Meet the students spearheading the case for Scottish independence this General Election

When we hear about student involvement in the general election, it's often relating to university Labour movements fighting in marginals, or the odd young person supporting the Conservatives, despite being a young person. However, in Scotland there is another group campaigning to radically change their country: They are the students supporting the SNP in the general election and they're calling for Scotland to become an independent state.

On a chilly Tuesday evening I head to an Edinburgh University SNP Society meeting to learn more about the party's young supporters. This meeting is particularly special because former SNP Leader in the House of Commons, Angus Robertson, will be giving a talk. He's brought with him Catriona MacDonald, the SNP candidate for Edinburgh South, who is looking to unseat Labour's popular candidate, Ian Murray.

The event is attended by around 18 students. I have to admit, in my entire three and half years at Edinburgh University, this is the first time I've been in a university setting where the majority of students are Scottish as opposed to English.

Angus is a compelling speaker, utterly convinced that independence will happen within his lifetime. He tells the audience that when he joined the SNP youth wing aged 15, the idea that the SNP could win any election – local or national – was almost incomprehensible. Now, the party have caused a sort of revolution in Scotland. In the 2015 general election they won 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland, though in 2017 this number dropped quite significantly to 35. This time round, YouGov's MRP poll predicts the SNP will pick up 43 seats.

So what has drawn some Edinburgh students to passionately embrace the idea of independence? For second year International Relations and International Law student, Sarah Quinn, it's all to do with decisions about Scotland being made by Scottish people. Sarah, who grew up in a small North Lanarkshire town, tells me: "If you look at our current system, we repeatedly see that votes from the Scottish population or our elected representatives are disregarded by those running Westminster.

"I’m fed up of seeing Tory policies like austerity, Trident and Brexit forced upon a country that doesn’t want them. As an independent country, we’d be able to build a better Scotland, one that’s European and free from Tory Governments we don’t vote for."

Sarah at the SNP party conference

Unsurprisingly, Angus spends a lot of his talk lamenting over the fact that people living in Scotland have to endure Tory governments and all the policies that come with them. So I wonder where Labour fits in to all this, given that a) they are not Tories and b) their very left wing leadership are pledging huge investment and public spending in Scotland – £100 billion to be precise? Does this dampen the independence urge for left wing SNP-leaning students? Sarah doesn't believe so. She tells me that aside from the issue of independence, "there’s a lot of difference between the SNP and Labour."

"Corbyn’s taking a ‘neutral’ stance on Brexit, one of the most important issues of our generation, whilst the SNP has taken a consistent Remain stance since before June 2016.

"Additionally, people in Scotland are well aware that Labour and the Tories have a history of working together in the 'No' Campaign, which has really frayed our trust in Labour.

"My seat back home used to be Labour, as did loads in my home region, yet now we see large rises in votes for the SNP because people can’t trust Labour to stand up to Tory austerity. In fact, in my own local authority, Labour and the Tories have a confidence and supply agreement."

The Edinburgh University SNP Society President, Thomas Anderson, grew up in Edinburgh and is in his third year of studying law. He believes that though "there is no doubt that the union has benefitted Scotland in the past, it’s time for us to take our own place on the world stage".

Like Sarah, he thinks that "it is the Scottish people that should have control over the destiny of Scotland and not Boris Johnson or any other leader down in the dysfunctional Westminster."

Thomas has been out canvassing for the SNP in Edinburgh with fellow students. He's found reactions on the doorstep to be mixed: "We’ve as ever had mixed responses on doorsteps. But we’ve found most people that we’ve spoken to have been positive about our message and are open to voting SNP in the coming election."

Persuading the open-minded voter was something Angus spoke a lot about during the meeting. He frequently described the SNP's electoral mission as "helping people who aren't quite there yet get there". At times he sounded reminiscent of Mormon missionaries. In this general election Angus is hoping Brexit will be that final push that carries unsure-about-independence voters over the line.

I asked Thomas if there is any momentum for independence amongst young people and in particular the wider student population of Edinburgh University? He told me: "Definitely, polls consistently show that high percentages of young people support independence.

"I’ve spoken to a lot of people at Edinburgh University who are open to the idea, particularly with the chaos caused by Brexit. Support can always be higher and we’re working hard as a society to spread the word and put forward a positive case for independence."

At the end of his talk, Angus shares my curiosity about the demographic of the room and asks if there are any non-Scots present. Three people raise their hand, one is from the Netherlands, one is from the USA and another, Ethan van Woerkom, is from Ireland, but he grew up in the Netherlands.

Ethan tells me his support for the SNP stems from his belief that "the political system in the United Kingdom is broken, and a relic which continues to uphold the divisions in society." He tells me: "The country is run as a nation state from London, whereas it should be a pluricentric democracy."

Ethan also believes the Scots are perceived poorly in British society. "The image is often painted that they are poor and incapable of running their own country. However, since I arrived here, I have been impressed by this extremely intelligent people, with many great thinkers, and I have no doubt they can run their country well", he says.

The issue of Scottish independence is certainly divisive, and many in Scotland are as passionately for or against it as they are Brexit. For the people I met, it's all about converting those in the middle – the swinging voters. Like it or not, at this general election that is what these students have set out to do.