SOCIAL media Unionists were very unhappy this weekend. It was either because the Scottish Independence Convention held a policy and discussion event which was a great success, or it was because there was recently a full moon. Admittedly, those two options are not mutually exclusive. The SIC met to discuss strategy and tactics for the future of the independence campaign and it was a hugely successful and productive day.

It must have been galling for the social media warriors of red white and blueness that this time no lesbian performers uttered the D-word, and so right-wing tabloid journalists were unable to lecture LGBT people on the evils of homophobia. If only those of us who campaigned for lesbian and gay rights back in the 1980s had known that right-wing tabloids were such stalwart defenders of queer rights we could have saved ourselves a whole lot of bother.

This time there was no manufactured homophobic faux-outrage to get themselves worked up over. Instead, a lot of people with Union flags in their avatars, who insist they’re viscerally opposed to nationalism, amused themselves by attacking me for tweeting that young people in Scotland ought to have a conversation with their elders about pensions and social welfare provision, and how the attachment of a majority of pensioners to the Union means that their children and grandchildren are far less likely to enjoy the same protection once they reach retirement age. Despite what the Unionist parties were telling Scotland’s pensioners during the 2014 campaign, their pensions and social welfare provision would remain safe with independence. Those of us who are a long way from pension age don’t have the same security if Scotland remains a part of the UK.

This is indisputable. As the pension age is being put further and further back, by the time they reach the age at which their grandparents retired, today’s young people will still have many years of work ahead of them. The Conservatives are taking an axe to social and welfare provision. They’re discussing abolishing the so-called triple lock on pensions, meaning the value of a state pension is likely to fall in real terms. As Britain stares into the abyss of a Brexit as hard as a Conservative’s heart, the government is airing the possibility of turning the country into a tax haven, with low tax and an equally low level of public services. It is highly probable that given the trajectory which Britain is on, by the time today’s 20 year olds reach retirement age, there will be no state pension, what remains of the NHS will have been privatised and social care provision will be in the hands of private insurers.

As long as Scotland remains a part of this dysfunctional and cruel Union, we remain exposed to these risks. The independence movement is very good at talking about the benefits of independence, but it’s remiss of us not to talk about the downsides of Scotland remaining a part of the UK. And the UK is getting bleaker and less inviting with every passing day. If Scotland remains a part, we are in for an uncertain, cruel, and penurious future, trapped on an island with a bunch of rabid Tories and no prospect of escaping to Europe without a visa and a work permit. So I tweeted that we need to speak to our elders about how their baseless fears are prejudicing our futures.

Judging from the bile and venom I received from Unionist tweeters, you would have thought that instead of tweeting, “We need to start talking to our parents and grandparents about how their fears for their pensions mean they’re depriving us of ours,” that I had actually tweeted that we need to phone up pensioners and tell them that they’ll not get a pension anymore, and that they’ll be turned away from hospitals and will die painful lingering deaths. You know, what Better Together told them during the last independence referendum campaign. But what I tweeted on Sunday was the vilest thing imaginable, the most disgusting statement ever, and in fact verged on a hate crime. And this came from people who retweet the notorious Twitter troll Brian Spanner approvingly. The all-out fear and intimidation campaign based on outright lies which Better Together used against older voters in 2014 is perfectly OK with them, but any suggestion that the independence movement might try to counter the lies of the Unionists with a dose of truth provokes apoplexy. If you look up Unionism in a political dictionary you’ll find it’s defined as “rank hypocrisy”.

It does need to be pointed out that I’m not suggesting that all older people are No voters. So please don’t bother expressing your outrage in the comments section below that you’re a pensioner who supports independence and how disgusted you are that older people are being stereotyped. I know there are many thousands of older voters who support independence. Nevertheless it is a fact that statistically speaking, the older you are the more likely you are to oppose independence, and this is an issue that the independence movement needs to develop a strategy for dealing with.

The overwrought and over-the-top reaction from Unionists on social media to a fairly innocuous tweet suggesting one possible strategy demonstrated that any suggestion that the independence campaign ought to target older people hits a very raw nerve indeed in the Unionist camp. That’s their core vote base and if we can find a message and a tactic that is effective in reaching older Scots, the game is over for the Union. Clearly, if it annoys and upsets them so much, we’re doing the right thing.

We don’t even need to persuade a majority of older voters. We only need to persuade around 10 per cent of existing No voters in older age groups. The narrowness of that margin goes a long way to explaining the hysterical reaction my innocuous tweet received on Sunday. The Union rests on a shoogly peg – the lies and fears that the Unionists parties have instilled in older people.