A day out at Bannockburn

I was at the 2025 AUOB Stirling march and rally yesterday (21 June 2025). I really shouldn’t do these things given the problems with my legs. But I got talking to a friend as the march started and I thought I'd walk beside him for a while to continue the conversation. Long story short - the short walk turned into a long march. By the time we reached Bannockburn, my knees and hips were protesting greatly. I should pay more attention to them.

If all of that comes across as an attempt to elicit sympathy, you're damned right it is! Although this being Scotland, I anticipate more sarcasm than sympathy. Bring it on!

Things got worse when we arrived at the rally. The grass was unmown making walking quite difficult for those with dodgy pins. Standing listening to the speeches was even more painful. Not just because the ground was uneven and sloping, but because of some of the things I heard over the exceptionally good sound system.

After two speeches and a bit of Pete Scally, I had to move. I wish to make clear this was not because of Pete's performance. It was almost entirely on account of the discomfort of standing on that slope. But there was an element of frustration as well. Frustration at being unable to respond to some of the things being said. I did request a speaking slot. But my request was declined.

The second speaker during my visit was my old friend Tommy Sheridan. As ever, he was loud, rousing, inspirational, and loud. Nothing to object to there, you might think. And you'd be right. It was impossible for anyone with a social conscience to disagree with what he said about a political system which denies people a meaningful voice and an economic system that penalises the poor to protect the wealthy. Nor could anyone with any kind of conscience disagree with Tommy's powerful condemnation of Israel's hellish killing spree in Gaza. When he said that an independent Scotland would treat Israel and its accomplices as the terrorist states they have chosen to be, I like to think he speaks the truth. Well said, Tommy Sheridan!

What I was uncomfortable with was the fact that Tommy was talking about being independent. He was doing the 'vision' thing. Which is OK. But we are at a point in the independence campaign when we should be clear about the process of becoming independent. It's great to hear tales of how thing could be if only we got on with the job of restoring Scotland's independence. But the whole 'vision' thing is just building castles in the sky if we have not settled on a way of actually getting the job done.

The other speech I listened to was from Sara Salyers. And this is where the frustration at being denied a chance to speak really set in. To be clear, I like, respect, and admire Sara Salyers. She has done marvellous work for Scotland's cause through Salvo and Liberation Scotland. But she has lately come out with a very strange and quite illogical position on the matter of the process by which independence will be restored.

On one hand, Sara forcefully insists that the people of Scotland are sovereign and the whole of Scotland - the land, the surrounding seas and everything in, on, and under them - all belongs to us, the people of Scotland. It is all ours to utilise as we see fit.

Except the Scottish Parliament!

Sara Salyers is adamant that the Scottish Parliament can have no role in the restoration of Scotland's independence because, uniquely, it doesn't belong to us, the people of Scotland. And it can’t belong to us, according to Sara. Unlike everything else in Scotland, the Scottish Parliament is owned by the British state and not the people. Unlike everything else, we cannot take back the Scottish Parliament. Why this should be is not explained.

It makes no sense! If as Sara says, the whole of Scotland is the property of the Scottish people, why should the Scottish Parliament be an exception. It is certainly true that Holyrood is an executive branch of Westminster. In that sense, it is the property of the British state. But only because England-as-Britain has hijacked Scotland's parliament in the same way as it has hijacked our resources. If independence means taking back those resources into our rightful ownership, why should this not apply to the Scottish Parliament? Why, as we repossess everything else that has been taken from us over centuries of colonisation, would we decline to take back the Scottish Parliament?

More to the point, how do we take back our rightful interests without first taking back the parliament which we elect to represent our interests, even if it cannot fully do that as things stand because it has been hijacked by the British state? If the people of Scotland are sovereign, then the Scottish Parliament is whatever we say it is!

Sara Salyers agrees (she can, of course, speak for herself on this) that there must be an internal (to Scotland) political and parliamentary process in train to exploit UN recognition of Scotland’s status as a non-self-governing territory (NSGT). How are we to do this without a parliament? Why would we discard such a vital component of our democratic infrastructure? Sure! It is tainted with Britishness. Sure! We have British parties squatting in Scotland's parliament. Sure! Holyrood is under British control. But so is everything else in Scotland. That's what being colonised means! If we are taking back control of everything else, why would we not take back control of our parliament?

More to the point, how could we take back anything if we have not first taken back the only democratic institution which is capable of legitimately taking back everything else?

Holyrood is the institution which holds the democratic legitimacy afforded by the mandate of Scotland's people in a transparently democratic process. Every other component of our democratic infrastructure draws on the democratic legitimacy of the Scottish Parliament. Without ownership of the Scottish Parliament, we cannot control the machinery of democracy in Scotland. And we must control that machinery if we are to have any hope of achieving any of the things spoken of by Tommy Sheridan and I'm sure, many other speakers doing the 'vision' thing.

Scotland's independence will be restored by an Act of the Scottish Parliament ratified by the people of Scotland in a proper constitutional referendum - hopefully overseen by the UN - which stands as the formal exercise of our right of self-determination. This depends on us taking back control of the process by which we exercise our right of self-determination, which is currently controlled by the British state via the Scottish Government. Which in turn, depends on us taking back control of the Scottish Government. Which requires that we take back control of the political parties which we elect to govern. It's a chain of capacities. If even one link is missing, that chain cannot connect to our ultimate aim - independence.

All of which can be stated quite simply as: Take back our government! Take back our parliament! Take back our nation!

Take back our government!

Take back our parliament!

Take back our nation!

Manifesto for Independence

All of this depends on you! Only the people of Scotland can do this. And only if the people who aspire to an independent Scotland combine to make it happen! The Manifesto for Independence Petition provides a point at which everybody in the independence movement can come together, no matter how much they may disagree on particular matters. It is a way for us to make our voice heard. It is a way for us to make our presence felt. Are you not sick of being ignored by our politicians? Sign the petition! If enough of us do, we will be impossible to ignore.

My legs are feeling a bit better now, thanks for asking. The frustration, however, remains as heartfelt as ever. The anger continues to simmer. The fear that we will miss the opportunity of the 2026 election still haunts me. There is a way to make that election a democratic event which launches a new era for Scotland's cause just as Alex Salmond's announcement of the 2014 referendum launched the era which ended so disappointingly. This will not happen if we leave the political parties to their own self-serving devices. (see my next article titled The Great Independence Robbery) It will only happen if we, the people, take back control.

Sign the bloody petition!