“Behold, the imperial African, self-colonised, collaborating with his oppressors.” These are the words of Ngozi Ude to her newly arrived Nigerian friend, Luke Fitzwilliam. They are both characters in the whodunnit, ‘Murder is Easy’.
Luke had come to work at Whitehall for a ‘colonial butcher’, according to Ngozi. The butchery of the British state referenced in the TV mystery is a theme we Celts are familiar with.
Some of my own earliest memories, of seeing foreign news, were reports from Aden, or Yemen, where the brave British Tommy was quelling a barbarian insurgency. Only later in life would I learn this was truth turned on its head. It was propaganda for colonial thugs and butchers.
In this general election year, the independence movement is at a crossroads. On the one hand, it can continue to support a party whose goal is to travel to London, and hope for a different result. In the process, any nationalist MPs choosing to sit in the English-majority parliament will have to swear allegiance to an English monarch – an imposter King of Scots. If Iain Blackford gets his way, we may even see SNP members willing to sit in the House of Lords in London.
On the other hand, we have a choice between two alternative independence parties, both ready to push for Scottish self-determination – the Alba Party and The Independence for Scotland Party. Crucially though, they differ on Westminster.
My own humble opinion is that the cause of restoring our nation’s self-determination is no longer compatible with sitting in the English parliament, and swearing oaths to a foreign monarch. The Irish worked this out more than a century ago. Why are we such slow learners?
As far as the Alba Party goes, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Alex Salmond. He is a champion of the cause, and has already secured his place in history. But has the independence movement not moved on from a time when nationalist leaders act as privy councillors to the King of England?
Reality is, the era of the cult figure and top-down decision making, is over. Sadly, Alex was part of the surrender-56 who failed to test the British state, post indyref. He was no doubt mentally and emotionally drained, and unlike others, has perhaps, an excuse. But the SNP’s defeatist attitude was a huge missed opportunity, especially after what was an unfair battle for independence – rigged in every conceivable way, and supported by Scottish mercenaries working on the side of our oppressors.
The inauguration of Queen Nicola compounded the disastrous course taken. Some very poor decisions made at that time, by a small group of people, has left our nation where it is today.
Our representatives were well within their rights to disrupt parliament, during the Smith betrayal. When each and every promise (to secure the No vote) was either broken, or only partially fulfilled, our MPs should have walked, all 56 of them. Mundell, Murray, and Carmichael would have been left looking like the last quislings in the building. SNP MPs campaigning at home could have lit a fire in the hearts of our diaspora – and ‘gallant allies abroad’. The outcry would have grabbed headlines world-wide.
Going from 6 to 56 nationalist MPs was an Ireland-1918 moment for Scotland. In December 1918, Sinn Fein came from nowhere to claim 73 seats. The parliamentary party, by now a benign ‘cosy-slipper’ group in London, lost 68 seats and never recovered. Sinn Fein made good on their promise and set up an Irish Parliament in Dublin. And yet, our 56 gave up with a whimper.
Brexit, of course, was the SNP’s chance to do a Robin Cook. Burn all bridges, return to Scotland, and declare UDI. Yet once again SNP faint-hearts did nothing of any substance. They attended the theatre at Westminster, got on TV, lifted their huge salaries but achieved nothing.
Abandoning Westminster is our only hope. I believe the principle of abstentionism was defeated by a mere handful of votes at an Alba Party conference. If a new motion is put to a vote once again, the membership might now choose to embrace it. That can still happen at a pre-election conference. It is time to put clear blue water between those who use nationalism as a lucrative career option, and those who genuinely believe in our nation’s cause.
Until then, the ISP are the only alternative. They were the first grouping to realise that Sturgeonism was a constitutional cul-de-sac. The first to promote EFTA as a pragmatic, do-able alternative to EU membership. They went big on women’s rights, and were the only party that signed up to SSRG’s Manifesto for Indy. ISP have been ahead of the game, consistently.
Colette, Julie, John and others saw through Sturgeon’s cult of personality early on. Members of ISP don’t view Scotland’s path to liberation through the prism of their own political careers – they want no part in the Westminster charade.
In a just world, the Scottish Parliamentary Party, better known as the SNP, would suffer the same fate as the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1918. Ideally, an abstentionist party, hopefully parties, will replace them.
