As we reach yet another milestone on the road to what I hope will be a historic, emphatic and proud two fingers held aloft to the British establishment on the 18th September, I feel that now is the time to reflect on the campaign so far and to prepare ourselves for the final, massive push in our quest to begin the journey to transform this country into a land to be proud to call home. 100 days to go. 100 days that will determine our, and the nation’s future forever.
Every single day I think about new, exciting ways to get more people involved in our movement and how will we win in September. Because that is what it is, a movement. The campaign to secure self-determination for Scotland has grown so rapidly and so wide-spread that it simply cannot be described as anything less. From the three parties that make up Yes (the Scottish Socialist Party, the SNP and the Scottish Greens) to the Radical Independence Campaign, Common Weal, National Collective, Women For Independence, Labour for Independence and many more organisations fighting for a Yes vote it has been a period of great, and crucially joint activity. We have been on this road since the launch of Yes Scotland, back in 2012 but the finish line is still a considerable distance away.
With the current polling putting Yes at a level of around 44%, it is quite clear that in the 100 days that follow we need to do more. We in Yes are very fortunate to have a large grassroots campaign; we now need it to be rolling out across Scotland in vast numbers. The next step to this, being the RIC National Mass Canvass on the 22nd, an event which has in my opinion the potential to be one of the greatest events of the campaign so far and a real springboard from which to advance this campaign in style. The message going into the last stretch has to be that the consequences of a No vote could be disastrous for the people of Scotland. We will have rejected the chance to control our own destiny, we will have looked at being the 4th most unequal country in the developed world, a country with food-banks and pay-day loans being the major growth industries, a country in which people shiver to death in winter, a country in parts with lower life expectancy rates than that of some nations of Africa and the Gaza Strip, a country with a corrupt political and social elite and we will have taken all of this into account and crucially, accepted it as being the best we can do. We will have become the first nation on earth to reject the chance of self-determination.
The referendum on September 18th is more than a vote; it’s a symbol of self-confidence. Confidence in our ability to take control over all of our affairs and our ability to create a fairer and kinder society. A message of real and radical change after September the 18th is needed. The left needs to promote ideas such as a charter of workers’ and disabled rights, a real living wage for ALL workers, a commitment to re-industrialisation and to skilled employment, a commitment to equality for all, a commitment to a desire for a Republic, a commitment to free and high quality higher education, a commitment to politics of the people, a commitment to high quality public services. Capitalism wrapped in a saltire isn’t good enough.
It really is now or never, we either seize this the opportunity of a lifetime or spend that lifetime wishing we had. For our own and future generations sake need to win on September 18th. Forever be remembered as the independence generation which allowed our country to prosper, grow and evolve into a fair and just society or the dependence generation which consigned our country to more austerity, more Tory governments, more inequality and more poverty. I know which I want to be remembered as. Onwards to victory!
Liam McLaughlan is an 18 year old SSP activist from Easterhouse, an organiser in Glasgow North East RIC and founder of RIC School Students Network.