Thread by @MartinJKeatings

I want to say something about @action4indy (AFI) which is now registered with the Electoral Commission (a saga caused by it's unique design -but nothing worth doing is easy).

I am an outsider. I've never really prescribed to one party or another. I'm staunchly pro-independence and I staunchly protect my independent status. I'm all for advocating for independence and I am all for advocating for my local community.

I've always hated what I refer to as the "party whip" and have always felt that having to vote stringently along party lines takes something away from politicians. If you vote the party line all the time, it's not always a good thing for your own constituency.

That's just common sense and pragmatism because the life of a person in the highlands is totally different from someone in the central belt. I don't think people will find that assertion too contentious. It's just a well-known fact.

The reason I am staunchly independent is that it gives me the latitude to be critical and praising in equal measure. If I think something will be detrimental to the cause, I can say so. Equally if I think something is good for the cause I can also say so.

I built Forward as One with that same philosophy in mind - Cause before party - colours left at the door and I like the idea of the free exchange and debate of ideas and out of the box thinking.

But the downside of being an independent is that you are a square peg in a round hole. My politics are very much OLD LABOUR (with a staunch independence streak). How could they not be. My grandfather was a union convener. My dad was a union rep. My mother was NHS.

But labour long abandoned its founding principles, of which home rule for Scotland was one of them. The mainstream parties always seem to be too concerned with policies that win votes, rather than policies that make real world change.

For that reason I have floated without a political home.

I have been offered to sit with several parties, something which I have declined because it would mean giving up my home.

And then Dave brought up AFI many moons ago and I approached them. Because AFI is not a party. It's an alliance with an open invitation to all political stripes dedicated to one thing - the advancement of independence.

It's built on the premise of allowing peoples individuality to flourish and respecting the views of parties and individuals who want to take up the open invitation to join together in a mutual pursuit of a shared goal - independence.

In other words. I not only get to stand alongside other pro-indy brothers and sisters - but I fully retain my independent status.

And what does AFI ask in return? Only a few things - A commitment to independence and a commitment to support any Scottish Government (likely to be the SNP) to support any move towards independence.

In other words - it asks of me NOTHING. Why? Because these are things I already support.

I support it because it's trying to do something never done before - cooperation without suppression of individuality.

Contrary to comments about "splitting the vote" (which in the Scottish elections is not a thing, it's actively trying to build a yes supermajority by putting cause before partisan politics.

i.e. In mid-scotland and fife where I am standing with my AFI brothers and sisters, the SNP wipe the floor in the constituency ballot. As you all know, the calculation for the regional list is then designed (by westminster) to penalise parties that do well in the constituency.

So in mid-scotland and fife, 120,000 yes supporters vote SNP. That translates to them sweeping the constituency, but because of a biased system, they are so badly penalised that those 120,000 votes go to waste in the regional ballot.

That translates to ZERO seats in the regional. But it's worse than that. It also translates to 6 unionists being elected by default. So me standing in cooperation with this alliance of other yessers, AFI in the regional list has no downside for the SNP.

But the upside is that, if we can get those 120,000 votes from the SNP (or even a large chunk) we could take 1,2,3 or even 4 seats from the Unionists in this region. One of which is Mr. Murdo Fraser. And we suspect a certain lib-dem may also be on the list this year.

We have an opportunity in Mid-Scotland and Fife to do something new, and deliver a full on yes-majority to Holyrood, and if that's not something worth fighting for, I dunno what is.

And as for AFI, well they've broken their backs to make a home for any person who wants to work cooperatively, to give them the opportunity to turn and fight together while also allowing them to continue to express their individuality and their party colours.

That, even at this early stage, is just absolutely amazing!

@threadreaderapp unroll dude!