The latest grassroots group to join the campaign for a Yes vote in the independence referendum was launched today – English Scots for Yes.
The group has already attracted a wealth of support from English people who live and work in Scotland and underlines the diversity of the wider Yes movement.
It was officially launched outside the Scottish Parliament on Thursday.
Group co-founder of English Scots for Yes Angel Brammer, a graphics designer who was born in Portsmouth but raised in Scotland, said: “We really hope we can make the difference and reassure as many English and English Scots people here as possible that it doesn’t matter where you were born, it’s about Scotland’s future, and what kind of Scotland we leave to our children.”
Co-founder Math Campbell-Sturgess, who was born and raised near Cambridge and is now a Greenock SNP councillor said: ‘This referendum is not about where you were born, but about the best way to make Scotland’s vast wealth and resources work better for all who live and work in Scotland and contribute to Scottish society.
“I am English, and proudly so, but I live in Scotland and this is my home. And I believe that the best people to make decisions about Scotland are those who live and work here.
“One of our key messages is that a Yes vote will be good not only for Scotland but also for the other countries in these islands and that the social union after independence will not only be maintained but enhanced as a partnership of equals.
“And a Yes will also mean that Scotland we will always get the governments we vote for, instead of being ruled over by Westminster Tory governments that we reject.”
Between now and September 18, the group plans to attend hustings, organise street stalls and take part in other Yes events across the country.
The group has launched a website for undecided English-Scots voters, with articles about the referendum. www.englishscotsforyes.org
Yes Scotland Chief Executive Blair Jenkins welcomed English Scots for Yes which becomes the latest in the 40-plus sectoral and external groups campaigning for an independent Scotland.
He said: “There are more than 400,000 English people living and working in Scotland and large numbers of them understand and support the simple truth that Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands makes sense, not only for Scotland but for the rest of the UK too.
“I am delighted to welcome English Scots for Yes to the growing Yes movement. The group joins the biggest grassroots campaign in Scottish political history and I look forward to their very valuable contribution.”