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Scottish National Liberation Army

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Scottish National Liberation Army
Also known asTartan Terrorists
FounderAdam Busby
Dates of operation1980 (1980)–present (present) (on ceasefire since 2012)[1]
CountryScotland
IdeologyScottish nationalism
Scottish republicanism
Scottish independence
Major actionsLetter bombs, arson
AlliesScottish Separatist Group (political wing)

The Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA), nicknamed the Tartan Terrorists, is a Scottish nationalist paramilitary group which aims to bring about Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. The group was founded in 1980 by Adam Busby, a former soldier from Paisley after the 1979 devolution referendum, which the organisation claims was fixed. The group's activities primarily involved sending letter bombs to UK government officials, carrying out arson attacks, and making numerous hoax threats of violence,[2] before declaring a ceasefire in 2012.[1]

The SNLA has been condemned by the UK government,[3] along with Scottish National Party (SNP) leader John Swinney, who described the organisation as people who "have no interest in Scotland or the Scottish people", and that its members were "not nationalists, they are criminals plain and simple."[4]

History

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Formation

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The SNLA was founded in 1980 by Adam Busby, a former soldier who served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.[5][6][4] Busby was also a former member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), having joined the Dumbarton branch on his 16th birthday.[7][2] The organisation was formed in the wake of the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum,[2] 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 favour, per the Scotland Act 1978.[8] Busby felt that this outcome called for a more forceful approach towards achieving independence.[2]

Activity

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The group started their armed campaign in March 1982, when a letter bomb was sent to the House of Commons addressed to John Nott, the then-Secretary of State for Defence.[9] A man had telephoned the Glasgow offices of the Scotsman, claiming that a bomb had been sent to Nott by the SNLA in response to the newly announced changes to the UK's trident programme.[5] The bomb subsequently arrived at the House of Commons on 17 March, which was later reported after being discovered by a Ministry of Defence member, who narrowly escaped detonating the bomb.[2] The device was initially thought by the media to have been the work of Irish republican paramilitaries, such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), as it coincidentally arrived at the commons on St. Patrick's Day.[2][9] To coincide with the 1982 Glasgow Hillhead by-election the following week, two further letter bombs were sent to two separate Scottish Social Democratic Party offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow; both devices were subsequently diffused by the authorities upon discovery by office staff.[5] The group later claimed responsibility for a letter bomb that was posted to Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, along with two further letter bombs to two Conservative party offices in Edinburgh and London, and an incendiary device that was reportedly planted in the Scottish Assembly building.[10] Scotland Yard claimed no such device had arrived at Buckingham palace, and purported the device that was sent to the London Conservative Party office to have been a hoax.[10] In November, the group claimed responsibility for a firebomb attack at that took place at a Conservative party office in Glasgow on 8 November.[5][2] On the 24th November, the Glasgow offices of the Press Association reported that it had received a written letter from the group, who claimed responsibility for a letter bomb that was sent to then-Secretary of State for Industry Patrick Jenkin, stating "SNLA will avenge the workers in Craigneuk" in response to a proposal made by the British Steel Corporation to partially close a steel mill in Craigneuk, North Lanarkshire, costing 427 jobs.[10][11][12] The letter bomb was discovered by Jenkin's secretary, and was later diffused by police.[11][12] Following this incident, security was tightened for an upcoming visit to Edinburgh from then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was due to attend a private dinner taking place in the Edinburgh Assembly rooms in celebration of the centenary of the Scottish Conservatives.[13]

