Where nothing moves. Average Yes in 12 polls* following Sturgeon becoming leader = 45.25% Average Yes in 12 most recent polls to 5 December 2022 = 46.00% SNP/Scottish Government under Sturgeon has failed to advance Scotland's cause at all in eight years! #DissolveTheUnion #ScottishUDI *Polls using 2014 Referendum Question
I like to tell the story of the vague epiphany I underwent some years ago when, during the open discussion section of a meeting at which I was guest speaker, someone used the phrase "dissolve the Union". One of the things I most enjoyed about those speaking engagements was that I almost always came away … Continue reading Old thinking. New thinking.
We are all, I'm sure, familiar with Enoch Powell's observation that "power devolved is power retained". The phrase is now a commonplace in discourse around constitutional issues in general and Scotland's devolution settlement in particular. It is often the case with such casually used aphorisms that familiarity breeds, maybe not contempt, but a certain disregard … Continue reading Sovereign powers and devolved powers
If you are clutching at straws, at least make sure they are real straws. The straw some independence activists had been clutching at was the notion of persuading Nicola Sturgeon to commit political hara-kiri by resigning and ultimately forcing an extraordinary general election as her colleagues in the pro-independence parties blocked the election of a … Continue reading A straw to clutch
Looking at all the various 'routes' to independence being proposed, it occurred to me that they all ultimately fell over at the same point. Many fell over well before reaching this point. But none made it beyond the point at which the next step involved the Scottish Parliament doing something it lacks the competence to … Continue reading Fool’s gold standard
Just because something is procedurally possible doesn't mean it is either practicable or politically sensible. What I'm seeing here is almost a rerun of the 'supermajority' farce started by Alba Party in the run-up to the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. The 'supermajority' nonsense took something that is procedurally possible - a two-thirds majority of MSPs … Continue reading Weighing options
Nicola Sturgeon is in trouble. Some will choose not to believe it when I say this, but I take no pleasure whatever in saying that the peg on which Nicola's jaikit hangs is starting to look a bit shoogly. Contrary to the views of many Sturgeon/SNP loyalists and the brain-dead #WheeshtForIndy mob, I have never … Continue reading Blood in the water
Notes for speech Check against delivery I'm not quite sure why I'm here. Usually, for events like this, they want speakers who'll tell the crowd what they want to hear. That's certainly not me. I tell it the way I see it - good or bad. Right now, there's more bad than good. They usually … Continue reading AUOB March & Rally Glasgow 26/11/2022
When All Under One Banner (AUOB) organises an event such as the one tomorrow in Glasgow, they invite us to 'March for independence'. They don't urge us to 'Plod for independence'. When we attend such events ─ as I hope thousands will tomorrow ─ we imagine ourselves striding determinedly towards the restoration of Scotland's rightful … Continue reading I shall not plod
So, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) has issued its judgement and it is that the Scottish Parliament doesn't have the competence to authorise even the pretendy referendum that Nicola Sturgeon proposes. This was, you will recall, a referendum that had been stripped of all its legal and constitutional effect so that it was no more … Continue reading Rightful anger
Peter A Bell 