I sat beside Darren ‘Loki’ McGarvey in 2014 as we waited to make our presentations at a wee conference in the Department of Scottish literature of Glasgow University. His presentation made me a bit moist around the eyes with its tale of personal suffering and the loss of a friend.
Since then Darren has got a gig at the Scotsman. He’s not the only Yes activist to get paid work in the Unionist media. I don’t criticise them for that in itself. Its tough out there and they have often made helpful contributions which have improved the daily output of these otherwise failing organisations but, today, Darren has played into the hands of my (his?) enemies by writing:
‘Growth Commission offers ‘timid’ vision for Scotland’
It turns out that I agree with what he writes but I disagree about where and when these thoughts should be expressed if independence matters most to you. I would be happy to express them privately and confidentially where I could be sure they wouldn’t get out and be turned against the movement or after we win independence, when it is safe to do so. We all need the money, but he could have written something else, something calculated to win support for Yes.
Darren hasn’t been the only insider to criticise the Growth Commission. Perhaps worse, we’ve seen leading SNP figures, Jim Fairlie and George Kerevan feeding the Herald’s Tom Gordon and enabling the headline:
‘Further splits in Yes movement over Growth Commission’
We’ve also seen an attack from the left in the form of Jonathon Shafi, the co-founder of the Radical Independence Campaign:
‘In 2014 the independence movement was galvanised around opposition to crushing Westminster austerity. That too was the theme of the successful SNP general election campaign. The Growth Commission, despite claims to the opposite, would open the door to various forms of austerity politics.’
Once more, I agree entirely but to say it now can only weaken the Yes movement. By all means, say it privately or after the great day but, for now, there must be many other targets for the left, where attacks will weaken unionist propaganda directly. Further, huffy threats of defection to Corbyn’s Labour are frankly astonishing. Recent polls tell us that much of England remains wedded to these appalling Tories and to the Monarchy. We’ve waited far too long for UK Labour to give us a Britain we might feel we belong in. Only an independent Scotland can save us. Do nothing that obstructs the road to freedom. It’s not just about you.
Talking-up Scotland 
The writers of the articles should be attending the National Assemblies, to put forward their concerns, instead of handing British Nationalists this ammunition.
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Entirely agree. There is a place and time for such statements but it is not now. To feed the MSM with ammunition to use against us is very short sighted and just what the opposition want. Surely the time to influence policy is after we have independence and there is a possibility of achieving change not during the fight for independence which is exactly what the British state want and have been so good at over centuries – divide and conquer.
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It’s a fact that they don’t know when to shut their mouths , so keen are they to get their names in print they spew off at the drop of a hat . Same thing happened in 2014 , the ammunition they handed to the no side was unbelievable , you could almost believe they were undercover Unionists . The sad thing is , four years down the line they seemed to have learned nothing about the British Press and the Scottish press in particular !
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From beeb website – North british Labour accounting unit sub-branch manager Dick leonard commenting on the Growth Commission Report:
And Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “The SNP promised a Growth Commission, but Nicola Sturgeon has found herself defending a Cuts Commission.
“The people of Scotland cannot afford another decade of austerity. Scotland has over a quarter of a million children living in poverty and pensioner poverty has increased by 33% since 2010. We do not want another decade of austerity.”
Erm – Dick old chap – You may not have noticed but – the current situation of child poverty and pensioner poverty you describe – has occurred under your beloved ‘Union’ – The 300+ year history of your beloved ‘union’ shows it has no intentions of changing the system and finding a better way of organising society to benefit all – not just the privileged few. Independence is trying to address that old bean – think it over and when you’ve come to your senses come and talk to me again and I’ll sign you up for Indy. Believe me – the YES movement always has room for those who come to their senses late – much better late than never.
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Yes, indeed.
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Hmm well bickering, I’m thinking it’s actually fine. ‘split’ implies that there was some kind of cohesive force in the first place – the corporate media can’t handle things that aren’t in nice neat little packages – why does there have to be a cohesive force? Only to satisfy the establishment they have something they can control (buy-out, sell the souls of etc). Surely there just has to be lots of people supporting independence – and you will always get those folks more interested in the power & of ‘joining’ a group than in the actual subject itself – but not exclusively,,, in fact, the media is showing people it is NOT an exclusive group, there are many different aspects to it, there is not a core type of supporter, it is inclusive and not everyone agrees about the aftersales itty bitty detail.
So, it gives the yes movement publicity (doesn’t have to be sunshiny, just not atrocity level stuff, like the tories should get!), shows people you don’t need to be an automaton to want to join, shows people there are lots of camps that you also can be a part of, shows people that even the most ludicrous opinions are listened to.
Maybe.
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Hmm well not sure. Former No voters turn Yes because they love the divisions?
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