So, the elections in the UK just happened, and the results for the pro-independence parties are worse than anyone could have possibly predicted, and even worse than my worst nightmares. The Scottish National Party went from 56 seats in 2015 to a measly 9 in 2024. They have fallen spectacularly. I knew they were going to do bad, but this? This, in my opinion makes how I felt in 2014 feel like nothing. I'll explain why.
Scotland has had things rough to say the least. As part of a "union" they had to be bribed to join, Scotland has been at best a junior member of the UK, and at worst a region completely neglected by England. The UK likes to tell us Scotland is still a country, but in reality, we're not treated as anything more than a mere region. Scotland does perform better than Wales and most of England, but honestly, I think that says more about those regions than it does about Scotland.
I personally hate it here, but hoped something would come along and make the space livable and somewhere I can be proud to say I am from.
From here, I'm just going to call the UK "England". I'm sick of pretending the UK is anything more than a vanity project for England.
In 2012, when the independence referendum was announced, it didn't take long to convince me to support independence. I've always wanted to see Scotland become a country again, and one with it's own languages, it's own cultures and values. Whilst there are some difference culturally between Scotland and the other "countries" of the UK, it's ultimately just a different flavour of the same thing. Compare Scotland and England and then Scotland and Ireland and despite both being Celtic, Ireland feels completely different!
The media throughout the campaign were, of course, biased against independence. It makes sense, it's in their best interest to keep Scotland, as many of the England's resources comes from Scotland, and I can say this with confidence, because they backed against the wall, the English government either stays silent or admits to this.
From 2012 to 2014, me and our entire family were out campaigning for independence, and we saw the polls rise slowly in support for independence. "This is it!", I thought, "People are finally seeing the UK for what it is, and the media for who they are!". Everyone was so positive to see a Scotland
Of course, the day came in 2014 and Yes lost by 10%. Very tragic, but in retrospect, we started from barely 30% in support, to 45%, which is quite an achievement, and 10% isn't that much of a lead.I figured, give it another push, we get a majority of SNP politicians in the London parliament, and push for another referendum. Just give it 6 more months of campaigning and we got this, right?
We got the majority of Scottish MPs into London for like 3 elections running, and in 2 of those elections, we saw England vote overwhelmingly for the Tories. Even if Scotland 100% voted for Labour, they would have still won.
However, no matter what happened, London just kept saying no to any demands for a referendum, and frustratingly, the SNP never tried anything more radical.
Of course, Brexit happened in 2016. One of the promises made by the no side of the rederendum was that voting no was the only way to assure we stay in the EU. Those in the know knew this was a load of shite. They were planning the referendum at the same time as the Scottish independence referendum. That was the strategy of David Cameron, the prime minister of England at the time. Have these 2 referendums, which were to be lost, settling the debates and moving on.
Well, Scotland of course voted no, and we were kicked out of the EU anyway. Gee, who could have possibly seen this coming?! 🙄
Either way, I guess people will learn from their mistakes. Surely!
In 2021, we saw the biggest attendance and raw number of votes for pro-independence parties in Scottish election history. 50.1% voted for a party that supported independence. Millions turned out to vote! Combine that with the constant polls we had been getting showing independence in the lead, and we were on an all time high.
Fast forward to 2023, Nicola Sturgeon, arguably the most successful leader the SNP ever had, resigned out of nowhere. Then came all of the allegations against her and Alex Salmond, and then the constant onslaught from the media towards Humza Yousaf and John Swinney, the 2 leaders who followed Sturgeon, in that order.
"No biggie," I thought. "People here are smart, they'll see through the lies. Labour are trying to be just like the Tories, so people here couldn't possibly fuck this up, right?"
...right?
The 2024 Elections happened, and the SNP were all but completely wiped out. What did Scotland learn from everything I just described? Sweet fuck all! It all went in one ear and came out the other!
They've fallen back into the trap of treating England like a 2 party state, taking everything fed to them at face value, and not once giving anything a second thought.
It was a huge slap in the face for me, and frankly a huge embarassment, especially seeing Plaid Cymru in Wales doing the same as ever and the pro-unification majority in Northern Ireland increasing. It appears only Scotland drank the stupid juice. Everything I thought I knew about Scotland for the past 10 years was proven wrong in just 24 hours.
The media blamed the Scottish government for things that were beyond their control and it seems people just ate that up like good little sheep.
It's worth pointing out that the Scottish Greens, who also support Scottish Independence, did better in this election than in any other, but even if we combined the SNP, Greens, & other pro-indy party vote shares, Labour's share still eclipses it...
Frankly, I don't give a fuck what party someone supports or votes for, as long as that decision was an informed one, but I know for a fact that was not what happened here. Labour has been constantly changing their promises, going back on others, and generally have shown no charisma whatsoever, saying only what they think people want to hear.
The only thing they have to go on is "Vote Labour to stop the Tories", and people in Scotland were apply to oblidge despite the fact that:
a. Scotland can't influence the result of English elections.
and b. Labour were scheduled to win by the safest majority in English political history
The past 14 years have shown this, but apparently nobody was paying attention...
Some people are hopeful that Labour will fuck up, and people will see that, and flock back to the SNP. While I have no doubt Labour will fuck up spectacularly, I don't have any faith the majority of people here will pay any attention. If they haven't done so for the past 14 years, why the fuck would they start now?
Now I reckon independence has been pushed back for at the very least a decade, if not our entire lifetimes! All of the blogs I'm subscribed to and the one independence-supporting newspaper are talking about "starting anew" and talking about campaigning for independence for future generations.
I think it's over. Scotland severaly fucked up, and we will likely remain an overgrown pig-sty for a very long time. I for one do not want to live here for that, especially for the next few years, which are going to be completely insufferable for anyone left who gives a toss about breaking away.
If Scotland wants to stay ruled and mistreated by England, then what the fuck can I do?
I tried my hardest to help steer Scotland in the right direction, but evidently the people don't want to be helped.
The hardest bit for me was I've based my entire game dev career on a Scottish identity, and pioneering video games in Scots and Scottish Gaelic. Now that motivation and drive is completely gone, and I can't even look at this country any more. I've been trying my hardest to minimise the risk of being reminded that I'm stuck here for the time being. I feel like an idiot for banking on Scotland breaking free and doing well for itself.
I honestly don't see a way for Scotland to get out of this rut. Fuck this country, fuck the UK, fuck the Anglosphere, fuck everything! I'm done. I'm going to work towards moving away and just living the rest of my life for myself. I'm done with other people.
I don't know where I'll go, I have a few options, but honestly anywhere is better than here at this point.