Independence vote in Wick says 'Yes' at retail park event
Members of Yes Caithness (YC) group put up an information table at Wick Retail Park on Sunday and asked members of the public their views on Scotland going independent.
As part of the event, a dry wipe board was set up on the table with columns added for Yes, No and Don't Know – the results at the end of the day came out favourably for the group with 35 voting Yes and just one vote for the other two options.
YC member David Holmes said: "This is an event that is happening all over Scotland and it's called 'Believe in Scotland' – we're trying to engage as much as possible with the general public about all this nonsense that's going on down in Westminster at the moment. As far as we're concerned it's imperative that Scotland regains its independence."
Mr Holmes said that Yes Caithness is not affiliated to any political party and its sole purpose is to seek independence for Scotland. "We're not related to the SNP or Alba. We have many members of Yes Caithness who are affiliated with a wide variety of political parties."
Another member at the event, Pat Sinclair said that "Scotland is a very resourceful country and we could be independent" adding that "all the money is going down to Westminster and we're not getting sufficient back".
Drew Macleod is another YC member who supported the event and said: "Scotland would be a very, very wealthy country if our wealth was distributed properly and half of it wasn't going to Westminster. Scotland could look after itself no bother."
In the late 1690s Scotland attempted to gain wealth and influence by creating a trading colony in Panama called New Caledonia. The scheme failed miserably, leaving many influential people bankrupt in the country who then sought a union with England to help offset their losses. The event is cited as one of the motivations for the 1707 Acts of Union. "England said we couldn't trade with any other countries and sent warships...and the project was basically ruined," said Mr Holmes. "It's a bit like Brexit today. We're not allowed to trade with other countries. Why would Scotland with all these resources be uniquely incapable of running its own affairs?"
Mr Macleod said that a spokesperson for a Unionist group called These Islands had recently said that "Scotland has so many resources that it can't be allowed to be independent".
Elizabeth Sinclair was passing by and was delighted to tick the Yes box on the board saying she had met the former Scottish National Party president Winnie Ewing through her late mother-in-law who was a "staunch nationalist".
A young voter on the day called Miriam who attends Wick High School also ticked the Yes box and said: "Scotland should be independent. It's undemocratic that we're under a UK government because most of Scotland voted for the SNP and we're represented by a Conservative UK government."