As we write this people are still taking in the implications of the statement today in the Scottish Parliament. Our movement of YES people who wanted change in 2014 have been waiting, some patiently, some not so, for this day.
So what now? Some of you may be thinking
‘We want the world and we want it now!’
……but what has been set out does not deliver that. Yet.
There is no certainty over Brexit. If things go very badly for Unionist parties, and they might, the Brexiteers will win the upper hand and create more chaos to cash in on ( Nigel Fake Rage laughs his way to the bank)
It is right to give the people of Scotland a choice .It is a choice between being pulled out of the EU into a cliff plunging economic disaster that would see our democratic rights pulled back to a forelock tugging past, or, being an outward looking independent nation still part of a European partnership we trade with and send our children to study and work in. The EU elections are a further chance to show Scotlands determination to be independent.
The Scottish Government quite rightly have spent a lot of time preparing.They have listened to the points made back in 2014 about the economy. While some of this is not popular with sections of the Yes movement at least they have tried to address it with an economic focus because this is what the analysts say will sway most soft ‘no’ votes.
In 2014 we were all smitten by a vision of what could be, something better, something more just and more positive. Since then we have been bombarded by relentless anti-Scottish propaganda and media bias. Yet despite that people still march, people make Yes stones, people smile at you when you wear a Yes badge ( regardless of what the design is).Independence has seeped into our way of life but we are not permitted to express it through our (state) media.
The sight of Murdo Fraser trying to copy Gordon Brown by pleading for support for Federalism is a sign we are winning. The impatience of the last period, the differences of opinion over this and that, the personality politics of one grouping over another is all now ammunition for that great unionist media machine to exploit and undermine us even more.
Brexit has unleashed so much hate in its wake that while economic arguments may win our independence the avoidance of hate is also a main driver.
We have seen the rapid growth of the extreme right with UKIP soaking up people who previously shared meetings with the murderer of Jo Cox MP.
Nigel Fake Rage himself has pulled in supporters ranging from Tory Anne Widdecombe to members of old marxist/communist sects sworn enemies of the EU, not to mention Gorgeous George Galloway ( meow). The political cartwheels are making us dizzy and that’s before we look at the Labour Party that ‘push me pull you’ beast that is neither Remain nor Leave depending on what press release you read and how the polls are faring. We can’t rely on Left Labour cavalry, it was always an illusion and now Corbyn will probably have his last stand like Custer did with with is own right wing as the First Nation Indians.
While I for one have had my moments of impatience, I am very proud of how far we have come since 2014. We have some significant independent media, like this page, excellent independent live streaming resources and great local online press like Orkney News. As the government talks about currency and the economics of independence I can hear people start to criticise them. I fear we will begin to tear apart our own success because we cannot see the prize of independence clearly enough. In order to succeed we all need to do that.
But there is another factor that drives us. The hatred that Brexit has unleashed is poisoning us. We need to stop that. We need to remind ourselves of why we got into this in the first place. For many of us it was looking at our children and grandchildren who are ofcourse all older now.
It was about protecting our NHS.It was about getting rid of nuclear weapons and spending the money on our children instead. Now it is also about ensuring we have enough people to work in our NHS and caring for our elderly. It is about growing the economy, an economy that would not grow in a Tory Brexit based system that breaks down the movement of people. The Brexit process was based on a campaign of hate, and much else about lining the pockets of the Brexiteers. It has been a long journey but for many it has laid bare the disregard the UK has for Scotlands people and our self determination.
It has been along wait but now the real work starts and it is right to have hope over hate. G