Joanna Cherry: I’ve quit the SNP and I’m ashamed of them

[IwantToRetire]

After years of fighting off attempts by transgender rights activists to oust her from the party as an MP, she reveals that she voluntarily gave up her party membership late last year.

“As I was writing this book, I realised I’ve become absolutely disgusted by the SNP, and ashamed of being a member. It doesn’t mean I don’t support independence — I still do. I didn’t resign publicly because I may rejoin at some point in the future, but I made it clear that if I was asked whether I am still a member, I will tell the truth.”

Full article at https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/joanna-cherry-former-snp-mp-kc-interview-hs76p8cg5

Also at https://archive.is/cxISP

Sorry if already posted. Having so many problems with MN freezing have no idea what is going on!

Like so many of us.

I have too. So has DH. But unfortunately since people up here appear to not really pay attention and be pretty stuck in their ways of who they vote for, we are going to be stuck with the SNP for a long time.

I try, I really do try, to talk to people and show them what's been going on, most people are just not interested in politics and don't see how it impacts them day to day. I'm in a parent's group about education and ASN and the number of them blaming the UK government for issues when I keep pointing out it is SNP policy, to no avail. I used to believe, I used to cheer for them, campaign, paid money (I'm assuming it's gone now, maybe on that campervan), voted YES in 2014, but seeing the way Nicola sturgeon first turned on Alex salmond then women's rights was awful. Not that I was a massive fan of Alex salmond either, but the whole thing stunk to high heaven at the time and I was horrified seeing how the women's rights etc started playing out. Must have been hard for Joanna Cherry seeing it from the inside and not being able to stop it. Or trying to stop it and being bullied and shunned. It is a mind virus.

Joanna Cherry is too good for them. Bunch of chancers. I wish her well.

For some one supposedly so intelligent why did she hang on in with this ghastly crew for so long and why is she still banging the separatist drum?

I think this hits the nail on the head and is a huge problem. People being really stuck in their ways and voting for a party based on who they THINK they stand for, rather than what they actually do. Not just Scotland, everywhere. We should all read the manifestos and look at what they've actually done. Watch the hands, don't just listen to the patter.

I think many people just dont understand, and it still persists, that many who thought that Labour was originally a "good thing" and continue to support it because it once may have been.

And even if its policies are good (do they really have any?) the way the party functions is so manipulative, disfunctionally, factionalised, mean spirited, and in some instances down right harmful, this nostalgia for the myth of the Labour Party persists.

Its just hard to fathom.

Even prior to the trans invasion I know many women who were (and maybe still are) in the Labour Party having a really shit time, but could not or would not leave.

Very, very strange.

I think this has a lot to answer for so many issues around the world.

I turned from SNP over the way they approached the trans issue (chucking women under the bus in favour of a superficially ‘progressive’ policy).

But my antipathy has been reinforced by their education policies and turning a blind eye to the huge rise in violence in schools (chucking children under the bus in favour of a superficially ‘progressive’ policy).

Either of these issues could be addressed equitably if they were approached dispassionately, calmly, sensibly and if they were well-funded.

But no - the SNP is so desperate to look progressive and Scandi and ‘not UK’, that it grasps at a policy for headlines only and then fucks it up with devastating consequences for so many.

At best, this makes the SNP seem stupid. At worst, coldly calculating that they can manipulate an electorate that THEY view as a stupid.

The people who vote for them are why they do it: blinded by the headline and not prepared to explore deeper.

Same reason why America voted for Trump.

was originally a "good thing"and continue to support it because it once may have been.

The separatist movement was never a good thing. It is founded on the basis of small minded, petty grievance holding, pursuing a made up narrative of Scottish exceptionalism and at its worst veering into racism and bigotry.

I agree. I find lifelong support of any party problematic. It means people stop holding them to account. I go into every election period with an open mind - I have no loyalty to any party, they have to work for my vote every time.