urely optimism must be justified. There must be a reason for it. To be optimistic absent any reason is just foolish. To be determinedly optimistic when all available evidence indicates that optimism is inappropriate suggests some mental derangement.
I note that John Swinney offers no reasons to be optimistic. It seems we are expected to be optimistic to order. As if optimism itself could engender its own reasons. As if being positive and cheerful might alter the facts. As if ignoring the reasons to be cheerless could somehow transform them into reasons to be cheerful.
Mr Swinney is frantically trying to invoke the 'spirit of 2014', oblivious to the fact that little of what engendered that spirit still exists in 2024. In particular, there is no longer the blissful ignorance that allowed the independence movement to operate under the delusion that a Yes vote in the referendum would lead to the restoration of Scotland's independence. Even those who harboured doubts about the process and/or the likelihood of success were drawn into the collective euphoria having been obliged to set aside those reservations on the grounds that a Yes vote was worth fighting for even if the process meant that this result could - and unquestionably would - be 'interpreted' by the British state in whatever way it found expedient.
I just wish I could believe that John Swinney was summoning the 'spirit of 2014' for the sake of Scotland's cause. But it is all to clear to me that he is doing so in the desperate hope that some of that good feeling will rub off on his party, giving it a veneer of nationalist authenticity. A veneer too thin to long weather the storms of reality. But some of it might just last until the 2026 Holyrood election. Maybe just enough to rescue the SNP form its own folly.
For me to be persuaded that John Swinney was invoking the 'spirit of 2014' for the benefit of Scotland's cause, I would have to be able to see how it connects to that cause. If this renewed spirit of optimism was to serve any purpose it would require something to focus on. If the independence movement is expected to be imbued with fresh enthusiam by being reminded of how hopeful things once were, there would need to be a purpose to which it could be applied.
If I am expected to respond to John Swinney's call to action, I'll have to be told what the action is. But that bit is missing from his rhetoric. That bit doesn't exist.
The 'spirit of 2014' was entirely of its time. It is not of this time. It can only be evoked now in the few remaining pockets of delusion. Apparently, John Swinney inhabits one of those pockets.
Were it otherwise, John Swinney might be able to talk not of what things were like in the past, but the reality of Scotland's predicament today. Were he able to talk about how things are in 2024, he might have some idea about the next steps. He might be able to give me a better cause for optimism than hollow nostalgia.
Good piece!
Well said Peter,
The RSS, Respect Scottish Sovereignty, wrote to the FM just before the SNP conference seting out that the Scottish Parliament has the power now to impliment UN Covenants which would give the Scottish people the tools to exercise their sovereignty.
At the Conference the SNP leadership confirmed that the Scottish People are Sovereign and promised to ensure that the democratics rights being withheld from them by Westminister would be resisted.
So Swinney and the SNP leadership are prepared to talk the talk, but are frightened to walk the walk and use the power they still have in the Scottish parliament to actually take the steps required to ensure that the Scottish people have their human rights as set out in UN covenants which they are entitled to. We must force them to put their words into actions and that will change everything.
Andy Anderson