Do Our Country Proud, Scotland

Tomorrow, history could be made. Scotland's people go to the polls to vote on whether they wish independence for their country. A Yes vote will mean the end of the United Kingdom as we know it.

A few things stand out in my life as being truly memorable, days I will take with me to my grave. The birth of my two daughters in 1986 and 1989; the birth of my four grandchildren in 2005, 2007, 2010 and earlier this year. Getting engaged to the lovely Marion last year. Watching Hearts lift the Scottish Cup in 1998, 2006 and 2012. All days never to be forgotten.

I truly hope that 18 September 2014 will be another day to add to the above. I have waited all of my 52 years for the day Scotland will become an independent nation. Free of Westminster rule, of being governed by politicians we didn't vote for. I want my country to make its own decisions, to create a fairer society, to address poverty and social injustice. I want these decisions to be made from Edinburgh - not London where Scotland is out of sight, out of mind (except at election time when messrs Cameron, Miliband and Clegg click on to Google maps to find where Scotland is)

Tomorrow, Scotland gets its chance. A huge chance. A once in a lifetime opportunity to show the world we are not afraid to govern ourselves, that we are big enough and strong enough. The atmosphere this week in Scotland has been frenetic but wonderfully exciting. Imagine what it will be like on Friday morning if the result is a huge yes for independence.

Not many countries turn down the opportunity to become independent. Don't let us down, Scotland. Let's create history - for our children and our children's children. Let's do this. Vote Yes!

8 Days Until the Independence Referendum and...

 

Courtesy of Yes Scotland

Why Scotland Should be Independent

 

 

The real question is not can Scotland be independent, but rather, should Scotland be an independent country? And, more and more people in Scotland are saying Yes. There are many reasons why Scotland should be independent.  Here are three.

 

With Yes we’ll have Scotland’s future in our own hands. 

And that means we will make better choices for people living here. We’ll be able to make sure Scotland’s wealth and resources deliver more for you and for communities across Scotland, because economic and social policy will be based on the priorities and needs of the people of Scotland. That’s much better than having bad decisions taken for us by politicians at Westminster.

With just 59 MPs out of 650 at Westminster, we can easily be outvoted – and regularly are.  We voted against nuclear weapons, post office privatisation and the bedroom tax, but we got stuck with them anyway. And, we’re regularly left with governments that we did not vote for and that means policies most of us rejected get imposed on us.

With Yes we can build a fairer country. 
The UK is an increasingly unfair country.  In fact, we live in one of the most unequal countries in the industrialised world. Since 1975 the gap between the very rich and the rest of us has been growing faster in the UK than in any other comparable industrialised country. Scotland is wealthy enough to be a fairer country – like similarly sized small independent countries.   That means we can choose to:

• Deliver a transformational increase in childcare and early years education, to make life easier for young families and give our youngsters the best possible start in life
• Completely abolish the Bedroom Tax and halt some of the worst and most damaging changes to our welfare system introduced by the current Tory government
• Make savings of £600 million each year from no longer paying for things like nuclear weapons or politicians at Westminster.

With Yes we can build a more prosperous country.
More often than not, Westminster choices aren’t the right ones for Scotland.  With the full powers of Yes, Scotland can put in place policies that match our economic priorities to create jobs and grow our economy. Here’s just a few that would make a big difference to all our lives:

• Save some of the revenues from our £1.5 trillion (in wholesale value) remaining oil and gas reserves to create a rainy day fund so that we are more financially secure in the future
• Choose a fairer tax system so that hard-pressed households are guaranteed cost of living increases in things like their tax credits and tax free allowances
• Introduce targeted tax policies to encourage job creation, for example, reducing the costs of small businesses employing people through lower Employers'  National Insurance Contributions

Find out more about gains for people like you from independence here.

 

What’s clear is that Westminster isn’t working for Scotland.  We can all agree that the best people to make decisions about Scotland’s future are those that live and work here. Scotland’s people should be at the very heart of decisions about Scotland – not an afterthought.  With Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands we can make sure that happens.

Scotland Be Brave

At the end of February, the UK government decided to hold a cabinet meeting outside London's Downing Street. They headed for Portlethen, a few miles south of Aberdeen. In Scotland. Those of you who read my inane ramblings from outside the UK may ask what is particularly noteworthy about this. Well, this is the second time the UK government has held a cabinet meeting in Scotland. The second time, that is, in 90 years. The fact the people of Scotland will vote in a referendum in less than seven months from now, on 18th September, on whether to become an independent nation is, I'm sure, a pure coincidence...

There has been a fair amount of rhetoric emanating from London in recent weeks about how Scotland would be better off remaining as part of the UK. The independence referendum has been on the agenda since the Scottish National Party won an overall majority in the Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2011 but it's as if the powers-that-be in London have only just realised a history-making decision is imminent.

Scotland hasn't just changed in the last few months or since the SNP came to power. It's a country that has changed since the days of the Thatcher government, when the Scots felt they were being treated like second class citizens. Most Scots voted for the Labour Party in the 1980s. They saw this as the best way to get rid of the despised Margaret Thatcher whose policies changed Britain as a country. However, millions of people in the south and south-east of England adored Thatcher and what she stood for - the term 'free enterprise' was prevalent at the time which was a metaphor for making money no matter what the social consequences - and the Conservatives waltzed into power in three general elections.

It was clear the Scots were fed up of being governed - and dictated to - by a government few of them had voted for. So, three decades later, the momentum is such that Scotland's people will, for the first time, choose their own destiny rather than have it decided for them by people they didn't elect in London.

