WITH the dust settling on the demise of Humza Yousaf’s leadership of the party and government, the SNP need to move on. With an SNP minority government, the political landscape of Holyrood has fundamentally changed. The SNP cannot simply say “we did it successfully before, we can do it again.”
Why not? Because what we have is a belligerent opposition hell-bent on ensuring that the SNP as a party and political force need to be totally marginalised and whose independence aspirations are to be totally destroyed. The original idea in the early days of the devolved parliament – that no one party would have a majority, operating in a spirit of mutual cooperation and for the greater good – is now for the birds. No Unionist party today will work with any independence-seeking party.
READ MORE: John Swinney announces bid for SNP leadership
The SNP therefore must win a majority at every election (done once before) or have support from another party that clearly has independence as its key policy and wishes to enter into a genuine partnership.
The SNP leadership must embrace this reality and as a matter of urgency pursue independence as its KEY aim and relentlessly indicate to the people of Scotland that only through Scottish independence will the people of Scotland flourish.
Holyrood in its present structure will never deliver future prosperity while Union parties are beholden to their masters in London. The rank and file are constantly berating their SNP leaders for not putting independence front and centre in the Holyrood parliament. All other policies put before Holyrood by the SNP will now be scrutinised and only supported by an opposition in the Holyrood parliament when it suits them. Why pour your energies from now on into policy areas that are in the main bound to fail?
READ MORE: Kate Forbes's full statement as she rules herself out of SNP leadership race
Over the next two years, independence must be front and centre in all we do. Use the time now at Holyrood to make the case for independence – the SNP membership demand it.
Who should lead the SNP in driving this agenda forward? The election of a new leader is in the gift of the SNP membership, not a cabal of self-interested senior SNP politicians, who as we know have no problem expressing their personal views in public.
In relation to John Swinney, he would be the “safe pair of hands”, his pedigree is known to all but he is still the continuity candidate. I am afraid he would not see independence as key but the survival of an SNP in his image aided and abetted by his senior colleagues. Could he carry a minority government? Yes he could. Could he ensure independence was front and centre in his policies? I doubt it. He must offer Kate Forbes a senior Cabinet post, probably Finance and Business Secretary. Not doing this was a massive failure by Humza Yousaf. Such an agreement would of course be up to Kate Forbes.
We wait with bated breath.
Dan Wood
Kirriemuir
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