THIS election, like most in recent years, is proving wildly unpredictable. Seats across Scotland are on a knife-edge. Marginal constituencies could be won by one of two, sometimes three, parties. In some places, the SNP are defending small majorities. At the same time, many of their target seats look very winnable. It’s simultaneously possible for tomorrow to deliver a massive shot in the arm to the Yes campaign, or inflict a terrible setback.
And that is why you simply MUST vote today. Please, do not be complacent.
Scotland faces five years of a right-wing Boris Johnson government we will not vote for. We’re facing a devastating Brexit, the sale of our NHS to American interests, and the dismantling of our hard-won Scottish Parliament. The Tories must be stopped.
So how do we lock Boris Johnson out of Number 10? For Scotland, there is no easy answer, because the decision will be made in England. But there’s also another question. Because we’re not just interested in stopping this Boris Johnson, but the next one too, and the one after that. And we do that by voting in a way which best advances the cause of independence.
There’s only one party in serious contention which supports our position. There’s only one party in serious contention which backs indyref2. That party has promised never to put the Tories in government – and we believe Nicola Sturgeon when she says so.
At the same time, we know – because we’ve spoken to them – that there are people out there who passionately want indyref2, who support independence, and who would vote Yes in a heartbeat … but who may be tempted by the so-called “transformative” nature of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour manifesto. To those readers and fellow travellers, we urge you to remember this ...
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Labour is a Unionist party. This is the workers’ party who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Tories and told Scots that we were too poor to be independent. This is the party whose politicians, activists and leaders lied to Scotland’s pensioners and scared them into voting No.
In another world, one in which we voted Yes in 2014, Scotland might be sitting at Europe’s top table, in the single market and thriving as an independent country. The lies Labour politicians told were a major contributing factor to that future being snatched away from us.
Is the priority for you getting rid of the Tory government, locking Boris Johnson out of Number 10, ending austerity and stopping Brexit? Because there is no need to vote Labour. You get ALL of that with an SNP vote.
BUT you also get a commitment to independence, to holding a second referendum, and the chance to use your vote to put pressure on Westminster to grant a Section 30 Order. The best outcome for Scotland is unquestionably a hung parliament in which the strongest possible SNP cohort holds the balance of power.
That will keep the momentum of our incredible Yes campaign alive.
Remember, whatever happens today and tonight, the person walking into Number 10 will be put there because England voted for him. Scotland doesn’t get the government we vote for – and that will always be the case until independence. And even if by some fluke it doesn’t happen tomorrow, England WILL eventually vote Tory again. And we’ll be stuck with them.
Isn’t it time for Scotland to elect our own leaders? Vote for independence, vote for indyref2, vote for a better country. This is why you MUST vote SNP today.
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We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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