I've always supported the idea of Scottish independence. I was inspired by Jim Sillar's legendary speech after winning the Govan by-election for the SNP in 1988 and have followed the party's fortunes ever since. One problem with our first past the post electoral system is medium-sized parties often achieve a respectable share of the vote but end up with a paltry number of seats. This dogged the SNP for decades. Aside from a purple patch in the mid-70s when 11 nationalist MP's were elected during the worldwide oil crisis, the SNP always seemed to have a token two or three representatives at Westminster. Meanwhile the Liberal Democrats fared better as they had identifiable pockets of support and therefore a bunch of seats to target. The nationalist vote was spread more uniformly.
Things started to change when Tony Blair's Labour government granted Scotland a devolved parliament in 1999. The early years of this institution were dominated by Labour but suddenly the SNP had a platform on which to debate purely Scottish matters. The voting system still relies upon electing a member to serve each of 73 geographical constituencies but there was an additional section on the ballot paper to specify support for an individual party. The resultant number crunching then awards 56 additional List MSP's to bring the total number of Holyrood representatives to 129 and thereby ensure a healthy degree of proportionality. By 2007, Alex Salmond was installed as First Minister when the Nats trumped Labour by a single seat. However, like the previous Labour-led administrations, the SNP did not enjoy a clear majority and were forced to work closely with other parties. This changed dramatically four years later when Salmond found his party in control of the house with 69 MSP's (despite only having 45% of the overall vote). Clearly there are quirks in the machine that sometimes work to your advantage. It swung the other way at the 2016 Holyrood election when the SNP actually increased their share of the vote but saw the seat count dip to 63 - back in minority administration territory, although still the biggest party by a long chalk. Which is where we are today.
Down in London, the SNP's representation had crept up to 6 MP's by the 2010 election. Following the party's major success at Holyrood the following year, support began to explode and 56 members were sensationally elected to the UK parliament from the 59 available Scottish seats. Of course, the only way from here was down and the 2017 snap election trimmed the numbers back to 35. If you had suggested either of these figures just a few years previously (coupled with the complete collapse of the Labour vote) you would have been dragged away by men in white coats! As the SNP was to discover, polling massive amounts of votes in the belief that Scotland is best run by a party purely focussed on Scottish matters is not quite the same as severing all ties with the United Kingdom. As we all know, the 2014 independence referendum saw 45% of Scots backing a breakaway. It seemed the question of a politically separate Scotland had been settled...until the Brexit malarkey reared its ugly head. A renewed call for independence has been galvanised and has grown in the wake of the narrow decision by the British public to split from the European Union.
I had been to an independence rally in Stirling around a year ago. On a warm summer day, we trooped from the town centre out to Bannockburn. It was a good-natured affair with an estimated 20,000 people taking part. A rally was held on Bannockburn Field where a stage and several stalls were set up. The music and speeches had a strong historical theme with frequent mentions of Bruce, Wallace and the Jacobites. All well and good I thought, but is this not a case of preaching to the converted? How do you attract new supporters by banging on about past centuries? What is the vision for the future? As it turned out, the Bannockburn bash was an annual event to commemorate the famous battle and the march had merely been tacked on. That cleared a few things up and there were actually couple of more progressive speeches, although I'm not sure if that label could be applied to Tommy Sheridan who was ranting loudly as we made our way to the exits. Finally to today's procession through the streets of Edinburgh. Nicole and I arrived by bus and we walked to the bottom of the Royal Mile.
The official start point was somewhere in Holyrood Park but a throng of people - led by motorcyclists - was already passing by and we watched part of the procession before finding a suitable gap and filtering into the mass. The pavements were lined with people watching the march and a fair few were hanging out of upper-storey windows. As we progressed uphill it became possible to look behind and gaze over the sea of Saltires. The Lion Rampant was also flying proudly and several Catalonian flags could be spotted. I must say at this point that I'm not in favour of declaring a Scottish republic. We are an ancient kingdom whose crown was united with England 1603. Political union came over a century later. That - in my opinion - is what must be reversed. The royal heritage is sacrosanct. There were a couple of pauses in the proceedings as the police were halting people periodically to allow traffic to pass across the Royal Mile. As we neared St Giles Cathedral, the unionist counter-protest unveiled itself. Around a hundred brave souls enthusiastically waved Union Jacks and the police afforded considerable protection. Not that any potentially disorderly situations were in evidence.
By this time the rain was falling and as we approached King George IV Bridge, Nicole and I decided to step out and grab a bite to eat. The priority was to saunter back downhill and seek out the ice-cream parlour we'd passed on the way up. It also allowed us to better appreciate the scale of the event as waves of marchers continued to stream in the opposite direction. I found a couple of vantage points to take photos and eventually we met the tail-end. A large group of people had unfolded a huge Saltire banner and it was a fitting way to bookend the march. We found a spare table in the café and ordered tubs of deliciously smooth gelato. It also gave us the chance to dry off a bit and upload the obligatory pictures to Facebook and Instagram. Things had now quietened down on the streets and we popped into a souvenir shop for a browse. The proprietor - an American lady - said she'd heard 200,000 people had marched. Crowd estimates for these gatherings vary wildly depending on what you read or who you talk to. This in itself has political clout. Personally, my estimate was around the 100,000 mark - purely a hunch based on my own experience of huge football attendances. Anyway, it was dinnertime and we made a beeline for Yes Sushi.
Let's blow a common assumption out the water - Sushi is not limited to raw fish. In fact a wide variety of options are available, including vegetarian. We opted for the buffet (you have to ask for the menu). All you can eat for £22.99. The price includes tea or coffee and there are a couple of sushi sets that may only be ordered once. Two starter options and a desert were permitted. I felt this offered value as you're guaranteed a good feed and just over twenty quid for a meal in the middle of Edinburgh is pretty reasonable in my book. It was with a bellyful of rice we waddled back to the bus station. A fitting end to the marching season and a strong show of support for the cause. Apparently research has shown if 3% of a population protest on a regular basis then it leads to inevitable change. Let's hope the theory is watertight! The usual debates raged on social media but what can't be denied is the Indyref2 movement is gaining momentum. Will it run out of steam or will a tipping point be reached? Only time will tell.
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