Not really! It simply occurred to me when I saw yet another “SNP slams” headline in the Sunday National how weary I am of reading about the SNP/Scottish Government condemning the behaviour of the British government and how much I long to see Scotland’s only pro-independence newspaper better reflect the full range of opinion across the independence movement – including the perspective of those who feel let down by not only the SNP but Scotland’s political class as a whole. There may be exceptions. But none come immediately to mind. The fact that now more than a decade on from the opening of a new chapter in the saga of Scotland’s cause with the 2011 Scottish Parliament election and almost seven years after the first referendum, precisely no progress has been made towards restoring Scotland’s independence stands as a shaming indictment of all our elected representatives and all those who seek a mandate from the sovereign people of Scotland and all whose responsibility it is to hold our elected representatives to account.
The faithful shall, of course, take deep offence at this. Another headline I’d like to see is one which proclaims that Peter A Bell doesn’t care. The faithful should always be challenged because, being the faithful, they take far too much on trust. They won’t ask the awkward questions. So we must. It is a generalised failure to ask the awkward questions and mount the considered challenges which has resulted in seven wasted years and a catalogue of missed opportunities. In this sense, the Yes movement is as culpable as the politicians who have served Scotland’s cause so poorly. We should have done a lot more ‘slamming’ a lot sooner.
When I refer to “the faithful” I don’t mean only the people who urge us to stop questioning and leave it all to Nicola Sturgeon. The individual who has been in charge for all of the seven years of inaction, inertia and ineffectual ‘slamming’ of one dire imposition by the British government after another. When I talk about the faithful let it be clear that I refer also to the shallow-minded fantasists who have become convinced that because Alba Party is not the SNP it must be an alternative to the SNP. Alba is not an alternative to the SNP. It cannot be. For the reason that becomes obvious if only the faith were susceptible to doubt. Alba Party cannot become the party of government in time to save Scotland from the British Nationalist ‘One Nation’ project. A project which is well advanced even as Alba supporters talk about the next election as a turning point. Or maybe the one after that. Or maybe….
A party which can’t provide the effective political power Scotland’s cause requires is no advance on a party that won’t use the effective political power that we have entrusted to it.
I don’t do faith. I don’t do fantasy politics. I don’t believe against reason. I don’t mistake wishful-thinking and desperate imaginings for a viable plan or a feasible reality. I find no reason to have confidence in the SNP and no reason to suppose Alba Party might function as an alternative. I ‘slam’ the lot of them as failing Scotland’s cause. But you won’t see that point of view headlined in The National.
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Peter A Bell 
Good article and agree. Folk should be asking questions of their own representatives regardless of party. Scotland is legally an equal partner with equal authority to the state of GB. Why do Scotland’s representatives refuse to act as such? It is not the number of MPs or population size of England as there is no clause granting dominion based on either nor clause granting a vote to establish it. It does state however that they are equal partners with equal authority and that the rights prior to and after the signing are to be fully upheld. The English government despite all its faults has until now treaded a very fine line. The problem is and has always been that the Scots refuse to hold their own to account and demand that they act in the capacity they were elected and in accordance with the articles of the treaty. Nor do they pull them up when blatant breaches to the treaty have been made. A case in point is the English IM Act which essentially gives the English government a veto over Scotland and is a fundamental breach of the treaty of union.
Scots are quick to point out that Scotland is a country yet they spend the vast majority of time complaining about a foreign country’s government and its establishment and transferring blame on to them than acknowledging that it is their own country’s government and representatives they should be demanding action from. Anything less is to confirm the view and position of Crawford and Boyle which claims Scotland was extinguished and subsumed into a greater England under the new name of UK. A view that was promoted by the English government and its establishment. If Scotland truly wants to regain its statehood it needs to ask not only the hard questions but also the most basic fundamental ones.
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Nail – head once again!
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There are a couple of places wrt Alba that you need to insert the word “yet” – your views on Alba are correct – but only for now. I’m (unfortunately) with you on the SNP, they need to be truly slammed by the YES movement
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Unfortunately. Geoff, “yet” implies time that we simply don’t have. It could be 25 years before Alba becomes the party of government. If it ever does! We don’t even have five years before British state ‘reform’ of the constitution closes down all democratic routes to the restoration of independence. So, even if you think 25 years is an exaggeration – it’s only another four elections – Alba has nothing to offer Scotland’s cause.
Believe me! If there was a genuine alternative to the SNP then I would grab it with both hands. But I’m too much of a realist to get carried away with the Alba fantasy. We are stuck with the SNP. And the sooner everybody realises that, the better chance there is that we can force the necessary action by this government.
That said, I find no reason to suppose that it is going to happen. The Yes movement has settled into a tribal configuration that is comfortable for all but those like myself who stand outside the SNP/Alba tribal conflict. Everybody gets to blame somebody else while Scotland’s cause disappears down the drain. As with British Labour in Scotland, denying responsibility has become the imperative.
My only comfort is that in a couple of years I get to say “Ah telt ye!”. I have to tell you that having experienced that with the whole #Referendum2018 thing, it’s no comfort at all.
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Peter: I’m no tribalist either but what would be the problem if the people seeking Scottish Independence voted for Alba? If Alba, unlike the Snp, are serious about pushing for Independence, where is the problem and what alternative is there?
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I can’t respond to this without getting angry. I just don’t have the patience for this any more. Use your own fucking brain. Mine is weary dealing with this kind of mindless pish. FFS! THINK!!!
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You are just too pathetic to admit being wrong. You told us both votes SNP when you knew it was wrong and now the evidence of your insanity is staring you in the face you just can’t apologise.
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Incidentally, how you identify a tribalist is by their insistence that they are not a tribalist.
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I know what i think, I just wanted to know what your thoughts were and I wasn’t asking big angry daddies advice. I don’t think I’ve ever posted on here before as I read most pro Independence bloggers so I can’t be sure.
I don’t normally like using language like this, but you deserve at least me telling you to fuck off as far as you like as your vitriolic response wasn’t warranted. Is that a response you would use to someone in a face to face situation, maybe your just another bully like that other big daddy of the so called SNP.
Don’t bother blocking me as the next time I come across Peter A Bell, or your ugly mug, whichever comes first, I’ll just happily jog on by.
No response required, I can do without the stress.
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Grow the fuck up you petulant child. It is telling that you show not the slightest curiosity about what prompted my response. No curiosity whatever. You have no need of any new facts or arguments. You know all you need to know. You’ve thought every thought that might be relevant.
You have nothing to contribute.
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Do you still have that picture of you and nicola murrell? Do you wank over it every night? Was it unrequited lust that made you incapable of voting against your beloved?
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Yip, the ba’s burst.
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