Grant Thoms

Grant Thoms is a member of the SNP National Executive Committee and a councillor for North East Glasgow.

'If I am ever asked the question why do you support Independence for Scotland, it doesn’t take me long to reply. In every job and through all my voluntary work over the years, at the very core of what I believe in is the right to make decisions for myself, for my community and for my country. I want more people to be involved in making decisions that impact on the quality of their lives. That doesn’t happen in a big country like the UK where big interests decide everything for everyone.

Frederick Douglass, the slavery abolitionist, once said “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” I want everyone to play a part demanding that power lies with the people, not with governments. Releasing our chains of London government to a sovereign Scottish Parliament is as important as decentralising power from the monolith Glasgow City Council to the communities of Easterhouse, Robroyston and Barmulloch.

Having the opportunity and the responsibility for taking decisions for ourselves is a normal aspiration for every man, woman and child around the globe. It’s time the people of Glasgow – and indeed the rest of Scotland – grabbed the opportunity to make decisions for their future'.