JEAN and Gordon King exemplified the mood of optimism surrounding independence that prevailed at the Scottish Independence Convention.
The couple, from Carse of Gowrie between Perth and Dundee, believe the recent political changes, such as the vote to leave the European Union and the subsequently strengthened Tory Government at Westminster, will influence how people regard the prospect of a future independent Scotland.
“People were frightened last time around, for example with pensions,” said Gordon. “They were told they were going to lose their pensions in an independent Scotland, which was patently untrue – the information they [Unionists] said was there didn’t exist. But there is more information on this occasion and there have been a lot of political changes since the first referendum.”
Jean said she believed the government broke electoral rules during the first indyref.
“They broke electoral commission laws – they were not supposed to interfere, and they repeatedly did interfere. They all panicked. If things had been left to run their course without that interference, I’m sure we would have won the referendum.”
Gordon added: “We’re both from professional backgrounds and politically savvy, but we didn’t get involved in any politics whatsoever, until we saw what was happening in the last few weeks of the referendum campaign.
“I took some time off work and started campaigning and we’ve been doing it ever since.”
Jean said she was convinced that the mood had changed since 2014 and people were now more convinced than ever that Scotland should separate from the UK.
“People are still keeping up with the changes, everything that’s different from the last time, what we’ve got to consider,” she said. “We’ve got to be better prepared, have more information and knowledge, more answers, and I think everybody is more aware of that now.”
Gordon said the appetite for independence extended far beyond the gathering. He said: “We attended several meetings and rallies in the west during the campaign, and the enthusiasm for independence was phenomenal from the very youngest – some of them children – to the quite old. That was always there and a lot of people now feel cheated.”
Jean admitted a crystal ball would be needed to forecast when independence could become a reality, but she’s hoping that we’ll be at least in the transitional phase by 2021.
She added that the report presented to the SIC by Dr Craig Dalzell, showing a drop in support for independence among SNP members, was an illustration the party needed to change.
“The local meetings are not satisfying people,” she said. “They haven’t changed with the influx of new people and are still a somewhat boring format. There is not enough interactive debate and I think that’s what SNP members are feeling. Tommy Sheppard has identified that the party needs to change. We have to change how we communicate with our own members.
“It’s not simply a case of supporting an SNP Government – we have to offer more support to the whole independence movement.”
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