AS we head into the final full week of the General Election campaign, I don’t think it is controversial to say the independence movement faces a challenging time ahead. Two images illustrate this better than any words I can write.

First, the iconic image from 2015 of Nicola Sturgeon on stage at the Glasgow Hydro (pictured), packed to the rafters with hopeful independence supporters. The second was a photo that emerged last week of an SNP branch adoption event, again featuring the former FM but which drew so few attendees it would be an exaggeration to call it a crowd.

Before anyone calls foul, that contrast gives me no pleasure. I was there cheering along at the Hydro and quite literally bought the T-shirt, so it fills me with a sadness to think about how much goodwill, hope and energy has been squandered and how little we as a country have to show for it now.

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Seeing these images also prompted me to reflect on my time in Westminster, what my aspirations were in 2019 and where we stand today.

It was always my belief that Westminster would be a one-term gig. The objective was independence and we would be out of the Union by the time the next General Election rolled around.

The first clue this was not a uniformly shared position came in the form of the back slapping exclamations of “another five years” from several SNP colleagues during the first few days in Westminster.

Then there were the “friendly chats of concern” from others which turned out to be fishing exercises looking for information to use against me in the media. And lastly, the homophobic rants that were left unchallenged and tacitly endorsed by the leadership.

When I eventually joined the SNP group, I think it was more to prove that I could than in any hope that the party’s motives on independence remained sincere. In the eight months I was a member of the group, we discussed independence twice.

At my first group meeting I asked why it wasn’t on the agenda as a standing item – the comfiest ridiculed the very notion. And, the second time was when Mhairi Black led a strategy meeting on the constitution by turning up with a blank piece of paper and not even a sketch of a plan.

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Leaving the SNP to join Alba was an essential act for me. I did not want to look back on my time in Westminster knowing I hadn’t even tried to advance the national cause, and I also wanted to speak freely about the creep and impact of queer theory policy without being repeatedly dragged through the media and pushed around by hostile colleagues. On both counts my decision has been significant.

I’ve led two Westminster Hall St Andrew’s Day debates in which I challenged the narrative on independence, and I’m the only Scottish MP to set out Scotland’s fundamental human right of self-determination in legislation underpinned by an expert legal opinion from the esteemed Professor Robert McCorquodale.

KENNY MacAskill and I pressed the injustice of energy-rich Scotland and fuel-poor Scots, while the robbery of Scotland and the destruction of our industrial base has rolled ever onwards enabled by governments north and south of the Border.

Alongside Joanna Cherry KC MP, Rosie Duffield MP and others, I’ve worked assiduously to support and defend women’s and LGB people’s sex-based rights and to shine a light on the threat queer theory poses to child safeguarding.

And with the support of For Women Scotland, Sex Matters, LGB Alliance, Women’s Rights Network, Gay Men’s Network and so many other dedicated campaigners we have collectively worked to expose the deep flaws in the Scottish Government’s ill-considered gender ideology legislative drive.

So come what may, I derive satisfaction from those actions as well as my strong performance in the constituency and in the chamber. But it’s not nearly enough.

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At heart I am a Yesser, and regardless of whether you agree with my choices, in truth as a collective we failed in our central mission of delivering independence.

The independence movement’s strength used to be in our open and frank exchange of competing ideas, a tolerance of opposing political positions, a forensic understanding of how the economy could work and the ways in which the Union was holding Scotland back.

If we don’t rediscover that central quality, the movement may be doomed. We must find a way to have a frank exchange nationally about what is holding progress back.

No single person or party has any right to claim hegemony on a movement that by its very nature must include political voices from the left and right if it is to have any success.

AS someone avowedly of the traditional left, I accept there will be Tories in an independent Scotland – to pretend otherwise is at best naïve and at worst a stupid tactic.

So, it’s just not good enough to deplatform this person or that person because of x, y or z. If your personal beef with someone is so great you can’t prioritise Scotland’s future, then Scotland’s future is not your priority – it is as simple as that.

Labour are winning north and south of the Border not because they are inspiring but because they are insipid and ultimately because they are not the SNP or Tory Party. I have said this before but it bears repeating. Politics across these isles is in a state of flux – a paradigm shift if you will – and as such exaggerated turbulence is to be expected. We saw it with the overnight exchange in fortunes for the SNP and Labour in 2015 and the Tories and Labour in 2019.

In my view, any UK Labour resurgence could be short-lived as the challenges they face are significant and their policy solutions wafer-thin. A Starmer administration could unravel at speed. To capitalise on this, as a movement we must be nimble and ready to respond.

We need independence to be front and centre and we can’t afford to be distracted by anything else. The longer the internal rancour continues, the stronger the Union’s grip on Scotland becomes.

Come what may I am determined to deliver on that ambition and I will work with anyone who is serious about independence. We need a return to the competent governance on bread-and-butter issues which we enjoyed in the lead-up to the 2014 vote.

We need to see ambition for all the people of Scotland, not just a select few, and we need a significant dose of self-awareness on what our objective is. The Scottish Parliament election in 2026 could be our final chance of delivering a comprehensive win, but an independence vote must attract the support of people of every political persuasion. Independence must be appealing for all of Scotland.

If you find yourself making excuses on any of the above, then perhaps you should check yourself. Are you erecting a barrier to the delivery of an independent future for Scotland?