I HAVE had time to reflect on that disappointing election result.
While I remain a liberal socialist, like many others I joined the SNP 20 years ago to win independence.
With still a 50/50 divide on independence, evidently many Yes supporters returned to Labour to dispel the Tories; which at the same time has nearly destroyed the SNP. Whether they return to the SNP will depend not only on how UK Labour performs but also how the SNP perform after losing a host of good people like Joanna Cherry, Drew Hendry and Tommy Sheppard.
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In truth the SNP may have been in power too long in Holyrood without securing their core objective of independence. From a high of 56 MPs in 2015 to nine is almost unforgivable and must reflect on the leadership clique over the last few years. Also the excessive time spent on gender issues and other low-priority policies must be part of the cause.
Finally, and sadly, all this maybe down to the fact that the Scots are just not ready to take responsibility for their own affairs and to lead this ancient well-endowed nation, which has given so much to the world, back to independence and progress. It does take courage and confidence to build a better life, and it may be true that the best of Scots leave the country to do just that.
Grant Frazer
Newtonmore
IT is unusual for me to wax biblical when talking politics, but the aftermath of the festivities of “Big Starma” will require a hangover cure, and as the grim light of the new day pains the senses and brings us kicking and struggling back to the real world, the cause of self-government for Scotland will require a new and contemporary iteration of the Exodus story to point the way forward.
The Westminster Lino party (Labour In Name Only) has – by various vague promises, a strengthened commitment to their corporate sponsors and a tenuous party unity – delivered the disunited UK from bondage. For this, Scotland should be grateful. They have also delivered the Scottish independence movement from those irresponsible, ineffectual and wokeried elements of the SNP which have disgraced the good name of Scotland as a major contributor to the modern world in so many domains.
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However, we are simply entering the desert of post-neoliberal austerity and poverty once again, and Scotland’s onward journey to who kens where will be with the same Westminster burdens as before .We will still pay billions to service UK debt interest; we will still pay billions for ineffective, dangerous, unwanted nuclear weapons; we will still have a third of our elderly and vulnerable, including children, in fuel poverty in a land with a surfeit of energy resources. We will still have our NHS undermined by managerialism, corporate ideology and privatisation by Lino’s donors.
We will have nobody of any note to represent our interests in Westminster except Starmer’s lapdog lackeys whose socialism bears no resemblance to that of their forefathers. We will continue to be the energy and battery pack for the rUK. Our cultural identity and our European connections will continue to be eroded and our economic and cultural legacy to our children and grandchildren will be vestigial.
However, if true patriots struggle across this very real desert in a spirit of camaraderie and mutual forgiveness, reunited and reinvigorated by the fruits co-operation and reconciliation, we will most certainly reach the “promised land”! In 2026 – when, after two years of bringing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the social, economic and cultural case for self-governance to the Scotsman and woman in the street – Scotland shall indeed “rise and be a nation” on the world stage again.
Here endeth the lesson!
Dr Andrew Docherty
Selkirk
NOW the dust has settled and our fate is known, it is time to apportion blame for what was a totally embarrassing fiasco.
Many on these pages like me have consistently said that there was no coherent plan for this election, or for that matter independence. I heard the FM saying the usual excuse that the SNP would listen and lessons would be learned. I am sick of hearing this tired old mantra and I am not the only one!
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I am blaming the FM and the rest of the high heid yins for their failure to give the voters an option for indy. If we had been given a cast-iron promise that if we voted for indy in the General Election then we would have just taken it, it would have been a different story. Instead, all we got was more of the same old crap. Well, I for one am not having it any more. I think it is time that the members got together and took control of this situation.
We don’t have much time till 2026 and if we don’t come up with something we will be fatally holed below the water line. I will probably never see another General Election but I am hoping I get to 2026. Time to call it like it is.
While I know we lost a lot of good people on Thursday and while no-one likes to see anyone lose their job, it is plain to see we brought it on ourselves. We can forget about Westminster as we are a total non-entity now. To those who are left down there, get yourselves back up the road because you are wasting your time.
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If John Swinney does not get a move on and tell us what we all want to hear then we need to get someone who will! I know this is not what most SNP supporters want to hear but I must say what is in my heart.
The only independence-minded politician worth listening to through all this was Alex Salmond. At least he would be prepared to do what we need to do. I await the slating I will probably get for saying this but my skin is thick enough to take it.
Any hope I had for 2026 is fast disappearing. After this beating my wounds may never heal. I thought it would be bad, but not catastrophic. We all know what we need to hear but the problem is, do we have anyone brave enough?
Old John
Ayrshire
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