TOP voices from the independence movement have weighed in ahead of a major moment for the indyref2 campaign – as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon today publishes the first in a series of key papers.
The Building A New Scotland series will kick off in Edinburgh, with Scottish Greens co-leader and government minister Patrick Harvie alongside Sturgeon.
We asked some of The National’s columnists to weigh in on a key question ahead of the unveiling of the “scene setter”: What will this series of papers on an independent Scotland need to do, in order to secure a Yes vote in indyref2?
Lesley Riddoch, Kevin McKenna, Pat Kane, Stuart Cosgrove and the Wee Ginger Dug have all given us their take.
Lesley Riddoch told us: “It’s been hard to be hopeful about a strong case for independence from the Scottish Government after long months and years of relative silence. And it’s still hard to see how the currency issue (amongst others) will be resolved along with a transfer of Section 30 powers.
“But listening to Nicola Sturgeon announce the launch of these papers on Radio Scotland on Monday night, I was struck by her determination and vigour – often more evidenced in relation to other issues.
“I think her opening salvo hit the right note by placing indyref2 amidst the urgent, critical decisions stacking up for Scotland to face – cost of living crisis, low growth, climate crisis, labour shortages and damaging Brexit – rather than sitting separately in opposition to them.
“It’s important to get this general point well made – as Nicola said: ‘The case for independence is not abstract or separate from the big challenges we face. It's how we best equip ourselves to navigate them and now is the best time to decide.’ “It would be ideal if the SNP was able to collaborate with the wider Yes movement in what happens next – perhaps they already have – but that’s generally not their style.
“So I’d like to suggest the main players in the Yes movement set up a meeting asap to decide on what activity we should undertake and when and to try and establish a regular point of contact with the SNP to stay abreast of future timing and strategy.
“I’m not certain yet that we are at a genuine new beginning for indy but I can certainly sense that something new is in the air.”
Kevin McKenna, meanwhile, questioned Greens co-leader Harvie’s presence at the event.
He said: “These papers must not simply be a re-hash of the self-evident truths that formed the backbone of the Yes campaign in 2014. We all know that other small nations have made a success of independence.
“The wider Yes movement needs to know that there's a detailed strategy and timeline for another referendum and, crucially, a legal strategy to counter Boris Johnson's expected refusal of a Section 30 order.
“Beyond that there must be clear detail on the currency issue and how sterlingisation works within the desire to gain membership of the EU. This can't simply be a wish-list.
“The presence of Patrick Harvie at the launch is curious. He's a divisive figure in the Yes movement and the Scottish Greens have never won a Holyrood seat. In government, he and his party co-leader have failed dismally to advance the Green agenda.”
Stuart Cosgrove kept his message simple on what the papers will have to achieve: “Remove doubt about pensions.”
Pat Kane called for a firm position to be maintained on removing nuclear weapons.
He said: “I hope for a vision of a state that intends to use all its powers to maximise the possibilities of our prodigious renewable energies, aimed at benefiting the majority of the Scottish population (not far-off elites).
“But I also hope that there’s some kind of narrative about the need for post-consumerism. The inevitably worsening global warming means we have to radically change, indeed revolutionise, our material (and materialist) lives in that respect.
“I would also love to see praise for community power and culture as part of that change. And I want no backsliding on the moral primacy of removing all installed or visiting nuclear weapons from Scottish land and maritime territories.”
The Wee Ginger Dug, aka Paul Kavanagh, feels the move by the First Minister is a timely one.
He told The National: “As long as we remain a part of this so-called union, Scotland’s international standing and reputation is being rubbished too as Johnson breaks international law in the name of British exceptionalism. “It doesn’t have to be like this, but if Scotland doesn’t choose independence in order to define itself and what it stands for, Boris Johnson will define Scotland to the world for us.
“The First Minister’s announcement that the second independence referendum campaign launches with the publication of the first in a series of papers setting out a new prospectus for independence and setting out a Scottish definition of what Scotland could be could not be more timely.
“It’s time for Scotland to define itself.”
