Performing at this year's Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Scottish stand-up Struan Logan is back on home turf for the first time since moving down to London - and the first time since the independence referendum, in which he voted Yes. He writes to us from London, explaining what he's discovered since then.
Hi folks,
Doing a show with such a politicised title as 'A Yes Voter in London', I should explain that I don’t care if you voted differently from me, or are such a nationalist that you're annoyed purely because I moved out of Scotland (though the two friends who have said this to my face were Swedish and Polish). I've learned a few things since moving to London - I'm mainly here to talk about that.
My reasons for voting Yes were the same reasons as most people voted Yes: I didn't, and still don’t, feel like mainstream politics has an interest to serve people outside of big business. This was especially shown by the apathy of the No campaign until things got seriously close. By the end of the referendum even my Thatcher-loving dad was tempted to vote Yes. He didn’t and I accused him of ‘chickening out’ but I can easily vote Yes because I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m not going to lose value on my house (don't have one) or my pension (don't have one of those either) and I certainly don’t have any investments. The worst thing an independent Scotland could have taken away from me is my broken iPhone. Personally I don’t think I ever will have as much to lose as the previous generation does.
I believe that in Britain you can work hard and achieve great things but overall the game is rigged now more than ever. Having rich parents who can bankroll you living in London whilst you do an internship or work in what you love for free will get you a lot further than hard work. I really enjoy being in London and I would recommend living here for a few years but being down there shows that the biases are true. The only difference is that business and politics screw over way more people down here than in Scotland.
I've been doing material about the referendum in London and you can tell: the poorer the area, the more solidarity with the Yes side. I did a gig in Croydon (reputation-wise, Croydon is to London what Scotland is to Paisley) and they totally caught on better than any other crowd, especially compared to my next gig to some pissed-off bankers in Covent Garden who were clearly thinking, 'Well if I’m rich everything must be fine! Those jocks are just unhappy scroungers!' It's as selfish a thought as, 'Well I’m currently not on fire, everything must be ok in the world.'
Don’t worry - the show isn’t all doom and gloom. It’s actually quite a fun and silly show where I also talk about my own failings, North Korea and Winnie the Pooh. If the show sounds like your cup of tea come (appropriately enough) to Yesbar on Sunday March 22nd at 3pm (doors open at 2.30pm).