Mornin', Blogger. I take it from the fact that you're chatting with me that there's nothing bringing you creative juices to boil this am?
Dear Blog…
Author: Peter A Bell
Thinker. Listener. Talker. Reader. Writer. None of my attitudes is immutable. None of my conclusions is final. None of my opinions is humble.
Respect
Being something of a hard-headed political realist, I recognise that the British state must inevitably use the SNP's commitment to the Section 30 process against the independence movement.
What to give a shit about
Don't tell me the British are panicking! I'm not stupid and I will not be patronised! They are not panicking! They are calmly, coolly and arrogantly going about the business of protecting and advancing their own narrow interests at the expense of anyone they can push the cost onto. Scotland being at the head of that particular queue! They are perfectly relaxed; leaning against the Union knowing it will protect them so long as they preserve it.
Making waves
Scotland's cause needs the SNP. That's just cold, hard realpolitik denied only by self-indulgent fantasists. But if we need the SNP we need the SNP to be fit for our purpose. That it presently isn't is all to apparent. In part because of its reluctance to make the commitment required of it ahead of the 2021 Scottish Party election. Partly on account of the party's internal troubles. While the former is a matter for the Yes movement as a whole, the latter is entirely a matter for SNP members.
Overtures
You were warned!
This Poisonous Union
For more than three hundred years Scotland has been poisoned by a toxic political union.
Word games
If language is important - as it surely is - then the motives and attitudes and intentions of the person choosing and using the language must also be significant. Context is crucial. The psychology of the speaker is as much part of the context as the setting and has to be considered along with other factors, such as the occasion, the venue and the audience.
YesAlba
You may want to read this rousing article from George Kerevan. Although the unquestioning acceptance of the British state's veto on our right of self-determination sits rather uncomfortably amidst the generally radical tone. And while the criticism of the SNP and/or Scottish Government is entirely justified it must be borne in mind that the party … Continue reading YesAlba
The devolution disaster
It says something about the persistence of national identity that the ancient nation of Scotland survived the Union as more than just an annexed territory of England-as-Britain. More than just a premium brand and a tourist destination. More than merely a source of labour, skills and fodder for the British war machine.
A pile of pish
It is vital that we properly understand the British establishment in order that we may choose our weapons and formulate our campaign strategy accordingly. At present, the Scottish Government's approach to the constitutional issue assumes that a new referendum will be in all significant ways a repeat of the first one. This is a fatally mistaken idea. Especially when combined with the folly of believing tales of terrified Tories.
