Stirrings in the heather

I am sure many – perhaps most – supporters of Scotland’s cause will understand full well when I say I find it difficult to raise much enthusiasm for new projects claiming to be the thing that will set that cause in motion once again, having been stalled for almost nine years. Those nine years in the doldrums have taken a heavy toll. As have the serial ‘initiatives’ over that period, not one of which ever came to anything that might be mistaken for fruition. Hopes have been raised only to then be dashed too often for much hope to have survived. Spirits have been ignited only for the nascent flame to be doused until the tinder is turned to ash and will no longer take a spark. After so much disappointment, it is surely understandable if even the most committed independence activist is reluctant to answer yet another call to action. Maybe it’s just me, but every new undertaking presented as the ‘final push’ that didn’t survive much beyond the trumpeting of its launch felt like a personal failure. Nine years of that will grind down even the most adamantine resolve.

Not that my commitment to the restoration of Scotland’s independence has diminished at all. It is as unshakeable as it ever was. What has lessened is my willingness to take an active role in any enterprise promising to progress Scotland’s cause. There is a point at which reluctance shades into aversion. I find myself in that region. If this comes across as me making excuses for being a decidedly unreliable contributor to such enterprises as I am persuaded into joining, there is the best possible reason for that. What is inexcusable – as well as inexplicable – is that I allow myself to be persuaded when I know that a crippling sense of futility awaits.

This preamble should not be regarded as self-pitying indulgence. Rather, it is an entirely pragmatic recognition of the limitations that are inevitable when the spirit becomes calloused with years of unavailing wear.

And that’s enough of that! Separator please, Mr WordPress!

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There are stirrings in the heather. Things are happening. Whether they come to anything or not, we cannot deny that the stirrings are real. However much the SNP leadership and its wee social media army seek to dismiss and diminish Angus Brendan MacNeil’s recent actions, there can be no doubt that he has struck a chord with a large part of the Yes movement. All he is doing is lending a long-awaited high-profile voice to criticisms of the SNP leadership that have been an undercurrent in Scotland’s political discourse for several years. Criticisms which have become more widespread with the growing realisation of just how badly Scotland’s cause has been failed by the SNP Scottish Government. Only the wilfully blind now deny this record of abject failure. There is, therefore, nothing to be gained from recounting that record yet again. There comes a time when we must stop obsessing about past failures and start thinking about future remedies.

Let me be clear! Angus Brendan MacNeil speaks for me! I may not agree with what he sees as the remedy. But his assessment of the SNP leadership as “clueless” is both refreshingly forthright and totally accurate. The knee-jerk reaction of the SNP leadership is to vilify the man while answering none of his criticisms. They should know that this is likely to backfire on them badly. When they attack Angus MacNeil, they attack all those for whom he speaks. That may be a very significant section of the Yes movement. I may also be that Angus has chosen to kick over the traces at just the moment when the frustration and anger felt by so many is ready to be tapped by a revolt against the stultifying orthodoxy that has paralysed Scotland’s cause for far too long. The Yes movement craves a leader. With all due respect to Angus MacNeil, he seems an unlikely candidate. But he may be the catalyst for a popular ‘uprising’ demanding a change of approach to the constitutional issue from those elected on a promise to bring it to a satisfactory resolution.

In the kind of happenstance that the loom of hindsight commonly weaves into conspiracy, Angus Brendan MacNeil’s action coincides with another rustling in the heather. It is no more than that at the time of writing. But it promises to be a significant and positive development such as Scotland’s independence movement hasn’t seen in a very long time. In the interests of full transparency, I should declare that I am in a position to know more than I can reveal as I have been involved in this development. Although my contribution has been very much less than I would have wished, I am nonetheless in a position to testify as to the potential for a ‘game-changer’.

Salvo is a research, lobbying and campaigning group focused on increasing awareness of Scotland’s true constitution and the implications this has for the cause of ending the Union and restoring independence. It is one of a select group of organisations which may be little known to the wider public but which have been very active behind the scenes of Scotland’s constitutional struggle. These organisations are notable not only for the importance of the work that they do but for the fact that they are well-respected across what I venture to characterise as the SNP/Alba divide. In a very real sense, organisations such as Salvo and Liberation Scotland – for which it is the campaigning arm – as well as the Scottish Sovereignty Research Group and others represent the real independence campaign, while the SNP, Alba, ISP etc. is the political froth on top. Trust me when I tell you that if and when Scotland’s pro-independence parties get their act together, what transpires will draw heavily on the work these organisations have been doing.

For several days, rumors have been rumbling about an imminent intervention that would mark a tectonic shift in the constitutional debate. Something called the Stirling Directive. Yesterday (Saturday 15 July) Salvo issued a statement which gave some substance to those rumors. For reference, I reproduce the statement in full below. I urge everyone to watch this development intently. I would further urge that you pay special attention to the following extract from the statement.

On Saturday 22 July, at 3pm, outside Holyrood, on the 317th anniversary of the final design for Scotland’s doom, we’re inviting you to be part of it. Come and help to deliver the first blast of the ‘salvo’ heralding Scotland’s rejection of more than 300 years of unlawful annexation and tyranny. Next Saturday, everything will change.

This time, those stirrings in the heather may portend something real!

SAVE THE DATE 

It’s been almost nine years since we lost the independence referendum. A referendum that should have been just the prelude to the next one, which we knew we’d win. But here we are, eight years and seven mandates later. Not an inch closer to independence. We’ve all done our best to keep the independence dream alive. But, now, it is obvious that the dream will die if we do not make it happen. And only the people can do that.

It’s time for something that does not depend on judgements from the UK Supreme Court, for something that doesn’t mean demanding, asking, begging the British state for permission. As if the state were truly and lawfully sovereign over the Scottish people. As if the authority of an English parliament trumps the clear will of the Scottish people, no matter how they vote.

But we know different, now. We know that our constitutional sovereignty means the people of Scotland do not have to ask!

So, on Saturday 22 July, exactly 317 years to the day when the details of the disastrous Treaty of Union were agreed, a group of writers, speakers and activists from across Scotland’s Independence movement will launch a new, national campaign with a very different approach. One that does not ask permission of anyone. Instead it:

     affirms the sovereignty of Scotland’s people

     upholds the constitutional settlement of the “Union”

     requires political recognition of the lawful, Scottish constitution

     and will pursue our inalienable right of self-determination as
     guaranteed under international law.

Salvo has agreed to ‘sponsor’ and assist this campaign because it stands on the authority of the Scottish people alone, an authority that must be restored to its rightful place above all other authorities of the state. Over the coming weeks, the campaign will reach out to all independence supporting groups and organisations across Scotland. And Salvo will have the opportunity to play a key part.

(Full details of the campaign will be provided at a press conference at 12.30pm on 22nd July 23 in the Greyfriars Charteris Centre,138/140 Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9RR which will be live streamed by Independence Live)

On Saturday 22 July, at 3pm, outside Holyrood, on the 317th anniversary of the final design for Scotland’s doom, we’re inviting you to be part of it. Come and help to deliver the first blast of the ‘salvo’ heralding Scotland’s rejection of more than 300 years of unlawful annexation and tyranny. Next Saturday, everything will change.