WITH the impetus for independence clearly taking hold, only to become deafening if a No-Deal Brexit comes to pass, it has become clear that the Unionist parties’ tactics to thwart a second independence referendum are already being formulated and pursued.
In fact, this is happening well before a General Election and well before a Section 30 order is agreed. This indicates that these parties have not only seen the writing on the wall but are already panicking at a level only seen on the weekend prior to the first independence referendum, and we all remember that!
The brazen “Better Together” campaign, where the unholy alliance of Labour, Tory and LibDems were seen in public, in cahoots with each other, on the same platform on television and backslapping each other at hustings, full of venom, will not be seen this time! These parties in 2019 are a shadow of their former selves. Their leaders have gone, their politics remain confused and changed and their support has dwindled. “Better Together,” as was, is dead!
The public will not be conned this time with the lies, half truths, broken promises and project fear perpetrated at the time. It’s going to be a breeze then!
Well, of course, it will not be! Their message will be the same, but their tactics will be different. We have to show them for what they are and not be afraid at every level to expose their lies, misinformation and fake news, and to challenge their leadership at every opportunity. Already, they are so desperate that, allegedly, the LibDems and Tories in Scotland have gone “underground” to oil up their anti-independence campaign to stitch up and try to overturn the SNP vote (they clearly see a beating on the horizon). Just think about this! The Brexit No-Deal Tories in bed with the arch “abolish Article 50” so-called Liberal Democrats. It beggars belief. They are treating the Scottish voting public with contempt. They would not dare do this in England.
Let’s take a closer look at these so-called “Unionist parties”. The Tories in Scotland... well, they are as toxic as ever! They are fans of the discredited Boris and extremely right wing, leaderless in Scotland, split in England and hostages to the Brexit Party. Their MSPs and MPs in Scotland are mostly No-Deal Brexiteers, operating in a country overwhelmingly Remain. They are a disparate group of individuals who surfaced in 2017, about to disappear under the waves in 2019. They are a party in Scotland with no policies and only capable of repetitive mantras of “SNP bad!” Crucially, they are prepared to sell out the future of Scotland to their down-south partners. Remember, few of this discredited party wanted devolution or the creation of our Scottish Parliament. Many no longer believe in the Union!
Labour in Scotland... they are a rump of a party, at the periphery of Scottish politics. They have little voter credibility and are bankrupt of any real policies that will advance the social and economic development of Scotland. Their leadership continues to defer to their masters down south who care little for Scotland and its future, and who clearly have major problems of credibility both in leadership and policy. It remains a party in total decline, going nowhere, losing its membership, still hankering for past glories and still obsessed with “SNP bad” at every opportunity. Their terminal decline will be witnessed at the next election.
Finally, the LibDems. In Scotland, a minor party. Taking part in Scottish politics with no obvious policies for Scotland other than “NO to another Scottish independence referendum”. Guilty of being neither liberal nor democratic, with a national leader in a Scottish constituency who has delusions of grandeur both of high office and of being a big hitter in English politics. It has to be noted that this party is considered an alternative to the Tories and Labour there. In Scotland, it is much different, and they are seen as peripheral, a branch office and of little significance. Even their constituency stronghold of Shetland is shifting to the SNP.
Despite this analysis of the opposition which the SNP must face, we cannot be complacent. They must be outed at every opportunity for what they stand for, what they do and what they say.
Can I respectfully say to the National, please publish separate, critical one-page articles on each of these parties, based on what they stand for, and let the Scottish electorate transparently see that while they bow and defer to their south-of-the-Border masters, they will never have the interests and future of Scotland as their top priority.
Dan Wood
Kirriemuir
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