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In a recent conversation with a dear friend of mine, politics came up. I have known this man most of my life. We have similar political perspectives. We are employed in very similar fields; in fact, this man is almost identical to me, as many have noted, except he is English and I, Scottish.

As we discussed the state of the nation, he turned to me, and with a sigh, said: "I've really had enough of all this bitterness, it may just be for the best for Scotland to go". This man is not in any way a nationalist, far from it. Still, he has become a thriving subject in the SNP's ventures into foreign policy.

The launch of a new political party can be explosive. When viewed with hindsight, such events can be seen to have defined a political era. The 1981 launch of the SDP, for example, represents a time when the UK electorate sought a halfway house between merciless Thatcherite market reform and stubborn, electorally toxic hard-left Labour ideology.

That said, the launch this week of Reform UK Scotland is unlikely to take up more than a couple of lines in the annals of Scotland’s political history. Its leader, former Conservative MSP for the South Scotland region Michelle Ballantyne, is altogether more interesting than her new party.

A curious paradox is occurring within the SNP and the broader Separation movement. The more secession becomes impractical, and even prohibitively so, the more they are determined to talk about it. 

The SNP have failed to stop Brexit. Their alternative offers even more disruption. Their vaccination policy is lagging behind other parts of the UK, even though they claim the opposite. The COVID payouts they are responsible for have failed to materialise; the E.U. has rebutted their advances and their prized First Minister, their only person of note, is facing a civil war and a fight for her political existence.

The Scexit Files: The Herald, February 2028

Not since independence have ministers been so upbeat. The spike in second thoughts has continued to spread across Scotland, but finally the long-awaited Anti-Unionist vaccine (ANTI-U 27) has been given emergency approval by regulators. 

Officials welcomed the announcement. “As we have said repeatedly, the Scottish government has always followed the ideology,” a spokesperson insisted. “But now I am pleased to say we have five million doses of hope.”  

When? It’s the perpetual separatist question. A question that seeps from every utterance. When will our ‘independence’ come? When will we be ‘free’? When will we get a second referendum?

I was asked recently, when I believe it is the right time to hold a second referendum and I gave it some thought. I said that I didn’t believe it should be this year or, for that matter, this decade. Perhaps after then?

Hi, welcome to my review of The Majority's highlights of 2020, AKA The year of staying at home and arguing with people on the internet.

In May, after seeing the frustration and anger of NO voters, as the SNP continued to defy the 2014 referendum result and the lack of effective opposition, I decided to start The Majority.

I contacted Ian Lakin (@HighlandChief) through Twitter, to ask advice on my plan to create a new anti-Nationalist media. To my surprise and everlasting gratitude, he gave me a donation to get started. Soon after, I started The Majority Twitter account and was again surprised when Maureen Johnson (@Maureen6Johnson) tweeted in support.

For those who, unfortunately, spend their time trawling through the endless toxic abuse and conspiracy theories that make up secessionist Twitter, you may have, aside from the usual whataboutery and false comparisons, noticed a common retort to questions on how exactly a separated Scotland would establish its organs of state.

Many of these supposed “examples” reference the nations which were established after the collapse of the USSR between 1989 and 1992. A period of turmoil, economic collapse, uncertainty and even bloody warfare in many parts of the former union, the scars of which are still keenly felt in places such as Armenia, Azerbaijan or Tajikistan.  

The Scexit Files : (Scottish Review of Books, 20th Dec. 2030)

“Bloody humbuggery!” muttered McScrooge as the lights flickered ominously. Rob McCratchit, his so-called ‘special advisor,’ had taken a day off and now – dammit – the Finance Minister had to write his own seasonal message.

‘Happy Scotsmas to one and all …’

Crivvens!! Stuck already. Where the hell was McCratchit when you really needed him? Sighing deeply, McScrooge rested his leaden head against the monitor until his thoughts drifted onto …