Let’s be clear, as a resident of Wales, I support Scottish (and Welsh) Independence for the reasons explained HERE. I might add, that with Scotland heavy net takers from the Union, in terms of tax and spend, the rest of us would be much better off if the jocks buggered off as soon as possible. Having said all of that, the demands from Nicola Sturgeon and her inner circle for a new vote should be exposed for what they are, part of a scandalous cover up.
It is odd that Nicola Sturgeon is said to have had a “good covid”. In terms of how folks in Scotland perceive her actions, that is true. In terms of health outcomes and vaccine deployment, it is not. But with a fawning Scottish media, she has got away with it. Since the SNP controls all political institutions in Scotland, any member of the mainstream media who dares to question its actions is frozen out. No more assistance, no more soft scoops, no more party invites and “exclusive” interviews, you will be shut out. And that is why the MSM fawns and protects the SNP and has become no longer fit for purpose. It is up to bloggers such as Effie Deans to report what is really happening.
On the back of this covid “triumph”, Sturgeon is now saying that if the SNP win the elections to the Scottish Assembly this year, which they will, she will hold another referendum on independence even if that is almost certainly ultra vires, i.e illegal. She knows that this will be THE story and that the media will cover it for months which is jolly useful as there is a far bigger story, the Alex Salmond affair.
Salmond, you may remember, was accused of sexual harassment and worse by a string of women. The first attempt to nail him came a few years ago when the SNP leadership retrospectively changed the rules of the Scottish Parliament regarding sexual harassment and charged him. Think about that for a second. It is scandalous that anyone can even consider the idea that someone can be charged today for an act which was legal when they did it. This was the first attempt by Sturgeon’s associates to “deal with” her predecessor who she still saw as a rival. It ended badly with Salmond picking up £500,000 compensation for what went on.
Then the SNP leadership tried again and pushed the Police to investigate on a criminal basis. There was a trial and Salmond got off. The media pussyfoots around with questions about when Ms Sturgeon knew about the allegations. She is not exactly consistent on this and as such may have broken Assembly rules. But the real scandal is this repeated attempt to get Salmond.
I am no great admirer of Salmond. My contacts assure me he is a bully and have witnessed this at first hand. He is also, though married, a “ladies man” but in a consensual way. He used to try it on a lot but if a bird said no he’d just try it on with someone else.
Now Mr Salmond could speak out about what happened with these two attempts to take him down and really take Sturgeon to the cleaners but he might be thought of poorly by his fellow Nationalists should he do this at a time when independence again dangles in the air. When, for the second time in six years, folks get a once in a generation vote. I know life expectancy in some parts of SNP Glasgow is falling and for men is, at 61, the lowest in Europe but still, six years is not a generation even in Glasgow’s East End.
What Sturgeon is trying to do is to stop the real scandal emerging, the get Salmond campaign and thus this demand for a vote is just a smokescreen which, until now, the MSM has just played along with.
As I noted above, I hope the Scots do break free but when they do I have one minor question: what currency will they use? Given the gaping fiscal deficit Scotland suffers, it would not qualify for membership of the Euro. And for the same reason, there is no way that what remains of the UK could allow Scotland to use Sterling and print at the money trees press to support its dire Government finances. So what currency will Scotland use? The Groat? This is the sort of tough question the SNP never answers but, as we found with Brexit, folks are happy to ignore economics experts if they believe in the cause.
Polls suggest that most Scots do support Independence but it is close. The latest 3 are 53-47 with a small slip (2%) away from yes since late last year. Is that lead enough to guarantee victory for yes in a referendum when questions such as the currency one will start to get asked? You would not bet the ranch on it. And what happens to support for yes if the charismatic Sturgeon is forced out in scandal as any new leader would, almost certainly, be less charismatic.
If a vote is held, which is illegal, it is hard to see how the result could be seen as binding as the losing side will say that their supporters had no faith in a tinpot plebiscite. For all sorts of reasons, sadly, I cannot see the move to Independence happening. I wish it would. But if the media went for the jugular in terms of the real scandal then independence really would be off the table for a generation.