Two sides of a worthless coin

It may lack the scientific rigour of formal surveys, but perusing the readers’ letters page of The National together with a sampling of below-the-line comments on relevant articles can, I think, give a fairly reliable impression of where the independence movement stands. To whatever extent I am correct in this, that impression can only be cause for despair. With very rare exceptions—which I shall come to in due course—the impression is of a movement all but totally lost to the notion that progress for Scotland’s cause is a matter of how we allocate our votes in May’s election. By far the largest part of the discourse around the constitutional issue is concerned with which party pro-independence voters should favour and/or which voting strategy will best ensure progress.

It may be considered doubly depressing even if unsurprising that the unedifying vacuousness of this ‘debate’ is nowhere more evident than in the contributions from ‘professional’ politicians such as Angus Brendan MacNeil and Pete Wishart. This pair represent the two equally mindless sides of the utterly pointless squabble over the list vote. Wishart toes his party’s line with the argument that both votes should go to the SNP, while MacNeil just as dutifully expounds Alba Party’s insistence that they should get the pro-independence list votes. Independence supporters line up behind one or other of these positions. Precious few recognise the idiocy they have in common.

One of that few is Mike Wallace—whose long letter in the Saturday 14 February edition of The National has not (yet?) appeared online.

Here’s Pete Wishart:

So I say to all independence supporters: make it both votes SNP. There is no point in wasting your vote on a party or individual who cannot win.

And Angus Brendan MacNeil:

Therefore, it is important for the pro-independence voters to have their wits about them when it comes to the Scottish Parliament election and use their pro-independence list votes for Alba, to advance independence in the next few years.

Then we have Mike Wallace arguing from the perspective of a pro-independence SNP member who is not primarily concerned with personal ambition or partisan advantage.

If we want to close the gap between support for self-determination and support for the SNP, we must show we are prepared to act on a mandate—not simply hope Westminster will one day agree.

The [Newington branch] amendment proposes that, if mandated, our manifesto should commit to a bill asserting Holyrood’s competence to hold referendums on currently reserved matters.

I hope the difference is as clear to you as it is to me. Pete Wishart is saying vote for me/my party. Angus Brendan MacNeil is saying vote for me/my party. Mike Wallace is saying vote for this specific proposal to progress Scotland’s cause.

Pete Wishart is saying vote for the SNP despite the fact that doing this very thing has left Scotland’s cause in limbo for more than a decade. He is saying vote for the SNP despite the fact that we have no clear and credible plan for restoring independence. He is saying vote for the SNP while turning a blind eye to the treachery promised by John Swinney.

Angus Brendan MacNeil is saying vote for Alba Party despite all polling evidence indicating the party is failing to attract support. He is saying vote for Alba Party despite the fact that we no more have a clear and credible plan for restoring independence than the SNP. He is saying vote for Alba Party despite the fact that even if this did result in him getting back aboard the elected office gravy train, it would not help Scotland’s cause in any way.

Only Mike Wallace recognises that it is not who we vote for that matters, but what we vote for. He sees that what is important is not the party but what that party proposes. The party is just the packaging. The proposal is the content. Wishart and MacNeil are both asking us to vote for empty packaging. Mike Wallace is trying to add some content to the SNP’s packaging.

The independence movement as a whole is engaged in a senseless ‘debate’ about which empty poke to vote for. Scotland’s cause will only benefit from the coming election if the independence movement gives itself a hard slap and gets behind people like Mike Wallace.