by Fiona Nicholson, Science Writer
FEW WILL forget the aftermath of 18th September 2014, the shock, the sense of bereavement that so many experienced as the realisation sunk in that the people of Scotland had by a small margin, voted to remain part of the United Kingdom, rather than return to being a normal independent country which makes its own decisions. Yet, in spite of the sense of despair, of loss felt by supporters of the Yes campaign, a determination arose to carry on the fight for our country and for our right to self-determination. This was fuelled further by the insensitivity and arrogance of then prime minister, David Cameron as the very next day he declared his intention to relegate Scottish MPs to a secondary status through the implementation of EVEL (English Votes for English Laws) while English MPs continued to make the decisions for Scotland. The injustice of the democratic deficit was exacerbated when Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, but were forced to face being dragged out of the EU by a Brexit which was voted for in only England and Wales.
As the official Yes Campaign had disbanded immediately following the 2014 vote, and the independence focus had disappeared, most of the grassroots groups fell dormant over the following months. However, to the surprise of supporters of the union, there remained that hard core of determination that the struggle was not yet over. New seeds sprang to life. New media such as iScot and Independence Live were born, along with initiatives such as London Calling, to expose the blatant BBC and mainstream media bias which had successfully promulgated the fear campaign of Better Together.