No referendum is coming. Let’s drop the ‘Yes’ and refocus

This involved repeating a number of key points that some in the independence movement have been making over a period of years, and as such was critical in tone. Fair enough.

Reading again, though, it admittedly feels jaded and cyclical in nature. The words offered no real direction forward, some argued, and that in a sense is true.

But more than that, the conversation as a whole is trapped and stale. The SNP say this predictable thing, and people like me in different parts of the movement respond in the usual manner.

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To be brutally honest, despite campaigning hard for a Yes vote in 2014, the experience of the national question since has been far from inspirational, to the extent that I have come to reconsider the whole thing. After all, we have all witnessed the way in which it has been utilised by the SNP for their own ends.

Perhaps most tellingly, the dominant position they had achieved in Scottish politics never translated to the programme of reform that would really have transformed the lives of working-class Scots, albeit within the boundaries of devolution. While the cause of independence, frankly speaking, hit the rocks.

So here are some ideas for how we might take the discussion forward.

Apart from anything else, a revitalisation of the debate around Scotland’s national ambitions and prospects has merit in and of itself. Especially in a world order which is undergoing the most fundamental restructuring since the Second World War era.

Face the hard truths

First, we need to register some difficult truths. We need a clearing house in which to put all of the problems which have built up over the past 10 years and to accept certain realities. There is not going to be a referendum on the issue any time soon, for lots of reasons which require more space to fully explore. But let’s just for the moment agree that it is off the agenda.

The independence “movement” is a shadow of its former self. It never really managed to maintain the verve, diversity and irreverence of its referendum form. The programmatic work is a mess in key areas, especially on currency. It’s very simple: no independent central bank, means no economic control. And without economic power, a country cannot be independent.

To add insult to injury, much of the industrial base required to set up a new state has already been sold off to foreign capital and multinational corporations. Time has been wasted. We have had years in which to make a credible and popular case to raise support. Despite the shock of Brexit, much too central to the SNP’s case, the dial has not shifted.

More could be added to this short list. But once we have accepted the above, we can start to intellectually rejuvenate things. And I would start with this, and not with activism.

No door-knocking to be done

There is no door-knocking to be done, and no community outreach to be had. Instead, this has to be a period of ideas.

It is not impossible to make the independence question the gravitational pole for the most interesting and dynamic political thinking available.

This involves opening big debates about Scotland’s role in the world, and about its economic future. We should be producing more theorists, writers and speakers building on the best radical traditions we have.

Working with people with different views

For this to happen, we would need to escape the bandwidth as proscribed by the [[SNP]] on the one hand, and the main Westminster parties on the other to rebuild and rethink the foundations and principles of the project as a whole. To make them fit for the world as it is today. And, crucially, this can be done alongside working with people with different views on the constitution on a range of issues, from Gaza to campaigns for public ownership or housing.

By encouraging such an exchange of perspectives, the core of the independence movement might reconsolidate. At present, it does not exist in any meaningful or political form. And here, you cannot avoid politics. The British state is becoming more authoritarian, so the response has to be to uphold civil liberties. Privatisation has failed, so the response has to be rooted in bringing our resources into democratic control. The UK Government has been arming a genocide, so the response must be to advocate for an entirely new foreign policy based on peace and justice.

Only once the base achieves ideological coherence can there be a serious campaign which aims to reach out to wider sections of society.

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The SNP will not pursue such a strategy, as they are bound by electioneering, and prefer to make a broad appeal. But breadth without depth does not build or sustain a wider movement. Of course, within this there will be disagreement – and that is to be welcomed. But we should be forward thinking. “Yes” needs jettisoned. It only makes any sense if you were around in 2014. The technocratic approach extolled by indy-officialdom is here to stay. So this means we need a multi-dimensional critique which includes the Scottish establishment.

Whatever happens, Scotland cannot remain in this rut of zombie-government, with Reform as the only outrider, combined with a reheated “push” for independence without substance whenever the SNP require it. We need a total reset as far as pro-independence thought is concerned to open new avenues and possibilities. At the very least, it will take us past the current malaise. That would be good for Scottish politics in its totality.