Independence Transcended

Back in October Calton wrote about how independence transcended everything for Nicola Sturgeon. It looks like he was wrong. Sturgeon seems to have cynically used the fact that independence transcends everything for other people to cover up a stitch-up of her predecessor Alex Salmond because what really transcends everything for her is power. Once she had it, she wanted to keep it.

According to Craig Murray's sworn evidence on the Salmond affair, Alex Salmond "said that he believed that Nicola was banking on his loyalty to the SNP and to the Independence movement, thinking that he would not split the party by revealing what or who was behind the allegations against him." In other words, she thought she could smear him with impunity because he wouldn't do anything to hurt 'the cause'. If that is true, she was wrong. Salmond may be out for revenge, and, if so, who could blame him? But he also, more importantly, wants the truth to come out and so do many others, Calton included. This has not made the former SNP leader popular with some in the SNP who still think that 'the cause' is more important than the truth. He is supposed to fall on his sword, or at least wheesht, for independence. Thankfully he has declined to do so, because, when truth becomes secondary to a cause and the end justifies the means, we are all in big trouble.

The Salmond Inquiry has already done, and will continue to do, damage to the SNP but that is not the fault of Alex Salmond. It is the fault of the current SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon for whom it seems power transcends independence. It is hard to read all the evidence now in the public domain, much of which can be seen on Wings over Scotland, and not come to the conclusion that Sturgeon conspired against Salmond with several of her team and is now desperately trying to cover it up. If independence really was the most important thing to her, she would resign because she is damaging 'the cause'. The fact she is still doubling down and clinging on tells us all we need to know.

The Words Matter

Nicola Sturgeon has said "I do not consider that I misled parliament, but that is for others to judge." Interesting phrase. Why didn't she just say "I did not mislead parliament" or "I did not lie to parliament"? Perhaps because such bare faced lies are beyond even her? Very few of us can lie effectively. Instead, we tend to deflect, obfuscate, confuse or conflate. Note how the rebuttals of the charges of lying, which Alex Salmond has placed at Sturgeon's door, introduce the idea of a conspiracy, only to rubbish it. Who mentioned conspiracy? This is typical deflection. The point at issue is - has Scotland's First Minister lied to the Scottish Parliament, yes or no?

What Calton finds even more egregious is the way in which Nicola and her followers are framing the Salmond/Sturgeon war as an attack on a poor, innocent woman by an awful man. This is nonsense and dangerous nonsense at that. By inappropriately appropriating female victimhood in a situation where the female is the First Minister of Scotland and the supposed victimiser is a political has-been, Sturgeon and her female supporters, like Kirsty Blackman, are doing women in general a huge disservice. There are many situations where women are bullied and harassed by mysogynistic men and, when this happens, it needs to be called out by both men and women, but this is not one of them and to suggest it is, prejudices genuine cases of sexism and mysogyny.

Calton has already blogged about how the SNP is not good for women. Neither is Nicola Sturgeon.

Nine years on

Calton has wanted to leave the EU for years, long before he started this blog 9 years ago. There were times when he seemed like a lone voice, howling at the moon. Even when Nigel Farage founded UKIP it seemed impossible that the UK would leave the EU. Now, at time of writing, we have already left and are less than 2 hours from exiting the resulting transition period, with a deal in place, which is something else which seemed impossible until Christmas Eve. Truly 2020 has been a year of miracles as well as disasters.

Some things haven't changed, for instance the SNP's love-affair with the EU. This has led them into the ridiculous position of voting against the deal which Boris Johnson has agreed with the EU, in spite of months of warning against a no-deal Brexit. It also means that most of the items on Calton's 2012 wishlist are still valid - just replace Alex Salmond with Nicola Sturgeon and redefining marriage with trans rights.

What has changed is the mood within Scotland. The hitherto silent majority who voted NO in 2014 have now found a voice and a party to vote for in 2021 - Alliance for Unity, headed by George Galloway. The iron grip of the Murrells on the SNP has also loosened and cracks are appearing in what was once a united party. Nicola Sturgeon's pursuance of a highly woke agenda has won her enemies including Joanna Cherry and Stuart Campbell. The former fired a shot across Sturgeon's bows after being elected to the SNP NEC and the latter continues to bombard Sturgeon on an almost daily basis via his blog Wings Over Scotland, which talks so much sense that Calton has decided to add it to his blogroll.

Many still think that an SNP victory next May is inevitable. Hopefully the SNP are among that number because complacency comes before a fall in votes. Defeating the SNP may seem impossible but so did Brexit. It just needs enough people to turn out and make their voice heard. May 2021 be the year that sees the end of nationalist rule in Scotland! Slainte!

