THIS week has been an important one in the history of the Yes movement, which will regain Scotland’s independence.
It marks the start of Indy 2.0, the new, improved campaign that’s gotten rid of the bugs of its predecessor, which was bogged down in process and party politics.
The independence campaign was getting stuck in the question of holding another referendum, and not doing what its main task ought to be, which is to make the case for independence.
Independence had become too closely identified with the SNP, and that was making it vulnerable to party political attacks.
The question of Scottish independence should be immune to attacks by Unionist parties on specific aspects of SNP policy or SNP management.
The truth is that however vital the SNP might be for achieving the political goal of an independence referendum, the case for independence is not dependent on how a particular political party manages our NHS or our schools. It’s a far bigger and more important question which was getting lost in the noise of day-to-day politicking.
Independence is about the big picture, the big idea, the big vision. Above all, independence is about the radical notion that the people of a country are the sovereign body in that land, that Scottish independence is about empowerment and enabling Scotland to identify and to make the changes that Scotland needs in order to achieve the social justice, equality of opportunity, acceptance and fairness that characterise a decent country whose citizens live with dignity. Now the cause of independence is back where it belongs, with the people of Scotland. We have a clear task over the course of the coming months to build a solid case for independence, to build an active, enthused and engaged grassroots movement, and to tell the story of the better Scotland that is ours for the taking. It’s not enough just to sell independence to the people of Scotland, we need to make them want to buy it. That means we’ve got a lot of work to do, a lot of learning, a lot of listening, a lot of educating.
We need to identify those people who are open to the idea of independence, but who are not quite there yet, and discover what is holding them back so that we can dispel their fears and clarify their doubts. We need to energise and enthuse those who already support independence, and turn them into campaigners and activists.
We need to show that democracy is an exercise in mass participation, not a sterile debate among people in business suits in parliaments and council chambers. That’s where the Unionists want to keep politics, and that’s why they’re so afraid of independence.
The Scottish independence movement should not want independence for its own sake, but because it can be a transformative act that delivers power into the hands of ordinary Scottish people. Independence can equip all of us with the tools that we require in order to make the necessary changes to wrest Scotland away from the landowners, the established elites, the big business interests, and turn it over to the people.
It’s an obscenity that in a country with an embarrassment of energy resources elderly people die in the winter because they’re afraid to run up fuel bills. It’s outrageous that, in one of the richest countries in the world, working families struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. It’s a scandal that homeless people beg for handouts in the streets of our towns and cities while housing is treated as an investment opportunity. Independence can, and must, address these questions. It must show that poverty, deprivation, and marginalisation are the inevitable consequence of a country that doesn’t govern itself.
The independence movement must turn itself into a direct challenge to the disengagement and apathy which are the tools of Unionist rule.
When there is sufficient clamour for independence – and there will be – then a referendum will follow naturally, as an unstoppable force of nature. The political will of a nation in movement cannot be resisted, no matter how much Theresa May or her successors say that now is not the time.
Now will never be the time for them, but that’s not the issue, the issue is: When is the time for Scotland? We need to make it the time for Scotland, that’s our task as supporters, members, and activists in the Scottish independence movement.
If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past couple of years, it’s that Scotland will win its independence in the face of most of the media. Yes, we have a vital and vibrant digital media, we have valuable outlets like this newspaper and its stablemate the Sunday Herald, but the message of independence is only going to get out to the people of this country if we take it to them ourselves. The real work is just beginning, and I for one am eager to throw myself into the task. I know that I won’t be alone.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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