Scottish independence: 1 million sign ‘Yes’ pledge

ONE million voters have signed a declaration in favour of Scottish independence, the Yes Scotland campaign has revealed.

The Proclaimers joined Blair Jenkins and Yes Scotland activists to announce the milestone. Picture: Hemedia

The campaign set a target of a million signatures to its Yes Declaration at its launch in 2012.

First Minister Alex Salmond said at the time that if the target was met, Scotland would become independent.

Proclaimers Craig and Charlie Reid joined Yes Scotland chief Blair Jenkins to celebrate the landmark yesterday, which has been achieved four weeks before Scots go to the polls in the historic vote.

• Get the latest referendum news, opinion and analysis from across Scotland and beyond on our new Scottish Independence website

Mr Jenkins said: “We are hugely grateful – not just to the one million plus people in Scotland who have now signed the Yes Declaration, but also to our many thousands of volunteers who have worked so hard to help us reach this target.

“More and more people are waking up to the fantastic opportunities created by a Yes vote. People realise that only with a Yes can we protect our NHS and other public services, grow our economy to create better jobs, and make Scotland a fairer society.

“Today’s announcement is a clear indication of the level of support we’re getting, and it gives us great confidence as we work towards securing a Yes majority on 18 September.”

Craig and Charlie Reid told how they took time out from writing a new album to attend the announcement at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh.

Charlie said: “Nobody doubts Scotland has the wealth, the talent and the ambition to be a successful independent country and we can make this a reality if only we grab this tremendous opportunity on September 18.”

Brother Craig added; “All we need is a bit of self-belief and our own hands, we can build a much better and much fairer society.”

However, the pro-UK Better Together campaign claims it still speaks for the majority of Scots.

The Yes Declaration states: “I believe it is fundamentally better for us all, if decisions about Scotland’s future are taken by the people who care most about Scotland, that is, by the people of Scotland.

“Being independent means Scotland’s future will be in Scotland’s hands.”

Yes Scotland said the precise number of signatories as of 4pm on Thursday was 1,001,186.

A spokesman for Better Together said: “Whilst the nationalists spend a lot of their time talking to nationalists, we are focused on convincing those who have yet to make up their mind that we can have the best of both worlds for Scotland within the UK.

“We can have what the majority of Scots want without taking on all the risks – more powers for Scotland guaranteed, backed up by the strength and security of being part of the larger UK.

“We should say No Thanks to putting that at risk.”

Just over four million people will be eligible to vote in the referendum.