HUNDREDS of Yes Scotland supporters turned out on Friday, September 18 to mark one year since the Scottish independence referendum, with campaigners in Dumbarton and the Vale — one of four areas to vote Yes in last year’s vote — hailing a lasting change in the area.

Supporters held a candlelit vigil in Christie Park on Friday night to remember the occasion exactly one year on.

Earlier, residents of all ages turned out to cheer a convoy passed through Dumbarton complete with cars and waving flags — they’re clear message that the ‘yes’ movement is alive and well across the area despite defeat on September 18 2014.

Chris Pollock, Vale of Leven SNP member told the Reporter: “We’re really doing it to keep it in people’s minds. To let people know we haven’t forgotten.

“This area voted yes, a lot of people joined the SNP after the referendum.

“The area has been totally switched on politically since last year. They’re a lot more active about their politics. The Vale branch now has over 600 members.

“We’ve now got a SNP MP in Martin Docherty, so the area has definitely seen some changes. In terms of new powers, we’ve not had anything from Westminster, all the promises about powers haven’t changed anything yet. The vow was made and nothing happened.” Against a backdrop of heightened speculation of a second referendum, Mr Pollock subscribes to the SNP’s belief that independence is ‘inevitable’, but says the key will be convincing those who voted no, to vote yes.

He said: “I don’t think First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants it [a second referendum] right now, and the leadership would rather wait a few years. There is no point going again unless we can get it. We need to prove to Prime Minister David Cameron that he is on borrowed time.” In the run up to last year’s referendum, The Reporter took to the streets in the area to gauge the feeling of the public. Although many stated they were still undecided — even up until the day of the vote — a general consensus among those voting No was the worry of job losses at Faslane Naval Base and the threat of big business leaving the country in the case of a Yes vote.

Yes supporters claimed they were voting to ‘change Scotland’, and that it could be guaranteed those who ruled would have ‘Scotland’s best interests at heart’.

SNP politician Martin Docherty, who ousted Labour’s Gemma Doyle to become MP for West Dunbartonshire in this year’s general election, told the Reporter: “I couldn’t have been prouder to be from West Dunbartonshire when the local result came in. Being a [Glasgow] city councillor at the time, I was at the Glasgow count and the whole room erupted with cheers and applause when West Dunbartonshire declared, and I was in tears. It was a shining moment in a difficult night for some, but I believe that when we are next asked the question, communities throughout Scotland will join us in voting for a better future.

“The Smith Commission was a bad joke and the UK Government did not even include all of the commission’s recommended devolved powers in the Scotland Bill. There will definitely be another referendum, it’s just a matter of when. No politician of any party has the right to deny people the opportunity to gain their independence.” Dumbarton and the Vale’s Labour MSP Jackie Baillie, who vehemently campaigned for Better Together, has acknowledged a shift in Scottish politics, and hailed the heightened level of engagement among the public.

She said: “There is no doubt that Scottish politics has changed forever as a result of the referendum. We had an important debate last year over the future of our country and while the majority of people voted to remain in the UK.

“After the vote, parties sat down together in the Smith Commission to agree new powers over tax and welfare and the majority of those powers are currently being devolved to Holyrood. Scottish Labour recognises that the UK Government have not implemented the Smith Commission proposals in full. For that reason, Ian Murray MP has lodged a raft of amendments to the Scotland Bill calling on the UK Government to devolve more tax and spending powers. Labour’s amendments would assign an extra £5 billion of tax revenues to Scotland and ensure that we have the power to design our own welfare system.

“Throughout this whole process Labour has tried to work constructively to show how we can use new powers to make a difference. It is disappointing that over the past year the SNP have done little but squabble over the constitution rather than talk about how we use these powers to change lives.

“Nicola Sturgeon has spoken about the need for another referendum but the reality is that the SNP Government does not even use the powers it already has.”