GOING by a large number of letters printed in The National recently, there would seem to be a concerted and probably a coordinated letter-writing campaign to remove Nicola Sturgeon from office, based on a belief that she and the SNP are not moving fast enough or doing enough to advance the cause of Scottish independence.
In the May election the SNP won 64 of the 129 MSPs, winning the largest number of constituency seats in any Scottish Parliament election – a remarkable achievement and an endorsement that despite the trials and tribulations of the preceding 18 months the people of Scotland kept their faith in the party and its leader. Yet, here we are, barely six weeks on from that election, and we have people calling for the FM’s head to roll. This to me, and I suspect many others, smells of a political campaign by opponents of the SNP, some within the independence movement and others who are opposed to the idea of Scottish independence but see an opportunity to sow division.
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We know there are some within the independence movement who were disappointed by the election results in May, not because they were opposed to independence, but because they felt the SNP wouldn’t deliver it fast enough or doubted that they would deliver it at all. But to those doubters I ask: how do you feel the cause of independence is being advanced by continually attacking Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP? Wouldn’t it be much better to engage with the elected government in a positive way to encourage and convince them that you have a plan for independence? Can you get out and give the positive case for independent to as many doubters as possible?
The Greens and SNP have 72 pro-independence MSPs at Holyrood. Rather than calling for heads to roll we should all be getting behind these MSPs, convincing them to work together to further the cause of the independence we desire. We should be inviting them to our various grassroots independence groups, to reinforce to them our desire for independence by showing them what we are doing to raise support and to ask them what they are doing. Let’s not waste our energy shooting down our own people but rather turn our criticism towards our real opponents: the Unionists.
Iain MacEchern
Crieff
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