Upset and depressed after being barred from the SNP candidates’ register by the hierarchy for “lack of commitment to group discipline”.
I was asked at assessment whether, as part of a Westminster deal with another party, I would agree to vote for the bedroom tax if instructed by the Party. I replied “No.” End of SNP political career. Problem is, I really believed we were building a different kind of politics in Scotland. I also knew that a simple lie would get me in, but I couldn’t bring myself to utter it.
I had very, very strong support from ordinary members to be the candidate in Falkirk or in Airdrie, and had 17 requests to stand from other constituencies, several from branch meetings. I wonder what the SNP new membership will think of this?
I had intended to keep this a private grief if possible, but I was phoned at 8am this morning by the Scotsman, who had plainly been briefed in some detail from within the party hierarchy. I was also phoned by the Sunday Herald, who were coming from a different direction, having picked up a whiff of Tammany Hall about the SNP selection process in several constituencies.
In the interests of full openness, these are the complete communications I have been sent regarding my rejection as a candidate:
Craig
Thanks for coming along to the Assessment Day on 6 December and apologies for not being able to get back to you before now.
I’m afraid to say that the Panel did not feel able to recommend you for approval as a potential parliamentary candidate at this time. While you showed excellent qualities, you could not give a full commitment on group discipline issues, and for that reason the Panel could not recommend approval.
There is scope to appeal this decision, and if you wish to do so then contact my colleague Susan Ruddick – (email address deleted) – who will be able to put that process in train.
Best wishes
Ian
Ian McCann
Corporate Governance and Compliance Manager
Scottish National Party
Then:
Dear Craig,
Thank you for attending the Appeals Panel yesterday.
Unfortunately your Appeal was not upheld.
I wish you luck in your future endeavours.
Sue
That is it. I have asked for more detail of why I was refused, but been given none. All I have is “you could not give a full commitment on group discipline issues”, and the only question to which I gave an answer that could possibly be interpreted that way, was the one above on the bedroom tax. There was, incidentally, no corresponding question designed to test the loyalty of right wing people.
I should note that I was astonished by the hostility of the appeals board, chaired by Ian Hudghton MEP and flanked by two MSPs. They could not have been more personally unfriendly towards me if I were Jim Murphy: their demeanour was bullying. They were less pleasant to me than was Jack Straw or anybody in the Foreign Office when they were sacking me for blowing the whistle on extraordinary rendition and torture. It was a really weird exercise in which these highly taxpayer paid professional politicians attempted to twist every word I said to find an excuse to disqualify me. I found it a truly unpleasant experience.
My analysis is that those in the SNP who make a fat living out of it are terrified the energy of the Yes campaign may come to threaten their comfy position. I think there is an important debate here on how the 80% of the SNP who are new members can affect its existing gatekeeping structures. No new members were involved in deciding if I was a fit candidate, and the 1500 new members in each of Falkirk and Airdrie were denied any chance to vote for me as their preferred candidate.
This also makes a complete nonsense of the SNP’s much publicised move at the Perth conference to allow non-members to stand as SNP candidates in an “opening out” to the wider Yes campaign.
I do worry that the idea of Whitehall ministerial limousines in a coalition is of more interest to some in the SNP than independence. I also am really concerned that the SNP has become, like other parties, a source of lots of taxpayer-funded careers. A significant proportion of those that do pass the vetting process are Special Advisers or work in SNP MP’s, MSP’s or MEP’s offices. The SNP is developing its own “political class” which is the opposite of the citizen activism of the Yes campaign. It became clear to me that a lot of SNP insider thought around the selection process is not about furthering independence, but about jobs for the boys (and girls).
Every candidate for selection is allowed a 350 word statement including cv to be given to members with their ballot paper. This is the 350 word statement which I had submitted to HQ for distribution to SNP members in Falkirk, prior to my disqualification. It has never been distributed, but I would like every SNP member to read it. If you know one, send it to them:
My aim is to achieve Independence. The Smith Commission shows we will never be given the control of our own economic resources required to achieve our aims of social justice, or to stimulate the economy, within the Union.
I think we have to avoid the trap of managerialism – of being just another political party but a little more competent and fair. We should maintain a firm thrust towards the goal of national freedom.
I will vote with the SNP group, but my voice within the party will be against any coalition agreement with Labour or Tories.
I want to defeat Labour, not sustain them. I want to end the Union, not to run it.
Within the SNP we must guard against success leading us to develop our own careerists. Professional politicians in Westminster have become a parasitic class with interchangeable beliefs, out for themselves. There are too many of them – Special Advisers, research assistants etc. The number of politicians paid for by the taxpayer has quadrupled in 30 years.
The best MPs contribute from a wide variety of life experience.
I want the dynamic citizen activism we saw in the Yes campaign to lead to a new kind of politics in Scotland. Bubbling up from ordinary folk. And I want that energy from the people to defeat the forces of the mainstream media and the unionists here in the coming election.
Together, we can do it.
If selected as our candidate I will immediately move my family home to Falkirk and begin campaigning. Once elected MP, my home will become my constituency office and open to all, and no MP will work harder for his constituents. No Scottish MP will have lower expenses. I shall regularly attend the Commons and speak in debate.
