National Collective was a
political organisation
A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in politica ...
self-described as an "open and non-party
..group of artists and creatives" who support
Scottish independence
Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
S ...
active from 2011 to 2015. The organisation was founded in late 2011 by Ross Colquhoun, Andrew Redmond Barr and Rory Scothorne with the goal of "
elping toshape the vision of a new society and nation". The group argued that independence for Scotland could achieve both a realisation of self-determination and a "cultural dawn" for the nation. The organisation was supported by independence-minded artists, including
Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead Hon FRSE (born 26 December 1947) is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland, and served as Poet Laureate for Glasgow between 2005 and 2011.
E ...
,
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...
,
Elaine C. Smith
Elaine Constance Smith (born 2 August 1958) is a Scottish actress, comedian, and political activist. She has starred in the BBC Scotland sitcoms '' City Lights'' (1984–91), ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' (1988–2014) and '' Two Doors Down'' (2016–), ...
and
Karine Polwart
Karine Polwart ( ) (born 23 December 1970) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised fo ...
.
Andrew Whittaker, political correspondent at ''
The Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...
'' described the group as "the most significant cultural voice to emerge in the referendum debate so far".
History
National Collective supporters participated in the
March and Rally for Scottish Independence
The March and Rally for Scottish Independence was a demonstration in support of Scottish independence that had taken place in Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, in both 2012 and 2013. It was originally set to take place again in 2014, shortly befor ...
in September 2013. Amy Shipway represented the Collective in a debate about culture and independence on an episode of
Newsnight Scotland
''Newsnight Scotland'' is a current affairs television programme, broadcast by BBC Scotland from BBC Pacific Quay in Glasgow as an opt out of the main London-based ''Newsnight'' programme. It was broadcast at 11pm from Mondays to Thursdays, rep ...
on 30 September 2013.
National Collective is presently organising a month-long nationwide tour as part of an event called "Yestival", which is aimed at instilling a sense of "cultural confidence" in voters unsure about backing a Yes vote. Yestival will see a programme of art, music, film and literary events being taken to every city in Scotland in July, with participants to include
Julie Fowlis
Julie Fowlis (born 20 June 1978) is a Scottish folk singer and multi-instrumentalist who sings primarily in Scottish Gaelic.
Early life
Fowlis grew up on North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides, in a Gaelic-speaking community. Her mothe ...
,
David Greig, and
RM Hubbert
RM Hubbert (Robert McArthur Hubbert, born 12 May 1974 in Glasgow, Scotland), commonly known as Hubby, is a Scottish guitarist and singer. Best known for his solo work as RM Hubbert and as a member of Scottish post rock band El Hombre Trajeado, ...
.
The Collective was identified by the ''Independent'' publication as the initiators of an online
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
campaign that began in mid-August 2014. Writing for the ''Independent'', Antonia Molloy claims that the previous "#IndyReasons" hashtag campaign served as the inspiration for the "#YesBecause" campaign that was observed on the Twitter, Facebook and Vine social media platforms. From 9am on 21 August, users were invited to explain their reasons for voting "Yes" and #YesBecause was trending on Twitter after an hour from the launch. The
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
(CBC) reported on 22 August that a "#NoBecause" campaign emerged in opposition to the Collective, and also cited data from the social analytic website Topsy that shows that, as of the afternoon of 22 August 2014, the #YesBecause hashtag has been used over 61,000 times, while the #NoBecause appeared 1,700 times.
Vitol controversy
The organisation published an article on 7 April 2013 criticising the character of
Ian Taylor, Chief Executive and President of
Vitol
Vitol is a Swiss-based multinational energy and commodity trading company that was founded in Rotterdam in 1966 by Henk Viëtor and Jacques Detiger. Though trading, logistics and distribution are at the core of its business, these are complemente ...
and a major donor to
Better Together. On 10 April, the National Collective website was replaced by a single page with only the message "NOT FOR PUBLICATION", with no further explanation offered by the organisation.
