I posted this on Facebook yesterday.
I received an email today from Alba Party in which they boast of being “bolder and more courageous”. Compared to what? The SNP? Being bolder and more courageous than the SNP is hardly the stuff proud boasts are made of. I wanted to see what bolder and more courageous looked like, so I accepted Alba’s invitation to take a closer look at the product of the party’s recent conference.
Understandably, I was mainly interested in their approach to the constitutional issue so I was eager to check out their claim to be “the only party with a serious plan that will restore Scotland’s Independence”.
It is dire! It is not a plan for restoring Scotland’s independence at all. It is a collection of campaign ideas (not all bad, by any means) and some SNP-style pish about persuading the Westminster Government to play nice. Like that’s ever going to happen!
Bold and courageous would be cutting the Westminster Government out of the process altogether.
Bold and courageous would be stating that the constitutional question is a matter for the people of Scotland alone.
Bold and courageous would be affirming and defending the sovereignty of Scotland’s people, not offering to compromise the principle of popular sovereignty in return for worthless British promises of honest cooperation.
We already knew that Alba wants a plebiscitary election. Fine! It probably wouldn’t do any harm. But what matters is what comes after a Yes win in that de facto referendum. Independence? No! We’ll be told that it’s an ‘independence referendum’. But the reality is that it will be a totally meaningless exercise. This is Alba Party’s idea of being ‘bold and courageous’ on the back of yet another mandate from Scotland’s voters.
The focus should then be on how the Westminster Government can be forced into independence negotiations.
An Effective Electoral Strategy
You may think you’re voting for independence in this election pretending to be a referendum, but what you are actually voting for is more groveling before the British ruling elite pleading for that which is ours by right.
That’s not bold and courageous! It’s pathetic and pitiful! And it’s a lie! It can’t be a “plan that will restore Scotland’s Independence” because it doesn’t have independence at the end. Instead, it ends back where we are right now, with nothing being done to extricate Scotland from the anti-democratic Union in which we are ensnared and no plan from any party to do anything but go cap in hand to the British state.
Scotland’s cause is being betrayed by our entire political class. The SNP has been letting us down for years. Alba Party’s only selling point is that they are not the SNP. Their hope is that because people will suppose ‘not SNP’ means ‘not betraying Scotland’s cause’. But they’d be wrong. It’s right there in Alba Party’s own words. Their offering is not meaningfully different from the SNP’s. They want us to vote for independence then hope the British state can be “forced” to respect the will of the people.
FFS! You wretched clowns! The will of the people marks the end of the matter. The will of the people is the final word. THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND ARE SOVEREIGN! If you don’t understand the implications of that then you are no use to Scotland’s independence movement and no use to Scotland.
#EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI #NoSection30 #ManifestoForIndependence
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Peter A Bell 
Aye , P , the Wee Bit Better Than The SNP Party appear to be offering nothing more than a slightly different flavour of jam ; assuring us , though this jam – for reasons currently unclear – will not be available today , it will * def * be available the morra , or the day eftur the morra .
I hear Alex was ” really good ” on Questionable Time the other night , towering – apparently – over a panel of pygmies – GO ‘LEX ! .
From what I’ve seen quoted ( MSM is dead to me , I allow not one iota of it into my consciousness ) he said * this * n also * that * , the audience , so we’re told , loved him , virtually having to be restrained from throwing their knickers onto the podium , such was their overwhelming enthusiasm for .
What incendiary rhetoric issuing from the man * they * sometimes call The Man incited this passionate response from the ” captive ” audience ?
Anything about how we sovereign Scots need fuck all permission from anyone , least of all the Brit State , to break free from the burden of Union ? Or how ALBA are up for the unavoidable confrontation with the Brit State by either holding a Referendum entirely under the auspices/control of we sovereign Scots , or , even better , cutting to the chase and declaring a form of UDI ?
Naw , none of the above . Just a pretty crap remix of the NOW THATS WHAT I CALL ” GOLD STANDARD ” Vol 318 album & some stuff about -essentially – managing Capitalism * better * .