Craig Murray
Writer, Human Rights Activist.
Chairman, Atholl Energy Ltd
Rector, Dundee University 2007-10
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Lancaster School of Law 2006-10
British Ambassador Uzbekistan 2002-4
HM Diplomatic Service 1984-2005
MA 1st Class Hons Modern HistoryDeclined LVO, OBE and CVO as a Scottish nationalist and republican
Maybe that statement is what really got me disqualified?
“And a rabble very rarely achieves anything.”
Call ordinary people what you want, they have achieved FAR more than this bullshit excuse for human beings can, or ever will.
Time to go Independent or Green Craig. The same process is well underway here in Ireland with Sinn Fein as they position themselves for government in the next 18 months or so.
” That purpose will not be achieved unless the SNP group at Westminster works as a team.”
‘Group discipline-‘Teamwork’-‘Groupthink’
“We DEMAND unity”
A Sutler.
Who was it said the problem with people is PEOPLE?
“Discipline is not a dirty word.”
And ps, No it’s not, Except when they are disciplined cheats, liars, disciplined to disregard themselves.
There are many many forms of discipline, But I think your using the word, well, like a politician would, to describe something totally different.
Stand as an Independent, I would guess you would vote with SNP on the vast majority of issues, and all parties who are not ConLibLabs want the same things.
Just as well. After all, the UK could not have warded off independence without a pretend opposition to throw the fight. Good thing you learned the SNP’s true nature before they diverted you with years of busy work. Maybe your future is in parallel government: make the UK puke Scotland out with unpalatable popular adherence to the right to peace and development and to the rule of law.
Electoral politics is a dead end by design. Civil resistance, international solidarity, that’s the ticket. Said it before (you squelched it as provocation) and I’ll say it again. Scotland’s fight for indpendence will be a lot like Ireland’s: long and dirty and bitter.
Craig,
would you not vote for the bedroom tax under any circumstances? For instance, what if the other half of the bargain were to secure Scottish independence? In that case, if voted down by the Scottish government, the bedroom tax would affect the poor of the rUK, but not Scotland. The question of loyalties may be more complex than it first appears, and maybe your answer should have been “well, it depends…”.
Hi Craig
we meet at the John Drummond event at Perth. I was the one doing the live streaming!
I was wondering if you would be up for doing a Skype live stream conversation with us?
Independence Live
http://www.independencelive.net
I am also a new member of the SNP and am also not very happy at this result.
I will continue as a member until the GE and see what happens from there.
You should stand as an Independent in the GE and also at Holyrood, we need folk like you with your experience in the FO.
Peter A Bell,
Three answers to that
a) For the SNP to support the bedroom tax would be as clever realpolitik as for the LibDems to support tuition fees. The “discipline” of the lemming
b) As the SNP is now, the Labour Party was once dominant in Scottish politics and thought best way to retain that position was obediently dull elected representatives. Look where that got them.
c) Why on earth do we ant to sustain a Westminster Labour government anyway? Stupid idea. Let’s make the union ungovernable and end it.
This is hugely disappointing – it’s a right slap in the face to anyone who thought that the promise and optimism of the near-miss in the referendum might lead to a new approach to our politics.
I’m glad you’ve posted this though – before people get too carried away with how well the polls are showing for the SNP and how laughably poorly Labour are doing in Scotland – there’s still so very much more to do to change the establishment parties – and it’s now clear that the SNP are very much still one of them.
Let’s hope that there’s sufficient reaction from the new membership on this to help them to understand that, despite all the warm words, they too need to show evidence that they think things have changed too.
I am sorry to read this, and that you put so much time and effort into attending the Hustings. I would have voted you, having seen you at one of the Hustings, and am sorry that you were not allowed to be an SNP candidate. Big loss to the SNP
The proUnion types are jumping with glee and already misrepresenting what you said and think.
Margaret Thatcher’s notorious question when selecting people for privileged office was, “Is he one of us?” Sadly, they all do it because as Lord Acton said, “power corrupts.” No political party, or individual is immune from this. All are corruptible, even if, happily, not all are corrupt. For what comfort it is, Craig, your principles are too strong and too noble for you to be successful in public life. More power to your writing hand. Some day, perhaps, we shall overcome. Hasten the day!
Maybe you could call your party the YOUTH party.
“A Turkish teenager has been released from custody after his arrest for allegedly insulting the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, caused uproar.
The 16-year-old student, Mehmet Emin Altunses, was taken away from his school on Wednesday and jailed for making a speech during a student protest in which he reportedly said Erdoğan was regarded as the “thieving owner of the illegal palace”.
It was a reference to a government corruption scandal as well as a controversial 1,150-room palace Erdoğan inaugurated in October.”
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/26/turkish-school-student-accused-insulting-president-released-custody-erdogan
I am absolutely fuming at this decision. It is so short sighted that it defies belief. It would seem that you can only dine at the big boys table if you blindly follow the leader.
Independent thought is not allowed!
