IN 2014, Scotland won the independence battle but not the independence war, to put Professor John Curtice’s comment in a different way. He said: “Yes won the campaign but No won the vote.”
And I agree with Jim Gallagher’s comment in Gerry Hassan’s Sunday National article that Scotland is not a nation of half losers and half winners with reference to the 2014 independence result (The lessons of 2014, Jul 9). We are a nation yet to be fully convinced.
The economic case still has to be made, however, if 50%-plus of our nation is going to be convinced that Scotland can be a successful independent country. Income, pensions and business all have an equal part in the debate.
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Ironically, there is a lot of information available on all these economic aspects, and more, online and in the plethora of Yes hubs and weekly Yes stalls in towns around the country. So why is it still a problem of available information?
My long-held view is that this available information – which, by the way, was made available through Business for Scotland – is apparently being ignored by the Scottish Government rather than being replicated in its own white papers initiated by Nicola Sturgeon, which so far have proved to be pretty useless.
Even now, with a new leader and First Minister, the SNP has chosen to continue to pursue its own direction while ignoring other independence parties and, more importantly, the need for some positive information about what an independent Scotland could be like.
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As I have mentioned before, even the existence of Salvo and the Claim of Right does not seem to factor in SNP deliberations. It is any wonder that membership and support for the SNP has dropped considerably, while support for independence remains consistently above 48%?
I will give them a vote in the coming election, both in the UK and here in Scotland, being a socialist. However, my support is also on the wane and is now, in the main, transferred to supporting Salvo and liberation.scot.
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife
I ENJOY reading Gerry Hassan’s contributions to the independence debate (and his books) and his latest article in the Sunday National front page was no exception.
Lessons learnt from 2014? There were many issues to consider, and Mr Hassan certainly covered a variety of disappointing issues to reflect on and redress before the next indy campaign seriously kicks off.
One omission that really disappointed me was any serious reference to the vote of the 55-75 age group in the 2014 independence referendum.
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This vote, termed by many people as the “oldie” vote, had a huge impact on the result, deeming Scotland to be the only country since the end of the Second World War to turn down the opportunity for independence and a new route to set up a system of self-governance that is fair and full of equal opportunities and a high regard for the interests/welfare of its citizens.
I must say I’m embarrassed to be associated with this particular age group as I don’t share the anti-Scottish independence/negative opinions that a high percentage of these people have fixated in their heads even at this current time. This is a generation of people, many of whom are still Unionist newspaper readers and also listeners/viewers of BBC Scotland news, who believe the trashy orchestrated anti-Scotland inaccuracies that are regularly preached by the worst of these right-wing “rags" plus BBC Scotland.
They seriously believe this propaganda – the naivety of many of them is astounding! Hence this group is still a major target of the hugely dominant Unionist press and social media as it is regarded as a vulnerable target to be swayed by the usual anti-Scotland bullshit that colluding reporters and other media people from England cross our Border to preach with impunity as they did in 2014.
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Do remember the often-referenced demographic detail that Scotland has a high proportion of older people within the populace. The most negative aspect of this particular demographic is as previously mentioned – a significant percentage of voters who favour a No vote against independence for various reasons including any reason to find in order to stymie such a radical change to the country they have lived in for a very long time – in other words, “no detrimental effect to their comfort zone means no change”.
Changing that mindset and bias is a huge challenge in my humble opinion, and it won’t be easy!
Bernie Japs
Edinburgh
I REFER to the letter from John Baird in Saturday’s edition of The National, I think he is missing the point. The ferries being built for the Isle of Man are regular, fairly normal ferries. The ones Ferguson is building are unique dual-fuel designs.
Norman Robertson
via email
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