In 1983, the group reportedly carried out 27 attacks, which primarily involved sending letter bombs to public figures including Diana, Princess of Wales, and Margaret Thatcher.[6][4] 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.[6] Another letter bomb, targeted at Princess Diana, was posted to the then-Lord Provost of Glasgow Michael Kelly to the Glasgow City Chambers, where Diana was due to visit.[14][15] The letter ignited after being opened by Kelly's secretary, Eric Hamilton, who at the time was in his office interviewing a woman who was set to take part in a welcome event for the arrival of HMS Glasgow to the city the following day.[15] Hamilton later received hospital treatment for minor burns to his arm caused by the ignition from the device.[2][5] In June, the group claimed another letter bomb posted to the Conservative Central Office, which was addressed to then-Conservative Party chairman Cecil Parkinson, which partially ignited after being opened by his secretary, who was unharmed.[16][17][18] Claim of responsibility was made by the group in a Glasgow-postmarked letter sent to the Press Association, which stated "Scottish National Liberation Army claims the London letter bomb attacks of 3-4 June."[16][17] A spokesperson for Scotland Yard described the device as "a viable device containing substances which could ignite and cause serious injury."[18] In response to the incident, Commander William Hucklesby, the then-head of Scotland Yard's anti-terror branch subsequently issued a warning to mail workers to be vigilant of any suspicious packages.[18] In September, another letter bomb was sent to then-Secretary of State for Employment Norman Tebbit, which ignited after being opened in the Westminster offices of the Department of Employment by a 19-year-old civil servant.[19] The device contained a written letter, which although was largely destroyed by the explosion, was found to bear 'SNLA' on the remains.[19] The same day, a letter bomb was posted to then-Secretary of State for Scotland George Younger, which failed to ignite.[19] Around this time, Busby, along with another organisation member, David Dinsmore, fled to Dublin to evade prosecution for conspiracy against the UK government, where a separate cell for the organisation was subsequently set up, and continued to exist for over 20 years.[2]

In 1984, group member Thomas Kelly was jailed for ten years after pleading guilty to making and delivering explosive packages; one such device, which was again addressed to Tebbit, was recovered from a post box in Ingram Street, Glasgow.[20] In November, the group claimed responsibility for the delivery of another letter bomb to Thatcher, which was diffused after being discovered in a post office in Nine Elms, South West London.[21] Scotland Yard described the device as "viable", and that it could have resulted in serious injury had it been opened.[21] In 1985 the following year, the group claimed responsibility for an incendiary attack that occurred at the Ministry of Defence Headquarters in Whitehall, London.[22][23][9] The attack was carried out by planting a miniature device in an empty fifth-floor sub basement inside the building; the fire lasted for more than six hours and caused serious structural damage, estimated at £700,000.[5][23]

On 19 April 1986, the group claimed responsibility for a letter bomb that was discovered in the House of Commons, addressed to then-Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind.[2][24][25] The device was diffused by police after being alerted by a Commons sorting office staff member, who discovered the device.[25] Although the device was described as "crude", a spokesman for Scotland Yard stated the device "would have caused severe burning to the hands if it had gone off".[25] On 22 April the following week, another letter bomb claimed by the group was discovered and diffused at the British Steel Headquarters.[26][27] The group claimed the device was sent to British Steel in response to the closure of a Gartcosh steel works,[5][27] which resulted in 700 job losses.[28] Two days later on 24 April, the group phoned the Press Association following a bombing that occurred at a British Airways office in Oxford Street, London, claiming responsibility for the attack.[29][30][31] The caller provided detailed information on how the bomb was constructed, and clarified that British Airways was targeted in response to an attempt by the UK government to completely privatize the company, which the group believed would result in significant job losses, along with total withdrawal of airline services in remote areas of Scotland.[5][2] However, despite this claim, the media did not explicitly name who was claiming to be responsible for the bombing, until the following day when the issue was brought up in the House of Commons by Giles Shaw,[5] who acknowledged calls received by the Press Association from the SNLA, along with English terrorist group the Angry Brigade,[32] who claimed responsibility for the bombing "in retaliation for Britain's involvement in the American bombing of Libya."[29] An investigation carried out by the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist branch found no evidence that the bombing was linked to Libya,[31] and both claims from the SNLA and the Angry Brigade were later discounted by police.[33] In July, the group claimed responsibility for a letter bomb posted to then-Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, which ignited after being opened by Home Office security staff.[5][34] An anonymous caller phoned the Scotsman on behalf of the organisation claiming the delivery was made by an alleged body within the SNLA called the "Willie McRae Commando".[34] The device was also described as "crude and amatuer" by police, and no major injuries were reported.[5][34]

No further activity was claimed by the group since the letter bomb sent to Hurd, until May 1989, when a huge explosion, followed by a blaze was reported at the Glensanda Quarry in Morvern, near Oban, Argyll.[5][27] The local coastguard had alerted the local emergency services after residents in the surrounding areas reported hearing a loud explosion accompanied by a large cloud of black smoke on the opposite end of Loch Linnhe, where the Quarry was located.[5][35] The group phoned the Press Association hours after the blaze, claiming that the group had carried out an attack on the site, and stated that the site was targeted allegedly due to the site being used for "disposal of civilian and nuclear waste".[27][35] Despite this claim, police and fire experts concluded that the fire was accidental, reportedly due a rubber conveyor belt catching fire, and many reports on the incident left out the claim of responsibility from the SNLA.[5][35] Reporters also ruled out any possibility of the incident being an attack, as the Quarry was inaccessible by road, and that workers were transported to the plant directly from Oban on company boats.[35] Claims of the site being redeveloped as a dump for nuclear waste were subsequently denied by nuclear industry officials.[36]

