Woman for Independence – Lessons from History
A confident future is never built on fear but always on hope …
Journalist, writer and broadcaster Ruth Wishart speaks at the Scottish Independence Rally on 22 Sept 2012 … Undoubtedly one of the very best speeches of the day. Perhaps not a great surprise it came from a) a woman and b) a non politician. A lesson to event organisers across the Yes campaign.
Aye she was good always fully committed used to read her column in the Sunday Mail.
I’d forgotten just how good her speech was, partly because there were one or two bits I didn’t hear – the microphone wasn’t near enough her mouth, so those of us at the back could hardly hear a thing for the first minute or so until the sound was (presumably) turned up. So it’s great to see it in full here.
Her “the agenda is pretty clear” list and the “a scare story a day will keep independence at bay” line were probably the best things anyone said on a day where many brilliant things were said. I hope Ruth makes her voice heard more often from here on in!
She spoke of a great burden being lifted having ‘come out’. It’s a mark of the suffocating nature of Scottish society that she’s felt unable to speak honestly until now. I know of one other high-profile figure who is in a similar position…am hoping that Ruth’s stance will be something of a watershed.
Let’s hope so. It can be the same for low-profile figures as well – I often feel unable to talk about independence with non-politicos, especially in the workplace where talk of independence invariably leads to people shrieking in horror at such an idea being aired. As the campaign rolls on, that’ll become less pronounced, and the idea of independence will become normalised – just like I have no qualms about admitting I’m an SNP supporter today, whereas even as recently as 2006 I would have been reluctant to say it out loud in “polite” company.
As the momentum continues towards Independence there’ll be quite a few ‘establishment’ figures jumping ship.
“Perhaps not a great surprise it came from a) a woman . . ”
Genuin question – why?
A bit of overt sexism from Bella there. It was not brilliant because it came from a woman – it was brilliant because it came from a very clever, thoughtful person.
I would remind Bella that Johann Lamont and Ruth Davidson are also women, and neither of them ever makes a single telling point is a speech, let alone stringing dozens of them together in a rhetorical masterpiece like this!
See response to Colin …
I’ve just found that a lot of the time on constitutional questions that women are being sidelined, for various reasons. When they are not there’s often more authenticity and this comes through. It’s something about speaking from a position of lived experience rather than in abstraction.
Truly stupendous. Spoken with such shining clarity of conviction, as only the truth can show. Avanti!
That was a real stormer of a speech. As Doug says the “the agenda is pretty clear” section was just brilliant.
Cogent, clear and thoroughly compelling! A masterful performance by the mistress of words.