It has been incredible. What a journey we have been on as a nation. The eyes of the world are on us as more people register to vote than ever before and we engage as a nation in our political future. This is democracy in action and my wish is for the renewed political engagement of Scotland to be the legacy of this referendum. It has been energising. Yes or No we will come together on Friday to make the best of the result. If we vote No we might, might, be given permission to use some more tools from our political toolbox. We dont know which ones, and we dont know if others will be taken from us. Will they be enough to satisfy the craving in this country for real change? To change our politics and our society for the better? I sincerely and passionately hope we vote Yes to complete our political toolbox. To equip us with everything we need to tackle the issues we face as a nation. Just like any other DIY job it wont be plain sailing all the time. We wont always get things right. There may be problems along the way. But we will face all these issues together and in our best interests. The question we will answer in our booths on Thursday has nothing to do with where any of us are from. Not about passports, the Queen, flags or borders. This is about the country we want to live in. It is about where we want decisions made about us to be taken. Are we a country willing to put up with being one of the most unequal in the world; having our vast wealth squandered on nuclear missiles, the House of Lords and tax breaks for millionaires while we have foodbanks, pensioners choosing heating or eating and 100,000 more children in poverty? Do we want our democratic decisions to be overtaken by decisions taken elsewhere? Do we continue allowing ourselves to be governed by those we havent voted for? Do we allow ourselves to be told we arent good enough? We can choose something different. We can choose to put Scotlands future in Scotlands hands. We can choose to put ourselves in the driving seat behind our vast resources and put it to good use for our people. We can open ourselves up to the world, take our place as a member of the family of nations and our seat at the top tables to negotiate better deals for our farmers, fishermen, businesses and for our people. This isnt a divorce, its a new partnership. This isnt separation, its self-determination. Nelson Mandela said it best: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears”. Choose well, see you all on Friday.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 21:19:47 +0000
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