David Pratt: SNP infighting cripples battle against looming Brexit doom

In the wake of the party conference, changes in the NEC and evidence of yet more corrosive infighting, those comments have not only come from party members themselves but those outside the SNP who are pro-independence and others yet again who remain to be convinced that sovereignty for Scotland is the right route to travel.

Some of their observations, while expressed rather indelicately, say much about the how the SNP is viewed right now and I make no apologies for repeating a few here. This is not to stoke the fire of disagreement – far from it – but to illustrate the dangers in a shifting perception of the party’s performance in relation to the cause of independence and tackling other issues.

Cumulatively the impression I’m getting is that if the SNP can’t sort out its own differences, especially at such a pivotal moment in the indy campaign, then how can they be expected to lead us in the other real battles bearing down on Scotland?

Alongside independence, Brexit and concerns over Scotland’s economy and jobs are what weighs heavily on the minds of many I’ve spoken too across the political spectrum lately. SNP infighting at best they find irritating and at worst recognise it as the serious liability it is.

As one person put it to me frankly if perhaps a tad indecorously, speaking of Scotland’s hopes and aspirations for the future: “Wouldn’t it be ironic if the SNP and our hopes for independence were smote asunder by a debate that boils down to unisex toilets.” Let me be absolutely clear when I say that no-one is making light of the gender issues and debate that have so vexed the party of late.

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The point I’m making here is how such internal battles are perceived by those looking to the SNP for solidarity and leadership in the tough battles ahead for Scotland’s chance to rule its own affairs and make the best of our lot while working alongside our European neighbours.

To those who say political differences are healthy and that the SNP machinery has enabled the party to adopt fresh faces, attitudes and an NEC comprised of office bearers that reflect that process, I say fine.

But only the most blind and foolish would insist for a moment that damage has not been done to the party’s image as having the gravitas, wherewithal, sensitivity and capacity to capitalise on the obvious advantages Tory mismanagement and the most recent polls have handed the SNP.

AS another friend put it in equally candid fashion yesterday against the continuing party wrangling, “every Unionist politician will be on their knees crying in gratitude like drought-stricken farmers at the first drop of rain”, given the respite this latest round of infighting has brought them. Others looking on at the SNP right now tell me that even if the party can get its act together and help deliver independence, it will almost certainly now be a busted flush the moment indy is achieved. Recent squabbling, they say, is more proof that in the wake of independence, “the party will fall apart like a wet paper bag”.

There are doubtless SNP members reading his who will say this is nonsense and argue back that what we have witnessed these past days was a party putting its house in order and as such its longevity with or without independence is assured.

This may well prove to be the case, but I for one right now see precious little evidence of that house being put in order, with relentless social media bloodletting and bickering still trundling on apace. And while we’re on the subject of social media, is Twitter really the best place for a political party to conduct debate, let alone try to resolve such punishing and harmful differences?

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Is it not the case that grown-ups get in a room together, sit down and talk through what divides or irks them. This, after all, when it boils down to it, is not about individual SNP members, political egos and careers. It’s about Scotland, its people and how all our citizens’ futures could play out.

The apparent willingness of party members and senior officials to tear strips off each other on social media recently has been both unedifying and breathtaking in its tactical naivety.

Every dig, every barbed remark or comment, every accusation justified or not gives Unionists the ammunition they need in declaring to the Scottish people that the SNP is already that politically self-absorbed, sodden wet paper bag falling apart and unworthy of investing our trust in.

Yet again there will be those party members who will attest that this is an exaggeration, but let them tell me that come the May election if things start going pear shaped. Even more significantly, let them tell me that when, in the days after another referendum, we discover enough Scots didn’t vote Yes because they thought the SNP had lost the plot and its sense of political direction and couldn’t risk relying on them.

In short, it’s time the SNP stopped listening to itself and started listening to the Scottish people. They need to sit up and pay urgent attention to those Scots these past few days who have asked why party members and officials are locking antlers with each other rather than with the Tories and those that would drag us out of Europe against our will and deny Scotland the opportunity to take control of its own affairs.

DURING these now seemingly interminable internal squabbles, there has hardly been a single insightful or constructive peep from within the party’s top echelon about the thundering train of Brexit about to come crashing through the barriers of our lives. That this is the one issue at least on which the vast majority of Scots have already and unquestionably made clear matters deeply to them only further highlights the shortcomings in strategy and creation of responses with real impact.

It’s been some time since I’ve heard such a degree of negativism from both inside and outside the party about its abilities to fight the good fight against Brexit and make the grand prize of independence a reality. Let’s stop providing the rope with which the opposition can use to hang our hopes of sovereignty for Scotland.

God knows there’s been lots of talk lately within the SNP about loyalties. Now more than ever is the moment for the party to remind itself of where its loyalty lies first and foremost and that is with the people of Scotland.