Peter A Bell

Thinker. Listener. Talker. Reader. Writer. None of my attitudes are immutable. None of my conclusions are final. None of my opinions are humble.

[peterabell]

A vote for independence?

In a way, to say that a vote for the SNP is a vote for independence is to state the obvious. The party's constitution still leads with an unequivocal commitment to restoring Scotland's independence. So, a vote for the SNP should be a vote for independence

As expected, party leader Humza Yousaf tells us that the SNP’s offer on the constitutional issue in the 2024 UK general election will be the claim that “a vote for the SNP is a vote for independence”. He makes much of the fact that this assertion will be the first line in the party’s manifesto. What is lacking is any word on a second and subsequent lines on the topic. Surely, if there is a…

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[peterabell]

A vote for independence?

In a way, to say that a vote for the SNP is a vote for independence is to state the obvious. The party's constitution still leads with an unequivocal commitment to restoring Scotland's independence. So, a vote for the SNP should be a vote for independence

As expected, party leader Humza Yousaf tells us that the SNP’s offer on the constitutional issue in the 2024 UK general election will be the claim that “a vote for the SNP is a vote for independence”. He makes much of the fact that this assertion will be the first line in the party’s manifesto. What is lacking is any word on a second and subsequent line on the topic. Surely, if there is a genuine…

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[peterabell]

Making the UK general election work for Scotland's cause

The things Yousaf refers to - austerity, Brexit etc. - must undoubtedly be ascribed to the ineptitude and corruption of successive UK governments. It was those governments which imposed these hardships on us. But it was the SNP leadership which chose to l

Ten years of SNP whining about how dreadful Westminster and the Tories are while doing precisely nothing to get Scotland out from under the heel of the Union. Yousaf seems not to comprehend the anger felt by those who put cause and country before party and personality when all they are offered is a constant wash of platitudes and banalities and glittering generalities. Nor does he appear to…

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[peterabell]

Awaiting the awakening

A plan is a set of steps leading to a predetermined outcome. what we are getting from the SNP leadership is not a plan. It is not a 'strategy for independence'. It is empty rhetoric.

After nine years of dither, delay and diversion, SNP loyalists would have us believe that party leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf has a real ‘strategy for independence’ and is set to be the man who will get the job done. Express the mildest scepticism about this claim and you will be denounced as an agent of the British state. Say you are unclear about what the strategy is and you will be…

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[peterabell]

Awaiting the awakening

A plan is a set of steps leading to a predetermined outcome. what we are getting from the SNP leadership is not a plan. It is not a 'strategy for independence'. It is empty rhetoric.

After nine years of dither, delay and diversion, SNP loyalists would have us believe that party leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf has a real ‘strategy for independence’ and is set to be the man who will get the job done. Express the mildest scepticism about this claim and you will be denounced as an agent of the British state. Say you are unclear about what the strategy is and you will be…

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[peterabell]

Sovereignty forever!

The constitution is the long-term plan for a nation in the sense that it sets out the principles that define what the nation aspires to be and regulates how power is acquired, utilised and forfeited so as to put the nation on a sure and unwavering path to realisation of its aspiration.

Politicians and other political actors cannot be expected to provide human solutions. As humans, it is in our nature to seek long-term assurances. As politicians, it is in their nature to make only short-term plans. There is a sense, therefore, in which the constitution is the long-term plan that people need but political systems can rarely if ever provide. The constitution most not directly…

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[peterabell]

Sovereignty forever!

Politicians and other political actors cannot be expected to provide human solutions. As humans, it is in our nature to seek long-term assurances. As politicians, it is in their nature to make only short-term plans. There is a sense, therefore, in which the constitution is the long-term plan that people need but political systems can rarely if ever provide. The constitution most not directly…

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[peterabell]

The fanatical fringe

Take my word for it and save yourself the grief of a personal visit; Scotland Matters is where British Nationalist fanatics go to have their bigotry massaged. The website is a dreadful litany of hate. They hate the SNP. They hate the Scottish Government. They detest the Scottish Parliament. They want everybody to mirror their hatred of these things as well anything else identifiably Scottish.…

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An ill-conceived Bill

Power is not given. Power is only taken. By asking for this power, Neale Hanvey implies acceptance of the British state's 'right' to withhold it. When you ask someone to say yes, you acknowledge their right to say no.

