FIERY Jim Sillars has been stirring up the Referendum debate with his particular brand of oratory.

A former fireman, he was Labour MP for South Ayrshire in the 1970s. A stalwart left-winger, in 1976 he helped form the Scottish Labour Party but lost his seat in the 1979 general election. He had been a long-time expondent of Scottish devolution and in 1980 he joined the SNP, eventually becoming deputy leader, although he has always been known for walking his own political path.

Earlier this year the outspoken old campaigner was back in his old stomping grounds of New Cumnock and Cumnock, telling audiences why he thinks a Yes vote is best for Scotland.

And he’s back next week, with Alex Neil MP and former advisor to Henry McLeish, Jeane Freeman, this time in Patna Community centre (Monday September 1 at 7pm) and Auchinleck’s Boswell Centre (Wednesday September 3, 7pm).

Here, he shares his views on the vital Yes/No vote with Chronicle readers.

Want never to worry about England landing Scotland with a Tory Government? It’s easy. Vote Yes and the vote down there will never matter to us again. Independence means if you vote for a Labour Government, that’s what you get.

Vote NO, and you take the risk of Boris Johnston and Nigel Farage giving us the works, as they have promised to do. A No vote will keep 250,000 Scottish children in poverty; benefits for the disabled will be cut; old people will remain terrified of the bedroom tax; unemployed driven to food banks.

Milliband says vote No and he will deliver a Labour Government in next May’s Westminster election. Leaving aside that he will implement the same £25 billion cuts as the Tories intend doing, can you take a chance on that? Do you believe, with England swinging to the right, proven by the success of UKIP, that Labour can guarantee you will not again be ruled by a Tory Government? He can’t guarantee that. But a vote for independence does guarantee that when Scotland votes for a Labour Government, that is the Government Scotland gets.

Labour MPs, fighting to avoid redundancy, because they won’t have jobs at Westminster any more, tell you a Yes vote is for Alex Salmond. Some Labour voters say they would like to vote Yes, but don’t like him. Use your intelligence. No politician lasts forever. Alex, like every politician, has only a temporary role in our society. In 2016, you can vote him out. This isn’t about him. It is about you, your family, children, grandchildren and the Scottish nation’s future. Not liking him is an excuse, not a rational reason.

A Yes vote will mean the Labour Party gets its independence too. Right now it has Middle England on its back, because that’s the vote it needs to get. But on its own up here, I believe it can recapture its socialist soul, re-find its socialist compass, and become again the party it once was.

According to the economic league table published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Scotland ranks as the 14th. richest country in the world. Four above the UK. There is oil and gas in the Firth of Clyde, something kept secret until a month ago when government documents became available. In 1981, the MOD wrote to the Department of Energy forbidding any positioning of oil rigs in the Clyde, so the nuclear submarine could sail safely past the Ailsa Craig into open waters. Mark that date 1981. That’s when Thatcher set about destroying our industrial base.

Get rid of Trident with a Yes, open up those oil and gas fields, and Ayrshire can experience the kind of boom that is Aberdeen and Grampian. Real jobs, good paying jobs, real apprenticeships for our young people., Vote No, and nothing will happen. Yes changes everything for the better.