In 1993, another group member, Andrew McIntosh was sentenced to 12 years in prison for conspiring to coerce the UK government into establishing an independent government in Scotland.[37][38] The High Court in Aberdeen heard that McIntosh had orchestrated a campaign of fear tactics, which involved placing hoax explosives outside oil industry buildings and mailing genuine letter bombs to the Scottish Office in Edinburgh.[3] At the time of his arrest, McIntosh was also found to be in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle.[38] After serving six years, McIntosh was released in 1999.[37] He was rearrested for firearms possession on 9 October 2004, the same day Queen Elizabeth II appeared at the opening ceremony of the newly completed Scottish Parliament Building, and committed suicide whilst in custody on 18 October, just hours before he was due to reappear in the Aberdeen Sheriff Court for his offences.[39][37][38]

In March 1995, further explosive devices were posted to various Labour Party figures, in which a device was posted to a venue in Inverness, where a Scottish Labour Party conference was taking place, along with other devices which were sent to the County Durham home of then-Leader of the Opposition, and future prime minister Tony Blair, future Secretary of State for Defence George Robertson, and to the then-headquarters of the Labour Party, John Smith House in Southwark, London.[40][41] Several shopping centers in Birmingham were also evacuated as a result of bomb threats made by the group.[42] In August, two men, Kevin Paton and Terrence Webber, were jailed for four years for involvement in the group's March activities.[43] Webber had previously made a claim to Scottish Sun journalist Alan Muir that the group "wanted Scotland to be free, to be a nation on its own, without the shackles of England and without the English being here, having our jobs".[44]

In 1997, Busby was sentenced to two years in prison for sending threats of violence by fax to the Daily Record, and the Press Association news agency.[45] The threats reportedly contained a hit list of intended targets, which included English-born MP for Clydebank and Milngavie Tony Worthington, along with threats of petrol bomb attacks against "English colonists" in Scotland.[45] In May 1999, another Dublin-based organisation member, Hugh Smith McMahon, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence for making a hoax telephone claim that he had planted an explosive device on the Kessock Bridge in Inverness.[46] In July 1999, shortly after Busby was released from prison following his conviction of sending threats of violence by fax in 1997, he was rearrested after being linked to a blackmail plot to commit mass murder by contaminating English and Welsh water supplies with weedkiller unless British troops were withdrawn from Northern Ireland.[40][47][48] The arrest was made after a month-long joint investigation was carried out by Scotland Yard and the Gardaí after letters were sent to senior figures, including then-prime minister Tony Blair, demanding a "total British military and political withdrawal" from Northern Ireland by June 16, followed by threats of retaliation without warning if the deadline was not met.[47][48]

In 2001, the group claimed responsibility for hoax anthrax packages delivered to the University of St Andrews, where Prince William was studying.[49] The same year, Adam Busby Jr., the son of the organisation founder, was sentenced to six years in jail for carrying out various petrol bomb attacks.[49][50] 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 aromatherapy oil, but which on investigation proved to contain caustic acid.[4][51] 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 Scotland Yard. Professor Paul Wilkinson opined at the time: "The SNLA has surfaced from time to time."[51]

In 2006, it was reported that the group was being investigated by the Home Office and Strathclyde Police, after the group had sent an e-mail to the Glasgow offices of The Sunday Times, threatening to poison England's water supplies.[3] The e-mail stated: "Our aim is to poison water supplies in England, not in the entire UK. We have the means to do this and we shall. This is a war and we intend to win it."[3] In addition, it was reported that Adam 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.[3]

In January 2008, two men, Wayne Cook and Steven Robinson were convicted in Manchester of sending miniature bottles of vodka contaminated with caustic soda to various public figures, which included Blackburn with Darwen councillor John Wright, and Scottish Daily Express journalist Myra Philp, and threatening to kill English people "at random and with no discrimination or compunction" by poisoning English water supplies, echoing a previous threat made in 2006.[52][53] The poisoned bottle sent to Philp was accompanied by a letter signed 'SNLA' stating "This is necessary to convince the British Government that we will lethally poison England's water supplies, if they do not withdraw totally from Scotland."[52] Cook and Robinson were each sentenced by the Manchester Crown Court to six years in jail for these offences.[53]

