I have recently remarked that there are signs suggesting some of the SNP loyalists were beginning to wake up to the fact that they have been duped by John Swinney and his accomplices. I regret to say that I must retract that comment. The reason being the below-the-line comments on an article in The National about Scottish Information Commissioner David Hamilton saying the decision not to prosecute Nicola Sturgeon as part of the Operation Branchform investigation conducted by Politice Scotland.
QUESTIONS around the decision not to charge Nicola Sturgeon following a police investigation into the SNP “merit further scrutiny” – and officials’ secrecy around the reasoning behind the acquittal of the former first minister is “not a good look”, according to the head of Scotland’s information watchdog.
David Hamilton is far from being the only one seeking an explanation for the curious decision not to prosecute. Stu Campbell of Wings Over Scotland has been diligently pursuing answers for some time now. Those who are familiar with Stu Campbell’s work will know just how good he is with this kind of investigative journalism. He presents the evidence in a methodical manner that can sometimes make for rather dry reading. But he is quite excellent when it comes to scrutinising politicians and political parties and organisations such as Police Scotland and the Crown Office.
Of course, the SNP loyalists hate Stu Campbell. And now they hate David Hamilton. They detest anyone who voices even the mildest criticism of their party. They are rarely if ever able to contest the facts. They just demand that these facts be swept under the rug and get very ugly indeed when others refuse their demands.
To a considerable degree, these party loyalists must shoulder the blame for what the SNP has become under Sturgeon and her successors. Criticism of the SNP leadership generally starts off being constructive. I myself have come in for a lot of flak for insisting that we needed to work on the SNP in order to progress Scotland’s cause. My criticism of the party was constructive in the sense that I was seeking to steer the party away from some folly and back towards being the party of independence again.
Criticism of the SNP leadership generally starts off being constructive.
Of course, that was before the election in May of this year and before the SNP conference last October when delegates approved John Swinney’s idiotic and traitorous ‘strategy’ for the election campaign. It was at this point that I was obliged to accept that the SNP is a lost cause. There is no way the party is going to get back to being the party of independence largely because the party loyalists celebrate the leadership’s failure and salute its treachery. Sturgeon and her successors wrecked the once-great party, and the membership gave them a standing ovation.
When Swinney’s first hundred days were up and the manifesto promises were shredded, I thought I detected a change of attitude among the people I knew to be party loyalists. But the response to David Hamilton very reasonable comments has been as appalling as the vitriolic demonising of Stu Campbell and others.
The facts of the matter Mr Hamilton was commenting on are beyond dispute. The SNP did solicit donations to a fund which they stated would be ring-fenced to finance the pro-independence campaign in a new referendum. By John Swinney’s own admission, the ring-fenced money was spent on something other than the purpose stated when the donations were solicited. This constitutes a breach of trust. These are all facts.
As a rational person, it pains me to see how SNP loyalists either ignore the facts or insist that they are not facts while offering nothing which refutes the facts. It’s reminiscent of Orwell’s concept of doublethink. It’s as if these people are simultaneously knowing and not knowing the facts of the matter. That’s as close as I can get to describing this distinctly odd behaviour.
It’s as if these people are simultaneously knowing and not knowing the facts of the matter.
Why does it matter? Well, it matters because the SNP is the party of government as well as being nominally the party of independence. Everything the SNP does or fails to do impacts Scotland’s cause. The behaviour of the party’s leadership and those who support the leadership reflects on the independence movement. This is why the British state and its agents in Scotland are constantly trying to smear the party. By doing so, they hope to undermine the campaign to restore Scotland’s independence.
The criticism of the party offered by myself and others is intended to push the SNP towards being better able to deal with the smear attempts. When there is questionable behaviour within the higher echelons of the party, this adds to the general impression that the party is not to be trusted. Thus, the mishandling of these internal matters actually serves to reinforce the smears, even if only on a no-smoke-without-fire basis.
Some will say that I am giving too much weight to online comments in a pro-SNP ‘echo chamber’ like The National as well as comments on social media platforms. They will say that the people making these comments are not representative of the electorate as a whole. Which is true. But what worries me is that they are representative of the independence movement. The fact that they are commenting suggests they are activists. And, frankly, if activists are as profoundly stupid as SNP loyalists, then Scotland’s cause is in deep shit.
You need to be mindful that not all SNP members are blind followers of the SNP. Yes many of the SNP party faithful are blinkered to the reality but im not one of them. At last Octobers conference I walked out after the members voted to support the SNP only majority. It was doomed to failure from the get go. The SNP party leadership dont want independence. They are leading the membership up a blind alley. They know the Section 30 order request will be refused. Its a tokenistic process, a tick box exercise. When the SNP big hitters were rolled out at last Octobers conference to support the SNP only majority the members find it difficult to oppose. I can assure you there are many disgruntled SNP members ...I attended Saturdays National Assembly in Perth and there were voices of discontent.
But whats the alternative to the SNP?
A unionist Holyrood that will kick Indy into the long grass.
The domestic route is blocked hence why im investing my time in the International route led by Liberation Scotland and Salvo.
Excellent if desperate comment on the state of the SNP. They have grown 'too big for their boots ' comes to mind..but I fear the organism ...SNP ...once considered the vehicle for our independence is fatally flawed. ..something is 'rotten in the state of the SNP' ...We need other independence parties to oppose and hold them to account.
We have a weasly quisling at the wheel of the SNP who tells us to 'watch and see' while the body of the kirk do not challenge him. There is no cure for treason, indolence,double standards, outright lying, financially untrustworthy, cloth ears, arrogance..the list is endless...but worst of all they have betrayed the Scots. They are a lost cause.
I lost trust a number of years ago when at a meeting of our local SNP we were informed by 'head office' that we had to vote in a specific way.( no discussion)..I resented the big brother control and left not long after ..never to return.
They won't recover.
For OUR Scotland and her cheated weans.