State of Independence?

When making a coffee at work, I had somebody question me about why Scotland wants to break away from the UK. The question did not surprise me following all of the publicity surrounding the announcement of the independence referendum paper that the First Minister, Alex Salmond, with typical self-agrandisement, Christened as the “Edinburgh Agreement”. I don’t normally want to talk about politics in this forum but as I have lived in England for much of the last 8 years and likely to face more questions, it is probably a good time to address the issue.

State of Independence?

Many people are baffled by the sudden promotion of the independence cause north of the border and could be forgiven for wondering if the seeds of a revolution are being sown in our towns and cities. Can it be that the United Kingdom’s mountainous, northern outpost is about to say goodbye to its neighbours and bring an end to over 300 years of union?

In the 1990’s, many people in Scotland wanted more of a say in their own affairs and were happy to vote for devolved powers. It could be argued that the politicians mis-managed the process as all that happened was that a new division was put in place and an absurd situation where MP’s representing Scottish constituencies are potentially able to vote on matters representing England whereas English MP’s couldn’t vote on certain Scottish matters. Arguably, this was brought about by politicians not rolling out a devolution plan for each individual country in the Union. Perhaps one lesson of devolution is that we should be aware of politicians peddling more politicians. The SNP  have emerged as a force mainly due to the Labour Party implode due to sleaze and losing touch with the people and the other unionist parties being largely irrelevant up north.

I visited our great capital city of Edinburgh in late September, a city that was nicknamed “the Athens of the north” due to its contribution to intellectual enlightenment. There is always a feeling of pride when I visit our capital city, New York has the skyscrapers of Manhatten, Kuala Lumpar has the Petronas Towers and Paris has the Eiffel Tower, but none of these has a hulking, great fortress sitting atop a dormant volcano. At any time of year, there is always a great sense of occasion to walk on the Royal Mile and hear the skirl of the pipes.

There was something that did make the visit a bit less pleasant in that many streets looked as if they had been hit by a bomb due to being dug up to make way for tram tracks. The Edinburgh trams project has been one of the Scottish Government’s vanity projects where costs have gone out of control and completion dates have been moved back. There is the farcical situation where rolling stock worth £40 million can be seen sitting in the sidings at the Gogar depot. It is amazing to think that the people who have overseen this botched, modestly sized infrastructure project somehow think they can represent our nation in the international context.

One key component of the independence movement is to make Scotland a nuclear free state. This includes closing down our nuclear power station at Hunterston and placing more emphasis on renewable energy sources. There have been many wind turbine developments in Scotland in the last 10 years, turning our nation into an overgrown Tellytubby land. Our nuclear submarine base at Faslane would also close and this could have potentially dangerous national security implications. It would appear that the SNP have listened to the John Lennon song, “Imagine” and taken it to be a political manifesto.

Scotland is a country that has punched above its weight in the world and could have the ability to survive as an independent state, however, there would have to be clear policies for tax and trade. It is clear the SNP would be seeking to take an independent Scotland into the EU. Part of the ascension criteria for any new EU state is the acceptance of the Euro, a currency that has come close to the brink in the last few years. It surely can’t be lost on the Scottish Government that Ireland, the Celtic Tiger, needed financial assistance. There have also been the other nations such as Greece and Portugal needing to be bailed out by the EU, with France and Germany setting stringent conditions. Ah yes, France and Germany – the two dominant forces in the EU who dominate policy and are not afraid to push around the smaller nations. The EU is striving to achieve closer political union and an independent Scotland joining this club would arguably only swapping London government for Brussels government.

I will always consider myself to be Scottish, first and foremost. If Scotland plays England at anything from tiddlywinks upwards, I will be there draped in tartan to roar on my home team. This is how it should be, each of our nations has its own character and sense of identity. Equally, I am also proud to call myself British and take pride the amazing achievements of the United Kingdom in the last three centuries, who couldn’t have been amazed by the showing of Team GB at London 2012? We will always have our squabbles and rivalries but this is true of any family and the ties that bind us are stronger than a few peripheral disagreements here and there.

Having considered all of these issues, the only conclusion that I can reach is that we are better as interdependent in the UK rather than just a small subsidiary state in the EU, otherwise Edinburgh could be known as the Athens of the North for all the wrong reasons.