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Referendum Diary: August 2014

2 AUGUST: To the Hydro in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games boxing finals with my brother-in-law Jim. What a crowd and what an atmosphere. We saw Nicola Adams, who was lucky, and should probably have lost to a Northern Irish boxer, but the big event was the last two bouts with Charlie Flynn and Josh Taylor both winning. The place went absolutely bonkers – it was amazing.

We managed to get on a rammed last train home. Glasgow is bursting at the seams and the pubs and restaurants are doing a roaring trade. What a brilliant day.

4 AUGUST: St John the Baptist Chapel, Fauldhouse for the funeral of Peter Lynch, a stalwart of the local community. He was a family man, local trade union leader (UCATT), community activist, on the committee of the junior football club, compere at the children’s gala day and served on the miners’ welfare committee for 47 years. A Fauldhouse man to his boots – and a great loss!

5 AUGUST: Parliament back today due to the referendum recess having changed. Speaking to other Labour MSPs, they appear buoyant about the referendum – the SNP seem a bit down and lacking in confidence. After parliament I was straight out leafleting in Polbeth.

Big debate on TV tonight between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling. Salmond was really poor, talking about trivial issues such as driving on the right hand side of the road! Darling destroyed him on the currency issue – asking what the plan B was. Social media response is that Darling won. Big boost to the No campaign but makes me feel no more positive about Better bloody Together.

6 AUGUST: Canvassing in Moredun, Edinburgh, for council by-election. 12 of us out door knocking, all with our tales up after last night’s debate. Papers and TV all saying Salmond was poor and Darling won. Even Tom Gordon in the Herald scathing, with the headline to his piece ‘Death of a salesman’. No matter how much spin the SNP put on it, he was gubbed. I bet he will be better next time – well, it shouldn’t be too hard.

Spoke in the Trident debate today and nailed my colours to the mast, making it crystal clear I am anti-nuclear, anti-Trident and a member of CND. As a front bencher, I expected one of the whips might say something to me about my speech, but no one did. They knew my position before I was appointed. It’s non-negotiable!

7 AUGUST: Salmond mocked on currency at FMQs, as he still can’t give a plan B answer. This is damaging to the Yes campaign. They insist they can use the pound but why would they want the currency of an independent Scotland to be controlled by the Chancellor of a foreign country? The alternative would be the Euro, so good luck with that. Within the Yes camp the SSP, Greens and Dennis Canavan all reject using the pound in a sterling zone but they are bit-part players – it’s the SNPs show and they will brass it out.

Attended a Gaza protest outside Holyrood – big attendance and lots of anger about what is going on.

8 AUGUST: Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh – went to see Blofeld and Baxter – two old duffers from Test Match Special talking about cricket and their exploits following England for the BBC. It was a hilarious show and a must for any cricket fan.

10 AUGUST: Matthew Hilferty started today on a paid internship sponsored by Crohn’s and Colitis UK. He will be with us for three months. The charity want him to show how people with the condition can thrive in different jobs. He is a quiet guy who has gone through a lot, but we will ensure he has a good experience that will hopefully help him get a job.

Did a photoshoot outside a local bank with Councillors David Dodds and Cathy Muldoon, and Graeme Morrice. RBS have announced the closure of branches in Fauldhouse, Armadale and Harthill despite the fact they have a policy to keep the last bank in town open. We have launched a postcard campaign to get people to oppose the closures and are getting a great response.

12 AUGUST: Met representatives from the Campaign Against the Care Tax. They are calling for charges for alarms, aids and care to be funded via taxation and not through charges to people. The group have walked out of the COSLA working group on the issue. I asked whether they would speak out about the council tax freeze and its impact on services, but they won’t. Some of the organisations that make up the coalition are afraid their budgets will be cut by central government if they do.

To the Shadow Cabinet where Ian Price advised that private polling shows good support for a No vote. Afterwards, I met with Norman Murray, the former leader of East Lothian Council, and Vince and Pauline to discuss regional list reselection – they are all willing to help.

