Scottish Independence: 200 Days 2 Visions.

Scottish Independence: 

200 Days 2 Visions.

The following short text excerpts are from the article "Indyref minus 200: meeting the Blairs across the Yes/No divide" by Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor of The Sunday Herald, 2 March 2014. 

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Blair McDougall, Better Together

Blair MacDougall, Better Together (photo: Courier)

“He won’t discuss the detail behind Osborne’s announcement, but it is understood the Better Together parties agreed the line and the schedule more than six months ago. Rather than a reaction to recent polls, the timing was set to coincide with the onset of the financial reporting season, forcing big businesses such as Standard Life to comment.

Better Together’s plan now is to link currency to the cost of living crisis and job security, more pressure points for swaying voters.

‘For those people in the middle, it’s much more a personal transactional decision, about their own finances and their family’s finances.’

It’s not inspirational – reducing a historic moment to getting people in a sweat about their bank balance – but ‘if it works, it works’ is the calculation at Better Together’s headquarters in Glasgow. After all, these are electors who, when polled in a Scottish Social Attitudes survey about the difference £500 would make, said they would switch sides for a tenner a week.

‘Our strategy is working,’ insists McDougall. ‘Our message will always be the economic risk and gamble of independence versus the safer, better way to create a better Scotland through devolution, which offers you distinctive decision-making with the back up of the UK.’”

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Blair Jenkins, Yes Scotland

Blair Jenkins, Yes Scotland (photo: Scotsman)

"Referendum cafes, public meetings, it's enormous. We're no longer able to have an accurate handle on what's happening, because like a proper grassroots campaign it's self-generating, it's autonomous, people are getting on with it...The scale of that is quite phenomenal."

Jenkins isn’t a campaign wonk trying to grind out a result. He’s a believer, hoping that big inspirational themes – opportunity, optimism, change – will convince people to back independence. The job, he says, remains ‘an absolute pleasure and privilege’, despite challenging weeks.

‘I come to work every day with a spring in my step and a song in my heart because I am absolutely convinced this is the right thing for Scotland to do. I have never felt this energised and enthused by anything I’ve done in my life as I am with this.

I fundamentally believe Scotland will be a healthier, wealthier, happier society as an independent country. That gets you through the toughest week.’”

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With acknowledgements to related article: 

"The Meanings of Life" on Wings over Scotland site.

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Before the Referendum Vote 

every Scot should know about

The McCrone Report

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