of my predecessors for a rerun of a referendum – they can do this because legally they have that power reserved. The Supreme Court opined that an advisory referendum could not be held by the Scottish Government due to the outcome having an effect on the Union.
This is important as it demonstrates a key fact now established in UK law, that even advisory referendums would be so great in power that the Union would be altered.
This is exactly what my Voter Empowerment Mechanism does. It allows the people of Scotland – not politicians – to decide when they are independent. The achievement of a majority of votes for a collection of manifesto pledges to become independent, and open negotiations would meet the criteria to alter the Union.
This is Pillar 1: The Smith Commission is the only agreed written document on the matter and it states clearly in chapter 2, point 18 “It is agreed that nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose”.
It is important to note “should the people of Scotland choose” is agreed by every party in the Scottish and UK Parliament. The fact that the Scottish people are sovereign on matters of their independence is a settled matter.
It would be extraordinary for the UK to change its stance from legally blocking a referendum to illegally ignoring an election in which its Electoral Commission oversaw the process. I cannot imagine the Prime Minister or his cabinet calling into question the legitimacy of a UK or Scottish election. It would be a significant regression to a country identifying as one of the oldest democracies in the world.
This is Pillar 2: The international community has recognised UK elections as fair and democratic since its inception. The international community has rallied and expressed support for every election winner and First Minister of Scotland, delivered through this mechanism. It is recognised and considered the democratic will of the Scottish people.
Much has been made in the media over the last few days, as the UK government seem to have noticed something that was never a secret. Every SNP MP and MSP since our election victory with Winnie Ewing has advertised and normalised the idea of an independent nation. I’m half surprised it took so long for them to catch on, Winnie’s campaign was “Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on”.
Of course our representatives make a powerful case for recognising and working with an independent Scotland, it is what they are elected to do. We do not enter these discussions in the manner in which the UK do, with binders of rules and demands, instead we offer warm hospitality and kind friendship. I think on reflection this is why it eluded them.
You can watch my colleagues address the European Parliament on YouTube and receive a huge standing ovation on this very point. There is an enormous warmth of feeling toward the Scottish people and an understanding in Europe of our mission of self-determination. The idea that we would not be recognised by these friends is unthinkable.
This is Pillar 3: The Scottish Parliament has the ability with a simple majority to change the frequency of its election cycle – this was helpfully clarified by my colleague Angus MacNeil with the House of Commons library staff, with the clerks in Holyrood also confirming this point.
We do not need to ask Westminster’s permission to hold an election on a date and time that suits us. There is no legal method to stop the Scottish Parliament from deciding when it wants an election, in the same manner the UK government can decide when it wants one.
Our elections are overseen by the same Electoral Commission, and they are delivered in line with international law and recognition. The power can be handed to the people of Scotland at any point.
And finally, Pillar 4: The United Kingdom is not a full democracy. It is a constitutional monarchy, with a head of state, that is a defender of self-determination and a celebrant of self-government and of independence.
I quote his speech to the independent nation of Barbados of November 30th 2021, announcing itself as a Republic:
King Charles is the head of state for the United Kingdom and his public speeches show us the character of the man on the throne.
As First Minister, I would be required to attend audiences with him, and would serve as a member of his Privy Council – which is the recognised mechanism for reaching interdepartmental agreement for ‘prerogative business’, which is the business of which no other precedent or clear delegation to minister or department exists.
In summary; the UK government defends their current position with bluster and bullish statements. However, the institutions of democracy, state and judiciary in this country are very clear in their categorical observance of democratic certainty. The small men that throw barbed comments about Scotland being held in perpetuity, do so without the solid foundations on which this country was built.
Brilliantly put.
This is our last hope for some time to come. If Ash is not elected, the SNP are a Zombie party , the walking dead. It is only a matter of time before they collapse altogether and the sooner the better
“It is important to note “should the people of Scotland choose” is agreed by every party in the Scottish and UK Parliament.”
Like the vow though they didn’t mean it. We should definitely hold them to it though! We should leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of independence. Enough comfy slippers and pension gathering please!
I’d like to thank Ash for handing out the hand of friendship to the non SNP bits of the Yes movement. That’s been missing for too long.
You’d have my first preference if I had one. But I don’t. I can only hope that if you are not elected leader that the person who is has the sense to use your knowledge and skills in a role that brings indy closer.
Go Ash!!
It got a very weak applause from the rent-a-crowd.
It is only the political will, and backbone, that are missing. Praying that you, Ash, become the FM but I fear that GCHQ have the voting well in hand.
You’d have my vote.
You offer the only viable way ahead for Scotland and independence. As a nurse, I am concerned with the state of the NHS – I’ve never known it so bad and cling to the hope there is change for Scotland in the near future. I’m keen to know what you would do differently, Ash, to get us out of the mess the NHS is now in.
I wish you all the best – I have everything crossed for you!
8 1/2 years of cobstitutional paralysis under Sturgeon with no plan forward, and Regan cracks it in 2 weeks. Anyone in SNP with any desire for independence MUST vote for her! Let’s get indy done!
I wish I could vote for you Ash. However I was the wrong kind of Activist for the SNP. I wanted to actually gain Scottish Independence.
Selfies and Mandate collecting were not my thing.
You will have to get the comfy slipper brigade motivated. A Pension and good income beats actually doing anything to gain Indy.
Agree with every word of this. It’s hard to see how any SNP representative or member could disagree.
Brave of Ash Regan to post as a guest on Wings – there will be outrage and hysterics from troughers and blind loyalists at the association with the Vile Blogger.
Brava, missus! You’re the only hope for the SNP.
Well I’m loving it!
Scotland is treated with contempt in Westminster and they stole the last referendum as they did with Brexit with nothing but lies.
Every single aspect of the Vow broken, smashed, ignored, forgotten.
The 2 biggest lies- a No guaranteed Scotlands place in the EU.
Scotland to have the most powerful devolved parliament in the world.
We we sure ain’t in any top 10 as the English Court demands we have no powers that Westminster cannot overrule.
They have shared Food, Heat and Period poverty though.
Let get the gloves off. No more niceties call liars liars in Westminster.
Get all our MP’s out of there as they are powerless in it.
Well said Ash.
I’m no longer in the SNP, last straw was ignoring members concerns over the GRR.
They pushed Out4Indys flawed document which was sent to every branch and was easily ripped apart.
But if I was I would have voted for you.
The voting process must be transparent.
Good luck.
Thank GOD ONE of the candidates is on the ball! THANK YOU ASH!
Ms Regan, will you remain in the SNP if you are defeated in the leadership election?
Will you serve as a minister under Mr Yousaf or under Ms Forbes?
– talks a lot iy sense, ken.
SNP leadership candidate posting on WINGS?!
“hey babe, take a walk on the wild side …”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG6fayQBm9w
If I was a member of the SNP, this is the kind of statement I would want my leader to make.
