Vivienne Lesley Heathcote Dobbie, 73, is from Tarbert, Argyll. Having retired, she is now writing novels. This is her story of going from No to Yes. 

I’M English and came to Scotland with my family 20 years ago to run a pub. Unfortunately, it was the wrong project for us, made worse by a difficult and often dysfunctional village community.

Sadly, I let this experience turn me against the Scots in general – although I’d previously been quite enchanted. My husband is half-Scottish so we’d visited that side of his family often. I loved the countryside and the friendliness of the people but, after all that had happened and now divorced, retired and stressed, I resigned myself to a life of a lot of isolation. I moved to another village on the west coast and started writing novels. I’ve always written and life’s twists and turns had given me the time and space to do so in earnest.

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My daughter was the only other family member to stay and was close by. She has always felt a real connection to Scotland. The question of independence loomed. I voted No but my daughter was very pro-Yes.

She was naturally disappointed by the result so I listened to what she had to say; how Nicola Sturgeon came across as honourable, compassionate and intelligent and how her party seemed to make sensible decisions. I have a lot of respect for my daughter’s opinion – she is a very bright and caring woman – and I started to really listen to Nicola. I compared what I was hearing with how Tory governments behaved – the hints of self-serving, half-truths and manipulation of the public. And then came Brexit!

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The madness of this decision, let alone the obvious lies being rolled out, decided me. Westminster had lost it! The more I listened to Nicola, the more I saw the sort of leader I wanted making decisions affecting me and mine. Caring, strong, decent and with common sense. I want to be part of an independent, respected country and that will be Scotland – soon I hope. I know people in England who want to hear what the First Minister has to say more than their own government.

I believe the Scottish Government engenders a lot more respect than that of Westminster. I feel a real sense of optimism when I think of Scotland making its own decisions. I urge everyone to join me in voting Yes to independence. The best is yet to come.