WITH less than two weeks to go before we know the result of the 2016 Holyrood election, it’s mildly amusing to see the unhappy collection of sometime allies in the Better Together campaign react with outrage at the proposal for a new campaign for independence. Perhaps they thought that after convincing nearly half the population to vote Yes, we’d all just shrink away and lick our wounds. Or perhaps mock indignation is simply all they have left.
Nicola Sturgeon’s commitment that the campaign will begin a new phase in the summer, and that a new case for independence will be built, is welcome. But it will be essential that this isn’t just a re-hash of the 2014 proposition. Both the current and former First Ministers have acknowledged that lessons must be learned and a stronger case must be developed if we’re to succeed in the future. I know that there are some people who’re champing at the bit to get started on another referendum, but it’s vital that we do what’s needed to convince those many people who thought long and hard in 2014 but ended up reluctantly putting their X in the No box.
Currency is only the most obvious issue. Even some SNP members I know were never fully sold on the idea of a currency union and at the very least we need to do the groundwork to ensure that Scotland is able to create a new currency of its own and, more to the point, confident enough to do so.
It’s also important to learn from the experience of devolution in the years before the referendum – the long campaign for a devolved Parliament and then the decade-and-a-half of showing that Scotland is more than capable of exercising the responsibility it gave us and building a vibrant, multi-party democracy. I have little doubt that if the question of independence rather than devolution had been put in 1997, it would have failed by a far bigger margin. The growth and maturity of the independence cause has been intimately connected to Scotland’s story of growing self-government and the confidence which comes from greater responsibility.
In short, the gradualists were right. By accepting that, we can move on to exercise the new powers coming to Holyrood with ambition, creativity and boldness, secure in the knowledge that this will further clear the path ahead toward independence.
This is why I make two arguments today, to those still considering their vote for the Holyrood election and who believe both in the vision of a fair, equal and sustainable Scotland, and in the continued journey toward independence.
Firstly, let us cast our vote not only with the party of government in mind. It is, after all, under no threat of losing office. Let us elect a Parliament which is stronger for its diversity and with the determination to use Holyrood’s powers to the full. Independence matters to me, but there’s a lot else in the way we run our society and our economy which matters too. When I hear the line “not until independence” as a reason for inaction it’s deeply depressing. That’s not only because it means stalling progress on the urgent challenges Scotland and the whole world are facing; it’s also depressing because that kind of inertia will fail to inspire and empower those reluctant No voters, the very people we need to convince. So let’s be bold in our use of progressive taxation, let’s ensure that Holyrood is closing the gap in wealth and income inequality and reversing the cuts to public services. Let’s build an energy system that works for the common good instead of for private profit alone, and let’s ensure Scotland’s voice is heard on the global challenges, from shutting down tax havens to killing off the TTIP trade deal.
Scotland is a country more than capable of governing itself, but that will only happen if we continue to build self-belief by taking ever bolder and more confident steps.
Secondly, let us ensure that this new independence case is as broad and inclusive as it can be. Part of this of course is about non-SNP parties – including the constructive role the Greens can play – but it goes way beyond parties alone. The Yes campaign often managed to achieve this… but not always. The closer the referendum drew the more a “don’t rock the boat” mood developed. Independence is supposed to be about rocking the boat! It’s an inherently radical idea and we should be proud to say so.
As we build this new case for independence we should be more than relaxed about the broad, multi-party democracy which exists in Scotland; we should recognise that it is the very source of strength that we need.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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