CONSULTATION PROCESS IS KEY TO SUCCESSFUL REFERENDUM
Within a hundred days of the new Scottish Government the SNP will produce a bill setting out the benefits of Scottish independence and calling for a referendum on the issue. The SNP plans to hold this referendum in 2010 (possibly after a Conservative Government victory at Westminster).
I hope there will be a large public response to the consultation process and all organisations which support Scottish independence should do their best to make sure this is the case.
It would be a massive boost to this process if the SNP and other parties were willing to fund a leaflet setting out the basics of the bill and asking for comments. Of course it would be preferable if the Scottish Government itself paid to advertise the process, after all if the unionist parties can use the SP budget to insult our intelligence about washing our hands, some advertising about Scotland's constitutional future seems appropriate (including TV and bus adverts), however if this is not felt to be possible our parties should fund a leaflet themselves, with a view to doing something bigger prior to the actual vote.
The reason for this is to stimulate a massive public response to the SNP's bill that will dwarf all past public consultations. This will generate massive positive publicity for the independence referendum cause.
In those circumstances if the unionists then turn around and say no to a referendum in the Scottish parliament then I believe there could be a substantial public outcry. If that happens then we are in Scotland United territory with the mass demos for devolution which forced the British Government (eventually and grudgingly) to finally legislate for a devolved parliament.
The SNP could then site legitimate public interest in independence and hold a referendum on independence as soon as is required (possibly in conjunction with COSLA or other public bodies who might be willing to share some of the costs).
Obviously we (in the independence movement) want to win a referendum and the timing of it will be important however lets remember that most polls before the election showed large support for independence and it is still far higher than the unionist media are trying to claim.
