Former Scottish Secretary and Shadow Defence Secretary, Glasgow’s Jim Murphy MP, is racing the pro-union message round Scotland, aiming to make 100 towns in 100 days.
The Labour MP – for East Renfrewshire, now Labour’s Shadow Cabinet member for International Development, was an unshowy force in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy in central Glasgow when the Police Scotland helicopter crashed on the Clutha Bar. Always an interesting and focused politician, he is not, mercifully, one to trot out the pre-scripted ‘lines’.
Murphy will find Oban not the SNP engine it was before the party made a mess of its own local councillors after they won, in May 2012, the party’s first opportunity to lead a coalition administration in Argyll and Bute. But the bravehearts are bound to give Mr Murphy a run for his money.
He’ll be on his mobile stage of two Irn Bru crates at 4:30pm in Station Road, opposite Oban’s Caledonian Hotel on Friday; and at 6pm he’ll be at the Combie Street/Gibraltar Street junction, just east of Argyll Square in the town.
He says: ‘This is the most important decision in Scotland’s history and I want to campaign in a different way. Over the next hundred days I am criss crossing Scotland meeting people on their doorsteps and street corners and campaigning in a good old fashioned way.
‘I’ll meet, listen and talk to people who want to know more about the referendum in cities, towns, villages, the mainland and islands throughout Scotland. You can’t do that by sitting in a campaign HQ or by refreshing Twitter every few minutes.
‘Only by listening and speaking with people in Scotland will we get our message across that the brightest future for our country is to remain in the UK. I know that organising so many open air meetings isn’t without its dangers – not from hecklers or Nationalists but mostly from Scotland’s weather. [Ed: has he met the west coast midges?]
‘We need to get this decision right for the sake of our children, and their children. That’s why I want to make sure that people are able to ask questions about things they are worried about, like the impact leaving the UK would have on pensions and public services.’