At stalls and shopping malls, the SNP quietly prepares for IndyRef2 Martin Veart could not be described as a typical SNP supporter. Not only is he is a member of a […]

Martin Veart could not be described as a typical SNP supporter. Not only is he is a member of a rival political party, the Liberal Democrats – contesting both last year’s general election and May’s Holyrood contest on their behalf – he also voted against Scottish independence at the 2014 referendum.

So what has brought him here, to a public meeting at an Edinburgh shopping centre, where two elected SNP representatives are discussing the possibility of a new drive for Scottish independence?

“[Labour supporters] sort of still think we’re scum. I don’t know why, but they do” The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Jane, SNP member

The answer is simple: Brexit. “I campaigned against independence, but one of the things I wrote at the time was that I’d revisit that issue should it come to something as stupid as Britain leaving the EU,” he says.

“I have to say, on that particular issue my personal view has softened somewhat.”

This sort of thing is music to the ears of Ben Macpherson, the SNP MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith, who is hosting the meeting at the Scottish capital’s Ocean Terminal shopping centre alongside his Westminster counterpart Deidre Brock.

The event, attended by around 35 people, is part of the SNP’s “listening exercise” on Scotland’s future, a massive data-gathering operation launched by party leader Nicola Sturgeon at the start of September which comes to an end tomorrow – St Andrew’s Day.

National Survey

Over the past 12 weeks, SNP activists have manned hundreds of street stalls in an attempt to gauge the public mood on independence in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The drive has been accompanied by the so-called National Survey, a 12-question online form which has already been completed by more than 1.7 million Scots.

The survey asks participants how they voted in the last independence referendum, whether or not they voted for Brexit and which side they would back if another vote on Scotland’s future in the UK was held immediately.

The SNP intends to use the data to shape its strategy on independence following the seismic EU referendum result.

Although Veart’s views on independence may have shifted since the vote on 23 June, it is clear that the SNP still has a lot of work to do before he will back breaking up the UK.

“There’s still very hard economic arguments against it. In terms of economics, we’re actually worse off,” he says, citing the global slump in oil prices.

The impact of independence on the Scottish economy is one of many topics up for discussion at the meeting.

Others include EU membership, how “British” or “Scottish” people feel, public services, pensions and social security, defence, human rights and immigration. In short: virtually everything.

IndyRef2

The vast majority of attendees already support independence, and the meeting gives them a platform to air their views on how things should be managed.

The 2014 campaign was “too tightly controlled by politicians”, one woman argues, calling for grassroots activists to be given slots on panel shows instead.

Others are concerned about the timing of the next vote. “I’m worried that if we rush into a second referendum we might lose it,” says Andrew, a local SNP activist, who says he’d like to see the Yes side leading by at least 60 per cent in the polls before another one is called.

Jane, another local SNP member, says she is disappointed that her Labour-supporting friends are not engaging with the independence argument.

“They were appalled about Brexit, but they’ve now gone very silent. At some point they’re going to have to pick a side.

“Most of them would have enjoyed today, but they’re not turning up…they sort of still think we’re scum. I don’t know why, but they do.”

After the meeting, both Macpherson and Brock are upbeat. At the street stalls, they say, they have been struck by the “substantial” number of former No voters moving towards independence in the wake of the Brexit vote.

“It really has changed the whole dynamic around identity – what is modern Britain and where is modern Britain going,” Macpherson says. “’Uncertainty’ was a word that was very much pinned on the Yes campaign in 2014 – now uncertainty is everywhere, and it’s changed the whole debate.”