THE architect of the Vow, which promised more powers for Holyrood if voters backed Scotland staying the Union in September 2014, has said he believes it will ultimately be a stepping stone to independence.
Former newspaper editor Murray Foote spoke exclusively to The National last night, two weeks after announcing he would support a Yes vote in a future referendum.
Asked if looking back in 50 years time, the Vow might be seen as a step towards independence, he said: “That’s exactly what it will be.”
READ MORE: Murray Foote, the man behind The Vow, quits Daily Record
READ MORE: Architect of the Vow Murray Foote comes out for Scottish independence
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He said the motivation for the Vow was to hold the pro-Union politicians to their word that they would deliver more powers to Holyrood in the event of a No vote. Just ahead of the vote a newspaper poll put the Yes side ahead prompting nervous Unionists to promise greater devolution.
Foote said: “There has been a lot of nonsense written about the Vow and the motivation for it. The motivation was purely out of distrust with the Unionist line that we were given by politicians that more powers would come.
“As prior to the infamous or famous Sunday Times poll which put Yes ahead, the Better Together campaign could barely agree which day of the week it was let alone which powers would be further devolved.”
Asked now, as an independence supporter, if he regretted the Vow, he said: “Absolutely not, the Vow was done in good faith at the time it was done and I do not recognise any suggestion it affected the material outcome of the vote … it was pretty obvious it was the economy. I don’t recognise that I was either the saviour of the Union or the person who prevented independence.”
He said that the Vow ensured that more powers were devolved, and pointing to income tax and social security powers moving to Holyrood, he said these measures allowed the Scottish Government to distinguish itself positively from the Conservative Government at Westminster.
“My personal view is that [the Vow] will be looked upon as another stepping stone that allowed the current government to display a substantial change to the way Westminster governs Britain and Holyrood governs Scotland.
“We keep hearing the word compassionate from Jeane Freeman [the Health Secretary and former social security minster] about the new benefit system and I hope that is the case.
“If [the Vow] saves some Scots the ignominy of the dreadful rigours that are placed upon the most vulnerable in society … if that alleviates some of the misery, then it’s been a great thing.”
Foote spoke to The National ahead of addressing a public meeting in Glasgow to explain why he was now committed to Scotland becoming an independent nation.
He said he wanted to correct a misperception that he had undergone “a Damoclesean conversion” to independence.
“The reality is I have always thought as a concept that Scotland should be independent,” he said.
“I think that is the situation a lot of Scots find themselves in. Their heart says Yes and their head says No.
“I think the intervening years since the referendum has allowed my head to come into line with my heart. It was not a Damoclesean conversion, it was a realignment and consolidation of my belief that Scotland should become independent.”
He added: “As matters stand I would vote Yes tomorrow, but I have to admit that I do have concerns and I think probably everyone who is pro-independence should have the same concerns about how we pay our way.
“Part of the [SNP’s] Growth Commission was to try and plug any holes in Scotland’s economic future. The worst we can do is take a leap of faith rather than what is in the best interests of future generations including my own daughters.
“We can’t sacrifice any generation. We have to make sure no one is left behind.”
The National asked Foote how he voted in 2014, but he declined to say, adding “I going to keep my own counsel on that.”
As the editor of the Daily Record Foote brought together the leaders of the three main UK parties – David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, two days before the independence referendum in September 2014, with all of them promising enhanced responsibilities for Holyrood if Scots voted to stay in the UK.
Former First Minister Alex Salmond later said the intervention was a crucial factor in persuading many Scots not to vote for independence.
But in a dramatic intervention, writing a column in The Times earlier this month Foote suggested the UK Government’s handling of the Brexit Bill’s impact on devolution was among the reasons why he now fully backed independence.
His revelation was welcomed by the First Minister, who tweeted: “That @murrayf00te – the architect of the ‘Vow’ – now supports independence is hugely significant. I’m delighted. Welcome aboard, Murray.”
The Greens’ Ross Greer said that Foote “sums up the frustrations of many people in Scotland perfectly”.
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