Editorial - Waiting for Westminster
One of the abiding memories of the run-up to the 1979 referendum on devolution was the widely felt sense of boredom induced by constant trawling over the scheme's detailed provisions by both proposers and opponents alike. By the time the referendum took place the package on offer appeared so mauled and unattractive that public inertia affected the turnout to a degree that became disastrous.
Much the same climate has been precipitated by Labour's plan to hold another referendum, should it gain office; and all the evidence suggests that confusion and obfuscation of the issues are indeed their purpose. To Tories and to Labour's own troublemakers-- the referendum proposal is a godsend and both factions are already working busily to ensure a repeat of the 79 demolition job.
For those of us who seek independence, by whatever route, it is important that we rise above the temptation to become involved in the minutiae of the devolution debate so that we can continue to present to the people of Scotland a clear and unclouded vision of the epoch-making changes that the achievement of independence would bestow on all of us. We have already made an incontrovertible economic case for independence and we have set out our detailed proposals in all the major areas of national policymaking. Our policies all lie within the democratic parameters which distinguish the Scottish concern, for economic revival tempered by social justice, from the deil-tak-the-hindmost policies of Tory England and New Labour. And yet we need to do much more. It is time to invoke the sense of national mission that must precede and underpin the momentous events that will inevitably follow our achievement of independence and our reappearance on the international scene as an ancient nation with modern and crusading ideals. The galvanising effect of our new status on our own people needs almost visionary gifts to perceive; but the mere fact that we are taking charge of our own destiny will restore a sense of national identity and purpose that we have never known in our own generation. Many of the social ills of Scottish society already widely recognised in international circles, would themselves become susceptible to amelioration by a renewed and shared sense of national mission. Under both Tory and Labour Unionism, in national and local government, we have the highest rates of heart disease, poor housing and general ill-health of all the countries of Europe. We have the worst levels of teenage drunkenness, illegal drug-taking and suicide in Britain. The rate of emigration of our brightest and best has no parallel in Europe outside Turkey. Can any sane person really pretend that none of this has got anything to do with our dismal and debilitating political position as the poor relation of our dominating English neighbours? And can anyone any longer have anything other than the greatest contempt for those of our own people who seek so strenuously to maintain us in this pitiable state of thralldom?
The ability of a Scottish government to address Scottish problems will act as a catalyst in improving every aspect of our lives in a way that no Unionists, with their foreshortened perspectives, could ever envisage. The wonderfully exciting prospects that independence would bring on the home front would also be mirrored in our international relationships. Transformed from being a deprived region of a degenerate and unpopular Britain a free Scotland would soar into its new orbit with all the elan and panache for which individual Scots abroad have long been famed and respected. We cannot afford to wait for Westminster.
Searching Questions ? - James Halliday
Whatever strength the independence cause may now enjoy has been built up by long campaigns of argument and persuasion. Everyone who has been involved has had to have remarkable determination and patience, as the ignorant have had to be informed, the fearful have had to be reassured, the hostile have had to be debated into conversion or sullen silence. At every point of contact with the general population we have had to carry our case forward by asking for their questions and, by our answers, winning the confidence and support of a great and growing number.
As any teacher will tell you, the most difficult question to answer is the one you never dreamt anyone would be stupid enough to ask. You prepare yourself with studies in the details of economic and social theories, with statistics about public problems and issues of popular concern; you bring yourself up to date with current controversies which are likely to be uppermost in people's minds, and then you step on to the platform or set off round thc doors. You may get some searching questions More likely you will get something pretty basic, because most people are only beginning to weight up the merits of your case, and know much less about it than you do. Often you will get the old "Can wc afford it?'', ''Are we not too wee/poor/stupid weak''', or the even older "What is your religion?''.
My own prize. for the most amazing question ever encountered, goes to thc university professor who asked (not in jest or as a leg-pull, but red with anger. quivering with emotion, Churchillian in pose hands behind back, feet firmly planted, jaw thrusting at the enemy -- me): ''How does your Party propose to defend the North Sea oil wells against the Chinese?''
What we often forget is that questions are being asked about us and our aims even when we are not there to answer them. We may never know just what kind of damage ing legends are passing around groups of people, who know little about us but have arrived at an opinion about us none the less. To make such people better informed we have had to rely upon the Press.
For long years this was a forlorn hope, as the Press paid no attention to us, carried no reports, made no contacts and really gave us not a thought. A deputation which we sent to meet the BBC officials in Scotland, seeking to persuade them that we should have a five-minute party broadcast at General Elections, was told by a testy and puzzled Controller that if he gave us this privilege he would then have to give it to the Communists. On being asked ''Why not?'' he seemed even more puzzled.
