Were just over a week away from the most important vote most of us will ever cast. Its the biggest decision well ever make. Its bigger than deciding whether or not to get married. Its bigger than deciding whether or not to buy a house, take a job, go to university etc. Its a decision that will have consequences for hundreds of years. The Yes campaign have been asked time and again for a clear outline of their policies. What have they given us? - Currency union with a massive degree of fiscal self-determination surrendered or sterlingisation with an independent Scotland deemed to be an international pariah who renege on debts and who wouldnt be able to borrow a pot to piss in on the international money markets. - A structural deficit thats higher than in the rest of the UK. - A pathological hatred of Trident but an absolute desire to be part of the NATO nuclear deterrent club. - An assumption that the EU will welcome us with open arms. - A 3% tax cut for corporations, paid for on the back of working peoples wages and income tax and the everlasting oil revenues. And what are the rest of the world telling us? - The markets are telling us that a gain for Yes in the opinion polls devalues UK plc by over £2.5billion overnight. - The bank of England is telling us that the financial controls needed by the BoE to make currency union even remotely viable would render independence all but impossible. - Every financial institution worth their salt both home and abroad are telling us that a run on Scottish banks is inevitable. - The EU are telling us that wed be at the back of the queue for EU membership, that wed need to wait at least 6 years before our application would be considered and that we would need to agree to the same new terms - the Euro, Schengen, less subsidies, no veto - as any other new entrant would be expected to agree. Whats even more worrying is that a number of Yes voters believe that voting Yes doesnt endorse Salmonds white paper fantasy story blueprint for an independent Scotland. Theyll tell you that theyre voting for an idea of Scottish independence rather than Salmonds specific vision of independence. 2 of the 3 representatives on a nationally televised debate even told the electorate that they didnt back Salmonds white paper and that a vote for Yes wasnt a vote for Salmonds indie blueprint. The truth? The truth is that by voting Yes, you endorse Salmonds white paper and you give him the mandate to negotiate on your behalf to try to achieve the aims set out in his white paper. Youre not voting on a blank slate. Youre not voting on the notion of independence with the negotiating team to be decided at a later date and the terms of negotiation to be decided once the negotiating team is in place. Youre voting to give Alex Salmond the right to negotiate for independence on your behalf to his own agenda as stated in the white paper. If you dont back the white paper but vote for independence then chances are you wont be happy with whatever settlement Salmond eventually agrees. The Yes campaign have made a big thing about not getting the government that Scots vote for - what happens when you get the settlement you voted for by virtue of voting Yes but that you absolutely DIDNT want? And what happens if Salmond cant secure the settlement he wants? Does he go back to the electorate, hold his hands up and say that independence is off because the rest of the UK wont give him the deal hes demanded? Do we start again? Do we go back to the drawing board and try to negotiate a new settlement? How long does that go on for and what are the consequences of Salmond and his negotiating team failing to reach an agreement on what an independent Scotland would keep following independence? Is it possible to vote Yes, for Salmond to fail to secure the deal he wants and for Scotland to therefore remain part of the UK? The Yes voters are effectively giving Salmond a loaded gun in the hope that he hits some kind of target that they can recognise without causing any fatal wounds by accident or incompetence. The rise in the support for independence is being driven by a pathological hatred of the Westminster political machine in working class communities that were decimated during the collapse of Scottish heavy industry. Its the politics of grudge and revenge and its based on nothing but hate. We could well be on the path of hating ourselves towards an irreparable split that will cost Scotland dearly for hundreds of years. Thats what the Yes campaign has come down to. It has absolutely no answers but an abundance of hatred. Posted by a friend
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 21:09:40 +0000
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