AS a Member of Parliament based most of the week in Westminster, I often get the chance to sound out Tories’ informal views on certain issues.
This week, it’s been fascinating to get a sense of the atmosphere in Westminster surrounding the Supreme Court judgment.
So what do the Tories really think about this watershed moment?
The answer is: very little. The vast majority of folk down here have barely registered the importance of tomorrow’s judgment.
This total ignorance from the Tories is a huge advantage to independence supporters. It means that the ball is in our court, and the momentum is with us. Its up to us to drive the agenda, set the message and get our voice heard.
If it’s a “no”, I’m afraid we may be in this for the long haul.
But in that scenario, it’s more important than ever to mobilise, to take to the streets, to make a scene.
Because we’re going to need all the friends we can get – and mobilisation is a tried and tested way to effect change when institutions fail us. There’s a lot in our party’s radical roots to draw from.
A bold, civic mobilisation worked in achieving a Scottish Parliament in 1997. It can work again – and tomorrow’s rallies will just be the start.
I want to pay immense tribute to everyone involved with Time for Scotland, who have created a network of grassroots activists ready to mobilise tomorrow at a whopping 15 locations in Scotland as well as two in England.
I’m proud that the SNP is calling on its members to attend the rallies and blown away by the support that Europeans are already showing us, with solidarity rallies happening in five EU cities.
When we show up in the streets to peacefully broadcast our message and values, people take notice, from the press to European allies to undecided Scots.
And ultimately, those undecided Scotsvoters are the people who matter most. Let’s not take it for granted that a “no” judgment will turn them into Yessers overnight. By and large, undecideds already agree with us that Westminster is broken.
We’ve made that argument, and we’ve won it. A “no” judgment will be the final nail in the coffin.
What remains to be done is to convince undecideds on the merits of independence.
So whatever the verdict, it’ll be the starting gun on making the substantive case not only for why the Union has failed Scottish interests, but for why independence would give us the chance to do better.
