A VIDEO of some of Margo MacDonald’s best moments fighting for Scottish independence during the 1970s has been viewed thousands of times this morning.
The National put together the clip as part of our new YESterday series – where we look back at the independence movements of years gone by.
As part of the series we’ll be posting videos of figures who were crucial in raising awareness of the independence cause, and highlighting stories from readers who are submitting their memories of the marches and events of years gone by.
We’d love to see your pictures of independence demonstrations and gatherings as well as old pro-indy badges and T-shirts – anything that helps us tell a story which is often missed out of the mainstream self-determination conversation.
Huge numbers of young people support independence – as many as 79% of voters aged under 25 support Yes, according to recent polling.
This is an age group which is likely to see the independence movement as a fairly recent development. So, we want to highlight the work that was done long before 2014.
READ MORE: Scottish Independence: The remarkable story of Margo MacDonald
This clip of MacDonald has sparked conversation this morning, with Yessers praising her as a “force of nature”.
MacDonald served as an SNP MP for Govan from 1973 to 1974 before becoming depute leader of the party from 1974 to 1979.
The left-wing teacher and broadcaster later served in the Scottish Parliament as an SNP, then independent, MSP, from 1999 until her death in 2014 at the age of 70 following a battle with Parkinson’s.
Following MacDonald’s death a special Holyrood session was held, where MSPs were invited to pay tribute to her.
She was described by then presiding officer Tricia Marwick as a “sparkling jewel in the Scottish Parliament”.
Laywer Aamer Anwar was one of those to share the clip this morning, writing: “The ‘terribly dangerous’ late Margo MacDonald-We need more of this from today’s parliamentarians.”
“A true Scottish heroine and patriot. How I wish there was someone, anyone in the SNP like Margo nowadays. Independence would be already won,” added another user.
User @CSBlenner commented: “She had the gift of the gab. She truly was a woman ahead of her time.”
If you’d like to submit something to our YESterday series, follow this link.
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