They asked

The National asked "What do you think about John Swinney's new independence strategy?". So, I told them.

You wouldn't be able to publish what I think of "John Swinney's new independence strategy". You'd run out of asterisks before you reached the end of the first paragraph. Here's the 'radio edit'.

For a start, it's not a 'strategy'. My dictionary defines a strategy as 'An elaborate and systematic plan of action'. Swinney's offering is simplistic rather than elaborate; a wish-list rather than a plan; and it is devoid of action. What he has announced is his determination to persist with an approach to the constitutional issue which has kept Scotland's cause in a state of paralysis for nearly eleven years. What did he say?

1. We will continue trying to sell independence like a holiday destination to a market which doesn't exist and while giving no indication of having a clue how to get them there.

2. We will continue to disrespect the people of Scotland by placing Westminster at the centre of the constitutional issue where only the sovereign people of Scotland belong. We will casually deny the sovereignty of Scotland's people by treacherously granting the British state a veto over the exercise by the people of Scotland of our right of self-determination. Furthermore, we shall negate any prospect of restored independence by giving the British state the last word on the matter.

3. We shall continue to prioritise partisan advantage, personal ambition, and the rewards of elected office over the rights and interests of the people of Scotland.

In short, Swinney has doubled-down - make that trebled-down - on a 'strategy' that promises another five years of pusillanimous procrastination to add to what by the time of the 2026 election, will be twelve lost years.

We cannot afford to waste another month, never mind another five years. We cannot afford another five years of colonial exploitation an expropriation.

We cannot afford to miss the opportunity the 2026 election provides to progress Scotland's cause. We cannot be certain there will be another such opportunity.

We cannot afford John Swinney's debased and vitiated version of the SNP. We cannot afford his risible notion of leadership. We cannot afford him.

We must assume that even if due to voter inertia alone, the SNP will be the largest party in the next parliament and in all probability the party of government. We cannot afford to have THIS captured and corrupted version of the SNP occupy a role so vital to Scotland's cause.

But we cannot prevent the SNP being the dominant nominally pro-independence party in the new parliament. Even if the electorate punishes the party more severely than the polls lead us to anticipate, their support will still be needed is any attempt to progress Scotland's cause is to have any chance of success. This is just realpolitik.

Simple logic tells us that the only potential solution is to change the SNP's approach to the constitutional issue. to force them to reframe the issue and rethink the campaign. We are stuck with them. We have to make them better. We must make them better than the pathetic thing Sturgeon and her successors have made of the 'party of independence'.

We have to take back our government. Like it or not, that means we have to take back the SNP from the self-serving clique that has taken possession of it.

Only when we have taken back our government can we take back our parliament. And only when we have taken back our parliament can we take back our nation.

The 2026 Scottish Parliament election can be the democratic event which triggers a process that will restore Scotland's independence within the first half of the new parliament. But only if the independence movement combines in a show of strength that forces a change on Swinney's version of the SNP. This is not impossible, as some maintain. It just requires effort. It requires that the entire independence movement focuses on the task of making the 2026 election what Scotland's cause needs it to be.

There is a plan. A real plan. It starts with making the 2026 election a de facto referendum on the question of the Scottish Parliament asserting legislative competence in matter relating to the Union (the constitution). This being the ONLY way the people of Scotland can have full and proper access to the exercise of our right of self-determination.

There are many advantages to this approach which I would be happy to explain but which would make this response overlong if I did so here.

Once the Scottish Parliament has asserted its legislative competence, a Bill is laid before the parliament which has the effect of dissolving the political union with England and restoring Scotland's independence subject to a confirmatory referendum totally made and managed in Scotland by our own democratic institutions.

This referendum will be decisive. I am confident it will succeed. But the ONLY way we can get there is by the independence movement as a whole taking a grip on the situation. The Manifesto for Independence Petition offers a way that the independence movement can demonstrate its strength and solidarity. It is the point at which the independence movement can come together in spite of any and all differences.

The clock is ticking, people. Decide! Do you want to leave Scotland's cause in the sweaty hands of John Swinney? Or do you want to take control? Are you willing to accept whatever the self-serving career politicians see fit to offer? Or are you prepared to demand more?

Search 'Manifesto for Independence' or '#ScottishUDI'. Sign and share the petition. This is where it begins.