A Scottish political fable: Animal Farm seems alive and well in today's political climate, at least according to this facebook reviewer whose name I have not used as I have no desire to get them into even more trouble.

I am reminded as I write this of the famous book by George Orwell called ‘Animal Farm’.

Having gotten rid of their human masters the animals of Manor Farm look forward to a life of freedom and plenty. But as a clever ruthless elite amongst them takes control, the other animals find themselves hopelessly ensnared in the old ways.

Now this book may be fable but it has proved hopelessly prophetic with me recently.

I have been a member of a political party who shall remain nameless, as will the name of my branch who are the problem.  The political party itself is not the issue, although some more or indeed any assistance from central office would have been very helpful.

I strongly believe in independence for Scotland and therefore after the referendum campaign I decided to join a political party. However I wish I had never bothered as it has almost demolished all the positivity and optimism that was instilled by the Yes campaign.

  

Details and names have been changed to protect those involved for good or ill. However getting this information out in to the public domain has become increasingly important as the future of a country is at stake and the goings on I describe are undermining that very aim. If by sheer fluke someone from the branch in question of the political party in question actually see themselves in this blog post then if they are one of the wrongdoers, of which there are unfortunately plenty, perhaps they will see the light and change their behaviour. It has become impossible to change it from within so it seems it must come from outside. So here goes...

In Yes referendum campaign in our rural area we cooperated as a team where none of us were in particular charge. We had a large rural area to cover - therefore had better and more important things to do than squabble and try to get one up on each other. We were volunteering and doing so selflessly. We wanted to bring people in, not exclude them, as the more people we had the more we could achieve, as we believed the more democratic involvement the better. We were fighting to bring Government closer to the people. True, we ultimately may have had an improvement in our circumstances through the achievement of Scottish independence. But it was never about the people involved or their promotion and was never personal, and importantly was not seen as a career move. It was about a belief that things could get better and we were going to do everything possible to achieve that aim.

I have been involved in party politics before in another party but had ultimately left as I found it difficult to promote a number of policies with which I disagreed whilst still agreeing with the general stated aims of the organisation in question. In branch members comments and suggestions were respected and reasonable discussions ensued. I can never recall a raised voice. So I returned to party politics with a little hesitation as the problems with particular policies still persist but I did not expect what I got.

Initially my branch appeared to continue the high standards exhibited during the Yes campaign but very quickly by late 2014 the first signs of jostling for positions reared their head. Who was going to stand for Westminster? Who was going to be on the branch committee? Who was going to stand for Holyrood? Then the blatant self promoters reared their heads and very quickly multiplied as they saw that they might get power and influence. Then the people who were not elected to the positions they wanted started sniping at those who had been elected and the whole thing just deteriorated.

We have had new members leaving in disgust after only a few meetings.Rather than getting welcomed some were mentioned by the sniping committee members and felt extremely uncomfortable and therefore understandably didn’t want to be a part of this. At least up here there were other members to care for these people, understand their upset, and commiserate even if they could not directly help. If this goes on in other places then I hope there will be similar caring people around.

One person in my branch takes the biscuit for sniping as he has made it almost an art form. We shall call him Fred (no disrespect to any real Freds out there). How I thought this Fred was ever on the same planet as me I don’t know. I wish he wasn’t on mine.  Fred was on the committee but resigned in a strop over something and nothing (the exact details of why or what are a mystery are are unimportant). Obviously deciding he had made a mistake (he has form for resigning in a strop having done so several times already) each meeting Fred now makes a point of sitting amongst his clique and snipes at everything the person who got his previous position is doing and a few other people besides (basically anybody he doesn’t like). People like Fred are the gift that keeps giving for those whom politics is an anathema. He makes our branch an anathema. I cannot believe I respected this person at one stage. Many times the things being queried are actually because the new person in the position is unaware of what to do. However of course Fred relished this opportunity for promoting how good he was and how rubbish the new person was. It is all sickening and his behaviour is appalling but is symptomatic of the way the branch conducts itself.

So we move on to a typical branch meeting.

