THE Wee Ginger Dug was certainly barking up the right tree in Saturday’s paper (Here’s what we need to do NOW to fight for indy, The National, October 14).
Our fight for independence will stem from the actions of our grassroots movement. This is the biggest community empowerment project to be undertaken by the Scottish people – the broader Yes movement will be the facilitators and enablers of our national independence.
From door to door, street to street and from town to town, we need to win over people’s commitment and articulate why it’s in all our best interests to take control of our country, thus ensuring a synergy between the needs of all our people with the social and economic development of our nation. We need to remove the bias of our established media and replace this with active and participative engagement, street activities, door-to-door actions, creative use of social media, ongoing public meetings, meaningful involvement with local community projects, and encourage social change through direct positive action. There must be many opportunities to develop local ownership of community resources through the Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment Act. Let’s take control!
Commonweal have done a great job in presenting well-thought-out and researched policies on currency in an independent Scotland, a citizen’s wage, community control and social policy, however we need to take these arguments to the people directly as currently they are getting lost in our own vacuum and are largely ignored by the Unionist media. In this respect, we need to take direct action and inform our people wherever they gather, provide the answers where there was confusion and weakness in the campaign for indy in 2014. We cannot rely on the professional politicians, who have their other agendas and electoral motivations. We need to bring them to account in the name of the people’s demands for independence as voiced and represented though our grassroots Yes movement.
I look forward to the Scottish Independence Convention event on November 4, and fully endorse the Wee Ginger Dug’s suggestion of bringing together local groups in their own conference, where we can then discuss strategies and frameworks for taking forward some of the outcomes and outputs from the SIC event. This informal gathering of groups and individuals can help us to confirm a road map for engaging with the people and energising our Yes movement whilst also ensuring the work of the Independence Convention is exposed to the widest audience possible.
I acknowledge the hard work undertaken to date through the National Yes Registry, but let’s get their app packed full and populated with a myriad of local actions and activities.
John R Hosie
Yes Clackmannanshire
SHONA Craven’ s article “There’s no point in us attracting tourists if local infrastructure isn’t up to it” was straight to the point and I applaud her for this frank article (The National,October 13). Infrastructure is vital to any community and for the tourists, with first impressions vital when it comes to being user-friendly. This article should be sent to local authorities as they prepare budgets, and the tourist board who are planning to close many local information centres.
Shona Craven highlighted the situation on Arran where local toilets were being closed – that was until the local communities took over the role of providing those facilities, and well done to them. In our times of tight budgets local authorities must diversify the use of many of their local community facilities, just as they have done on parts of Arran.
This article also highlighted the crucial role that social media plays in the tourism industry, a role that has huge implications for our economy, so it is in everyone’s interest to make sure the infrastructure is worthy of a good review.
Catriona C Clark
Banknock, Falkirk
THE flurry of comment on the English High Court decision, later confirmed by the Supreme Court, that the executive does not hold the Royal Prerogative, and that parliament alone is sovereign, rests on English constitutional law.
It has no equivalent in Scottish constitutional law which had and continues to have, following the Treaty of Union and up until the present day, entirely different intellectual foundations. It clearly states that the people of Scotland are sovereign, and indeed the English constitutional theorist A V Dicey, in asserting that parliament was sovereign, was careful to restrict his maxims on this to the law of England. The casual assertion by Theresa May that the EU referendum covered the whole of the UK fails to take this into account. The Scottish Government was acting constitutionally when it sought, as instructed by a majority of the people of Scotland, to retain our position within the EU.
Now May’s disdain for democracy is on display once more with her intention to circumvent parliament and enable her small coterie of ministers to force through the EU Withdrawal Bill. The 1985 Weights and Measures Act was forced through using the same tactics and was described at the time as “displaying a contempt for parliament without precedent since Oliver Cromwell dismissed the rump parliament on 2nd April 1653”. Surely time for the beaks to have a look at this.
Bruce Moglia
Bridge of Weir
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