Mothers for independence group launched in Glasgow

SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE: Elaine C Smith has helped launched a new pro-independence group that is set to bolster the Yes campaign’s drive to appeal to female voters.

Elaine C Smith with mothers in Glasgow attending the launch of Mums for Change, a pro-independence group. Picture: Wullie Marr/StockPix.eu

The comedian and actress was at the Grosvenor Cinema in Glasgow’s west end to unveil Mums for Change, a collective representing mothers across the country who intend to vote in September’s referendum.

Mums for Change said today that it represented mothers with a diverse range of political beliefs. The nationalist group wants to open dialogue with mothers in Scotland about the benefits independence would bring to them and their children.

Smith said: “Women care as much about issues such as defence and the economy as anyone else does. But I believe that women are rightly taking their time to make up their minds.

“I’m here because I will go anywhere that people are asking questions and to tell mums why I will be voting Yes. It’s about engaging in conversation and I’m confident that that as more and more women and mums make up their minds they will come to Yes.”

The group’s founder, Susan Robertson, said a Yes vote would be key to the implementation of “transformative” childcare policies, one of the SNP’s key pledges for an independent Scotland.

She said: “In my view, only a Yes vote can help us to secure the potential of the transformative childcare policies offered by the Scottish Government, saving families thousands of pounds a year and liberating more parents to work if they want to.

“An independent Scotland will help us ensure education can be accessed by all not just those with a large bank account. It will also safeguard our precious welfare system, and allow us to put bairns before bombs and get rid of the weapons of mass destruction that sit on our doorstep.

“Independence will allow us the chance to use our own resources to right the wrongs created by Westminster. The horrendous child poverty rates and huge number of families who are forced to rely on food banks to survive are shameful realities for a resource-rich country.”