This is a robust response to ‘Believe in Scotland’s omission of the ALBA party from the march and rally. It amounts to censorship by blackmail of the three-person Green party, and compliance by the marcher’s organisers. Supporters will note that the above event has been advertised and that no speaker from Alba Party will be present.
The organisation claimed that the Alba Party were asked to participate – in the knowledge according to them that if Alba Party did participate then the Scottish Greens would refuse to participate as they have a conference resolution mandate not to share a platform with the pro-independence Alba Party – and that as Alba Party, they claim, did not respond they then invited the Scottish Greens.
The claims from Believe in Scotland are inaccurate and misleading.
On 7th February Alba received an invitation via text message from Mr Gordon Macintyre Kemp to address the rally. On 14th February our Alba Party Chair spoke with Mr Macintyre Kemp for close to 30 minutes on a variety of issues.
During this call the Party Chair was advised that that Believe in Scotland would dictate the speakers they would accept from Alba Party (and every other party apparently) and that they would only accept as speakers either the Party Chair Tasmina Ahmed Sheikh or our Depute leader Kenny MacAskill MP.
Alba of course would have no issue with either representing the Party but the Chair was clear she would need to advise our NEC as we do not support a premise that means we do not get to choose ourselves who speaks on behalf of our Party. Believe in Scotland were advised that they would receive a response to the invitation after the next full meeting of the NEC.
On 6th April Alba’s NEC agreed the Party would be happy to attend the event and that Kenny MacAskill would be the speaker on behalf of the Party. On 8th April it was confirmed to Gordon Macintyre Kemp that Alba Party Depute leader Kenny MacAskill MP would represent the Party at the rally.
On 10th April we received an email back from Gordon Macintyre Kemp to say we were “too late”. As seen from social media postings by Believe in Scotland they have stated that Alba Party cannot now be present at the rally as this is a condition of the Scottish Green Party’s involvement.
Alba Party believe that all supporters of independence should come together to advance the cause of Scottish independence. We condemn in the strongest terms the exclusionary behaviour of the Scottish Green Party and express our disappointment in the Believe in Scotland organisation that it has allowed the Scottish Green Party to dictate to it which organisations and political parties they deem acceptable whilst simultaneously Believe in Scotland wish to have the power of veto over which speakers they will accept.
Recently Lorna Slater, Co leader of the Scottish Green Party, has stated that for the Scottish Greens “independence is not a red line” as the Greens open the door to the prospects of the Scottish Green Party propping up the Labour Party after the next Scottish Parliament elections to return a unionist Scottish Government that the Greens would happily be a part of. It is therefore bizarre that Believe in Scotland would not allow a pro-independence party to be part of its rally simply to appease the Scottish Greens.
Alba have held over 100 pro independence meetings across Scotland in the past eighteen months. To our knowledge the Greens haven’t held a single meeting to promote the cause of Scottish independence.
Alba speakers will be attending the All Under one Banner rally and the Hope Over Fear rally.
Alba Party will be happy to provide speakers to any event that authentically aims to bring the grass roots of the independence movement together to ensure that the dream of independence shall never die.
****************************************************
Grouse Beater 
What a shower of duplicitous TURDS GMK and his WEE PADDY party are , but TBQH did we expect anything else from an organisation that were so firmly attached to sturgeon’s derrier, one thing that does disappoint me is that as a 73 year old, Pensioners For Independence cannot see the duplicity inherent in gmk’s moves , the current moves and the previous march, and either distance their organisation from BIS or insist that kemp tells Paddy he might operate the snp like a puppeteer , but Scots pensioners will NOT be dictated to
I have my own gripes with ALBA and their about turn on the GRR and HCA but the Greens DICTATING policy on who can speak at marches defies logic , at least ALBA spokespersons can speak unlike green ministers who FAIL at everything they touch and it cost Scots voters millions
All quite depressing this.
As his organisation is a mouthpiece for the SNP – a party which itself is in thrall to the ‘Scottish’ Greens – it is no surprise that GM-K has chosen to exclude anyone who does not conform to the ‘thinking’ of those two political parties comprising the current Scottish Government.
I have looked at the comments of GM-K when advertising the April 20 event.
Where they should be assertive they are acquiescent.
Where they might inspire they are insipid.
Where they could be brave and bold they are bland and banal.
Believe in Scotland to host Festival of Independence | The National (archive.is)
It appears that disingenuous and dishonest may be added to the list of adjectives used to describe that organisation.
this confirms my suspicions that ‘“Believe” in Scotland” doesn’t represent or support every independence supporter in Scotland. Excluding one player because another doesn’t like them is childish, exclusive, and against the idea of ‘working together.’
