Edinburgh 'former No voter' launches new independence website

A man who says he is a former No voter who was converted to independence has launched a new website encouraging others to make the same switch.

Michael Sturrock wants the site to be "a more civil place for debate"

Michael Sturrock, who works in public affairs, claims hundreds of people have signed up, emailed or followed the NoToYes.Vote website which he launched last month.

He hopes it will appeal to people who are not necessarily already involved in politics and he says it could have a crucial role ahead of another referendum.

Mr Sturrock said: “It is simply a numerical fact that the independence movement needs former No voters and undecideds to come round to the vision of independence in order to win the next referendum. It is also fact that, to bring these people round, we need spaces where the issues can be discussed without the heat of debate that is often found elsewhere in media and the internet."

He said he wanted the website to be "a place of conversation and collaboration where we can discuss the positive message of independence and, indeed, discuss peoples’ concerns and the potential challenges that lie ahead".

"The core aim is to be a more civil place of debate where things can be aired without the inevitable pile-on there would be on Twitter.

"The response has been really good, we've got lots of people signed up to the mailing list, people following us on Twitter, so I think it's going to be a positive platform."

Mr Sturrock is staunchly pro-European and says he voted No in the 2014 independence referendum because of the claim by Better Together that the only way to ensure Scotland's continued membership of the EU was to stay in the UK. But Brexit and growing levels of inequality left him "more and more disillusioned with the status quo" and he joined the SNP in October 2018.

The website says everyone made a judgement call in 2014 about what was best for the future of Scotland and acknowledges many are still of the same opinion. “Nonetheless, it is irrefutable that things have changed. For all former No voters, this ought to be more than enough cause to reconsider the merits of independence.”

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