SNP name game

Last Friday I attended the Edinburgh Book Festival event with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Turkish writer Elif Shafak and publisher Heather Mcdiad where Ms Shafak carefully summarised her concerns about the divisive nature of nationalism.

In response Nicola Sturgeon tried to distance herself and the Scottish nationalist movement from the negative connotations often associated with the word ‘nationalism’ and even said that, if feasible, she would give the Scottish National Party a different name.

But is re-branding of the SNP really necessary? After all, the clue is in the name. The SNP is committed to achieving national sovereignty for Scotland, pursues policies designed to nurture a distinct Scottish national identity and aspires to act like the government of an independent nation state.

If it looks like nationalism and if it sounds like nationalism, it most definitely is nationalism. Why try to hide that fact?

I suspect that Nicola Sturgeon’s problem is not the word ‘nationalism’ as such but the inescapable truth that Scottish nationalism is on the same spectrum as any other nationalism because they are all defined by nationhood.

In other words, it matters whether you feel Scottish or British or both which has resulted in undeniable divisions and tribalism. How else can it be explained that, for example, derogatory terms like ‘Yessers’, ‘Yoons’, ‘Scotnats’ or ‘Britnats’ have entered our language only after the independence campaign?

Which leads back to the initial question: can nationalism ever be benevolent?

REGINA ERICH Willow Row, Stonehaven