Humza Yousaf: Summer campaign will take a positive Yes message to all

Watching my friend and colleague Mhairi Black enthusiastically tear strips off Oliver Dowden by laying bare the deep-rooted damage that Brexit has caused Scotland, I was overcome with a great sense of faith.

Needless to say, my faith was of course not placed in the shambles of Brexit, in the incompetent Tories, or a floundering Labour Party who are convinced that becoming born-again Brexiteers is their route to 10 Downing Street.

My great sense of faith was in the younger generation and our enormous wealth of talent in the SNP and wider independence movement.

Their conviction in Scotland’s right to self-determination and our future as a progressive nation inside the European Union is clear-cut.

The SNP are bursting at the seams with talent, whether it’s in Parliament, on university campuses or on the doorsteps all over Scotland. Our party and movement could not be in safer hands.

Just a day later, viewers across the UK were offered a first-hand opportunity to tune into Scotland’s Net Zero Secretary, Màiri McAllan, powerfully highlight the often unspoken cultural damage Brexit has inflicted on society – outlining that independence is the only route to Scotland becoming a member of the family of European nations.

READ MORE: Question Time: Humza Yousaf calls for fairness and balance

I’m a proud European and I know that Scotland belongs inside the EU. For many people, young and old, being an outward-looking nation is what attracts them to our movement.

But we all have our own personal story of how we become involved in the Yes movement and what Scottish independence means for us.

Yet what connects all our unique viewpoints is the determination to build a better Scotland for our children, and our grandchildren, and for future generations to come.

I have spoken frankly about wanting to build a Scotland where every child, regardless of their background or parents’ income, can grow up and be afforded the same opportunities and security that my girls have.

I also want to see a fairer Scotland, with an economy built on equality that works for us, the people, not the other way around.

And I want to see a Scotland where voters get the governments and politicians they vote for – not some of the time, but all of the time.

In stark contrast to the division and isolationism of the Labour and Tory Brexit, Scotland’s independence movement looks forward into the future to share a vision of hope of a nation we should, and will, become.

During the SNP leadership campaign, I vowed to set up regional assemblies across Scotland to bring together and harness the energy of our members to discuss how we cross the line and win independence.

The SNP team are working hard to organise and schedule our regional assemblies, and I will make an announcement shortly on a summer of independence campaign activity so we take our positive message to every corner of the country.

READ MORE: SNP announce date for special independence convention in Dundee

I look forward to engaging with more of our party members to hear their honest and frank views about the future.

As party leader, I know we must be clear what the SNP is delivering for voters today, and what independence offers tomorrow.

While the Tories point the finger of blame at the most vulnerable in our society and dish out tax cuts for the rich, and Labour offer more of the same with a leader who vows he doesn’t care if voters think he’s conservative, it’s only the SNP that bring progressive, bold and ambitious change for the people of our country.

In Scotland, we haven’t voted for a Tory government since 1955. But we don’t just want rid of the Tories for five years, 10 years, or even 15 years.

We want unelected Tory governments gone for good. That’s the opportunity a vote for the SNP will deliver.

The prospect of what Scotland can become through independence is what will drive us now, and into the next election.