Devolution and independence are two totally different and mutually incompatible things. If, like John Swinney, you are working for devolution, you are not working for independence.
peterabell.substack.com/p/scottishud... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/scottishud... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
#ScottishUDI - The strategy for independence
Presentation to the Independence Forum Scotland (IFS) Autumn Convention 2025
peterabell.substack.com
October 31, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Devolution and independence are two totally different and mutually incompatible things. If, like John Swinney, you are working for devolution, you are not working for independence.
peterabell.substack.com/p/scottishud... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/scottishud... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The first thing to bear in mind is the fact that the people responsible for the UN initiative are not amenable to being controlled.
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
A matter of international justice
I learned a new word today.
peterabell.substack.com
November 3, 2026 at 12:16 PM
The first thing to bear in mind is the fact that the people responsible for the UN initiative are not amenable to being controlled.
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
To put it simply, if John Swinney adhered to the principle that the people of Scotland are sovereign, then theirs must be the last word on the matter.
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Drawing fire
The following is my full response to Stan Grodynski’s letter in The National (archive).
peterabell.substack.com
October 30, 2026 at 10:59 AM
To put it simply, if John Swinney adhered to the principle that the people of Scotland are sovereign, then theirs must be the last word on the matter.
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
My long letter is in the print edition of today’s Sunday National. I just read it, and what struck me most was the amount I’d left unsaid. But it’s something.
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Drawing fire
The following is my full response to Stan Grodynski’s letter in The National (archive).
peterabell.substack.com
November 1, 2026 at 12:20 PM
My long letter is in the print edition of today’s Sunday National. I just read it, and what struck me most was the amount I’d left unsaid. But it’s something.
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/drawing-fi... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The first thing to bear in mind is the fact that the people responsible for the UN initiative are not amenable to being controlled.
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
A matter of international justice
I learned a new word today.
peterabell.substack.com
November 3, 2026 at 2:05 PM
The first thing to bear in mind is the fact that the people responsible for the UN initiative are not amenable to being controlled.
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/a-matter-o... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
We have created an economy which works by ensuring the vast majority of people are made to feel insecure in some way and to some extent. Security is the ultimate luxury good.
peterabell.substack.com/p/doing-the-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/doing-the-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Doing the easy stuff
I could do the vision thing.
peterabell.substack.com
October 26, 2026 at 1:07 PM
We have created an economy which works by ensuring the vast majority of people are made to feel insecure in some way and to some extent. Security is the ultimate luxury good.
peterabell.substack.com/p/doing-the-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/doing-the-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The following is a letter from the redoubtable Mike Wallace (SNP Newington & Southside) published by The National but buried under a headline about prettyfying Scottish villages. I reprint it here with Mike’s consent.
peterabell.substack.com/p/our-right-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/our-right-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Our right to decide must be acted on, not just talked about
The following is a letter from the redoubtable Mike Wallace (SNP Newington & Southside) published by The National but buried under a headline about prettyfying Scottish villages.
peterabell.substack.com
October 28, 2026 at 10:31 AM
The following is a letter from the redoubtable Mike Wallace (SNP Newington & Southside) published by The National but buried under a headline about prettyfying Scottish villages. I reprint it here with Mike’s consent.
peterabell.substack.com/p/our-right-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/our-right-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
As a long-time blogger, I am cognisant of the easy folly of imagining you are broadcasting your message.
peterabell.substack.com/p/where-is-t... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/where-is-t... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Where is the anger?
I know I’ve written about this before, and regular readers may be almost as weary as I of the repetition.
peterabell.substack.com
October 28, 2026 at 1:11 PM
As a long-time blogger, I am cognisant of the easy folly of imagining you are broadcasting your message.
peterabell.substack.com/p/where-is-t... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/where-is-t... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The constitutional issue was lost in a welter of policy issues, primarily to do with the economy.
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-wonks-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-wonks-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The wonks win!
It’s not about what is decided.
peterabell.substack.com
October 25, 2026 at 10:42 AM
The constitutional issue was lost in a welter of policy issues, primarily to do with the economy.
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-wonks-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-wonks-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
It is difficult to find anything new to say about the constitutional issue—which is my main interest—when nothing much has happened for twelve years.
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-curren... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-curren... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The currency thing
Normally, a headline such as ‘New plan calls for Scottish pound from day one of independence’ would not hold any interest for me.
peterabell.substack.com
October 24, 2026 at 11:24 AM
It is difficult to find anything new to say about the constitutional issue—which is my main interest—when nothing much has happened for twelve years.
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-curren... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-curren... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The Scotland Office is the British state scent-marking what it regards as its territory. It is a symbolic imperialist presence. A daily reminder of Scotland's subordinate status in a grotesquely asymmetric political union.
www.thenational.scot/politics/266... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
www.thenational.scot/politics/266... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Paul Kavanagh: Honestly, what is the point of the Scotland Office anymore?
AFTER a vote at the SNP conference to abolish the Scotland Office and the post of secretary of state for Scotland, the Welsh Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams called for both the Scotland and Wale...
www.thenational.scot
October 21, 2026 at 12:45 PM
The Scotland Office is the British state scent-marking what it regards as its territory. It is a symbolic imperialist presence. A daily reminder of Scotland's subordinate status in a grotesquely asymmetric political union.
www.thenational.scot/politics/266... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
www.thenational.scot/politics/266... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Whether Scotland is a colony or is merely being treated as such by the British state, what we must do remains the same. We must act as if we have been colonised regardless of whether we are or are not.
