Healing and reconciliation become new buzzwords in Scottish independence battle

The anniversary of the opening of the Scottish parliament and the death of John Smith, have coincided with a new appeal from the Church of Scotland for a spirit of peacefulness and maturity in the referendum campaign

Has peace broken out amongst the warring parties? After the Church of Scotland announced it plans a service of reconciliation immediately after the referendum, this weekend's buzz words were "healing", "Team Scotland" and "possibility, potential and hope".
Over the weekend, the incoming moderator of the Church of Scotland's general assembly, Rev John Chalmers, announced the church would be holding a service three days after the vote at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh; all the main party leaders will be invited.
Chalmers fears the contest will become a divisive conflict, opening up disputes within families and amongst friends; the dangers of lasting division would become greater, he said, if the result on 18 September was a very close one.
Writing in the Sunday Times, Chalmers said (£):

In Scotland, as we stand on the threshold of the most important decision that the Scottish people have faced in peacetime history, we do not need a highly emotive and deeply personalised public rammy.
We need a respectful dialogue about Scotland's future, whether it is as an independent nation or as part of the UK.

Alex Salmond, the first minister, and his counterpart but opponent Douglas Alexander, Labour's shadow foreign secretary, were quick to agree – in terms and in tone, if not in their wildly contrasting perspectives on the best route to reconciliation.
Two other anniversaries fell on Monday: the 20th anniversary of the death of then UK Labourt leader John Smith – a champion of devolution, and the 15th anniversary of the first session of the Scottish parliament in 1999 (by neat symmetry, being held at that stage in the temporary accommodation of the General Assembly building which towers over the Mound.)
In a speech in his Aberdeenshire constituency on Monday, Salmond announced his government was already assuming a yes vote on 18 September by working on assembling a multi-disciplinary group of expert negotiators, from across Scottish politics and beyond, under the "Team Scotland" sobrique.
His officials have already been canvassing senior figures – nameless at this stage, many of whom have said 'yes'. And Salmond cited the 15th anniversary of the Scottish parliament's first session, attempting to summon its spirit for his own cause:

Part of the process of politicians rising to the challenge of the people is to commit to continue the mood of engagement after the result. The Team Scotland approach is part of that commitment.

Salmond said:

I understand that people on the other side of the political debate cannot accept that at the moment, but hope and expect that they will be fully part of the Team Scotland approach once the votes have been cast.
It is also the case that a number of people outside party politics - but with key expertise - have already been approached and the response has been universally positive.

More clearly than anything else this demonstrates the wish of those of us on the yes side to move forward in a consensual way once the people have spoken.

Alexander, the son of a Church of Scotland minister and a commissioner to this year's general assembly – where he will take the leading pro-UK role in an assembly debate on Scotland's constitutional future, preferred to assume a no vote.
In a speech in Edinburgh on Monday afternoon to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of Labour leader John Smith, Alexander marked that date by asserting Smith believed devolution was the settled will of the Scottish people, but also treating his opponents with "respect and understanding", and "not a politics that descends into personal destruction."
Urging both sides to show empathy and neighbourliness, he repeated his call for an all-party national convention to advance devolution, Alexander added:

Let us work to achieve a Scotland comfortable living together in dignity and healed from division. And let us embrace John's better and bigger vision – a people united, Scottish and British, and a powerhouse parliament able to separate Scotland from poverty.

On BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, he added:

I think feelings are running deep and inevitably, whatever the outcome of this referendum, there will be a minority - but potentially a significant minority - of the population who will feel disappointed at a very personal level, both about their sense of who they are, and also the nation to which they belong.
"In terms of what comes after the referendum, I do think there will be a very fundamental choice, almost an existential choice, facing the nationalists. My plea to them would be to join us in the task of making devolution work, rather than proving devolution wrong.

Chalmers, a late appointment as moderator designate after ill-health forced the resignation of the previous appointee, Rev Dr Angus Morrison was quite clear about the need to set a peaceful tone: reported incidents of physical violence are few and rare, but verbal aggression and abuse are now commonplace, particularly online.
Chalmers said:

Once the referendum vote has taken place, we shall have neither utopia nor unity. In the coming months, there is a danger the referendum will set people against each other, in their own community, their own street, even their own family.
It will be important for each side of this campaign to be magnanimous whatever the outcome and the Church of Scotland, as a national church, is well placed to bring people back together in a spirit of reconciliation.

Some of the key participants and players in this will likely agree.
Last week the multimilionaire Euro-lottery winners Chris and Colin Weir, who have become the most significant funders for Yes Scotland – supplying nearly 80% of its income, and million-pound backers of the SNP, appealed for greater dignity and five days before it emerged they had added another £2.5m to Yes Scotland's accounts.
In a letter to the Scotsman, the Weirs said politicians, both sides of the independence campaign and the media had to take responsibility for their "behaviour and language" during the referendum campaign:

They are the ones who will steer Scotland through this challenging period – we can't have the possibility of leaving our country fragmented. So it is time for all sides to stop the smears and personal attacks before a line is crossed and attitudes adopted that cannot easily be healed.
No-one – on any side – should be vilified for the views they hold, lest our democracy become the victim of the present debate. Differences can and should be expressed – but decently, with honesty and integrity… Otherwise, in a race to the bottom of the political barrel, we will all be the losers.

A day earlier, the new pro-UK Vote No Borders campaign set up by the Tory donor and financier Malcolm Offord issued a press statement protesting at "huge burst" of "vitriolic and nasty" attacks on it, the four musicians and the voters featured in its online video statements.
It stated:

What is wholly unreasonable is the level of venom directed at our young musicians. They are not politicians and are expressing sincerely held views, yet the outpouring of online abuse [from] extreme nationalists says little for those who purport to seek a democratic vote.
We are seeking to be positive in the face of a nationalist campaign which brands anything they don't agree with as 'Project Fear'.

Chalmers said:

Once the referendum vote has taken place, we shall have neither utopia nor unity. In the coming months, there is a danger the referendum will set people against each other, in their own community, their own street, even their own family.
It will be important for each side of this campaign to be magnanimous whatever the outcome and the Church of Scotland, as a national church, is well placed to bring people back together in a spirit of reconciliation.

Chalmer's tone and language suggests he has some doubts the political rhetoric will be matched by the politicians who deliver it, or their followers, particularly once the campaigns jump into fifth gear in early June, and then sixth gear in the final four weeks.