After the March...

I watched most of the big March through Glasgow on Saturday and enjoyed the spectacle. The participants were cheery as they pushed their weans in buggies and friends and relatives in wheelchairs, and bantered with the polis (who were equally cheery) and with folk on the pavements. They even tried to wave to the greetin-faced punters at George Square waving their union jacks.

I wish we had a TV channel of our own where we could show events like this, but hey, we now have a band (and damned good they are) and we have thousands and thousands of people willing to turn up from all over Scotland to attend these marches. People fly in, get the ferry to be there, drive a long way and stay overnight in hotels to make sure they don't miss a step.

Then came the aftermath. These days, I expect a backlash to anything that happens around the issue of independence. It's a sure sign our unionist friends are scared. I don't expect events like marches to be reported by the UK media and I'm never let down. Where the marches do get reported, the tone can be predictable and frankly moronic.

So we'll get lies, like the 'Scottish Daily Express' claiming there had been 'clashes' between Yes marchers and the union-jack wavers at George Square. These never happened: the police confirmed there had been no trouble of any kind on the march. It was really more of a rerr day oot for most of the marchers.

Similarly, we can expect the unionist parties to wade in, with Tory politicians telling us we can't have another vote on independence. Or in the case of Ruth Davidson and David Mundell, telling us many times over we can't have another vote on independence, while at the same time failing to deliver any policies for Scotland and failing to represent Scotland's interests in the Brexit negotiations.

I also read complaints that Nicola Sturgeon hadn't turned up at the march. Not that the Scottish Government wasn't represented - it was - Keith Brown was there and spoke to the marchers.

But there's a new element after this march: one of the All Under One Banner (AUOB) organisers has been reported to the police for a civil offence to do with the starting time of the march. I'm not getting into the middle of this issue because I don't know enough about it and it's now a legal matter. My concern is that this may lead to a split in the ranks of supporters of independence.

To those who oppose AUOB - and I've seen some pretty nasty comments from people who say they favour independence, including one disgraceful comment claiming one of the organisers is a thief - I want to say: Just shut up. You are playing into the hands of those who oppose independence. Accept that AUOB has done a fine job. And if you think you can help make things better, get in there and get on with it.

As I said at the top of this page, we really need a TV channel to let us see everything that's happening. Not just on the marches, but in the Scottish Parliament, at conferences of the SNP and the Scottish Greens, at meetings of Women for Independence and other groups - and even speeches given in Westminster by the SNP and the (only) Green MP. That might help us maintain solidarity among so many different groups.

There will be plenty of opportunities for supporters of independence to fall out with each other. And we need to learn how to deal with these matters. 

We don't need division.