There are some days in your life, when your world turns upside down. A day, when everything you thought you believed in disappears in almost the blink of an eye.
It was a day for decisions, hard ones. A day to stand on Principles.
Principles I knew would perhaps lose me friends, but I wasn’t sure which ones!
Thursday was such a day.
Principles and integrity are very important to me, that is why I choose my friends wisely.
A rift has opened up within the Unity party, it is not my intention to go into a lot of details, because whatever I say will by its very nature be deemed as justifying the actions of one side or the other.
First, let me answer a Q. Do I regret promoting The Alliance to Liberate Scotland?
The answer is simple…..NO, I DO NOT.
My blog has always been neutral, apart from criticism of our governing Party. Nor did I ever criticise Alba!
Sadly, over the past few days the ground has shifted and being one of the co-founder members of the ISP and on the executive, I have had to stand back and take stock.
I have listened, read accounts of the happenings, and yes I have cried as I saw the walls of unity come tumbling down.
Each account was obviously given through raw emotion.
For me personally, it was not about personalities, but rather about the process of how some decisions were made.
In any Alliance trust and respect matter. And when you are in such an alliance each party must, in my opinion be aware of how the ripples of their decisions may affect the other stakeholders.
Whatever happens going forward, I trust Independence will remain at the top of the agenda for all concerned.
Let us be mindful of our words on SM……Karma has a habit of biting back. There’s been a crack, let’s not make it a chasm.
The ISP has made a statement, a decision was made and I endorse it. But it only leaves me with an overwhelming sense of sadness.
The experiment in Unity did work, it was the rules…..the Westminster rules, that changed the dynamics.
Party politics may have returned but we still need to unite around Independence.
This is the only flag that matters…….
JOAN’S JOURNEY CONTINUES 
With you, all the way. You speak to truth and thanks for that. Kind regards, David
Sent from my Galaxy
THIS is what and always has been missing in our fight for independence , INTEGRITY , WHY is the movement infested with self serving self aggrandising individuals who spout continuously about unity but their idea of unity is only acceptable when they DICTATE what shape that unity will take
TBQH I had great hopes when ATLS was launched and it appeared that sanity had at last made an appearance , but as usual the narcissists always believe that they know best and will not accept any challenge to their authority
I have been called a BLOOD AND SOIL NATIVIST on numerous occasions , a term I am proud to be associated with and thank my ancestors for spilling their blood on Scottish soil so that our country can exist , I am sick of our politicians bestowing the term NEW SCOTS on any Tom Dick or Harriet that deigns to set foot in our country , do Aboriginal , Maori , Inuit , First Nation Americans or any other indigenous people’s value their ancestry or culture with so little respect that they are desperate to anoint anyone from anywhere as NEW SCOTS
The founders of ATLS promised publicly and repeatedly that the ONLY policy that mattered and would be adhered to was “INDEPENDENCE Nothing Less , Nothing Else” and as I previously commented on your blog Joan , I asked Allan Petrie and Roddy McLeod to stop promoting immigration on TASP and Barrhead Boy as that could possibly alienate future independence voters who disagreed with open borders , and that was NOT Independence Nothing Less , Nothing Else
I was immediately called a RACIST a term which everyone knows is used in an attempt to SILENCE any dissension or challenge , so much for new beginnings and hope , it appears our new politicians are just a new version of our old politicians where they know best what the people want without asking them , and any disagreement or dissension is rounded on
INDEPENDENCE Nothing Less , Nothing Else , which I posted endlessly on twitter and elsewhere accompanied by , vote ATLS for HONESTY , INTEGRITY and DIRECT DEMOCRACY made sense , because it then enabled the electorate the opportunity to hold a referendum on numerous things including immigration , but Allan , Roddy and others were lying when they promoted that meme , they were waiting on their chance to promote their own pet projects
I am so sad and disappointed that once again certain people’s narcissism has destroyed any unity that could have had a positive impact on independence
I thank you Joan for your endeavours