The Scottish referendum defeat… my view: The result of yesterday’s referendum is a great disappointment. However, it comes as no real surprise to campaigners like myself, who have been subject to a global media blackout which has stifled the very sensible and erudite arguments we presented. While the majority of those engaged on social media have been educated in these arguments and have supported our campaign overwhelmingly, the Television-viewing public of Scotland have been exposed instead to a heavily biased fear-mongering campaign of epic proportions. The evidence of which can be found easily on Youtube and other internet sources. e.g.. wingsoverscotland & newsnetscotland So heavy was the bias, that a campaign ran simultaneously to the referendum one, generating large marches of informed Scots protesting against the bias and editorial manipulations seen in countless BBC broadcasts. What the referendum result has shown, is that the mainstream medias bias in their coverage of the debate prevented the Scottish public from making a fully-informed decision. Facts about independence that were hidden from the Scottish voting public: Independence would NOT have ended or “broken up” the realm of Great Britain... the entity to which our armed forces are loyal and have fought and died for. Our armed forces have and will always defend the realm... NOT the political establishment at Westminster! Scotland’s electorate are outnumbered some twelve-to-one by their English counterparts and in successive general elections the Scots have been forced to accept governance from a political organisation which had only minority support in Scotland and thus, no mandate to govern that great ancient nation. It should be noted, that it is this democratic deficit has been the driving factor in bringing about yesterdays referendum and is what separates our campaign from the campaigns conducted in Quebec. Independence proposed a return of full political power from London to the Scottish parliament in order to address this democratic deficit, so that Scots could have full control over their political and economic future, rather than having that future dictated to them as a minority entity in a state which does no longer recognises the rights of a nation that signed up to the Act of Union of 1707- a bilateral agreement of Scotland and England as equals. Remember, Scotland is a nation… not a province, region or county of Great Britain. The motivation therefore, is full representative democracy for the Scottish people at their own sovereign parliament WITHIN Her Majesty’s realm Great Britain. There is no federal arrangement in the UK system. ALL revenues, from onshore and offshore operations go directly to the London treasury, which uses the Barnett Formula to calculate what small portion of the UK’s revenues Scotland will receive. This means that Scotland, a vastly-wealthy country, is effectively robbed of its considerable wealth. The mainstream media has been at pains to peddle the myth that Scotland is somehow to small or poor to support itself as an independent state, however: The majority of US states, indeed the majority of WORLD states, have lower populations than Scotland. I’m sure anyone suggesting that states like Alaska, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Hawaii- some of the richest states per capita in the USA and with populations similar or smaller than Scotland do NOT meet their financial obligations, would be laughed from any US chamber! And let uss not overlook, that of the five states listed, only one of them- Alaska- is oil rich (as is Scotland) and has regularly topped the chart of the USA’s richest states on a per-capita basis! In comparison to Canada, eleven of the thirteen Canadian provinces have lower populations than Scotland. I’m sure we’re not suggesting British Columbia, with less than Scotland’s 5.3 million population, is economically unsustainable, are we?! I think we need to stop peddling this kind of “too small, too poor” nonsense. Before we end up persuading half of North America to surrender its independence to China! GDP Scotland’s actual wealth is a difficult thing to pin down with absolute certainty without London’s full cooperation. It’s kind of like this: Imagine if you received no wage slip from your employer and no statement from your bank. It would be very difficult to say with any precision what your true worth is. To top that, your bank handles all of your personal affairs, including the type of home you reside in, the car you drive, the lifestyle you lead, while you have only a minority say over how that lifestyle is conducted! In such circumstances, only logic and circumstantial evidence can give an insight into your true worth. You can surmise that since you’re employed as a brain surgeon, that you must surely have a decent income, after all, you see your fellow brain surgeons driving Bentleys and enjoying golf club memberships, so you wonder why you’re living in a backstreet apartment with a beat up old Chevy on the driveway and barely two dimes to buy your Sunday broadsheet! Something’s amiss… but how do you prove it when those who control the purse-strings refuse to share the information? This is where Scotland finds itself under the union. We know we’re oil and gas rich, have a modern, highly-diversified industrial economy producing and exporting a considerable amount to the global marketplace, but somehow we can’t even afford to provide decent modern homes for our population. It’s a complete nonsense. This “too small, too poor” image is one of the crass misconceptions that a heavily-biased mainstream media campaign has peddled to undermine confidence among Scottish voters and drown out our message. A message that will only now be heard by a Commonwealth who have largely ignored our campaign. Let us remember; It was Scotland that championed the cause of a democratic vote for the general public when the five “Scottish Martyrs” were either brutally executed or were shipped to Botany Bay to die thousands of miles from their beloved homeland, starving and destitute, as was the fate of Thomas Muir. This right was finally won but a century ago and is today defended on our behalf by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and one which we all enjoy today. What this result effectively means is that; despite being outnumbered some twelve-to-one by the English electorate, what an ill-informed Scottish electorate have done (due to a heavily biased mainstream media campaign), is vote to renege their own right to full national democratic representation in government. This NATION has accepted the status quo of being a minority entity in a political system which hands control of their assets, and future prosperity, to the English people. Respectfully, John (Jock) Campbell
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 15:02:52 +0000
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