BELIEVE in Scotland is delighted to be collaborating with The National on this important campaign. We believe it has real potential to dispel the fears of wavering voters by presenting compelling evidence that we are more than able to prosper as an independent country.

We are at a crucial stage in our country’s history. Since Scotland voted in the 2014 independence referendum, the landscape has changed in ways which could never have been predicted when those who opted to stay part of the UK cast their votes.

We were told in 2014 that if we wanted to be sure that Scotland could remain in Europe, the only way was to vote to stay in the Union.

Scotland voted against leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum but that view held no sway with Westminster.

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Scotland wanted Brexit delayed while we tackled the coronavirus pandemic but the UK Government pressed ahead.

Scotland wanted the best possible deal for our future relationship with our former EU partners. Instead, the UK Government negotiated a deal only marginally better than no deal at all. And since that deal was enacted we have seen catastrophic transport delays afflicting our industries, particularly our fishing industry, which put jobs and business at risk.

Not surprisingly those developments have caused many people to question the nature, fairness and honesty of the UK democratic system.

In recent months opinion polls have shown that more and more Scots have changed their minds on independence, they are beginning to believe in Scotland and have moved to the Yes camp. In fact, 20 opinion polls have shown that a majority of Scots now support independence. True to form, Westminster has ignored the new settled will of the people of Scotland and refused to grant the Section 30 order which formed the legal basis for the 2014 poll, even after a Holyrood majority for independence in the May election.

But despite these developments, many have not yet overcome their reservations about embracing independence. The latest polls suggest that as many as 10% of Scottish voters may still be undecided and most of them didn’t vote in 2014.

The National:

Many of us who do support independence feel we are closer than we have ever been to realising our ambition. Support is higher and satisfaction with Westminster lower than it has ever been. But we know the dangers of complacency. And we want to win the next independence referendum with a convincing majority so that we set out on the adventure of rebuilding our country with widespread support and exciting energy for the task ahead.

So we relish the prospect of providing the information needed to convince those signed up to this ambitious challenge that Scotland is more than capable of standing on its own feet as an independent country. We have the natural resources, the talent, the ambition, the infrastructure and the economic acumen to flourish. We are keen to make that case to those who remain nervous about aspects of the independence prospectus.

So, over the next 12 weeks, Believe in Scotland will be supplying a series of articles celebrating Scotland’s strengths and successes.

This is a task which Believe in Scotland was specifically set up to do. It has already produced the highly-praised Scotland the Brief publication, which has so far sold more than 20,000 copies. It contains a huge volume of information organised in separate categories and presented in a visually attractive and easy to understand format.

READ MORE: The National launches the Yes Challenge – let’s convince undecided voters to back independence

We’ll be using some of that information in the weeks ahead, supplemented by new content on a variety of issues, addressed in a positive way.

We’ll be looking in some depth at the economic case for independence, which is one of the key subjects people say they need to be convinced on. In fact, 75% of Scottish voters say they would back independence if they believed in the economic case.

We’ll also explain why independence will allow us to create the fairer, better nation as we emerge from the Covid pandemic. After all, we don’t want independence for its own sake but to fashion a society where we put people’s welfare before greed.

Other topics will include Brexit, how Scotland and the UK have adopted different approaches to the pandemic, Scotland’s performance as an exporting powerhouse and the ability of small nations to outperform larger ones.

Put together we believe these articles form a compelling, self-confident narrative to persuade voters that the best future for Scotland and its people is to join the ranks of the world’s successful independent nations with the power to take its own decisions to shape the future it deserves.