THE man behind ‘The Vow’, the cross-party pledge of greater devolution credited with securing the No vote in 2014, has come out in support of independence.
Former Daily Record editor Murray Foote, who organised the paper’s famous front page on the eve of the referendum, said he could no longer put up with Tory contempt for devolution.
Mr Foote, 51, whose media savvy would be invaluable to a future Yes campaign, also offered to “strap on my work boots” if there was another referendum.
Peter Murrell, the chief executive of the SNP and husband of Nicola Sturgeon, hailed the conversion as “big and very welcome news”.
Former First Minister Alex Salmond said the Vow cost the Yes campaign victory in 29014, although pollsters disagree.
READ MORE: SNP's Ian Blackford signals war of attrition with Theresa May's Tories on Brexit
In a column for the Times, Mr Foote, who left the Daily Record in March, said devolution had brought the biggest political change of his lifetime.
However it was not enough for Holyrood merely to “mitigate the excesses of Westminster”.
He said: “We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to be far more progressive, dynamic, ambitious.”
He said he orchestrated the Vow - corralling David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg to offer Holyrood more powers to avoid a Yes vote - because he believe most Scots wanted it.
However the country continued "to labour under a vindictive Westminster administration” with Brexit offering “despair” instead of the hope and promise devolution was meant to bring.
He singled out the 15 minutes for devolved issues in Tuesday’s Commons debate on Brexit law as evidence of a Tory government treating devolution with “blatant contempt”.
READ MORE: Ruth Davidson hated 'the Vow' made before 2014's referendum, new book claims
He said it was a “democratic abomination” that one Tory minister hogged the speaking time.
“I can no longer stand by while a cabal of the privileged deprive our children the right to live in 27 European countries because they don’t like Johnnie Foreigner encroaching their elite club,” he said.
“I can’t remain silent as May, Davis, Rees-Mogg, Johnson and Gove undermine the stability of a continent that has largely been at peace for 70 years.”
He said the Tories only governed for their own class, while Labour was letting down its own people over Brexit and needed to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn.
Nor was he going to wait for the Liberal Democrat “unicorn” of a “mythical federal Britain.”
Therefore “independence it must be,” he concluded.
He said an independent Scotland would face financial challenges, difficult decisions and sacrifices, “but what troubles me more is the prospect of bequeathing to my daughters an isolated Britain governed indefinitely by the progeny of Rees-Mogg and their ilk.”
Under Mr Foote, the Record backed a second referendum in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 Brexit vote.
READ MORE: Daily Record backs second independence referendum after Brexit vote
Green MSP Ross Greer said: "The former Daily Record editor sums up the frustrations of many people in Scotland perfectly.
"Murray Foote’s assertion that the ‘independence stars are ever nearer alignment’ is right but with the SNP saddled with eleven years of government baggage, a strong contingent of Green MSPs will be critical in ensuring a majority for both independence and a referendum in the years ahead."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel