Sadly, a lot of non-Scottish Brits do not seem interested in the Scottish Referendum, which is now less than a week away. Ideas that separation could affect England and Wales too are only just beginning to seep into the collective consciousnesses of many of those South of the Border.
I have been chatting today with a Scots friend on facebook and I thought that maybe, with the Scottish Referendum less than a week away, I could expand some of my comments into something that would be of wider interest. He is of the 'No Thanks' persuasion:
"For the past year or so I have been reading your discussions regarding the forthcoming referendum with great interest, my friend. Whilst your remarks and comments have been measured and backed up with facts, so often those from the 'yes' campaign have been increasingly hysterical and wild. A bit like the comments from Salmond, if his remarks yesterday comparing the Scottish referendum to South Africa’s post-apartheid election are correctly reported in context it does make one wonder about the ego of the man. Whilst some commentators are saying that he is referring to the amount of those entitled to vote registering to vote comparing in the high percentage to those registering to vote in the South African election, others are saying that he is using the juxtaposition of South Africa's post apartheid and Scotland's possible independence deliberately. Anyone would think that England had colonised Scotland rather than the truth that the Scottish King who acceded to the English throne, James V1 of Scotland who became James 1st of England, was rather pleased about the fact!
As a Welsh/English Brit living in the South East of England most of the time, whilst I wouldn't claim that our political system is as good as it could be, I would suggest that there is safety in numbers and that only by all pulling together can we achieve any sort of strength on a global scale. And I don't mean military strength.
If I were to have a vote, I know I would be very worried about the unanswered questions, nay ignored questions that Salmond and his comrades seem to feel unnecessary to answer. Covering cultural, political and economic areas, those questions alone would make me vote 'No Thanks', Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil dressed in sheep's clothing [very mixed metaphors but too much reading of Salmond's speeches can do that to one] And after any election, getting victorious politicians to stick to their campaign promises can be difficult enough, let alone attempting to get a politician to carry out a promise that 'things will be a better' - a subjective comment if ever there was one!
We are coming to Scotland on referendum day and I am sure it will be an interesting experience. If I could vote, which I can't, it would be 'No' because I really do believe we are 'better together'. "
The next few days leading up to the 18th will be interesting. Meanwhile, those Brits 'South of the Border' should really be thinking how the whole vote, whichever way it goes, could affect the whole of the UK.
Photo courtesy:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/politicalliteracy/gettinginvolved/influencingparliament/referendums/index.asp
No comments:
Post a Comment