Silent majority ‘must speak’
THE battle to prevent another referendum began yesterday with a rallying cry for the ‘silent majority’ to force an SNP retreat.
Campaign group Scotland in Union said it has 20,000 supporters – and is on course to have 50,000 by the end of the month.
Chief executive Graeme Pearson criticised Nationalists for portraying the UK as a country ‘full of racists and people who look down on Scotland’.
The group has taken centre stage in the absence of a formal pro-Union organisation in the mould of Better Together, the cross-party No campaign in 2014.
Mr Pearson, a former Labour MSP, said Scotland in Union wanted to avoid getting involved in such a group – which would be ‘too tribal’. But it hopes to challenge the ‘Braveheart’ idealism of the Nationalist movement and to use social media to attract younger recruits.
It said its campaign would be called Project Listen – a riposte to the Project Fear label given by the SNP and its supporters to the No side in 2014. At an event in Glasgow yesterday, Mr Pearson, a former senior police officer, said: ‘Conversation by conversation, we hope to persuade our fellow Scots that the best future for us all is to be part of something bigger.
‘I don’t recognise our opponents’ description of the UK. They see it as a foreign land of Tories, racists and people who look down on Scotland. I have been all over the UK. I see people like me and you – same hopes, same problems. If we want to make it better, we don’t hide, we roll up our sleeves and get on with the job.’
The non-party movement will take its campaign to towns and cities across the country on Saturday as the SNP meets for its spring conference in Aberdeen.
Ear plugs were distributed at yesterday’s launch which organisers said should be used when Nicola Sturgeon appeared on TV talking about her referendum plans. The ear plugs were attached to leaflets stating: ‘Scotland spoke. Why won’t politicians listen? In 2014, Scotland voted decisively to stay part of the UK in a “once in a generation” referendum.’
Mr Pearson, who said he had hoped to retire to spend time with his family and friends after stepping down as an MSP last year, added: ‘We can only stop the Nationalists if those who support Scotland in the UK find their voice.
‘The silent majority spoke up in 2014. Now we must do so again. The future of our country will be decided by the people of Scotland, not politicians. Through organisation and persuasion we can force Nicola Sturgeon to back off.’
Scotland in Union’s founder is Alastair Cameron, a married father from Edinburgh and a former captain in the Highlanders, 4th Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
An SNP spokesman said: ‘People across Scotland should be able to determine their own future rather than being left at the mercy of a Tory government we never voted for.
‘It’s hardly a surprise that Graeme Pearson and his band of ultra-Unionists are opposed to giving the people of Scotland that choice.’