Scottish National Liberation Army

Last updated
Scottish National Liberation Army
Also known asTartan Terrorists
Dates of operation1980 (1980)–present (present)
Country Scotland
Ideology Scottish nationalism
Scottish republicanism
Scottish independence
Major actions Letter bombs, arson
Allies Scottish Freedom Party (political wing)

The Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA), nicknamed the Tartan Terrorists, is a militant group which aims to bring about Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. The SNLA has been condemned by the UK government. [1] The group was reportedly founded in 1980 by Adam Busby, a former soldier from Paisley after the 1979 devolution referendum, which the organisation claims was fixed.

Contents

History

Formation

The SNLA was founded by Adam Busby, a former soldier who served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1980. [2] [3] The organisation was formed in the wake of the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum, [4] which despite resulted in the majority of voters (51.6%) supporting the establishment of a devolved parliament in Scotland, this never came to fruition as there was only a 64% voter turnout, with the Yes vote representing only 32.9% of registered voters in the referendum, which did not meet the requirements for at least 40% of voters voting in favor, per the Scotland Act 1978. [5] Busby felt that this outcome called for a more forceful approach towards achieving independence. [4]

Activity

In 1982, The SNLA claimed responsibility for numerous bombing incidents and arson attacks, which included a firebomb attack at a Conservative party headquarters located in Glasgow, and the delivery of a letter bomb to the Scottish Social Democratic Party headquarters in Edinburgh, although the bomb was defused upon discovery by office staff. [2]

In 1983, letter bombs were sent to Diana, Princess of Wales, and to then-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher. [3] The device sent to Thatcher was posted to a hotel located in North London, where a Conservative Party Conference was due to take place, and was discovered and opened by parliamentarian Robert Key, but there was no explosion. [3] Busby fled to Dublin in 1983 after the letter-bombing campaign; he was jailed in connection with that campaign in 1997. [3]

In 1993, Andrew McIntosh was jailed for 12 years for conspiring to coerce the government into setting up a separate government in Scotland. The High Court in Aberdeen heard McIntosh had masterminded a campaign of disruption and fear which included placing bombs outside oil industry offices and sending letter bombs to the Scottish Office in Edinburgh. McIntosh served six years and was released in 1999. He died in 2004 after being arrested on firearms charges. [6]

In 2002, Cherie Blair became a target of a renewed campaign by the SNLA when she was sent an anonymous parcel containing a vial that was crudely labelled as containing 'Massage Oil', but which on investigation proved to contain caustic acid. In addition, a renewed letter bomb campaign was waged against Scottish politicians, parcels were recovered after a man claiming to be from the SNLA made an anonymous phone call to the police at London's Scotland Yard. Professor Paul Wilkinson opined at the time: "The SNLA has surfaced from time to time." [7] Meanwhile, in 2006 it was reported that Busby may be targeted for extradition to the United States to face terror charges following a series of e-mails to the country about how to contaminate US water supplies. [1]

In January 2008 two men, Wayne Cook and Steven Robinson were convicted in Manchester of sending miniature bottles of vodka contaminated with caustic soda and threatening to kill English people 'with no hesitation or compunction' by poisoning the country's water supply, echoing a previous threat in 2006. The accompanying letters were signed 'SNLA'. Cook and Robinson were each sentenced to six years for these offences. [8]

In June 2009, Adam Busby Jr., the son of the SNLA founder, was jailed for 6 years for sending a total of 6 packages to various political figures, including First Minister Alex Salmond, Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles and Glasgow City Council. The packages contained shotgun cartridges and threatening notes. Police linked the crimes to Busby after calls made to journalists claiming SNLA responsibility for the actions were traced to his mobile phone. [9]

In July 2010 Adam Busby Sr. was sentenced by an Irish court to four years in jail after being convicted in June 2010 of making hoax bomb threats against transatlantic flights. [10]

Associated organisations

The Scottish Freedom Party (SFP) has been described as the political wing of the SNLA. The SFP and John MacLean Society were formed in 1995 by former members and supporters of the SNLA. Both groups want to reverse English immigration into Scotland and promote Scottish Gaelic as the country's national language. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devolution</span> Granting of some competences of central government to local government

Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories have the power to make legislation relevant to the area, thus granting them a higher level of autonomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish independence</span> Independence movement in Europe

Scottish independence is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.

James Sillars is a Scottish politician and campaigner for Scottish independence. Sillars served as a Labour Party MP for South Ayrshire from 1970 to 1976. He founded and led the pro-Scottish Home Rule Scottish Labour Party in 1976, continuing as MP for South Ayrshire until he lost the seat in 1979.

