DevoNats - How the election was lost

A lot has been written about the election and some of it is penetrating insight. Unfortunately, a very small small 'some of it'. From the point of view there are only two real observations to make 1) Nothing significant will change, and 2) The soft SNP vote melted away like snaw aff a dyke.

I'll draw my attention to the latter.

It is time for those who argued for 'peddling better devolution' instead of 'independence' to answer for the miserable election result!

The SNP has failed to capitalise on a mountain of goodwill it built up over many years. After the Holyrood election the opportunity existed to bring many who were demoralised by the British reality into the independence fold. Many were ripe for conversion and looking for inspiration.

What was required? A substantial debate on how their future in an independent Scotland would affect war, nuclear waste, nuclear weapons and nuclear economics. What did they get? Reactionary New Labour nonsense on minimum alcohal pricing and arrid mumbling about budget cuts.

For those of us who argued time and time again that we should be setting out the independence stall it was no surprise to see the soft SNP vote vanish. Tea and biscuits nationalists banged on about not upsetting the 'pro SNP' but not yet 'independence' voters. Well, they were treated like fools and they voted with their feet.

And not a hint of remorse from the 'independence light' brigade is set forth! Momentum has been thrown away and is lost for who knows how long. The problem with the DevoNats is that they have a short memory so they've already forgotten their 'strategy' and will likely waste our time with it all over again next time.

I never understood those who could 'take or leave' independence. It's like agnosticism. I mean some people will have vociferous arguments and be absolutely certain of their opinion on the best types of beer, the best football striker or mobile phone but when it comes to whether or not there's a god they can't make their mind up. Trivia good, substance bad = New Labour programming.

And so when we come to the subject of our nation's dignity and destiny we're told that it's kind of like pepsi v coke, not much of a difference.

If that's the message the SNP pumps out then is it any surprise their 'local champions' haven't been sent anywhere?

Labour knew that the SNP didn't have the cohones to argue the independence cause. In so doing the SNP have taken some of the wrap for Labour's destruction of the UK economy in Scotland. And the SNP allowed Labour to paint them as irrelevant - a cruel hoax but one the SNP made possible. The SNP could have prepared the ground well in advance and made the case that Labour was irrelevant as the election would be decided in England and that only independence lends the Scottish vote the efficacy that a nation normally has. Instead of arguing that the UK economy had been trashed and so they have to make cuts because of UK economic insanity they played along hoping to capitalise on the cuts whilst playing the 'sound manager' ala Bradford and Bingly nationalism. The chance to make the case that Labour is no different from the Tories and that London government will mean economic decline was lost.

And is lost. If the SNP had fought on an alternative vision people would now have something tangeable to turn to at the Holyrood election. When the cuts come and economy gets worse people would remember that the SNP warned them and many Scots would have felt they'd made a mistake voting Labour. Instead? Nothing.

All in all it was trivial and insipid. The SNP have been hiding somewhere in Holyrood enjoying the trappings of government. The DevoNats arguement that you should attract people to the party and not its cause won the day. The consequence is that we now have a movement afraid of losing jobs and largely unconcerned about the cause of independence.

In an age where politics has been reduced to a reality tv show the people wanted to rescue back their democracy. The SNP did not offer that opportunity.

Those who argued for soft-peddling should have learned their lesson in this election. Politics for grown ups is not about sound bites - it's about the real aspirations of people with real lives and those of future generations. These things are not a video game boys and girls.

The case that the people are not convinced about independence so should be left alone is farcical. If Scots remain unconvinced then the task is to convince them..

In the absence of substance Labour hung on to their jobs at the expense of our nation's wellbeing. Their rhetoric was never pre-empted. The nationalist voice was timid and easily silenced. Labour had nothing to say, nothing. They are an empty party and yet in the midst of a UK economic and political meltdown the SNP made no gains. Worse the ground wasn't laid for the future.

Time for the DevoNats to answer for their failure. Or better, recognise it and make sure it doesn't happen again. Do it before the ground shifts below your feet!