This is a very interesting and well written piece by Alex Bell in Rattle. He had been the Head of Policy for Alex Salmond for 3 years and his criticism is thus very revealing. He is quite clear that, on the economic arguments the SNP offer at the moment, their model of independence is broken and will not work. He describes the problems in some detail and it is clear that the numbers do indeed not add up. It is very surprising that this has had relatively little attention as it deserves more. It was posted at http://rattle.scot/snp-independence-is-dead-start-again-or-shut-up and had been reported in The Scotsman (http://www.scotsman.com/news/politi...rmer-snp-policy-chief-1-3949549#ixzz3rfqSv0v5) His last paragraph is worth reading even if you dont open the article :- "SNP Independence has become the cocaine of the politically active, fun to join in but dulling the senses, jabbering on at a hundred words per minute while disconnected from self awareness. It is for another generation to do the hard work of thinking through all the implications, and then deciding if independence is the right thing to do. By that point Britain will be different, Europe will be different and the world will have fundamentally changed. Perhaps there is no harm in all of this: some political misdirection; ultimately settling for a better deal than before; nobody shot in the process. But it serves neither devolved Scotland nor the people who wish for independence."
Well some journalists thought so and reported his piece as you note it was indeed reported in the Scotsman - Case for independence ‘dead’ - former SNP policy chief and the Herald - Former Salmond aide says economic case for independence "deluded" and the Daily Record - Alex Salmond's former policy chief Alex Bell says SNP case for independence is DEAD and the Express - SNP ‘deluded’ on independence says former party policy guru and STV - SNP case for independence 'broken beyond repair', ex-adviser claims Well Scottish republicans never put any faith in a SNP model which said "keep the Queen". That's not to say independence could not have been achieved on a royalist model and been workable to an extent - look at neighbouring Norway and Denmark - which seem to "work" - if you can call the shooting dead of Norwegian Labour youth in 2011 "working" - but no doubt Norwegian and Danish republicans are sceptical of their own royalists and how they fail the people. Republicans ought never to have had any faith in the SNP model not to get innocents shot or suffer disasters or economic slumps. Royalists trust the state to keep them safe and republicans trust only ourselves. "Clear" only to royalists for whom spending on the police state is spending on a "service" whereas for for Scottish republican socialists like me, spending on the royalist police state is, at least in part, spending on a disservice, not a "service". Slashing spending on the police state, for Bell, is "cutting services". Whereas for a republican socialist like me, slashing spending on the police state would be saving public money by cutting out on the wasteful, inefficient, counter-productive, fraudulent, corrupt, thieving, harmful-to-the-public-interest and economy-wrecking police state. No there have been hundreds of comments in the Scotsman and Herald. OK well let's debate it here then. I tried debating it in the Herald comments section but my comment was deleted without explanation and when I reposted it, the moderator suspended my commenting-membership! Here's my attempted comment to see if anyone here can read it without becoming apoplectic. I voted YES for Scottish independence and I am confident in the ability of the best of Scots such as myself to grow an independent Scottish economy. However what is indeed "deluded" about the Salmond economic case is the Salmond / Sturgeon / SNP-numpties deluded trust in Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service not to wreck the Scottish economy. Numpties should wake up to the fact that the police state do wreck aspects of the Scottish economy, now under the UK, as they wrecked my contribution as a scientist to the economy when they raided my house and seized my computer and irreplaceable science data. http://peter-dow.blogspot.co.uk/ So whomsoever trusts the police state always to nurture and never to wreck aspects of an independent Scotland's economy - be he Salmond or she Sturgeon - is deluded. Just becoming independent doesn't rid us of numpties in government trusting the police state. We'd have to depend on our ability to turf out of office anyone such as Salmond or Sturgeon who gave their trust to the police state as they wrecked the economy. A deluded trust in the police state with the Scottish economy is like building a house of cards. As soon as the SNP and Scots rid themselves of that deluded trust in the police state we will be ready to grow the Scottish economy - not before. Peter Dow Author of the Scottish National Standard Bearer website http://scot.tk What? When I presented Alex Bell with the opportunity of doing some hard work himself by thinking outside of his own box, when I posted my censored-elsewhere comment on his Rattle website, my comment was held for moderation (as is everyone's) but has not yet been approved. So we shall see if Alex Bell is brave-heart enough to debate with me, or if that "hard work" is a bridge too far for him.
Hopefully that will prove to be the case. I feel it is unfair when newspapers censor the comments that they acrue, it limits the readers ability to judge how the public mood runs. Your point that idiots after independence are just as dangerous as idiots before is well made.
I would vote for Independence if it meant lower taxes, but I fear it would mean higher taxes as it seems that Scotland is a land of socialists. Gone are the days (1950's) when Scotland was a Conservative Country into one that wants to see redistribution of wealth via Government legislation. It was once that the SNP was known as the "tartan Tories" now they are more left wing than nu-Labour. I can't trust the SNP. So I will always vote for the UNION, no matter it faults.
I agree with you. I know that while apeing the labour party (indeed becoming more left than the labour party) has won votes for the SNP. There is no doubt on this and I can not see how the labour party will recover. However, it is the wrong basis on which to win independence. Were these policies implemented after independence they would cause untold damage to Scotland's economy. If they do not follow thorough then those who voted for independence will be sorely aggrieved and will feel cheated. It is better to be honest an fight for what you want openily as the SNP did previously.
