It was billed as a pivotal moment in UK politics but the reality is the grandstanding separatist summit in Cardiff was a giant waste of time.
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summit → bill → time
With the NHS in meltdown and school standards in freefall, John Swinney took a break from reality to agitate for independence.
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Swinney → take → independence
Nothing new there, then, but this time the First Minister took part in a sit-down with his counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland.
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Minister → take → Wales
All are united in the aim of dismantling the UK, so there were plenty of mindless threats and predictions that the Union’s days were numbered.
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days → unite → threats
This is the politics of assertion: say something loudly and often enough, even if it’s patently false, and you will somehow turn it into cold, hard reality.
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you → say → reality
But for now they’re all saddled with politicians who obsess about independence – and they sense an opportunity.
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they → saddle → opportunity
Andy Burnham blundered into the minefield of constitutional politics last week when he said he would authorise another referendum on Scottish independence if there was a ‘clear consensus’ in favour of one.
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he → blunder → one
John Swinney sat down with separatist counterparts Rhun ap Iorweth, Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill
It was the greatest strategic error of his short Prime Ministerial career so far – unless you count his decision to become PM in the first place as an even greater mistake.
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you → sit → mistake
Emboldened by Mr Burnham’s spinelessness, which he sought to undo with a subsequent attempt at a U-turn, the independence-supporting parties running devolved legislatures in the UK are now predicting the end of ‘Westminster’ rule.
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parties → embolden → rule
It’s a convenient distraction from far more pressing problems, from spiralling NHS waiting lists to soaring crime, and public services in a state of permanent disarray.
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It → ’ → disarray
But it’s also hugely reckless because this attempt at destabilising the UK comes at a time when the solidarity of the UK should be an overriding priority.
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solidarity → ’ → UK
Have no doubt that Putin and his murderous cronies will be tracking these developments – and doubtless rubbing their hands in unrestrained glee.
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Putin → have → glee
They also want the break-up of Britain, as it would mean the removal of a bulwark against their despotism and the weakening of a great opponent.
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it → want → opponent
Putin won’t be the only tyrant happy to hear talk of the Union supposedly in its death throes.
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Putin → hear → throes
The Mail revealed in July that Iran-linked fake social media posts pushing for Scottish independence were seen more than 200 million times.
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posts → reveal → independence
The report by the Centre for State Threats said Iran wanted to ‘exploit division, deepen mistrust and distract democratic societies from responding effectively to hostile state activity’.
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Iran → say → activity
So, Mr Swinney’s time-wasting retreat into a fantasy world, as comforting as it may be for him, is hardly consequence-free.
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it → waste → him
The Trident nuclear deterrent, based at Faslane on the Clyde, is despised by the SNP.
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deterrent → base → SNP
Yet even anti-Trident Nicola Sturgeon has said (on an upcoming TV reality show) that war with Russia potentially involving nuclear weapons is ‘very near reality’.
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war → say → reality
Is this really the time to make a renewed push for the safe harbour of the UK to be torn apart?
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harbour → make → UK
There’s also a price to be paid when the First Minister does business with Sinn Féin, given its bloody history.
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Minister → ’ → history
Russian President Vladimir Putin will be tracking the latest attempts at destabilising the UK
Many will see it as a pact with the devil for the sake of the SNP’s narrow political ends.
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Many → track → ends
Back in May, families of Scottish soldiers killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland demanded Mr Swinney’s resignation after he claimed people should simply ‘move on’ from Sinn Féin’s past IRA links.
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people → kill → links
Despite Sinn Féin’s historic links to the IRA and decades of mass murder and bombings in Ulster and the UK mainland, Mr Swinney said during the Holyrood election that he would ‘enjoy’ working with the party to ‘change the dynamics’ of the UK ‘irreversibly’.
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he → say → UK
Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), criticised Ms O’Neill for attending the talks, saying she hadn’t sought permission and was attempting to ‘weaponise the role of the First Minister’.
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she → criticise → Minister
There’s every chance that the meeting in Wales will put further pressure on the Northern Ireland power-sharing agreement between the DUP and Sinn Féin, which has collapsed on five occasions since its inception in 1999.
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which → ’ → 1999
Mr Swinney is playing a dangerous game, and on this occasion he finds himself in agreement with Donald Trump, usually the SNP’s bête noire.
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himself → play → Trump
The First Minister has consistently supported the principle of Irish reunification, something which the US President also backs – he said at the weekend that he would ‘love’ to see it happen.
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it → support → weekend
Mr Trump steered clear of Scottish independence, saying he didn’t want to talk about it ‘yet’.
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he → steer → it
Exacting punitive tariffs on an independent Scotland would prove far easier for Mr Trump or any like-minded successors.
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Exacting → exact → Trump
US levies on Scotch whisky, which were costing the industry about £4million per week, were lifted in July after the intervention of the King, and UK Government diplomatic efforts.
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which → cost → King
Mr Swinney tried to claim credit for the end of the tariffs, but it was an entirely unconvincing charade, much like the Cardiff summit.
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it → try → summit
Andy Burnham said he would authorise another referendum on Scottish independence
The other participant at the meeting in Wales was Welsh First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru which triumphed in Wales at the elections in May, ending a century of Labour hegemony.
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which → say → hegemony
He has said his party won’t progress the case for Welsh independence in this parliament as it wants to focus on competent government.
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it → say → government
In the meantime, it proposed spending around £500,000 on a national commission to develop a White Paper on an independent Wales.
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it → propose → Wales
Yet the Welsh leader put his name to a joint statement calling for the ‘British Government to prepare for, plan and facilitate constitutional change in each jurisdiction’.
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Government → put → jurisdiction
How this contributes to effective government in a country where more than 600,000 people are languishing on NHS waiting lists is anyone’s guess.
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people → contribute → lists
Of course, the same question could be asked of Mr Swinney, who has also dragooned the civil service into pumping out propaganda on independence, while setting up more Scottish ‘embassies’ overseas.
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who → ask → embassies
Nationalist politics is grimly predictable and follows the same playbook, whether you’re in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland – ignore the real concerns of voters and focus on the pursuit of a grand project which will do nothing to address any of them.
In the meantime, most of us can only look on in outraged disbelief at Mr Swinney’s blueprint for the unravelling of the Union, knowing that it will provide succour for the tyrants and despots who also long for its demise.
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who → follow → demise
The Aporia
