I was fortunate this holiday to spend time travelling around some of my favourite parts of Scotland; had a belter of a fish supper in Arbroath, watched in awe the waves crashing against the shore in Aberdeen and stravaiged the Trossachs passing Callendar’s woollen and sweetie shops, Rob Roy territory in Balquhidder, the beauty of Lochearnhead and the wilds around Killin and Crianlarich.
Nothing can compare to the power and majesty of Glencoe in winter except perhaps recall of my Dad’s tales of work on the Ballachulish bridge, at Nigg, Kishorn and Grangemouth. Those days when the SNP was in the ascendancy, the oil belonged to Scotland and those who represented the SNP were bonny fechters whose credentials and aspirations for our country were never in doubt.
The stag pursued by his three wives across the road in front of us at Glencoe was a sight never to be forgotten. Like the solitary heron biding his time to nail a wee fish at Kintallen and the cocky wee robin on a gatepost at Ardrishaig.
Fort William and Oban defied belief because it wasn’t raining and the familiar lurch on the bridge over the Atlantic leading to Ellenabeich was the return of a welcome experience.
History of Appin, of battles fought, won and lost intrigues.
We toyed with trips to Islay, tempting for well known reasons, and Gigha because it’s a sparkling little jewel in the Scottish crown.
The Mull of Kintyre won with its tunes and memories of childhood at Point Sands and Campbeltown. Oh, how I wish…
Everywhere we noted Scotland’s potential and Scotland’s achievements – oil and gas, wind and wave, farming, fishery, forestry, whisky, hospitality.
There was too ubiquitous evidence of decline – boarded up hotels and pubs, empty shops, broken town centres, potholes and decay.
Hidden from immediate sight but ever present lurks poverty amidst plenty. Foodbanks, school clothing banks, baby banks and the fear felt by the hundreds of thousands of Scots barely surviving in times of rising costs of energy and food, unnecessary politically motivated want.
Behind the window panes of so many homes we passed live tortured souls desperate for hope, for change, for the political will to transform our nation, today, tomorrow and forever; the despair of those denied a safe, warm, permanent home stains our society because we seem governed by those who lack imagination.
We see those polls showing the majority support independence; we see too that our movement remains fractured where party trumps country at too many turns.
The people of Scotland need independence now. Scotland is ready for independence now. Not jam tomorrow when far too many are doomed to scraps and leftovers today.
2014 was a dress rehearsal. Those who genuinely desire the restoration of our status as an independent nation, the realisation of the potential of all of our people and who acknowledge the sovereignty of the people of Scotland must listen to the distant drums echoing down all the days.
I listened carefully today to the speech by our First Minister, John Swinney MSP. There was hope that he’d confirm the details of the Convention announced last October, that he’d claim HR26 as a de facto referendum, that he’d offer to unite our entire movement by agreeing one independence candidate in every constituency and a managed List strategy. Not both votes SNP but #BothVotesIndependence.
The First Minister claimed that the SNP are taking the people of Scotland with him; we all know that a sizeable number who used to vote SNP will not do so again, primarily as the result of GRR and other well documented errors.
Instead of a roadmap to independence there came more party promotion and a bland observation that with an SNP majority there must be another referendum granted by Westminster. There was diversion with the suggestion of a World Cup Bank holiday, subject as always to approval by the Privy Council and ‘The King.’ In short, there was no credible, reliable plan for independence and the possibility of voting for it was left once again in the hands of Westminster.
This is not good enough. Begging Westminster to recognise the sovereignty of the people of Scotland will never deliver the independence desired by a majority. There is presently a majority for independence sitting in Holyrood yet that has not been put to the test.
With a determined, realistic and inspired campaign we can regain our independence this year. Every candidate elected under #IndependenceNothingLess creates that precedent. A majority so elected, together with a majority of the popular vote, is democratic and likely to gain international recognition – no ifs and no buts. How about a national holiday to celebrate a vote for independence?
The promotion of country before party can lead to a vote for independence and with that prize Scotland’s hills and glens, our cities and towns, need weep and hunger no more. We should be dancing to Scottish political tunes, a country shaping our own destiny, in a land where as a nation we look after our own. Scotland can and must stand free in the world as an independent, peace loving and peaceful country, not the exploited adjunct of an undemocratic warmongering state.
We were a nation for a thousand years. It is time to rise, unite and be a nation again.
One-legged woman speaks 