A NEW website unveiled by Lesley Riddoch will allow Yessers to assemble at a spontaneous protest planned for the delivery of the Supreme Court’s indyref2 judgement.
The site allows independence supporters to put in their contact details so they can be notified once the Supreme Court makes its momentous decision.
The broadcaster and campaigner said the moment must be marked – whatever the court’s decision – by a public demonstration outside the Scottish Parliament, echoing a similar move made to mark the day the UK officially left the EU in 2020.
It is likely a decision will be delivered this winter though an exact date is not yet known. Riddoch said well-connected lawyers involved in the protest planning expect to know when the court will announce its decision before it is made public, giving protesters as much as 24 hours warning to get to the Scottish Parliament building.
Other smaller events are likely to be planned for areas too far from Edinburgh to get there in time for the rally, Riddoch said.
'Seeing is believing'
Media-savvy Riddoch, who has worked in journalism since the 1980s, said the independence movement must be unignorable for broadcasters when the verdict is delivered.
She said the Yes movement needs to mobilise to crack into mainstream news coverage so presenters from STV or the BBC filming segments reporting on the ruling will not be shooting scenes of “an empty forecourt” outside the Scottish Parliament, but a mass gathering of activists whatever the outcome.
She acknowledged that having to play into the news agenda of the mainstream media was “unfair” but said that was the strategy activists had to follow to be noticed.
“Currently, from a distance, it doesn’t look like we [the Yes movement] look like we care about stuff,” she said.
“The news is full of people demonstrating around the world, if we want independence there are moments where it’s easier for us to be seen.
“Seeing is believing – so if we’re not showing we’re out there, people will conclude that we keep voting for stuff but we don’t care that much.”
Call for indy movement to take action
If judges find in favour of the Scottish Government, a second referendum will go ahead on October 19 next year.
If not, the SNP have pledged to fight the next UK General Election on the sole issue of independence and say they will consider gaining 51% or more of the popular vote as a mandate for beginning the process of ending the Union.
The protest is a grassroots event and not tied to independence-supporting parties, with Riddoch saying while Yes supporters will welcome the Supreme Court finding in the SNP’s favour, activists should not “subcontract” out the agenda to the powers in Holyrood.
She added: “A movement is different from a government, a movement doesn’t have a day job so a movement is meant to move.
“If it’s marking and copying the timescale and movements of a government, it’ll be a gey sluggish thing.
“The kind of campaigning we do has got to be impactful.”
'We need to show we care'
While the event will be a celebration and chance for Yessers to “show we actually care” if judges find the Scottish Government can hold a referendum, it will also be important for activists to turn out in the event they do not, said Riddoch.
“We’re not echoing the British government’s line of ‘shoot the messengers’,” she added. “They may decide that judges are the enemies of the people but none of us are going to be having any big quibble with the legal side of it, whatever the judgement is.
“The question for us, that needs to be put squarely to No 10 and to the body politic of Britain is: ‘How on Earth can Scots legally consider the future of this nation?’
“Liz Truss has already said that she won’t be giving another referendum whatever the Supreme Court says.
“This is for the rest of the movement and the SNP to strategize how you deal with a contemptuous Government like this but the point of the demonstration is to make it really clear to the whole population of Scotland and Britain that the Scottish Government is trying to do this by the book.
“But the book doesn’t work. There’s many good slogans people have come up with on the Zoom calls I’ve done about this but one of them is: ‘We fought the law and the law won.’”
You can find out more about the site and sign up for updates here: https://timeforscotland.scot/
The rally is expected to be held from 5pm to 7.30pm outside the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh on the day the Supreme Court delivers its verdict.
