WINNIE Ewing coined a memorable phrase in 1967, after victory in the Hamilton by-election.
“Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on.”
Those simple words reshaped the SNP as an international, outward-looking party. And we should remember them now.
Because the world has stopped – but sadly not for an independent Scotland to hop on board. Not yet.
Right now, the world is utterly pre-occupied with Russia’s existential threat to Ukraine.
And that makes it the wrong time to weave indy narratives into any commentary on their appalling situation.
It may be tough for Yessers to hear – but let’s wheesht for Ukraine.
Not just because there is no parallel between our stuck constitutional process and the pulverising of Ukrainian citizens in unprovoked, lethal attacks.
Not just because some prominent SNP politicians have come under fire.
Not even because the mark of maturity in any country – and any individual – is the ability to put others first when the situation demands it.
But because the current invasion of Ukraine so completely upends the world order that NO other issue will have the political space to be properly tackled until it is resolved. And that includes massive challenges like catastrophic climate change.
So long as Russian violence in Ukraine continues, there will be no serious domestic business as usual. And Yessers risk looking like self-centered automatons and rank political amateurs unless we demonstrate that we understand that fact, and the new priorities that flow from it.
READ MORE: Athelstaneford: 'Birthplace' of Saltire flies Scotland and Ukraine flags in show of support
For now, Ukraine must come first, second and third in public discourse.
That may not seem fair or even necessary to Yes-voting Scots, who’ve waited patiently through the epic experiences of Brexit and Covid. But it’s unavoidable. For a while. Politics has changed.
Listen to Prime Ministers Questions – normally replete with childish, irrelevant Tory questions, especially in the face of political calamity. But there was almost none of that yesterday.
Instead, vigorous and almost constructive cross-party debate focused solely on Russia and Ukraine. Keir Starmer pinpointed Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and asked why he isn’t subject to sanctions. Johnson had no reply.
Starmer also suggested toughening up the Economic Crimes Bill to stop oligarchs creating shell companies at minimal cost.
Johnson suggested joint working. Tory MP Bob Seely complained that oligarchs’ lawyers are intimidating journalists and the National Crime Agency into silence.
Another Tory MP suggested the party should return £2 million received from oligarch Lubov Chernukhin. The SNP’s Ian Blackford demanded that Britain match the EU’s visa-free access for refugees.
READ MORE: Tory links to Russian money should be dealt with 'immediately', says Pete Wishart
Chris Bryant used parliamentary privilege to name senior Russian officials who haven’t been personally sanctioned, including members of Duma who voted for war. It was vivid, important stuff.
Let’s not be naïve. There was also politics behind every statement. And so there should be. Johnson’s government regularly sounds broken-hearted on behalf of those it betrays – like the Afghans it left behind – before reverting to “computer says no” mode once the cameras have gone.
Opposition parties must pile the pressure on now to help refugees, defeat Priti Patel’s shameful Nationality and Borders Bill – rejected in a “victory for compassion” yesterday in the Lords – expose every dirty ruble, yen and dollar sheltering in tax havens and the city of London and do everything possible to support Ukraine, whose people are absolutely determined to resist.
Against that reality, listen to the few Tory MPs who banged on yesterday about perfectly legitimate constituency concerns – they sounded totally wrong.
Just as MPs applauding the Ukrainian ambassador sounded totally right.
READ MORE: The REAL Scottish Politics: Kremlin has made big mistake in Ukraine
Yes, that rare moment may have been tinged with other memories for Yessers. After all, back in 2015, the post-indyref intake of SNP MPs earned only pelters for clapping like normal people instead of “whaw, whawing” like seals.
But bygones. It doesn’t matter now.
Yessers might also wince when they see the admirable Volodymyr Zelensky tweeting grateful thanks to Boris Johnson, a man facing near certain expulsion from office until President Putin knocked his partygate lies into a cocked hat. That sticks in the craw. But let it go.
Some might even be tempted to stick the boot into Liz Truss (above) – blamed for Putin’s decision to ramp up Russia’s nuclear preparedness.
The accusation is clearly paranoid nonsense. And though I can’t abide the sight or sound of Thatcher’s wannabe clone, Putin’s claim was wrong, and Nicola Sturgeon was right to defend her.
Not because Liz Truss values support from a First Minister she routinely ignores. But because Nicola Sturgeon demonstrates that Westminster’s contemptuous treatment of Holyrood won’t stop us calling a spade a spade.
And we do need to.
The Foreign Secretary can’t tell the Black and Baltic Seas apart. She’s unimpressive – to put it mildly. But she is not the reason President Putin has Russian nuclear weapons on stand-by. No-one else is to blame for his aggression.
So, let’s not be played. Let’s be savvy. There are bigger fish to fry.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon hails BBC journalist Clive Myrie after Ukraine report
Yuval Noah Harari – author of the bestselling book Sapiens: A Brief History Of Humankind – summed up the situation powerfully on Radio 4: “This has been the most peaceful era (with terrible exceptions) in recent human history. If we once again return to the jungle, everything changes – especially defence budgets. In Europe, the average defence spending is 2.5% of GDP. That allows us to spend more on health and welfare. In Russia, it’s 11%.
"If aggression wins, that higher level of defence spending will become normal with less money for health, welfare, and the fight against climate change. The era of peace could be over, and with it, the chance to deal with massive global problems – because all our attention will be diverted.”
This is what’s truly at stake.
And if some eyebrows and hackles are rising over the forgotten, bloody conflicts that seem to contradict the hippy idea of living through an era of unparalleled peace, research supports Harari’s view.
According to the peacebuilding organisation, One Earth Future Foundation (OEF) there have been fewer and less lethal wars since 1945. The number of battlefield deaths per annum has trended steadily downward, and whilst the number of internal conflicts and civil wars is high it’s still lower than during the Cold War era.
All of that changed last week.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon defends Liz Truss after Kremlin blames her for Putin's nuclear orders
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means a relatively peaceful period of world history could be behind us. We should adapt our language to take stock of that awful fact.
The British Government is busy housing and helping refugees – or at least it should be. It may soon be preoccupied with financing a resistance (if Russia captures Ukraine) and increasing conventional defence spending. Which means SNP MPs must prepare a powerful case for axing Trident.
Westminster must also devote long overdue parliamentary scrutiny, civil service effort and ministerial time on effective sanctions against individuals and companies in Russia, Belarus and Serbia, and must properly and permanently overhaul a corrupt financial system that’s turned London into the dirty money capital of the world.
READ MORE: Aberfeldy businessman pleads with Home Office over sponsoring Ukraine refugees
And since the Tories simply can’t be trusted to carry any of these measures through, opposition eyes must be upon them.
None of this means independence and referendum planning should stop. But Yessers must pay respect to the profound changed political environment, across Scotland, Britain and Europe.
If we want the world to stop for Scotland one day soon, it behoves us to stop linking the case for Scotland with the tragedy of Ukraine, now.
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