Trying to figure out WTF is going on Credit where it is due. Much as I despise Tommy Sheppard for his grotesquely bigoted attitude to any analysis of the constitutional issue that doesn't have his party's logo plastered all over it, at least he recognises - however belatedly - that the first priority is to address the matter of legislative competence. Needless to say, however, he doesn't follow the logic of this to the point where it might invite the disapproval of the SNP leadership. If it's not cowardice that prevents him risking a radical thought, it's self-interest. Tommy Sheppard appears to have realised that all the things which claim to be 'routes' to independence converge on the question of legislative competence. Perhaps he's been reading my blog under the bed-covers where Papa Swinney can't see him. He recognises the significance of the fact that the British state and it's agents in Scotland assiduously avoid outright denial of our right of self-determination. They know that this is a human right and that to deny it would put them on the wrong side of international law. They know that this would be a gift to that part of the independence movement which knows how to use it. Maybe even to the leaderships of the nominally pro-independence parties such as the SNP and Alba. The British know that to claim the people of Scotland do not have the right to decide the constitutional status of our nation would be a serious mistake. What they do instead, is block our access to the exercise of this right. The British strategy to preserve the Union is to ensure the people of Scotland never have an opportunity to vote in a proper constitutional referendum. Tommy Sheppard may even have an inkling that his own party leadership has been complicit in this effort to block access to the exercise of out right of self-determination. Although he hasn't the guts to come right out and say it, nobody looking at the Sturgeon doctrine with a dispassionate eye could fail to see that its main feature was validation of the British state's asserted authority to control if, when, and how we vote on the question of Scotland's constitutional status. In short, the Sturgeon doctrine - which continues to define the SNP's approach to the constitutional issue - is all about deferring to Westminster. He is on the right track when he focuses on the question of legislative competence. But Sheppard is incapable of following that track all the way because to do so he would have to break ranks and depart from the Sturgeon doctrine. He would have to repudiate the Section 30 process. He would have to stop deferring to the British state. He would have to put the people of Scotland at the centre of the constitutional issue rather than Westminster. He would have to abandon any hope of continuing his political career with the SNP. Instead of letting the legislative competence question lead him where it wants to go, Tommy Sheppard drags it down the same dead-end road taken by his former SNP colleague, Ash Regan. Neither Sheppard nor Regan are bold enough to acknowledge that power is not given, but only taken. Both seek to sell the notion that powers transferred by Westminster can be the power the Scottish Parliament needs if we are to exercise our right of self-determination. This is just stupid! Other than stupid, there really is no way to describe the deluded idea that Westminster would or could give Holyrood full power over the constitution. And just as stupid is the notion that we could have a proper constitutional referendum using transferred powers which must of necessity be limited, provisional, and conditional. It is idiotic to imagine would or could make Holyrood its equal. The entire British apparatus is founded on the sovereignty of Westminster. Sovereignty is absolute and indivisible. There is no such thing as shared sovereignty. Sovereignty may be pooled. But it cannot be shared. there cannot be two sovereigns. There cannot be two ultimate authorities. Power over the constitution is sovereign power. Only the ultimate authority can set and amend the rules governing the distribution, use, and forfeiture of power. The British state (England-as-Britain) claims sovereignty over Scotland. The sovereignty of the English crown in the English parliament to which a few Scots are admitted. To concede that the Scottish Parliament has the power to authorise a proper constitutional referendum is to concede sovereignty to the Scottish Parliament. For the British to 'give' (stop withholding) full powers over the constitution to the Scottish Parliament they would have to be prepared to give up Westminster's claim to sovereignty. To expect them to do this is to expect them to vote the British state out of existence. It is not going to happen. The only kind of referendum there could be under transferred powers is a Section 30-type referendum. Because that is the limit of what the British can concede without effectively making Scotland independent. If you have full powers over the constitution, you have full powers over anything. Ergo, independent. The thing both Sheppard and Regan will not say is that if we want a proper constitutional referendum, we will have to take the necessary powers. Power cannot be given and what is given cannot be real power. The act of giving is an expression of the superior authority of the giver. The act of accepting that which is given is an affirmation of that superior authority. As is the act of requesting that which might be given. It is unlikely that either Tommy Sheppard or Ash Regan is actually so stupid as to suppose there could be a proper constitutional referendum using transferred powers. I don't accept that it is possible to get to the point of recognising the crucial nature of legislative competence in constitutional matters without being able to see that we cannot have that legislative competence other than by taking it. I can only conclude that both of them are choosing not to see this aspect of political reality. And that they are anxious to conceal the reality from voters lest voters demand that they deal with the reality instead of peddling toxic drivel about transferred powers. The way to get those 'Scottish independence abstainers' out to vote is to be honest with them both about what is at stake and what it will take to win. Just tell voters the truth! Invite your friends and earn rewardsIf you enjoy Peter A Bell, share it with your friends and earn rewards when they subscribe.
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