The latest opinion polls have the 'No' campaign ahead. However, the gap is narrowing. It seems panic has set in for the Prime Minister and Alistair Darling, head of the Better Together campaign. They have come out with a whole raft of claims in an attempt to demean the case for independence  - with many of their arguments having the opposite effect and encouraging people, particularly young people, to vote 'Yes' come 18 September.

The Better Together campaign has, predictably, seized on comments from the European Commissioner José Manuel Barroso who said it would be very difficult for an independent Scotland to gain entry to the European Union. It's worth noting that Barroso is Portuguese. Portugal's neighbours are Spain who are determined not to let Catalonia have a similar referendum of independence. The Better Together people have ignored this and cited Barroso's comments as another reason for Scotland remaining part of the UK. However, after the next UK General Election, where the likelihood is Scotland will be stuck with another government no one here has voted for, there are plans for another referendum where the people will be asked if the UK should remain in or pull out of the European Union. In essence, if the Scots say no to independence, citing so-called vulnerability for being out of the EU as a reason, they may find the UK pulling out in any case. Again, it matters not what the Scots want in any EU referendum - it will be the people of England who will decide for us.

The Better Together campaign keep saying Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond is not prepared to tell us what currency we will be using and has no Plan B. The currency 'issue' has been thrown in as a scare tactic by Westminster. There is no reason why an independent Scotland would not remain in pound sterling which, as the currency of the UK as it stands, is as much Scotland's currency as the rest of the UK.  Would the London based government really put English (and Welsh and Northern Irish) businesses at serious risk by saying you can't do business in sterling with Scotland?

Days after Westminster said Scotland wouldn't be able to keep the pound, David Cameron was in Scotland telling everyone that it would be better for everyone if the oil was protected and administered by Westminster. This is principally because, without North Sea oil revenue, the pound sterling would be in crisis. It's also worth remembering that if there is a Yes vote then Scotland won't be independent until 2016.  It's AFTER the vote that the debt/currency/taxation issues start to get ironed out and they'll be the manifesto promises from the parties wanting to run the independent Scotland. The present diatribe from the Tories in England is self-protection. But what about Standard Life's threat to pull out of an independent Scotland I hear you ask? The crucial bit here is that Standard Life have said they may relocate if Scotland doesn't get the currency union it is entitled to. That's one helluva big 'if'. The pound sterling is as much Scotland's as it is the rest of the UK. Financial organisations like Standard Life are uncomfortable with change. They'll have five year business plans in place which may need to be revised should Scotland become independent  -  and even at that the rules and regulations in Scotland would need to change from how they are at the moment. And there's no reason to suggest that will happen.

Alistair Darling came out with a memorable quote when he said “People have to understand that, if the polls say yes, there is no going back. The result is binding.” This is one of the few statements Darling has said which I agree with.  How many countries who have gained their independence in modern times have wanted to return to their previous status? You could ask a Better Together campaigner but the answer you will get is 'none'.

Darling's former boss, ex Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also joined the 'no' campaign. Are we seriously expected to trust the economic advice of the man who, as Chancellor, masterminded the collapse of the economy? The man integral in changing the regulations to allow greed and corruption in the financial sector? The man who now says Scotland couldn't afford to be independent? Brown has come out with a plan to devolve more tax-raising powers to Scotland if there is a no vote. How generous  - but one must ask why he didn't come up with this plan when he had the power to do so i.e. when he was Prime Minister.

I've heard some Labour supporters say they've become disillusioned with the Labour Party and would vote 'Yes' come September 18th - only they don't like Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond or some of the policies of the Scottish National Party. This is somewhat missing a very important point. The referendum in September is not about Alex Salmond or the SNP government. It's about deciding whether Scotland should be an independent country or not. If it's a 'Yes' vote, there will be a general election in Scotland to decide who will govern the country. Personally, I'm not overly concerned about who the next government of Scotland is. Labour, SNP, Lib-Dems, Scottish Socialists, Greens - I would say Conservatives but that's stretching things - it matters not to me. I just want Scotland to govern itself and not be run by London as a kind of afterthought. It's a misconception to think voting 'Yes' is a vote for Salmond and the SNP - it isn't.

There are less than six months to go until Scotland's future is decided - by the people of Scotland. An opportunity to have a better Scotland, one that controls  its own matters, one where the people of Scotland are placed first. Yes, an independent Scotland will make mistakes and errors of judgement. But these will be by Scots and not an old Etonian in London who only comes north of Hadrian's Wall when he has to.

I sincerely hope that, in the years that follow the referendum, Scots aren't struggling with their lives; dismayed by being governed by politicians hundreds of miles away, the majority of whom don't really care about Scotland; aren't despising another Conservative government making its 'tough decisions' on Scotland - you can be sure even if the whole of Scotland votes Labour in 2015 the government of the UK will be decided the hugely populated south of England. And aren't regretting that, in September 2014, they passed up the chance of several lifetimes.

Scotland the Brave is a famous anthem. In September, Scots can opt for a better future, one of hope, one which will be determined by Scots themselves. Don't be frightened by the scare stories emanating from London. We can do it. We just need to have faith in ourselves, our own ability to determine our own future - not have it decided for us by London. I want my two daughters and four grandchildren to have a great future, one they can look forward to with hope, optimism and pride. Will that be the case if we're still ruled by London?

We may never get such a chance again.  It's almost time. Time for Scotland to be brave.