Things are much better now, with some of the brightest and best of Scotland's journalists examining and discussing our policies and prospects. They are often slow on the uptake, and the ablest of them are vague Home Rulers and hostile to our Party, but at least they are putting points which give our arguments a wider circulation.
Two such writers, in today's Sunday columns, take up the point that the ignorant insularity of London's political elite is a dangerous obstacle to our hopes of success. We have known this since forever, but it helps to have it pointed out. We can but hope that readers of these columns will be angered by such exposure. Better still it would be if the columnists themselves became outraged by reading what they themselves have written; and realise the gross folly and injustice of a system which places the fate of our community and our very identity at the mercy of those ignorant and contemptuous cliques whose attitudes they condemn.
So, meetings and canvassing have their limitations in better explaining ourselves to our fellow citizens. The Media are still not as knowledgeable or as sound in judgment as we would hope. Where else can people meet our proposals and our arguments.
One source of information which most political movements have employed has been strangely ignored by us--the memoirs of our leading figures. From the high positions of the Party, only Billy Wolfe has put his thoughts and experiences in writing. He did so at a time when the Party's interests were served by giving it a kind of personalised approach to the problem. That was a long time ago. Donald Stewart's memoirs, if he had been spared to write them in retirement, would have made interesting reading, but we did not have the luck to have him linger with us. Robert Mclntyre could a tale unfold. but he has always been too actively involved in actual events to do the leisurelv thing. Arthur Donaldson, good responsible student of affairs that he was, passed his records into professional keeping, but again was too busy in the cause to write his own history.
Let's hope others will tell their own stories in due course, because only these personal insights can bring the full explanation of what we are about into the light. There are snags of course. If a memoir is untruthful it is worse than useless. On the other hand, truth can hurt. and sometimes hurt the innocent-- families, for instance, or even the Party in general if frankness gives enemies the chance to make trouble. Still, we must consider the need to put our own knowledge on the record somehow, because those outside don't know the half of it.
Grass-Roots Culture Drowning in a Sea of Pap - Colin Campbell
Recent developments in British broadcasting have thrown into stark relief the dichotomy between the natural tendency for exciting art and culture to rise up from its ethnic roots. and the deadening effect of any form of patronage that imposes cultural norms of its own for political or other ideological reasons.
In the first instance we have such international events as the Edinburgh Festival and its wee sister. the Aberdeen International Youth Festival. where creativity and ethnicity work together to produce often memorable, and always exciting results. From within Scotland there are such traditional activities as local and national Gaelic mods and music festivals, Shetland's Up Helly A, and the Border's Riding of the Marches. On a more regular basis traditional and innovative ceilidh dance bands, accordion and fiddle clubs and pipe bands all reflect grass roots musical culture that is still a source of inspiration for Scots throughout the land and yet is of international cultural significance. From outwith Scotland there is also the growing influence of other forms of Celtic culture and art including an increasing cross- over between the music of European celtic traditions and their cousins in North America and elsewhere. In all these manifesta- tions of cultural fertility the movement starts from the roots and blossoms upwards and outwards.
Running in parallel with this uplifting scene is a completely different form of cultural spread whose recent past was informed by the cinema and whose main patrons to-day are the broadcasters of television and radio. In the UK the biggest patron. the BBC, pays no more than lip-service to Britain's ethnic cultures and in its recent reorganisation, from the World Service downwards, the emphasis is on purveying to a captive audience a general blandness characterised by cultural levelling rather than cultural diversity. A fitting illustration of such pap is the Eurovision Song Contest. That BBC Scotland is merely a devolved agent of its London HQ is evidenced in many ways. On TV programmes emanating from London, including main news bulletins, a Scottish tag 'BBC Scotland', is attached even though the only Scottish thing about them is that they have been relayed by Queen Margaret Drive's transmitters! On Radio Scotland the taking over of local stations throughout the land, and manning them with imposed presenters from elsewhere has obscured much local endeavour. The irony of Tom Morton's much publicised run-in with BBC 1 's Chris Evans, over the latter's invasion of his Inverness pitch, is not lost on those of us who remember his own displacing of such soft-spoken Highland ambassadors as Rory MacLeod and others from that area. Both Morton and Evans dispense a similar brand of ephemera that could as fittingly be broadcast from Manchester, Merseyside or Middle Wallop. Its relationship to Scotland is as appropriate as a honky tonk juke-box among the pan-pipes of the Chilean Andes.
