I have just been rejected at vetting (again) by the SNP and therefore cannot put myself forward to fellow members as a potential parliamentary candidate. This time they added the somewhat gratuitous comment that I would not only be “unbecoming” as a parliamentary candidate, but as a member. They also suggested, in writing, that I owe a public apology to senior figures in the party. I have written back to ask to whom and why (I really have no idea). I have not received any reply to that yet. I have received a reply to a second query, and am told that the “unbecoming” comment does not indicate any desire or expectation that I should resign membership. Indeed they say they hope my contribution will continue, but as my sole contribution appears to be as a whipping-boy I can’t quite see why I should share that hope.
You will forgive my posting some videos which I think explain the case for my defence:
src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/GfbfldSrJ-0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>
Obviously this all causes me to think long and hard about my future political effort. My key focus is ensuring that neither excessive caution nor that most insidious temptation, managerialism and the comfort of power and office, prevents an early second referendum. It is very easy to convince yourself that you are doing good in your taxpayer-paid job. Status is seductive. The SNP is full of siren voices arguing that they should enjoy their spoils for a decade or two while maintaining a steady trudge towards independence. They whisper that we have to await a 60% Yes lead in the opinion polls before we try again as another defeat would be disastrous.
But the greater danger is that the momentum fades. You would have to be the greatest optimist in the World to imagine a more favourable conjunction of circumstances for Independence than an extremist Tory government at Westminster, a Labour Party in meltdown, the Liberals almost eliminated and the SNP supreme in Scotland. Plus the residue of the huge momentum of the IndyI campaign, which put on 14 points in 12 months.
This dream conjunction will not last forever. The great danger is letting the moment slip through our fingers. If pro-Indy candidates sweep Holyrood, having already swept Westminster, we would be quite entitled to declare independence without a referendum. As I repeat till I am blue in the face, the majority of countries in the world have become independent states in my own lifetime, and the vast majority of those without a referendum. There is no legal requirement for one, and it is essential that we retain the threat of UDI in case Cameron tries to refuse a referendum; otherwise we are accepting a Westminster veto on the will of the Scottish people.
A referendum in 2018 must be the goal, with the threat of UDI should Cameron refuse. That is what I want to work for. I am only an individual, actively disowned by the party of Scottish government. But nonetheless I shall dedicate my energies to this goal.
Craig, you disappoint me when you don’t post, as your input is an important factor in debates. I can understand the SNP apprehension standing for the Scottish Parliament, as you recently stood for the Liberal party. Those that worked with Tories to marginalise us in Scotland and it still continues today. I have no doubt you will have your part to play in Scotland’s political future but at present there’s a synergy that no- one wants impeded or side tracked. You would be used by Westminster to detract from the bigger picture. All the very best, and if you might post more regularly I for one would very much appreciate you doing so.
Roger,
aah, the Harriet Harman argument! Actually I joined the SNP in 2011, which makes me a senior member to many MPs. Thanks for the best wishes.
“it is essential that we retain the threat of UDI in case Cameron tries to refuse a referendum”
The problem with UDI is that there would no obligation on Westminster to recognise it. Regions of Scotland with a pro-union majority could do a Crimea and jump ship. This would be a disaster for rScotland.
Quite worrying that you want to declare independence without the democratic consent of the Scottish people. No one is going to give you a referendum in 2018 because you have just had one on very favourable terms and you lost by quite some margin. This idea of demanding a referendum every year until you get the result you want – and if you don’t get it then just declare independence anyway – makes you come across as a sore loser. And there’s no chance of either happening.
As I’ve said before and I am right on this, you will not see independence in my own or your lifetime, and the SNP are far too ensconced in Westminster now to ever really want it. More gravy for Scotland is the name of the game now.
Why is your hair cobalt blue Anon1. Are you a ‘Blue Tory’?
~~~
If I was Craig, I would be inclined to tell the SNP to stuff it.
Not surprised though Craig. I think they are genuinely scared of you. To be called “unbecoming” can be taken as a compliment. As to the apology, I suggest you tell them to shove it up their arse !!
Independence will come within 10 years. A 10% margin & an ever-shrinking lead is indicative of Better Together’s Project Fear campaign. That all the stops were pulled out including the last-gasp Vow show that the Union is hanging on by its fingertips.
The fearmongering & lies have been and are being debunked on a daily basis & our youth are not so gullible to believe the mainstream media (esp. the BBC).
Furthermore, it is not in Cameron’s gift or any at Westminster to ‘grant’ us a referendum. It will happen when the will of the Scottish people is such that it demands one.
Craig
Sorry to hear this. I have watched all of your videos and know that you would be an asset to the party. Hopefully you will get some feedback and allow the matter to be resolved.
“it is not in Cameron’s gift or any at Westminster to ‘grant’ us a referendum”
It is actually.
“It will happen when the will of the Scottish people is such that it demands one”
Scots demanded one and got one. It happened last year.
