David Younger
I have taken the time to examine Ash Regan’s proposed bill together with Alex Salmond’s podcast (Scotland Speaks) in which he refers to the bill and I have to say that I am far from impressed. It does, however, demonstrate the inherent weakness of party politics in creating a unified movement towards the creation of an independent Scottish nation state.
To explain, it is extremely unlikely that the bill will pass so what is the point? Even if the bill did pass it’s difficult to see a cash-strapped Scottish government being particularly enthusiastic about spending £18m to run a referendum to decide if we should ask if we can hold a referendum. The idea is silly so why do it? The big win for Alba of course will be to embarrass the SNP if they strike the bill down so it’s party political points scoring, all of which takes me back to the issue of whether party politics is a help or a hindrance when it comes to independence.
Back in 2014 I pounded the streets carrying out survey work prior to the referendum. Some of the opinions were illuminating to say the least. As the public debate degenerated into a party political spat – completely unnecessary given that there were many prominent supporters of independence who were not party affiliated and who could have made excellent and relevant arguments covering a wide range of issues – many opinions centred around the lack of full information about what our independent state would be, followed by personal opinions about Alex Salmond. A lot of negativity was expressed about Edinburgh becoming just a mini Westminster. I didn’t canvass in Orkney or Shetland but, by all accounts, there was a great deal of concern that independence would not change anything for them, it would still be government from the centre and whether the centre was London or Edinburgh made no difference. Then came the white paper. I thought then, as I think now, that this was a huge mistake on the part of the SNP. When we should have been discussing what sort of country we wanted, instead we were being told what sort of country we were going to have, courtesy of the SNP. Suddenly I was hearing complaints about a one-party state being imposed upon us and division on the subject of independence was right down the centre, where it has remained to this day. The trouble is that independence is about much more than one party’s manifesto and really, although some politicians may deny it, no one really asked the people what they wanted and in the nine years since, nothing much has changed.
The big failing of the independence movement is that it always puts the cart before the horse. If people are to vote on such a fundamental and all-embracing step as independence, they need to know what they are voting for before asking for their vote and, for that, we need a convention. Not just any convention either. It needs to involve the people. All of them. And this is what Scotland Decides is all about.
Scotland Decides is in essence an alternative electorate, one which is controlled by the people of Scotland. Whether it be local issues or a national vote, the people can decide on issues which may be raised by active organisations or by the people themselves. We can decide when to have a vote, what the wording should be, how often we can have a vote and how we take it forward with our politicians. Furthermore, any issue raised can be examined with access to all the relevant information necessary to make an informed decision. This is what we’re about.
We strongly support the calling of a national convention, one in which the people are embedded. That is not to say that the politicians are to be excluded. We see them as an integral part of the process but we also see that the people’s will needs to be expressed and in a way that the political class cannot ignore. Thus, people’s delegates will be part of the convention and every major resolution put to a popular vote. This is the only way forward.
We can either make decisions about what sort of country we want for ourselves or we can try to get Westminster to let us have a referendum. I know what I would want and for anyone else, just register and use the platform we have in place.
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