An independence supporter's view of the SNP's 'bourach'

It’s a hell of a time to be hoping for Scottish independence, eh?

On the one hand, there are reasons to be cheerful.

Polls consistently show very widespread and solid support for Scotland taking a fresh start as a new state.

Millions of Scots want that outcome, and want it soon.

That’s no bad place to be.

But on the other hand, there’s the last few months of the SNP.

And what a bourach that has been at times.

The writer Alistair Heather next to a quote: "Despite the bourach of these last few months, independence is still within our grasp."

I vote for and support the SNP, but first and foremost I am an advocate and activist for Scotland’s independence.

And many people are worried that the SNP’s current travails threaten to derail the indy train.

While the SNP are not the only party supporting independence, they are the biggest by far. And they remain the main vehicle for us to get a referendum.

So if the wheels on that vehicle look like they’re wobbling, then it’s a concern for all indy supporters.

SNP troubles have not been a good look for independence supporters

There’s a lot of reasons that folk might be dispirited with the incumbent party.

Many found the brouhaha around the leadership election demoralising.

Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf at a SNP leadership hustings — The leadership contest between Kate Forbes, Ash Regan and Humza Yousaf was a bruising affair at times. Image: Paul Campbell/PA Wire.

Certainly there was a very heavy clunk when Nicola Sturgeon dropped her resignation on us.

It was unfair to members and candidates that we were bombed into a leadership contest with little or no warning.

The candidates were only given a month to campaign.

And now this week – just days after Humza Yousaf took over the First Minister reins from Sturgeon – we’ve had the sight of police vans swarming the office and home of her husband, Peter Murrell, a top party official, as part of an investigation into SNP finances.

Nicola Sturgeon waving from window at Bute House, Edinburgh. — First Minister Nicola Sturgeon waves to onlookers after announcing she was standing down as First Minister after eight years. Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.

Police officers outside Nicola Sturgeon's home — Police outside the former First Minister’s home following the arrest of her husband Peter Murrell on Wednesday. Image: Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

Murrell was released without charge on Wednesday night.

But it is not a good look, all things considered.

Libraries vote is a bitter blow

For me, my biggest grump is on a local issue.

The SNP are the main power-holding group in Aberdeen City Council. I love the Granite City, and want to see it do well. But in this year’s budget the council is shutting six libraries.

For me that’s on a par with shutting primary schools or hospitals.

Campaigner holding a placard which reads 'Libraries save lives'. — Libraries campaigners outside Aberdeen Town House. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

I grew up in a council house in the Angus village of Newbigging.

I did not suffer educational poverty because the local school was pretty good.

And I didn’t suffer health poverty because we had regular enough visits from NHS staff to the school, and Ninewells was just a short frenzied drive away whenever I broke something.

Nor did I suffer poverty of the imagination because a mobile library, crammed full of all sorts of books, would lurch its way round the country roads to the village every week or two, and we’d access whatever on earth we wanted to read.

The big libraries in Monifieth and Carnoustie widened my horizons further.

And when I did end up on the dole, it was on the library computers that I searched for work.

There is something uniquely cold and shrivelling about closing down libraries.

Closing libraries is a retrograde step – in Scotland, a country so proud of its education and literature – we should be opening them!

A poem by Dylan Thomas: pic.twitter.com/f7zdV8MH14

— Kathleen Jamie (@KathleenJamie) March 29, 2023

Libraries were my social safety net.

So to see a SNP-led council cutting libraries – whatever the arguments about Holyrood borrowing powers and council tax rises – goes against everything I want Scotland to be after independence.

Independence support is high, despite SNP woes

But there are reasons to be cheerful for the millions of us still tethered to getting Scotland independent.

Humza Yousaf had, at least by the conclusion of the leadership contest, emerged as a confident and able leader. And I’m pretty sure he’ll do a grand job.

Humza Yousaf with his family following the leadership election. — Humza Yousaf with his family following his election as SNP leader. Image: Andrew Milligan/PA.

Less high-profile, yet very important in my book, is the emergence of Dundee and Angus man Stephen Flynn and his deputy Mhairi Black as Westminster leaders.

The pair are bursting with energy, ideas and passion, and I think over the coming months that these will bear fruit.

The SNP showed just how broad a kirk it was in the leadership election. The congregation have had their say, elected their new leader, and with him a new generation of talent.

Independence support is high. Particularly it is high among the very many of us under-65.

This is a generational shift that must find political expression.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn.

And in spite of these recent hassles, SNP support too seems steady, with the party on track to win both a Scottish and a UK election.

We have reenergised, youthful leaders in Edinburgh and London, up against Tory and Labour pro-Brexit parties who offer Scotland nothing.

Humza Yousaf sent an email round yesterday that ended “today has obviously been a difficult day for the party, but … [the] opportunity is now there for us to complete Scotland’s journey to independence – so let’s roll up our sleeves and get on with it.”

Despite the bourach of these last few months, independence is still within our grasp.

Let’s hope we are offered the chance to seize it.