Opinion: Kevin Mckenna: Don't let hubris destroy independence dream

The English examination results – afflicted by the social inequality which disfigured Scotland’s – were greeted with a similar sense of conceit. “See: theirs were worse than ours.” For a party committed to reducing educational inequality it doesn’t quite butter the parsnips. Such a response ignores the real source of anger at the moderation of Scottish pupils’ examination predictions: that the inequalities and disadvantages spewed out by the process merely highlighted those which lie embedded in the educational system after 21 years of devolved government. Coronavirus merely exposed what has lain submerged for generations. It would be foolish to regard the sunny numbers in favour of independence as indicating popular absolution.

The SNP – and by extension the cause of independence – have enjoyed a rewarding lockdown. Those residing outside the Holyrood bubble consume their politics via the early evening television and radio news programmes. For the last five months we have clung to these bulletins as they’ve updated us on the shifting levels of threat to our mortal existence. They have been dominated by two people: the First Minister of Scotland and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Scotland’s champion is universally seen to be confident, honest and empathetic; the other chap: well – let’s be charitable here – significantly less so.

This is an important divergence at any time, but during a period of national emergency it becomes critical. When your life is in danger you attach less importance to more mundane matters such as education and the handling of the economy. In time, though, these will cease to be mundane and we will resume our close scrutiny of them.

The state of emergency has also revealed how enfeebled the opposition to Ms Sturgeon and her administration has become. The Scottish Tories have been forced to jettison one leader and are currently being led by a part-timer who sees her future beyond the reach of democracy in an upper-class, private drinking club.

The Labour Party in Scotland meanwhile is led by a poor chap who looks like he is about to cry every time he takes to his feet. Their support has been reduced to those who plough on for old time’s sake. Between coronavirus and Europe’s most ineffective political opposition the SNP are governing Scotland free of scrutiny. In such circumstances 53% support for independence is the very least you should be expecting. Such circumstances won’t prevail when a live referendum is unfolding. And I’m not convinced the party is anywhere near fit enough to fight one any time soon.

On the three most pressing matters which will come to govern a second referendum the SNP don’t appear to have made any progress in the six years that have elapsed since the last one. There is no plan for joining the EU and no acknowledgement that such a process could take anything from two to five years. There is still no position on what currency an independent Scotland would use and no workings for settling the border issue with England. Indeed, the only body making the running on what an independent Scotland could look like – socially, culturally and economically – is Common Weal, the independence-leaning think-tank and advocacy body. But according to Stewart McDonald, the SNP’s spokesperson for defence at Westminster, Common Weal are to be regarded with disdain.

In a bizarre tweet about the current upheaval in Belarus, Mr McDonald, who strives eagerly to be part of the SNP’s inner sanctum, said: “Incredible events unfolding in Belarus: an uprising on the European continent, against an authoritarian Soviet dictator, led by women of courage and substance with their fellow citizens at their back. Common Weal types oddly mute.” Quite what Common Weal was supposed to have said about a country 1814.1 miles away is anyone’s guess. Perhaps they’ll issue a paper on it. Though I’m not sure that pontificating on another country’s internal disputes is a good look for an organisation that resents interference in Scotland’s own affairs.

Another emerging problem for the SNP is the calibre of those in its Twitter wing who this week breathlessly announced their intentions to seek the party’s nomination for Holyrood. That none have yet passed party vetting or consulted with local organisations has not dimmed their optimism, which seems to be founded purely on nods and winks at SNP headquarters. You don’t want to be unkind here, but each of them would melt in the heat of a lengthy referendum campaign.

They are also known among activists to have participated in the stitch-up preventing Joanna Cherry and her Westminster colleagues from returning to Holyrood. This has also caused deep resentment among “Common Weal types” who will do most of the heavy lifting at the next referendum. There remains simmering resentment in the party at the juvenile delinquency of the NEC in this matter and this has resulted in the threat of cancelled memberships and reduced subscriptions.

This is unfortunate for a party which is currently encountering choppy financial waters and continues to face questions over the £500,000 in donations it received in 2017 to fight the referendum that never was. I’m sure everything is above board here and that the details will be forthcoming in due course. For, how could you hope to fight another referendum any time soon if all that money had been spent on something else? And how could you expect any of your members to dig deep again in the absence of any receipts?

The absence of anything resembling an independence Plan B has irked many supporters who have begun to question the SNP leadership’s authentic commitment to the project. Perhaps there is good reason for this perceived lethargy.

Our columns are a platform for writers to express their opinions. They do not necessarily represent the views of The Herald