This is so refreshing. I heard ash mention bits of this at the Glasgow hustings. I’d have been on my feet but of course these hustings seem to be full of folk ambivalent about independence
AYE!
Country before party – as it should be. Kudos to Ash Regan.
Like many others I left the SNP a few years ago when Sturgeon’s lack of progress towards indy and stitch up of Salmond became apparent. Blocking Joanna Cherry joining Holyrood was the final straw for me.
I’d happily rejoin and vote for Ash but of course that has been blocked. So, Ash, you have my moral support, I hope those that have stayed in the SNP do the right thing.
So what happens to those Scots that don’t want independence? Is it affordable? Who would govern better than the current incumbents?
So what happens to those Scots that don’t want independence?
Is it affordable? Who would govern better than the current incumbents?
Now we find out who’s who!
Thank You Ash – Wish I could vote for you!
independence,or get lost!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbBcL0ztBww
great stuff, Ash
you’d get my vote
but i left SNP on brexit day
best o luck
A politician with conviction and courage! What a breath of fresh air. Well done Ash. Bravo!
A SNP MSP and leadership candidate with an Independence plan that they want to implement …..amazing!
I wish you all the best but like many others I was forced out of the Party by the Nicola worshiping fan club.
Wishart will be having a meltdown at the moment. His Pension Calculator will be red hot.
I still think you have a chance if any real Indy supporters remain still in the Party.
Your greatest threat is the Murrell Manipulation.
Good Luck!
@George Welsh; I doubt there was a single country that gained independence where everyone wanted it. The most recent precedent for “the majority, no matter how small, wins” is Britain leaving the EU. Ultimately, if you don’t like it, you leave, you work within the new framework, or you form an opposition.
I am delighted to see Ash saying what should have been said (and done) years ago.
It’s morning again in Scotland…
George Welsh 5:37pm
The Scots already voted for Independence….it was the English settlers who stopped it!
Scotland can no longer wait for the likes of Humza or Forbes, thank god we have someone like Ash who’s putting country before everything else.
Well done, Ash.
You have managed in a few days what Nicola Sturgeon and her “advisors” have systematically and catastrophically failed to deliver, either by incompetence or by design, for over 8 years:
1. to present a simple and accessible mechanism for Scotland to exercise its lawful rigth to self-determination
2. to dissipate for once and for all the myth that Scotland, a signatory of the Treaty of Union, requires some kind of “permission” from an entity, which is no more than a byproduct of that international treaty and has an obvious interest in its own continuation, to end the treaty at will.
If there is any hope the SNP will survive as a party of independence it is with you at the helm.
I am not an SNP member and therefore cannot vote in the leadership context, otherwise I would be the first at the queue casting my vote for you.
I must admit, however, that if I was a member, I would not cast my vote without demanding first a verified list with the official number of CURRENT and ACTIVE members who can take part in the vote and their identificative numbers.
I would also be demanding proof that no third party with a clear vested interest in the preservation of the union and therefore you losing this context (GCHQ) was allowed any form of direct access to this process under some fabricated bogeyman excuse.
I was aghast to find out that your colleagues in the SNP actually invited this entity through the main door to waltz in, seemingly giving them an opportunity to interfere with the process. I am sure you would agree that It would be most undemocratic to expect members to cast their vote to validate a charade whose result had already been decided even before the candidates finished their campaigning.
While I am not a member, I am watching because I voted for the SNP in the last GE and, as far as I am concerned, the mandate for indyref and for Scotland to choose its path we endorsed with our votes has not yet been delivered. There is simply far too much at stake here and, sadly, those holding the levers of that leadership election carry far too much baggage of distrust to be in a position to ask for trust in the process.
Having said that, I very much look forward to cast my vote for independence in the next GE and, should the pro-independence parties win, watch the negotiations for separation of Scotland from England start immediately after.
You say “Bluntly, there is no possibility of the UK government not agreeing”
I could not agree with you more on this, and I am delighted you mention it. It was about time somebody from the present SNP did.
I admit I miss here the mentioning of the Treaty of Union and the Claim of Right, which I believe are the two fundamental reasons why “the UK”, a byproduct of this Treaty and therefore subordinated to Scotland, cannot say no.
There are only 2 participants in this treaty and therefore two entities above the UK: the kingdoms of Scotland and England.
Given this is an international Treaty regulated by international law and Scotland happens to be one of the only 2 signatories to that treaty, Scotland is perfectly entitled to terminate that treaty under the principles of pacta sunt servanda and ribus sic stantibus at every time of its choosing. We have had both, breaches of the treaty and changes in circumstances.
Best of luck, Ash. You are our last hope.
Well said Ash, Scotland really needs you to win and lead us out of this union, the last eight years under Sturgeon’s tenure as FM have been thoroughly depressing.
Remember too that a referendum via s.30 agreement is a huge trap. This time, given what has happened since 2014, London will almost certainly condition their agreement to any or all of the following:
1. Framing the question as leave/remain or yes/no/”devomax”to split the anti union vote
2. Using voter eligibility criteria to favour the UK, eg over 18s only
3. A threshold much higher than 51%
Polling would doubtless be marshalled / manipulated to show that the public favours these changes to the 2014 referendum agreement, thereby leaving the SNP and wider movement to accept them or reject the chance to have a referendum.
I can’t help from feel that if Ash does not win this vote, the SNP will go down the insanity path of, “…doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
Our only hope is that the Members who have a vote realise this before it is too late.
there is an old joke about US elections – IN FLORIDA THE DEAD VOTE … TWICE
– so how many members does the SNP actually have? The claimed figure is always 100K, but the real number might be a lot less than this – so if Peter Murrell is “counting” the vote on the laptop he bought from the democrats, the only obstacle to “any result you want, baby” is not running out of toner cartridges for his colour printer.
If HY wins, he might even have the cheek to create an emeritus / consigliere position for Nikki.
I still think HY in charge means disaster for the SNP at the next election, and there I think he is being setup : he is a patsy. Consider a long time ago, in a football league (quite close to us) … Peter Murrell is the “David Murray” character, while Humza is going to be the “Craig Whyte”.
Rugby
France 53 – England 10
3 minutes left
Murrell is keeping the membership numbers secret so that if Ash wins he can announce 50,000 left the Party following her victory.
As ever, someone said what I’ve been trying to say in my previous posts-
John Main to read this for sure.
It didn’t start with gas chambers.
It started with one party controlling the media.
One Party controlling the Headline Message.
One party deciding what is Truth.
One party censoring speech and silencing opposition.
One Party dividing the citizens into us and them and calling on their supporters to attack the others.
It started when good people turned a blind eye and did nothing.
This is how 1939’s Germany started and this is where we are with Westminster.
