On Sunday 14th October, I attended the Hope Over Fear demo in Glasgow with a friend.We decided to go through from Edinburgh because we wanted to connect with other Yessers. George Square was full, and I was impressed by the number of young families who came round with the kids in pushchairs, and it seemed quite a jolly day out, despite the weather.So, what is the point? Devo-Max has been kyboshed, Federalism and Home Rule were non-starters. We knew that. Vote No, Get Nowt, that was what we said, and that is what Westminster intended to deliver. There are no new offers on the table for us to campaign for, and there are no elections on the horizon until the General
Election in May 2015.
However, there is a point, in my opinion.Now that the independence referendum is over, the “real” politicians, the men in suits– and occasional token woman – expect to be back in charge. The most upsetting thing we can do is fail to act according to their script. It has become a truism that Scotland is more politically active now than ever, but we need to understand what that means. It means that people are involved who haven’t realised that politicians lie, that The Vow, covered by the BBC, the Daily Record, the great and the good of UK politics, would not be kept. Enough of them believed it to swing the vote, if we can believe the post-referendum polls. And so, we cannot allow politics to return to business as usual. We can’t let the political class off the hook as easily as that. Promises were made. David Cameron, with tears in his eyes, told us Westminster could change. We don’t allow the spurious post-referendum spat between the main parties to be used as an excuse to deliver nothing.
We don’t allow Labour to puff about “English Votes for English Laws” as if it matters – it’s 40 years since Labour depended on Scottish seats to deliver a majority, and they were also depending on the SDLP then too. Blair’s Labour had a majority without Scottish MPs in each of his three victories. This is a reason to democratise Westminster, not to undermine democracy in Scotland.We don’t allow the Tories to pretend that they can’t deliver anything for Scotland until it’s delivered in England – there was no mention of that in “The Vow”, or in the pledges presented to us on Calton Hill, signed by all of our unionist party leaders, and their Scottish branch managers.We point out the hypocrisy of the LibDems talking about Federalism while refusing to devolve meaningful powers.
If there was nothing new in “The Vow”, if the Westminster parties didn’t really break purdah, and come up with a new offer, let them say so, explicitly.Let the unionist BBC and the Daily Record, and the rest of the mainstream media, tell their readers, listeners and viewers that they were lied to by the unionist parties. That they failed to scrutinise what was on offer – the supposed duty of a free press in a democracy.Until that day, we, the Yes campaign, hold those politicians – and journalists – to account. We challenge them at every opportunity. We don’t let them off the hook. We question, we go to hustings – assuming any of the unionist parties come out of their hiding places. In fact, we make sure they have no hiding place.
We act in good faith. After all, didn’t Scotland vote on the understanding, from all three party leaders, that regardless of the outcome, a No Vote was a positive vote for change? If it turns out they didn’t act, or speak in good faith, we make sure that is obvious to everyone in Scotland.As far as I am concerned, when the chips were down, the Scottish political class acted in the interests of the British State, not the people of their constituencies. The machinery of the British state – the political, the media, the corporate – acted as one to defend itself. The whole rotten edifice stands exposed. It’s up to us to make sure that as many people as possible see it for what it is.
The First Minister, Alex Salmond, has been vilified in a way that hasn’t happened since the 1980s, when Tony Benn was considered a threat to the British State. And was vilified by the same organisations. So much of the No campaign was predicated entirely on making the campaign centre on the First Minister, then demonising him. And, frankly, too many people fell for it. We need to raise the level of political education in Scotland, among the population as a whole, and that is what we can do in the time between now and the next General Election.
May 2015 must not be business as usual. We cannot let the cynicism of the political elite infect our movement, because cynicism and
Scotlands changing face
alienation is what gives them their power. We make every unionist MP afraid for their seat. We don’t even talk about “Labour MPs” or “Lib Dem MPs”, we call them Unionist MPs. We make sure we’re visible in every community, at every event . I grew up in a trade unionist, Labour voting house. I can’t believe what the party has become. Scotland is ignored by the Tories because we always vote Labour. And we’re being ignored by Labour for the same reason. We’re a collection of safe seats for their “rising stars” aka careerists. They have taken our seats for granted, because those who don’t want to vote Labour often don’t vote at all. The low turnouts in many seats reflect this.
I would like us to look at these seats. See where the low turnouts are, where the low majorities are. Then compare with the number of new
voters we managed to get onto the Electoral Register. It is vital that we keep our newly politicised compatriots engaged. Make them realise that they can still use their power, that these rotten burghs are ripe to fall, and conduct an electoral strategy for the whole Yes movement.So that is why events like Sunday’s demonstration are important. We are here, we are visible. We fly our flags, converse with our neighbours and colleagues, wear our badges. We are still creating the better country we want to live in. It’s just that Westminster hasn’t noticed yet. Let’s make sure our communities do.
pictures from Hope Over Fear
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Hope over fear