I’ve long
been of the opinion that the SNP are in the business of hiding the truth from
the Scottish people. This isn’t because they are bad people or anything like
that, it’s because they believe passionately in Scottish independence, but know
that people who share this belief are in a minority in Scotland. Less than a
third of the Scottish population consistently support independence come what
may and this figure has remained steady for years. These are the core SNP
supporters, the people we meet online, who have believed in the SNP vision all
their lives, who are desperate to win Scottish independence. I’m often
impressed by their sincerity. They campaign effectively and they are very well
organized. They are well funded too. They all know that the task is to convert
the core nationalist support into 50% plus one vote. So they need to convert
around 20% of Scots to their cause. This 20% are, of course, not SNP
supporters; they may even be opposed to the SNP, but they need to be persuaded.
How do you go about it?
The first
thing you do is pretend that a vote for independence is not a vote for the SNP.
Lots of Scots are put off by the SNP. I’m often struck by how many independence
supporters object to being called nationalists. They seem blissfully unaware
that one of the meanings of the word “nationalist” is someone who supports
independence. Well then what is someone who is Scottish and supports
independence other than a Scottish nationalist? This isn’t in any sense
pejorative, but is an accurate description of someone’s political beliefs. Ever since I can remember, to describe
someone as a Scottish nationalist is to describe someone who supports the SNP,
just as to describe someone as a Welsh nationalist is to describe someone who
supports Plaid Cymru. People who support Welsh independence, but don’t support
Plaid Cymru must be about as rare in Wales as dragons.
One of the
ways the SNP have set about trying to pretend that a vote for independence is
not a vote for the SNP is by erecting a curtain between themselves and the
independence campaign. This curtain is called Yes Scotland. But it’s rather
like in the Wizard of Oz; in the end we find out who’s pulling the levers.
Let’s look at who makes up Yes Scotland. The political parties that support Yes
Scotland are the SNP, the Scottish Greens, the Scottish Socialist Party and
Solidarity. The Scottish Socialists won 0.4 % in the last Holyrood election,
Solidarity won 0.14 %, while the Greens won 4.4 % up from the 0.7% they had won
at the previous General election. By any
normal standard these are minor parties. They have no chance of forming a
government either in Scotland or the UK. Moreover even they realise that Yes
Scotland is a front for the SNP. Mr
Harvie the Greens leader has described it as "entirely an SNP vehicle."
Naturally
lots of people who previously have voted for other parties will vote Yes. But
on what basis are they voting Yes? I assume it must be on the basis that they
believe what is contained in the White Paper, Scotland’s Future. But who wrote
Scotland’s Future? It was the Scottish Government which is made up exclusively
of SNP members of the Scottish parliament. They are not in coalition with
anyone as they won an absolute majority. Scotland’s Future is full of SNP
policies many of them not shared by other parties and certainly not by other
major parties. So clearly if I were to vote for Scotland’s Future, I would be
voting for the SNP. It’s their manifesto after all. To suggest that someone can
support a manifesto without supporting the party that wrote it is ludicrous.
When I was growing
up in Scotland everyone knew which party supported independence. I can remember
when they were a tiny party, but then they found their defining slogan “It’s
Scotland’s oil” and they gradually became more popular. I remember when they
opposed the Scottish Constitutional Convention and were against devolution
because it wasn’t what they wanted. People who supported independence voted for
the SNP, people who didn’t voted for Labour, the Liberals or the Conservatives.
The only party that has campaigned for
independence for all of my life is the SNP. But now suddenly when there’s a
referendum I’m supposed to believe that voting for independence is not a vote
for the SNP? Well I’m sorry. I can see through the curtain. I know who’s
pulling the levers.
Imagine if
there were a policy that the Conservatives had which no other major party
shared. Suppose, for instance, that they proposed reunification with the USA so
that Britain would become the 51st State. Well let’s say they put it
to a referendum with the question “Should Britain become the 51st
state of the Union?” and imagine if the Conservatives campaigned for a Yes
vote? Imagine if they had campaigned for this for years, but that Labour, the
Liberals and the SNP had always opposed them. Well would it not be reasonable
under these circumstances to say that a Yes vote would be a vote for the Conservatives?
After all they would be the party in government; they would be the party that
had always wanted to join the USA. Would it cease to be a vote for the Tories
because a few tiny parties decided that they wanted to play the role of полезные
дураки [useful fools]? Would it cease to be a vote for the Tories even though
they admitted that in future USA elections they might not win?
Independence
is the core policy of the SNP. It is the reason the party exists. Indeed the
goal of independence is the only reason the SNP has existed since its
beginning. In many ways it would be more accurate to describe the SNP as the
Scottish Independence Party (SCOTIP). Anyone voting for independence who thinks
they are not also voting for the SNP is deluding themselves.
