THE man who led Inverclyde’s pro-independence campaign believes those making the case for Scotland to become its own nation are in a better position now than they were a decade ago.

Today marks 10 years since the nation went to the polls to decide whether Scotland should be independent from the United Kingdom.

Ronnie Cowan was at Greenock’s Waterfront Leisure Centre 10 years ago as the head of the Yes Inverclyde campaign and watched on as the area chose, by the slimmest of margins, to reject independence.

But despite the heartbreak of that historic night, which saw the country decide to remain in the UK, the pro-independence campaigner says he would do it all again if another poll was called.

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Mr Cowan said: “Nothing has changed. Ten years on we should be older and wiser, and I think everything that’s happened in the last 10 years shows that Scotland as an independent nation is the path forward, whether there’s a Tory Government or a Labour Government in Westminster.

“Last time in Inverclyde we started off with somewhere between 23 and 26 per cent of people voting Yes, and when we got to the day of the referendum was 49.9 per cent.

“I’ll take that as a starting point and next time we’ll get over the finishing line.

“In terms of winning a referendum this time we would be starting off from a far better position.

“I genuinely believe that, given the current mood of the nations, and with a good positive campaign that explains what Scotland would look like. Not promising anybody the land of milk and honey.

“Nobody ever did. But as an independent nation, like other small European nations, with our resources, we can explain to the people of Scotland what this nation can be, and I think that would genuinely bring enough people over to the Yes campaign.”

On the other side of the campaign from Mr Cowan ten years ago was Frankie Caldwell, the local leader of the Better Together, who unsurprisingly has a very different perspective.

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He said: “In my honest opinion, I don’t think support has shifted. I think that the result on the referendum would be the same if we had it again tomorrow.

“The pitfalls [the Yes campaign] had, especially around currency and the economic case for independence I don’t think have been conveyed convincingly enough to people to change their minds.

“I don’t think people have the appetite to test that to an extreme where they would want to vote Yes.”

Mr Caldwell told the Telegraph that despite Better Together's victory on that night, he didn't feel at all triumphalist.

"It wasn’t a jubilant feeling," he added. "It was relief that the hard work and effort we’d put in for more than two years had paid off.

“I had a really good relationship with Ronnie throughout the campaign. We used to meet up in the Albany and have a coffee.

“People would ask why I was meeting up, but Ronnie and I were quite civilised about it.”

While the pair have their differences on the constitutional question, they both agreed that the 87.4 per cent turnout recorded at the referendum - one unmatched in the Brexit referendum that followed, and in local, Scottish and UK elections before and since - was something the area could be proud of.