Nothing to lose

I have refrained from comment on the most recent travails of Alba Party because I wanted to see how things played out after party leader Kenny MacAskill’s rather dramatic announcement last Saturday. That announcement seemed to sound the death knell for Alba, with its talk of financial irregularities, police investigation, and Electoral Commission deregistration all adding up to a very bleak picture indeed. What gave me pause was the immediate reaction to the announcement, which gave the distinct impression that Kenny MacAskill may have jumped the gun somewhat. an impression reinforced by him subsequently appearing to roll back a bit on what at first appeared to be a definitive statement.

After a day spent on a sojourn to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee from my home in Perth (a bus journey defined as the longest distance between two points) during which I had little chance to keep up with developments, the first thing I saw when I went online this morning was a statement from Alba Glasgow posted on Tommy Sheridan’s X account (see above).

My first thought on reading this was that Kenny MacAskill’s position as party leader must now be untenable. The Alba Glasgow statement might even be read as a direct challenge to his leadership by or on behalf of Tommy Sheridan. Which, in itself, might not be a bad thing. I know Tommy is something of a ‘Marmite’ character. But few even among his detractors doubt the sincerity of his commitment to Scotland’s cause and socialist values.

My immediate take on this is that it is an opportunity for Alba Party to remake itself in time for the election in May. Just as when Kenny MacAskill took over from the sadly departed Alex Salmond, a new leader has the freedom to break with the past and set his or her own priorities. I said at the time that it would have been an ideal moment for Alba Party to embrace the #ScottishUDI strategy and become overnight the radical alternative to the SNP that Scotland’s cause so desperately needs. Unfortunately, Kenny MacAskill proved too conservative for such boldness. He opted to persist with the approach to the constitutional issue which has been failing to gain Alba Party support for several years.

Disappointingly, it looks like Tommy Sheridan is just as averse to boldness. Nothing in the Alba Glasgow statement so much as hints at any change of direction. I strongly suspect, therefore, that it is doomed to fail. The main thrust of the statement is a preamble to a plea for money. There was a time when it might have been taken for granted that such a plea would meet with a favourable response from the independence movement. Regrettably, those days are past. For very understandable reasons, the pro-independence movement is these days a bit hesitant to dig deep even when there is a good case for the funding call. But as far as can be discerned from the Alba Glasgow statement, Alba Party is offering nothing new. If people weren’t flocking to them before, why would they do so now?

Another thing that may make people hesitate to contribute to a funding drive is that it is not clear who speaks for the party. Is it Kenny MacAskill? Or is it Tommy Sheridan? Or perhaps it is this new group of members mentioned in the statement. Is this move against the current NEC constitutional? What would be the legal position of members of this putative new NEC in relation to party funds?

There are a great many unanswered questions. For me, however, the most important one is whether a new leadership of the party would be prepared to drop the plebiscite election idea which cannot possibly be effective and self-evidently hasn’t inspired voters, in favour of a more strategic approach to the constitutional issue. After all, what have they got to lose?