Scotland is a nation without a state, and during its seven hundred years of history, the desire to found a Scottish state has always existed in one form or another. This essay began as an attempt to describe and comment on Scottish Nationalism as a movement in the United Kingdom. Instead, it has developed into a piece on one of the most influential separatist groups in Scotland, namely the Scottish National Party or SNP as it will be referred to throughout this essay. The SNP does not enter Scotland's long history until the Second World War, but the events leading to its formation are very important in understanding the political climate in Scotland today. Therefore, the discussion briefly reflects on pre twentieth century Scotland and how it pertains to Scotland's current political role and stature in Great Britain. Many similarities can be drawn between the modern day SNP and previous attempts at forming a national party in Scotland. This is yet another reason why a brief mention of Scottish history can be beneficial to the topic at hand. From this point on, the focus of the essay reverts to the creation, rise, and accomplishments of the SNP dur

In 1988, Labour proposed a Scotland Bill in their election campaign which inspired talk among the two parties that there was room for some kind of union between them. Gordon was very supportive of this idea and so was his traditional rival in the party Jim Sillars. The two worked together in convincing the rest of the parties members to support the union. One the SNP's demands was that the bill reflect the assertion of the sovereignty of the Scottish people and a commitment to a multi option referendum allowing for a choice of independence, devolution, or satisfaction with the status quo. This is an incredibly open and honest choice by the party. A referendum that allows the Scottish people to choose the level of autonomy if any at all is incredibly responsible to representing the views of all Scots. As an abstract, compare this type of referendum to the one poised by the PQ government in Quebec. In this case a yes or no type question was asked and furthermore the question was incredibly ambiguous. The PQ government was only interested in one outcome. Clearly the SNP was simply interested in the will of the people. Anyway, the SNP did not get all its demands but it did get a commitment to a multi option referendum. In spite of this major victory the party voted to not join the Labour party as a last minute shift in its position. The Convention would go ahead anyway without the input of the SNP. On March 30, 1989 the Convention held its first meeting and the only groups absent were the Unionist Conservatives and the SNP. In the author's opinion, this was a bad decision on the part of the SNP. To think that the greatest convention for Scottish independence ever held to date would not have representation by Scotland's chief nationalist political party is absurd and a large disappointment. The SNP had taken a gamble that the Scottish people wanted more than simple Home Rule. This gamble did pay off in some respects.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Home Rule, National Council, SNP Despite, World War, Party Scotland, Jim Sillars, Nationalist MP's, Labour Party, England SNP=s, McIntyre MacCormick, home rule, national party, labour party, scottish people, scottish home rule, scottish home, scottish national, party scotland, scottish national party, scottish nationalism, national party scotland, prime minister, popular vote, multi option referendum, multi party effort,
Approximate Word count = 4718
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page double spaced)