Trident, Austerity and Dentures. Those are the key components of the Labour brand in Scotland. The unionists demographic is overwhelmingly old. Independence had a majority in every age group except the over 55s.
Unionism is not a factor of age in the sense that once people reach 55 they turn into Unionists. People over 55 were the only Unionist age group, because they are also the only age group which predominantly does not use social media, buys deadtree newspapers and watches the regular BBC news bulletins. They are also influenced by residual memories of Empire and Second World War (old Tories). They remember the days when banks were viewed as respectable institutions, when the Labour Party helped the poor rather than supported the rich, and when public figures were widely believed not to lie.
There are very few replacement adults coming along with those kind of beliefs. Unionism is dying out. That is why Jack Straw has launched an initiative to try to outlaw future secession (at the same time contradicting his own position on Kosovan independence against the will of Serbia). Straw as one of the architects of the Iraq War has a strong track record of causing violence that kills many people. His idea of blocking the constitutional road to independence would cause violence beyond doubt.
The high energy community campaign for independence needs no encouragement from me to keep going. There seems general agreement that the May 2015 UK general election provides an immediate campaigning focus. I agree with that, and will address it, but it is also important that we are not corralled purely into the institutional agenda when our great virtue is that we are unconfined and extra-institutional. So I suggest a second vital focus, and that is Trident. Opposition to Trident unites everybody. Let us launch a great movement of protest aimed at Trident, including demonstration and direct action, and let us invite those in the rest of the UK who also oppose Trident to join us in that campaign. This should be a priority.
On the Westminster elections, there seems immediate consensus we should have a single pro-independence candidate per constituency. I strongly support that. There will be difficulties on how to achieve it, and I hope these can be worked through quickly. Tommy Sheridan has suggested that everybody should support the existing SNP candidates, which is very self-denying of him. I see virtue in this. But the Yes campaign was very much wider than the SNP, and I think the momentum could much better be maintained if we start with a clean sheet and local Yes groups choose their candidates through an open selection protest – in which the SNP candidates are welcome to participate, as are Greens and SSP and Solidarity and individuals, and the people will decide.
This is not institutionally neat – there is no clear membership of Yes groups. It requires self-abnegation on the part of existing party candidates. It removes the power of men in suits to screen candidates for acceptability. But those are good things.
I described the independence movement as having a revolutionary spirit. We should nurture that, not try to hammer it into the shape of a regular political party. In the long term there are some very good ideas on a new kind of participative project from the Common Weal. In the short term we need to keep the spirit moving, and go with the flow,
Show me a wise political analyst and poet with (gasp!) rules and i’ll show you a fool and a fraud.”
____________________
In which case, Jivesy, you’ll be interested to hear about Robert Conquest’s second Rule, which runs roughly as follows:
“Every organisation appears to he headed by agents of its greatest opponents”
The sort of tripe you and the other leading Excellences post on here would seem to bear out the validity of that Rule…. 🙂
Habbakuk,
You do like your little rules sweetie,dontcha?
I’d imagine you get quite anxious of a day without that little safety blanket.
Now go and change that disgusting string vest before you get ejected,yet again,from your bowling club.
Nigel
“They will probably conclude that it would be wise to remove the subs”
Sorry, Nigel, just trying to get to grips with your abbreviation here – you mean subsidies, right? Imagine the fallout..
I like your suggestion to concentrate on closing down Faslane – after all it is the decided will of the Scottish Nation. Perhaps it can be literally closed down – electricity and gas shut off., roads dug up and bridges closed down (awfully unsafe those nuclear bases), ferry service suspended, teachers and other services suspended. Non-lethal local population to be indemnified and later compensated after the unpleasant business is finished. It would help focus things no end. Then announce a national picnic for everyone at the base area – bring a friend.
Also point out to the English that their part of trident wasted money can be used to save their NHS.
It might seem counter intuitive but why not run SNP candidates in England on a program of 1. Saving the NHS 2.Affordable tuition 3.No stupid military stuff 4. getting the railways back into public hands. It might wake up/make up a few allies down south and “scotch” the possibility of Nichola replacing Alex as the favourite hate figure next time round. When the English realize they need to be liberated as much as the Scots and they- hopefully – rise up, a free Scotland would have a strong ally or at least a distracting cat among the pigeons.
There really is nothing worse than a whinging Scot.
Or as PG Wodehouse put it:
It’s not hard to tell the difference between a ray of sunshine and a Scotsman with a grievance.
sorry – of course even English SNPers would also emphasize independence for Scotland as vital.
Habbabkuk,
By all means carry on quoting les bon mots of others if it makes you feel better associated to something other than yourself…
You’re gonna quote me Groucho Marx on reheats now aintcha?
