Today, we are announcing the cross-movement campaign to win a future independence referendum. Our plans are to provide staff and resources for the movement as part of a package that will act as a national campaign organisation.
The as-yet-unnamed campaign body will provide the strategic capacity, resources, messaging, media support and liaison to grassroots Yes campaigns across the country to increase support for independence beyond 50%. We will soon be announcing a crowd-funder to support this work.
We have already undertaken research on public opinion in order to meet the challenges and big questions of Scottish independence head on.
Our convenor SIC Elaine C Smith said: “This is it. We don’t know when the next referendum will be but we know we need to start campaigning now. We know we need to be getting on the front foot with the media. We know we need to be harnessing the power of our grassroots organisations. We know we need to be preparing to take the argument to the doorstep and the keyboard.
“For years after the last independence referendum there is still so much energy in the Yes movement but we need to harness it if we are going to successfully listen to and persuade our fellow Scots that the only safe way forward is to be in charge of our own destiny.
“The movement has successfully crowd-funded many initiatives since 2014. But this is the chance to take it to the next level. If we are serious about winning independence then we need to start campaigning on it now. And that means backing this fundraiser when it comes.
“Make no mistake, we are faced with a stark choice. We can either be responsible for our own future or we can rely on the increasingly shaky and erratic Westminster set up to take us on a rollercoaster ride of chaos and disaster. Brexit – something the majority of Scots did not vote for – is just months away and yet Westminster is obsessed with infighting rather than the best interest of our country. It is clear now that Scotland going its own way is the only safe and sensible option.”
Supporting our move Paul Kavanagh, also known as Wee Ginger Dug, said: “I’m proud to be a part of this campaign. It’s time. Time to work. Time to build. Time to make our better Scotland real. We can only do it by pulling together, by collaboration and cooperation, because the way we campaign for our better Scotland will define that Scotland once we win it. This is our Scotland, and it contains multitudes.”
Woman for Independence (WFI), an SIC member organisation, said: “Since 2014, WFI have relentlessly continued to campaign for an independent Scotland and to further the cause of issues particularly relevant to women. We are delighted to see the grassroots groups and the wider YES movement coming together within the Scottish Independence Convention to collaborate on research, projects and campaigns in order to steer more people across to YES.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford welcomed the development, saying: “I am delighted with this initiative. I have a burning desire to see a fairer and wealthier Scotland and the delivery of an inclusive open society, independence offers that opportunity. We need to inspire the people of Scotland to come with us on the journey to independence. Locally Yes Skye, Raasay and Lochalsh are showing the leadership and engagement that is essential in growing the level of support for independence.”
There’s no time like the present to make our case to the people of Scotland and to women in particular, that we can create a better future in an independent Scotland.”
Having a movement-run independence campaign is immensely important as it will show voters in any future referendum that independence is about more than just party politics. It will be about the politics they see every day in their communities, delivered by people they know and see day to day and this will give us the edge. It’s the people of Scotland who will deliver independence for our country and this campaign organisation will offer every support possible to show our friends and neighbours that no matter how they voted before, an independent Scotland can be theirs as well.