A day in Dundee – “my beloved rebel”

Dundee has a special place in my heart; it’s where I was born. Historically famous for its jute, jam and journalism this unique trio forged its reputation as a single minded strong willed maverick kind of place.

Raised in a politically active family, the DNA runs deep, I’ve maintained a lifelong interest in the political landscape of that community, built beneath an extinct volcano, The Law. Its modern manifestation as the City of Discovery is a homage to its proud shipbuilding past when it was also a centre of the whaling industry.

My own industrial experience, as a skilled toolmaker, was spent in the precision light engineering industry which emerged in the post-war years. Like me it is long gone from the banks of the River Tay. Although I departed four decades ago to pursue an education the fascination with Dundee’s volatile political loyalties has never diminished.

But what exactly would I discover in the town of my birth on the last frenetic weekend of Referendum campaigning as the Labour Party’s IndyRefExpress, celebrating a century of trips, parked up in the City Square alongside the Council chambers. Civic leaders from the past would be keeping a watchful eye on the unfolding drama from the Lord Provost’s office overlooking the proceedings; two contesting hopes challenging side by side for every vote in what would be the culmination of a fifty year push for the acceptance of the Nationalist agenda. The battle bus and its upbeat General, Anas Sarwar MP, had been criss-crossing the country for months enthusing and galvanizing supporters, where days merged between islands of the Gaeltacht and the industrial heartlands of Keir Hardie, often with Ed Milliband on board.

This final flurry of activity would give me the opportunity to gauge a city at its most polarised. Which way would the pendulum swing this time in a town which once resisted the advances of Winston Churchill, often returned a Labour cabinet minister in the Wilson governments but was now seen as an important totem of the Nationalists urban credentials?

Hitting the morning streets it was immediately evident that on this day of days Dundee was in fact a mirror of what I’d found on the doorsteps and in the streets along the central belt of Scotland stretching from Port Glasgow on the Clyde estuary, where my maternal grandfather learned his trade as a ship’s carpenter, to the old mining village of Tranent skirting the North Sea.

I was met with a solid consistent intention to vote No from a population that was engaged fully when discussing and debating the critical issues on which they were deciding.

Those Dundonians were not really some unknown quantity nor an uncharacteristically silent majority; they were as I remembered – down to earth, realistic, caring and passionate. But how they conducted the debate was in sharp contrast to the often aggressive and intimidating pose adopted by the noisy minority of the Yes campaigners who were not that far removed from the transient outrages of the Bash Street Kids, but without their innocent charm; the dogma and danger peddled by the Nationalist Yes campaign is a more persistent and permanent threat. It will be back, make no mistake about that. The electorate does want a constructive discussion but not in an atmosphere of unbridled rage.

Antagonism shown towards No voters was not lost on them and this uneasy feeling will not be erased from the memory so quickly, serving as a stark warning to any political party wishing to win the hearts and minds of voters.

Important issues were raised in Dundee and these should be tackled quickly by the Labour Party.

One matter that resonates with many families across the whole country is the issue of ‘zero hour contracts’ and the treatment employees and unpaid youngsters are often suffering at the hands of far too many employers. The message is loud and clear; get this particular house in order.

After the ravages of the Thatcher era there is a feeling in many homes of having been let down by successive Labour governments from 1997 onwards, why hasn’t that damage been repaired the electorate ask, prove to us we’re better together – perhaps expectations hadn’t been met and this too has to be addressed; a period of swift self-evaluation followed by a clear sharp message is now required to bring home a victory in the 2015 General Election. The electorate are craving it.

This campaign has in many ways shown the Labour Party at its best; somehow finding the energy and drive to encourage its core support to participate in huge numbers.

An incident that will endure from the day in Dundee involved a conversation with some Yes activists. When I asked how they had found the response “on the doorstep” their reply took me by surprise. I was met with a pause and some blank stares indicating unfamiliarity with the phrase. Quite simply they hadn’t been on any doorsteps and suggested I consult their online figures. This drove home very forcibly that their keyboard efforts were impersonal, unreliable and ultimately unsuccessful. In the last analysis their numbers didn’t stack up and were in some respect illusionary.

The tried and trusted ways had caught up with the modern obsession with electronic communication masquerading as human contact; one up to Old Labour canvassing skills on that one.

The IndyRefExpress was a cheerful eye-catching innovation, envied by opposing onlookers, and the powerful regular appearances from the Labour leadership of Ed Milliband, Johann Lamont and Gordon Brown proved highly motivating; fellow travellers united in a heartfelt belief in the powers of sharing resources across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Newly energised the Labour Party has to harness this potential gathered over the campaign then go forward into the General Election with renewed vigour and vision.

As ever I’ll be noting the behaviour of my beloved rebel, Dundee.