It’s ok to be yourself you know Habby;do let us know when you find out who that is?
Your line manager may give a starting clue on that Byzantine journey…
Canspeccy,
May i refer you to my above post to Habby inre:quoting others…
P.G,Wodehouse eh?
Ooooh…how revealing Canspeccy…oooh i say sir!
Bet you always wanted a batman eh?
@Anon1:
If the Scotch get so upset and feel victimized by something as harmless as being called ‘Scotch’, then the English will make fun of that by insisting on calling them Scotch.
That’s part of it, certainly.
But Scotch is a perfectly good English term expressing relation to Scotland or its people. So while, if I were in Scotland, I might, as a matter of courtesy, defer to local preference in terminology, when I am speaking my own language in cyberspace, I see no reason to be imposed upon by a minority with an ax to grind.
Good article, enjoyed that.
Maybe it won’t help wanting much, but I feel you really shold be getting more support from people across the formally known UK.
@Iain Hill
23 Sep, 2014 – 4:33 pm
I agree that’s stereotyping of the worst kind, pure ageism, which is rather unbecoming. Something else was going on, as Node alludes to.
The Western Isles vote is also fucking weird. And it begs the question what are the chances of the unicons uniting to oust the sitting SNP MSP and MP at the next elections? What was going on there too?
A lot more careful analysis of the numbers of actual votes cast over recent general elections for Westminster and Holyrood and the referendum vote, as opposed to percentages needs to be carried out. Let’s see if any commonalities emerge, or any patterns which might imply that something is amiss.
I am still troubled by the fact that YES won in constituencies with the lowest percentage turnouts, in the 70s as opposed to the national average.
‘The Future will be Independent’ Great header and great article, I take great comfort from the 20.000 that joined the SNP but a little burning flame, as hot as a star within me hopes that this will not mean more party puppies/puppets.
Will this Independent future allow any chances for any Independent candidates come next election?
Fact is that an unfair, misrepresentative system, FPTP, will wreck any attempt at true independence, mandate based local political representation. Unless all of the so called Union asks for and is allowed to choose a more representative voting system, something the party puppets hate to allow us, this Independence will not be coming to pass.
And Labour run administrations don’t like to loose power, ISN’T THAT RIGHT JACK STRAW? they like to manipulate voters, cheat on election day, misuse police powers, deface other party’s election posters, a right deviant lot.
Rumours have it that Jack Straw organised Nick Cleggs leadership campaign within the Lib Dems in 2009 I belief, the nasty little blighter. This was claimed by the Lib Dem candidate in 2010 on Umma TV, Jack denied it.
Milliband is a serious back stabber, unless the Conference was organised by Douglas Alexander, because not a word of praise was uttered for Gordon Brown, but much accolade for the FoI’s Darling, Murphy and Labours stalwart in Scotland Johan Lamont. Ms Curran who planned to praise Gordon, was hault over the barrel to cut him out of her speech, meaning that Davids brother has learned a lot of his traits.
So the default to Milliband next year is Gordon Brown and this is the party political way of telling us, by omission.
And what in the name of things will we be voting for apart from the TTIP? more of the same from the red Tories and whoever their neutered sidekick might be. Why not stop the 300 million waste on another show? now there would be some credence in that.
‘We will not vote or have elections until all 4/5 parties agree on a fairer voting system!’ Surround all polling stations!
Take back whats yours and appoint randomly selected representatives immediately!
@Habbabkuk
“Everyone is right wing in matters one knows something about”.
A variant on the old saying that a man who is not a liberal at twenty has no heart, an man who is not a conservative at 30 has no brain.
There is something deeply rotten about a political system that places the power to decide questions of state in the hands of teenagers.
In fact, placing decisions about matters of state in the hands of the public at large is absurd, as those amusing <a href"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkFDcX_72c"U-Tube man-in-the-street tests of historical knowledge reveal.
“A variant on the old saying that a man who is not a liberal at twenty has no heart, an man who is not a conservative at 30 has no brain.”
So if young and conservative you are simply missing a vital organ?
So what’s you’re excuse for growing more stupid by the year?
Canspeccy,
So are you suggesting we should ignore the full spectrum of age and life,hope and energy,and have all our political choices dictated by jaded and weary men?
And with your purview it probably is men isn’t it Canspeccy?
Oh Joy.
You seem to like quotes Canspeccy….so how does that one go?…oh yes:
There’s no fool like an old fool…
The future’s another war. Sigh.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/23/raf-prepares-jets-air-strikes-isis-iraq
Canspeccy
_______________
One of the saddest lessons of history, is this if,we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested, the truth, the bamboozle has captured us, its simply to painful to acknowledge the event to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back
Carl Sagan.
_____________________
Westminster has bamboozled, the British public, for many a year, the false war in Iraq, being just one example.
