Stealing the thunder, Scotland in Union’s Glasgow event gets off to a tremendous start as Graeme Pearson gives a great speech, and in local news, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon hits out at 'not yet elected' Prime Minister Theresa May with a puny jibe which will backfire down the line on her, remember he who laughs last, laughs longest, guess who is getting the smile wiped right off Nicola?

Dear All

Scotland in Union held an event in Glasgow today which is part of their new #projectlisten campaign at the Lighthouse venue in Glasgow City Centre. The event was well attended and there was serious aspect to it, the future of Scotland in the United Kingdom. 

As well as Labour people, the former Presiding Officer of Holyrood was at the event who was previously a Conservative MSP, Alex Fergusson, different people, different parties and ordinary members of the public, a broad church indeed. All the big press players where there; Tom Gordon from Herald Scotland, Bernard Ponsoby of STV, David Torrance, the writer, and various people from the BBC, you could sense that something was happening in the room!

Graeme Pearson, Chief Executive of Scotland in Union, delivered a great speech on what the current situation is and urged people to get involved in the fight to save our country. He spoke about how the SIU organisation had grown in such a relatively short time to have 20,000 registered supporters now. He spoke about the effect the SNP are having not just on business confidence but also prospects for young people who now fear for their future.

The SNP Nationalism is based on petulance, grievance; and use of victimhood in another vain attempt and cynical bid to smash the Union which could bankrupt Scotland, drive investment away and cause division. One of the tactics which Sturgeon is attempting which is ridiculous is to suggest the referendum could be held as early as autumn 2018, before the end of Brexit negotiations.

That will never happen, Nicola Sturgeon will see all of the United Kingdom leave the failed EU project at the same time, when England leaves; Scotland leaves as well.

The next independence referendum if it goes ahead will be a very angry and bitter affair by the Nationalists and their allies. The bitterness has already started with unpopular Nicola Sturgeon goading Theresa May as a 'not yet elected' Prime Minister.

The increasingly tired old rhetoric of Scottish nationalism is without a doubt one of the most dreary; repetitive and grindingly predictable sounds in British politics today.

Grievance for the sake of grievance!

One thing which might happen is that Theresa May might decide to block Sturgeon from holding a public vote until after the 2021 Holyrood elections, the political landscape of Scotland might be politically different as Brexit beds in and the UK thrives in the new trading environment.

If you didn’t know it now, you do know that Nicola Sturgeon has no interest in working constructively with the rest of the UK, her announcement on Monday was done to overshadowed the House of Lords vote which finally cleared the way for the Prime Minister to start the formal Brexit process.

It has left a bad taste in the mouths of Scots as well as English people.

One thing which Sturgeon doesn’t put enough weight to is that the case for the United Kingdom is, and always will be far stronger, logical and powerful than Nicola Sturgeon’s divisive rhetoric and shambolic politics.

The Prime Minister will have no doubt won many pundits when she accused the SNP of "playing politics with the future of our country" with a vote that would only create "more uncertainty and division". The SNP are playing a game, but it is a game which will blow up in their face.

One thing which I have blogged on in the past which interesting is now being talked about is that a condition could be placed on permission for a new vote being conditional on the SNP gaining an absolute majority in the 2021 Scottish elections.

This is what triggered the last franchise in 2014, and this point is important, this means that Westminster appears to be saying that a majority vote in the Parliament of a coalition will SNP and the Scottish Greens wouldn’t cut it.

Are the Scottish Greens willing to stand down as a party and put up no candidates to attempt to get the absolute majority for the SNP, I think not!

So, keep a bird’s eye lookout in the press for more on the ‘absolute majority for the SNP’ because this really could end up being a key point which kicks everything into the long grass till after 2021. If at that point if all the Scottish Greens step down from parliament and the SNP win, it could means that another date is 2023 which is what I talked over with a friend as a date when a new vote could in theory take place.

The SNP incompetence in government is becoming to hard for Scots to ignore, the longer it goes on the less chance of success, literally the SNP is bleeding support, drip by drip.

You therefore have bravado on Nicola Sturgeon’s part to mask her fear, you see, she is going to lose the next Scottish independence vote….. badly!

I would say that it was a tactical mistake to make her announcement and especially hamfisted to do on the day of the overshadowed the House of Lords vote but that is what the SNP are simple opportunists.

Nicola Sturgeon herself said:

‘The politicians have to respect the democratic wishes of the people.’

Neither She, Alex Salmond or the SNP give a tinker’s cuss what the people of Scotland think, she doesn’t care what she does to attempt to break up the UK, which is why she is rapidly becoming one of the most hated women in Scotland.

And this is a point which people who even contemplate voting for independence should think about, Madrid's foreign minister Alfonso Dastis played down the prospect of Scotland being fast-tracked into the EU. In fact, the Spanish have no interest in supporting an independent Scotland when they have their own domestic problems which could flare up if they allow entry. Dastis told reporters in Peru that an independent Scotland "can't just stay in the EU".

Kind of destroys the reason for having a referendum in the first place.

Finally, I am of the opinion from what I have seen and read today and before that Scotland in Union should be the lead campaign organisation if there is a second indyref. They make the ideal organisation to rally behind since there isn't going to be a Better Together 2 campaign according to Scottish Labour.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University