[0762]

At the moment I couldn't argue with that unless a new strategy is laid out to paint an alternative future. I still wonder why half of all voting Scots look at the Brexit debacle in the face (and losing the will to live) and conclude that staying in the UK is a safer bet than independence??? When people shrug and say, "I wish they'd get on with it", are they really thinking properly - if we must have our economy and society torn to pieces can you do it quickly please??? Mental!! Has the sedating spirit of "Keep calm and carry on" jumped from fridge magnets into people's souls"?? Has chronic passivity engendered by centuries of safe seats and first-past-the post voting turned voters into disengaged consumers who won't run for the fire exit even when an actual blaze is crackling all around?? In short, why aren't Scots queuing up to leave the Union right now? After all, Brexit has shone a floodlight on the incompetence, bad faith, double standards, greed, self-interest and acts of crass stupidity of both main parties at Westminster!!! That is strange in a country that voted solidly to remain in the EU!! I see it that once the Scot gov is certain the UK is beyond saving itself, and that will happen one day, its priorities must change. Occasional independence name-checks are not enough!!. Hence my suggestion that a new indy strategy needed for these new circumstances, not least because the current default is "indy lite" - a softly, softly strategy promoted for over a couple of years by Alex Salmond. Of course, there is a strong case for a realistic "hard" Scotexit from the UK - it just is not being made right now!! IMO that is the main reason why opinion polls re indy are "sticky". Contrast UKIP's "land of hope and glory Brexit narrative" (promoted by the bbc and most big newspapers to normalise it - the "promised land" etc) and compare it with the case for Scottish independence. What is it now???? What is the dream??? What is its strength?? A strategy must be devised to popularise, describe and normalise Scotland's alternative future outside the UK and if that isn't Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP, it must be a reinvigorated Yes movement!! With uncertainty all around us, the undecided are understandably frightened about taking a new direction that is advocated only occasionally and half-heartedly without a clear destination, game-plan and strong, confident leadership. The important thing right now is not overcoming every difficulty facing Indyref2 in a "oner" - it is creating momentum, so that all Scots are actively considering the case for constitutional change. That does not need a date or even 60% in the polls. It needs a destination and a vision NOW!!!!