WITH regards to several recent letters complaining about the lack of action (since May 6) in bringing forward legislation for an independence referendum; I think some people are talking more through frustration than reality. 

Yes, I would very much like to have an independence referendum tomorrow if it were at all possible, or even yesterday for that matter, but the SNP did say before the election that it would be after Covid was under control. 

Let’s be honest though. Opinion polls are showing a decline in those wanting independence from the high of 58% we had some months ago. This needs to be addressed before any referendum can take place, unless everyone wants to end up where we were after the last one in 2014. Experts are saying that a defeat could set us back for a very long time.

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We say that the Scottish people are sovereign, then most of us are doing nothing to change the status quo. If we truly believe that we – the electorate and the people of Scotland – are sovereign, then we we need to do something about changing the situation and not wait for the government to do it for us if we don’t like the present situation.

If we don’t change our attitude towards independence, then we will never achieve our aims and all we are doing at present is talking to the converted. Yes, I will admit that we haven’t been able to get out and campaign, 
but we need to get a realistic percentage of the electorate behind us if we are to win the next referendum – and we don’t do that by complaining about the lack of movement on that front by the government in Holyrood.

Yes, a few people are trying to progress the movement and cause, such as the recent petition to the United Nations – which I have already signed and sent, and would advise everyone to do. Then there have been some static AUOB events and the planned independence march and rally in Glasgow on August 14, but that isn’t enough to convert the undecideds or the dyed-in-the-wool Unionists. Things like these are fine but they don’t get the air time on mainstream television or headlines in the national (pro-Union) press, and that’s where we need to be targeting if we want to change the public attitude towards independence.

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We are still also arguing over the same points that we were beaten on in 2014 and even long before, and through that we are becoming our own worst enemies! Does it really matter what the currency will be called? No it doesn’t! Yes, we need a bank of last resort and we need all the other elements of fiscal autonomy that an independent country needs.

I could pick a whole range of topics that have been heavily debated over the years and primarily during the 2014 indy campaign. Some are dead in the water due to Brexit or because they have otherwise become irrelevant, but we are still debating them because the Unionists are forcing the issue in a lot of cases, or we keep going over old ground. We have within the independence movement a whole range of people with varying degrees of expertise, and we should be trying to reach out and utilise every piece of that, no matter how big or small, as Covid restrictions start to get lifted. 

What we tend to forget is that we have never given up our identity as a nation and we still have our own laws and systems in place. We’ve had our own embassies in the past and all the other structures that go with being independent, including trade. It’s a bit like a machine that hasn’t been run for years; you overhaul it first and oil all the parts before starting it again. Now’s the time we start to get things prepared for independence. We know that it’s going to work, so let us all do our bit for Scotland instead of waiting for it to get working on its own accord.

Alexander Potts
Kilmarnock