As a Western Isles councillor, I've seen the value of unity

The National

11 hours ago

Labour's narrow victory – 8559 votes to our 7957, with Reform UK's 7088 nipping at our heels – shows what happens when the independence movement is divided. As a councillor for Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, I see daily the struggles of our communities, from the cost of living crisis to the strain on our NHS and the erosion of our island economies.
These are not just local woes; they are the direct result of a Union that fails us and worsens our challenges. I call on all pro-independence forces – SNP, Alba, Liberation Scotland, Salvo and every Yes activist across our land – to unite urgently. We must make the 2026 Holyrood election a clear mandate for independence, a moment to seize the powers we need to build a fairer, stronger Scotland.
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From the Western Isles to the central belt, Scots are crying out for change. Westminster's grip denies us the ability to protect our public services, revive our communities or harness our vast resources – our renewables, our fisheries, our land – for the benefit of all. Independence is not just a dream; it's the practical solution to these crises. A sovereign Scotland could invest in our ferries, bolster our schools and ensure no-one in our islands or beyond is left behind by poverty or neglect. But we cannot achieve this if we stand apart.
Unity is our greatest asset. Our history, rooted in a shared commitment to community and collective effort, teaches us that when Scots come together, we can reshape our future.
In the Western Isles, we know the power of working as one – whether it's saving our crofts or fighting for our Gaelic culture. The 2014 Yes campaign showed what's possible when we unite for a common cause, inspiring a million voices to demand self-determination.
Yet, the Hamilton result proves that division hands victory to those who thrive on our disunity – Westminster's establishment and the divisive rhetoric of parties like Reform UK. If we let our votes splinter in 2026, we risk losing our chance to break free.
I urge all pro-independence groups to come together now, in a spirit of shared purpose. Let's convene a summit, a Constitutional Convention like the one the SNP called for in 2023, to forge a united strategy for 2026.
Together, we can rally the 44% who still back independence and win over those who've lost faith – voters who turned to Labour or stayed home, frustrated by politics as usual. We must show them that independence means real change: a Scotland where our wealth serves every community, where our resources lift up the many, not the few, and where our decisions are made here, not in London.
Picture a united campaign in 2026, where every pro-independence vote counts toward a majority that Westminster cannot dismiss.
A Holyrood election won decisively by our movement could force a referendum or empower us to begin negotiations for independence. This is not about one party; it's about a nation standing together, as we have before, to demand a future where fairness and opportunity define us.
The Union is failing us. It starves our services, ignores our voices, and deepens inequality. But together, we can change that. Our shared resolve, born of a history that values community and equity, can make 2026 the year we take back control.
Let's unite, plan and fight for a Scotland that answers to its people.
Cllr Gordon Murray
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
LIKE most readers of this newspaper, I was very surprised to learn of Labour's win in Hamilton. Their UK-wide polling and comments from John Swinney had led me to expect them contesting second place with Reform. It's a crumb of comfort that Reform 'only' came third. The disconnect between the SNP and independence supporters has been exposed even more starkly which their leaders will only ignore at their peril.
Numbers can be boring but also intuitive so please bear with me. The following facts have not been highlighted. The turnout for the election was only 44.2% so the actual percentages of the electorate votes cast which the first three parties received were: Labour (31.6%) 13.9%, SNP (29.4%) 13.0%, Reform (26.1%) 11.6%.
When polling indicates roughly half of our population supporting independence (currently slightly more), the fact that only 13% of the Hamilton electorate bothered to go and vote for the principal party of independence, the SNP, is hugely significant. Our independence movement is in crisis without an obvious party for us to rally behind to take us forward. Alba's point about the Greens standing and thus robbing the SNP of victory assumes that those who voted Green would have actively voted SNP instead. This is quite some assumption given that only 13% actively voted SNP.
For me, though, the major point is the unsatisfactory and again discredited first-past-the-post electoral system which elects the biggest minority with total power. Who can justify a party 'winning' a seat with only 13.9% support from the electorate? It is little wonder people are becoming disillusioned with our electoral system. Reform would have 'won' with only 2.3% more people voting for them! Who said that for evil to prevail all that was required was for good people to do nothing? Let's find a fairer system while we still can.
Campbell Anderson
Edinburgh
AFTER defeat by Labour in Hamilton, as an SNP member I'm asking, will the leadership of the SNP now realise that Scottish independence will only be achieved by a united movement of all groups and begin to join with the other like-minded to put our differences behind us and work together?
Other independence movements have had factions, but they resolved to put aside their differences, achieve independence and then resolve them. This is the ONLY way, as divided movements don't win at anything. Let's get together and form a pro-independence alliance.
Graham Smith
Arbroath
Perhaps John Swinney will wake up now. The over 50% of folk who didn't vote in Hamilton are probably languishing in child poverty. Why aren't they voting for independence? Why aren't they voting for the only truly socialist party in Scotland? Perhaps they would prefer the collapse of democracy and a dictatorship. Perhaps they would like The National to be banned. Compulsory voting as practised in Australia might be the answer.
Tony Kime
Kelso
KEIR Starmer's latest rhetoric about putting the UK on a 'war footing' and boosting the economy through fast-tracked weapons and submarine programmes is alarming. While families across the UK are struggling with the cost of living, underfunded public services and chronic housing insecurity, the political priority appears to be a renewed arms race. Are Trump's fingerprints all over this latest development?
This is not about genuine defence or security – it is political theatre. With around 17 ageing submarines already languishing in storage at Rosyth and Devonport, awaiting decommissioning at great cost to the taxpayer, the suggestion of accelerating new production looks less like strategic planning and more like an attempt to curry favour with the defence lobby and right-wing voters ahead of a future election.
What's more, this posturing comes at a time when the UK has conspicuously failed to speak or act forcefully against the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. If our government can mobilise billions for submarines, why can it not marshal the same urgency and resourcefulness to uphold international law and human rights?
There is no 'money tree' for nurses, teachers or social care – but apparently, there is one for military expansion. We are told this is about 'economic growth', yet militarised growth rarely benefits ordinary people. It creates profit for arms manufacturers, not food for children.
The public should not be asked to accept an ever more militarised national agenda, especially when it comes at the expense of both domestic welfare and our moral standing on the world stage. The UK must not drift, without scrutiny, toward a war economy while turning its back on justice abroad and fairness at home. It causes the utmost despair to be shackled to this distant Parliament which does not have the best interests of the Scottish People in mind. Starmer may not play the Churchill card to boost his tanking premiership.
Peter Macari
Aberdeen