Last September the Yes vote lost the referendum on Scottish independence. We lost the vote, but somehow we're not behaving like losers, much to the British Establishment's puzzlement. We lost the referendum, so everything should be back to the way it was, that comfortable way that things have always been done. But it's not. Many column inches have been spent speculating why that is. We have been told to 'get over it', to accept that we lost. What's changed?
I think that what's changed is the hearts and minds of most of the people of Scotland. In our hearts and minds the shift has been made. We are a sovereign nation again. Political reality may beg to differ, but there has been a fundamental shift in how the people of Scotland see their country, for both Yes and No voters. We are thinking about what sort of country we want to be.
We have already shown that we want different things. We want to be a country where we look after the old and the sick. We want to be a country where access to education is available to all, regardless of background. We want our people to be all they can be. To borrow a phrase, Scotland is another country - we do things differently here.
We do not yet have all the powers we need to make that happen. We don't have control over our economy. We don't have the ability to negotiate with the EU and the wider world on our own behalf. We don't have the ability to to provide for our people who have fallen on hard times. Westminster retains those powers for itself.
The British Establishment doesn't like what's happening in Scotland. We have been demonised south of the border, the barbarian hordes at the gates. We have been portrayed as violent and anti-democratic. We have been portrayed as tin-foil hat conspiracy theorists. We are continually portrayed as 'too wee, too poor, too stupid' to run our own affairs.
Today we have a chance to make our voice heard at Westminster, by voting for a large pool of SNP MPs to represent our interests. Let's do this.
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