AN independence supporter behind a new viral video is calling on the Yes movement to renew its sense of optimism ahead of the Holyrood election.
Writer and musician Jamie Jauncey, 71, felt compelled to film a message to rejuvenate indy backers – and says the response has been “overwhelmingly positive”.
His video has been viewed by almost 6000 people after being shared widely on social media.
In it, he makes the positive case for a Yes vote and condemns the Tory government’s “contempt” for Scotland.
After more than 20 polls in a row recording majority support for independence, recent surveys have registered a slight dip. Coupled with the Holyrood investigation into the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints, Jauncey said he was feeling “pretty despairing”.
So he decided to do something. Although the writer has been running his own blog since 2018, he opted to post his first-ever political video. Though he stressed to The National that “independence is much bigger than politics”.
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“The video is very much a response to what’s been going on and I just wanted to do something immediate that would have a bit more impact than writing a blog,” Jauncey explained.
“It’s not for me, it’s for the cause. It’s saying something that maybe people feel but haven’t said themselves. It’s giving people confidence at a moment when we really, really need confidence.”
Although he is descended from founding SNP president Cunninghame Graham, Jauncey grew up in a “resolutely Tory household” in Perthsire. The writer moved to London in his 20s, returning to Scotland in the 1990s. It was then he recognised a “new optimism” in the country, stoking his interest in the independence movement.
He joined the SNP after the 2014 independence referendum, but does not consider himself a party activist.
Now living in Birnham, Perthsire, Jauncey stood on the banks of the River Tay for his first video about independence, He likens the power and energy of the river to that which will be released when Scotland becomes independent, which he is “absolutely certain” it will.
Jauncey then sets out the “overwhelmingly positive” case for independence. He explains: “Independence, after all, is normal, it’s natural, it’s democratically healthy. Ask any of the 60 countries that have left the UK in the last 100 years and I’m sure that Scotland could quite comfortably become one of the great success stories.
“We have the natural resources in abundance. We have the human resources – the people, the skills, the expertise, the creativity, the drive.
“We have world-famous products, brilliant academic research, winning international businesses, spectacular landscape and culture.
“And we have all the infrastructure we need to support these things and allow us to run our own affairs.”
He adds: “In short, we have what we need to become the progressive, prosperous, small, outward-looking, inclusive, tolerant, socially just European nation that we could be.”
The blogger goes on to outline the “less positive case” for independence.
He cites the contempt with which Scotland has been treated during the Brexit process, the cronyism of the Tory government during the pandemic and the willingness of UK Government ministers to break the law.
Jauncey warns the Internal Market Bill is being used by Westminster as a “trojan horse” to bypass devolved power.
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“Like them or loathe them,” he explains, “the SNP are our one shot at independence.”
“If we leave it to Boris Johnson … we will end up being second class citizens in the most right-wing government in living memory.”
Jauncey concludes: “If you believe in a Scotland that’s full of hope and possibility and self-respect, that has the energy and the power of the Tay, then you must ignore the attack ads and the misinformation that have already started to come our way and that will become a tidal wave of negativity over the next two months.
“Come May 6, please, please think of the future, think of your future, think of your children’s future, think of your grandchildren’s future.”
Jamie Jauncey's blog, Don Roberto & Me, can be read HERE.
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