Self-Determination is vested in the people, not a party.

Nowadays when anyone thinks of Scottish nationalism/independence it automatically brings up connotations of the Scottish National Party (SNP). Whilst they may be the main advocates of the independence movement and have by far made the most progress for independence, it is wrong to assume the value of self-determination belongs solely to the SNP.

It should be vested in the population of Scotland, that we all have a common goal to be independent. Although Scotland itself has many divisions politically, socially and culturally, we can come together to bring to reality the right to self-determination that deep down all Scottish people desire. Many Scottish people nowadays are either too ignorant or scared of nationalism to appreciate what it could truly do for our nation.

By definition the meaning of nationalism is expressed as follows

"The desire for a strongly linked group of individuals for self-governance"

Now those definitions seem a far cry from the common ideas associated with the word nationalism. Truthfully, most people associate nationalism with the Nazi’s. That regime was utterly un-human in every way; there is no doubt about that. It should not however be associated with the nationalistic movement of the Scottish people. We are fighting for the right to control our own currency, elect our own government, assure all our revenues go directly to the Scottish people and not Westminster, and to fulfil our aspirations to become of modern nation which clearly has the potential to become a world competitor. The nationalism we pursue is the right to self-determination, something all humans desire to have, a chance to stand on your own two feet and show the world what you can do.

As such notions as the Nazi’s are associated with fear, so does the British media try to associate nationalism with fear. You do not need to go far to find evidence; just look at the front page of the Scottish Sun 2007 election edition. In bold letters on the front it says “VOTE SNP AND YOU PUT SCOTLAND’S HEAD IN THE NOOSE”. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we have descended quite into the hell-hole the Scottish Sun had prophesised since the SNP had been elected then.  

There are in fact many other political parties within Scotland that support independence. Such as the Scottish Green party, Socialist Party and Solidarity and many Union advocates (at one point the Scottish Lib Dems also supported independence). These parties however are rarely associated with the independence movement, sometimes not at all and the example in the afore-mentioned paragraph is an example of the dangers that one party association with independence brings. It gives the unionist a chance to alienate the SNP as being the party that is trying to ‘tear this country apart’ as they are seen as the only advocates of independence, not with the common interests of the whole nation.

To bring this to a close, it is vital that the independence movement as a whole does not pledge allegiance to one party, but instead to the nation of Scotland itself. As that is what we are all fighting for, that one chance for Scotland to be its own nation again, a nation that we can shape for the future and call our own, a nation which can voice its opinions on the international stage, not in a minority position in a government which is far out of touch from the real people of Scotland.