The Happy Camp(aign)er - Election Post 5

Busy busy busy!   Just last Wednesday a colleague said at work that she knows there’s an election on because I’m so much happier & chattier than at any other time.  Aye, well to say I enjoy elections would be an understatement.  It gives me a sense of purpose & I reckon I’m no bad at it either.  Be it door canvassing, leafleting, street work, tele-canvassing or whatever else.  I can see a bigger picture when I’m doing it.  Every person spoken to & engaged with brings us a wee bit closer to independence.  Every action for the party brings the constituency a wee bit closer to the representation it needs & deserves.  That in turn makes the community a better place to live in because you are helping to improve the lives of every single person in the constituency.  I reckon I’m even happier this time round.  You’re all going to get sick of hearing me say (my close friends & family probably are by now already) how much I love Leith & this constituency.  But I do.  I really do.  Just living in Leith & feeling part of this community motivates me to go out campaigning.  When it’s cold & rain you’ll still see me out with a handful of letters buzzing doors smiling all the time.  Having the right candidate to back helps as well.  It helps having a candidate that knows how to motivate his (or her, but here it is his) activists.  I can’t say that’s been the case in every election I’ve been involved in over the years.  Not that I need too much motivation at the moment.  As you’ve gathered I’m just enjoying this campaign a lot.  But it is nice to feel that one’s skills & experience are being utilised properly & are very much appreciated. 

So, this was meant to be a Campaign Diary.  I did promise that I’d update my Campaign Diary every single time I went out or did something party related.  That’s just not proved to be practical.  So I’ll give you a wee run down of the last couple of weeks.  Many of you will know much of this anyway from my Facebook updates etc. 

Leith Walk Branch have our meetings on the 2^nd Wednesday of the month.  I’ll keep my comments on the branch to a minimum.  I do want to encourage people to come along, but I’m also conscious that branch meetings are for members only so there is only so much I can say.  Not that there’s any big secrets.  But members need to know that they can come to a branch meeting to discuss the politics & business of the branch in a safe environment.  That’s natural.  Besides for all I know I could have a major following on this blog of Labour Party activists.  Doubtful, but you never know, Lesley Hinds herself could be reading this at the same time you are.  20 years ago one of the first things I remember being discussed at a branch meeting was the annual branch plant sale.  I kid you not.  Ask the Justice Secretary if you don’t believe me.  Aye, Michael Matheson was my first branch convenor.  I can’t remember exactly how many folk were there, but back then we’d be lucky if turnout reached double figures.  Quite different nowadays, it would be disappointing if we didn’t comfortably make double figures.  There is a lot more political chat these days too.  For many years we as a party just survived.  Fundraising is still important, it always will be.  But branch survival isn’t so much of an issue now, which frees up a significant amount of focus for actual political debate & action.  At this most recent meeting there were a number of changes within the branch executive.  Again, as this is clearly branch business my comments will be restricted.  I will say that I am now Vice Convenor of Leith Walk Branch, very happily so.  We had a great branch executive before the changes & we have a great branch executive now.  It’s been quite some time since I’ve had an Office Bearing role in the party, but given the massive influx of new members over the last couple of years I do feel it’s important for me to step up & put my experience to the good of the branch.  I hope to be able to help the branch in whatever ways I can & in particular support & encourage newer members, much in the same way I hope this blog does.  Politics shouldn’t be scary, intimidating or boring.   It should be fun, open to everyone & exciting.  Politics affects everyone’s lives, so everyone should feel engaged with it.  Everyone should feel a part of it.  If they don’t then the parties need to do more to change that.  So, political activists should all take a lead to welcome new people into the fold.  I should add that this is something that branches in this constituency are particularly good at.  Although I’d obviously claim that Leith Walk branch is the most welcoming & best branch in Edinburgh North & Leith, other branches are almost as good.  Leith Branch have their branch meetings on the 3^rd Wednesday of the month.  I’m not a branch meeting addict.  It wasn’t that it had been 7 days since my last meeting & I needed my weekly fix.  Last Wednesday I needed to pick up some more letters & canvass sheets to keep myself busy during my annual leave.  So I’d arranged with Rob, the Leith Branch Organiser, to collect said material at his branch meeting.  Who do I bump into as I arrive at Leith Dockers Club?  None other than Ben, our candidate.  I’d only intended on picking up the stuff then going home.  But the offer of a pint is not one I’d often refuse.  Next thing I know I’m being welcomed into the meeting by the branch Convenor & being invited to take a seat.  I’m not going to rattle on about branch meetings any longer.  So I’ll just finish this part by saying how much I appreciate the welcome I got.  If you live in Leith & want to see what all the fuss is about then just come along to a branch meeting.  You’ll only be met with warm, smiling faces.

