Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, 20th June, 1986
There were times he relished his carefully crafted persona as the Dark Director, the being who could manipulate events within the Labour Party to his whim, and there were times like tonight, were he wondered whether it was all worth it at all, as he saw his leader walk off the stage in sadness.
The root of the referendum was, of course, the deliberate provocation of the Prime Minister by the First Secretary. Sillars had been itching for a showdown like this ever since the 1984 upset, and even must have known that his spending targets were out of control. However the Scottish public enjoyed Free Prescription fees and University and when Thatcher threatened to snatch them away once more they were happy to cheer on their Executive, and the First Secretary's demand that Scotland be allowed to freely utilise her own revenue, with or without the rest of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Assembly had had no legitimacy to call an Independence Referendum, and naturally the Government wouldn't grant them the power, when Sillars announced one regardless, how to react had been...challenging.
First there was the strategy to complain about the cost of running the referendum, ignoring the actual question itself, encouraging voters instead to abstain. Thankfully he had not been behind those ridiculous Baby and House Invasion posters, but when support for the referendum began to go through the roof it had became clear that the Labour party should try and contest it, even in the wake of the miners strike, with unemployment sky-rocketing, the case could still be made that Scotland was stronger inside the Union, or at least it could be pointed out that Sillars had explained very little of what he would actually do to build his new Socialist nirvana.
Of course, then the Tories had decided to involve themselves, and the Alliance, and the funding they offered had made it seem worthwhile, the polls had began to tighten, the campaign could have been salvaged. Until tonight. The event had started well enough the climatic 'One Nation' rally that would sweep the No campaign to victory on June the 24th. Donald could make an excellent case for anything, and Labours plans for a proper Scottish Parliament were far better thought out than Sillars' vague promises, something John had mocked incredibly well in his own speech, easily outdoing the tepid performances by Wallace and Steel. It might have been better if the crowd hadn't been so fired up, when she came on.
The Tories were largely paying for the event, and when their leader had demanded that she be allowed to take her argument to the Scottish people personally, there was little room for negotiation. They could have cancelled, they should have cancelled, but on she went, seeming to revel in the anger of many Labour activists as she spoke of the greatness of Britain and the disgrace that the Scottish Assembly was. It was during her line about the 'something for nothing society' that he'd seen the first fights break out, members of the same campaign, unable to contain their divisions any longer, began to first shout then punch and kick their viewpoints and their opponents in an attmept to convince that That Woman had either no right to be on the stage or that she should have been on it for longer. Neil's efforts to calm the situation had been admirable, but his repeated shouts of "Sit Down" were probably what would be remembered by the press, the deep shade of claret his face had went during them would be yet another thing he'd have to try and repair. The campaign itself now seemed hopeless, shattered by an unstoppable juggernaut that even he couldn't hold back.
For the first time since he had taken the job, Peter Mandelson asked himself why hadn't he just stayed in television?