Adam Stuart Busby is a terrorist Scottish nationalist who claims to be the founder of the Scottish National Liberation Army. In 1983 after a hoax letter-bombing campaign against high-profile public figures he organised attacks from Dublin involving anthrax hoaxes, bomb threats, and genuine parcel bombs. In 1997 he was jailed in Ireland for two hoax phone threats against Scottish media organisations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Alexander</span> Scottish politician

Wendy Alexander is a retired Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2007 to 2008. In 2010–2011 she convened the Scotland Bill Committee on financial powers of the Scottish Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Referendums in the United Kingdom</span>

Referendums in the United Kingdom are occasionally held at a national, regional or local level. Historically, national referendums are rare due to the long-standing principle of parliamentary sovereignty. There is no constitutional requirement to hold a national referendum for any purpose or on any issue however the UK Parliament is free to legislate through an Act of Parliament for a referendum to be held on any question at any time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 Scottish devolution referendum</span> Measure creating a devolved Scottish Parliament

The Scottish devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre-legislative referendum held in Scotland on 11 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers, and whether the Parliament should have tax-varying powers. The result was "Yes–Yes": a majority voted in favour of both proposals, and the Parliament was established following an election in 1999. Turnout for the referendum was 60.4%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unionism in Scotland</span> Overview of unionism in Scotland

Unionism in Scotland is a political movement which favours the continuation of the political union between Scotland and the other countries of the United Kingdom, and hence is opposed to Scottish independence. Scotland is one of four countries of the United Kingdom which has its own devolved government and Scottish Parliament, as well as representation in the UK Parliament. There are many strands of political Unionism in Scotland, some of which have ties to Unionism and Loyalism in Northern Ireland. The two main political parties in the UK — the Conservatives and Labour — both support Scotland remaining part of the UK.

The Animal Rights Militia (ARM) is a banner used by animal rights activists who engage in direct action utilizing a diversity of tactics that ignores the Animal Liberation Front's policy of taking all necessary precautions to avoid harm to human life.

Edgar Eugene Pearce is a British extortionist and bomber who was convicted of the Mardi Gra bombings, a three-year blackmail and terror campaign in the London area between December 1994 and April 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 Welsh devolution referendum</span>

The 1979 Welsh devolution referendum was a post-legislative referendum held on 1 March 1979 to decide whether there was sufficient support for a Welsh Assembly among the Welsh electorate. The referendum was held under the terms of the Wales Act 1978 drawn up to implement proposals made by the Kilbrandon Report published in 1973.

In the United Kingdom, a series of seven letter bombs were sent during January and February 2007 to various companies and agencies, all related in some way to DNA testing and road transport. Police said that some of the letters were hand written and some typed. All seven letter bombs were sent in A5 Jiffy-style envelopes. On 19 February 2007, Miles Cooper was arrested, and appeared in court on 23 February charged with 12 offences relating to the case. On 27 September, he was found guilty of all 12 charges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh independence</span> Welsh political philosophy

Welsh independence is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Welsh devolution referendum</span>

The referendum on the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales was a referendum held in Wales on 3 March 2011 on whether the National Assembly for Wales should have full law-making powers in the twenty subject areas where it has jurisdiction. The referendum asked the question: ‘Do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?’

Save the Hill Grove Cats was a British animal rights campaign set up in 1997 with the aim of closing Hill Grove Farm near Witney in Oxfordshire. The farm, owned by Christopher Brown, was the last commercial breeder of cats for laboratories in the United Kingdom. Eight hundred cats were removed by the RSPCA on August 10, 1999, when Brown announced his decision to retire after a controversial two-year campaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish devolution</span> Since 1707 Acts of Union to present day

Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish Parliament within the United Kingdom – while others have since advocated for complete independence. The people of Scotland first got the opportunity to vote in a referendum on proposals for devolution in 1979 and, although a majority of those voting voted 'Yes', the referendum legislation also required 40% of the electorate to vote 'Yes' for the plans to be enacted and this was not achieved. A second referendum opportunity in 1997, this time on a strong proposal, resulted in an overwhelming 'Yes' victory, leading to the Scotland Act 1998 being passed and the Scottish Parliament being established in 1999.

Heather Nicholson is a British animal rights activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Scottish independence referendum</span>

A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side won with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the January 1910 general election, which was held before the introduction of universal suffrage.

The 2007 Tesco blackmail campaign was an extortion attempt against the British supermarket chain Tesco.

The Pedigree Chum dog food and Heinz extortion campaign was an attempted extortion against Pedigree Petfoods and Heinz, during which an extortionist contaminated tins of dog and baby food. Pedigree was advised by police to pay limited sums of money to the extortionist, while cash machines were put under surveillance. Heinz lost millions in sales and eventually offered a £100,000 reward, which the extortionist attempted to collect. However, he was arrested at the cashpoint, where police discovered the extortionist was former Metropolitan Police Detective Sergeant Rodney Whitchelo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 SNLA threat to poison water supply by Mark Macaskill and Jason Allardyce, The Sunday Times Scotland , 10 September 2006
  2. 1 2 Murray Scott, Andrew (1990). Britain's Secret War: Tartan Terrorism and the Anglo-American State. Mainstream Publishing. p. 134-137. ISBN   1-85158-306-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Who are the 'tartan terrorists'? BBC News Website, 2 March 2002
  4. 1 2 Leslie, David (2006). Inside A Terrorist Group, The Story of the SNLA.
  5. ↑ Taylor, Brian. "1979 Remembered". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  6. ↑ Firearms charge man dies in jail BBC News Website, 18 October 2004
  7. ↑ Politicians on alert over mail scare BBC News Website, 2 March 2002
  8. ↑ Batty, David (25 January 2008). "Nationalists jailed over poison plot". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  9. ↑ Six years for 'tartan terrorist' BBC News Website, 18 June 2009
  10. ↑ Carrell, Severin (23 July 2010). "Scottish separatist Adam Busby jailed for Heathrow bomb hoaxes". The Guardian. London.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.