Trying to figure out WTF is going on Paul Kavanagh - better known to his fans as 'Wee Ginger Dug' - is someone I have long counted among that group of individuals who have built a career on the back of the independence movement. Like many others, I tended to ignore his column in The National having quickly wearied of his sycophantic cheer-leading for the SNP. One or two people have suggested to me that I should take a look at some of Paul Kavanagh's more recent output. I was assured that I would find the partisan obsequiousness much diminished and the cheering somewhat subdued. Prompted by the headline 'John Swinney needs to rethink his strategy over Scottish independence', I finally decided to take a look. My first thought was to point out that John Swinney has no "strategy over Scottish independence", and nothing suggests that he has done any thinking on the matter he's being urged to "rethink". But the headline grabbed my attention, so perhaps I shouldn't knock it. Reading on, I discovered that Paul Kavanagh really has developed a different and far less deferential attitude to the SNP. He is actually quite pointedly critical of John Swinney personally and the entire party leadership at least by implication. Here's a taste:
That may be pretty tame by my standards. But it's strong stuff coming from someone we'd expect to find basking in the sunshine emanating from the SNP leader's arse while lathering his readers with the less agreeable product of that orifice. Look! He's even using words like "assertiveness" when listing John Swinney's deficiencies! That will surely be Paul Kavanagh struck off the Christmas card lists of many (most?) of the blind party loyalists who have yet to recognise the failures and failings of the party on which they bestow such mindless devotion. More significantly for a 'career independentista', it could mean a few cancelled subscriptions. Can we really expect that the truly dumb SNP loyalists will see Wee Ginger Dug's altered perspective and reflect on what may have motivated it? Having observed those dumb loyalists in action, I reckon they'd be more likely to concoct a conspiracy theory around his remarks which explains his 'criticism of 'disloyalty' to John Swinney by reference to some MI5 covert action. I can more easily imagine them turning their vitriol on Kavanagh, figuratively burning him at the stake for the heresy of his commentary than I can imagine them taking a second to dispassionately consider the content of that commentary. As for the rest of us, we should appreciate Paul Kavanagh's epiphany, however belated. It cannot be easy for him to write these things. I know how difficult it was for me to overcome a reflexive tendency to defend Nicola Sturgeon or whichever of her colleagues was being pilloried in the British media. As individuals and as a movement, we invested far too much trust in the SNP to easily let go. We made that investment of trust and power in the then justifiable belief that we were investing in Scotland's cause. To date, the investment has paid no dividends. For this, the 'directors' must be held accountable. Perhaps we might take Paul Kavanagh's open criticism of John Swinney as a sign that for the SNP leadership. things are about to change in ways they may not like. You're currently a free subscriber to Peter A Bell. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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Thursday, 12 June 2025
Rethinking
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