I then spoke in an economy debate where the SNP contributions were pretty flat. Afterwards, there was a members’ debate on Gaza hosted by Sandra White. Very good contributions condemning the actions of Netanyahu’s government. Ken McIntosh gave the pro-Israeli line.

13 AUGUST: To Livingston Crematorium for the funeral of Joanne Burns, wife of Bobby, who worked with my da and I. All the old brickies were present, including Ronnie, wee Tommy, Martin Dirkie and the whole Burns clan. Good to see everyone there paying their respects.

On to Dalkeith for a public meeting on the referendum with Councillor Bryan Pottinger arguing with me for a No vote. On the other side was Owen Thomson, SNP leader of Midlothian Council, and Pat Smith of the Socialist Workers Party. The SWP position on independence in unbelievable. Only a few years ago, they were arguing that independence would divide the working class and the trade unions, and that it was a neo-liberal idea they as revolutionary socialists couldn’t support, but now they are amongst the most aggressive and pro-independence groups lining up beside the corporate tax-cutting SNP. It’s clear to me this is nothing to do with support for independence itself, but simply that the central committee of the party has seen the Yes campaign as a chance to recruit members to its cause, and therefore it is a tactic and another opportunity to attack the Labour Party, who they ultimately want to destroy.

Went into the Tun (BBC in Edinburgh) to do Scotland 2014 and discuss the NHS ‘privatisation’ claim. Think I did okay. Afterwards I went into parliament to pick up my bag. As I was leaving, I bumped into Tricia Marwick, who had been in the bar, and wanted to tell me all about her plans for ‘playing a major role in bringing people together and healing our divisions after the referendum’! She clearly sees herself as some sort of Mother Theresa figure using her ‘soothing words’ to end hostilities. Good luck with that sister!

14 AUGUST: Met Henry Simmons from Alzheimer’s Scotland and Matt Forde of the NSPCC to discuss health and social care issues. I then headed to Cathcart Old Parish Church for the Constituency Labour Party-led debate and discussion on health and social care policy. It was encouraging to hear members agree with my view that health inequalities and social care are some of the biggest issues facing the health sector. Some really good suggestions put forward.

15 AUGUST: Canvassing all day in Longridge. Tiring work, but hopefully worth it.

16 AUGUST: The NHS privatisation story is hogging the media headlines. The Yes focus groups must be showing it has traction. It is the biggest lie of the campaign to date. Here is why: 1 – No party in Scotland (not even the Scottish bloody Tories) support privatisation of our NHS. 2 – What happens to the NHS in England has no impact on Scotland because it is fully devolved. 3 – The private sector always comes out more expensive than the public sector. 4 – It is the SNP who are increasing the use of the private sector in Scotland – this is really cynical stuff.

17 AUGUST: Earlier this year, the Red Paper Collective offered to organise a short tour with George Galloway in key areas where we have good left speakers; the first is today. Fauldhouse Miners Welfare Club: Public meeting on the referendum chaired by Councillor David Dodds. The club was packed; more than 220 people in on a Sunday afternoon. Great to see it full for the biggest political meeting in Fauldhouse since the Poll Tax era. I spoke first and was really up for it in front of a home audience.

Galloway was next, and he was brilliant. His searing analysis of the case for independence was fantastic. He ripped apart the claim that oil could fund the services we all rely on, and also destroyed the currency argument. Tam and Kathleen Dalyell came along, but were a wee bit late, and when George saw him coming in he said Tam was one of the greatest parliamentarians he had ever met. Tam got a huge ovation from the audience. We did a Q&A session and the people present took it seriously with good, fair questions. There was no nonsense or aggravation. It was a great meeting with many people staying behind to talk and offer congratulations – even the Yes voters said they enjoyed it. A good day’s work.

18 AUGUST: I popped into Labour Party HQ in Bath Street, Glasgow to collect referendum materials. The atmosphere in that place is awful. It should be lively and welcoming but it isn’t.

It was then over to Adelaide’s (also in Bath Street) for the second of the Galloway meetings with John Foster (Communist Party), Agnes Tolmie (Unite), Pauline McNeill (ex-MSP Glasgow Kelvin) and Galloway himself. The CP clearly had a three line whip and many people there were CP activists. It was an odd atmosphere at the meeting but it went okay.

