tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post3254673414696602775..comments2024-01-18T10:54:54.459+00:00Comments on Iain Macwhirter Now and Then: Is this the end for Scottish Nationalism?iain macwhirterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14486911281896217461noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-58264539461926241842009-09-11T12:37:04.602+01:002009-09-11T12:37:04.602+01:00Specifically the Megrahi issue, I detect a lot of ...Specifically the Megrahi issue, I detect a lot of hot air aimed at short term party political ponts scoring which is unfortunate.<br /><br />Will someone please focus on the validity of the original court verdict. Scottish journalists have a duty there, I think.<br /><br />Did the CIA pull the wool over the Scottish Justice system in a desparate attempt to find a scapegoat for the bomb and discredit Libya? and is that why the US is currently keen for a line to be drawn under the matter?<br /><br />Of course Tony Brair did a deal in the dessert, not unreasonably, to bring the Libyans back into the international fold and benefit British trade and that is why Gordon Brown is quietly heaving sigh of relief that he did not have to make the decision to release Magrahi.<br /><br />Letting Magrahi go home was the right thing to do on humanitarian grounds, probably on justice grounds, and certainly on UK trade interest grounds. (Libya is by now firmly establishe back in the international fold, anyway).<br /><br />The only people who stand to loose from Megrahis' release are the Americans, as the truth may eventually come out as to their role in events surrounding the Lockerbie bombing and subsequent investigations and also in the fact that UK firms may pick up business in Libya that might well, otherwise, go to the US.<br /><br />Anybody who thinks there is a still a special relationship between the US and the UK probably still thinks there is a British Empire.<br /><br />The USA does what it thinks is good for the USA as number one.gusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-40468351396787435182009-09-11T07:44:34.048+01:002009-09-11T07:44:34.048+01:00"Remember, the SNP only gained power in Holyr..."Remember, the SNP only gained power in Holyrood by factoring out independence, and promising to govern within the constitutional terms of devolution. "<br /><br />Indeed, and that was a lie.<br /><br />Both LIT and SFT were unworkable within the existing legal framework.<br /><br />The Nats were either too stupid to work that out, or they knew and chose to lie.<br /><br />This cannot be emphasised enough.sm753https://www.blogger.com/profile/04474549226665639347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-6453364061211659372009-09-10T23:42:53.509+01:002009-09-10T23:42:53.509+01:00Well the only possible alternative is Labour, and ...Well the only possible alternative is Labour, and with Iain Gray in charge surely that's never going to happen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-61861416547539642682009-09-10T21:24:38.018+01:002009-09-10T21:24:38.018+01:00Iain
You hit the right notes on some things here,...Iain<br /><br />You hit the right notes on some things here, but your summation betrays your headline. I'll forgive you in the knowledge it had to look controversial to attract attention!<br /><br />On gut reactions to Megrahi, Diageo & Calman, it looks as though the SNP are taking the biggest hit. <br /><br />However, on Megrahi, colourful figures such as Mandela, Galloway, McLeish and even Tony Blair have come out in favour of MacAskill. Add to that suspicions over Brown's intentions, and the latest poll on the matter, and things look much better than is portrayed in the media.<br /><br />On Diageo, this was very much a joint approach - a cross-party 'Taskforce', and it seems Diageo, certainly amongst the Scottish public, are the ones being classed as the villains. Courting with the politicians and then sticking with their plan was always going to make them look strong in the finance world. I'd be surprised if their share price didn't increase as a result.<br /><br />On Calman, the SNP is certainly not disowning Calman, but it appears from Jim Murphy's recent meeting on Calman, that it could be tossed into the long grass by the co-founders themselves. And the compelling case for Federalism may well be compelling in Scotland, but 91% of the population in the rest of the UK would have to be compelled as well.<br /><br />So I don't think it's too bad for a minority Government in mid-term. The SNP will be hoping for the economic recovery to be well under way before they bring the Referendum to Parliament. And with Wendy Alexander still sitting in the opposition benches, they won't have far to look for ammunition.<br /><br />Yes, the SNP is not infallible, and might not always be perceived as morally reliable, but they have changed Scottish Politics forever. There may well be continuing cycles of support for nationalism, but I don't believe they will ever hit the lows of the past.<br /><br />Just take a look at the alternatives, and it doesn't take you long to realise that they have a really good chance of retaining power in 2011.Andrew BODhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11760729285415432266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-71059440364989506832009-09-10T19:40:45.405+01:002009-09-10T19:40:45.405+01:00Surprised that a journalist of your experience and...Surprised that a journalist of your experience and political acumen refer to last week's vote as a humiliating defeat. Given that the opposition parties would have voted against the government even if Megrahi had been retained in prison it should be regarded more as a predictable defeat and will be regarded by voters as nothing more than that. On top of that the indecision between Gray and Brown will not have been lost on the public.<br /><br />The "howls of derision" over the legislative programme, again, predictably, were from opposition parties and did anyone really expect anything else?<br /><br />It would appear that the referendum is deliberately being put before parliament precisely to let the opposition vote it down and the SNP will claim that the will of the people, the majority of whom want a referendum one way or the other, is being ignored.brownliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09690872114535168567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22403989.post-83807793759052105702009-09-10T19:02:43.125+01:002009-09-10T19:02:43.125+01:00Not bad. But you overstate the long-term significa...Not bad. But you overstate the long-term significance of the Megrahi issue. Try reading this:<br /><br />http://www.jonathanmitchell.info/2009/09/02/compassionate-release-in-scotland-the-actual-policy-and-the-law/<br /><br />The issue here is basically whether Unionists can sustain their campaigns of misdirection, bluster and diversion such that it is eventually assumed that they must have been correct. <br /><br />But the appropriateness and consistency of Macaskill's position suggests that time is on his side, in the medium-to-long term. <br /><br />In the meantime to ought to be pointed out just how opportunistic, cheap, and cowardly the Unionist attack on Macaskill really was.ratzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11051775372255780976noreply@blogger.com