Absolute music to the ears! At last a candidate with courage, wisdom and intelligence who counts the remaining worthwhile SNP politicians as friends.
Ash for FM!
Do Scotland a favour…
Admit to us Plebs that the Sturgeon’s rancid SNP is beyond saving and join ALBA.
Unless and until… I’m afraid it’s just more Jam Tomorrow from a party which lost my support quite some time ago.
Good luck to you, but you’re still going in to bat for the wrong team.
Serious questions require to be asked of Angus MacNeil as to why he has endorsed Forbes ahead of Regan. Is there a distinct lack of awareness about the man that could not recognise in his colleague Regan the vast potential to engage in and deliver through a recognised process which already exists.
This article needs to be brought to the attention of ALL SNP MEMBERS in order to separate the craws from the genuine Independence supporters within that party.
Honesty and integrity being shown here by Regan in a fashion somewhat alien to that of Forbes and Yousaf who are clearly intent on Westminster dictating Scotland’s future in lieu of no deliberate plan or policy of their own.
I am not in the SNP, but I hope you win Ash, good luck and well done for being bold, brave and (actually) clear!
YES!
This is what I want to hear from the SNP, but haven’t been hearing from the other two candidates. Glad now I stayed a member. Ash gets my vote.
I would vote for you Ash but I left the SNP because of NS etc. Good luck!
Well well, someone’s obviously been earwigging my question to Alex at the National Council last month where I brought up that very subject of having a privy councillor use the prerogative . It’s almost certain that how the oath of accession was changed after the Treaty was signed in !707 and of course was most recently used by Jacob Rees Mogg when he visited the Queen at Balmoral to prorogue parliament. This was overturned by the Supreme Court as in England parliament is sovereign but the prerogative in Scotland predates The Union so the Highest Court it could go to would be the Court of Session becauseits specifically mention in the Scotland Act as something that Westminster can’t retain.
“Murrell is keeping the membership numbers secret so that if Ash wins he can announce 50,000 left the Party following her victory”
I am much more concerned that if Ash wins he, with the assistance of the GCHQ, might add an extra 50.000 (ghost) votes to Yousaf’s pile and declare him the landslide winner.
I’am affraid your dream is dead in the waterThe great depth of the candidates shows this too be the case
@ Effijy
Who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler
If you think we’re on the run?
We are the boys who will stop your little game
We are the boys who will make you think again
Cause who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler
If you think old England’s done?
Mr. Brown goes off to town on the eight twenty-one
But he comes home each evening and he’s ready with his gun
“So watch out Mister Hitler
You have met your match in us
If you think you can crush us
We’re afraid you’ve missed the bus.”
So who do you think you are kidding Mr. Hitler
If you think old England’s done?
What a delight, like the sun coming bursting through after 8 years of rain! I hope you manage to break through and dry the dubs up!
@sarah 5.07: “It is only the political will, and backbone, that are missing.”
Amidst all the verbiage, this is it and has always been what it’s all about: conviction, cojones (ooh, matron!) and a decision not to play the game by bent WM rules.
Regan is new to the media game and needs to have some slicker answers on TV but I can find little fault with the argument she has outlined above.
Confused says:
I still think HY in charge means disaster for the SNP at the next election, and there I think he is being setup : he is a patsy.
—–
He always has been, but he is a willing-patsy, as is Shirley Anne Somerville, another serial-failure who for some bizarre reason keeps being rewarded for it with yet another ministerial position in the Scottish Government, in the real world when you destroy the department you are charged with running you get the heave-ho, the dunt, a P45 and a bad reputation that will follow you around like shit on your shoe for the remainder of your professional life.
I hope whoever becomes the next leader of the SNP starts upholding their Scottish Government ministers and elected members to the oath they take upon entering the Scottish Parliament and importantly – holds them to it, to the letter.
We’ve had 8 long years of stagnation on independence and Sturgeon rewarding serial failures with ministerial positions or specifically creating roles to keep them in government all while we the tax-payer have to foot the bill for her machinations.
Let us not forget that Sturgeon also has the largest number of PA/PR/Special Advisors & Spin-Doctors in the history of the modern Scottish Government in the 24 years since the Scottish Parliament was reconvened in 1999, all of them earning £40,000-£100,000+PA, some of those people either refused to give evidence to the Scottish Parliament committees while we the tax-payer were covering their legal costs, or for those who did appear they blatantly and demonstrably lied under oath and have so far gotten away with it, all the evidence is on the Scottish Parliaments website and a few specific examples got contract extensions and payrises as a reward for doing it.
In a modern democracy and especially one with a government which claims to uphold the rule of law any corruption in public office should be rooted out and never ever be allowed to happen again with the perpetrators brought to justice, you cannot hope to build the nation you wish to see when the soil remains fouled with the stench of corruption & dishonesty.
If I were still in the SNP and hadn’t left because of the corrupt Murrells, I would vote for Ash.
However I’m happily a founding member of Alba. I could definitely see an SNP with Ash as leader working together with Alba and ISP to regain Independence for Scotland.
The Murrells manoeuvres to get the “Useless” Humza into Government as FM is a Monty Python sketch to behold.
Good luck Ash. It’s time for Scottish Independence.
Geoff Anderson @ 6:32 pm
“Murrell is keeping the membership numbers secret so that if Ash wins he can announce 50,000 left the Party following her victory.”
According to my information that might take the SNP membership to -25,000, Geoff.
There is clearly an infinite ideological distance between Ash Regan an the ither twa. A deceitfu SNP elite will either sink or swim on this result, so lets hope its a rapid outcome either way.
Good luck Ash, I think you will need it – I wouldnt trust a Sturrell with this leadership election. I would have voted for you but I left the snp when the vile stitch-up of Salmond became apparent. And events since then have turned my feelings for the snp into something close to hatred for their despicable betrayal of Scotland and of Scots. Real Scots that is, indigenous Scots. I have no time for the ridiculous claim that everyone who comes to Scotland miraculously becomes Scottish – I know when I went to live in France, I didnt miraculously become ‘new French’. And it is beyond obvious that most people who arrive in Scotland from elsewhere neither wish nor attempt to become Scottish, they preserve their own national cultures and that is how it should be, the way to ensure that the richness of colours in diverse national cultures is preserved and lauded, not resented.
Omg I can’t believe how badly this is written. Dear Ash; next time you write something important could you please send your first draft to me? I will remove the ambiguity and make it easy to read right through, instead of having to re-read paragraphs to figure out who or what you’re talking about. If you can’t make clear unambiguous statements you’re probably not fit to be a leader.