Salmond gave his ‘Arbroath declaration of opportunity’ speech today. He really does think he is Mel Gibson! He also upped the rhetoric on the NHS.

19 AUGUST: In parliament, the SNP have gone nuclear on the NHS to take the focus away from Salmond’s poor TV performance and the currency debacle. They are screaming about privatisation if there is a No vote and this is supposed to be the ‘positive campaign’; the positive case for Yes and they call Better Together ‘Project Fear!’ Alex Neil gave a statement to parliament on this today. He really doesn’t believe a word of it but goes through the motions because they think it is working.

In my reply I wanted to tell him they were the biggest bunch of shameless, cynical liars I have ever come across, but that would have been unparliamentary, so I found an alternative way.

The debate in the chamber then went like this…

Neil Findlay: ‘At the SNP conference in 2014, Nicola Sturgeon said, “I can stand here proudly and say this: for as long as we are in government, there will be no privatisation of the NHS in Scotland.” Yesterday and today, however, the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary contradicted that position. In 2011, the SNP manifesto said: “The Scottish Parliament has responsibility for the health service and that means we can protect NHS budgets.” The white paper says: “Without devolution, the NHS would have been repeatedly re-organised and exposed to private competition.” I am not allowed to call anyone in the chamber a liar, but was Nicola Sturgeon not telling the truth at her conference? Did the SNP not tell the truth in its manifesto?’ [Interruption.]

Presiding Officer: ‘Order.’

Neil Findlay: ‘Or is the Cabinet Secretary not telling the truth now? I am not allowed to call the Cabinet Secretary and the First Minister liars, but will they condemn a campaign that claims that private healthcare is cheaper and more efficient than public healthcare? I am not allowed to call the Cabinet Secretary and the First Minister liars…’

Presiding Officer: ‘Your time is up, Mr Findlay. Do you have a question?’

Neil Findlay: ‘Do they accept that the greatest threat to the NHS in Scotland is the £6 billion of cuts in public spending that would occur under their plans to break up the country? Will the Cabinet Secretary focus on his day job and sort out waiting lists, huge problems in accident and emergency, staffing and bed cuts, a social care crisis and a lack of general practitioners, instead of supporting the most scandalous deceit of the referendum campaign to date?’

Alex Neil: ‘In the spirit of Mr Findlay’s remarks, I thank him for the compliment at the start of his question. I do not think Mr Findlay understands what devolution means. Let me remind him that Enoch Powell said many years ago that power devolved is power retained. We must look at not only today and tomorrow but at five and 10 years’ time. With a constitution that embeds and enshrines the basic principles of the NHS, Scotland will never ever have a privatised health service. Our powers in a devolved Parliament are not enshrined and can be overruled at any time by any future Westminster Government.’

Three times I said it – just to make sure everyone got the message, and hopefully they did!

Off to Auchinleck in Ayrshire for a meeting with Labour Party supporters in Cathy Jamieson’s constituency. With me was MP for Wansbeck, and former miner and NUM president, Ian Lavery. He was fantastic and talked about class politics, the miners’ strike, solidarity and the needs of people in his area being the same as people in Cathy’s. Ian speaks with a brilliant, broad Geordie accent with passion and commitment – I like him a lot. I gave my standard Red Paper speech sprinkled with local issues and repeated arguments about solidarity and class justice.

Back to do Scotland 2014 at STV; subject, the NHS. Prior to going on air, John MacKay, the presenter, and the cameraman were discussing food, so when I walked onto the studio floor, he asked me, ‘Sausage roll or bridie?’

‘Oh no,’ I replied. ‘definitely a pie.’

‘Oh, a pie man,’ he said, turning to the cameraman, who shrugged his shoulders.

‘But it depends what you mean,’ I said. ‘If it’s Gregg’s, then definitively a pie, but it must be on a Gregg’s buttered roll. It’s a perfect fit – made for each other!’

