STEPS TO TAKE INDEPENDENCE FORWARD!

STEPS TO FURTHER INDEPENDENCE

Independence campaigning has been frozen since 2014. Indeed it could be easily argued it has been going backwards as while we all await the mythical Section 30, the Westminster Parliament has been busy weakening our ability to break free, most notably with Brexit but there  is a series of other legislation reducing the powers of the Scottish Parliament and/or attempting to establish a route when Westminster can claim to be sovereign rather than sovereignty in Scotland being retained by our people. In this process they have been assisted by a supine SNP that has successfully trussed up their own membership that have been sleeping while the “leadership” controlled the NEC through the introduction of appointed, rather than elected posts. These appointed posts greatly assisted the Woke element of incomers who joined after 2014, mainly from Labour. They now control the NEC, CANDIDATE SELECTION, THE DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES.

They have not been slow to use their “new powers”. They control the party agenda at Conferences, using these powers they stopped any discussion on alternatives to Section 30. This denied any opportunity to discuss land reform and using the disciplinary powers they have suspended people like Tim Rideout, a vindictive move against someone who did win a vote at Conference about creating our own currency on a much quicker timescale that the ten years the Growth Commission proposed. That vote of course has been studiously ignored by the leadership ever since. This subject has not been near a Conference since nor will it if things stay as they are today. While Tim was suspended Woke supporters who are guilty of a variety of offences, including Members of Parliament, escape any public party reprimand for quite serious “offences”. They effectively created the ISP and Alba by these control measures splitting the Yes Movement asunder in the process.

So I am regularly asked “ But what can we do about it? “

The answer is not an easy one. The only people that can sort this is the SNP Membership themselves. Even if big numbers of them wanted to act it would still be difficult. There is now a huge payroll vote in the SNP. When you add MP’s and MSP’s salaries and expenses, their own staffs all paid by the taxpayer, councillors, then Woke members being paid by the public purse and whose organisations enjoy big funding from the SNP Government, we are talking about a huge army of people on the payroll, most of them working and being paid to work full time in politics. Nicola uses them all the time, a good number are Nicola’s ”attack dogs”. Many of them represent the Thought Police, they have been selected and owe their “places” thanks to Nicola and she leaves them in no doubt what happens if any rock the boat. SNP politics have been a mill pond every since this was put in place. All alternatives to what Nicola wants is suppressed, ignored or punished.. All independent thought is banned, conforming is the key attribute required these days. Wheesht for Indy rules!

The only other route is the electorate themselves but this is a big problem as well. While many activists know what has happened to the SNP the electorate have no idea. Why is that?  Well Nicola has been very skilful in keeping all this in a pot with very little getting out. She has paid millions of pounds  to the MSM to keep them onboard. If stories are true perhaps £9 million this year instead of the £3 million previously paid. The price of silence must be outstripping inflation and then some! We should also not ignore the use of the police and the courts to intimidate critics.

Centralised control of candidate selection resulted in an explosion in Woke candidates as some remarkably poor candidates won quick approval while much better qualified candidates were bypassed or rejected. It was for some the kiss of death if it became known to the panel that the local branch preferred you to the leadership supported Woke candidate. Not satisfied with that the NEC, acting against legal advice introduced a system where minority candidates were guaranteed to get the number one slot on every regional list across the country. This was a rather clumsy move to take out Joan McAlpine which sadly worked, but so embarrassed about the fix, the votes for each candidate in the regional contests were kept secret. The old Soviet Union would have been proud of this move. “ Trust us, we are on your side”  substituted for “Here are the election results”. 

So if miracle of miracles, the SNP membership were successful or some of the skeletons in the cupboard do break out and it results in overturning the leadership what could be changed?

1. Reestablish National Council and give members and branches the voice they need to keep senior office bearers in check. Make sure ordinary members set agendas for Conferences.
2. Use the resources properly. Attack on Independence across the board, a multi front approach rather than the solitary S30 dead end, which even if granted will be “granted” using the same flawed franchise that resulted in incomers joining with the minority of Scots who voted no in 2014, to cost us victory. Scots voted YES in 2014! With the numbers of incomers since, this is a bigger hurdle now than in 2014, hence the delayed census!
3. Use the best people properly, Joanna Cherry looking and promoting legal avenues, to expose how the Treaty conditions have been breached repeatedly, including using the Claim of Right effectively as an example.
4. Allocate to each Westminster MP TWO COUNTRIES to build links with, to educate about Scotland’s case for Independence. Arm them with an International Independence Prospectus setting out our case, Talk to every significant Party in these countries. SNP MP’s achieve nothing at Westminster. Even if we left half of them there in case a Scottish issue is involved the result will be the same. Much better have them operating on two weeks at Westminster the rest of the month building links and support abroad or campaigning, holding public meetings and with other organisations building support for Scottish Independence in Scotland. A much higher public profile is required.
5. Set up a body to examine the franchise, to look at currency, pensions, land reform and a host of other issues that can give US the edge in future. Get that information out to groups like pensioners so they fully understand and can support us with confidence. Many are not on social media, it takes time to communicate in the face of a hostile MSM. It is probably already late to do this even if a referendum was to take place in 2023!
6. Concentrate campaigning in the areas of Scotland where the cost of living crisis is having the biggest impact. Explain how Independence would help, controlling our own resources for the benefit of our people rather than enriching our neighbour. We used to be good at this before it all went corporations and middle class.

That is just six examples of what could be done to get us on the front foot. I have dozens more. We need to get that army of full time, paid people working to build our case much more effectively than they have done so far. We need members to get their own Party back as well. Scotland, and the case for Independence will be much stronger than it is today IF WE DO.

I am, as always

Yours for Scotland.

BEAT THE CENSORS

Sadly some sites had given up on being pro Indy sites and have decided to become merely pro SNP sites where any criticism of the Party Leader or opposition to the latest policy extremes, results in censorship being applied. This, in the rather over optimistic belief that this will suppress public discussion on such topics. My regular readers have expertly worked out that by regularly sharing articles on this site defeats that censorship and makes it all rather pointless. I really do appreciate such support and free speech in Scotland is remaining unaffected by their juvenile censorship. Indeed it is has become a symptom of weakness and guilt. Quite encouraging really.

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