A Very Leith Polling Day.

That was the oddest, but most fulfilling by-election campaign I have ever been a part of. So I just want to record this whilst it’s still fresh in my memory. There will be no deep political insights or anything in this piece. Although I do want to comment on some aspects of campaigning and talk about what the figures of the result mean I think that’s better left for another day, once my feet have stopped throbbing.

The first thing I want to emphasise here is that this by-election, for us, was about getting Rob Munn elected to Leith Walk Ward. I’m incredibly proud to have played my wee part in the team over the last few weeks. A few years ago, when I first joined the SNP in Stirling I was a semi-regular buyer of the Edinburgh Evening News as it was the best source of Hearts news on a daily basis. At that time I knew I wanted to live in Edinburgh but the thought of living in Leith was laughable as I just dreamt of having a flat on Gorgie Road. So as a new member of the SNP, through the Evening News I knew that Rob Munn was the only SNP councillor in the City Chambers. It was years later before I heard the full story about how he got elected in the 1996 Leith Harbour by-election. I can’t say I knew much about what he did, but I knew that his representation on the council was important. At the time we only had 2 councillors in Stirling. These small numbers of elected politicians were the building blocks of where we as a party are today. Then in my very early 20s I moved to Edinburgh and quickly became active in the party, attending City Association work nights on a regular basis. At this time we had no councillors on the City Council, hard to believe now I know. Anyway to cut a long story short, since I moved down to Leith Rob has become a friend and quite simply I’m very happy to have helped him back to the City Chambers representing my home ward.

Enough of the context setting. Things are about to get weird and very Leith. It should have been a slow start to the morning. I was due to attend the Postal Vote Count at the council HQ at 09:00. The Leithness started as soon as I got to the bus stop at the Foot of the Walk proudly wearing my Rosette. It’ll will be worth remembering that the Rosette did not come off my jacket until well after the polls had closed. As I’m trying to decide what bus to take a guy approaches on a bike. “Awright pal. Ye want a free mountain bike?” he offers. I don’t want be too judgemental here but lets be blunt. It was almost certainly stolen. “Naw, cheers though.” I’ve always been pretty polite when refusing the offer of stolen goods, not that it happens very often. “Ye hink a driver wid lit me git it in the back o a taxi?” he asked. Chuckling, shaking my head “Ah dinnae ken.” And that was that. Off he went. And off I went to the Postal Vote Count.

Its not that I doubt the importance of observing the Postal Vote as a Counting Agent. It is an important part of the democratic process. But at that time I was the only Counting Agent there. The Depute Returning Officer was excellent. He talked me through all of the processes as they were happening. I was particularly grateful that he didn’t dumb anything down for me as we’d established on the way to the counting room that this wasn’t my first election count. I stayed about an hour, leaving after a quick call to Rob to check where I’d be most useful. Bit of a silly question really. I was far more use getting our vote out, not forgetting to vote myself.

So off to Norton Park Polling Station I trotted. Voting always feels quite satisfying but also a bit of an anticlimax too. I’ve always felt that, but I suspect that’s been because I was campaigning in elections before I was old enough to vote. But I do have my own wee tics or lucky routine when I actually vote and not many folk know this. Once I’ve marked my X (or number in this particular case) on the ballot paper I fold the paper, as you’re supposed to, kiss my finger tips, touch the paper then walk to to ballot box, drop it in and then double tap the slot on the box. To non political hacks I know all that seems a bit weird. But I’ll bet you that many of the hacks reading this will have their own wee voting rituals too. I’ve even got my own lucky Clip Board for canvassing and getting the vote out. It doesn’t look special in the slightest. But its done a few elections in Leith now and hasn’t lost an election yet. Voting done I was enjoying the stroll in the sunshine down Easter Rd to our Hub when I caught sight of a thankfully rarely spotted beast. I’ll not mention his name as I’ll not tarnish my blog with the name of a racist or a racist party. I will say though that the sighting was a classic image of the far right that can be seen time and time again since the days of the father of a former F1 boss. (if i’m being too vague there then google it or ask me in a PM, but I suspect most folk reading this will know fine well). On the face of it he looks quite normal and respectable, pretty much like most politicians seeking election. However he was flanked by 2 males who had a distinctive look about them that suggested they were men of few words. Or thugs, to use another term. I know better than to engage with racists. I’d normally just report racist behaviour to the police but you can’t report a racist to the police just for walking along a street… unfortunately. As much as I would rather he had not stood in this election I did take a lot of satisfaction in binning racist leaflets that I found on the pavements throughout the previous few days.