The theme is international recognition:
“ Of course our representatives make a powerful case for recognising and working with an independent Scotland, it is what they are elected to do… Which representatives? Who did we elect to do this? At first I presume the UK, since that’s the most important third party and they are ultimately our elected representatives, but surely they wouldn’t be talking that up, and then she goes on…
We do not enter these discussions in the manner in which the UK do, oh ok so she’s not talking about our UK elected representatives but others… the previous paragraph mentioned Winnie’s campaign was “Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on”. so ok she talking about our, em, world representatives??? Not sure I voted in any of those elections. I’m going to have to guess despite no mention at all of the word Europe so far in this section on international recognition that she’s talking about our MEPs, maybe. They’re the next most important and plausibly ‘international’ even if they’d be better described as ‘European’. And we do elect them. But how are those foreign MEPs “our elected representatives”? The relevant ones are representing foreigners, they’re not ours. So I’m truly still not sure who she’s referring to.
…with binders of rules and demands, instead we offer warm hospitality and kind friendship. I think on reflection this is why it eluded them.” Them? Them who?! The world? Europe? Westminster? Are you now talking about our UK representatives?! And what exactly eluded them? For a clue I’ll re-read the previous paragraph;
Much has been made in the media over the last few days, as the UK government seem to have noticed something that was never a secret. Ok so this sounds like it could be the thing that eluded “them”. The next sentence suggests SNP has advertised and normalized the idea of an independent Scotland. Hardly groundbreaking stuff. Is the point here really that Westminster was unaware that the SNP promoted independence? What? Doesn’t seem accurate nor relevant. What a weird and tortuous way to substantiate “MEPs will support an independent Scotland.” – if that’s indeed what she meant.
Please Ash, read your drafts as if you don’t already know what you’re trying to say, and see if it makes sense to someone reading it for the first time. Or as I say, send it to me and I’ll gladly do it for free. This could all be made so clear with relatively little effort.
In the penultimate hustings an SNP member described England as ‘a regressive, Tory, right-wing, xenophobic, horrible country,’- to mild applause, according to the Spectator. As far as I know, nobody rebuked the speaker and Humza didn’t have them arrested for a hate crime. I wonder what Wings’ readers think of this comment. Genuinely fascinated.
Thanks for this. A perfect explanation of a perfect plan.
Given that this plan is the only obvious one, it has to be the perfect one. Scotland CAN do it.
Should be posted through every letter box.
Graham 7.21 is an absolute cheeky twat.
I have everything crossed for you Ash.
Good luck
JFC, instead of praising the fact that we have someone who wants to rid us of this rancid union, Graham insists on nit picking the content…some people.
Lol, some people really are just out and out Bellends.
Excellent article Ash. This is the kind of leader we’ve been missing. I sooo hope you get to lead Scotland.
By the way, with all the attention on Gary Lineker upsetting the UK Gov (BBC), does anyone follow him on Twitter? Send him this article, hopefully he’ll retweet lol.
The United Kingdom is not a full democracy. It is a constitutional monarchy, with a head of state, that is a defender of self-determination and a celebrant of self-government and of independence.
I quote his speech to the independent nation of Barbados of November 30th 2021, announcing itself as a Republic:
His? Oh, right, we’re supposed to read further down to understand who you’re talking about.
Seriously, this would not pass Standard Grade English, and this woman is going to be our leader? Maybe one of those BSc / BA ought to have been spent studying English Literature.
I’d be careful about putting credence in those statistics. 37% total not declared or don’t know, but the figure for SNP is 26% total not declared or don’t know – when ignoring them you are ignoring more unionist than nationalists who either don’t know or prefer not to say!
The figures are in plain sight, one hell of a gamble to risk the future of Scotland on these figures.
Thank You
Sure sling insults at me if you like – the last resort of a man with no argument. The piece is utterly underwhelming. I was excited to see a post by Ash, and though I have bemoaned her English accent, now I see how minuscule an issue the accent is compared to the substance and delivery.
I hope she wins, she has the right position, and I’ve been confused as to why she’s not the favourite. I totally get it now.
It’s like a William Wallace speech written and performed by Mr Bean.
It’s not nitpicking when you can’t understand an article without having to reread it and make assumptions. She has bad literary skills. Fact.
@mel Exactly. The only conclusion I’d draw from that poll is that most people didn’t understand the question, and I can’t blame them. I wonder if she wrote it.
Wow! This is what we need. Brave lady. Will she embrace the rest of the independence movement? It cannot be a one-party effort. The SNP 1&2 will not wash again, especially after the GRRB. Too many women have been alienated and will never vote solely SNP again.
@Effijy says:11 March, 2023 at 6:32 pm
John Main to read this for sure
Oh FFS.
We’ve got a new thread, a new immensely positive thread, outlining a potential road map to Indy, and you are still banging on and trying to points score about the war.
Change the record. As the man said, please, pretty please with sugar and cream on top.
Change the fucking record.
As many of the above comments indicate, Ash’s natural supporters have been driven from the SNP and can’t vote for her.
The Murrells might not need to fix the election – they’ve already fixed the electorate.
Graham is on a mission. I suspect another dozen posts are on the way….he probably works for Wishart.
Looks to me like an invitation to join the Charge of the Light Brigade. Death or glory :o(
Graham. What in God’s name is wrong with the grammar? Am I missing something?
Please explain so that us proletariats understand. There is nothing worse than an ill informed pedant trying to destroy the substance of an essay , on the basis of perceived gramatical errors.
Grow up mate.
No doubt my grammar is all over the place, but I couldn’t give a shit.
Insults and a pathetic insinuation that I’m working for Pete Wishart but nothing that addresses the fact of the poor writing skills – it appears that other wings readers are unable to be critical of anyone on the same side, that’s hardly a strength. Do you delegate all your decision making to RevStu? (Now there’s a man with literary skills, btw.)
I doubt my boss Pete Wishart will be happy about me saying I hope she wins, she has the right position.
@FionaN says:11 March, 2023 at 7:19 pm
it is beyond obvious that most people who arrive in Scotland from elsewhere neither wish nor attempt to become Scottish, they preserve their own national cultures and that is how it should be
Naw. That’s not how it should be at all.
It’s by following your deluded, pop-eyed logic that ScotGov is actively pursuing policies to stamp out witchcraft and corrective rape, among other things. It’s why these practices now exist in Scotland in the first place.
Not forgetting the aborting of unwanted (i.e. girl) children.
Your lunacy might just be shrugged away as a passing adolescent fad if you were addressing a university debating hall.
But you’re nae. This is a Scots Indy site. The idea that people from other national cultures are sympathetic to our Indy aspirations has been thoroughly debunked on here.
….but what about the trans rights???????????…..mebbe Graham can add them to his no doubt much better edit.
Why would ANY woman or mother EVER vote SNP again?
We need to eradicate the whole stupid/mad circus.
The SNP cannot be reformed in the timescale proposed by Reagan, as has been pointed out she simply doesn’t have the political acumen required
Geoff. Graham is either an arse, or a troll imitating an arse. A sheep’s a sheep, they are all alike in lambing.