Apart from Radio nan Gaidheal only Robbie Shepherd's programmes and a handful of others, give a glimpse of the cultural richness of the territory which BBC Scotland dominates. Meantime we are swamped by pap stretching from the twee Sunday morning Greetings Programme (goodness knows the source of its fixation on passe American musicals) through Original Masters, The Brand New Oprey, Be Bop to Hip Hop, to Jump the Queue. The fact that Scottish listeners can get similar music from any number of other stations makes BBC Scotland's cavalier treatment of our own cultures doubly offensive. But that's politics.
No-Ton(e) - Say UNISON - Ian Bayne
No (in case you're asking I still haven't recovered fron Cmrde Blair's great Devo betrayal --his referendum U-turn-- as featured in last month's column. Try as I might I am at a loss to see any conceivable merit in his proposed pre-legislative two-question referendum--unless the underlying intention is to scupper Labour's own Devo policy, and not to deliver it.
It has been an absolute gift to the Tories who have already launched their 'No-No' -- or, more subtely. 'No-Yes'--campaign with the assistance of Lord Younger. on loan from the Royal Bank, aided and abetted by Thatcherite columnist--Michael Fry. No wonder Michael Forsyth looks increasingly like the (Cheshire) cat who got the cream.
Thank God I'm not a Labour activist with a genuine commitment to a Scottish parliament-- like so many of our fellow-trade unionists. For them in particular, Blair's ill-conceived referendum must seem like a nightmare come true.
All credit. therefore, to Unison's Bob Thomson for raising the flag of Scottish resistance to the Fettes autocrat. His proposal, fully backed by his Union, to substitute Tone's two questions with one question, seeking support for the Constitutional Convention's proposals at least has the merit of simplicity.
True, it is not the multi-option referendum, correctly -- and logically--preferred by the SNP, but if eventually adopted, it could neatly undermine Cmrde Blair's Machiavellian anti-Devo strategy. I therefore nominate Bob Thomson--despite the fact that he is still a member of Labour's Scottish Executive, and indeed current party Treasurer--for the Scots Independent new 'Trade-Unionist-of-the-Month' award~ in his case an SNP membership application form!
The STUC`s Depute General Secretary, Bill Spiers--with the full approval of his boss, old uncle Campbell Christie -- also deserves some credit for daring to discuss the possible public spending benefits which might accrue to a Scots Parliament from its proposed tax-varying powers. He could of course have gone further, and speculated about the even greater benefits which might accrue to it if only it had direct access to a negotiated share of Scot land's off-shore oil taxation revenues. Perhaps there is the germ of an alternative second referendum question here -- which might even tempt the SNP to at least consider campaigning for a Yes vote.
At any rate I freely offer the idea to Campbell and Bill. Run with it, lads--and, who knows, you might some day score a real try for Scotland.
General Election Clock has Started Ticking - Michael Russell
Michael Russell is Chief Executive of the SNP, and in that capacity has been appointed by the NEC as the General Election Campaign Director. A former senior office bearer of the Party, he is also a television producer and director. We have invited him to write a regular column in the run-up to the General Election.
The moment that the results are declared at one General Election, the clock starts ticking for the next, but the difficult task for political parties is to learn from, and build on, the lessons of each Election so that the next time the result is better. If they fail to do so, they become like British Generals, who are reputed to fight each new war with the methods and techniques of the last!
The 1992 General Election for the SNP was in some ways a remarkable success story. Our vote rose by 50% and the political decline from 1979 to 1987 was more than reversed. At the end of the second week of the three week campaign we were scoring almost 30% in the opinion polls and there is no doubt that our message and presentation impressed many voters who had previously ignored us.
But in the last seven days of the campaign (and for me this is more than received wisdom, for I was there each day in HQ) we were mercilessly squeezed and ruthlessly attacked. We were not financially, organisationally or politically strong enough to resist that pressure and our final result was much lower than our potential support.
Admittedly one positive outcome was that for the first time in twenty years we established the independence option as being a legitimate and serious contender. That achievement has paid dividends in the last four years, with support for the SNP now consistently above 20%, and support for independence much higher than in the 1970s. But many of those who supported us (as well as all our candidates) were bitterly--though fortunately only temporarily--disappointed to come out of the Election with only three seats, whilst the Liberal Democrats got three times that number with about half our votes.
