ALL independence supporters must “do some hard thinking” about the reasons the Yes campaign did not achieve success in 2014, according to a speaker at a landmark event on charting the movement’s next steps.
Former Yes Scotland digital guru Stewart Kirkpatrick is among those set to speak at the sold-out Scottish Independence Convention (SIC) summit next Saturday.
As many as 800 people have bought tickets for the strategy event after SIC convener Elaine C Smith announced “tea break is over” for campaigners.
As the programme for the event is published, Kirkpatrick has given an exclusive interview to The National on where we go from here.
The consultant, who will address the conference on “timing, message and targets”, said: “We need to do some research to understand why we lost last time, who is persuadable, and what we can be doing now to find out what might make those people and change their minds.
“Everyone has their own ideas about why Yes lost the referendum. What we don’t have is that sense of exactly what cost us votes in the groups we needed to win over last time.
“Where it went wrong is the question. Everyone who is in favour of independence needs to do some hard thinking.”
The SIC predates Yes Scotland, but was put on hold when the official independence campaign was established in 2011. Key figures reassembled last year, when Smith announced she was to “get the band back together”.
Smith will deliver the welcome address, with Green Party co-convener Maggie Chapman and Scottish Government minister Angela Constance also giving opening speeches. Jim Mather of the SNP Growth Commission and Professor Nicola McEwan, associate director of the ESRC Centre on Constitutional Change, will also discuss objectives and institutions.
Jonathan Shafi of the Radical Independence Movement will give his view of the grassroots, as will Tommy Sheppard MP, Green campaigner Sarah Beattie-Smith, Lesley Orr of Women for Independence and John McHarg of Yes2. Green MSP Patrick Harvie and journalists Lesley Riddoch, Pat Kane and Richard Walker will also take part. Interactive sessions will be held, with a focus on the media, policies and “what’s next?”.
Kirkpatrick said one issue up for discussion is how to tackle difficult issues such as the economy, widely seen as one of the stumbling blocks which harmed the Yes vote.
The campaign claimed an independence Scotland would form a currency union with the rest of the UK, continuing to use sterling, but this was rubbished by then-chancellor George Osborne and Better Together, which stoked fear about the economic impact of constitutional change on Scotland.
Kirkpatrick said: “We can’t get caught in a battle where the Union is presented as economic security. The future is uncertain. We need to do a better job of showing people it’s actually more secure to be in charge of your own economic levers.
“We had one policy on currency that we stuck by. Actually, the key point was that Scotland would be able to decide which currency it used according to what its needs were. The key principle is not ‘which currency’, the key principle is ‘we are in charge’.”
Defending the performance of Yes Scotland, Kirkpatrick said: “In the face of intense hostility, Yes Scotland led a movement which bumped the support for independence by 15-20 points. There is a lot of work to be done around crafting a vision of independence that captures the imagination of the people we didn’t reach last time.”
Constance said: “The strength of the independence movement is its breadth and depth, representing all walks of life and reaching into every community in Scotland. This conference is an exciting opportunity for the movement to consider how we move forward together to a fairer and independent Scotland.”
Harvie said: “The challenge for those of us in the independence movement is to put forward answers on currency, the economy, pensions and other areas which are not just stronger than the Scottish Government offered in 2014, but also relevant to the new situation, where Scotland’s relationship with Europe and the wider world is at the mercy of the Tory Government’s Brexiteers. The Scottish Independence Convention provides us with a platform to address that challenge.”
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