Racists safely sidestepped I made it to the hub to bump into an activist, ach she’s more than just an activist, I’m thinking of one of the real stalwarts of our party. I first met Elaine in about 96 or 97 and she still campaigns for the party like she did back then. A lot of us do. This was a recurring theme throughout the day and the campaign. Activists who have been activists since their days in the Youth or Student wings of the party and don’t ever really stop. Folk I’ve not seen for years turning up from all over the country to help Rob and Leith Walk branch win a cooncil by-election. Elaine came down from Perthshire. We had activists from Oban, Coatbridge, Glasgow, across Edinburgh & the Lothians and more. Not a huge surprise as that’s what we do in the SNP. But I can’t understate how appreciated all the help was.

The hub was running operations pretty well when I arrived. Given the buzz about Polling Day hubs it can be all to easy to stay too long when you really should be out working. I thoroughly enjoyed the anecdote about the how the Tory candidate superimposed his picture onto a photo of St Kilda when standing in the Western Isles on a previous election. I do wonder how many votes Dan got beside the canal in Leith? It’ll be no surprise to hear that Alasdair Allan passed through the hub at one stage, another ex-youth wing activist.

So once I’d helped a bit in the hub off I trotted to do what Polling Days are all about. Getting the Vote Out. There’s not a lot of folk in their flats during the day on a Thursday. So it is a bit of slog trying to find electors. It really does have to be done though. In one stair a couple of kids were staring at me as they passed with their Dad, I presume at the rosette but maybe at the fine Harris Tweed bunnet that frequently turns heads. It pays well during election campaigns to be keep a smile on your face at all times, be nice to dogs & children, help folk with bags, bikes, prams etc etc. No badges on me, quickly improvising I say to their Dad “would the wee ones like a pen each?” At this he beamed a smile at me and asked if I was SNP? He told me that he was an immigrant and that he was proud to call Scotland his home and he was proud to have voted YES at IndyRef. He took a membership sign-up card from me and I shook his hand thanking him. I’m looking forward to welcoming him at the next branch meeting.

Every so often whilst out I bumped into so many activists doing the same work as me or being Polling Agents that I simply don’t have space to record every single occasion. But it did make me smile to find out that googlemaps is no match for a wee bit local knowledge.

It was on the way back to the hub, lucky clipboard and rosette on full display, when I was offered stolen goods for the second time. “Awright mate, ye want tae buy sum Premium?”. I can’t say I know my aftershaves or perfumes but it was in a shiny wee box so I presume thats what it was. Offer refused it slipped quickly back into his poly bag briefly before the deal was offered again. To be offered stolen goods now and again is not hugely unusual. It does happen from time to time, that most would not deny. But for it to happen twice in one day is certainly a bit strange.

I’m thinking that makes it an unusual Polling Day already and it had just passed 13:00 as I wander round onto Duke Street. I pass a man who has just left a pub well know to Leithers. It wouldn’t be unfair to say he looked a wee bit unsteady on his feet. Just as I was about to ask him if he was ok he fell. Hands by his side he fell straight back like a bit of wood, knocking himself out on the road. Immediately I jumped onto the road in front of on coming traffic to wave cars around him. I will admit to using some choice words at drivers who had the cheek to scowl at me whilst I was preventing them from running over a human being’s head. A couple of passers by helped get him on his side whilst I phoned an ambulance. On the advice of the Operator, leaving the man with a nurse who had helped and others, I ran across to Tesco to get the defibrillator. Once back on scene accompanied by a shop 1^st Aider, I found a GP from Leith Walk Surgery tending to the man. I’d done my bit so left them to wait for the Ambulance. I really don’t want to sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet here. I did my wee bit and others jumped in to help too. That’s just basic humanity. But Leith is a community and it’s reassuring to see folk jumping in to help like that. It’s not the first time I’ve called an Ambulance for a man falling and hitting his head on Duke Street. But at least this time the man didn’t throw up at my feet like last time. The last time wasn’t a Polling Day.

