I SHALL never forget the night of September 18-19, 2014. As chairperson of the advisory board of YesScotland, it was my duty to go to the counting of votes at the Referendum National Counting Centre in Ingliston, near Edinburgh Airport.
When I arrived shortly after 10pm, the place was buzzing and heaving at the seams with supporters from both sides as well as media representatives and observers from all over the world. We already knew that the exit poll indicated a strong probability of a No victory but there was still a fair degree of optimism amongst the Yes supporters.
The first result to be declared was from Clackmannanshire. The wee county for many years had delivered a good support for independence, dating away back to when George Reid was elected for the SNP in both the General Elections of 1974. It was therefore a huge disappointment when the first result of the night was a Unionist victory.
Shortly afterwards , I was invited to do some interviews on live TV. I have never believed in admitting defeat until the result is a mathematical certainty and, although a series of results soon followed which mirrored the Clackmannanshire result, I felt I had a duty to boost the morale of our supporters at least until the final result.
There were a few consoling moments when Yes victories were announced from Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire but the writing on the wall soon became clear.
I have a vivid recollection of seeing Labour members hugging and kissing Tories whenever a No vote was announced. I could not believe that so many of my former “comrades” in the Labour Party were so much in love with the Tories.
As a former Labour MP of 25 years standing, I had seen part of my job in the YesScotland campaign was to try to persuade as many traditional Labour voters as possible to vote for independence.
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We had some success in that regard but not enough. That was probably partly due to the fact that not enough senior Labour figures were prepared to put their heads above the parapet.
There were a few who had the courage to do so, like Charlie Gray, former leader of Strathclyde Regional Council, Alex Mosson, former lord provost of Glasgow and Eleanor McLaughlin, former lord provost of Edinburgh. But too many Labour MPs and MSPs were eagerly jumping into bed with the Tories in the Better Together campaign.
It was no great surprise when the Scottish Labour Party was virtually annihilated at the General Election the following year.
If more senior Labour figures had supported independence, I think that today we might have had a radical left-of-centre independent Scottish Government, instead of Westminster and Keir Starmer’s dreich austerity.
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A new day was dawning by the time I left Ingliston. I was exhausted through lack of sleep and absolutely gutted about the result.
Nevertheless, I felt then and still feel today that the night of September 18-19 was not the end of the road.
Our day will surely come.
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