And the brilliant thing is, the defacto referendum election can be run EVERY SINGLE ELECTION.
I suspect the innumerable injustices of this world are what fires up Ash Regan. Sometimes, anger is a force for good.
This is what we’ve been missing. Compare this with the fraudulence of Sturgeon these past eight years, pretending she was working towards independence and only fooling the gullible.
Jeezo Ash where have you been,
if you had taken over from Alex in 2014 we would have been independent years ago.
Any member of SNP that doesn`t vote for you has not got Scotland`s interests at heart only their own.
England is nearing collapse we must be free or we will go down with them.
Was rather amused to see the Rev. Stu on Twitter today crossing swords with (and blocking!) a certain someone from my old alma mater – one who has or had a career in teaching (and attempting to poison impressionable young minds with his bigoted Orange bile) interspaced with bouts of being “ill”.
If he’s much the same individual as we all knew back in those care free days, his illnesses were, shall we say of the self-inflicted via over-imbibing (and self-pity resultant) variety. All that expensive private education and never learned any self control like most grown ups manage – what a waste.
Less amusing was his what today would be called “toxic masculinity” towards a number of women (think of the character Arthur Seymour in “The Eagle Has Landed”), but that was another matter … suffice to say they ended in tears: namely his (c/o less easily intimidated boyfriends than he thought).
He had a good mind, but pissed it up the wall on boose and recreational bigotry (Rangers, Orangism, far right conspiracy theories, etc.). Always thought all that Protestant Ascendancy stuff was the fetish of life’s losers – something to make them feel big about themselves. If ever anyone encapsulated why all that crap (on both sides of the divide) is what’s been keeping Scotland back forever, it was him.
Dear, dear Alan, you really were – and by the look of it still are – a silly boy …
@bigjock. Didn’t I explain it exhaustively in my first comment? In short, her writing style is ambiguous and makes it cumbersome to read.
Sure your grammar may be shit, but you’re not trying to be first minister. It doesn’t matter if you write like a 15 year old. But when you’re trying to become the leader of a nation, it kinda does.
You all assume my intention is to derail Ash. If I were against her, I wouldn’t even care, much less comment. I’ve said nothing at all about the other two whack jobs. I’m annoyed because the candidate whose position I support is this bad at writing. I care because I believe this article is important. And when I want my side to win, I want them to be the best they can be. This article is poor. It’s not nearly as well written as any of revstu articles for example, in all respects. Bad literary skills in journalism gets on my nerves at the best of times, let alone in this important context.
Ok enough, I suppose I’ve made my point.
I have some questions.
What does an Ash Regan led SNP do if the next Scottish election result is 51% for independence parties and 49% for Unionist parties in the constituency vote but the other way around in the regional list vote?
What if Alba or the Greens refuse to make it a single issue election unless they get certain assurances in the event of a independence majority? Will the voters have a right to know of these backroom deals before the election?
If the only purpose of a general election is to elect members to the Scottish parliament in its UK constitutional format, how can redefining its main purpose be considered legal?
I am no lawyer, but if the SNP could not get the UK Supreme Court to recognise a de facto referendum outside of an election, what hope do they have of taking over the main purpose of a parliamentary election for another de facto referendum?
Finally, running every parliamentary election as a referendum until the “right” result is achieved is surely a process open to abuse. What if the SNP decides to run another election immediately after some UK political scandal just to cash in on temporary grievance? How does one avoid this manipulative behaviour?
Graham 8.08pm
I think if any of us were whizzing around the country doing hustings yet managing to pen an important and innovative article for Wings, we might also let the odd minor ambiguity slip through the net.
Rather than making a song and dance, how about just quietly figuring out the intended meaning and saying nothing?
A bit of generosity of spirit toward this solitary beacon of hope wouldnae go wrang.
The key to forcing Westminster to the negotiating table after a plebiscite election win is International Recognition. We need to tell countries what we are doing and why (that we have no other democratic means to indicate our desire to be Independent).
We should be able to surround rUK with Recognising countries. The Scandis want us in the Nordic Council so that’s Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The Irish are no longer enthralled by what WM wants post Brexit and then there is our Auld Allies La Belle France. The Low Countries may or may not. The Dutch remember having to fight the Spanish for their Independence.
There are potential Realpolitik implications if we get these Recognitions. The Foreign Office & Civil Service know this and this will be communicated to ministers.
At the very least get the Consuls in for a chat.
Ah’m jist waching Dumfries hustings thit hiv bin censored by Murrell (bit ithers hiv posted on Youtube). Of the 6 minutes opening speeches by the candidates, Ash Regan’s opening remarks clearly stood oot as brilliant, inspiring, inclusive, meaningful and purposeful. Yusaf stressed thit he wiz i best, wi insincere salesperson patter, focused solely on “the Party” and the greatness of Nicola (and John?!); Forbes sounded like inexperienced middle-management, part of thi establishment and withoot vision or inspiration. Curiously, given that Murrell refuses to publish, Forbes stated that the SNP have a 100,000 members, aye.
Just like the idiot Biden was installed and the idiot Sunak was installed so will the idiot Yousaf be installed. Welcome to clown world.
My Tory father in law was going apeshit. He said he couldn’t believe one of the candidates was saying that Scotland will negotiate independence if they win a majority. I pointed out the obvious irony in his statement, but it was lost in his red mist.
I never understand Scots who think another country can veto their rights. I include most of the SNP elected members.
I mean imagine voting for something and then getting it. That will never catch on.
Muscleguy @9:01
“Get the consuls in for a chat.”
Didn’t you know? It takes weeks to set up a meeting with a consul.
Graham. So my grammar is shit, and I write like like a 15 year old. Do you see why you have no friends when you think you can make insulting statements on others grammar.
You know nothing of me, my education or background. I said you will probably say my grammar is shit, then you basically did. I wasn’t actually saying it was shit. It isn’t.
By Christ Ash – you stood up to sturgeon in December – absolutely brilliant speech you did outside Holyrood. What you did for women and children then (and in fact all of society) took bravery.
And now you’ve done it again. Wish i was still a member. Posting on Wings? The murrells will be choking on their cornflakes at that fact alone. However the substance of what you posted should light a fuse and the snp members need to wake up and realise that if they dont get behind this their party is doomed.
Support for the plan in the wider population is 33%. To remove such a large proportion of don’t knows/ prefer not to say and claim is as 52% support by Scottish voters is delusional and wrong.
Factor in that she is by far the least preferred candidate for FM by all voters and the chances of this plan working are extremely low. And then having failed you can guarantee the result will be used to deny a referendum indefinitely.
Plus, she’s writing this on Wings. Popular with the SNP are you?
But it’s academic anyhow, because she’ll be knocked out and nobody else would risk everything on a hail Mary pass like this.
