From Yes to SNP

I read with interest on a monthly basis ‘the Scots Independent’ newspaper. The beginning of this newspaper in 1926 predates the forming of the SNP in 1934 and therefore has a considerable pedigree and reputation for reporting news from around Scotland accurately from a civic nationalist standpoint.

I therefore opened the March 2016 edition expecting to read interesting articles from around the country with a strong slant towards the preparations for Scottish Parliamentary elections by the SNP.

What I did not expect was the article shown below for your reference.

Under the title ‘From Yes to SNP’ it states that Russell Robertson who currently represents the East Centre ward on Glasgow City Council, and was elected under a Labour ticket, has now joined the SNP and therefore becomes the second councillor in that ward to represent the party, the original one being Jennifer Dunn.

These are indeed facts. However the headline as is so often the case with other publications is inaccurate, and in this case is directly the opposite of the truth.

Russell Robertson was when in the Labour Party instrumental in strongly fighting for a NO vote, and not a YES vote to which the headline alludes. As with so many other Labour party figures he,according to reputable witnesses stood outside a polling station on the day of the Scottish Independence Referendum on Thursday 18^th September 2014, was heard telling pensioners that their pensions were under threat if they voted YES, telling benefits claimants that their weekly cheques would be under threat if they voted YES, along with other unionist untruths.

Russell Robertson and ex Labour colleagues campaigning for a NO vote in this and the following 2 pictures.

Whilst I welcome his conversion to the cause of Scottish Independence which the Scots Independent has been so eloquently fighting for since 1926 I do question his motives for doing so. The small matter of the elections to Scottish councils coming up in 2017 is very much in my mind, and the fact that the Labour Party are likely to do very badly. Given his previous activities which this article and its headline wipes from history  I can only wonder if he is motivated by trying to keep his job rather than an epiphany on the matter of self determination for Scotland. Time will however tell whether my doubts are proved correct and I most definitely hope they are not.

This small article has considerably undermined my confidence in the reports and articles from ‘the Scots Independent’. If this article’s headline is directly the opposite from the truth what then of the others that appear in this and future editions?

After all we are surrounded by a mainstream media, most of which is available free at the point of consumption, which pedals mainly news and current affairs from the British nation states point of view and not Scotland’s and is therefore considered by many not without good reason to be against Scottish independence and self determination.

We are therefore surrounded by propaganda of one type of another not to be faced with similar from the other side for which we choose to pay for. It is for this reason I am unlikely to renew my subscription to the Scots Independent in future years. After all if what I am reading is not the truth, to counteract the mainstream media, what is the point of this publication?