We might say that the faux (i.e. ‘civic’) nationalist SNP, Green and BiS combo comprises Fanon’s ‘legal tendency’ element of the now ruptured independence movement. This legal tendency primarily ‘depends on slogans’ (‘Tory Free Scotland’ etc) and for the most part ‘leaves future events to chance’.
If they ever manage to liberate the people it would be as much a shock to them as to the rest of us, or to the oppressor power on whom they depend for their power and privileges, and who they shift ever closer towards.
Meanwhile the supposed ‘radicals’ or ‘illegal tendency’ proposing innovative and more rapid routes to liberation are excluded from positions of power in the colonial set-up, are disowned, ridiculed, and persecuted.
Here we are reminded that an ‘independence movement depends on the solidarity of the oppressed ethnic group’ (Hechter), and rather less on the more pampered and culturally assimilated bourgeoisie that make up the ‘legal tendency’.
This is a disgraceful and unbelievable exclusion. One thing though , why did it take Alba from mid February till 6th April to confirm a suitable speaker ?
Paucity of competent speakers, most seconded to other projects.
It looks as if they are all at it , the greens dont support Scottish independence but are not against it either they are just opportunists taking advantage of a way to get into the Scottish government by teaming up with the SNP.
At present SNP have 64 seats the rest amount to 65 , without the greens 8 the SNP would find the greens supporting the 57 that consists of Con 31 Lab 22 LIbDem 4 , if you add the greens 8 to the britnat 57 its 65 there you have the simple explanation as to why the greens hold power to exclude ALBA.I think all Scottish independence supporters think it should be the other way around they think it should be ALBA teaming up with SNP not the greens but for that to happen ALBA need to get some seats , all 8 green seats are LIST seats although one of them decided to give up her seat to be presiding officer.Come on ALBA get the finger out get some seats and then you can coerce SNP into teaming up with you and do what the greens have done to you.
Terence, where have you been the past few years! ALBA offered to work with the SNP at the last Holyrood election in a proposal that all indy supporters should vote SNP 1 and ALBA 2. The plan was to return a ‘supermajority’ for independence at Holyrood, reducing the colonial parties to a small rump, and providing a mandate to ‘negotiate independence’ there and then. The SNP refused the offer, preferring to waste the pro-indy List vote and instead hand the List seats to colonial parties.
As most of you know my priorities for standing in the General Election changed recently and I went south of the Border, after a great deal of thought, to promote the injustices in Gaza and fight against the genocidal activities of the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people who also have a right to freedom from colonnial occupation.
The Palestinians are enduring unbelievable hardships including starvation and insecurity on a scale not known anywhere else on the planet. Yet despite this they are largely united and are pulling together; unity in adversity if you will.
Looking at the state of Scotland over independence marches, rallies and conferences I despair at the infighting, disunity and those who’d rather promote their own agendas than independence.
Freedoms and liberties are not won through back-biting and back-stabbing. Westminster must be laughing their socks off as all of us by now. Having sewn the seeds of discontent it is now clear there are those in Scotland who are watering this weed-filled bogland of despair with their own bile.
Unity is and always will be key which is why Westminster delights in such infighting. As long as we fight each other London has no further need to interfere. We’re doing the job here for them.
And it’s no use turning on the messenger. Only good friends will dare tell you the truth … and no doubt suffer the consequences. The dog-eat-dog, bullying attitude supports nothing but a malignant and malicious culture which will destroy Scotland’s indy ambitions.
If we can’t agree on something as simple as a speaker’s list in which no one group is left behind, then we may as well give up on our dreams right now.
Only a united people can bring about change and that is not down to any one individual. Even top goal scorers rely on teamwork. The time for some humility and a slice of humble pie is long overdue.
It saddens me to say this, but unless you hold on tight to the dream so articulately expressed through Alba policies, I wonder what will be left.
Welcome to the Essay and analysis site, Yvonne.
A lot of what you say holds truth, the virus symptoms being the long lapse of time since 2014 that has caused so much frustration, and the knowledge the SNP were gifted at least four watertight mandates that they did not use to secure Scotland’s liberty. That has brought a lot of contempt on their heads. We have angry individuals thinking one-person parties – an indie for indie – is the answer.
The intrusion of the acutely divisive GRR Bill conceived for the few, alienating the many, and now the Hate Crime Bill, has seen stalwarts think isolation is a good thing to combat iffy parties by staking out their own patch, together with the egocentric looking for 15-minutes of fame building their wee castle in the sand.
Concentration will revert again to common ground, support for indie has not lessened. It remains above 50%, much to the chagrin of our tormentors and oppressors.
This truly saddens me to see all the suppose independent parties fighting amongst each other like school bairns . Divide and conquer, is this what Westminster does and are currently doing? I wouldn’t like to advocate any violence but I feel I could skelp you silly everyone of you for this totally childish behaviour. You have all forgotten what is important, INDEPENDENCE first and fore most, everything else can be dealt with after we get independence.