"I'm now glad we didn't win in 2014"

[Nearly Sane]

Vicious from Kevin McKenna. I think it downplays a wider political malaise but agree with a lot.

[jeremyp]

I'm also glad that Yes didn't win in 2014. I think both Scotland and the rUK would have been the weaker for it.

However, I think his premise is flawed. The SNP would have self destructed fairly soon after independence had been achieved. The SNP is a single issue party and, as such, it attracts people of many different political persuasions who all have one aim in common. Take that aim away and there is no coherent direction for the party. It would be guaranteed to fragment, and I think, pretty quickly.

[Nearly Sane]

I'm also glad that Yes didn't win in 2014. I think both Scotland and the rUK would have been the weaker for it.

However, I think his premise is flawed. The SNP would have self destructed fairly soon after independence had been achieved. The SNP is a single issue party and, as such, it attracts people of many different political persuasions who all have one aim in common. Take that aim away and there is no coherent direction for the party. It would be guaranteed to fragment, and I think, pretty quickly.

I don't see that as much of a disagreement. He's effectively written that. The only difference is your definition of 'fairly soon'. If you're arguing that the party in some form would not have won the first election after independence, I disagree but not with as much certainty as McKenna. I think it would have fallen apart in govt.

[jeremyp]

I don't see that as much of a disagreement. He's effectively written that.

Except that the rest of his article and his negative conclusions are premised on the way the SNP has run devolved but not independent Scotland since 2015.