In June 2009, Adam Busby Jr. was reincarcerated for six years for sending a total of six packages containing shotgun cartridges accompanied by notes bearing threats of violence to various political figures, including First Minister Alex Salmond, Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles, the Scottish National Party (SNP) headquarters, and Glasgow City Council.[54][49] Police linked the crimes to Busby Jr. after he made calls to numerous journalists claiming responsibility for the actions.[49][54]

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.[55] In 2012, following the UK government's offer to legislate to allow the Scottish Government the powers to hold an independence referendum in Scotland, the group issued a statement to media outlets declaring a ceasefire, with hopes of achieving independence more "peacefully and democratically".[1] The statement said:

In order to facilitate the democratic process currently taking place in Scotland, the Scottish National Liberation Army, after 30 years of armed struggle is declaring a ceasefire. However, we warn the British government that should they seek to deny, limit or interfere with the Scottish people’s legitimate right to national self-determination we shall resume activities with a vengeance.[1]

Following his 2010 conviction, Adam Busby was released from jail on 21 March 2014, and was reported at the time to be living in a Dublin hostel, banned from internet access, and was awaiting verdicts about possible extradition to Scotland and the US.[56] In February 2015, Busby was extradited back to Scotland.[57] In October of that year, however, a Glasgow court ruled that Busby, who at the time was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, was medically unfit to be tried over multiple bomb threats.[58] In 2017, the Sheriff court of Lothian and Borders in Edinburgh ruled that Busby, by then 69, was too ill to be sent to the US, as his illness was at an advanced stage.[57]

Associated organisations

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The Scottish Separatist Group (SSG; Scottish Gaelic: Comunn Dealachadh na h-Alba)[2] has been described as the political wing of the SNLA.[2][3] The SSG was formed in 1995 by former members and supporters of the SNLA, who wanted to reverse English immigration into Scotland and promote Scottish Gaelic as the country's national language.[3][2]

