Patter Merchants

It began with a message from the late Iain Lawson. He wanted to link up on Zoom and explain something. In very basic terms, he set out the idea of establishing a liberation movement. I was still puzzling as to why he was explaining this to me, when he said he wanted my help in creating the framework, and he meant from the ground up.

I knew Iain from Roddy’s Through a Scottish Prism. I’d also interviewed him myself a few times. He had an infectious enthusiasm and was fascinated by my exile sojourn in Scandinavia. He loved Copenhagen Airport because he could get hold of books like Spycatcher, back in the day when they were banned in the UK.

I was asked to help, apparently, because I was outwith Scotland. Summa summarum, we ended up as a small, expendable group of press-ganged volunteers tasked with the basics. Nothing spectacular. Dog work.

When our effort was done, we would step down, hopefully having put in place a basic structure and elected representatives from Salvo and Liberation to carry the flame, so to speak.

This was years ago. I can’t claim any great contribution other than media dogsbody and general brainstorming. I have a demanding day job, so being part of a temporary collapsible structure was ideal.

Also worth noting is that we worked under the radar, on purpose. You see, hostility from the English state was anticipated. Staying out of sight delayed the inevitable propaganda and disinformation campaign against the Liberation initiative. A wise decision,by Iain and his colleagues as it turns out.

Most of the real work done by Salvo and Liberation has been academic in nature. There are clever, committed people involved. One thing we all had in common, though, is frustration with the dead end the political movement had us down.

As Alf Baird explains:

“post-colonial theory tells us… the dominant national party, it takes a different direction. It takes the people up blind alleys. It lacks innovation on the key objective, the most urgent matter which is freeing the people... It is brought under the wing of colonialism.

“These are big payments, big salaries they’re getting. It just becomes, as some people have observed, an independence industry where people are earning money out of this industry, but they’re never going to deliver any liberation.

“Fundamentally, they don’t understand what independence means…

“The National Party creates the rupture by taking the people up a blind alley. So you get split movements. You get new national parties created. You get new vehicles for liberation.”

I continued and continue to help with any media production needed — and a lot is needed as Salvo, in particular, is an educational body. It is the local Scottish part of a two-pronged campaign, one domestic the other international. The aim is the restoration of our nation’s sovereign status, taken from us by force by the still extant English state.

A pling came through my headphones. I was on my way to Helsingoer by bike. A cool, fresh ride by the blue Baltic of the Sound, on the north-east coast of Sjaelland. It was Alf Baird, who’d sent me a link to the National podcast. I fired off a quick message, thanking him. I’d actually just passed the aptly named ‘Skotterup’ — a small seaside village possibly named after its Scottish exile population, centuries ago. Mind you, the word ‘skotte’ [the common suffix ‘rup’ means ‘clearing’] has other meanings, but I’m sticking to the exile community idea.

I think my location, next to one of Europe’s very busy waterways, appealed to Alf’s maritime inclinations. Anyway, amid an early morning bustle on Helsingoer’s historic Stengade, I picked up the birthday present I was looking for, from a small antique shop.

A 30th birthday later that day needed one more present — for the parents of the young man. I was lucky to find a 30-year-old ‘Juletallerken’ or ‘Christmas plate’ from 1996. We packed it together with some Keemun tea and chocolates. We guessed the parents might appreciate a reminder of that 1996 Christmas with their firstborn.

Cycling down busy pedestrian streets is frowned upon in this otherwise bike-orientated nation. So I walked my bike the entire length of Stengade, listening to Baird and McAlpine.

On the face of it, bringing together political strategist career-man Robin McAlpine and Professor Alf Baird, seemed a good initiative. A chance to hear what the international dimension is all about.

I had some misgivings beforehand as I knew McAlpine had been making hostile noises regarding Salvo and Liberation. Sneering contempt is perhaps going too far, but it’s pretty near.

It soon became clear that the National podcast was not really a debate, as such. A debate usually involves two parties with a grasp of the issues. What quickly became obvious was that McAlpine really did not know much about either Salvo or Liberation. Big on opinion, bereft of hard facts. You could be forgiven for thinking he was invited on for precisely that reason. You can watch it yourself and make up your own mind.

As one who was there near the start, I found the misrepresentation of the work done by a great number of unpaid volunteers, alarming. The podcast was a patter merchant attempting to debate with an academic. To me, the gist of Robin’s patter was that Alf’s arguments wur aw ancient history and a complete waste of time. Apparently, we should listen tae a career political strategist who knows about campaigns.

Faced with Alf’s calm academic responses, McAlpine’s dismissiveness only increased. But then again I would say that. So listen or watch and see what this was all about. There’s a link at the end of this blog.

A carnival of ignorance continued online as other talking heads joined an ill-advised pile on. One former SNP MP continues to embarrass himself by displaying his inability to grasp basic facts. Criticising a new, though slow, years-long ‘international project’, while forgetting his 19 long years on the political gravy train, achieving nothing, is tiresome. What’s the adage? Best remain silent than open your mouth and convince people you’re stupid? Something like that.

And why Manxman Tim Rideout has embraced Alister Jack and Michael Gove’s 60%-support-for-indy threshold is anyone’s guess. Slippers Wishart hardly needs tae open his mooth these days.

I’ve had it with politeness when it comes to calling out chancers. Tolerance is at ground zero with political careerists looking for a pay-check. Or worse still, a public arena for their ample egos.

As a people, we need to wise up. The English state knows that the game’s over. It is probably at this moment manoeuvring its preferred individuals into positions of influence, ready to shape an anticipated future Scotland with its independence restored.

Not only does Scotland have a colonial history under London rule, we have a sordid record of colonial collaborators. Today they’re organised as English political parties in Scotland representing London’s elite, while others have embedded themselves within the wider indy movement. As ever, it’s pay-checks before patriotism.