Let me, therefore at the start of this regular series of columns, declare my intention as General Election Campaign Director. We must win seats, as well as votes. And much of the SNP's activities over the past two years have been devoted to that purpose.
Successful politics is the achievement of the perfect balance between political message and organisational strength.
Our political message is stronger than ever. Labour cannot be trusted on the constitution, on social and economic issues, and particularly on the issues that concern mainstream Scotland. The Tories are an anti-Scottish, destructive party that has no relevant message for Scottish voters. The Lib Dems have tied themselves to Labour's apron strings but are still completely irrelevant.
Coupled with our political strength, our organisational strength becomes more and more impressive by the day. We have invested heavily in new electoral software, in telephone canvassing and in organisational resources. We have doubled the staffing base of the party at HQ, and provided a solid core of expertise which blends experience with enthusiasm and which has proved that it can support and enhance any campaign.
Since 1992 we have proved that we can win at European, Parliamentary and Local Authority level and with Labour's retreats on the constitution and on social and economic issues we have a perfect political platform to project our distinct--and now very detailed--policy agenda, and to support it with proven and successful electoral techniques.
Sometimes in the SNP we forget how far we have come already. That is one the perils of being an endlessly ambitious party, and one which attracts many young people for whom the 60s and 70s are ancient history. But we should not forget that it is only in the last twenty five or so years that we have contested every seat in Scotland. And it is only in the last five years that we have been able to develop our infrastructure to the extent that we can compete on a reasonably level playing field with the other parties. They may outspend us still, but they won't outwork us!
National Conference in Inverness marks the launch of the final stage of the General Election campaign that started on that April night in 1992 when so many hopes were dashed. The SNP has learnt from that experience and with a strong policy platform, with a well developed and aggressively promoted political message and with a solid and strong organisational underpinning we can achieve those things which were outwith our grasp only a few years ago.
There is only one ingredient that is still in the balance. That is the will and determination of the whole Party to work as never before so that the message of the SNP can be heard in every home, in every town and village in Scotland.
But anyone who knows this Party well realises that when occasion demands we can out-work and out-perform any who set themselves against our ancient claim and our modern rights.
That ability to work and to deliver will make the next General Election something which we will all remember --with affection and pride rather than with rueful disappointment.
And it can't come soon enough!
Election Selection - Dr Gordon Wilson
For the past two years former SNP leader Dr Gordon Wilson has been the Convener of the Election Committee which vets and trains Parliamentary candidates. Here he explains what his committee has done and how a candidate finally makes it through to the election.
Some people want to become candidates and can't. Others don't at first want to, but eventually find themselves fighting elections. And in the middle of all this sits the Election Committee, appointed by the NEC each year to vet and train Parliamentary candidates.
Building a list of candidates from which CAs can select is a long process. Firstly individuals have to apply to be interviewed by the election committee. Then, after interview the committee recommends to the NEC the names of those who are regarded as being suitable for inclusion in the list, or suggests to individuals that they have further work to do before they can be recommended for approval. On occasion, by candidates request, the inclusion on the list will be for consideration by certain seats only.
Whilst we always try to keep the number of outright refusals to a minimum there are, of course, some would be candidates who simply won't make the grade and would be better advised to find another role in the Party: organisers, agents and campaign workers are often harder to find than candidates and can be much more useful!
After approval there are mandatory training and briefing sessions to attend, with additional training provided for candidates who need to acquire particular skills or areas of policy knowledge.
The list of approved can- didates is circulated widely in the Party and individual CAs are free to approach any or all of those listed whilst considering a short leet for a selection meeting. Candidates are also free to approach CAs they are interested in.
Contested selections are the healthy norm in the SNP and with a clear set of procedures and the involvement of NEC members in chairing selection meetings, contests are productive and beneficial. The SNP also insists on a clear indication of a willingness for all those involved in a CA to work in support of the candidate finally selected and that vote sets the seal on the candidate's approval by the NEC and the start of a campaign.
In addition to its normal work, the Election Committee also has a role to play in assessing the overall profile of the Party~s candidates and recommending to the NEC actions to encourage individuals to come forward. Like all political parties, far more men than women apply directly for inclusion on the list and the SNP has a strong commitment to ensure a better and fairer proportion of women candidates. The aim of a properly balanced real and independent Scottish Parliament remains a priority.
The next General Election will see the SNP field its strongest ever selection of candidates. The process they have gone through has been rigorous but helpful and fruitful. Candidate training and support goes on until election day, but the Election committee can reduce its core activities for a while -- although we shall be checking up at random on what candidates are doing and responding to requests for help and advice. And then, after the Election, the whole process starts again!
