WE often use the phrase “civic nationalism” to describe Scottish nationalism to highlight the difference between it and British nationalism. So it seems odd to me that one area in which we are not making the inroads we need is “civic” Scotland.
On looking at a number of community initiatives in a local newspaper I couldn’t help but notice how many of the “weel kent faces” in community councils were known to me as members of the Labour or Conservative party. Likewise, trade union groups and community pressure groups have a core of people who are rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty, working for the betterment of their communities. Yet I’m not seeing the Yes movement getting active in those areas and that’s concerning.
I fear that we are often so concerned with building a movement and speaking inwardly to each other that we forget we need to be getting out there and involved in every aspect of community and civic life. Because at present the British nationalists have it sewn up and have done for years – everything from charities to workplace representation, local environmental issues to parent-teacher groups. We need to change that.
Similarly, I can’t help but notice that when it comes to making themselves known in the community the SNP lag immeasurably behind Labour and the Tories. In my travels across the country I make a point of checking out community noticeboards, and what I see is disappointing. There are plenty of Tory and Labour representatives prominent in the community, advertising surgeries; in Edinburgh it’s as though the Tories have a monopoly.
So if someone has a problem and is told to go and see “their councillor” is it any wonder they end up with the Tories or Labour as a first point of contact? Ask yourself this: is my councillor, MP or MSP visible in the wider community? Are they active in the wider community? By this I don’t just mean turning up for photo opportunities, but actively participating in something locally. From what I can see many of them aren’t even active in the Yes community, far less elsewhere.
To convince Scotland we have its interests at heart we must be seen at the heart of it, not just calling for a better Scotland but building a better Scotland, community by community, until we can be seen as trusted faces who our fellow Scots are not only happy to follow but inspired to follow.
James Cassidy
Edinburgh
LABOUR is in denial about the 1979 election (Tribalism may be back, but cheer on your own side with some caution, Cat Boyd, The National, November 21; Douglas Turner, Letters, November 22).
A General Election had to be held by October 10, 1979. Knowing this, Margaret Thatcher called a vote of no confidence in Callaghan’s Labour government six months before this deadline. She won this vote and the election was held in May. If the election had been in October she would still have won.
The winter of 1978/9 is known as the Winter of Discontent and had seen many major problems throughout the country, with strikes, a three-day week, power cuts, rubbish piled high in the streets and funerals being unable to take place.
The Tories won because the English decided the Callaghan government was not able to run the country: Labour was a failure. The unions were perceived as being out of control, and the incoming Tory government took action.
The blame for the Thatcher years has to be put squarely on Labour and the unions, though they do not accept this and wish to blame the SNP MPs who voted for the no-confidence motion, hastening the government’s end by a few months.
Robert Mitchell
Stirling
I NOTED Joan Edington’s letter (Website Comments, November 23) with interest regarding labelling. I too shop at Aldi’s and I have discovered that inside their range of Aberdeen Angus meat there is a neat little self adhesive foil label which says “100% Scottish” emblazoned on a Saltire.
I find them very useful for my own labelling as you will see for example on my walking poles. I take great pleasure to explain to my fellow walkers that it refers to the owner of the poles, not where the poles were made.
The meat isn’t bad either.
Robin Hastie
St Andrews
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