I didn’t watch the debate last night on STV but the Daily Record are calling the result now by the looks of things and the unionist parties have all but given up on actually trying to win the election. This is both dangerous for our democracy, think about the years and years of Scottish Labour and the Tories, and means that Scotland faces years and years of more devolution.
As was highlighted on Wings Over Scotland last night the SNP are starting to send out their election leaflets and the elephant in the room is not mentioned anywhere, independence. I tweeted yesterday that independence is now a dirty word for the SNP and only to be deployed in extreme circumstances. I have had leaflets from the Tories so far and they can’t stop talking about independence, of course they want to stop it, but at least they are talking about it unlike the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon. I blogged in February asking Is it time to think the unthinkable? I am pretty much at that point now if it means we actually get a party in the future that will fight for independence.
Mandy Rhodes tweeted last night (sorry for the poor pic) “Nicola Sturgeon scoffing at idea that she could persuade Boris Johnson to give Scotland the powers to be able to deliver UBI and yet believes she could get him to agree to a Section 30 order” , that tweet sums up Nicola Sturgeon for me exactly and her deceit in this election. She responds to a point that she would never be able to persuade Boris Johnson to allow Scotland to deliver Universal Basic Income but she does a Section 30 Order to hold another referendum on independence, Nicola Sturgeon is taking all of us for mugs in this election and I am at the point now where I don’t care if the SNP win or not because I really believe that Nicola Sturgeon has no intention of delivering independence and maybe it is time to take a step back to take five forward. I never thought I would ever be writing this and I know it goes against what Alba are saying, what the main bloggers are saying, but the thought of 5 years of more of the same to be asked for another mandate in 2024 and 2026 is just too much to bear now. Maybe a reminder of what unionism in Scotland means, while a real party of independence get a foothold (Alba or ISP) is what Scotland deserves right now.
I know I will get a lot of grief for this post but I am just throwing the idea out there, I am not telling anyone how to vote I am just expressing the fear that I have that I am being taken for the biggest mug ever, that we all are. Last night I did see some of the tweets on social media from the SNP and things Nicola Sturgeon said:
“In asking you to re-elect me, I promise you this – strong leadership to steer Scotland through the pandemic & a policy programme to kickstart our recovery.”
“I’m asking you to re-elect me as First Minister so I can steer us back to better times. And then get on with the serious job of rebuilding our economy and recovering our NHS.”
“And, yes, when the crisis has passed, offering you the choice of independence.
“It’s about getting through the crisis, first and foremost. That is my priority when I wake up in the morning. It’s my priority when I go to bed at night.
Now in fairness Sturgeon did mention independence a couple of times “If, at this election, Scotland returns a majority of MSPs who support, after the pandemic, Scotland having the right to choose independence in a referendum…” You see that is the problem, after the pandemic, when the crisis has passed, all words designed to kick independence into the long grass and perpetual devolution. I am now resigned to the fact that I will have to accept more devolution for the medium to long term, what I think that will do is encourage people to start to look very closely at the SNP record in Government and some may not like what they find out with this SNP Government.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
There’s at least 50% of us who want independence. As much as I despise the New SNP, I want them back into power so they can be asked by a strong Alba contingent what they’re actually doing about it on a weekly basis so that the 50%+ can then see them for what they are. There’ll always be the totally deluded of course that’d look the other way if St Nicola set fire to a blind man’s wooden leg and booted his guide dug.
Come the next WM election it’ll be glaringly obvious to everyone what they’ve become. First step – get as many Alba MSPs in as possible so we’re not trying to rebuild the indy movement completely from scratch outside Holyrood.
David
I don’t disagree at all with what you are saying, Alba are the key to holding Sturgeon to account when the SNP win the election but I do really think we are being taken for mugs and need to consider the longer game now. They are the devolution party and they are playing the 2016 election card again knowing that they risk SNP voters not turning out but just enough to keep them in power is how I feel now to be honest. I really believe that Sturgeon is a real barrier to independence now, maybe even a bigger barrier than the unionists in so many ways. The unionists aren’t even trying to win this election, what do they know that we don’t.
