by James Kelly

Pete Wishart

The fatal problem with Pete Wishart’s manifesto for ultra-caution can be reduced to a single word – “certainty”. The last British governor of Hong Kong wryly observed in the 1990s that the incoming Chinese communist authorities were not totally opposed in principle to democratic elections being held in the territory, just so long as they knew the results in advance. It’s not really much of an exaggeration to suggest that is essentially Pete’s position on the holding of a referendum prior to 2021 – he would be in favour of it just so long as he knows for “certain” that Yes will win before it is even called. You might as well say that you’re in favour of a holiday in Tiree next August as long as you can be absolutely sure the sun will shine that week. What’s particularly troubling is that, for Pete, the certainty principle doesn’t seem to even end at the next Holyrood election. Regardless of when the indyref is held, he believes a second defeat would kill the independence movement for good (a thoroughly dubious contention), and that a vote should therefore never be called until victory is already assured. That is, indeed, a recipe for never holding a referendum at all – not within the next couple of years, not in ten years’ time, and not in fifty.