THE maker of a new documentary on Scotland’s independence vote has said the debates of 2014 were signs of a “healthy society” and the “more referendums the better”.
Jane McAllister, who spent hours filming her father Fraser as he campaigned for Yes, said one lesson from the time was that people became politically engaged as they felt their opinions mattered – no matter which side they were on.
But she also cautioned that from the independence campaign side, the “hard work” involved in trying to win votes for Yes may have been underestimated.
Speaking during a Q&A session at the premiere of the film To See Ourselves at the Glasgow Film Theatre last week, hosted by National columnist Pat Kane, McAllister said one theme emerging from it was that everyone “felt they had power” in the run-up to the referendum.
“Everyone felt they had agency and I think that feeling that your opinion mattered, whatever side you were on, gave you such energy and excitement,” she said.
“When I went down the street, I would turn the camera on and people would just come up and tell me about economics and the EU.
“It is incredible and I think that’s a healthy society. I think the more referenda we can have the better, and the more politics is in everyone’s lives. People feeling like they have action and agency is important.”
However, she questioned whether presenting statistics and facts would help win the case for independence – arguing it is “all based on emotion”.
She said one difficulty is how to shift people who are “set in their identities” and when it comes to making the case for Yes, it is the “conversations on the door” which were important in winning votes.
She said: “The stalls are amazing, the marches are great, but it really is going to come down to people being empowered … it is going out on the street, but it is hard work, and people don’t necessarily have the time to do that.”
Her father Fraser, who was an SNP councillor at the time of the referendum, said the lasting impression of the campaigning was that it was a “democratic revolution” in which the whole country was awakened to politics.
“For us, it was almost like the summer of love, it was so optimistic towards the end, and you were meeting the kindest, gentlest people,” he said.
He also argued that the case for Yes could now be made by not focusing solely on the reasons for Scotland to become independent.
“We say why do we need the Union? – you prove to me what is good about the Union. That’s not an easy thing to do, and I think we have to exploit this push-away as well as the pull towards independence.
“In [Boris] Johnson, we probably had the most corrupt prime minister for 100 years, his successor was the dumbest, most criminally incompetent.
“So the push-away now has to be recognised … turn it on its head, which is often the way to win an argument.”
He added: “We have to engage with emotions, but we also have to engage with intellect, there are reasons and people want to know the answers to borders and currency.
“We should be able to provide that – the answers are out there.”