And it came to pass ...

This Christmas, with travel restrictions imposed on us by what sometimes seems to be an increasingly imperial government, let's take time to remember a family who were forced to travel at Christmas by the emperor of the time, because he wanted to do a census for tax purposes. So Joseph had to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem with his heavily pregnant wife, only to find that all the hotels were full when they got there. Talk about a lack of planning on the part of the Roman Empire!

Then, about 2 years later, when the little family seem to have got a house at last, they had to do a moonlight flit to Egypt to avoid the murderous intentions of the local despot, Herod. It was a while before they could return and even then, not to their house in Bethlehem because the despot's son was now on the throne and they didn't feel safe. So it was back to Nazareth.

Fast forward nearly 30 years and the baby born in the manger was bringing light to the people who lived in darkness - the people of Galilee, near where he had been brought up. He healed their diseases and their minds. He brought good news - God in man, reconciling man to God. That didn't go down well with the ruling political/religious class so they had him crucified by the Romans on a trumped-up charge. The local tyrant and the Roman ruler became best friends over a job well done, or so they thought.

But the story is not over, even now. Rulers, empires, kings and politicians may rise but they also fall and through it all God's purpose is worked out. We see a part of the picture he is painting but he sees the whole. So take heart, this Christmas may not be what you had planned or wanted but God is still in charge and his love, embodied in a tiny baby, never fails.

Is Nicola Sturgeon good for the SNP?

In times gone by, Queen of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon could have expected standing ovations and lots of opportunities for selfies and self-promotion at the SNP's annual conference. Not this year. 2020 continued its mean girls reputation by serving up to the First Minister a platter of hostile media interviews, a critical front-page article by an SNP MP in The Times and her name trending on twitter for all the wrong reasons. Andrew Marr, in an interview which is unlikely to be forgotten even by a woman who seems to have made forgetfulness a habit recently, told her that "there is a gap between how you present yourself, which you do very well, and what is actually going on in Scotland". One of the most important manifestations of this gap is the way in which Sturgeon has managed to make everyone think that she's done a good job of leading the SNP. So let's look at that.

Nicola Sturgeon inherited a party with a majority in Holyrood, which had been achieved by her predecessor Alex Salmond in 2011 after he successfully ran a minority administration from 2007-2011. Sturgeon lost that majority in 2016 and now presides over another minority government which is not doing nearly as well as the first one. Granted, the number of SNP MPs at Westminster has increased since she took over, however the stunning 2015 result was mainly due to a backlash against the 2014 referendum result and would have happened regardless of who was leader of the party. The SNP lost a lot of MPs in 2017 and has still not got back to the 2015 high water mark in spite of an improved performance in 2019. A similar thing has happened with party membership which increased dramatically in 2014-5 but has recently fallen back again.

Under the leadership of Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell the SNP introduced rules banning criticism of the leadership or any party member or policy. This gave them an iron grip on the party which could only last for so long and is now spectacularly breaking down over the issue of transgender rights. Joanna Cherry has publicly criticised Sturgeon's control as being unhealthy for the party while simultaneously asking that the rule banning criticism be used to protect her from the torrent of abuse she has been receiving from party members. Nicola's response to this today has been rather lukewarm. Calton is not surprised - you only get la Sturgeon's support if you agree with her anti-feminist policies.

Finally, on the real acid test of an SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon has failed spectacularly because, although she's been promising another independence referendum since the Brexit vote of 2016, she has failed to deliver one and shows no sign of doing so any time soon, regardless of what (vague) promises she has given this weekend. She is also failing when it comes to governing Scotland well (which Salmond did from 2007-2011) and building support for independence. It's not enough to have a referendum - the SNP members want to win it and that is in no way guaranteed at the moment. The settled 60% in favour of independence which Nicola very sensibly wanted to see before calling indyref2 has never materialised. Support has been 55% at most. 

Nicola Sturgeon is very good at presenting herself. She's managed to fool at least some people into thinking that she's handled the Covid crisis well, although the facts say otherwise. However she is not good at managing her party or governing the country or persuading No voters to change to Yes. Self-promotion is all she's good at. Nicola is no Boudicca - but will the rank and file in the SNP realise that before it's too late? Hopefully not.