It’s not just been all  meetings recently.  I have been out doing some proper work.  Each day after work this week I’ve done at least a wee bit of campaigning.  Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday I got a few letters out each day.  No more than an hour or so each time.  I didn’t speak to that many folk, but the letters all got done.  Thursday was sort of a day of rest.  But I did write the blog piece “I love Tunnocks”.  It’s been my most popular post so far.  Thanks for all the kind comments folks.  Then it was back on the campaign trail on Friday.  More letters delivered!  Not just more letters delivered, I finished them off.  No more in Leith Walk ward to do.  I did ask Lewis, the ward lead, for more but there’s none.  We just have to wait for the new batch of leaflets to arrive in the next week or so & we can start pounding the streets again.  I can’t wait.  No, I’m not being sarcy.  I can’t say much of note happened on Friday’s letter drop.  But there was one encounter which I should recall, if only to hopefully put some minds at ease.  One woman came out & handed the letter back to me after I’d posted it through.  She says “Excuse me, you can have this back.  I’m not voting anymore.”

“Oh, you’re not voting at all or you’re not voting for us anymore?”

“I’m not voting SNP anymore.”

Then she turns, head down & closes the door as I try to reply “That’s  a shame.  Can I ask why?”

Now, it would be easy to get disheartened at an encounter like this.  But hey, she wasn’t abusive or aggressive.  Also, she didn’t engage at all there.  If she’d told me why she wasn’t voting then I’m confident enough that I could have responded to it.   But there was nothing I could do.  It was a good reality check to some degree.  When you spend so much time with other Nats & when you see the consistently positive polls it’s easy to get complacent.  If we get complacent then we could well slip up.  Never, ever take the electorate for granted.  That’s one of the key reasons that Scottish Labour are in the mess they are in just now.  They took the electorate for granted in Scotland for decades.  Amazingly they still haven’t seemed to have learned their lessons.  It’s not for me to try to educate them.  I hope their malaise lasts at least until we win the next Independence referendum.

Finally, we get to Saturday Morning.  Activists from all 3 branches in the constituency turned up to finish off the last of the letters & do a bit of door to door canvassing.  I did get a little distracted at the start & didn’t actually start knocking doors until about half past 11.  We’d met up at 11.    Still, no complaints, it was a very welcome distraction.  A couple of friends from SNP Edinburgh Eastern stopped by the stall for a chat, you both know who you are.  There’s probably another blog piece in the next few weeks about the impact that the massive influx of new members has had on the party & myself. 

The canvassing itself went well.  The first thing to remember is that if you have several A4 sheets to work through is that not everyone will be in.  Some folk will pretend they’re not in.  So if a door does get opened then they will invariably give you enough time to ask the 4 questions that you need to.  The very first door I approached already had the door open.  A woman in a dressing gown was standing on her door step chatting to 2 smartly dressed men with leaflets in their hands.  My first thought was that Labour were working the same patch, this’ll be fun.  But nope.  Not Labour.  Jehovah’s Witnesses.   It did flash through my mind that if they’ve converted her then she’ll not be voting at all, not for the SNP or for anyone else.  Luckily their charm clearly didn’t surpass my own.  She was welcoming & supportive.   It seemed like, from what she said, that her whole household would be voting for us.  Result!  1^st door chapped, in effect, & it’s a confirmed SNP voter.  Second door chapped was a little harder.  1^st choice Labour.  2^nd choice SNP.  She’s been impressed by Corbyn.  Primarily, door to door canvassing is about data collection.  But here’s the trick, try at all times to empathise with the person.  Understand & appreciate why they feel the way they do, or at the very least appear to do so.  We have to represent the people to be able to help the people.  So, this elector raised a few issues about politicians all being the same & Corbyn is different.  I in turn, told her I understood why.  But don’t be fooled.  I mentioned that Peter Hain was a good man, who was a good MP, who did a lot of good as an MP & in the fight against apartheid in South Africa.  But since he stood down as an MP he’s taken a seat in the House of Lords.   He’s now trying to force through a Bill that would restrict Scotland’s right to hold a referendum on Independence again in the future.  I can promise you that the SNP have never & will never send anyone to the unelected House of Lords.  Labour still do.  Corbyn will still send people to the Lords.  The Labour Party hasn’t changed.  Corbyn’s not that different from the rest.   The SNP is.  We are.  That seemed to do the job.  I pointed her in the direction of where she can get more info & told her to fire any questions she might have to our local social media accounts.   Jobsagoodun. 

