I have posted my comments on the referendum to several sites, but felt I wasnt reaching undecided voters. I did find one site that was supposedly for just such people, though it turned out to be largely No people. It did lead however to a very lively and entertaining discussion. The favourite response to my original comments (which I will post again below for anyone who missed them) was this telling riposte: No voters are realists, yes voters are fantasists… Go check its really the truth. Sadly, when questioned further on her position, the poster was unable to direct me to the research material in which I was to find confirmation of her argument. But I did of course accept it at face value. First and foremost, I am an internationalist, rather than a nationalist. I believe Scotland should be outward looking and strengthen ties with its neighbours. I believe in the concept of Union. I’ve discussed the referendum issues with friends here in Scotland, elsewhere and online. And there are, I think, good reasons to vote Yes, good reasons to vote No and questions for which we do not have answers, perhaps cannot at this juncture have answers. There are also, I feel, questions about which I couldn’t give a damn, there is spin from both sides, and there is a lot of misinformation and misleading comment, much of it from the press, of which I am a part. I don’t care about the currency, full stop. The future of the NHS is a policy matter, not a central issue in an independence debate, though admittedly it is linked to attitudes to social justice, which may or may not be different in Scotland and England. The Yes camp have waged the better campaign. And I do wonder if Better Together’s awful, patronising advert aimed at undecided women will drive some into the Yes camp. Salmond is a brilliant debater, but annoyingly smug. I prefer Alistair Darling as a person, though you could never add -ality to that. But we are not voting for Salmond or Darling and deciding the award for Best Campaign (Yes) or Funniest Advert (the woman in the kitchen whose husband tried to talk politics at breakfast time)… And it is not a vote on History, but on the future. The United Kingdom is almost 300 years old, established at the dawn of Empire. The European Union is 21 (though its significance was recognised two years ago with Nobel Peace prize). Scotland and England share a language, a history and to some extent a culture, democratic values and social values. And yet Scotland retains a separate identity and those values are not quite the same. That difference is reflected in the rise of UKIP in England, the promise of a referendum on the EU and populist, rather ill-informed clamour to pull out of the EU. And then there is Boris, undermining the No campaign’s vague promises of more powers for Scotland anyway. Like most clowns, Boris is scary. My views began to firm up in April when I went to the Celtic Nations Quizzing Championship in Dublin, where every other lamppost had a poster on it for the EU elections. In the UK you would hardly know they were happening. In Dublin I saw a small country with a sense of self-belief and a sense of its place within Europe. (PS Scotland won.) The UK is obviously a union and any of the four countries must have the right to leave if they wish. But I have considered the implications of Scottish independence for England and friends in England - and I haven’t seen much said in Scotland about this consideration. Would a Yes vote land my friends with decades of Tory rule? Would it make departure from the EU more likely? I don’t know. But I feel, ultimately, it is for England to work these things through and find its own place in the world. And England has never lacked self-belief (see World Cup). The very real threat of EU withdrawal is the clincher for me. But even without that threat I think I would still vote Yes, because I am not sure the Union of 1707 is fit for purpose in 2014. I think it is better that Scotland has its own voice, even a small voice, in the Union of 1993. And, yes, I know there is a question mark over Scotland’s membership of the EU, Nato (which we would be led to believe isn’t to bother about opening up the Iceland Gap to the Russian fleet), the United Nations and no doubt Rose Growers International. I wish once or twice the politicians might have said the words “I don’t know.” I wish Salmond might have said “We don’t have the answers. This is a leap of faith.” But politicians know everything, with no room for doubt. I am sorry, I don’t have any new answers. And I think the Scottish people are being asked to make a leap of faith. But it is not a leap of faith in Alex Salmond. It is a leap of faith in themselves. At the end of the day, a long day, I feel the best option must be Yes.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 12:26:26 +0000
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