Sunday 21 September 2014

On the Scottish Referendum

For eighteen months the Scottish people have been able to ponder the referendum question, “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. The people voted to stay part of the UK on 18 September 2014 with the No vote winning by 55% to 45%. Whoever heard of a country voting to be governed by another?

The Yes side was gaining on the No side and could indeed have overtaken them by the date of the vote. On the weekend before the referendum the lates poll showed the Yes side ahead for the first time. Panic ensued and Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and leader of the Labour Party Ed Milliband rushed up to Scotland offering new powers for a No vote, in what they called “The Vow”. Lots of us could see that offer for what it was, a disingenuous knee-jerk reaction and political game playing of the highest order.

Move forward to the day after the referendum and David Cameron makes a speech that links more powers to Scotland to reform of powers in England, a shifting of the goal posts that already has the Yes voters saying, “I told you so”. This only goes to harden my belief that politicians are shameless liars.

Yet I need to move on from this otherwise I am consigning myself to cynicism and nihilism and I don’t want that for my children or for my yet as unborn grandchildren.  I have never been a member of a political party, in part because my experience of politicians and political parties is that they are self-seeking. However such is my astonishment at the vote that I have decided to overcome this and join the Scottish National Party (SNP).

I know I am not alone here and I hope that with the support of many other like minded people we can build a better Scotland from within.