Wednesday 30 January 2013

Should Scotland be an Independent Country?

At long last the wrangling and complaining about the wording for the referendum question is over.  With a clear victory for the Yes camp.  Though the Electoral Commission has rejected the Scottish government's preferred question - Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country? - their alternative is pretty much the same.  At great deal of fuss was made by Unionists over the phrase, Do you agree.  However their alternative, which called for an I agree/I disagree responsive was dismissed out of hand.  The key for all Yes campaigners is that the question, even in its shortened form still requires a simple Yes/No response.  So much better to be campaigning for Yes vote.  Especially when the Unionists still cannot come up with anything positive to offer for staying in the UK.  Their campaign is all about how Scotland is too wee and too poor.  No vision and nothing to inspire us.  

It is also worth noting that the Electoral Commission has called upon both the UK and Scottish governments to provide clarity about what will happen after the referendum, whatever the result.   To quote from their report, "We will ask both Governments to agree a joint position, for example, on the timescales for negotiating independence and the roles of the UK and Scottish Parliament in agreeing it following a ‘Yes’ vote, or for taking forward discussions on the future of Scotland following a ‘No’ vote."  Seems a very sensible suggestion to me.  Worth pointing out how insistent the Unionists were in demanding that the Scottish government accept without question the recommendations of the Electoral Commission.  I wonder if the Unionists will be equally insistent in demanding that the UK government accepts this recommendation from the Electoral Commission?  Any bets?  So far the UK government has strenuously refused to participate in anything that might bring some clarity to the debate.  I wonder what they have to hide?