On Friday I did a fair bit of running about trying to get a decent stock of leaflets, stickers and badges for the weekend. I also reflected on what extra I could do as a campaign member when not out as part of a group.
I decided I’m going to spend at least an hour a day delivering leaflets in the streets around my home. On Friday night I had an hour before dinner so i leafleted my own street from the football pitches to the canal - 98 homes, missed out a couple which had Yes posters! Every little helps - people like to be boosted by knowing someone took the time to deliver leaflets - it motivates them to get out and vote.
Saturday was busy - I had intended to go to Edinburgh to take part in the Orange parade - and what a splendid event it was! However, a combination of sleeping through the alarm and a feeling that another parade was preaching to the converted made it easier to stay in Glasgow.
Saturday started with a Sauchiehall Street rally with Jim Murphy and Dr John Reid as a culmination to Murphy’s 100 Streets tour. A year ago who would have thought I’d be cheering Murphy and Doctor Death?!
The crowd was a good few hundred in sparkling mood - a huge amount of positivity, I recognised people from loads of different political backgrounds I’d come across over the years who I never thought were exactly hardline advocates of the Union. The humour was in stark contract to the handful of ranting, sneering and shouty Nats who randomly gave us the benefit of their wisdom.
Murphy and Reid were introduced by Pauline McNeil MSP who is not a great public speaker. Murphy was sparkling and got the crowd going. Reid was not as impressive as was in his prime but once he got into his stride he did well - in one passage he said something like this ’78 years ago today the British Army - Scots, Welsh, Irish and English were advancing on the Rhine - we were all there together… and when they came home they build the Welfare State and everyone got free false teeth and school milk for the kids’!
Good tub-thumping stuff.
After that I headed to Partick to help at Kenny’s stall at the station. The volume of the public passing through the station was considerably quieter than last week. At the end of the day last week there was hassle with the Yessers. I myself had had a hint what they would be like when I asked if it was ok to get some material from their stall (they had the cranky Wee Blue Book on offer) - I was quite open I was a No voter - one of them, a woman, asked me why I could vote for a gang of paedophiles? She then rambled on about Cameron and Osborne buying the rights to the Cook Report programme so that it wouldn't be broadcast! That’s the type of crackpot they are attracting. I asked the other women on the stall what they thought of this and they just looked away.
Lastly on Saturday I did put hundred of so leaflets through the doors in streets around my own. I bumped into three Yes campaigners. They were all very polite - two of them were English and I asked one from Yorkshire if he supported freedom for the West Riding?! Another debate he said.
I did however notice they were inserting copies of the Wee Blue Book by the loonies from Wings Over Scotland inside the official Yes brochure they were distributing. I pointed out that the English hater behind this has also publicly stated he enjoyed watching the 9/11 attacks. Cue confused looks. I wonder where they got the funding to produce this stuff in such quantities and who made the decision to allow it to be distributed by official Yessers?
Sunday was canvassing day. Good responses around Peterson Park despite the fair number of Yes posters in the windows. The area from Drumchapel all the way down to the river remains heavily Labour and No. At Gask Place there was a very loyal wee corner - three houses with Union Jacks and No Thanks posters - a feature of the campaign in urban areas has been the lack of No posters - this is entirely down to fear of physical attack from Yes voters - it is massive in scale. It’s like being an MDC voter in Zimbabwe!
Yesser told me on Sunday when I canvassed him that there was oil in the Firth of Clyde but because of Trident and MI5 we weren't allowed to look for it!