Once back at the Hub I took a few minutes to chill before my next run. The next bit of work was alongside Sarah, who I’ve been friends with since the last Scottish Parliament election and Calum who I’ve campaigned with since the early 2000s. I do a fair amount of campaigning by myself but you can’t beat working alongside your pals. It was on that wee run that a couple of wee dogs approached me. One was nice and friendly. The other was a nippy, yappy wee thing. An elderly gent quipped “That yin’s a Labour Dug!”. Now I remembered this man from a previous campaign session so I knew fine well he’s a Labour supporter. So I replied “My cat’s mair socialist! My cat’s called Che. So he’s mair socialist that Jeremy Corbyn! He’s mair socialist than Gordon Munro!” which was received with warm laughter. On my previous encounter there had been a comment about my letter delivery being a job. I’d laughed and explained that I didn’t get paid for this, which seemed to garner some respect. Wee things like that help build up trust in the party which is why its important to keep a smile on your face all day especially to those who aren’t necessarily voting for you.

Following that session I was handed a choice of 2 runs to do. They both had to be done. I stared at them for a few minutes, not wanting to take both but worried that it might not get done if I didn’t. I was reassured that both would get done, but I was still worried. Then, just at the right moment another activist appears and asks for a run! Yasss!! I took the one with less stairs, for a change. I wasn’t going to mention this particular run. But it was the one where I felt the pressure ease off a bit. It was then late afternoon and I was in an area that I wasn’t expecting huge support. But folk were home from work and answering doors in much greater numbers than in the morning. The vote was there after all. People had voted or were going to vote. I started to feel it was going to be ok.

I didn’t intend to go into quite this much detail, but this next bit illustrates just how hard we work to win elections. The final even push to get the vote out is always important. Primarily because so many are home from work. So as not to waste any time my tea consisted of a Haggis Pudding Supper washed down with Irn Bru. I’d eaten 2 thirds of it by the time I’d reached the Hub again so I didn’t have to hang about too long.

There were a few runs still to do. I took a couple and battered in. Once back I found that one of the remaining runs had been taken by Angus Robertson, another former youth wing activist. I was told to stop knocking doors at 20:30 because you do more damage pissing folk off knocking doors after that time. So its just turned 20:30 and I get buzzed into a stair. It’s the second last name on the list. He doesn’t look happy. He’d not voted and wasn’t going to. I couldn’t let my day finish on a downer. I ran to the final stair, the door was open and at 20:32 I knocked the final door. A guy a bit younger than myself opened the door in his pyjamas scowling. I asked to speak to his partner, who came to the door also in her pyjamas, also understandably scowling. “I’m so sorry to bother you at this time. But its Election Day today.” I blurted out. The scowls lessened a wee bit, I told myself as she said she’d forgotten. “I know this sounds like a cliché. But I’ve been out all day and it looks like a low turnout. So really, every single vote is going to count. Your Polling Station is just 2 minutes up the road.” They sighed. They told me they would vote. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really believe them, but it was what I wanted to hear so I left happy. Just over an hour later I was walking up to the Club Rooms and I was passing a certain Polling Station. I thought I’ll wander across to see if there’s a Polling Agent there who could tell me the turnout over the last couple of hours. No Polling Agent. Even better though, just at that second out walks the couple I’d spoken to at 20:32. They beamed a smile and told me they voted SNP. The Polls closed 15 minutes later.

Before I finish I want to mention that I also saw a man wearing a Deerstalker hat. Worth noting as I can’t remember the last time I saw one being worn in real life. He did look pretty dapper. A more unusual attire was the 2 men I saw in WW2 American Army uniforms driving a WW2 Army Jeep. The Air raid siren horn funnily did cause me to look up rather than along the road. All in all not sights that you see every day, even in Leith.

I want to finish off here. You will all appreciate that given the wonderful result a good time was thoroughly enjoyed with some of my closest friends. So that bits just for us.

Cllr Rob Munn. That reads just right that does.

