Nats victory, independence and looming nuclear catastrophe – it's Scotland 2014

Published on Saturday 9 May 2009 19:56

A SCOTTISH declaration of independence sets off a wave of catastrophic events which brings the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation.

Alan Clements' debut fictional work, Rogue Nation, set in 2014, features a mushroom cloud on the front cover and warns of the devastating consequences unleashed by the break-up of the UK.

The Scottish Television executive-turned-author insists it should be seen as a work of entertaining fiction rather than an anti-nationalist polemic.

But a spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond dismissed the book as a "fevered fantasy" and suggested Clements needed to relax in a "darkened room".

It is not the first time that Clements and his wife, the broadcaster Kirsty Wark, have been accused of displaying pro-Labour sympathies. In 2004, the pair were at the centre of mounting controversy when it emerged Jack McConnell, the then First Minister, spent Hogmanay at their Majorcan villa.

Clements' work is one of a series of new British thrillers that have been endorsed by the multimillion-selling author and disgraced politician Jeffrey Archer.

The dystopian tale revolves around a series of financial and diplomatic crises, which escalate dramatically after Scotland opts to dissolve the Union.

Promotional literature for the work states: "The year is 2014. The Republicans have re-conquered the White House, the Conservatives have just won a second term at Westminster and hardliners dominate Russia. In a small corner of north-western Europe, the Scots have just narrowly voted for independence, a decision they immediately regret.

"Following the referendum, George Wallace, friend and Senior Special Adviser to Scotland's First Minister, is desperately struggling to stem financial meltdown and political turmoil when help appears from an unlikely source."

Like Cuba in the 1960s, when a superpower stand-off took the world to the brink of nuclear war, Scotland appears to be the source of escalating tensions between a hawkish right- wing administration in Washington and an equally pugnacious neo-Stalinist regime in Moscow.

The introduction to the book continues: "George Wallace can save Scotland, but at what price for his family and his nation?

"As the body count mounts, the actions switches from the White House to the Kremlin and from Westminster to Holyrood.

"George is forced to choose between love and belief, between loyalty and morality.

"As the 100-day countdown to independence accelerates to a shattering climax, George must decide who he can truly trust and which nation is really the rogue."

Clements insists the book was not written as a Nat-bashing exercise.

He said: "The last thing you can think of it is that it is a pro-Union book. The hero is a nationalist, albeit a doubting nationalist in many ways.

"I would stress that this is a work of fiction, not some sort of political prophecy. I don't think you could come out of reading it thinking it was an anti-independence polemic."

But STV's director of content conceded that the book had already divided opinion.

He said: "One friend, who is a very passionate and active nationalist, never took any pro-Union slant from it.

"Another read it and said: 'I guess the fight for independence is not worth the candle.'"

Kevin Pringle, senior special adviser to the First Minister, was unimpressed by the sensational role played by his fictional counterpart.

He said: "This sounds like not so much a work of fiction, more a fevered fantasy. Alan needs to lie down in a darkened room.

"Back in the real Scotland, the success of the Parliament over the past decade is a victory over the doom-mongers who made all sorts of madcap predictions if we voted for Home Rule in 1997, or for an SNP government in 2007."

The book will be one of the first releases of the newly formed Curzon Group of authors, which aims to promote British thrillers against the advances of massive-selling American authors such as John Grisham and Dan Brown.

The organisation, made up of Clements and fellow writers Matt Lynn and Martin Baker, has wordsmith and former politician Archer as its official adviser. The one-time Tory candidate to be mayor of London, whose books were international best-sellers in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, was jailed in 2001 for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

But Clements still values his judgment and said: "I'm going to send Lord Archer a copy and it would be great if he said something nice about it, but I won't bank on it."

Clements and Newsnight host Wark, who have been dubbed "Scotland's media golden couple" are no strangers to controversy.

In 2004, a furore erupted after it emerged they had gone on holiday with McConnell and his wife, Bridget. The row intensified when it was later revealed they had twice been overnight guests at Bute House, the First Minister's official residence in Edinburgh.

Questions were asked about the relationship between two leading broadcast figures and the man running the country, while Clements accused the media of conducting a McCarthy-style witch hunt against two families who happened to be friends.

Then in 2007, the BBC formally apologised to Salmond after receiving dozens of complaints about the way Wark had handled an interview with him. It admitted Wark's treatment of the SNP leader had been "rude and dismissive", with the presenter saying "exactly" before cutting him off mid-sentence.

Clements joined the Labour Party aged 14 and was keen to enter politics, but he ended his membership when he started a career in broadcasting.

• Rogue Nation will be published by Mainstream next month.