SNP conference settles on move from ‘how’ to ‘why’

The SNP, emerging from that disappointing Rutherglen and Hamilton West result and still engulfed by a police investigation which shows no sign yet of ending the never-ending search for evidence, came out fighting.

It decided upon a strategy for independence strong and clear enough to appease even some of its harshest critics, an inspirational speech by a new party leader now hitting his strike, a sound investment in arts and culture and a resounding commitment to uphold the values of common humanity.

Labour, by contrast, continued its long flight from the values on which it was founded. The party of working people is certainly not how I would describe the attitude of Keir Starmer, who has told his shadow ministers not to join any of the many picket lines organised by unions fighting back against the cost of living crisis.

There was certainly little sign that Labour would reverse the Tories’ most damaging policies if it is put in government. At its conference there was hardly a mention of the single issue which has wreaked more havoc on the economy – and particularly the Scottish economy – than any other … Brexit. Starmer’s message was that Brexit itself was fine. It just isn’t working the way it should.

READ MORE: Five key moments of SNP conference 2023 in Aberdeen

What should Scotland take from the Labour conference? Well there will certainly not be more devolution inside the party itself. Labour leader Anas Sarwar has been given his orders: do as you are told and don’t speak out of turn.

In a hall awash with Union flags there were precious little acknowledgements of Scotland’s specific needs, but lots of celebratory references to the party’s by-election victory at Rutherglen and Hamilton West. Anyone expecting a special deal for Scotland was disappointed.

Indeed there was much to worry about in the most important nod to Scotland in the leader’s speech.

Few Scottish hearts would have been gladdened by Starmer’s vow to create a new Great British Energy company.

This would harness “Britain’s” sun, wind and wave energy to “cut energy bills for good”. Given that most renewable energy sources belong to Scotland this sounds more of a threat than a promise. The message to Scotland is: “We took your oil and squandered any benefit it may have brought you and we’re going to do exactly the same again.”

There is no suggestion we’ll get any extra powers in return. The opposite, in fact. Shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray says devolution has gone far enough and the Scottish Parliament should get no extra powers and certainly no control over employment law, which Scottish Labour wants.

That’s pretty difficult to square with Starmer’s stated aim of undertaking a “huge shift of power” out of Westminster. It’s also in direction contradiction to the form of devo-max wheeled out by Gordon Brown every time Labour feel the need to hit out at the SNP, which is often. Starmer regularly pays tribute to Brown’s suggestions but has yet to adopt one of them. Now he’s promising a “Taking Back Control Act” in the first King’s speech of a Labour government but watch as that morphs into a watered-down devolution for England rather than anything useful for Scotland.

And, of course, Labour will never EVER move away from staunch opposition to independence no matter how many mandates to delivered through repeated elections. Ignoring the inconvenient fact that support for independence remains high despite THAT by-election result, Starmer says the SNP are “out of touch, out of steam and out of ideas” on its prime ambition.

For a party Starmer would have us believe is on the ropes, the SNP seemed up for the fight when members gathered for its conference at Aberdeen on Sunday. Given that it was taking place in the shadow of the slaughter of Israelis and the terrible retribution inflicted by Israel on the people of Gaza the sombre air at Aberdeen was to be expected.

It was obviously a difficult and demanding conference for Humza Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla, whose parents were caught up in the unfolding tragedy in Gaza while visiting their son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren.

It was an important conference for the First Minister. The Rutherglen result demanded a response, the party wanted clarity on the current position on the route to independence and he needed to cement and define his new position with new policy announcements to answer critics who argued he was nothing more than the continuity candidate, simply carrying on the groundwork laid down by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.

On top of all that he was reacting on a very human level to an international crisis which was changing and becoming ever more horrific by the minute. Yousaf and El-Nakla reacted with dignity and humanity amid what must have been unbelievably difficult circumstances.

In an emotional speech to conference, El-Nakla told of her despair at the situation but she did not surrender to it. Instead, she urged world leaders to do more to stop the deaths of innocent civilians, a plea that becomes more urgent with every passing hour.

Her husband later rose to that challenge when he called for a UK-wide refugee resettlement scheme for those affected by the conflict in Gaza and declared Scotland ready to be the first country in the world to offer Palestinian refugees safety and sanctuary.

These parts of his keynote conference speech stood in stark contrast to a UK attitude which seemed if anything to harden against the Palestinians as the Israeli aggression deepened. In a shameful move, the UK abstained from a UN Security Council resolution calling for “humanitarian pauses” to help save lives in Gaza.

It underlined yet again how its pace within the Union is stopping Scotland playing the role we want to play in the modern world and ties us to decisions which do not reflect our values.

The First Minister’s speech did not simply reflect profoundly humanitarian values. It tackled divisions within the party around the progress, or lack of it, towards independence. The party moved on from its support for Sturgeon’s de facto referendum, which would have seen the upcoming General Election serve as a vote on independence.

Instead, the party adopted its new leader’s approach that would regard the SNP winning the majority of Scottish seats at the election as a mandate for independence negotiations which would be taken forward by a Constitutional Convention consisting of MPs, MSPs and representatives of civic Scotland.

If Westminster refuses to negotiate and continues to block a referendum, the SNP keeps the option of using the 2026 Scottish elections as a de facto referendum.

Much of the reporting of the new strategy seeks to confuse the public by introducing different terminology which it refuses to properly define. Most of the media available in Scotland does not support independence and is quite happy to promote long and boring discussions on the minutia of the new policy rather than focus on its main aims.

The main thrust is a welcome switch from such arguments in favour of capturing the real excitement of the independence project and capturing the electrifying potential of reshaping our country to properly reflect our own values.

Or, in the First Minister’s own words, to concentrate less on the hows of independence and more on the whys.

That will involve showing why indy will give Scotland the ability to fight the cost of living crisis, which is entirely a Westminster construct. And in the meantime, the SNP manifesto for the Westminster election will include demands for a range of new powers for Holyrood.

These include powers over employment rights and the living/minimum wages, windfall taxation for companies operating in Scotland, regulation, pricing and production of energy sources, employment visas for overseas workers and new borrowing powers to invest in a just transition.

All this, combined with a council tax freeze and Scotland’s issue of its first bond, shows that the SNP is very far from out of ideas and out of energy.

The truth is that it is reinvigorated, refocused and embarked on a redefined route to independence convincing enough to win the support of arch-critics such as Joanna Cherry.

The challenge to activists, the wider Yes movement and to the rank-and-file SNP members is this: capture the thrill of independence in a way that recreates the atmosphere of 2014 without the galvanising force of an imminent referendum. It’s a challenge that starts today.