Soul-rinsing
Tommy Sheppard’s mea culpa on behalf of the SNP in today’s National will probably have the desired effect of clearing the air. At the very least, it will give party loyalists something to wave in the faces of those who remain sceptical about promises to remake and renew the party. Former SNP members such as myself, however, will read Sheppard’s column with a discomfitting sense of déjà vu. We’ve heard it all before.
The feeling of déjà vu will not be confined to ex-members of the SNP. We’ve probably all experienced or witnessed similar exercises in corporate soul-rinsing in our working lives or as members of this or that organisation struck by revelations of wrongdoing. When denial is no longer an option, full and frank confession combined with the promise of a reset will often be deployed in the hope that this will flush the stubborn turd. The more full and frank the confession can be made to seem, and the more sincere the penitence, the more effective the exercise will be in wiping the slate clean. Professional politicians tend to be adept at appearing open and honest. Appearances can be deceptive.
There’s a snag. Isn’t there always? The confession may be used to wipe from the slate things not covered by the promised reforms. Sheppard writes:
The SNP have to be the political movement for Scotland’s national independence; there is no point to it otherwise.
Even if the remorse is totally genuine and the promised reforms are delivered in full, we would do well to wonder what has been left out. Will a shake-up of internal structures and procedures make the SNP “the political movement for Scotland’s national independence”?
I don’t think it will. It certainly isn’t enough to persuade me that the SNP is once again the ‘party of independence’. The role of the party-political and parliamentary arm of Scotland’s independence movement demands more than just unimpeachable internal governance. To be a candidate for that role, the party would need to convince me it had a clear and credible plan for restoring Scotland’s independence. I don’t see that in Tommy Sheppard’s column.
No doubt I will be told I must wait and see whether the “democratic renewal of [the SNP’s] structure” urged by Sheppard actually materialises. Then I will be told I must wait and see what emerges in terms of policy and strategy once the reforms take effect. In the meantime, I will be told I must not criticise the party in any way. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m extremely tired of waiting. And weary of being told to ‘wheesht for indy’.
The problem the SNP has is common to all political parties. When trust is lost, promises to be more worthy in the future sound very hollow.
Tommy Sheppard’s column will convince only the people who didn’t need to be convinced and the very credulous ones. The party faithful will point to his column and say, “Look! Everything has been fixed. Why are you still complaining?”
I’m complaining because I’m paying attention.
Of course there's a lot of truth in what Tommy Sheppard says, particularly when he references the centralisation of power and Stalinist clamp down on any critics imposed since Nicola Sturgeon became SNP leader.
But it's easy to say that now, when a lot - not all - of the noxious behaviour and financial shenanigans have been exposed. Better late than never I suppose.
However, he somewhat ruined the salient points he did make by saying "That process has started and I trust John Swinney to progress it".
Trust!? That has to be earned, not handed over free and gratis.
How about trying:
'Myself and others are going to keep John Swinney on his toes and make sure he delivers transparency and honesty in its internal processes as well as actively progressing it's reason for being'?
In any event John Swinney has been part of the leadership cabal (though not a party officer) over the whole period of this sorry and on-going saga. Anybody looking with a pair of clear eyes at the role the current SNP leader has played generally within the SNP hierarchy regarding the various scandals of the past decade will know that it's not an accident that he has earned the (ironic) Honest John nickname and Redactor Man moniker.
The performative 'let's ask the Scottish Parliament to give approval for us to ask the British Parliament to raise a section 30 order so that we can hold a vote on Independence' vote at Holyrood and the subsequent posturing is indicative entirely of a no change approach on the party's supposed raison d’être.
No, I don't buy it either.
The SNP is a wounded animal..dangerous...unfortunately for Scotland not dangerous in the right way. I never bother with Sheppard..he's excluded from my schiltron of homicidal maniacs who want to see the invaders..aka foreign english sh*te ....removed from our land ..gone ..pronto and forever and then we can watch... yon wee foreign country.. south of OUR border wi no resources and nae free handoots fae Scotland...become a ..'wee cowerin' timorous beastie..oh whit a panics in thy breastie" ( Ref :Burns)..that'll be foreign england ..nae crutch tae lean on....Scotland gone..no wonder they are fighting tooth and claw to hold on to us...it means their survival...
Sheppard has put his head on the block?.so chop it off...Our fight for freedom does not allow for failure Sheppard.....so bu**er off ..you failed.....success means Scotland's survival as a nation.....and that comes first.
For OUR Scotland and her vengeful weans.