YOU report Stephen Flynn demanding that Starmer commit to conceding a second independence referendum – or face the likelihood of the SNP holding the balance of power over a minority Labour government at Westminster after the General Election.
Unfortunately, no UK Government will ever concede a second referendum. London does not wish to lose one-third of UK territory and some 60% of its seas, with all the massive oil and gas wealth and wind technology, plus its deep-water nuclear naval base at Faslane.
Sadly, Mr Flynn is nearer political reality when he simply demands further concessions to devolution from Westminster, such as the energy devolution he requests.
READ MORE: Stephen Flynn calls for energy to be devolved to Holyrood
The SNP might well hold the balance of power in London after 2024. Unfortunately, this is only real political power if you are prepared to actually vote down a minority Labour government. If you are never prepared to take that action, then Labour knows you have no leverage. It will just be another five years of SNP huffing and puffing.
The SNP has to build up real nationalist anger against London control before it could threaten to bring down a Labour government without the SNP risking losing its own left-wing voters in Scotland. To build up such protest anger, we have to concentrate on how Scotland is being robbed of oil revenues and energy revenues, with all the cash being spent in south-east England. Unless you create a “nation on the march” atmosphere in Scotland, we will have absolutely no political leverage in Westminster.
READ MORE: Toni Giugliano: SNP must act at pace to get ready for election
The first two waves of Scottish nationalism were built on raising nationalist anger. Billy Wolfe in 1964 argued that Scotland was being robbed of some £200 million in annual revenues by London (a massive sum in 1964). This took us from the political wilderness to Winnie Ewing’s breakthrough in the 1967 Hamilton by-election and a new national standing.
The second nationalist campaign was “It’s Scotland’s Oil”, under Gordon Wilson in 1974, showing how Scotland was being robbed. This took the SNP to 11 MPs and 35 second places in 1974 and to 850,000 votes (almost as many votes as we get today – half a century later).
Councillor Tom Johnston (SNP)
Cumbernauld
READERS will be aware of the machinations that have beset the SNP in recent weeks, with FM resigning and the leadership contest exposing us all to the differences of opinion within the broad church that it is. It would be improper for me to comment on the police investigation in to the party finances, so I won’t.
I can recall, however, that in his previous job the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made us aware that the Treasury believed some £4.4 billion of the Covid furlough support funds were lost due to fraudulent claims.
The BBC reported that in 2021 a couple were found guilty of a £3.4m fraud, but that seems to be it.
READ MORE: Covid-19 loan scheme may have failed to protect taxpayer cash, say MPs
I wonder if Sunak will at some stage provide an annual update on the progress. The National Audit Office (NAO) report dated March 2023 shows that £7.3bn of fraud was attributed to temporary Covid-19 schemes. The report recommended that the government follow nine insights stated in the plan.
Is that it then?
Has HMRC been able to recover any of the £7.3bn?
Have any “blue tents” been erected?
Any people been arrested and charged?
Any assets been impounded?
Oh wait, the Metropolitan Police are pretty busy right now having an “internal” examination, so it’s no surprise then the investigation pace activity seems slow to glacial.
Alistair Ballantyne
Ballantyne, Angus
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here