Iain MacWhirter (writing in the Herald)

The current situation in Scotland is that we have a devolved assembly, the Scottish Government which is controlled by a minority SNP (Scottish National Party) administration. This means that the SNP run the Government (or Executive) but do not have an overall majority in the Holyrood parliament. The other political groupings in the Parliament are the Labour Party, Conservative Party, and the Scottish Green Party. Margo MacDonald is an independent MSP.

(logos of political parties active in Scotland which support normal powers ie independence)

Those parties which support normal national status for Scotland (Independence) are sometimes described as  'nationalist' however it should be noted that outwith the SNP few pro-independence people would be entirely happy with this term. 'Nationalist' actually merely means that they support self determination or national status for Scotland, however the unionists like to pretend that the SNP are some kind of racist nationalists, even though nothing could be further from the truth. There is of course a racist form of nationalism which is active in Scotland, British nationalism which in it's most extreme for is represented by the BNP (British National Party - a neo-fascist group led by Nick Griffen) which is characterised by xenophobia towards other nations and countries (also against non-white immigration)  and also harks back towards the lost days of the British empire. Such nationalism is of course of an imperialist type while the Scottish type has more in common with the post imperialist decolonisation which has freed numerous countries from British rule.

Most of the pro-independence parties are firmly on the political left (the SEP is the exception) although the SNP does include some individuals from the centre-right of politics. The SNP has always considered itself a 'broad church' and for many years was the only pro-independence party. All the nationalist political parties (which have achieved representation) and some who haven't yet (see below for a full list) are currently working together within the Independence Convention to come up with a coherent strategy to achieve independence. All the pro-independence parties are strongly anti-racist.

Progress within the convention has been slow but steady and it is increasingly obvious that a united campaign is the only chance to defeat the unionists.  The Convention had a highly impressive launch event on St Andrew's day last year and hopes are high. The fact that in addition to the established parties, a number of new pro-independence parties (see below) have been formed recently also shows the new diversity and strength of the independence movement. This diversity has been recognised by the Beith Speakers Club which organises regular public meetings with speakers from all the pro-independence organisations. The club offers a warm atmosphere and a decent buffet. Please contact John Johnstone for more information.

Another impressive addition to the independence scene has been the campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team C-Scot. This campaign has been going from strength to strength since it was launched last year and has been boosted by Scotland's strong performance in the recent Commonwealth games. According to independent polls paid for by the campaign a vast majority of Scots want their own Olympic team. Their website is well worth a look.

The independence referendum pressure group Independence First has also gained considerable support from across the traditional 'nationalist' political spectrum and beyond and IF's broad front approach should guarantee further growth in the next few years. Independence First was launched via an internet think tank after it was realised that post devolution pro-independence support was actually polling at a higher rate than the status quo.

Here is a video of Independence First's Edinburgh branch launch:

Independence First held two ambitious march and rallies on the 30th September 2006 and 31/03/2007 (see news page for more details). You can see photos of the first march here. IF launched an e-petition in advance of the 2006 march which received over 1300 signatures but was cynically rejected by the Scottish Parliament's public petitions committee on the 15th of November 2006. .

IF have recently initiated a 'one million votes for independence' campaign proposal and are currently sounding out other organisations and the political parties for their reaction. This follows research that suggests that one million pledges of support for independence (or one million actual votes in both the FPTP and PR elements of the election) would be sufficient to swing a future election in favour of the pro-independence parties. At this stage they are looking for suitably prominent writers and artists to back the campaign.

One million is a significant sum of votes but it is well within the reach of pro-independence supporters. In fact well over a million signatures were collected on a pro-home rule petition in the 1950's. This petition was rejected out of hand by the British establishment however and increasingly independence campaigners are realising that only activity within Scotland will actually materially contribute towards independence. Post-devolution, any attempts to influence Westminster are increasingly seen as a total waste of time and effort.   

For technical statistics and a seat by seat breakdown of election results check out this site. For a guide to each of the parties, see below:

Pro-Independence parties (support normal national Status for Scotland)

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Scottish Green Party (SGP)

Scottish Socialist Party (SSP)

Free Scotland Party (FSP)

Scottish Enterprise Party (SEP)

Communist Party of Scotland (CPS)

Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement

Other Organisations which Support Independence

Independence First

Scottish Independence Convention

Others 

Unionists (support the current British union)

Labour

Conservatives

Liberal Democrats

Others