How Yes Vote Could Have Been Secured In The Big Debate by Allan Grogan Tuesday’s big debate was a disappointing,sterile 2 hours of the old guard of politics in which neither seem to be able to coherently provide a real vision for how Scotland could prosper as an independent nation or as part of the union. As a yes voter I was disappointed more in Alex Salmond, in truth his biggest failure from this evening was made in February when he refused to tell the people of Scotland what the Plan B was. I understand the need to maintain a currency union in the intern, I understand that this is posturing from the no side. But just imagine if the SNP would have said we dont believe the Westminster Parties in relation to currency because of x y and z.. However in the event here is what we would do and here is how we would make it work. Other issues raised Yes the Scottish economy is oil driven, but then the UK’s currency is finance driven, it still hasnt been regulated, what is to stop another huge crash? Speaking of oil Shetlands new oil field is 3 times the size of what was expected, the North Sea has seen record investment why would this be the case if it was in decline? Michael Heseltine admitted that the west coast has oil which we cannot exploit due to Trident. There is the report from the University of Cambridge which announced a study that the seabeds off the Isle of Lewis could potentially have the largest oilfield in the Northern Hemisphere. Why was none of this mentioned instead of time spent on aliens and Project Fear? Scotland due to its vast exports would have huge foreign currency reserves to back up our economy so we wouldn’t need a lender of last resorts. As far as ‘Scottish Banks’ go if you have any semblance of knowledge of International financial law you will know that the input to any crisis comes from where the bank does business. That is why the US put in $80 billion into RBS to cover the business they have in America.. All of these simple to explain facts could have derailed Darling’s attack, To penetrate his ‘pulling and sharing resources’ line all Salmond would have to do is say ‘We do pull and share but we pull from everyone and share to the rich which is why there are now 100 billionaires living in the UK and 1 in every 5 people in Scotland have visited a foodbank this year, why we are the 4th most unequal society. A New Vision Perhaps the real truth of this debate is that the independence campaign has reached greater heights then Alex Salmond and the SNP, that the ambition, zeal and ideas of how to create a fairer more equal society have surpassed the political norm in this country. I’ll give you an example from Labour for Independence. One of our visions is that we use our finite resources to invest in Social Housing. At this moment 157,000 people are on council housing waiting lists, but there aren’t enough houses. In light of this private letting can charge exorbitant fees for let. By creating more social housing we reduce the cost of renting property, private renters would have to lower their prices to remain competitive, putting more money into peoples pockets from their wages. In addition to this we would create thousands of jobs and apprenticeships in builders, scaffies, plumbers etc. We would also need to create the materials. There used to be 200 companies in Scotland that made bricks alone... There is now 2. With one small economic decision we have created more jobs lowered housing costs and reinvigorated our manufacturing industry. However we can only do that by having the economic control of how our finite resources are spent and this can only come through independence. You get the picture, but in truth we are not trend setters here. A great raft of minority parties, organisations and individuals such as the Greens, SSP, RIC Women for Indy, Jim Sillars and the Common Weal are producing ideas which can radically alter Scotland for the better. But how many of these voices are being heard? Wall of Silence The no campaign, backed by most of the media have done an exceptional job in portraying the Yes vote as the SNP or Nationalists or worse separatists. Labour for Independence are like many of the groups and parties mentioned above, small organisations which are growing all the time. Our numbers are reaching 2000 members, but like any group or party only 10-20% of those are actually activists. Without acknowledgement from the media we are left to get our message across through canvassing, stalls and leafleting. We are not alone in this, the minority parties and other organisations suffer the same plight, that it’s all about the big 4 parties. If by the end of this debate the majority of Scots will have felt they had to choose between the SNP and New Labour/Tories then it will have been a real waste of an opportunity. How It Could Have Been Won It is from our grass roots work however that I see an opportunity missed in this debate. I have spoken to literally thousands of people while campaigning these last two years from all spectrums. One of the main arguments I have came across for voting no is the dislike of Alex Salmond. Such an effective job in the media and by the no side of convincing the public that he alone is the reason for independence that many unfortunately believe this. It is of course incorrect however it is important due to the veracity of public opinion. Therefore Alex Salmond I genuinely believe could have won the referendum, had he said these words... “In the event of a yes vote I will complete my duties as First Minister until 2016. After that I will not stand for re-election.” That is all it would have taken, for those who doubt this I ask you to consider the hours I have spent on the streets of many towns, villages and cities throughout Scotland talking to as many people as possible trying to convince them to vote Yes. This is also not a knock on Alex Salmond, despite being in a different political party, I respect what he has done, not only as a politician but in terms of getting us to this point. I do not agree with many policies he has, yet I know he is a political heavyweight, the only one from Scotland, who stayed in Scotland. Yet now through no real fault of his own he has become a reason to vote no. In 25 words, Alex Salmond could have swept aside one of the biggest reasons people are voting no. But he didn’t, and as long as this referendum is played out as the Union vs the SNP then we cannot have the real debate the people of Scotland deserve. Last night was supposed to be a turning point for Yes, an opportunity for huge momentum in the final stretch. Yet this will never be the case if only the established ideas are allowed to be put forward. We have raised the level of debate in this nation beyond the typical neo-liberal norms.. You can only hope the politicians and the media catch up before September 18th.. For Scotland’s sake.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 08:39:35 +0000
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