Alex Massie Alex Massie

Scottish Nationalists have become Masters of Doublethink

Let’s be fair, however, UKIP have not cornered the market in weirdness. One of the odder elements of the Scottish independence campaign is the manner in which so many Yes voters deny being nationalists: I support independence but please don’t make the mistake of thinking me a nationalist. I only support nationalist aims, like. 

I suppose this is just about tenable if you are a member of the Green party or if you swim in one of the Yes campaign’s other minor tributaries but it’s a mighty rum thing to hear from members of the SNP.

Which brings us to Pete Wishart, member of parliament for Perth and North Tayside. The other day he tweeted that he has “Never much cared for any ‘nationalisms’ whether Scottish, British or Whateverish.” The referendum, he insisted, was only “about democracy”.

An ordinary citizen might think this a curious thing for a member of the Scottish National Party to say.

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