Cherchez La Femme

The more the sorry Salmond affair drags on, the more Calton becomes convinced that the former First Minister was right - there was a conspiracy against him instigated by his successor. You don't have to look far in this whodunnit to find the femme fatale. Nicola Sturgeon had both the means (his admittedly poor behaviour) and the motive (his declared intention to return to Scottish politics) to stick the knife into Alex Salmond and #metoo gave her the ideal opportunity. She has rubbished any suggestion of conspiracy, saying that she has nothing to hide and would cooperate fully with the current inquiry however court action has been raised to prevent publication of part of a conversation between Sturgeon and a senior civil servant about Salmond. The Scottish Government has also failed to meet a deadline to provide its legal advice to the inquiry and is treating a parliamentary vote on the same with contempt.

What really stinks about this whole thing is the way in which senior women in the SNP and the Scottish Government seem to have been happy to put up with Salmond's behaviour when it suited them, in the run-up to the 2014 independence referendum for example, but then cynically used the #metoo movement as a vehicle to prevent Salmond making a come-back. That is not the action of committed feminists. Women suffer daily from the actions of sleazy guys in positions of power and are entitled to have their complaints treated with respect and investigated properly, not used in some internecine party war, which, in Calton's opinion, seems to have happened in this case.

Alex Salmond won a court case against the Scottish Government over their handling of the complaints against him and he was aquitted of all criminal wrongdoing at his trial. He is now out for revenge against his successor. Nicola Sturgeon has said that perhaps he is angry with her because she refused to collude with him in covering up his behaviour. Calton wonders if perhaps Alex had good reason to expect collusion from Nicola based on her previous attitude to his actions and was disappointed to find that her attitude had changed. Or perhaps his anger stems from being put through months of hell and a court case. Hopefully we will find out when the man himself appears in front of the Holyrood committee. Calton doesn't hold out much hope of the committee getting anything out of the First Minister, except a plea for our sympathy as a wronged woman.

A Rainbow of Rosettes

Calton can remember the early years of the Scottish Parliament when the ballot paper for the second or list vote was as long as his arm. It was called the Rainbow Parliament due to the many party colours - including the Senior Citizen's Unity Party and the Socialist Party in addition to the current five parties. In 2007 we also had the Scottish Christian Party, the Smoking in Pubs Party, the Christian People's Alliance and Solidarity putting up list candidates. Happy days! Unfortunately that was the year that saw all the smaller parties wiped out and the first SNP government elected. It's been all downhill since then.

Until now. Now we have the iron discipline of the SNP breaking down, spawning new independence parties such as Action for Independence, Independence for Scotland and Scotland's Independence Referendum Party. We also, finally, have a credible pushback against the SNP led by George Galloway and the Alliance for Unity party. The Smoking in Pubs Party has expired in the face of the smoking ban and the SCUP seems to have retired however the Scottish Socialists are alive and kicking - back against Labour it seems, especially since the recent suspension of one J Corbyn.

The Scottish Christian Party still pops up from time to time at by-elections - most recently to split the religious vote with newcomer the Scottish Family Party in Ian Blackford's constituency in the 2019 general election. The latter doesn't have a position on independence so that might appeal to the few people in the country still sitting on the fence when it comes to Scotland in or out of the UK. Alternatively, if Richard Leonard gives in to pressure and changes his opposition to a second independence referendum, they could always vote Scottish Labour.

Whatever your political views, more choice on the second ballot paper has to be a good thing, unless you want a one-party state run by mini-dictator Nicola Sturgeon and her husband. Calton will be voting for Alliance for Unity to stop that eventuality.

On Tactical Voting

Calton is not generally in favour of tactical voting however he is preparing to make an exception for the Holyrood election next year. He has been helped to this decision by a couple of things.

Firstly, it is becoming increasingly clear that the SNP must be defeated at all costs. If they are not, Scotland will become a police state where only views acceptable to the SNP are allowed and we will also have the continued, divisive agitation for another independence referendum while education, the NHS and the economy are ignored.

Secondly, it is highly likely that the current SNP selection process will result in a bunch of woke candidates made in Nicola Sturgeon's image, in spite of the #dontvotewoke campaign being waged by one faction of the party. This makes it easier for Calton to vote for a woke unionist candidate, if they are the one best placed to defeat the SNP in his constituency. Normally he wouldn't touch woke with a bargepole however needs must.

Lastly, the idea of an anti-nationalist coalition is one whose time has come. The silent majority is silent no longer. George Galloway has stirred things up good and proper and Alliance for Unity will be getting Calton's list vote. The traditional unionist parties are so far showing no sign of entering into any election pacts, preferring to split the vote and let the SNP in as usual, however their voters are starting to think differently. If Alex Salmond or the care home scandal don't bring Sturgeon down, her hubris in expecting another term in office may well do the trick. If Labour, the Tories and the Libdems suffer some collateral damage in the process they have only themselves to blame.

