This from my Scots friend who will be voting No in the referendum: Where has solidarity with the English ever got us? Ill tell you: it has got us improved labour conditions and better employment rights, it has brought state pensions, welfare payments, better health and safety at work, it has brought judicial reviews of executive authority, more accessible legal remedies through a plethora of tribunals, environmental protection, air quality and water quality standards, widespread social services, it has delivered human rights legislation, the National Health Service, universal education, the Open University, more equal pay for women, entitlements to maternity leave, sick pay and paid holidays, public holidays, it has given us National Parks, more tolerance and more equal rights for LGB communities, rights to terminate pregnancy and marriage, outlawing of race and religious discrimination ... I could go on. None of these things, none of them, were given to us. We fought for them together. English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh; Cornishman, Highlanders, Yorkshire folk, Cockneys, Glaswegians, Brummies, Geordies. It wasnt our nationality or our accents that brought us together to achieve all this. It was our common interests. We have not yet achieved all that we can, but we have achieved a lot. We can achieve more. It is a great shame that the only major figure articulating this version of our entwined interests is the much discredited Gordon Brown, whilst the rest of the No campaign leadership has been hell bent on scaring people about the oil running out and the likely credit rating of a new currency. Scotland need not fear going it alone, need not fear launching our own currency, need not fear our self governance. We need not fear it, but we do not need it. We are indeed far better off together.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 11:52:02 +0000
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