TOMMY Sheppard is spot-on in his article in The National (Jul 22) when he says we need a brand new strategy for the road to independence, indeed the SNP leadership have needed this since Nicola Sturgeon’s legal strategy fell apart at the hands of the UK Supreme Court in November 2022. If the SNP leadership had addressed this positively in 2023 they would not have lost so many seats at the General Election, but better late than never.
Tommy is also right that Alba are not presenting a valid option, and the Scottish people recognise that. Tommy is correct to say that we need an open discussion and debate about the way forward and not a lot of clever “I told you so” in hindsight claims.
READ MORE: Tommy Sheppard: We need a brand new strategy to help drive independence forward
The one glaring truth that we must face is that if we do not have the people with us, then we are going nowhere. So we need to start from there.
Fortunately the Scottish people are more politically aware than most Europeans and have a wider understanding than most political activists think they have. Politicians and political parties who do not live up to the people’s standards have to pay the price eventually.
What most people in Scotland can now see – and I believe, have increasingly been made aware of for some time – is the very point that Tommy is now making, but which the SNP and Alba have been ignoring. The so-called strategy being followed by both these “independence-supporting” parties will never be successful even if we persuade 90% of Scots to vote for it, because any strategy which relies on negotiations with Westminster is bound to fail for the simple reason that England can’t afford to lose the Scottish economy.
READ MORE: Seamus Logan joins The National, and some other news from us
In any event, we can’t get independence from negotiations with the UK because our independence is not in their hands, it is in our hands, it is in the hands of the sovereign Scottish people. So if we are serious about moving towards independence then we need to look to the Scottish people and give them respect.
The International Covenant on Civic and Public Rights which the UK Government signed in 1978 confirms that every country has the right to political and economic independence. In addition, our own Scottish constitutional law places sovereignty in the hand of the Scottish people. So we have a domestic legal right and an international legal right to independence.
If we had a policy which was used to bring these ideas across to the Scottish people we would not only have a legal way forward but we would encourage and motivate the people to take it.
Why do we not use the power we have in the Scottish Parliament, while we still have it, to move positively in that direction? Is this not a good place to start in developing a brand new strategy, by respecting Scottish sovereignty and with it the Scottish people?
Andy Anderson
Ardrossan
THE first of Tommy Sheppard’s weekly articles clearly illustrates the disconnect between the party, many of its members and the electorate. He starts this article with a clear indication of the party’s problem: “I start – as gobsmacked about the election results as everyone else – with questions rather than answers. I will in time reach my own conclusions and advocate them. So will you. In time.” Most were not gobsmacked, most saw this coming years ago, most were indicating this in polling, most were pointing to the division being caused by poor policy choices and incompetence in legislation.
The questions were out there, and still are. They have never been addressed by the leadership or membership at conference, despite Sheppard gleefully telling us he argued at conference for a resolution on independence that he must have known was gobbledegook and would simply be rejected by whoever was in Westminster.
READ MORE: John Swinney says SNP in 'strong position' despite election 'setback'
Sheppard has identified various groups of voters, categorising them to suit his version of why the SNP rout occurred. His view appears to be that as the SNP has 30% of the vote, they must all support independence. Probably correct, but they did not necessarily vote in a UK election as independence supporters but simply as determined non-Unionists. Then the twaddle about some former SNP voters voting Labour when that does not stand up to scrutiny of the voting results.
Sheppard completely misses the point regarding the 500,000 former SNP voters that sat the election out. These voters, acknowledged by Sheppard as independence supporters, had no incentive by the SNP to vote as the party did little to no campaigning on independence. Political parties can survive poor governance and policy choices where they recognise the issues, provide more competent leadership and offer better opportunities to the electorate than others. Doubling down and protecting misconduct and policy blundering certainly will not attract voters.
This article simply exposes the rot in the SNP that has been apparent to members and independence supporters for a number of years. No real analysis of what went wrong and no contrition that he should have spoken out many years ago.
Sheppard and the other former MPs need to take a good hard look at themselves and the party over the past few years before telling us they know what is best for independence!
Jim Anderson
via thenational.scot
I WAS given the good news about the US election by my elderly neighbour, who was concise and to the point when he shouted across the fence, “Joe Biden’s no bidin’”.
Bill Drew
Kirriemuir
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