Living with Asperger's

1 in 5 people in Scotland identify as being disabled.  I suspect that since you’re reading this blog then you probably know that stat thanks to the campaign 1 in 5 founded by Jamie Szymkowiak.  I was & am quite proud that my branch, Leith Walk SNP, was the first branch to sign up to the cross party “campaign to encourage, empower and increase political participation amongst disabled people in Scotland.”  If by some chance you’ve not heard of it then please follow the link at the end of this piece.  Although the campaign is a cross party one, the very ethos of it is a tenet of our party… Inclusion.    The First Minister said it herself just a few weeks ago at National Conference "Inclusion is the guiding principle for everything we do". 

That was just one of a couple of things at Conference that got me thinking about writing this.  The other was a fringe meeting organised by The National Autistic Society Scotland.  I’ve been to a few fairly memorable fringe meetings over the years.  I’ve been lucky enough to hear Jimmy Reid speak at one.  I saw Wendy Alexander brave a packed room of SNP members in Inverness.  But the Autism one was without doubt the most profound I’ve been to.  The main bit of the meeting was for a service user of the Society, Michael, to have a chat with the government minister responsible for the Scottish Government’s Autism Strategy, Jamie Hepburn MSP.  During this chat Michael described his experiences as someone who was diagnosed as an adult and particularly the issues he has in employment.  He recalled an occasion a while after his diagnosis where he met another guy who had been diagnosed as Aspergers/Autistic as an adult.  Michael had asked him what the diagnosis meant & he’d replied he didn’t know, other than that he’s got it.  That might sound a wee bit odd.  Most people with a condition, disability or illness could tell you exactly what the symptoms are.  The symptoms are usually quite obvious.  But Aspergers & Autism are spectrum disorders.  That means they affect folk in different ways.  I often find it difficult to explain too.  I’ll try to give some examples of the issues I’ve faced.

Let’s start with the most obvious one.  Obsessive and repetitive interests.  There’s a common phrase that I’m tempted to use here referencing Sherlock.  Politics and particularly the SNP have been my longest standing obsession.  No bad thing, most of the time.  But it has caused problems.  In 1997 I should have been studying for my Highers.  I didn’t and my results are testament to that.   The reason I didn’t is because I was too busy campaigning in Stirling for the SNP.  Now don’t get me wrong, I have some fantastic memories from that campaign.  I learned a lot during that time from some great people in the party.  I got to see Michael Forsyth lose his seat at the Stirling Albert Hall and his losing speech was a spectacle of the like I have never seen in politics since.  I even got to meet a childhood footballing hero, albeit he was a Labour supporter, at the count.  The sensible thing at that time would have been for me to be studying for my exams.  But I couldn’t see past the campaign.  To this day politics is far more than just an interest for me.  Almost every conversation I have ends up being about it.    I do have other interests.  But none are really just passing interests.  To say I’m a Steve Mason fan is an understatement.  I own almost everything Steve and The Beta Band have released.  I am a Hearts fan.  There was lengthy period of time when I didn’t miss a single game.  If I missed a game or if we lost (which was fairly often to be fair) it would seriously affect my mood.  I’ve talked before about being a news addict.  I’ll quite happily sit in front of rolling telly news all day long and have been known to spend entire weekends gripped to the screen.  My book collection got so out of control that I have boxes of books sitting at my Gran’s in Stirling.  The very thought of scaling down the collection makes me nauseous.  Most of this seems harmless enough.  But these obsessive interests certainly played a part in my dropping out of university.  Yet again it was primarily party stuff that got in the way.  The other major problem at uni was the fairly severe depression I was suffering at the time.  I’m not going to delve any deeper into that particular subject here.  It should however be noted that depression & anxiety problems are more common amongst those with spectrum disorders.  That’s not to say that it is not common amongst those not on the spectrum.  That would be daft to suggest, especially when 1 in 4 will suffer from a mental health problem at some point in their life. 

There are other symptoms I want to cover here.  The one that got me to speak to my GP about things & that led to the diagnosis.  I often have trouble reading social situations.  I love branch meetings.   There is the fact that I’ll be sitting in a room of people who all just want to talk politics.  But it’s also that there’s a structure to the meeting.  It’s quite obvious when I can talk because there’s a convener controlling things.  In situations where there is no convener it’s often not so obvious to me & I will get it wrong from time to time.  When I do get it wrong I’ll have it running through my head for quite some time afterwards and often it will be over the most insignificant incident.  The sort of incident I’m thinking of can be a minor as trying to speak to someone when they are mid-conversation with someone else.  It just comes across as being a bit boorish or rude.  I really don’t mean to be.  But when to enter a conversation isn’t always as obvious to me as it should be. 

