A precious gift...
Scotland has stepped back from the brink.
Thank you.
On Thursday, Scotland voted to put their faith in the union of our countries. I don't care what it costs or how much resistance the Labour party has for a change which will disadvantage it electorally, we must not betray this trust.
It is imperative to agree proper devolution and agree it quickly. This isn't just to give the Scottish the freedom to shape their own society whilst remaining as part of the UK. It is also to spike the guns of a divisive Scottish Parliament that won't stop pushing for independence and quell the rising tide of concern across the rest of the UK that Scotland is receiving preferential treatment.
Until the Scottish Parliament was established, the union between Scotland and the rest of the UK was secure. I'm not saying it was perfect, but we were one people with cultural differences and we worked together very strongly for centuries.
After the Scottish Parliament was established, things changed, particularly when the Scottish National Party took power. The language of politics deliberately became divisive, emotive words used to create an 'us' and 'them' feeling which never before existed.
Instead of the Scottish Parliament talking about their funding, they started calling it 'pocket money' to construct a notion that Scotland was a poor relation forced to go 'cap in hand' to Westminster (or 'London' as the Scottish Parliamentarians always call it, with a sneer in their voices), when in fact the funding allocated to Scotland was £1600 per head higher than the rest of the UK.
The Scottish Parliament also seemed to take it as its due to be able to blame Westminster whenever they made an unpopular decision. A cut in spending in any area was not the fault of the Scottish Parliament, but because Westminster had cut their funding. The plans of the Scottish Parliament to slash NHS funding was the fault of Westminster, when funding provided to the Scottish Parliament for the NHS was actually diverted by the Scottish Parliament for other purposes.
The election of the current Conservative/Liberal Democrat Government was a gift to the Scottish Parliament. Every UK decision could be safely derided as a 'Tory cut' or if it benefited Scotland, as a 'Tory bribe', but never did the Scottish Parliament point out that Scotland had its fair share of MPs at Westminster, talented men and women who contributed to the debate and the decision making on national policy and made sure Scotland's voice was heard. These Scottish MPs were not insignificant either - they have been recent Primeminsters and Chancellors of the Exchequer - the very people who delivered a Scottish Parliament to Scotland in the first place.
To mend the rift caused by this divisive referendum, I believe that the debate on new powers for Scotland should happen now, as well as new powers for the rest of the UK. We need a UK that pulls together, and to do that, we need to ensure that the Scottish Parliament makes its own policy and, most importantly, takes responsibility for the ramifications of its own decisions. Scotland should have the power and freedom to build the society which best reflects the aims and objectives of its own people, and Westminster should no longer be the scapegoat for a Parliament who wants all the glory and none of the blame. England, Wales and Northern Ireland too should benefit from this freedom; a freedom to meet the needs of the people and support the reestablishment of the peaceful co-existence which has characterised our great union for so long.
EDIT:
Alex Salmond has gone on record today (Sunday) criticising Westminster leaders for "reneging" on their pledge to devolve more powers to Scotland, as they've "missed a deadline" to present the motion to Parliament on the day after Thursday's referendum.
Well, as the final result of the referendum wasn't announced until 7.30am on Friday morning and it was then the weekend, what does the man expect? If it had gone through on Friday, he probably would have claimed that Westminster had pre-drafted the motion without consultation with the Scots and that that proved conclusively that the referendum result must have been fixed. His determination to stir up division and fuel conflict sickens me. This is a man who wants to hurt England more than he loves Scotland, and he doesn't care if he totally destroys Scotland in the process.
EDIT 2:
Still Sunday. Now Alex Salmond says that a country doesn't need a referendum to declare independence, that the 'destination is pretty certain, we are only now debating the timescale and the method'. I wonder if he'd be saying the same thing if he'd won the bloody referendum? What's the new method, Alex? War? Votes didn't work, so it's time to drive a peaceful country into armed conflict? Thought you were supposed to be a pacifist? *shakes head and walks away in disgust*.