Labour’s minimum wage rise to £8 by 2020, is just 25 pence per year, what breath taking vision from the progressive party. What other useless wee gem will Ed Miliband pull out of the magicians hat.
The two faces of Labour.
http://michaelgreenwell.wordpress.com/2014/09/23/dont-forget-this/
Now they’re attacking their own kind, people who don’t agree with, their demented mantra.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/arsonists-torch-car-rabbi-who-4301896
A Scottish friend informs me the SNP have been inundated with new members since the no vote. A hopeful sign for those of us who want an independent Scotland, I would think, but I was wondering if you had any comment on this, Craig? As one who at this point knows the Scottish political landscape intimately, do you have any thoughts on this?
This is Ruth Davidson discussing postal votes. Glenn Campbell sounds surprised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcL69gUtPb0
These are the questions that must be answered:
1) Where did this “sampling” of ballots take place?
2) When did it take place?
3) How many postal votes in total were opened?
4) What happened to those votes after they were opened?
5) Who was present while all this took place?
5) Is this standard practice at UK and Scottish elections?
Craig – once again you stake your claim to ownership of the word ‘stupid’. Your consistent misreading of reality will harm your cause. “Opposition to Trident unites everybody” – no it doesn’t. It doesn’t rate very highly for most Scots let alone the rest of the UK. But do go back to the fifties if you want to kill your cause. “Unionism is dying out.” Claptrap – it’s changing shape. The EU is unionist – the EU will kill off the breakaway tendencies of sovereign states. As for ” revolutionary spirit” – Simply pathetic! Let’s all go to the barricades for…more child benefit?…to trash our pensions? Oh no I remember what it was all about – Scots deciding for Scots – in your dreams. Scots working for the bond markets more like. The posh boys shafted Salmond. He fought a devo max campaign when the question was about independence and blew it.
Whoops – two 5s !
Labour’s minimum wage rise to £8 by 2020, is just 25 pence per year
That’s what the referendum was really about. Who could deliver the most welfare, the Nats in Edinburgh or the laborites in Westminster.
The minimum wage, incidentally is a job killer, as I explained here.
So many predictions so many statements, reliable or pipe dreams?
Look at last weeks predictions to find out.
Just a thought from waaaay out yonder…suppose the SNP became a UK party? This would involve it pledging reforms to English voters in line with what it proposes for an independent Scotland – neatly reversing the approach of LibLabCon plc. It would naturally support an independent England and would utilise well-established links with Plaid Cymru to prise Wales loose, perhaps. But, more to the fantastical point, it would have a hell of a lot more MP’s in the UK parliament, and those immune from any weasel tricks designed to neutralise the actual Scots in Westminster.
My tongue is only half in my cheek. The SNP is the only UK party to have expressed any kind of dissatisfaction with the UK’s current rapaciously materialist culture, and it got a lort of votes in the referendum. Putting up some SNP candidates in disaffected parts of England might just be the way to go.
I hear your laughter. That’s entertainment.
Craig – Like the idea of a Yes election platform a lot. unfortunately there was a majority for No among 18 to 24 year olds and the Yes majority in many other age groups just wasn’t big enough to cancel out pensioners. No only had a narrow majority among 55 to 64 year olds. It was the big majority for no among 65+ that really swung it.
But the SNP membership has doubled since Thursday. That surely must have an impact on its future aims. It could incorporate the wider Yes movement.
Alan Rae wrote – “But the SNP membership has doubled since Thursday. That surely must have an impact on its future aims. It could incorporate the wider Yes movement.”
The Scottish Green party gained thousands of members too and now has more members than the Scottish Labour party (admittedly not a high bar to reach any more, but still significant). SSP and Solidarity gained a fair number too. And while the SNP made up the majority of activists there were a fair number of Greens, socialists, Solidarity, members of no party etc.
While the SNP’s organisation certainly helped, the Yes campaign being too much dominated by the SNP was a weakness when trying to get the votes of Labour voters, not a strength.
Any Yes party needs to give equal prominence and chances of being elected to non-SNP candidates (especially Greens, some SSP and Tommy Sheridan from Solidarity among others) in order to keep converting more voters to Yes.
Ha! Entertainment indeed, Bz.
Three austerity managers marched up to Scotland; huge swathes of England would probably prefer that they’d stayed there.
Craig
Interesting article, only quibble is letting local YES groups select the candidate. It’s the SNP’s party discipline that’s often confounded our adversarries. would that discipline be maintained without using the parties selection process. Tommy Sheridan’s reason for backing the SNP is probably down to the above.
It’s a tough job taking on ther Brittish establishment, Tommy knows this only too well.
IMHO it would be daft to throw away the lean fighting machine that is the SNP.