IN Wednesday’s National, Kevin McKenna states that an independent Scotland “ain’t about to happen any time soon. But maybe that’s alright. Maybe we can live with that.” I say we must not.

I agree with a lot of what he says in his article except that we must not live without independence for a second longer than necessary – for the abolition of deprivation and persistent child poverty that abounds in Scotland, for the sake of our own much-maligned NHS, for the eradication of energy poverty despite us having energy in abundance, etc, etc.

I listened to Humza’s acceptance speech and was heartened to hear his emphasis on inclusivity, thinking that maybe he could actually manage to maintain unity within the SNP.

But then came the slap in the face to all centrist members of the party and all supporters of independence: the proposed demotion of Kate Forbes, the most eloquent of the leadership candidates and the one that had the greatest appeal outside the party.

That early misstep underlines the Sturgeonistas’ control of the party. Humza, who I assume is a fairly intelligent man, would have seen the benefit in appointing Kate to a high-profile position where her presentational skills could have helped promote support for independence.

But sadly it seems that the appointments of his ministers have been preordained by the cabal that he allegedly leads.

So, having been warmed by Humza’s initial words, I now have to doubt their sincerity and I’m drawn to rename his SNP as the Scottish Autocratic Mindless Endgame (SAME) Party. Yes, autocratic in their imposition of legislation that clearly does not have popular support (such as the GRR Bill) and autocratic in their management of the leadership process (we all loved being told who to vote for!).

Yes, mindless too, in the dumping of Kate Forbes – a huge asset in the pursuit of independence, the most “progressive” of objectives from which all truly progressive policies can take root.

It seems to me now that it may well be best for the SNP to split, simply in order to broaden the appeal of independence.

The controlling cabal in the SNP don’t seem capable of change. It’s either their way, or you are out of the way. They increasingly now are becoming toxic to the cause of independence, for too many people will be looking at their behaviour and thinking “that’s not how I want an independent Scotland to be run”.

With a split in the SNP, there can be room in another party for centrist MSPs, like Kate Forbes, to flourish and espouse the vision for a fairer, greener, independent, and democratic Scotland.

That way, votes for SNP will decline but support for independence, rather than waver, can increase substantially.

With a split, we would probably see more Scottish Unionist MPs get to Westminster. I don’t think that should worry us. When it comes to the next Holyrood election, we would expect some collaboration between the four independence-supporting parties against the three main Unionist parties.

With substantially improved support generally for independence, a Holyrood election could then see the Unionist parties lose many of their “list” seats and a big majority for independence in seats and the share of the vote.

Split the SNP. Then, when popular support for independence holds persistently above 55%, collapse the Holyrood government to engineer the first and last de facto referendum for independence.

Yes, independence can come sooner than many imagine – despite the SNP.

Alan Adair
Blairgowrie