In 2006, the Home Office launched an investigation into the SSG under the Terrorism Act 2006 after the party had allegedly published detailed instructions on how to contaminate English water supplies.[3] The published material was said to provide instructions on how to craft and use an unnamed substance, which was described as a "WMD" in the publication, to permanently poison the water supplies of major UK cities, with the aim of "destroying the economic, political and military power of the state by poisoning and contaminating the drinking water supplies of any major city."[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "'Tartan Terrorists' Lay Down Weapons". The Press and Journal. 20 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Leslie, David (2006). Inside A Terrorist Group, The Story of the SNLA.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Macaskill, Mark; Allardyce, Jason (10 September 2006). "SNLA threat to poison water supply". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "The return of our fiends in the north". The Independent. 6 March 2002.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Murray Scott, Andrew (1990). Britain's Secret War: Tartan Terrorism and the Anglo-American State. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 132–165. ISBN 1-85158-306-8.
  6. ^ a b c Who are the 'tartan terrorists'? BBC News Website, 2 March 2002
  7. ^ "Real-life world of a fantasist". The Herald. 15 March 1997.
  8. ^ Taylor, Brian. "1979 Remembered". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Last flight to bleak exile". The Herald. 9 June 1993.
  10. ^ a b c "Police in check on 10 bombs claim". The Guardian. 24 November 1982.
  11. ^ a b "Scots Group Claims Letter Bomb". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 24 November 1982.
  12. ^ a b "Scots link sought to letter bomb". The Glasgow Herald. 24 November 1982.
  13. ^ "Secrecy over visit of Prime Minister". The Glasgow Herald. 25 November 1982.
  14. ^ "The campaign conducted by letter". The Herald. 15 March 1997.
  15. ^ a b "Letter Bomb Sent to Lord Provost". The Glasgow Herald. 18 February 1983.
  16. ^ a b "Healey admits support for Argentine loan". The Glasgow Herald. 4 June 1983.
  17. ^ a b "SNLA Bomb Claim". The Scotsman. 4 June 1983.
  18. ^ a b c "Death in the mail! Political parties on full alert". The Press and Journal. 4 June 1983.
  19. ^ a b c "Hunt for senders of letter bombs". The Glasgow Herald. 8 September 1983.
  20. ^ "10 years for extremist who made letter bombs". The Glasgow Herald. 26 January 1984.
  21. ^ a b "Scottish terrorist group claims it sent letter to PM". The Guardian. 1 December 1984.
  22. ^ "The World - News from April 28, 1985". Los Angeles Times. 28 April 1985.
  23. ^ a b "Whitehall 'terror' fire alert". The Sunday Telegraph. 28 April 1985.
  24. ^ "Scottish Secretary Gets Letter Bomb". The Times. 19 April 1986.
  25. ^ a b c "Rifkind letter bomb points to SNLA". The Glasgow Herald. 19 April 1986.
  26. ^ "Scottish Bomb - News in Brief". The Guardian. 23 April 1986.
  27. ^ a b c d "18 years of violence: A catalogue of disruption in the name of nationalism". Scotland on Sunday. 14 October 1990.
  28. ^ Smith, Ken (19 March 2016). "Thirty years after the closure of Gartcosh". The Herald.
  29. ^ a b "BRITISH AIRWAYS OFFICE HIT BY BOMB BLAST IN LONDON". The New York Times. 25 April 1986.
  30. ^ "Bomb Explodes Outside London Airline Office". Los Angeles Times. 24 April 1986.
  31. ^ a b "No evidence of Libyan link in dawn bombing". The Glasgow Herald. 25 April 1986.
  32. ^ "Oxford Street Bomb - Hansard - UK Parliament". UK Parliament. 24 April 1986.
  33. ^ "Vigilance Plea by Police After Blast". The Guardian. 25 April 1986.
  34. ^ a b c "SNLA says it sent letter bomb to Home Secretary". The Scotsman. 17 July 1986.
  35. ^ a b c d "SNLA terrorist raid dismissed as cause of blaze at quarry". The Glasgow Herald. 15 May 1989.
  36. ^ "Nuclear dump claim denied". The Guardian. 15 May 1989.
  37. ^ a b c "Tartan terrorist found hanging in cell hours before facing court". The Scotsman. 19 October 2004.
  38. ^ a b c "Death of a tartan terrorist". The Sunday Times. 8 October 2006.
  39. ^ Firearms charge man dies in jail BBC News Website, 18 October 2004
  40. ^ a b "SNLA THREATS AND ATTACKS". The Scotsman. 4 March 2002. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012.
  41. ^ "Labour on watch after letter-bomb threat by SNLA". The Scotsman. 13 March 1995.
  42. ^ "Fugitive ran campaign of 'strategic disruption'". The Scotsman. 12 July 1999.
  43. ^ "Nationalist terror plotters jailed". The Scotsman. 26 August 1995.
  44. ^ "Court hears anti-English terrorism claims". The Scotsman. 22 August 1995.
  45. ^ a b "Busby gets two years for fax death threats". The Scotsman. 15 March 1997.
  46. ^ "'Tartan terrorist' admits bomb hoax role". The Scotsman. 19 May 1999.
  47. ^ a b "Scots extremist held over mass poison plot". The Scotsman. 11 July 1999.
  48. ^ a b Wilson, Jamie; Norton-Taylor, Richard (12 July 1999). "Man held over poison plot". The Guardian.
  49. ^ a b c d "Scottish separatist found guilty of Heathrow bomb scares". The Guardian. 11 June 2010.
  50. ^ "Son of terrorist faces jail". The Herald. 22 May 2009.
  51. ^ a b Politicians on alert over mail scare BBC News Website, 2 March 2002
  52. ^ a b "Vodka poisoned in 'terror plot'". BBC News. BBC. 7 January 2008.
  53. ^ a b Batty, David (25 January 2008). "Nationalists jailed over poison plot". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  54. ^ a b "Six years for 'tartan terrorist'". BBC News. 18 June 2009.
  55. ^ Carrell, Severin (23 July 2010). "Scottish separatist Adam Busby jailed for Heathrow bomb hoaxes". The Guardian. London.
  56. ^ University of Pittsburgh bomb threat suspect released from jail in Ireland, CBS News, 1 April 2014
  57. ^ a b Fuoco, Michael (8 November 2017). "Scottish man charged in 2012 Pitt bomb threats avoids extradition". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  58. ^ Scottish separatist leader not fit to stand trial on terror charges, 15 October 2015
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