Is the SNP Good for Families?

Nicola Sturgeon is currently claiming that she wants everyone to have a family Christmas but is the SNP good for families in general?

Not if you want to be a stay-at-home Mum. The SNP's policies are all geared around getting women back to work as soon as possible with increased nursery provision. The trouble is, the times don't always suit working Mums and the provision is patchy as it relies heavily on the private sector (and this was before Covid made life even more difficult for nurseries).

Not if you don't want your child to be exposed to pornographic sex education and transgender ideology. The SNP looks with scorn on parents who express concern about these issues, to the extent of calling them bigots for not getting on the woke bandwagon.

Not if you want to raise your children free from state interference. The SNP have abandoned their Named Person legislation due to data sharing concerns however they still believe that the state knows best and parents are not the most important people in a child's life.

Not if you want to choose how you discipline your children - the SNP have now outlawed even the lightest smack and will shortly be criminalising parents, in spite of their promises not to. They are also encouraging children to report their parents. This is state interference in family life on a grand scale and it won't stop with smacking - it will eventually extend to children reporting their parents if they get put on the naughty step, or sent to bed early, or are denied that extra sweetie. Children's rights trump parent's rights in SNP land. That doesn't make for happy families.

Not if you want to have a three-generational Christmas dinner round an actual dinner table - the SNP are warning us to get ready for a "digital Christmas". Calton can't think of anything sadder or more horrible. He also can't think of anything more likely to spark mass civil disobedience!

Not if you want to see an elderly relative in a care home. Having killed off a lot of grandparents by transferring Covid positive people out of hospital into care homes, the SNP are now paranoid and the restrictions around care home visits, not to mention the conditions within care homes, with residents effectively in solitary confinement, are now inhumane for residents and their families.

Not if you want to see your student son or daughter for Christmas. Having bowed to pressure from universities and let students return in September, even although they could have studied from home, the SNP are now faced with the problem of how to let them go home safely after Covid has rampaged through campuses. A problem which could have been foreseen and avoided.

No, the SNP are not good for families.

Is the SNP Good for Women?

 Calton was prompted to write this post after seeing that one hopeful SNP candidate was not approved by the party because of her views on transgender issues and another was asked who would look after her children if she was elected. Both were women. Now, one would think that, with a female leader who claims to be a feminist, the SNP would be a positive environment for women, supportive of their rights and encouraging of their aims. Not so. In her race to be seen as the most woke leader in the western world, Nicola Sturgeon has abandoned her sex. Let's have a look at the evidence.

She claims that her plans to make it easy for men to self-identify as women do not clash with her feminism, however many feminists would disagree. They think, and Calton agrees, that the radical trans ideaology which Sturgeon is pursuing not only threatens women's safe spaces but threatens the very definition of a woman and all the hard-won rights which go with it. The Scottish Government's Gender Reform Act (GRA) may be on the back burner for now but, make no mistake, it will be back with a vengeance if the SNP get a majority in Holyrood next year. The fact that the First Minister has twice invited best friend and minister responsible for the GRA Shirley-Anne Somerville onto her daily briefing in the last fortnight confirms this. It also demonstrates that if you support the GRA, you get the support of the leader of the SNP in your battle to be reselected. If you don't support the GRA, forget it. (Somerville is being targeted by the #dontvotewoke campaign as she tries to hang on to Dunfermline and West Fife.)

Joanna Cherry is another woman who has questioned the party's policy on transgender issues. She wanted to stand for Edinburgh Central next year but the SNP NEC changed the rules, effectively preventing her from doing so. Much has been made of the Salmond/Sturgeon divisions within the SNP but the real faultline is the woke/non-woke one, which has spawned the #dontvotewoke hashtag on twitter, referring to the current selection contests for SNP candidates. It is well known that Stuart Campbell is no fan of Nicola's however his comments on the candidate selection process are still worth reading. Further evidence that the SNP leader is not good for women is the emergence of the SNP Women's Pledge, which would not be needed if Sturgeon truly supported women. They are supporting non-woke candidates.

Calton could say more on issues such as the child-care question posed to a female candidate, how Alex Salmond's sleazy, but not illegal, behaviour was overlooked by senior women in the SNP in order not to damage the cause of independence and how the SNP have shown a complete lack of trust in women's ability to bring up their own children without government intervention (the named persons and smacking legislation) but this post is already long enough. Perhaps another day ...