Thanks for commenting. Bruce
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Agreed, we’re now looking at the longer game, as ridiculous as that sounds. We need to be inside the tent when doing it though. All we can hope for is that people will gradually see this phoney charlatan for what she is.
The other big problem of course is: who in the SNP would you trust to take over? Not exactly a teeming talent pool is it? All I see are NS clones programmed to tweet/spout “unrepentant Alex” on a daily basis, forgetting of course that he’s the main reason any of them have jobs/pensions/expense accounts in the first place. None of them have any guts. The SNP are finished. They’re too infested now. There comes a time where it’s easier just to burn the house down than keep getting pest control in.
David
Alba or an alternative is the long game and I agree with you I also think the SNP are over in the medium to longer term if they don’t find a way to change course and get rid of Sturgeon and those around her but we need a wake up call and maybe a taste of unionist Government at Holyrood is the kick up the arse that Scotland now needs. It would be shit in every way but it is anyway and it would clear the decks, I am not saying I want that I am just putting that idea of there because I really don’t know what will wake up the Nicola Sturgeon cult anymore, even her going might not be enough to get people to wake up in Scotland. I am determined to fight for independence but I am totally scunnered how we get there now as things stand.
Thanks for commenting and sharing your thoughts on this one. Bruce
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I had noticed how easy all these leaders get on, even to the point of praising each other’s on policy. In the space of a week Sturgeon has went from within two years to now some thing entirely different, on the time frame for a referendum. If the Scottish government or should I say its leader was genuine about Independence, they wouldn’t be seeking to ask again for another section 30 order, you’d except like the Alba Party has, they’d assume that the UK participation in any referendum will be the legal route. I wouldn’t trust Nicola Sturgeon as far as I can throw her and the people in her inner circle who don’t question her motives on SNP policy, democracy or anything else. Lets go back 300yrs and those that sold Scotland to England, times were different then, what is the excuse in today’s society, well there’s none. But this is what the SNP are doing keeping Scotland and securing it never gets a vote to leave, while allowing a foreign country to have the final say, this is out right undemocratic and Sturgeon knows this. The woman is rubbing our face in the mud by saying, I’ll let the electorate decide, when she knows she’s given that right to Boris Johnson, and she is happy for it to stay there. For those who say they support Independence and can’t see the mucky water that Sturgeon is dragging us through, deserve all you get, but wait a minute, because of your complete blindness to the simple fact is condemning Scotland to the same fate. Waken up and lets vote Sturgeon out of office before its too late. Sturgeon is shit scared of there being another referendum, she happy to keep blaming Westminster for refusing a section 30 order and all of Scotland problems.
100%YES
I wish I had some answers but I don’t, but I know I am being played that is for sure. I actually don’t mind parties finding common ground on policy if it is the right policy but Sturgeon is being dishonest, first it was 2023, then it was 2024, now it is in the next parliament with no clue as to how she expects that to happen but if the effects of the pandemic aren’t over then it won’t happen. The effects of the pandemic will never be over because the UK is an economic basket case, I won’t give up on independence I just have no idea how we get there when there are no parties willing to get down and dirty and actually go for it. I can accept a no vote if you ask the bloody question in the first place but she is showing no sign of wanting to even ask the question.
Thanks for commenting. Bruce
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Scotland does not need to ask for a referendum its an excuse from the SNP to deny us our right to be Independent
100%YES
That is a very fair point indeed, are we are country or not?
Thanks for that. Bruce
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I feel your pain.
The expression “more of the same” jumped out at me, for yesterday I wrote a blog with that very title. It made me feel better writing it. Perhaps it will raise your spirits.
https://duncanspence.blog/2021/04/14/more-of-the-same/
Duncan
Will check out the blog thanks. Yeah it’s all a bit flat, I have been looking at pledges and will blog about that today at some point but the election so far has been totally uninspiring.
Thanks for commenting. Bruce
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