‘Eh, whit,’ says John and the cameraman, looking at each other in disbelief. ‘A pie on a roll – no!’

‘Aye,’ says I, ‘and with broon sauce tae. That’s a must.’

We then got into the classic debate about chips and whether you have just salt, salt and vinegar or salt, vinegar and sauce – or as it’s commonly known in West Lothian, ‘everything!’

I then explained the Scottish writer Irvine Welsh’s classic description of the region of Scotland that runs from Ratho, on the western outskirts of Edinburgh, to Harthill on the Eastern border of North Lanarkshire. According to Welsh, it’s not West Lothian – it’s ‘the broon sauce corridor’! A place where in chippies you are automatically offered salt, vinegar and broon sauce (which is sauce diluted with vinegar), dispensed from a Barr’s juice bottle with a hole pierced in the lid. None of your shitey wee sachets here. Bottles of said sauce are usually on sale in said chippy for £1 behind the counter!

John MacKay and his cameraman chum were aghast at these revelations and we had a good laugh about it just before going on air. I thought one of us was going to burst out laughing during the interview.

Afterwards, he told me he was really pleased I had come in, and added, ‘We will need to get you in as a food critic or cultural commentator next time!’ It was all good fun.

20 AUGUST: Had my mum and her friend, and a great friend of our family, Maureen Byrne, in for lunch at the parliament restaurant. It was a lovely hour and a half.

Then over to Edinburgh’s Royal College of Physicians for a referendum debate with Alex Neil. I was a bit anxious about this but it was a good debate in a beautiful building. I called out Neil on the NHS privatisation claim and he wasn’t comfortable dealing with it because this audience knew it was mince. Their argument has now changed to ‘if there is a No vote, then charges will be introduced to Scotland’s NHS’. An even bigger lie. It was desperate, cyclical stuff.

It was announced today that Tricia Marwick will do ‘time for reflection’ in parliament after the referendum. This must be the Mother Theresa moment she spoke about a week or two ago. Hopefully her soothing words will heal the nation’s divisions. The country waits with bated breath.

21 AUGUST: Last day before the recess for the referendum. Prominent doctor and cancer specialist, Anna Gregor has dismissed the NHS privatisation charges claim as ‘complete and utter lies’. At FMQs, Salmond was asked about his ‘Arbroath Declaration’, public spending and the NHS. He really is full of himself with an ego beyond compare.

In the afternoon debate on the future of Scotland, Johann gave an excellent speech – thoughtful, dignified and principled – a complete contrast to Salmond’s bombast. At the end, Johann walked across the chamber to shake Salmond’s hand; he didn’t know where to look or what to do – it really threw him but I’m not sure many folk realised it had happened, although it was a fine gesture after months and years of fierce debate. I wonder if the press will pick up on it. Johann is a thoroughly decent, straightforward person. I don’t always agree with her, and believe her ‘something for nothing’ speech was a bad idea, but I have huge respect for her and always enjoy our chats.

22 AUGUST: Day off with Fiona in Edinburgh so we went to the theatre to see a youth production of Blood Brothers. After that, The Confessions of Gordon Brown. It was funny but could have been better. Afterwards, we went to the Doric for a drink and then home. It was good to have a day away from the referendum.

23 AUGUST: A leafleting session in West Calder and we got a lot done. I bumped into a guy I used to work with at the council who is a lifelong Labour voter, but told me he will vote Yes. This depressed me, but my mood was lightened a bit when he told me why. ‘I don’t want Maurice Johnston to be the next Prime Minister!’ (I think he meant Boris Johnson and not Maurice, the controversial footballer who became the first high-profile Catholic to sign for Rangers, having previously played for arch rivals Celtic). Mind you, maybe wee Mo would make a better job of it than that buffoon Boris!

25 AUGUST: Howden, Livingston – best canvassing session for a while, with three-to-one expressing their intention to vote No.

Evening meeting at Loanhead with Cathy Jamieson, Davie Hamilton and George Galloway. About 80 people there and it was worthwhile. I have enjoyed doing these events with Galloway, observing and listening to one of the best orators in politics. He is a master communicator and it has been interesting to watch him at work. His performance at the senate a few years back is etched in my memory – it was utterly brilliant.

