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Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

29 Mar, 14 tweets, 2 min read

I face a dilemma, and I am going to say from the outset that I do not want SNP supporters fashioning this into a tool to beat ALBA supporters and I do not want ALBA supporters doing the same - and that goes for all other yessers as well.

Last night I had cause to update the backers in the peoples action - and let me make this clear to the lord advocate and the advocate general - the idea that ordinary citizens don't have the right to ask reasonable questions of the court on matters regarding their own....

....parliament is the single most self-entitled, narcissistic, egomaniacal and ludicrous thing I have ever heard and I will defend to the death the right of the ordinary person to do so - because we're right - politicians work for us, not the other way around. And so do you!

I just needed to make that abundantly clear before I continued.

If it should transpire that we lose on standing (because this country is undemocratic) then election to Holyrood (and therefore being both the pursuer and a parliamentarian) would have had a seriously positive effect for the case. It just would. That's just fact.

Because of Albas announcement and AFI standing down I am now adrift, that plan B is dead. I'd hoped that ALBA might have adopted AFI candidates and Laterally ISP candidates as a show of unity, but I am almost sure that's a dead duck.

This now leaves me in a serious quandary. On one hand, I have sworn to protect the case at all costs. On the other, I have sworn to defend MAXtheYES and delivering a supermajority to enable what comes after a successful ruling in the case.

With no party to stand with so as to protect the maxtheyes strategy, I must now turn to the thought of "should I run as an independent". I have 24 hours to decide. It would, of course be different if registration could be considered after the hearing and ruling, but nope...

On one side I have standing down, not running, not competing against another yes party for the good of the cause but the detriment to the case and also the cause.

On the other side I have running as an independent. But betraying maxtheyes, but simultaneously having a positive effect for the case which has a positive effect for the cause if won.

With the announcement of ALBA, and AFI standing down (and I by no means blame ALBA by the way, they weren't to know) I find myself genuinely not knowing what to do and it isn't a nice feeling.

It doesn't matter which way I go, I end up betraying a personal value, or going against something I have believed in wholeheartedly.

There has been a lot of questions being fired at me about this since AFI's announcement (the eagle-eyed supporters of the case), and I just wanted to put it out there this is the quandary I face. Both have upsides and downsides for the movement (and myself)...

...some are more personal and catastrophic which I won't go into publicly. But ultimately circumstances as they are, I have A LOT of thinking to do.

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More from @MartinJKeatings

Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

@MartinJKeatings

31 Mar

For 22 years, politicians have failed to answer a simple question. When 10,000 ordinary people sought to have it answered, they proclaimed that only politicians should be allowed to answer the question they have failed to.

We live in a nation where the people are supposed to be sovereign. The literal definition of sovereignty is "where power is derived". Telling 10,000 people and their representative you don't have the right to ask a simple question about your own country is not respect...

...for that sovereignty. It's a statement that you believe yourself to be above the peoples right to ask questions - that's just a fact.

But then to use the tax base of those same people to waste time, money and energy...

Read 11 tweets

Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

@MartinJKeatings

31 Mar

Politicians make promises and often they break them. I don't. I made a promise to do everything I possibly can to protect the peoples action and to push for the voices of the 10,000 who backed it.

It's extremely easy to criticise when you're not in full possession of the facts, and trust me, if you were, your hair would probably curly. I've asked people to give me a better option. They haven't. I therefore must take the least bad option to try and protect the case.

I do note, however, that those who have used the case for electoral advantage over the past year seem deafly silent on this and have also failed to come up with an alternative. Or should I say have avoided doing so. Go figure.

Read 8 tweets

Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

@MartinJKeatings

31 Mar

To be clear - my primary message in Mid-Scotland and Fife is going to be this:

1. Vote SNP on the constituency ballot.
2. In each household place one vote to Alba and One to me as an independent.

So if there are 4 in a house. Thats 2 to ALBA and two to myself.

With a large enough swing of Yes Voters in Fife. That's more than enough to ensure the election of me and multiple ALBA candidates.

It's a strategy that while meaning I am standing in Mid-Scotland and Fife and so are alba, if yes supporters in the region step up to the plate - it will MAXtheYES.

Read 4 tweets

Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

@MartinJKeatings

30 Mar

My announcement today has annoyed people - and I want to be upfront and tell you I understand completely. I also want to be upfront and tell you it is that I tried and failed to find a win win option.

The only thing I could do, and which seems to be a recurring theme in the UK, is to select the least bad option.

There are those who will rightly say that my standing as an independent betrays the fact that AFI stood down or ISP stood down. And for some part of that, you're probably right. But when push comes to shove. My first promise was to the 10,000 backers of the #peoplesas30.

Read 20 tweets

Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

@MartinJKeatings

30 Mar

If there's one thing the peoples' action has taught me, it is that if you leave it to politicians, you'll be waiting 20 years for an answer and still not get one.

Then if you try to get that answer for yourself, you'll end up being told it's not for the people to ask reasonable questions of law about their parliament that politicians have continuously failed to answer.

Simultaneously, you'll be told that politicians love a good mandate - So that's what I am doing.

Read 13 tweets

Martin J Keatings #MK4PO

@MartinJKeatings

30 Mar

To be clear - i'm signalling my intention, if elected to stand as presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament. I'm doing it now to make clear my intent. An independent as PO means nobody from any yes party giving up their membership to become an independent to be PO.

That means no lost votes on the floor of parliament.

Secondly, and some might disagree, but I feel I have proven I can walk the fine line down the middle of party politics.

Thirdly, let's face it, that skill will come in handy because my impression is that parliament is definitely going to need a referee. And better it be a yesser than a unionist.

Read 8 tweets

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