Today, members of my party will meet in Dundee for the SNP’s Convention on Independence. That we will do so on the week of the sad passing of the inimitable Dr Winnie Ewing – the only person to serve Scotland in the three parliaments in Edinburgh, London and Brussels – will help set our debate in its long historical context. More than 50 years ago, Winnie set Scotland alight with her stunning byelection victory in Hamilton which was to be the beginning of a long life of service to the people of Scotland.

Today’s gathering – which, for health reasons, I regret not being able to make – is also the First Minister’s first party-wide in-person event since he took office, and a chance for the new generation of SNP leaders to take to the stage and show the party and, far more importantly, the country, what they’re made of. But I couldn’t help but notice that every single speaker that will take the stage today is already a passionate advocate for independence.

At the start of this year, I wrote about the dangers of falling into the ‘Le Carré Trap’ – named from a line in John le Carré’s first novel, Call for the Dead. In it, he writes about a fiercely passionate group of political activists and describes how, in their debates, “they loved each other and believed they loved mankind; they fought each other and believed they fought the world". I worry that our convention today may run the risk of falling into this trap.

The SNP is a broad church, and our diversity and broad appeal have long been one of our greatest strengths. But among the delegates convening today from different backgrounds the length and breadth of Scotland, one inescapable similarity remains: every single person who will take part in proceedings is already convinced of the case for Scottish self-government.

With the debate today focused on finding a clear path to holding a legally binding referendum, members of my party must try to put themselves in the shoes of No voters and search for an outcome that all of our fellow citizens will accept as democratically legitimate when it comes to pass. To do otherwise is not a sustainable strategy for good policymaking. We simply and inescapably need to get better at bringing in outside perspectives as a matter of course. It would show a level of generosity, confidence and flexibility that is all too absent across politics today.

I am not mad enough to think that my fellow Scotsman columnists, Dame Jackie Baillie, Murdo Fraser or my friend Christine Jardine would have accepted an invitation to Dundee to help the SNP shape its winning strategy. Yet we are blessed in Scotland with people like Professor Ailsa Henderson at the University of Edinburgh, who has spent years researching Scottish electoral trends, political attitudes and voting patterns. Likewise, her colleague Professor Nicola McEwen is similarly one of the country’s finest minds when it comes to electoral politics and constitutional change. Surely our debate would be enhanced if we created space to listen and learn from experts like them?

I do not mean to suggest for one second that we should try to rope Professors Henderson and McEwan into our political project – far from it. But in my experience, academics and policy experts, whether in Scotland or further afield, are often generous with their time, patient with questions and glad to see their research being used to inform policy debates across the country – on all sides of the constitutional debate. I believe that our convention today would have been all the better for it had we invited some impartial external speakers to inject some uncomfortable reality into the conversation. That we haven’t is a mistake we should not repeat in future.

The death of Winnie Ewing, seen celebrating winning the Hamilton by-election in November 1967, should help set the independence debate in its long historical context

We simply cannot afford to keep having these conversations in-house. There are people across Scotland now who voted for an independent Scotland in Europe just four years ago and who are now considering voting for the unionist, pro-Brexit Labour party at the next general election. Surely our gathering would be much enhanced if we created the space for them to come and do some talking, giving us the much-needed opportunity to step off the treadmill ourselves and do some listening? The electoral sands are shifting beneath our feet, and we need to be smart and bold in equal measure if we are to move with them. But to be smart, we must be informed and that means an open conversation with those who think differently. In doing so we would have everything to gain – showing that we are serious about engaging the country in a new, innovative way beyond private focus groups and polling – and absolutely nothing to lose.

Good policymaking needs diverse perspectives, and we will need to grapple with them as we work on crafting a winning prospectus that reaches across the country and builds support for independence to a sustained and comfortable majority. That is the only way independence will work: if it is a national project that brings the country with it, offers something to Scots of all stripes and is able to win a majority solid enough to secure the consent of the losing side.

Today, I am sure, is just the beginning of this process. With a series of regional assemblies due to take place the length and breadth of Scotland, I am hopeful that there is a more sustained campaign of broader outreach to come. So, I would urge the delegates at Caird Hall today to think about ways that, in future, we can better incorporate external voices and new perspectives into our campaign for Scotland’s independence, proactively seeking out expert knowledge and the concerns and aspirations of our fellow citizens. Our country – now and after independence – will be better for it.

Stewart McDonald is SNP MP for Glasgow South

SNP’s Convention on Independence needs to realise the importance of listening to outside experts and No voters – Stewart McDonald

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