Never Mind IndyRef2. We need to be Better Together.

This weekend, 2 years to the date of the Scottish Independence referendum, we see a whole load of events taking place. There was a rally for Hope over Fear in George Square in Glasgow yesterday. There are other events today in Glasgow, with a rally planned for Glasgow green.  Only recently, there was a huge march from the Botanics to George Square, with loads of people and saltires. Indy fervour is in the air again and social media is full of it.
Why then do I find myself shaking my head in despair? The short answer being, I think we should be Better Together.

I know that many of my fellow countrymen and women are champing at the bit for Indyref2….They simply can’t have it soon enough.
There is a small rump..still shouting for UDI.
There are some who formerly voted YES that say that they will vote NO now, because they want to be tied to Westminster rule rather than be part of an Independent Scotland in Europe. Their argument being that Scotland would still not be Independent in the EU, and that being the case they would rather remain hitched to Westminster than vote to leave the British union.
There are those on the Left who are constantly sniping at the SNP government, and to hell with actually supporting their efforts. As far as they are concerned the SNP are sell outs and not really interested in Independence at all.

We have these Indy rallys and marches popping up, but there is no cohesion, no joint planning.. Hence why there are competing events popping up at the same time.
There are smaller localised events popping up round about the country, which nobody really hears about, unless you happen to be following a social media page where someone mentions them.

As for the SNP…What are they doing? Nobody really seems to know.
Yes, they have this survey out at the moment but what is its objective? We already know that only those who support Independence will bother with it, and not even all of them. It seems a rather wasted exercise just to prove that they appear to be doing something.
For it to be of any real value, they should have included a box in the survey form to allow people to make suggestions or give opinions, but perhaps the SNP are not too keen on really finding out what people think?
To be fair on them though, I find it difficult to see what more they could be doing at this moment in time, other than make plans, and prepare for when Westminster eventually figures out what to do about their full English Brexit and triggering Article 50.
Until that particular starting gun is fired, we are all in a state of limbo. Until Westminster finally figures out what on earth is its Plan A, never mind its Plan B is, we will not know what the full shape and impact of this Brexit will be?

Meanwhile, all we can do is guess, and guessing just is not good enough to set out on Indyref2 . We need to know what we really are arguing for and against. Do Westminster intend to follow a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit? What really is Brexit? What really will it imply? Until we know that, we are aiming in the dark.

This is a time for patience, no matter how impatient some of us might be.

In the meantime, instead of getting all fired up and going for a false start, we need to organise, we need to plan, for when the real action is about to begin.

We need to be Better Together!
No..not that bunch of Unionist numpties.. We need to find ways to work better together.

The Independence movement is vast. There are many groups and Individuals and parties and interests involved in it.

Not all of us agree on what Independence means to us, or indeed agree on what we want to achieve by it.
There are conflicting interests, there are contentious voices, but the one thing which binds these disparate interests,political views and ambitions, is that all want to see an Independent Scotland, because whatever our aspirations we agree that an Independent Scotland is the only way we can realistically hope to achieve our goals.

The SNP may be for Independence, but they are not the only ones. We need to remember that, and we need to take account of that.

Rallys, marches, events, All need to be better coordinated. In short, we need a new YES organisation. Only this time….It cannot primarily be the SNPs plaything!
A new YES2 organisation, needs to have more representation and more cohesion.
It is good to have different groups all doing their own thing, but we need much more communication and planning between them.

When the Indyref2 does properly begin, we need to be ready and prepared for it.

And this time……The message has to thump home….. This is not All about the SNP….The Independence movement is much larger and stronger than that.

And Please…..Will those primadonnas who want to hog the limelight…please allow other voices to be heard?

Stuff party politics too….. Who really cares if you are SNP, Labour,Tory,SSP,Green,LibDem or whatever…. Independence is not about that!
As for what team you support or what religion you are? What has that got to do with the price of bread?
So what if you are a left wing socialist, a nationalist, a conservative, a liberal….There is space for all of you in an Independent Scotland.
You want a republic? You want a monarchy? You want out of the EU, You want to remain? You want rid of Trident?
Whatever you want, you can campaign for in an Independent Scotland and have a far better chance of achieving it.

How long must we be too daft to think that we are somehow inferior to the rest of the world, and genetically programed to fail?

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P.S

I hope everyone that goes to the various events today have a good time and enjoys themselves .

I did email the organiser of the Glasgow green event a while ago to offer my services as a speaker…. But obviously I wasn’t cool enough for him to bother even giving me a reply….Ahh well