Martin Compston says Unionist abuse stopped pro-Indy posts

The National

19-07-2025

Speaking on the Nicky Byrne HQ podcast, Compston said that he had 'nailed his colours to the mast' with his support for independence but that social media had become 'a nasty place of abuse' whenever the actor shared his views on the matter.
He told Byrne: 'That's why I've came [sic] offline with it as well because it's just a nasty place of abuse, and nobody's like that in the street to you, but you get dogs abuse on … X or fucking Twitter or whatever it's called now.
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'[It's] just bots and Union bots and it's a toxic way around it now and I think I'd probably back off on it.
'I still feel the same and I'd still … vote the same, but you start getting wound up in the house about stuff you see on your phone about people you're never going to meet, instead of putting that energy into your family.'
Earlier in the episode, Compston discussed the lead up to the first referendum and his views on independence.
'The 2014 referendum, I didn't want the build up to it to end', he said.
'It felt like the whole country was engaged. Everybody felt like they had a voice – their vote mattered. On both sides, everybody was talking about it, everybody was into it, everybody was fighting their case.
'It's alright that people have a different opinion than me, you know, this is just my opinion, but I feel like the decisions for Scotland should be made in Scotland.
'I've said that several times and I do feel like we're slightly left when you're looking at what party might win the election in England next time.'
Referring to the success of Reform UK in recent polls, the actor noted the difference in voting intention between Scotland and the rest of the UK, stating that 'they're not going to win' in the 2026 Holyrood elections.
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Compston also highlighted the case for a second referendum, saying that 'at a basic level, we've got different priorities'.
He said he believes the vote wouldn't happen again as 'we'd win' and expressed frustrations over a lack of reasoning behind why another referendum hasn't been allowed to happen.
'That was 11 years ago now and there's probably another [sic] tens of thousands … who could now vote in that referendum', he explained.
'I think in the margins that the Yes vote is mainly in the youth, so I would like someone from that side just to say, 'this is what you need to get another one'.
'There has to be a criteria for us to be able to trigger [one] again because, whether you like it or not, I would say just over half – and they would say just under half – but at least half the country want it.'