A CAMPAIGN trailer owned by an independence activist has been burned down outside his home.
Ian McNeil was woken by fire engines outside his house in Glasgow at half-past four on the morning of September 18, the eighth anniversary of the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.
His campaign trailer, which was regularly seen at Yes rallies across Scotland, had been set alight in his driveway.
McNeil had bought the chassis for the trailer five years ago and described it as a “labour of love”.
He spent over a year building a wooden advertising frame on it and also added a sound system that was used to play music and broadcast speeches at Yes rallies.
He told The National: “Inside the trailer there was near enough 100 different types of flags, vinyl banners, tables, chairs, gazebos, all sorts of Yes literature.
“All that has been burned, it’s gone. The sound system, the whole trailer. And because of the intense heat my car, which was next to it, took a fair amount of heat damage and it’s now been written off. So, that’s me with no trailer and no car.”
The trailer was not adorned with any Yes campaign material at the time of the incident other than a few stickers.
“I’ve been doing this for a while now and I stay in the east end of Glasgow,” McNeil added. “When I go out with the trailer, I stop in a car park and dress up the trailer and the car.
“I wouldn’t sit the trailer in the street with all the Yes memorabilia on it because that’s just like a red rag to a bull.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise funds for a new trailer.
“All the good people in the Yes movement have been making contributions so hopefully I can get the trailer replaced and get a bigger and better one.
“Because, and I don’t want to blow my own trumpet here, but they like to see it going up and down the streets and coming to meeting and rallies. It builds up the crowd.
“I look at this GoFundMe page and see all the people, there’s over 200 of them now, and I probably don’t know half of them. It’s quite overwhelming to think that people are helping me out this way. They want me to get back on the road and I do too.
“I’ve already arranged that when I get this new trailer and get it customised and up and running that it’s not going to be parked at my house. It’s going to be parked at my neighbour’s, who's got a more secure place for it.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said:
"Around 5am on Sunday, September 18, 2022, police were called to the Irvine Street area of Glasgow, following a report of a trailer on fire.
“Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident 0817 of 18 September"
