For the last few weeks the Yes campaign has steadily been gaining ground and the latest opinion polls confirm this. The No campaign has been found out. Yes is now in the ascendency.

There should be no surprise about this. The No supporters have run the most negative, deceitful and least trustworthy political campaign in UK history. With the lies that have been spun and the falsehoods that have been claimed it is becoming clear that many people have now realised that there is no substance to the No arguments. The shallowness of these arguments was well and truly exposed during the second Darling/Salmond debate.

The negativity of the No campaign has also been a major factor that has led to its undoing. It is a joy to see the number of once dedicated No supporters now switching to Yes because they have become so disillusioned by what No has to offer.

“I think the possibility of better is better than the fear of worse”, is how Allan Russell concludes his discussion on why he has switched from being a No supporter to someone who now intends to vote Yes. https://medium.com/@alanrussell/you-yes-yet-well-actually-c9ea547c52f

As Allan states, “I have been a No voter since before the referendum was even a reality. I looked at a map of the world, saw the United Kingdom as all one colour, and I was ok with that”.  However, his discussion on what has taken him on his personal journey to Yes concludes that “things could be better for us all. And right now, the Yes campaign are the only side with a clear vision of how things could be better, and the actions that need to be taken to get us all there”.

“How does anything happen in human history? How do we make the great leaps forward? We take risks. We place our hope in new, heretical ideas” is how Kev Sherry responds to the risks that are associated with voting Yes. http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2014/08/i-hate-bagpipes-i-hate-kilts-ive-changed-my-vote-no-yes

In his discussion of his journey to Yes Kev states, “I have been, until fairly recently, a staunch ‘No’ voter. However, all things considered, I now feel I am left with no choice but to vote Yes in the forthcoming referendum”. So why does Kev now believe that he has no choice but to vote Yes?

“I have no idea if an independent Scotland can do all that I want it to, but I have to take that risk. The only other option is the status quo with its interchangeable political parties and neoliberal selfishness – an oligarchy in all but name … Independence offers us a chance to make a change, to take a leap of faith, to show our brothers and sisters in England and the world beyond that there is a better way of living and treating people”.

The fact that No is completely unable to produce any facts or evidence to support their feeble arguments is now crystal clear. Compared with the solid evidence based arguments that exist for Yes, captured so concisely in the Wee Blue Book http://www.theweebluebook.com/index.php , the No campaign does not have a leg to stand on. The performance of Willie Rennie during a recent edition of Sunday Politics Scotland even surpassed Darling’s ineptitude and inability to provide any evidence to support key No assertions. http://wingsoverscotland.com/not-waving-but-drowning/

The Yes campaign has victory in sight but there is still a lot more work to be done. The major challenge is now to ensure that as many voters as possible are aware of the flimsiness of the case for No and the reasons why so many people are switching to Yes. Tell people the stories of those who have made the journey to Yes. Make sure everyone you know, especially those who are still undecided or even think No is the right answer, has a copy of the Wee Blue Book.