Stewart McDonald is correct when he says "A de facto referendum will not bring about Scottish independence.". Unfortunately, neither will the Section 30 referendum that he commends. The reason being the very "power imbalance" that he identifies. Quite why he imagines the British state might give its willing and honest cooperation to a process intended … Continue reading Not even close
Shona Robison portrays Alister Jack's intervention as if it was an outrage. The reality, of course, is that Jack has acted entirely within the law. So, it is not Jack's intervention that is outrageous but the law which permits it. Under Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998, the Secretary of State for Scotland needs … Continue reading What are you prepared to do?
The Sunday Times today gleefully reports that "support for the SNP, for Nicola Sturgeon and for Scottish independence has fallen sharply as the party’s crisis over transgender rights deepens" (£). A single poll doesn't tell us much, of course. But there are occasions when a sharp change in polling is so closely associated with a … Continue reading The Sturgeon effect
If Neale Hanvey thinks that demanding a Section 30 order is a way to "assert Scotland’s right to determine its own future" then I can only say that he urgently needs to revise his thinking. He needs to have a serious talk with somebody about sovereignty and what it means. How the hell is asking … Continue reading That ‘special’ sovereignty
https://videopress.com/v/gu2HJFiN?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Video courtesy of Mike Fenwick and Indylive Scotland's cause is not about what currency we use, or how our pensions are paid or whether we will be a few pounds richer or poorer. It is about how we think of ourselves, our communities and our nation.It is about whether we see ourselves as being … Continue reading Dissent – Bute House, Wednesday 25 January 2023
It sometimes happens that people get so involved with disputing the relative merits of different ways of doing something that the omit to ask whether the thing should be done at all. A case in point is the argument about whether a Westminster or Holyrood election should be used as a de facto referendum. Actually, … Continue reading Bad ideas and worse ideas
I expect we are all familiar with online trolls. For those who may not be, a troll in the context of social media, below-the-line comments etc. is a person who intentionally antagonizes others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content. Most of us have developed strategies for dealing with the … Continue reading Beware of the trolls!
Our focus, I think, rightly needs to be on holding the UK Government to account and promoting the brilliant work of the Scottish Government where possible, but making that case for Scottish independence. Now walking out of the chamber on a weekly basis will not achieve any of those aims. It just means there's going … Continue reading Nothing to lose?
I begin to suspect that Gerry Hassan doesn't want to talk about process because that is the difficult bit. Any fool can talk about policy. We regularly elect scores of such fools. Anyone with a bit of imagination can speak of their 'vision' of Scotland with independence restored. But without a process by which independence … Continue reading Don’t mention the process!
I confess my heart leapt just a little when I read the headline in The National announcing an 'SNP bid to amend Scotland Act to allow Holyrood to hold indyref2'. Could this possibly be the kind of bold, decisive action some of us have been urging on the SNP/Scottish Government for several years? Was the … Continue reading Bolder! But wiser?
Peter A Bell 