The great unwashed...

Well it would seem that in Scotland, politically at least, the SNP have become the great unwashed. No-one wants to work with them.  Arguably, we could agree that along with the Greens, Labour and the Liberal Democrats, these parties have worked either on the Left or centre Left.  No any more. Labour and the LibDems seem to be rather happy working with the Tories.  Take Aberdeen for example.

You may find these tweets by Guy Ingerson very helpful:

They have 4 Cllrs so could have supported SNP admin (19 Cllrs, 23 if Lib Dems had supported them)

SNP reach out to Labour (9 Cllrs)

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

This new admin would have a Co-Leadership to soften the pill (legality still in question). However, Scottish Lab HQ ruled out ANY deal.

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

While Labour implode internally, their Tory allies decide to 'help' by electing Lab leader as the Council leader (de facto their leader)

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

Labour claim to have 'won' & that their manifesto will be implemented in full

Tories support as they have no manifesto... (No #IndyRef2 )

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

Meanwhile the Lib Dems sit on their hands -1 Cllr, the SNP cry foul, Labour in chaos, Tories rubbing hands with glee & we Greens despair...

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

Up-date. The Labour Cllrs are now, temporarily, not Labour Cllrs (Lab now -9 Cllrs, Ind Cllr +12).

Shambles.https://t.co/hnJZwU0TzK

— Guy Ingerson (@guy_ingerson) 17 May 2017

 

All eyes are on Kezia Dugdale.  What will she do.  To her credit she did say no deals with any Party that supported austerity.  If it were me I’d sack the lot of them. They’ll continue as independents or maybe even join the Tory Party.  I don’t really care, I’m more interested in seeing if she has any moral backbone as a leader.

As for the people of Aberdeen, and really this is a country-wide issue.  If you are stupid enough to vote for Tories and Labour then you’ll get what you deserve.  You were all warned before the Local Elections. Unfortunately, the people in Aberdeen may pay a heavy price.

Independence or not...

I’m intrigued by this suggestion from Lesley Riddoch.  Is it possible?  Can the SNP and Scottish Green Party have some kind of joint manifesto?

Personally, I remain unconvinced, not out of spite or hatred for either party, far from it.  No, my doubt is there because I wonder what reaction this would get from the supporters of both.

The only question that both sets of supporters need to ask, in my opinion, is this: Do we really want independence?  If the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’, then there really is only one choice and this is for both sets to vote for the SNP.  In a WM general election the Green vote can only succeed in splitting the votes for pro-independence candidates.

Now, this may not serve democracy, in that choice is being limited, but should the Scottish Green Party sit this one out and urge their supporters to vote for the SNP?  There are calls from Unionists for a Labour/LibDem/Tory attack on the SNP.  To me, every single supporter of independence needs to support the SNP at this one general election.  The ends will justify the means.

So, do they want independence?  Yes or no?

Well Scotland...

You blew it big time, didn't you?

The referendum for Scottish Independence ended almost four weeks ago, and it is only now that I feel I can write anything down.  What I am about to write is from the perspective of a 'Yes' supporter.  As I live in England I was not allowed to vote.

So here are my ramblings about various aspects of the referendum.

First of all, let's look at the 'Better Together' campaign.

I have never witnessed such an awful campaign in all my life.  I had to watch, sometimes open-jawed, at the sight of Labour sharing a platform with the likes of the Conservatives, UKIP and the Orange Order.  They told us (including Labour Scottish MP's) that we could not be a country on our own.  We would have no currency.  In fact, Johann Lamont, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, told us it was not in our genes to make political decisions.  Unbelievable!  The media threw everything at Scotland, except the kitchen sink in the way of lies, lies and more lies.  It was a relentless and uninspiring campaign.

On a much brighter note, the 'Yes Scotland' campaign was much more positive.

They sold us a vision of aspiration.  We can be, we can do and we are good enough.  Sites on the internet such as; Bella Caledonia, Newsnet Scotland and Wings over Scotland proved to be invaluable sources of information and insight.  The energy and buzz created by the Yes movement was never ever matched by Better Together.

To prove my point, here are two images depicting outdoor gatherings from both sides of the debate:


Better Together

Yes Scotland

Now, which one do you think looks like the kind of event that you'd go to?

Despite the fact that the No vote won it in the end, my real, problem is with the three so-called leaders of Westminster coming up a few days before polling to make some rash promise to offer more powers to Scotland if the people voted No.  This was never about more powers, it was about self-determination.

I genuinely believed that when the No vote won that that would be the end of the Yes movement.  I couldn't have been more wrong.

Membership for the SNP has trebled to over 100,000 members, whilst the Greens and Scottish Socialists have doubled their membership numbers.  All great to see.  In fact, I myself joined the SNP because I want to help and contribute to my country gaining self-determination.  So, I need to see what else I can do.  Bella Caledonia, Newsnet Scotland and The Common Weal are all looking at expanding their services to help combat what is seen as the established media's biased coverage.  Things are positive and moving in the right direction.

I am no political pundit but I think that Scottish Labour are in trouble, to the point where I believe that they are finished in Scotland as a political force.  I expect to see the Green Party make great in-roads.  The Scottish Socialist Party are a bit of an unknown quantity to me, but it will be interesting to see that they do.

So, all-in-all I feel lifted from that crushing disappointment and I am full of enthusiasm and optimism that Independence for Scotland will still be achieved.

If anyone thought that the no vote would send the Yes voters running, they were wrong.

We are not going anywhere!