She will kiss the ring at first opportunity guaranteed
Graham
8.34pm
8.58pm
RevStu
revstu
tsk!
Christ, who knew? All you have to do is say “we’re independent ” three times, twirl, and It Will Be So. I wonder why no one else thought of it?
How will you persuade 50% + 1 to vote for Indy Ash?
I’m supportive of this, and Ash Regan, but I have a load of issues and questions.
The way we win through a Scottish Holyrood Election is not the same way of winning through a Westminster Election.
I know, I know, people go on about a 50% + 1 share of the vote as the threshold of victory, but that’s the protocol for winning a 2014 type straight Referendum; you win more votes than the other guy, and you are automatically over the 50% benchmark.
But how, in detail, does that work in a Holyrood Election with Constituency and List seats? Where, specifically, does the threshold for victory lie? I can see that a dominant Party commanding the Constituency vote, but does victory require the support of a List Party? What if the Unionists do well in the List seats? Are these seats magically discounted as extraneous to public opinion?
How do you technically reconcile a proportional representation election protocol with first and second choices, (ok, Constituency and List if you want to be pedantic), with an explicit and unequivocal binary issue such as binding plebiscite decision?
My fear is that this complexity could easily mean we’d be wholly alone in interpreting a Scottish PR Election as a Plebiscite. I mean, it’s a given we can expect Westminster to dispute that interpretation, but is there a precedent set where a PR vote has delivered an explicit and binary conclusion which has affected such a profound Constitutional change?
To command and demonstrate total dominance of the ballot, I believe will require a SNP / ALBA style co-ordinated campain to as near as damn it wipe out Unionist representation in Holyrood AND win the vote as witnessed from every possible perspective.
What if we fall short? What if we win or lose, but only by a whisker? What are the ramifications if a conflicting result can be determined depending on the perspective you see it from?
We need a clear and unequivocal threshold that is recognised BEFORE the vote is held.
I say again too, the way we win through a Scottish Holyrood Election is not the same way of winning through a Westminster Election.
In a whole bunch of ways, I can see a Westminster First Past the Post Election being much, much easier to win, and also much, much easier to have interpreted as a plebiscite result.
Where I seem to be in a minority however is in my belief that “winning” a General Election, is invariably won by the number of seats gained, and specifically NOT based upon a % share of the vote.
I can see this working if we are asking the International Community to recognise the Election as a Plebiscite Election, which we either win or we don’t.
I am less sure about asking the International Community to recognise the Election as a Plebiscite, but ALSO then further interpret the result in a different way which deviates from the “seats won” convention. That, to me, seems a much harder sell.
IF we fight a Westminster Election as a Plebiscite, I absolutely believe the threshold for victory is winning 30 Westminster seats, and the share of the vote won’t matter.
I know Rev Stu disagrees with me, but I am sincere in suggesting we adopt the 30 seat majority in a Westminster Election as the minimum threshold for victory, but we campaign to have another 56 out of 59 seat victory that the International Community will accept as emphatic.
I can see us winning that, largely because we’ve already done it before. It makes no sense to me to surrender this threshold as a meaningful victory, but hold an emphatic victory hostage to a 51% share of the vote which the returning officers will consider irrelevant. Why do that to ourselves?
I’m backing Ash Regan’s Voter Empowerment Mechanism, but it’s absolutely imperative to know and understand EXACTLY where the finishing line actually lies, and it DOESN’T lie in the same place for a Holyrood Election as it does for a Westminster Election. The 50% +1 share of the vote is A REFERENDUM criterion, but a dangerous hostage to fortune and a rod for our own backs in a First Past the Post Election which we win with 30+ seats.
30+ seats IS 50% +1 of the available 59 Scottish Westminster seats.
No ifs, buts or maybes, we must KNOW, and the International Community must KNOW where the line is between defeat and victory.
Ash has a mountain to climb, sadly.
But good luck.
However, given this reality, it’s interesting see the collection of sad fucks who are using their Saturday night to variously play English teacher or desperately wail on about how “it’ll never work, because I don’t want it!”.
Oversized egos one and all.
This will be difficult to swallow for jumped up sorts like you, George, but no-one gives a fuck what you think, they don’t want your English lessons either. Scuttle off.
Lee. The SNP policy used to be 50% at an election, or indeed a simple majority triggered negotiations.
Not for one minute did people believe it would ever happen. We are just about 50% at the moment. So if we did get 51% , then more people will have voted to leave the Union than stay in.
So how do we carry out the peoples mandate. Well we don’t think request another mandate in a referendum. We don’t ask permission to vote for independence. We have already voted for it. So negotiations start on day 1. It isn’t going to be easy. It will be long and protracted, but there is no other way.
Yes, indeed.
The Constitutional Experts are here to tell us Nothing Can Ever Work Because I Don’t It To. They’ll disguise it with pretend reasons, but that’s the truth of it, really.
John Main
Thanks, I knew you couldn’t counter an argument against the facts of the matter.
Ash for Independence!
Ash Raegan, you have the maturity and skills that I would like to see in the first minister. I don’t get a vote in this, but I wish you the best of luck.
Sorry to rain on the parade but ash has said scotland would have a currency within months
Of indey
Sorry not possible
First scotland would need a Central Bank with £billlions of reserves to be able to stave off the speculators
Where exactly would these £billions come from “within months”?
Just askin
Just commenting as this article will enrage the grifters in the SNP.
“Big Jock says:
11 March, 2023 at 9:22 pm
“…insulting statements on others grammar.”
Tsk, missing apostrophe. (sorry, couldn’t resist…)
He’s a plant, eh?
The Media, race card, Flynn, Swinney, whit’s next the feckin’ kitchen sink ? Some biddies crappin’ big time, that ther boy disnae git the gold ring !
Now out Sturgeon and Swinney have pissed off 50K members out of the SNP Party !
Ash Regan IS the person to sort out the bourach, the other 2 are ditherin’ devolutionists at best……..
Graham hasn’t suddenly appeared just to take offense at the grammar in the article from Ash, he’s here to disrupt the positive flow of the thread.
Nearly everyone on WOS is happy because Ash as an SNP MSP, has stood up and pointed to the way forward for Indy, contradicting the washed out Nicola and her devout candidate.
To stop the positive flow he has to deflect in another direction to take the commenters away and start arguing about something else. To take your attention away from the main reason of the thread which is to broaden the message and bypass the suppression of the person Ash by the MSM and TV.
Niclas plonker doesn’t cut the mustard so they have to down the other candidate who has a spine.
I can’t vote but if I could.. ASH 🙂
I back you Ash Regan.
You’re the woman to lead Scotland to Independence with the best people around you.
It’s not where you’re from. It’s where we’re at, and where we are going together.
I am with you. You’ve done amazing so far in such a short time. A feminist freedom fighter. Your picture outside of Holyrood standing up for women’s sex based rights. Incredible. We need you to stand up for the Independence cause.
