Politics is not like football, though too many treat
it as if it is. It doesn’t fundamentally matter if Aberdeen win, or more likely, don’t win the league. Likewise it doesn’t matter if the Lib Dems win one seat
or fifty-seven. What matters is not the existence of a political party, but the
things that are achieved by political action. If the political goals of
liberalism could best be achieved by the Lib Dems ceasing to exist, there would
be no reason in and of itself to preserve the Lib Dems. The one party that understands this is the SNP. If the price of achieving independence was that the SNP ceased
to exist, every single SNP supporter would grasp this opportunity with both
hands.
There are two types of people involved in politics.
There are party supporters and there are the rest of us. The former strongly
identify with the party, get involved at times of elections, wear rosettes and
think the main political goal is that their party wins or at least wins more
seats. This is to treat politics as if it were football.
A political party winning seats or not winning seats
doesn’t matter at all to me. Party politics is not an end in itself, but a
means to bring about long term goals. I have only one long term goal. That the
UK should be as prosperous, free, united and fair as possible. Of course it’s
only by winning seats that a party can have any chance of bringing about a
goal. But I have, over the years, been willing to lend my vote to various parties
insofar as I thought at that time they would best help my long term goal. I
vote in this way also, because I never want to see one party in power for too
long. This inevitably leads to poor government. Therefore above all I want the electorate to be able to kick out any
government that has been in power too long.
I have had a policy of being reasonably politically neutral
while writing, but that has changed this week. My long term political goal can
at present only be fulfilled by the Conservative party in Scotland. The
reaction of the Labour Party and the Lib Dems after the general election has been
most illuminating. They think that what matter is the number of seats they win.
This does not matter. Because they think what matters is increasing their seats
they are willing to do what is necessary in order to do so. This shows in fact
that it would be better if they did not exist. It is after all a short step
from one to zero.
Some months ago I was involved in a tactical voting
campaign. I urged people to vote for whichever of the Lib Dems, Labour or
Conservatives had the best chance of winning a particular seat. I did not
organise or start this campaign, but was asked to help and did so, because at
the time I did not think it mattered which of these parties won a particular
seat. They all could play a part in my long term political goal. I campaigned in this way because what matters
to me most is the preservation of the UK. The UK is my country. I fight for it
in the same way that an American would fight for the USA.
The tactical voting campaign failed to influence the
result in Scotland. Perhaps even it made a bad situation worse. In a small way
it may have helped influence events in the rest of the UK. The SNP are not in government
in the UK. That was my only goal. It’s largely a matter of indifference to me
now whether the SNP have six seats or fifty six. They are just as impotent.
But this is beside the point. The basis for my
willingness to campaign for tactical voting was that there were people I agreed
with and respected in each of the mainstream UK parties. The difference frankly
between a Labour moderate, a Conservative moderate and many people in the Lib
Dems is frankly trivial and amounts to the colour of their rosette.
So long as each major party supported the UK
wholeheartedly then I could support them. In the past week however both
Scottish Labour and the Scottish Lib Dems have said that they will allow MPs to
support independence. Sorry you just lost my vote. How could I vote for a
candidate who might support independence? How could I vote for a party that
might work with the SNP? The SNP desperately need help from other parties. It makes their cause more mainstream and more legitimate. It’s a very
small step from allowing MPs to support independence to actually supporting it yourself.
Instead of fighting for the UK we have just another group of people who have
meekly surrendered. Does anyone believe either Labour or the Lib Dems would
oppose the SNP on a second referendum? Of course they wouldn’t, that might
upset the people they are trying to attract back to their party. It’s just one
more instance of putting party before country. It is this that I am fighting
against. It is this that I have been fighting against all my life.
I always suspected during the last General Election
campaign, that Labour and the Lib Dems would have made a deal with the SNP if
it brought them to power. The idea that they would allow a Conservative
minority government to rule unopposed was preposterous. The problem is that
everyone in the rest of the UK knows this too. They will vote for anyone to
avoid the fate of the SNP ruling England, so expect the decline of Labour and
the Lib Dems to continue next time too.
Sorry but I take the same line. I'm going to vote for anyone but you also. Being Pro UK is the
only policy to me that matters. It’s not something that I can allow a free vote
on. If you think it’s like being pro or anti tuition fees, then I will see you
as being rather lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, about an issue that it is
fundamental to me and so of course I’ll spew you out, you and your whole party.
We have at the moment three opposition parties in
Scotland each with one seat. It would be better by far that those who are soft
on independence merge with the SNP. If you are on the left and support
independence what reason do you have for not joining the SNP? Is it because you
prefer Red and Orange to Yellow? This isn’t honest. This is to be a fellow
traveller.
