Fed Up with Nicola, Wings over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell attacks SNP and Greens in Yes movement split, could the formation of a new indy party siphon off SNP list seats, Nicola Sturgeon is finding people don’t believe in her anymore, Sturgeon is an indy anchor, on a lighter note anyone imagine Campbell holding the balance of power in Holyrood?

Dear All

This is Sparta!!!!!

If you remember the Gerald Butler movie, 300, you will remember the line, the line is used as a call for slaughter to the enemies at their gates. It is a rich line which is steeped in madness, much like Japanese Samurai movies where people are very nice and formal and then two minutes later calling people bastards and wanting to cut their heads off.

If you follow the Scottish politics scene, you will recognize that the Yes Movement and the SNP are splitting apart. This is due to the SNP wanting to control everything and that includes the message. There are of course offshoots like the AUOB and the Scottish Resistance but their influence is limited. Over the weekend, the Wings over Scotland blogger has floated an indea to start a new independence party.

Why?

The reason is simple, the SNP under Nicola Sturgeon are seen as a liability to the wider Yes Movement. Could a Wings Party attract voters, probably, enough to win seats even on the list is doubtful. The problem is time, and the fact the SNP has to some extent sown up the market. If you look at the Scottish Greens, they need list seats at Holyrood to be relevant. One thing emerged during the 2014 campaign was that the Scottish Greens under Patrick Harvie were certainly second fiddle for Salmond and Sturgeon’s indy run.

Despite there being a coalition of the damned SNP, SSP and Scottish Green along with a few phoney groups saying they were Conservatives and Labour, the result was a foregone conclusion. The reason for failure was lying by the Yes Campaign, lying and not telling the truth in the hope that this would get them over the line.

Wings over Scotland blogger Stuart Campbell has attacked the SNP for putting stopping Brexit ahead of leaving the Union. The reality is that Nicola Sturgeon wants Brexit stopped to try and circumvent EU membership application rules, it is a failed and badly designed plan because under EU rules, members must be allowed to veto a new country if they so wish. The Sturgeon plan is a convoluted back door attempt to sneak in under the UK membership if she ever got an indyref win.

It is a sign of the estrangement post 2104 defeat which has grown, and now public, Campbell said he and other Nationalists were “uncomfortable” with the SNP. If you look at the donations situation in the SNP, it is drying up, business doesn’t want to fund them.

The SNP record in government is poor, example new hospital in Edinburgh might not open for another two years; incompetence is rife in Sturgeon’s Cabinet. One flaw in the Wings plan is his aim, win seats from Unionist parties in order to increase the chances of a pro-independence majority in Holyrood. Given the SNP and Labour fish in the same voter pool, this pool would be quite crowded, so you have to wonder. Wonder if the reason is to squeeze out the Scottish Greens?

To me this is the only scenario that makes sense.

But would floating Greenies a give Wings Party a vote coupled with foaming cybernats?

The only reason for Wings MSPs on the list is to nudge Sturgeon along into taking a stronger line on Indyref2. This story is getting a lot of coverage, but if you think back to the SSP/ Rise experience, someone called Cat Boyd got a lot of publicity by the press, extraordinary when you consider the end result.

She got humped senseless at the ballot box.

Campbell said:

“I don't think it's a great secret that I, and a lot of other people, are rather uncomfortable with the direction that the SNP is moving in at the moment. It seems to have become a stopping Brexit party, rather than a gaining independence party. That's something they haven't got a mandate for and it's something that if they were to achieve it, it would nullify the mandate that they do have from the 2016 election to have a second independence referendum. However, if they do hold a referendum before 2021, then categorically the Wings party will not happen, that's the whole point."

Campbell best get his application for a new party into the Electoral Commission asap, no indyref this side of the current Holyrood Parliament!

Campbell, who votes Liberal Democrat in his adopted home of Bath, also attacked the other pro-independence party at Holyrood, the Scottish Greens, as being “far left”, I think far left isn’t quite there, the Scottish Greens are like a Student Union debate society trying to impose their middle class world view through an LGBT lens. In response the Greens accused him of being “too conservative for radicalism” and said his party would be “tepid single-issue” one.

The Scottish Greens have at least three, tree hugging, indy and LGBT issues, tree hugging also includes wind and wave power etc etc. Can Wings break into the political market, having been accused by critics as being a troll who whips up ill-will towards Unionists online? You can break in, but that doesn’t mean you get something worth taking, like a seat. His colourful language and liberal use of profanities accompanied by caustic humour may find a market with working class people but only from his own side. He needs floating voters and those who generally don’t vote to make an impact.

Finally, although Campbell has a following, how many of his followers are SNP and are willing to switch to his Wings Party in areas which he thinks he can get someone elected? I suspect that far from welcoming Campbell’s idea, the SNP will set the attack dogs on him, and try to freeze him out. I doubt that Nicola Sturgeon will not be inviting him to tea at Bute House any time soon.

Anyone up for shouting , ‘this is Sparta’ on the campaign trail? 

Anyone imagine Campbell holding the balance of power in Holyrood? 

Anyone betting null points for an MSP list seat at the Bookies for Wings? 

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University