IF there are no marches and rallies for independence because of the coronavirus pandemic, and there has not been any since last year, then it follows that you do not need a pipe band to lead those marches. Yet Saor Alba Pipes & Drums, the official pipe band of the Yes movement, has not been setting aside their chanters and drumsticks, and thanks to the wonders of online technology the group has not only kept the band together but has been able to rehearse and even add new tunes to its repertoire. “We have been practising twice a month since lockdown started,” said co-founder and band manager Jim Edwards, “and we have a lot of new songs for when we resume marching, hopefully in the run-up to the second referendum”.
THIS weekend sees the public launch of Now Scotland, the new national membership organisation for everyone in the independence movement. Rarely in our history has the movement needed a forum for unity and common action as much as today. At a moment when Scottish independence has never seemed so near, we are witnessing stresses and strains inside the indy political parties. It is not our role as a civic organisation to comment or interfere. Political parties are very necessary. But Now Scotland can complement political parties by becoming a home for each and every independence activist to concentrate on the immediate task of winning independence – as soon and as fast as possible.
Exclusive
Now Scotland is not setting any membership targets, but is determined to build quickly and well to carry forward the independence campaign NOW Scotland is set to become the first national membership organisation of the Yes Movement this weekend. Some say it should have happened years ago, but The National can reveal that the group – whose logo, right, has been printed here for the first time – will formally launch at the weekend when its website goes live. Now Scotland is not setting any membership targets, but is determined to build quickly and well to carry forward the independence campaign.
THE tiny Baltic republic of Estonia regained independence in 1991 after almost 70 years of Soviet and Nazi occupation – a difficult birth amidst the collapse of the Soviet Union, with no petrol for ambulances or food on the shelves. Its GDP has since increased five-fold and today it’s recognised as Europe’s “Baltic Tiger”. But the country’s newfound economic success is solidly based on cultural confidence – a singing revolution, a much-loved language, an irrepressible national identity, a bold, youthful leadership and a people who never gave up. Are there lessons for Scotland or are our circumstances simply too different? Estonia: The Baltic Tiger tries to answer that question. Funded by Chris Weir and the Scottish Independence Foundation, filming with director Charlie Stuart began in February 2020 to coincide with the country’s Independence Day celebrations – and ended abruptly with lockdown a few weeks later.
NationBuilder is set to be used by the Yes movement’s new national membership organisation IT helped Barack Obama win the 2008 US presidential election and the SNP has used it to great effect, while it was deployed by both sides in the Brexit referendum. Now, the latest version of a software package called NationBuilder is set to be used by the Yes movement’s new national membership organisation – which The National can reveal will be launched in early February The National can also reveal that, following a clash with a group over the use of the name Yes Alba, the organisation is understood to be choosing a different style of designation altogether.