One more anecdote from the canvassing before I finish up for the night.  I did meet one elderly gent who most closely identified with Labour.  No surprise there.  But what did surprise me was that he was now voting UKIP.  The key issue for him is immigration.  This constituency is one of the most ethnically diverse in the country.   It’s one of the things I love about it.  Sadly, not everyone feels the same.  Yet again there’s so much to say on this that it deserves another blog.  But I will say that sometimes you just need to know when to smile & walk away.  On that note I’m over 2000 words so it’s probably time to call it a night.  More campaign chat & blogging very shortly.

I love Tunnocks

Small acts of defiance can change society.  We all know the story of Rosa Parks.  That brave woman really made a difference.  Not on the same scale, but a lot closer to home were the Skye Bridge protests.  Many people refused to pay the bridge tolls & eventually, after 500 arrests & 130 convictions for non-payment, the bridge tolls were abolished in 2004.  Indeed, there are almost certainly Members of the Scottish Parliament today who were arrested for that very offence.   I remember activists within the SNP driving to Skye for the purpose of making a symbolic stand against the tolls.  However it wasn’t simply down to 9 years of civil disobedience.  Another important factor was the legal case fought by Robbie the Pict.  It’s not my intention to write in detail about this case though.  Robbie is what could be described, not without a great deal of respect & affection, as one of our movement’s eccentrics.  My one personal memory of him is when he had a stall at an SNP National Conference in Inverness (I forget the year, but over a decade ago at least) selling Pictish Nation flags.  It is fair to say that the Independence movement has had it’s fair share of eccentrics over the years.  Wendy Wood is another name that comes to mind.  An English born artist, story teller, campaigner & most importantly one of the founders of the SNP.  Wendy collected a colossal amount of signatures for the National Covenant, an important step in the Home Rule journey.  I’ve heard stories from some of the real stalwarts of the party about Wendy’s storytelling talent.   She would sit round a camp fire on the field of Bannockburn recalling stories of Robert the Bruce, William Wallace & other heroes from Scottish History.   It’s important to reflect on the times.  Wendy Wood was educating young people about their own country’s history at a time when the British Empire was still a very real thing.  There was a real attempt over many years to dilute understanding of our culture & history.  However it has to be noted that celebration of these things were not borne from ethnic nationalism.  Some of those who were inspired by Wendy are still here & they are still active in the SNP.  These men & women, who are in their 70s & 80s now are some of the kindest, most polite, hardest working & passionate people that I’ve been privileged to call friends over the years.  Remember, Wendy was English.  It’s important to remember that.  It’s not something that I’d normal consider important, but in regards to actions that have inspired this burst of writing tonight you will see the relevance shortly.  The independence movement has always been based on a very practical desire to improve the lives of everyone living here. 

As I touched on earlier numerous acts of civil disobedience have played a part.  The most famous being when some members of Glasgow University Student Nationalist Association (GUSNA) repatriated the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950.  More recently, in 1988 Alex Salmond was ejected from Parliament for interrupting the Chancellor’s speech.   We all know what Salmond has gone on to achieve & just how shrewd a political operator he is.  

I hope I’ve established I do believe in acts of civil disobedience in certain circumstances.  I understand how important the actions of a great many brave, colourful & sometimes eccentric activists are.  These people, their actions, have done immeasurable good for the cause of Scottish Independence.  However, unfortunately not all direct action will bring us closer to achieving a fairer Scotland for all.  Firstly I want to voice my opposition to the Indy Campers at Holyrood.  Oh, it all seems quite romantic at first sight.  These patriots have pitched up half a dozen tents & a trailer on the grass outside the Parliament at Holyrood.  They have declared they will stay there until Scotland is Independent.  They have cited the example of the vigil for the devolved parliament that ran for many years outside the old Royal High building.  Let me be clear.  It is not the same thing.  Scottish devolution was supported by a cross party & civic majority for many many years.  Scottish Independence, as much as it broke my heart, was rejected by the Scottish electorate in a referendum.  I, we, believe in democracy.  We have to respect the decision until there is a material change in circumstances.  That has not happened. Yet.  It may do shortly.  But not at the time of writing.  The Indy Campers, unfortunately just look like bairns who have spat the dummy out because they didn’t get their way.  I want Independence just as much as the campers & you all know what I’m doing to achieve it.  I’m working my bloody arse off delivering leaflets & engaging with people on the streets and doorsteps.  I’m not sitting freezing in a tent howling at the moon, decrying the dark evil empire.  I’m not alone in this.  Most of us in the movement are working hard in this Scottish Parliament election campaign in the hope of another referendum in the not too distant future. 