Fabulous
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You’ve got it, Robert. I admire and respect Alex Salmond. But Alba is NOT the answer.
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Likewise , Peter . It’s great that he ” appears ” to be being ” rehabilitated ” ( not that he has EVER needed rehabilitating , in the sense of being ” forgiven ” for sins committed ) in terms of MSM access ; we can speculate why that’s happening now * wink * , but , it won’t matter a damn if the message he is now being allowed to disseminate is in essence no different from that of his erstwhile rivals
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I think the problem is that Westminster’s refusal to recognise and respect the sovereignty of the Scottish people limits the extent to which politics can provide a solution. At some point somebody is going to have to break the law (that is, the law as Westminster defines it), and any political party that doesn’t want to be outlawed needs to dance around that point rather carefully.
Now I haven’t read the document that you have, but it does indeed sound somewhat disappointing. I think we need Alba (or somebody) to really start pushing the boundaries. We need to get seriously uppity.
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You don’t have to read the whole thing. Or even the whole section on the constitutional issue. You won’t be missing much if you don’t. One sentence gives the game away,
“[P]reparations need to be done on what to do when an election is won. The focus should then be on how the Westminster Government can be forced into independence negotiations.”
So, we win what is billed as a de facto ‘independence referendum’ and what happens? EXACTLY the same as what happens if we win the SNP’s version of the same de facto ‘independence referendum’! Nothing! Both parties defer to Westminster while insisting the people are sovereign. Yet thousands of people are solidly convinced the one is the answer and the other isn’t.
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That’s sort of what I’m getting at. Can a political party openly state ‘if we get a majority of seats/votes/whatever we will declare Scotland independent and force you to the negotiating table’. I’m not sure it can at this point in time. The issue is being danced around, hinted at, but not tackled head on. Can it be? Should it be, at this point in time?
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The plebiscitary election, if it is to happen, should not be on the question of independence. As you suggest, it will not stand. A de facto referendum must be on the question of the competence of the Scottish Parliament in matters relating to the constitution. For a start, this is much more likely to win support. Possibly a significant majority. But it is also very difficult for the British state to challenge. They’d have to argue in open court that Scotland is not a nation, that we do not have the right of self-determination, that the people of Scotland are not sovereign, that Westminster has greater democratic legitimacy than Holyrood. All of which is what they believe. But they don’t want to say so – for obvious reasons.
Also, #ScottishUDI – as I have called this process for reasons that are not relevant here – would involve asserting the primacy of the Scottish Parliament primarily, but not solely, for the purpose of facilitating the exercise by the people of Scotland of our right of self determination THERE BEING NO OTHER WAY. That’s emphasised because it’s perhaps the most important point. It is what legitimises the action in the eyes of the international community. It is also important because should the British state challenge the action it would fall to them to demonstrate that there is an existing way we can exercise our right of self-determination. A process that satisfies internationally agreed standards.
#ScottishUDI is the way for us to get on the front foot and put the BritNats on the defensive. Along with a reframing of the constitutional issue and the rethinking of the campaign this will necessitate, its a winner. Not a sure-fire winner, to be sure. But I have yet to see a better idea.
The biggest problem I see is the lack of political will and severe doubts about whether politicians with the resolve and tenacity to see this through. They must not flinch or she the slightest sign of wavering. That will only embolden our opponents and prolong the confrontation.
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Spot-on , P . Anything else is noise . Mindless chatter
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I have to say I’m with you on all of the above.
I think our only real disagreement is on who could carry this out. Personally, I feel that however desirable it may be, it’s not going to be the SNP. As for Alba, I have my issues with them and I guess I’m thinking at the moment they’re the best of a bad bunch. They’re new, small, and could be moulded in the right direction by the right people. Other than that, we’re starting from scratch.
But as for the substance of the comment, I can’t disagree.
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Or ditch the timidites and use a bolder approach using The UN and/or The International Court of Justice. I quote from that bastion of free speech and impartiality The Daily Fail.
