Scottish independence; ‘terms of surrender’ Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon buckle under pressure as ‘the allies’ mount winning offensive on devo max

Dear All

After all his bluster and hot air, Alex Salmond is on the verge of ditching the devo max question.

I wonder; how do all the people who were sucked into campaigning for this by the SNP feel now?

Do they feel rather silly?

Do they feel used?

Do they feel like mugs?

Then there was the consultation ‘listening’ to ‘civic’ Scotland, I said it would be a sham like every other SNP consultation, the illusion that your opinion matters to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

The ‘terms of surrender’ of devo max will no doubt be fully explained in the public domain later, but it seems that when ‘the allies’ mounted an offensive rather than having the ‘mother of all battles’, Salmond and Sturgeon just crumbled.

It just took a wee nudge by Westminster without firing a single shot in anger.

George Laird, it seems was right again, and ahead of the game as usual, just like I was on the SNP getting less than 1% on the independence march.

So, its one question as it should be, how much time, money and effort was wasted?

We will probably never know, it is the stuff of legend.

Alex Salmond is said to want to launch a bid to win over devo-max supporters, can he do it?

What about Nicola Sturgeon in her role as ‘Bobette the builder’, can she do it?

No!

When people are publicly booing you in the street, its over!

Given their record, they may take some people, but there are many obstacles, the bad decisions of their right wing government, the issue of trust, the lack of vision, assumption portrayed as fact, secrecy and lack of transparency, the contempt for working class people and their legal rights.

The clock is ticking, and Salmond and Sturgeon are losing support, the idea of votes for 16 and 17 year olds has run ground as the majority of young Scots want to remain in the UK.

It boils down to many things, particularly more opportunities for the many, not the Salmond/ Sturgeon few.

As news of the ‘surrender’ without a fight emerged Alex Salmond is away on another freebie paid for by the British taxpayer, since he can’t really command a decent audience at home, he is forced to go aboard.

And of course there is Disneyworld if he wants a go on the roller coasters.

Shadow Scottish Secretary Margaret Curran MP said:

"It would appear Alex Salmond has finally admitted defeat in his campaign for a second prize in the referendum but he doesn't even have the decency to tell the people of Scotland first."

Curran also raised the issue that "now he tells the US press there will only be a single question before his consultation has been published. The First Minister continues to treat the people of Scotland with utter contempt by refusing to be open about the referendum process and misrepresenting their views."

Professor John Curtice, of Strathclyde University's politics department, said:

"Mr Salmond has been playing the devo-max game for as long as he can. He has picked up, correctly, there are a lot of people wanting more powers for the Scottish Parliament. But it's been apparent for some time the SNP Government is not going to go for a second question and now he is trying to maximise appeal for independence. He will announce that; yes, there exists support for more powers but insist the UK Government is not willing to allow Scots to express their full democratic voice."

I wonder, has Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon ever seen the movie Battleground?

There is a little song which is sung at the end by iconic actor James Whitmore, ‘I surrender dear’.

Filmed in black and white, 1949, it is a stella cast and influenced Steven Spielberg in his movie ‘Saving Pte Ryan’, worth a watch.

‘I surrender dear’ seems just as relevant in 2012.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University