JK Rowling: the SNP are not bad wizards trying to turn the English into frogs

I disagree totally with JK Rowling's stance that the SNP contains anti-English sentiments. As Twitter users pointed out to her, the movement is pro-self-determination not anti-other-countries.

It's also fair game to point out that Scotland entered into a partnership with England (the "Union") and now feel that we're not getting a good deal from that partnership. But that's an anti-Westminster feeling because it's them that call the shots, not the everyday folks of England.

During the indyref, there was also the English Scots for YES group:

They were welcomed with open arms by the wider YES movement. Their inclusion summed up perfectly what was happening in the minds of Yessers - it was all about Scotland and what was best for Scotland.

Yet there are still people who feel that the movement was really about hating England. I'm not entirely sure if JK falls into this group or not. She claims she has good friends who are SNP members but she is becoming as famous for her stories about anti-English sentiment within the SNP as for her stories about wizards.

I've never met JK and wish her all the best. But perhaps she should consider if it's her own attitude that is inviting negative comments and not her English background. It's easy to say your are being mistreated purely as a result of being black or of being a woman or of being gay or of being ginger or of being disabled or of being this or of being that and so we could all go on.

But sometimes you get treated in a less than respectful way because of your own personality. It's much more difficult to accept people don't like you because they don't like the way you conduct yourself and the views you express. That would mean you'd have to reflect on what you've been doing and why you've been doing it. Much easier to believe you're perfect and blame others for not liking you because there is something wrong with them - like being racist.

Again, I don't know JK and have never met her.

But sticking your head above the parapet to smear a movement with claims that it is racist is going to provoke a response from even the most saintliest of people.

I encourage JK to analyse her own attitudes to the independence movement and consider whether it's time she changed them. The SNP are not bad wizards trying to turn the English into frogs - they are good people doing their best to make their country prosper. Shouting racist at them doesn't really help.


If you want an alternative to boy wizard books, try my politics-science fiction one. It's only 25,000 words so could be read in an afternoon. It's main focus is really a man in his 50s who goes back in time to meet himself in his 20s to try and convince him to change his ways but without revealing he's himself. Of course, it all goes horribly wrong...

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