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.