Indy needs to become a social movement if it is to succeed

So goes common conventional logic, with the sequitur that it will take a prolonged period in opposition with a profound effect in order for the SNP, in this case, to regenerate and renew itself in terms of ideas, strategy, policy and personnel.

Given the raison d’etre of the SNP is independence for Scotland, it would then seem that the campaign for independence has been kicked into the long grass of Scottish politics for some time to come. But at least when the SNP sorts itself out, so the logic again goes, those cudgels can at last be clasped again. The problem with this perspective is that it confines itself to seeing the SNP as a purely parliamentary party and a pretty cautious one at that. Of course, the SNP is first and foremost a parliamentary party. But it is only that. The consequence of this is that it cannot conceive of the campaign for independence as being outside those conservative confines.

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The corollary is that it cannot consider the campaign for independence as one of a social movement. It is easy to simply see this as an issue of losing control and ceding influence to others outside not just the SNP but also - as the leadership deems - the trusted and responsible parts of itself.

Yet, if the SNP as the still-leading party for independence were to learn some lessons from history, it would have then an ability to engage in some lateral thinking, more widely known, in common parlance, as "thinking outside the box". This is about much more than being prepared to work with other pro-independence political parties like Alba, the Scottish Green Party and Scottish Socialist Party. It is about much more than calling a constitutional or citizens’ convention.

But there are some barriers to doing so. Following the SNP’s "doing" on 4 July 4 and the prospect of yet another one in May 2026, the likes of ex-SNP MP, Tommy Sheppard, and new SNP MP, Seamus Logan, have started to discuss new strategies for gaining independence in the pages of The Herald’s sister newspaper, the National.

Though often thought provoking enough, such ruminations are limited by thinking in terms of a party and parliamentary project, namely, how to resuscitate the SNP as essentially the only political party that has the prospect of delivering independence.

The problem should be obvious. The SNP has had a nearly a decade of a double (Holyrood, Westminster) parliamentary membership mandate for Scotland after the referendum of 2014. Debates about seats versus vote share are immaterial as in any circumstance, Westminster will not play ball. Consequently, the power of argument has no argument of power.

This is where seeing the struggle for independence as an extra-parliamentary one comes into its own. If we cast our minds back to the greatest political advances in society, they do not come from parliament itself. Whether it be advances on union rights, women’s rights, gay rights, anti-racism, defeating the poll tax or protecting the environment, parliament was merely the last chink in the chain of the mechanical means by which legislative ends were gained.

The cause of independence is, thus, required to be much more than a campaign and more of a social movement. Movements campaign but they do more much more than that. They have a critical mass in quantitative and qualitative terms - what are called social forces - so that political parties in parliament then either willingly take up their demands or reluctantly respond to them. This is because with social weight, they change what is considered to be desirable and achievable. Today, we call this changing the narrative and framing the debate. So far, so good. If we recall Women for Independence and the Radical Independence Campaign in the run-up to the 2014 referendum, we can get some inkling of what a movement looks like. But these and other parts of the then movement for independence were clearly not enough to secure victory.

The Women for Independence group were active during the 2014 referendum campaign (Image: Newsquest)

There is now no movement for independence, merely various campaign groups that are in different states of decline. Even recent relatively well-attended demonstrations organised by All Under One Banner or Believe in Scotland do not change this because such demonstrations are one-day wonders which do not come from or feed back into a movement.

But the going gets a lot harder when it comes to creating or re-creating a movement for independence. First of all, some elementary questions need to be asked about what constitutes a social movement in terms of its size, diversity, political coherence and the depth and breadth of social embeddedness. This is crucial so that groups that mount campaigns are not confused with - or even substitute themselves for - social movements.

Then social movements must identify what specific grievances they are prosecuting. It is not enough for people just to be angry and for there to be discontent. These do not give direction and can easily dissipate. Grievances are points around which people can mobilise for their successful resolution.

Alongside this, social movements have what are known as "repertoires of contention", namely, their strategies and tactics for gaining leverage over their political opponents. This is about much more than demonstrating, marching or lobbying.

Critical to social movements are how their members and supporters put pressure upon others such as political parties while remaining autonomous of them. When an independence movement did exist, there was clearly a problem with the SNP.

The situation of the SNP being on the slide is that the space for an independent social movement for independence to come into being is possible, if not probable. Yet, the chances are that the same mistake will be made again.

Labour’s austerity 2.0 will create disillusionment. The danger is the SNP will take advantage of it to shoehorn the cause of independence back into itself as it argues independence via the SNP is the only way out of Westminster-imposed cuts.

Professor Gregor Gall is editor of A New Scotland: Building an Equal, Fair and Sustainable Society’ (Pluto Press, 2022, £14.99).