It is no more intrinsically unfair that five million or so people in the South East of England vote Conservative and get a Labour government
than that five million people in Scotland vote Labour and get a Conservative
Government. Each of us has one vote and is equally a citizen of the UK. That is
how everyone more or less used to think in Scotland. But during the 1980s the Left in Scotland couldn’t quite bear that they were not in power and so they
created the idea that unless they won the result was unfair. It is this that at
root is the cause of Scottish nationalism. Once you go down that route then the
logical endpoint is to vote for the SNP, because they have the only solution to
the problem once you accept that it is a problem. The answer of course from the
Pro UK perspective is that it is not a problem, no more here than in the United
States. Parts of any democracy vote differently to the whole. This is not a
fault. It’s a feature.
What is becoming ever clearer is that the Left in
Scotland thinks achieving power is more important than preserving the UK. Hundreds
of thousands of Labour supporters clearly are not that bothered if their goals
are achieved within the UK or without. Breaking up the UK would be a small
price to pay if only we could have higher benefits and an end to austerity. The
trouble is that it’s clear now that Labour and the Lib Dems more or less agree
with them. If they attracted back all their lost voters, how long would it be
before either party came out in favour of independence? They would after all
have to reflect the wishes of their members.
The whole problem in Scotland is that the Left is grotesquely
overrepresented. 88% of seats in the Scottish parliament are held by left wing
parties. There is thus no opposition. The parties on the Left
agree on virtually everything. There was never a fundamental difference between
them apart from on the issue of independence. Now they don’t even particularly
disagree on this.
But it would be far better for those of us who
support the UK to be the opposition to the SNP. The task is to make the
Scottish parliament better reflect the attitudes of Scotland. We are, in fact, not much more left wing than any other part of the UK. But somehow, mainly
because of the 1980s and hatred of Margaret Thatcher and the word 'Tory', we have
got ourselves into the situation where we are effectively a one party state.
Not because everyone votes for the SNP, but because everyone votes for the
Left.
The reason the Left is soft on the issue of
independence is that they see the UK as something that should exist at best for
pragmatic reasons. It is for this reason that the campaign was called Better
Together. Nonsense. The UK is our country and should be supported not because
we get a grant from London or we get certain rights that we wouldn’t otherwise
have. No other country would make this argument for why it ought to remain together. Does a Dane in Jutland think he's better together with a Dane from Funen. He wouldn't even understand the question. He's together because he's a Dane. Likewise we're united because we are British. That's it. No more arguments are necessary.
For the moment the Left in Scotland is part of the
problem and not part of the solution. What Scotland needs is a centre right
opposition to counter not only the SNP’s views on independence, but their whole
ideology that every solution to every problem requires government intervention
and public spending. Let those who agree with this solution merge into a single
opposition. At least then we would know what we are fighting against.
If we could have a balanced parliament in Scotland
where something close to 50% of Scots voted for the centre right
while 50% voted for the Left, then we would have taken the biggest
step possible to securing the future of the UK. It is for this reason above all that those UK
supporters who care most about the future of our country should no longer vote
Labour or Lib Dem. Voting for them will not help reduce 88% to 50%, rather it
just adds to the tendency of moving us towards 100%.
Scotland at the moment is struggling economically.
There is a reason for this. Part of the reason is that our prosperity depended
on the price and the existence of a commodity, rather than the success of our
businesses. It’s not accidental that the South East of England is more wealthy
than Scotland. It’s not because they have secret oil fields. Rather it’s
because they support business, free markets and enterprise. The reason
Scotland is poorer is that on the whole we don’t. We prefer to get our money
from Nanny Nicola and she prefers to get it from Nanny Dave. If you look on
wealth creation as something a little slimy, don’t be surprised that you remain
poor. Relying on the state to give you money is a recipe for being too wee, too
poor and too stupid. This applies not only to Scotland it applies to every
single country in the world.
So I’m no longer going to campaign for #SNPout rather
I’m going to campaign for SNP, Labour and Lib Dem out. If you allow independence
supporters into your party you’re all the same to me. If there is room for them, there's no room for me and I hope anyone else who voted No.
I urge all No voters to vote for a party that
actually does support the UK, that is actually willing to kick out anyone who supports
independence. The Conservative party is straddling the centre ground. If you
think that the UK should live within its means. If you think we should try to
make a profit as a country rather than a loss. If you think the economy is doing
reasonably well. But above all if your main long term goal is to keep the UK
intact, then vote Conservative. It's the only party left in Scotland that
shares your goals.
A year ago we won a great victory, but the response
has been pathetic. Can you imagine the SNP allowing MPs to vote against independence?
We are where we are in Scotland because the Left began to side with
nationalism in the 1980s and have been lukewarm about the UK ever since. It
would be better that they had never been born. Time to spit them out.
Fantastic. I love this.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteExcellent piece. Vote Conservative.
ReplyDeleteDelighted by your reasoning with which I concur.
ReplyDeleteI know know where I first met you; St Andrews.
ReplyDeleteFunny, that!
DeleteBTW Hows your Danish and Russian getting along, you World Traveller you?
