UKIP sure poked a stick up SNP noses last week when Scotland voted in a separatist, bigoted MEP. To quote Spud: ‘Ah jist sort ay laugh whin some cats say that racism’s an English thing and we’re aw Jock Tamson’s bairns up here…’ This is when he and his half-coloured uncle are heading for a bust-up at the hands of the Orange Order and the BNP in the Persevere pub (Trainspotting p126). Jock Tamson is the mythical father of everyone who lives in Scotland – to invoke his name is to take an inclusive view. The SNP doesn’t like to have to admit there’s an ugly voice in Bonnie Scotland.
Actually, this is getting quite worrying. UKIP and the SNP both see that there are serious problems in the unions they are in, and they’re right there. The mistake they make is when they say separation is the answer. The reality is that we live in a vastly complex network of relationships with our neighbours and trading partners, so in some way the outcome of the referendum in September hardly matters. But it does matter. Separation is far too simplistic and drastic.
You’ve got to hand it to the SNP. Every considered opinion, every weighted judgement, every sober fact, every piece of academic research that doesn’t point in their direction is turned on its head and trumpeted as all the more reason for voting for independence. Problems and difficulties with their proposals are waved aside: according to the SNP all will be well and those who even mention the problems are scaremongering and somehow saying NO to Scotland. It’s dirty and it’s scary. What these petty nationalists are missing is that the real issues we should be addressing is corporate greed and ineffective governments. That’s where the revolution is needed, and it’s on its way. There’s a well educated younger generation that can communicate and organise without using channels approved of by the authorities. The old order is on its death-bed. It won’t last long now. Long live the revolution!