Neale Hanvey’s Scotland (Self-Determination) Private Members’ Bill is fundamentally flawed in a number of ways. It is flawed that it concedes to the British parliament the authority to veto the right of self-determination that is wholly vested in the sovereign people of Scotland. He is asking that the British political elite graciously grant the Scottish Parliament the legislative competence to…

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The hole truth

The truth is that there is no "win" for Scotland in the 2024 UK general election. There is no "win" for the fight to end the Union and restore Scotland's independence. There is no outcome which is other than bad news for Scotland.

What is remarkable about Tommy Sheppard’s self-serving sales-pitch for the SNP is not the dishonesty of it, but the bland wishy-washiness of it. I mean, as electoral calls to action go, vote for us and “we will use every means to press that mandate” isn’t exactly the full-throated, blood-curdling battle-cry of a claymore-wielding warrior. Follow me and I will make a perfectly reasonable demands…

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The critical question of legislative competence

It is worth taking a moment to ponder what Scotland might be like today if our political and social and economic development had not been so rudely interrupted by the Union.

legislative competence The skill, knowledge, qualification, capacity or authority to make, give or enact rules with binding force upon a population or jurisdiction. It can safely be stated that the entire constitutional issue in Scotland hinges on the question of legislative (or parliamentary) competence as defined. In a very real sense, independence is a matter of legislative competence. It is…

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The new thinking

Decolonise your mind!

There is, I venture to state, a widespread if not general acceptance within the Yes movement that one of the positives of the 2014 referendum campaign was the normalisation of the word ‘independence’ – even if the actual concept was little examined. A term that had previously been consigned to the ideological fringe found currency in mainstream political discourse – there to remain. It might also…

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The 'how' of independence

Scotland must not enter into negotiations as the subordinate party to a grossly asymmetric political union.

People say, ‘oh, what if they say no’. They won’t say no, if you have a determination of intent. Gaza, independence, and Ash Regan: Q&A with Alba leader Alex Salmond Naïve is not a word one would readily associate with Alex Salmond. But there is certainly naivety in this remark. But there is also a measure of the political nous that is more usually expected of the former First Minister. He…

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The game-changer

Let me make it clear that I appreciate what Ash Regan is doing. She is bringing some fresh thinking to the constitutional issue. Which, given the staleness of the SNP's failed approach over the last nine years, has to be a good thing. Fresh thinking is go

Presumably, those backing Ash Regan’s “plan” have had sight of the draft Bill. I have not. So, I cannot comment on it, far less support it. I’m not getting all excited about something which may or may not be a pig in a poke. I want to see the goods before I commit to their purchase. What I can comment on is the little Ash Regan has chosen to reveal about her intended proposed draft Bill. (If…

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A genuine #ManifestoForIndependence

The biggest impediment to popular direct action is not the power of the establishment, but the scepticism and complacency and plain idleness of the people needed to make direct action effective. Popular direct action is vastly more likely to be killed or

In an earlier article, I suggested that Scotland’s cause would be best served by repurposing ballots in the 2024 UK general election so as to register support for that cause and protest the lack of any coherent, concrete, credible proposals by any political party for a process by which our independence might be restored. As anticipated, the suggestion elicited a mixed reaction. While many…

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[peterabell]

Making the UK general election work for Scotland's cause

The things Yousaf refers to - austerity, Brexit etc. - must undoubtedly be ascribed to the ineptitude and corruption of successive UK governments. It was those governments which imposed these hardships on us. But it was the SNP leadership which chose to l

Ten years of SNP whining about how dreadful Westminster and the Tories are while doing precisely nothing to get Scotland out from under the heel of the Union. Yousaf seems not to comprehend the anger felt by those who put cause and country before party and personality when all they are offered is a constant wash of platitudes and banalities and glittering generalities. Nor does he appear to…

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[peterabell]

The only win

The only possible 'win' for Scotland's cause in the 2024 Westminster election would come from a mass campaign of ballot-spoiling.

As things stand – there being no party offering credible proposals for restoring Scotland’s independence, I intend to spoil my 2024 Westminster election ballot by writing across it in heavy black ink the legend #EndTheUnion. This is my personal choice. For spoiling ballots to be effective as a campaign tactic, large numbers of independence supporters would have to spoil their ballots in precisely…

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