I love the Prism show with Roddy, Yvonne, Eva, and Phil. If you don’t watch it, then you should, it is discussion of the highest level. Where I disagree with this week’s show, where I have started to disagree with even my own blog, and many other blogs, is why do we all keep asking the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, and the rest to do what they were elected to do? Why do we keep asking them to get the finger out? Why do we keep reminding them of the many mandates?
How many more false starts? How many more false dawns? The reality is the SNP are not going to do all that much in relation to independence any time soon, if at all. The Court case is just a fopp to the movement, the shockingly bad papers that have come out the more I read them the more I can see that they are not the answer to the questions that many people have. But it is more than that, we cannot trust the SNP anymore, we just can’t. There is no point in asking them to get the finger out, there is no point in pleading with Nicola Sturgeon to make the call to action, not even up the hill and back down again. Sturgeon has a different agenda, what else can it be? She has embraced corporate lobbyists Charlotte Street Partners and the Growth Commission, either would make a Tory proud. Sturgeon plans on keeping the pound, economist Laurie Macfarlane has written, “Scots would have less sovereignty than they do now. Forget any strategic reorientation of the economy based on investment and the likes of a Green New Deal without a central bank; wealth would instead be extracted from Scotland and re-concentrated in the City of London”.
What links us is independence, there is a cast iron mandate, there are lots of them aren’t there, for independence. The contradictions within the SNP like neo-liberal economic policy and some left of centre policy aren’t the contradictions of a progressive party, it is a fraud writ large for me now. It keeps the discussion going in the yes community, but it is not so different from what the union is right now so why would a soft no voter vote for independence, is that the Sturgeon game? Enough carrots to convince the yes community she is allegedly serious but also enough to not convince enough people but hey “I tried”. Is it about staying in power at all costs? Staying in power to promote your political vision and agenda fine, but it is that? If so, why not be honest about it? Can’t be fear of Scottish Labour making a resurgence.
The SNP’s commanding lead in the polls however does not reflect any real ability to do what it takes to win independence in the face of Tory obduracy, or to deliver on the issues which Scottish workers look to independence to resolve. (Paul Moorhouse, Socialist Alternative)
Sturgeon has failed on education, she has failed on Covid-19, she has failed on health, she has failed on jobs, she has failed on the green economy which provided a giveaway re 1970’s like oil and gas. It is clear for anyone to see that Sturgeon offers no opposition to the rampant capitalism that needs reform, she embraces it. The mantra from the SNP and Sturgeon, right out of the Scottish Labour playbook, vote SNP we are not as bad as the Tories, the strategy that will free Scotland and return its sovereignty, I don’t think so.
SNP members have no power, the SNP National Executive Committee is controlled by Sturgeon, her unionist friends, and her gender warriors to the extent that suspension, as Yours for Scotland highlighted today, is used to keep those members who actually want independence out. So, there isn’t any point looking to SNP members to bring about change, they have no power, or very little, power to do that. The result then is that nothing is going to change as long as Nicola Sturgeon and her ilk are in control of the SNP, so it brings us back to the original question, why do we keep looking to the SNP for independence?
I don’t have any answers, I wish I did other than I can’t be bothered asking them to do anything anymore. I have had enough of the poor governance, the grand standing, the photo ops, the single-issue bandwagon of Nicola Sturgeon, the platitude after platitude of Ian Blackford, I’ve even had enough of the sniping, yet do nothing, from the side lines of Joanna Cherry and Angus MacNeil.
Maybe it is time we just don’t ask the SNP to do anything anymore, maybe if we remove the platform that we give them via new media and our blogs, via the Prism, maybe if we start to treat them like Scottish Labour the message will be clear, you no longer represent us, you no longer matter. Maybe it is time to cut the cord and move on, I think that is what I have to try to do now, treat the SNP, and their members, no different than I would treat any other unionist party. The SNP of 2014 doesn’t exist anymore, I think maybe the time has come to ignore them, ignore Sturgeon.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
I agree with lots of what you say Grumpy.
However, I have an answer to your question “why do we keep looking to the SNP for independence?”
Because they have the power as Scottish Government, the majority of votes and, crucially, most (although perhaps a diminishing number of) Independence supporters still believe in their not-so-secret non-plan.
Perhaps an obvious answer. But it is the reality.
So, we need to hold them to account. Remind the party leadership, their members and the Independence voters of the remit of the ‘party of Independence’. Hold them to that commitment. Point out the flows in their various 11-point plans, now 3-pronged plan. Show up the inconsistencies and contradictions.
Make the SNP own the mandate that they asked for and have received on numerous occasions on various different electoral tests since 2014. Make them own the ‘strategy’ they have laid out. And when that plan fails, or is abandoned, make them own that defeat. For it will be theirs.
