SCREEN SAVER : HOW FIRST CAMPAIGN BROADCAST WILL LINK SCOTTISH PATRIOTISM WITH SUPPORT FOR THE UNION
PATRIOTIC Scots will be urged to back the Union in the maiden campaign broadcast of the referendum campaign.
Tomorrow night the BBC and STV will screen the first of the eight short campaign films to be produced by both sides of the independence debate.
The three-minute Better Together broadcast attempts to persuade Scots that they can reject independence but still be proudly patriotic – a clear bid to counter a key nationalist message.
The broadcast is relentlessly positive and starts with images of Scotland and the Saltire. One contributor says: ‘Someone once said no one’s perfect but being Scottish is close enough, and I agree with that.’
Images used in the film include the Old Man of Hoy in the Orkney Islands, the Tay Bridge, the Kelpies in Falkirk and Calton Hill in Edinburgh.
Better Together chairman Alistair Darling has previously said the pro-Union campaign has to match the emotion of those making the case for independence.
One contributor in the new broadcast says: ‘I can be patriotic and I can vote No and I can walk about with a Saltire flag.’
Another says: ‘It’s because I’m patriotic that I don’t want independence.’
People featured in the film also talk favourably about those south of the Border, describing them as ‘neighbours’, ‘allies’ and a ‘family unit’. One young mother says: ‘We all have the same feelings, we all have the same wants and we all have the same needs – that’s what keeps us united.’
Contributors also talk of the ‘risk and uncertainty’ of going it alone, with one
woman saying: ‘If we take the risk and vote for independence and it doesn’t work out there’s no going back.’ The film ends with the phrase: ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’
Both sides of the campaign will screen four campaign films in the next four weeks, with the second Better Together broadcast due to be aired next Tuesday – the day after the head-to-head BBC TV debate between Mr Darling and Alex Salmond.
Yes Scotland’s first campaign broadcast is due to be aired on August 27, although details have been kept under wraps. Both campaigns will also make a final plea for votes with campaign broadcasts in the final days before polling day on September 18.
Better Together campaign director Blair McDougall said: ‘This, our first broadcast, sums up our campaign: people from all walks of Scottish life and all backgrounds coming together to proudly tell the world why they are saying No Thanks to separation.
‘There is only one campaign with momentum right now and this film speaks of the increasing confidence supporters of staying in the UK are feeling with one month to go.’