Scottish independence: Ex PM John Major says Scottish Nationalists use anti-English sentiment, SNP unofficial policy of 30 years of grudge, grievance and malcontent backfires on Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon; voters have walked away from them

Dear All

On Tuesday after I attended the BBC radio show, one of the other guests who is English but lives in Scotland related one of his experiences of anti English sentiment directed towards him.

One of the things I assured him of is that this isn’t the attitude of the majority of ordinary Scots, but as we all know, you do get people who are small minded and just plain bigoted everywhere.

Now Former Prime Minister Sir John Major has decided to rightly speak out about Scottish nationalists who deliberately use anti-English sentiment to irritate and enrage.

The Scottish independence campaign has been portrayed by the SNP leadership as a “positive campaign”, the reality is that on the ground the hate just drips out of them, even in their own white paper, they set the date of the breakup of the UK as 24/3/2016, 309 years after the Act of Union as a final slap in the face to the English.

John Major said in a speech to the Institute of Directors in London an independent Scotland will not keep the pound and its memberships of the European Union (EU) and Nato are doubtful.

That is a reasonable opinion; the UK Government and opposition both say no currency union, EU membership maybe blocked by countries like Spain who have internal domestic problems. Nato membership is also doubtful because the SNP don’t want to sign up to Nato protocols regarding nuclear weapons. The SNP think they can dictate their membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, no, no, no, doesn’t work that way.

Alex Salmond made a major tactical blunder over the future of the Faslane naval base on the Clyde, he should have went pro nuclear but because he isn’t a statesman he bottled it, he had to keep onside his SNP CND supporters who the SNP use as menials to do the leafleting and other chores the leadership think is beneath them. 

Major said:

"Anti-English sentiment from separatists irritates and enrages, as it is intended to do, but across the UK people know and value Scots as partners, work colleagues, friends and neighbours. It is hard to imagine Scots becoming foreigners. The SNP have chosen the ancient anniversary of Bannockburn for their referendum. Yet a greater anniversary looms. Next year sees the centenary of the beginning of the Great War, in which the English, Scots, Welsh, and Irish, the whole of the United Kingdom, fought together for freedom as they would again 25 years later. Would it not be a tragedy if, as we honour their sacrifice, we do so as separate nations?"

Major added:

"Independence means Scotland walking away from the UK and its institutions. This must include the Bank of England and Sterling. "A currency union, which the SNP assume is negotiable, would require the UK to underwrite Scottish debts. That cannot - will not - happen if Scotland leaves the union."

On the disaster that is the EU, the SNP have been totally inept about how they have gone about it, who would have thought it was possible that the SNP had never contacted the EU about membership at a most basic level.

Conservative leader Ruth Davidson exposed that blunder on live TV in a BBC Scotland referendum debate, Scotland’s unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was shown to be out of her depth reduced to spending the rest of the evening ‘banging the freedom drum’.

And she wasn’t a good drummer that night!

There is a real possibility that many EU states wouldn’t want the accession of some term a ‘separatist member’, the most likely being Spain. Their domestic problems in Catalonia are a major issue for the Spanish Government; they will want to deter Catalonians as must as they can from even thinking of holding their own referendum.

On the key issue of the economy, he added the SNP's oil revenue projections are "twelve times greater" than official UK figures.

The SNP appear to think that Oil can solve everything, it can’t, they have overplayed their hand on that issue, and then there are the issues that the money it generates is needed for daily spend and the Oil Fund, if money is placed there it means cuts to services and budgets, you can’t spend cash twice.

After the farce of the indy campaign is over, the rank and file members of the SNP will know:

1/ The leadership of Salmond and Sturgeon is responsible for defeat.

2/ The party is a clique run for the benefit of one man, Alex Salmond.

3/ There is a lack of genuine talent in the SNP.

4/ Scotland’s unpopular DFM isn’t the ‘unity candidate’ after Salmond goes; neither is that pathetic individual called Derek MacKay touted as a future leader.

5/ SNP will need a new Nationalist leader with vision.

6/ The SNP have betrayed their working class rank and file members and it’s time to leave.

A spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond said:

"Sir John Major is quite wrong to suggest that the rest of the UK should lay exclusive claim to all the assets of the UK, which the people of Scotland contribute to and of which Sterling is one”.

Still sinking, and reduced to parroting out utterly bizarre nonsense.

There are many Nationalist supporters who stink to high heaven of anti English sentiment, they have turned many Scots off independence and will continue to turn more off, the leadership of the SNP is just snide. They have encouraged these extremists by the tone of their language over decades.

And it is now all coming home to roost.

There is no positive campaign in this SNP referendum, you can tell also by the way the SNP leadership and cohorts are trying to pick a fight with David Cameron against Alex Salmond in a TV debate.

Scottish independence has nothing to do with the people of England; this is a matter solely between Scots.

But Alex Salmond and unpopular Nicola Sturgeon can’t win that battle.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University