In other words, do exactly what the likes of yourself, Iain Lawson, Roddy MacLeod, Peter A Bell and Stuart Campbell have been doing these past number of years.
It’s a hard slog. A thankless task.
But keep it up – you’re doing a brilliant job!
Duncanio
I am just convinced now that they are not serious, not really serious about independence. They have settled for at best a gradualist approach, Sturgeon for me is playing the game to get herself sorted out and I really just can’t be bothered with them any longer. Their strategy, or lack of an urgent one, is going to allow the unionists back in via apathy. If that were to happen, then it is over for us for certainly our lifetimes, and we just can’t afford that as our country is being asset stripped before our very eyes. The members in the SNP have zero power to bring about change and that makes life even more difficult. We have tried everything under the sun, maybe just ignoring them would work, make them believe we have moved on and they are no longer part of that journey. I just really don’t believe they will deliver anymore so while I will hold their crap governance to account, I am not asking them for anything when it comes to independence any longer.
Thanks for commenting as always and sharing your insights.
Bruce
Aye GSM, “vote SNP we are not as bad as the Tories”. We can all see the road Sturgeons *both votes SNP*has denied the opportunity of a Holyrood administration with a substantial majority of pro Independence mandated MSPs.
Sturgeon has pledged her allegiance to her King but not her country and her contempt for Scotland’s right to Independence is there for all to witness.
Sturgeons treachery has yet to catch up with her, ultimately we the people will determine her fate and that of her lickspittle adherents.
Robert
I hope so I really do. I certainly feel betrayed as a yes supporter. I feel played now, have done for a long time. I just don’t feel that there is any purpose in demanding they act any longer because they have shown they won’t. Either they are extreme gradualists or don’t want independence only power at all costs. I didn’t vote for them in the last elections, even though a member of Alba I didn’t agree with the strategy put forward by Alex Salmond to support them, but I am no longer going to ask them in the blog to do anything about independence. I will hold their crap governance to account as best I can but that is as far as I will go now, I will treat them like I do the other unionists.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Exactly. Same old round and round. The case for independence needs to be expanded to include what would happen if Scotland did become independent. Only going on about the pointlessness of relying on the SNP to achieve independence is missing at least two critical questions that also need to be highlighted and addressed.
Could the SNP successfully negotiate the terms of independence with Westminster? Blackford, Wishart, Sturgeon, Smith etc!
Would the SNP be able to successfully be the first government of an independent Scotland? Blackford,Wishart, Sturgeon, Smith etc!
Getting independence is one thing, but effectively managing it would be where the real work would be. I see no preparation, capability or will within the SNP to do any of the above. If that is likely to be widely seen as the case, what then? Change the SNP back to what it was under Salmond, or accept the SNP are a dead end and support those thought capable of actually being a government of an independent Scotland?
It’s wishful thinking to focus only on achieving independence without including what happens afterwards. The full requirements of independence are how those that could lead to independence need to be judged. The SNP have already fallen at the first hurdle, that of being capable of achieving independence (or even increasing support for independence during their time in power since 2014). So it’ll have to be others then.
Without the existence of Alba, independence probably wouldn’t even still be being discussed much. Considering what Alba are up against, they’ve made a good start. As for the questions above and asking them of Alba rather than the SNP, from what I’ve seen and heard, it seems that they do meet the criteria to not just achieve independence, but to make a clear success of it. The SNP’s power only exists because too many people think that there isn’t any alternative to them. There is, but not enough is widely known about the SNP’s failings (and lack of achievements since 2015) and what Alba offer instead (ironically, this is what the SNP would be offering now had Salmond not stood down or had been replaced with someone with a similar view of independence).
But enough of ‘the SNP need to’ stuff please. That horse is well and truly dead and banging on about them only keeps their name in people’s minds when it’s another party that offers the only hope for independence in all that that requires. Time to move on.
Ian
I agree with you about Alba, I am a founding member and don’t agree with some of the parties’ approach, but they are our last hope on the political side and when Sturgeon fails to deliver next year, I do hope the sheeple will realise that the so-called plebiscite has been set up to fail and they need to shift votes. Giving the SNP yet another mandate just cannot be an option for myself any longer in any shape or form, they have done nothing to deserve it, their incompetence in government is as poor as anything Labour ever did. I also just will not be asking them to do anything around independence any longer in the blog, yes, I will hold their governance to account as best I can but that is it for me now. They need to know that they are no longer part of certainly my journey, but I do hope that some others would feel the same. You are also spot on when you ask if we can trust them to negotiate independence if we ever get there, the answer is no given what we know of them now. They are good at listing their achievements, all were under Salmond whom they wrote out of their history shamefully. You are correct, it is time to move on before it is too late.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
It is certainly about keeping the party in power for as long as possible, grumpy, but I’m not so sure that it is about keeping NS in power forever and. day. I think she has her eye on another career after this one, so the social policy must reflect that wider world view: neoliberalism, unfettered capitalism, militaristic stance, etc. Yes, you are right: just like the Union we already thole. Both the private and public sectors are crying out for those who can be reimagined as anything at all, with big, fat salaries to match the level of collaboration expected. You don’t have to be any good at anything in particular, just as long as folk know who you are and the buyers know you can be trusted to betray anything and everything, anyone and everyone. Self is all.
