It might sound strange for a Yes supporter to have a poem above his desk that was written by a member of the House of Lords. But ultimately he was barely a lord. He was given a peerage at 75 but took very little interest in it, indeed, he only accepted it on behalf....

....of all writers, not for himself. Tennyson was a man who had suffered catastrophic family setbacks through his life and his poetry, well it was an outlet for all of those struggles. Which is why I respect his work.

By now, all of you will have heard that the court of session has rejected a protected expenses order to limit my personal exposure to the case. This is not unusual as in Scotland the courts have always been more reluctant to grant PEO's than in England.

The ruling itself, I don't agree with it (and I don't mean because of the exposure), but because it actually has several errors in it. Cost-wise between the PEO and a case without one, there's not that huge a difference, but in this case, there are a number of inaccuracies in..

...the ruling. For instance, there a personal financial interest was no mechanism to return funds, which is incorrect because all of that is underwritten by Crowd Justice's policy on unspent funds.

And So I have been wrestling with a number of things over the past number of days, the personal liability, faith in the system in general, whether to appeal the PEO, drop the case, move on to the case and skip appeal of the PEO etc etc.

These are ultimately enormous decisions. But at this moment we have a case ready to go. We have an open record ready to close, we're on the cusp of the first set of hearings which are the next thing to happen. The question for me has been what to do.

The question, after coming so far is whether to scurry off or to put my faith in the movement entire, to mobilise and take the fight.

And so I turn to Tennyson's Ulysses.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

The conclusion I have reached? Turn and Fight!

And so, here is what is going to happen.

In the next 24 hours, phase 2 of fundraising commences and will be launched on CrowdJustice. The ruling on the PEO was not a waste, it actually gave an estimate of the funds required.

The amount estimated by Lady Poole was £195,000 including VAT. We've already raised £40K so this leaves us £155K to raise in total.

If we can do that, then the closed record will be submitted & the first hearings will be scheduled in the case.

When the closed record is submitted, it will likely become public which means for the first time, you will be able to see the arguments from the UK and Scottish Govs.

Is this a big ask? You're god damn right it is? Is it doable? Well, all I can say is that I am putting my full faith in the movement. Unlike the politicians, I don't question your ability to blast us through obstacles to our independence.

Make no mistake though our case is oven ready to go before the court to start oral hearings.

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

*there BEING a personal financial interest