At the Usher Hall in Edinburgh last Friday night, a sizable crowd had gathered to hear George Galloway, Danny Alexander, Brian Wilson and Professors MacDonald and Tomkins make the case for No. The audience listened attentively as the economic arguments were made. But it was when speakers began to talk about Britain and their pride in our history that the audience became really engaged. Alexander talked movingly about the people who had come from all over the UK to train in the Highlands for the liberation of Europe.
Then, Gordon Brown arrived. Brown delivered his stump speech with the rhetorical verve that you would expect from the son of the manse. But, again, it was when Brown talked of Britishness—of the common endeavour of the past three hundred years—that the crowd rose to him. It showed that there was a desire to talk about Britishness, a latent British patriotism that Better Together’s cautious campaign had failed to tap into.
If the result is No, the Nationalists will come again. Over the next few years, it is imperative that the Unionist side works to renew a sense of pride in Britain in Scotland. If they do not, a No vote tonight will be only a stay of execution for the United Kingdom.
Fraser Nelson Gordon Brown offering ‘nothing less than a modern form of Home Rule’ was the clearest sign that the government had accepted defeat in the campaign – by letting Brown offer whatever he wanted. David Cameron is often accused of government by essay crisis – which is bad. But asking Gordon Brown to write your essays for you is worse. I’m not saying it was ineffective, just that it embodied the unforgivable, palpable panic which has gripped the ‘no’ side in the last fortnight. Rory Sutherland The reports that emerged of intimidation by the Yes campaign:
Sebastian Payne
Watching the pandemonium from afar, I have been filled with pride at the democratic resurgence across Britain. The Yes and No campaigns may have been unedifying at times, particularly the nationalists, but more than a little piece of me has been delighted to see passionate citizens expressing their views. From the Royal Mile to Trafalgar Square, I cannot recall such enthusiasm for politics in my lifetime. Washington is abuzz today with talk of Scotland and the impact a splinter would have here. I have not the slightest clue how to answer the much asked question: ‘what is going to happen?’. Some yanks are urging on the break up of the union, if only to take a chip out of our British nonchalance. But on the whole, the United States is firmly standing by the United Kingdom. Whatever the result today, Britain is about to change forever.
Hamish Macdonell My favourite moment has to be when Carwyn Jones, the Welsh First Minister, was in Edinburgh at a Better Together event and someone asked about the SNP’s plans for Sterlingisation. Mr Jones appeared truly shocked and he turned to the questioner and said: ‘I knew the SNP were bad, but really I didn’t know they were that bad that they were planning Stalinisation, that really is a little over the top’.
Isabel Hardman
Gordon Brown had already had a good campaign: every speech I saw from him was excitable and passionate. But his final, booming speech astonished everyone. The man boomed and gesticulated as he delivered a passionate, Spurgeon-esque appeal for the Union. It was a lovely finale to the campaign: seeing a former Prime Minister often mocked in Westminster loving every minute of his speech. The only thing lovelier was walking around Glasgow afterwards and hearing people talking about it on street corners.
Lara Prendergast ‘My Paul is worse than the telly these days. He will not leave off about the referendum! He started again first thing this morning; “Have you made a decision yet?” I was like, “It’s too early to be discussing politics, you eat your cereal”.’
If I was a Scottish woman, this comically bad Better Together video campaign – with the message ‘thinking about politics is too tiring for women’s wee haggis-sized brains’ – would have had me jumping into Alex Salmond’s bed in a flash.
Freddy Gray It’s been a pretty joyless business, I reckon, this Scottish referendum. Yes it’s important, but for Englishmen it’s boring and sad. One moment that did cheer me up however – if only because it confirmed my hunch that George Osborne’s Treasury is so idiotic as to be mad – was when gov.uk released an outrageously patronising statement telling Scots ‘12 things’ that £1, 400 – the alleged dividend for staying in the union – could buy. These included ‘an overseas holiday with cash leftover for sun cream’, ‘scoff 280 hotdogs at the Edinburgh festival’, and ‘share a meal of fish and chips with your family for around ten weeks, with a couple of mushy peas thrown in’. That’ll win over the lard-loving pikey Jocks, some demented mandarin clearly thought. With masters like that, who can blame the Scots for thinking they should get lost?
Camilla Swift One thing that intrigued me was the report of Nessie having defected down south to the Lake District. I mean, how would she have got from Fort Augustus to Windermere anyway? Down the A9? And, incidentally, if she has moved, do you think Salmond would let her back over the border to an independent Scotland? I have to say I haven’t enjoyed very much of this referendum, but at least there have been moments of lightness.
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