THE National is two years old today – yaaaaaas!

It’s a real triumph for the paper naysayers told us could not succeed – the paper whose political perspective readers would not support (for long) and whose unwavering and (it was presumed uncritical) commitment to the goal of independence would scunner independent-minded journalists. Oh yes and using the print medium was downright crazy – all right-thinking commentators insisted physical newspapers were practically dead. OK – it’s been hard. But that’s the kind of journey independence campaigners know best. Let’s face it. Yessers have spent so long beyond the easy, convenience of the mainstream, we’ve almost made it home. Almost.

The National’s first editor Richard Walker is probably the main reason the paper survived its first year. Richard is a highly respected journalist and an experienced editor – which makes it all the more extraordinary he hasn’t become cynical, stale, conservative or overbearing. Instead Richard has somehow managed to retain a well-developed sense of fun, refreshing humility and a fondness for danger. That’s why he is absolutely loved by so many of the folk he once worked with as boss. That’s why he put his career on the line by “coming out” for Yes within a resolutely No-oriented newspaper world. And that’s why so many of us joined him when he asked.

It’s easy now – looking back on two solid years of growth – to forget how much bottle it took to spearhead the first daily independence-supporting paper ever.

Many prominent Yes campaigners have seen work dry up completely since September 2014 (I certainly have) and doubtless that’s why so many public figures joined the SNP to become MPs and MSPs. Inside the camp there is support and security – but baby, it’s cold outside.

Richard could have joined that scamper but instead he chose to fight the toughest battle imaginable outside the protected arena of parliament, without any personal or professional safety net.

I remember the night Richard revealed a new pro-indy paper was being devised and invited me on board as a columnist. It was outside the Politician of the Year Awards in November 2014 at the prestigious Prestonhall House Hotel. Despite the glamour of the night, I was feeling deflated. After two heady years of campaigning, it became clear that the great and good had simply resumed business as usual. The Conservatives were advancing English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) more speedily and cheerfully than their earlier promise to give Scots “the most powerfully devolved parliament in the world”. Messrs Broon and Darling had “saved the Union” and fled to the safer high ground of consultancies and speaking tours. And we were looking forward to a Westminster election with formal analysis provided by a wheen of Union-supporting daily papers and the far-from-brave, probing or even-handed BBC Scotland.

It was a sair fecht.

In the darkness outside the Awards swally, Richard appeared, with the bright-eyed look of a man slightly possessed. “This is top secret – but we’re launching a new pro-independence daily paper.”

“When?”

“Next week.”

“Wit! Yer mad.”

“The Herald’s owners will run it as a pilot for a week. If it works we’ll keep going. Will you write for it?”

Well, what Yes-supporting journalist would not give her eye-teeth to finally write for a paper with the same outlook – an outlook not simply based on a slavish devotion to the party political fortunes of the SNP.

At the start many predicted The National would be a McPravda – a tedious worshipful echo chamber supporting every move and decision made by the Scottish Government.

Of course, The National gives SNP ministers space to explain themselves and make sure “SNP bad” stories don’t get uncritical house room. But one of the great achievements of The National has been to separate the cause of independence from the political fortunes of the SNP. That may have riled a few readers, but I’m sure it has prompted a grudging respect amongst party leaders. And readers have come to expect a questioning independent-mindedness from The National. I think that’s quite an achievement.

The paper has also championed important issues besides the BIG one. In 2015, Richard Walker devoted two pages to the Our Land campaign which was set up to stiffen the SNP’s unaccountable reluctance to deliver truly radical land reform and to support Andrew Stoddart – the first of many tenant farmers facing eviction through shortcomings in legislation enacted by a previous Scottish Government.

This year the fabulous “new” National editor Callum Baird followed suit with the unsuccessful fight against the eviction of the Paterson family on Arran. The family has come to an agreement with landowner Charles Fforde that seems to have involved the sale of livestock – but there has been no rethink on the eviction (or “removal” as Fforde’s lawyers insist the Patersons must now call it.) The farm sale is on today and the family of five must be out on Monday.

None of this has shown the SNP in a great light. And yet The National has given more space and support to land reformers and other campaigners on TTIP, fracking and genuinely local government than papers whose editorial line is hostile to independence and the SNP.

That’s brave. The new Scotland cannot thrive in an atmosphere of automatic and worshipful approval of government – whether it’s Scottish, British, local or European. Read the Declaration of Arbroath – uncritical worship is not in our DNA. Debate and challenge are part of the Scottish psyche – and both leap out of this paper every day.

So too the neglected languages of Scotland – Scots and Gaelic. And the oft marginalised voices of young, female and working-class columnists. In fact The National is for the Yes movement what Radio nan Gaidheal was for the Gaeltacht – the catalyst for a movement trying to find its feet in a mainstream world of monoglots who don’t tolerate variation.

I’d say The National has also done a very tough thing – it’s become a caring tabloid which uses the powerful tricks of the red tops to grab attention and convey simple, powerful arguments without patronising readers or abusing minorities (unless you count Scottish Tory MPs).

I know that’s a hard thing to do, because I tried exactly 20 years ago with a tabloid version of The Scotswoman. It’s easy to propose but very hard to execute – in a tabloid every column inch, headline and picture matters. The National has become a tabloid with an independent-minded attitude and a Scots-supporting soul.

And there is flexibility. As a columnist I always write more than the word length and spend hours hoiking out chunks of text before submitting. Now Callum has let me write to the length of the issue – within reason. The result for me has been the chance to really get to grips with complex issues. If it’s been too much for readers I’m sure I’ll find out. The National is that kinda community.

Is this a bit of a love-in fanzine column? Well yes.

My only gripe is that I’d like to see a digest of local news covering the whole of Scotland beyond the central belt – these days no other paper does that very well. STV’s rise to popularity was partly on the back of its ability to do what BBC Scotland would not – cover all of Scotland.

Could The National follow suit before its third birthday – fa kens?

But one thing’s for sure. Whenever Nicola Sturgeon calls the next independence referendum, the Yes campaign will start in a far better position than it did in 2013. And a very large part of that is down to this paper.

So will The National be a terrible two-year-old?

Interestingly, online dictionaries define that as “a normal stage in which toddlers begin to struggle between their reliance on adults and their desire for independence.”

Yip – that’s about right for a feisty paper with a sense of mission.

So happy birthday The National.