The problem with assuming the next Holyrood election in 2026 could be used by the SNP as a de facto independence referendum is that the British political elite are also aware of this possibility. Given their behaviour to date, we must assume that they will do whatever is necessary to prevent the 2026 election being … Continue reading Combination
Plan C proposes that, having repudiated the Section 30 process as an affront to democracy, the SNP should include in the party's manifesto for the coming Holyrood elections a commitment that if elected an SNP Scottish Government will immediately assert the exclusive competence of the Scottish Parliament in all constitutional matters preparatory to proposing the dissolution of the Union subject to a referendum that shall be entirely made and managed in Scotland.
Both Plan a and Plan B allow that the British political elite somehow has not only the rightful authority to prohibit the full and proper exercise of our sovereignty but the 'right' to be involved in and largely control the process by which the people of Scotland choose the form of government which best serves our needs, priorities and aspirations.
Plan B is, at best, a half-measure. It is exciting and appealing only because it stands in contrast to a Plan A which in a desert analogy now stretched well beyond its safe operating limits would be the equivalent of drinking our own urine. Plan A is bad. Plan B is merely a bit less bad.
Oversight of broadcasting is a signifier of the nationhood that the British are determined to deny to Scotland.
OK! It could be that the previous reluctance to allow this debate was down to a certain excess of zeal on the part of certain officials. It may be that they were a bit over-protective of the party line. It could be that, chastened by criticism of their behaviour, these individuals have relented in a bid to put matters right. That is possible. Isn't it?
The people decide! The people considering Plan B must first decide who is referred to by the "self-" in "self-determination".
If Plan A can work, then why are its proponents completely unable to explain how it will work? If the Section 30 process is a viable route to independence then it should be possible to describe each step in that process. Those steps should individually be credible and in aggregate lead to a free and … Continue reading The viability test
Why ask if 'Plan B' might be a panacea anyway? Has anybody claimed that it might have the power to cure all ills? Come to that, has anybody claimed that it might be the "solution to all our indy woes"? Or that it could "break the constitutional stand off and get us swiftly and easily to independence"? Who has described 'Plan B' in such terms? When? Where?
To even allow the legitimacy of the Section 30 process is to compromise the sovereignty of Scotland's people. As one of those people I do not accept this. I do not consent to it. I will not tolerate it.
Peter A Bell 