Looking at the polling for the SNP leadership election in The National, two thoughts immediately occur to me. The first is that there is clearly no unifying candidate. There is no candidate who, should they win, wouldn't be unpopular with almost as many people as favour them. What that graphic shows is pretty much the … Continue reading The poisoned chalice
Just for the record I have spoken to Nicola Sturgeon only three times in the last 20 years, have received no payment for “services rendered” yet stubbornly stand by the fact that she is a brilliant communicator who has been much less successful with strategy – on independence, land reform, centralisation, involving members via party conference … Continue reading The repair job
Kevin McKenna has done two things with his column in The National today. He has given a depressingly accurate analysis of the SNP's present dire condition and how it came to be in such a mess. And he has drawn out comments which demonstrate just how deluded the party's apologists are. Their 'argument' might be … Continue reading Death to truth!
There is always a price to pay. Forget that, and the price can get very steep indeed. The SNP leadership and senior management came to consider themselves immune from scrutiny because for several years they were not subject to any meaningful scrutiny. Anyone who suggested more rigorous scrutiny was shouted down as a traitor not … Continue reading A failure of scrutiny
Let me make it clear from the outset that I support Ash Regan's bid to become leader of the Scottish National Party and thence First Minister of Scotland. I have to clarify this because some of what I am about to say may be taken by some as an attempt to undermine her campaign. That … Continue reading Shoogly pillars
Tommy Sheridan makes a powerful point, which The National and most commenting on the report seem to have missed. This isn't about him personally joining the SNP if Ash Regan becomes leader. It is about the fact that Ash being leader will make the SNP once again the party of independence and so make it … Continue reading The healing properties of Ash
I have a question for all the candidates in the SNP leadership contest. How Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf respond to this question will give a clear indication of the strength of their commitment to the restoration of Scotland's independence. I do not, of course, expect any of them to respond directly to … Continue reading A question for the candidates
It is no secret that I deplore the Section 30 process. That is to say, the process by which the First Minister of Scotland, acting on behalf of the sovereign people of Scotland, petitions the British Prime Minister to grant conditional consent that the sovereign people of Scotland exercise their inalienable right to determine the … Continue reading We can be heroes!
Two things strike me as perplexing about the question splashed across the front page of The National today. The first is that "how do we win the No voters over to Yes?" is still being asked in March 2023. The second is that in March 2023 the SNP still has no clear or persuasive answer … Continue reading A want of daring
It is gratifying to hear Robbie Mochrie acknowledge that making an economic case for independence is pointless. Restoring Scotland's independence is indeed a purely political project. More precisely, a constitutional project. There can be no economic case against independence. Inadequacy of political, economic, social or educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying … Continue reading It’s the constitution, stupid!
Peter A Bell 