They are frightened of you. They wouldn’t want you rocking the Scottish establishment.
@MJ
The unitary national police force mitigates against the Crimea scenario. Police Scotland can just rock up and arrest the ringleaders. After UDI Holyrood just passes a treason bill stat. Put the ringleaders in Barlinnie pour encourage les autres and job done.
Back in the days of all might regional police chiefs who might refuse to recognise central authority, this might have been possible. The national force was brought in on efficiency grounds in the face of austerity but I bet the SNP had half a thought about scenarios like this. Such a scenario was also possible post a Yes in the referendum. The UK state is well practiced in promoting such moves so they need to be planned for.
BTW Craig after both these rejections AND the comment about your suitability for membership you should resign and join one of the constituent parties in RISE.
I would not want to be a member of an organisation that didn’t want me. I do not see why you would want to remain.
Other Yes parties are available.
Thank you for your blog, which always serves to focus my rage.
My father, who joined the SNP in the 1960s,left the party at the tail end of the 1970s when the SNP went down the “devolution” route, rather than the “independence is our aim” route, which outcome he joined to work for in the first place, and died without ever achieving.
I resisted joining the SNP for over 40 years, while believing in and working for the return of our country to independence, but in despair last September 19, joined the SNP. I wish I had never succumbed to my depression, and will not remain a member. I asked one of the SNP prospective Holyrood candidates for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross whether independence and a 2nd referendum were to be part of the SNP manifesto, and was told she was “confident that it would”.
I’m not, so my vote will go elsewhere.
Craig, As many others do, I check your blog on a daily basis, and enjoy your unique insights. As a recent member of the SNP, I am surprised that you have been rejected as a candidate for Holyrood. Please, please stand as an independent on a regional list. If you stand in NE Scotland, I am sure that I am not alone in my determination to vote for you. If you decide to stand, let us know, and I’m sure that I speak for many people, when I say that we would support you both financially and in canvassing. I just LOVE the idea of you in Holyrood, stirring the pot…..:)
I agree with the previous comment “they fear you” Craig.You are not alone in believing that we must keep the momentum going for independence and that is why Solidarity Scotland will be campaigning fat the SE2016 with a commitment for #indyref2 by 2018 in its manifesto. Your knowledge and experience in politics are a threat to them but would be welcome elsewhere.
Serial Reject.
You are not an arse licker, therefore they can’t control you, You are not a blatant liar, therefore, you can’t be manipulated. You know too much damning shit. You are dangerous!
Tell them to GTF!
I get nowhere with my injustices. Nicola Sturgeon’s lachies send me only GUFF as a reply. I call it as it is. Politicians do not like that. Anyway, we are stupid, they know best. Have you never noticed?
Do you get on well with Julian Assange? You might have to share a room with him until they get regime change in Ecuador!
I told you before, start a new Party.
We sorely need an alternative to the SNP. We have had our fill of the others, even if Corbyn gets a hold of the leadership of the Labour Party, he still has to win the next General Election. Which will not be easy, given that it is such a long time off.
When I saw your first video the last Sunday of August just before the referendum (the one first up to-day) I feared for your life. I sent E-mails to people to keep an eye out for you, and to look at your videos if they did not already know of you. I did not know of you. I stumbled across your video made in St. Andrews on the Sunday morning after. It had 30 views when I first saw it, by Monday night it had 90,000. Brilliant!!!.
That should be telling you something.
I am at a loss to know what I can do to help you.
I still don’t talk to the NO voters. Useless ****rs.
Do not give up, keep going, we need you.
“Your knowledge and experience in politics are a threat to them but would be welcome elsewhere”
Craig is running out of parties. If recent posts are anything to go by he might feel at home in a Corbyn-led Labour Party. Truth is though that Craig isn’t a party man. He’s a maverick, which is why he always ends up standing as an independent.
Craig, I think it is a disgrace that you have been rejected yet again. I do see you as a bit of loose-cannon at times but I think that is a good thing – the SNP could do with a couple of people like your good self both at Westmidden.
I do vote SNP and will keep doing so until independence is achieved but nowadays I find myself feeling that I will do so with increasing misgivings. They certainly aren’t left enough for my taste and that, at times, shows through in the actions and positions they take or fail to take.
As to UDI then yes I do think that should very much be an option. As you say for now the SNP are in the ascendency but that won’t last forever and, at least as things stand for now, I don’t think there as any other political party that could drive independence through (by whatever route). If a referendum isn’t in their manifesto at all times, including for the 2016 Holyrood elections, then I would still vote for them but with serious misgivings – it needs to be there at all times. After all that is what the party is for in its essence.
Keep your chin up, Craig. Keep doing what you do, it has real value. Lots of respect.
