Cancel Culture SNP Style

The root of Scotland’s malady, a nationalist party that is colonial minded

Columnist Kevin McKenna here catching the mood of the public over SNP’s deliberate prevariction delaying Scotland’s freedom from grotesque, looting English rule. I get the impression people are tired of the SNP’s claim to be the only party of independence – their sole reason for existing – when the reality is they do not see it as a priority, and each year brings a greater Tory grip on this nation’s progress.

Aggressive Tories are so cocky, they have stood role of Scottish Secretary on its head. Once upon a time it was esablished to convey Scotland’s needs to the King in London on this or that matter, but now the post is used openly to tell Scots we are simpletons captive forever and we had better eat our oats and be thankful for them.

A ‘clown show of a political party’ says McKenna, ignoring the malignant elements that have encouraged division and delayed independence to the point support fragmented into groups, like once fast ice broken into pieces and melting away.

THE ROT

By Kevin McKenna

The wider Yes movement should be celebrating Joanna Cherry’s victory over The Stand Comedy Club in her fight to be heard. This goes beyond issues around free speech and the cancel culture which has begun to settle – like a blight – upon civic Scotland. Quite simply, the Scottish public need to be reminded that there still exist within the SNP eloquent and grown-up politicians who aren’t in thrall to a mob of misogynists.

Let’s be honest with each other here: The Stand Comedy Club’s decision to cancel Ms Cherry’s Edinburgh Festival gig wasn’t really over concerns some of their staff harboured about what she might say during her appearance on stage.

The Edinburgh South West MP is due to appear with other politicians to discuss a wide range of topics which may or may not include a discussion about gender reform. These reactionaries simply didn’t like the thought of her physical presence at The Stand.

As such, it was a clear and unambiguous breach of her human rights not to suffer discrimination for her reasonable and sincerely-held political and cultural beliefs. As soon as Ms Cherry gave notice of her intention to begin court action against the comedy club in defence of those rights there could only be one winner. That silence of many SNP activists and Ms Cherry’s elected party colleagues in the face of this attack on her protected rights has been as depressing and absurd as The Stand’s original position. Equally so that of some commentators and academics (the term here is applied in its loosest sense).

In a variety of inchoate responses some had argued that Joanna Cherry hadn’t been cancelled at all as she’d used assorted media outlets to defend her position. It’s troubling that some scions of the political elite believe that the existence of a free and independent press somehow permits establishments and institutions to ignore the law. “M’lud, my client pleads not guilty on the basis that a newspaper stood in at the last minute to repair the breach.”

The silence of the SNP’s supine and cowed professional wing ought not to have come as a surprise to those of us who have watched a mutation of this party unfold in the Nicola Sturgeon era. The Stand’s absurd attempt to cancel Joanna Cherry encapsulated the culture that has been permitted to fester inside Scotland’s party of government.

The refusal of those SNP cowards to speak in defence of their colleague has also encouraged a sinister coterie to threaten violence against Ms Cherry. One of them posted the following tweet: “Remember when Salman Rushdie got stabbed got stabbed in the neck. Crazy what can happen on stage these days.”

It had echoes of the violent sexual threats made to Ms Cherry two years ago which resulted in a conviction. Then, too the silence of many of Ms Cherry’s colleagues provided a glimpse of this party’s dark heart. The SNP came to power on waves of optimism that it could liberate the business of democratic engagement from the discredited Westminster model of old-boy politics. In the course of the last eight years though, it has become a secret society, turning in on itself and afflicted by paranoia and suspicion.

It’s now become clear that during this time the needs of the Scottish people were secondary to a desire to retain power and influence at any cost. The Scottish public are now being granted glimpses of the sewer running beneath Nicola Sturgeon’s ruinous reign. Her departure from the political stage as well as those senior lieutenants charged with enforcing her will has allowed a few individuals to reveal some truths about her regime.

Bruce Adamson, Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner, has emerged to accuse Ms Sturgeon of failing Scotland’s children during her nine-year reign as First Minister. He pointed to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which had “a disproportionate impact on those who were already most at risk”. These included “children who were in poverty, disabled children, young carers”.

He cited the “year and a half of prevarication and delay” over the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as the most egregious manifestation of the SNP’s failures to improve the lives of poor and vulnerable young people. In 2021 Holyrood sought to incorporate the UN convention into Scots Law only to encounter a Supreme Court challenge from UK law officers arguing that this would erode Westminster’s ability to make laws for Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s failure to make the necessary amendments to their bill is in contrast to their urgent desire to take Westminster to court over its Section 35 order to block Holyrood’s gender reform legislation. A majority of Scottish people are opposed to the self-ID provisions of GRA, according to polling. And they’re overwhelmingly supportive of incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots law. It’s a graphic illustration of the SNP’s instincts to place its own whims above the needs and wishes of the people. They delude themselves into believing that this is ‘progressive’. You’ll see more progressiveness in the ranks of the Royal Company of Archers.

Elsewhere, we’ve seen a former SNP staffer emerge from his nine-year Omerta to accuse the SNP of wrecking the wider Yes movement during the 2014 referendum. Here and there, individuals are popping up to criticise the SNP regime.

Their revelations all chime with the many people in public life I’ve interviewed over the last few years. Almost all of them have expressed horror at self-ID in the gender bill. And then they reach forward and ask you to put away your notebook. “Please don’t quote me on that. They’ll come for me if you do.”

The Stand Comedy Club’s position merely reflected the culture of fear and silence which have long hollowed this clown-show of a political party. A place where originality and smart policy initiatives go to die, and especially if they are espoused by the wrong sort of people.

At Holyrood those, like Ash Regan, who pledged to reform this failed party have been frozen out and shunned by party colleagues. Like the rest of us, they’ve watched in stunned wonder at the gallery of inarticulate and unintelligent drones now occupying the most senior roles in government.

The SNP has betrayed the people of Scotland and we’re long past the stage when they could reasonably deemed fit to govern. A period in opposition is long overdue. It will allow time for the cause of independence to be redeemed.

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