I think I’ve made clear that the problems I face on a day to day basis are life-long.  Yet I only got my diagnosis at the age of 32.  The diagnosis process consists of very in depth interviews with a psychiatrist.  It took place over several months as each interview was 2 to 3 hours long.  I cannot speak highly enough of the doctor who conducted mine.  Once the diagnosis is given I was directed to a charity, Autism Initiatives (AI).  Yet again, I can’t speak highly enough of them, which is lucky as 4 years later I work for them as a Support Worker.  However from an NHS point of view I was on my own.  To be blunt, that’s not good enough.  Especially in the immediate months following the diagnosis I felt I needed support from the state of some kind.  I was given very little information about what the diagnosis actually meant.  This comes back to the comment made by Michael at the fringe meeting.  It was a few months after diagnosis that I finally told my employer.  They asked me what support they could offer & what the diagnosis actually meant.  At that point I didn’t really know.  Aside from AI I didn’t even really know where to go for information.  The fact that I was unable to properly articulate the problems that I faced as a direct result of the Asperger’s played a large part in the relationship I had with my employer breaking down.  In hindsight I see that some of the problems I faced might have been averted if my employers had a better understanding of my disorder.  But I also feel it’s partly my fault that I couldn’t educate them sufficiently.  I’ve since found other charities and websites that have helped give me a better understanding of things.  It also helps working for a charity that helps folk like me & who suffer a lot more than me.  Only 16% of people with Autism are in employment.  As much as I don’t associate myself with the term Autism, I’m an Aspie, I do understand that that figure does include me.  So given I’ve at least managed to stay in full time employment for most of my adult life, I’m one of the lucky ones.  Despite all the problems I’ve had in employment.

In 2010 the Tories were elected in the Westminster election.   My employer at the time was a well known Market Research company.  It was a casual contract so the shifts weren’t guaranteed.  There would be periods of time when you wouldn’t get any shifts at all.  Again, I was quite lucky, my work grade meant that I was often more likely to get shifts than others.  But not long after the election the shifts really started to drop off to the stage that I was seriously concerned about my ability to pay the mortgage.  That’s putting it lightly.  I was terrified.  My usual routine had been totally destroyed and I just couldn’t see any way out.  This had an impact on how I engaged with managers & staff there.  This all highlights 3 pretty major symptoms of the Asperger’s.  Firstly, a need for structure & routine.  The fact that had been destroyed caused me significant problems dealing with everything else.  Secondly, an ability to deal with change, which I know is a bit at odds with my lifelong fight for a socially just independent Scotland.  The ability to deal with change is one that causes me distress & upset.   However I’ve seen through my work just how much more intense that can be for those on the more extreme end of the spectrum.  It can be felt for many as acutely as a blow to the face or a cut finger.  Thirdly, we have, I have a tendency to over-react to things.  When bad things happen I really struggle to see the light & it can be quite a struggle to get through that.  For example, the Tories winning in 2010, the Brexit result or Donald Trump winning the Presidential election.  All those things terrified me.  The levels of nausea that I feel are quite overwhelming at times.  One of the senior managers at that company told me that he wouldn’t promote me exactly because of the symptoms I’ve just described.  The diagnosis didn’t come till after I’d moved on.  But I don’t believe for a second that he’d have treated me any differently if he had known.  He made quite clear that I didn’t have the qualities required to be a supervisor in his office.  A similar thing happened at the next employer where I was told that I “didn’t think like a manager.”  And that employer knew about the diagnosis. 