Tonight was the second referendum meeting between Salmond and Darling. As predicted Salmond came out fighting and was much, much better. He was aggressive, arrogant, and scrapping, but very effective. The polls afterward says it was 71 per cent to Salmond, and 29 for Darling. Thank God the TV debates are over – they were pretty awful, with people shouting over each other and the audience acting like a football crowd. But such is life with a long and increasingly polarised debate.

26 AUGUST: Out canvassing in Livingston and it is 60 to 40 in favour of No.

27 AUGUST: Armadale Community Centre for a meeting with RBS. MPs Graeme Morrice and Michael Connarty are also there. Michael Crow, former Tory Spin doctor, and now RBS press chief, is present along with two of their managers from retail banking. We gave them a torrid time and refused to accept the closures. We said we had huge public support and that they had a responsibility to loyal customers who they have made money off for years. They want to replace the branch with a visiting mobile service for two half hours a week. They said they had to get value for shareholders from selling the building. They didn’t like it when I pointed out that WE are the shareholders, since the bank is owned by the government. Michael went ballistic at them. I summed up, saying we were formally asking them to withdraw the plans to close the branches and that they had a duty to undertake a full consultation with customers. I asked them to come to a public meeting about it, and they refused! They really are a shower of careless chancers who have ripped people off for decades.

To Whitburn for West Lothian Trades Council referendum public debate where I was up against Fiona Hyslop MSP (I have always got on pretty well with her). Fiona got a torrid time and didn’t really know what to do as she was not used to it. She tried to claim Police Scotland was more effective and democratic than before the merger of the forces. She got ripped to bits for that. I enjoyed tonight.

28 AUGUST: It has been revealed that while on his Irn Bru crate ‘world’ tour, Jim Murphy was pelted with eggs by Yes supporters in Dundee. He is of course milking this for all its worth. These events are getting worse and worse and the Yes mob who turn up are doing exactly what Murphy wants. He wants them to behave like a rowdy mob so undecided voters will be turned off by it. Salmond is saying very little about it with no real condemnation of their behaviour. Social media is in overdrive and some of the abuse and infantile stuff being thrown around is awful. Sometimes it’s hard not be drawn into it.

In the afternoon, I headed to the Marriott Hotel for a UNISON nursing conference to debate the referendum with Christina McKelvie MSP. She acts left but does little to follow through on it – full of rhetoric. I could sense a number of the shop stewards were sympathetic to the Yes camp, based on the nonsense about privatisation of the NHS, and no matter how well or often this is rebutted, they want to believe it!

Spoke to a Norwegian trade union magazine journalist about the SNP plan to have Scandinavian social services whilst levying Texan taxes. They found this incredible, and of course it is!

29 AUGUST: George Galloway was attacked in London today and had his jaw broken by someone shouting about Israel.

Spent the day campaigning in Knightsridge, Livingston, before going for a curry with Fiona, Jimmy and Kathleen. It was a relief to get out and speak about things other than politics.

30 AUGUST: Otherwise sensible commentators like Mandy Rhodes, Macwhirter and others are brushing off the aggression in the campaign as a bit of rough and tumble – it is more than that with the atmosphere getting pretty heated and ugly at times.

31 AUGUST: Salmond on TV today claiming he would have a sovereign mandate to negotiate a currency union in the event of a Yes vote. What utter nonsense – he would have a vote for independence and nothing else.

Sunday Herald claiming they have evidence from Dr Alyson Pollock that there will be NHS privatisation with a No vote. They have nothing of the sort, and what she says is that privatisation is less efficient than the public sector. This is exactly my argument, as it would actually cost more with privatisation, so if it is imposed in England then spending in Scotland would subsequently INCREASE not decrease. But hey ho, they won’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Went to Thompson’s Solicitors’ fireworks event at the festival. It was brilliant and I spoke to lots of good friends. Patrick McGuire looking much better after his illness – big relief for his wife and young family.