After all, when Scottish MPs enter the belly of the beast, what do they achieve? The answer is, of course, zilch. They’re kept busy administering the colonial British state. That is the extent of their endeavours – aiding those who plunder and asset-strip our nation. It’s a form of betrayal.
Some, like Angus, Kenny and Neale do what they can. Their speeches are inspirational to those of us hungry for national liberation. In the end though, they are bit-part actors at London’s political farce, mocked and ridiculed by its English hosts.
Craig Murray has emphasised the utter futility of working within the structures of the British state. And if anyone should know, it’s him.
He became a whistleblower on a very nasty form of butchery in the country in which he represented the British government. Craig’s London employers were less than impressed with his protestations about human rights. He experienced character assassination, and worse followed. The audio dramatisation of Craig’s, ‘Murder in Sammarkand’, is a must-listen.
Why on earth do nationalist MPs wish to participate in running ‘Britain’ anyway? What is the point? It’s a contradiction in terms. Westminster is the enemy of the Scottish people, and has been so, since the Union.
Any party of liberation must be single-minded and not lose focus. In that context, fictional Danish PM Birgitte Nyborg seems entirely relevant. As you may recall, she faces new-party issues in Series 3. Her ‘New Democrats’ is a magnet for people with diverse manifesto demands. However, Nyborg makes a speech to party members at HQ. Her message is that New Democrats cannot take up every cause, but need to focus on key policies. It’s a pity our ‘vehicle to independence party’ forgot this elementary principle.
So here we are in an election year, with the most disastrous Unionist line-up, ever. We have the racist obsession with ‘the boats’, war with Russia, war against Yemen, active support for Israel’s war of annihilation of the Palestinian population, ongoing support for ‘moderate’ beheaders in Syria, and domestically, the suppression of Scottish democracy. The theft of our natural resources in the name of the English crown, has been stepped up. We face the threat of corporate colonisation via Freeports. And just like a 1950s British colony, this is all, if not directly supported, then legitimised by the presence of ‘imperial Scots, self-colonised, collaborating with our oppressors’ in the English parliament. Heaven help us, there’s even the prospect of conscription for our young and able-bodied, in a war our deranged, Russophobic English masters are already planning.
Meanwhile, poverty still cripples many Scots, as does the substance abuse that it fosters. Life for the average Scot will never improve so long as our neighbour rules us and plunders our valuable resources.
Our political parties have failed us, whether through blackmail, inducements, or infiltrators. Infiltration is, of course, to be expected. It is the modus operandi of the British State. Perfidious Albion at its worst. Does make you wonder about candidate vetting, though.
Our political class is saturated with spivs, con artists, sexual deviants, and others looking for a high salary for minimum effort.
But it’s not only the parties. It’s the entire party system, based around Westminster-style parliamentary democracy, that’s failed. It is no longer fit for purpose.
“Irish nationalists didn’t regard the Act of Union, in Redmond’s words, as having any binding moral or legal force. They believed it had been forced on Ireland through coercion and through trickery.”We don’t regard British rule as legitimate”.” (from ‘Irish History Podcast’, March 2018).
Fine words, and bolder than anything we’ve ever heard from the SNP. And yet, just like our traditional nationalist party, the ‘Redmondites’ became too comfortable within the structures of the British state. It was up to a more radical independence party, and its supporters, to stand on a platform of abandoning Westminster and remaining in Dublin.
Key to the restoration of Scottish independence is international recognition. However, with the United Nations looking as ineffective as The League of Nations in the 1930s, our movement may need to look for allies in other places and regions, not least among former colonies. Salvo.scot and Liberation.scot have been hoping for a fair hearing at both the UN and the ICJ. I’m not convinced that the powers that appear to influence, if not control both organisations, are natural allies of Scotland, certainly not if it means our liberty and decolonisation. We may need to shift our focus to the ‘global south’ and the BRICS nations.
So, let our elected representatives remain in Scotland. Let them work together with Salvo, Liberation and other civic organisations in the people’s cause. There is much to do by way of preparation. Delegations will need to make contacts with ‘friendly nations’ in the international community, as well as organisations outwith the control of what has become known as, the Anglo-Saxon world.
peteryoung.dk 