In 1975, Christopher Hitchens travelled to Perth to write about the Scottish National Party’s annual conference for the New Statesman. His report contains much that will be familiar to contemporary readers: a European referendum, opposition parties in “disarray” at the Nationalist advance and, inevitably, ideological divisions. On the final point, Hitchens was withering. “Of course they [the SNP] are wildly opportunist,” he wrote, “with a ‘something for everyone’ strategy that reminds one of a chameleon trying to blend itself into a tartan rug.” He observed, however, that disagreements were “carefully handled and concealed”. If he were covering this year’s conference, which began on Thursday, he might have reached the same conclusion, because the “Chameleon on a tartan rug” (the headline of his piece for the NS) is alive and well.
Most political parties are broad churches but the SNP’s congregation is more diverse than most. It includes traditionalists, socialists, liberals and neoliberals, most of whom possess a feeling of moral superiority. But what binds them even more closely is the “National Question”. Since the 1980s the SNP has classified itself as “centre-left” or “social-democratic” – terminology that used to provoke furious debates at conference – but seldom examines what it means to any coherent degree. “No one talks about it,” says Alex Bell, who was head of policy for the SNP government between 2010 and 2013. “The first rule of the SNP is don’t talk policy. There’s a silent pact.”
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