There’s a will, but there may be no way

There is a strong belief amongst a number of nationalist sources that the SNP will take the bulk of seats at the next general election and that they will hold the balance of power in the following parliament.

The SNP, however, have a habit of telling the world and his dog that they “will” win elections and change the face of Scottish politics thereafter.

This is something which has been going on as long as I can remember.

“Free by ‘93” was one such slogan and was lost without a trace.

The difficulty with which they are faced in the next election is that they were convincingly beaten in the referendum in all but four constituencies throughout Scotland when they held all the cards: excluding 800,000 Scottish voters from taking part; being allowed to have the separatist campaign use the “Yes” option; using civil servants to work on their campaign and using funds intended for governmental use to promote their “White Paper” as if it were a public information publication, rather than blatant political propaganda.

If anything, the determination of No voters to keep the SNP’s nose out of the trough is strengthened by the excellent referendum result.

Where necessary, I have no doubt that unionist parties may agree on a common front to ensure victory against the SNP. They know that North Sea oil is the driving force behind the separatist campaign.

Once it has gone, in a 
generation, the appetite 
for an independent Scotland will become a distant 
memory.

Andrew HN Gray

Craiglea Drive

Edinburgh