TIME TO KICKSTART INDEPENDENCE
All independence needs is the votes and an unambiguous election with that aim
My motivation in active politics has always been independence. Not for its own sake, but for what it can do. By 2050 Scotland’s population is projected to fall 2%. Meanwhile the arc surrounding us, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and even the tiny Faroes are all expected to increase population, up between 6% to 32% - in case of far north Iceland. The worst hit in Scotland will be the Hebrides, my own home islands. Note these projections are irrespective of which governments come to power in those countries, it is just the trajectory they are on. It should be obvious that Scotland’s downward trajectory can only be changed with independence.
Now some say, the people have enough to worry about and independence is not a priority. For most of the last 8 years there have been big things to think about. Brexit which costs the UK exchequer £44billion a year or the cost-of-living crisis, to name but two.
However, UK inflicted problems are reasons to move on. It is like saying to a householder, “You have a problem with keeping your carpets dry, so you are too busy mopping the water to put a roof on the house to keep the carpets dry!.” We have a structural problem in Scottish society that our policy solutions do not come from our society. Even Anas Sarwar does not agree with Keir Starmer on winter fuel payments.
To hammer home the point, when asked, “What is the priority in your house?” few respond. “The roof” but try doing anything else without one. Similarly for Scotland and independence.
I actively joined the SNP in 1998 after writing a letter to the Herald dated 7th November of that year on Gordon Brown’s scare mongering while a tyre factory closed in Scotland in favour of one in Cork, in independent Ireland. Following that letter I was invited to an SNP meeting by a luminary of the Lochaber Branch, Mrs Helen Dewar. So, independence came first.
For 20 years I saw the route to independence as synonymous with the SNP. It started to falter in 2018 when nothing was being done to launch the mythic independence lifeboat from the foundering liner SS Brexit Broken Britain. It got so bad, that I in fact wrote the first letter asking for a Sec 30 referendum to then Theresa May, the Sturgeon government did not seem to know what to do, that was the beginning of what became very apparent cluelessness.
Now the SNP hierarchy is not only unfortunately clueless about independence, but also very obviously disinterested. The SNP membership is ignored and likely privately scorned. They have no plan for independence - not even a kid-on secret one anymore - and unless they listen and engage with others on the independence front, matters will continue to drift.
Actually, the SNP could win the next 10 Scottish elections, and it would not advance independence an iota. The reality is that the referendum route is blocked by the UK Government and using election ballot boxes is blocked quite astonishingly by the SNP.
“The ballot box is the gold standard.” That is the succinct sentence of Alex Salmond. Oh, say the SNP “The UK Government wouldn’t respect an independence vote at an election,” - note the UK Government has never said this, quite why some in the SNP do is baffling.
The Supreme Court actually blocked a Scottish Parliament sponsored referendum because the UK Parliament would have to respect a referendum it might not recognise because of the “authority” of the ballot box in a “democratic culture.” Only this week we saw in South Korea the strength of democratic culture over executive authority.
So, we have about 50% of the Scottish public supporting independence and that is without serious leadership or focus or any particular date. The fact of a date changed the dial in 2014.
Detractors will say Holyrood does not inspire. They are correct, but a devolved Westminster Parliament at Holyrood, which what the current Scottish Parliament is, tells us little about independence. Similarly, Stormont, the devolved Westminster Parliament in Northern Ireland also tells nothing about independence. Fortunately, this is easily provable as just down the road in Dublin an actual independent parliament is working and succeeding better than anything in the UK.
We have every opportunity in Scotland, stagnation is the child of pessimism. We can shape the future or sit impotently with hands in pockets saying, “We cannae do.” The Alba Party is not without challenges, but every party has its challenges. It is a chicken and egg situation. We can work for success and achieve it. Or say success is not possible and do nothing and then not be surprised when nothing happens. Meanwhile Reform UK with 104,000 members, unfettered by naval gazing, show that even the scary is possible.
I am choosing to try and kick-start independence – the positive benefits for our communities are great, in prosperity, demography and opportunity. One person alone cannot kickstart start independence, it needs your help. www.albaparty.org/join
The Bear Gates Traquair House - (locked since 1745)