The Abyss

The clock is ticking, the loyal troops are starting to get restless, occasional pustules of discontent are breaking out all over the face of the Indy movement. It is teenage acne in the main but it will not take much more for some nasty looking boils to appear.

Like many in the SNP I have been sent a proforma E.mail from an ordinary member requesting me to use it to put pressure on my local MSP to get immediate action on a referendum before the 1st of January 2021 Brexit and the Tory White Paper that seeks to kill devolution stone dead by re-instating the pseudo-viceroy status of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

Given the combination of an upcoming Brexit and the ability of the Tories to railroad a a kill bill on Holyrood it is not difficult to understand why there is increasing anxiousness among the independistas as well as an increasing sense of urgency, restlessness and a bit of fear to get independence done.

As a result we are having all these theories about how best to "game" the Holyrood elections in 2021 which while interesting, all have major risks they will fail rather than succeed. If you want to vote for a second party to get independence done go for a second vote for the Greens. They may be a bit to lefty, hippy and environmental for some tastes but they are a known entity in Scottish politics and when push comes to shove they support independence for Scotland.

The problem for the "let's have a list only independence party" is simply the Scottish electorate, who are not as fixated or informed on things independence, as activists are, will either be confused or take umbrage at being thought as vote fodder.

That is not good news for the SNP as the normal electorate will see this as, the SNP trying to fix the vote, no matter what the organisers of the independence list vote party say. Just think of the millage Unionists will make out the SNP "vote fixing" or being "unsure the SNP have real support for independence". I am no spin doctor but it is not hard to understand how this talk of a "list only party" can be used by the Tory friendly media to claim, "splits in the independence movement" or "Nicola is losing the trust of the Yes movement" or any other headline you care to make up about the consensus among independence supporters breaking apart. The only winners in a situation where there will be defined splits, just when the bulk of Scots voters are coming round to vote for independence, will be the Unionists. Ordinary people do not like fractious political parties or movements, who are consumed with in fighting - just look at Labour's polling figures in Scotland for the evidence of that.

I have said before, in this very blog, that I would have preferred independence yesterday but to undermine the cohesiveness and growing belief in the SNP Government by an ever increasing majority of Scots, a belief that has brought so many into the independence fold is political madness, nay suicide.

The "list vote party" also have a problem in constituencies like Dumfries and Galloway where the elected constituency MSP is a Conservative. In this constituency to ensure any SNP representation at Holyrood we need to have both votes SNP. A "list vote only" candidate would be a disaster, as they potentially would dilute the SNP vote.

The abyss we are looking into with a "list vote only party" is losing yet another independence referendum because ordinary people do not like being taken for eedjits and can smell this sort of shit a mile away.

So, keep it simple stupid, forget about a "list only party" and if you are in a Holyrood constituency where the SNP elected MSP is a shoe in, vote Green with your second vote but remember if you are an SNP member you can not promote such a policy, as you will be in breach of your membership conditions by doing so.

In the mean time we independistas can all hope there is some cunning plan being brewed in SNP HQ, to end the UK Parliamentary Union prior to the 1st of January 2021. If not then we are all in deep shit.