I share this piece below from August 2015. It was a reasonable scenario and given what has transpired since I feel this would have been a very viable option for independence .
Instead ,the SNP have frittered away any advantageous situations that have presented themselves since, on the basis that in the run up to each election, they have made the case that these elections were not about independence . This begs the question , what are the SNP there for?.
The decline in the fortunes of the SNP is directly attributable to their blinkered approach to their main propose in life which is independence. It does not say anything in their constitution about governing Scotland.
Now ,I fear they are about to get themselves further into the morass by once again misinterpreting the reasons for their continued demise.
I feel they have wrongly convinced themselves that the reason they did so badly in the General Election was because there was so much talk about another referendum and they have once again fallen into the unionist trap by giving this theory credence as the only people speaking about another referendum was the unionists and their press.
No, the reason why they did so badly was exactly the opposite of this . It was because they were seen as neglecting independence. Now I feel they are about to make another very big mistake and change policies to give a more left wing leaning, and the reason for this is to emulate the success that Jeremy Corbin had at the general election.
There are a couple of reasons why this is wrong., Jeremy Corbin did well because he nailed his colours to the mast and people related to this perceived honesty ( he was not quite so honest about his position on the EU) Now ,in Scotland people had the choice of either reverting back to their natural loyalties or continuing to support the SNP as the party of independence on the basis that once independence is attained they could then go to whatever party they wished but within an independent Scotland . Now the SNP have since the independence referendum constantly shot themselves in the foot by sweeping the independence question under the carpet and making it plain that each election was not about independence. Therefore the people, faced by the choice of their natural choice of party or no movement towards independence they took the logical choice and went with their hearts.
The SNP have constantly made the mistake of attempting to “govern for all” which is impossible. You can “consider all ” but never govern for all. You govern according to the constitution of the party and the manifesto you ran the election on.
I honestly believe that the way in which the SNP govern the country is very much secondary to the fact they are the party of independence and it is about time they realised this. They have been lent peoples votes on that basis and not because of their ability to govern. People are becoming disillusioned because the SNP constantly tell people that elections are not about independence.
One last thing , the SNP will make a very big mistake if they think moving to the left will increase their popularity. It wont and it will if anything disrupt the balance that was present during the independence campaign when we all came together , both left and right to campaign , march and parade in a common cause.
The SNP really need to think about their propose in life or they will all but disappear altogether and with them the cause of independence.
Bob Costello via The Scottish Independent August 1st 2015
13 hrs
I think the SNP should seriously consider this scenario for independence, by a simple democratic vote. I see the opportunity we have next May as the perfect storm and cannot see such an advantages set of circumstances presenting themselves for a long, long time.
This is our Journey.
GRASP THE NETTLE
Last weekend, Alex Salmond made a very profound statement when he said that
another referendum on Scottish independence was inevitable. I think you
would be pushed to find anyone in Scotland who would not agree with that
statement in its purest sense. What he did not say was when he thought that
this second referendum would come about and he was equally reticent as to
how, it would come about. Now there has been much discussion regarding the
exact set of circumstances that would lead to a second referendum.
Now Nicola Sturgeon, has in the past referred to an exceptional
circumstance, such as the UK being taken out of the EU although Scotland
actually votes to remain a member. There have been other scenarios such as
the Vow not being adhered to in its entirety, or EVEL (English Votes for
English Laws) being implemented without any reference to the will of the
Scottish people. In fact the Tort Party seem to be intent on pushing this
change in the law through parliament by way of a standing order, which in
itself could bring on a set of unintended circumstances to the unwritten
constitution of the United Kingdom.
OK let’s take these situations one at a time. First, the famous Vow and if
we are painfully truthful with ourselves, there was never an official Vow.
What there was, was a blind panic one week before the referendum when the
opinion polls went into positive territory in favour of independence and the
leaders and their cohorts rushed up to Scotland to promise us a land of Milk
and Honey. So blind was their panic that Prime Minister’s questions was
suspended in Westminster.
All three leaders and their chancellors and shadow numbers gave their own
views on how much they loved Scotland and how better off we would be if we
just voted no and remained their very best pals on the surface of this
planet. At which point the Daily Record in a desperate attempt to stem the
ebbing tide of yes campaigners from the readership of their paper cobbled
together the front page spread of the famous Vow, made up of snippets of
speeches that the three leaders made in the week before the referendum. Yes
they all said these things but there was never an official piece of paper
containing the Vow and there was never any signatures on this fictitious
piece of paper.
So the non-keeping of the vow is not really an exceptional circumstance
because it never in all honesty existed. There were however a lot of
promises which have not a hope in hell of being kept and as far as the
platitudes made in the heat of abject panic are concerned, well it is plain
to see now that not only were these leaders stretching the truth but it has
been made abundantly clear that we are not in any way welcome as equal
partners in this “united Kingdom”
The exit from the EU could I suppose be held as an exceptional circumstance
and I equally suppose that the barring of Scotland’s MP’s from participating
in parliamentary procedures , not only could be held as an exceptional
circumstance but could actually contravene and in effect nullify the 1707 Act
Of Union.
I would however put the case that it is all far less complicated than that and
here is why.
The SNP has as its reason for existing, independence, that is its function in
life and I cannot think that there is any one in Scotland who does not know
that. I do not believe that there is any one in any of the UK political
parties who do not know that.
In the run up to the general Election the SNP produced a manifesto which
under the heading of Delivering Home rule for Scotland, the SNP manifesto
stated “The SNP will always support independence”. It went on to state that
independence was not what this election was about. However the point was
very clearly made and on that basis the Scottish people by a gigantic
majority elected 56 out of a possible 59 MP’s to represent Scottish
interests in Westminster.
OK so that brings me to the nub of my reasoning. We have an independence
party with a gigantic majority of Scottish MP; s in the UK parliament. We
have a Scottish devolved government in a majority position in Holyrood. We
have in the SNP by far the largest party membership in Scotland and in fact
the third largest in the UK. This party membership has increased by
something like 80,000 since the 19th September last year and you can bet
that every single one of them is there because they see it as being the
quickest way to independence.
The Tory Government is extremely unpopular with ever increasing welfare
reforms and austerity, backed by a labour party that is completely and
utterly out of touch with the people who once would have voted for them and
the branch party in Scotland has all but completely collapsed and is
basically insignificant and derisory in the eyes of the majority of Scottish
people.
This is the perfect storm. We go for the Scottish elections in 2016 on a
platform of independence. There could never again be a Tory, Labour, Lib Dem
alliance to deprive the Scottish people of independence and the Scottish
people would have a clear choice independence or being governed by a labour
party who are seen as a bad joke and utterly dis-jointed and untrustworthy.
This has to be the best set of circumstances to attain our independence, we
must grasp the nettle. The SNP must not let this chance go, they must not
let us down. The campaign should start now, the people are ready for it. I
believe the Yes city is ready. Alex Salmond said, the day after the
referendum “You have not seen the last of my bonnets and me” and from the
same song, I would say “come saddle my horses and call out my men, come doon
the West Port and let us gang free, for its up wi the bonnets of Bonnie
Dundee.
Bob Costello 