Real reason why there is so little Respect on the SNP’s Agenda
THE Respect Agenda. A term first coined by Tony Blair to brand a campaign for law and order and now adopted by Nicola Sturgeon. In her case, what she means by it is that Westminster should respect any decision voted through at Holy rood–even when it is on an area over which our MSPs have no power.
If the Scottish parliament votes for a second independence referendum, that must be respected, she argues. If it votes to block a Brexit deal, that should not be ignored.
And if it is, all Scots should gird their outraged loins and prepare for battle.
But I would offer you a reason why perhaps the decisions of our MSPs need not be respected.
At least a quarter of them – maybe more – are a ‘waste of space’. They belong to ‘waste of space’ parties.
That is not my view, but it is the view of the SNP’s head of communications. A man handpicked by Mrs and Mr Sturgeon. Effectively the view of the Scottish state.
In this case, the phrase was used to describe Tory MSP Annie Wells, who had the temerity to say Miss Sturgeon stands up, not for Scotland, but for the SNP – a view with which I and, I believe, a majority of Scots agree.
That apparently gave the Scottish state the licence to label her a ‘waste of space’.
NOW I do not know Miss Wells – I have only met her once. But what I do know about her is that she is a working-class single mum from Glasgow’s Springburn – not a hotbed of Toryism, yet she swam against the tide and became a Conservative.
She is also gay and part of a generation for whom ‘coming out’ and being yourself threatened social stigma at best. She strikes me as brave and courageous – and her speech to the Scottish parliament on the pain and difficulties of declaring who she is was one of the most moving ever delivered at Holyrood.
I do not share her politics but my view from afar is that she is someone to be respected. Treasured, even. A vital component of a vibrant democracy. She is far from a waste of space. Yet that is what the Scottish state calls her for opposing it.
Miss Wells had the good grace to pose for a picture with her abuser, as if to suggest that all was forgiven and forgotten. It has not been. Not helped by the army of cybernats unleashed to continue her abuse.
Let us remember that the SNP trumpets its apparent commitment to equality. It has spent millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to make videos saying so.
It brought in gay marriage, although it did so a little time after David Cameron – the then UK leader of a ‘waste of space party’ – had introduced it in England.
If the head of communications of the UK Conservative Party had termed a gay, single mother Nationalist MSP a ‘waste of space’ there would be outrage.
They would be accused of misogyny. Homophobia. Nationalists would say it exposed the ugliness at the heart of the Tories’ core philosophy.
BUT we live in the country, not of the Lion Rampant, but of the double standard. The SNP seems to think abusing a woman and then buying her a glass of wine makes everything all right.
That is not the stamp of a party that believes in equality – or even begins to understand it. It speaks to why it is so perplexed by the country of which it deludes itself into believing it is the champion.
I voted No in the 2014 referendum but that does not mean that I might not support independence in the future.
My support for the Union is not an article of faith, but something I believe is in the best interests of my nation. There has not been a case made that has made me doubt that belief.
For the SNP, independence is an article of faith – whatever the circumstances. A consequence of that is it is trying to create a Scotland I do not recognise, indeed, one I fear. One where the governing party believes it is the nation. Where to question the Government is to be unpatriotic. Where if you disagree with the SNP, you are asked why you ‘hate Scotland’.
That kind of corporatism is profoundly anti-Scottish. Other countries have had governments like that and it has never ended well.
There is one thing I got wrong about the SNP. I predicted that after defeat in the 2014 referendum it could fall apart.
I did so because, in my experience, every political campaign in which you involve yourself takes an emotional toll.
Instead, after 2014, the SNP seems to have gone into denial. It held rallies with Miss Sturgeon as the star. Yet the party that believes it represents Scotland was rejected by the people of Scotland.
Every indication is that the people of Scotland do not want to rerun the referendum – and if that did happen, the Nationalists would be defeated more severely than they were last time.
No, the Nationalists did not fall apart after defeat, but four years on, they seem to be suffering from political post-traumatic stress disorder. But that does not give them the licence to abuse the rest of us.