I went along and what I witnessed will live long in my memory unfortunately. It was a particularly lousy evening for the time of year which unfortunately translated to what was about to pass. Once again Fred and his clique were going to disrupt yet another meeting and they had quite clearly planned what was to happen in advance. The storm clouds gathered in the hall. This was to be a vulgar/desperate attempt to oust a member of the committee who we shall call Seamus. Fred argued that Seamus should apologise for a facebook thread which he said was very critical of the convenor, although the convenor was not mentioned by name. The fellow conniver, who we shall call Arthur, continued to verbally attack Seamus and received a warning from the chair to calm down. The chair asked if a complaint had already been submitted to HQ to which Fred agreed and said he had sent a complaint to HQ already. Fred then walked to the chair to hand over a brown envelope. The chair put his hand out to collect it but Fred instead threw the envelope onto another committee member’s desk! It was a letter containing a proposal for a special meeting to discuss the facebook thread in question with a view to deselecting Seamus. The discussion moved from the floor to office bearers and one person from the floor said the chair had to take control of the meeting. It was agreed that the facebook thread would be read out in its entirety – forget foodbanks, destitution, welfare cuts – this was what mattered to this branch more than anything as it involved them and their positions as opposed to folk who actually need assistance and desperately so. One minor committee member (in a relationship with another one in pivotal position) tried desperately to argue that the facebook thread was mysogynist! This view didn’t wash with the membership and real anger started to develop. The minor committee member and another committee member were very angry and animated and mumbled various comments. Arthur was again becoming very agitated and received another warning to calm down. At this stage the microphone was being passed around by those against Seamus. Eventually Seamus (who had his hand up for a long time and understandably wished to speak) received the microphone and under the circumstances skilfully kept his cool whilst under serious pressure. He acknowledged what had been said but challenged his accusers and stood his ground in a civil way. At this point Arthur was off his seat and his face bright red with fury whilst being very animated and pointing his fingers. He was standing only a few yards from the treasurer, who had indicated felt intimidated at a previous branch meeting, although she did throw a few angry mumbles out herself exactly the opposite to what she was arguing in the last meeting. At this point the Chair gave Arthur a third and final warning that if he did not calm down he would have to leave the building!The minutes of this meeting do not illustrate the Arthur episode, as after argument at a subsequent meeting they were voted through even although they were incomplete or wrong. Seamus being vilified was unsurprisingly fully included.

Seamus by any measure was subjected to a bitter vile bullying/abusive and intimidation ordeal backed up by some office bearers who have themselves lost the plot! This was ugly and vulgar to observe and if it was to occur in a public place would probably have resulted in a law suit or prosecution for intimidation. Seamus was persecuted that evening and humiliated by both branch members and members of the executive and regardless of what the facebook page was about this was totally unacceptable! 

With regards to the subject of facebook messages, I can say quite easily that the thread read out was nothing in comparison to what I have read, many from whom were doing the accussing on that particular evening. The very fact that members of the branch are lurking around looking for negatives is quite disgraceful and would shame any organisation least of all one which is voluntary by its nature and is meant to be force for good.

And then we come to our most recent branch meeting and my last. A reasonable proposal was put forward to discuss politics in our meetings. Never at any stage is there a platform for discussing real issues like poverty, redistribution of wealth, independence or indeed anything else worthwhile discussing. Given that this is actually the reason that we are all meant to be there you would have thought that this plan would be given immense support. It would also be an infinitely more positive thing to spend time on, rather than constant tiny internal branch matters, and Fred’s continual sniping. Well the democratic answer was a big fat NO. Presumably due to the fact that the person who proposed this reasonable measure is not a member of the ruling elite of the branch, it was voted down. Plus it was also dressed up to be something entirely different in the agenda i.e. additional time at these meetings which have become so burdensome given their content. So it has been officially decided that in a political party branch, politics is not actually to be discussed. Or at least until one of the in crowd suggest it perhaps?

In order to sort out the contention regarding the minutes another reasonable proposal was put forward to make an audio recording of the proceedings. This too was voted down, as to quote Arthur 'he wants to be able to say things in the meetings which he does not necessarily want recorded'. Tell us something we don't know Arthur. Never a truer word?You would never have gotten away with what you did in conjunction with Fred and co if things had been recorded.

Self promotion is all very well if it is for the good of the organisation and you need to have some degree of this to stand for election. However when that detracts from the operation of the organisation, is in direct conflict with it as has quite clearly been the case on a few occasions, or there are witch hunts against certain people who are perfectly able, but just not liked by certain people all ready in positions of power, then your organisation is ultimately doomed. Gone is inclusion. Now my branches actions show they consider it good to exclude and make a misery of those that don’t agree that you should be allowed to promote yourself or your clique, or indeed if you say anything out of line at all.

The pomposity, stupidity and arrogance of the ruling elite in our branch are achieving what they want which is what makes it so sad. They will indeed get all the positions as there will be nobody else left. The people who attended branch meetings, who were the selfless activists are drifting away demoralised and humiliated. The people who are being lost are those who were not in it for selfish means – they actually still believe in the original aim and still want to achieve it.

I am reminded how ‘Animal Farm’ ends.

“Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

I want Scottish independence for the same reasons I did before. Our distance from Westminster means we are ignored except if there is something of advantage to be gained by those in power in London by making a pretence of listening. Now however the fact that the politicians that the people elect will be within closer kicking distance is something which I consider high on the list of priorities, particularly if the people elected are of the stature of those self promoters and sniping miseries in my own branch (whose members have been compared to a nest of vipers more than once) of which I am ashamed to say I remain tentatively but most definitely not an active member. However I shall continue to chunter away with blogging and facebook in the hope that independence will come around one day. 

I want these meanderings to be a reminder to the people now active in politics in Scotland and in other countries around the world. Don't forget who you are meant to be serving. Now let me get back outside in the farmyard where I belong.

Written by a disgruntled political party member in rural Scotland who wishes to remain anonymous.

The story continues...
 http://thefreescott.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/a-scottish-political-fable-continues.html