Validation, and I take no pleasure from it – Robin McAlpine hits the nail on the head while validating many in new media. I first blogged about my concerns regarding the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon in March 2015 when she introduced all-women shortlists when she shifted the power to make this decision to the NEC from the membership. I was still a member at that point and expressed my concerns to many in the party, but I got no reply. I then resigned from the party in May 2015 once the other changes, the Murrell/Sturgeon power grab by virtually removing all power from the members became clear. I was slated by local members in the street, online, and by email. I was told I was full of shit because Sturgeon would do what Salmond couldn’t, I was a misogynist, and I was a unionist because my politics were socially liberal in nature, as they remain today.
Not just a legacy of failure but of anger, disappointment, and pain – this is what Sturgeon and Murrell leave in their wake since stealing control of the SNP from the members, with the help of Mike Russell, Angus Robertson, Stewart Hosie, Alyn Smith, Pension Pete Wishart, Shona Robertson etc. Let’s never ever forget their role in this state of affairs. They took the hopes and dreams of 1,617, 989 people who voted yes and shat all over them, all to feather their own nest and hide their incompetence, fear, ego, stupidity, unionism, and let’s be honest cruelty.
You can feel the pain, the disappointment, the anger, and the betrayal in the tweets above, you can feel that legacy of failure. I share some of those feelings, that I will not see independence in my lifetime, that I will not live in a country but die, I hope of old age, but sadly in a colony of what is basically England, let’s not deny that, it is what it is. In 2014 Sturgeon said in her leadership acceptance speech
“We are better too because of the referendum campaign.
Our country is alive, engaged, restless for the next stage of our journey.
1.6 million Yes votes for independence is an achievement our forebears could only dream of.
But it becomes our base camp and from here the summit is in sight.
The challenge is great, but our determination is even greater.
Because the prize is prosperity, equality, opportunity.
The prize is independence.
Friends,
I am ready to lead us on that journey.
I ask you to come with me and, together, let us make it happen.
Betrayal – That was what we got, Sturgeon, Murrell, and the grifters, all betrayed the golden thread of opportunity that Alex Salmond left, the common ground that had been developed within a very diverse movement, the riches of a vast movement, the hopes and dreams of 1.6 million people.
Calton Jock is right in Dundee City, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire, the yes cities and areas. Poor parts of Scotland, working class and poverty-ridden Scotland, all put their faith and hopes into the SNP, what did they get, they got betrayed by the cowards who voted no, by the middle classes in too many cases who voted for themselves with little thought to what was best for Scotland, and Sturgeon divided the country rather than bring it together with poor governance, poor policy choices, mismanagement, incompetent sycophants, hidden unionism, and an ego that touches on insanity.
Tarnished success – Holyrood has had some success across some parties, free personal care at the point of need, minimum pricing on alcohol, a smoking ban in public places, the Forth Crossing, Scottish Child Payment, water remaining in public hands, free prescriptions at the point of need, but the failures have tarnished that. GRR, the Ferries, the Court Cases, the attempted jailing of Alex Salmond, education in the main, health in the main, the economy, local government funding, land reform, energy company, child and pensioner poverty, drug deaths, and the big one INDEPENDENCE.
As we get closer to seeing the back of Sturgeon as First Minister, and hopefully as an MSP soon as well, my lasting memories will be of betrayal, incompetence, hate, of spite, ego, and of failure. It is not too late to save the SNP, we do need them, and they need us, let’s hope that the clearout continues, and while I have no faith in Yousaf, and little in Forbes, I still have faith in the yes movement.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female.
The phoney war to get our independence is over ,now the real struggle begins. At least one thing that has come out of this is Ash Regan. We have a possible future leader here. Sturgeons legacy and her attempt to rewrite history must not be allowed to happen the reinvention of her reign is pathetic gaslighting and mindbending. We must call her out for the Traitor she is.
Alastair
I think history will judge Sturgeon harshly, and I look forward to the many people who will say they never trusted her blah blah blah while they sang her praises and kissed her ass, just like the no voters who said they voted yes. Her legacy is failure all the way, I won’t forget what she did anytime soon that is for sure. It’s not just the damage she has done to the independence cause but also to the parliament and the faith that people have in it. She really has been the biggest disaster since colonial devolution started in 1999. I agree that Ash Regan has to be given a role in the independence movement, and in the government if Forbes has any sense if she is the one who wins. I don’t know much about her but she has been from what I have read a breath of fresh air.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce