SNP – Page 4 – Slugger O'Toole

Scotland Essays: The pro-Union cause has four months to unite, learn identity politics and make a new devolution pact now!

Brian Walker on April 26, 2014, 1:49 pm

| Readers 82

The difference between before and after the Scottish referendum is as fundamental and unknowable as the black hole between life and death. Yet the fate of the Union may depend on what people believe now about what may happen then, in that currently unknowable state. With the polls narrowing near the point of cross over, London- based politicians and commentators are at last stirring themselves, the Conservative commentator and ex-MP Matthew Parris in the Times (£) being the latest in assuming a torrid fall-out from …

After the Currency Union debate the #IndyRef is dead, so long live the SNP…

Mick Fealty on February 20, 2014, 12:33 pm

| Readers 297

Lots of remarkable happenings in the last week or so in Scotland’s #IndyRef debate. Some of it needs taking with salt. For instance, whilst Barroso is correct to say that an independent Scotland will have to apply for membership of the EU, it’s hard to see what grounds anyone in the EU would have for saying no. It’s also true to say that the No campaign has hardly set the world alight. There have been precious few inspiring reasons given …

David Cameron and love bombing the Scots

Brian Walker on February 7, 2014, 10:11 am

| Readers 96

The tempo is picking up at last with maybe just a hint of panic? The BBC, the Times£, the FT, even the Sun are splashing David Cameron’s defence of the Union in the patriotic venue of the Olympic Park. The future of the United Kingdom is up in the air, David Cameron will warn today as he urges every Briton with a friend or family member in Scotland to persuade them to vote against independence.. My argument is that though …

Book Review: Battle for Britain: Scotland and the Independence Referendum

Tom Gallagher on December 12, 2013, 1:01 pm

| Readers 135

The Battle for Britain: Scotland and the Independence Referendum. By David Torrance. London: Biteback Books 2013. pp.xiv + 370. Paperback. The nature of the policies advocated by those seeking a ‘Yes’ vote in the September 2014 referendum on whether Scotland should depart the 306-year union dominate this timely and often insightful book. Perhaps its main strength is that it conveys the cerebral side of the Scottish National Party (SNP) whose electoral victories in 2007 and 2011 enabled the Scottish Question …

SNP must fight their campaign, not rely on foibles of #IndyRef opponents

Mick Fealty on April 5, 2013, 10:29 am

| Readers 42

Great piece from Lallands Peat Worrier, who is, erm, worried that the SNP is too quick to dismiss the possibility of the Conservatives, Lib Dems and even Labour of making good on hints that some form of Devo Max could be on the table if the Scots reject independence. Yes, the British state is given to unprincipled strategic trimming. Yes, the Tories exhibit no principled reason to support more devolution. Yes, the recent history of all three parties has exhibited …

Scottish Independence campaign certainly knows how to tell a good story…

Mick Fealty on March 21, 2013, 10:25 pm

| Readers 59

Picked this up this evening from Bella Caledonia (via James Bailey on Google Plus)…. Whatever about the capacity or otherwise of the Scottish economy to easily pick up the tab for its two pillar banks (and there’s nothing in the public domain heretofore to suggest that it would not have happened), this is a great piece of political story telling… Watch out for the annotations who is and who is not… and the Yes campaign’s top tip on how to …

Salmond prepares to let Westminster take the hit over post-Leveson press regulation

Brian Walker on March 20, 2013, 11:59 am

| Readers 49

It may surprise you to learn that a separate Scottish response to the Leveson report on press regulation is looking unlikely. Stage One was a separate report by an “expert group” headed by the former Scottish judge Lord McCluskey who recommended “draconian “ powers and a regulator appointed by the Scottish government. If the London negotiations fail to produce the necessary statutory underpinning for a Leveson-compliant Regulatory Body with universal jurisdiction, then Scottish Ministers may consider introducing legislation separately to …

Opening shots muffled in UK government’s fightback against Scottish independence campaign

Brian Walker on February 12, 2013, 9:11 am

| Readers 50

Significantly as PM and not as Conservative leader David Cameron launched on Sunday a “heart and head” campaign against Scottish “separation” as unionists like to call it, with a upbeat image of four happy partners. Britain is admired around the world as a source of prosperity, power and security. Those glorious Olympics last summer reminded us just what we were capable of when we pull together: Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish, all in the same boat – sometimes literally Dave’s …

Referendum blues

Brian Walker on January 24, 2013, 12:00 pm

| Readers 38

Bad news for the Yes campaign for Scottish independence, analysed by the psephological guru of gurus John Curtice. It’s a debate worth following not only for its own sake but for how issues wider than the border itself might feed into any referendum debate in Ireland. First off, the headline: just 23% now say that “Scotland should become separate, independent from the rest of the UK”. That’s nine percentage points lower than last time round in 2011…Going beyond that headline finding, there’s …

Bold alternative urgently needed to Scottish independence

Brian Walker on January 21, 2013, 2:29 pm

| Readers 49

In Scotland the Better Together campaign has deservedly come in for some stick. The pro-Union cause has so far failed to agree on devo-more, the alternative to independence many politically aware Scots seem to want. (Incidentally if it ever comes to an NI referendum, their website is not the model to follow: remarkably for a Save the Union umbrella organisation it’s trite and one dimensional. They key critique is made by my friend Alan Trench whose Devolution Matters blog is the …

“it is in the public interest to know the type of information that the Ministers were taking into account”

Pete Baker on July 14, 2012, 8:29 pm

| Readers 40

Here’s a little referendum related snippet from Scotland. The Scottish government is reportedly “surprised” at a recent ruling by the country’s Freedom of Information Commissioner. In response to a request by Labour MEP Catherine Stihler on 30 May last year, the Scottish government had refused to confirm or deny whether it had received legal advice on the status of an independent Scotland within the EU. They had cited section 18(1) of the FOI Act. As the Information Commissioner’s press statement notes This allows …

Whilst Scotland moves towards its big national debate, we’ve already had our political ‘big bang’…

Mick Fealty on July 4, 2012, 10:36 am

| Readers 60

James Maxwell alludes to an interesting aspect of the burgeoning of the Scottish nationalist cause, and it’s likely runners off in Northern Ireland. Whilst Irish nationalism has become synonymous with Republicanism, the SNP is and remains a soft monarchist party. These difference are as much historical as geographical. Since James VI took up the English title of James I the British monarchy has been as much a possession of the Scottish estate as the English. The siting of the Scottish …

Scotland – choose your narrative.

Dewi on May 8, 2012, 9:29 pm

| Readers 58

Gerry Hassan just gets better: Rupert Murdoch, the Referendum and Rangers FC: Self-government has to be a democratising process and project, or it will produce a change in name only which won’t affect the lives and experiences of Scottish people. That entails nourishing a culture which is both honest and humble, respecting different viewpoints and challenging vested interests. This is an intricate balancing act, one which involves changing the public culture of Scotland, and aiding an ecology of self-government and self-determination …

“The last thing the Northern Isles want is to be ruled by Glasgow trade unionists and Edinburgh lawyers…”

Pete Baker on March 19, 2012, 3:12 pm

| Readers 803

At the Guardian’s Scotland Blog, Severin Carrell notes the independently-minded Shetland and Orkney Lib Dem MSPs Tavish Scott and Liam McArthur’s attempt to play Alex Salmond at his own game – with a joint, “at best provocative and, in constitutional terms, at least playful”, submission to the UK government’s consultation on the independence referendum. Short BBC video report here. From the Guardian’s Scotland Blog Scott and McArthur have reinvigorated a long-standing notion that the former Viking earldoms of Shetland and Orkney have …

Paxman: the gowk goes over the top.

Dewi on January 25, 2012, 7:14 am

| Readers 65

Playing the man I know but needs saying: Not Newsnight’s finest hour. After a twee introduction from a whisky sampling reporter then came Paxman’s interview with the Times’s Briton of the year. You can see some of it here. Zimbabwe, Mugabe, One party State?? Opting out of the BBC? the cheek of it all. Some of us might have been interested in what Alex had to say in the Hugo Young Lecture. (Worth watching the that sample video from the …

Scotland: Degrees of Freedom.

Dewi on January 21, 2012, 12:00 pm

| Readers 47

Devo Max (or Full Fiscal Autonomy) seems to be getting some traction. There’s been two big name proponents over the last week or so. Canon Kenyon Wright wrote to the Herald: My own view is that a straight choice between independence and the status quo effectively disenfranchises a large number of Scots who want neither. Since this is a crucial decision for Scotland’s future governance, that is unacceptable. And: Imagine going into the polling booth in such circumstances and being forced …

Cameron to Salmond: “Right, now I’ve got you right where you want me…”

Mick Fealty on January 10, 2012, 2:22 pm

| Readers 47

As noted here a few months back, the Conservatives are struggling to maintain relevance outside England (and to a lesser degree, Wales). It’s tough job when you barely have any elected representatives to bring some political capital to the literal party. It’s not even an English thing. For reasons not entirely within their control (aka the virtual collapse of English regional as a meaningful conduit for the expression and understanding of English regional politics), large chunks for northern England are …

Alex’s New Year Message….it’s time !

Dewi on December 31, 2011, 12:15 am

| Readers 36

Super stuff from Alex. Watch it all – it ain’t long – quote below. Our universities, colleges and scientific institutions are working on cures for the illnesses that beset humankind as well as the renewable energy machines and environmental initiatives that will make human progress compatible with the future of our planet.” But he added: “If we are going to shape the future we must make some changes to the present – and that means taking more control over our …

Scotland – it’s time – why wait?

Dewi on December 11, 2011, 6:36 am

| Readers 4

With the latest opinion polls showing the SNP at a sensational record 51% for Holyrood, and a pretty impressive by-election win in Lanarkshire, it’s getting tempting for Alex to go for an early independence referendum. The context is key – the Scottish government and SNP are acting like history is working their way. We have: The Independent describing the SNP’s Scandinavian strategy as “Bye Bye England” ….. whilst Alex is just back from China, and the party unveils it’s £60 billion infrastructure …

“Are the Scots more the Greeks or Germans? I couldn’t possibly say.”

Pete Baker on October 24, 2011, 1:18 pm

| Readers 12

“It’s starting”, is it? [Whatever ‘it’ is – Ed]. The Guardian’s Michael White spots a flaw in Alex Salmond’s cunning plan. [Does it involve turnips? – Ed] Neeps. From the Guardian Politics Blog The SNP and the Tory Eurosceptics have much in common – and I don’t mean that as a compliment, decent people though so many of them are. The obvious tactic they currently share, apart from national chauvinism as a panacea for deeper problems, is the three-choice referendum …