National Collective later indicated that it had received a threat of legal action from Vitol's legal representatives for being "grossly defamatory", and that
Aamer Anwar
Aamer Anwar (born 30 December 1967) is a Scottish political activist and lawyer of Pakistani background. He was an active participant in the Stop the War Coalition, and campaigned against the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles. He has been a longs ...
would act on their behalf in any legal action. The organisation stated that they "will not be bullied or silenced" and that their website is "offline only as a temporary measure". It later emerged that lawyers acting on behalf of Vitol had sent similar
cease and desist
A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...
notices to a number of other pro-independence blogs, and also to ''
The Herald''.
At a press conference on 18 April 2013, National Collective director, Ross Colquhoun, stated that they would not be "bullied" by Vitol, and argued that the situation was "David vs Goliath". The writer of the article, Michael Gray, stated a concern about "freedom to write without intimidation".
National Collective later began a public
petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication.
In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...
demanding that Better Together return the donation to Ian Taylor. This petition was endorsed in
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
by
James Dornan
James Dornan (born 17 March 1953) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Cathcart.
Raised in the Oatlands neighbourhood of southern Glasgow, Dornan joined the Scottish N ...
, a
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
MSP.
Nordic interviews
In 2013, the Collective published a series of interviews about Scottish independence that had been conducted by Michael Gray with key figures across the
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
. The Prime Minister of
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
,
Sigmundur Davíð, told National Collective in one interview that the Icelandic government would "welcome Scotland with a new, thriving relationship". One month later, the Collective published interviews with senior Danish politicians and academics including Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, spokesperson for European Affairs for
Venstre, the largest parliamentary party in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
. These interviews contained claims that the entry of an independent Scotland into the EU and Nato would be swift and straightforward.
Winding down
National Collective had no clear vision of how to continue following the result of the
referendum on Scottish Independence
A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side w ...
in September 2014.
After various discussions and debates the National Collective organisers group issued a statement on 1 May 2015 stating "National Collective belongs to a time and a place, and that moment has passed".
Supporters
National Collective was supported by some of Scotland's most prominent artists, including
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair James Gray (28 December 1934 – 29 December 2019) was a Scottish writer and artist. His first novel, ''Lanark'' (1981), is seen as a landmark of Scottish fiction. He published novels, short stories, plays, poetry and translations, and ...
,
Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead Hon FRSE (born 26 December 1947) is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland, and served as Poet Laureate for Glasgow between 2005 and 2011.
E ...
,
Karine Polwart
Karine Polwart ( ) (born 23 December 1970) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. She writes and performs music with a strong folk and roots feel, her songs dealing with a variety of issues from alcoholism to genocide. She has been most recognised fo ...
and
Elaine C. Smith
Elaine Constance Smith (born 2 August 1958) is a Scottish actress, comedian, and political activist. She has starred in the BBC Scotland sitcoms '' City Lights'' (1984–91), ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' (1988–2014) and '' Two Doors Down'' (2016–), ...
. National Collective supporter Andrew Eaton-Lewis wrote in his Scotland on Sunday column that "all have been photographed for the Collective's website, a lively mix of political and cultural comment (by the likes of Ruth Wishart and
Gerry Hassan
Gerry Hassan (born 1964) is a Scottish writer, commentator and academic. He is Professor of Social Change at Glasgow Caledonian University, having previously worked at the University of Dundee and the University of the West of Scotland, where ...
) and songs and poems".
See also
*
Yes Scotland
Yes Scotland was the organisation representing the parties, organisations, and individuals campaigning for a ''Yes'' vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. It was launched on 25 May 2012 and dissolved in late 2014 after Scotland voted ...
*
Better Together
*
Radical Independence Campaign
The Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) is a grassroots organisation which advocates for Scotland to become a republic, independent of the United Kingdom.
It was established in 2012 in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, in ...
*
Labour for Independence
Labour for Independence was a political organisation for Scottish Labour supporters that were in favour of Scottish independence. It claimed to have 2,000 members across Scotland in June 2014. The organisation had been described as an " SNP front ...
References
External links
*
{{2014 Scottish independence referendum
2011 establishments in Scotland
2011 in British politics
2015 disestablishments in Scotland
Organizations established in 2011
Organizations disestablished in 2015
Political campaigns in the United Kingdom
Scottish nationalist organisations
2014 Scottish independence referendum