I KNOW that I will never deviate from independence, but I’ve got to admit, I’m at a “so what?” stage. Recent letters in The National remind us of the staggering fact that within the last decade plus, Scotland has elected pro-indy majorities in our own parliament and Westminster. We have clearly seen that our Holyrood parliament can govern and the incumbents then be re-elected, but so what? How much closer are we to independence?

I appreciate that in the face of corruption across major elements of the state and the ongoing pandemic that has cost us the lives of thousands, this is remarkable. Equally there is no legitimacy to claims from Unionists that Scotland and its people are apolitical.

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There is no justification for Unionists spewing the likes of “independence won’t happen: it’s divisive: there’s no appetite”, not as we witness greed and the moral failings of “leaders” – elected, appointed, and not forgetting the inherited variety.

Compare the political steadfastness of the voters here to the apparent apathy of the population south of the Border in the face of the potential criminality of the likes of the PM; the ability of the rich and powerful to buy their way out of trouble; the head of the Met walking away with an eye-watering payout and a pension intact whilst there are the remaining questions about the probity and overall fitness for purpose of that police force.

So what, if all we see is some frothy faux indignation in the pro-Union press and media, almost as if they’re saying: see, we can snap at the hand that feeds us, but don’t be fooled, we’ve no bite. Because we need to ask what change has been demanded and what change is happening. One Secretary of State that had to be caught on camera, along with the PM’s Downing Street press secretary resigning, sacrificial lamb-like, over parties that had happened, but hadn’t really happened until they were shown to have happened!

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Just why is the pro-Union majority stuck in this rotten political vortex, with now the cost of living spiralling, the rUK NHS being hacked away via privatisation, the PM and elements of his entourage jetting around the world desperately seeking a place on the global stage (try exit right), and Brexit still to bare its teeth? Is there some subliminal angst, is there some recognition of the destabilising of their beloved Union and the beginnings of its ultimate collapse?

As the EU became the enemy to be overcome before change could happen, are we and independence the harbinger of the inevitable change that they cannot contemplate? After all, what is an empire shorn of its last colony? Where will they find another cash cow to fill the financial void? What, then, when the island of Ireland stirs and reunites?

So what if Labour realises there is no way back in Scotland – will they ever reclaim Middle England, and to what advantage in that truncated landscape post-independence? Is it any wonder they fear independence!

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So what’s the next step to get us there? We are ready to campaign – we’re always ready in the grassroots – but are we caught in some holding station of our own making? When our opposition is in such disarray, where is our positive change, our progress? Are we ready with the rhetoric around issues such as the border? There will be one: that is an inevitably of independence. And pensions?

Please, no more shooting ourselves in the foot. We cannot afford to yet again be arguing against, as opposed to offering hope of better, and demonstrating the benefits of change.

So what’s the next step and when?

Selma Rahman
Edinburgh