Hail Alba. Thank you.
If the SNP members truly support independence then Ash Regan is the only choice. If she is not elected leader then it shows SNP members have ulterior motives and their own agendas. If so, the SNP is no longer the party of independence.
Travis (2013): Where You Stand: Where You Stand:
“…I forfeit my time
And wait while you re-make up your mind up
So tell me if you ever find your flag
Cause I will be right by you where you stand
Oh I will be right by you where you stand
I will deliver
Where you stand I will not fall
Where you stand there is no ocean
Nor a river, nor a shore…”:
https://tinyurl.com/45phdyxv
A bit like the labour party is not the party of the workers.
Fear delivered the NHS and the welfare state…not the labour party!
And the same will be true of Scottish independence!…they need us!
All we need is politicians with guts!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eanOqoHS-ZQ
Ms Regan. You are right, you know you are right, stand absolutely behind your convictions come what may. I’m sure what you are currently experiencing would test the toughest of resolves. I love what your saying and wish you every success. If you succeed in being elected its game well and truly on!!!
fresh carrots with a serving of red meat
well it worked for catalonia……
So the SNP membership is 78,000 and about 50,000 people have left. I fear that is the 50,000 whp prioritised Independence.
Actually it is worse than that. 50,000 is the net figure for those who have left.
I suspect 70,000 Independence supporters have left, whereas 20,000 rainbow flag activists and simple careerists have joined.
What is left is a hollowed out devolutionist party. There are however some tens of thousands of “stranded” Independence supporters still in there.
I implore everyone not to do a sturgeon messiah act , I am not being petty or raining on our hopes, I wish Ash Regan well and hope she is the real McCoy but the snp betrayal continues unabated with the baldy Macpherson and co regurgitating the old convincing more people trope
I will say the same thing to Ash Regan as I said to the betrayer sturgeon, if you do what you are saying you will do you, will have the support of everyone who desires independence for Scotland , and if it comes off and materialises you will be remembered in history, your name will be spoken in our schools and during lessons when our infants learn about Scotland’s history and the battle for independence, your name and the part you played in Scotland’s independence will be legendary
Is that not something to celebrate and be proud of, becoming hailed as a Scottish heroine in leading her country to independence
Sturgeon will be remembered and reviled in the same history books for betraying her country and nation by sabotaging and lying her way through our independence dreams
HALLELUJAH!!
At last, a potential leader after Alex Salmond who not only has the desire, but also the guile to get independence for Scotland.
Kate and Humza have NO PLAN for independence, just mumbling waffle. So, the choice is now clear, if you are in the SNP and actually want independence, you simply need to vote for Ash Regan.
As described above, in her writing, she knows what she is talking about.
The piece above by Ash Regan is simply excellent, a full declaration of intent. But from this it is worth picking out two excellent quotes;
“I have the only plan that has historic precedent, can be delivered legally by Scotland alone, moves us beyond the referendum stalemate”
and finally,
“In summary; the UK government defends their current position with bluster and bullish statements. However, the institutions of democracy, state and judiciary in this country are very clear in their categorical observance of democratic certainty. The small men that throw barbed comments about Scotland being held in perpetuity, do so without the solid foundations on which this country was built.”
And that really is it, isn’t it. The nonsense from London, is just fluff and bluster…’oh ye cannae’. With Ash Regan as leader, WE CAN AND WILL.
No wonder the media and papers are all pushing Kate or useless yousaf. It is Ash Regan the unionists are really feart of.
Andrew scott says:
11 March, 2023 at 11:43 pm
“Sorry to rain on the parade but ash has said scotland would have a currency within months Of indy Sorry not possible
First scotland would need a Central Bank with £billlions of reserves to be able to stave off the speculators. Where exactly would these £billions come from “within months”?
Just askin ? ”
All of this a myth – one of those myths that makes you talk like capital, walk like capital and act like capital even though you are working class.
1. This was a gold standard, fixed exchange rate phenomenon when you would defend the exchange rate. Or if your currency is pegged to some thing else like the $.
2. With a sovereign free floating currency you just let it move up or down until it finds its true level.
3. Nothing bad happens as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan has shown with large swings in the exchange rate. Even here in the UK after the Brexit vote and speculators were playing silly buggers. Can you describe how the Sky fell in when the £ went from 1.55 to 1.15 a huge drop by historical standards. No of course you can’t different by as normal.
4. A strong exchange rate kills your exports but will rebalance to a true level. Complete idiots think strong = good and weak = bad. That shows the true power of propaganda.
The very important thing to remember is that when a currency goes down, all the others in the world go UP in relation to it and nations that rely upon exports (export led nations) start to lose trade – which depresses their own economy.
The key point is that if a currency moves down so that imports become ‘more expensive’, then the ‘inflation’ that goes off is a distributional response that tries to eliminate some of those imports so that the exchange demands equalise. That also eliminates somebody else’s exports.
Export-led nations have to constantly provide liquidity into the rest of the world to allow others to buy their goods. Otherwise the rest of the world runs out of the particular money that is needed for the export transaction to complete and the export never happens (UK buyers buy Chinese goods with GBP, but Chinese workers are paid in Yuan. The relative shortage of Yuan due to the export differential has to be provided by the Chinese or Chinese goods become, in absurdum, infinitely expensive).
Any one of those other economies can intervene in the foreign exchange markets, purchase the ‘spare’ currency and that will halt the slide for everybody. And all exporters to an import nation have a central bank with infinite capacity to do that.
So the important insight,is that exporters need to export and the central banks that support that policy with ’liquidity operations’ will ultimately halt any slide for any important export destination – either explicitly or implicitly through their own banking system.
Every analysis I’ve seen analyses the situation from the point of view of the currency that is being depressed. Almost none look at it from the exporter’s point of view. You did the same Andrew as you have been potty trained to do so.
Ask yourself, where are the goods and services exporters can no longer sell to the importer because they have become too expensive. Going to go in a world where overall export growth is fundamentally limited by the increase in world income?
In a world where ’export led growth’ is the insane mantra, that is a mistake and leads to a mistaken view and mistaken policy recommendations.
Answer – Nowhere or they would be selling them their already.
As Brexit clearly showed. Its a bit like borrowing from a bank. If you import a little then the exporters own you. If you import a lot then you own the exporters – because they then have nowhere else to go – see Irish exporters after the Brexit vote and the £ fell. Beef and Mushroom farmers went out of business.
If exporters to Scotland lose their market share because the new Scottish currency fell and Scottish consumers couldn’t afford them and decide to buy cheaper local products instead that improves the local economy instead. What can Exporters to Scotland do about it ?
Ask the Irish.
Slash wages, slash hours, sack people, or go bankrupt.