But it’s not that I don’t think like a manager.  I don’t think like the majority of the population.  A term I’ve learnt from my work as a Support Worker is “neurotypical” and “non-neurotypical”.   If you are on the Asperger’s/Autism Spectrum then you are non-neurotypical.  In layman’s terms it means my brain is wired a bit differently from the majority of the population.  This brings me onto the final points I want to make.  It is one thing to know that you are a bit different from other folk.  It’s another thing quite entirely to take in that one has a disorder or disability.  It’s taken me the best part of 4 years to really start accepting it.  I’ve supported the 1 in 5 campaign since the start and followed it fairly closely.  But, although I accepted the Aspie tag, I never really accepted that I was disabled.  I work with people who suffer from the symptoms much more severely than I do.  I’m not physically disabled in the sense that I need a wheelchair or crutches.  Someone may meet me & not realise that there’s anything wrong with me at all.  But get to know me  & I think it’s fairly obvious.  Those that really know me are never surprised when I tell them about the diagnosis.  They all say pretty much the same thing  “That explains a lot eh.”  It does.  It really does.  Learning and understanding this disorder is key to dealing with the problems I face.  But employers need to be a bit more proactive too.  The Scottish Government is doing some great work and I’m greatly impressed by the Autism Strategy.  But given my experiences I’m not entirely convinced that employers will just cease to discriminate against those of us with spectrum disorders.  After all, remember I apparently don’t think like a manager.  So am I ever going to feel a sense of career progression?  I’m not convinced greater awareness or understanding would have made the slightest difference to those previous managers.  Clear and enforceable legislation is probably the only thing that would.  Employers need to understand that there are some real positives to the condition that would actually be of benefit to their organisations.  For example Aspies often have a good attention to detail.  We work in a very structured way.  When I can see a pattern to the work I can latch onto that and often excel in the task.  It is also recognised that those on the spectrum are generally pretty loyal.  So if an employer or anyone else treats me with decency then I don’t forget it. 

I don’t want to finish this piece on a pessimistic note.  I now accept that I’m an Aspie.  I accept that I’m disabled, albeit a wee bit.  I don’t want folk to treat me any differently after reading this.  Well, I mean I don’t want my friends to.  I love the community of which I am part.  I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved together as a party in this constituency and the part I’ve played in it.  Some aspects of the disorder have led me to experiences that might not have happened otherwise.  Let’s face it there are far worse obsessions to have than that of wanting to reduce inequalities and the achievement of Scotland becoming an independent sovereign state.  

 http://www.oneinfive.scot/ 

http://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/tmi.aspx 

 http://www.autisminitiatives.org/

Kenny MacAskill & the release of Al-Megrahi

 The bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103 has been an issue in Scotland for most of my life.   I remember, vaguely, the night it happened albeit that I was too young to really comprehend what had happened.  That barbarous act has left an indelible mark upon Scotland and of course countless people on both sides of the Atlantic.  I fully appreciate the pain that Kenny MacAskill's decision to release Al-Megrahi must have had on the familes of the victims.  However, from the moment the Justice Secretary made his statement to the world's media I felt that he was not only brave to do so, but morally just.  I was (and am) very proud to be part of a movement that puts compassion and morality above that of self interest.  Below is a letter I have just sent to The National & below that you will find a link to the Scottish Government's information on the case.

Dear Sirs,

the former Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill stated in regards to the release of Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi that the Scottish Government "got nothing out of it....There was no deal done by us...".   I fully accept that at face value.  However, I do believe that Scotland as a nation, the SNP and the whole Independence movement did benefit greatly from Kenny's decision in a number of important ways.  I do not intend to get into the alleged rights and wrongs of al-Megraghi's conviction, that is clearly a matter for the courts.  But the Justice Secretary certainly put Scotland's and our movement's core values on the world stage.  Mr MacAskill's statement at the time of release showed the world the devolved Scottish Government had (and has) not just politicians leading us but Statesmen (or Statespeople) that can operate comfortable on the world stage.  It showed that we have people within our movement who are ready to step up and play an important role within the international community as a fully independent sovereign state.  I referred to our movement's core values and by that I mean the value of compassion.  Kenny showed the world that Scotland is confident enough to make decisions on the basis of morality before that of financial self interest.  He made clear that al-Megrahi, despite being a convicted mass murderer, was being shown a level of compassion that he arguably denied his alleged victims.  He showed the world that the Scottish Government was conducting it's business on a higher moral level than that of a mass murderer.

We as a movement want independence because we want to treat all our citizens in a more compassionate way than successive Westminster Governments have done.  The vision of a caring, moral Government is exactly what has kept me campaigning for Scottish Independence over 20 years.  Kenny, if you're reading this, I have no doubt at all you did our movement a great service by your decision and by your conduct.  We as a nation have and will benefit from your actions for many years to come.