@Craig, Quit with the self-delusions; the reason why you are ““unbecoming” to any left of center party is that you often express off the wall reactionary views, that also sometimes exposes your hypocrisy; obvious example is your hysterical outrage that Crimea exercised its right to self-determination & held a sucessful referendum, yet here you are advocating UDI for Scotland !; your ugly Russophobia has been noticed by many, especially by something called Karma !
It looks like there will still be room for 2 or 3 more in Macky’s Revolutionary Vanguard Telephone Box Party – and possiblt a small 4th one after the purge of the telephone directory.
@RD, Satire can be an effective political weapon, and I’ll be the first to congratulate you if you ever manage it ! 😀
They probably think you would be another Campbell Martin , however if it hadn’t been for CM Salmond and sturgeon wouldn’t have become the leadership team when they did, and we might never have had the Referendum. Disappointed at this news, you’d have shone in the Parly. I’ll continue to support the SNP as they are IMHO the only escape route from Wastemonster domination. Please keep up the blogging, I check every day for new efforts.
When to hold Indy Ref 2, agree with you on the real danger of losing momentum, remember Brown being too feart to call a quick election. On the other side of the equation, the older generation voted NO, so time isn’t on the side of this part of the electorate. during the GE. The FM. Promised voters a vote for the SNP was not a vote for another referendum. Putting my trust in the leaders who got us to the referendum to make the judgement call.
Serial Reject.
I dare you all to look at Chunkymark and his “Loonie Lefties” to-day.
And he is an Englishman. Unbelievable!!!
“the older generation voted NO, so time isn’t on the side of this part of the electorate”
It is. The proportion of older people in the population is increasing markedly.
Craig, as I’ve said before on here, any human institution, whether a political party, a new religion, or whatever, very soon begins to function like a living organism- and a living organism’s first priority is its own survival. It does not really see itself as having any “function” above and beyond its own existence.
All new religions are swiftly reconfigured to ensure the power, status and prosperity of their elite leaderships, and in that sense they soon resemble the older religions they were intended to supercede. Same goes for politics.
My own recent experience of long-term members of the Labour Party have indicated that their real priority is that the Labour Party should be in government and thus the elite members (MPs) should have power, wealth and status. That is their real “value and aspiration” and all else will be changed- entirely reversed if necessary- to achieve this. For instance I was told by a LP activist that the Party ought not to reveal its policies till just before an election, because if announced too early the Tories could pick holes in them if they were defective, or “steal” them if they were really good! Whereas if they had the welfare of the people as their real goal they would welcome the testing of defective policies and likewise the implementing of good policies, by anyone.
You Craig are motivated by consistent values, and see politics and political parties as a means to an end, hence it’s natural that you’ve migrated from one party to another, and may well do so again.
You describe the Labour Party as “in meltdown” but I think that’s a very good thing. A healthy political or religious movement should have a low enough “melting point”, so that it can adapt more easily and be purified from accumulated dross, while maintaining its essential qualities. The LP may “melt down” a lot further in the next few years- it needs to, because a party that could be led by the likes of Blair, Mandelson, Harman, and Jack Straw is of no use to anyone outside itself.
I’m pretty disappointed Craig that the SNP have overlooked you again then added some puerile trivia about you (allegedly) insulting someone in the party.
The SNP don’t have a monopoly on what’s right and wrong in Scotland, and although I deeply support their stance on independence, the party doesn’t have its problems to seek.
This unwarranteed snub however doesn’t mean that your political career in Scotland should be over, you could stand as a independent or join the Greens or Rise, you have the passion use it.
The SNP must include a indy ref in their 2016, or many people will become frustrated or disillusioned. An independent Scotland will breath fresh life into the opposition parties, and opportunities will be abound, hang on in their you just never know.
Staying on the SNP, Prince buggerlugs aka Charles “Spider Letters” seven of them have been disclosed under a FOI, even though Charlie tried to block the FOI.
In these letters HRH Charles asks Alex Salmond to endorse HRH’s organic food business in Scotland, Charles makes clear he seeks political backing over estates and businesses north of the border.
I just think there are a lot of things done behind closed doors. Salmond must have been in cahoots with the Establishment in Megrahi’s release from prison. Although all evidence very strongly indicated Megrahi was completely innocent, Salmond refused a fresh inquiry, which would no doubt have shown the Establishment’s role in framing an innocent man.
I think the Establishmrent will do almost anything to stop you entering Parliament because there they would fear your speaking skills, your knowledge and expertise. Also, they don’t want a whistleblower to be seen to succeed.
Serial Reject – Come back prodigal son, all is forgiven, yer half-English anyway, and save us from further “Maxwellisation”. Its an earnest SOS, the sos has even taken over the aoc.
@Peter the SNP can’t be as left as they’d like to be as they have to maintain wide support under very difficult circumstances virtually an entire media being hostile even to the point of losing readers over their stance. The SNP are probably unique in finding them selves to have such support from the electorate in Government whilst the media are so set against them. So Cut them a little slack.