Without independently minded people nothing can ever change. This sickens me, I joined the SSP the day after the referendum though had considered the SNP. I’m glad I chose the former now and am seriously reconsidering my intention to vote for the SNP in 2015.
What a waste if you don’t stand. I second what others have stated and ask that you consider standing as an Independent. I want an end to this style of politics, some in the SNP need a reality check.
This is a slap in the face for all those that fought so hard for Independence that were not SNP supporters, I would love for you to give the hierarchy a bloody nose after this snub.
Seems a ‘natural’ Process of consolidation after some feel themselves…comfortable.
Standard practice, remove “disruptive elements” who gave a shit, connected with people, etc. We are really important now. Can’t have any of that can we.
craig, 2:58 pm:
Hear, hear; excellent strategy. The only way of doing anything about Westminster is to chip away at its sphere of influence, diminish it, reduce it, until it is small enough that its remaining electorate can regain control of it. And Scotland shouldn’t wait around in Westminster for that eventuality; Scotland is best placed to lead the process by getting out first.
“Stupid idea. Let’s make the union ungovernable and end it.”
As you said stupid idea – unfortunately ordinary people, not those in Westminster, would get hurt while you play such stupid games. How about the democratic idea of seeking to convince people of your beliefs and getting them to vote for them. Personally, I prefer politicians who seek to use democracy rather than destroy it.
“I was asked at assessment whether, as part of a Westminster deal with another party, I would agree to vote for the bedroom tax if instructed by the Party.”
That surely has to be the dumbest question to ask any potential candidate. You also have to wonder what exactly the positive respondents would have replied “No” to?
Craig,
I too am sad to hear this. Also I’m perplexed about the Bedroom Tax question as no SNP MP has ever voted in support of this in Westminster.
No political party is perfect. And some of these who support the SNP are a bit questionable as well.
I wonder if any other potential candidates have had a similar experience?
Good luck.
I’ve said it before the electoral colleges are the single biggest problem in politics today. Having them creates a kind of dictatorship which removes choice from constituencies and centralises it. People like Peter A. Bell clearly believe in it because it rewards their type of parliamentary dream, when in a truly democratic society there would be no whips forcing people to vote against their consciences. The people politics need to get rid of are people like Miliband, Cameron and Peter A. Bell.
“Why? Why is that impossible? You’re so concerned with squabbling for the scraps from Longshank’s table that you’ve missed your God-given right to something better. There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.”
“How about the democratic idea of seeking to convince people of your beliefs and getting them to vote for them. Personally, I prefer politicians who seek to use democracy rather than destroy it.”
Wow. what could one say about that statment. Do I need to?
I don’t think you used the word democratic in the right way. I don’t think that’s a democratic idea at all.
Jeez, the things some people think.
Resident Dissident, 3:19 pm:
RD, ordinary people are already being hurt, millions of them. The question is how to stop it. Democracy in the UK has obviously not functioned since 2003 at the latest. Craig is trying to build democracy, not destroy it.
@ Craig
As you did Craig you put the welfare of your constituents before the party a very noble thing.
As a parent you could of course focus on the more necessary law to enforce of which many others do and that’s the “un-tidy”bedroom tax!
This politics is below you Craig. Get working, get radical and ffs keep healthy.
Please, get radical.
Slightly partisan comment. To hell with Falkirk, join us on the barricades in Airdrie. We can erase the old guard, they’re soiling their linen as I write. We have all the best activists, academics, writers, musicians and comedians. Help us to break the machine.
Very disappointed to hear this, Craig. I would have voted for you, if you were standing in my constituency. Have you thought about standing as an independent, or for another Yes party?
I think that there is more to the SNP decision than meets the eye, and perhaps they haven’t told you the full truth. There are those who regard you as something of a loose cannon, which cuts both ways in politics. Your forthrightness and independent nature are character traits that I, and many others, greatly admire and yet I can understand why some old-school politicians would be afraid you’d overstep a line and say the wrong thing. I’m thinking of some comments you have made during the indyref (which I happen to agree with 100%), but which were leapt upon by those who sought to stir up hatred between Yes and No. The irony is that if all politicians were as honest and as fearless as you were during the campaign, then this country would be a far better place.
But we live in a world of media spin. Perhaps in the end the SNP thought the risk was too great? Honestly, I can’t see why else they would reject a candidate such as yourself. This “group discipline” excuse seems a wishy-washy way of saying, “we’re worried you’ll say something too radical”. As an objective outsider (who, in the same position as you, would also have answered “No” to that bedroom tax question) that seems to me to be the most obvious reason. I think it’s a very timid decision by the SNP. Their loss. And I hope it does not discourage you from politics. The independence movement needs strong campaigners such as yourself.
“RD, ordinary people are already being hurt, millions of them.”
So you don’t mind if they are hurt some more while the country is made ungovernable – what do you think that would mean for benefit payments, the provision of public services and those employed by the public sector?
And Ishmael what is your democratic ideal?
Melissa Murray
Your question about the bedroom tax is interesting – given that the only party now supporting the bedroom tax is the Tories it does lead to one questioning whether the SNP might be contemplating a coalition with the Tories?