March for Indy

We’re collecting views and photos from today’s march and rally and collating blogs and columns on it. Send us your links, comments and photos. Bella’s view was that the day had a big wow factor of good vibes. One wag said: “It’s like Twitter but with people!” And there was that actual yellow warming bright thing – sun.

Several issues stood out from the day.

1. One was the palpable sense of both a real unity in diversity and discipline of the crowd. This was a movement and it was one that was way beyond the SNP. NO efforts to divide and conquer look doomed to fail as the emerging dynamic of the movement is one of focus around the shared goal of sovereignty. Debate around the many points of difference is a part of the process, not a point of failure.
2. Speaker after speaker, including Salmond focused on social justice and equality, mocking Clegg and ridiculing Westminster. In the wake of Ian Duncan Smith’s disastrous foray north that was perhaps to be expected. But the problem for the NO campaign is that the more the left weaves seamlessly into the movement for self-determination, the more problems this poses for the disaffected Labour vote wavering between a single question. As Peter Curran put it: ‘Presence of Scottish indy trades unionists and Labour supporters at the March/Rally also scared the **** out of the auld Tory Establishment!”
3. This was like speed-dating for political activists. It’s really important for people to get out in the fresh air and away from the keyboards. Twitter-politics has its limitations.
4. Bella took inquiries from dozens of people about the march – undecided voters – newbies. This is great. I have no idea what the impression they took away from it was, but I’d be surprised if it wasn’t positive. Political psephologists shouldn’t underestimate the power of mood.
5. The numbers game – in which estimates of numbers attending marches and rally’s are drastically downsized by police and media – is a form of social control. Don’t be either disappointed or downhearted.

This is Ben Wray’s take on it: “The march and rally for independence in Edinburgh today surpassed expectations, especially for those on the left of the independence movement. Over 10,000 reached Princes St Gardens in a demonstration that had been played down by the SNP and was expected to be a modest start to the independence campaign on the streets.

Whilst nationalist sentiment was strong with saltires, kilts and face paint galore, there was a powerful sense of independence being linked to social justice and opposition to war.

Speeches at the final rally were dominated by left-wing arguments rarely heard in the mainstream. Not one speech included pro-business sentiment, whereas arguments against austerity, privatisation, war, inequality, bankers, etc were dominant.” Read the full  thing here.

Here’s Eddie Barne’s rather more downbeat assessment here in which at least 5000 people disappear off the streets of the capital in perhaps the biggest large scale kidnap in recent years.

See also some great foreign coverage of the event here: http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4041971/20120922/salmond-decisions-escocia-prendre-escocesos-escocia-independent.html

Read Jeff at Better Nation here: http://www.betternation.org/2012/09/coming-oot-and-conditional-patriotism/

We see little to disagree with the National Collective’s review here (better music required) : http://nationalcollective.com/2012/09/23/review-march-and-rally-for-scottish-independence-2012/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NationalCollective+%28National+Collective%29

Cameron McNeish: http://www.cameronmcneish.co.uk/2012/09/marching-for-scottish-independence/

Edinburgh Eye, a skeptical view: http://edinburgheye.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/a-just-scotland-the-vision/

Send us links to your footage, photos and reflections.