Ahead of the big indy march in Glasgow today, SNP depute leadership candidate Keith Brown shares some thoughts on what has been achieved so far
WHEN I joined this movement 34 years ago we were at 12% in the polls. We’ve come a long way since then.
We achieved Scotland’s first pro-Independence government in 2007. We won an overall majority in 2011. And then in the 2014 campaign we built a Yes movement that reached every town, village and street in Scotland.
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We built support for our cause from 27% to 45% in less than two years. It was a tremendous achievement and one we can all be proud of.
But we all felt the pain of disappointment on September 19. And we promised ourselves that we would never feel that way again. We promised ourselves that, when the time was right, we would be back, and next time we wouldn’t miss.
Next time, we would make sure we did enough to deliver our goal – independence for our country.
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We’ve built the biggest political membership movement this country has ever seen. And we’ve shown the way to what an independent Scotland could be.
I’m proud to have played my part in a Government that has confidently shown what Scotland, and Scotland’s people, can do. We’ve taken the first steps towards being the kind of country we want to live in.
Building a Scottish economy that is robust and is fair, with the Real Living Wage at its heart.
Putting in place the building blocks that will allow us to invest with confidence in the future of our country. With our new National Investment Bank coming on stream. New roads, railways and bridges – connecting our country. Stopping fracking in Scotland, while the polluting continues south of the Border.
Mitigating the worst of Tory austerity with the limited powers we have.
We’ve launched our new Scottish social security system and are getting ready for the day when we can make sanctions and the callous behaviour of this Tory Government a thing of the past. And I don’t need to remind you that the only way to make sure Scotland never suffers another Westminster Tory Government is to vote for our independence.
Never again could a hard-hearted and incompetent Tory Government from Westminster tell us how to run our country.
Never again the shame of scandals such as Windrush and the dog whistle politics that wants to refuse new Scots the opportunity to stay here and help build our country.
We’ve travelled a long journey together, and the finishing line is in sight. But we’ve still got work to do. To knit together the different parts of this diverse movement. To harness the boundless energy of the grass roots.
To build a campaigning machine that will power us to victory in the next referendum.
With your help, and the help of the vast membership of this movement. With the help of Yes Groups up and down the country, digging in, ready for the fight, this time we will not miss.
This time we will achieve our goal. So let me tell you what you already know. There will be an independence referendum. And Scotland will be an independent country.
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