I have one more target tonight.  The so called Scottish Resistance.  I thought long & hard about even writing about them.  The last thing I want to do boost their profile.  But the majority of Independence activists really are embarrassed by them.  The likes of the Daily Record love them.  They love these men because they make the rest of us look unhinged.  Remember during the referendum there was a picture of an angry man screaming in the face of Jim Murphy?  That was them.  Remember how that looked?  Awful.  Just awful.  I dislike Murphy as much as any SNP member.  But we have destroyed Labour in Scotland because we are winning the debates.  We have not progressed by threatening or harassing anyone.  That’s not how civilised people behave.  Recently these self styled guardians of Scotland’s collective soul led a picket outside the Tunnocks factory.  I say led a picket, there was 3 of them & one of them was attacked by a wee old woman with a walking stick.  These 3 clowns shouted & called for a boycott of all Tunnocks products.  This is a company that employs 550 people.  A company whose big crime was to publicly support the No campaign & to remove the Lion Rampant from their packaging.  To attempt to put at risk the livelihoods of so many families is nothing short of disgusting.  The SNP won over 50% of the vote last May.  Certainly many of those 550 employees voted for us.  Many are probably SNP members.  These are not people I want to see unemployed.  Indeed, some may be put off voting Yes in a future referendum because of the actions of a handful.  A handful of people that think symbols are more important than jobs.  The Scottish Resistance & the Indy Campers are not the natural successors of Wendy Wood, Winnie Ewing, Jim Sillars or Alex Salmond.  They are not even the natural successors of Robbie the Pict.  They are nothing short of a hindrance to the YES campaign.  It is because I & my friends put so much work into our campaigns that I resent the thoughtless actions of this tiny minority. 

To finish off I will pledge that I will not boycott any products because their companies campaigned for a No vote.  I love Tunnocks Teacakes, Caramel Logs & Wafers.  I love Mackies ice cream & crisps.  They can put a St George’s Cross on all their products & I’ll still buy them.  Why?  Because I love them & I support the workers who depend on their wages to feed their families.  I don’t hate England.  I love a great many English people & things, but that’s for another blog.  Don’t be fooled by ignorant rhetoric, it only damages the very people we seek to help.

Branch meetings - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Some things in life change.   Some things in life don’t change.   Some things in life come around again & you feel like they never changed at all.  I’m sitting typing in my room while listening to Steve Lamacq on the radio & thinking about the SNP branch meeting this evening.   I could’ve typed that last sentence 20 years ago.  The branch meeting will be in a local authority owned building.  Same as before.   We’ll be discussing plans for the forthcoming election.  Same again.  We’re living under a Tory government that attacks the poor & the vulnerable.   Aye, you guessed it, same as 20 years ago.  

Luckily, ach scrap that.  It’s nothing to do with luck.  It’s been about bloody hard work by a lot of people.   Start that again. …

Thankfully some things are different.   Back then you would turn up for a branch meeting & hope that enough people would turn up to make the meeting quorate.  Now I’m hoping I’ll get a seat.   Following on from the referendum people are still engaged in politics to a degree that they never were before, not in this country anyway.  When my political life was in its infancy I really believed we would win every election.   In 1997 I was genuinely disappointed that Ewan Dow didn’t win Stirling.  I was gutted that the SNP didn’t win more seats.  Right… stop laughing.  I hadn’t even left school yet.  We were fighting a campaign against Michael Forsyth, the Tory Scottish Secretary.   In hindsight an awful lot of natural SNP supporters would have voted Labour just to get him out.  This time we are the favourites in pretty much every constituency. 

Anyway, I had intended on typing more just now.   There’s more I need to say.   But I’ve just found out while I’ve been writing that the very first SNP member I ever knew passed away a few days ago.  The party & the country owe him a huge thank you.  We are standing on the shoulders of giants.   Rest in Peace Robert.