THEY say a week is a long time in politics, and when you look back 10 years to the Scottish independence referendum, it seems like a lifetime ago. This anniversary has certainly crept up on a lot of us.
I wasn’t living in Scotland in September 2014. I had just started out studying journalism in Manchester and – despite having a partner who was a staunch Yesser – what was going on across the Border seemed very distant to me.
Sitting here now having worked for the only independence-supporting newspaper in Scotland for more than two years, I can safely say things have changed a lot in the past 10.
But then again, when I was sitting watching the incredibly moving (and hilarious) documentary film To See Ourselves produced by filmmaker Jane McAllister at The National’s Indyref@ 10 event, the Yes campaign of 2014 still felt far away.
It wasn’t because I didn’t feel empathy or compassion for the movement, quite the opposite. But it genuinely felt like a different Scotland, one I found quite difficult to imagine, and one I found myself pining for.
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To See Ourselves provided many in the audience with a chance to reminisce, relive and reflect on this incredible snapshot in time when Scotland had history at its fingertips. For me, and perhaps for some others, it was about enhancing my understanding of the rollercoaster of emotions Yessers went through.
Whatever brought people to the Social Hub on a Tuesday evening, the film had everyone gripped. You could hear a pin drop in the room, a silence that was only broken by regular intervals of laughter.
The energy of the campaign, the way Yes stalls and stunts just seemed to pop up everywhere in every community, the witty charm of the film’s main protagonist – Jane’s father, Fraser McAllister – it was all incredibly infectious. It really left you wondering, where did all that vibrancy go? Was it real? Is it still there? If so, how can we get it back?
It was a perfect primer for the panel discussion that was to follow, hosted by National columnist Lesley Riddoch with guests Keith Brown – the SNP’s depute leader – Jane, Fraser, and Yes campaigner and another star of the film Matthew Wilson.
The hour-long debate was dominated by a lively Q&A with the audience who, while hesitant to put their heads above the parapet at first, soon started bouncing off each other, sharing their feelings and questioning the panel about where the movement goes from here.
From Keith Brown insisting that Scotland would never be granted another Section 30 order and the country had to “take things into our hands” via a constitutional convention, to audience members questioning how we fire up the heavily pro-independence youth to get actively involved in politics, to the collective nods and sounds of agreement when Fraser lamented the “anger” that had been lost about the injustice of Scotland’s position in the UK, you quickly realised that perhaps this fiery and colourful movement was not so distant after all.
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By the time we reached the final few minutes of the discussion, it was simply impossible to pass the mic around to everyone that wanted to speak, as the room was suddenly energised by the ideas and emotion that had surfaced.
It showed that the desire for Scotland’s independence was very much still there, but it was accompanied by a palpable frustration that that was not being displayed and acted upon as much as it should be.
It was clear to me there were many firelighters in the room. They just need a spark.
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