Why we need both votes SNP?

OK, you're probably thinking I've been got at with a headline like that, but the question is why the SNP are insisting on sticking to this plan.

Pete Wishart tweeted the following

"An SNP majority is right in the balance. Any further slippage and it could be lost. It was an SNP majority that got us to a referendum last time and is the only way to one now. #BothVotesSNP"

So the argument is based on the premise that only the SNP winning a majority will get Boris Johnson to grant a Section 30.

Has Boris ever said that there was ever any situation in which he would grant a Section 30? I don't think so.

He did say we should focus on the coronavirus pandemic and not pointless wrangling over Scottish Independence.

Sounds a lot like Nicola Sturgeon's line of no referendum until after we have dealt with the pandemic.

And of course, Boris isn't known for his respect for Scotland or its people.

He has said “Government by a Scot is just not conceivable”, “Devolution a disaster”, he has called us a “Verminous Race” and more.

In the event of an SNP majority do you really believe he is suddenly going have some epiphany and suddenly start respecting us and grant us a Section 30 that will lead to Independence and leave him with the legacy of being the PM that lost the UK?

So let's look at it from another angle.

Let's say that we end up with an SNP minority government supported by Alba and the Greens, how would Boris react to that?

I think it's fairly obvious he would call us cheats, despite the Holyrood election system being set up specifically to allow smaller parties to gain seats on the list to have a wider range of views represented in the Scottish Parliament.

This is how we saw in 1999, in the very first Scottish Parliament elections, Tommy Sheridan get elected as an MSP for the SSP and the first Green elected to a parliament in the UK with Robin Harper.

Indeed people seemed to have a better understanding of the merits of the system back then than they do now.

How did we lose that? 

Well simply because that first Scottish Parliament election was full of lofty ideals and principles of a truly representative parliament, the first in the UK to have a form of proportional representation, and the media and TV all pushed that narrative when explaining the new system to a public only used to the far more simple first past the post. 

After that election, the large parties and the media, who never imagined for a second that people would actually vote in enough numbers to get any of these smaller parties elected, shocked or fearful that the likes of the SSP and Greens could gain credibility with the wider electorate, reverted to type and hammered the "both votes for us" mantra.

But enough history, what happens when Boris calls us cheats.

How do you prove how people voted, for example, someone could vote Tory in the constituency because they really like the local Tory candidate and then vote Alba in the list because they think it will damage Nicola Sturgeon who they absolutely hate.

You may argue that this scenario, or any other combination of votes, is unlikely, but you could never say with absolute certainty in a secret ballot that this did not occur.

So there is only one way to be certain and prove that there was cheating and that the majority of Scotland's voters did not vote in support of independence.....and that is to have a referendum.

Of course, Boris won't want to prove it, he'll be happy pretending to be the UKs Trump decrying the other side as cheats, so we will be in a catch 22.

Or will we?

Remember when David Cameron agreed to a Section 30, why was that?

Well simply because Alex Salmond had a plan to deliver a referendum that did not require the permission of Westminster.

David Cameron thought it was better to grant the Section 30 and retain at least some control in the process.

So what was Alex Salmond's plan, well we never got to find out.

So the obvious question is whether that plan is still valid or if another plan has replaced it.

But, and here's the whole point, in order for an alternative plan to be implemented we need as many Alba MSPs as possible sitting in the Scottish Parliament putting pressure on the SNP.

And how could the SNP reject any Alba plan for independence knowing the effect that would have on them in any subsequent elections?

They would be confirming to a large swathe of the electorate that they are in effect devolutionists. 

So both votes SNP - I don't think so!