How Did Scotland's Artists Turn Nationalist?

The Scottish Poet Hugh MacDiarmid, a passionate Scottish Nationalist, was considered eccentric in the late 1920s for his view on Scottish self-government. Most of Scotland's leading writers and artists in the early 20th Century, from J.M.Barrie to A.J.Cronin to Edwin Muir were Unionists of one shade or another.

In the 21st Century, Scotland's artists are playing a central role in the Scottish Independence Debate- and many of those who express an opinion have come out for Scottish Independence. Stuart Kelly speaks to Denise Mina, Allan Massie, David Greig and others to ask how and why so many of Scotland's artists seem to have swung so heavily in one direction and asks what their involvement will do to the debate?

Stuart Kelly examines why many Scottish artists today have declared for independence.