Tony Kenny, the Radical Independence activist who spoke above for the Yes side, told National Collective about his experience at today’s BBC Radio 5 Live debate:
I’d previously received two phone calls in vetting for the 5 Live debate audience, a different BBC researcher phoned me to ask on a scale of 1-10 how strong a Yes voter I was. “Was it based on Braveheart and Brigadoon?” he asked. I stopped him right there. I let him know that I found that insulting. I understood it was for a London-centric audience but we owed them more than to live up to mythical stereotypes.
I found on the day that they had successfully recruited to the Yes side of the audience a few people who would be happy to live up to those stereotypes. As the debate wore on I was beginning to lose the will to live. The facile obfuscation from those advocating a No vote and some people thinking we were in a campaign for an English Parliament, and the flawed argument (much repeated) that there is poverty in Wales so why shouldn’t we in Scotland also have it, left me ever more depressed.
A woman in the undecided area was begging Anas Sarwar to give her reasons to vote No. She was a mother of three, a loyal labour and union activist. Even the host Victoria Derbyshire tired of Sarwar’s puerile responses. This woman was talking about issues that I as a father of four felt strongly about. Shortly afterwords, when the girl was speaking about child poverty, I stood up and almost demanded an opportunity to speak. I was bursting to speak about the real issues about why we need independence.
You see I am not in the SNP, I was a candidate in the 2012 elections but left because of the NATO decision and criminalisation of football fans under the pretence of eradicating ‘sectarianism’. There are several other important reasons I disagree with them on. I want real change next year and not just a change of flag with Scottish bosses exchanged for British ones. I am happy to work with anyone to achieve that goal.
I believe that we will win independence in the housing schemes and former mining villages of Scotland.
