Campaigning in Trainspotting Country - Election Post 6

So there I was sitting at work last night working the backshift (2 till quarter past 10) facing the usual monotony of calls but it felt much more of a struggle to get through the shift than usual.  It wasn’t because I was missing anything special on the telly.  It wasn’t because I was too tired or anything like that, the constant flow of Irn Bru prevents that during a shift.  It was because I knew fine well that in the streets around the office my comrades from Leith Walk branch & other friends from around the constituency were knocking doors & delivering leaflets.  I couldn’t have been more envious.  Given the shift rotation I have to endure I suppose I’ll be feeling like this a few more times over the next few weeks.  But no one wants to read me complaining about my work.  So how do I turn this into something positive?   Simple.  I don’t start work till 2.  That leaves the entire morning for leafleting.  

As I’ve said before I’m a news addict, so getting myself out of bed in the morning isn’t always easiest.   There was a lot of talk about David Cameron’s new Euro deal, but I’ll not bore you with that.  Needless to say I want Scotland to vote to stay in Europe but want the rest of the UK to vote to leave.  The party leadership have been clear on this issue.  If the rest of the UK vote to leave the EU then that constitutes a material change in circumstances.  Therefore that is clear justification to hold another Scottish Independence referendum…. And next time we hold THAT referendum we WILL win it…  You’ll notice I’m doing my best to think positively here.  I cried for the best part of 3 days after we lost the last one.  Like most of you I found the result utterly devastating & I just can’t bring myself to even contemplate losing the next one.  Strangely enough now though I’m enjoying my political activities much more than at any time in the past.  I’m straying a bit today.   Back to the leafleting.

I managed to get myself out the door by about half past 10.   It was a typical dull Scottish morning, not too cold.  Just a wee run today.  I only did about 350 leaflets.  Giles Street.  I have one wee gripe about the run.   Giles Street is a bit odd.   Odd in the sense that it doesn’t just run in a straight line.  It’s more like a circuit.  I’ve never had a head for numbers, but the way it’s numbered is slightly confusing.   I’ve got my head round it now so next time will be a breeze.  Now, Giles Street is a street that pretty well typifies the constituency particularly in regards to the gap between rich & poor.  At one end you have The Vaults.   A few of the hardened drinkers reading this, sorry I should say connoisseurs among you, will know The Vaults very well as it’s home to The Scotch Malt Whiskey Society & a posh wee restaurant.  The other half of The Vaults has been renovated into flats.   I’ve not checked the prices, but I’d presume that these flats go for a fairly substantial price.  Leafleting them I certainly got the impression that it’s a reasonable exclusive address & I bet their next door neighbours are a good selling point.  A few steps down we come to some Housing Association properties.   Most of the folk staying in these properties can only dream of being able to afford a flat just next door.  Mind you the Housing Association flats did have lifts & the posher ones didn’t.   I could write a few hundred words about how much I love lifts, at least from an activist point of view.  Given how many stairs I climb during a leaflet run the few lifts you come across feel like a godsend.  Almost every stair door had the Service button working.  Given that a lot of the leafleting I do tends to be in the afternoons & evenings it’s rare that the Service buttons work.  At least half of the time is normally spent pressing flat buzzers & waiting.  It’s great just being able to walk into a stair & get the job done quickly.  Each stair in a standard tenement has about 16 doors so you notice a significant lightening of the load each stair that’s done. 

Once the Housing Association properties were done the contrasts became even more stark.   The buildings I came to next may well be Housing Association owned now, but they used to be (or maybe still are) Council Houses.  These are buildings that were built when the old Leith Kirkgate was demolished in the late 1950’s/1960’s.   I’m not completely sure of the dates to be completely honest & my brief search online to confirm the dates was fruitless.  Regardless, most kids at school are taught at least a little about the so called Urban Regeneration that took place in Scotland in the years following WW2.  Slum areas across the country were knocked down & replaced with High Rise flats like those bookending the Kirkgate at Cables Wynd.  The flats I leafleted were not High Rise, but share many of the same problems.   The first thing that you see as you approach is damp.  Large patches of damp stain the walls.   Many of the properties have steel doors & the foot of every 2^nd stair stinks of urine.   I do not make judgement on the residents.  Far from it.  The fact that the buildings are poorly maintained is not the fault of the residents.  Indeed, once you climb a flight of stairs to the 1^st landing there are flowers, plants, ornaments etc.  In pretty much every single stair the residents have made a clear effort to make their home nice.   However the stair doors were broken on most of the stairs.  Sometimes this is the result of criminality & sometimes it’s just poor maintenance by those responsible, ie the Council or the Housing Association.  As we see all over the world, it’s those with the least economic opportunities that get left behind & forgotten.   Let’s be blunt about this.  Scottish Labour should hang their heads in shame at the state of housing in some parts of Scotland.   The SNP has built thousands of social housing properties since we entered Government in 2007.  But there still is a long way to go.  But these issues are often exacerbated by the lack of the controls that the devolved Parliament has & by successive cuts made by the Westminster administrations. 

It was while I was on this stretch of Giles Street that I had my only human encounters on my wee run.   The first one was with an elderly gentleman who kindly opened his stair door for me.  I turned on my usual charm & handed him a leaflet.  “This is Ben MacPherson your SNP candidate for the elections on May 5^th.”  I smiled.

“Never seen him before.”  Was the blunt reply from the short, silver haired gentleman.   His smile disappeared as soon as he realised I was an SNP activist.  It does happen occasionally. 

“That’s OK Sir, I can arrange a visit if you like?  It’s no problem at all..”  I was cut short by a sharp “Naw” as he quickly turned his back & went back to the garden on his ground floor flat.  It’s worth noting how nice his garden looked.  He had put up fairly high fences around it, but clearly he had spent a lot of time & effort perfecting his wee oasis.   I mention this as only a few steps away was a quite different scene.  Leith is arguably world famous thanks to the book & film Trainspotting.  The height of the heroin epidemic was in the 1980’s but it still lingers on in some of the more deprived areas of Scotland.  I can’t say I was shocked or surprised by the scene I encountered.  I’ve seen it plenty of times before in various parts of the country.  A group of 5 or 6 men & women stood quite openly in front of the flats discussing who to call for a “hit”.  They weren’t particularly threatening.  I didn’t feel threatened at all.  They weren’t interested in anyone else around them.  There was only one topic of discussion & that was who to call.  I can only say I feel pity towards them.  They looked unkempt & gaunt.   These people are not scumbags.  These are people that society has let down. 

I want to finish on a positive note.  So my final encounter was on the 2^nd last stair I climbed.  I’d had to buzz the top flat to get in.  As I reached the door I was greeted by a smiling, silver haired woman.  I hardly had time to roll off my standard spiel as she replied “Don’t you worry son.” And then a wee wink.  

That’s been said to me a few times recently while out campaigning for Ben.  But this time it really will stick in my mind.  I’m not being complacent, but the polls are looking good.  The electorate, the people are on our side now.  The messages that we have been espousing for decade after decade has finally got through.  We might have lost the last referendum, but as long as we don’t take folk for granted then we will win it next time.  We, the SNP, the people of Scotland are moving in the right direction towards a fairer, more equal society.  So next time I meet a voter that isn’t voting SNP I’ll just smile & remember that woman telling me “Don’t you worry son.”