Yes Scotland No Show

More curious goings on at Yes Scotland HQ, I hear.
After moaning about being denied entry to two LibDem conferences in a row, Yes Scotland have turned their backs on the LibDem UK conference in Glasgow next month, despite an offer to attend.
Could it be their previous anger was less than genuine?
Or perhaps it was the prospect of giving succour to the enemy in the form of a whopping great cheque?
Not that Yes Scotland is skint, of course, oh dear me no. They always deny that.
Anyway, here's the tale:

EXCLUSIVE

Tom Gordon

YES Scotland has declined an offer to attend the UK Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow, despite complaining about its exclusion on previous occasions.

The cross-party movement for independence was offered exhibition space at next month’s event, prices for which start at £3700 plus VAT, but chose not to apply, the LibDems revealed.

The decision not to attend is at odds with previous complaints from Yes Scotland about being shut out of Scottish LibDem gatherings.

Last October, Yes Scotland publicised the way its application to run a stall at the LibDem event in Dunfermline was declined.

“We did make an application for space at the LibDem conference in Dunfermline but were turned down,” said a spokesman at the time.

And in March this year, after being excluded from the LibDem conference in Dundee, Yes Scotland set up a special “virtual information stall” on its website for LibDem supporters.

Shame: Yes Scotland's reaction in March

Yes Scotland organiser Peter Dempsie wrote at the time: “Unfortunately the Liberal Democrats wouldn’t allow Yes Scotland to attend their Scottish Conference... That’s a shame as we would have welcomed the opportunity to answer any questions their members may have had.”

However, despite thousands of LibDem activists attending the SECC for four days in September for the Scottish and UK LibDem conferences, Yes Scotland will not be there to meet them.

The organisation said it had decided against taking a stall, a move which would have gathered it publicity, but cost thousands of pounds at a time it is closely

watching its expenditure.

Pricey: What a stand at the LibDems costs this year

A LibDem spokesman said: “After all the wailing and gnashing of teeth when we were not able to accommodate Yes Scotland at our Scottish Conference it’s more than a little surprising that they haven’t applied to attend at our UK Conference in Glasgow. 

“They were informed that an application would be considered but no application has been forthcoming.

“Perhaps Yes Scotland has realised, at last, that there are perhaps no more than a handful of Liberal Democrats members who are convinced about the merits of independence.”

A Yes Scotland spokesman said: “Since we were excluded from last year’s Scottish Liberal Democrat conference, we saw little point in applying for space at this year’s national conference. However, we are as keen to engage with Liberal Democrats as we are with anyone else and indeed our chief executive Blair Jenkins spoke recently at the Social Liberal Forum in Glasgow.”