ReplyDeleteBecause of Westminsters support of business and the market the US Federal Reserve had to bail out the UK Banks to the tune of £1400 bilion UK couldn't do it.That is twice annual GDP of the UK. Tories have increase National debt from £700 Billion to over £1500 Billion in five years, great track record. What we don't have in Scotland is democracy, Westminster does not understand or represent Scotish people, just tries to put them in their place and diminish them.
ReplyDeleteBritish banks did not receive a single groat from the American taxpayer. See here:
Deletehttps://projects.propublica.org/bailout/list.
I would also urge you to read these:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_United_Kingdom_bank_rescue_package
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2011/sep/12/reality-check-banking-bailout
The final bank bailout cost was £955bn. British GDP in 2008 was £1.462tn. So even your GDP claims are nonsense.
But you are right on one point: Westminster does not understand the Scottish people. Because almost all of the representatives we have sent there are living in a fantasy world.
"What we don't have in Scotland is democracy"
DeleteOh yes there is.
Almost painful to read, you are totally prepared to deny Scotland as a country to have self determination. And think it is fine we are told what to do for longer yet. I will never deny England to do what they think is best for them ! but do expect the same from them. And will for sure keep fighting for it .
Delete"If the price of achieving independence was that the SNP ceased to exist, every single SNP supporter would grasp this opportunity with both hands."
ReplyDeleteI have to say that that is a nonsense - a particularly hard one to prove at that.
As for this...
"I have only one long term goal. That the UK should be as prosperous, free, united and fair as possible."
Surely the last five years has indicated that, if nothing else, you won't get any of that by voting for the Conservatives?
Wonderful article, Effie, and I'm right there with you in this line of thinking. Indeed, the (largely Labour) BT campaign frustrated the hell out of me because it treated the UK as a commodity, as opposed to, you know, a country with an incredible history and one which is worth fighting for. So, looking on the bright side, if Labour and the LDs are out of the picture next time, we might, just might, get a more passionate campaign extolling the virtues of our country, and not just appealing to people's bank balances.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI've repeatedly explained why Brit Nat is offensive. It gets an automatic block on Twitter. It get's a deletion here. I don't need heidbangers on this site. Please don't return
DeleteSo, you're happy to publish YOUR opinions on a public forum, but should ANYONE dare call you out, comment deleted.
DeleteAnd as for 'heidbangers', oh the irony...
So, you're happy to publish YOUR opinions on a public forum, but should ANYONE dare call you out, comment deleted.
DeleteAnd as for 'heidbangers', oh the irony...
Its not a public forum DunderHeid.
DeleteDear Mike
DeleteDo enlighten us as to why *you* consider that this is not a public forum, I'd be interested in your definition...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteIt's my website heidbanger. I own it. I can choose who appears on the comment section. Now I ask once more politely. Go away.
DeleteThanks for all the comments folks. Any one with any opinion is most welcome so long as you're polite. I hope you'll understand that I can't answer everyone's point. If I did I'd be writing two blogs instead of one.
ReplyDeleteIndeed vote Conservative on principle of them being the true UK party but what you also get is Ruth Davidson who is smart, honest and capable along with policy's that are costed and deliverable.
ReplyDeleteThe same Davidson who has never won a constituency election ? In fact she was 4th in Kelvinside election ?
DeleteIf only you employed logic and/or fact based evidence in your musings then they might, just maybe, have an ounce of credence. Alas not,. After Tories get a kicking in 2016 will it be "everyone except UKIP out"?
ReplyDeleteRecently had an argument with you about nationalism and how you object to the term BritNat. I told you then, I would accept your reasoning on the understanding you accept that many YES supporters (including me) are not nationalists either.
ReplyDeleteYou provided three definitions for independence. Two which do not apply and a third which applies to both of us but is trivial. 'A nationalist supports independence for their country.'
Fair enough, I was happy to leave it there until...
How on earth does that align with this,
"So long as each party supported the UK wholeheartedly, I could support them"
I voted YES and SNP but I even I am not THAT obsessed with nation. If the SNP started to act completly incompotent or introduced too many policies I do not like, I would be give up the Independence dream for a while and vote for someone else.
So I suggest another definition for nationalist. 'A nationalist is somebody who puts nation before people'. They prioritise country before society. And that definition fits you to a tee. So, back to the drawing board Effie. Am I wrong? Explain to me why you are not a British Nationalist in denial?
How far do they have to go? Limiting the size of your garden, controlling your child? both are on there way.
DeleteFeel free to vote Tory, its a wasted vote in Scotland and only helps the SNP.
ReplyDeleteAs a no voter who has been feeling a bit politically homeless lately this blog has been invaluable.
ReplyDeleteThe Scottish Conservatives have the look of a party in ascendency and there's a real chance of them becoming a relevant force in Scottish politics if they can position themselves as the credible unionist vote.
So thanks for sharing this blog post Effie and reminding us all just how repellent all these age old Tory shibboleths actually are.