What’s next?

What have we learned in the last few days?

• The three main parties in UK politics are happy to lie to win votes and to admit to it. Let’s not forget that one…
• Some Yes people are accepting, some are sore losers. Some No people are gracious, some are sore winners. Personally I’m not a fan of the ’45’ idea, I think it feels divisive and that won’t help us grow together towards an eventual Yes. I’d like an investigation into electoral practises (purdah not least among them) but I’m not convinced at all by the vote-rigging idea.
• There are loads of things that point towards an eventual Yes – regretful No’s, the demographic of No, the raft of bad news and establishment smackdowns conveniently made public since September 19…
• The Yes movement is alive and kicking – if anything it is more energised than before, with amazing plans and strategies for a fairer society. And somehow, for me at least, it feels like a little more time spent planning (the intricacies that were lumped in together by BT as ‘uncertainties’) might not be so bad if it can convince a few more folk that we can actually do it fairly smoothly.
• No voters are coming out of the woodwork. This is great – it means we can engage, rather than just wondering who this silent majority are.

Better Together has already been outed as an laughable proposition – both the Conservatives and Labour have immediately turned their attention to the ‘more important’ issue of what to do with a woken up and angry England, and in doing so have immediately begun a punishment plan for  Scotland for having the cheek to want a referendum. I’m very sad and not a little enraged that one of their main techniques over the past year has been to turn that anger on the Scots by accusing us of being rabid nationalists everso loudly in the media. One of my personal goals is to spend a lot of time talking to those south of the border to convince them we are trying to make a better society, and that we believe the best way to do that is from an independent country.

From the huge explosion in support for the Yes parties since Sept 18 it seems like our Westminster parliament will have a very different make-up come May next year, which should force yet another re-think by those in power. I don’t think they can take too many of those without being exposed to the world at large as power-hungry, control-obsessed tyrants – and a tyrant or tyrannical establishment only lasts as long as it can control the flow of information.

What am I doing about it? I’ve joined the Scottish Greens. I’ll probably vote SNP in the next general election (my first ever tactical vote). I’m writing a lot more and have some ideas in the pipeline to make a micro-media outlet. And I’ll be pouring some time back into my work and family as they both need some nourishment to grow over the next few months.

Cameron and co, we are coming…