New Scotland Party update
We've been busy. Most effort has gone into developing the website, which is central to everything we are doing and intend to do. There is something new on the website every day. It may be no more than correcting/improving text or tweaks to functionality, but hardly a day passes without some work being done. The result is a fully functioning and informative website. The most recent addition is an FAQ page which we will be adding to over time. As ever, further questions, constructive criticism, serious suggestions, and feedback of any kind is welcome.
Without question, the most important project at the moment and for the near future is the Manifesto for Indemendence Petition. It is vital that we get as many signatures as possible to make this something the nominally pro-independence parties can't ignore. I have set a target of 100,000 signatures. This may seem ambitious but I reckon that's the kind of number we need if the petition is to have any impact. Our politicians and political parties have become very good at ignoring the voters. An election is really the only time we have any leverage. That leverage is rarely used to any effect because it depends on people combining their voices so as to be heard. We, the people, have not been good at that in the past. Let's see if this petition can be the exception. Sign and share! share! share!
On the admin side, the NSP Working Group continues to meet regularly and is developing new tools for online collaboration. Hopefully, this will allow us to make more rapid progress on drafting documentation such as the party constitution and a Members' Rule Book. The latter is required before we can start to sign members. I know there are a lot of people eager to become members of New Scotland Party. I also know that it has taken much longer than anticipated to prepare for this. But we are determined to get this right. And please remember that we are attempting to create a new kind of political party as well as promulgating a fresh and more radical approach to the constitutional issue.
We have time. The Manifesto for Independence Petition can run until the election manifestos for the 2026 Holyrood election are published. If these don't incorporate the Manifesto for Independence, we can expect nothing from the election but another five years of waiting. The 2026 Scottish Parliament election must be regarded as our last chance to force the political parties to act. We can expect that, should we fail to do what is required in the next parliament, the British will impose further restrictions on our ability to exercise our right of self-determination.
As for New Scotland Party, we hope to be functioning as a fully-fledged political party by the end of March. Where we go from there is up for discussion. We have said that we have no plans to stand candidates in the 2026 election. We have further stated that we will only stand candidates in where we are persuaded doing so will benefit Scotland's cause. There is no reason we should not be prepared to stand candidates. It makes perfect sense to put in place mechanisms for candidate selection, vetting and training.
But all of that is for the - hopefully not too distant - future. How can you help right now? If you have some expertise that you think might be useful, please get in touch. It goes without saying that cash donations are always welcome, although we aren't exactly struggling at the moment. But if you do only one thing, promote the Manifesto for Independence Petition! Don't just sign it and forget it! Share it! Share it every day! Share it at every opportunity! If you have a blog, put up a link to the petition page! Watch for promotional posts on social media and share them!
Always remember, this is not about a party seeking seats, salaries, and short money. This is about Scotland's cause.