SNP GOES BACK TO BRAVEHEART
Tub-thumping and Tory-bashing to rally the faithful, with no attempt to tackle unanswered questions
ALEX Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon yesterday demanded Scotland’s ‘freedom’ as they issued Braveheart battle cries in a desperate bid to persuade voters to back separation.
At the SNP’s last conference before September’s historic referendum, the pair pleaded with supporters to help them on the ‘last mile of our journey to independence’.
Nationalist leaders have deliberately steered clear of Braveheart rhetoric in recent years, but resorted to the tactic yesterday as the 150-day countdown to the referendum nears.
Miss Sturgeon delivered a highly personal keynote speech, bereft of any major policy announcements and focussed almost exclusively on attacking the Tories and on her obses- sion with breaking up Britain. In a 36-minute speech she managed to use the word ‘independence’ or ‘independent’ no fewer than 37 times and also called for Scotland to be ‘free’.
Earlier, Mr Salmond told delegates in Aberdeen that the SNP’s aim was ‘the freedom and independence of our country’. Yet the First Minister, aware that he can be a divisive figure, will try to de-personalise the referendum when he gives his own keynote speech today, and will claim that a Yes vote is not a vote for himself, nor even for the SNP.
He will also claim that a ‘ negotiating team’ would be seeking talks with Westminster before the end of September if Scots choose to walk away from the UK.
The SNP’s two-day conference is in stark contrast to the recent Tory and Lib Dem conferences, where leaders Ruth Davidson and Willie Rennie focussed on the powers that Holyrood already has and how they can be used.
Deputy SNP leader Miss Sturgeon’s ministerial remit covers ‘ infrastructure, investment and cities’, but she overlooked those policy areas in her speech.
Her only key announcements were the creation of a £1million fund for foodbanks, and £5million for an ‘independent living fund’ that will provide financial support to disabled people.
Miss Sturgeon started her speech by encouraging supporters to back her declaration: ‘We are going to win our independence.
‘The prize is this: not the end of the journey, but the beginning of a better future – Scotland, an independent, free and equal member of the family of nations.’
Much of her speech focussed on attacking the Conservative party, which she accused of having a ‘moral crusade’ to cut benefits for ‘ poor people’.
‘Let us say this loudly and clearly to the Tories – your morality is not our morality,’ she said.
Miss Sturgeon claimed the ‘momentum is now clearly and firmly with Yes’, overlooking two polls this week which show that support for separation is falling.
A Survation poll handed the pro-
‘Scotland is going to be independent’
Union Better Together campaign a comfortable ten-point lead, with backing for independence down two points since last month to just 37 per cent.
But Miss Sturgeon said: ‘My fellow nationalists, after 80 years of campaigning, the last mile of our journey to independence is upon us.
‘It may well be the hardest mile of all. So we will encourage each other, cheer each other and, yes, if needs be, we will carry each other over the finishing line. But, friends, we will not fall. I want you to hear this and believe it in your heart.
‘As a tribute to those no longer with us, for everyone lucky enough to be alive at this moment in history and, above all else, for the sake of generations to come, we are going to win. Scotland is going to be independent.’
But her speech was dismissed last night by West Dunbartonshire Labour MP Gemma Doyle, who said: ‘What we heard today from Nicola Sturgeon was more of the same tired old tunes the nationalists have been singing for 80 years.
‘With two polls in two days showing a clear majority for Scotland remaining in the UK, it’s little wonder Nicola Sturgeon sounded so panicked. Rather than being honest about the consequences of separation, all we heard was more negative and divisive campaigning.
‘There was no detail about what would replace the pound, how our pensions would be funded or what would happen to the money we need to pay for our schools and hospitals.’
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Jackson Carlaw added: ‘At our conference, we focussed on policies and positive messages. It seems like Nicola Sturgeon is spending more time at hers talking about the Conservatives than she is the SNP.
‘The claim by the Yes camp that it is an upbeat, positive campaign is a joke, and one which was made even more laughable in the wake of this speech in Aberdeen.’
In 2012, it emerged that the SNP wanted to avoid using ‘Braveheart language’ in its campaign for independence in a bid to appear more ‘positive’. Phrases such as ‘freedom’ were ditched, and replaced with words such as ‘transformational’, ‘exciting’ and ‘historic’.
The same year, Mr Salmond’s top aide, Joan McAlpine, said: ‘Language is key. We will not normalise independence with Braveheart rhetoric.’
But Mr Salmond, opening yesterday’s conference, said: ‘We’re not an ordinary political party because we are always and always have been part of a movement.
‘And that movement, that aim, that ambition, is the freedom and independence of our country.’
Yet despite the Mel Gibson rhetoric, Mr Salmond will claim the referendum is not about personalities: ‘It’s about putting Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands.’