It’s the SNP’s second annual national conference this weekend and already the organ-grinders are turning out their favourite hits. The National – a self-described newspaper in breach of the Trade Descriptions Act – has again combined the stridency of Pravda with the editorial values of the Beano. Adoring coverage of the conference was kicked off with its opening day headline: “‘Shameful’ Tory plan for ‘Union division’ in the army” – a ‘story’ about the British Army being, er, proud of Britain. Elsewhere Kate Forbes, the neophyte nationalist, has insisted that independence, not health or education, will dominate the four-day rally – because God forbid the state of public services be of interest to the party or the nation.
But it was Nicola Sturgeon’s deputy, the hapless Keith Brown, who stole the show on day one with his hyperbolic claims about Scottish independence. Giving the welcoming address, Brown told the Tartan faithful that: ‘We need independence to invest in our bountiful renewable energy resources, which are the envy of Europe. The future of our planet depends on it.’ Mr S hears they talk of little else in the UN citadels of Geneva and New York. Brown added that that his party’s ‘optimism and ambition’ will lead to independence, claiming the world ‘loved what they saw’ at the COP26 climate summit, gushing over Nicola Sturgeon’s ‘exemplary leadership’ for giving them a preview of an independent Scotland. Brown must have been watching a different conference from the rest of us, when the only ambition Sturgeon showed was an appetite for selfies.
Still, all the hot air spouted this weekend could go a fair way to powering her country’s energy goals for a fair few years to come.
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