I’VE been campaigning for Scottish independence forever. It’s what caused me to join the SNP more than half my lifetime ago. I work for it every day, but that’s not the end of the journey. After independence there will still be work to do to ensure we have a socially just Scotland and that’s the end point I’m working towards.

In order to become that fair, just country, we need to win the next independence referendum.

There are a core of folk who will always support remaining in the UK. And a core who will always support independence. It’s the folk in the middle that we have to convince.

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Generally, these folk don’t get up in the morning and think about independence. Like the rest of us, they probably think about whether they should do a load of washing, what they’ll be doing at work that day, or how much their next electricity bill will be.

The Scottish Tories talk about independence and the Union obsessively. But they’re failing to make the arguments about how the Union benefits people. Because it doesn’t. A Tory government at Westminster means lower pay, ongoing austerity, fewer rights for workers and ever-rising bills.

The stark reality is that folk are getting poorer. Living costs are rising; benefits are frozen; and wages are stagnant. Most worry about how they’re going to make their money reach the end of the month.

Next time, as last time, younger people will be a core part of the Yes vote. Millennials are the first generation set to be poorer than their parents. Many younger people do not expect to own property or to have a pension. They worry about affording to have children and about how little savings they have.

In order to win the next referendum, I believe we need to ensure the arguments we make are relevant – both when we talk about the benefits of independence and about the damage caused by remaining in the Union. We need to keep opposing austerity, supporting higher wages and explaining how an independent Scotland will make folks’ daily lives better.