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Gordon Brown helps Better Together to find the passion

Gordon Brown gave an impassioned speech in Glasgow.
Gordon Brown gave an impassioned speech in Glasgow.

Half love-in, half lock-in, Better Together’s last pre-poll rally finally found the passionate voice often lacking from its campaign.

No shambolic, chaotic surge through a shopping centre surrounded by hecklers, supporters and the press pack the fate that met Ed Miliband on Tuesday for this event.

Glasgow’s Community Central Hall held a stage-managed mixture of high-profile big-hitters, heartfelt grassroots punters and topped it all off with Eddie Izzard as master of ceremonies in front of an invite-only crowd that was on its feet more often than not.

And while Izzard’s We-Love-You-Scotland-Please-Don’t-Go routine seemed a little contrived, there was genuine enthusiasm for the main players as they trooped on stage accompanied by a piper.

Ed Miliband might not have made it to the party but the crowd had plenty of big names to wave their red ‘Love Scotland, Vote No’ banners at.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=J39bBV7CBJk%3Frel%3D0

And while the red theme was a signifier of love, it felt apt, as most of the time it seemed like a Labour rally and a victory rally at that.

Which naturally led to some strange moments.

I never thought I’d see the Scottish Conservatives leader enthusiastically applauding a Clydeside shipbuilder telling a crowd that English workers “are not my competitors, they are my comrades”.

But that’s what happened.

This was Better Together showing that people power was not the sole preserve of the Yes campaign.

To illustrate this, the politicians briefly took a back seat for a five-pronged attack on the SNP.

Speeches on the NHS, national unity, pensions, family and breaking down barriers all had the crowd in raptures, rounds of applause following every sentence.

When Gordon Brown walked down the stairs into the crowd, I almost expected to hear the Rocky theme music.

It was a gutsy speech, a passion rarely seen in public from the former Prime Minister, and the throng headed for the exits, red balloons and banners in hand, a spring in their step.

Standing waiting for the subway, I asked 80-year-old Priscilla Thorburn, a true blue Conservative, what she had thought of it all.

She said: “We’re quietly confident and less reticent now. Because we need to be confident and not apprehensive.”