CALLING all Yes groups – if you have an event to preview please contact us in advance via our community email, community@ the national.scot. You can copy me in – martin.hannan@thenational.scot. Use the same email addresses for reports after an event – please give us advance notice that they will be coming – and for photographs.
Here’s a fine example of the sort of activity that we like to report on. It’s from William Duguid at Yes Perth City: “As if Catalonia wasn’t already a concern for many Scots, the Clara Ponsati case has given it huge resonance. For Yes Perth City, it was a subject we simply had to talk about, not just for its topicality but because of possible implications for Scotland.
“We already had two knowledgeable speakers, Alan Murdoch and Peter A Bell, in our ranks, and a handy venue, Perth’s Salutation Hotel, on our doorstep. Soon we had a title: Catalonia, Clara Ponsati and the Threat to Self-Determination.
“Two of our supporters, stalwarts of December’s #WithCatalonia bridge demonstration, produced Esteladas for decoration. After that, all we needed was a social media blitzkrieg to attract a decent crowd on a Monday night at short notice.
“We weren’t disappointed. Not only did folk turn out in excellent numbers from Perth, Blairgowrie, Dundee and elsewhere, they also proved a well-informed, eloquent, passionate and occasionally feisty audience. Just the thing to give a meeting a wee bit of zip.
“For historical context, Alan gave an account of the Spanish Civil War, including the role many Scots had played. He also covered its lengthy ramifications, with wounds remaining unhealed through ‘La Noche Negra’ of the Franco years and beyond, perhaps even to the present.
“We reflected on the Spanish constitution, with the ‘indissolubility’ of the state a legal barrier to independence, and how that might conflict with fundamental rights of self-determination.
“We considered whether the Spanish government’s appalling behaviour betrayed lingering traces of Francoism, or was simply the behaviour of a government feeling under threat. And if the latter, we wondered, what lessons might governments closer to home draw?
“Peter described the complexities of the Ponsati case, citing excellent analyses by Andrew Tickell and Paul Arnell in The National. As for the implications for Scotland, he was unequivocal. We should be in no doubt that the British government is watching, and would dearly like to deny Scotland’s right of self-determination.
“What should we do about it? Here consensus broke out. We need a groundswell of support for independence to demonstrate beyond doubt to the Scottish Government that we were ready to roll. Perhaps a massive turnout at the All Under One Banner march in Glasgow on May 5 might do the trick?”
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