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Lighbulb moment
A thought occurred to me as I was writing a response to a letter in The National from Hayden Kyle. The letter makes sobering arguments that the more easily pleased among the SNP membership would do we...
peterabell.substack.com
October 21, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Whether Scotland is a colony or is merely being treated as such by the British state, what we must do remains the same. We must act as if we have been colonised regardless of whether we are or are not.
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Whether Scotland is a colony or is merely being treated as such by the British state, what we must do remains the same. We must act as if we have been colonised regardless of whether we are or are not.
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #ScottishUDI #EndTheUnion
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #ScottishUDI #EndTheUnion
Lighbulb moment
A thought occurred to me as I was writing a response to a letter in The National from Hayden Kyle. The letter makes sobering arguments that the more easily pleased among the SNP membership would do we...
peterabell.substack.com
October 20, 2026 at 3:24 PM
Whether Scotland is a colony or is merely being treated as such by the British state, what we must do remains the same. We must act as if we have been colonised regardless of whether we are or are not.
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #ScottishUDI #EndTheUnion
peterabell.substack.com/p/lighbulb-m... #ScottishUDI #EndTheUnion
The SNP’s position is that we can choose whatever we want, so long as it’s something England-as-Britain doesn’t mind us having.
peterabell.substack.com/p/two-lies?r... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/two-lies?r... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Two lies
I’ve read the transcript of John Swinney’s conference speech. It reads like every conference speech by any SNP leader ever. There is a formula for these speeches, and this one has all the obligatory i...
peterabell.substack.com
October 19, 2026 at 11:21 AM
The SNP’s position is that we can choose whatever we want, so long as it’s something England-as-Britain doesn’t mind us having.
peterabell.substack.com/p/two-lies?r... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/two-lies?r... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Here we are, nearly 27 years into the devolution era, and only now is a splinter group within the self-styled ‘party of independence’ talking about setting up a Constitutional Convention.
peterabell.substack.com/p/no-horses-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/no-horses-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
No horses scared
I should have been writing about the Scottish Sovereignty Research Group (SSRG) conference today.
peterabell.substack.com
October 18, 2026 at 10:44 AM
Here we are, nearly 27 years into the devolution era, and only now is a splinter group within the self-styled ‘party of independence’ talking about setting up a Constitutional Convention.
peterabell.substack.com/p/no-horses-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/no-horses-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
If you ask permission, the asking necessarily implies that permission may be granted or withheld.
peterabell.substack.com/p/grating-co... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/grating-co... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Grating contradiction
When the SNP first started talking about our ‘right to decide’, I thought this was a promising sign.
peterabell.substack.com
October 15, 2026 at 2:06 PM
If you ask permission, the asking necessarily implies that permission may be granted or withheld.
peterabell.substack.com/p/grating-co... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/grating-co... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Politicians speak in glittering generalities much of the time. There is no substance behind the SNP’s lofty pronouncements.
peterabell.substack.com/p/being-gull... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/being-gull... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Being gulled
Does John Swinney imagine anybody other than mindless party loyalists won’t register the fact that he is now claiming the mandate he made conditional on the SNP winning a majority of seats in the 2026...
peterabell.substack.com
October 14, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Politicians speak in glittering generalities much of the time. There is no substance behind the SNP’s lofty pronouncements.
peterabell.substack.com/p/being-gull... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/being-gull... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Never let the independence movement forget this statement from the man who claims to speak for all of us.
#EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
#EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
October 13, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Never let the independence movement forget this statement from the man who claims to speak for all of us.
#EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
#EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Relying on the Section 30 process is probably the best example of the old thinking we might find.
peterabell.substack.com/p/first-thin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/first-thin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
First things first
Part three of a series on the route to independence
peterabell.substack.com
October 13, 2026 at 10:58 AM
Relying on the Section 30 process is probably the best example of the old thinking we might find.
peterabell.substack.com/p/first-thin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/first-thin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Now into three figures. I'm calling it a landmark.
openletter.earth/an-open-lett... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
openletter.earth/an-open-lett... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
October 11, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Now into three figures. I'm calling it a landmark.
openletter.earth/an-open-lett... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
openletter.earth/an-open-lett... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Scotland is caged in a political union we were dragged into more than three centuries ago by England, which had always regarded Scotland as both a weak point on its northern flank and a potential threat from that direction.
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-destin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-destin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
The destination
Part two of a series on the route to independence
peterabell.substack.com
October 12, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Scotland is caged in a political union we were dragged into more than three centuries ago by England, which had always regarded Scotland as both a weak point on its northern flank and a potential threat from that direction.
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-destin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/the-destin... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
If you want to argue that Scotland is not a colony, then you have to explain why only England-as-Britain is able to change the terms of the political union.
peterabell.substack.com/p/making-our... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/making-our... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Making our way
The first part of a series on the route to independence
peterabell.substack.com
October 11, 2026 at 10:19 AM
If you want to argue that Scotland is not a colony, then you have to explain why only England-as-Britain is able to change the terms of the political union.
peterabell.substack.com/p/making-our... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/making-our... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Swinney is openly admitting that while speaking and acting on behalf of the people of Scotland, he accedes to the alien doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.
peterabell.substack.com/p/giving-it-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/giving-it-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
Giving it all away
Oh look!
peterabell.substack.com
October 8, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Swinney is openly admitting that while speaking and acting on behalf of the people of Scotland, he accedes to the alien doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty.
peterabell.substack.com/p/giving-it-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI
peterabell.substack.com/p/giving-it-... #EndTheUnion #ScottishUDI