“The British Government has begun negotiations to transfer sovereignty of The 60 Chagos Islands, British Indian Ocean Territories (BIOT) to Mauritius after coming under international pressure since The International Court of Justice issued a non binding ruling in 2019 that the British Occupation of the islands was unlawful….The Foreign Office lawyers have advised the opinion of The ICJ in 2019, later endorsed by The Tribunal for the law of The Sea means that a negotiated settlement has to be found”. Could it be Scotland will be last of the colonies to be granted Independence? What price Bliars seabed grab in 1999. Legal??
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SIXTY YEARS!
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Thanks for providing the link Peter.
I had previously failed to muster sufficient enthusiasm as to actually click through from the Alba bulkmail.
In a spirit of (over)scrupulous fairness, I feel it worth nothing that what Alba actually said was sufficiently open ended as to justify the assertion that some of your criticisms may be a little harsh. 😉
”
The threshold would be a simple majority of votes cast for all pro-independence parties. ALBA has 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 for independence, if that threshold is met, on the first line of our manifesto.”
Perhaps they intend to declare the primacy of the Scottish People and the Scottish Parliament after
the ‘intent to begin negotiations’ proves to be a non starter?
Aye right.
I refuse to falsely elevate their flimsy suggestion with any use of words like ‘strategy’ or ‘plan’!
[ sarcasm]
Perhaps they do have a ‘secret plan’ but they don’t want to alert the enemy, and we should all just have faith in the dear leader eh?
[/sarcasm]
Having (deliberately) failed to describe what the proposals are for proceeding after the bit where we all vote for them, this obviously leaves them free to then make it up as they go along.
Very much like in the rest of British politics that we are all so sick of.
😦
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Independence isn’t negotiated. Independence is declared.
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If Independence is declared on producing a YES verdict, the British State is never going to cooperate, no matter the colour of Standard. There will be never be agreement with the British State, unless Englands establishment has what it wants. The politicians know this. Independence will hurt the British state, and if we thought, their contempt and hostility is bad at the moment, it will only increase exponentially. We ain’t seen nothing yet. That British state feels above the law as it is the body that makes the laws. Scottish assets will be held where they can (BoE), and would not be surprised to see the Navy called in to protect energy assets (both renewable and hydrocarbons). There will be an all out call for the International community to boycott anything related to/with Scotland. Equally Scotland will have its call out to the International Community to recognise Scottish Independence and mediate. Fairly certain the International community will defend a countries rights to self determination. I fear it will be hard on Scotland for a while if UDI is declared, after a democratic vote. But there is probably no other way? The only other future for Scotland will remain that of a vassal state merely existing to finance a British State. No pain, no gain. I think politicians feel that pain. There would be no Nest Egg from the British State to support their existence. But Independence has a price that is well worth paying.
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#ScottishUDI
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female.
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Sorry about this, seems to be a day of me being contentious elsewhere, telling the anti-polis hooligans they’re not helping independence with their stupidity, so I’ll do this here instead! From the National:
“UK’s demands on glass threaten ‘viability’ of Deposit Return Scheme 19 mins ago”
And most people in Scotland if they’re paying any attention, go “Whoopee for the UK Government”.
How on earth can the SNP and their puppeteer Greens be so stupid?
And then Russell telling us that Independent Scotland will be “woke” which is clearly a word he just read and thought “Hey, that’s great, and much more important than Independence”.
And then there’s …
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… well, I forgot Russell telling us the governance issue is solved because whoopee dooppee doo the SNP will publish membership number twice a year and you know what? Firstly I absolutely hate that phrase “You know what?” – “Yes I fecking do, how about you”. And secondly the very people who caused the governance problems have promised to come back with some meaningless self-congratulatory garbage telling themselves it’s all right and that by doing that they’ve solved the problems which they don’t even admit are there because they have T-shirts emblazoned “I am in Self-Denial” which they thought said “I love Playstations”. And isn’t that so good of them to be so, errr, woke?
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