Inevitably there has been a subtle battle underway over the last ten days to establish a narrative of what the relatively narrow No vote in the referendum means in terms of time-scale. Jack Straw wants to abolish democracy by retrospectively defining the referendum as a forever decision, David Cameron merely wants to hold Scotland hostage for a generation, perhaps a lifetime before well be generously permitted another chance to decide our own future, while the SNP are taking the more realistic view that the Scottish people themselves will set the timetable for their next exercise in self-determination. Another referendum will take place if and when theres demand/support for one, and the result of any such referendum will be respected just as last weeks was. Indeed, thats the only view that its possible for a democrat to take - it was democracy that got us to this point, and you cant just stop the clock when it suits you. But if youre going to try it on like Cameron did, you at least have to try to keep your bid at a vaguely plausible-sounding number. Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson apparently didnt get that memo, and has today well and truly jumped the shark by setting out her plans for the next 300 years of glorious union that we seemingly have ahead of us (whether we like it or not). Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Ruthie. * * * There was an unfortunate disagreement on the previous thread, which led a couple of people to suggest again that I disable anonymous commenting. The reason Im reluctant to go down that road is that it seems to automatically disable the Name/URL option as well, meaning everyone would have to sign in to comment. However, I would strongly urge people not to post anonymously if at all possible. Its really easy to post under a specific name - just select Name/URL and leave the URL section blank if you dont have a website or profile you want to link to. I do fully appreciate how frustrating it must feel to be wrongly accused of trolling. But weve had a severe problem over the last few weeks with concern trolls (people pretending to be terribly worried independence supporters in order to sap morale), and most of them have posted anonymously. It can be very difficult to distinguish between genuine commenters and the trolls. James Kelly
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 08:35:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015