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The unpalatable harvest 211

Posted on August 28, 2014 by

One of the most commonly-observed facets of the independence referendum so far has been the lack of a real grassroots “Better Together” campaign, and as a historian of Scottish popular politics I’ve found myself pondering why there wasn’t one.

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It’s not like there aren’t thousands of Scots who passionately believe in the Union and will be voting No, and are perfectly capable of arguing their case. We all know some – I certainly do, both family and friends. But there’s no organised grassroots campaigning of any serious note. Tiny handfuls of Labour activists, some of them shipped up from England and paid, have done almost all of the donkey work so far.

But as a historian of Scottish popular politics I should have an explanation, shouldn’t I? And when I had a think about it, something occurred to me.

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    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “Yes, so here’s the thing, I think that either; a) no response has been received because this has gone into…” May 22, 16:27
    • Northcode on The shifting sands of memory: “Here’s what I think. And because I’m not a lawyer I’m probably right. It doesn’t matter now if Scotland was…” May 22, 16:21
    • James Cheyne on The shifting sands of memory: “Lorn, When Westminister state that Scots were not asked to join the treaty even although they were aware they should…” May 22, 16:17
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    • Aidan on The shifting sands of memory: “@Mia – it’s only looking like ‘checkmate’ from here if we subscribe to your unique brand of legal reasoning which…” May 22, 15:23
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    • Oneliner on The shifting sands of memory: “Rhetorical question – just like yours” May 22, 14:25
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    • Geri on The shifting sands of memory: “During indyref there was a lecture/BT/Yes convention held at Edinburgh Uni where Tom Devine spoke of the Union & it…” May 22, 14:18
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    • Mia on The shifting sands of memory: “I must admit I am still in two minds about it. I can see that there was, at least, some…” May 22, 13:18
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    • Geri on The shifting sands of memory: ““Our many centuries long history as a constitutional monarchy is just another part of our rich cultural heritage that your…” May 22, 12:44
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