Thank you.
On Thursday, Scotland voted to put their faith in the union of our countries. I don't care what it costs or how much resistance the Labour party has for a change which will disadvantage it electorally, we must not betray this trust.
It is imperative to agree proper devolution and agree it quickly. This isn't just to give the Scottish the freedom to shape their own society whilst remaining as part of the UK. It is also to spike the guns of a divisive Scottish Parliament that won't stop pushing for independence and quell the rising tide of concern across the rest of the UK that Scotland is receiving preferential treatment.
Until the Scottish Parliament was established, the union between Scotland and the rest of the UK was secure. I'm not saying it was perfect, but we were one people with cultural differences and we worked together very strongly for centuries.
After the Scottish Parliament was established, things changed, particularly when the Scottish National Party took power. The language of politics deliberately became divisive, emotive words used to create an 'us' and 'them' feeling which never before existed.
Instead of the Scottish Parliament talking about their funding, they started calling it 'pocket money' to construct a notion that Scotland was a poor relation forced to go 'cap in hand' to Westminster (or 'London' as the Scottish Parliamentarians always call it, with a sneer in their voices), when in fact the funding allocated to Scotland was £1600 per head higher than the rest of the UK.
The Scottish Parliament also seemed to take it as its due to be able to blame Westminster whenever they made an unpopular decision. A cut in spending in any area was not the fault of the Scottish Parliament, but because Westminster had cut their funding. The plans of the Scottish Parliament to slash NHS funding was the fault of Westminster, when funding provided to the Scottish Parliament for the NHS was actually diverted by the Scottish Parliament for other purposes.
The election of the current Conservative/Liberal Democrat Government was a gift to the Scottish Parliament. Every UK decision could be safely derided as a 'Tory cut' or if it benefited Scotland, as a 'Tory bribe', but never did the Scottish Parliament point out that Scotland had its fair share of MPs at Westminster, talented men and women who contributed to the debate and the decision making on national policy and made sure Scotland's voice was heard. These Scottish MPs were not insignificant either - they have been recent Primeminsters and Chancellors of the Exchequer - the very people who delivered a Scottish Parliament to Scotland in the first place.
To mend the rift caused by this divisive referendum, I believe that the debate on new powers for Scotland should happen now, as well as new powers for the rest of the UK. We need a UK that pulls together, and to do that, we need to ensure that the Scottish Parliament makes its own policy and, most importantly, takes responsibility for the ramifications of its own decisions. Scotland should have the power and freedom to build the society which best reflects the aims and objectives of its own people, and Westminster should no longer be the scapegoat for a Parliament who wants all the glory and none of the blame. England, Wales and Northern Ireland too should benefit from this freedom; a freedom to meet the needs of the people and support the reestablishment of the peaceful co-existence which has characterised our great union for so long.
EDIT:
Alex Salmond has gone on record today (Sunday) criticising Westminster leaders for "reneging" on their pledge to devolve more powers to Scotland, as they've "missed a deadline" to present the motion to Parliament on the day after Thursday's referendum.
Well, as the final result of the referendum wasn't announced until 7.30am on Friday morning and it was then the weekend, what does the man expect? If it had gone through on Friday, he probably would have claimed that Westminster had pre-drafted the motion without consultation with the Scots and that that proved conclusively that the referendum result must have been fixed. His determination to stir up division and fuel conflict sickens me. This is a man who wants to hurt England more than he loves Scotland, and he doesn't care if he totally destroys Scotland in the process.
EDIT 2:
Still Sunday. Now Alex Salmond says that a country doesn't need a referendum to declare independence, that the 'destination is pretty certain, we are only now debating the timescale and the method'. I wonder if he'd be saying the same thing if he'd won the bloody referendum? What's the new method, Alex? War? Votes didn't work, so it's time to drive a peaceful country into armed conflict? Thought you were supposed to be a pacifist? *shakes head and walks away in disgust*.