Day 79 - Hero

 

HERO

Prompt - Hero : Write a tribute to someone you regard as a hero.

Rabbie Burns, Jimmy Clark, Jimmy Reid.  When someone asked me one of those daft questions about who you'd most like to have to a dinner party that used to be my answer.  Three heroes.  But the lack of connection between them would probably have made for a boring evening.  Clark was a fascinating person, but no great thinker.  The others were certainly strong in the latter department, but the disconnect between their temporal and societal experiences would have proved  too great to bridge in a few hours round the table.  So nowadays I'd settle for just the one of the trio.  the one who could teach me most.  Step forward Mr Reid.

Jimmy was union leader, local councillor, uni rector, broadcaster, journalist, orator, thinker.  Sometimes described as "the best MP Scotland never had", his political allegiances over the years shifted from the Communist Party, to Labour, to the Scottish Socialist Party, to the SNP.  That record could give a suggestion of inconsistency, of a lack of loyalty to causes.  But I reckon it was more that those parties, and times changed.  The enemies shifted shape over time too.  But Jimmy's central tenet remained the same - wanting the best possible outcomes for the ordinary people of this country.  And that's why Jimmy Reid is my hero.

He was hero of trade unionism in the seventies, the charismatic front man to Jimmy Airlie's backroom boy leading the UCS work in.  Not a strike, not a rabble, but a disciplined, dedicated workforce showing that their work was still of value in the world.  From then on Jimmy was always a key figure in socialist thought in Scotland.  An astute commentator on the political scene, he was sought after for his views both in print and on television, and his straightforward personality and clearly thought out views made for some memorable broadcasting moments.  

Reid died in 2010, four years before the first Indyref.  He'd recognised how essential Scottish independence was becoming some years earlier, despairing at the conservative nature of Blair's New labour and clearly seeing a pathway that's now obvious - that Scotland and England were heading in increasingly different socio-political directions and that the hard right were gaining in influence down south.  If he'd been around in 2014 I wonder what difference he could have made, adding such a cogent and well respected voice to the Yes cause.  

We'll never know.  Although the Jimmy Reid Foundation keeps his views alive for us.  But, as we head for IndyRef2, it's reassuring to recall that the powerful intellect of Jimmy Reid would have been with us.  Indy isn't right wing - just right.