Yours Sincerely

Andrew I. Harlick

Leith

  http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Justice/law/lockerbie

I'm SNP because

I’m SNP because….  is basically my life story.  It won’t surprise any of you to hear me say that it pretty much defines who I am as a person.  I have had a political awareness from a very young age.  One of my earliest memories is that of my Dad being part of the teachers strike in 1985 & him telling me he was taking the day off work because of Thatcher.  Even earlier than that I remember being scared of Thatcher because I genuinely thought she was a witch.  Whether this was just down to how she appeared on the TV & my pre-school imagination or whether I was picking up on things I’d heard the adults around me say I’ll never know.  I don’t want to create the impression that my family were hardcore political activists.  They weren’t & to this day aren’t.   But they do have a belief that what is right is to be fundamentally kind to others.  That in itself is clearly, to me anyway, the very basis of Left Wing politics.   It’s an understanding  that the greater good is served by looking after folk.  The teacher’s strike was a good 10 years before I joined the SNP.  Maw & Dad were never members of a political party.  My grandparents on the other hand were, maybe not to the extent that I have become.  Understanding the influence of my both sets of grandparents is probably the key here.  I’ve mentioned in my last piece that my Granddad was the son of a man who fled the Pogroms in Ukraine.  Granddad was a lifelong Socialist, indeed he boasted to me that at one point in his life he had even been a member of the Communist Party.  However he spent most of his life a member of the Labour Party, only leaving when Tony Blair became leader.  It’s worth noting that he did this before Blair became Prime Minister because he saw what Blair would do to his party.  The important thing in this essay is that he instilled in me many of my core beliefs in regards to politics being a tool to reduce inequalities, of a progressive taxation system, of worker’s rights and the evils of Right Wing politics. 

If it had been solely down to Granddad I probably would have joined the Labour Party & fought vainly to change it from within.  However, on my Maw’s side the family are SNP way back.  My Gran was a member of the Young Scots, an early incarnation of what is now the Young Scots for Independence.  I was told regularly that her mother, my Great Gran was a long time SNP member who had been friends with Dr Robert McIntyre.  I still feel very lucky that I was able to call Doc Mac a friend in my first couple of years in the party.  This family connection to the SNP, as proud as I am of it, is secondary in importance to what I actually learned from Gran.  It was from her that I first gained an understanding of Scotland as a separate nation.  A nation with our own distinctive history & culture.   The influence of both sets of grandparents gives my political being a balance for which I am eternally grateful.  The socialist firebrand on one side & the calmer, more subtle self-aware patriotism on the other both make the SNP my natural home. 

Before I talk a little about this election specifically I feel, if I am to be completely honest, I need to mention one other aspect of my pre-adult years.  I was bullied at school. Sometimes it was physical, but mostly verbal & intimidation.  So to this day I have an inherent hatred of bullies & bullying.  When I talk about wanting reduce inequalities I see whole communities that have been bullied for years by people who should have been helping them, ie the State.  I also see other parties running campaigns purely based upon attacking my friends & my party.  These attacks come from parties that are offering nothing positive, indeed one who comes to mind seems to feel that their biggest asset is to have a loud voice.  It is the SNP’s contrast to that which makes me SNP. 

So now let me talk a little more specifically about why I am voting SNP on May the 5^th.  In Edinburgh North & Leith we are lucky to have the candidate that we do.  So firstly & foremostly I am voting for Ben Macpherson because I believe he will make an excellent constituency parliamentarian.  This is a constituency that desperately needs someone who will represent everyone in the area no matter who they voted for, no matter their background.  I believe his politics are a good balance of a desire to do good for all in our society & an understanding of the distinctness of our constituency and indeed our country.  You only have to look on social media to see the strength of the team that has come together to fight to get him elected.

But you don’t vote purely on the basis that you like one man.  I proudly vote SNP because we have policies that look after folk, that make a day to day difference to people’s lives.  Free prescriptions, free tuition, free bus passes for OAPs.  We will increase the Carer’s Allowance, we will build more affordable homes, we will abolish the bedroom tax, we will establish a Social Security Agency with fairness and dignity at its heart.  Yes I did rip some of that directly from the SNP manifesto & I make no apologies for doing so.  I’m SNP because I want a stronger & a fairer Leith.  I’m SNP because I want a stronger & fairer society.  I’m SNP because it’s just who I am.

#SNPBecause