Often, unconvinced Scottish voters in the Highlands and Islands put it to me: “What’s the difference if it’s folk in London making decisions or Edinburgh? Nowhere near here.”
It’s usually a product, I think, of some mischaracterisations of decisions made and ideas floated. Options are declared as done deals, comments by a single MSP as a party position, or confused rumours – as in the recent case of the story that the SNP was looking to ban pet cats – confirmed as truth.
But in that noise, we miss out on a really important point: the benefits of having greater power shouldn’t stop at Edinburgh. So, I’d like to take some time to outline the Highlands and Islands case for independence.
I represent most of Scotland’s islands, and over half of its land mass. Once, in Holyrood, I pointed out in a debate that I represent constituents in Unst who were further away from where I stood at that moment than Boris Johnson who was due to take PMQs that afternoon. Colleagues caught me in the corridors throughout the rest of that week – they had googled the distances involved, and I was right. That wasn’t news to me, but they felt the need to share it anyway.
From the moment I arrived in the parliament and began speaking to journalists about my hopes and priorities, I resisted any efforts to paint my region as “remote”. It’s Edinburgh, I told them, which is remote from us. How ridiculous that I have to travel four hours to get to our Parliament – it’s too far away!
Many people later scoffed at my efforts in government to stop the Scottish Government from using the term “remote” in normal circumstances – an action point I had added to the Addressing Depopulation Action Plan. I understand. It may seem silly, insignificant, petty, to focus on that when we are struggling with access to transport, healthcare, and everyday services like banks or post offices. But these issues are not separate – and I was reminded of that daily in my time as a Minister.
I mistakenly blamed individual Ministers in the past for never bothering to show up to many parts of my region. I learned, as someone who was visiting these places anyway and more than happy to swap my hats and carry out ministerial engagement on our ongoing consultations while there, that it’s not just up to the Minister. I had to try and convince officials, comms support, and journalists to come with me. And there was that word again. “It’s too remote. Nobody will see. Let’s go to Dundee instead.”
There’s a common phenomenon in politics that, if you repeat something enough, it becomes truth. While “remote” remains an excuse not to travel to, act for, or even think about a place, I will be doing what I can to reduce the repetition of the word.
For me, independence isn’t rooted in some kind of Scottish exceptionalism, as is often the assumption by detractors. It’s the complete opposite. What independence would bring Scotland – the ability to make our own decisions, return representatives to Parliament who actually have the power to act on their beliefs, and the full levers of power in borrowing, trade, and international cooperation – is common as mud. Countries across the world do it every day. It’s the United Kingdom – a false union, in which there are no equal partners – which is the exception.
That drive for true democracy and a relationship between decision-makers and the place they’re making decisions about does not stop at Edinburgh for me. It seems obvious that, post-independence, greater devolution to local areas becomes easier, more fruitful, maybe even inevitable.
On too many occasions to remember individually, as I make the case for Scottish Independence, people announce in a way that suggests they’ve caught me out, “well, you could say that about [insert community I represent] as well as Scotland!” Often, it is true.
I do not argue that Shetland should have more power over the taxes raised in the isles and what they’re used for, nor that Caithness should be able to harness the benefits of the energy developments it hosts to design its own economic, transport, or health plans. Inverness, the city in the Highlands, should be able to unapologetically serve its urban interests using the money it raises from visitors – be it for road maintenance, rubbish collection, or building velodromes. That makes sense to me. It’s fair, it’s democratic, and it’s natural.
And I strongly believe it becomes far more likely if we’re discussing these places in the context of Scotland, rather than the United Kingdom.
I truly believe that I will get to see Scotland independent, and I hope that, regardless of who is in power, it won’t be necessary to argue that this must now result in greater community empowerment. But I hope to be there saying it – and ensuring it – regardless.