Or
Slash prices for their product. As soon as they slash their prices the floating FX rate adjusts. The Scottish currency will get stronger. That’s why it called a floating rate. When your currency falls, exporters to your country have some decisions to make it they want to keep their market share they’ve spent years to get.
The shift to manufacturing in the 3rd world has generated a huge export overhang with the West. They need to export to the West or their economies collapse. And that is one of the reasons why the Western currencies have remained valuable – because the Eastern countries are forced to run up huge stockpiles of the stuff to enable their economies to work.
And that will continue until they realise they are being had, eliminate the export overhang and move to domestic consumption. You’ll note that the Japanese have only just done that, so it ain’t something that is going to happen overnight. China has announced it is moving away from massive trade surpluses and moving to a more domestic consumption economy. Scotland should take note.
So no need to touch reserves or defend anything with a floating rate. The policy response to sliding currencies is to control the distributional inflation by temporarily banning the import of ’luxury’ items. That forces the problem onto the exporters, which they can relieve by systemically intervening and fixing the currency imbalance. Forcing them to do what they normally do through the course of trade.
No country has an automatic right to import any more than it exports. The corollary to that is that no country has an automatic right to export more than it imports. It has to buy that right – either by stockpiling foreign financial assets or by convincing a bunch of DUMB countries into a monetary union so that it can export its unemployment to them – South America vs. USA, Rest of EU vs. Germany and arguably Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland vs. England.
Why we want out of that monetary union. Today, we are stupid enough to want to jump right back into another one after we finally got ourselves free.
Dear Ash, thanks for the great article! I’m trying to convince everyone I know who’s an SNP member to vote for you.
I hope everyone else does the same. My best wishes for the upcoming election.
PS
I can see the unionist press blood hounds headlines now,
FM candidate publishes article on controversial anti SNP WoS
blog.
This ignores the reality that Scotland is much more entwined with the UK than other countries that split from the empire. Constant ‘I’m going’ threats are damaging to both countries. To use a standard election as a de facto referendum and have it recognised as definitive would have massive international ramifications. The EU would reject it without hesitation or else suffer internal fractures of the same kind. The EU wants to build a bigger single unit not break down into smaller and smaller bits. The US would likely reject it too for the same reason, especially under a Democrat government as Republican states are the most likely to want a split. The annexation of Crimea has also changed minds about portions of a country deciding to go their own way. Plus, if Scotland can break away without proper procedures then what would stop parts of Scotland doing the same? Perhaps regions don’t want to be dragged out of the UK by a group of militant cities?
Humza on the sunday show lying his arse off stealing Ash Forbes rhetoric re having a convention within weeks .
For those doubting Ash’s plan, remember Joanna Cherry KC, 1st class honours from Edin Uni in law, constitional expert, is backing Ash.
Graf Midgehunter says:
11 March, 2023 at 11:58 pm
Graham hasn’t suddenly appeared just to take offense at the grammar in the article from Ash, he’s here to disrupt the positive flow of the thread.
Do you even REALISE how much you sound exactly like Sturgeon and her hivemind sycophants when you come out with that pish?
It’s exactly that ‘now children, positive thoughts only or its the naughty step’ crap that got the SNP into the current state it’s in.
If you only want dissenting voices at the things you don’t like, you’re no better than those you want to replace … EXACTLY the feeling most in Scotland now have about the SNP after 15 years of “anything’s better than Labour”.
When will someone tell me how to persuade London to allow an Indy Ref
“When will someone tell me how to persuade London to allow an Indy Ref”
That is easy. The only thing you ever needed was for the leader of the SNP to tell them:
“Either you agree to a referendum or we withdraw our majority of Scotland’s MPs from Westminter with immediate effect, downgrading it from its status of “UK” parliament to parliament of the Kingdom of England only. We will proceede then to reconvene Scotland’s old parliament, reconvene the convention of states, revoke the treaty and Act of Union with England, communicate our intention to terminate the treaty to the UN and, in anticipation of you behaving as a hostile partner, we will seek their impartial arbitration for the process of separation and division of common assets”.
How does that sound for convincing?
But here is the thing:
London had its chance. They chose not to take it. Now the chance is gone because we have found a better, faster route. And the best thing of it all is that the bullshit of “once in a generation” does not apply to this route and it is Scotland who takes control of the timeframe. Isn’t that great?
Ash is offering that the people of Scotland uses as a referendum on independence every single election from now on. The only thing is needed is for the right couple of clauses to be included in the manifesto.
How wonderful is that?
And how unbelievably useless can Nicola Sturgeon possibly be for not having being capable to find in 8 long years, despite having at her disposal the largest and most expensive entourage of “advisors” in devolution history, what Ms Regan found in a few hours?
From Ash Reagan’s article –
“Bluntly, there is no possibility of the UK government not agreeing, as demonstrated in the 65 examples of countries that have left the UK or British Empire.”
However, this time it’s different. We’re not leaving the UK, or the British Empire, we’re ending it. Aren’t we?
What do you actually mean when you say “independence”?
Not convinced the optics of AR standing next to the statue of a soldier of a slave-holding imperial power is on-message …
Thanks Stu… And thanks Ash.
That’s a real pickmeup… It would work, it is honest, it is achievable, it is clear and simple, and it is inspiring.
I want to see the SNP strong again, what a force it was when it was Democratic, creative and active. I hope win this Ash.
More miraculous things have happened many times on the roads to independence.
Respect.
I cant understand the reasoning behind the support for Reagan who apparently is a distant third in the contest.
All we have achieved is a split in the vote which will allow Yousaf a clear run.
We should have got behind Forbes and persuaded Reagan to step aside, that was our only chance of getting rid of M&Co. Now the party apparatus will remain unchanged and I would not be surprised to see the return of the Queen in triumph.
“First scotland would need a Central Bank with £billlions of reserves to be able to stave off the speculators
Where exactly would these £billions come from “within months”?”
If Argentina, Hungary, Chile, Mexico, etc are anything to go by, private bank accounts and pension funds will need to be raided to raise capital. Perhaps replaced by depreciating Scottish Treasury Bonds. That may not happen, but a sliding currency is never a good thing as it means interest rates for that currency must rise and we know what chaos that caused at the Liz Truss budget.
The truth is we do not know as the examples given above all involve long established currencies, this would be a brand new currency with no history to guide traders/investors. I find it hard to believe an independent Scottish treasury would just sit back and do nothing and let the currency “find its level” given all the previous talk about independence giving Scotland full control of all the fiscal levers.
No one doubts Scotland can go it alone, it is the fear, uncertainty and doubt of the transition phase that would be enough to make plenty of people/companies withdraw their capital until they see how things pan out. Ironically, doing that is a kind of self fulfilling prophecy but that is life.
This really ups the ante, so what do you want, a plan and way forward, or same old, same old. Choice seems clear to me. This will have the brit state in a complete panic.