Swinney's circus

In what was surely the least unexpected development of all time, the British state accepts John Swinney’s invitation to spit in Scotland’s face. The only noteworthy thing about the UK government’s reaction to the exercise in futility that occupied the Scottish Parliament for a full day yesterday is how promptly the response was issued. Lest we imagined this to betoken some scintilla of respect, however, that response came not from the British Prime Minister himself but from some anonymous spokesbladder in Downing Street.

Let’s be clear! The show at Holyrood yesterday had nothing whatever to do with progressing Scotland’s cause. It was all just a circus, with Holyrood turned into the big top for the day and John Swinney as the ringmaster. It was a performance. A meaningless, pointless, vacuous bit of political theatre that achieved precisely nothing. Nothing, that is, other than the distraction Swinney wanted. The sole purpose of the thing was to dupe people into directing their outrage at the UK government in the hope that they wouldn’t notice that it is Swinney himself who is the villain of the piece.

One reply to my condemnation of Swinney’s circus trotted out the old line about the need to ‘jump through certain hoops’ as part of the process of restoring Scotland’s independence. My response was to point out that it is only those whose minds are totally colonised who think it necessary to jump through these hoops. And besides, the British state has an unlimited supply of hoops. As soon as you think you’re getting to the last one, they’ll just manufacture a few more.

As I write, there has been no response to the UK government’s casual dismissal of the call for a Section 30 order from the Scottish Government. No doubt when it comes, it will be couched in suitably scandalised language. What would be surprising is if there is any indication of what Swinney plans to do next. He must surely have planned for this slap-down. It was always the case that the UK government would use the veto over the will of Scotland’s people, which was just validated by the Scottish Parliament. Why wouldn’t they? It’s not at all clear what Swinney can do now that he has formally accepted the British state’s control of access to the exercise of our right of self-determination. He can hardly say that the British state’s consent is not required when he has just accepted that it is required. If consent is not required, why would it be requested?

My suspicion—or perhaps something stronger—is that when Swinney does make a statement, it will not be about how he intends to progress Scotland’s cause. The statement will mark the start of the SNP’s campaign for the next UK general election. Once again we’ll be told that we must vote SNP to ‘send a message to Westminster’. It really doesn’t matter what he says; the party loyalists will greet it as the wise words of a brilliant political strategist. As will The National. The show must go on. And on. And on. And . . .

John Swinney is the de facto head of the Scottish independence movement. But he cannot speak for that movement because his first loyalty is not to Scotland’s cause but to his party. If the independence movement wants to be heard, it will have to find its own voice. It will have to speak for itself. It will have to speak loudly and clearly when it says enough! There is a way of doing this.

The next United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held no later than 15 August 2029. Of course, it will have to be announced at least six weeks in advance. In practice, it could come at any time in the next 24 to 30 months. And as is customary, campaigning will get underway a year or more before the announcement of a date. Which means the independence movement must start to prepare now!

I propose to launch a ‘repurpose your ballot’ campaign as soon as possible. I will ask that everyone who wants independence write #EndTheUnion across their ballot paper for the next Westminster election. The aim will be to outdo a similar campaign in last year’s Irish presidential election.

A record number of people have spoiled their vote in the presidential election, with close to 13 per cent of the total ballot deemed invalid.

There were 213,738 invalid votes, the highest number in a modern Irish election, as many voters expressed anger and frustration at the choice of candidates on the ballot and the exclusion of others.

At the last 2018 presidential election, spoiled votes totalled 18,438, accounting for 1.2 per cent of the total vote in that election.

Just more than 1 per cent of votes were spoiled in the 2011 presidential election.

If 10 to 15 per cent of ballots are spoilt in the same way, this sends a clear message not only to Westminster but, more importantly, to our own political elite here in Scotland. More on this campaign later. For the moment, we await the revelation of John Swinney’s ‘Big Secret Plan’. Bring on the clowns!