The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Ex-SNP MP blasts leaders for lack of grassroots independence campaign
A former SNP MP has told a protest in Edinburgh his patience has run out with the party’s leaders as he criticised them for failing to campaign in the streets for Scottish independence.
George Kerevan was one of the speakers at a “static, distanced demo” organised by the All Under One Banner group outside the Scottish Parliament yesterday.
Dozens turned up with saltires, other flags and banners in the action taken during Scotland’s phased exit out of lockdown.
Mr Kerevan, who lost his seat as MP for East Lothian in the 2017 general election, also quoted John Lewis – the US civil rights campaigner who died recently – and called for Union Street in Aberdeen to be renamed “Independent Street”.
He said: “I’m the first to congratulate our government on how it has handled the Covid crisis.
“But I’m also worried that for the last three years – essentially since the 2017 general election – the party leadership ... has refused to campaign in the streets for independence.
“It’s left the campaigning to organisations like All Under One Banner.
“We cannot be patient any longer and the movement and the party cannot afford to be patient.”
Another speaker, Neil Mackay, praised the actions of Nicola Sturgeon and other key SNP figures but called on “the leadership to lead” on the issue of independence. He told the crowd: “We should not be dropping the cause. And that is why we’re all here today.”
Chris McCusker issued a plea for unity within the SNP and among independence campaigners.