A Different Kind of Independence

This morning I was out having breakfast with several ex-colleagues which I do once every 2 months or so. The topic of conversation invariably gets around to politics and today focused quite heavily on the recent referendum and the possibility of another referendum on Scottish Independence.

The company consists of a range of political views and is quite a good demographic. There is at least one supporter of each of the 5 political parties in Holyrood and there is a good mix of previous No and Yes voters in the Scottish Referendum although all but one voted to Remain in the EU referendum.

Among those who voted No in the Scottish Referendum one of the main reasons that keeps coming up is that of Nationalism and the fact that the SNP should not be railroading the country. When asked what they don't like about our First Minister the answers are always vague and to be fair I have not heard anything yet that convinces me that we are not lucky to have Nicola Sturgeon in charge in such politically hazardous times.

I was today asked to justify Nationalism. I explained that I was not against Nationalism in general but when I stated that I was not a Nationalist and that flag waving held no real place in my life, this confused them greatly. They then asked me how I could be in favour of independence if I was not a Nationalist. I confused them further by telling them it was grassroots democracy that led me to believe in Scotland as an independent nation. It was no surprise that they did not understand the concept.

Grassroots democracy is an absolute fundamental part of being Green for me. Indeed it is one of the four pillars that all green parties are founded upon. Wikipedia describes grassroots democracy as:

" .... a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization."

When I explained this to them they all seemed to understand and agreed that there did appear to be another reason, other than "Nationalism" that could be argued to allow Scotland to be an independent nation.

At the end of our political conversation I asked the 4 who had previously voted No in the last Scottish referendum if my explanation had allowed them to see independence in another non-SNP light. They all answered Yes and confirmed that this and the recent Leave vote would lead them to reconsider their position if another Scottish Independence referendum were to be run. In fact two out of the four almost committed to changing their vote all together.

I am very worried that if we do find ourselves getting to vote again in a Scottish Referendum in the near future, that the word "Nationalist" will again be used as a derisory term as a stick to poke the voters with. We have to get it out there that Nationalism is not necessarily bad and there are alternative reasons to want to have Scotland facing it's own way in the world.

The Scottish Greens Position On The European Referendum Result

"Scotland looks set to leave the European Union, but not by choice.

We voted to Remain and in big numbers, but it wasn’t enough to outweigh votes in the rest of the UK seeking to drag Scotland out of the EU.

It’s not over though. We must preserve our relationship with Europe, and we can only do this if the political parties in Scotland show leadership and work together.

Scottish Greens are calling on Holyrood to examine and exhaust every option for continuing Scotland’s close ties with Europe.

Join us today in making that call."

You can sign the Scottish Greens petition here.

You can join The Scottish Green Party here.

Scottish Greens Holyrood South Region Count

Just a quick note, now that all the shouting's done bar the counting, to wish good luck to all my fellow candidates in the Scottish Greens internal election for the South Scotland Region List for the Holyrood Parliament elections in 2016.

What has struck me the most throughout this internal campaign is that I have totally confirmed my reasons for doing all of this. I started the campaign with the genuine thought that I was not doing this for myself. I genuinely believed that my main reason for doing this was to get elected so that I could become a truly participatory MSP. I have thought long and weary that most of the present crop of elected parliamentarians do not come up to this high standard and it was time for me to stop moaning about it and to put my head above the parapet, so I did.

Again I wish all of the candidates, with whom I have have made many great friendships with, the best of luck and no matter who gets the members vote, The Scottish Green Party will be assured to have great candidates on the Region Lists in 2016.

Also a big shout out to all the candidates in all the other regions too.

Scottish Green Party General Election 2015 Manifesto

At last it's here. The Scottish Green Party today launched it's General Election 2015 manifesto. As was expected it is full of very good policy and worth a read to anyone thinking of voting for The Green Party in Scotland on May 7th. In fact I would go as far to say that it is worth a read for anybody voting for any party in the 2015 General Election.

It may just surprise you how many of the Scottish Green policies you actually agree with. Just click the image below and have a read.

What's Important?

EQUALITY NOT POVERTY – £10 minimum wage

PUBLIC SERVICES IN PUBLIC HANDS – nationalise the railways

POWER TO COMMUNITIES – more powers for Scotland and local communities 

Scottish Affairs Committee - Our Borderlands, Our Future

A great piece on a recent report from the Scottish Affairs Committee by Sarah Beattie Smith our Westminster candidate for Edinburgh North & Leith.

"In the last days of this parliament came one of the most interesting and useful reports I’ve seen in five years of the Scottish Affairs Committee. Our Borderlands, Our Future sets out a vision for the South of Scotland that tackles the lack of jobs with decent wages and calls for much better connectivity, whether public transport or broadband..."

https://sarahbeattiesmith.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/time-to-transform-the-forgotten-south/