Clearly now is the time for the SNP to ‘seize the moment'

The National

11-07-2025

The UK Internal Market Act was deliberately introduced to take even more control away from the Scottish Parliament, and even in the devolved area of fishing the UK Government made an agreement with the EU without consultation with the Scottish Government. The UK Government, whichever party is in power, will continue to tighten the Union straitjacket whenever the Scottish Government is perceived to be performing relatively well, while the UK mainstream media will continue to denigrate any progress made by an SNP-led Scottish Government.
READ MORE: Remember Alex Salmond gained indyref on the basis of an SNP majority
Therefore, the reality is that we are increasingly unlikely to be able to achieve independence through the route of good devolved governance, although obviously the Scottish Government must continually strive to do the best it can within the constraints of broken Brexit Britain.
Of course Seamus is correct to state that we will only achieve independence when 'enough people actually want it' (although I would not have added the qualifying clause 'and want it badly enough', as this wrongly suggests that we need the majority of the population to become independence activists) and to state that 'we shouldn't just wait for independence to somehow fall into our laps'. However, instead of relying on good governance at Holyrood to take us forward, ways must be found to inspire the public sufficiently to first get out and vote and secondly to express their desire for fundamental change through a vote for an independence party rather than for cosmetic change or fake reform.
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Even if there is scepticism about the value of plebiscites as de facto referendums, there is value in independence parties committing to a common manifesto goal of having the Scottish Parliament given legislative authority to conduct a constitutional referendum, and if such a mandate is denied then using that undemocratic action of the UK Government to bolster support for independence expressed through a de facto referendum at the next UK General Election (backed up by clear steps to ensure that the expressed wish of the people of Scotland will be fulfilled). Instead of turning the majority of the electorate into political activists, we must inspire more people to reject the constitutional status quo through realising that only independence will deliver 'real change'.
While I do not agree that the SNP have had the number of genuine opportunities over the last decade to deliver independence that some have suggested, the fact that all the UK political parties, even the Tories and Labour, now admit that Britain is broken while UK foreign policy is seen to reflect past imperialism with little regard for human suffering (even where the UK continues to be complicit in causing that suffering, such as with the carnage in Gaza) indicates that now is the time, especially with support for independence consistently around 50% in the polls even without national independence campaigning, for the SNP to 'seize the moment'.
If the SNP message to the public is to patiently wait for good governance at Holyrood to be established and acknowledged, then voters will likely vote instead for 'fake reform' even if they believe the Scottish Parliament should be enabled to conduct a constitutional referendum and suspect that the reform offered is just another Farage mirage.
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
JUST finished reading the article by Graeme McGarry, ''Common sense' to lift outdated booze ban – football fans won't let side down' (Jul 9) about the 'alcohol trials' at Ayr FC.
What an absolute joke! The 'authorities' are going to trial something as serious as selling alcohol at football matches and the decision is going to be based on a 'diddy club' (sorry, Ayr FC, but you're not in the 'major league' when it comes to attendances at matches.
READ MORE: Alcohol to be sold at Ayr United stadium for first time
Alcohol is currently available at football matches but in specified areas only. I'm sure if you wanted to take a real and possibly more accurate 'sample' then Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs and Rangers could provide you with all the evidence from their current hospitality suites.
The current football administrators in Scotland (SFA/SPFL) are an embarrassment to the game if they think a 'two-bob club' such as Ayr FC will be reflective of what will happen on a weekly basis throughout the season.
To take a sample so small from what is proposed, maybe 1% of the football attendees on any given Saturday/Sunday, surely can't be considered 'typical or reflective' of what is 'normal'.
There isn't a business in the world that would operate on this basis and expect to remain in business.
I agree the first rule in management is 'if you can measure it, you can manage it' but this proposal is akin to using a 12-inch rule to measure the distance from Lands End to John o' Groats. In short, 'utterly ridiculous'.
Get serious about resuming alcohol sales at football matches.
Jim Todd
Cumbernauld