George Kerevan: How we can use disruption of the Commons to further indy cause

Their protest – over Boris Johnson’s refusal to grant a Section 30 order – garnered a little publicity, though by and large the Unionist media preferred to ignore the interruption. The movement back home was cheered up by the intervention, even if the massed Tory benches drowned out the Scottish protest with the usual jeers. Yet in the end, do such interventions achieve anything?

I should point out that Kenny and Neale were taking a big risk.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, is an irascible and vituperative figure. He has an ego the size of a backcourt cludgie. The HoC Speaker has a lot of power. He or she literally decides who gets to speak in a debate. If you piss them off, then you run the risk of “not being called”. Or at least you have to sit in the chamber for hours and wait your turn.

The Speaker also chooses which amendments to motions are discussed. Annoy Hoyle enough and you will become a Commons pariah.

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Nevertheless, Kenny and Neale were correct to protest. The HoC system is designed to turn backbench firebrands into compliant poodles. The great Dennis Skinner – now 90 years young – was infamous for his barbed attacks on Tory and indeed Labour ministers. Dennis was thrown out of the Chamber on at least 10 occasions, twice for calling David Owen a “pompous sod”. But Skinner was neutered by being adopted and indulged by the Tories as an eccentric performer. Successive Speakers treated him as a “character”. His political influence was diminished.

The same cannot be said for Kenny and Neale. In fact, for a moment I thought that Hoyle was about to have a heart attack when the Terrible Twins refused his injunction for them to shut up. Hoyle is thin-skinned, to say the least. He lacks the sharp, creative tongue of his immediate predecessor, John Bercow. When thwarted, he simply blows his top in rage.

But the question still stands – does annoying the Speaker for a few minutes really advance the cause of independence? I think Kenny and Neale were making the necessary point that movement MPs are not sent to Westminster to “play the game” or act like nationalist wallpaper.

They are there for one reason only – to prise Scotland’s freedom from the grasping, sticky fingers for the British establishment and its parliamentary cronies. But how best to do that?

When I was an SNP MP back between 2015-17, the group had a lot of internal debate about disrupting Parliament in the tradition of the old Irish Nationalists under Charles Stewart Parnell. Since Parnell brought the House of Commons to a veritable standstill in the late

19th century – by obstructionist tactics – the rules of procedure have been tightened up considerably. So the SNP group commissioned Kirsty Blackman to prepare a report on how we could disrupt the Commons now, in order to make Scotland’s voice heeded

Kirsty produced a very good paper. The group meeting that listened to her report got very excited. Alas, under the conservative leadership of Angus Robertson at the time, not a lot then transpired. Angus is a clubbable chap and always carried a rolled umbrella to the Commons. He genuinely believes the Brits will bow to democratic argument. That worked so well in, er … India, Ireland, America, Cyprus, Kenya, etc, etc. The Brits go when they are pushed, not before.

I had higher hopes of a Commons challenge when Ian Blackford became SNP leader at Westminster. In fact, Ian has led walkouts from the Chamber and clashed openly with both Bercow and Hoyle on several occasions. Bercow threw Blackford out of the Chamber in 2018, so Ian can hardly complain about Kenny MacAskill or Neale Hanvey.

HOWEVER, Ian has eschewed using disruption as a permanent weapon. Instead, he uses it as counterpoint. As a way of grabbing the odd headline. Nothing wrong with that in principle but where does it leave us now that contenders for the Tory leadership have pointedly rejected granting a second referendum “this generation”?

The SNP leadership has now adopted a modified “Plan B” that posits winning a popular majority for independence at the expected 2024 UK General Election. Even at the successful post-referendum election in 2015, the SNP only won a popular majority by a whisker. Winning an outright majority (including the Green vote) will be a big “ask” come 2024. Even then, will Westminster listen? In particular, could a minority Labour administration afford to split its ranks by treating with Scotland?

All this suggests that Scotland needs to be prepared to convince the British establishment that we should be taken seriously. Very seriously. For starters, a minority Labour government will be extremely vulnerable to parliamentary disruption.

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Labour keep suggesting they will defy the SNP to side with the Tories and vote down its legislation. But we don’t need to fall into that trap. Nationalist MPs can delay and disrupt Labour legislation on their own until Starmer and co are willing to negotiate independence or agree another referendum (probably the likely compromise).

We also need to lay the groundwork for an election campaign that prioritises independence – urgently. That will not be easy given the cost of living crisis, which dominates the lives of ordinary voters.

Two things follow. Firstly, we need to build a popular mandate for an indy-based election campaign. Which is why I favour some variation on holding a new National Convention of all elected supporters of independence (local, Holyrood and Westminster) plus representatives of the great Scottish institutions and churches. The convention can draw up a manifesto for a new nation that is beyond party. But secondly, the fight to defend Scottish living standards has to be merged with the fight for independence. In particular, we need to take back control of Scotland’s energy resources from London governments.

If the struggle to control local energy prices and defend wages is divorced from the fight for Scottish freedom, the way is open for the Unionist parties (probably Labour) to drive a wedge into the movement. Indy is not a distraction; it is the key to protecting Scottish living standards.

Which brings us back to “disrupting” Westminster. Disruption really means nationalist MPs exposing the uselessness of the House of Commons. There are lots of creative ways of doing this. Next week MPs start their long summer hols, coming back only in September. Even then, they spend most of September and October at party conferences rather than at Westminster.

Let’s expose this waste of time and space. Nationalist MPs should convene their own emergency debates in the empty Commons Chamber to discuss the economic crisis, while the Tories are off hunting, shooting or whatever. Let’s take over the Chamber and use it for the people. Invite Nicola to speak.

I vote Kenny MacAskill for the new Speaker.