FINISHING yesterday, Yes Kirriemuir has just held 12 days of action to highlight the importance of Scottish independence to ensure Scotland meets its sustainability potential and maintain its high environmental standards.

Glasgow seems a bit far away so we decided to hold a stall in the middle of town and bring COP26 to Kirriemuir with our own #KirrieCOP.

We’ve been out in all weathers and had lots of good conversations – people even have stood in the pouring rain to chat to us during their lunch break. The level of awareness and engagement is striking. Young people are especially keen to find out more.

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We are using Believe in Scotland materials on our #KirrieCOP stalls – they are well written, full of facts and sources so folk can find out more for themselves, and they look the very biz!

Many people have no idea that Scotland’s electricity companies and wind farms have to pay to put our clean energy onto the national grid, while dirty providers in the South of England are paid to put their power on the grid.

Westminster’s unwillingness to support Scotland’s renewables sector, the charges foisted on Scottish Power companies to put clean energy onto the grid, the recent Tory vote to pump raw sewage into England’s drinking water, nuclear weapons on the Clyde are just some of the issues people in Kirriemuir are shocked by and worried about

The activists in Yes Kirriemuir care deeply about our nation’s future. We decided to turn up every day, whatever the weather, to show our commitment to the issues, to our community, and to the common weal. There is no Planet B.

The responses we have had have been overwhelming – one gentleman even came over with some chocolate for us. He told us he did not agree with independence but he had watched us standing out in the biting wind and wanted to do something nice for us. He stood and chatted about some of the issues and was surprised to find he agreed with quite a lot of what we were saying.

We win independence one conversation at a time. It really pays to be positively for independence, positively for Scotland!

The team behind Yes Kirriemuir was determined to give local context and bring local relevance to the event and to the issue. We’ve been really impressed by the level of engagement among young people – we’ve had teenagers standing in the pouring rain standing asking us really thoughtful questions and taking information away with them. They really care about their future and the Scotland they want to live in.

The vast majority of people have no doubt that Scottish independence is crucial to ensure Scotland has a sustainable future.