Airgead is Stampaichean - Alasdair MacCaluim
Tha samhlaidheand de nàisean mar bhrataichean, stampaichean, airgead agus suaicheantais mar dhràgon na Cuimrigh air leth cudromach gus an dà chuid nàiseantachd agus ́omhaigh nàiseanta. Am ḿos seo, bidh mi a' coimhead air dà shamhla nàiseanta nach eil cho Albannach 's a bu cḥir dhaibh a bhith: stampaicheall agus airgead.
Tha stampaichean air leth air a bhith againn o chionn 40 bliadhna. Anns na 50an, fhuair na h-Albannaich agus na Cuimrich lẹghannan agus dràgonan beaga air an stampaichean. Gu mi fhortanach, bha ceann bàn-righ Shasainn fhathast orra, ach 's e ceist eile a tha sin! Co-dhiù, anns na 70an, bha stŕ ann airson stampaichean air leth anns a' Cḥirn. Thuirt daoine aineolach Oifis a' Phuist nach fhiagheadh a' Cḥrn stampa a chionn 's nach b' e nàisean ach roinn Shasainn a bh' innte agus "nam faigheadh sibh stampa bhiodh Sussex an Iar ag iarraidh tè cuideachd" 7c. Abair sgudal!
Co-dhiù, ged a fhuair Alba stampaichean an sin, tha stampaichean Albannach a' fàs nas gainne gach bliadhna. Tha stampaichean a-nis rim faotainn anns na buitean, garaisdean, innealan agus ann an iomadh àite eile ach 's ann ann an leabhranan a tha iad air an reic an-diugh. Chan fhaigh sibh ach na stampaichean Sasannach àbhaisteach anns na leabhranan sin. Ma tha thu ag iarraidh stampaichean Albannach, feumaidh tu a dhol gu Oifisean a' Phuist, ach fiu 's an sin, bidh thu a' faighinn stampaichean Sasannach a-mach à leabhranan gu tric. Tha mi cinnteach gum biodh e furasda gu lẹr na stampaichean Albannach a reic anns an aon ḍigh. Bidh Oifis a' Phuist a' dèiligeadh ri na muillean de litrichean gach latha a tha dol air feadh an t-saoghail. Bu cḥir fhios a bhith aca ciamar a chuireadh iad leabhranan stampaichean Albannach gu duthaich a tha cho ṃr ri Alba!
Tha na h-Albannaich gu math nàiseantach a thaobh an airgid aca mar a tha follaiseach gach turas a tha amadan a choireigin a' gearran anns an Daily Record nach bidh buitean Sasannach a' gabhail notaichean Albannach. Co-dhiù, ged a tha sinn pṛiseil m' ar n- airgead chan eil e cho Albannach ri sin air sgàth's nach eil ea&on aon fhacal Gàidhlig air. Tha an suidheachadh gu math eadar-dhealaichte ann an Eirinn. Air ṇta cóig notaichean ch́ sibh "Cúig Phunt, Banca Ceannais na hEireann" sgr;obhte mar eisimpleir. Tha "Ellan Van- nin" sgŕobhte air airgead Manannach cuideachd. Chan eil leisgeul sam bith airson dith na Gàidblig seo air na notaichean againn. 'S e inbhe oifigeal freagairt na ceist seo; nam biodh achd làidir pharlamaid ann airson na Gàidhlig, bhiodh aig na bancaichean ris a' Ghàidhlig a chur air na notaichean. Gus am faigh sinn inbhe oifigeal, carson nach sgriobh sibh do na bancaichean mu dheidhinn.
Tha rud beag Cuimris air na buinn nota "Chuimrich": "pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad". Carson nach eil a' Ghàidhlig air na buinn nota "Albannach"?
Ma tha sibh airson litir a sgriobhadh, seo na sẹlaidhean:
Stiùiriche, Banca na h- Alba, The Mound, Dun Eideann.
Stiuiriche, Banca Rioghail na h-Alba, 42 Cearnog Naomh Anndra, Dun Eideann EH2 2AD.
Stiuiriche, Banca Dail Chluaidh, 30 Ionad Naomh Bhincent, Glaschu G1.
Airson Oifis a' Phuist, sgriobhaidh POST- SAOR gu "Royal Mail Customer Care Unit" no "Customer Service Centre" ionadal.
Gheibh sibh na sẹlaidhean aca bho leabhar na f̣na.
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