WELCOME FELLOW INDEPENDISTAS
Today is the 720th anniversary of the execution of William Wallace at the Smithfield Market in London
Today is the 720th anniversary of the execution of William Wallace at the Smithfield Market in London
Here we are over 7 centuries later still having to fight for Scotland’s freedom and independence
In doing so we should learn some lessons from how William Wallace achieved victory:
1. Keep on fighting until we win/Don’t repeat the mistake that was made after the 2014 referendum when we allowed YES Scotland to be wound up/Doing that was a huge mistake/We absolutely need a National Yes organisation to mobilise our independence troops behind an agreed programme of action and do so from now until we win
2. Never forget we are fighting for the cause, not a party/The cause is far more important than any individual or group or the leadership of any political party
3. Rally the People/The independence movement has been looking in the mirror for too long, talking to ourselves. The purpose of a new Yes United is to build up such a level of support both for cause of Independence and the need for urgency in achieving it that it will become impossible for Westminster to say NO.
4. Like Wallace, we need to be audacious/Not timid/Not defensive/But confident/Well organised/United in our purpose/Defiant of the naysayers/As Keir Hardie said when the Labour Party was founded: Our job is to educate, organise and agitate.
In my view, there are three elements to the work we need to do to achieve our objectives:
1. The work programme for the period between now and January 2026, a copy of which has been circulated. Let me say this is not being presented on a take it or leave it basis. It is up to you to decide the way forward.
2. The second key task is for us to raise the funding to pay for our leaflets, building up a database of supporters, servicing local organisations, trying to get new local YES groups established where none currently exist, etc.
3. Finally, the third element of our work programme will be preparing the detailed case for independence.
Points to make:
a. No analysis by the independence movement of why we lost in 2014/Fortunately done by Edinburgh University/Main reason we lost; we didn’t do enough to persuade people that independence would benefit them and their families.
b. Pensioners were a classic case. Unionists threatened old people that they would lose their state pension if they voted for independence/As a result 70% of pensioners voted against independence/We took a purely defensive position/What we should have done was make Scottish pensioners angry that their pension is one of the lowest in Europe and put forward a detailed, costed commitment to increase the state pension in an independent Scotland to at least the European average, showing how it could be paid for/Had we done that I believe we may have won over enough pensioners for us to have won the referendum
c. We also need to recognise that the world has changed dramatically since 2014, requiring a complete re-think of the economic and social case for independence. For example: BREXIT/Going back into the EU; Defence/Ukraine has changed geopolitics/For example, will an independent Scotland commit to spending 5% of its GDP on defence and if so where will the money come from?/Currency – praise the work of the currency group/The economics of independence, e.g. GERS, cheap energy
d. A lot of work to be done. We need to build on the work of existing groups by filling the gaps/this time we need to present an exciting, ambitious and realistic prospectus for what an independent Scotland will look like.
23rd August, Eric Liddell Centre, Edinburgh