Lorncal
I just cannot be bothered with them anymore; their level of governance is as bad as Labour ever produced with the same level of nepotism. I am at the point now, and as Ian commented, it is time to move on from the SNP. Time to make it clear they are no longer part of certainly my journey. I will hold their governance to account as best I can in the blog, but I am done asking them to do anything about independence. People need to grasp another political vehicle to achieve the political aims, be that Alba / ISP or a coalition but it is not the SNP any longer that is for sure.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
I suggested that had Salmond remained as leader of the SNP that they would be doing what Alba are doing now. I didn’t mean that literally since had Salmond remained as the leader of the SNP, Scotland would by now either be independent or well on it’s way to becoming so. I meant it in terms of under current circumstances how Alba would differ from the SNP.
A key point that also isn’t being made often enough is that of having a track record of success, something that becomes very illuminating when comparing Sturgeon’s SNP against Salmond’s SNP. It’s very noticeable that so many of the big SNP achievements were made under Salmond’s leadership – prescriptions, tuition fees, etc. Even the extent to which Salmond increased support for independence stands in stark comparison with the stagnation of support since Sturgeon took over, more so given the astounding events that have happened in the UK since 2015. That support for independence has remaining static since Sturgeon took over, and while Westminster has been self-destructing is a damning highlight of Sturgeons ‘leadership’.
Many of the SNP’s big achievements were delivered or started under Salmond’s leadership, yet Sturgeon’s SNP are keen (desperate?) to claim the credit for them while ignoring who actually was responsible for them. So in terms of having a track record of achievement, Salmond is miles ahead of Sturgeon, something that bodes well for Alba and badly for the SNP, especially if who is responsible for the ‘SNP’s’ achievements becomes more generally known about. Trying to take the credit for things that were done by someone else won’t be a good look for Sturgeons SNP (nor will trying to hide this fact) when it becomes widely known about.
Alba may be a new party and therefore seen as inexperienced by some, but when looking at the leaders of Alba and the SNP, the very important matter of who has solid experience of achievements, Alba is led by the person with clearly the better track record of success. Years as the main party or as its leader are nowhere near as important as achievements while in office. The SNP of 2014 no longer exists, although to large extent it has been replaced by Alba, yet the SNP continue to depend of using the successes of someone else’s leadership as their main claim for support.
https://www.snp.org/record/
It would be interesting to have each ‘SNP’ achievement have the date included as well, and then have a poll to see which one’s people think have been the most important. My bet would be they’d mainly be pre-2015. In which case why support a party led by a leader with no big achievements to her name when you can vote for one with a leader with a very strong track record of big achievements.
Ian
The problem with Alex Salmond now is that the establishment, helped by Sturgeon, did enough of a job on him to ruin his career and sow a lot of hate and doubt. I really hope that he will have his day and the truth will come out, history certainly should be allowed to judge what role Sturgeon played in this betrayal of independence and the destruction of the one man who may well have led Scotland to independence, or at the very least further on the journey than where are now which is only due to the yes vote holding steady and people believing their is no alternative political vehicle. Alba/ISP are the future as far as I can see and I hope people wake up soon to that fact.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
An interesting post. I agree with treating them like Labour. They are the enemy of the independence movement. However, I’m not so sure about ignoring them.
Unfortunately, there are a million people in Scotland who vote for them, most still believing they will deliver independence ‘at the right time’, via Sturgeon’s ‘secret plan’. These people need to be told about all the anti-Scottish stuff they do and all the pro-Scottish stuff they don’t do. Some will eventually listen.
The only action I could suggest would be mass resignations, but I can’t see that happening. Demonstrations and marches are so poorly reported that very few people find out about them except the already converted.
AW
It is not an easy one that is for sure. Ignoring them, letting them know that they are no longer part of the journey is maybe all we have left. I am not asking them for anything again when it comes to independence, I will try to hold their crap governance to account in the blog as best I can but that is it. They are not serious enough about independence, the members have no power, and it would appear even less insight and knowledge. Enough is enough for me now, we need to be ready to move on. I know many are saying there will be no general election until 24 but given how bad things are in the UK, I would not be so sure about that, and I will rot in hell before I give Sturgeon another mandate, that is not happening, and people need to think very carefully about continuing to vote SNP. People need to look at ISP / Alba as the alternative political vehicle to achieve our aims.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce