SCOTTISH independence has emerged victorious during a debate at the world’s oldest debating society: the Cambridge union.
Alba MP Neale Hanvey, Scots writer Emma Grae, and a student at the university successfully defended the case for Scotland’s independence on Thursday night.
They were up against a team led by former Secretary of State for Scotland Malcolm Rifkind.
Speaking exclusively to The National, Grae said that her team were able to put across a “varied” position in contrast to their opposition.
“The debate was led by Neale before Malcolm Rifkind spoke,” she said. “They’re both obviously experienced politicians but it was pretty clear that Malcolm had more of the will of the room as Neale had a lot more student hecklers.
“I went on after Malcolm to discuss independence as a cultural necessity, so my line wasn’t explicitly political.
“But I explained that the current union has created a nation that’s inherently divided in a way that an independent Scotland wouldn’t be.
“They tried to shut me down and I was a bit naïve about the whole thing as I am not a politician so I kept trying to answer people’s questions.”
She added that her side were forced to combat misinformation being spread by their opponents.
“The last opposition speaker was student who refused to take an any questions from floor while she was delivering outright lies.
“She said that Scottish education system is in support of nationalism from the get-go, which it really isn’t, and then said that Scots are encouraged to hate the English.”
The legitimacy of the Scots language was also challenged by a member of the audience.
“A man in the audience said it was outrageous that I would even suggest Scots was a language. He was Glaswegian.
“So, I got back up, went to the front of the chamber and explained the facts about sister languages.
It was a tremendous honour to lead the debate “This House Supports Scottish Independence” tonight at @cambridgeunion with team mates @emmagraeauthor, a local student & audience supporters. We were up against a team led by former SoS Sir Malcolm Rifkind. Best of all we won! 🏴
— Neale Hanvey MP ❤️🏴✊ (@JNHanvey) March 2, 2023
“Neale and I were also supported by a student who argued for independence from an English point of view. I felt like our side was really varied compared to the opposition in terms of what we covered.”
Despite Rifkind claiming that independence would lead to “civil unrest”, the pro-independence side won the debate, with Neale Hanvey taking to Twitter to celebrate the “tremendous victory”.
