Sally Fourteen years ago I was given an opportunity. I met a drunken stranger who gave me a random, serendipitous, right place - right time chance. By taking that twist of fate I ended up leaving the Scotland I knew and took the risk to go to live and work in a small independent European country. At the time it was a relief to get out of Scotland. I come from a small village in an area where employment opportunities were limited and a lot of people end up moving away. There are thousands of Scots living abroad who cannot vote tomorrow, I’m one of them. I can’t vote where I live either as foreigners are not allowed to vote. There has only been one occasion where I have voted previously, but I don’t recall what it was for. When the referendum debate started I wasn’t really that bothered. My thinking at the time was that it doesn’t and won’t affect me as I no longer live in Scotland, and they are denying me what I believed to be my right to have a say in the future of the country of my birth. I wasn’t really that interested. When I was a kid I remember at election times there was a guy at the top of our road who had a large SNP / Independence billboard on the side wall of his house. I guess Scotland being independent is something I’ve always believed in, every other country is, isn’t it? My Dad is also keen on the idea and he became quite active in promoting a YES vote a few years ago. He came over for a visit and got me asking myself questions about it all. So, thanks to the power of the internet I was able to do my own research. I was able to read an article on the whatever news source and then Google the points raised. I read the White Paper. I read the Wee Blue Book. I became active in discussing the Indy Ref with random folk in various Facebook groups. I got over the fact I can’t vote and accepted that somewhere in Scotland there might just be a wee French person who could vote on my behalf. My feeling is, if I can’t vote myself, then I have to do my bit to hopefully help someone else who can vote, to see that a Yes vote is the way to go. If this referendum had taken place a decade ago, I wouldn’t have been able to follow it as intently as I have done in recent months, nor contribute to the debate on Social Media. This past couple of days I’ve watched the events in Glasgow at the BBC on Sunday and the previous two days from George Square and seen some amazing scenes thanks to a guy who filmed it and streamed it from his iPad. Was I watching the Caledonian Autumn? I believe that Scotland should take a risk, she should take the chance of independence. Britain is broken and there are horror stories of disabled people having their only means of an income being cut by Government agencies, families who’s children only eat when they go to school as they rely on handouts from food banks. Scotland is more politically aware than she has ever been and having the ability to elect its own accountable government is surely preferable to living in a No vote as things are presently. Of course there is unknowns with what’s on offer tomorrow, surely nobody believes that Scotland will be a utopian land of milk and honey (Buckfast and Haggis?), but at the same time there are also many unknowns with a No vote. More of the same? No Thanks. Scotland could vote No and end up with a Boris and Nigel coalition as it’s government. Two men who have already demonstrated great contempt for us. Scottish people might the sucked in by the lame promise of new powers by the Three Desperadoes. These powers might not actually come to fruition as history has already shown us. There is a new political energy in Scotland with ideas and positivity coming from many unlikely sources, how can Scotland get a Yes vote wrong, when it will have it’s own people acting in it’s own interest while the population are now so in tune with political discussion? The country I live in is Switzerland. It’s not in the EU and has a population of around 8m. You can drive from the north side to the south side in around 4 hours or so. It’s not a big place. We are surrounded by borders with EU countries and to cross the border it is no more hassle than slowing down for roadworks. Things work here. Buses and trains are on time. People have respect for one another and for property. There is a system of direct democracy here. The folk make the big decisions via frequent referenda. An Independent Scotland would be wise to learn how the Swiss make it work. Now is the time. #VoteYes
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 22:44:52 +0000
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